Danny Fayne's Weblog

Rookie Fan

2006-04-25T00:45:33Z

I can't believe it's already Playoff time. My Pistons were incredible this season. They finished with the NBA best and an all time franchise best record of 64-18. Not too shabby. No surprise but they are heavily favored to win their 2nd NBA title in 3 years. I'm so excited about the playoffs this year. The last two years have been magical despite the heartbreaking loss in game 7 of the finals last season but this season is more special than most. I'll be watching each and every game with my brand new mid season acquisition and rookie Piston fan, Andrew J. Fayne. I know he's a bit too young to appreciate it now but it means the world to me. It's crazy to think that by the time he is old enough to care about Basketball, Ben Wallace will be an old man, and Tayshaun Prince will be getting ready to retire. To me it seems like yesterday that Isiah Thomas, Joe D, Bill Laimbeer, and the rest of the Bad Boys were winning championships. I remeber sheading a few tears after they lost to Bulls in the eastern conference finals in 1991. I knew an era had ended. I'm not ready to think about the end of this Piston era. Just thinking about that makes me feel old. Fortunately most of our guys are in their prime, so we should be contending for at least the next 3 or 4 seasons. Just long enough for me to instill strong Piston values and loyalty into my Son. Anyway, last night, my Son tightened his diaper, threw on his Ben Wallace jersey, and sat down with a cold, I guess it was acutally hot.....glass (breast) of milk and watched our Pistons handle the Bucks in Game one. So my little rookie fan has a 1 - 0 record. Only 15 more wins and the little guy will have won a title in his first season as a Fayne and die hard Detroit Pistons Fan

The Andrew Show

2006-03-25T16:54:00Z

Just before I got married a few of my friends told me I had better buy my last gadget before the big day because it would be the last for a long time. That logic might apply to other guys but I may be married to my technology just as much as I am to my Wife. Let's face it, a computer and a good internet connection can be an adequate substitute for a good wife. Guys, you know what I'm talking about ;) Fortunately my Wife has accepted my digital lifestyle and in fact, has embraced embraced that lifestyle as her own. So I'm lucky a guy. My house could be what Steve Job's had envisioned when he coined the term, "Digital Lifestyle."

Earlier this week I completed my collection and added a long absent piece of technology to the mix. I got an excellent digital video camera from Panasionic. The PV-GS300 It's a 3 CCD miniDV camera that takes some excellent video. So now, with an iMac G5, a Canon Digital Rebel, a Pentax Optio S4i, a Panasonic PV-GS300, great web hosting from Geeklair.net, and .Mac, my Son's life will be captured in it's entirety in full digital goodness. Most of which will be presented right here. So stay tuned to my version of the 1998 classic, "The Truman Show." Only this time starring, Andrew Joseph Fayne.

Only 3 days old but it's time to choose

2006-03-08T22:47:50Z

Andrew's a very good boy. He was born on Monday and we just got home last night. We didn't miss a single Pistons game. The Pistons finished up a short west coast trip and had the last 3 nights off. I guess my boy already knows the Pistons schedule. So, tonight is a big night. It's very fitting that Andrew's first Pistons game is Pistons vs. Bulls. Daddy is a die hard Pistons fan but Andrew was born in Chicago. So tonight Andrew can decide his life long affiliation. I'm laying it all on the line, If the Pistons lose, He'll be a Bulls fan. Fortunately, my little dude will be wearing his first Ben Wallace jersey courtsey of Uncle Keshun, so I'm confident his Piston power will be strong.

I'm a Daddy

2006-03-06T20:29:58Z

My Son was born this morning at 3:27am. He was 7lbs 12.9 oz and 20.5 inches. Brooke battled the boy for 19 hours. He put up a good fight but with mother nature on her side Brooke won. Check out Andrew's .Mac website for his Birthday blog post and all of the all of his photos. I 'll post more tomorrow when we get the little guy home. I'm posting this from Panera bread across from the Hospital and there's not much bandwidth here so, I will post more tomorrow from home.

03-05-06 ??

2006-03-04T22:57:02Z

It's almost Daddy time. Little Andrew was due last Thursday (March 2nd) so I went to bed every night last week hoping I wouldn't be at work in the morning. Alas, the kid gave us no signs of his arrival so I suffered through five days of misery. Normally the weeks fly by at CDW but last week was torture. I didn't have a lick of focus. I was hoping Tuesday's Apple product announcements would tide me over but they were disappointing so all I could do was count the minutes to Daddy time. It was kind of like knowing you're about to get a new car but you have no idea when it'll arrive. I don't know if that quite captures the feeling, but I'm sure you have all had an experience you can relate to. Obviously my persepctive was quite different from Brooke's. She's been home on maternity leave for the last two weeks so I think she's been bored more than anything else. I admit I've been a bit jealous because I could sure use the time off too but she's more than earned the break. It's been a long nine months and the changes Brooke has gone through have been amazing. She's been so brave and so cool through the whole pregnancy. She's so ready to be a mom that I think any fear she has is smothered with pride. Even now, on the eve of the big birthday, she's cooler than I am. Andrew has a very special Mommy. I just can't believe I'm about to be a Dad. I've known it was inevitable for the last 9 months and I've dreamt about it for a lot longer than that but I feel like it was only a few short years ago that I was cuddling my yellow blanket and tearing up the plastic in my diapers. So, a new era for me begins tomorrow. We went to the Hospital this morning and Brooke is now in pre-labor. Her Dr. thinks AJ will be born sometime tomorrow so keep checking Andrew's blog for Photos and stats, we'll be posting all the details as we get them and wish us luck.

I've also published a Photocast if you have iPhoto 6, just click on the following link:

http://photocast.mac.com/dfayne/iPhoto/andrew/index.rss

This Photocast will appear in your iPhoto Source list and you can use its photos just like any other photos in your library; for slideshows, your desktop, custom photo books, etc. And, whenever you are connected to the Internet, iPhoto will automatically update this Photocast so you see the latest photos I've added.
(Requires Mac OS X version 10.4 or later)

If you don't have iPhoto 6, you can view the photos in this Photocast with Safari RSS or any compatible RSS reader on Mac, Windows or other computers by using the link above. Just click on the link or copy it into the URL field of your RSS reader and bookmark the URL to return to the photos in the future.

Any Day Now

2006-02-21T23:32:59Z

I'm back. I took a bit of a hiatus. Life's been busy and it's about to get busier. I'm gonna be a Dad any minute now. I'm so excited. It's been a long 9 month wait but I've had a lot distractions to keep me occupied until now. We're so close I think the excitement and the nerves are finally kicking in. I haven't though about anything else for the past two days. Although, the Pistons have been off for a week so maybe this is just Piston withdrawal. Who knows, I just can't wait to have my little Piston buddy. I don't think I'm ever going to tell him he was born in Chicago for fear he may become a Bulls fan. We can't have that, I'd have to lock him in the basement bound and gagged in a Ben Wallace jersey. I don't think that counts as child abuse does it? I think it's a legitimate behavioral modification technique, don't you?

Anyway, Brooke has put together a sweet little website for little AJ to keep you up to date. Check out the site, Brooke made it using Apple's new iLife application called iWeb. It looks awesome and took no time at all. So all you non-mac users reading this site, Get a Mac already! I don't know if there are too many of you out there who actually know me, that don't have a Mac yet though. So after AJ is born we'll be adding a blog and even some video podcasts chronicling all of my little guy's firsts.

Andrew's site will be liked to this post and under the friends and family heading to the right. We'll be posting often so check soon.

Retaliation

2005-12-03T03:58:20Z

Please forgive me. It's Friday night, and Gentleman's Jack has shown up this evening, so my writing is a bit off. Despite my impairment, this post is important so here it is. It took about 13 years to achieve adequate retribution but it has been had. My Uncle has paid my cousin back. 5 million dollars snatched from reality lead to 5 million calls from Detroit's finest. I wish I could say more but my fingers feel like the they are wrapped in steel and my brain is waging like a happy puppy. So instead of making you suffer through drunken prose check this out:

Jack's 50th B-day retaliation

The Next Fayne Finally Has a Name

2005-11-21T02:35:15Z

The poll has reinforced out original name choice. Our son will officially be called:

Andrew Joseph Fayne

Brooke and I want to thank everyone who has participated in this name game. We wanted to give our son a special name, a name that had a story behind it. Thanks to all of you, Andrew will be able to look back on this post to read the story of how he became the next Geek Fayne.

Name that Fayne

2005-11-18T02:28:50Z

Thanks for the huge response on the naming poll. 40 votes in only a day. I don't think my blog has had 40 visitors all year.

Anyway, after we have digested the feedback over the weekend, we will be posting a revised poll with a few new name ideas along with their middle name combinations.

Currently out of the list below Brooke and I like Andrew and Joseph the best. However, we haven't really fallen in love with any of them. We both seem to like cool initial combos like AJ, JJ, CJ, TJ, JD, DJ, JT... but were having a hard time finding the names we like to fill in those initials.

We're open to some suggestions that aren't so conventional. So get creative, and make some suggestions. Thank you all for taking the time to participate in our lives!

Here are some links to some popular baby name sites.

http://www.cool-baby-names.com/
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
http://www.babycenter.com/babyname/

Name the Next Fayne

2005-11-16T23:14:06Z

Ok blog readers, I know there is only about 4 of you but I need some help. Brooke and I can't figure out what to name the baby. Before you vote, I want to give you a few details. I'd love to name my son after my Grandfather but his name is Norman. My wife is 4'11" and only about 5'9" so needless to say our boy has a good chance of being pretty short. Not sure the name "Norman" will treat the little fella too well once he gets to school. So, with that said, we tried and tried to think of other names that began with an "N" but nothing seems to fit. Nolan, Noah, Ned, Norbert.... We're really out of ideas. I kind of wanted his name to have some significance. Maybe name him after my favorite Detroit Piston. I'd name him Chauncey but my good friend's dog took that one already. Tayshaun is good but well you know, his arms won't be that long. Ben would work but my that's my first cousin's name. Rip, nah, not a fan or the braids. Rasheed? Well, NO. The only thing I love as much as the Pistons is Apple. Even though the boy will have his own click wheel onesie I can't name him iPod. My Mom likes Nano but I don't think Brooke could handle that. I could go with Steven P. Fayne but then I think that I would cross the line in between fanatic and freak. So, with all of that said, I need some help. Brooke and I set-up the poll below. Please vote for your favorite name and if you have another idea, post it in the comments field.

Final Results

Matzo Balls

2005-10-10T22:35:26Z

It's official my baby has balls!! I am so excited, I'm gonna turn this kid into the geekiest Piston lover there is. Wait, that's me isn't it? Well they say, appropriately enough, the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I'm starting the brainwashing early too, check out my Son's first outfit here. I can't wait to pick up a Pistons outfit as well. I'll have to wait a bit to find one with the new logo. Everything I've seen on-line has the old horse head logo.

Ok new Grandparents, Official and Honorary Uncles and Aunts, here's your Grandson and Nephew. Click on the family jewels below for a larger view.

Comments from Mommy:

"Well I of course think that this little one is the cutest baby in an ultrasound picture I've ever seen. His brother Gryffi is jealous already and his sister Alley is threatened by the fact that we just tore apart "her bedroom" for the baby. But I am pretty sure everyone else is excited about the little guy's arrival. The most surprising news at the ultrasound was that it seems as though he is either going to be a little earlier than expected or he is big for his age, he measured in the 70th percentile for size. Coming from me that sounds downright ridiculous, so I'm guessing that he's just older than we think. I'm hoping that's the case, I can't imagine carrying a baby in the 70th percentile in my 5th percentile body!"

Video Plus

2005-09-27T01:35:58Z

It seems like it was a million years ago but in fact it was less than 20. In the early 80s my grandfather's cousin, "Cousin Freddie" owned one of the very first video stores called Video Plus. I was still in my single digit years back then but as I remember it, a video store was still a novel concept. A VCR was even a novel concept at the time. I distinctly remember the store had movies in both Beta and VHS. You would have thought we would have learned something by now about format wars but alas, 20 years later we will all have to suffer again though the Hi-Def DVD format war. Anyway, around the time I was 4 or 5 years old my Cousin Freddie and Cousin Jack had one of the first VHS camcorders set-up at Video Plus. As I was digging around yesterday in the spare bedroom, I found some archeological evidence of that ancient camera. The tape was a little fossilized but I managed to restore it in new digital glory. Unfortunately, it's not in dolby digital surround sound and there are no deleted scenes but it does represent one of my earliest and most fond childhood memories.

This little home video is a classic. It's the kind of thing you always hope to share with your kids one day. It's a pretty special memory. It was a guy's weekend, one late fall day somewhere around 1982. All of the men hanging out at the video store; me, my brother Randy, my Dad, and my Grandfather. The 3 generations all together experiencing new technology. My brother was clearly exited to be making his video debut, and I was just eager to imitate my older and much more outgoing big bro. Randy has always been a ham and his performance does not disappoint here. I on the other hand provide some classic footage that my friends, family, and soon my children will be able to make fun of for another generation to come. My father also demonstrated his early talent on the camera. Particularly his signature obsession with quick and frequent zooms. My grandpa, "Puppie" as we always called him, stayed in the shadows but nonetheless managed to make his presence felt. The video tells the rest of the story. Click on it below if you dare, but it weighs in at a about 25MB, so you may be waiting for it for a while.

- Just the guys @ Video Plus

On The News

2005-09-26T00:43:37Z

Brooke and I have been cleaning out our spare bedroom this weekend getting it ready for little Junior. Since we don't have a basement we've got our whole pre-marriage lives stuffed into that room. So it's been quite a trip down memory lane. I had forgotten there was a time I had hair. I was a good looking dude back in the day and the Wife was pretty cute too ;). Anyway, we stumbled across some great old family videos that were on these old clunky things I think we used to call VHS tapes. Fortunately we still have a single VCR up and running just in case someone in the house wants to burn some calories watching "Buns of Steel." I've always been pretty obsessed with my back-side.

I had completely forgotten that me, my Dad, and Brooke were on the news in Detroit demoing some early video conferncing software. I think we did the clip in 1999 using some old Connectix QuickCams and CU-SEEME. I was able to digitize the clip, check it out below.

I also stumbled across another family classic. This one is priceless. For my Uncle's 40th birthday, Cousin Jack decided to play a little prank on him. The rest of the story is told in the clip below.

Brooke, Danny, and Barry on the News in 1999 ( Large - 45MB | Small 4MB )
Alan's 40th Birthday Surprise ( Large - 45MB | Small 4MB )

The Countdown

2005-09-15T21:09:37Z

The season has begun!!!

Childhood Memories - Old Logan's Goat

2005-08-08T22:43:10Z

There was a man
Now, please take note
There was a man
Who had a goat
He loved that goat
Indeed he did
He loved that goat
Just like a kid

One day that goat
Was feeling fine
Ate three red shirts
Right off the line
His master came
And beat his back
And tied him to
A railroad track

The whistle blew
The train grew nigh
Old Logan's goat was doomed to die
He gave three shrieks
Of mortal pain
Coughed up the shirts
And flagged the train