I am crazygonuts busy and need to head out the door to a customer site. I had a great meeting last night with Bill from Dixon Hill and Brant from b two design last night – good things happen when developers team up.

Movie Review…

The Adjustment Bureau - this was OK, it took a while to explain what was going on and didn’t really do so clearly until the end and all of the Adjustment Bureau’s limitations were kind of rushed at the end. I liked the concept, but the script really went off the rails.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• What to Do if Your Ereader Is Lost or Stolen
• New PHP Site Attacks are Bypassing Search Bots
• New Version of Gmail Coming Soon [VIDEO]
• 21+ Essential Resources for Your Apple iPhone 4S
• 4 iPhone Tricks for the Hearing and Vision Impaired

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Muammar Gaddafi killed in gun battle
• Why George Romero rejected The Walking Dead to make The Zombie Autopsies
• New Decoy Website Launched To Lure Away All Moronic Internet Commenters
• 8-bit creatures in a music video by Anne Lucht
• Periodic table of swearing
• Sh*t Herman Cain Says…

I got a lot done yesterday – a bunch of coding (including integrating this super handy image resizer script into one of the sites I’m finishing up), got some chores around  the house done, grocery shopping, went to Play it Again Sports and got a bucket of balls for Bubs and I to smack around, went to Zinc Cafe with Abbe and Mom for an excellent dinner (still can not believe they do not have a website), and then Jan stopped by for some wine (and discussion of our team costumes for the upcoming McGuire Mud Run).

And now I’m off to the first of two softball playoff games today, wish me and my gimpy hamstrings luck.

Movie Review…

American: The Bill Hicks Story - I really like Bill Hicks, that said, I enjoyed this documentary. A few reviewers on Amazon have been panning the movie because of the special effects thrown in that truly were not necessary, but I think they were similar to Hicks’ comedy – risks have to be taken. That said, what I found to be missing from the documentary was his feud with Denis Leary and his relationship with Tool. Brilliant comedian and thinker, Bill is sorely missed in this day and age to say the least.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• 19 Essential Google+ Resources
• Google+: The Complete Guide

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Birdprints
• Kitten DJs

Like many Flyers fans this morning, I’m dazed. Paul Holmgren pulled off three massive moves yesterday. Trading away both Jeff Carter and Mike Richards for a decent return, but all in the effort to sign Ilya Bryzgalov. The Flyers parted ways with two players that were the face of the franchise and one just happened to be their captain.

As far as the trades themselves that shipped out Carter and Richards, I definitely like the players we got back – Schenn is already garnering Mike Richards comparisons, he is going to be very good; Simmonds brings some excellent size and durability, will hit and drop the gloves in a spot; Voracek could be a real power forward, but just has yet to reach his potential; and let’s not forget that #8 overall pick we have for this evening’s draft.

Right now, the majority of Flyers fans are filling up the message boards and social media with claims that Ilya better win the Vezina, Conn Smythe, and Stanley Cup (i.e. be Tim Thomas) the next two years for this trade. The truth is, Homer just gave us a ton of flexibility, got us a true #1 goalie, and I don’t think he is done yet. There are Stamkos and Brad Richards floating around right now… stay tuned Flyers fans!

I forgot to post a couple of really great pictures Abbe took of the kids during their walk down to Beach 3 the other night, check out Viv, the Duck Whisperer…

And this perfect shot of a lakeside stroll…

In the really good news department, Memom took Bubs to get a waterproof cast cover yesterday. Bubs is loving the new found freedom…

Movie Review…

The Tourist – you know, if you make a terrible movie in a beautiful place (Venice, Italy) – it’s still a terrible movie. Yes, even if you put two super attractive leads in the movie – still terrible.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• How Social Media Is Changing Paid, Earned & Owned Media
• HOW TO: Choose a PHP Framework for Your Next Project
• Mac OS X 10.6.8 update now available
• What To Do When Your Website Sucks

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Lioness Wants to Eat a Baby
• “Hot Dudes with Kittens.”
• Accidental Chinese Hipsters.

I am beaming with pride. My son nearly got a perfect score on his presentation yesterday!  Way to go Bubs! He came home, burst into my office screaming my name with his grade in his hand and gave me a big, big hug. Hopefully, we can afford to celebrate this weekend – you deserve it big guy.

Tomorrow, I will be helping out during field day for Viv. It’s gonna be hot out there, but we will have fun.

Those two things I just mentioned, plus my gorgeous lady… I can’t tell you how grateful and happy I am right now. Even after a hellacious day yesterday repairing code and data for a customer (not my fault) and waking up to a very unhappy email from another customer (this one was a bit more on me) – the perspective of what is truly important kept my head on straight and allowed me to access both situations and respond. Both customers are up and running and I think my response time was definitely note-worthy.

On top of taking care of some emergencies, I was stood up for a very important meeting this morning – which will be fine. The prospective client had an unavoidable emergency to tend to, and they saw that I was prompt, profusely apologized for missing the meeting, and I am confident I will get their business.

But in all of these setbacks, I kept the emotion out of my responses and just got the job done – because I did my best to put myself in their shoes and concentrated on doing a good job for Abbe and my kids to be proud of me. And although getting paid is important, their love is what matters most.

Look Inside And You’ll See

When You’ve Got So Much To Say

It’s Called Gratitude, And That’s Right

Small Business/Tech Links…

• The Case for Google PageRank: Perception vs. Economics
• 9 Well-Designed User Registration Pages To Learn From
• How Small Businesses Are Using Mobile [INFOGRAPHIC]
• 5 Content Marketing Strategies for Small Business

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Photo: Young Rangers fan places bounty on brother’s head – thanks Doug!
• The Internet is My Religion – thanks Tracy… you know, this might be the first couple (Doug is her guy) link submission pairing ever on my blog!
• Angry Birds Live
• Paralyzed Georgia outfielder drafted by Rangers
• A few good examples of why it’s NOT always the best idea to stay within the bike lane, even if it costs you a ticket.
• Dildo Sport: the first strap-on athletic accessory that helps you play hard and win big! – obviously NSFW
• The World’s Most Exclusive Website
• Bad idea for a custom Visa card

Bubs has been working on his presentation (due tomorrow) for about 4 weeks now and supposedly he has been researching his hero, Chase Utley that entire time. But yesterday prior to ice hockey, he ran through his notes as a check for material and his 5 minute speech was only two and a half. I reviewed his notes and pointed out the areas he really needs to expand. As expected he talked a lot about Chase’s accomplishments on the field rather than the whole point of picking him as a hero – he has used his fame to help the community.

Abbe and I are going to help Bubs get his index cards together and help him practice his speech after school today. I’m really concerned with him doing well on this project. I keep drilling the idea of writing everything down, but he had no idea what outlining his presentation meant (this was supposed to have been covered in class), his notes were a complete mess, and his organization of everything was woeful. I know this is a prime example of the independent thought that needs to be encouraged, but when the written instructions were so brief – it really makes me nervous. I want my son to do well. He’s worked so darn hard this year – I want him to end it on a strong note going into 5th grade.

After a stressful afternoon of working with him on the project (and helping him re-study for his Language Arts test that is today), I got a slew of emails that through my already amped up worry into overdrive. I had to re-invoice a customer. I needed to re-work a MySQL user defined function into PHP code (because contrary to popular belief, although stored procedures and all those cool data object types exist in MySQL – they suck performance-wise). And then… it was like the clouds cleared a bit… Bubs and I went to hockey practice… ahh…. (that’s Bubs in the orange and white socks and the wooden Louisville given to him by his soon-to-be Uncle Ben)… oh but one last stressful thing, Bubs forgot his hockey gloves. They needed to be replaced anyway, but there went another $50… so he’s also wearing a pair of brand new Bauer gloves in the pic too…

So we have more work to do Bubs, but we’ll get there buddy. And hey, we have a make-up hockey practice tonight again too – just don’t think about forgetting any more equipment on the way to the rink, Daddy is broke!

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Top 10 Git Tutorials for Beginners
• OS X Lion launching in July for $29.99: all the details
• Apple’s iOS 5: all the details
• Apple Releases iOS 5 Video
• Apple iOS 5 hands-on preview
• Everything you need to know about Google’s +1 button
• Apple Blesses Twitter, Makes It the Social Network on iOS Devices
• iTunes To Finally Get Wireless Syncing With iOS 5
• HOW TO: Optimize Text Ads for Search
• Modern Debugging Tips and Tricks
• iOS 5 jailbroken

Funny/Interesting Links…

• My Friend Evan: Episode 1 – friend saves other friend’s drunken voicemails and animates them
• Storming Juno
• Artists build house where it rains inside