Posted by Rob on July 5, 2011 – 6:25 am
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as beach, big bad bob, bigbadbob, burger, captain morgan tattoo, family, fireworks, Food & Drink, Fourth of July, golf cart, History, hot dog, how few remain, independence day, long island, myrtle beach, parade, sangria, south, south carolina
Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays; not only because I’m a history buff, but also because I love the food. Turkey and ham are all well and fine, but a fresh burger off the grill sometimes beats them all. I also love the fireworks, but living in New York led to some disappointing Fourth of July’s, due to the illegality of fireworks. It wasn’t always like that though. Growing up on Long Island in the 80s, fireworks were legal. Back then we would have huge block parties, where both ends of the block would be blocked off by the town so that we could have free reign of the streets without worrying about cars driving by. Whether it was at my grandparents or my cousins house, there was plenty of food, fireworks, family, friends, and fun! But then the fireworks eventually became illegal, and we moved away from family to Middletown. The only way to see fireworks there was to go to one of the town-run fireworks shows which always sucked, especially since the place was always jam packed. But I digress.
This year we spent the Fourth of July right here in Myrtle Beach, and it was one of the best ever. If there’s one thing the South does right, it’s celebrating Independence Day (though I’m sure some people down here would prefer to celebrate a Confederate Independence Day.) Fireworks are extremely legal down here, and not only that but you can buy them ANYWHERE. Don’t have time to head down to the local fireworks store? Then jump in the car and hit up the nearest gas station or Wal-Mart. The South in general makes for a very patriotic Fourth of July, and here’s how I spent mine. Read More »
Posted by Rob on March 17, 2011 – 12:47 am
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as albany, big bad bob, bigbadbob, call of duty: black ops, casino, competitive, family, flying, FPS, henderson, job, las vegas, lucilles, multiplayer, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, raising canes, sonics, southwest, st. patricks day, the strip, the yard house, ufc, ufc 2009, ufc 2010, vegas, work
It’s been a very busy, yet relaxing, couple of days, as I have been visiting with the in-laws in Las Vegas, NV (well, technically Henderson, NV, but it’s pretty damn close to Vegas.) Both of Shell’s sisters live out there so we don’t really get to see them too often…the last time we were out there was almost two years ago. So we decided to take a bit of a break and head out there for a five day weekend. We left from Albany on Wednesday at 11:55 EST and arrived at 2:20ish PST (thanks to Southwest it was a direct flight), so what was a five and a half hour flight technically got us to Vegas in under three hours.
Since this was more of a visiting family trip, we didn’t really hit the Strip. Shell and I did head down on Tuesday for a little while and checked out some of the casinos and what not. So while there wasn’t any gambling, there was a lot of good eating, as we went out for every lunch and almost every dinner. Some of the highlights included Sonic’s (I really wish one would open up near Albany…the closest one to us is in Kingston), Lucilles, The Yard House (which had quite a large collection of beers on tap…I went for the Spaten Oktoberfest), Raising Cane’s, and many more. Read More »
Posted by Rob on December 28, 2010 – 11:17 pm
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as albany, apples to apples, big bad bob, bigbadbob, blizzard, christmas, dinner, family, gifts, meat pie, pizza, presents, rice balls
Christmas Eve
For years, my family tradition was always the same: we went down to Long Island on Christmas Eve to see my extended family at either my grandparents’ or aunt’s house. We would spend the night at my grandparent’s, and then after breakfast we would jump in the car and drive back to my parents house for Christmas Day. Once Shell and I were dating, things soon changed, as we had to start dividing up time between the two families. Last year it happened that we spent Christmas with Shell’s mom down in South Carolina, so this year we remained up here. This year we decided to have Shell’s dad come up to our apartment for Christmas Eve, and then we would drive down to my parents house to see them and my sister for Christmas Day.
One of the reasons we made these plans was because Shell actually had to work Christmas Eve. So that morning, after she went to work, I ventured out to the local grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner that night, and for the next week. Price Chopper was a mad house, and plenty of people had the same idea as me apparently. After pushing though crowds and waiting on line, I made it back to the apartment in one piece. I then straightened up the house, prepared the guest bedroom, and then I had like five hours to kill before Shell and her dad got back. It was a weird Christmas Eve for me…most probably the least stressful one I ever had since we moved away from Long Island about fifteen years ago. Read More »
Posted by Rob on December 17, 2010 – 4:49 pm
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as baking, big bad bob, bigbadbob, black friday, charlie brown, christmas, christmas eve, cookies, ernest, family, frosty, garfield, holidays, it's a wonderful life, miracle on 34th street, rudolph, south carolina, white christmas
With Christmas almost a week away now, Shell and I are close to be as prepared as can be. The house has been decorated and the tree has been up since the weekend after Thanksgiving. So far, the cats have been relatively well-behaved, and neither Loki nor Odin have tried climbing up the tree yet. Holiday cookies have been baked regularly, and there are now about three batches left to go. We spent several nights last week baking together after dinner, and made some tasty treats. Shopping wise, we are all done with what gifts we needed to buy. We got a few things done the week of Black Friday, and everything else was done either online or with some shopping at local stores.
We have also begun our annual tradition of watching a crud-load of Christmas movies. This year marks the first time I was able to get Shell to agree watching one of my favorites; Ernest Saves Christmas. She is not a fan of Ernest, but I love the movies, and Ernest Saves Christmas is one of my top holiday movies. We’ve also watched some of Shell’s classic favorites like Frosty, Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and Garfield. We also watched some old-fashioned classics this year, including White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and It’s a Wonderful Life.
So I think it’s safe to say that we are set for the holidays. The next week will be spent doing some last-minute baking and then preparing for Christmas Eve when Shell’s dad comes up. Then Christmas Day will be spent down at my parents, and I’ll finally see my sister and bro-in-law for Christmas, who I haven’t seen for Christmas in a few years, between them visiting in-laws in Ohio and us visiting Shell’s mom in South Carolina.
I hope everyone has a happy, safe, and MERRY CHRISTMAS this year!
Posted by Rob on July 12, 2010 – 7:43 am
Filed under Movies
Tagged as andy, big bad bob, bigbadbob, buzz lightyear, family, jim varney, Movies, netflix, shrek, slinky dog, toy story, toy story 2, toy story 3, toys, woody
It wasn’t until Toy Story 3 came out that I realized that I had never seen Toy Story 2. I don’t know how that happened, but it did, and I wasn’t happy. I quickly rented Toy Story 2 from Netflix so that I would be ready for the new one when it hit theaters. I had been hearing a lot of good things from reviews and friends alike, and being the big kid at heart that I am, I couldn’t wait to see this film. What everyone was saying is true…the movie lives up to the others, and delivers a funny and emotional film that is enjoyable to people of all ages.
The movie basically starts off with the toys’ owner Andy getting ready to go away to college. With him leaving, his mom wants him to clean his room up and get all his old stuff either in the attic or thrown out to the curb. A series of events finds the toys arriving at a daycare center, where they dream of being played with all the time (since the now seventeen year-old Andy has not sat in his room and played with his toys in years.)
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Posted by Rob on June 26, 2010 – 7:48 am
In order to try and make my site more accessible and less cluttered, I removed a lot of the personal stuff. I had about three pages with all kinds of personal information about my wife and myself, as well as a page devoted to our now-past wedding.
Now as you can see, the only pages that remain are the main ones, the reasons I built this site in the first place…video games. While I will continue to post the happenings in my personal life, the site is definitely going to take a turn to being geared towards other stuff that don’t necessarily have to do with me.
To those close friends and family members: the family site is going to kind of be the replacement to what I am taking away from here. Once again, if you need the address, hit me up.
Posted by Rob on May 31, 2010 – 2:39 pm
Shell and I got back from the hotel today. Right now Shell is getting her hair cut by her sister, so I had some time to pop on here and share the news.
So in case you’ve been living under a rock (and avoiding my blog and Facebook), Shell and I got married yesterday! It was a wonderful wedding, and all our planning worked out perfectly, as the day went off without a hitch. It was a wonderful mass, and I don’t think I ever cried so much on a single day (yes, I am a baby when it comes to sentimental stuff like this.)
The reception was beautiful. The people over at Birch Hill worked hard to provide us with a beautiful room and great food. The DJ did a great job, and the photographer, though aggressive, did what we paid him for, and I’m sure we will be enjoying tons of great photos from him.
So I’m now a married man. It feels good…it feels right. I love the fact that Shell and I are now officially together, and am ready to spend the rest of my life with her.
Thanks to all the friends and family who came to share our day with us. It was great to see the extended families from far away, as well as good friends who I rarely see. Now it’s off to Disney World for a nice two-week honeymoon!!!
And a special thanks to Steve, who really was the “best man” by breaking into my apartment while I was at the hotel one morning and placing a nice 40″ HDTV in my living room for Shell and me! I almost dropped her as I carried her into the apartment and saw the box there, beckoning to me!!!
Posted by Rob on November 17, 2009 – 6:32 am
Shell and I went up to New Hampshire to visit my aunt and uncle living up there. They moved there several years ago, but I had never had the chance to go. I was always busy working or at school and could not get the time to go. We were planning on going in the summer, but then decided it might be a nicer trip if we waited until the Fall. It proved to be a good time.
The entire weekend I had my eyes peeled for either moose, bear, or Wood Devils. I had seen bear three times, but always for a brief second or two, and I always want to see more bear. I had never seen a moose in the wild, and was really hoping to. Unfortunately, I did not get to see any wildlife aside from some squirrels, but the rest of the weekend went well.
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Posted by Rob on October 16, 2009 – 6:19 am
Im pretty drained right now. Yesterday I had my college class after student teaching. So I leave for school at 7am, and then Im there until 2. Then I have to head over to the college for a 4:00 class. Our apartment is so far away from both schools that it is totally pointless for me to drive all the way home, and then come back out to go to the college like 1/2 hour later. Plus the professor for this class (its a methods class that connects to the student teaching) prefers that we come to class dressed as we do for student teaching.
So anywho, Im there until about 6:50 when he lets us out, so I dont get home until after 7. By the time I get settled and eat dinner its 8, and I still need to do research and write out notes for Friday’s (today’s) lecture to the AP classes. So I sit down at my computer for a good 15 minutes and accomplish nothing. I was so drained last night that I couldnt bring myself to do anything.
So instead I wake up at 5am this morning to get all my last-minute work done. I am totally looking forward to the weekend. Sure, it will be a little hectic with the family coming up tomorrow, but I should be able to get some extra sleep and relax. However, I have a crud-load of work to accomplish on Sunday…
Posted by Rob on August 28, 2009 – 11:14 pm
Filed under Movies
Tagged as agent, alien, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bounty hunter, disney, dwayne johnson, family, federal, kids, movie, predator, race to witch mountain, terminator, the rock
Sure, its meant to be a kids movie. Its made by Disney, has some young kids getting into trouble. My real interest in it is from the star: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I have loved pretty much every movie Johnson ever did (aside from Scorpion King). He made a big leap from wrestling to the movies, and he did a damn good job. He has proven to be one of the best actors today, and he is one of the few who dont piss me off. Like Hogan, he moved from the squared circle to the professional film circuit, but unlike Hulk he did a damn good job, and is not as corny. So I rent the movie for him.
The movie is a remake of an older movie, and based on a book. Basically, some kids are being hunted by federal agents because they are not kids, but aliens from another planet. Johnson’s character is a taxi driver who picks them up (not knowing they are aliens since they look like normal kids) and the adventure is born as he helps them evade capture. The point of it all is to get to Witch Mountain, where the kids spaceship is being held at a secret underground military base, so that they can blast off back to their home planet.
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Posted by Rob on August 14, 2009 – 9:30 pm
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, cousin, family, middletown, new hampshire, parents, rents, saturday, sunday, sweet
Tomorrow Shell and I are headed down to Middletown to see the rents. On Saturday we will be seeing her Dad, and on Sunday we will be at my rents house. My family from New Hampshire are coming down, and its always pretty sweet to see them. My cousin is actually working on the invitations for our wedding, so I think we will be pouring over templates as well.
Posted by Rob on June 27, 2009 – 8:11 pm
Filed under My Personal Life, Sacred 2, Video Games
Tagged as apartment, baked ziti, family, Ghostbusters, hail, Loki, new hampshire, Resistance 2, Sacred 2, wal-mart
Shell and I were pretty busy today.
My family from New Hampshire are coming down tomorrow, so we spent the day preparing the apartment. Before the cleaning began, we had to run some errands in the morning and do food shopping for tomorrow. As we walked into Wal-Mart we got caught in the middle of a hail storm, but it wasnt too bad. It rained on and off a bit the rest of the day.
When we got back we ate lunch, and then got down to cleaning. I think I found enough of Loki’s hair that, if I combined it all, I could make a Loki clone. Shell did lots of cleaning, and is baking a cake now. Tomorrow morning she’ll make up a nice batch of baked ziti. YUM!!!
Despite how busy we have been, I still got in a few hours of Ghostbusters, Sacred 2, and Resistance 2.
Posted by Rob on June 20, 2009 – 10:07 am
Heading down to the rents for Father’s Day. No PS3 or Wii for me, but I’ll have my trusty DS!!!
Happy Daddy’s Day to all the daddys out there!
