Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas

From the Crums

Johnny Come Lately

Not having a TV or regular contact with the outside world means that I usually find out about things late. I get all excited about something, like Flight of the Conchords, and want to tell everyone, and then find out that everyone already knows.

So if you already know about this, sorry... but if you haven't it's gonna be freakin' sweet! Supposedly Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming up to make... TinTin!!!



There was an article about this back in May on the BBC site, but no word yet on when the movies will be out. So, does this mean that Peter Jackson won't be directing The Hobbit? I don't know.

Chuck & Huck

For the past couple years there have been "Chuck Norris Facts" floating around the younger generations. This increased popularity would be to Grandmom's satisfaction as Chuck has garnered more face time in movies and commercials.
Some sample 'Facts' include:

"Chuck Norris counted to infinity, twice."

"Chuck Norris' tears can cure cancer, too bad he's never cried."

"On a high school math test, Chuck Norris put down "Violence" as every one of the answers. He got an A+ on the test because Chuck Norris solves all his problems with Violence."

"Chuck Norris owns the greatest Poker Face of all-time. It helped him win the 1983 World Series of Poker despite him holding just a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno."

"Chuck Norris can do a wheelie on a unicycle."

"Chuck Norris can slam revolving doors."

"Chuck Norris can believe it's not butter."

On top of all these facts, Chuck is now endorsing a republican candidate for president.




The Crum Family Blog is not politically affiliated with any presidential candidate.

Intellectual Property

Dumb Dumb wanted me to post this link (click here after watching the Dlog) so that you could all witness his genius. Back on September 17th I posted the following Dlog over on Dumb Dumb's page, and just this weekend Sean Penn decided to completely rip off our Dumb Dumb's idea. See for yourself...

New Mexico

Back when Jude was a baby, while Jess and I were working at Spring Canyon, we took a trip down to Sante Fe. The highlights of the vacation were eating out, cable television, Southwestern architecture, and "Coyote Ugly" in the local theater (Jude loved it). So since it had been a while, we decided to take the family back for a short vacation this past week. We left Monday morning and drove south for just about five hours. It's amazing how the scenery changes gradually, and by the end of the relatively short trip we were someplace so new. The weather was nice the whole time we were down there, and we enjoyed taking a walk through the old downtown area which included the Cathedral seen in the picture, as well as a bunch of fun shops, art museums and historic buildings. We ate enough Mexican food to, well enough to fill our Mexican food quota for a little while at least. We got to go swimming three times at the indoor pool where we stayed. And once again we got to enjoy the benefits of cable television, although this time we watched a lot more Cartoon Network than last time.
I hope you all are having a great time, and had a Happy Thanksgiving. See you soon.

Guiter Hero III

Nate is definitely the best brother (or at least he was last I saw) when he it comes to playing guitar hero. Recently my friend Nat got Guitar Hero III and I've enjoyed watching him become more and more skilled. He can complete songs on Expert and blows everyone else away. I marvel at the skill it takes to do well at this game and thought this video (from GH3) was too cool...I also love this song!!

Wouldn't it be sweet?...

Now I know many of you remember this one, Wings of Fury! Hours and hours of time has been spent by the brothers Crum dive-bombing the Japanese in this World War II classic, routing machine gun nests and obliterating their bunkers. I still have the 'ping' ringing in my ears from my machine gun fire hitting a running man trying to re-enter a sandbag fortified machine gun position.

Now, I know what you're all saying, "thanks a lot Ben, bring up all these great memories and then make my current gaming experience suffer because of the nostalgia for the best game ever" Well, if you do say such a thing, have no fear, I wouldn't leave you hanging like that. There are still three ways for you to play this game:

One - Own an Apple IIc and the original floppy.
Two - Download this file (sorry Thomas, this only works on PCs). Users Guide here.
Three - Play the online Flash version here.

Enjoy

A Post for Matt

You'll like it or hate it:


and



I'm guessing you've already heard the Michael Bublé version, but just in case you hadn't.

Engagement Pictures

A few weeks ago Emily and I had some engagement photos taken. They have finally been uploaded to our photographers website, linked here for your viewing pleasure.

Ninja Parade

Peter, this is for you. I just found it on the Onion and thought I would share:



NOTE: I do not, by posting this video, endorse all the videos on the Onion, just this one!

New Orleans

Today I write to you, my eager? readers, from the city of New Orleans. It's actually Kenner, but who knows where that is! I am sitting in a camper posting on Tom's computer. He and the rest of his group are out working and I am not. The past few days I joined them as we did little jobs here and there around the city's dissaster areas. But, I am on leave for just a week and I needed some rest. So as they slave out in the elements, I recover here in the confinds of this home on wheels.
The story of what we did over the past few days is for another time. I have to get somthing else off my chest...
I am stuck in a camper, it's noon, I have no car, and I am hungry. That's it! That's what I am thinking about. This is what you have just wasted your time reading about. I am HUNGRY! I think I just might order a pizza to the church or somthing.

A Short Story

by Benjamin Crum

The doorbell rang.
"I'll get" said Harry as he rose slowly from his arm chair.

A fire crackled and danced on the hearth. A Bach concerto floated wistfully in the air from some unknown recess upstairs. It was one of those crisp early-winter days when you don't want to roll out of bed.

A short, stout man was on the doorstep. "G'day" he said in a quick, yet kind sort of way. "Might I 'ave an moment of your time?"

Harry rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. Oh how he wished he could simply vanish at times like these. Or better yet, how he wished he could make others vanish, make them just go away.

"Sorry" he said, trying to think of a really good excuse, "I, uh, that is..." Nothing came to mind. Perhaps it was the cold air on his face mixed with the warm, beckoning fire at his back, Harry could think of nothing to say.

"It'll take but an moment" the man reassured. Harry hadn't noticed the man inching his way closer and closer. The man was nearly standing on Harry's slippered feet. In times past Harry would have been on his guard. In his quick-witted youth he would have been able to sense, to smell the very grave danger he was in. He would have reacted in a flash, perhaps even a blinding flash. But now, middle aged and lazy, his mind was preoccupied with the life of routines, chores, work, and mortgage payments. Where once he thought of his next great adventure, now he only thought of his next TV-dinner or the next season of Lost.

Harry fell to the floor. He hadn't even had time to hear the shot. It all happened so fast and as he looked down on himself, seeing the short man step over him, he thought "so this is it, this is the end of my tale... this is the end of Mr. Harry Potter?" His eyes closed, and all was dark, cold and dark.



I have never read more than one chapter of a Harry Potter book. I thought, though, that you fans may want some closure. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Like a Rolling Stone

So the idea here is to find as many bands represented as possible [click here to see the full sized image].

Then check the comments to see if you missed any (or found any more!)

The First Record (Red Album)

The First Record of the Red Album from The Beatles.

For those of you wondering, Papa asked me to remove his posts.

Wouldn't it be Sweet?

Part One:

I just wrote a response on Jon's blog about the nature of alien life, something we have all pondered long and hard about. So I pose this question: Wouldn't it be sweet if aliens were solar powered via their photovoltaic eyes?



Note Well: This image is not meant to be an accurate representation of sun dwelling aliens but rather a conceptual sketch of what solar-eyes might be like. Notice that this alien does not have a mouth as he/she/it consumes all necessary energy and sustenance via the sun's rays.

Roadtripping

For those of you who don't know... I'm guessing all of you... Jon has embarked on an ambitious roadtrip across America (or, at least across the blog-sphere). Read about his adventures on his all-new-and-improved blog.

The Meaning of Life (A Disclaimer)

Maybe I am just in a serious mood or something. I just wanted to try and spread a little encouragement to anyone who might happen to read this. As I went through the day today, and after I got the kids off to bed I realized something: There is meaning to life. Now most of you are probably thinking that I should have known this already. Well, I'm not saying I didn't know it, I just don't always think about it. The thing is that I so often get caught up in so many things, good and bad, that I tend to loose sight of what my goal should be. Now I've talked to most of you about stuff like this before, and I think we all struggle in the same way. God made us, He takes care of us, He loves us, all good things come from Him. So why is it that I can hardly wait for Halo 3 to come out?

The encouragement I'm tring to offer, and the reassurance I have found is that my relationship with God isn't one sided. It just seems to me that I am the one getting the most out of this relationship, which once again proves to me how much mercy and grace God must have to be so good to me.

How Much Can We Get?

I have always enjoyed having lots of brothers (sometimes not specifically, but at least the general concept). Now, having seen this site, I wish you had all been girls; we could have gotten rich!

You must read the testimonials... priceless.

Well, to be honest I wouldn't think this was so funny except that it is suposedly fake. If it is real, then it's the worst thing I have ever seen.



One last thing. I love how the sun's rays look like laser-beams splitting this couples' heads in two! Real nuevo-punk.

[thanks for the link Kim]

Daniel's Back

You can see some more pictures of Daniel on my blog


"What you lookin' at... foo?"
Note: That is not "Red Eye", it is his laser cells warming-up for an attack.


Grandma Taylor and Babies... looks like Daniel is... leaning

QBs from PA

This article from ESPN:

Coast-to-Coast: Pennsylvania offense

Offensive football begins and ends with how good your quarterback is, and this state has produced some real dandies.

Let's see, where should we start? How about Joe Montana from Monongahela, about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh, or Jim Kelly out of East Brady, another small suburb of Pittsburgh. There are eight Super Bowls appearances between the two and four victories for Montana.

Or should we go with Dan Marino our of Pittsburgh Central Catholic, the same school that has also produced St. Louis Rams QB Marc Bulger and current Louisville commit QB Tino Sunseri. Last week on ESPNU, Sunseri's squad downed the Northmont, Ohio Thunderbolts in the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA challenge.

Wait, how can we mention these guys without throwing in names like Johnny Unitas (Pittsburgh, St. Justins) or Joe Namath from Beaver Falls. These legends raised the bar for quality quarterback play in the state at the high school level and with shoes like those to fill, more recent high profile Pennsylvania signal callers like Pat Devlin (Exton/Downington East), Zach Frazer (Mechanicsburg) and Pat Bostick (Lancaster/Manheim Township) have a lot to live up to... [read more]

New Family Feeder

Sorry Mom, this is not a new solution for feeding all those mouths, rather it's a new way of quickly reading all the Crum blogs. Videos and images don't work very well, but it's still a nice way of quickly seeing who is updating their blogs (without all the trouble of actually clicking on the links and waiting for the blog to load). Simply click the arrows on the top of the new FamilyFeeder widget on the side of this page.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Mrs. O'Leary

On Thursday morning I was singing the song about Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicking over the lantern in the shed and starting the Chicago fire. My singing was inspired by a fire in our neighborhood on Monday night. Just two houses down, a paper shredder malfunctioned (the fire captain believes), caught fire, and totalled the dining room. The house is uninhabitable due to serious smoke and water damage.



On Thursday evening Pop, Jesse and I went to BWI to pick up Aunt Beth who has come for the weekend to teach a teachers' training seminar at church. Thomas and Amy had gone out to run an errand. We left Stephen home, along with Elisabeth, her friend, Jordan, and William. Elisabeth was upstairs doing homework. Stephen was on the computer in the study. Jordan was on her way upstairs to study with Elisabeth and William was at the foot of the steps. Will looked up, saw flames through the ceiling vent into the attic, and said "Fire". Jordan looked up and saw the flames, too. "Fire," she yelled. Stephen ran out of the study. "I'll call 911," said Jordan, as she ran up the steps to get Elisabeth. Elisabeth reacted hysterically as she and Jordan saw smoke pouring out of the ceiling vents in the master bedroom.

Jordan quickly got on the phone to the dispatcher and told her there was a fire in the house and five kids with no adults. The dispatcher asked how she knew there was a fire and Jordan suspected the dispatcher didn't believe her word. (Perhaps she knew of the recent fire in our neighborhood and thought the call was a prank.) When Jordan said she could see the flames herself and was willing to give her name the dispatcher quickly assured her the police and fire engines would be here soon and told her to get everyone out of the house. The children grabbed the cat, my computer, a Bible (and the Gilgamesh book that was close by). William grabbed his pillow and a video game. Within 5 minutes a police officer arrived. There was no panic about the discrepency about the number of children; Jordan didn't realize Jesse had gone with us, but the others knew that. Soon after, the fire crew arrived. They dragged a hose into the house and up the stairs, but as they opened the panel into the attic the fire extinquished itself and they didn't need to spray a drop of water. Thomas and Amy arrived about 10 minutes after the police officer and immediately called me.

Aunt Beth's plane had been briefly delayed in South Carolina and again in Baltimore where there wasn't an available ground crew to get the plane to the gate. We sat in the cell phone lot for about 10 minutes until she called to tell us she was in the terminal. We were driving to pick her up when Thomas called and said the fire trucks were in our neighborhood again--this time at our house. We hurriedly got Aunt Beth, and sped home. The fire engines were still out front, waiting until the captain could determine the cause of the fire. His report was that the fire was contained to insulation around our air conditioning ductwork. The insulation is designed to burn very slowly--and it did what it was designed to do. The children had seen flames in the insulation and the flames were easily extinguished. The remnants of the fire were a charred air filter, a large handful of singed insulation, the smell of electrical smoke in the second floor, and no central air conditioning. The cause of the fire is probably a short in an electrical wire--perhaps the one to Elisabeth's overhead light fixture, but it might also be something with the air conditioner. Two electricians have already looked at it, and we need to get an ac guy up there before we decide what needs to be done.

What a Providence that the children saw the flames, had the presence of mind to call and convince the dispatcher of a true emergency, got out of the house safely, and that there was no greater damage or inconvenience. But, I should be prepared to say the same if the fire had occurred during the night, leaving us homeless, with loss of life. God's sovereign hand controls all these events and blesses and instructs us through them. We are truly thankful.

Anniversary

It has been a long time coming, but next year, 10 years to the day you will get to relive the excitement. You've waited this long, just hold on a little longer... (you might want to pause the website's music)

This is Jess' preview:


This is a little something I made for myself:

Bond vs. Bourne

Often I run across articles or discussion boards pitting one fictional character against another. On this very blog, in fact, there has been discussion about which super hero is the greatest (the old Superman vs. Batman debate). Even on Facebook you can pick your side in the ongoing battle to see who is greatest, Pirates or Ninjas (last I saw, Ninjas were winning, as they should).

Today on the BBC web site there was this article [read it here], written as a comparison of James Bond (the double-ought agent) and Jason Bourne (whose sidekick is not Ben Afleck).



Of course it is fun to speculate on such battles of epic proportions, but come on! Everyone knows the outcome of all these battles... the person whose name is in the title of the movie wins!

Sometimes writers and directors are brave or daring or annoying enough to kill off the hero, but usually only after he has already killed the bad guy (think Gladiator). Who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman? Superman should win... not that I would want him to. But on the screen, they would probably both survive, maybe even become friends. The real question is who would win if you pitted a hero against a slightly modified version of himself: Superman vs. Ninja-double-o-Superman (with Iocane Immunity)?

For Peter:

Just thought you might want to buy a couple of these for emergencies.

Here it Goes Again

So I assume that, with over 20 million views, you've all seen this before. But I thought it was pretty cool so maybe you would like it too! Ok, go...

Destruction Of National Pastime Given Two-Minute Standing Ovation

I was gonna post this on the family blog, but I though Matt might get mad, so it's here instead.

Wedding Plans and Such

So planning my wedding has been a relatively well lit road so far. You could say Emily is finally following in her sisters footsteps for a change. Having just gone through the entire wedding process with Bekah (Errek was there too) Emily and I have seen the many steps that must be taken and have already begun to use this knowledge of dos and don'ts to plan our wedding. Location - check. Reception location - check. Honeymoon location - check. I guess this is where the phrase "location, location, location" must have come from. Caterer - check. Wedding dress (I went golfing on these days) - check. We've got the guest list together and have begun the long, and sometimes fun, task of registering for gifts. Of course there are still hundreds of things to do, and more things to check off our lists, but we're off to a good start and we still want to get married.
In other news, I lost my job when Macri's Deli up and closed unannounced on Aug. 2. It's kind of a mystery as to why but with the many rumors that had been in the stale, humid Deli air, I wasn't surprised - upset as to how it was handled, eager to find out if I and when to expect my final paycheck, but not surprised.
On the brighter side, did I mention I am still getting married, my final semester of school begins in a few weeks, and most importantly... I will be playing on TWO softball teams this Fall.
I now have the ability to offer my services to those in need having further enhanced my list of skills and abilities... be it pawning Macri's Deli specials off as my own or venturing into the realm of Wedding Planner, I am at your service.

Music Television

MTV was introduced the year I was born, but not having cable made it a channel we never watched. The first music video I remember seeing was Michael Jackson's Thriller which is also arguably the first modern music video. Music and television seem to go together, though I often wish that I hadn't seen a music video because it sticks in my head and I watched it over and over erery time I hear the song. MTV has changed, from what I can tell they don't actually play music anymore. That's why I think this new show (in the UK?) is such a good idea.

Live From Abbey Road will feature three artists or bands each night and each band will play three songs. No audience, no host introducing them, simply music with interviews between. And it looks like they have a great lineup too.

Josh Groban for mom, Muse for Matt, Ray LaMontagne for me, Iron Maiden for Edwardo, and so much more (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Paul Simon). You can check out some videos on the web site (under "Footage").

Ben is correctamundo!

Even at our worst, Crums are well above average in everything that matters. Just look how many there are of us, we already got everyone else beat, hands down. (Thanks Mom and Pop for that one). I've got to agree with Ben though; we've had better days. But, if we can just hunker down and acknowledge our current shortcomings, then perhaps tomorrow we can recapture some of our glory days. With that as my motivation, let's move on to the meat of my posting:

Peter and I were talking recently about how cool Macyver is. This is one of the few things that we agree totally on. I was remembering how Peter got his "Macgyver-watching-privileges" taken away for two weeks, after attempting to make a bomb that Macgyver made in the previous week's episode. Of course Peter is still bitter about missing those two episodes, but who wouldn't be? My point is that Macgyver was an inspirational character in Peter's life, perhaps even a hero. There aren't enough people worthy of being heros nowadays, isn't that a shame? We can always look to the past though to find people of integrity: Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Lou Gehrig, and of course Macgyver.

I somehow feel that I failed in bringing back the magic of the "Crum Family Blog". It's like riding a bike though; you fall off a lot, you fly over the handlebars and break you collarbone from time to time, but eventually you put it back in the front yard and come in for dinner.

Back in the Day

As I was looking back through posts on this blog I realized something: We use to have some really cool posts!

Nostalgia ensued as I read posts about MacGyver posted by the mysterious Edwardo and the subsequent attempts by Jess to ban him from posting on this site. There were posts about Mare Island, the Cheeses Factory and Gary Larson.

So Here's my idea... keep posting. With over a hundred and fifty posts already this is one happ'nin' blog. Nate, you use to write stories about Angelina Jolie; what happened? William, you use to send in pictures that would get scanned and posted; do you still draw? (I know you do!) and Jon, you use to post something serious every once in a while... any new deep thoughts?

I have also only gotten three requests for music, does anyone else have a request?

Hope to hear more from you all soon,

Ben

The Crum Family

Our Blog's Music

Does anyone have a song they would like to hear on this blog (sorry, Crums only!). Send me the title and artist or the MP3 via email.

He Ya

Go to this to see an awesome version of the Outkast hit - it's by Matt Weddle

Double Dog Dare

As some of the more nerdy members of the family may know, the new Harry Potter book comes out this Saturday (for those who didn't know, the movies are actually books too!).

Anyhow, here's the dare (and this is open to family members and non-members alike): stand in line at Border's or any other bookstore hosting a "Potter Party" on Friday night and as soon as you get your hands on the book, flip to the end read the last page and exclaim aloud (very loud) "HOLY CRAP... he _______ (insert "lives" or "dies")" and then begin reading the last line out loud! If you do this (and I do dare you) I will give you $10. That's right, ten bucks from the BC!

Chances are you can find some other people to match my $10, you could even end up getting a "free" copy of the ridiculously long book.

So who's in?



PS. You get another dollar if you post the ending on this blog before the book gets released on the West coast!

Summer Vacation Excitement

Seeing Daniel in person!
Seeing Matt, Ben, Michal, Jon, and Nate again!
Matt's engagement to Emily!
Soccer with the brothers (and Church of the Good Shepherd)!
Wyoming!
Seeing Peter, Jess, Jude, Ashley and Aravis again!
Pike's Peak by van and car!
Swimming at the Dodrills'!
The Good Shepherd reunion!
especially seeing old friends, and
the band concert
Ben's new job!
The Creation Museum!
Getting home again!

David and Stephen are exhausted from climbing Pike's
Peak!

A Date to Save

So I've posted about my engagement on my personal blog but thought that this would be a good location (more readership) to post about the date for the wedding. Emily and I have decided on March 8, 2008. This is the Saturday beginning Spring Break here in Bloomington. It was great to see the family here for a few days and I look forward to seeing them all again soon. Peter and family, I hope you all can make it out here. Nate, it would be great to see you here as well. Thomas, feel free to bring your girlfriend with you. As the plans progress I will be sure to post the latest info on this blog.
- Matt

Just What I Always Wanted

I Love Donuts.
A long time ago I told Mom that I wanted to have the van when I grew up (the old red van we got in St. Louis), build a donut machine (out of wood) and sell "van-made" donuts out of the back of the van. I would still like to do this one day, that's how much I love donuts.

Well, maybe I don't need to figure out how to build that Wooden Donut Machine anymore, here is a spiffy medal donut robot that would do the trick.



Thanks to: Derick at LiveJournal

Here We Come!

As I write, David is playing his final baseball game of the season (unless there's a rain delay). Stephen is watching the game. Thomas is at work. We've just finished supper at home and are polishing off the last of a delicious watermelon. All the bags are packed, but still need to be loaded in the van, and we're (almost) ready to go. Final checks need to be made. Are the windows all closed and locked? I need to give a house key to Amy who will be feeding Crumpet while we're gone.
Look out Indiana and Colorado---here we come!

On Top

I noticed that Ben recently posted his "ilike" score, so I thought it fitting to follow suit. They tell me that only two other people have achieved the rank of "Music Ninja", T-Bone Burnett and Quincy Jones. I guess that's not bad company to keep.

Happy Father's Day

All you fathers out there.

iLike

So I don't offen tell people that I am on Facebook, quite frankly, it's because I am embarrassed. However, they have put up two new things that make it worth talking about. One is the graffiti wall, this is really cool, and the second is the iLike Challenge. This game, previously played on the iPod, is really fun and really addicting (my goal is to get a higher ranking than Matt, I already passed David). Note in this picture that, even thought my percentage isn't that great (I have even missed Pearl Jam questions) my time is outstanding! 2.8 Second average... I rock!



For those of you who don't know, Facebook is an online "social" community... the embarrassing thing is that you have "friends" and the more "friends" you have the more "popular" you are (virtually speaking).

Vacation Schedule

Here is the present (and therefore still tentative) schedule for our upcoming vacation/sabbatical. If you have any suggestions or alterations please let me know.

Tuesday, June 19 Leave home after David's baseball game
at approximately 9 pm--drive through the night
(Pop, Mom, Thomas, David, Stephen, Elisabeth, William, Jesse)

Wednesday, June 20 Arrive in Indiana in the morning
Hold Daniel

Wednesday-Sunday Play and visit in Bloomington
June 20-24 Celebrate Matt and Emily's engagement
Mom and Pop attend Errek and Bekah's wedding on Saturday

Monday-Wednesday Travel in a leisurely manner to Colorado
June 25-27 via Wyoming
(all of the above, including Pop, plus Jonathan and Nathaniel)

Wednesday-Sunday Play and visit in Colorado Springs
June 27-July 1 Celebrate Jesse's birthday

Monday-Tuesday Return to Bloomington (minus Pop)
July 2, 3

Wednesday-Sunday 4th of July in Bloomington
July 4-8 Church of the Good Shepherd Reunion

We're bringing two tents, sleeping bags and pillows, a queen size air mattress, several folding chairs (if they fit), and our own towels. Anything else??? We can do the grocery shopping when we arrive, and I will do all the cooking--if that would help. We're looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Congratulations!

So I dug up some pictures from the last wedding I went to, which show a couple of people who are going to have the next wedding I'm looking forward to...

Congratulations Matt and Emily! It's great news to hear that Matt not only proposed, but Emily said "yes". It's so good when it works out that way. I am truly excited about this, and if you know me at all, being excited about anything, especially a wedding is a big deal. So, Matt and Emily, I hope that all the planning and decisions go smoothly, and I hope that your life together is a great experience. Also, I already know one of the songs that's going to make it into the wedding video for you both. You're in our thoughts and prayers.

I could end this posting right there, but there just seems to be so much to be excited about, I just want to keep on going... It was recently Daniel, Matt, Jon and Thomas' birthdays. Happy Birthday to all of you. It kind of sucks that we only have one birthday a year, because it's nice to have that cell phone alarm ring and let me know it's time to give one of you a call. Maybe that's my fault, I should like program alarms to call for all sorts of reasons. Like Nate might get a call because they're showing "Iron Eagle 3: Bird of Prey" on TBS, and I know that's why he joined the Air Force. Or Ben gets a call because I was watching "Return of the Jedi" (It's just such a sweet movie). Or I call up Mom because I just burned my steamed vegetables, again. Anyways, I hope you all had happy birthdays, and if it's not your birthday, I hope you had happy unbirthdays!

There is one more thing I am excited about and want to spend some time talking about. There are only two and a half days left in the Halo 3 Beta, and boy has it been awesome. I have played a grand total of 159 games, gotten 1166 kills, 626 assists and an amazing 1896 deaths. I've reached the rank of Sergeant and attained level 11. Now this all probably means nothing to you, but you may have noticed that I died almost twice as much as I inflicted death. This I think speaks to my true character, and I am ultimately a very nice person. Let me share with you the stats of the top Halo 3 player: "SmokedYeti" has played 1196 games, gotten 20957 kills, 4865 assists and only 9022 deaths. He has reached the rank of a 3 star General. Now I must admit that I have respect for this guy and it would be cool to play against him, or even better be on his team for a while. At the same time, he probably hasn't been to work much in the past two weeks, and I bet he smells funny and is a little grumpy by now. Also the amount of Mountain Dew it must take to support this ranking is scary. All that aside, the Halo 3 Beta is sweet and the full game is going to be even better. The best level of the Beta is "Valhalla" which is a good sized (Aprox 3/4 miles by 1/4 mile) map, with two bases (one at either end) and a small river running right down the middle. Plenty of cover, but also a lot of open ground to cover. It's great for vehicles, sniping and my favorite the gatling gun. Give me the gatling gun and a group of five or six enemies, thinking that they're in the clear, priceless.

Oh yeah, also in a couple of weeks I get to see a whole bunch of other Crums, so I'm excited about that too.

Daniel Peregrine Crum

Hey Everyone, here is the first official release of authorized photos of the new Crum boy, Daniel Peregrine.


The Good ol' Thumbsucking Technique


Baby's Mama


Attack of the Killer Rabbit


Drool Machine


My Baby Boy can grow a better beard than half his uncles

Daniel Peregrine Crum

If you go over to the Bayly brothers' blog you will see a picture of Ben holding Daniel. The child is brilliant, as you will soon discover. Just see how he already values the Crum name. His little hand is forming a perfect "C" right there on his forehead! I'm sure I'm not the first to notice this, but I am surprised that I would be the first to point it out.

Where's Pippin?

Dear Ben and Michal,
Happy Anniversary
and congratulations of the birth of Daniel Peregrine Crum.
Can't wait to see his picture posted here.
Love, Mom

BUY Linkin Park's new album...

...Minutes To Midnight. It's gooooooood.

Linkin Park has been letting their fan base know that they sound different. That, they've gotten away from the rock/rap label that they forced upon themselves. This is true to an extent. There is still rapping, because the rapper from the group, Mike, is still in the band. But, they do sound different. They sound more mature and more like a group that has somthing to talk about. Chester, the lead singer, doesn't yell all the time on this album. Some of the songs are actually quite mellow.

All in all, it probobly would have sucked if they had put out an album that sounded exactly the same as the last two. Insted of sucking, they chose to grow as a band and in it, they proved that they are going to be around for a long time, and they are going to continue making good music.

Casablanca

This posting is going to ramlble around a little, so please bear with me...

Pervasive and glamorizing. Its almost impoosible to debate that "Casablanca" didn't do this to smoking back in 1942. As far as I can tell, only about 25% of the population smoked back in 1942, and even less would have back when the events depicted in "Casablanca" take place. Therefore there really isn't a historical motivation for so much onscreen cigarette usage. Therefore, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) should re-rate this film with an "R" rating. "Casablanca" was released before films were rated by the MPAA, but it was brought before the board and given a "PG" rating in 2000 prior to a special edition DVD release. The MPAA recently announced that it will be taking smoking into account in rating every movie that comes before it. Not all films with smoking will be rated "R", the motivation for inclusion of acts of smoking will affect how the film is judged. One must assume that a film addressing the struggle of a teenager to fight peer-pressure, may only get a "PG-13" as long as only the "bad kids" are smoking. I'm guessing that Steven Speilberg will go back to "Jaws" and rerelease an edited version where the sea captain is sucking on a lolipop instead of smoking a cigarette. "Casablanca" deserves to be rated "R". The smoking rates among the population skyrocketed from about 25% in 1942, to almost 43% in 1965. Obviously it's all because of movies that people do things, this explains why everyone is so funny, pretty and ready to save the world with action packed carchases and kung-fu fighting. What I think he MPAA should do is get together with a group of concerned parents and decide what else they can do to protect children. I think that any movies that glamorize crossing the street without looking both ways, or any films that have pervasive chewing of gum found stuck under public picnic tables should be given automatic "R" ratings too.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I get the privellege of honoring my mother and the mother of my children. What better way to do this than to release a new Dlog with Dumb Dumb Dog doing his thing? I haven't started on it yet, but I'm sure I'll get some inspiration soon and you'll all see what I come up with tomorrow over on the Dlog.

After tomorrows posting, I don't think anyone will be hearing much from me for like three and a half weeks. On May 16th the HAlo 3 beta is coming, and aside from the stuff I'm supposed to do, that's going to probably take up most of my free time. The've been showing off some footage from the internal beta on the internet, and boy is it sweet. If you don't already have an Xbox 360, then it's almost time to get on so you'll be ready when Halo 3 comes out (this is for you specifically Mom). Once again, I'm not trying to brag or anything, seriously if anyone wants to play with me, you all know where I live.

The NEW Richard Cory is...

...Red Water, by the band Rehab, on the album Graffiti The World, released July 2005.

(Be Warned: If you listen to this song you will not be able to get it out of your head. It is very addicting. Keep your i-pod with you at all times!)

Different

Dumb Dumb Dog has been keeping busy the last few weeks. He has been trying out a different format, incorporating photagraphs into the Dlog instead of video. This is a simple, yet poignant style of storytelling. I for one have been very moved by his valiant effort to inform and entertain you all, yet I am distressed that there has been so little reaction. I was talking with Peter earlier this evening, and although he can be a bit whiny at times, I discovered that he too was upset that there is so little reaction to our blogging. He in turn informed me that Ben has been noticing this decline in blog comments as well. Of course Ben is handling it quite a bit better than Peter, but Ben has a thick skin, whereas Peter always has worn his heart on his sleeve (that's shorthand for being a pansy). Dumb Dumb and I are almost to the breaking point. The Dlog doesn't just make itself, and I can tell you for sure that my blog page is a labor of love. I get terrible headaches sometimes from the amount of emotonal and intellectual toil that goes into each and every posting. Of course Peter probably wouldn't go see all those movies if you all weren't depending on his insight and understanding. From what I understand he's had to suffer through some pretty bad stuff (Speed 2, Matrix Revolutions, Superman) all entirely because he cares so much for all of you...

Now, pull it together everyone. Scroll down and tell Ben what music you're listening to.

Check out Matt's blog for some interesting sports analasys.

See What is fashionable this time of year down in Louisiana at Nate's page

Jon's blog knows it's quality, not quantity that counts.

Mom has a page too.

Thomas has a sweet picture of Peter... in his dreams!

Go over to Peter's blog page and let him know what you thought of "Grindhouse".

Shoot over to my website and do your mind a favor.

Then go here and watch Dumb Dumb's homage to Ken Burns... Thank you.

The Tapestry of Bayeux

The Bayeux Tapestry

This is such an awesome tapestry, and now it really comes to life. Don't think too much about the Lord of the Rings & Gladiator soundtrack or the War Craft II and Age of Empires sound effects.

*Warning: Annimated tapestry beheadings!

Look At My Blog To See More...

Aravis

Of course every child is different, which is part of what makes being a parent so much fun. Ashley and Jude are learning to ride bikes without training wheels, and Aravis is giving herself manicures. She has seen Jess paint her toe and fingernails. Jess has even done Ashley and Aravis' toenails before. This past week, Aravis decided to take things into her own hands (no pun intended). She broke out the markers and headed off to her room. I actually am pretty impressed with how cleanly she pulled the whole thing off. Personally I prefer a single color for all ten fingers (eight fingers, two thumbs), but she's only three years old, and I'm kind of an old guy, so maybe she's onto something. Next time maybe I can tell you all about her other beauty salon adventures, including personal hair care and tattoo artistry...

Issac Brock's Old but Improved Modest Mouse

I don't suggest you buy this album! I don't think you'll like it!

But, that doesn't mean that it isn't a good and at sometimes great album.

I like Modest Mouse and have for the last 4 or 5 years. I like the sound of Issac Brock's voice, but I don't think you will. There are some tracks from his last album that sound like other indie songs. Most people would probobly have no problem listening to Float On and the Ocean Breathes Salty, but other tracks would turn you off. Issac Brock is pissed and it really comes through in his music. This new album has it's up tempoed songs (March Into The Sea/Dashboard/We've Got Everything), but it's still Brock's band, and he goes off from time to time.

Basically, I would say you might want to check out some of the songs mentioned above, before you try an entire album. Dashboard is my favorite song from the new album and will give you a good idea of the bands range.

I should mention that I told Matt that James Mercer (The Shins) appeared on this album. That is true but his vocals can only be heard on We've Got Everything.

This Old House

Remember how "Mom's Show" would come on every Saturday and we would gather around and watch Bob Vila (or that other guy) walk around and talk about old houses? The Silva Brothers were always my favorite part of the show. I'm sure they were saying interesting things but I couldn't get past their Boston accents. Norm was great too. Anyway, I was thinking of that show as I worked on this image (below) for a book cover. The author wanted a three story Bayou style plantation house with the "biggest widow walk ever" and also the bottom of the house had been washed out so now it was a grand ballroom and also there should be a grand staircase on the outside and also it should be surrounded by big old trees with moss and... well you get the idea. There was no way I was gonna be able to find a photo of that house. So I used this one and... well click on the image to see the magic.

Popular Dog

Over at his gmail account Dumb Dumb Dog has been getting some interesting mail, we thought you might enjoy reading part of a recent arrival:

Dear Dumb Dumb,

Am I enthusiastic about my wife's campaign for president? You bet I am. I know her better than anybody on earth, and she's got the best combination of mind and heart of everybody I've ever known.

All across the country, Hillary is campaigning with the signature wisdom, grace, and humor that make her a great candidate. I know that if we all work hard enough, those same traits will make her an even better president.

You and I know something about waging and winning presidential campaigns.

Winning the White House takes persistence, energy and effort -- not just from the candidate, but from a massive network of grassroots supporters.

Hillary's campaign is off to a great start. And this week, we're going to help take it to another level. Our goal: to demonstrate the range and breadth of Hillary's support by raising one million dollars in grassroots donations in a week's time.

Will you help me get our "One Week, One Million" campaign off to a powerful start?

Sincerely,



Bill Clinton

The Long Wait is Over

This video sat on the shelf for three months and is now ready to make it's national debut. Cut and ready in only five hours, enjoy!!!

Wincing The Night Away

So, on my last post on my blog, I mentioned that I didn't think that there would be a new album by The Shins this year, but I didn't say if I liked the newest album Wincing The Night Away. First of all I need to clear somthing up. This album actually came out on January 27th, 2007, so I meant they wouldn't have another album later this year.
I think that there is somthing about third albums. First albums kindof introduce us to a new group. Maybe a new sound, and some great singals. Second albums seem to just show that the band can come up with new material. But, the third album is when the band, in this case The Shins, have to prove that they can mature in every aspect of music making, and that they can come out with a great album. In the past two weeks I have listened to this album three or four times, every day. I still haven't found a song that I would call a singel. That isn't to say that I don't like some songs better, it's just that none seem seperate and above the album. All the songs work together to make this a sweet record. The first song is Sleeping Lessons. It seems to be taking you off into a daydream, into another world. It helps you get lost in this record. Phantom Limb, could easily be a stand alone song, but the track Pam Berry is it's into. The drums and bass on sealegs seems so unlike The Shins, but than James Mercer begins to sing and everything clicks. And, I can't listen to Red Rabbits and than not listen to the next track Turn On Me.
I think this a great album. It's nothing fancy but I am so hooked. I'll listen to some of my other music, but I always end up coming back to this record. So, don't get it unless your ready for the noise.
(Hey Matt, sorry it took so long to get my review out... what do think of this album)

Thomas Crum - in a Benjamin Crum film

Thomas, you are a goof!

See the film here

Drawing

This is a little sketch I did of when some of us were back-packing in the mountains of Colorado.

The Game

It was January 31st at 9:58 local time, I quickly placed my Halo 2 disc into my XBox 360. Seconds later the Bungie logo screen appeared, followed by Microsoft's... Within a minute I was logging into my "Live" account, and by 10:00 I was in a pregame lobby, awaiting my first Rumble Pit match of the night. Beginning at midnight (Eastern Time) thousands of Halo 2 players came together for three hours of online play, to qualify for entrance into the Halo 3 Beta.

A week later, those who had played for the three hours had to register at Halo3.com so that we could be the first to play the most anticipated game ever. I tried to register before I went to work, but the punks at Microsoft were probably still dinking their Starbucks and talking about how cool Zunes are. I have an amazing wife, who kindly checked in on the site throughout the day, and despite the bogged-down Microsoft server, was able to register me for the Beta...

A week after registration closed, I was sitting at the computer one night, and my MSN account popped up a message, informing me that I had some mail from Microsoft... It was here! I got into the Beta! Halo 3 is going to be the best video game ever in the history of the world. Perhaps better games will follow (Maybe Halo 4), but I've been waiting almost 30 years for this, and sometime this Spring I'll be online with the Beta, and hopefully by Thanksgiving we'll get the rest of the game.

Hopefully this hasn't come across as bragging or anything. Hopefully all of you will get the oppurtunity to play too. I'll even put out an open invitation to all of you; come on over and play whenever you want.

COLTS VS. BEARS

The ultimate Super Bowl match up. Colts and Manning versus Grossman and the Bears! Could there be a better Super Bowl match up?

Just Thinking

I just got off the phone with Peter. We talked about various things for about an hour but neither he nor our conversation has anything to do with this post. For some reason an idea just came to me that I want some feedback on. It's the idea that some people we meet are very much like mythical beings. For example, Gloria, the flower girl at Michal and my wedding was very often like a farry or sprite. How many of you remember Mr. Steele from Landisville? Think for a moment of him praying, now what does that remind you of?

I think Mr. Steele was an Ent. It's just an idea and I know it won't apply to everyone but I think we can all think of someone who remind us of a ficitional character or creature.

Horse Race

It hasn't quite been two weeks yet, but Dumb Dumb's newest Dlog is so imprtant and current that we felt it best to realease a couple days early. After much debate, we decided it is best to only post on his personal site (There is a link to the left, thanks Ben). There may be some objectionable content in this Dlog and in upcoming Dlogs, nothing that Simon and Garfunkle haven't already covered, but nevertheless best left off the family site. Dumb Dumb feels that there is some discrimination going down, but I think this is best.

Ladies and Gentlebeans

Today marks the next step in the saga of the Crum Family Blog. Today is the first day that the blog runs on the new Google Powered Blogger. Some of you (my family members) may not have Google accounts, if this is the case you will need to set one up next time you wish to post to the blog. Sorry if this is inconvenient, we will end up having a better site because of it.

Dlog

Dumb Dumb Dog has a few things to say, and today he begins with the first in a bi-weekly series.

New Years in Baltimore

Hey everyone, just wanted to forward this on to you all. Jessica, who came out with Michal and me to Baltimore, has just posted some pictures on her Flickr site. They're really good. Check them out [here].

Here's the picture she took of Stephen at the park.

Will and J-Dogg

So Ben posts a new video with a song by the same group (and from the same album) that I have a new video for (also featuring two of our brothers). Mine is not as produced but just as kick-A!!

Thief - a Benjamin Crum film

Check out my new film. Thomas, Jon and I worked on this one yesterday and I spent last night and this morning finishing it up. Nothing to fancy, just a little cold-weather fun. Enjoy!

Res-o-lut-ions

Every year I have the same problem with "New Year's Resolutions." I think of a really good one around February 10th.

But, looking back on the weeks prior to this discovery, I realize that I've already broken it many times. Examples of this include not eating chocolate or not watching movies or not talking in-depth about the new Harry Potter book before it comes out.

The last few years I have resolved not to make any resolutions. That didn't get me very far. I was disqualified from the start.

So this year, I'm just not going to resolve. At all.

Happy Freakin New Year

Happy new year y'all.