Big Bad Brad Blog

2008-08-30T01:04:00.000-07:00

Donnovan fishing with his grandpa on the coast of Mississippi a few
days before hurricain Gustav rolls in.

Lots of accidents last week

2008-08-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

Day 4 - Sea World San Diego

2008-07-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

We started our 4th day at Sea World Breakfast with Elmo and Friends. The breakfast was actually pretty decent and buffet style so you can be full for most of the day at the park.

Celestia and I split off from Donovan and Vanessa for a couple hours after breakfast. We hit the Atlantis Roller Coaster/ Boat coaster. Having it front-loaded with both of us left us soaking. The water temporarily broke my cell phone.

Celeste Matrix-esque looking just about to give me the finger for snapping her pic.

Celeste made friends with her fellow caricature artists working sea world. One talented guy gave me a complimentary drawing. Check out his blog at jackin-faces.blogspot.com

We met back up together and I was able to get some great Telephoto shots of Vanessa and Donovan coming down the big Atlantis drop.

Donovan got his face painted with a snake.

The snake lasted about 15 minutes before turning Donovan into Commando-D with the help of the bumper rafts he became so fond of over this trip.

Flamingo feeding was entertaining for Donovan.

Donovan's Second Disney Trip (Day 3)

2008-06-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

We did the early entry 7am and headed straight to Space Mountain. We had almost no wait and flew through the ride.

I *barely* was able to wedge my legs inside the bar. The ride instructor insisted I must have knees inside, just after take off I released my much pinned knee from the bar.

After the ride a still mostly empty tomorrow land.

We hoped to get into the submarine ride before it got a massive backup. I don't understand the popularity. Must be the little kids (got me on it). We waited over an hour for this one.

Mom's turn to have Donovan take her for a spin.

Donovan could not get enough of Autopia.

Donovan a Goofy took a shot at playing charades of disney movies.

Slow pace hot mid-day sun boat ride into story land. Donovan liked it plenty pointing out Aladdin's city of Agraba.

We actually attempted to get all four of us into 1 teacup. Just not possible. So Vanessa and Donovan got to ride twice in a row while Celeste and I exchanged spots.

The carriage rides were a nice break from the constant marathon.

Bus rides too. Donovan sat up front with the driver.

We tried to get several pics of Donovan and the Disney characters.

This is up waiting for the monorail ride.

Donovan, my intellectual property and legacy?

Donovan's First California Adventures Trip - Day 2

2008-06-18T22:16:00.001-07:00

California Adventure Park day two of Theme Park Birthday Marathonmania!

Donovan enjoyed the Micky Mouse Clubhouse stage show with effects.

If you go to California Adventures see the Aladdin show its pretty entertaining and very extensive production.

We all went up in the giant Ferris Wheel. This cage was on a oblique track that rolled us around as the giant wheel spun. Donovan was flung from his seat. Luckily no injuries!

While Vanessa and I held bench space for the parade, Celeste took Donovan up on the Jelly fish ride.

Donovan loved the life size McQueen and TowMater. However, he expressly said that McQueen was fake because of the lines holding up his eyeballs.

This ride was pretty terrifying. No matter how safe you know the ride should be, it's very unsettling to be in a long elevator free fall that shoots you up out of your seat.

We tried to pick up a squished penny at each park for scrap-booking.

Donovan's First Disney Trip - Day 1

2008-06-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

We started our visit going to Tom Sawyer isalnd looking for his white brush. Turns out the white brush prize deal only happens in Disney Florida.
Donovan did get to meet Jack Sparrow.
And ultimately he got to find his treasure.
A few thousand steps later we had worked up an appetite from all our spelunking at Sawyer's island.
It got pretty warm in the middle of the day. Perfect time for splash mountain. The Fast Pass process was awesome since Vanessa took the time to research the best way to do Disney.
Saved $10.99 by having my camera with me for all these rides.
Fairly wet.
This was one of Donovan's favorites.
Little time at Thunder Petting Ranch.
Autopia was enjoyed a few times by Donovan.
All these photos are in sequence.
Vanessa, Donovan and Celeste took a dumbo ride.
After a meltdown from Donovan about wanting this light-saber and me telling him no. He finally got it after I found out it was only $5.

LEGO Land

2008-02-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

Donovan went on his first roller coaster ride this weekend at Lego Land in California.
He got to enjoy all the kiddie rides including this Jeep ride and many others.
There were plenty of Lego creations that Donovan got to interact with. This one reminded him of his infamous recurring "Dinosaur" nightmare he has about being chased by a dinosaur.
He of course was chumming it up and made peace with the lego monster.
Donovan is very proud of obtaining his Lego Land Driver's license.DFDFDonovan had several chances to play with Legos and built this mini creation that he was proud of.Due to going on a weekday the park was pretty empty and we got on the rides quickly and got to ride in the front frequently like the boat ride photo above.
They had some pretty neat Lego cities built including Las Vegas, New Orleans, New York, DC and others.

Donovan Continues his Primary Tour with Ron Paul

2008-01-17T15:07:00.000-08:00

After getting on stage at Obama's rally and seeing what the democrats have to offer. Donovan has a clear preference for the Libertarian minded Republican Dr. Ron Paul. This is clearly because of Donovan's love for freedom to play , desire to hold on to more of his money for toy purchases, and of course Dr. Paul is his best chance to avoid a future military draft.

Ron Paul likely to be #1 funded GOP

2007-11-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

Not only has he been the most supported financially by the US Military now all people of the US have spoken with their donations to make Paul the most funded GOP candidate. I managed to catch my donation on the screen this time. We could seriously have a revolution on our hands. Ron Paul has raised more in 2 months than EVERY other GOP candidate did the whole 3rd quarter. I fully expect him to be the #1 GOP candidate this quarter. Especially after Tea Party Day.

Donovan and Caitlin's Big Drop

2007-11-22T23:21:00.000-08:00

Donovan and his cousin Caitlin put these toys together after Thanksgiving dinner. They kept getting it taller and taller until they decided to build them all the way up the stairs.

Dr. No sometimes Says yes, when it's constitutional

2007-11-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Seeing as how an appauling recent finding that 1/4th of our homeless are Veterans the following Passage by Ron Paul shows some compelling wisdom.

by Ron Paul, Dr. March 24, 2003
Congress narrowly passed a budget last week that calls for the federal government to spend in excess of 2 trillion dollars in 2004, which is more than double what the federal government spent in 1990. Yet while Congress finds hundreds of billions to fund every conceivable unconstitutional program and special-interest pork project, it fails to provide adequately for our nation’s veterans. In fact, the budget passed by the House calls for cuts of $15.1 billion from veterans programs over the next ten years. These cuts will affect programs that provide education benefits, compensation for veterans with service-related disabilities, and pensions for disabled veterans.
We should understand that veterans programs, unlike so many federal programs, are constitutional. The Constitution specifically provides for Congress to fund armed forces and provide national defense. Congress and the nation accordingly have a constitutional obligation to keep the promises made to those who provide that defense. This is why I support increased funding for veterans, while opposing the bloated spending bills that fund corporate and social welfare, pork favoritism, and special interests at the expense of those veterans.
Unfortunately, the trust that members of our armed forces put in our government has been breached time and time again, and last week’s budget vote represents anther blow to veterans. Even as we send hundreds of thousands of soldiers into Iraq, Congress can’t get its priorities straight.
We should remember that Gulf War I and II will swell the ranks of our combat veterans, many of whom will need medical care as they grow older. Congress should immediately end the silence and formally address Gulf War Syndrome, which has had a devastating impact on veterans who served in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. As a medical doctor, I believe the syndrome is very real, and likely represents several different maladies caused by exposure to conditions specific to the Gulf region at the time. Congress and the Veterans Administration should stop insulting our Gulf War veterans and recognize that the syndrome is a serious illness that needs treatment. We can only hope and pray that our soldiers in Iraq today do not suffer from similar illnesses in the future. Congress must, however, ensure adequate funding for the medical care that today’s soldiers will someday need.
Having served in the U.S. Air Force for five years, I feel an obligation to our veterans and current armed forces. Congress wastes so much money that only a small portion of that waste could make a huge difference in the lives of our veterans. Depending on what the Senate does, Congress may have a chance to revisit the 2004 budget and find the resolve to fully fund needed veterans programs.

Boy and Boosh

2007-11-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

While Boosh has been growing bigger he has become much more gentle with Donovan. They both get along much better now. Although now we need to make sure that Donovan is not hurting Boosh. Sometimes donovan will try to stand on him while he's laying down or he might grab his fur to hard with his hands.

The Bigger Boosh

2007-10-31T22:11:00.001-07:00

Wow what a difference 11 weeks and 150 lbs of dog food makes. Boosh is weighing in at 65lbs now. He's gotten much better with Donovan (not hurting him or playing hard). He's learned his position in the family pretty well. He was quickly house trained. He now sleeps upstairs next to our bed. He's also being a great guard dog by positioning himself between us and the entrance and warning us of any potential danger. When I pretended to burglar into the bedroom he pounced right towards me until he realized it was me.

MUSH! MUSH!

2007-10-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here's Claudia and Myself squashing Tabitha our mini musher that drove us all out to the sled dog's summer camp ground.

This was a fun quick tour. The dog ride only lasted about 10 minutes but was the best part. One of the dogs defecated while pulling our sled.

BIG fish

2007-09-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Yep these are the two biggest fish caught in Alaskan waters in mans history. Seriously though we have to plan a Salmon Welcome Back Bake.

BIG fish

2007-09-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Yep, these are the two biggest fish caught in Alaskan waters ever!

GenCon 2007 (Big Man vs Segway)

2007-08-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

So while we were at Gencon for Greg's bachelor party part II Brian and I got a chance to go against each other on a segway obstacle course. They had a 250 lb weight limit so with a 200lb verbal weight loss they allowed me on. I was impressed with the segway holding up under almost 2x it's load limit. You can see me just beating Brian by 2 seconds at the end.

Bouche the Bullmastiff (10 weeks old)

2007-08-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

So we got our puppy on Friday night. Currently we have him sleeping in a cardboard box but a wire dog crate is in the works. We were working on a name starting with Bishop but we then started calling him Bushi and have mostly settled on calling him Bouche (Boosh) which is french for mouth. I am impressed with this Bullmastiff so far. He's picking up his house training pretty well and starting to come when called. He can eat a ton and will be growing at a super fast pace. He was 25lbs when we picked him up and will probably be over 100lbs in less than 8 months. And when he's 2yrs old he should be settling in at his adult weight of about 150lbs. Donovan likes the dog and knows his name. I can't wait till he can be the one cleaning the poo.

Ron Paul at the Debates

2007-08-03T10:29:00.001-07:00

Great image graphically showing strengths of the Republican debaters. Found this on the Las Vegas Ron Paul Meetup.com group.

More Guns, Less Crime

2007-07-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

Above is the conclusion from an article published in the spring issue of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, the nation's most widely distributed law review. It's a rather long PDF so I just posted the conclusion. They go into great detail pointing out the trends of gun ownership rates and violet crime rates correlations of many different countries and regions throughout time. The entire article “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?” is available here if you would like to read it.

Donovan Learns Underwater Swimming

2007-07-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wow! We were very surprised to find Donovan purposely diving underwater last Sunday at the community pool. He had a couple of times where he gulped some water and coughed it up. Overall he became very good at going under and popping back up for breaths when he needed it. He refused moms help when she tried to pull him up telling her "No, don't help me!". He also kept his eyes open underwater so he was probably enjoying his aqua vision. We gotta get him back in a shallow pool before he forgets what he's learned.

Puppies!

2007-07-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

We are seriously looking at getting one of these 3 Bull Mastiff puppies. I've looked at several breeders and for the past 3 weeks have been dealing with the one I found to be the most responsible and knowledgeable. This breeder is a extreme fanatic about the Bull Mastiff breed. When we visited his house he had something like 23 dogs (counting puppies).

Currently we are considering taking what he considers the pick of the litter as a fully registered AKC dog with the caveat that we will allow him to breed the dog and allow the breeder to show the dog.

Below is a picture of the sire (Bukas) and the dam (Bella).

Windows Mobile is Iphone

2007-07-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

So it was with green envy I have transformed my PDA phone into an Iphone mimic. I'm happy with the results and pretty new interface. I like to call it the Iphone Deluxe Version.

Ron Paul is Maher's Hero.

2007-07-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Turns out that Bill Maher says Ron Paul is his hero after watching him in the June 5th Debates. My previous video posted Bill seemed hostile to Paul. Here he says "If America was a smarter country, Ron Paul would be leading in the polls".

Building Guns

2007-07-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've done a lot of work on my AK from its original state. Here's what I recall doing:

1. Taken off the furniture (wood) reshaped it stained it and finished it.
2. Polished the charging handle to silver instead of black
3. Replaced pistol grip
4. Replaced folding stock (after it broke)
5. Added a blackjack recoil buffer
6. Replaced the fire control system
7. Added a piccatinny railed side scope mount
8. Added an Eotech Red dot scope

I've had a lot of fun messing around with it adding and changing things to more customize it to my wants. I'm interested in building an AR possibly from the ground up and also interested in putting together an AK pistol kit. I'd sure like to find someone interested in building such guns but who's not nutty.