November 6th, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
Well, it finally happened. I’m one of those dads who drives around in a minivan. On Saturday, we bought ourselves a Honda Odyssey.
Aw…c’mon. With a name like “Odyssey,” we couldn’t make it look any cooler?
That’s more like it. So when my wife goes back to work, this will be the vehicle I’ll be tooling around in. Yup…I’m that guy. But I have the advantage, I wasn’t particularly cool BEFORE I was minivan guy. Not like the ladies were doing double takes when I drove by in my Yaris.
Speaking of the Yaris, we’re actually keeping it because my wife gave up her car so the family could upgrade. So I’d like to give props to my lovely wife for that. She’s had her old Carolla since it was brand new in 2004. I know it’s just a car but you build up a lot of memories driving around in these things.
I gotta admit, though, this new minivan is pretty sweet. Leather seats, remote doors, cool box for drinks…and minivans kinda remind me of Star Trek shuttle crafts Although I’m a little worried about the computer interface on the “Odyssey”…
Yup, it was a long way to go for that sight gag. Oh, full disclosure, none of these pictures are of the actual van. It’s sitting at the dealership as I write this. We get to pick it up when we come home from the hospital with Baby Babb 2. A lot will be happening at the Babb household on Friday.
November 5th, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
Today, I’m continuing my series of blogs taking a more critical eye to books that are aimed at the younger set. This one has been a favorite of mine since I can remember. It’s The Monster at the End of This Book, featuring Grover from Sesame Street.
If you had parents that hated you, I’ll describe the book for you. Grover is “in” the book and realizes the title is “The Monster at the End of This Book.” That scares him, because he’s afraid of monsters, so he tries to reason with you… Read the rest of this entry »
November 4th, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
Today is voting day here in America. It’s the midterm elections which we traditionally don’t care about. But I’m getting up there in years and I have kids now (had to mention kids in this blog somehow). So I had to muster up enough energy to at least give the tiniest of craps about this election.
Then, as I was filling out my ballot, something caught my eye…
…woah, County of San Mateo. You just made it real. “Vote Both Sides.” It’s about time someone said it. We can’t keep entrenching ourselves as Democrats or Republicans. We’ve got to vote BOTH sides. Occasionally you have to come out of your little shell and acknowledge that the other side may have the better idea. Don’t just watch the TV and read the papers that you agree with. Challenge yourself by hearing another point of view from time to time. Read the rest of this entry »
November 3rd, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
As you read this, my wife and I are in the hospital meeting our new son for the first time.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you his name, or weight or any of that stuff because as I type this we are sitting at home and my wife is still very pregnant. I’m writing this in the past and sending it into the future so that I don’t have to waste time blogging while I should be taking care of my wife and newborn.
I’ve been sitting here trying to remember what the day was like when Michael was born. It’s such a blur. I remember that it my wife had been in labor for 2 days. Woosh…that was rough. I’m glad she won’t have to go through that this time.
I remember we didn’t come up with Michael’s name until the moment he was born. I imagine we’ll do something like that again.
I remember we were both exhausted (her more than me) and we were both focusing what little energy we had on learning to take care of this new little thing. Both grandmas were there to meet the little guy as soon as he and mom where wheeled out of surgery. This time, both grandmas will be there and bring that same little guy to meet the new, littler guy.
I was an only child. I’m not really sure how to raise brothers. This is gonna be a strange new experience. Then again, going from just a guy to “dad” was a strange experience too.
Well…the next few blogs are still gonna be from the past, but as soon as we’re home and things are under control. I’ll tell you all about the wonderful kid who was born today.
November 2nd, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
So this month’s blogs are all supposed to be about kids and parenting. But the big day isn’t until tomorrow…so now…we wait and talk about other things.
We were singled out as on of the top 100 “Comic” blogs to watch. When I heard this, I thought, “Finally! I’m getting a little recognition as a stand up comic. Odd that’s it’s for my seldom-funny blog, but whatever. I’ll take any love I can get.”
Then I saw the other blogs on the list and realized it’s about comic BOOKS. Oh…well…that’s good too. I don’t know if we talk about comics enough on this site. (Good thing we did a Batman vs Iron Man fight on this week’s show)
Well, it was nice to get some love for our geek cred. Especially if we got this honor for s***ing on Man of Steel!
Well, thank you, to the team at Rebateszone for including us in your graphic. FOr those of you who haven’t seen it, you can check it out right here. Read the rest of this entry »
November 2nd, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
It’s Batman vs Iron Man on the return of Monday Night TANfights. Also this week, the boys recap Halloween, Andy sees Riddick, and Tim reviews Gracepoint and The Flash.
00:00 – 00:39 Preshow Randomness
00:39 – 06:22 Intro
06:22 – 08:33 Marvel Lovefest Part 1
08:33 – 14:02 TANlaughs (Listener submitted jokes)
14:02 – 17:59 Marvel Lovefest Part 2
17:59 – 38L15 How the F*** Was Everyone’s Week?
38:15 – 45:56 Steamin’ Pile of Streamin’ (Online/On Demand Reviews)
45:56 – 58:23 Monday Night TANfights: Ironman vs Batman
58:23 – 61:06 Wrap Up
61:06 – 63:26 ????
[CONTENT WARNING]TANcast features mature language and immature hosts but is NOT a representation of the stand up act of Tim Babb. Listener discretion is advised. Read the rest of this entry »
November 1st, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
I’m about to be a father again. It’s very strange. It’s a different sort of feeling than becoming a father for the first time. I sort of know what to expect, but on the other hand it’s going to be such a different dynamic bringing a baby into the family with a child already here.
Sadly, when Michael was born, I didn’t post any blogs about the experience. This time around, I’m going to do the opposite and blog everyday for the month of November. However, unlike previous times where I’ve done this, most of the blogs will be centered around kids, fatherhood, and of course our new arrival (due November 3rd). I’m hoping to have a document to remember this time in my life as well as my families, as well as recall some memories of when my first child was born.
So, just a warning, some of these blogs will be “kicking his feet” blogs (For those who read this blog but don’t listen to the podcast, a “kicking his feet” story is a boring story a dad tells about his kid.) You can tell how dry some of these blogs will be just from that last paragraph. But, if this kind of introspection interests you, you’re in for a month of good times.
October 31st, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
Well the house didn’t look as cool as I’d hoped. But my family and I certainly looked cute in our costumes…
Special thanks to Geoff for taking these pictures.
And it turned out the Surface was able to due it’s final duty. Add that to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride/movie audio loop I had playing on the front porch, and the house decorations weren’t as weak as I feared.
Sadly, just like I said in my Vine/Tweet, I don’t think anyone came to our house. It looks like we have the same amount of candy in the bowl now as when I filled I filled it this afternoon. But…you know what? Our neighbors and their two kids saw it and thought it was cool. Michael saw it and liked it. We had a lot of fun trick or treating (in a neighborhood with some awesome decorations) with our good friends Geoff, Miranda, Kevin and Susie…plus all their kids. And did I mention how cute my kid looked in his costume?
He certainly looked way better than I did several years ago.
It looked even worse with the hat off…
In the dictionary, if you look up “yikes,” you see this photo
So while I’m bummed about a few things, I still say this was a happy Halloween. And now it’s officially a countdown to Christmas. Sorry, Thanksgiving, no one cares. Get some carols if you want me to take you seriously.
But before we leave Halloween, check out my moldy pumpkin (not a euphemism)…
Dude! We’ve had you for less than a week. What happened?!
October 30th, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
Recently, I re-posted this pic on Facebook:
Man, I can relate. I had such lofty hopes for decorating my house this year for Halloween. I had these big plans to make my house up with a Pirates of the Caribbean theme (I can NEVER spell Caribbean right on the first try! Thank the lord for spell check).
I have a friend who used to really go all out to make his house look like the Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. It was pretty epic…
Even if my video/editing skills were…less than epic.
So even though I knew my house wouldn’t look as cool as that, I did have some ideas that I thought were cool. I bought an inflatable skeleton to be like one of the many skeletons you pass in the early part of the pirates ride. I made a custom Jolly Rodger poster for my front door. Then, the trick I thought would be so cool, I was going to turn my garage into a pirate prison. The plan was to use my Surface tablet to project a video of me in a pirate costume demanding to be let out. My plan was that this would all come together for an overall cool effect.
Then came reality…
Granted, it’s daytime so it doesn’t look its best. However, it’s not like there’s some mood lighting that’ll be going on at night. Look at the sad little skeleton…
He’s all slumped over, the sword that is supposed to have “killed” him is barely visible and his pirate hat keeps falling off.
The “Beware” sign looks like a diaper box that was painted by a 3 year-old and then set on fire…because that’s totally what happened…
And the garage just looks like a garage with a few random things on it. (In my defense, pirate decorations are really hard to find. It’s all about zombies now)
Speaking of the garage, as I mentioned, I was planning to film myself making pirate taunts that would hopefully scare passers by. Luckily, I was able to nab an eye patch more than a month before Halloween. I was going to film with it and then put it on the skeleton guy. Well, 4 days before Halloween, I lost it. So I had to make do with…gorilla tape. (It’s like duck tape, but black. Wait…is that racist?)
This would definitely scare passersby.
Eh…I have a few more touches to add before the big day…we’ll see if that helps.
UPDATE: 10/30/14 10:37PM
Well so much for extra touches.
My wife found the eye patch…which is great news. So I went to record my jump scare pirate bits over again on my Surface. I did a pretty good take. A nice 10 minute loop. I went to check it. As I was grabbing the tape to secure the Surface to the garage window I hear it crash to the ground…
As you might imagine the touch screen doesn’t work anymore. It DOES embed tiny shards of glass in your fingers now, so there’s that. But Microsoft will repair it for me for $200. Then again, I can get a whole new one on Amazon for $209.
I ruined a $200 piece of technology to do a stupid gag that no one but me even really cares about. You can not imagine how dumb I feel right now. Oh wait, did I mention the Surface was a Christmas gift from my mom. Yeah, it’s not even a year old.
Good night, sweet Surface. May a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest. (Surface Tablet 12/25/13-10/31/14) https://t.co/C7sqIH1HP0
October 29th, 2014 . by Tim Babb (TANcast's #1 Host/Editor Fan)
Last year, I did a High 5 list of “Halloween Songs.” But this year I’m going to focus just on songs from horror movies. I’m sticking with instrumental tracks that will give that spooky feel. Here we go…
Halloween
This is an obvious one. It was on the list last year. (And just like last year, I still haven’t seen the movie) But this is a great, spooky song.
Saw
Add this to the list of movies I haven’t seen. In fact I have no interest in seeing any of this series of flicks. But you can not deny that theme song. Spooky, intense, and quite hummable in parts.
Psycho
Come on. How could this NOT be on my list? This is one of the most iconic pieces of horror music of all time. Can’t take a shower this time of year without this playing in your head. Right? No? I’m the only one?
…awkward
Beetlejuice
Okay, maybe this isn’t technically a “horror” movie, but this is a great theme by the amazing Danny Elfman. It’s definitely light-hearted but has a very spooky vibe to it. Then that boisterous ending really drives it home.
Jaws
You’re never going to be able to top John Williams…why even try?
I’m listening to this as I type…and I’m no where near the water, and it still puts me on edge. Even if this wasn’t from a movie about a killer shark, it would be a beautifully scary piece of music
