J. Jason Lazarus Blog

As per usual, here’s the Baby Heartbeat - Week 28 - MP3 format - Enjoy! Even though I know it’s not like there’s much different from month to month with the heartbeat, it’s still cool thinking that we’ll have all of this set aside for our child when they grow up - something none of us had, that’s for sure!

The next month stuff starts getting more interesting with a huge schedule of meetings, from additional OBGYN meetings to Breastfeeding and Childbirthing classes, all the normal regimen - and I am planning on attending every one of them, as I have with each and every one of the OBGYN meetings thus far.

Anyways, more updates later.]]>

Not the best idea - soon enough we were on the side of the road snoozing in the back of our minivan. Yes, I probably failed to mention to all of you out-of-staters that I do, indeed, have a minivan. Albeit, a well-received gift from my parents much earlier this year, I’ve kept it relatively under wraps due to the overwhelming amount of stereotypes associated to men driving minivans. Granted, one could easily suggest that receiving the van a mere month before Deanna and I found out we were pregnant that the van was no more than a oh-so-subtle hint for grandbabies, it has made our trips to Anchorage much more comfy.

So, of coarse, as usual, I digress. We made it to Anchorage a bit after Noon, hunted around far too long for a Turkish Restaurant I wanted to take Deanna to, finally finding it nearly a half an hour later. Had a massive lunch, extremely filling, did some light shopping and started falling asleep against any surface - sitting or standing.

Realizing that this probably wasn’t the best idea, we crashed extra early (6-7ish) after eating at another eatery Fairbanks unfortunately lacks - Applebee’s. I’ve always appreciated Anchorage for this one reason - because even after all the major box stores that have sprung up around Fairbanks have opened up, we still have the same old boring restaurants - half a billion Thai restaurants and your boring chains that every Midwestern town of a population of 500 have. We seriously lack diversity when it comes to ethnic cuisine. Now, on the other hand, Anchorage is no cornucopia of diversity, but it at least musters a salad bar full of choices - Turkish being one of them. Backtracking a bit - I had my first Turkish Coffee - I’ve always been interested in the meticulous nature surrounding its preparation and it’s supposited acquired taste but found it relatively pleasing - a nice, albeit different, treat.

The next day was completely full of shopping - from both major malls to specialty stores to pawn shops and bookstores - we were all over Anchorage. I ended up finally finding some cd’s in Titlewave that I had been looking around for years - managing to pick up two Roman Candles albums (local band) for, I believe, about $7/piece. I’ve seen the singer, Matt Hopper, in concert several times over the years and have always appreciated his laid-back realistic lyrics and approach to music as a whole - but I’ve unfortunately somehow never managed to pick up any of his music till now. It’s rare that I find a male lead singer that I actually appreciate for his lyrics and his voice - usually males fail miserably at having anything that even closely resembles a unique or variable (or good) singing voice.

We did quite a bit of baby shopping around town, not picking up much knowing full well we’d be back in December. We’ll have more of a real baby update here on Wednesday when we see the doctor - but nonetheless, everything is fine, Deanna is truly beginning to show, and the pregnancy has so far been wonderful for both of us.

We did, however, stop by and pick up quite a bit of new gaming lust from my most favorite playland of all of Anchorage - Spenard Pawn’s Maximum Replay. This guy, who manages to hold several holy grails of gaming, houses his treasures in a non-descript pawn shop - and I have never, ever seen such a selection. I’ve only patronized his business over the last year, but this is the first time I actually spent a lot of money there. Although most of the geeks out there would say I chose incorrectly - having a toss-up choice between an in-the-box Earthbound for SNES (with in-the-box player’s guide) or an Atari Lynx with four games - I chose the Atari Lynx. Yes, another handheld console to add to my stash - and at that, a pretty darn rare one as well - with only 2 million ever sold. I picked up Kung Food, Checkered Flag, Rampart and Gates of Zendocon. I also picked up Clockwork Knight for the Saturn and Neutopia for TG-16. From Bosco’s, the comic store in town, I picked up Rampart for the NES and Lemmings for the SNES - the final one being for Deanna. Apparently it’s her “most-favoritest-game-ever” - or something. Nonetheless, I was, and am, gleaming with geek joy at the fact that Deanna let me have this little geek super shopping spree!

Later that evening, we had an amazing date at the Bear Tooth Theatre - had a huge greek pizza and watched a pretty decent flick - No Reservations - which, I have to admit, for being a romantic comedy, it actually did a decent job of not being so typical - albeit, typical plot devices did show up all over the story but… I was actually impressed with the cinematography - really impressed. Worth a watch, well done.

I also picked up the 100-movie Horror Pack from Best Buy - what I thought would end up turning out as a huge collection of 50’s-era b-movies ended up being filled to the brim with Spagetti Slasher films - that’s right - 70’s Italian Horror Classics! 126 Hours of B! Did I mention that I’m in heaven? Here’s a list of the goodies.

Aside from that, more and more shopping, several Titlewave trips, eating more and more, hanging out with Brian for an hour or two, and back home. Whirlwind trip, but well worth it. I don’t feel rested at all but at least after this trip, I’m content with sitting around at home doing nothing for a few days.

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Some of you have been asking for the pictures of the crib that Deanna’s father made us - so, obviously, here they are. We’re insanely proud of it and have managed to show it off to everyone who has come over lately, and, well, we’ve both managed to find ourselves in front of it late at night, smiling ever so slightly in euphoric bliss. I’ve only recently decided to move all my video games out of the room (my choice, Deanna actually didn’t want me to)so that the baby can have even more room - not that babies entirely need a room to themselves or will actually be spending much time at all in their “room”, but it does kinda ruin what ambiance that we’re going for when you’ve got a wall of game systems. We haven’t started decorating, but I’m sure after Thanksgiving, we’ll start on that.

Enjoy!]]>

As Deanna picked up this little piece of my childhood at Wal-mart this weekend, I want to think that there was a little part inside of me that thought it was silly to waste $7.50 on it. I really, really want to believe that. I, in fact, managed to muster no interest at all in it as Deanna picked it up, slyly asking if she could get it. I managed to do all of that when in truth, The Chipmunk Adventure is one of my most memorible childhood movies out there.
Before we popped it in, I knew that there was at least one song that I used to love to sing along to as a child - but I reassured myself that my seemingly momentary interest in that song, of coarse, in the grand scheme of things, amounted to a week or two when I was seven years old and that, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their prolific Ninja Rap, it might cause, at most, a few minutes of inner-ear pain nowadays.
But was I ever wrong.
Not only can I literally spew out quotes from the movie as its being played, reciting entire conversations between the characters, but there seems to have been a little miscalculation in my previous obsession with this movie. It wasn’t that I had liked one singular 2-minute song - it was simply that I could remember, and sing along with, literally every song in the whole movie.
This wouldn’t be that bad, one would think - the supposed “few minutes” of inner-ear pain had managed to increase to a hour and a half of head-splitting pain - right?
OOOh no.
No - for three days now the only music in my head has been Alvin and this stereotypical (albeit, musically inclined) brothers. My subconscious mind has let them in and won’t let them out - and it’s really, and I really do mean really is starting to get to me.

Don’t believe me? Remember this movie from your childhood? Watch it - I DARE you - and I’ll bet you that you’ll be humming a few bars of its uplifting little melodies - and you too, will be wondering if it’s pure joy you’re feeling or your brain slowly rotting away.

This weekend was pretty darn busy - but before I get to all those things - I’ve got to let it out before it comes out as though coming from the squeal of a over-zealous 12 year old cheerleader:

Lacey Street Theater has reopened. As a Theater!

Showing second-run and classics, the old theater that has been a ice museum since I’ve been in Fairbanks apparently reopened its doors as a theater this last week. I just found out about it yesterday and have all intentions of going tonight - even though I don’t have the time, I will make time for it. My only hope is that with its years as a ice museum that much of the facades that are expected to be in a vintage theater hasn’t been torn down. I’m going tonight to see Dirty Harry - for the first time.

Either way, they have a myspace page that’ll give you the upcoming schedule. I’m sure I’ll have an updated review of the place as soon as I get to go.

Speaking of enjoyable revelations this weekend - I went to McCafferty’s this Saturday to actively avoid the Baby Shower that was going on over at my house - and to be honest, I came into the joint without the best attitude mainly because a lot of our friends have been canceling plans left and right and I’ve become pretty jaded recently. Between the 8 out of 13 that didn’t show for my Zombie Party last weekend and several canceling (or plain not showing) to the shower, I was justifiably miffed.

Sounds funny, but I think most of the frustration adds up to the fact that I’ve been eating leftover party food for 10 days - and there’s no forseeable end in sight.

Although many have legitimate reasons, we’re finding ourselves at a crossroads where most of our old friends are seemingly vanishing - for a multitude of reasons, but after hearing endless excuses, most sound a trifle trivial and manage to frustrate me. But after careful introspection, I understand so many of us are finding each other on new paths in life but it is a pretty profound self-realization when you find that people are actively avoiding you because you’re married, expecting a child or potentially further down the path they’d like to be on - or for that matter, not far enough. The acceptance of unique differences we had, or even cherished, of our friends seems to have washed away as we get older and more stuck in our ways - people are more than ever unwilling to deal with diversity in your mid-to-late 20’s - something that I’ll admit in my Naïveté, didn’t expect to happen.

Nonetheless, I completely digress. Here I am in McCafferty’s, wanting to avoid people - and a perfect stranger comes up to me and starts talking. My tough-skinned Alaskan mentality wants to put me on the defensive because normally when strangers talk to you it’s because they’re crazy, drunk or a unhealthy combination of both. Not so with this individual - in fact, he was completely articulate, knowledgeable and a complete pleasure to talk to. We actually discussed how unwilling Alaskans are to meet new people, explore conversations without becoming overwelmingly closed-minded and just actually have a decent conversation with anyone without becoming political. I’ll have to admit, I’m one of these people _ I find myself doing exactly what this guy was complaining about - I stick to my regimen of avoiding people I don’t know, not talking to even the most inviting strangers even in the most inviting situations (like a coffee house) and I stick to myself because I falsely believe that’s how everyone wants it. I couldn’t believe I managed to talk to someone that I’d normally never even talk to for over an hour and not once was there contention because of political viewpoints differing or awkwardness because we didn’t know each other - it was a genuine conversation - or discussion - with a perfect stranger and, frighteningly enough, it was by far one of the most stimulating conversations, albeit simple, that I have had in a long time. We also talked about the lack of any cultural stimulus in Fairbanks, which between the concert I went to this weekend and the reopening of Lacey Street, I’d have a hard time agreeing as easily as I did previously - but it is, in part, true. Coffeeshops across town close far too early, rarely have discussions that go past the al-gore-isms of extreme “the world is going to die next Tuesday” syndrome, and overall, our music and art scene lacks the flair that it could potentially have. First Fridays are nice - but we need more.

Last night, I went to the Leahy Concert, a irish fiddle-dancing band from Canada - and I loved every minute of it. I was there as the photographer for the Fairbanks Concert Association which might end up being a normal gig of mine to do - and even with all of the hussle-and-bussle of running around with my head cut off trying to get all the good shots during the concert, I truly enjoyed myself and I’m glad that I’m getting recognized more as a photographer and not just a random joe with a camera.

Deanna’s parents came up for the baby shower this weekend as well - and it was a pretty awesome visit. Most awesome of all, we got the hand-made coverta-crib that her dad made himself - and it is gorgeous - no promises, but I do hope to have a picture of it soon online. I got to take them out to Silver Gulch and had a few beers at the tasting with her dad - truly enjoyed myself all the way through. I even kinda haphazardly set her dad up with one of our old ipod videos that we aren’t using. He’ll be using it up on the slope where most of the workers lack his particular taste in music - which is much better than what it was doing in our apartment - sitting on Deanna’s desk. With the constant shiny-factor of new ipods, we do have a few too many around the house, so it is good that they’re getting used.