Poem Worth Reading

I probably won't ever ask you to do this again, but you should go read (or better sing) the most recent poem of mine on albersoncrum.blogspot.com.  Just click on my name in the right toolbar and you'll be shortcutted away.

Observation

The Herald-Times Online website has been showing reader photos of the recent snowfall, Emily pointed this one out to me saying, "Isn't that Ben and Michal's house?" I do believe it is. There is no caption to go along with the photo so I am not for sure, but the house in the top left of the photo looks to be theirs. Kind of cool bro!!

So, I'm a little snowed in.

Today would be the day where Ivy Tech would be consuming most of my time, but School has been canceled due to some snow so I thought I'd write a blog post or two in order to pass the time (It is so bad out that WalMart is closed). That being said, you can check out my posts at my blog, or on the CIA's blog, or Obama's blog, which I have taken over since he doesn't have time for the American people anymore now that he is a president or whatever.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

So I am guessing most of you are not waking up this morning thinking: I wonder what Ben has posted on the Crum Family Blog? But maybe you did think that, and if you did, this post is for you.

Enjoy these cartoons from days gone by:



GI Joe, Mask, Bugs Bunny and more...

Brotherly Love (Part I)

Thanks to Bungie.net I can go online and view every little detail of the last online battle Nate, Thomas, David and I took part in earlier tonight (tonight for me, early tomorrow morning for them).

Hulu

This could be old news, but I find that I am behind in quite a few current events. Hulu is my favorite web-site. I have been able to watch episodes of 24, that I have missed, the next day after they are aired and I am able to watch season 3 of Arrested Development and it doesn't cost me a thang.

Our New Dog

Here she is--Daisy! She seems calm but curious. She doesn't sit on command, so we do have a lot of training ahead. She isn't "Ditzy", so we're doing fine so far.

Music Memories (from days gone by)

What is your first memory of music?

When the family was out here for New Years Pop and I sat in my basement spinning some of his old records. It was really cool to look through the albums that kick-started my love for music, there were even some surprises (like a record with a song that Pop wrote --- unfortunately my turntable doesn't spin at 72RPM so I'll have to wait to hear that one). I recently put together a two-part-playlist on my iPod called "Momma Hates Motown and Papa Don't Sing No Country Song" highlighting the differences in Mom and Pop's tastes in music and how that has influenced my taste.

Sometime soon I hope to put together a diagram or tree or playlist of the music I have liked and how I have gotten to where I am today. I wonder what you all would say, it would be interesting to see each others tree since we all would have similar roots.

So for starters, here's one of the very first songs I ever remember listening to (as a real memory, not just a combination of recollection and family stories). Enjoy:

Happy Birthday, Aunt Edna

My Uncle Arthur's widow Edna recently celebrated her 90th birthday. A party was held in her honor at my cousin Gladys' home yesterday. Grandmother, Grandfather, Aunt Beth, and Uncle John traveled from South Carolina for the event. Uncle Bob and Aunt Sandi drove us up to New Jersey to be part of the festivities. It is very rare that all of us would be together, much less take a road trip together. So, here is a family photo to mark this memorable occasion.

Listen To This

If you like Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa ("it feels so unnatural Peter Gabriel") than check out the version sung by Peter Gabriel and Hot Chip.

Video Game

I considered sending this out to Nate, the connoisseur of all things musical-video-game, but thought the rest of you might get a kick too. If you are able to look beyond the lack of any apparent 'game' in the demo below, you will see a potential for a 'analog benefit to a digital technology'. In other words, this new guitar hero-esque game has the potential to offer the same fun and challenge of rock band but, as the interview says, in the end rather than leaving you with expert skill and no friends actually gives you a tangible skill, namely, the ability to play guitar.



Cost: $200 (includes real acoustic/electric guitar from Washburn)

2009

2009 is going to be a sweet year. I personally have a couple irons in the fire. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I guess we'll find out together.

I need to write or talk personally to Matt and Ben, but here's my public thanks to both for the awesome CDs I got for Christmas. I now have new music to infect my fellow workers with, and that is a good thing.

Now that Ben has sworn off movie writing I will have to redouble my efforts.
The newest "Watchmen" trailer is the Japanese version, which as was the case with the new "Terminator" trailer, I think it's actually better than any of the domestic trailers...

Christmas Gift Exchange--the final decision

Since hearing no objections to my proposal, we are moving ahead with the new Christmas Gift Exchange plan. Although the easiest method would be to begin with the person immediately following you in the Crum chronology, I am suggesting we begin further down the line. This will allow the older brothers to get to know the younger siblings better, and allow them to buy gifts for them while they're still "children". So, take heed. You may begin to craft your gift early if you wish, or spend time exploring the mind of your designated recipient so that you can buy or make something tailored expressly for him/her/them. (I allow myself the use of slashes in this case since we do not have a third person pronoun that is either male or female and singular or plural.)

Peter and family will give to Elisabeth
Matt and Emily will give to William
Ben and family will give to Jesse
Jon will give to Peter's family
Nate will give to Matt and Emily
Thomas will give to Ben's family
David will give to Jon
Stephen will give to Nate
Elisabeth will give to Thomas
William will give to David
Jesse will give to Stephen

If, in addition, you wish to give a family photo or DVD to any or all of the others, that is perfectly acceptable (and quite desirable, as well).

New Year

For those of you who didn't already know, we are now in a 'new' year. This doesn't actually mean anything (it's like being a year older --- you're not really more than a day older than you were before your birthday).

However, it is nice to be able to have a mark on a timeline that you can use to reposition yourself or evaluate your life's trajectory. We often refer to this recalibration as 'New Years Resolutions'. Things that we resolve to accomplish in the new year.

Usually these resolutions involve some health/fitness concern or are vague (and thus achievable) like 'swearing less in public places when kids are present'.

So here's this years resolution (pertaining to blgging) from me:

"I [Ben] hereby resolve
to write about stuff
other than movies."

Okay, so that's not really a big deal (I can still comment on Peter's posts), but there is so much that I am interested in other than movies that I thought it would be a good discipline to write about those things and not Hollywood. Of course, I will end up making references to movies or actors, but only as they pertain to whatever I am writing about.

So how about you all, any good resolutions this year?

New Blog (Again?)

So this is my seventh blog (and counting) but I hope it's gonna be a good one.  Check out bobandjon.blogspot.com for the latest attempt from yours truly.  I won't post often so just read this blog and I'll let you know when something new comes along.  Deal?

But please find something to comment about so I know who's reading.

This from the comments:

Here's a comment left by David Crumm (2 m's) under the previous post. Thanks David and we wish you and your's a Merry Christmas too:

"Wow! What a discovery!
I am David Crumm (2-ms) and my late brother (lost to cancer unfortunately) was Dr. Stephen Crumm. My other brother is John Crumm -- and my son, now studying international relations -- is Benjamin Crumm. My brother John got his masters of planning at University of Maryland and my daughter Megan Crumm is studying at a seminary in Washington D.C. -- so although we're based in Michigan we have lots of ties to D.C. and Maryland...

Merry Christmas from your (apparently) long-lost Crumm clan relatives. (My Dad the genealogist says the 1-m Crums are related to us -- but one particular Crum(m) after the Civil War claimed some land in Michigan and headed West from the eastern branch.)

Glad to discover you cousins!

...

Happy New Year!
-- David Crumm"

what i do when nate and tom are'nt home

NHL to NFL

Sorry Matt, I just thought this was really funny. We all know Hockey is a sport too.


NHL Star Called Up To Big Leagues To Play For NFL Team

Control Yourselves!

Typically, as a rule, I don't use exclamation points, ever. But this is one of those rare situations that deserves a sense of urgency... If you recieve a DVD (two DVDs to be exact), do not watch them yet! If you recieve a package and you do not live in Maryland, you may open it, but do not watch the DVDs yet! If you are in Maryland, do not open the package, even though there are DVDs in there, you can't watch them anyway! The reason others can open their packages is that some (Matt and Emily) are responsible for dispersing said DVDs to others (but still don't anyone watch them yet!) On Christmas Day, Maryland people may open their package, but do not yet watch the DVDs! It is very important that the DVDs are not viewed until the evening of Christmas Day! I recommend putting them someplace safe, like on a high shelf out of the reach of anyone who might try to sneak a view. Be sure to put a Post-it on the television, and another on the gallon of milk, and just to be safe a bright pink Post-it duct taped to your wrist. Then whenever evening on Christmas Day arrives (officially that would be 5:23 PM or 17:23 hours). Then and only then should you place the first DVD (either one will do) into the nearest DVD player. Make sure your televison is properly connected (and turned on) and sit down quietly, preparing yourselves for something really special...
Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Burn

If you have not already gotten one, you can look for a CD in the mail soon. The 'Merry Burned Christmas 2008' is a mix that has nothing to do with Christmas (mostly because I don't like Christmas music). Here's a track to wet-your-whistle, though you will not actually find this artist or this track on the CD. Enjoy!



And now this completly different version: