Awesome Father Takes Pancake Breakfast To Another Level

Before everything else in my life, I'm a father first.... And I get really excited when I find sites that feature good fathers. Jim documents his pancake adventures as he creates creative design and architectural creations for his daughter Allie. They're not simple star or square patterns, you'll see octopus pancakes and princess pancakes.... Here are a few of my favorites!

Click on the banner below to go to his site and see pictures and videos of the rest of his awesome pancakes!

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #39 - Answer

Congratulation to The Girl Next Door Grows Up from 'The Girl Next Door Grows Up' for correctly answering this weeks TV Theme!

I could spend a paragraph or two explaining 'My Two Dads'.... How an odd-couple pair of bachelors, Michael Taylor and Joey Harris played by Paul Reiser and Greg Evigan, are thrust into fatherhood after inheriting their teenage daughter Nicole, played by Stacy Keanan, after the death of her mother.... Fortunately, the intro accomplishes that for me....

It's actually the perfect idea for a sitcom. Two single men become co-parents to a teenage girl. It's genius!

Florence Stanley plays the cantankerous, but level-headed and wise, Judge Margaret Wilson. She brought the fathers and daughter together and owns the building where they all live....

Dick Butkus plays the tough teddy bear, Ed Klawicki, who ran the restaurant at the ground floor of the apartment building....

Nicole's main love interests in the show, Corey Kupkus and Zach Nichols, are played by a young Giovanni Ribisi (who for some reason was in the credits as Vonni Ribisi) and Chad Allen....

I've been watching episodes all day, and I've seen cameos from Scott Baio, Davy Jones, Andrew Koenig and Jennifer Love Hewitt (who like Giovanni Ribisi, her name was shortened in the credits to Love Hewitt)....

I'm sure you all know that Greg Evigan, who plays the wild artist father, provides the velvety smooth voice you hear in the theme song....

Here's a question for everybody out there.... Who had the bigger career, Paul Reiser or Greg Evigan? Sure, Paul Reiser is the creator and star of 'Mad About You'.... But Greg Evigan was the star of 'B.J. and The Bear'....

So Paul Reiser is a more current success, but he's never had a monkey for a co-star....

My Fifteen Minutes Of Fame

I want to tell you about my 15 minutes of fame last night.... Yesterday, the news team here at 'I Think It's Interesting' found pictures of the 15 story building in Chile before it collapsed during the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile. I posted a blog titled 'Before And After Photos Of Building Where A Father And Daughter Survived A 13 Story Fall During The Chile Earthquake' displaying the before and after photos of the building. A few hours after the blog was posted, I received an e-mail from a representative from ABC's 'World News With Diane Sawyer' about the photos. I'm sure you all saw the 'World News With Diane Sawyer' last night, and if you did, you saw reporter David Wright reference this photo around the three minute mark of the show:

The reporter made no mention of 'I Think It's Interesting' or 'ASBLACKASOBAMA', but you could tell he was thinking about it if you listen to his voice....

I recorded the newscast, and I've watched the story a few times and it makes me really sad, but then I see the photo and I get really happy, then the photo goes away and I get really sad again....

Before And After Photos Of Building Where A Father And Daughter Survived A 13 Story Fall During The Chile Earthquake

For the first time ever, the news team here at ITII (I Think It's Interesting) are able to provide breaking news. We here at ITII have uncovered rarely before seen photos of the building in Concepcion, Chile, where Mr. Alberto Rozas and his 7 year old daughter, Fernanda, survived a 13 story fall during the recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Chile on Saturday, February 27, 2010.

Mr. Rozas pulled his 7 year old daughter into the doorway of the bathroom of the 13th story apartment in an attempt to protect her from any damage caused by the 'great earthquake' (earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.0 or greater). He was not prepared for what happened next.... The entire newly constructed 15-story building fell on its side during the violent shaking.

Disoriented and trying to find his bearings, Mr. Rozas looked for any sign that may indicate a possible escape route. Through the broken glass of his apartment window, he saw the full moon and a way out.

Suffering only a few cuts and bruises, Rozas and his daughter are two of the lucky survivors.As of recent reports, 23 people have been pulled alive from the Rio Alto apartment building wreckage, along with 7 bodies. Rescue workers are still working to rescue an estimated 60 people still trapped inside the building remains.

Take a look at the before and after pictures of the Rio Alto apartment building before and after the earthquake.... They help to put into perspective, pardon the pun, the magnitude of the quake.

I'm On A Horse

Back in the olden days, when I was a child, my dad would slap on Old Spice after shave every morning. I remember the white bottle sitting on my parent's bathroom counter. I can barely remember how the after shave smelled, but I remember my dad's customary four slaps on his face, then shaking his hands in the air to get the remaining after shave off of his hands....

Anyway, the marketing geniuses at Old Spice have created one of the best commercials ever! We're not a commercial watching family (The Digital Video Recorder is man's greatest invention!), so I have to give my wife credit for pointing out this commercial....

It's their best commercial since their Neil Patrick Harris commercials! He should know whether or not Old Spice is a good product, he used to be a doctor for pretend!

Steve Is Back!

I'm a father of two, and Blue's Clues has played an integral part of my son's life.... I remember hearing the stories about the angry mothers and children who were upset by the departure of Steve Burns, and the installment of his replacement Donovan Patton (who played Steve's brother Joe)....

Well, Steve is back! We were watching Nick Jr. and the customary music video was playing between episodes, and Colleen screams out 'It's Steve! Steve from Blue's Clues!'. Sure enough, it was a bald Steve Burns with Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips performing the song "I Hog The Ground (The Groundhog Song)".

Happy Veterans Day!

Well, it's Veterans Day, and I've been looking for heartwarming military homecoming videos to help us remember our veterans.... Again, I have trouble leaving my kids to go to work, I can't imagine the sacrifice of leaving them for a year or more to put my life on the line for my country....

Do you remember the recent blog post about the daughter who wouldn't let go of her father's hand before his deployment? That's it.... I just wanted to know if you remember.... Click the link to see that heartwarming story....

Anyway, here are my top 3 amazingly touching homecoming videos....

Thank you to all the veterans, past and present, who proudly protect our country!

A Soldier And A Father

Why can't they just come home? I'm not being serious, I know why they can't come home, but seriously, I have trouble leaving my child and wife for work in the morning. I can't imagine having to leave them for a day at work, let alone a tour of duty.

This family photo that shows a little girl beside her father and his fellow soldiers in uniform as they prepare to head off for Iraq. "Four-year-old Paige Bennethum really, really didn't want her daddy to go to Iraq," said a reporter for NBC in Philadelphia. "So much so, that when Army Reservist Staff Sergeant Brett Bennethum lined up in formation at his deployment this July, she couldn't let go, and no one had the heart to pull her away."

The commanding officer allowed Paige to say goodbye as her dad prepared to ship off from Fort Dix.

Do you remember the video of the father who was serving in Iraq coming home and surprising his son? Or the video of the father who was serving in Iraq coming home and surprising his daughter?

I've got to stop looking at these things.... They break my heart every time.....

What an honor it is to have men and women give up so many things that are important to them to protect us....

Noah's First Round Of Golf

Noah and I got an opportunity to play miniature golf this weekend and he was as cute as ever.... By the way, we played 36 holes, he got 2 holes in one.... I got 0 holes in one.... I must be a really good teacher.... Yeah.... That's it....

Noah stumped by the swinging log.

Noah lines up his putt.

Noah collects his golf ball after a very tricky putt.

Noah celebrating his first hole in one!

After celebrating his first hole in one, Noah has a moment of modesty.

Noah celebrating his second hole in one!

Noah celebrating his win!

Girl Catches Hearts - Throws Back Ball

Sorry for the lame title.... It's really early and I'm studying for a radon measurement certification exam.... Here's a cute father-daughter moment that happened at the Philadelphia Phillies - Washington Nationals game on Tuesday night....

The father leaned over the upper deck in foul territory, and as he tries to share the moment with his three year old daughter, he hands her the ball and she promptly throws it back....

In a later interview, the father said that he had never caught a foul ball before, and that his daughter was frightened by the cumulative gasp and groan by every fan at the stadium, so his only instinct was to hug her.... Also, the Phillies Organization has sent them a new ball....

Thank goodness they weren't at a Philadelphia Eagles game.... Their fans are known to have thrown snowballs at Santa Claus until security could help him off the field....

Surprises

I have trouble being away from Noah for more than 8 hours.... I can't even imagine what it would be like, for me or Noah, if I was deployed in a war zone for months....

I'm warning you now, I am not able to watch the video of the father surprising his little boy in his classroom without involuntarily bursting into tears.... And I don't care if that makes me a girl!

Pregnancy

Are you pregnant? My wife and I are.... Well, she is..... But I helped....

Anyway, when we got pregnant with Noah.... Fine, when Colleen was pregnant with Noah..... I knew almost nothing about pregnancy and children.... I read through the "What To Expect When You're Expecting", but that book was technical and boring....

I also bought approximately ten 'So, You're Going To Be A New Dad" genre books.... They were horrible! The books were usually unhelpful.

For instance, some books gave two sides of the coin for every part of the pregnancy, explaining to the reader that their partner (wife, girlfriend, or random woman they knocked up) might need them to take care of preparing dinner during the first trimester, however, some women may enjoy preparing dinner during their first trimester.

Some of the books were written for father who need things to be simple for them.... 'Babies should not be dropped. You need to feed the baby. Don't squeeze the baby too tight.'

Some 'new father' books tried to scare the crap out of the readers, explaining to the reader that their partner will be a raging lunatic for the next nine months, so they better hold on!

What does that tell me? I just want a book that talks to me like I'm somewhat intelligent, makes me laugh a little, and helps me understand what is going on. What kinds of changes are happening in my wife's body? What does the baby look like now? What should I expect? What should she expect?

Well, sorry Bono, but I've finally found what I was looking for.


Susan Magee wrote this book with the help of Dr. Kara Nakisbendi. The book is a good read for both men and women, it doesn't make you feel like an idiot while you're reading it, and it will give you (the father) a reasonable insight on what is going on with your partner. And.... IT HAS WIT AND HUMOR TOSSED IN THROUGHOUT THE BOOK! It's actually funny!

The book provides a day-by-day countdown during the (give or take) 280 days of pregnancy, mingled with advice from other mothers from their experiences during pregnancy, along with medical information.

I can't recommend it more.... It's a great book and I recommend it to any new or repeat father-to-be....

Tony

Check out this fantastic film about the love and dedication that a father has for his children and the good in everyday people. It's emotional, heart-warming and pretty funny....

The short film stars Tate Donovan as the loving father and is directed by Grant Heslov and George Clooney.