We are the Ones.

Another amazing Barack Obama video by Will.i.am! Check it out! Find out more at www.dipdive.com.

Two from the Vault

I can't believe I'm just now discovering this. Wolfgang's Vault is a web site that sells posters, programs, t-shirts, backstage passes, art and photography from concerts promoted by legendary promoter Bill Graham during his nearly 30 year career. Also available are dozens of live concert recording, some available for free in streaming audio and some available for sale as 256k mp3 for $9.98. The shows I'm most interested in, as you can guess, are U2 concerts from Boston's Orpheum Theatre. The first is from 11/14/1981 and the October tour. The second is 05/06/1983 on the War tour. The recording of "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" from 1983 the concert is featured on their Live EP "Under a Blood Red Sky." Unfortunately, these aren't available for purchase. Click here for the direct link to the shows. Enjoy!

Parker to the rescue!

Parker as Buzz Lightyear,
Originally uploaded by chmcelwee.

Cute picture of Parker dressed as Buzz Lightyear on his rocketship. To infinity and beyond!

Mmmmmmm.....donuts

Breakfast of Champions,
Originally uploaded by chmcelwee.

Parker eating the breakfast of champions.

Armageddon in Retrospect

The first posthumous book by Kurt Vonnegut is about to come out. "Armageddon in Retrospect" is scheduled to be published on April 1st. It's a collection 10 previously unpublished short stories, a letter home to his family at the end of WWII, a personal account of the Dresden firebombing during WWII, and a copy of a speech he wrote but died before being able to deliver (Possibly the speech he was scheduled to give at Butler University on April 27, 2007. His son Mark gave the speech instead.) It's nice to see more writing from this American literary genius come to the surface.

Dick Ford: 1936-2008

Long time McElwee family friend Dick Ford died on Wednesday. Dick and his late wife Polly were friends of Cathy's Mom Frances from high school. They were reacquainted after Polly died in 2000. Dick was a lively and welcome addition to McElwee family gathering the last few years and he will be missed. Our prayers and sympathies go out to the Ford family.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 on Saturday at the Advance Community Church. Memorial contributions can be made to The Advance Community Church, 305 North Main Street, Advance, IN 46102.

10,000 hit club!

No, we're not talking Major League Baseball here, but your favorite web site, the Roach Family Blog. I've been watching the hit counter all day, like watching the odometer of a car, for the big milestone. We registered our 10,000th visitor at 2:33 PM. The milestone visitor logged on from IP address 198.186.71.#, St Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. Kim Williams, is that you?! You win your very own copy of the Roach Family Blog Home Game! Look for even more new and opinion from The Roaches for the next 10,000 hits.

Ms. Cali McButterpants: 2001-2008

Ms. Cali McButterpants before yawn,
Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Our kitten has gone on to that great scratching post in the sky. She hasn't been our kitten for a while, actually. Back in May of 2006, Cali McButterpants went to live with the Hill Family.

We adopted Cali from the mean streets of Bloomington. Cathy's hair stylist found her and a sibling wandering the street next to her salon. Cathy couldn't resist her cute little face, big yellow eyes and two toned nose. It was rough going from day one. Our other cat, Ladi Boombaladi, did not like the idea of this new little ball of fur in her house. Cali spent a good week or so locked in our 2nd bedroom, with Ladi growing, hissing and batting at her from under the door. They eventually settled into their roles and things quited down, until we moved into our new house. The two cats took it on themselves to "christen" the house to the point we had to replace a large section of carpet. So, between their territorial war and the arrival of Parker, we thought it best to find a quiet place for Cali to live. Well, the Hill house wasn't always quiet, but Cali was free to be herself away from her mean housemate. Josh, Kary, Maddie, MacyAnne and Molly gave her lots of love and took good care of her these last two years.

Cali died Monday from likely kidney failure. We'll miss her little, high pitched cry, her very loud purr, her long hair that got everywhere and her "kneading." Maybe we'll let Parker pick out our next pet. I'm rooting for a guinea pig, but Parker will probably want a monkey.

New Obama Video

Check out this incredible video created by Will.I.Am and other Barack Obama supporters!

My wife, the felon

Cathy had quite a shock the other day when she saw this picture on the WRTV6 web site. Her first thought was "Huh, that looks a little bit like me." It was in the back of her head all day, until our neighbor asked her, "Did you see the picture of the women stealing money from the Village Pantry online? She kind of looked like you!" So, the story is, this women was caught on surveillance video twice in January taking money from the cash register at the same Indy area Village Pantry! This picture looks more like Cathy than the other one on the web site and this women is heavier than Cathy. But.......it could have been a disguise. Where was Cathy on those days...............?

The weekend by the numbers

The weekend was full of interesting numbers.

3: Number of dimensions that the "U2 3D" concert film was shot in. Four friends and I treked to the Indiana State Museum IMAX theater on Saturday to see the "U2 3D." I thought it was great, but I'm a hopeless U2 fanatic. The film featured 14 songs filmed in stunning IMAX 3D during U2's vertigo tour dates in South America. This was my first trip to an IMAX theater and my first 3D movie. The effect of a 6 story tall, 3D Bono coming at you is hard to imagine. It was an entertaining film, although I pretty much knew what to expect, with two DVDs of concerts from this tour already being released, Milan and Chicago. The visuals were stunning. The 3D was more than what I had even expected and almost motion sickness inducing. The best shots were overhead shots of Larry's drum kit and wide establishing shots made from eye level of the audience. The stage filled the screen and your field of vision as the arms and bodied of the concert goers bounced in front of you. The musical highlight was "Miss Sarajevo," featuring Bono's vocals on the Italian parts originally recorded by the late Luciano Pavarotti. The film's editors didn't cut out all of Bono's sermonizing, but did tone it down for the general public. He did get make his usual plea for religious pluralism and peace. Here's a good review from the Indy Star's Dave Lindquist.




7: Total number of U2 concerts seen by the 5 of us that went to the film.

3: Number of points that the New York Football Giants beat the New England Patriots by in the Super Bowl. While I'm not a Giants fan, it was good to see Tom Brady lose and see Eli Manning finally justified to New York fans. The 18-1, nearly undefeated season will have to be a footnote beside the 1972 Dolphins' 17-0. I was, however, looking forward to not ever hearing anything from Mercury Morris again.

14: Number of years since Tom Petty has released a relevant album. I'd say 1994's Wildflowers was probably the last one anyone cared about.