Madness In The Middle Kingdom

Well .. we are a bit redfaced here at MIMK. The previous exclusive we brought you suggesting that Carter and Nathan were somehow saving the world with superpowers turns out to be a hoax. Apparently the uniforms were little more than Halloween costumes that they used to trick people out of treats. We were a little dismayed to find out they had been using their powers (of cuteness) for evil and not for good UNTIL I saw what a haul of candy they brought in tonight. Two for Dad, one for Carter.

The photos below show the whole Kai Fa Qu kid gang getting out to celebrate Halloween which is not celebrated here in China. Imagine what a sight it was for the locals to see so many of the da bizi (da beezuh - big noses) travelling in such a large group dressed in strange garb. Surprised no one called the police.

The Boys of Steel are on the far left.

Justice League of America

Hand in hand with a Kangaroo.

You got some candy in here?

What a Superhaul!!

Gimme the candy!!

Well .. proud to say that MIMK has unearthed the identities of two of the world’s best known superheroes - SuperBoy and SuperBaby. While Alice and I have assumed that our boys were just normal l’il tykes it appears as if they have been saving the world from the evil forces of ne’er-do-wells. We give to you for the first time the superheroes unmasked

CARTER BROWN IS REALLY SUPERBOY!!!

NATHAN BROWN IS REALLY SUPERBABY!!

Remember foks - you read it here first!

Last weekend we went to the northern city of Qiqihar (find it on Google Earth) to play hockey against 2 junior teams as well as a mixture of their coaches (ex national team members - 40 to 50 year old) and the juniors. We played 3 games Saturday (2 juniors and then an intra-squad game) and I got injured in the intra-squad affair. Craig of the Engleson Files took one of his better slapshots and I took it off the ankle. I returned to the play 5 or so minutes later cause we only had 3 D per side and then took a tumble over our goalie in a vain effort to save a goal. I landed on Gabe’s goalie stick on my ribs and promptly forgot about how much my ankle hurt. Add to that taking a slapshot off the shoulder in the morning warmup and I was a mess. I know - whine, whine, whine. I had hoped a few beer at dinner after the game would mend my wounds but not this time. Long and short - I didn’t dress for Sunday’s game. Bummer!

Qiqihar is a great little (1.8 million) northern city without the hustle and bustle of other major cities. Cold, clean crisp air with beautiful sunny skies all weekend. Great food and an awesome old style grand hotel built in a park made for a fantastic weekend. Qiqihar is definitely on the Ice Dragons annual itinerary.

Will do another post once I get some photos from the weekend.

Just saw this headline on Yahoo and in essence it sums up the trend in TV right now is to ditch the opening montage including a catchy “make you wanna watch” theme song. The article can be found by clicking here. For the millions of you who regularly check this blog (Craig, Adrian, Mom and Auntie Carol) please post a comment with your favourite TV theme song. Now Adrian it does NOT have to be a show that you have watched as long as you are familiar with the theme song. Example - I don’t recall ever watching Gilligan’s Island but it is a catchy theme song. This is now known as the “Snow Monkey Rule” - click here for details on this inside joke. Be sure to check the comments as well

Tonight Nathan enjoyed his first taste of solid food with the introduction of rice cereal into the diet. As he closes quickly in on 20 pounds he needs to start supplementing and give his poor tired Mama a rest. The riveting video below tells the whole story.

The standard greeting issued from one Muslim to another. I post this only because of the photos of Nathan below who appears as if he may be interested in starting the new Uighur restaurant that Craig at The Engleson Files is searching for. No word yet as to whether Nathan is officially converting to Islam or whether he just wants to look the part.

As sala’amu alaikum

Carter snapped this photo of Nathan (really he did!)

Well the little big guy is really starting to come into his own and his personality is developing quickly every day. I guess most parents are suckers for their children’s laughter and I am no exception. Some videos below of last night’s dinner table action. The noises in the background making him laugh were mine and in the second video Carter was trying to help out as well.

Since Mrs. Colorado at Colorado Daze has been posting the celebrity look alikes with great regularity I decided to get in on her clique and post a few more that I did.

As promised I am following up on my earlier promise to post some photos o’ the big little guy at 4 months. He is laughing and smiling a lot these days which just goes to show that fat people are jolly

With the Ayi

Hey Mom that tickles

Laughing for the heck of it

This is the first of a two part post. Nathan turned 4 months yesterday but I did not have time to upload the photos from his 4 month on this earth day. Instead what I have is a photo of him just before heading up to the Thanksgiving party at the Englesons this past weekend. I called him a little farmer and Alice started laughing cause in Chinese calling someone a farmer is akin to labelling them the scum of the earth - very derogatory. Anyhow he’s as cute as can be and trying hard to be mobile. No movement yet but a lot of strained looks and grunting and groaning. His latest trick is putting his toes in his mouth .. he is very proud of himself!

Last night we were lucky to share the Thanksgiving holiday with our friends that have now become our adopted family. The Englesons hosted a fantastic feast with plenty of food, drink and desserts for all. The “clique” (inside joke) were very well fed! The picture below tells the full story. I was hoping to get a before and after shot but was so hungry when I arrived that the camera was completely forgotten so all I have is the after shot

Every Sunday (and some special occasions as well) we head out to a bus parking lot near the Jin Ma Lu Qing Gui station (Golden Horse Street Light Rail Station) and play a brand of 3 on 3 roller hockey that used to be called “Bottles” due to the water bottles we used as goal posts. Our fearless leader Adrian decided to have nets made out of some metal tubing and mesh that approximated the size of our previous water bottle goals. It seems only fitting that he was the first one to “pull a Brownie” as they say and smash one of the nets after losing last Sunday’s series. I should mention that it was his first series loss of the 2006-2007 season and he had a wicked head cold so we forgave him while chuckling silently to ourselves. I should also humbly add that day marked my first series win for the season lifting a “curse” that I firmly believed would be permanent. Another member of the crew also seemed to be “cursed” but on the Tuesday October 1st PRC Classic he demolished all notions of a curse as well. Below are some photos of last Sunday’s action provided generously by Brad H.

The beautiful “rink” with bus obstacles

The aforementioned “abused” nets

Yours truly flying up the wing (sounds much better than a Brown streak doesn’t it?)

This week the schools and many businesses in China are closed for the Mid-Autumn Festival combined with the celebration of the 57th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC for the acronym challenged). We have taken advantage of this time off to get together as a family and try to enjoy the simpler things in life. For Carter that means riding the tricycle that his Amma (Gramma) bought him this summer. The following video and photos capture the highlights of the October 2nd stage of Le Tour de Kai Fa Qu where Carter had a brief lead ahead of le peloton but later cracked in the mountains and was relegated to the “Daddy carry you” sweep car.

Dodging the crowds and fruit trucks that lined the course

His biggest lead of the day

The other evening we had the Defieux’s over for a nifty little dinner. Alice spent all day preparing the meal and it turned out fantastic. No pics of the food because it was gone in a manner of minutes but I did manage to take this picture of Hailey and Carter “getting haircuts”. They knew that you had to put a sheet over you to keep the hair off and this was their first attempt at it. They later learned that you didn’t in fact have to dress up like Islamic fundamentalist (although Carter is showing some ankle) to get the deed done.

We were at MyKal department store taking a breather from our hectic day of shopping and Nathan was in a pretty good mood so I got the following video footage. That noise that sounds like a wounded animal or possibly Bill the Cat from the Doonesbury cartoons is me trying to get Nathan to laugh. It only worked partially.

Sometimes you have to pay homage to the things that give you your foundation. I am not talking spiritually or emotionally but physically so I give you …. bricks.

Fans of the old television show “The Rockford Files” know what “pulling a Rockford” means. As I recall it means driving pretty fast and then pulling the emergency brake while cranking hard on the wheel so that you whip around. Well Carter and his bud Magnus apparently are pretty good at pulling a Rockford and last night I captured a little vid of Carter showing his stuff.