Gone too Soon!

I was sad to hear the other day that James Gandolfini aka Tony Soprano passed away of a heart attack while traveling with his son. He was only fifty-one. Too young for-sure and sadly, he leaves behind a wife, son and very young daughter. A sad lose indeed.

All the tributes and conversations I was hearing about his acting talent and his off-screen, general good guy-ness got me thinking (yup, I do that sometimes). I knew I had watched quite a few of the Sopranos shows over the years but never the whole series from beginning to end. It was such a great show and I started to wonder what I might have missed in the episodes I hadn't seen. The other night I started watching the show again but this time from the very beginning. I plan to watch them each night until I get through them all.

Red wine in a little wine glass...
always on the table of a traditional Italian home

So I lie in bed each night with my earplugs in and my kindle fire on my chest, cracking up at all the crazy characters (who, by the way remind me of half the people I grew up around when with my Italian grandparents and their friends). The actors are awesome and the story lines are totally captivating. I love every minute of them.

My poor wife though, lying next to me in bed, can't be too thrilled about this new nightly routine of mine. I regularly wake her up when cackling away at whatever lunacy is happening on my little screen. And when I laugh, I howl like a bear and shake the whole freakin' bed in my fit of hysterics. She is definitely not enjoying this walk-down-memory-lane as much as me but sorry hon, Tony must live on!

On a side note, I found an article recently examining how the business people of the world could learn a thing or two about management skills from the ultimate Boss himself (Of course Tony's managing skills included using death threats to get things done but the article has some funny points). Check out the link below -http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/06/27/tony-soprano-james-gandolfini/

Tony's weekly "Board Meeting"

Here's to you James.   RIP

From this Wacky Italian Dad to you!

ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE DOING A SOPRANO MARATHON IN HONOR OF TONY TOO?

My Dancing Daughters!

This post is really a week overdue, but I wanted to get some photos up of my daughters at their most recent dance recital.  I can't believe how talented my daughter Abby has become on stage.

Here's Abby at the center of the photo.

It seems like yesterday she was three years old on the stage.  She is now in her 10th season as a dancer!  Unbelievable how time flies!  And my little Mia is just so damned cute up there.  I luckily got one of the best photos of my life as she finished one of her dances.

Mia at the end of her performance - They were dressed up as clouds. I think she pulled it off!

To my daughters I'd like to say well done!  Enjoy your summer off and get ready to put those dancing shoes on again for next year!  Congrats on a job well done!

Aristokat!

Well Deserved Bouquets!

Love,

Wacky Dad

The Taming Of The Beard

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Dad Central Consulting for AVEENO. I received product samples and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

As many of you know, I am one hairy dude.  I was recently asked to try a trio of Aveeno shaving products, and I figured why not.  Anything that might help to get through this mess is worth a shot.  Also the women in my family have used Aveeno products for years and have always been happy with them, so I had a sense that the products would be good.

Ok, so I'm fat, I had a few drinks, and I'm ugly.
BUT, this IS proof that I have one heck of a thick
beard.  This thing grew in in 2 weeks.

Here's what I tried out.  The Face Wash, Shave Gel, and After Shave Lotion.

Even though I might be able to get away with it, as a former Marine, I never go to work without a shave in the morning.  It just doesn't feel right.  I always take a shower to soften up the mess, and jump right out of the shower with a wet face and jump right into shaving with my usual shaving cream and favorite razor.  I've been using the same products for my whole life, like father like son I guess when it comes to shaving habits.  Since I've started using the Aveeno products I have been following the same routine, except I have been using the Face Wash before I jump out of the shower.  This stuff is pretty cool.  It has an Active Naturals Oat Formula that acts to deep clean and strip away some of the dead skin on your face.  But the thing that I like most about the Face Wash, is it leaves a slippery layer on my face.  This really helps create a smooth shave when I actually apply the Shave Gel (which also has Active Naturals Oat Formula - just not the exfoliating component) and take a razor to my beard.  It definitely seems to make shaving a little less harsh, and by the end of the week my face is not in quite as tough of shape as it can be after a week of regular shaving.  Don't get me wrong, my beard is still tough, and I don't think anything short of my facial hair falling off is going to change that, but I am definitely happy with the results I'm getting from this product.  Here are a couple of before and after mugshots.  I know these photos will bring a lot of ridicule.  My huge nose, and ugly mug don't lend themselves well to photos at 6:00 in the morning, or 6:00 at night either, but here goes anyway!  

             

That's really hard to look at, but you can see, I actually did get a pretty good shave out of it.  I did try the aftershave lotion once, and I can see if you have dry skin that it would work great.  I have anything but dry skin. To the contrary, I think my Italian face emits its own natural olive oil moisturizer, and I have never used any kind of aftershave throughout my life. All in all I really like these products, and the pricing is pretty much in line with other products out there. I would categorize this as "definitely worth a try"!

Happy Shaving!

Wacky Dad

Wacky Dad's friends doing good - The National Call-In Day to Support Pancreatic Cancer Research

More info at www.pancan.org/nationalcallin.

Hundreds of of my PanCan friends who are Advocacy Leaders for PanCan.org are in Washington, D.C. today meeting with their members of Congress to ask them to protect #pancreaticcancer research.

I am hoping that you will help me support these hard working volunteers by participating in today's National Call-In.

Will you help this Wacky dad out and take 5 minutes today to call your members of congress in order to ask them for their support for Pancreatic Cancer research?

Just head to www.pancan.org/nationalcallin for your congress members' names and phone numbers.

A sincere thanks from this Wacky PanCan Fighter 

Wacky Dad

Dishwasher Torture Test With Cascade Platinum

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Dad Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.” www.dadcentralconsulting.com

Hey Wackys!  For the past couple of weeks I have been using the new Cascade Platinum dishwashing pacs for my dishes.  I am the eternal skeptic, and am always resistant to buy brand names because I often think I am overpaying. We have used Cascade products in the past, and I have always recognized their products as high quality, but this new Platinum product is really a step up from any dishwasher detergent I have used in the past.  I have been on a mission to defeat this stuff! I have introduced some pretty gnarly looking stuff to my dishwasher in the past 2 weeks, and without fail Cascade Platinum has come out on top. My three daughters and I haven't been able to best this stuff! 

A before and after shot of an guacamole encrusted bowl that I put through the Platinum torture test.  I couldn't believe there wasn't one speck of guacamole left on the bowl!

We haven't been pre-washing, or re-washing any dishes since I have started using Cascade Platinum.  That has been a welcome change since we eat in the house almost all of the time, and our dirty dish load is always heavy.  We do at least one load of dishes a day just to keep up with the demand.  I am often disappointed by some of the other products I use, and have to do a considerable amount of pre-washing and post washing to get my dishes and glasses clean.  Any money I am saving on cheap detergent goes down the drain. I'm sure I am wasting an inordinate amount of hot water, which isn't cheap by any means when you burn oil, and pay dearly for public water.  I believe that my cheapskate self has actually been sold on this product.  Not to mention that I know my family is eating off a clean and sterilized surface when I see the quality of what is coming out of the dishwasher.  Another thing I have noticed is that my dishwasher is sparkling inside since I started using Platinum.  It looks and smells fresh, you can really tell that this stuff is doing it's job. Here's how the magic happens. Cascade Platinum Pacs feature an advanced triple action recipe that is specially designed to leave dishware virtually spot-free and help prevent the build-up of hard-water film on dishwasher walls. Here is a short video by Bravo's Gail Simmons explaining how clean plates can really make your meal presentation pop.  I'm happy to have a any meal on any plate in general, but she brings up some great points for all of you non-heathens out there!

Visit the following website to enter to win a new Whirlpool Dishwasher Courtesy of Cascade! http://tinyurl.com/PlatBlog. I am happy to say that Cascade Platinum gets a big nod of approval from this dad!

Happy Clean Dishes!

Wacky Dad