09.22.09 Tues. "We're not in Kansas anymore..."

Yesterday I took the family to Stephen’s favorite place in the world… Red Robin! If you have kids and are in the Alderwood area, eat at Red Robin and ask for Bryan’s section. He was awesome. I think as the parent of a toddler when you’re in a public place you’re already on high alert. You are always just one French Fry on the floor from a total meltdown at any given moment. Toddlers are a little like that one friend who gets drunk everytime you go out and the weirdest thing sets them off and they’re either crying or fighting at the drop of a hat. Anyway, when you find a waiter who understands this fact it makes a parent’s night amazing. One little example my wife and I both noticed and really appreciated:
The salads come with strips of red and blue tortilla chips on them. Tessie wanted to try one of the chips on my salad so I picked a couple off and handed them to her. From across the restaurant Bryan saw me do this, put some chip strips in a little cup and brought them over to the table. BUT—he didn’t just put them on the table so Tessie could see them and then I would be forced to let her fill up on chips before her dinner came or suffer with a tantrum. He brought them behind his back and slyly handed them to me under the table so Tessie couldn’t see them. That allowed me to decide how many Tessie could have (or if I even wanted her to have more) and made me look like Super-Daddy for being able to pull chips out of nowhere. Man, it’s the little details that come from paying attention that really make a huge difference! Bryan is my man now.

As the dad of a daughter, I personally love this idea and want it here in the US:
Politicians in France have come up with a new health warning. Let's just hope it doesn't come to this country. The French want to stamp a "health warning" on photographs of models that are altered in order to make them more appealing; part of a campaign against eating disorders. Some 50 politicians proposed the law to fight what they see as a warped image of women's bodies in the media. Said one of the French politicians: "These images can make people believe in a reality that often does not exist." Under the proposed law, all enhanced photos would be accompanied by a line saying: "Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person."

It’s been a while since we’ve done this, but I think it’s time we got another reminder… America is awesome, you could be living in…. Malaysia! Islamic High Court judge Abdul Rahman Yunos has sentenced Nazarudin Kamarudin to one year in prison and to be whipped six times because he was caught (are you ready for his crime?) drinking alcohol! And with a whipping and a year in jail he got off easy, he could have gotten THREE years in jail and whipped just for popping a top. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are times when the next morning I’ve felt like I was just whipped in prison, but it was all brought on me by myself. This poor guy… I just hope it was worth it and some premium beer not some skunky stuff.

Pierce County sheriff’s investigators say they have caught the woman suspected of robbing several local businesses recently. Her disguise when she robbed the places was… a fake moustache drawn on her upper lip with a marker. I’m not saying that she wasn’t a criminal mastermind but maybe she shouldn’t have used a permanent Sharpie to draw on her disguise…

Tomorrow only, for the first time in over 50 years, The Wizard of Oz will be shown in theaters across the country. I’m a little disappointed though. They have actually updated it to make it more relevant to today’s audience. For instance the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion are now on their way to Obama for better healthcare.

The city of Omaha said a radio station's plans to hang bras over the city's busiest street to raise awareness for breast cancer might cause mass distraction and crashes. You think that's distracting, wait'll you see what they wanna hang up for prostate awareness.