Kindred

Softball was rained out last night, so I actually got to watch Heroes on a Monday night. Very nice. Highlight below to see what I thought:

Niki and Micah said goodbye to D.L. Apparently, D.L.'s injuries were too severe for him to survive at the end of last season, so his final scene was as a grave marker in some Las Vegas cemetery. Of course, it's also possible that Niki lost control of Jessica and killed him in his sleep one night. Anyway, Micah is now in New Orleans with a relative (how many classic Star Trek actors are going to appear on this show anyway?) that could be his grandmother. She looks pretty scary to me, though, and Leah thinks that it's actually her eyes that Molly is seeing in her dreams.

Niki wants to be cured and has made some sort of deal with the company to make that happen, but she has to do something for them first. I wonder who they want killed. I'll bet that they send her after the Bennetts.

Mohinder is setup in Isaac's old apartment and is continuing to work for the company. He thinks that he's pulling a fast one on them, but I think that they let him in to try and locate the Bennetts. I did enjoy the scene where he comes back to his apartment and Matt pulls a gun on him. They bickered just like a married couple.

Claire is getting closer to the flying kid at school, and I still think that's trouble. At first I thought that he was sent to gain her trust and then use it against her. Now I think that he's just disturbed and he's using her to get back at her dad. There's no doubt that he has issues with the "man in the horn rimmed glasses," and with all the times he's been peeking in her windows, I find it hard to believe that he's never noticed that the man that kidnapped him is Claire's dad. I wonder if he's going to be the one to kill Mr. Bennett.

Speaking of which, the final painting that Mr. Bennett was searching for shows that he is going to die from what appears to be a gunshot wound. It also looked like Claire is going to be a witness and that someone else will be there either hugging Claire or restraining her. We can't really tell from what I saw whether that person is the killer or not. It definitely could be the flying kid or it could be the same person that killed Mr. Nakamura.

With Claire realizing that her dad kidnapped her new boyfriend and Mr. Bennett seeing his death in a painting, I suspect that we'll have a much cooler atmosphere between the two of them in the next few episodes. I just hope that that doesn't necessarily lead to the events of the painting. Remember that not everything Isaac has painted came true despite the fact that someone (I don't recall who) said last night that they had all come true. New York didn't go nuclear, Claire wasn't killed by Sylar, and this painting doesn't have to happen either.

Hiro is getting better. I mean the actor is getting better. Hiro is still a little annoying, but he did seem somewhat more mature in a few of the scenes last night. I really enjoyed the moment when he put Kensei in front of the 90 angry Ronin and left him there. "Exactly how angry are they?" What a great line!

I think it's ironic that Hiro is the only one so far that has the classic superhero double-identity going. He's both Hiro and Kensei to the princess, and I suspect that he's going to figure out over time that he is his own childhood hero. The only thing that I'm still trying to figure out is why he is writing notes to Ando and how did Ando actually get them? Maybe I'm looking too deep into this, but I see two problems with that plan. First, how likely is it that Ando is the first person in 337 years to notice that butt of the sword says "Open this, Ando," and that it contains notes written by Hiro? Second, if Hiro can travel through time and space, when he returns to his time, why wouldn't he just return to Kirby Plaza right about the same time he left? If he didn't do that, how would he know what time to return to?

Anyway, I still don't trust the real Kensei, and I don't think that he is actually going to be the hero that Hiro wants him to be. I feel pretty sure that he is going to end up being a bad guy, and despite Leah's theories about Micah's relatives, I still believe that he is the man Molly sees in her dreams.

I'm about tired of the whole Maya and Alejandro story already. I really hope that we're not three more episodes into the season and they are still "somewhere in Mexico." Of course, last night, we saw Maya use her power intentionally, but she still didn't kill anyone. I guess that was because Alejandro was able to clear things up quickly. The way things happened, though, it seems like it's not just her tears that cause the problem (if it's her tears at all). It seemed like she had to get a little angry or maybe scared to set things off. With them picking up another fugitive, though, I suspect that we'll get some sort of an explanation. He'll be asking questions about what happened back at the jail.

Sylar finally showed back up, too. I really hope that this season doesn't turn into another Sylar's power of the week series, though. We've already done that, and I don't want to do it again. My preference would have been for him to just stay dead, but since that didn't happen, I am interested in figuring out why his powers are gone. Just as the scene opened on the beach, I figured out that the girl was Candice. I guess she lived, and she also revealed that she is the one who saved Sylar. Makes you wonder who she is really working for because it's someone further up the chain than Linderman. Too bad she had to die for Sylar to realize that he can't even collect new powers, but at least now we know what she really looked like. Last season she made an off-hand comment to Micah about being ugly and overweight while she was holding him prisoner, and now we know for sure that that was the real her.

Now, about Peter. The guy has obviously been working out, and he's really enjoying showing that off. How many scenes this season have we seen him without a shirt? How many more are there to come? Maybe the ladies don't mind, but that's getting old for me.

Again, I hope that we don't have to go through another season of Peter trying to figure out how to use his powers. He's too cool for that. I just want him to get everything under control and move on. The bad thing is that it looks like he's about to walk down a criminal path just for fun and because no one can stop him. I hope that he gets that out of his system pretty quickly, though.

The interesting question to me is whether or not those guys were supposed to find him. They were sent to steal some merchandise from that ship and they found Peter instead. Is someone pulling strings and playing him? Or is this just all coincidence? And the company has managed to find and track a large number of "specials" in the past, do they not know where Peter is located? And if they do, then have they or will they notify Angela Petrelli? It seems like they would.

At the end, though, Peter got inked into the clan. My first thought was to question how he could even be tattooed since the wound would heal so fast. That seemed to be answered by the fact that the tattoo disappeared. Interestingly, it appeared to change shape into the "godsend" symbol before it disappeared, though. Why would it do that? Was that just stylistic for the audience? Or is there something in their DNA that's linked to that symbol? Remember that Niki doesn't have a tattoo but Jessica does have one that is also the "godsend" symbol. Is that linked to whatever happened to the tattoo on Peter's arm? I guess we'll just have to keep watching to find out.

Tour of Texas

Every once in a while, Leah and I try to get away for at least one night, and with four kids, that only happens once or twice a year. This past weekend was one of those weekends, and we were planning to be away for two nights. Leah actually was planning to surprise me with a getaway to Austin, but she wanted to put in a round of golf and didn't know where I would want to play, so she ended up having to tell me beforehand so I could set a tee time. Regardless, it was a very nice idea and a sweet gesture to set up a surprise trip.

Since Leah has to work on Sunday mornings, our two nights away were Thursday and Friday. Aunt Sis and a couple of friends of ours would watch the kids and help get them back and forth to school while we were away, and then Aunt Sis planned to take the girls to my mom's Friday night. More on that later.

I took off Thursday and Friday and Leah and I left for Austin Thursday morning. We had a nice, easy drive down and got to our hotel in the mid-afternoon. We were staying at the top of the downtown Hilton. Leah had set us up on the Executive floor with the "Romance Package." Basically, that meant that we had some extra amenities on our floor like breakfast, drinks, and evening appetizers in the lounge, we got free breakfast in bed or a dinner at the restaurant downstairs, and we got chocolate covered strawberries and champagne in our room. It was pretty cool since we had never done anything like that before.

Since our hotel was downtown, we walked around down there a bit Thursday afternoon while we were trying to decide what to do for dinner. Finally, we settled on going to get barbecue on the other side of town. It was really good barbecue, though. We ate at The County Line, which is situated on a hill on the west side of Austin and has a great view from the patio at sunset. So we got a good view and even better food. What a deal!

The next day, we went to play golf. Leah did really well on the few holes that she played, but I think she had more fun driving the cart around and watching me. I played fairly well, but it wasn't the best course I've ever played on. The ground was really hard and the greens were pretty rough. Regardless, it was a well spent four hours.

We had our dinner at the hotel that night, and like most other hotels, the food was just okay. It was nothing compared to The County Line. Afterward, we just went back to our room and, like most other couples with kids dream of doing, enjoyed a television show without screaming kids in the background. We were both pretty worn out after being out in the heat all day at the golf course.

Saturday morning, we got up, checked out of the hotel, and started on journey home with intentions of shopping at the outlet mall in Roundrock after lunch. As we headed to the mall, we got a call from Aunt Sis. Remember that she had taken the girls to see Mom and was supposed to be headed home at the same time. She was calling to say that they had gotten on the road and had made it all the way to I-20 and a little past Marshall when they stopped at a rest area to rearrange the children. After everyone was situated, they tried to get back on the road, but they couldn't get the van to start.

We arranged for Mom to pick up Aunt Sis and the girls and take them back to her house, Leah and I diverted onto highway 79 and set out across Texas to meet Aunt Sis and the kids at Mom's house, and Jeffrey was alerted to meet us at the rest area later that evening to see if the two of us could get the van going. Six hours and one stop at Wal-Mart later (I didn't have a car charger for my phone) we finally arrived at Mom's. The plan, at that point, was for Leah and the girls to take me back to the rest area where Jeffrey would meet me, Leah and Aunt Sis would head home with the girls so they could be at church the next morning, and Jeffrey and I would figure out something to do with the van.

It was about 10pm by the time Leah headed for home, and Jeffrey and I couldn't get the van to do anything. The two of us just went back to his new house in Bossier to rest and regroup before trying to tackle the next problem: how to get the van fixed or back to Sachse. My idea was to rent a car trailer and truck from U-Haul and just tow the car back to Sachse on a one-way rental. U-Haul had a slightly different plan.

I went into the U-Haul place by Jeffrey's house early Sunday morning and told them the plan. They said that they couldn't rent me the car dolly (two wheels up) because a Windstar is too wide for that. I would have to rent the full car trailer (four wheels up). Further, they said that they couldn't rent me an F-150 because it wouldn't be able to pull a Windstar. As a matter of fact, they said that the smallest thing that they could rent me that would pull it was a 14 foot moving van.

We went down that road a little way until I figured out that I was going to have to pay for two days of rental time to do a one-way deal, and they had no way to make it just one day. Ridiculous. I didn't want to pay for more than double the time that I needed and the total cost for that whole deal was going to be about $400. Of course, that was still less expensive than trying to get a wrecker to take it to Dallas, and it would be more convenient than waiting in Marhsall for someone to fix it on Monday. Regardless, I figured that there still had to be a better way.

As it turned out, while I was explaining the situation to Leah, a man at our church overheard the conversation and offered to bring his F-250 to me and pull the van home. All we needed to do was get the trailer. Well, the U-Haul lady where I was said that an F-250 couldn't pull it either. Jeffrey and I just laughed at her and informed her that either the computer was wrong or she was reading it wrong because an F-250 wouldn't even know it was back there. No big deal, though, because we weren't going to rent the trailer from her anyway.

I got Leah to rent a trailer from a U-Haul place in McKinney on an in-town deal so we wouldn't have to pay for two days, and our friend Don brought the trailer to me behind his F-250. Now, there was only one problem left to solve. We needed a way to get the van on the trailer. Since it wasn't running, we couldn't drive it up there, and there is no way that three guys would be able to push it up there. I had already asked the U-Haul lady that I had been talking to if we could get a trailer with a winch on it, and she said that U-Haul didn't have anything like that at all. I guess they figure that people only ever put cars that are running on trailers.

Thankfully, Jeffrey knows a guy in Bossier that had a come-along and some chain we could use. Problem solved. All we had to do at that point was wait for Don to get to Marshall. Once he got there, we hooked everything up and pulled the van up on the trailer. Of course, that took some time. The come-along didn't move very far on each turn and we had to reset it and do it again a couple of times to get the van all the way up, but we finally made it, and Don and I were on the road to Sachse.

Once we got around my house, I directed Don to the mechanics, and we dumped the van in the parking lot for them to look at today. Getting if off of that trailer sure was easier that putting it on. We just had to push a little and she rolled right off. Now, the mechanics are working on it, and they just called to report that that offending part is a fuel pump sensor. Of course, it's only a couple of hundred dollars for a part that's probably smaller than my little toe, but isn't that always the way it goes with car repairs?

So after all of that my four hour trip home from Austin ended up taking closer to thirty. I am so glad to be home!

Lizards

Monday night softball games are killing me. I hate having to post these a day late. Oh well, softball only lasts until November, but then again, there's always the spring season. I guess I'll have to tell the league that my team can't play on Monday nights in the spring because of Heroes. I did finally get to see the latest episode, though. Highlight below to read my thoughts:

Peter is AWESOME! The whole learning his powers again deal is going to get hold fast, though, so I hope that they don't drag his storyline out too long. The way that he handled the guys in the bar, though, was sweet. Apparently, he picked up all of Sylar's powers when they met at the end of last season, too, because he was moving things (people) with just a wave of his hand. The Irishmen seem to have not figured out that they were actually sent to find Peter, but I think that they know more than we think at this point. I mean where did the box come from? Someone wants them to know about him and to use him, and I think they're playing him to see just how powerful he really is.

Hiro is still fun and has his great moments. I love the "Battle of Twelve Swords." Very cool move, but when is he going to figure out that he can't keep jacking with history. That's what got terrorist Hiro into trouble in the future last season. Of course, I'm still waiting on him to mature into a similar character to the terrorist Hiro and get away from sounding so whiny all the time.

The cool deal is that Kensei is one of them. I theorized last week that Molly is seeing Kensei in her dreams, and I think that is still true. Now that we know he can heal, then we have to wonder if he can die. Or at the very least, it would make sense that his healing power would give him extraordinarily long life. So he could still be around haunting Molly's dreams. Additionally, I'm going to refine my theory and say that the reason she only sees his eyes is because he's wearing a samurai mask. I don't remember who gave me that idea, but I like it and if you're reading: thanks!

How does the symbol play into all of this? Kensei is supposed to go and rescue the sword maker, and the symbol is on his daughter's sword. Is the sword maker one of them also? Or does Kensei just adopt the symbol over time? And how does that symbol end up tattooed on Nikki/Jessica's shoulder? Was she engineered?

Speaking of being engineered, I still think that Mohinder was genetically engineered to be the cure for his sister's disease. I theorized on that last season, and I still believe that it is true. I just wish that we knew more about the disease, what it does, and how it spreads. Interestingly, when talking to Mohinder, the company agent indicated that he already knew that Mohinder is the key and that he had saved Molly. If he knows that, then I'm still thinking that there is a disconnect between last season and this with the whole Mohinder working for the company angle.

Matt is investigating Nakamura's death and he's met up with Nathan and Angela Petrelli again. I loved the scene where Angela screamed at him to get out of her head, but his line of questioning (based solely on what he's reading in her head) is going to generate suspicion with his superiors. He needs to keep that in check. But what in the world was after Angela in the interrogation room? Was is the man that Molly sees in her dreams? Was it the same person that killed Nakamura? At first I thought it might be the same and that Nakamura might have been alone and just believed that he was being pushed, but remember that Ando saw two people. When Matt and Nathan saw Angela they didn't see anyone else, so this attack was definitely different, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was a different person doing it.

I did like seeing Nathan step up to save his mother instead of just wallowing around in self pity like last week. Maybe over the course of the season he'll regrow his backbone and help out. I would imagine that reuniting him with Peter is all he really needs to get going.

I was very happy to see the Haitian return and I loved the way that they shot the scene of him leaving and Mohinder not even remembering where he was. That was classic. And now he's hooked back up with Mr. Bennett. That could go two different ways. Either they are going to work together to help everyone (and they will make a formidable team) or they are going to slip back into old habits and it's going to stir up controversy. I'm betting on a little of the latter.

Also south of the border, Maya and Alejandro are still trying to get to America. Finally, we got to see a little of her power, though. My guess is that she can't cry. When she cries, that greasy junk comes out of her eyes and kills everyone around except Alejandro. Alejandro appears to have the other half of the power (which makes sense since they are twins) and he can absorb the bad junk and clear it out. He kind of reminded me of Michael Clark Duncan's character in The Green Mile. It makes me wonder if he could do the same with someone else or if his power only works on Maya. The thing that I still don't understand, though, is exactly what happens to cause death. The lady that was crossing the river with them didn't die. She just passed out or something. Did she come back because of Alejandro? Or did Maya just not get far enough gone to kill her?

Finally, Claire. We know for sure this week that Mrs. Bennett remembers what happened and that she knows about Claire's powers. I assume that that means that Lyle also knows and remembers. Claire's just pushing a little too hard to let her secret out, though. She flirting with danger and she's bound to run into some. I hope that this season doesn't all revolve around saving her again, though. That would be bad. I did love it when she cut off her toe, though, and it grew back. Not only was it cool special effects, but it tells us a little more about her abilities. Now, I just can't figure out why she never looked up when Mr. Muggles was about to have a caniption about getting something that was above him. And what's going to happen to the toe that she cut off? I wonder if that's going to turn up somewhere that it shouldn't and be used against her. I'm still suspicious of the flying kid, so I expect that he'll swipe it and take it to his masters while continuing to try and woo Claire.

HoneyDo

Nearly every husband in the world has a HoneyDo list somewhere that they are constantly working on, and nearly every one of those lists contains a line item that reads something like "Kill Bugs!" It doesn't matter if you actually have bugs in your house or not. If you do, then it means to kill the ones that are there and don't let any new ones in. If you don't, then it means to kill the bugs outside so they can't get ever get in. Either way it's the man's mission.

Some men approach this as the CEO of their home. They hire the lowest bidding pest control company they can find in the yellow pages, or at least the first pest control company that they find. Other men approach this as the General Manager of their homes. They head down to the Home Depot or some other pest supply store and find all of the traps and pesticides necessary to do a good job and create a virtual barrier to the outside world of six-legged critters. Virtual red tape you could say. Finally, the last few men left approach this more like the Temp Receptionist for the day and just do what it takes for now because no one worries about tomorrow until its tomorrow.

This last group might make some dramatic display with a shoe as they squish the one bug that they saw today not ever considering the others that might be hiding in the dark, they might take a deft swipe with a fly swatter at the flying insects as if they were practicing for their next round of racquetball, or they might set their house on fire. Because not only is fire a dramatic way to end a bug's life, it also has a tendency to get into those hard to reach corners where the little critters like to hide.

There are definitely some major drawbacks to the fire approach: water damage from trying to extinguish the flames, smoke inhalation, possible death, potential arson charges, and of course, fire damage. None of these are to be taken lightly, but if you've tried everything else and you just can't get rid of those bugs then I would suggest a small wad of newspaper carefully placed between the rafters and a safety match or small lighter (strike anywhere matches are far too dangerous; we're not trying to set the house on fire). Insects hate smoke so they'll either suffocate or flee. Just be sure to put the fire out before your house actually does catch on fire unless you want to end up like this guy:

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/14250002/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=nationalnews

Thankfully, the assistant Greensboro Fire Chief has said, "We certainly do not advocate the burning out of these insects, although it may work." Tell me that's not an invitation for someone else to try. So the next time my wife asks me to get rid of the bugs, I'm sure she'll here me, at some point, say, "Don't worry dear, the assistant Greensboro Fire Chief says that this may work, and who would know better than a fireman?"

Sneezing Your Head Off

I like to think that I'm proof that God has a sense of humor. Not because of my looks, although my sister might disagree, but because of my allergies. I'm a guy that loves the outdoors. My favorite things to do involve hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, golf, etc., but there's a problem. I'm basically allergic to air. Why would God make a guy with so much desire to be outside be allergic to almost every tree and grass that an allergist would test for? Obviously it's for laughs. I just haven't decided if he likes to see how many times I'll sneeze if I go outside or if he's more interested in seeing how many different things I'll try in order to be comfortable when I'm outside.

To my knowledge, I've tried nearly everything that conventional medicine has to offer, and I'm still only able to breathe through my mouth. I don't even know what it's like to breathe through my nose when I sleep. I wake up every morning with a sore throat because my mouth has dried out from having it open all night long. I did allergy shots for a few years and it was okay except that my arms always itched and I developed some food allergies (we still don't know what it was, but if you've never had your tongue itch and your lips swell up, then you'll know that it wasn't pleasant). I've taken probably half a dozen different allergy medications over the years. I've tried nose sprays (most of which smell like honeysuckle to me and just make me sneeze more although the stuff I have now if more like snorting napalm; I swear I can feel a draft behind my eyeballs after I take a hit) and eye drops, too. I still suffer.

Not only that but all of these drugs affect my ability to concentrate, stay awake, and my moods. Some of the pills that work fairly well have the tradeoff of turning me into a raging lunatic (like screaming, yelling, thowing things, Bobby Knight wannabe). That's not a very good trade in my opinion, and with my job, I can't afford to not be able to concentrate; I get paid to sit around and think stuff up.

Given all of that, I'm on the verge of a breakthrough. Remember the guy that only ate McDonald's for thirty days just to see what would happen? Well, I'm seriously considering starting a quest to find serious allergy relief. I want to break away from the traditional therapies that so far have not served me well and see if there is any truth at all to the alternative therapies that you read about on the web. To start, I'm going to use bee pollen.

Apparently, from ancient times people have ingested bee pollen to ward of allergies. The idea is very similar to immunotherapy (allergy shots) in that you are introducing some of the allergen into your system to build up a resistance so that when you go outside you won't react so dramatically. The danger, obviously, is that you are intentionally ingesting something to which you know you are allergic. I'm going to start really small on Sunday and test the product for one week. I'll start with one granule and gradually increase each day until I get to the recommended teaspoon dosage. We'll see how things go from there. Maybe it will work and I'll be free from drugs. Maybe it won't, and we'll move on to something else.

What do you think? Am I crazy for even considering this?

Dog Turds

So apparently I'm broken because I don't like shows that stink like steaming dog turds wrapped in burnt hair, and the rest of you are normal. I mean, if you like watching shows where the main actor covers his inability to act by faking a seizure every time he's supposed to be doing something "psychic" then I suppose "Psych" is for you. If you'd rather watch a show with a little bit of cerebral humor and wit, then check out "Eureka" or "Burn Notice." It's really up to you.

I just think it's interesting that I've gotten more comments over Caci disagreeing with me than anything else that I've posted in a long time. So I'm shooting for more posts that Caci can disagree with me on to try and boost the volume of readers on my blog. Obviously, sibling bickering is a big draw, so I'm going to go ahead and say that the only way they could make "Psych" worse is if they put in a character that looked like Elvis and let him live in a house decorated with Gone With the Wind memorabilia. Now I just sit back and let the ripping begin.

Just be careful, I had Tex-Mex for lunch, so you might get more than bargained for.

Four Months Later

I have no idea what ever happened to those special episodes that were supposed to air over the summer. I guess I missed them with all the things that need to be done in the process of raising kids. Regardless, the wait is over. I've finally seen the Season 2 premiere (a day late), and I'm impressed. When you wait all summer for a great show to return, you start to get anxious that your expectations might be too high or that the show won't be able to pull off the same magic they did when it was new. All of those fears were for naught. This season started with a bang and a billion questions. I can't wait to see how they are all resolved. As usual, highlight below to read my thoughts:

Jumping four months ahead has given the writers plenty of room to change things up and created some built in mystery right off the bat. What has everyone been doing in that missing window of time? How did they get to the places where we find them in this premiere episode? I'm sure that we'll see some of that backstory at some point during the season; for now it just leads to speculation.

Suresh is traveling the world trying to convince people that the heroes exist and that humankind has taken the next evolutionary step. At first I wondered what he was up to. As a sane and rational man, he couldn't possibly believe that he would ever raise support for his cause with only his word that, "I've seen them." But we learned later that he is still in league with Matt Parkman and Noah Bennet (that's Claire's dad for those of you that forgot he got a name at the end of last season). The three of them have rescued Molly Walker and are apparently working to take down "The Company."

Suresh is finally invited to join "The Company" in Cairo which makes me wonder what happened between him and them in the past four months. Wasn't he already working for them at the end of last season? He was invited in to cure Molly by Thompson and was there when Parkman and Bennet came to shut her down. If they are only just now reaching out to Suresh, then that seems to imply that Thompson had gone rogue and that perhaps "The Company" is not really up to all the bad things that we've been led to believe?

Molly and Matt are in New York now living in Suresh's apartment. Presumably, Matt knows where Suresh has gone and why. I doubt that Molly knows or understands, though. Molly is still having nightmares about the one guy that can see her, but she won't tell Matt who he is or where he is. Interestingly, there was no mention of Matt's wife or child. Are they officially divorced now? Does his child have powers? Will we ever know?

Even more interesting is that Matt just got a job on the NYPD as a detective. The way that he talked made it sound like he had not ever been in law enforcement. After his shooting test, he told the guy, "I've just always wanted to be a cop," or something like that. Wouldn't they know that he was a police officer in California, that he had a brief stint with the FBI, and that he had been fired?

The Bennet's have moved to California now and Claire is trying to fit in at the new school. By chance she met another student who also has powers, and he just happens to have the same power as her real dad: flight. I think he knows more about Claire than he's letting on. It just seems too convenient for him to keep popping up everywhere, and then there was that ultra-creepy peeping Tom scene where he's hovering outside her window. I'm betting that it's his job to gain her trust and then use it against her. She already told Nathan that she needed someone to talk to; someone that could know who she really is. What I can't figure out, though, is why she always seems to be the key.

I also wonder if Mrs. Bennet or Lyle remember anything from the past. Do they know why the family moved to California? Do they know why they changed their name? Do they remember Mr. Bennet's old job or anything about Claire's power? Mrs. Bennet seemed clueless, but she always has. I'm just glad that Mr. Muggles is still around.

I loved the fact that Claire was willing to stand up to the cheerleaders, but I must say that I really wish she had done the back tuck in front of them just to prove a point. It's probably better that she didn't, though. It would have brought way too much attention to her even if she hadn't been injured. Mr. Bennet, though, stood up for everyone working an hourly job when he told his manager where he could stick it. That was definitely the best scene of the night.

Nathan and Mama Petrelli are getting along famously now that his chances for election have been ruined. I can't figure, though, what the whole scene with Nathan looking at himself in the mirror and seeing his face horribly scarred was all about. I would have imagined that he would have been seriously injured in the explosion, and I really didn't expect him to survive. So was that showing what he used to look like? Or is that what he does look like and someone is making him appear different? We still don't know Mama Petrelli's power, so maybe she has something to do with it.

Speaking of Mama Petrelli, she and Mr. Nakamura both received death threats. Oddly, the threats consisted simply of their picture (apparently torn from a group photo of the founding members of "The Company") overlayed with that cryptic symbol that appears in every episode. They both knew what it meant, though, and were prepared to face death. It only came for Mr. Nakamura, though, in the form of a hooded person. Did anyone else notice that both the hooded figure and Mr. Nakamura went over the side of the building, but only Mr. Nakamura landed? So does the killer have the power of flight? Or teleportation? I think we'll learn about this from Mama Petrelli in the upcoming episodes.

Nathan is drunk and depressed over the loss of Peter. Why? Since Nathan survived, why hasn't he been using his power and influence to try and find Peter? I guess he just assumes that Peter could not have survived the blast and that there is no point without his brother. Like Matt, I wonder where his wife and kids are. Can his wife still walk? Does she know about Nathan's power now? Does she know about Claire?

Of course, we found out at the end that Peter did survive and somehow ended up in a cargo container on a ship in Cork, Ireland. That's a long way from NYC. The men that found him knew to look in that particular container, but who told them? Was it the person that put Peter there? Was it someone trying to help Peter? And why doesn't Peter remember who he is? I can only guess that a nuclear explosion in your chest might knock your memory loopy for a little while. Regardless, someone found him and put him in that container for one reason or another and either that same person or someone else sent in a team to get him out. I'm really interested in seeing what happens there, and after seeing Peter put his power to use last night, I think he might surpass Hiro as the show's best character.

Speaking of Hiro, he's still stuck in feudal Japan and has been surprised to learn that Kensei is actually an Englishman. Of course, he promptly messed with the timeline and now has to try to put things right, but why are we worried about seeing any of that? My only guess is that Kensei has more bearing on present day events than you might think. I suspected last season that Mr. Nakamura might have actually been Kensei and that part of his power was long life. Obviously, that was incorrect, but I do still believe that Kensei will have a power and that he will have influence over the modern world. And after seeing that actor play Sark on "Alias" you can bet that my immediate thought is that Kensei is going to turn out to be a bad guy. This is way out there, and without any evidence at all, but what if he's the guy that Molly sees in her dreams?

Finally, the new characters in South America; I don't even remember their names yet. Anyway, what's the deal there? Obviously, the girl has some sort of power that results in people's death. The bodies appear to be bleeding from their eye sockets. What caused that, though? And why hasn't it happened to her brother? You would think that it's not related to touch or sight since everyone in the truck died and not just the two in the cab, but who knows. I don't even know what to compare it to.

We are still left wondering about a lot of characters, too What happened to the Haitian? Where is Sylar? What about Micah, Nikki, and DL? And will we ever see Claude again? I can't wait until next week to see how many of these questions get answers.

Reagan Art Award

As promised, here are pictures from Reagan's Art Award ceremony. The last photo is the artwork that she and Lacey submitted. I know it says Reagan Morgan, but trust me that was just a mistake on their part. It really is Reagan Newman's work.

It’s Coming

Before the comments and emails start coming in, I know you are all waiting on my recap/review of the Heroes season two premiere, and I promise it will be posted soon. Our fall season softball games are all on Monday nights, so I'm not sure how often I'm going to be able to watch the show on Monday nights (at least until November). But I am not going to quit writing about it.

In the meantime, let me tell you about the shows that I've been watching over the summer:

"Burn Notice" is easily the best show of the summer. USA network has a tendency to mess up good shows by changing their timeslot too frequently and then I can never find it to watch again. Let's hope that doesn't happen with this one. If you haven't seen it, then you won't know what I'm talking about, but does anyone else wonder how Fiona knew Michael was burned, that he would be in Miami, and that he would be at that particular hotel? Or what about his mom? Is she really as clueless as Michael thinks or is there going to be an "Alias" plot twist where we find out she's a spy, too?

"Eureka" is now in season two, and it's still pretty good. The show is getting a little formulaic, with the mystery of the week, and I'd like to see a little more complexity as it's too easy to figure out most weeks. Again, if you haven't been watching, then you can skip this part, but what's going on with Kevin and the artifact? And do you really think that Nathan is falling back in love with Allison? Or, like me, do you just figure that he's using her to suit his own nefarious goals? And what's Henry going to do now that he's locked out of the artifact project? And when is Carter going to do something about the clues he keeps finding that point to the events of the season one finale? So many questions for such a small town.

"Damages" is like any other FX show. It's dark, it's gritty, and you're not really sure that there are any good guys. That's mostly what I like about it. Besides the fact that the acting is great, the plot has become so complex that it is completely engaging. Again, there are tons of unanswered questions. Notably, who killed David? Was it Ellen? Or is she telling the truth about what happened?

I would say that I rank the shows in the order that they are listed above and that Burn Notice is probably the only one that could compete in the regular season, but they are all good. Right now, though, I'm ready to move past these and get back into Heroes, The Unit, Lost, and Jericho.

Hispanic Heritage Art Contest

Just yesterday Reagan received an award for her entry into the Hispanic Heritage Art Contest. It seems kind of odd that my kid would have won third prize since we're not Hispanic, and I don't know much of anything about Hispanic Heritage, but she and her friend Lacey entered the contest last year and won third prize. The ceremony was yesterday at the Dallas Public Library.

I'm not sure if she entered because the project was assigned to her or because she chose to do it, but I do recall her working on the painting at the end of the last school year. I had no idea at the time that it was for a contest, though, and I was even more surprised when we received the letter saying that she had won third prize. Even at that point, though, I figured it wasn't really a big deal and that she would probably just get a certificate or something. When they told us yesterday that there had been over 4,000 entries, I was a little more impressed with third prize, and when they gave Reagan and brand new Nikon digital camera, I had to admit that it was a bigger deal than I thought. Dad came out and took some pictures, so I'll try to post that later so you can see her winning entry.

In the meantime, let me just say that the Dallas Public Library is not a place where I want to spend very many Sunday afternoons. I think that all of the homeless of Dallas were there either watching a movie in the kids area or taking baths in the sinks. I had to use the restroom while I was there, and I must admit that it was quite disturbing to hear a zipper go down behind me while I'm trying to do my business. I was like, "Look, buddy, I think you've got the wrong restroom. There are not any politicians in here, and I haven't tapped my foot a single time."

You didn't really think I could do a whole post without at least one funny line, did you?

Dain Bramage

I don't ride motorcycles. I've never had the desire. But if I did ride a motorcycle, I would wear a helmet. Not because someone told me that I had to, but because it would protect my brain which (anyone that's ever seen me play sports will agree) is nearly my only asset. That's one of the things that I love about Texas. When I get on a motorcycle it'll be my choice as to whether or not I wear a helmet.

I think it should be the same in a car. Why should I have to wear a seatbelt? If I'm not wearing one and I get injured, why should that be the government's responsibility? Now, I understand that insurance premiums for others and the police having one more reason to pull over suspicious vehicles are the real drivers behind the seat belt laws, but they still run contrary to my notions of personal liberty. That's why I was most interested in an article today discussing motorcycle helmet laws:

http://www.nbc5i.com/automotive/14096364/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=nationalnews

The federal government (NTSB) wants to mandate helmet laws in all states. Unfortunately, their best argument for enacting the laws is that it prevents fatalities and serious injury. If only they had a compelling reason, then maybe the motorcycle riders would listen.

Since they don't, the motorcycle riders have countered the argument by questioning the ability of a helmet to prevent injury and saying, "If a truck pulls out in front of you and runs a stop sign, how is that helmet going to prevent an accident?" They also noted that since helmet laws have been reduced or removed that there are more motorcycle riders on the roads.

You saw above that when I try to think of reasons to ride without a helmet, I can't come up with anything better than the fact there are more motorcyclists now than in the past and the fact that a helmet won't prevent a wreck. I mean, if you're going to be in a wreck either way, what difference does the helmet make? And if everyone is riding without helmets, why not me, too?

You gotta love it. Just trying to respond to the government makes the NTSB's case.

Plane Repair

A few weeks ago, I was on a plane destined for Arizona, and we were stuck at the gate for over an hour waiting on a maintenance crew to make some repairs. If only we had known that there was a better way.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20590374/?gt1=10357

I really can't improve on this first line, so I'll give it to you verbatim, "Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday [9/4/2007]." As Jeffrey said in response: "Holy Smoke!"

I'll bet that there were plenty of people on my flight to Arizona that would have gladly sacrificed a small animal from the cargo hold if it would have gotten us in the air faster. My only concern is whether getting in the air is really the primary concern. I tend to think that staying in the air might be a little more important. So I wonder if sacrificing goats to the sky god is really the best option.

It seems to me that if you wanted to get your plane to fly, you'd want to sacrifice an eagle or a condor. You would want to choose some majestic bird so that the sacrifice would imbue your aircraft with swiftness and prowess as it slices through the air. Not a goat. A goat just bounces from crag to crag across the mountains, and surely that's not their hope for this plane.

Don’t Feed the Bears

The animal related news just keeps coming.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/08/20/bear.death.reut/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

A man was found naked, dead, and half-eaten in a bear cage at the Belgrade Zoo during the annual beer festival. That sentence alone raises some pretty scary questions. Of course the most obvious, what was the man doing in the bear cage to start with? Followed closely by, what was he doing in the bear cage with no clothes on?

The zoo director speculated that the man might have been drunk or drugged or an idiot. I'm thinking all three sound pretty likely to me. Think about it, there were plenty of other people at the beer festival and surely many of them were drunk, many of them were drugged, and many of them were idiots. Only one of them was found dead and naked in the bear cage.

So, I imagine that this guy had a pretty serious case of beer goggles. He looked over and saw Mama Bear bent over foraging for a snack. He decided to get naked, jump in, and get a little fuzzy loving. He got a little more than he bargained for.

Down Under Thunder

Anyone who’s ever owned a male dog knows all about getting their leg humped by their pet. Imagine if the pet weighed 336lbs, though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6954728.stm

At that weight, a simple leg humping is more akin to barnyard rape, and it can be quite dangerous. As a matter of fact, an Australian woman was killed by her pet camel when it knocked to the ground and tried to mount her. Previously, the family goat had been nearly suffocated during one the camel’s amorous adventures.

Now what I want to know is, exactly what do you have to look like to be the “object of the male camel’s desire”? Are humps on your back a prerequisite or is it just a bonus? Do you need to bare your teeth anytime you get frustrated? And should you spit huge globs of snot on random passerby?

It just makes you wonder about what else was going on at that farm. Camels, goats, and people. Freaky!

What Would You Come Back As?

The Chinese are everywhere. All of my electronics are made there. Most of my clothes are made there. Many of the people that I've worked with over the years are from there. Many of our cars are made there (and the ones that aren't use parts that are made there anyway). And they house a huge portion of the world's population.

It seems to me that China can do pretty much whatever it sets its mind to. There's really nothing in our modern culture that they don't at least have a hand in. Except death.

Even that is changing, though: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227400/site/newsweek/

China has now banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. You're probably thinking the same thing I was thinking: What?

As I understand it, reincarnation among Buddhists has to do with your life force and karma. The two things combine somehow and determine your reincarnation path. To be pretty simplistic, good people get good reincarnations as better people, bad people might come back as rats or roaches. I don't recall ever hearing about someone having control over reincarnation.

I wonder how this new ruling is going to be enforced, though. Is the government going to come to your private Buddhist school one day and have all the first graders tell who they were in a previous life? Anyone admitting to having been a monk from Tibet is cleared against a list of approved reincarnations. How long do you think it takes before all the kids are just admitting to being reincarnations of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe?

And can they use this rule in other law enforcement situations? Say, for example, a guy gets pulled over for speeding. The police officer checks the driver's information and realizes that this is the third time this week that the driver has been pulled over. "Listen, man, you know the rule. Three strikes, buddy. I've got to report this to the GRUB (Government Reincarnation Usage Board). Driving like this, you'll be lucky to come back as a snail."

Gettin’ Hitched

Most of the country likes to poke fun at Arkansas for a variety of reasons, and many of the jokes that are made have something to do with questionable marriage practices. As a result, the state really can't afford to make mistakes in that area, but they have.

http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2007/08/17/741951.html&cvqh=itn_toddler

Before July 31, 2007, girls could marry at age 16 and boys could marry at age 17 both with parental consent. In trying to move to a more modern outlook on marriage ages, the legislature attempted to create a new law setting the minimum age at 18 across the board. Apparently everyone in the Arkansas legislature was educated in their fine home state, so the law came out reading thus:

"In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."

Did you catch that? Anyone under the age of 18 that is not pregnant can get married with parental consent. Quite effectively, they have created a law that does the exact opposite of what they intended. Basically, anyone can get married in Arkansas.

I imagine that it would be a boon for tourism. All the pedophiles are going to see the state as one big outlet mall for kids, and once they're married every other state will recognize their relationship as valid and legal. And all the kids that think they're old enough to get married are going to flock there in droves with handwritten forgeries of their parent's consent just to try their luck with the county clerk.

Move over Vegas. Arkansas is the new place to be for weddings.

In response to the mistake, a code revision commission tried to correct the mistake, but they couldn't get it done. Unbelievable. How hard is it to remove one word? Most places it's a few taps on the delete key, but I'm not sure they have computers yet. A bottle of whiteout doesn't cost that much, though, does it? Or are these guys still inscribing laws on stone tablets with a hammer and chisel?

My favorite, though, is a quote from one of their Senators, "You're either pregnant or you're not pregnant…Rarely will that be a typographical error."

Does that make sense to anyone else? I'm wondering if every once in a while an Arkansas doctor steps into the waiting room to address the family and says, "Well, folks, it was a good strong labor, and we did all that we could, but in the end we had to admit that it was just a typographical error. Sorry, no grandkids today."

How Wrong Can You Be?

One of the big topics of the upcoming election season is going to be global warming. Almost everyone in the race will say that it is a real phenomenon caused by man, and they will almost all say that they have the right plan for how to handle it. I'm still not convinced that global warming is anything more than a political scare tactic that benefits radical, tree-hugging organization like Greenpeace. Take this article for instance:

http://www.universetoday.com/2007/08/17/arctic-ice-coverage-will-shrink-to-2050-projections-this-summer/

Apparently, some scientists (the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) predicted that the area of the Arctic Sea covered by ice would shrink to about 4.5 million square kilometers by 2050. Now, a different set of scientists (the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) are observing the current coverage area of ice in the Arctic Sea and are forecasting that the coverage area will shrink to 4.5 million square kilometers by mid-September, 2007. I think most people are going to read this and assume the worst. We've screwed up our planet so bad that things are spiraling out of control at an alarming rate, and we might not be able to fix it.

I think that the IPCC, though, gets much closer to the truth. When asked about the predictions, they responded, "The IPCC forecast cannot adequately explain what is now happening in the Arctic Sea." Basically, they're saying, "We don't have a freakin' clue."

Personally, I think that about sums it up. They don't know. The scientists want you to believe that they know. They want you to think that they've got all the data and that they've got all the answers. But the truth is that they are just guessing and then using the data to test and see if their guesses are anywhere close to being correct. All this article proves to me is that not only can we not predict the weather for this weekend, but we can't do any better job of predicting the weather for the next decade.

Big Brother’s Watching

I ran across an article that seemed too absurd to really be entirely true, so I did a little research. Much to my surprise, the original article that I read is, in fact, based entirely in truth. I'll share the articles that I've found and some of my own thoughts and then you let decide what you think about this.

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2006/press_release_0684.shtm - Press Release from TSA

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20298840/site/newsweek/page/0/ - Newsweek commentary (original article I read)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701478.html - Washington Post commentary

The Newsweek and Washington Post commentaries have opposing views on the situation, so you should probably read them both to form your own opinion.

The basics of the situation is the TSA is recruiting, hiring, and placing "Behavior Detection Officers" (has a distinctly Orwellian ring, doesn't it?) in airports around the country. As a part of the TSA's Screening Passengers by Observational Techniques (SPOT) program, these employees have the task of flagging anyone that looks suspicious and pulling them aside for questioning.

Now that I know about this program, I think that I'd like to have some fun with it. As I stand in line at the airport wondering why I can't take a bottle of water through security, but I can take a bladder full of water that I just chugged even though it's not in a clear bag, I might just have to start making funny faces; just to see if they can discern my true intentions or not.

Imagine standing in line with a pained look on your face. Most people wouldn't notice, but the BDO is alert and hops right over to you. "Where are you going today, sir?" they ask. Right about that time, you let loose a fart that's been building since you left your house.

"Oops. Sorry about that guys. I didn't think I could take lethal gas through the security checkpoint with me."

How to Beat the Wrap

There are movies, songs, and video games centered on the idea of getting away with a crime. In some, the criminals are just criminals that earn our respect because they're not the worst of the characters. In others, the criminals are fighting some larger evil so their actions are justified. And in many, someone gets wrapped in duct tape before it's all over.

Generally speaking, the victim of the duct tape is a hostage of the criminals and the duct tape may be used to secure them to a chair, seal their mouth to prevent screaming, or in one particular movie to force a staged suicide (Shooter, if you didn't know). Honestly, I've never seen any medium where the criminals used duct tape as a disguise. But they say truth is stranger than fiction.

So, imagine that you are sitting at home one day and you're really in need of some cash. You decide that you've tried all the legitimate methods that you can stand, so you're going to turn to crime. Of course, you don't want to be caught or identified, so you'll have to cover your face. You look around to see what you can use.

A leftover plastic bag from the grocery store catches your eye. That seems like a good idea. You put the bag over your head and quickly realize that it will never work. You can only make out odd shapes through the murky plastic. You can barely breathe as the bag covers your mouth and nose tighter and tighter. And what's that smell? How old is this bag anyway? You barely have enough sense to take the bag off your head before you suffocate.

How about that paper bag instead? You slide it over your head and the world goes dark. You can still breathe, but you're starting to hyperventilate from your fear of the dark. It's a good thing you've got a paper bag handy. You bend over to catch your breath and the bag slips off your head. It'll never work.

Quickly, you run through more options with similar results. The pantyhose from your wife's gym bag smells funny. The sheet keeps slipping off your head. You can't see through the bandana. You need something that's versatile enough to provide a disguise that won't fall off and won't cover your eyes.

Then it hits you. Duct tape. MacGyver used it all the time. As a matter of fact, he probably said something like, "There ain't nothing that can't be fixed with duct tape." And you've got some in your garage right now.

You grab the duct tape and slowly start wrapping it around your head. Carefully, you avoid covering your eyes, nostrils, and mouth. It would be completely stupid to tape those closed. Only an idiot would do that. And when you're done, you admire your new disguise in the bathroom mirror. You look like something from an old sci-fi movie, but that's okay. In order to pull off this crime you're going to need to strike fear in your victim's heart. Truly, you need to become someone else.

And that's when you realize the most important part of your disguise. You've got to become someone else. When MacGyver used duct tape, he was still MacGyver. All you are right now is you with duct tape. You can't be you. You don't want to go to jail. And a good disguise isn't just about changing your appearance it's about changing who you are. When Beavis pulled his shirt up over his head, he wasn't Beavis anymore. He was Cornholio. When you pull your shirt up over your head, you'll be the greatest criminal mind ever.

So, with your shirt pulled over your head and duct tape covering your face, you head out to the local liquor store to get some spending money. Unfortunately, this particular liquor store has its own use for duct tape. They've got it wrapped around the end of a billy club so as cover the injuries they're going to put in your sorry hide when they open a case of whoop @$$ on you. Fleeing the scene you soon discover that they've also got a 220lb linebacker on staff that's just been itching to tackle something all day.

Of course, all of this is just fictional. It never really happened. So when the police pick you up, wrapped in duct tape, with your shirt pulled up over your head, you keep your mouth shut. After all, you're not an idiot. And when they finish unwrapping the duct tape from your face and ask you what you were doing, you tell them truth:

The last thing you remember is going to sleep on your couch. If some idiot was holding up a liquor store with duct tape all over his face, why did you arrest me and not him?

And now for the real truth:

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/9129056.html#

Be sure to watch both of the videos. The newscast is funny, but the unedited interview is my favorite.

Redneck Games

I can't really add anything to this. It's too funny on it's own:

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13850604/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=news

Oh. Okay. I'll try.

The article says that Oscar Still – we'll call him "Moonshine" – organized the Redneck Games somewhere southeast of Dallas. Apparently, one of the rules is that "Being a Redneck is allowed….Ignorance is not." I'm not really sure that sentence makes much sense to me. I thought the two went hand in hand. Ignorance and redneck, I mean. And, apparently, with all the citations and arrests that occurred at this latest Redneck Games, they didn't do a very good job of outlawing ignorance in the first place.

I'm more interested in the games that were supposedly played at this event. For example, an ugly "butt-crack contest?" First of all, who wants to be a judge for that? And second of all, how do you judge that? "Whoa! Bubba, you got some serious dingle berries there, man! You know that's illegal. You can't have any decoration in your butt-crack!" And what's the prize for winning the contest? Toilet paper or a hair removal system?

Or how about the "Mattress Chunk" in which two teams race to drink a case of beer, then drive a truck, and then see who can throw a mattress from the truck the farthest. It wasn't clear whether the truck was still moving during the throwing phase or not, but I imagine that after the case of beer there were a lot of variations anyway. Of course, I also imagine that after a case of beer and driving across a muddy field, the "Chunk" part of this game may not have been referring to tossing the mattress.

Finally, they also had a "Daisy Duke Show-Off" for women in cut-offs. My guess, though, is that that part of the games wasn't scheduled until after everyone had had at least one case of beer, and was a welcome relief for the butt crack judges.

The neighbor says that just having this going on across the street is destroying his life. I say, as long as it going down the drain, you might as well go across the street and have some fun with it.