http://blog.jrr4.com Proving that I can be as self important as every other blogger.... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:37:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Dear Friends and Family, The Rogers Family reached our 1 year anniversary with Type 1 Diabetes in March.  Anne took Scott to lunch and they made a list of all the words new in our vocabulary:  insulin, Humalog, Lantus, basal, bolus, correction factor, highs, low, carb ratio, glucagon ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/10/10/2008-jdrf-walk-for-a-cure/ I’m about 75% decided as to who I’m voting for in the upcoming presidential election.  I’m hoping that there will be some substance discussed in the debates to help me over my indecision. One of the things that has bothered me ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/09/09/ive-avoided-politics-so-far/ and it’s not the one that involved throwing the jeep into reverse and getting out of the way.   Scott and I were involved in a head on collision yesterday.  Fortunately, thanks to airbags, and my theory of “yield to tonnage”, which is the ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/08/27/my-backup-plan-failed/   As first reported in David Menconi’s blog at newsobserver.com, Comboland Radio is live on Live365.com.  In the last 30 minutes or so, I’ve heard Arrogance, PKM, Glass Moon, Brice Street, Mothers Finest, Connells and Mitch Easter.  If you grew up in Raleigh, you must revisit ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/08/06/welcome-to-comboland-radio/ For Foodies, the wife and I don’t get out much.  When dining with the family, we lean to the inexpensive, family friendly: Armadillo Grill Jason’s Deli Five Guys Chick Fil A Jersey Mike’s Los Tres Vaqueros King’s Wok Sweet Tomatoes Amante Pizza Casalinga – not inexpensive, but the best Italian in town. Wow, that list depresses me, but when you’re feeding ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/07/29/the-best-and-the-worst-in-48-hours/ While it’s still worth your hard earned $3.99, you can see it for free again, via my favorite Internet TV site Hulu   If you want to watch it the way it was originally released, you can break it up into the 3 acts: Act ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/07/29/do-yourself-a-bigger-and-free-er-favor/   and spend $3.99 on Itunes to buy "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog".  It was free last week at their website, but I bought it after the first "Act". It's silly, absurd, cheesy, and beautifully fantastic.  Neil Patrick Harris has a really great ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/07/24/do-yourself-a-favor/ The idea for this came the other day when I left my XM Radio at the office and pulled out my Disney CD.  Yes, I have a Disney CD.  Let's move past that. I'm new to the brother dynamic.  I've got 3 sisters, and my father is an ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/05/15/youve-got-a-friend-in-me/ I defy you to find anything more charming than the following: This is the best show on TV. The "confessional" at the end gives goosebumps, and you cannot help but cheer a little bit. http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/04/18/last-nights-office/ I'm kinda funny. I can kinda sing.  This has come as part of my mid-life crisis - until 6 years ago, the only singing I did was to the radio in the car.  Then came Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Children of Eden, a couple of solos in church, ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/04/17/im-frustrated/ A good friend of mine is a high school teacher, and he and his wife have recently blogged about their experiences chaperoning the Prom.  It took me back to one of my Prom experiences. I was asked to escort a young lady to the St. Mary's Prom "back in the ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/03/26/its-prom-season/ I was sitting at my desk, the neon "O T E L" sign flashing like a bug zapper on a hot summer night when the phone rang. It was a dame, and she was bent out of shape like an old paperclip. "Johnny, I've got a big problem on my ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/03/26/the-maltese-candidate/ ...cause if you can't be funny, why not link to stuff that is... Saturday Night Live was not spectacular, but it did have some solid highlights, from Tina Fey (across the board - nearly everything she did was funny) to Mike Huckabee on Weekend Update.  Sadly, Adam Samberg's Digital Short ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/02/25/stuff-i-laughed-at-this-weekend/ It's your senior correspondent. (That's me after Scott's run...) Because we're cool parents, we surprised the kids with a trip to the Great Wolf lodge in Williamsburg, VA, land of a pancake house on every corner in honor of our great presidents Washington and Lincoln. Let me ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/02/19/reporting-from-hell/ Aretha Franklin at the 2008 Grammy Awards Sea Witch Ursula from The Little Mermaid. I bet you'll never see them in the same room together. http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/02/11/separated-at-birth/   R.E.M. REM's new one. - MP3 Music Streams on IMEEM I can't remember when I was excited about an R.E.M. album.  The last few albums have left me cold, and based on the song above, you can understand the lyrics!   U23D Last weekend the whole family went ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/02/07/its-music-thursday-in-the-neighborhood-80s-rock-legend-edition/ We may be a little late to the party, but we're hooked on Guitar Hero III.  Mom is actually the best player in the house, but our youngest has, all of a sudden, acquired some mad skills.  The video is unedited, so it's pretty much the same thing (in other ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2008/01/08/what-its-been-like-at-our-house-since-christmas/ I had intended to include this one since I started this little retrospective, but when Stereogum brought this "The BBC Put The **** And ****** Back In Christmas" to my attention, I found my "hook". It's funny how certain songs and artists have escaped my attention over the years, and ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/12/19/because-whats-christmas-without-a-little-profanity/ I stumbled across this song a couple of years ago, I think from the USA Today blog Pop Candy. It is by a band out of New Jersey called Spiraling, and their combination of a rock and roll classic with a Christmas classic is amazing. The opening is ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/12/13/on-the-third-post-of-christmas/ From my favorite Christmas album "When My Heart Finds Christmas" by Harry Connick, Jr. I'd love to sing this at church with a bunch of guys. Maybe next years Christmas CD... [flashvideo filename=audio/IPrayonChristmas.mp3 /] http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/12/13/christmas-part-deux/ I love Christmas Music.  Since I joined the choir at church several years ago, I've really been enjoying the Classical Christmas channel on XM 106 and Directv Channel 866. But That's not what this is about.  I love a lot of different types of Christmas music, and some of my ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/12/09/christmas-music-part-one/ I had a dream last night. I was on "Grey's Anatomy" and it was my turn to sleep with Izzie. While the details have been lost to dreamland, I do seem to remember that I was magnificent. http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/11/30/im-no-martin-luther-king/ I present to you, my first "commissioned" gig. A friend at Church called in a panic - they had come up one essay short for the Advent devotional booklet. After clarifying why she didn't ask in the first place (she believed she already was in my debt for ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/11/12/making-roomfor-the-little-one/ As my children reach the age of more and more privileges, the calendar is marked, not by days and months, but by the next privilege to be taken away. "If you don't act right, you won't (insert next thing the child most looks forward to)" - James R. Rogers IV November 1, ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/11/01/parenting-101/   More details after the break.... We had 34 walkers, three dogs, and 2 strollers.  As a team we will have raised over $8,000!  Thank you to those of you who supported us in this most worthwhile endeavor! http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/10/30/the-2007-walk-has-been-completed/ Back when I was a published writer (OK, it was the high school newspaper, but I did win 2nd in a statewide competition) I wrote a column (sort of a Blog 1.0 before the internet for you whippersnappers - now get off my lawn!) about the NC State fair.  Now ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/10/25/2007-nc-state-fair/ From the Associated Press, via The News and Observer: Monkey attack kills New Delhi official I really shouldn't find this funny. Sadly, I do. http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/10/22/bad-monkey-bad-monkey/ Diabetes I'd like to be able to say that I've been quiet lately because I've wanted to leave the diabetes letter at the top of the blog, but it's been more laziness than anything else. On the diabetes front, we're doing pretty well - our team consists of 34 walkers, ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/10/18/its-buckshot-thursday/ Dear Friends and Family, Our son Scott turned 9 back in July. It’s been a tough year for him. He was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on March 6. He’s been very fortunate – so far. Fortunate in that he has only had to endure 1400 finger sticks in those past six months ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/09/12/the-2007-juvenile-diabetes-research-foundation-walk-to-cure-diabetes/ I'm a little late to the party, and I think having sons prevented me from seeing the light. High School Musical 1 & 2 Disney's latest attempt to drive pop culture worked it's magic (in HD on Directv no less) on us this past weekend. My oldest had done a local ... http://blog.jrr4.com/2007/08/28/in-which-jimmy-comes-out-of-the-closet/