Luke and The Hobbit

I have been reading The Hobbit to seven-year-old Daniel and six-year-old Luke for the last several weeks.  We have also watched the cartoon and Peter Jackson movie versions.  Last night, a confused and dismayed Luke asked me why the cartoon elves were old, green, and scary while the elves in the other movie looked like regular people.  I said when you write a book or make a movie, you can make the characters look however you want.  He sat up in bed and asked, "You mean elves aren't real?"

National Museum of the United States Air Force - Ohio's Greatest Free Attraction

Ohio’s greatest free attraction is the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton.  If you like airplanes, history, or people watching, this place is for you.  The museum contains the world’s best collection of military aircraft – from the Wright 1909 Military Flyer to the YMQ-9 “Reaper” remotely-piloted aircraft currently flying in Afghanistan.

The museum includes an IMAX theater, a reasonably-priced gift shop, and a cafeteria, but the emphasis is clearly the aircraft and related exhibits.

The museum displays the aircraft in chronological order.  The Early Years Gallery’s first exhibit is the 1909 Military Flyer.  Just around the corner is the Wright Brother’s original wind tunnel.  A Fokker Dr. I, similar to the one flown by the Red Baron in World War I, hangs upside down from the ceiling, forever frozen in a dive at a Sopwith Camel parked on the ground.

Fathers, Sons, and Baseball - Cincinnati Reds Memories

I know the Big Red Machine did not win every game they played, but as a kid, it sure seemed like they did.  Even when they were trailing in the late innings, I always believed they would pull out the win.  And more often than not, they did.

My first Reds television memory was the 1970 World Series.  Brooks Robinson’s superb fielding for the Baltimore Orioles still frustrates the eight-year-old boy in me. 

A PIRATE NAMED MOLLY - 56 Limericks for Kids - Now Available in Paperback

Did you hear the kids' ear-splitting cheer?
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Please order a copy my dear!

Available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and CreateSpace.

My Dare Devil's Pizza T-Shirt

The Columbus Dispatch

March 7, 2013

“What are you doing?  You can’t wear it!”  I said very quickly.  Lisa’s face did not hide her feelings – it was clearly just a shirt to her.  With a puzzled frown, she took it off.  I gently returned it to its place.  The shirt in question was not just any shirt though.  It was the first shirt I ever bought at Dare Devil’s Pizzeria in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.  The peach-colored t-shirt had been my favorite since the moment I bought it twenty years ago.  The graphics were great, and I could feel the summer sun on my back whenever I wore it.

We were on our first trip to the Outer Banks in 1992.  One evening Lisa’s parents agreed to watch the kids while we went out.  We walked to Dare Devil’s Pizzeria.  The name is derived from

A Pirate Named Molly - 56 Limericks for Kids - New Kindle eBook

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