Our Baby Size Life!

Archive for the ‘Rant’ Category

I know this post is long over due, but I figured I’d tell you about our Thanksgiving anyways, because we ended up in the hospital again!  Man, when it rains it pours!  I hadn’t been in a hospital in years, almost decades, and now it happens three times in a two month period!  So, with the American Thanksgiving right around the corner, I figured I’d sneak this post in now, while it’s got some relevance. My bro has some nice pics from that great Thanksgiving day, but I don’t have them with me now. It’s a bummer, but I’ll try and post ‘em later on.  We had some great family fun as my sis and her family made the drive up from Toronto.  My bro was there with his daughter and his new girlfriend and , of course, my parents were there… well we were all in their house.  So, yeah, it makes sense they be there…

Saturday was a busy day, we all had some fun on my Wii (Rock Band and Boom Blox), we played some street hockey in which my nephews once again felt the unforgiving wrath of their Uncle John as he totally and systematically destroyed their defense and piled on the goals without mercy.  I won (again) 53 to 38, and they were two on one! Yeah, I know I’m good, but what can I say… I’m a natural…  What? How old? Why they are 13 and 11… but that doesn’t mean anything! Have you seen kids nowadays?!?  They’re HUGE. My oldest nephew wears bigger sized shoes than I do! And you know what they say about a man with big feet… They wear BIG shoes! Let’s keep it clean folks!

So everything was going typically well, it was around 11 pm when things went south. My sis and brother-in-law were packing up the minivan to head back early the next day while everyone else was playing some cards and winding down after another great meal. Kudos to Mom and Dad who outdid themselves again! Check out some of the yummy food they laid out:

Mmmm... Look at that turkey. It was as good as it looks!	My plate...or I should say, one of my plates!
Apple, Cherry and Pumpkin pies!	Rollie-Pollies, a decadent recipe made of pie crust and brown sugar!

Colby, their dog, was out with my bro-in-law while he packed the car, when suddenly Colby bolts out towards the street after a couple strangers that were out taking a walk.  My bro-in-law reacted and spun to chase after the dog… but didn’t see the traveling bag he had placed on the ground.  He ended up landing hard on his left shoulder.  We walks into the kitchen, clutching his arm saying he can’t feel his fingers and arm, but his shoulder is in intense pain.

Luckily, my bro’s new girlfriend used to be a nurse and checked him out.  She thought we should get to a hospital to make sure everything was OK as she thought that his arm or shoulder could be broken!  So off we go, my Dad, my bro-in-law and me to the local hospital on Thanksgiving night, it being close to midnight.  We arrived at the hospital around 15 past midnight, and after a series of quick examinations followed by a couple hours waiting time, they recommended he get X-rays.  So we had to wait for the X-ray technician.  It was now 3 am. He got his X-rays and hobbled back to his waiting room for the doctor to give his diagnosis on the X-rays taken.  That took another 2 hours.  It was now 5 am.

Finally, the doctor came back and explained the situation to my bro-in-law:  his shoulder was broken… in two places!  No wonder he was in pain!  The doctor then advised him to go home and relax until they got into contact with a surgeon to evaluate how to proceed.  The problem was my bro-in-law had one clean fracture and another fracture that had detached a tendon.  They weren’t sure if the fracture would mend and the tendon would fuse back to the bone properly and needed the surgeons opinion.  My bro-in-law explained that he was leaving for Toronto in one hour and would have to pursue the matter when he got home.

And that’s what he did.  We drove home from the hospital and got back to my parents house around 6:30 am on the Sunday.  What an exhausting night.  My Dad and I were completely pooped out.  My bro-in-law, with his arm in a sling, climbed into his packed car with my sis and their two kids, and they left for Toronto.

Mind you, all this happened about a month ago now, so I can update you on his situation.  He was re-evaluated that Sunday afternoon in a Toronto area hospital and they ruled against surgery.  He was, and still is, under observation on a weekly basis.  Both fractures, and the tendon, seem to be healing OK, which is welcome news.  One thing I haven’t told you about my bro-in-law is that his job requires him to be on the road a large amount of the time.  And , yes folks, the day after they got home from the Thanksgiving trip, my crazy, yet dedicated, bro-in-law went on a road trip for his job!  He didn’t drive of course, but still, the guys got guts right?  Snaps his shoulder in two places and he’s out cutting deals with clients less than 48 hours later!

What a guy!  Hats off to you Mr. Bro-in-Law!  And that was our Thanksgiving 2008!

Thanks for reading.

A little note today on my series of posts entitled “Sam’s Big Gift” (check out all of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4).  It’s been a full four weeks since that adventurous day, and Melissa and I have thankfully not suffered any relapses.  We have also, to my great sadness , haven’t had any stripper nurses come around either .  So, life goes on.  Day by day we live our little routine, and as each day passes our fears of a repeat incident are subsided.  As each meal stayed the course and refused to ascend our digestive systems, we grew more and more confident in our recovery.

We are feeling fine and doing great, but my wallet isn’t.  Yesterday in the mail, we got our ambulance transportation fee.  It was for $216.00.  :shock:  For a 10 minute ride?!!?  They didn’t even put on the freaking siren!!! Hello! Remember us?!? The Jack and Jill medics? We’ll here’s our little way of saying “Thanks for riding along!!”.  So that clears one thing up folks: they didn’t do any prostate exams while I was in the hospital anymore, because it is now clear to me that they wait a few weeks, and stick it to you at home through the mail. Is it the gas? How much does it cost to gas up an ambulance?  Are they running on freaking caviar and Cristal?  Jack and Jill we’re a little hefty… Am I paying their lunch bill as well?  So 62 tacos is an ideal lunch for a portly pair of paramedics? Did I pass out and miss the buffet stop during the ride?!?

Mind you, the fee is a combined amount for both Melissa and I, but for a hundred bucks they could have at least managed to let me lie down in the damn ambulance.  If you remember the situation, I was fighting back a puke attack due to me bouncing up and down on the ambulance’s trampoline/chair!  My vital fluids are everywhere but where they should be, and they give me a seat in the Cirque du Soleil!  I guess it’s that attention to detail that drove the price up folks.

I’m just ranting here folks, but I feel better now!  I might rant off again in a few days, because if the ambulance wasn’t free, then the hospital stay sure as heck won’t be!  Stripper nurses don’t come cheap you know! Right guys?!? Huh?!?! Guys?!?! Right?!?! Hmm… yeah…

Sam’s Big Gift is turning out to be one of those gifts that keeps on giving!

So it was my parents 41st wedding anniversary this year, and I know what you’re thinking: they haven’t killed each other yet?!?!?  Well, no, as a matter of fact, things are never better if you ask them!  And who could argue with that!  41 years!!! Let me type it out for you, just so you get the full weight of it’s implication: f-o-r-t-y  o-n-e  y-e-a-r-s!   That is one hell of a commitment people!  But it’s easy to see why they’ve made it to 41, besides their deep love and understanding for each other, they are two of the greatest people I know, who just give you all they got when you need them.  So yeah, I’ve got the best parents in the world! Sorry to all you other people out there thinking the same thing.

My brother and I have started this tradition-like anniversary gift for our parents of takin’ them out to play golf.  My family is a golfing family, so this is a great day out for us!  If my sis could make it into town with her family, who also like to golf, we’d have two foursomes out there terrorizing the links!  Maybe next year, right sis???   The pic on the left is one I took of my Dad teeing off on the 17th hole.  It’s been reduce in size for uploading, but the detail and contrast of light and dark makes this, perhaps, one of my favorite shots I’ve taken.  No offense to my bro, pictured on the right, in a similar shot with a slightly different angle, which I also love, but now hold a grudge against because he beat used to beat me up when we we’re kids!

The weather was fabulous and we all had fun, each of us making both great and not so great shots with my brother taking first place honors (freakin’ cheater).  One day man!!! One day you shall tremble in fear at the thunder of my drives and the ring of my irons!  He beat me by about 30 strokes, so he’s lucky that day is still pretty far off…

Back at home Melissa and Sammy were having fun being out an about the town!  Hmmmm… maybe I can get Melissa and Sam out on the course with me.  I know she likes hitting golf balls, because she likes to picture one of her old bosses head in place of the ball.  That gets her some good distance too!  I’ll just have to get Sam some clubs and teach him the basics and we’re set!!!  Fischer Price clubs here we come! Tiger Sam!

Just don’t beat you’re Dad eh?

So, Mom and Dad, while Melissa and I are on our 11th year, we still have ways to go.  But your love, commitment, compassion and let’s face it, hard work, is inspiring to us.  And in this day of easy-out marriages, it’s an honor to have parents who believe in something greater than themselves!

With lots of love from your grateful kids, Happy Anniversary to you both!

Well, my vacation has been over for just over a week now, and I put off posting about those wonderful last few days, because… well they were just so damn fun! I have to say that I did NOT look forward to going back to work! I guess everyone feels that way about their vacation right? Well, as you can see in the pic on the left, I loved my vacation with Meli and Sam! Lazy mornings… or was that in the afternoon? I forget… and you know what? That’s the point! They were fun, stress free days with family and friends. Check it out!

After getting back from Wildwood, we spent a couple days just lounging about relaxing and getting ready for our next trip down to see my sister in the Toronto area. She doesn’t get to see Sammy often, so we just had to go down there with the pamper packer and get her to change some diapers! And she did! Ummm, I think she actually changed ALL OF THEM. We got there on a Friday afternoon around 2 pm and my sister got home from work at 5, and we never saw Sam again until three days later when we had to leave! She was adamant in taking care of her “Sammy-kins” while she had the chance… Even getting up early for that morning bottle! Meli and I could sleep in… we loved it! My brother-in-law FINALLY got to hold Samuel, as the only other time he saw Sam was last Easter and he was sick with a cold! Here he is on the right, a nice shot of uncle and nephew taking a break on the deck. We had some great meals while we were there, which is the usual when we go to stay with them. They always seem to outdo themselves! I kept my two nephews busy as we played a ton of sports: Whiffle Ball, Basketball, Hockey and Football. We even played some Holey-Board and I brought down my RockBand video game for some nighttime shenanigans! Needless to say, we did rock! The singing was a little weak… I kid! I kid! We had some good laughs. The three days we were there flew by, we all had so much fun, it amazing Sam found a little quiet time to catch up on his reading!

Arriving back home, we took it easy having fun just the three of us. Lazy days just playing around outside with Sam, and taking a lot of pics. I love those days. The kind of day when you don’t plan anything… not even what’s for supper, and I love supper folks. Melissa had the great idea of throwing a blanket outside and just sitting out there staring at the clouds… Sam was a fan of this activity, he kept staring at the leaves blowing in the nice summer breeze. Sam also has a favorite toy. It’s a gift from our friends Aaron and Soizic (thanks again!). It’s a big, blue, plastic tube filled with air and it has three jingly balls rolling around inside it. He just loves it! It’s lightweight so he can grab, kick, punch, toss, yank, chew and pretty much abuse it any way he wants. Here’s a couple shots of him playin’ around with it!

Our last weekend on vacation together was a busy one. We had friends Josée and Sylvain over for supper on the Saturday (that’s Sam and his friend Maxime on the left, after a post meal walk) and my cousins wedding on the Sunday. That’s right, a wedding on my last day off before headin’ back to work! Talk about finishing your vacation in style! The wedding was great fun, the party was rockin’ and the wedded couple are very much in love… But we had to leave early as we didn’t want to inconvenience our babysitters on a Sunday night. I mean, seeing as Sam’s babysitter was, in fact, my boss, I consider myself lucky he accepted to babysit until 11pm on a Sunday night… with work the next day no less! But that’s Norm for ya! A good guy through and through! Luckily Melissa’s sister was there to keep him in line! *wink wink* Thanks again to you both, we appreciated the rare night out together! That’s it for now folks, as always… thanks for reading!

Whew! Life sure keeps you busy in a hurry! It’s been about 4 days since my last post and I’ve hardly had the time to string together a few words for the blog! I’ve been working on a family project, which although I had some good fun doing, I am now glad it’s over! I can now get back to other projects I have on my to do list! Most of those are from my 30 in 30 list, but I have a new project I’m developing that has recently taken the drivers seat, putting all others on the back burner. I won’t talk about it now, but I’ll be dishing some news on it now and then… when it’s safe to do so! Also, we’ve had a few birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate recently, which puts all personal plans on hold (and rightly so!). As you can see Sam is pooped and so are Mom and Dad…

So as mentioned above, I’m working on this family project and I see this… Check it out and let me know what you think…honestly.

The armored foot hit impossibly fast causing him to stagger. He knew what would come next. Then, the blade bit deep, scraping on bone, and drove through his ribs. The pain was paralyzing as the blade was pulled from his failing body. He grasped the wound with one hand and kept waging a hopeless battle with the shield he held in the other. Blocking blow after forceful blow from his assailant, he tried to regain his footing, but found his legs betraying him. No strength would come of them, he knew doom was upon him. The storm had reached full force and the lashing rain stung friend and foe alike upon which deafening thunder played through the somber clouds. Sparks flew as another merciless blow rung on his shield and his defenses were down. He lay there in child like fear, eyes wide in terror and pain. Arms spread wide, too heavy to lift, he lay there vulnerable, alone and cold. He had the look of a man who didn’t want to die, not this way. The thoughts and memories of his life multiplied in his mind lending him comfort in his last breath. His murderer hefted the bloody sword that had slain most of his friends and looked deeply into his eyes. Pure evil was there. The man cried and whimpered as the slender steel whistled through the air for the killing blow.

The cry sliced through the sky like lightning and the blocking sword wasn’t far behind. A young boy, a lad, a child, had stopped the deathblow and now found himself in a deadly dance of steel. The darkness turned with unnatural speed lending its terror to the youthful warrior. The boy fought with the courage of ten men. Weaving and bobbing, he dodged the crippling blows of the murderer. He attacked with techniques taught to him by his father, and these were passed on through the many generations of his family. He fought with pride and balance, clearly the best fighter his family had produced in a long hierarchy of great fighters.

The horrendous sounds of war filling his ears, he sat staring from the mud clutching his punctured body, he knew this child was a prodigy. One who had grown so fast and so strong could only be a hero. Hope flickered in his frail soul. To him the rain had suddenly stopped, the thunder had been silenced, his gaze fixed upon the young phenom. He found resolve at the sight of this and got to his feet and reached for his sword…but the murderer had claimed it’s latest victim. The man dropped to the mud to see if he could still save the boy, but once again the armored boot came crashing down, this time on his fingers shattering them. He reeled from the pain and looked at his murderer. Their eyes didn’t lock this time for the sword flashed without hesitation and darkness fell upon him…

And that’s it! If you care to leave a comment below, I’m just curious for a reaction. That was written by me over 7 years ago… Safe to say that my reading of it now has changed my perception of how I thought I used to write. But we are “our own worst critics“.

That’s it for now, catch you later!

In continuing with finding fun and innovative websites, and by writing about them, thus giving them a whopping 6 additional hits a day , I stumbled upon another cool site: SomethingStore.com. Now I’m not sure how or if they make a profit from its operation, but the concept is pretty cool none-the-less. They describe themselves as such:

SomethingStore is a fun new website that operates simply: We will send you something, an item selected randomly among many things from our inventory, for $10 (free shipping) and you will find out what your something is when you receive it. What will yours be?

Sounds simple and fun right! Well I think so, and in keeping with my ever curious and rash decision making…I’ve ordered me a little sumthin’ sumthin’! Why not? For 10 bucks, taxes and shipping included, what do I have to lose? Well, 10 bucks. But if the sites’ customer feedback testimonials are to be believed, it’s worth it. Besides some, if not most, of the items sent out are worth much more than $10.00 and the whole point is to be surprised and have a little fun… you cheap bastard! This could be a great birthday party gag gift or a secret Santa Christmas gift. Its a interesting premise that could net you a lot of cheer as some of the items are pretty neat.A brief example of these somethings include (all items are pulled from the site, with their shipping destinations included):

The variety of items they deliver is quite impressive and really throws off any expectations one might have. Because, clearly, size nor money is an issue for what they send. The shipping is usual pretty fast, but due to ever increasing orders, they’ve been delayed an extra few days. No matter! I look forward to getting my something in the mail and when I do, I’ll post it up here with my reactions/comments. Hmmm… I really hope it’s one of those USB rocket launchers… I could really use one of those around my workplace!

This weekend was your typical spring weekend in a typical suburb. The nice weather permitted us to work on the property, you know: cut the grass, plant some flowers, sweep the driveway, etc. Melissa and I try, but we simply can’t keep up with the crazy lady that lives in front of our house. You know the type I’m sure… Everything is pristine on their property! The vibrant green, freshly watered grass is perfectly cut to a thick carpet like quality, while the flower beds simply overflow with petaled rainbows of color. The asphalt driveway is of an obsidian sheen not seen since 2001: A Space Odyssey… you expect chimps to walk up and touch it, then start beating each other to death! In fact, she rarely parks her own car there! It’s as if she knows of it’s slumbering, evil, power. But a quick example of her “level of commitment” to her property: During a rain storm this spring, she would constantly come out of her house to pick leaves of her lawn during the storm… leaves that would blow onto her lawn… every 2 minutes… really… Even Sam can’t believe it…

So anyhoot (ranting over!), we even had some family and friends over for supper on Saturday night, and all went well. It was Sunday morning, that the titled event happened. Now, before proceeding, understand that new parents keep track of their kids bowel movements just to be sure the infant isn’t constipated and or dehydrated. As a general rule, at least one good poop every 2 – 3 days is considered normal. Melissa and I had noticed Sam hadn’t done the dump-dance in the past 2 days, so we knew it was on its way. We could see it in his eyes, like storm clouds on the horizon.

Then, at approximately 11:10, the storm hit…

On May 20th, Samuel turned 3 months old! Time is flying by! It seems like yesterday that we just got home from the hospital, with Sam fast asleep in his car seat placed on the kitchen table, while Melissa and I stared at him wondering just how much our lives had changed. It was a thrilling yet scary moment to be sure, but one I’ll never forget! Now, Sammy-boy is an active, talking, kicking, pooping, curious little boy. No longer can we keep him satisfied by simply laying him on our bed with a couple toys to keep him busy for a few minutes. He wants to be part of the action, whether were are making supper or working in the yard, Sam’s got his eye on us!

Which is what he should be doing at his age. Check out the “What to Expect the First Year” guidelines for 3 month old babies:

Things most babies should be doing:

• Recognizes your face and scent: Sam’s been doing this for a while now. Our favorite times are when he wakes up in the morning and when I get home from work. He’s all smiles when he sees us! As for the scent part, well lets just say he knows when someone has farted!
• Holds head steady: Sam’s good at this too. Now we can hold him in our arms and let him look around without laying his head on our shoulders. Unintentional head-butting on his part has also greatly diminished, to the great joy of Mom and Dad… they hurt!
• Visually tracks moving objects: Check! Sam’s always watching us walk around. We have problems sneaking into his room when he’s trying to sleep as he spots us at the door as we walk in. So Mom and Dad have sometimes been reduced to crawling below his crib eye line to get into the room unseen! Sheesh!

Things some babies can be doing:

• Squeals, gurgles, coos: Yep! He’s a chatter box like his Mom Ouch! (She’s just smacked me!)
• Blows bubbles: Besides our initial thoughts that Sam had rabies the first few times he did this, it’s pretty cute. And I’m kidding about the rabies of course… we thought it was a seizure!
• Recognizes your voice: He knows Mom and Dad alright. So do a few dogs in our neighborhood, as I go into super high-pitch mode when doing baby talk which gets the surrounding pooches all excited. I’m like a Bee Gees soundtrack!
• Does mini push-up: He does these little chest raising push-ups during his “tummy-time”. But I’ll really be impressed when he does them on his knuckles.

Things few babies can do:

• Rolls over from tummy to back: He’s just started this which has heightened our awareness of his growing capabilities to get out of the places Mom and Dad put him in. He’s no longer static Sam just lying there, now he’s wiggling and slouching and rolling and tossing… Fun times indeed!
• Turns toward loud sounds: He does this a lot, which might explain his new found love for T.V. or the movies Dad watches while giving him a bottle.
• Can bring hands together, bats at toys: This is really cool, as seeing him grab at his toys is a big visual step in his interaction with us. It also gives him a little more personality in the way he moves and decides to throw away a toy or hungrily bring one to his mercilessly suckling mouth!

All in all, we’ve had an awesome 3 months so far and seeing him acquire these new skills and levels of interaction just makes us look forward even more to what the upcoming months will bring!

Have a great weekend everybody!

On May 13th, Melissa and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary! Yay! It’s an anniversary of sorts as we are not actually married, but just because we aren’t, doesn’t mean what we have and what we worked to building together doesn’t count! I know some people are more traditional an believe marriage is the appropriate step to take with your significant other, but that “mentality” just never appealed to Melissa or myself. And I’m not starting a religious argument here (that would be a waste of time) as we chose to for go both the holy sacrament of marriage from our catholic upbringing and the legal eagle city hall wedding alternative.

Why? Well…that’s none of your damn business!

Actually we just always had other things we’ve wanted to put our time and money in. Moving out of our parents house into an apartment, then into a house, then a baby (Sam!), careers, trips, etc, the list goes on. We all have our own priorities in life, and we’re happy they way things are right now. Now that’s not to say one day, in the next few years, we may want to get married, but to do so in a church would be a little hypocritical as our Sunday morning are for sleeping in and breakfast in bed (waffles anybody?!?). We prefer a nice beach/tropical/island wedding! A nice, relaxing event with close family and friends, that would end with a dip in the big blue… preferably the Caribbean, and would lead into a beach party lasting until dawn. Now that’s our idea of a wedding. Leave Gods&Laws aside, and bring a wedding back to what we should be celebrating: love, fun, a life shared and… food!

Despite that dream wedding, I know Melissa is the love of my life. I see that as plain as day, and she tells me she feels the same way (whew!) , which is a wonderful feeling. A feeling which is only stronger now that Sam is in our lives, a tie that binds us, flesh and blood, more meaningful than any marriage license could ever be! Sam truly moved our life goals and dreams into new territory, beyond the material. It’s tough to describe as it’s more of a state of mind rather than a series of emotions. Yeah yeah, getting all mushy here eh? Well, too freakin’ bad! My blog, my mush!

All this to say that Melissa has changed my life in the most amazing ways in the past 11 years. She’s allowed me to stay true to myself while helping me through the good and bad, but always making me laugh the along the way. She’s honest and caring, beautiful and engaging, intelligent, passionate, witty… and short! I’m 6 ft. 2 and she’s 5 ft. 2, so we don’t always see eye to eye, but we always kiss (with Melissa on her tip-toes) and make up. So, I know she’ll be reading this, a smile on her face, which is the way I see her when I think of her. Happy and beautiful. The most brilliant star in my sky that I’m so thankful to have had light the way these past 11 years.

I only hope my love has given her the same.

These 11 years we’ve shared have gone by so fast, with a lot of fond memories along the way. I can’t wait to see what the next 11 will bring!
Check out some of our favorite moments here.

Surprise! Surprise! Mr. Spielberg has another hit on his hands, but no I’m not talking about the next Indana Jones movie, I’m blabbering about the Nintendo Wii game called Boom Blox! Steven Spielberg involved in video game development!?!? I know, sounds cool, and it is! He has signed a three game development deal with EA and the first fruits of this creative clash is Boom Blox. The idea for the addictive, and easy to play game, apparently originated from Spielberg’s childhood with his love for destroying his toys. Now who hasn’t done that… and found it fun?!? Well that fun was expertly transferred to this game through simple actions that make game play a breeze.

The game is a cross between Jenga, Tetris and demolishing buildings and is generally set around a structure of several blocks, from a dozen to a hundreds, that the player must interact with in some way. The aforementioned blowing up is one such activity, but the (over 300) levels of single player “story mode” allow for many various ways of engaging the blocks and accomplishing missions. Actions such as pulling, pushing, removing, throwing, exploding, grabbing, flinging, sliding, pounding, spraying are all possible with a cache of accessories including a baseball, a bowling ball, a bomb ball, a fire hose, etc. Too many to name here but suffice to say the game play is solid. The blocks also come in about 20 different types that all have a unique functionality. Bomb blocks (explode when thrown at, knocking things in every direction), vanish blocks (disappear when touched) and chemical blocks (explode when touched by another chemical block) are just a few of the unique block type that vary game play and your strategy to completing a level greatly.

The unique use of the Wii remotes’ motion capture makes throwing stuff at these structures all the more realistic as the force of your throw is reflected in the realistic and complex physics engine the game is built on. If you need to gently tap a block out from between two others, light throws will do the trick. If you need to launch a block 50 feet into a pyramid of bonus point blocks, well a good hard throw with an appropriate angle of impact, will get you there. But don’t be put off by angles and calculations and such. The simple point, click and throw game controls are a breeze to learn and soon you will be a master. Trial and error is key on more difficult throws, but that’s OK right?!?!! You want a freakin’ challenge!

Each block in the structure moves independently and can affect other blocks on the play field. Block weight also comes into consideration as blocks stacked low in the structure are near impossible to move unless some of the weight of the top layers has been removed. It’s impressive to see a 300 block tower collapse after a well placed throw to it’s base, then seeing all those bonus points fly up the screen!

Where the games really impresses and ‘takes off’ is the wildly fun multi-player mode. It’s pretty big and I haven’t explored all of it yet, but it’s a great party (dare I say drinking???) game. The agonizing reality of a missed shot, which allows your opponents (up to 4 players) to topple the tower and collect all the points, is heart felt as all your hard work in weakening the tower is lost! But revenge can be yours with the built in level editor! You can create your own new levels and exchange them with other Boom Blox owners. As you progress through the single player game, you unlock more and more resources for the level editor. Already you can find videos of Boom Blox Rube Goldberg machines on the net, some of which are really something to see!

I would call this first game from EA and Spielberg a success and I will enjoy it for a long time coming. It was a most unexpected birthday gift from my brother-in-law. So I guess I owe him thanks for opening my eyes to this engaging game. Because a great game is always more than just great graphics! Don’t you forget it!