Sunday, May 9, 2010 by Dana.

For Cinco de Mayo, there was a great celebration at Loco Patron in Ahwatukee.  They had a giant inflatable slide and dunk tank for the kids to play in outside while the adults watched the basketball game and/or socialized with Mexican brews and Margaritas.  That was a lot of fun, and we went back for even more fun.

Karen grabbed her bikini for the return to Loco Patron, and then volunteered for the dunk tank.  Given her condition, we can call it a drunk tank. Whatever we call it, she made $50 in 10 minutes ($1/throw), and they let her keep all of it… which covered our expenses for the night! You rock, Karen!

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Sunday, April 25, 2010 by Dana.

The night at UFest was fantastic.  I managed to pace myself nicely with drinks and stuck with the vodka (instead of beer) so I didn’t get sleepy.  I also stayed well hydrated and drank one of those 5-hour energy drinks around 6:30pm.  About the only time I felt old was during the second to last song from Three Days Grace.  It was a cover of “In the Air Tonight”, which was originally released before all the 20-somethings around me were born (1981).

I also ran into several friends that also made me feel “not too old” to be there.  I think I am older than all of them, but having friends there made me feel like I did belong.  Final thought… I’m not too old for the Suburban Festival Concert. After all, if Danzig is one of the acts, there are probably many people older than me at the show.

Here are some photos from the event:

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Friday, April 23, 2010 by Dana.

Tomorrow my sexy wife and I are going to an all-day festival concert called UFest hosted by a local radio station, 98 KUPD. We also bought a pair of tickets for my 13 year old future rock star and his buddy.  As a 40 year old, these events test my endurance. We splurged on VIP tickets for me and the wife to get the comfort of shade, smaller lines, and nicer bathrooms.  Maybe I should dye my hair tonight so I don’t feel like such an old fart by the time the headline act takes the stage.  Hopefully I’ll get some more Silver Fox comments while I’m there to stroke my ego… but I’ll probably just hear “How do you get her?” in reference to my amazing wife.

I’ll be tweeting during the event until my battery dies. Hope I can find a place in the VIP area to charge my phone.  If not, I think I’ll take a small notepad to keep track of my observations and what I overheard so I can blog about it later.

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Sunday, February 7, 2010 by Dana.

The day of the big game… As usual, we have several options for watching it, but we choose to stay home.  Why?  A variety of reasons, but having an awesome wide-screen HDTV and surround sound system is NOT one of them.

Instead of discussing why we don’t go elsewhere, let me explain the advantages of staying home (not necessarily in order).

1. The kids are welcome
2. Inexpensive, higher quality food
3. No mark-up on the beer & liquor
4. No line for a clean bathroom
5. No drinking & driving risks
6. The dogs get to be there
7. Comfy couch
8. No tipping required
9. Easier to tweet during the game
10. Unlikely to get drinks spilled on us
11. No waiting for overburdened wait staff (the cooler is next to the couch).
12. No drama with other party guests
13. Kids can go to their own room if they a bored.
14. Screaming loud at the TV will not annoy any strangers
15. Nobody will see how big of a wuss I am when I eat seriously spicy guacamole
16. Added excitement of avoiding a dog attack when you get carried away with your high-fives
17. The ability to switch to an HBO movie if the game gets one-sided
18. We can watch the game wearing whatever we want, which means wife doesn’t have to keep re-applying lip gloss.
19. Pre-game co-ed showers (in the privacy of the master bathroom of course).
20. Half-time cul-de-sac football game!

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Saturday, January 30, 2010 by Dana.

News bulletin… college kids are rowdy, and ASU is more rowdy than most.  Wait… that isn’t really news, is it?  On a particular slow news day, writers form the local PHX Metro rag took a few crime reports related to egg throwing (not cool) and wild parties (the norm?) to make it sound like there was something news-worthy to report… Here is the link, but you will want your 3 minutes back after you read it.

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Friday, November 27, 2009 by Dana.

Like any normal set of siblings, they fight.  We have 3 boys, ages 9, 12 & 15.  Sometimes they get into heated arguments, and maybe a punch or 2 is thrown.  But the fights seldom last long.  When it comes to fighting with “friends”, those fights are usually short and mostly just shoving and verbal assaults.So when you see a news article like this one in AZ Central, you have to wonder what parental meltdown is going on here for things to escalate out of control.  We all need to teach kids how to have a thicker skin and stick to spreading bad rumors instead of stabbing the person that just kicked your ass in Guitar Hero.  Oh… and keep the alcohol and sharp objects away from your teen!

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Friday, April 17, 2009 by karen.

I have been witnessing the affects of the economy.  I have 2 close friends who were laid off several months ago.  Both are still looking for employment, but fortunately one is doing lots of side jobs to make ends meet.  Many local business have also had to close up shop.  I have been shopping mostly at Walmart to save money ourselves but am beginning to rethink this practice.  I was also going to have a garage sale but am donating the items instead.

After going out to Tempe Market Place last Friday, I have taken a better look at our own disturbia, Ahwatukee.  Upon arriving to the first watering hole, we were told in order to get a table outside, we would have to pay $100.  Jokingly, I replied “yes, I heard you tell the customer on the phone 5 times”.  The hostess didn’t think it was funny. I was simply commenting on how frustrating it must have been for her to have to repeat the same thing 4 times.  I was on her side.  We left to go to the less busy bar.  Ok, so we had to wait several minutes before even being greeted by the bartender.  Then when she finally did greet us, she wasn’t cordial.  No smile or ‘Hi, how are you guys?’    A simple, ‘What can I get you?’ was all.  I looked at Dana and questioned why we left our neighborhood to get treated like crap.  Ahwatukee has a small town feel and we get treated well at the local establishments.  Think Cheers.  They all know us or at-least recognize us.  CK’s even has our drinks ready when they see us walk in.

Does staying local help our economy?   I think it does, and we’ll do business more in our own slice of disturbia.

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Friday, September 12, 2008 by Dana.

Last weekend in northeast Phoenix, a backyard wrestling operation was shutdown.  In Disturbia, a young entrepreneur turned a fake sport into backyard entertainment for teenagers and others without a meaningful social life.  While the applesauce wrestling sounds cool, we really don’t know what these ladies looked like.  If they will do backyard applesauce wrestling for little or no compensation, they have to be rejects from a local gentlemen’s club. The most amazing aspect of the story is that it included alcohol, teenagers, and handguns yet there were no incidents of violence reported.

Now… what is most disturbing?  I think it is the neighbor on the ladder looking over the fence.  Was he checking out the applesauce wrestlers on the night his wife had Bunko?  What do you think is most disturbing about the story?  Any applesauce wrestling in your neighborhood?

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