I Need to Vent

I don’t know how many of you have flown recently, but I have, and I can tell you that it’s a pain in the rear to get through “security.” I put that in quotes because it seems more and more obvious to me that the system is less about security and more about business than many people realize.

For example, we have to present a photo ID to get through the security checkpoint. This is supposedly to check for passengers that are on the “no-fly” list. After just a little research, though, you’ll find that it’s really because the airlines wanted to shut-down the market for reselling tickets and the only way to do that is to make sure that your name is the same as the one on the ticket/boarding pass.

And how about liquids and gels? It’s just ridiculous the rules that are in place over this, and every halfway intelligent human being knows that the driver behind this can’t really be security. It doesn’t even make good sense to think that it’s about security when I can take a completely full three ounce bottle of gel through security but I can’t take a virtually empty four ounce bottle through. There’s no real evidence to support this that I’ve seen, but I would still argue that the driver behind this is getting more checked bags. Why would the airline want more checked bags? That seems like it would cost them more as they have to pay for people to handle those bags. On the other hand, I’ve recently seen some data from DFW that would indicate that a big factor in paying overtime is the timeliness of flights. How much more timely does it make a plane when you don’t have to wait for 200 people to stuff and cram their bags into an overhead bin?

The thing that really takes the cake about all of this is the recent reports of the FBI seizing Christopher Soghoian’s computer and other belongings (rumor has it that he had some hair gel and toothpaste that were over the legal limit). You might not have read about Mr. Soghoian, but he created a website that allowed users to print fake boarding passes for Northwest airlines with any name and any flight printed on them. Now, I don’t agree with Mr. Soghoian’s method of getting the word out, but this guy is really exposing a fatal flaw in the design of our computer system.

And don’t say that the issue is allowing passengers to print boarding passes from home. That’s a value add that helps both the passenger and the airline. Unlike other concerns, I’m sure that we can resolve this without having to restrict customers more than they already are.
When you go through the initial security checkpoint, all that is looked at is the name on your ID and on your boarding pass, and when you get on the plane all that is scanned in the boarding pass which compares the pass to the information in the computer. So basically, there are three places that information is stored but they are never all checked against one another. Many others have written on this as well, and we all agree that in our current world it would be very easy to get through security with a fake boarding pass and then get on the plane with a real boarding pass that’s in someone else’s name. There goes the whole point of the “no-fly” list.

Terrorists still fly wherever they want, whenever they want, they just don’t buy tickets in their own name and no one checks. I think the solution is pretty simple, though. Why not just have the security inspector visually check your ID just as they do now and then have them also scan the boarding pass? Suddenly, the security flaw disappears, Mr. Soghoian has to find a new hobby, and terrorists have to stay on the ground.

Why are we after Mr. Soghoian and essentially shooting the messenger instead of fixing this problem?

Same Old Same Old

NBC finally seemed to be pulling out of a slump with one of the highest rated dramas on television: "Heroes." I'm afraid that it might not last, though. I know that we've all enjoyed discussing the nuances of the show since the pilot, and I do want to discuss some more of that later in that post. First, though, in the vain hope that someone who might know someone who might have seen someone that might have a little influence over the show will read this blog I want to say ENOUGH ALREADY!

We get it that there are people out there with special powers. We get it that they got them suddenly. We get it that they don't totally understand how to use them yet. We get it that there are people out there that seem to know more about these Heroes than they know about themselves. We get it that there may be more of them than we've already met. What we don't get is why that's all we see week after week. Surely I'm not the only viewer out there that's tired of this story not moving along.

It seemed, at first, like things were moving along rapidly. We met new characters every week. They had new powers. We saw interesting intersections in their lives. That was the first four. These last three, on the other hand, did not really contribute anything of substance to furthering the story. I haven't even had that much to write about on this blog lately for lack of new revelations to discuss. It's almost like the writers haven't figured out where the show is going, and they are stalling until they do.

That doesn't mean that I don't have any thoughts about last night's episode, though. I'll just have to dig deep to find hidden meaning, so hang on for a wild ride through my mind:

Peter was dreaming about a conversation with Mr. Devereaux and at the end he flew by himself. Peter knows that he can't fly alone, so I wondered about the scene briefly before I realized that it was a dream. Or was it? Later in the episode Simone visited and told Peter that her dad had died and that he had spoken of Peter just beforehand. It sounded like the conversation her dad recounted was taken from Peter's dream. So was Peter communicating with Mr. Deveraux telepathically? If so, the implication is huge. Peter's power is to mimic those around him. Obviously, the real question here is who has telepathic powers and was near Peter while he slept? Was it Mr. Bennett's assistant? Was it someone else?

Micah apparently has the ability to repair electronics, but it appears that the repairs only work for him. Or maybe the extent of the repair is something he can control. This explains how he repaired his computer in the first episode, though. He's not a child genius, he just touched it and made it work. It was interesting, though, that Micah responded to Jessica (Friki as we call her) as if to say, "Lady, we've been around this block before, and I know all about you. Get my mom on the phone!"

Niki must have some kind of power besides super strength when Jessica appears to have survived D.L. "scrambled insides" move. That or the writers have the wrong idea about the average IQ of their viewers. If whatever he did hurt her badly enough to make her pass out, then there must have been some kind of damage.

Claire's secret is out now, so what is her brother going to do with the knowledge? I imagine that he'll let something slip and Mr. Bennett will then be forced to do something about it. Of course, I still am not convinced that Mr. Bennett is evil. When you look at his character across all of the episodes, you've never seen him do anything that necessarily wrong or bad. Perhaps he's duplicitous, but I still think that he may just be interested in protecting Claire. Or perhaps in protecting all of them.

Radioactive man was a nice touch this week. It reminded us that there may be others that we don't know about and that they could be good or evil. Of course, when he told Matt not to shoot because he might explode, it got me to wondering if he's the actual cause of the nuclear explosion that they are trying to prevent. Maybe he gets transferred to New York for one reason or another and then Sylar attacks him and BOOM! Anybody else thinking that?

Also, how about the little intersection with D.L., Ando, and Hiro. I thought that was nice, and I loved Hiro's line about wishing he had super strength, too. Along those same lines, I have to agree with Nathan's observation that being able to fly isn't really all that useful as a super power. I mean, let's look at all the characters and their abilities:

Isaac – Precognition. Pretty useful if he could get off the smack. It would always be nice to know what's going to happen.

Niki – Super strength when Jessica is around. Pretty handy stuff. It made her a millionaire.

D.L. – Phasing. The guy can walk through walls. You could do all kinds of good with that.

Matt – Telepathy. What detective wouldn't want that ability? It's almost as good as seeing the future.

Peter – Mimicry. Or whatever you want to call it. Pretty cool and useful to be able to do anyone else's super power. And he even better if he finds out that he can combine them.

Hiro – Bend space and time. We've already seen lots of uses for this and he's already saved several people.

Micah – Electronics. Can he just make it work, or can he also control it. Either way I could see lots of applications where you could save people.

Claire – Regeneration. If you couldn't get hurt, what would you do to help people?

Nathan – Flight. So he can make a quick getaway, but what else good does it do? Without super strength he's not helping aircraft that are in trouble.

More on Nathan, though. Why did he lie to Peter about the painting? It sure seemed like Mr. Linderman was willing to let him at least see the painting, but he told Peter that there was no way. Hmmm…what's Nathan hiding? He's always made me a little nervous, but this seems downright dirty. Does he plan to keep the painting for himself? Does he know why Peter wants to see it? Does he know more than he's letting on?

Lot's of questions and not many more answers. Until next week!

School Buses are Unsafe?

As you know, I’m always on the lookout for interesting news articles to comment on, and today I found a good one (http://www.livescience.com/healthday/535932.html). Apparently, school buses are unsafe. I don’t know how my high school bus driver escaped scrutiny this long, but apparently, she and the crazy driver Jeffrey had his first year at Youree Middle School have been found out. Of course, it wasn’t even just the driver. It was the whole environment. They should have just asked me about this a long time ago, and it would have saved tons of time and money.

I’ve got a scar on the palm of my right hand from the school bus I rode on in Kindergarten. Who knew it wasn’t smart to hold yourself up between the seats and swing back and forth? Those darn seat springs just won’t stay behind that leather.

I remember when Mother drove a school bus and all the windows got shot out by a neighborhood kid with a BB gun. And it was cold the next morning. Not only did we have to dodge broken glass fragments, but think of all the germs from the runny noses.

I remember school bus “surfing” in high school. And it was the driver’s idea.

I remember being in a wreck in the school bus in high school. Never mind that it was the other guy’s fault. He rear ended us (it was more like parked under the rear end), didn’t have a driver’s license, and told the police that he couldn’t see us stopped at the red light. Okay, that was really more funny that dangerous, but it could have been a close call. And when it was all done, our driver still insisted on completing every last stop on the way to school, like some idiot kid would really sit out on the corner for 2.5 hours waiting on the bus. Needless to say, we didn’t pick anyone else up that day.

I remember a guy on the bus next to us getting shot one day. Of course, that guy went to Byrd, and it wasn’t on our bus, but it was definitely dangerous.

And I remember that first day Jeffrey was going to Youree Drive Middle School, and his bus driver was determined to get to Napoleon (the name of our street, which she pronounced napp-OH-lee-uhn) faster than anyone else. I don’t know who she was racing, but she hit at least 65 in the short block and a half distance from the corner to the bus stop. I really wasn’t sure I’d ever see my brother again, so I tipped the driver and said, “Light the fires, and kick the tires! Go, baby!” He came back later that day. Oh, well, it’s all good. He’s much more fun to have around now that he’s older.

So, you can see that this business about school buses being unsafe is not news to me, but let’s get back to the actual scientific study that validates my experiences. Apparently, there are roughly 17,000 children and teens that head to hospital emergency rooms each year because of injuries suffered while riding on or getting off of a school bus. Of course, my first thought was that I needed more information to really evaluate the situation.

How many kids actually ride school buses every year? Seventeen thousand seems like a really large number, but not if there are 20 billion kids on school buses. It turns out that there are 23.5 million kids on school buses each year according to the same article. They don’t do this simple math in the article, but that means that your child has a 0.07% chance of being injured on a school bus. Conversely, school buses are 99.93% safe. In round numbers, that’s one in a thousand odds. In spite of my experience, it seems like this article doesn’t really support its own theory.

Before we get too down on this article, though, there might be some useful information. The most interesting thing to me is that they say that the kids were treated in 99 different emergency rooms. I just did a quick Google search and found that there are 2,797 “emergency” rooms listed in the Dallas area alone. So, really, the critical piece of information missing in this article becomes, which specific school district has such a hard time keeping their kids safe on the bus? Is it mine? Is it yours?

Of course, they don’t say.

Trick or Treat

We took the kids out last night to gather sweets and goodies from the neighbors. What fun!

Leah went to the store earlier in the day and found our capitalist economy to be hard at work. Bags of candy that had been $2-3 a week before were now $5-6. She opted to not purchase any candy and reasoned that since we’d all be out, it wouldn’t matter. I had a better plan.

You might not think this was a good idea, and you should know that Leah didn’t agree at first, but I convinced her to let us give it a try. I figured that most of the candy the kids got from our neighbors wasn’t going to be eaten by my children anyway. So I reasoned that if we went out early and filled our bags, then when we got home we could let our kids pass out candy to the kids that got a later start. Leah thought that seemed kind of cheap to make the kids give away the candy that they had just gone out to collect, but she was missing two critical pieces of information:

1. She wasn’t there last year when it was too cold to go out, and the girls had the best time just answering the door and passing out candy.

2. She wasn’t thinking about the licorice, taffy, cheese crackers (seriously, we got cheese crackers at one house), mounds, and almond joys that our kids didn’t want in the first place.

So, we headed out a little after six with some friends of ours and some neighbors to collect as much candy as possible. There were probably ten kids in our group and after an hour or so they were all tired of walking. Thankfully, Leah had thought ahead and brought the wagon for the littlest ones. Reagan had the brilliant idea at that point of all the kids going back to our living room to have candy swap; she didn’t know my plan yet, but it was starting to come together.

After we arrived back at the house, the kids all gathered in a big circle in the living room and started going through their haul. Reagan was like a little auctioneer moving from person to person helping to facilitate trades. One snickers for two lollipops; two tootsie rolls for a bag of M&Ms. It was hilarious.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and all of the kids looked at me. I told them to answer the door, and they asked where the candy to hand out was. I just told them to figure something out. They all looked at each other and piled their rejects into a top hat (part of the Willy Wonka costume that one of them wore). They answered the door and realized the genius of my idea.

From that point on, they were ambitious about inviting kids to the door so that they could pass out candy. Of course, I told them to make sure to mix in a few good things every once in a while so we didn’t the reputation of being the “crappy candy” house, and when it was all over, we had less than half of our original haul left. Just enough to keep the kids happy for a while, and more than enough to make Mom and Dad happy.

Leah finally had to admit that it was a brilliant idea and that it had worked flawlessly. Next year, I think I’ll run for political office. If I can work kids so easily, adults wouldn’t even be a challenge!

Overanalyzing Television Shows

Do you think it’s possible that we’re overanalyzing Heroes? I thought it might be for a brief moment earlier today, but then I decided that it’s just too good of a show to not continue our discussions. As usual, highlight below to read:

Does anyone else wonder if there is a hidden meaning in the name of Mohinder’s neighbor? Of course not, because none of you know her name. Knowing my audience, you may not even know who I’m talking about, so let me break it down for you, Caci. She’s the short-haired, skinny girl that’s been spying on the tall Indian guy and making everyone wonder what she’s really up to. Anyway, her name is Eden. Kind of makes you wonder if she’s the starting point. Patient Zero as Mohinder’s dad referred to it.

Also, Niki appears to be the one with the Incredible Hulk style powers. Apparently, she has super strength when her alter ego comes out. Did you see the way she just threw D.L. across the room like he was a bag of potato chips? I wonder if she’s dead, though. After D.L. reached in and scrambled things around, who knows? Obviously, I guess that she’ll continue to be around since Ali Larter is listed as a main cast member.

In looking at IMDB earlier to verify Eden’s name, I came across something interesting. Apparently, Sylar will be played by Sean Bean. For those who don’t recognize the name perhaps you’ll remember him as Boromir in LOTR, the pilot in Flightplan, the husband in Silent Hill, the bad guy in National Treasure, or the doctor in The Island. If you don’t know him from any of those, then just trust me that he’s a great actor and should make a very well done bad guy. Oh, and they list Sylar as the surname. Apparently, his full name is Paul Sylar, so we’ll have to keep an ear out for anyone named Paul to appear in the show.

Lastly, I really liked it that they made a point to bring everyone’s attention to the mysterious symbol last night. Those of you that may not have noticed it before should have picked up on it last night as Isaac uncovered it in one of his paintings of Niki. Now we just need to figure out what it means.

That’s all for now. Let me hear your thoughts and observations.

Lucky's Bad Day

Friday afternoon, Leah let Lucky out into the back to do his business just like any other day. When she got ready to bring him back inside, though, he wasn’t in the yard. Apparently, he figured out how to open the gate on his own and escape. They looked and could not find him, and when I got home we all looked and could not find him.

We left the gate open figuring that if wasn’t picked up by the pound that he would come home on his own, but when I checked early Saturday morning, he was still not around. It was just after that that the phone started ringing. It was the vet. Before she answered the phone, Leah figured that the pound must have him, and they were just calling to let us know. That’s not exactly the case.

A couple several miles from our house had called the vet’s number off of Lucky’s collar to inform them that he had been hit by a car and had died during the night. The kids were not up yet, so I went ahead and got dressed to go and handle the situation. Now, here’s the funny part of this sad story: I needed to figure out where this couple lives.

I called the number that the vet gave me for the couple, and a gentleman answered the phone (to give you a good context, I did meet this guy, and he was about 55). I introduced myself and told him why I was calling. I told him that I wanted to come by and pick up Lucky, and I needed to know where he was. Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: Hi, this is Michael Newman. I got a call from the vet a few minutes ago, and they told me that our dog died last night and is in your yard.

Gentleman: That’s right. He got hit by a car last night.

Me: Well, I’d like to come by and pick up his body. Can you tell me where you are?

Gentleman: Sure. I’m at home.

Me: Okay. Can you give me your address?

Gentleman: Yeah. It’s xxxx Elm Grove.

Me: That’s not really helping me much. I’m in Woodbridge near Sachse Rd. and Miles Rd. Could you give me directions from there?

Gentleman: Oh. Is that the four-way stop?

Me: No. The four-way stop is at Miller Rd, but can you just give me directions from there?

Gentleman: Not really. I don’t know the way from there.

Me: Okay. Are there any other major roads near you?

Gentleman: Well, you know, there’s that winding, hilly road that Elm Grove dead ends into, and I’m just across the street from the new dump.

Me: The new dump? I know about the Hinton Landfill. Is that what you’re talking about?

Gentleman: I don’t know the name of it.

Me: Hmmm….tell you what. I’m going to get on the computer and see if I can get a map to your house. Can you give me your full address?

Gentleman: Yeah. It’s xxxx Elm Grove.

Me: Is that in Sachse, Wylie, Rowlett, Rockwall? What city?

Gentleman: Oh. Well, Sachse is down a couple of houses to my right, and Rowlett is a couple of houses to my left. I don’t reckon I live in a city.

Me: Tell you what. Let me do a little investigating and see if I can find you.

I really didn’t make that up. I got on Google maps and found the Hinton Landfill on the assumption that that is what he was talking about. I managed to find Elm Grove Road, and I managed to find his house. I picked Lucky up, took care of his body, and brought his collar home for Abbie. The kids were pretty sad on Saturday and they’ve already started asking if we are going to get another dog. Leah and I are agreed to wait a little while before we get back into that boat.

ABBA Reborn

Who says that I don’t do Karaoke? They should probably say that I shouldn’t do Karaoke.

We had a Karaoke contest at the office, and I didn’t intend to perform. When I was asked by our President to join her in singing ABBA’s “Waterloo,” though, I just couldn’t refuse. Of course, she did play the, “you do all kinds of crazy things for the kids at your church,” card. So, there I was on Friday morning. All decked out in the outfit she chose for me and ready to sing. I’ve opted to not post pictures of the rest of my group since I don’t know that they would want them released for public consumption. Just rest assured that I “fit in.”

We didn’t win the contest, but we did have fun. There’s even a video of the performance that you might get to see the next time we’re all together. Until then, just enjoy this one pic and remember what Ash on “Supernatural” says about the do: “Business in the front; party in the back!!”

What About Ray?

As you all know, Mother and Dan are divorced. So, it would not be unexpected or unusual for me to find out that Mother is dating. Of course, it would be a little weird at first. It was when she first starting seeing Dan, but maybe that was the circumstances. If you haven’t heard this story, then enjoy:

After Mom and Dad got divorced, we lived in Deadwood for a while but soon moved back to Shreveport. Shortly after that move, Mother took us the park one afternoon. Oddly enough, she took us to a park in Bossier that we had never been to before. It was tucked way back in a neighborhood and was not a place that you would randomly happen upon. I think Mom told us that she thought it would be cool because it was also at the end of the Barksdale runway (if you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll know that this is the same park I took my kids to a couple of weeks ago). Anyway, while we were there, Caci noticed a man, his dog, and his daughter playing nearby. Like any kids, we were attracted to the dog, and we hung out with them for a little while before leaving.

A week or so later (I’m a guy, so I don’t remember exact timeframes; Caci could probably tell you to the minute), Mom decided to take us to Chuck E. Cheese in the Eastgate shopping center. While were standing in line, Caci glanced behind us and saw the same man from the park. She nudged me and commented, and I agreed that it was him. Caci told Mom that she was a little nervous that this guy might be following us. Mom said something to effect of, “isn’t he cute, though?” Which I think kind of grossed Caci out. Nothing against the guy, I just think 11 year olds don’t really go for 40 year olds very often.

A few days later, we came home from somewhere and this same guy showed up at our house. Caci was really freaked at this point, but Mom calmed her down, introduced us to Dan, and explained that they had been trying to give us some room but also gain some kind of familiarity with him. Having lived through that, I’m pretty sure that if Leah is ever gone and I decide to date again that I won’t choose to go down the, “hey kids, that girl that you think is a psycho, child-molesting, stalker is really my date” route, and I doubt that Mom would do that again either.

Anyway, back to the present. Caci called me last night to tell me that Bubba’s mother saw our mother at a church function over the weekend and that she was with her husband. Caci was stunned, so she called me. Why not call Mom? I don’t know. She called me. She even had Mom’s new husband’s name: Ray.

Who the heck is Ray? I don’t even know anyone named Ray, and Mom’s already dated the guy and gotten married without telling us. She was just at my house last weekend. I would have thought that it would come up in conversation, but not even Logan whispered a word. Oh, wait, maybe he doesn’t know either. It would be tough to trick him since he’s home schooled and they spend all of their waking hours together, but Mom’s tricky that way. I remember when I was kid and she had me convinced that the tooth fairy, Santa, and the Easter Bunny were all real. I mean that was three doozies all at once. If she could pull that over on a guy as smart as me, getting married behind Logan’s back would be cake.

So, who’s Ray? The kids finally have the upper hand. We know that she’s married again, we know his name, and she still thinks we’re in the dark. We’ve got to use this to our advantage. Just to throw her off guard, I called this morning and told her that the “sun’s RAYs seemed extra bright today,” and that “I just love being married…it’s like a RAY of sunshine in my life.” She tried to cover by telling me that she had a great time with Uncle Terry, MawMaw, Papa, and Logan at a church cookout this weekend. She said it was kind of funny that Blake and Carter kept thinking that she was GranGran (Aunt Patti) and then gave me some lame story about MawMaw calling Uncle Terry “T-Ray.” Sure, that’s MawMaw’s nickname for Uncle Terry. Sure, his middle name is Raymond. All circumstantial evidence if you ask me.

She’s obviously trying to throw us off the scent by suggesting that this is all just an innocent case of mistaken identity, but I think we all know better. Caci, when you get the chance, give Mom a call, think up as many different ways as you can to work “RAY” into the conversation, and listen to her squirm.

Atkins Family Reunion

Several months ago, Grandmother invited us to the first ever Atkins family reunion, and since we love Grandmother, we agreed to attend. The reunion was in Clay, LA this past weekend at the Methodist church. This was no Bott reunion, but let me tell the whole story for those who were unable to attend.

First off, we decided that since I had to be at church both Friday night and Sunday morning, we would drive over early Saturday and home Saturday night. That turned out to be not as bad as it could have been. We got up pretty early on Saturday to try and get out of the house by 6am. We didn't quite make it. We pulled out of the driveway at 6:25am.

I knew that Dad was following the same strategy, so when we got to the Highway 110 exit on I-20, I gave him a call. Let's take an aside to discuss some Texas geography before I tell you any more of this story. Dad lives in The Colony which is a good 30-45 minutes west of my house. Highway 110 is about 15 minutes west of Lindale. Gladewater is about 20 minutes east of Lindale. So, back to the story. I called Dad's cell when I got to the Highway 110 exit to see how they were doing. I commented that we had gotten off to a late start and didn't get out of the driveway until about 6:25am. He said the same thing happened to them and they didn't get started until 6:30am. So, I figure Dad must be pretty close. He drives faster than I do, he's probably not too far behind me.

Dad tells me that he just passed the Gladewater exit. He's approximately 30 minutes ahead of me! Unbelievable! Needless to say, Dad arrived ahead of us, and just to be sure that we didn't have to read road signs, read directions, and try to drive all at the same time, he called about four times after he got to Ruston to give us turn-by-turn directions to the church. Sometimes there's no question about his parentage. J

After we arrived, we went into the church sanctuary where all of the attendees were seated with one gentleman at the lectern reading through the family tree and having different branches that were present tell about their family. Grandmother let Dad introduce his family, and he did fairly well other than when he forgot about Caci. The rest of the room proceeded to tell of their branches, and the food in the next room was getting colder and colder by the minute.

Next up, it was time to share fond memories. Grandmother stood to share her memory which went about like this:

When I was a little girl, I remember visiting my grandmother and grandfather, and I remember Grandmother calling us all to breakfast. When I went to the table, I noticed that all of the dishes were bottom side up and the chairs were pushed in. I thought that was kind of strange. Later at lunch, Grandmother called us again and it was the same thing. All of the dishes were bottom side up and the chairs were pushed in. Again, I wondered about that. Then at supper, I noticed it a third time, and having that Atkins curiosity, I asked my Grandmother about it. I asked her why the dishes were always bottom side up and the chairs were pushed in. Grandmother said that was an excellent question, and then Grandfather came in and said grace.

I thought I missed part of the story, but Jeffrey confirmed that that was the whole deal. So, why were the dishes bottom side up? Who knows.

So, after everyone finished sharing memories, they read the names of those that died, we heard a lady sing, they passed out door prizes, and then we got to eat. It was like a church service, and it was not easy keeping the kids occupied while we waited for the food. In the midst of all that Lynn (my stepmother) leaned over and asked if all family reunions were like this. I told her that when you've gotten together every year for 30+ years like the Botts, you pretty much just eat and visit all day.

Anyway, we finally got to eat, and the kids were all "starving." Leah and the girls sat outside, and I chose to sit inside with Grandmother. We had a nice visit over lunch and then I went outside to find my wife and kids. What I found out there, though, was my dad taking pictures of a shack. I asked him why he was taking pictures of it, and he said that it was the house he lived in when he was little. Interesting. I never remembered hearing about him living in a shack before, but maybe I just wasn't paying that good of attention growing up. Regardless, I'm sure he got some good pics once he hopped the fence, went through a gate, and got onto the property. I saw a herd of goats coming from where I was sitting and thought that I might get nearly as good a show as when he hopped a fence on the golf course, but the goats seemed to just ignore him. Oh, well, it could've been good. J

It didn't last much longer than a few hours, and we headed out about 2pm to go back to Dallas. On the way, we saw a B-52 doing touch and go at Barksdale, and we stopped a park I know that's at the end of the runway to watch for a little bit. The kids loved being that close to such a huge airplane. After we continued on our way, we stopped by Caci's house to see the remodeling and visit with the kids. It was a nice visit and the kids all had fun playing a little baseball in the backyard. Caci had to get to Tyler and we had to get to Dallas, though, so we were only there for about an hour.

We ended up getting home about 9:30pm and everyone went to straight to bed. It was a long day, but it was a lot of fun.

Hiro’s Heroes

With all the commentary on my last post, I thought I'd just start a new one to talk about this last episode. I will try to hide any spoiler information.

So, while I think that we should all team up and be writers for this show, since we've got a ton of good ideas between us, apparently the actual writers decided to go a much simpler route on the whole Claire storyline. The coroner just has a Jane Doe, so the parents aren't notified and the phone conveniently rings at just the right moment so no one sees Claire wake up. It's so easy and simple, why didn't we think of that?

Of course next week, she'll be in the hospital. As a result of the car wreck? And her parents (at least Mr. Bennett) know that she's there. Could also be that he takes her to the same place he's keeping officer Parkman.

The biggest things from this week, though, were getting to see Nikki kick some tail, Peter meeting with Mohinder, and Hiro (and his samurai sword) contacting Peter from the future.

So now we know that Nikki just has some sort of crazy dual personality. I guess she's more like the Incredible Hulk. It was really pretty satisfying to finally see it first-hand, though, instead of continuing to guess about it. Did anyone else notice that she had the symbol on her shoulder? But it appeared to be gone when Mr. Bennett was standing over the bed while the two were sleeping. Did I just miss it in the second scene, or is it only there when her alter ego takes over?

We also know that my theory about Mohinder's dad is incorrect. Windy already brought up a good point about that, and this week Mohinder himself confirmed that he saw the body and now has the ashes. I suppose it could have all been a ruse, but I'll go along with it for now. That put Peter in an interesting situation of trying to get Mohinder to believe in his dad's work, and Peter did confirm my theory that his power is not flight but mimicry. Ask Caci, I shared that one with her last week. Too bad they didn't get to meet with Isaac, but I did catch the fact that Peter drew the future after meeting with Isaac when Peter commented on it. I had missed that detail before. Of course, Peter didn't need heroin to draw the future, so maybe Isaac doesn't either. Maybe he just needs to learn to "free your mind, Neo." Oops, wrong story. I can't really see how NBC can continue to have a heroin addict as a hero; that really goes against the whole "the more you know" campaign.

Finally, Hiro, my favorite character so far. When time stopped on the train, I was really confused. Peter should only be able to do that when around Hiro, so it seemed impossible at first since Hiro was in Las Vegas, but I was overlooking the fact that Hiro can also move through time. It was so cool when he came into the train car, though, with a samurai sword on his back (at least that what it LOOKED LIKE to me) and speaking perfect English. He seemed so much more calm, experienced and confident, a very nice touch for the character. But what scar will Peter get? And why did he come to Peter? And why the heck is he wearing a sword??

Of course, I did love the scenes of Hiro and Ando in the Montecito (a little nod to "Las Vegas"). What were they thinking changing that guy's cards? That was running a little close to the edge. It would've been really cool to have a cameo of Danny and Mike throwing them out, though.

Overall, another great episode. I can't wait to see next week. I'm definitely hooked on this stuff!

Heroes Thought

So, I had a crazy thought last night about Heroes. It just came to me as I was starting to doze off for the night. This may contain spoilers, so highlight below to read:

Mohinder’s dad is pictured on the back of the book that he authored. They chose a fairly recognizable actor for that shot, and that got me to wondering if he is really dead. So, let’s assume that he’s not. Maybe he staged his death or reported news of his death to get his son to come to New York. Regardless, we never saw a funeral, a body, an obit, or any other evidence that his father is really dead. Going further down this line then, I started to wonder where he is, and here’s the kicker: he’s Sylar.

What??? I know that’s your first reaction, but think about it for a minute. Mohinder’s dad has been obsessed with this genetic theory for as long as anyone can remember. He’s written a book about all the possibilities and odds, and he apparently “discovered” patient zero. Suppose that patient zero is himself. He triggered the change in himself and created Sylar a la Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or The Incredible Hulk (if you want a superhero reference). He’s already demonstrated a collection of powers (telekinesis, possible mind control, possible phasing/flight/super speed) that could be result of experimentation. If we accept that this theory may be true, then we understand how Sylar has the same map in his apartment and the phrase “forgive me” starts to have a little more depth. He wants forgiveness for awakening the demon. It also fits with the circumstantial evidence of Sylar calling when he was not home. He could only leave a message because he is calling himself.

It’s a classic dual identity that appears in all superhero stories, but with a little more psychological twist to ground it in reality. And don’t forget that the whole “your father was killed by a young Jedi named Darth Vader” ruse worked well for a whole generation of movie-goers.

So where does this leave the other characters? Unknown. But it may cast Mr. Bennett in a different light. Suppose that our perspective is just a little off right now and that he worked with Mohinder’s dad. He’s seen what Sylar can do and he’s fearful that they all will turn evil. So he wants to stop them before they go bad. Based on the scenes from next week, he and his associate from the bar have captured Matt Parkman, so maybe that dialog will answer some more questions.

Let me know if you think I’m totally off my rocker here.

Crazy Headlines

I've seen a barrage of interesting news stories the past few days, and I wonder if you've seen any of these. If you have, I wonder if you had the same thoughts on them as I. I really feel like there are critical details left out of most stories that could help us really evaluate them better and make better decisions. Here are some examples and my immediate reactions:

• Be advised, hemorrhoid cream not for the face - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15144530/wid/11915773?GT1=8618 – Are the people that made this newsworthy buttheads? And if they are, then is it okay for them?
  
• If a game is on TV, guys wait to go to ER - http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15213019/wid/11915773?GT1=8618 – What are guys doing while the game is on TV that makes this an issue? How dangerous is my recliner?
  
• Garbage Disposal Maker Sues NBC Over 'Heroes' Scene - http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-garbagedisposalmakersuesheroes,0,1817275.story?coll=zap-news-headlines – Apparently, the scene in the first episode where Claire puts her hand into the disposer "'casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product' by suggesting that serious injuries will result 'in the event consumers were to accidentally insert their hand into one.'" So what would really happen if I "accidentally" put my hand into the disposer? Is it worse than "serious injuries" or not quite as bad?
  
• 'Runaway Bride' Sues Ex-Fiancée - http://www.nbc5i.com/news/10042380/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=nationalnews – She's suing the guy for $500,000, and she's the one that left. Is he counter-suing for $600,000 to cover the costs of searching for her and the emotional pain and trauma of thinking his fiancée was kidnapped and then finding out that she was just crazy?
  

Let me know if you've seen any stories along these lines lately.

Welcome Home

I was so glad to hear those words on Saturday evening! The kids jumped out of the van and ran to meet me at the door when they saw me finally emerge from the airport terminal; it was really great. I think Sydney believed I had been at the airport the whole time, and the other kids were certain that they had seen my particular plane land. I didn't care, I just loved seeing and hearing them again.

My flight back was not as smooth as when I headed out. We ran into several patches of turbulence, and I had an interesting seat neighbor. When Leah and were in Europe we took an overnight train from Rome to Paris. On that trip, we were bunk mates with an odd fellow who had an indescribable odor and multiple bags of strange sandwiches. We couldn't hardly rest for the smell and constant rummaging for snacks from the other side of the cabin. It was a similar experience on my flight back to DFW.

The odor was not really there, but she did have the bags and bags of sandwiches in every flavor imaginable. She kept offering some to me, but I was not having any part of it. I just put in my headphones and turned on the PSP to watch a movie. Undeterred, she continued to try to converse with me for a short while before realizing that I preferred to be left alone.

We did get to do a pretty close flyby of Mount Hood on the way out of Portland, which was really cool since there was cloud cover. You could just see the top of the mountain above the clouds and off in the distance you could see Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. My camera couldn't see Rainier or St. Helens, but I got a couple of shots of Mt. Hood for you to enjoy. See below.

Saturday, October 7, 2006

Cannon Beach

I drove out to the coast again today. I went to Cannon Beach this time. If you saw The Goonies, then I'm sure that you'll remember Haystack Rock from the movie. They had to line the rock up in the skeleton to figure out part of the treasure map. Anyway, Haystack Rock is at Cannon Beach, and since it's only a little over an hour from Portland, I decided to head out there.

The town of Cannon Beach is a pretty quant little tourist stop that probably would have held Leah's attention for hours had she been here. Since she was not, I was able to focus on my mission: see and photograph Haystack Rock. I figured out a place to park and headed out to the beach. Once I got to the beach, I could see the huge rock. It seemed much closer than it actually was. I probably walked about 1.5 miles to get close enough to the rock to start taking pics.

Walking on the beach was different than other beaches that I've been to. The sand didn't seem as deep and it was loose only very far away from the surf. The closer you got to the water the more packed it became, and mostly it was like walking on asphalt. I didn't even hardly leave footprints. The sand was also really shiny as you'll see in the pics. It almost looked like water, but it's really not.

Also, the wind was really cold. I was bundled up in my coat and wishing that I had more warm clothes with me. Anyway, I spent a while watching the sunset and taking pics before I headed back to Portland. It was really a pretty cool beach. A beach with character. Enjoy the pics.

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Back in Portland

Today was fairly uneventful. I spent the day with Aunt Sis hanging out around Springfield. We've watched more movies this weekend than most people watch in a month. I brought Lucky Number Slevin and Doom with me, so we watched both of those. You can pretty much pass on Doom unless you really enjoyed the game; and for those of you that did, you'll appreciate the nod to John Carmack in the movie. Lucky Number Slevin was really good, though, and I do recommend it to anyone that likes a quick and witty movie. Today we also saw Fearless and Zathura. Fearless was really good; I'll probably end up buying it; Zathura was pretty much Jumanji part 2, and worked for passing the time until I had to drive to Portland.

When we went to see Fearless I realized one more thing that makes Springfield different than Dallas. Well, two more things. First, the mall has so few visitors that they actually have a large section of the parking lot roped off as a used car lot. Now, we have some pretty big malls in Dallas, but this is the first one that I've ever been to where I could buy books, clothes, video games, eat, watch a movie, get my hair done, and drive home in a new car. Second, it's the first mall that I've been to with two different movie theaters. Interestingly, the only two movie theaters in Springfield. One is a dollar movie and the other is for new released. They're both Cinemark theaters, which makes cuts down on competition, and I suppose it makes it easy for staffing. You can just send people across the hall to man the concession stand at the other theater.

Anyway, the drive up to Portland was pretty easy. I think it's probably the longest stretch of straight road in the whole state, so we were able to drive about 70mph. A nice Texas size speed. Later in the week, I'll probably try to meet Aunt Sis somewhere for one last meal before I head back to Dallas. Right now, I'm getting ready for bed so I can get to class in the morning.

The Oregon Coast

Today Aunt Sis and I headed out to the coast, but we couldn't start our day without a little adventure right here in Eugene. Like me, Aunt Sis is an avid reader, so on the way out of town we had to stop by the bookstore to get the next book in a series that she is reading. As we rounded the corner to enter the store, Aunt Sis almost bowled a guy over and nearly messed her shoes. She didn't realize it, but she nearly had a collision with a man that was busy trying to relieve himself. He was obviously proud of himself, too, as he didn't even bother to turn himself toward the building. No sir, he pulled it out right in the middle of the sidewalk and watered the lawn so to speak. It was quite shocking. Whatever thoughts of moving to Eugene I may have had; they have all not been dispelled.

Aunt Sis did manage to keep her feet dry, and we found her book in the pile of nearly sorted paperbacks on the second floor of the store. After we paid, we were ready to get on the road. I'll tell what 's really amazing here in Oregon is that the roads wind so much that you can drive 10 or 15 minutes and only go one mile west. It only took about an hour to get to Florence, though, and once there we headed north. Aunt Sis assured me, for several miles, that we were about to see the ocean on the left. It took a while longer than she implied, but when we finally saw it, I nearly wrecked the car. It was breathtaking.

I'm not big on beaches like the Florida or Texas coast, but this rocky coast with waves crashing all over the place was amazing. We drove just a short way and stopped off at a tourist attraction simply called the Sea Lion Caves. It's a lookout over the ocean with a small cave in the rocks below where sea lions gather. I have uploaded some pics for you to enjoy below. It was really cool to see the animals playing in the ocean and with each other out in the wild. Apparently, you can also see whales migrating from this point, too, if you are there at the right time of year. We were about a month early for that they said.

From the Sea Lion Caves, we could also see the Heceta light house. It was really beautiful, and my pictures below do not do it justice. According to the sign, it is the most photographed light house in the world, so I'm sure you can find better pictures somewhere else. After all that, I'm not sure that I could live up here, but I know that I could definitely spend more time exploring these mountains and the coastline. It's just beautiful, and I can't wait until I get a chance to bring the kids up here.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Mexican Food….In Oregon?

My flight in yesterday was fairly uneventful. I checked my bags so that I wouldn't be able to blow up the plane with shaving cream, hair gel or toothpaste. Never mind that they let me take my laptop, PSP, cell phone, GPS unit, and digital camera on the plane with me. I mean, really, could any of those be explosive, or better yet, trigger an explosive device? I don't know. I just don't feel any safer knowing that the guy next to me wasn't allowed to bring deodorant on the plane.

Anyway, the flight was smooth. It's just long. Then after I got off the plane, I drove from Portland to Bend. Which was just about as long again but in a car. At least I didn't have some guy with no deodorant sitting next to me. The drive was nice, but you get out of the mountains fairly quickly and the Eastern part of Oregon is really pretty flat and featureless. It's very much like the plains.

Today, I went to visit our client in Redmond (yes, they have one in Oregon, too, Dad), and I took some of them out to lunch. They all wanted to go eat Mexican, and I agreed. It wasn't like any Mexican restaurant that I've ever been to before, though.

They brought out tortilla chips and salsa like anywhere else, but they really messed me up with the menu. The first page was all about hamburgers. Every which way you could get one made, but none of them really had much Mexican flair. The next page was all about pasta. It was like an excerpt from an Olive Garden menu. After that was seafood. What kind of Mexican place is this? Finally, on the back page they give you a choice between burritos, tacos and fajitas.

I've never really been to a Mexican restaurant that didn't specialize in Mexican food, but I've also never been one to where the wait staff didn't speak Spanish. Oh well, it's interesting up here in Oregon.

After all that, I headed out in the car again to see Aunt Sis in Springfield. I'm actually at her house now, but she's not home from work yet. On my way over, I got back into the mountains and saw some beautiful scenery. It was kind of tough to take decent pictures while driving 70 down a two lane road with no shoulder (hence the reason I couldn't stop to get a good pic), but I gave it my best. Enjoy my first few photos from this trip below.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Art Teachers Beware

"An award-winning Texas art teacher…has lost her job." So begins one of the hot stories of the day here in the metroplex. Check out the full article at http://www.nbc5i.com/education/9936513/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=nationalnews

Here are the basic facts. The principal approved a field trip for the fifth grade. The parents signed permission slips for their kids to go to the art museum. The kids saw a nude sculpture. The teacher lost her job. Is anyone else baffled by this?

I can maybe see where a parent wouldn't want their kids to see a nude sculpture, but I can't imagine a parent approving their kids to go to an art museum and then being surprised that their kids saw a nude sculpture. That's part of art. It's been a part of art as long as art's been around. It's not surprising, shocking, or new. The only shock here is that the parents apparently didn't know there would be nude sculptures.

If you could take kids to any art museum in the world, wouldn't you want to take them to the Louvre? Heaven forbid that they see Venus de Milo, though. Not only is she one of the greatest art finds of all time, not only is she missing arms, but her breasts are exposed. Worse yet, we could take them to Florence and show them Michelangelo's David. Oh no, is that a nude man? It's just ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong. I don't advocate provocative, borderline porn as art. I don't advocate pushing the limits of reason and getting away with it by labeling it art. I am, however, a fan of art itself, and I am a fan of the great masters that have been able to capture the beauty of the human form. There is nothing wrong with the human form. It just is. We don't need to broadcast our privates to the world, but we also don't need to be ashamed of God's work of art.

One of the great revolutions of the Renaissance was the nude form. Not because the artists wanted to see naked people. Not because it was titillating (just look at the art; it's not getting anyone's engine going). Because they wanted to understand the human form. It was the precursor to modern anatomy and physiology classes. The leading edge of modern medicine. It's a part of our general collective knowledge, and it's a good thing.

It really concerns me that an obviously outstanding teacher can be run out of town with a huge blemish on her record for something so silly as a field trip to an art museum and for doing nothing wrong.

Fall Premieres

Let me hear your thoughts on this television season. What do you think about the new shows? How about the ones that are returning? Here's my take so far:

Most Missed:

Invasion – I really enjoyed this show last season and was looking forward to finding out what happens to Underlay and Larkin. Did the aliens heal her? What about the baby? I really miss this one.

Most Promise:

Heroes – If you missed the premiere last night, find somewhere online to download it. Unlike many other serial dramas, this show is moving very quickly and creating quite an intriguing story already. I don't want to ruin it for anyone so, highlight the rest to see some of my questions. [Possible spoilers follow] Did anyone else notice that the cheerleader was picked up by the news camera when she ran into the fire? I wonder if that will come up in later episodes. Did the cheerleader's dad know she was special when they adopted her? Or is he oblivious to her connection to the others? Were the others also adopted? What is the significance of the eclipse? Did anyone else notice that that was one of the paintings? And by the way, weren't the paintings cool? I think the art department did a great job on those giving them a slight comic book feel. What's the genetic theory that the Indian professor believes? Is the online porn star good, bad, or just confused? I mean she's trying to take care of her kids, but she (or her doppelganger) brutally killed two thugs. And can both of the brothers fly? Or just one? And is he a force for good or evil? [Spoilers end] I just can't wait until next Monday to see more.

Jericho – Another great drama. This one is moving more slowly, but the acting could make it worthwhile. It's really great that we, the audience, don't know any more about the situation in Jericho than the residents. I'll be watching this for a while to see how the story unfolds.

Good but not Great:

Vanished – Getting stale already. They need to find Sarah soon or I'll be tuned out.

Smith – A pretty good premiere with Ray Liotta doing a great job as usual. Lots of questions raised, but then also some bonehead moves by these professional criminals. If they can stay ahead of the law, this could be pretty interesting. If it gets bogged down in a weekly police interrogation, barely skating out of trouble type show, then I'll be out.

Returning Shows:

NCIS – I really enjoy this show. Mark Harmon is great and the banter of the team is always lively. Suspending belief for an hour is worth it to enjoy the ride.

The Unit – Interesting start for the season. Seems like they are trying to go a little deeper with the wives this time around. Definitely worth watching.

Lost – Getting a little old. We'll see how the season starts out, but I want to see some big changes if they are going to keep my attention for a third season.

Grey's Anatomy – I missed the premiere, but I'm sure it was more of the same. Meredith whining about her life, pouting around the hospital, being a little brat. I'm pretty much over this one.

Smallville – Coming up this week. Will Clark finally fly?

Supernatural – After a great first season and a big cliffhanger I wonder how this second season will unfold? This is one of my favorites, and I'm really looking forward to Thursday night.

Battlestar Galactica – Along with The Shield, one of the best shows on television. If you haven't been watching this, you're really missing out. The upcoming season promises to share some flashback scenes from the missing year, more revelations about the Cylon society, and a deeper investigation into what it means to be human.

The Amazing Race – Leah got me hooked on this a couple of seasons ago, but I quit watching about halfway through the family edition season. It was way too lame. This season has some promise, though, so I'm back to watching. I just wish they could find another couple like Rob and Amber; they were the best!

Back to School

As I understand it, my mother has been trying to predict the date that I would return to school since the afternoon of my graduation from Texas A&M when I celebrated finally being done. She says that it has something to do with an insatiable curiosity and desire to learn that’s just part of the genetic makeup of our family. Maybe she’s right.

I’ll be participating in a Graduate Certificate program at SMU during the winter semester (October through February). It’s not a degree program, but it’s still school. Mom wins, and I win. I’ll be in school but not officially.

If anyone is interested in the gritty details, the program is officially call the Business Intelligence Graduate Certificate Program. It’s about learning to analyze data using statistics, discrete optimization, simulation, database manipulation, data mining, and knowledge management for all kinds of business problems. I think it’s going to be pretty interesting.

You can read more on the SMU/Cox website.