Revisiting Some Dark Times in Idaho History

For all of you Chicago friends who read the blog, haven't you been enjoying the lovely race for Governor this year? Especially the last few weeks where our television has been bombarded with campaigns that focus only on the faults of other candidates? I sure have. It has been a long time since I have seen this level of muckraking.

In fact, I CAN remember the last time - it was Idaho 1996. Larry Craig was running for senator against some other dude (lesson is: getting caught in a nasty bathroom scandal will help me remember your name!) and the race was getting intense. It wasn't long before they started relying on bash tactics to discourage people from voting for the opponent. Phrases such as, "Larry Craig's campaign is RADIOACTIVE!" and "He's a LIAR!" became commonplace. The candidates even got a shoutout on Saturday Night Live for being out of control. Scott and I used to imagine our own over-the-top versions of these commercials.

Well, now Chicago is out of control. I have particularly enjoyed that two people of the same party are duking it out. Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes have spent a lot of money making each other look like a bunch of douche monkeys. Well, this year I decided to actually make my own version of a Dan Hynes commercial like I always wanted to back in '96. While it is clearly not true...its not far from the commercials on TV right now. I even tried to use the fun sound effects and lame fonts they use for emphasis! Enjoy!

Dominos Blows? Who Knows...

What is this box doing in our house????? Don't we live in Chicago, the land of amazing pizza?Domino's Pizza. If you watch TV at all, then you have most certainly seen or at least heard about Domino's new advertising campaign where they openly admit that their pizza tasted like rotten butt. Impressive...not often a company admits that they blow. Well, they also promise that they have completely reformulated their pizza and are ready to start fresh with a better product. But is that really true? Are they being honest? I worked for Domino's, so I can attest that the product was not that amazing.

As a lover of anything fast food and a sucker for all advertising, I decided it was absolutely necessary that we give this pizza a shot. Plus, with online ordering and 2 medium, 2 topping pizzas for $5.99 each - how could I deny this opportunity?The pizza definitely looked more awesome than I remember it. Maybe it is because my camera is awesome, but doesn't that pizza look amazing? I was particularly excited to try the new garlicky crust and special sauce.Caitlin looks closely at her slice of Domino's pizza next to a slice of Carmen's pizza and finds them to be comparable in cheese and toppings. Group verdict? Domino's Pizza's new pizza is freakin' delicious and still maintains its affordability. We all really, really liked it and have craved it since. I strongly recommend that you follow the advertisements advice and you give this pizza a chance. Wow. An advertising promise that actually delivers. Truly monumental.

Max's New PEEPS

Max has begun to show his party side by getting to know some of his future peeps. It started with his boy Tate. Tate was born in the fall, so Max has a lot to learn from him about being a human being effectively.Alissa unveils Tate to us - he had grown so much since we last saw him a few months ago.

As you can see, he already dwarfs Max in size. Good thing they are friends and not enemies - I don't think Max could stand up to a bully Tate

How could Tate ever be a bully though - look how cute and smooshy he is!

Max also met some family when Adam, Sarah and Noah came over to get to know him. Noah walked in the door and the first words out of his mouth were, "baby max." So we took him over to meet his dad's cousin's son. What does that make Max to Noah? Let's just say super buddies.
Noah had clearly been instructed to handle Max with extreme care. Only light petting on the feeties.

A closer inspection of Max's face and tiny body were also requisite - and permitted.

Was Noah happy about his new friend Baby Max? What do you think...

Friend and fellow graduate of Northwestern Lauren came over to act as an eye witness for the rest of my class that I had indeed spawned a child. There is no greater proof then holding the evidence in your hands...which she did for quite a while. Max was loving to Lauren and put on an "angel baby" show - which he really likes to do for anyone who visits.

MORE FRIENDS! We took Max over to Jenna's house to meet a few new buddies. Here they are, currently lined up by age. On the left we have precious Ella, then Gwen, then Max and then week old William. Max will have no shortage of friends his age in this neighborhood since I think every human being is pregnant here. Every single one (excluding the males as far as I know). I love the pre-flash, post-flash pictures here.

Don't worry - all these babies have mothers. I love Ella in this picture - clearly the oldest of the "babies" and, in a way, tending over her flock.

Mandatory close up of week-and-a-half old William.

Mandatory close up of precious Gwen

Davis, hamming it up on camera and demonstrating "fun with shutter speeds" on Unky Jeff's new camera.

There - next to her dad Ella again resembles a baby. Its funny how big she looks when placed next to Max and crew.

Then Max was super duper pooper lucky to meet his Unky Bodge and Aunt Beef!!! He was absolutely obsessed with them and got to enjoy them for four days at our house. I'll be honest, he cried for hours and hours after they left...they were so good to him. Aunt Beef and Max had a great time having fart contests. Unfortunately, Max has a lot to learn from Aunt Beef about gas. I will be reporting more later on our fun time together.

More fun with friends! Scott and Ellen came over with their girls to meet Baby Max and hang out with Bodge and Beef, who they know from our college days. Scott was pimp and made us delicious Thai curry while we talked "parent shiz" with Ellen. Actually, the girls mostly chatted it up in the living room while Bodge, Scott and myself made fun of people in the kitchen.
Here is a nice photo of Natalia, Scott's youngest. For some reason I only have an extremely blurry photo of precious Sonia and no existing photo of Scott - but they were there. Sorry dudes.
Aunt Beef proudly displays delicious curry.Natalia is now 18 months, but she still wants in on some of that baby action - particularly his vibrating bouncy chair. Trust me Natalia, I too would like a grown up version of that chair. Oh, that would be the life. Vibration, bouncing and visual distractions. Awesome. Max, we all are jealous of you and love you (except for the yellow seedy poops and tormenting gas bubbles...I don't envy those).

Thanks everyone for your support with food, friendship and breast pads!

Looking For Someone To Fire?

The economy ain't that great, and people I care about are getting fired or are unable to find jobs. But really - are these the people who should be laid off or without employment? I beg to differ. In fact, I found someone who should be instantly laid off and replaced with someone better than them (anyone really). Its the guy who wrote this Facebook ad for a financial aid company to help people go back to school:See anything wrong there? Yeah...the person who wrote this is a moron and would be fired instantly at any real job. Sadly, he is probably still gainfully employed while competent people are not. Lame.

Alaska? Nopers...

One of my favorite things about Lake Michigan is how it and its beaches morph into an Alaskan wasteland the second it drops below freezing (which it pretty much does for four months). The cold water splashing up against the beach and snowfall ensures the ice quickly forms into mountains and spikes of ice shards all over the beach. It forms the most awesome landscape for photographing shiz - so I escaped from Max for a half hour one day and walked a block to the water (ice?) for some camera practice. The strong contrast of white and blue make it a little tough to bring out color or definition, but I think I got a few good pictures.

GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!

Okay, it is sharing time on Side of Mulcock. For those of you who have been my friend for a long time, then you know all about geen. For those of you who are new to my life in the last few years, you may not be familiar with geen.

Well, let's put it out on the table. Geen was my security blanket. It was made by my Grandma Jo (my mom's mom) and was called geen by me because it was green in color and I just skipped the R. It had little corners sewn in all around the blanket and it brought me lots of comfort. When I was sad as a little boy, I would stand in front of my mom with geen and that meant I wanted her to wrap me up and hold me.

Geen didn't go away. I kept geen around through my whole life. Growing up, Stephoin liked to take my blanket and cut it up, get it wet and then put it in the freezer, bury it, etc. It eventually became a gigantic rope tied together from pieces of geen shreds. It partied with me at college, NYC, etc until Caitlin and I got married. I put geen in a box and there is where it stays.

Well, Gram Pam has made her own version of geen for Max and gave it to him while she was in town before she left. Let's see...did he like it?
Uh, what do you think?

Yeah, Max likes geen two. A lot. Thanks mom.

Fussy Baby? NO WAY!

Well, ladies and gentlemen. I have received a lot of advice in the last few days about being a father. Of particular noteworthiness has been the advice on how to sooth a fussy or crying baby. Now, Max is not an extremely hard baby. I certainly wouldn't say that he is colicky or anything. But he does tend to cry on and off for about 6 hours a day, and sometime does need some serious soothing. I have taken your advice, and come up with some of my own.

The below is the first of one or more Mulcock Baby Instructional Videos - this one focused on soothing sad babies. I strongly recommend you watch it for some classic Baby Max moments, as well as shameful Jaymoo dad type behavior.

It is a solid 8 minutes, but worth the time when you have it.

Passing of the Grandma Torch

Thursday, January 7th, had the potential to be a very, very sad day. The amazing Grandma Judes was leaving us to return to Idaho. Max was beside himself. Who would rock him to sleep? His dad? Pshhh, yeah right. "My dad has minimal skills," he says. "Grandma Judes gots da mad skills." Yeah, Max was pretty sad to see her go. Fortunately for Max, he would not be left solely to the inadequacies of his father. Grandma Pam (Gram Pam, Gramelle, Grampees, etc) came to take on her portion of the labor. This is how Max greeted her:Well, he was kind of asleep. But still, he was psyched to see her. Gram Pam, a first time grandma, immediately began relishing in her role as grandma.
Rocking him, loving him, caring for him. Basically making Max feel like the most loved baby on earth. Do you see the new grandma glow on her face?

Swaddling him, caressing him, bouncing him, singing to him...the works. She loves him. In classic Pamsky style, she gets weepy just looking at him when he's asleep.

Seriously - how could you deny this face of love?
Or this face? Deny it of love - I dare you. See, you aren't strong enough to withhold your love.

Okay, you might be able to withhold a bit of love from this face...but then you'd just laugh and love him anyway.

Three generations of Mulcock. Scary, yet somehow, cute.

After a day of fun, it was time to wake him up, change him, and put him to sleep. He was extra fun to play with, especially when he decided he wanted to eat my nose.

Scrumptious Max. Scrumptious.

Two peas in a pod - one is just a smaller pea than the other. We are so glad to have Gram Pam here to keep on the tradition of grandma service at our home. Thanks mom! We invite you all to come out and clean and cook for us.

Max Keeps Me Alert!

If Max were any type of pill, he would be a bottle of no-doze. Love him!

The Wait Made Bareable With Art

The day after Christmas (reminder, this was Caitlin's true due date), we headed down to walk Max out of her body in Chicago and at the Art Institute of Chicago. I was pretty excited to see the new modern wing of the museum.

First, we had some required bean shots to do. Lynn had never been to the bean, nor downtown I believe.

Classy lookin' dudes and dudettes.

It was a pretty cold snowy day, perfect for snapping some great shots the cloudy architecture in Chicago - including the Sears (er, um Willis) Tower.

Caitlin and Fam - strong, majestic, snowy.

Inside the modern wing, we got down to it. Despite her pregnancy, Caitlin was intent on observing herself some art.

I really liked this painting. I can't remember who did it, but he was criticized for being to "normal" with his portraits...but I liked how he uses muted, 2D backgrounds to bring added depth to his portraits.

This one was the worst piece of art in the entire building. Yes, this guy able to hand draw some very nice letters. But seriously? Even though this is Halloween of my birth year, I was still not impressed.

This might have been my favorite in the modern wing. I loved the city scape made evident through abstract lines, colors and streaks. The energy of a city is clear, as is the scope and sprawl. You can almost imagine the buildings that would exist in this city.

Breaks were taken, don't worry.

And gift shops were checked out.

Amazing piece of art? You decide. This is a shot I took with my camera of the Sears Tower. No Photoshop in this biotch.

Whats up with the neon light art that is so popular right now? I have seen like three exhibits like this lately. It made for some great photography though. I got in trouble for taking pictures of this. Apparently it is okay take pictures of anything except the special exhibits. My bad.

After art, we found art in the form of food. We went to DMK Burger for what is a fantastic burger. I got the one that has bacon, a fried egg with runny yolk, pepper jack cheese. Oh man. The yolk was dripping down my neck.

After this day it was just a waiting game for Max to come. As you know, he came and with a vengeance! Thanks Jeff, Judes and Lynn for making the weight for Max so fun.