The Noah family has returned from California.  It was a fun, if not terribly relaxing, trip.  Eli got some quality time in with G-ma and G-pa, he got to meet some friends, and he got to see the Pacific Ocean in person, as evidenced by the above adorable picture.  It would have been nicer if it was a little warmer (temperature s in the 60’s and 70’s in LA in August?  WTF?), but hey, at least it wasn’t 400% humidity.  And as a capper to the trip, Court and I got to go to a beautiful wedding in a SoCal winery that really looked like something out of a movie.

As for the plane rides – Eli was fine.  Not much sleeping on the flights, but not much screaming or crying either.  Before we left, I read this article on flying with babies that suggested you bring goody bags for the passengers around you.  I thought then and think now that is preposterous.  Why should I have to buy off other people because I’m traveling with my kid?  Hey, the guy in the seat next to me on our flight home who kept falling asleep on me didn’t give me a goody bag for my inconvenience.

All in all, it was a great trip, and it is great to know that we can keep on traveling as a family.*

*Sherlock did not fly cross country with us – he spent the weekend with his Grandma and Aunt Georgia, and he told me he had a wonderful time with them, so it all works out.

So far, in his less than 7 months outside of the womb, Eli has been in cars, trains, and a ferry.  Tomorrow he will add an airplane to that list of forms of transportation he has been in.  All that will remain is a spaceship, which I imagine he will use to get to his spring break  in 2030.  But that’s neither here nor there.  The scary thing is seeing how Eli will do on his first and second transcontinental flights.

I’m optimistic, for several reasons:

1. Eli is a generally happy baby.
2. Eli managed to get through an entire Mets game and fireworks show without a major incident.
3. Both flights are early in the morning, when Eli is typically asleep or awake and smiley.

Still, I can’t help but imagining any of several nightmare scenarios.  What if he won’t stop crying? What if he won’t stop pooping?  What if he screams in this lady’s ear?  (Seriously, read that story, it is all kinds of kooky.)

More likely is that Eli will get an awful lot of dirty looks when people realize he is on their flight.  Personally, I have been more annoyed by adults than I have ever been by small children in my years of flying, but I am still not blind to the fact that people dread being on a long flight with a screaming baby.  It will be weird for me to have someone give Eli a stink eye; up to now there have been only 2 reactions to a stranger seeing the little guy: pure delight or complete indifference.  (MUCH more common is the former.)  His sheer existence has never caused anyone dread, and I realize that may change in the JetBlue terminal tomorrow.  But I figure if anyone frowns or glares at my son, Eli will just flash them his beautiful smile and win them over.

Wish us luck!

The Simpsons, a show famous for its guest stars, has a slew of awesome celebs lined up for the upcoming 22nd(!) season. The season premiere will feature some cross-promotion for the Fox network as Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Amber Riley (Rachel, Finn, and Mercedes from Glee) lend their voices as artistic campers.  And the counselors will be played by Brett and Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords!

Hugh Laurie and Daniel Radcliffe will be making cameos in the Treehouse of Horror episode, Martha Stewart will appear int he Christmas episode, and Jon Hamm will appear as an FBI agent in an episode featuring Joe Mantegna’s Fat Tony.  Not to mention guest stars Halle Berry, Paul Rudd, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, Kristin Wiig, Cheech and Chong, Alyson Hannigan, and a second appearance by Ricky Gervais!

Of course,a great guest appearance does not a great episode make, but I for one think The Simpsons has been on a real roll recently, and these cameos give me great hope for the upcoming season.

Oh, and speaking of our favorite family, Steve gave me this heads up that Chelsea Clinton wasn’t the only famous daughter who got/was scheduled to get married this past weekend.

This may stir up some debate, as it is highly subjective, but the following shows get my nod for the greatest theme songs in the history of television, broken down by specific category. Some of the videos have hits or glitches or are slightly cut off, but nonetheless, enjoy the musical interlude- Happy Friday!

The Eighties
A decade of amazing pop culture milestones, sitcoms in the 1980’s knew how to do a theme song. The crème de la crème:

Perfect Strangers – the greatest TV show ever about a guy named Balki and his cousin.

Family Ties – the “sha-la-la” at the end is legendary,

Who’s the Boss – “the choice is up to you, my friend” – how inspirational!

The Dukes of Hazzard – technically the show began in the 70’s, but come on, this is a classic.

The Greatest American Hero – I never watched a single episode of this show, but what a song!

The CW
Sure, most of the shows on the WB/UPN/CW are aimed at teeny boppers, but there have been some gems – gems with killer theme songs no less.

Veronica Mars – The Dandy Warhols brought it with their theme song, although they really did make it lamer in Season 3.

Smallville – this song is best sung by James and myself in the highest pitch possible.

Smallville Theme
Uploaded by smallville92. – Explore more music videos.

It’s Not TV, It’s HBO
Remember when HBO used to just air movies, and not amazing series with fantastic theme songs?

The Sopranos – how else can you make a drive through New Jersey seem cool?

True Blood – everything about this show is cool, especially the way it starts.

Kid Friendly Fare:
Shows for kids need to have an amazing theme song to hook the kids in – it’s just good marketing.

The Muppets – no one from our generation does not have this song memorized.

Spongebob Square Pants – a true modern sing-a-long classic.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – They’re heroes in a half shell… and they’re green!

Lyric-less
Sometimes, a great theme doesn’t need any (or just a few) words in order to be super catchy.

The Simpsons – universally know because of the show’s popularity, but a great theme in its own right.

30 Rock – a great tune that lets you know you’re in store for hilarity.

The Office – this was Courtney’s ring tone for a while, and it never got old.

Remember just a month ago, when the Mets were in serious contention for a playoff spot? They were in striking distance of the evil Braves, and they even had the lead in the wild-card race for a nice stretch. And this was all without Beltran! It looked like the Mets could really have a strong season.

And then… well, the story is familiar. They can’t beat bad teams (they split a series against the Nats, and then a few weeks later got swept by the Diamondbacks!) and they just can’t seem to get runs across the plate. Last night’s loss was just the latest in a string of disappointing games, and now the Mets are 7.5 games out of first, 6.5 out of the wild-card, and one paltry game over .500. Earlier in the month they seemed like they would be making a big move before the trade deadline, but now it seems silly to make a play for a name player.

Come on, you guys are better than this! Start playing like you did in the first half again! Sweep the bad teams, and take the series against the better teams! Win at home AND on the road! Give your pitchers some damn run support! Make the race in the NL East interesting, at the very least.

As the old saying, goes…

LET’S GO METS!

The Noahs have new fences – three of them, in fact.  The backyard perimeter has been solidified so that Sherlock, our ever-escaping beagle, can no longer venture into our neighbors’ yards.  At least, he better not be able to, after what we paid to the fence company!  It wasn’t necessarily a relief to fork over so much dough, but I have to say that the backyard look a lot better now, and it is nice to let Sherlock run around the yard freely again.  Of course, he has barely noticed the new fences, as he is completely focused on tracking down and destroying any and all bunnies that may remain in our yard.  It’s been a while since we’ve seen the adult rabbits, but we have seen at least one baby bunny hopping around when Sherlock was mostly house-bound.  If they’re smart, they might want to consider relocating.

If you haven’t already, go and read this interview with Bill Murray from GQ.  This is a guy who does not like to give long revealing interviews, and this one is a gem.  He talks about Ghostbusters 3, Garfield, Quick Change, his love of Kung Fu Hustle, and his hatred of Seinfeld(!).  I really love the way he describes things in pop culture – “the show that has the girl from Saturday Night Live” is how he describes Parks and Recreation.  He sounds like my step-dad!  (Chuck, that’s a compliment of the highest magnitude, by the way.)

It’s hard to summarize what he says, so I suggest you just click on over and read the interview for yourself, and enjoy.

Say it is so!  If Al Jardine is to be believed, plans are in the works for a reunion concert with himself, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and even genius/sometime recluse Brian Wilson.  Jardine also said guitarist David Marks, who was with the group for a short while in the early days, may join in as well, which is great, but the fact that he and Love and Wilson would all get together and play onstage together again, after years of fighting and legal battles, would be truly remarkable.

Of course, Wilson’s manager denies knowing anything about it, and Love also issued a statement saying that he was not aware of any such plans.  So, clearly Jardine has his work cut out for him.

But he has some time – the Boys’ 50th anniversary is in 2011, so that gives him some time to smooth things out with himself and the cousin/sometime collaborators Wilson and Love.

Sure, some will say that any reunion wouldn’t be a *true* reunion, since founding members Carl and Dennis Wilson have passed away, and that’s certainly a valid point.  But to get the surviving members together, even if for just one night, would be a huge milestone.  And if Led Zeppelin could play a one-night only reunion concert with John Bonham’s son on drums, why not The Beach Boys?  G-d only knows how amazing it could be!

It isn’t a rhetorical question. Why doesn’t the Long Island Rail Road have a quiet car? A “quiet car,” if it isn’t immediately obvious, is a car of the train where cell phone calls, loud conversations, and other assorted forms of noisiness are prohibited. It exists for the commuters that want to read, sleep, or just exist in some quiet on their ride to and from work.

It isn’t a new idea – Amtrak and some New Jersey Transit and Philadelphia Commuter Rail lines have experimented with the concept, and it has been debated being instituted on Metro North trains.

So why not the LIRR?

I know I can not be the only person who gets sick of people screaming about their days, complaining to their assistants about their train being late when it is totally on time, or those folks with super annoying ringtones set to the highest possible volume who just don’t feel like answering.

And it isn’t just cell phones either. People sometimes ride the train with friends, and they like to chat on the way in. Nothing wrong with that! Except of course when the people decide it would be better to sit a few rows from each other. Or when they are drunk and have lost the ability to control their vocal volume.

And I understand the importance of the train announcements, but for those of us who regularly take the train, we don’t need to be told 48 times to change at Jamaica, or that off peak tickets will be required to pay an additional step-up fare.

And what about the people who play their music so loud that they can’t have both headphones in at once? Why not just turn it down???

OK, so I officially sound like an old curmudgeon now, I know. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.

The thing about quiet cars is that they could by and large be self-policed. By doing something as simple as posting a few signs and turning down the lights, they could encourage the considerate people who want to make some business calls or talk to their fellow riders to sit in another car. As for the inconsiderate ones, who are the real problem anyway, I have to think after several glares and being shushed repeatedly, they would rather be in a different car. Would the conductors occasionally have to chastise an unruly passenger? Probably. But I just can’t see that getting in the way of making the trains run on or close to schedule. And hey, if the conductors can’t be bothered, I’m sure this guy would be happy to keep people in line.

So why not start a pilot program? See how it goes. If it’s a disaster, hey, no harm, no foul. But I am quite confident that it would be a huge success, and that people would love it. The quiet car wouldn’t be for everyone – hell, sometimes I like to make calls on the train, and I would be happy to ride in a ‘regular’ car on those occasions. But for the people who do appreciate some peace and quiet on their commute, it would make for an infinitely nicer commute.

I love Swedish Fish.  Back in my college days, I would always bring a few Costco sized boxes to my dorm or apartment, as the little red treats are not just tasty, but a good conversation starter.  As in:
“Hey, are those Swedish Fish?”
“Why yes. Yes they are.”
“I love Swedish Fish!”
“So do I! Please, help yourself, and let this be the beginning of a wonderful friendship.”

Back to the present, I saw this in a store not too long ago, and I was intrigued:

Swedish fish aren’t just fish? That’s right, meet the rest of the family:

Joining the classic red fish, now there’s a blue dolphin, a yellow starfish, a green whale, an orange seahorse, and a purple something-or-other.  (A puffer fish, maybe?)

So what’s the verdict? The dolphins are alright, the purple things were so-so, and I was not particularly impressed by the rest of the aquatic family. Swedish fish are red and chewy and amazingly delicious, and I simply have no need for any other gummy sea creatures.