Category: Dear Dad

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On a Wii quest with Laura….er…” Link”

who is Link and who is Laura? They are looking surprisingly the same now-a-days!With all this talk about Thanksgiving and football, it is important to remember that this past week has also seen an incredible pair of events… from a ‘marketing perspective’– in the launching of two major ‘gaming platforms.’ Even in a Zelda Universe it is impressive!

Do I need to mention what they were? If you don’t know, at least, pretend that you do.

Probably, video gaming is one of the favorite group activities that our family has enjoyed… and Laura and I have played together since the introduction of ‘pong’. For those who can remember, they were even placed in the lounge area of 747 Jumbo jets…. there were lines then, too!

After ‘pong’ came a plethora of video game platforms… Atari and Commodore were two of the most memorable. Most young males of the time found their ways into convenience stores where in the early ’80’s one of the most futuristic games was introduced… “Dragon’s Lair”. At the time, I was a Marketing guy who placed these games into our stores and my 3 year old daughter Kristin would play all of them them in our warehouse… I knew “Dragon’s Lair” (audio) was going to be a success after she completed a 4 hour marathon to conquer it ( set on ‘unlimited lives’). Interestingly enough, our order – as I remember — helped keep their company afloat.

What followed was a trail of platforms each more powerful than the next… and we had them all. Nintendo, Sony and even the short lived but technologically superior “Jaguar” found their ways into our home and our hearts. So, why would it be any different today?

Well, my wife Laura is playing the latest version of Zelda on the latest Nintendo Platform… what a great way to celebrate the 37th year anniversary of our first date. play on!

Here’s what others are saying:

dying mother… but still playing Zelda
Even terrible games are fun
I’ve given up sleeping to play Zelda
Are Wii having fun yet?
Zelda is Awesome
Wii News Blog
she’s a Zelda Wii playin’ machine!
We love the Wii!
Sick … but still playing wii non-stop!
Zelda Peripherals?
Must… go…. play….Zelda is calling me!
and What did you play this weekend?
Stood in line…. success!

Roger Freberg

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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it’s TAKE YOUR HUBBY To WORK DAY!

take your hubby to work day
What I am about to say is going to cause a number of very different reactions.

Allow me to advocate for a new and very special day called….. TAKE YOUR HUBBY TO WORK DAY!

Instantly, what goes through your mind,  ladies? Are you saying, “this is a great way for my husband to see and better understand my life?”… or…. are you thinking,” akk! he’ll see what I am really up to during the day! I gotta hide Sven the thong wearing cabana boy.”

My guess it is neither of those… but more on the side of…. hmmmmm… ‘let me think about that for a moment.’

I won’t go into all the details, but my daughters did spend time with me at work and Laura did visit with me as she could… but this isn’t about them… this is now about ME! In our ever changing world, visiting with your wife at work is a great way to see her in a new setting, better understand her challenges and do something positive for your relationship. If nothing else, it gives some background and texture to the stories she brings home each night.

Seeing each other at work addresses some real issues, the average couple spends less that 30 minutes a day talking to each other… and people wonder why their relationships seem to be rocky? So whether it is meeting for a regular lunch ‘date’ or spending time in each others workplace once in a while… the time together is well spent.

My Laura is a Professor, so it seemed only natural for me to take a day every once in a while to sit in her classes and play at being a student again. Hey, I actually learned something…. just ask me about ‘cranial nerve 8’! I have also had the opportunity to watch her interact with students, which only proved to me that she has ‘adopted’ a number of them….  Maybe I am looking through ‘rose colored’ glasses… but she never fails to impress me.

So, if you are not as able as my wife is to ‘take your hubby to work day’… what can you do?….  try to meet more often during the work week…. maybe over lunch. The atmosphere is more relaxed… and you’ll be surprised … and maybe, just maybe… you’ll enjoy yourself.

Roger Freberg

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Going through College…. fat, drunk and stupid

fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son... are you holding up your GRE score or your IQ?

Hey I don’t blame these boys from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo ( allegedly students there) from pouring one down from time to time…. but , dudes, aren’t you missing something? I am kinda old fashioned, but… aren’t parties more fun with women? By the way, if you don’t like your picture on my blog… don’t post it on the internet.

Oh, here I go being ‘judgemental’ and ‘offering unwanted advice” again.

dah Big WEeeEEeEeeeenie Award!However, I thought that there had ‘to be a prize for playing this game”… like graduating and earning a ‘dah-ploma’ and a good job? They do graduate — on the average at Cal Poly — in roughly 6 1/2 years. Did you hear that Momsy?

I guess they’ll have to settle for the coveted “Big weenie Award”… along with the approximately 10,000 Cal poly students that never finished their senior projects.

 I can’t blame them too much… I mean, there’s nothing to do in San Luis Obispo…. it’s kinda like ‘God’s waiting room.’ Hey, even their university President has his own packed cellar…. I’ve seen it… burp!

Anyway, I recieved this email this morning from their student newspaper…… well… read it for yourself: My worst party Nightmare.

I had thought about linking blogs about college students and their drunk nightmares from Technorati … but it was amazing… bad enough to survive this stuff… but now it will live forever on the internet. It’s like getting a tatoo with your first girlfriend’s name on it… it is just embarassing later on. So, I had mercy… no links and no capes.

Roger Freberg

 

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Seeing the world for what it is — Children’s Stories

the silly green alligator

Many of us grew up on the classic Grimms Fairy Tells and such… complete with ‘realistic’ violence.

However, when it came to raising our own children… the books that were available were sanitized versions ni which all of the characters lived ‘politely ever after.’

Recently, I had the opportunity to read our local paper written by Jill Kelley of Cox News Service. She somewhat lamented how ‘fairy tales have changed.” I couldn’t help but wonder whether her revelation occurred  before or after her son ‘gasped’ as he watched a PBS show in which someone called someone else ‘stupid.”

Now, I am not ready to drag children through the grimey and violent world that life can be… but we must recognize that understanding that some bad things in the world exist is not at all a bad thing. Most of the problems in the world — seem to me — to be caused by peoples inability to see what is unfolding before their eyes… not because some people see things that don’t exist. Reality is sometimes stares us in the face… and children should be exposed to life incrementally.

I was fairly disgusted with what I read in the bookstores… so much of it was soooo nice… so I embraced the challenge by writing a series of ‘action adventures’ of a favorite animal friend of my daughter Kristin… ‘the silly green alligator.’ I won’t bore you with the details… let’s just say that the alligator did what alligators like to do… eat things… and Kristi ( as I called her then) would be the heroine and ‘rescue’ her cute animal buddies… often violently.

Some people say that this is why she went to West Point, became a combat engineer and likes to play with explosives…. but I say that it is pure coincidence.

I did ensure that my young ladies experienced all the masculine joys of cooking, sewing, cleaning house… as well as the typically feminine activities, such as, martial arts, violent video games, computers, climbing on roofs to watch the stars, football fandom and ‘action’ movies.

 My daughters see the world for what it is… not a perfect place, but a place where they can make their own heaven or a hell…. one brick at a time. It starts by seeing the world honestly…..

 Roger Freberg

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When Men & Women Diet

when a man diets... what he is willing to give up

 We all know what happens when women in a family diets… that means EVERYONE diets… or at least it means that YOU have to learn how to cook… and always hide your ‘satisfied’ look of rapture after eating a wonderfully ‘unhealthy’ meal.

Men, when a woman diets it means that you must sacrifice as well… and here are a few tips to show that you are supportive of their dietary quest… As you can see above… the choices of what foods to cut out are easier that you think.

1) If you must give up grains — as in bread — substitute with other things made from grain… such as beer.

2) Anything green can be discarded… if you haven’t already done so. Get your vegetables by consuming four legged vegetarians.

3) Become a secretive eater… you can do this best by joining organizations that meet in secret around meal times.

4) Praise the dieters as to their mental strength, courage, fortitude… it’ll keep them distracted from the fact that YOU are really NOT on a diet.

the dieters!Just a few ideas… to help you through THEIR diet.

 

WOW! I thnik those are real monsters bergers! YUM YUM! Oh…. you say they are really Turkey Burgers?

 

HMMMMM…

 

 

 

Roger Freberg