Butch

This is off subject from the Coffee Experiment, or maybe it isn't.

Yesterday I learned that Paul Newman had died, and it hurt. I guess saying that would lead some people believe that I follow Hollywood closely and take what actors do way too seriously. Though it is true that once upon a time I wanted to be an actor, make films, etc., that is not the case anymore. I find most of what Hollywood is to be a carnival of sideshows propped up to sidetrack the citizenry from engaging in public service/activism. And for that, I hate much of what Hollywood is about.

But here is where Paul Newman stands apart. Not that he was a huge political activist, which I find rather tiresome in today's actor/actress guild, but in the fact that he had the one true trait that leads people to better a better world - integrity. I won't go into why I believe he had integrity, I'll just say that he did. And yes of course I loved his movies.

Hud, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and the immeasurable, Cool Hand Luke. The last movie's character of which I have contemplated naming a son after, Luke Jackson. Maybe my kinship with him lies in the movie Butch Cassidy in which he costars with Robert Redford, for whom my father's nickname is derived from. (My father was called Red because he had the hair of Robert Redford.) Or perhaps it's because I see so many similarities in mannerisms between Newman and my father in the character of Fast Eddie Felson in The Color of Money.

Whatever the reason, Paul Newman, his body of work, etc. meant a lot to me. Thankfully that body of work will live on as well as his charitable endeavors.

Here's one of the most memorable scenes I've ever watched...and I've watched a lot:

The Fight

Dad, why are your eyes closing? It's making me sleepy! I don't like that...wait a minute! My eyes are closing too. Dad! What's going on...oh man...why is it so dark? I can't see anything. Jeez, it feel comfortable but, ahhhhhh! (Eyes snap open) There we go. Oh, I see you dad. Man. that was a close call. Hey your eyes are open now too. Why were they closed bef...wait...now they're closing again...what is happening to you! Why are your eyes closing again...it's making mine close too!!!

And so it goes, as many, if not all parents know. It's the ultimate fight. Marley watches my eyes and I her. As I pretend to fall asleep, barely keeping my eyes open, she stares and stares until hers finally shut. Then WHAMO, hers open again making sure I'm still there watching her sleep, holding her, etc. and so on. It's so funny (sometimes frustrating) that I nearly laugh out loud losing the battle. But so far so good.

As for Samran, her patience and soothing techniques make me look like an absolute moron. Marley and her, as Forest Gump said, is like peas and carrots. She'll pull two hour bedroom duty soothing and singing with no problem. All the while I think the both of them are sleeping.

Here are some pictures of the 7 week old going on 2 months.

Dang that was good milk...why does it make me so sleepy?


You know you love me.


You see this face? Dad has no chance!

Welcome Home DAD!!!

That's what buried deep in my mind I had come to expect. I come home, throw open the door after a hard days work, throw down the modern day briefcase (a one strapped backpack), say, "I'm Home!" and they wife and kids come a runnin. I say again, buried deep in my psyche, that's what was there. Probably too much Leave It To Beaver, when i was a kid. Too much American-mindedness of immediacy. You have a baby, and boom there you are in Leave It To Beaver world. But all of that is definitely not the case.

It is usually me tip-toeing through the door after a rough one at the office, trying not to make a sound. Worried, in fact, that just beyond the door is a sleeping babe who I could potentially rouse thereby infuriating the Master of the Universe, Samran.

It's not that bad, but you get the picture, as many of you may already know. I half expected to come home and everyone happy and waiting my arrival. Sometimes that happens, but all to often it is sleepy faces with equally sleepy smiles if they are even up.

But that's all fine. Marley is one cute little girl with a sassy demeanor, and Samran gives her every bit of love that she'll ever need. Mom and daughter are hooked at the hip.

Marley says she's always looking for mom. Constantly turning to see where she went, and please, don't bring a bottle around. I can see mom, and I know she has the good stuff, so nix that bottle.

As for dad, he's pretty cool. We listen to Radiohead, Sigar Ros and Broken Social Scene while he rocks me. It's cool music and I get to fall asleep on his check. But I wake up as soon as he makes one false move to get up and put me in my crib. I don't like sleeping in that thing, so back off!

Here are a couple of pictures Marley wanted to share:

Everything seems so interesting...


Sometimes we hang out in the kitchen when dad gets home.


What on earth are these things you call mobiles?!


Check out the duds and the rock star pacifier. I am HIP!