80's on the 28th....nicknames

Ever look back to try and figure out where or when you got your nickname? If it's one you've had since you were a kid it's probably something to do with your name. If it's from high school then most likely it came from some extra curricular activity. But if you got it in college then it surely has to do with something stupid that you did.

For me it has to do with my name...more specifically my last name. I've been called it for as long as I can remember. Used to put it on the back of my school sweatshirts and everything. Heck most people probably thought that was what my last name really was. My brother has a similar version of the nickname and my oldest son has taken it on too and even has it as his signature line of his texts and emails. Now granted I did have one that went with my 1st name and occasionally it is brought up by random people but had I been born say 20 years prior it may have had a little more staying power due to the Disney miniseries by the same name; Davy Crockett. But eventually it would have gotten confusing when I got older because Fess Parker (played Davy Crockett) went on to play Daniel Boone in that long running TV series too. So how does someone end up playing 2 different historical figures of the same genera? I guess the same way Ryan Reynolds is playing 2 different super heroes (Deadpool & Green Lantern in case you were wondering).

Oh I almost forgot about the short lived Super Dave; in reference to Super Dave Osbourne during the time he was on Letterman & Carson and that Nike commercial kept it around for a bit longer. But alas that one came and went too.

So I'm stuck with Siggy...with the last name of Sigler it fits. My brother goes by Sig. It's not degrading. It doesn't produce foul language in the Name Game Song (Banana-fana fo-fana) and it doesn't rhyme with any bad words either. Which is why our son Cole is not named Tucker...sorry not spelling it out for you. We understood as parents that the name can make or break a kid. Kids are cruel. My wife also saw the importance of initials....ok more like saw through my attempts to name my other sons Andrew Sam. Remember the last name Sigler here folks. I also tried to get my nephew named that if they weren't going to name him after me. I told them 1st or middle name I wasn't picky but no. Which is why I have been  forced to nickname my nephews. No one is taking me serious....David or Marc would be great names. I would nickname the nieces too but it's just not as funny. Take for instance I have a nephew I call Rusty. Nothing out of the ordinary plus it's cute for a little tyke with a crazy amount of hair. Until you find out his last name is pronounced "tool". Then it makes it hilarious. I gave my brother-in-law options that my sister almost disowned me for. How cool wouldn't it be if your name was Bosch or Milwaukee or DeWalt or Ryobi or the perfect Porter Cable and have the last name like Tool. Talk about a mans man. But again shot down so now he's stuck with Rusty...Rusty Tool. My brother just had his 1st son the other week and I helped prevent the nickname problem. After they refused the Andrew Sam (FYI my brother thought it was great....his grade school teacher wife did not) and again David or Marc nixed so that left them with only the name Max and a bunch of variations. They settled on Max but Maximus was on the table until I brought up Gluteus. What kid doesn't laugh in grade school when learning about the gluteus maximus. But Maximus would have been great for my brother and me. We grew up with Transformers and we would have called him Maximus Prime; which we still may but that would've been cool. But I've stuck with calling him Maximoto. Why; I don't exactly know but it sounds techy and trendy so I'm sticking with it.

Oh just remembered another one. I forgot sometimes you gain a nickname from coworkers. This can be a little tricky depending on if they like you or not. But when a group of you all have the same nickname just followed #1, #2, #3 etc then it can't be too bad right? Well that depends on the nickname and if you can remember how you all got it. Eventually one of our friends got to add a prefix to this nickname because he earned it and he became Dr. Dumba$$. How we got the nicknames Dumba$$ #1 #2 #3 or who gave them to us I don't remember but this was during the college years so who knows. Heck we probably gave it to ourselves. It could possibly have been our our uncanny resemblance to the Three Amigos or quite possibly the 3 Stooges but it maybe one of those unanswered questions.

So in retrospect I still get called Siggy. I don't mind it a bit. Some people may not even know my real name and only know or remember me as Siggy. I think we all know someone like that. My son has embraced this nickname too but I'm not sure if the other 2 will. Maybe someday Maximoto will go by Sig, Siggy or Sig Jr too but I'll leave that up to him since I've already given him a name. 

To freeze or not to freeze

That is the question. But you now may be thinking what am I talking about? I'll remove any speculation this is going to be about wart removal? While this was a subject matter in our house this week it is definitely not what I'm thinking about.

If you are like most people then your are getting your yearly fix right about now. Some may have gotten their delivery yesterday, others today at some family function but most likely tomorrow at church. While some of you may have started going down the wrong path and were thinking some illicit drug deal...you're close. Even though there is an exchange of cash for goods it's not quite what you're thinking; that is unless you've got a box of Tagalongs staring at you then we're on the same page because I took care of a row or two of those peanut buttery goodness yesterday. You see I'm talking about Girl Scout Cookies.

I've determined there are only 2 types of people; those who put their Thin Mints & Samoas in the freezer and those who don't. You immediately know which group you fall in and generally speaking probably think the other side of the fence people are just plain ole wrong for not thinking and doing the same as you. I'll get it out in the open right away. I'm a firm believer in the freezer...that is if they make it that far. If you polish off the box or boxes in transit from the Cookie Santas aka Girl Scouts then you are forgiven it happens and it's understandable. Depending if you're right (freezer) or wrong you were most likely born that way...you're mom did it that way so that's why you do it. Moms probably had their reasons; like hiding them clear in the back of the freezer under the fish sticks because dad wouldn't spend that much time looking behind bags of frozen peas and he'd see the frozen Twix or Rolos first and grab one of those instead. Plus if they were in the cupboard then any one who could climb on the counter could get at them and scurry off to their room and hide under the bed and eat the entire box. Don't judge me you know you've done it oh wait I've heard people have been known to do this.

Granted I've been informed of a subdivision in each of these groups and that would be the folks who call Samoas by their other name Carmel deLights but I'm not sure I'm ready to recognize them because they're Samoas in my book; period end of discussion. And technically the same argument could be made about those Trefoils vs the Shortbread people but since they are not a freezerable option we'll ignore them and pretend they don't exist.

So if you haven't gotten your cookies yet then the possibility truly exists they were delivered to your spouce, left with a roommate or given to your kids to give to you. Which if that is the case you're SOL because they're probably gone so you best track down a Girl Scout and see if they have any extras. Long live the Samoas.

80's on the 18th.....Tecmo Bowl

I came home tonight to see my boys playing Tecmo Bowl and a flood of memories came back. Now the only game better than Tecmo Bowl growing up was Super Tecmo Bowl so I'll have to keep my eye out on the Wii store for that to become available for download.

I downloaded this for the kids (well OK me) a few weeks ago and I was bragging it up and then they saw it and they couldn't stop laughing. Kids these days don't understand how rough they've got it with their high definition TVs, gaming systems with more power than the computers that controlled space launches years ago, cutting edge graphics that go with award winning game designers that focus on depth of game play.

I remember my Atari 5200 like it was yesterday but I'll save that for another day as I focus on Tecmo Bowl. My kids were making fun of me for being the Raiders but any self respecting gamer of the 80's knows that's the only team to be and there was only 1 play to run and that was the pitch to Bo Jackson. Considering there were only 4 plays to choose from you really didn't have many choices and even if the other team picked your play there was still a chance you could score regardless of field position. Granted the pixelated bits of guys didn't have names but it was him...there was no denying it. You could run circles around people (literally) just to mess with them and I proceeded to show the boys how it was done.

Everyone loves their Madden and I know I've wasted a few hours, days and possibly weeks of my life on it (volume off of course so I didn't have to listen to Captain Obvious whose name graces the game) but give me my Tecmo Bowl or better yet Super Tecmo Bowl and let the good times roll.

Just so happened to be.....

This week I got to have a unique experience courtesy of some family friends. Not only as a Christmas gift did they treat my wife and I to the kick off of Chris Tomlin's And If Our God Is For Us tour but I also got to meet him briefly for lunch. Most people may not know him by name but if you go to church that has a contemporary service then you've heard his songs (sometimes weekly...thanks Josh) or you could have hit scan on your car stereo and chances are if it stopped on a Christian station then odds are fairly good that you heard this 16 time Dove Award Winner's songs. It's hard not to though considering he's pretty much been the face of Christian Worship music the past decade. And right on queue as I'm typing this his latest song just came on the radio. 

My wife volunteered me to go because she knows what a difference Christian music has made in my life; especially his and in particular 1 song. She figured what a perfect time for me to thank him for taking on such a monumental task of adding to the most well known hymn of all time in Amazing Grace. But she forgot to factor in 1 slight little variable: me. Well mainly my inability to take anything seriously especially myself. Which for the most part has worked out well though it has a tendency to annoy my wife. When I met Chris I asked him where Louie was and that I came to lunch so I could meet him. He stopped signing my CD cover for a second as he was probably thinking...did he just say what I think he said? He processed what I said and said "Yeah I don't blame ya." We chatted a bit more while posing and that was pretty much it and yes I am taller than him. I joked on Facebook that we had discussed hair care products for our church's worship leader's sake. The Louie I was referring to is Louie Giglio who is Chris's pastor, record producer, co-writer, an author and founder of Passion Movement which has been attended by over 1 million university students worldwide since it's inception.

 To fully understand let me rewind about 4 1/2 years and I was at a Chris Tomlin concert in Ames. Up till this point I was just kinda going through the motions in my every day life and my faith. Had you asked me if I was a Christian I would have said yes but I was doing nothing to "prove it". We were having a guest preacher (our pastor's son) coming the next week and it may have even been the next day it was all such a whirlwind but every time Michelle asked me if I was going I gave my standardized yes, no & maybe run on sentence of an answer so that way I covered all my bases.

And now a 2nd Chris Tomlin song is playing....now granted I went to lunch between the 1st one and this one so technically I may have missed one.

Now back to the concert. This is where all the "Just So Happened To Be's" started happening. Chris began talking about bumping into an old friend I think from school who happened to be sitting next to him on a flight who happened to be working on a movie who was looking for a singer song writer to add to a song. This movie as he mentioned was about the life of Wilbur Wilberforce. Which began the freak out in me. Being the history geek that I am (took history every semester in college just for fun....really) I knew exactly what song he was talking about. The song that at that point in my life I hated. The song I couldn't sing let alone listen too. The song that had been played at every funeral I had ever been to. You see Mr. Wilberforce was the man behind abolishing slavery in England and was very close to John Newton the former slaver trader and writer of Amazing Grace. To top it off just a few months prior I had lost a teen age cousin who was my little sister before my little sister was born so I was not ready to hear this song.

The next crazy part was it just so happened to be the pastor who was speaking at our church was going to be talking about "breaking the chains" that hold us back. Chris Tomlin eventually conceded to his friend and embellished Amazing Grace with this chorus: "My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy reigns Unending love, Amazing grace"
I felt like I was in shock when I heard these words as I connected all the dots of these past few months that got me to this particular place at this particular time to hear this message. Our pastor's son wasn't even supposed to come to our church it was supposed to be an evangelist from Brazil but something came up that changed his plans. That something was me....and this particular blog entry isn't the half of it but hey I need you to buy the book when I finish putting pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) which in itself is just another chapter of my story that just so happens does involve the afore mentioned Brazilian evangelist whose name is Rick Bonfim in case you were wondering.

3rd Chris Tomlin song. See I wasn't joking about the radio thing.

So on the way home my wife asks me if I had finally decided if I was going to the revival at church and listen to Jody preach. Before she could even finish I blurted out "Yes....I never said I wasn't going". It was that night that I truly understood God's Amazing Grace and decided to stop running from Him and to stop going through The Motions (Matthew West not Chris Tomlin...Google it). We even gave our daughter the middle name of Grace after Amazing Grace and it is now one of my favorite songs to sing.

So back to the concert this week. I got to have a really cool moment. I was running behind because of a soccer clinic I was running for 3-5 year olds. Turns out the opening band was stuck in Ireland so I didn't miss a thing but I had to park it seemed like miles away but as I got to the parking lot of the church I could hear the drums and music start up. When I came in and started up the stairs to the balcony (we gave away our 12th row seats so we could sit with friends up in the balcony) it felt like I was in this commercial as I can hear the music playing and then I step out into the auditorium and I could hear thousands of people singing together with one voice to God and it gave me the chills and I could have just stood there soaking it in but I had to find my seat so I could join them.

One last just so happened to be. Chris Tomlin has this back up singer who also sang lead for a few songs including Amazing Grace and she had the most amazing voice and I kept telling my wife this woman looks and sounds familiar...way familiar. My guess is Michelle thought I was light headed from running to get there on time. Well next morning I look into my premonition and it turns out I was right. Christy Nockels was her name and turns out she is very significant to us and to our daughter. You see it just so happens to be that Christy used to be a part of the husband and wife group by the name of Watermark who have a couple of songs of significance to our family that was introduced to us by our church's youth pastor at the time. She had given us the CD for the song Glory Baby but what she didn't know was that there was a also song by the name of Elliana on that CD which our daughter is now named after which is also the name of Christy Nockels' daughter because it is the song she wrote for her. Elliana means God has answered. So yes God did answer our prayer with miss Elliana Grace and she's a constant reminder of God's faithfulness.
So enjoy this rendition of Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin.

80's on the 8th/February as a kid

The great thing about February was that regardless of how cold it was outside you  had something to look forward to as a kid. No I'm talking about my birthday but that was always great getting to bring treats to school but I'm talking about the Valentines Day party plus if I didn't get something on my Christmas list I just put it on my birthday list.
One thing you never had to worry about at the Valentine Party was a lack of food. There were so many treats and juice that you couldn't help getting hopped up on sugar to the near diabetic coma state. Also by now your Halloween candy was long gone and any chocolate you had got in your stocking at Christmas was tore through in mere moments so you got to haul home a candy stash. But you had to watch it sometimes you got those chalky hearts with a funny after taste....give me the Sweet Tart hearts.
The other part was going to pick out your actual Valentines to hand out to the class. There were always so many options. You had your classic stand byes...from super heroes & cartoon characters, animals, sports to movies.  But then came the tricky part; determining which Valentine to give to which classmate. You had to get them all out and read each one carefully and then begin the narrowing down process of who you could possibly give each one too. One slip up with too gushy mushy wording and you've got the beginnings of a puppy love crush on your hands that could last years. You had to be careful when filling out the To and From sections too if you did it in ink then you had no chance of correcting it and swapping the intended parties to stave off any embarrassing situations.
Had I been thinking I would have had a sit down with my boys and passed this knowledge onto them but hopefully there is still time because I don't believe they have went to the store for phase 1 of the candy/card selection process.

Who to side with for the Super Bowl

Well I've had almost 2 weeks to decide on what team my cheering will temporarily align with since my Eagles team full of young cocky players got sent home early from the playoffs. Part of me really doesn't care and I'll probably end up paying more attention to the commercials than the play on the field but as long as the spread of food is good I'll be fine regardless.
Here's my dilemma do I cheer for the Packers...the team that sent "my team" home or do I cheer against Ben Rothlisberger. Yeah you read that right.  
First my Packers stance:
The why I should pull for the Packers.
1. They beat the Eagles so I could say the Super Bowl winning team beat my team twice this year
2. They were the hottest team in the league going down the stretch
3. They are from the NFC
4. The Aaron Rodgers vs Brett Favre story can finally be put to rest...please
5. They're from the Midwest and I'm from the Midwest so I've been forced to watch them a lot
6. They've got the most players on Injured Reserve so have done it with back ups of back ups
7. Eagles coaches Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg won Super Bowls while on the Packer's staff
8. Ok 7 might be a little weak but I was running out of things
Why I shouldn't pull for the Packers
1. They beat my team twice this year
2. Sick of the Aaron Rodgers love fest spewed upon us via ESPN
3. Packers have won their fair share of Super Bowls already
Now my Steelers stance:
For
1. I actually like their coach Mike Tomlin. He's not over the top hyper or cocky and knows how to coach
2. Would love to have a player like Hines Ward on the Eagles...understands his role and nasty blocker
3. Troy Polamalu is one of the best players I've ever seen and he plays the game the right way
4. Terrible Towels
5. They come from the same state as my favorite team...I know it's lame but again that's all I got
Against
1. Ben Rothlisberger....see below
2. James Harrison please shut your mouth
3. Hines Ward is one of the dirtiest players in the league...see #2 above
4. The Steelers have won their fair share of Super Bowls
5. We'll be forced to hear Merrill Hoge's unabashed love of the Steelers for another year..FYI he hates the Eagles
6. The Steelers are lauded as one of the top organizations from a front office standpoint yet in my eyes they have become hypocritical...see below
7. Take a look at Santonio Holmes the Steeler's 2009 Super Bowl MVP. He had run into problems with the law a bit that season but then after the Super Bowl win he was accused of  being in a bar fight and injuring someone so he was promptly traded due to his not living up to the expectations of being a Steeler. Now take a look at Big Ben. He has repeatedly run amok when it comes to the law even almost killing himself on his motorcycle. There were several sexual assault cases against him and yet not even a slap on his wrist from his team which prides themselves in the Steeler way. Even this week after all his emotional I'm a changed man interviews he was videoed partying it up and running up a $800 bar tab. So I'm disappointed in the Steelers organization for their lack of a stance on their franchise QB who is their "bell cow" "cash machine" "poster boy" that they give free reign to run their pristine image of themselves into the ground without batting an eye.

I could keep rattling on but you now know why I said how do I decided if I'm going to cheer for the Packers or against the black & yellow #7 but you can also see that my Fors and Against lean me towards the Packers anyways.