Dad Therapy: The Stuff That Keeps Dads Sane

Dad Therapy Has Moved Over to Squarespace

Yeah, weird putting this post into a Typepad window, but here it is. Soon the url will just redirect to the new site on Squarespace, but for now go here for my latest blog posts. There are a few reasons for the change but the big one is the look of this site and wanting it to be more modern and easier to read. Let me know what you think. 

Daddy Drinking: New Belgium Kick Pumpkin Ale

When I went to pick up the limited edition Clutch sour ale the guy at the liquor store asked if I wanted to try this Halloween inspired brew. Sure enough a couple bottles came home with me.

After the first sip my cheeks puckered up from the tart cranberry flavor. It was brewed with pumpkin and cranberry but all I can taste is the cran. It's overpowering to an extreme which is too bad because it is a smooth ale otherwise. 8.5% alcohol too so don't need too many to get through a game. But I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone.

Why Technology Keeps Blowing Me Away: Pearl Jam Covering Pink Floyd’s "Mother"

As I keep moving through my career I’m continuously encountering new technology trends in terms of getting media, thoughts and images to the public in new ways. If you’re a working journalist today you have to be using these tools to stay atop your field.

As a busy dad, and avid Pearl Jam fan, I can’t focus every second on my hobby. When I have a spare moment when the kids are running around the local YMCA’s indoor maze I can sit and play on my iphone for a few moments. That’s when I finally had a few minutes to watch Pearl Jam’s performance of Pink Flyod’s “Mother” from Jimmy Fallon last week.

I did a Google search for “Jimmy Fallon” went to his home page. Clicked the link for the video. And it came up in HD like a YouTube video does on my iPhone. The kids were safely playing and I could watch a 5 minute video. I worry that I spend too much time on the phone when with the kids, but I also know we spend much more time filling the days with kids’ only activities more than I saw as a kid. Not that I had a bad childhood, but I don’t think parenting was such an intensive job as it is today. At least that’s how I rationalize things.

And if you want an MP3 version of "Mother" check out Gremmie.net. 

A Dad’s Simple Joy

Like most dads I think my kids are the cutest on earth. I mean come on. Look at them. One of my favorite joys though is running into kid-free couples in public with my cute kids in tow.

The reaction we get totally depends on Evie and Carter’s moods though. But I love both versions.

First Scenario: Kids are being cute/well behaved.

Still child-free couple: The woman or both (rarely just the guy) react with the “aww” face and you know there will probably be a conversation later in the day when they talk about kids.

Second Scenario: One or both children are wailing, mad, sick or otherwise miserable.

Still child-free couple: Eyes quickly dart away from us and they speed up to get past us in the grocery aisle or mall. There will likely be a very different conversation later in the day about having kids.

I smile either way.

17 Years, Six Months Since My First Pearl Jam Concert

One of my colleagues from my first post-college job asked me to write a blog post about my first Pearl Jam show for his new blog. Since I just got back from Pearl Jam’s 20th birthday celebration it seemed like a good time to reflect. How did I get addicted to a band so deeply that I haven’t missed a tour in 17 years? It started March 28, 1994…

[Every photo in this post is from PJ20 but I picked them to correlate with parts of my recollection. Pretty eerie. Click on song titles for MP3s from the '94 concert.]

I remember pretty much everything about the concert and have for 17 years. I remember heading to the local Sears to stand in line for tickets at the only TicketMaster outlet in Boca Raton, Florida where I grew up. I was getting as many general admission tickets as I could for me and all my buddies as they were on the phone with credit cards. Even at a low ticket price the hundreds of dollars in my hands was the most cash I had seen since my Bar Mitzvah.

Pearl Jam 20: Night One Set in Videos

I had some mild reflection of my life as a Pearl Jam fanatic this weekend as the wife and I joined 20,000 or so others to celebrate the band’s 20th “birthday” at Alpine Valley. With our lives consumed by kids’ schedules we didn’t head out early and rain kept us from communing with folks during day 1.

As I try to put together some of the sights and sounds I captured from our journey I’ve come across a bunch of terrific YouTube videos from the shows. And that got me to reflect much more than anything from the actual weekend.

[If you just want to see videos of every song from night one, in setlist order, click here. Otherwise, here are my deep thoughts.]

Back in college during Pearl Jam’s ascendant years as a touring band (1994-1998) I was heavy into trading the group’s live music. Like many others I took part in tape trees, recorded shows myself and from time to time traded videos.

I was much more of an audio guy but videos were often offered to me in trade from folks if I had everything on their audio list. Yes, we fanatics used to maintain detailed lists of every show we had on tape, their generation and lineage.

Even the best videos back then captured from a stadium’s feed were degraded by VHS technology. There was only so much tape could do in regards to video. Audio obviously was a different story.

Today, digital formats, iPhones and small cameras can capture the shows far better with no loss of quality. And then YouTube allows for instant sharing – no need for trading via email and waiting on the mailman to bring a package – in relatively amazing definition.

That’s why I’ve decided to post the best versions of each song from each night, in setlist order, here on DadTherapy. I’m not sure of the future of this blog, but it is a place I can put my thoughts in long form with some audio/visual help. And right now, Pearl Jam is about the only hobby I have to keep me sane. That and the NFL coming back.

That busy life makes the change in how I collect live shows really interesting. I used to spend hours curating and building that tape collection. Now I can find any of those shows pretty quickly online, usually in better quality, and download them in minutes. It’s only the sheer breadth of the band’s live shows after 20 years that make it an arduous task to keep collecting. But give me an hour after the kids are in bed and I can generally have a few gems downloaded.

A new show goes on the iPod right away and I’m listening to it on the commute to work or in the cube. They make the mundane time away from the family much more enjoyable. Thank you Pearl Jam for keeping me going after 20 years, and as I get to watch my little ones grow I too think life has just gotten good.

This collection below is the best of the vids I could find. If you can fill in the blanks or have any better suggestions paste the link in the comments.