One of the highlights of summer when I was a kid was the company picnic that American Standard (where my Dad worked) held each year at Rocky Point. I have such great memories of that place, such as the time my brother Steve and I rode the new "loop" coaster over and over. There was almost no line (and hence no rest between dizzying turns) so it was almost constant riding. It was terrific fun then - now the thought of being forced to ride a coaster continuously sounds more like torture than entertainment.

While I loved the rides and games and all the fun the park had to offer, I always dreaded meal time. My parents and all my brothers, however, were always very excited to head to the Shore Dining Hall for clam cakes and chowder. Being the incredibly picky pain-in-the-ass that I was back then (sorry Mom!) I wanted nothing to do with food with clams in it. So in all the years that I went to the park, I never ate a clamcake or a bowl of chowder. Instead, I would nibble away in my usual fashion at a chicken dinner while waiting to get back into the park.

These days I love clam cakes and chowder and never fail to stop for some at Seafood Haven when I go to Misquamicut Beach. But in an ironic twist for my tastebuds, Rocky Point is no more. In 1996 the park sold off most of its rides and a few years later the Shore Dining hall closed as well. However, the Rocky Point Chowder House on Post Road in Warwick is still selling those clam cakes and chowder. So when Steve suggested a trip to the chowder house the other day, it sounded like a great idea.

We ended up with a good sized group as Steve and his fiancée picked up my parents and then my lovely girlfriend and me. We arrived at the chowder house and wondered why there was only one car in the parking lot. Then we went in and got our answer - the place was, well, a little disgusting. There was a strange odor, and the place looked straight out of the 1970s. Or more accurately - that it hadn't been cleaned since the 70s. The staff was less than enthusiastic about their work, and I even had to clean our table. But with nostalgia powering us on, we ordered and awaited that taste from years gone by.

When the food was ready, the first thing I noticed was that my chowder was gray instead of white - actually it looked like mashed up brains. I decided to pass on risking food poisoning. The red chowder others ordered look much more normal. And the clam cakes were very good - delicious even. If you absolutely must have their clam cakes, I highly suggest using the drive thru to keep your appetite intact. After we finished eating we headed down the road to Gregg's for dessert and enjoyed more than one laugh at the chowder house's expense.

Rocky Point the park may be gone and the chowder house a health hazard, but the memories of those great summer trips with my family will always be with me. And so will the fun trip we just took.

Anyone who has had any interaction with an American male knows that it's football season. There's no escaping it... fifty year old men wearing jerseys to the grocery store is a pretty good indicator – and even the internet is swamped with “fantasy” football sites. The NFL has clearly supplanted baseball as our nation's favorite sport (well, except when the Sox take on the Yanks) and only NASCAR can match the inexplicable devotion shown to total strangers every Sunday.

I have to admit that I am not immune from this strange affliction. Since I was a very young boy, I’ve been a Miami Dolphins fan. It may seem odd for a kid growing up in New England to root for a team that’s 1,200 miles away, but when you’re seven or eight years old you don’t need to justify such decisions – you just follow your heart. As best I can remember, I chose my favorite team because of a gimmick that would never be allowed in this day and age.

You see, back in the 1970s the Dolphins played in Orange Bowl Stadium and featured a live mascot. Yes, you read that right – a live mascot. There was a swimming pool located behind the goal posts at one end of the stadium with a real live dolphin swimming around. When a field goal or extra point was kicked, the ball would go into the pool and the dolphin would swim over to it and flip the ball out. Naturally, I thought this was the coolest thing in the world. It never occurred to me that the pool was way too small for that dolphin, or how they transported him to every home game from the Miami Seaquarium or whatever Sea World-type facility at which he normally lived.

For this blog entry, I tried to find a reference to all this and came up empty. Oddly enough, the Dolphins official history makes no mention of it at all. A google search did yield numerous references to the Jim Carrey movie Ace Venture: Pet Detective. I’ve never seen the movie and have no real desire to, but I am curious as to how the movie depicts the mascot's role with the team.

In recent years my devotion to the Dolphins has waned a bit. It just hasn’t been the same since Dan Marino retired. They’re just not that fun to watch so it’s been easier to resist buying NFL Sunday Ticket and watcing every game. I’m more than content to watch them when they happen to be on TV. Of course, if they put that pool behind the goal posts again I’ll definitely have to reconsider…

Ah, the beach. No, not that amazingly bad Leo DiCaprio movie from a couple of years back. I'm talking about the actual sand under your feet, enjoying the warmth of the sun, splashing around in the waves kind of beach. Whenever I'm near the ocean I just feel good; I love the salty air, the sound of the surf, even the pesky seagulls. And whenever I enter the water I'm suddenly 12 years old again as I try to bodysurf my way into shore before heading right back out to try again.

The beach always brings back childhood memories of visiting my grandparents in Daytona Beach, Florida. Those trips were great, despite the 24-hour car ride reading cheesy comics and counting cars of different colors. Or falling asleep and missing one of the stops at the gas station, which was the only chance to use a rest room. It was usually a disgusting rest room, but when you've been waiting for hours it's amazing how long you can hold your breath. Travelling by car today must be much different for kids with the integrated DVD systems that are so common in minivans and SUVs. Spoiled brats. They don't know the joy of keeping a lookout for the next South of the Border billboard. : ) Instead, they watch movies like The Beach.

And speaking of bad movies, here's a great site for those of us interested in both movies and science (oops, once again I expose my dorkiness to the world). You'll need to scroll down the page a bit to see the list of movies. And yes, geek types wrote it, but it's VERY funny. I often laugh outloud while reading one of their "reviews."

I love dogs. I always have and I suspect I always will. They have a purity that people only possess as young children, and have literally evolved to become amazingly loyal and loving companions. I really can't imagine life without dogs, and the thought of them being treated badly or suffering affects me profoundly.

Hurrican Katrina caused a lot of pain and suffering to the people in Louisiana and Mississippi, who have left their homes, their belongings, and their pets when they evacuated. I understand the necessity of traveling light to make room for more people, but I'd imagine it was terribly difficult for people to leave a treasured member of their family behind. Even worse than the thought of not being able to keep your pet would be the thought that they are probably consigned to a quite unpleasant death to starvation, all the while confused and scared as they try to find their "pack" in the chaos. I've heard reports that the sad sounds of distressed pets is constant throughout the city.

But there is some hope. Rescue workers are trying to save as many pets as they can. Their work is difficult, as scared animals can be dangerous and animal professionals are required to save them. Shelters in nearby areas are already overloaded by rescued animals and those given up by evacuees who don't have the means to care for them.

They need our help to save pets so that they may be cared for and reunited with their families, bringing much needed joy to people who have lost so much. I have donated and I hope you will too. Below are a few of the organizations that are actively involved in the rescue and care efforts.
American Humane Association
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Best Friends Animal Society
Houston SPCA
Humane Society of the United States
Louisiana SPCA
Noah's Wish
United Animal Nations

Rrrraaaagggghhhhh!
So I was sitting in a seminar and each table had a candy dish. Naturally, I picked out the "Smarties" and chomped them down. Then, being the efficient sort that I am, I compressed the wrappers together to make disposal easier when I left. Of course, the seminar kept going and wasn't very interesting, so my attention drifted back to my ball o'wrappers that I had been rolling between my fingers. I then noticed that it looked (to me, at least) like a dinosaur head so I took out my trusty camera and took a photo. Now, you have to understand -the photo doesn't do it justice as the glare from the flash obscures the "eye" of the mighty beast. Of course, on my way out of the room extinction beckoned and my Smartisaurus met its demise in the waste basket. Hey, at least I'm original and didn't see Elvis or Jesus in my twisted imagination.