It's that time of year again. That's right, time to find the "good pop." That is, Kosher for Passover versions of Coke and Pepsi. These are considered awesome because they use real sugar as sweeteners instead of high fructose corn syrup. I'm not Jewish, but this Kosher stuff is awesome!

Note the yellow caps to denote Kosher

This year, the demand isn't as great, I feel, because we've been blessed by similar drinks in the form of Pepsi Throwback, Mountain Dew Throwback, and Heritage Dr Pepper. But still, as a beverage enthusiast, it was time to make a "Kosher run!"

Sucrose = Sugar

I've previously reviewed Kosher Coke, Kosher Pepsi, and even Kosher Caffeine Free Pepsi for BevReview.com, so I don't need to go into that here. This year, I went with my friend George up to Hungarian Kosher Foods in Skokie where they can always be counted on to have the Kosher drinks. And sure enough, I walked away with some 2 liters of Coke and CF Pepsi.

Kosher Bazooka Gum

But even more interesting was the box of Kosher Bazooka Gum that George walked away with. It had a very different taste, in my opinion, though to be honest I can't remember the last time I actually chewed Bazooka. (Michael Ei$ner now owns Bazooka's parent company, so maybe that's a reason!)

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Beyond that, it was somewhat funny to find that the enclosed Bazooka Joe comic was written in Hebrew. I'm not sure what's happening in the comic. Care to give a guess? (Make sure you read from right to left!)

Last night I was down at Catalyst Ranch for an end-of-rally party for EPIC, a non-profit founded by our friend Erin Huizenga.

The organization brings together creative professionals to work on projects for select non-profit clients that focus on education, children, and families… all on a pro-bono basis. It's a way for folks to give back and contribute to an organization that is making a social impact, but may not have the resources to fund such projects on their own.

EPIC pulls together what are called "Creative Rally Teams" which focus on projects for an 8-week period. These teams have folks from different design firms and expertise, but often include copywriters, designers, art directors, and Web gurus.

At the end of each 8-week "Rally" period, there's a celebration event, where the teams showcase the work they performed for the 2-3 selected non-profits. Oh, and there's food, drink, and goofy stuff too! Last night the non-profits being highlighted were the American Nutrition Association, Arts of Life, and the Lincoln Park Community Shelter.

Which brings us to ActionBooth. They describe themselves as specializing in "dynamic event photography." They were at the party last night to shoot photos of attendees, donating their time in doing so.

They shot some photos of our friends Meredith Rollins, Tim & Emily Lapetino, and myself… jumping. Yup, that's what we did.

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It's good to know I haven't lost much in my vertical leap!

On Sunday we gathered with some friends at an Oscars party. One of the requirements in attending this party was to bring a food item that was themed to a nominee.

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Amy & I did some brainstorming and worked on a cake that looked like the house from Disney/Pixar's Up. We called it the 'Up'cake (as in, "cupcake"), and it took home the prize for most creative entry. Continue Reading…

The first Monday in March is always a school holiday here in Illinois, thanks to Revolutionary War hero, Casimir Pulaski. He was a Polish cavalry officer known for his contributions in training U.S. soldiers.

Kazimierz Pulaski, a.k.a. Casimir Pulaski (Source: Wikipedia)

Given that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Poland's capital city of Warsaw, we celebrate his birthday via Casimir Pulaski Day! Starting in 1977, it's been a city/county government holiday, which includes the public schools (and most private) getting the day off. I have always particularly been fond of Mr. Pulaski because his little day of honor always fell around my birthday of March 2, meaning quite often I got a "no school birthday" growing up. (Incidentally, both Indiana and Wisconsin also honor Pulaski, but not to the extent of Illinois. Though in the case of the Hoosier state, they actually designated part of I-65 from the Kankakee River to I-90 as the "Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway").

So, hoist your bottles of Fanta Pomaranczowa and Fanta Lemonic high and drink a toast to Casimir Pulaski!

Hey, it's February 2, and besides being Groundhog Day, it's also our 8th wedding anniversary! That's right, on 02/02/02 at 2:02 p.m., we tied the knot!

Sure, we've changed at little…

… but it's been a fun ride. Love ya, Ames!

(Wait, does that mean this blog is 8 years old? Wow, I better work on a redesign soon!)

At church, we've been studying the book of 1 John. To tie into that, our weekly Sunday night small group has also jumped into studying 1-3 John.

The Kids' Praise Album (1980)

So last night as we were discussing the introduction to the commentary we're studying, I jokingly asked, "so, how many of you started to sing '1 John 4:7-8' when you came across that passage?" I was shocked to find that only a couple people recognized the reference to this vintage kid's song. (Am I getting that old?)

Psalty & Steve (Fall 1997)

I mean, sure, the album which made it rather famous (The Kids' Praise Album) has a copyright date of 1980, but c'mon! I guess I was just too submerged in the Christian music subculture with good ole Psalty the Singing Songbook!

Give it a listen, and try not to laugh at the fake calypso style of the song:

Audio: I John 4:7-8

For those not in the know, Psalty the Singing Songbook was a character used on a series of Christian children's music albums (first record, then cassette, and eventually CD) throughout the 1980s. The album noted above kicked off the "Kids' Praise" series, which lasted at least 10 albums with numerous spinoffs.

While pretty much irrelevant today, the music featured on those albums was very influential to me as a kid growing up. As many know, I used a lot of this music to lead worship for little kids while working up at camp during my high school/early college years… where I eventually met Amy… and led to my current job at Kidology… and you know the rest of the story.

3 cheers for cheesy music!

This is a photo of the family riding Test Track at Epcot over the holidays.

Test Track PhotoPass Photo

I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but it isn't really a great location of a photo opportunity like this. There's nothing really happening… other than my sister and bro-in-law pretending that they each have a steering wheel!

My Dad looks like he's sleep, my Mom is squinting in the backseat, Amy looks bored, and I think I'm trying to read the text off the dashboard from the front passenger seat.

Talk about Disney thrills!

Every year, I build a village under our Christmas tree from scratch, using different materials and themes.

2009 Tanner Christmas Tree

For many years I used LEGO to create such villages as 'Pirates of the Christmas-be-an', 'A Tour of Jackhannesburg', and 'Christmas on Hoth'.

Continue Reading…

As Amy & I mentioned back in August, we recently purchased Ticket to Ride, a boardgame for 2-5 players that involves building collections of train routes on maps. (Not familiar to Ticket to Ride? Learn more via the official website!)

Mystery Train expansion was introduced in 2004

The game won the 2004 Spiel des Jahres, which is somewhat like the Academy Award-equivalent for boardgames. That same year, the first expansion for the game, Mystery Train, was released.

The expansion was originally available for free at game trade shows and via magazine inserts. The maker of Ticket to Ride, Days of Wonder, also sold it for a short time via their website. Eventually the expansion went out-of-print, but then was made available as a PDF download on their website. I printed my set on some card stock and it has worked out well.

Continue Reading…

On Saturday, October 10 we held our 4th "Clue Night", welcoming 16 friends to join us in playing multiple versions of the boardgame Clue, while enjoying some good food, conversation, and laughter watching the 1985 film of the same name.

Yes, we have many versions of "Clue"!

We first held a "beta test" of this idea shortly after we got married, and continued it in 2006 and 2007, taking a break last year — why, we're not really sure. I think we sort of forgot, to be honest!

I built a "Tower of Clue" for this event

Amy & I own 40+ derivatives of Clue/Cluedo (the latter being the original UK name), including themed versions, puzzles, spinoffs, associated products, and media adaptations.

Continue Reading…