2014 Grammy Predictions

I'm gearing up for one of my favorite nights of the year....The Grammy Awards.  Next to Cleveland sports misery, music is my next biggest obsession.  In fact, if I had to choose one over the other I think that I would go with music.  At least music hasn't disappointed me every Sunday for the past 15 years.  I cannot imagine my life without it.  So without further ado, here are my 2014 Grammy predictions.  I am listing who I think should win, and who will really win based on my mediocre knowledge of the industry:

Record Of The Year


» "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell


» "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons


» "Royals" - Lorde


» "Locked Out Of Heaven" - Bruno Mars


» "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke ft. T.I. and Pharrell

Should Win: Get Lucky

Will Win: Royals


Daft Punk's album Random Access Memories was one of the year's best.  Get Lucky is one of those songs that both hipsters and top 40 listeners like at the same time.  I can't remember a recent song that hit so many people, so I think the Academy should give this one to the French weirdos that don't show their faces.  All 5 songs are strong in this category this year.  2 of the last 3 years, Song of the Year and Record of the Year were awarded together with Lady Antebellum's Need You Now and Adele's Rolling in the Deep taking both categories.  Because of this, I think that Lorde will take this award (although I think she gets robbed on the next one).

Song Of The Year


» "Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink ft. Nate Ruess


» "Locked Out Of Heaven" - Bruno Mars


» "Roar" - Katy Perry


» "Royals" - Lorde


» "Same Love" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Should Win: Royals

Will Win: Same Love


2013 was the year of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.  I think that the Academy is going to reward them with more awards than they should win.  In the past, rappers have received very little consideration in these types of awards.  Jay Z and Eminem have never won a Grammy outside of a rap category and no rap song has ever won Song of the Year....until this year.  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have many things going for them in the eyes of the Academy.  Yes, Eminem may have been the first great white rapper, but his themes of violence, homophobia, family issues, and drug use were black eyes in the Academy's view.  Macklemore raps about social issues and cheap clothing and is accessible to almost everybody.  For the message, I think that Same Love takes home this award, because if there's anything the Academy likes more than a catchy pop tune, it's a catchy pop tune with a message that is parallel with their social and political beliefs. 




I would choose Royals here in this spot.  This one is a songwriter’s award and I think that Royals is brilliant.  As much love as I have for Katy Perry, I hope she doesn't win this award because: 1) She is dating John Mayer.....ewwwww.  And 2) She totally ripped the melody off of Sara Bareilles, one of my favorite artists ever.  

Best Pop Solo Performance


» "Brave" - Sara Bareilles


» "Royals" - Lorde


» "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars


» "Roar" - Katy Perry


» "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake

Should Win: Brave

Will Win: Royals

Speaking of Ms. Bareilles, I hope she takes home her first Grammy for her hit song Brave.  I've had an obsession with Sara's music ever since her album Little Voice in 2007.  In a world of auto tune, over production, and having others write your songs, it would be refreshing to see such a talented songwriter get rewarded.  I'm not going to spend the time to look this up, but this has to be the first time in history in which a song that was ripped off is going up against the song that was the ripper-offer (pardon my technical jargon) right?  It would be a travesty if Katy Perry somehow wins this award.  

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance


» "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell


» "Just Give Me A Reason" - P!nk ft. Nate Ruess


» "Stay" - Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko


» "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke ft. T.I. and Pharrell


» "Suit & Tie" - Justin Timberlake ft. Jay Z

Should Win: Get Lucky

Will Win: Just Give Me A Reason


I think that Daft Punk takes home a crazy amount of awards this year including this one.  However, the Academy has a love for Nate Ruess and I think that he follows up his stellar 2013 Grammy haul with another award this year.  I'm good with any of these songs winning this year as long as it's not named Blurred Lines.  I still cannot get the Miley Cyrus stench off of this song.  Completely over played and a completely overrated.

Album Of The Year


» The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles


» Random Access Memories - Daft Punk


» good kid, m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar


» The Heist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis


» Red - Taylor Swift

Should Win: Red

Will Win: Red

I've listened to all of these albums tons of times throughout this past year, here are just some of my thoughts on each:

The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles has a song on this album called Manhattan.  It is the only song in the history of recorded music that has made me cry.  I pretty much tear up every single time I hear it.  Am I ashamed to admit that?  Yeah, kind of, but if you know me well enough then you know that I don't really care what people think.  The song is written from the perspective of a woman losing the love of her life to the big city, one that she knows she cannot contend with.  It's a superbly well-written song just as many others are on this album.  I’m hoping for a miracle that this one wins, as it is by far my favorite of the five, but it’s a long shot.




Random Access Memories - This album has helped me during many workouts over the past year.  The electronic beats are great to get you going on a run.  Perhaps my favorite song on this album is Doing It Right, a song that features Panda Bear from Animal Collective.  It is set as my alarm in the morning and completely scares my wife every time it comes on, so that's awesome.  Also, anytime somebody takes Paul Williams and makes him relevant in 2013, then they should win some sort of award….just not this one.




good kid m.A.A.d city - Best rap album I've heard all year, Kendrick brings something different than the other rappers. Yeezus and Magna Carta were good, but Kendrick's debut was better.  For as good as good kid m.A.A.d city was, Kendrick’s best moment came on a verse that wasn’t even on the album.  It’s almost worth giving him Album of the Year for his verse on Big Sean’s Control.  Crazy stuff.

The Heist - I have a bad feeling that this one is winning it all.  First rap album win Album of the Year since Oukast in 2004.....it's happening.  There are a few good songs on this album, but I can't stand the self-importance of Macklemore. The guy is a walking, talking cliche whenever he gives an interview.  Watch out for the douchiest acceptance speech of all time if this album wins. In fact, I hope they do just so I can get an extreme case of the chills.  I will have my coat ready.




Red – Embarrassing self-admitted truth #2….I am a giant Taylor Swift fan.  Do I think that Red was the best album of 2013?  Depends what you base it on.  Artistically, you could argue that Red is the weakest on this list.  But when it comes to popularity, nobody had a bigger 2013 in music than Taylor Swift.  Justin Timberlake is the only other artist that could give her a run.  More chart topping hits that anybody else on this list combined with the fact that two rap albums should cancel some votes out tells me

that she’s winning this award.  Also, I just don’t see a dance album winning Album of the Year (Random Access Memories), and nobody is going to give love to Sara Bareilles (although in my opinion she is the most talented on this list).  It’s not the Grammy’s without Taylor giving the ol’ aww shucks acceptance speech.

So there you have it – if I get half of these predictions right then it would be a miracle.  The rest of my predictions are below.  Have fun watching The Grammys!

Best Country Album


» Night Train - Jason Aldean


» Two Lanes of Freedom - Tim McGraw


» Same Trailer Different Park - Kacey Musgraves


» Based On A True Story - Blake Shelton
» Red - Taylor Swift

Should Win: Red

Will Win: Same Trailer Different Park

Best New Artist


» James Blake


» Kendrick Lamar


» Macklemore & Ryan Lewis


» Kasey Musgraves


» Ed Sheeran

Should Win: Kendrick Lamar

Will Win: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Best Pop Vocal Album


» Paradise - Lana Del Rey


» Pure Heroine - Lorde


» Unorthodox Jukebox - Bruno Mars


» Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke


» The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience - Justin Timberlake

Should Win: The 20/20 Experience

Will Win: Pure Heroine

Best Rock Album


» 13 - Black Sabbath


» The Next Day - David Bowie


» Mechanical Bull - Kings Of Leon


» Celebration Day - Led Zeppelin


» ...Like Clockwork - Queens Of The Stone Age


» Psychedelic Pill - Neil Young With Crazy Horse

Should Win: ...Like Clockwork

Will Win: 13

Best Rap Album


» Nothing Was The Same - Drake


» Magna Carta...Holy Grail - Jay Z


» Good Kid, M.A.A.D City - Kendrick Lamar


» The Heist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis


» Yeezus - Kanye West

Should Win: Good Kid, m.A.A.D City

Will Win: The Heist

 

Clancy & Me

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat…I’m a crazy dog owner.  I don’t know how I got to that place; I guess it just happened as time went on.  I talk about my dog way too much (for example: this blog post).  I once decorated her room with Christmas lights.  I have multiple nicknames that she responds to.  I dress her up in a costume for Halloween.  Yes, I’m obsessed.  She runs my life and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  She has also taught me a few things along the way.  We’ll get to that in a moment.  But first… 

Growing up, I was allergic to dogs – I couldn’t be anywhere near them.  In 1997, my parents decided that it was time to introduce a pet into the family.  They chose a breed that was hypoallergenic, so that little Ryan could listen to his K-Ci & JoJo album without itchy eyes and a runny nose.  It was a Bichon Frise that they bought at Chapel Hill Mall in Akron.  Normally, buying a pet at a place that sits adjacent from the airbrushed t-shirt stand is ill advised.  That certainly was the case here.  When we brought him home all he did was sleep – so much that we ended up naming him Cuddles.  Yes, that’s the worst name for a dog ever.  It’s not too bad a name for a Care Bear, but a terrible choice for the dog of a seventh grader who was trying desperately to be cool. 

Cuddles, the pet store mall dog wasn’t just sleeping; he was clinging on to life.  I’m not sure if my parents ever got their money back from the store, but after multiple vet trips, Cuddles eventually got healthy.  Now that he was well, we needed to change his name.  The Cleveland Indians were in the middle of their eventual World Series run that year, with Sandy Alomar having a career season.  1997 was a good year for Sandy: 30 game hitting streak, All-Star Game MVP, game tying home run in the playoffs against future hall-of-famer Mariano Rivera, and namesake of my first pet.  We buried the name Cuddles for good and that’s how Salomar came to be.  For the most part, he was a good dog, albeit very annoying.  Small, white, yippy, with a mean streak at times, you couldn’t bring small children or other dogs around Salomar.  Still, Salomar was my first pet – and he had an awesome name, so I’ll always remember that dog.

But this post isn’t about Salomar.  This post is about the obsession in my life, our dog Clancy.  Clancy is a yellow lab, dare I say the cutest (and smelliest) yellow lab ever to grace this fine Earth.  She came into my life way back in 2004, when Eileen’s mother surprised her with a new puppy.  Eileen was home for the summer after her freshman year of nursing school at Kent State.  See, Eileen was deathly afraid of being home alone, so her mother thought that a puppy was much cheaper than building a full blown panic room with home alarm system.  A woman at her mother’s work was trying to give away this six-month old puppy for free to a good home.  Clancy came from a reputable show-dog breeder.  Her overbite and black, crooked front tooth made her useless in the show dog world, but a perfect candidate for home protection in Eileen’s world.  Little did Eileen’s mother know that this free show dog misfit would end up costing thousands in the long run.

Clancy hating life in her Halloween costume

Just a quick rundown of everything Clancy destroyed in the first few years of her life: Eileen’s designer glasses, dental retainer, dental mouth guard, Lladro porcelain figurine, carpeting in four separate bedrooms, ate two bars of soap in one sitting, a bedroom door and door frame, and three metal dog cages.  I’m sure there’s more, but I’m drawing a blank at the moment.  As for the three dog cages, let’s just say that Clancy has had some issues with containment.  Our furry Houdini would push against the metal cage with all of her weight, until she bent the bars near the cage door.  Then, she would somehow open the cage door from the inside and make her escape.  Yes, she did this with three separate cages.  You think we would have learned after the second.  It got so bad, that for the fourth cage, Eileen’s father had to reinforce the cage door with rebar and nail the back of the cage to the kitchen floor. Young Clancy makes Marley look like a saint.

Clancy is a much different dog now.  Calm and reserve, she spends most of her days lying around the house, searching out her next nap.  After all, she is 9 years old and in the golden years of her life.  It’s the simple things in life that make her happy.  A dirty sock, unattended trash can, dropped ingredient while making dinner.  The unbridled joy that Clancy shows when I come home from work everyday is rivaled by almost nothing in life.  I wish that I had her enthusiasm for life and love that she gives in that moment.  Letting the dog out of her room when I come home from work is just another thoughtless task for me, but for the dog, seeing me is the highlight of her day.  Like I said, Clancy loves the simple things…like car rides.  She doesn’t care if we’re in a swank Range Rover or a 1997 Honda Civic, all she cares about is being by my side on the road.  We can learn so much from our pets.  Clancy has helped to teach me that in order to be truly happy in life, don’t look at your possessions, but look to those you love most. She is fiercely loyal and demands our attention at every waking moment when we are home.  Even as I sit here writing this, she seems a little put off that I’m not paying attention to her.  All she wants is love.  If she only knew that 1,200 words were being typed about her right now...

Clancy and I at softball.  She was ejected from the
 game for kicking dirt on the umpire.....and for pooping in left field

As the years pass by, I find myself growing closer and closer to Clancy.  Once Eileen and I were married and moved in together, she became our first mutual responsibility and love.  Now, five years later, she still remains that.  I have never thought of the dog as “our child” (I’m a crazy dog owner, but not that crazy), but I can see how those without children can think that way.  Clancy has taught us how to love and care; it is comforting to have her around.  Clancy is more than a dog to us.  I’ve been with Eileen for 12 years and the dog has been around for 9 of them.  She has been a huge part of our relationship; it will someday be weird when she is not around.  But here’s to hoping that day is far in the future.  She surely will never make it to see a Cleveland Browns Super Bowl (she’s a huge football fan), but I hope that she will be around when Eileen and I have a child someday.  After all, she was the one that gave us the building blocks on how to become great parents.

New York City State of Mind - Part Two

This is part two of our trip to New York for our five-year anniversary, to read part one, click here

This was a different type of New York trip than Eileen and I had taken in the past.  Past trips featured activities such as the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Today Show, Times Square, National History Museum, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, China Town, and even riding one of those double-decker busses for the entirety of a day.  Don’t get me wrong; if you've never been to the city, they’re kind of cool to do.  But they’re not New York.  When you’re strolling through Times Square and shopping at the M&Ms store, you’re pretty much doing the same thing you’d be doing at the Mall of America.  I’ll never understand the people who travel to New York and then have dinner at the Olive Garden.  Endless salad and bread sticks are great, but really?  This was our 6th trip to New York, so it was time to cut free from the regular touristy areas of the city (for the most part).

I wanted this trip to be all about good food – and food that we couldn't get back home.  For that aspect alone, this trip was a success.  Some of the highlights of the stay included sushi at Momoya, an amazing dark chocolate bar with pistachios from Mario Batali’s Eataly, pizza in Little Italy, outstanding fish tacos down in Chelsea, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (a beer that is 18% ABV and is next to impossible to find), and salmon eggs benedict from Sarabeth’s.  As far as food highlights go, I could write an entire post dedicated solely to how good the brunch was at Sarabeth's.  The restaurant faces Central Park South and is spitting distance from The Plaza Hotel – highly recommended.

I had surprised Eileen early in the spring with this New York trip to celebrate our five-year anniversary.  On the night of our anniversary we had dinner reservations at The View before heading over to the Minskoff Theater to see The Lion King.  The View is a rotating restaurant that sits atop the Marriott Marquis hotel on the 48^th floor.  I was hesitant at first, because the Marriott Marquis is in the heart of Times Square.  The best thing about the 48^th floor in Times Square though, is that you can’t see Times Square.  So it was like we weren't even there, which was fine by me.  The meal was very good – not the best meal that I've ever had, but definitely the best meal that I've enjoyed while watching the sunset over the Hudson River.  The restaurant’s name is apropos – the sights were astonishing.

At the Minskoff Theater before The Lion King

When our waiter approached us after dinner to inquire about dessert, we kindly declined and asked for his recommendation for a great, local dessert joint.  Upon sight, I could instantly tell, with a high probability, that this gentleman adored Broadway (if you catch my drift).  Without hesitation, he suggested his favorite after-Broadway hangout, a bar/restaurant named Joe Allen.  He mentioned that this particular bar is a favorite spot for the actors to visit after their performances.  With much vigor, he exclaimed, “If you’re lucky, you might even see Nathan Lane”.  I gave him a quick smile and a nod of the head while trying to hold back what I really wanted to say, which was “Who the hell is Nathan Lane?”  A quick IMDB search on my phone at the table showed that he was the voice of Timon in Disney's The Lion King.  Not exactly a showstopper, but at least he had a nice tie-in to the evening.

After dinner we headed over to the theater a little early so that we could take some pictures before the show.  Since I purchased the tickets five months early, I had my choice of any seat in the theater.  I opted for the front row of the balcony, with two seats in the dead center of the stage.  My thought was that Eileen is short and I didn't want a tall theatergoer to sit in front of her and block her view.  The front row of the balcony would be perfect…..so I thought.  As soon as Eileen sat down I noticed that there might be a small problem.  When I looked over to see her leaning forward in her seat uncomfortably, I knew there was a problem.  Eileen couldn't see over the balcony railing.  My wife needed a booster seat.  Need to read that again?  My wife needed a booster seat.  The proud husband that I am, I walked over to the usher to request a booster so that the vertically-challenged love of my life could enjoy the show.

After the show, we made our way to Joe Allen for dessert.  The bar/restaurant certainly was hopping with energy.  Little did we know, reservations were required, even for dessert.  There were a large group at the bar having drinks.  The hostess knew the group, as they were regulars and approached them for us to see if they would let us have two seats at the bar since their table was almost ready.  We thanked a man in the group for allowing us to join him for that brief moment.  As we sat down he questioned whether we were old enough to even sit at the bar.  I let him know that my 30^th birthday was only five months away, so I would be fine. 

Needs no explanation

He asked what show we saw that evening – you could just tell that this guy was a Broadway mover and shaker. The disinterested look on his face when I told him that we saw The Lion King kind of said it all.  It was pretty much the equivalent of going to a bar where stand-up comics hang out and telling somebody there that we just saw Carrot Top and absolutely loved his act.  The Lion King is the tourist pick of shows, kind of like Cats at the end of it's run in the late nineties. It didn't help matters that we were at the bar with a Lion King sippy cup that they served soft drinks in at the show.  Oh, and we ordered two Cokes in the bottle - no alcohol.  To top things off, our dessert was three chocolate chip cookies with ice cream.  Just to summarize: chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, Coca-Cola, and a Lion King sippy cup.  The man I was talking to was enjoying a nice glass of The Glenlivet 18, while I was enjoying preschool dessert options.  No wonder our age was seriously in question that evening.  

By the way, our waiter from The View was right; we would see celebrities in this bar.  At one moment, the man at the bar pointed out that the entire cast of Pippin walked in.  The only way I would have known this, is if they were in full costume, toe tapping around the place.  We would have been better suited just going to a touristy cheesecake place – at least we wouldn't have been the least cultured people there.

Our last night on the Brooklyn Bridge

Our trip concluded with a stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge at night.  This is something that Eileen has always wanted to do – and it was totally worth it.  It was one of those moments where you feel like you're in a movie.  Much like our entire trip, the views of the city that night from the bridge were remarkable.  Spending our five-year anniversary in New York with each other was just the escape that we needed.  We still laugh about that damn sippy cup a month later – I mean, who brings cheap souvenirs into a bar?  That story is a microcosm of our relationship.  Although grown adults, we really are still kids at heart.  For all of the stresses and struggles that come along with life, I am most thankful that I have somebody by my side to laugh along with me.  It makes going through the tough time just a little bit easier.  But above all else, I’m just happy that Eileen gave me a pass not once, but twice on forgetting to buy her a card for the weekend.  I’ve gotta be on my game for next year.

New York City State of Mind - Part One

Five years ago.  I looked like a tall 14 year-old.

Eileen and I just celebrated our five-year anniversary this past October.  At first glance, five years doesn’t sound like a long time.  To Eileen and I, these past five years have gone by so quickly that it even sounds a little funny to tell people that we’ve been married that long.  I sometimes catch myself counting back on my fingers when people ask “how long have you been married?” but that is most likely due to the lack of mathematics taught to me in 7^th grade than anything else (1). No matter how fast it seems to go, five years is a long time.  Think of the maturity difference between a freshman on his first day of high school compared to that same person on his first day as a sophomore in college.  Well, some would actually argue that his maturity drops a few levels during that time span.  Dammit, I’m really bad at analogies – but you know what I’m trying to say.  Five years was a big deal for me.  As I’ve said in other posts before, Eileen is the funniest person in the world and every day with her is a new adventure that I absolutely love to be a part of.  She will also love that I’m taking this space to talk about her – she’s the best.

Since Eileen loves surprises, I decided to get her plane tickets, dinner reservations, and tickets to see The Lion King on Broadway on October 18^th, the night of our anniversary.  Since New York is one of our favorite cities to visit and Eileen was clamoring to see The Lion King, I thought it would be the perfect surprise.  I happened to tell her at 2:00am on a random Saturday night in May when I was very drunk and half asleep.  I’ll never be mistaken for Noah from The Notebook, but it was perfect nonetheless.  I really am a bumbling fool when it comes to the romance department.  Example: when I was packing my bag for our latest New York trip, I realized that I forgot to buy Eileen an anniversary card.  We had a 6am flight, so there was no time to get a card from this point on.  I was card-less.  The only hope I had was that Eileen also forgot to buy a card.  Light bulb!  Eileen’s Aunt had just sent us an anniversary card in the mail that very day.  So, in the event that Eileen bought me a card, at least I would have this in my back pocket.  Cross off Aunt Kathy’s name and replace with mine, and I was good to go.  That’s a far cry from restoring an old plantation home to it’s former glory just to impress the girl you fell in love with 14 years earlier.  Yes, I am fluent in The Notebook.

As we were driving to the airport the next morning, Eileen casually threw out the comment, “I bet you didn’t remember to get me a card.”  Shit.  I reassured her that I did indeed have a card for her, she just didn’t need to know at that moment that it also happened to be the same one she received in the mail the day before with one small edit.  We flew out of Akron-Canton, so the flight and check-in was incredibly easy.  I suppose that a 6am fight helps. 

Since we couldn’t check into our hotel early in the morning, our itinerary for the morning included grabbing a quick coffee and then taking a bike ride through Central Park.  We stayed at a Marriott in Midtown East, which was perfect walking distance to 5^th Avenue shopping and Central Park.  After grabbing a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks, we headed over to Central Park.  It was a spectacularly sunny day and a beautiful ride through the Park, especially with the autumn foliage.  It was such a special ride, that I almost forgot I was pedaling a 1993 cruising bike with broken gears and a rattling back wheel.  I am such a Trip Advisor snob when traveling; I am surprised that I didn’t look up bike rental reviews.  Eileen and I found the first bike rental “company” that we could find.  I use that term loosely, as I believe we rented them from the Somali cast of Captain Phillips.  It’s not a good sign when somebody has to walk a block to an alley just to grab your transportation for the day. 

So Eileen and I clanked our way through the park, stopping for a few obligatory photos at some of the popular spots.  We stopped by the reservoir and several other areas that I’m sure plenty of Meg Ryan movies were filmed.  We ended the ride by touring Strawberry Fields outside The Dakota.  There were some second-rate musicians playing renditions of John Lennon songs on cheap acoustic guitars.  It was so cliché that I couldn’t overcome the music being played; it ruined my time at this spot.  We took our photo on the mosaic, navigated through the hippies, and then biked back to the area in front of The Plaza Hotel to return our bikes, a two-hour ride in total.  We went back to our room to rest up and get ready to go out for the remainder of the day.

When we returned to the hotel, we both needed to charge our phones.  I had put Eileen’s charger in my bag, so when she went to grab it, she saw her Aunt’s card.  Well there goes that plan.  Her suspicion that I forgot to buy a card was indeed true.  I didn’t even get to cross out her Aunt’s name yet.  I assured her that I would go to Duane Reade to get her a card, but she said that wouldn’t be necessary and that surprising her with the trip was more than enough.  Then, in only the funny little way that she could say it, she laughed while saying, “You’re really going to be mad at me! Not only did I buy you an anniversary card, I also got you a Sweetest Day card.”  Shit.  I'm down two cards to zero.  Not the way I envisioned our romantic anniversary weekend to start…

Stay tuned for part 2 of this post. 

1) Instead of math, we played basketball in a gym for an hour every day.  True story (one that deserves it’s own blog post someday).