Happy New Year!

Wassabi!

You looking at me?!




Attack of the giant ball.

Ghostland Observatory

RCK's been waking up lately at 4:45am thirsty for a bottle. At his latest 4:45am bottle session, we took in a DVR'ed replay of Austin City Limits where we saw this two piece electro-dance soul rock band Ghostland Observatory. RCK was really digging them. Check out their 10/18/07 performance on the Conan O'Brien Show:



Here are some Ghostland Observatory links:

Ghostland Obervatory's Myspace Page

Dallas Morning News Article 12/30/07

Ghostland Observatory earns Band of the Year

Ghostland Observatory on Wikipedia

I'm going back to bed...

CK

Big Day For Pops T

This past Thursday, Pops T was sworn in for a second term as NY supreme court judge. The ceremony was held in the NY State Assembly. (check out Sheldon Silver's nameplate) Joining the swearing in ceremony were all of the Ts...Uncle G (who facilitated the oath), Uncle C, Aunt N, Grandma T and MTK were by Pops T side as he took the oath. After the ceremony, friends and family celebrated at McGeary's. McGeary's is a special place for the Ts. Its been the site for engagement parties, weddings, employment and now a Judge party.



The picture above was taken by Skip Dickstein of the Times Union. You can see the photo on the times union website by going to the photo gallery section. Then click on Capital Region in Photos. Its photo #2 as of 12:13am on Saturday 12/29.

CK

RCK wrapping himself up

Some Christmas pics

RCK getting a taste of his new Mickey ball.



MK and RCK



RCK and Uncle G. Uncle G just got a new job.....check out the press release here. Uncle G is a busy guy. He's also my lawyer and general contractor.



RCK sporting "My First Christmas" clothes. Courtesy of Uncle G and Aunt B.



RCK and Aunt N. Aunt N's cell phone is so old it it has a pull out antenna and comes with a backpack.



RCK and G Grandma. I thought MK and G Grandma shared the same first name. But I was wrong. G Grandma had me all confused when she said her given first name was L. Everyone calls her by M, though.



RCK sitting in Aunt N's old toddler chair. That chair is over 30 years old and home to a few spiders.



Check out RCK's good friend SS. Aren't they a cute couple!

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 month late. Its been a rough month. We spent the entire last month building up RCK's immune system. MK, Grammy K, Pa Pa K and Grandma T and I also participated. We all came down down with the Norovirus. RCK's daycare was ground zero. Glad that's over....knock on wood.

Here's some pictures from Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday hanging with my fam on the island of staten.



That's my Dad, HK (aka Pa Pa K). He carves a mean turkey!



Pictured above is SK sitting on NS' lap, RCK sitting on KS' lap and TC. They are all my nieces or nephew...except RCK...if you don't know already, he's my son!


MORE TO COME...INCLUDING CHRISTMAS PICS! PLUS, RCKS' POPS HAD A BIG DAY....MORE TO COME.....TOMORROW...OR THE NEXT DAY.

GOODNIGHT GRANDMA T. (CK'S LIFE MOST FAITHFUL READER!)

CK

Clinking the Spoon on the Baby's First Tooth, Now I Have to Buy the Baby Shoes Ritual

From PBS.com...

From the wild we see a real life Irish grandma performing a ritual that has taken place for thousands of years. The "Clinking the Spoon on the Baby's First Tooth, Now I Have to Buy the Baby Shoes Ritual".

CK ;)

Is there a "Da Da" in that Babble?

You be the judge. Post a comment.

CK

Dancing Dora

For my neice SK...

Ok, I'm over the Mets disastrous collapse...

Now some pictures of RCK and Family:

PS He's big.

I'm sad

One spoon, a highchair and lots of drama

Man, that's some nice tile!

Charlie Weis - Put Me In!

Coach Weis-

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that offensive line, you need me on that offensive line.

The truth is that the offensive line is inadequate. Alot of things are inadequate but I'm only one baby.

Put me on that offensive line!

RCK

RCK @ 3 months

All 16 lbs 10 oz and 25 inches of him:



CK

Sufjan Stevens

I'm going to see Sufjan Stevens at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) on November 2. He is putting on a show about the BQE. I think its going to be a great show. I'm really into Sufjan at the moment. His music has been playing non-stop in my car. And the BQE is dear to my heart since I used to live right by it in Kensington, Brooklyn. I guess I was neighbors with Sufjan as he lived (and currently lives) in Kensington back when I lived there in 2002-03.

My brother-in-law CT was the first to tell me about Sufjan and his Illinoise CD. A couple of weeks later after I forgot about what CT had told me, I was watching Austin City Limits on HD PBS. On the show was this large band with horns, back-up singers, a drummer, keyboardist, violinists and a singer on a piano. They were all dressed up like boy scouts with butterfly wings attached. Really odd, but they were playing really great music. I googled the artist and realized it was Sufjan Stevens. After watching the Austin City Limits show, I downloaded the Illinoise album off of Itunes. Really great stuff. Anyway, here is a link to a live performance by Sufjan Stevens and his band performing "Chicago"



While searching for a video of Sufjan to post on my blog, I came across this video of
The Carleton Singing Knights from Carleton College performing Sufjan's "Chicago" a cappella:



To bring it full circle, I'm also listening to Brooklyn's very own The National. Was reading through the song info on The National's latest album Boxer. Sufjan plays piano on two songs, "Ada" and "Racing Like a Pro".

Sufjan Stevens and The National. Really great stuff, check them out.

CK

Wobbly RCK

2 Kids From Brooklyn Just Celebrated Their 45th Wedding Anniversary

My parents celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary this past Saturday, August 25th. All of my siblings and their families were on hand to celebrate. My parents grew up on the same block in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. They started "dating" in 1958 when Ma K was 13 and Pa K was 15. After much begging by Pa K at Trinity Church Cemetery in downtown Manhattan, Ma K agreed to marry. They married in 1962 and have been happily married ever since. Check out the picture below of Ma and Pa K and all of their grandkids. (RCK is the little one)



CK

York Beach, ME

We just got back from vacationing with Pops and Grandma T. at York Beach, ME. We all had a real fun time. Check out the picture collage:



Argh! Some of the photos got chopped up a bit. Here are the chopped up pictures in full:

RCK and CJG

Check out RCK hanging out with CJG at the town pool. We are now card carrying members of the pool! I met CJG's dad in college...we lived on the same floor my freshman year and pledged a fraternity together. I become well acquainted with the trunk of his Ford Probe. Don't ask..

CK

8/14/07 RCK and CJG

RCK and KMR

RCK and MK went up north to hang out with KR and her daughter KMR at KR's Mom's house. They hung out in the pool (RCK loves putting his head in the water) for most of the day. RCK got a little sunscreen in his eye..hence the red eye. Good thing it cleared up the following day.

KKM Invitational Video

My swing is god awful! Its a miracle that I'm able to hit the ball with that atrocious swing. I guess its my natural athletic ability that gets me by ;)

CK

Cruising on the Magothy

Check out some photos of RCK chillin' with both sides of the family. My side consisted of my sister SS and bother in-law TS and their kids (my 1st neices) NS and KS. We were hanging at S's house for the weekend. On Saturday, MK's sister NT and brother CT along with CT's girlfriend RS came to the S's to party on the river. Check out the photo's below:

My sister SS and first brother in-law TS:



RS, MK and CT:



Youngest cousin RCK with Oldest cousin KS:

An Open Letter to Mr. Charlie Weis

SCROLL BELOW FOR UPDATED POSTS

Dear Mr. Weis -

My name is RCK (that's me above) and I've been a Notre Dame Football fan all my life. My Daddy and his whole family have rooted for Notre Dame and Notre Dame Football for many many years. (Daddy was lucky enough to get into Notre Dame grad school when the admissions office was out to lunch). You see, Daddy grew up in an Irish family on an island full of Italians. Notre Dame and Notre Dame Football always reminded him that he's Irish and proud to be Irish! He was just 11 years old when Mr. Holtz led the Irish to an unbeaten 12-0 season and the National Championship. Ever since then Notre Dame has fielded many good and great teams but we haven't been able to win the National Championship. Please Mr. Weis, can you promise me a National Championship this year? I know the team is young and we've lost many talented players like Mr. Quinn and Mr. Samardzija (mommy says I'm a good speller). Perhaps I'm asking too much. I think both Daddy and I will be happy with a bowl win. Can you promise that to me Mr. Weis? We don't want to lose 10 in a row.

I have faith in you as a leader and coach, in the toughness and grit of Mr. Zbikowski and in the potential of Mr. Clausen and the entire Notre Dame football team. Please Mr. Weis, bring us home a bowl win this year!

Go Irish!

Sincerely,

RCK (son of CK, MS '00)

Some more of RCK

Just a smiling RCK...

...plus some hairy legs.

Notre Dame Baby (aka RCK) Goes to Sleep

Check out RCK sleeping in his favorite Notre Dame onsie. The ND onsie was a gift from fellow Notre Dame alumni JJF and his fiance VC (soon to be VF). JJF should receive some credit for helping me get through grad school.

CK

Hanging with the cousins

MK, RCK and I headed to Connecticut to see MK's cousin KD, her husband ZD and their two sons ZGD and FD. FD was born just two days before RCK. There is a joke in there....but I'll let it lie.

Also joining us at the D's house was RCK's uncle GT and aunt BT. GT is a card carrying mixologist and treated us to some mojitos. Pretty tasty stuff. Too tasty...I woke up with a little headache this morning. One of the ingredients in the mojito is mint leaves. GT grows his own mint leaves in his backyard garden. He grows alot of good stuff in the garden. Apparently rotting deer's head makes good fertilizer.

After dinner we got to see the much anticipated video from GT and BT's wedding. ZD did a great job editing and it looked great.

Video of FD hanging with RCK (Where you running to FD?)



MK and her brother GT:




KD and her son FD:



Cousins FD, ZGD and RCK:



BT and FD:



FD and RCK:

Look what RCK learned while I was in Hotlanta

While I was in Atlanta, GA for work on Monday and Tuesday of last week, RCK was figuring out his mobile. I'm glad MK got it on video so I didn't miss it. Check it out:



CK

Alo got Lasik Surgery

Just got am email from Alo:

After 32 years of life and approximately 27 years of wearing glasses, I have finally gotten Lasik surgery.

Check out the before and after:

BEFORE




AFTER



Check out the blood shot eyes: