Be it as it may that the Illinois Times probably still thinks us bloggers and Twitters are shut-ins living in our parents’ basement, a group of 15 showed up last week at Brewhaus for some brews and chatting.

I even convince Mrs. Shoo to come out. She was convinced after all the talk about Twitter to create her own account @mrsshoo.

A few people were unable to make it, so I think we’ll be putting another together in the fall.

1982 Trailer

2010 Trailer

And in 3D. I think this will definitely be a move that I need to see.

I’ve got a neighbor buddy that is always asking, “Can Chris play?” Somehow he’s gotten word that I have lots of toys, a.k.a. computers. He came over the other night, ringed the door bell, ringed it again, and when that didn’t work he started pounding on the door.

“Chris can we play?”

How was I ever going to say no? I told him, “Well, I don’t have any kids games.”

Thanks to a reminder from Mrs. Shoo, we headed downstairs to the “big computer”  and the internet to surf for some kids games. Mrs. Shoo had been the one that put the bug in his ear about the “big computer.” It was the only thing he wanted to see.

I opened the browser and headed to Nickelodeon and PBS Kids.

He’s only 3 but his little hand navigated the mouse with ease. He knows his shapes, colors and even picked up on some rhymes with help from Mrs. Shoo.

He was over for about an hour when his mom and sisters came over to pick him up. He wasn’t happy that he had to back home and started having a three year old’s mental break down. We had the big boy talk and I assured him that he could come over another time.

Really, how could I say no?

Buddy just started getting the hang of jumping up on the swing. Clancy hates for dear life. He shakes if his body is not touching another human being on the swing. Rather comical.

The water bottle is for when the dogs get unruly and start barking at other dogs, cats, walkers, animal life… ect.

The front landscaping project is finally reaching an endpoint. See here and here. Planning to pick up mulch next weekend.

This guy lives around the corner. Pretty mysterious. Some say he’s a drinker. Doesn’t cause much of a stampede.

I am putting together a blogger/tweeter/humdinger meetup at Brew Haus, next Thursday (23rd) at 5pm. Sorry kids, this is a 21+ event. Nothing special other than a chance to put a face to a login name and drink a few beers.

Everyone is welcome to come:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/event.php?ei…

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I’ll post the info multiple places, but you can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/gotshoo or http://twitter.com/spfldbloggers

We have a set of adirondack chairs for some time now. Students at Sarah’s school made them. One was even painted green. It has been featured in many photos on Gotshoo. The other one was neglected and sat all by its lonesome naked self.

There’s a constant joke between Sarah and I about the chairs. Me: Hey, when you going to paint the other chair. Her: Hey, when you going to finish (insert numerous house projects). Some how I always end up losing that argument.

A guy at work just made us two tables to go along with our chairs, so I have a new found interest in the chairs and sanded down the neglected chair to be ready for paint.

Some how I have been able to overcome Sarah’s kitschy color selection for something closer to base colors and something we both agree with. I want to paint the chairs the same type of red as the New Belgium logo (seen above). I also want to somehow get the logo on the chair.

Just as a test tonight I printed out the logo on thick paper and tried to cut it out with an exacto knife. My skills are a little rusty, and I could see how it could take some time to get it cut out. So Internet, this is where you come in.

Is there a place in town that I could get this made into a stencil, or shipped off to any place on the internet to be made into a stencil? Or does anyone else have an idea?

We don’t walk the dogs. Clancy usually walks us. He’s gun-ho turn it up all the way to 11, but please let me mark everything kind of dog. Buddy on the other hand starts out strong, but by the end is ready to plop down.

The weather has been incredible lately so we’ve been able to get a few more walks in than usual.

Well, I finally made the plunge, I am an iPhone owner. I have had it for about two weeks and as much as I don’t want to see next month’s phone bill, I’ve got to say that I’ve enjoyed becoming a walking Google.

Now I didn’t get the brand new 3G-S model, the S stands for speed, but I went with the bargain-bin $99 special 3G. I could see where the S would be nice with the supported HD video camera and an extra boost in speed, but a difference of a $100 was not in my budget at the time.

By the way, this phone replace my 3.5 year old Sony Ericcson Walkmen phone. Actually probably one of the better phones that I’ve owned.

Not content with just a regular iPhone, I’ve already jailbroken my phone. It essentially means that I can install non-sanctioned Apple applications. Included in those non-sanctioned features are the ability to record video, video recording is limited to the 3GS model right now, change some of the elements in the UI, and tether to my phone as an internet connection.

Custom background.

Batman logo to replace the generic battery.

Video filmed with my 3G.

There are some cons to jailbreaking your phone, you essentially break any warranty with Apple and At&t. There are moments that my phone seems really slow to respond. I don’t know if it because it is jailbroken or what.

If anyone is interested, Gizmodo has a great tutorial on how to do it: http://gizmodo.com/5302123/jailbreak-and-unlock-iphone-30/gallery/

United is now listening: http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/smashed-guitar-youtu-4850/

Song is actually really catchy.

Have iPhone apps jumped the shark? Really?

I always forget to take a picture after it’s done. This was my first experience making kabobs. Not hard at all, but I think next time I might do a marinade. The smoked sausage gave it a nice little kick.

Another thing I should have taken a photo of was that I had a special rack that went with the skewers. It kept the kabobs about an inch off of the grilling surface. I also had the charcoal on the sides so it was right underneath.

Dinner was great. Wife and the in-laws both approved.

Food accented with a New Belgium Skinny Dip beer.

Popcorn from gotshoo on Vimeo.

We like popcorn.