20 Year Cycle

When movies are re-made, there seems to a magic number of '20'...as in 20 years since the original was released. It's not a hard-and-fast rule ... more like a rule of thumb. We saw this with "Transformers" which was originally released in 1986. Just for fun, you should rent the original just for the opening line in the movie: "It is the year 2005..." A few years ago, before the re-make was released, we watched the original. Needless to say, it was amusing to hear the opening line considering we have actually not yet been overtaken by robots. (Click on the movie posters for the trailer).

I found the 2007 re-make to be slightly entertaining. They went a little overboard on the robot dive-roll manuevers in the movie.
Lately we've been seeing trailers for the new live-action G.I. Joe movie (yawn). I really don't have a desire to see this in the theaters, and consider it barely rentable based on the trailer alone. It doesn't seem to have any resemblance to the original series.
The original from 1987 looks much more amusing! I'm saw I watched it as a youth, and will add it to my Netflix queue to refresh my memory. UPDATE: this movie is not available on Netflix!
Speaking of GI Joe, do you remember the 'public service announcements' at the end of each episode. The only one that I can remember is the one where we are warned not to touch downed power lines. And knowing is half the battle! Here's where to watch 27 original public service announcements from GI Joe.

Next up in the category of "20-year Remakes" is Karate Kid. The 1984 original is a classic flick and created one of the most recognizable pop culture icons of the decade in Daniel-sen. Not to mention all of the quotable lines, memorable scenes (shower curtain anyone?), signature moves (crane kick... hi-yah!) and a musical tribute with the song "Sweep the Leg" by the No More Kings. See if you can count all the cameos (I counted 5).


Needless to say I was a little disappointed to hear that a remake was in the works. Kung Fu Kid, starring Jackie Chan as Mr. Miyagi and Jaden Smith in the lead role. The movie is scheduled to be released in 2010.

Have any 20-year remakes turned out better than the original?

Flower beds are complete!

After Cendy, Mama K and I had a marathon planting session last Saturday, it was time to mulch. We had Mr. Mulch deliver 5 cubic yards for the flower beds. Yes, that's Pryor's transfer shovel - I highly recommend this type of shovel for this application. Thanks buddy, I'll return it ASAP.

Using some wood planks as ramps really helped keep the mulch flowing into the beds using the wheelbarrow.
Mama K lends a hand with the hose.
The sidewalk side is finished. One day (hopefully) those little guys will grow up into full-size adult plants.
The crew poses proudly in front of the weekend's accomplishment.

"Are you a professional landscaper?"

With a week to go before the 4th of July party at our house, it was a race to finish the walls. Extra gravel was required since we ran out. It was a bit curious that this pile seemed to be way more than what we needed. This apparent 5 tons of gravel looked about the same size as the 10 tons we ordered initially. It was doubtful that we would need this much to finish...
We would work on the walls a little after work everyday. Here four courses are finished, with two more to go.

The curves take shape.
By Friday, all courses are finished!

Phew! It was a long day Friday to finish. A few days prior, our neighbors Mary-Helen and Jim pay a visit. Jim asks "Are you a professional landscaper?" Not quite sure he's serious, but I reply, "I am now!"

Calling all Jays fans!

Alright Adam Lind fans, time to vote him into the All-Star game! Click here for the Final Vote on the last player added to the All Star team.

Happy Birthday Cendy!

For Cendy's birthday, we decided to head to the beach for a quick getaway. We stayed at the Henlopen Hotel in Rehoboth. It was a nice enough hotel - I'd recommend it to friends. It is located on the northernmost part of the boardwalk.

We returned to Go Fish for some of their awesome fish & chips, and then it was on to the Inaugural Johnson Mini-Golf Open at Ryan's Mini Golf on the Boardwalk. After the front nine, I had a comfortable 3 stroke lead. Cendy had a few more bogeys, but managed two hole-in-ones. Little did I know that she would soon find her groove.
I would not be outdone - I followed up her hole-in-one on #7 with my own. It was then that I noticed that it was a Par 1, and you were virtually guaranteed to make it in one shot if you kept it on the green.
This is hole #11 - where the wheels fell of for me. I double-bogeyed, and Cendy parred to tie the game.
The intensity increased as we went putt for putt the following three holes. Then I bogeyed to her par. Then she triple bogeyed 16, while I bogeyed...I was now up by a stroke with two holes remaining. I had her just where I wanted - her confidence was low after the triple bogey, and there's only two holes left. Her first shot on 17 was too strong, and actually rolled over the hole without going in...but wait, it bounces off the wall, and back into the hole...a hole-in-one. I par, and it's a tie game. Her first shot on 18 - another hole-in-one. This is ridiculous. I barely miss my own hole-in-one on the first shot so Cendy clinches the win. As misery was setting in, I could tell this was one moment that Cendy will be telling our grandkids. I'm already planning to hit the practice green to prepare for the rematch.

We hit Dogfish Head for dinner (try the Lawnmower Light), then down to the boardwalk to the Ice Cream store for a milk shake. I ordered my personal favorite chocolate & peanut butter milkshake, and Cendy opted for two scoops in a waffle bowl. As I waited for my shake, I couldn't help but notice the new ice cream flavor... bacon. I'm usually pretty daring, but even after a Palo Santo Marron at Dogfish I couldn't muster the courage to try it. After finding this recipe, I may be tempted...

After checking out the next morning, we were off to the Starboard for one of their famous bloody mary's and breakfast. I had to hold this pose a while as Cendy got out the camera - note the bottle of hot sauce. Needless to say, I had an extra spicy drink.

We spent a few hours on the beach afterward, then we hit the road to go home. Sounds easy enough, but as we rode with the top off the Jeep, we noticed unfriendly skies ahead as we approached New Castle County. It started drizzling - no big deal, we weren't even getting wet. The wind currents around the Jeep from driving 70 mph shielded us from the rain. Then it started raining harder...maybe we should roll up the windows? Amazing, hardly a drop on us. Then the big ol' fat rain...OK, now we can feel some drops falling from the collecting rain on the roll bar and visors. Now I need windshield wipers for the inside of the Jeep. After checking the radar on the cell, we decided to plow forward. "We're only going to get wetter if we stop to put the top on" was our reasoning. We must look pretty funny to passers-by at this point. We kept going, and after about 15-20 minutes, the rains subside, and we start to air-dry the Jeep. I've had the Jeep 5 years, and that was the first time I intentionally left the top off and drove through rain. We barely got wet! Good times.

We capped off the day with grilled scallops with white wine sauce (keeper recipe) and a small carrot cake from Acme. It was surprisingly good. Happy Birthday Cendy!

Retaining Walls, One Block at a Time

We made some progress on the walls during the week. The last course on the first wall was completed up to the sidewalk. Here the Micah and Jackson finished backfilling behind the wall.
As the other two worked on the wall on the other side of the sidewalk steps, Steve and I start the base course for the flower bed on the opposite side of the house. In this picture I use a rubber mallet to level the block, while Steve is in the ready position with the level.
Here's the finished product of Micah and Jackson's handy work. These walls will not have caps, but instead will be covered with mulch to the front lip.
This foursome had a quite productive day. It was good working weather, and we were able to finish both walls adjacent to the driveway and sidewalk. We finished one course for the flower bed on the opposite side, with five more courses to go.
To celebrate, we got the band back together. With this lineup, the hits just kept on coming...Everlong by Foo Fighters, Jessie's girl by Rick Springfield and Mr. Brightside by Killers, to name a few. To avoid upsetting Farley again, we kept Micah away from the microphone...well, at least away from the Bon Jovi songs. Look for the band, "MBJ Armada +1" on tour this summer.

Block Party / Retaining Wall Construction

The blocks and stone arrived Thursday, and the reality of having to build these retaining walls sets in. They arrived on two separate trucks, with the first bringing the stone.

The second truck brought four pallets of Allan Block retaining wall blocks. The truck had this nifty "piggy back" fork lift that attached to the back of the truck. Using the lift mechanism, it could easily lower itself to the ground, and lift it self back up after the delivery was complete.

The work crew arrived Friday night to enjoy the PS3 and get a good nights rest before a full day of work Saturday. The band, "MBJ Rock Armada", melted faces all across America.
It was a wet start on Saturday. After waking the troops at 8am for breakfast, we were immediately welcomed with a downpour as we surveyed the work site. The gold star goes to Micah for suggesting we erect a tarp over the work area. We finally got to work around 11am, after a return trip to the Depot for the jumbo tarp.
Micah and Bill discuss the excavation.
How many men does it take to start a plate compactor? I rented it from Home Depot since the block manufacturer recommended using it to compact the stone base.
Not only was it difficult to control, it really wasn't worth the $80 investment. A hand tamper seemed to do a sufficient job without the hassle of lugging around a heavy piece of equipment. The plate compactor seemed to be more suited for a larger patio project. Here Jackson helps rescue Micah from a runaway plate compactor.
The first block is placed!
Jackson backfills the blocks with stone and rakes it smooth. The first course of block is buried and has 6" of compacted stone for its footing.
In order to place the stones on a radius, the back "wings" are knocked off easily with a hammer and chisel.
Jenna lends a hand with the tamper.
As the workday came to a close, we were greeted with a rainbow. Although the camera couldn't actually capture the rainbow for some reason, this is an accurate artist's re-enactment.
Yes, they are holding it level! Thanks to Micah, Jackson, Brian, Jenna, and of course my wife Cendy for all their hard work.
The work crew was treated to a barbeque Meat-fest for their hard day's work. The menu included baby back ribs, marinated flank steak, salmon with habanero-lime butter, Asian grilled chicken, corn on the cob and zucchini - all cooked on the grill. I'm a big fan of Allrecipes.com, and the reviews were favorable for most of the menu. Two thumbs up for the ribs and steak. Those recipes are keepers.

The following day, sore backs and all, we continued work on the walls. For the third course, I decided to dowel-in the wall into the concrete foundation. A two-foot #4 rebar rests comfortably in some notches I created in the first two blocks. Some construction adhesive holds the bar in place. The landscape fabric is used to prevent silt from seeping through the seam between the house and first block.
The block joints need to be staggered from course to course, so this creates odd-length blocks at the start of the wall. I couldn't find a suitable saw blade, so instead I drilled some perforations with a masonry bit and hammer drill. With a few whacks of the hammer and chisel, the block splits relatively easily. However, after doing this twice, both blocks fractured. To fix this problem, we switched to synchronized hammering. I would use a hammer and chisel on the front face, while Cendy would strike the back face simultaneously. By splitting both faces at the same time, it reduces the stress on the block side walls. As expected, the piece split using the simultaneous splitting technique and did not break after being handled or placed.

I use a hoe to backfill behind the fourth course. The wall curve takes shape! It definitely was a tricky turn, but Cendy and I figured it out.Here's the progress at the end of Sunday. One more course, and this section of wall is complete.