Obama Up Close

Last night, Barack Obama came to South Bend for a rally at a local high school. Thousands of tickets were available and they were gone within an hour. To get one, you had to go to the local Democratic Club, something I wasn't exactly going to do. So, I sought out a connection. My boss is a member of the South Bend City Council and I asked her if there was any way she could get me a ticket. She did, so I got to go.

The rally was scheduled to begin at 10:00 p.m. Yes, you read that right, a late night rally. By contrast, Hillary was here a couple weeks ago and appeared at 10:00 a.m. I got there at about 6:30 p.m. when the doors were opening. Outside were the usual litany of t.v. trucks from CNN, Fox, etc. You had to go through a security checkpoint and then sit down and wait and wait and wait. I didn't necessarily have to get there that early, but wanted the best seat possible. I was just off the right of the stage in the bleachers, so I had an excellent view.

At about 9:30 p.m., some local pastor come on stage for an opening prayer. Wasn't really expecting that, but with a very large African American audience, I guess that should be expected (ever notice how you can't offend blacks when mixing church and state, that seems to just be a problem for us white folks).

After the pastor, some local Democratic chairperson came on stage for some words, then she was followed by former Congressman Tim Roemer. He maybe talked a little too long. Made a big deal about some endorsements Obama had just picked up. These being from the mayors of Michigan City and Goshen. Wow, could an endorsement from the mayors of Wabash and French Lick be far behind? He said it would be great if South Bend's mayor endorsed him. So, of course, Mayor Steve Luecke comes on and gives his endorsement, which I'm sure now guarantees an Obama win in November.

As a side note, the rally took place at Washington High School. Two weeks ago, when Hillary was in town, she wanted to come there but was denied. The school said it would "disrupt the education process" for the kids. A local high school in neighboring Mishawaka quickly snatched up the opportunity and she went there instead. Now, Obama comes to town, and the school opens its doors, but they said it wasn't a problem because it was after school hours. Evidently, hosting a former First Lady and first ever female candidate for president isn't one of those moments you would want kids to experience and has no educational value.

But, back to the action on hand. The mayor was thankfully brief, and quickly said, "You've been waiting all night for this haven't you?" So he introduced Obama, and at about 10:40 p.m., he took the stage (yeah, this was a late night). Of course, he got thunderous applause. Then it died down and he got into his speech.

I imagine Obama gives pretty much the same speech everwhere he goes. He had no podium, no teleprompter or any note cards. Just walked around the stage. He went into the usual list of things that need to be fixed (health care, education, gas prices, etc.). Spoke quite a bit about the situation in Iraq, although like Hillary, doesn't really say exactly what he'll do. Says the troops need to come home, but that's maybe easier said than done.

I like what he says about not taking money from lobbyists and wanting to dilute their influence. I'm all for that because Bush cashed in too many favors when he got to town. Obama's only real specific plan was to ensure a health care plan similar to what congress has by the end of his first term. Also mentioned something about a $4,000 credit for college tuition, but in return, students perform some sort of community service (not bad). He also spoke about how government cannot fix everything and parents need to do their part (yes!) and that teachers need to be paid more (double yes!).

I can easily see why he has such appeal. His campaign slogan is simple, "Change We Can Believe In," and that really resonates. It's why Hillary can't break through. Although undoubtely the better qualified of the two, she represents the status quo, and Obama truly represents something different. It's why I could never vote for her.

But would I vote for him? I'm not sure yet. I have seen him on t.v. a zillion times, and last night, he was actually a little off. Had trouble finding his stride at times. For the first time, he seemed a little more human, a little more vulnerable. His inexperience came through a bit, especially when it came to foreign policy. I am now officially tired of hearing about his speech in 2002 opposing the war. That seems to be his only qualifier when it comes to foreign policy experience and he mentioned it again. His approach last night to go at it unscripted may have been the cause for his stumbling at times, or maybe the lateness of the hour. Although, frankly, I can't imagine having to keep up this kind of energy every day for so long.

So, was I looking at the next president? Could be. Did he look presidential? Oh yes, absolutely. He is very much at ease in front of people, and his speech was in a conversational tone that really connects with the audience. As I sat there, I wondered what it would be like to attend a rally if John McCain came to town. I don' t think it would be quite the same experience.

Basketball Choke and Dominance

I wasn't all that interested in the NCAA tournament this year, but I did watch the second half of the men's game Monday night. It looked like Memphis had it won until they had a choke for the ages. They let a 9 point lead with just over 2 minutes slip away, missing free throw after free throw. Kansas tied it with an incredible 3-pointer with two second left, which sent the game to overtime, where it was no contest. We were given the final results of the basketball pool at work, and I was third from the bottom, seeing as my UCLA-USC prediction was just a little off.

I also watched some of the women's final last night. Tennessee won for the second year in a row. When you talk about dominance in a sport, maybe Pat Summitt and the Lady Volunteers should be added to the discussion. Her record in over 30 years coaching at Tennessee is 983-182 with a total of 8 national championships. That is an incredible winning percentage. No coach in any sport at the Division I level can come close to that. She is only 56, so she has a lot of winning left in her. Next year she will achieve victory #1,000. That's rather impressive.

Adding an Unexpected Chapter to Life

So, here we are, soon to be parents for a third time. Very much unexpected. Not planned at all, well, sorta not really planned at all. At one point, Dorene really wanted a third child and I was adamantly against it. She then pretty much got over it. However, for some reason, I hesitated about getting the procedure to ensure this would never happen again. I didn't want another kid . . .did I? But something in the back of my mind wouldn't let me follow through. But, I still made the appointment, and 2 days after making the appointment, we found out the news.

Right now, we're totally in a daze. Kind of in denial, not really doing much of anything to prepare for the new one. As of now, this kid ain't gonna get jack squat. We don't plan on buying anything until it arrives. In that sense, we're older and wiser parents. For Anna, we bought everything. That kid had enough new clothes to go a month without wearing the same thing again (and that really is not an exaggeration and mom can confirm that with all the clothes she's sold at garage sales). But this time around, we'll wait and see what baby showers bring us . . .kinda selfish I know, but the reality is Dorene's co-workers and our new church will be quite generous.

Mom seems kinda excited. Steve is probably really pumped because now that he had all this experience holding Conner, he has another chance with a nephew or niece. Stu said he was really really surprised, and, okay Steve, I'm just kidding. We could care less if you hold this one.

So, this is certainly one of those unexpected life moments. Not sure how all this will pan out. One observation: I'll be eligible for Medicare when this kid goes to college.

Getting "The Procedure"

Recently, I went in to a "specialist" for the initial consult on a specific procedure. This being the procedure unique to the male species that prevents, uh, further species. We are happy with the numbers in our family right now and see no need to add any more, so I figured it was time for me to . . . (I'm at a loss here, do you say "bite the bullet," "take one for the team", I really have no idea).

The initial consult mostly consists of watching a video. It kinda made me squirm. They tell you they have to poke a needle HERE, then poke another needle THERE . . .and so on. Not something you sit back and watch while eating popcorn. Then a doctor comes in and goes over a bit more detail, just to make sure that you are sure about having the procedure. I was convinced of the need to have it done, just not looking forward to actually having it done. But I guess it's a trade off since we guys don't have to actually carry a baby and go through all that a woman has to go through, yada yada yada. I always told Dorene when she was having morning sickness that "I feel your pain," but for some reason she didn't feel comforted.

Like I said, we are very content with the numbers in our family right now. We got the dogs, a cat, the kids, and just no need to add child number 4.

Vacation's Over

I took this past week off, because it was spring break for Anna and Cameron. Packed in quite a bit over the nine days.

On Easter Sunday, we had the pastor and his family out for dinner. That would be a total of 4 adults and 10 kids. It was a lot of fun. Their kids and ours get along great and they stayed for quite a while (pastor and I watched the great Memphis v. Texas A & M game).

On Monday and Tuesday, me and the kids headed to Fort Wayne to spend time with mom and dad. Had the always great noodle dinner on Monday night with Steve and Pam, Tom and Paula, and Benjamin also in attendance. On Tuesday, mom and Anna went to see "National Treasure 2" while dad and Cameron went to Menards (Cameron didn't think he got the short end of the stick here, he loves going there).

Tuesday night I went with Steve to the Ft. Wayne table tennis club and played great. Later that week, I went to the South Bend club and played terribly. Although I did have a breakthrough against one player that I'd never beaten before. Although that excitement was quickly tempered when I found out later he was playing with his opposite hand.

On Friday after Dorene got off work, we headed to Pokagon State Park in Angola. Stayed at the Potawatomi Inn there and we all had a wonderful time. The kids swam and swam and we explored the whole park. We plan to return again when it warms up more and there are even more things to do. We'll also go there during Christmas break (already got the reservations).

Now, I have to get back in work mode. Being off a week is nice, but makes it kinda hard to get back to the normal routine. It was a good week off, and I was able to focus a lot of attention on the kids and wore them out pretty good.

We Had a "Blast"

Friday evening, Dorene and I sent the kids off to Grammy's house and we had a rare night out on the town. After eating at Papa Vino's a wonderful local Italian restaurant, we headed downtown to the Morris Performing Arts Centre for a performance of "Blast."

This was a very cool production, which consisted of a group of brass and percussion players doing all sorts of things. Some particularly amazing percussion segments, especially the drum solo to end all drum solos, in whichere you had one guy and one snare drum. Before he was done, he was somehow playing with one hand and the other stick was balanced on his ear (yeah, you just had to see it).

Parts of the production kinda reminded me of "Stomp" which is probably one of the best shows I've ever seen. "Blast" originated from a drum and bugle corps known as "Star of Indiana," which has won national and world recognition. If you ever get a chance to catch this show, I highly recommend it.

Hmm

My wife works in the public schools and they have the day off today for Good Friday. My kids attend a Christian school and they do not have the day off.

NCAA Picks

I haven't really followed college basketball much this year except when they fired Kelvin Sampson from IU. I always fill out a bracket at work, but never do very well. So, here's my shot at it this year. Either I will come across as brilliant or just another hack who thinks he knows something others don't (I'd go with the latter).

Final 8 Teams
Memphis - Stanford
UCLA - Duke
Notre Dame - Louisville
Kansas - USC

We then have a PAC-10 dominated Final Four with Louisville-USC and Stanford-UCLA. Which then takes us to an all-California match-up in the championship game with UCLA prevailing over cross-town rival USC by a score of 68-60.

This year's Cinderella teams will be Oral Roberts University and Siena (both 13th seeds), one of which will advance to the Sweet 16.

Apple: Use at Your Own Risk

The following message recently came from our information technologies department:

"As a part of the overall campus emergency planning effort, an application has been installed on all campus PC's which will allow campus police and other authorized users to issue emergency alerts through the campus network. When an emergency alert is sent, a pop-up window will appear informing you of the emergency and what steps to take. Currently, there is no way to provide this to on-campus Mac computers."

So hopefully the Mac users will catch on when a tornado strikes and they are the only ones left at their computers, wondering why everyone else left.

Making Tammy Wynette Proud

Once again, a public official steps down after getting caught in some extra-marital activities. Once again, the wife is forced to stand by her man and listen to his apology as the cameras flash away and late night comics have a field day. I always wonder, what are they really thinking?

What happens when they have their first moments alone after the scandal has broke and the husband steps down from office? Is it a teary eyed confessional? Lots of yelling and screaming? A time of healing? Or, perhaps, threats by the wife to take some hedge clippers and inflict permanent damage?

Spring? Maybe?

Maybe, just maybe it'll be spring. I am so tired of winter this year. It seemed to have dragged on and on this time. Our kids are dying to play outside (and we want to be able to send them outside). The dogs want to be out. Let's be done with this cold weather. Today I'm wearing a sweater and turtleneck which I hope will be for the last time.

I'll Do It My Way

Recently, I took Cameron to a birthday party for one of his classmates at a skating rink. I strapped skates on the little tike and told him to go at it. I think it possibly took him 20 minutes to make one pass around the rink. He would go about 1 foot, maybe two, and plop down. Up again, down again, and so on. Needless to say, it was pretty funny to watch.

However, Cameron got lots of offers for help. He had adults coming to help him, and junior high and high school girls coming to the aid of this little kid. But in each instance, Cameron waived them off. He refused any help. He was going to conquer this on his own. So he kept his up again, down again routine all afternoon. By the end, he was actually moving around fairly well. He told me later that, "Daddy, lots of people came to help me but I told them NO!"

We're finding out that Cam has just a wee bit competitive spirit in him.

Idiot Alert

We have one of those underground, invisible fences for our dogs. If I'm ever asked if they are worth it, the answer is . . . .yes. They work extremely well. Although, for a while, our rat terrier was so traumatized she'd just stand out in the middle of the yard and not move, afraid of getting zapped if she moved.

This weekend, one of the collars came off. I found it at the edge of the driveway and was walking back to the house with it. Suddenly, I felt a couple jolts running through me. Yeah, I was holding onto the sensors of the collar that put out the jolt. Took a few of them before I realized that maybe I shouldn't hold the collar like that. It was a pretty good jolt, so I can sympathize with Daphne the Rat Terrier when she gets zapped.

Upon hearing the news of this, Cameron just laughed and laughed and informed me that he'd be telling everyone at school how his daddy got zapped.

Hillary's Last Stand

For a candidate on the ropes and needing to really rise to the occasion, Hillary chose a very peculiar issue to pounce on at the debate earlier this week. Her "Why do I always get the first question?" mini-tirade did not make any sense, then bringing in "Saturday Night Live" made even less sense.

It's another version of her vast right-wing conspiracy theory. She has until next Tuesday to make her case, then it's over if she doesn't do extremely well in Ohio and Texas. If Hillary doesn't become President, it won't be due to the Republicans, but because her own party told her no. I look for some interesting behind the scenes stories to come out if her campaign ends.

Still Waking Up from the Oscars . . .

Still half asleep from not getting home until after midnight due to the annual Oscar party. Although today is a snow day for my kids and I get to stay home, too, so that's helping.

I had my lowest score ever in this year's pool, missing 14 categories, which may be an all-time record for futility at this gathering. In fact, everyone had a bad night because there were a lot of surprises, especially in the technical categories.
Most of the acting categories went as expected (especially for the guys). The one surprise was for supporting actress, which went undeservedly to Tilda Swinton, a weak role in a weak movie. I still wanted Ellen Page to win best actress for Juno, but they gave it to the woman who played the French singer in a movie a couple people saw.

I thought Jon Stewart did a very good job, much better than his first time out. The show was pretty lean, kept moving without a whole lot of filler, and no Randy Newman! My favorite part of the show was the performance of "Falling Slowly" from the excellent movie "Once." It was nice they gave the girl a second chance to give an acceptance speech, because they were really cutting off folks this year. None of the other acceptance speeches were all that memorable, except maybe one of the Coen brothers who just couldn't talk either time he was up there.

Each year, our host, Carolyn, serves up a variation of her homemade cheesecake. This year's recipe was some triple or quadruple chocolate concoction that was very good as always and gave us that extra buzz to make it through the show. We typically serve this during the lengthy special Oscar presentation to some old person that has never won before and they need to give them an honorary award before they die (this year went to some 98 year-old produce who looked and sounded pretty good for his age).

Or, we eat it during the what we call the "dead people montage" when we all are like, "Oh, THAT PERSON died last year?" Yeah, I know this is supposed to be a time for us to reflect on those we've lost, but it usually stoops to sarcasm and mock disbelief when some obscure set designer from the 60's comes up and we're like, "Oh no, you mean the set designer from "Gigi" passed away?" We always take a quick poll to see what dead person will get the biggest applause. Didn't seem to be any standout dead person this time, maybe Heath Ledger.

An unintentionally funny moment came when they ran through all the Best Picture winners since 1929. For some reason, Carolyn's TV cut off the first couple letters on the left hand side of the screen. So, we were borderline hysterical as they ran through the list and we were just cracking up with titles like "ocky" "liver" "rash" "ramer v. Kramer" "hariots of fire" and "andhi".

Carolyn won the Oscar pool this year. Her picks of "The Bourne Ultimatum" to win in three categories put her over the top.

My Oscar Predictions

What do Ebert, Roeper, and all the other critics have on me? Hey, nothing. By golly, I won the pool at Carolyn's Oscar Night Party last year. So, take that! Glad the writer's strike is over, because otherwise this show would've not taken place, and I do look forward to it, event though it's an eclectic bunch of movie folks and a gathering that Dorene went to once and swore she'd never do again (hey, we like our movies, what can I say).

Best Picture
"Juno" - This is who I want to win. By far the lightest of the nominees. I went into this with very low expecations and loved it. Great writing and a great cast all around, led by a super performance by Ellen Page. This movie will easiliy win Best Original Screenplay because the writing was a true standout.

"There Will be Blood" - A straightforward, yet very odd movie at times. Hard to describe. Strange soundtrack. Very long, but held my interest throughout. People seem to either like or strongly dislike this movie. I very much liked it. This movie will probably also pick up a lesser award like Cinematography or Art Direction.

"Atonement" - A much better movie than I was expecting. Figured it was just some sort of Jane Austen adaptation, but much more. A story of false accusations at some upper class mansion, then it switches gears and you have this well done sequence at Dunkirk. This movie should win Best Original Score, which was good, although "There Will be Blood" had the most unusual one I think I've ever heard (but it wasn't nominated).

"No Country for Old Men" - This is the movie that's favored to win. It is very good . . .but not all the way through. It's got an infuriating ending. Well, it doesn't end, it just stops, and quite abruptly. If someone tells you they like this movie, ask them about the ending. There's no way anyone can say they were happy with it.

"Michael Clayon" - Kind of a disappointment. I found this hard to follow at times and just wasn't always sure what was going on. I wanted to like it, but just didn't really connect with it. The movie thought it was good, but I didn't.

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis should easily win. His was a true standout performance. I enjoyed Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah", which was a movie that absolutely no one saw. Viggo Mortensen had the scene of the year in "Eastern Promises." If you haven't seen this movie, you'll know it when it happens. George Clooney just won a couple years ago, so he has no chance. I didn't see Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Toddy" nor did I care to.

Best Actress
My pick is Ellen Page for "Juno." She truly made the movie. She's too young to win, so that's why the favorite is Julie Christine, who played an Alzheimer's patient in "Away from Her." This is one of those "Oscar" performances that I just didn't buy into and her role wasn't all that large. I haven't seen any of the other nominees in this category.

Best Supporting Actor
No way anyone but Javier Bardem wins for his performance in "No Country for Old Men." His was a truly classic villain. Great performance in a semi-great movie with the previously mentioned, seriously flawed ending. Casey Affleck was good in the very long, meandering, but still somewhat interesting, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Tom Wilkinson was the best part in the otherwise disappointing "Michael Clayton," the only other nominee in this category I saw.

Best Supporting Actress
Ruby Dee had a microscopic role in "American Gangster," yet she was still nominated and is kinda favored to win. That movie, by the way, was pretty good, although maybe a bit too long. Good performance by Russell Crowe who had that and "3:10 to Yuma" last year. My choice would be Amy Ryan in "Gone, Baby, Gone" a movie that starts out as a typical missing kid movie but is much, much more. I was very surprised by this one.

Best Original Song
"Enchanted" has three songs nominated, none of which are memorable. The song that will win is "Falling Slowly" from the movie "Once." I absolutely loved this movie and the song is truly memorable. Next to Juno, probably the best movie I saw last year. Both lead characters are wonderful.

Best Documentary
Michael Moore is nominated, but I'm not sure the Academy wants him on stage. So, I'd go with "No End in Sight," which was an excellent documentary on how we botched Iraq, as told by those that were in charge at the time. You will absolutely despise Paul Bremer after watching this. The sad thing is, this documentary shows how we actually could've made it work, but those chances are long gone now.

All Other Categories
As always, winning the Oscar pool usually depends on getting lucky with picking the winners in animated short, live action short, and the other obscure categories. I'm going with "I Met the Walrus" for animated short and "Tanghi Argentini" for live action short. Hey, something has to win!

"Transformers" will win any award for visual effects and probably sound too. I can't believe "The Simpsons Movie" wasn't nominated for animated feature film. That was the best one last year, but that leaves "Ratatouille" as this year's winner, which I thought was one of Pixar's lesser efforts.

Time for Him to Go

Around here at a regional campus of Indiana University, who do you think the "Him" is referring to? Yep, Coach Sampson. The guy was trouble when he came from Oklahoma, and he's been trouble ever since. Can't seem to keep his hands off the phone making those illegal recruitment calls. I think the IU President is just making sure they have all their ducks in a row before they get rid of him. They don't want a lawsuit coming back at them later for improperly firing him (which happened at Ohio State).

Keeping Sampson around will only be deterimental. As long as he is here, he can't be trusted. They risk NCAA sanctions and what basketball recruit would want to come to IU with that cloud hanging over them. I've talked to a few faculty members here and they are adamant that he needs to go NOW. I've heard IU President Michael McRobbie speak a few times and he is a very impressive individual and is going to serve us well. I don't see him putting up with this at all.

So, the next question is, would they do it? That is, would they bring Bobby Knight back for an encore and let him finish out his career at IU? You know that's the buzz going around campus. That would make quite a story. I don't think there's any chance it would happen, but you never know. Imagine this: Bobby Knight comes back and wins the National Championship. Who then would present him the championship trophy? Why, that would be NCAA President Myles Brand, the former IU president who fired Bobby back in 2001.

Goodbye Fidel!

El Presidente announced his resignation today, turning over power to brother Raul. President Bush said he hoped this would speed along Cuba's move to Democracy. I'm wondering though, will the people of Cuba seek our help? We haven't done so hot with making Iraq a democracy. Wondering what the people down there are thinking?

I've never quite understood why we kept Cuba under such an embargo for so long, especially after the fall of the communist bloc. The missle crisis happened almost 50 years ago, it's not like the island nation is a threat. As usual, it's the people that suffered under the decisions made by the powers that be.

Is McCain Really the Devil?

Wow, I can't believe the continued venom being directed at John McCain from the talk radio folks like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Laura Ingrahm (my favorite of the three, which disappoints me). They just seem to think he would be the worst thing to ever happen to this country if he's the nominee. I don't quite get it. I really like McCain and could easily vote for him. No, he won't beat Obama or Clinton, but I think he's a good man that has done very well at reaching out to both parties (I got hard core Democrat co-workers that really like him). Maybe that's the problem.

The Democrats are already divided between their two front-runners. Not sure what good it is for the Republicans to be divided like this also. Although, maybe they are not so divided, it's just that these talk radio personalities get a lot of press. In the primaries, McCain is significantly ahead, so it could be just a lot of hot air that will have no impact, except to maybe keep more Republicans home from the polls on election day.

Mitt Hits the Mat

So now it's McCain. I know, Huckabee is still in there, but won't be for long. Now, McCain can sit back and watch Obama and Clinton battle it out. That is going to be quite a battle too. Not sure either side is too enthusiastic about throwing in the towel.

Would Obama take the VP slot? Perhaps. Would Clinton take it? I don't think there's any way Bill would settle for that. Either way, the party is very divided right now. Whether that helps or hinders them in the coming months, we'll soon find out.

Of course, the Republicans are kinda divided too, especially if you listen to talk radio, where Limbaugh, Coulter, Ingrahm, et al have been lambasting McCain. It'll be an interesting run-up to the election. I don't see how the Republicans could possibly win the White House. That would be like saying the Giants . . . . .

Sorry about that Pats!

Wow, what a finish! Still can't believe the Giants actually pulled this one out. Kept waiting for Brady to hook up on a long pass with Moss and put the game way. Didn't happen. Now, it's back to back Manning family championships. Gotta love it!

Super Bowl

Our church is having a Super Bowl party on Sunday night. Well, I guess I should say we are having a gathering of people from our church in which the television may be turned on and coincidentally be tuned to a broadcast originating from Arizona (there, hopefully that will satisfy the copyright hungry NFL and they won't try and shut us down).

This game will be historic. Either New England will finish 19-0 or it will be the biggest upset since . . . .the other New York team with Joe Namath. I am pulling strongly for the Giants. I'd love to see Peyton's little brother take the mighty Patriots out. Can you imagine the endorsments that would follow? Back to back championships featuring two brothers. Maybe Eli can join in Peyton's "Priceless Pep Talk" commercials, although no one can top Peyton's now classic Saturday Night Live sketch teaching football to those kids.

Then again, the game could be over before halftime, because the Patriots could just totally blow them out (in which case, the game becomes secondary to the commercials). If it's close by the 4th quarter, that doesn't bode well for the Giants. Lots of teams this season got close, but could never put them away. I think the Giants have a shot and I hope they can do it, because I don't really want to see Moss, Belichick, et al celebrate.

Snow Day II

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another snow day today. Twice in one week. Gotta love it. We're all at home again. I'm satisfied now, I like to have at least one snow day a year. For all I care, the groundhog can tell us tomorrow that winter ends next week.

Snow Day!

Dorene scared the crap out of me this morning. She was watching t.v. and suddenly said, "Oh my gosh . . ." I bolted up wondering what was going on, heart beating furiously. She finished her sentence " . . .South Bend schools are canceled today."

A little bit later, the other magical words scrolled across the bottom of the screen, "IU South Bend closed." Hey, even us big kids can still get excited about a snow day.

When the Routine becomes Not So Routine

Our pastor's wife Cheryl was due to give birth to baby number 8 (yes, that freaks us out too). No problems with the previous seven, so she was going in last week to be induced. They had been going through a mid-wife, so while they were at a hospital, it wasn't a regular doctor performing the procedure.

All was well until Cheryl suddenly bolted upright in her bed in intense pain. Her placenta broke and blood literally was gushing everywhere. Pastor Greg later told us he just totally lost it. That would be an understatement, I know I would have totally freaked seeing my wife like that.

Luckily, there just happened to be a party going on in the hospital that day of several doctors and nurses, who normally wouldn't be there. As soon as the placenta broke, she was immediately wheeled down for an emergency c-section. When it was all over, Cheryl and the baby (Lucas David) were fine. But Cheryl lost 40% of her blood, which gives you an idea of how serious it was.

As Greg shared from the pulpit on Sunday, had those doctors not been there, or had this happened at home, then both Cheryl and the baby wouldn't be here today. Cheryl was very pale, but still came to the morning service with the baby. Everything happened so fast with the crisis and delivery that the word didn't even go out right away that they needed prayer, so some people on Sunday morning were hearing about this for the first time (pastor wasn't exactly in a mood to call everyone right away, which was understandable). God had it under control, and all is fine now.

Greg and Cheryl are great parents, and exactly the type that should have a lot of kids. Their other seven are very excited about a new baby brother. As for our daughter Anna? When we asked her about what she thought of the new baby, she said, "It's just a bald thing in a blanket."

A NIght with the Globetrotters

Last night, Cameron and I went to see the Harlem Globetrotters up at Notre Dame. This was a daddy/son night out, and the women had to stay home (much to Cameron's delight, especially not having to share the spotlight with big sis).

I used to watch the Globetrotters every year when they appeared on "Wide World of Sports" back in the 70's. This was the era of Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal, and Geese Ausbie. A whole new lineup now, but still very entertaining to watch.

They do much more than just play the game against the hapless Washington Generals. The action virtually stops a times and they have other performers come on. One group in particular were the "Harlem Hi-Flyers," an acrobatic group that were pretty incredible. Also, the Globetrotters always have routines where they bring a kid from the audience to shoot a basket or try to steal the ball, or just clown around. A lot of the routines they do I rememeber from 30 years ago, so they pretty much stick to the same formula. One of my favorite parts was the opening "magic circle" with the famous Globetrotter theme playing. Some pretty impressive ball handling during that time, most of which you didn't typically see in their t.v. appearances.

Cameron's favorite part was when one of the Globetrotters had their pants yanked down and exposed their yellow underwear. He just cackled and later called Grandma Dennie and told her that this was just hilarious. The night may have been just slightly long for him, but overall he really enjoyed it . . .and I enjoyed the one-on-one time with the little tyke.

Just take the Oscar, now

I saw "Juno" over the weekend, and it was much, much better than I was expecting. The star, Ellen Page, has just been nominated for Best Actress. I am not sure I've ever seen a movie when part of the way through I'm like, "yep, just give her the Oscar, now." She is really that good. The movie is guaranteed to win Best Original Screenplay (the writing is superb and be ready to learn lots of new terminology). It may just go all the way and take Best Picture.

Not a movie I was all that eager to see. It's about a 16 year old that gets pregnant. But, well, you just have to see it . . .and contrary to what some may initially think before seeing it, it's not pro-choice and does not celebrate irresponsibility.

Now That's Dedication

On January 1, Indiana University went smoke free. No smoking anywhere on campus. The lone exception is that you can go to your car and smoke and then there are the technicalities of sidewalks that border run along the city streets.

Well yesterday, it was snowing pretty hard and it was very cold. There outside in the midst of this, on one of the sidewalks, was a fellow employee puffing away. I'm thinking, wow, that is really dedication to a cause. By golly, I'm going to pursue this dream of lung cancer no matter what!

Posters around campus have these little tear-off cards that you can give someone if you see them smoking as a "gentle reminder" that the new policy is in effect. The rationale being that employees and students can police it ourselves and don't have to call security to rat on a smoker. I'm figuring, if someone is that desperate for a puff, as long as it's far from me, more power to 'em.

Worn Out

A couple days ago, a colleague invited me to play racquetball at IU South Bend, where we have 3 courts. I took him up on the offer and we played over the lunch hour. I hadn't played in over 10 years and I kinda forgot just the kind of workout it is. I managed to win 1 of 3 games but was totally exhausted by the end. I used to be not too bad, but I spent most of this time chasing the ball all over the place, when you are really supposed to play the angles and anticipate where the ball is going to go. I'll ask for a rematch.

Then later that night, I went to the South Bend Table Tennis Club for the weekly round-robin. On this night I debuted by new Joola Tango Ultra pips-out rubber with the 1.8 mm sponge. Hey, this stuff is serious!

Anyway, I played 5 matches and every match went 5 games. Luckily I went 3-2, because I always hate losing in a 5th game. But, boy, I am tired! Guess I'm not in as good of shape as I thought.

Why I Don't Want Hillary as President

I don't want Hillary to win this year. It has nothing to do with her stand on anything. In fact, I think she might actually do okay. But let's assume she wins this year and is then re-elected to a second term. I give you the following evidence to ponder:

• 1980 - Vice President Bush
• 1984 - Vice President Bush
• 1988 - President Bush
• 1992 - President Clinton
• 1996 - President Clinton
• 2000 - President Bush
• 2004 - President Bush
• 2008 - President Clinton
• 2012 - President Clinton

Simply put, I'm just tired of these two families. I don't want a 32 year cycle of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. Time for someone else with a different last name to get in the White House, and I don't really care a whole lot at this point who it is, just somone different.

Manning Advances to Championship Game!

A good headline to read tomorrow . . .if you are a Giants fan! The wrong Manning advanced this year. Colts really had a bad day. One of those off days for Peyton where nothing went right, even though they had plenty of opportunity to win. Not as crushing of a loss this year, because the Super Bowl run last year was very memorable.

Next week's NFC championship has two good storylines. Brett Favre at his age looking at possibly one more shot of glory. The last time he led the Packers to the championship was against . . .the Patriots. On the other side, you have the chance for Peyton's little brother to go to the Super Bowl. I think the Packers will win this one, but the Giants may give them a run for the money. At least Brett Favre won't have Jessica Simpson in the stands rooting for him.

One reason I wasn't as crushed with the Colts losing is I really think anyone that went into New England next week was looking to get toasted. I don't see how the Chargers could possibly beat the Patriots, but if they pull the upset of the century, I'll take it. I'd still like to leave the Patriots coach on the verge of history with this undefeated season only to have it ripped away. But, I think I may need to get over it and just deal with a historic 19-0 season. Oh but how sweet that would be to see them go down.

The Happiest Place on Earth? Yeah, Right!

Over Christmas break, we went to Disney World, aka The Magic Kingdom, aka The Happiest Place on Earth. This was our second visit. Back in 2003 we went and Anna absolutely loved it. Had breakfast with all the princess characters which she loved, rode on "It's a Small World" countless times. Overall, a great day. Cameron was just 1 1/2, so he didn't remember any of it.

So we thought now was a good time for a return trip so Cameron could experience the magic. We were staying at a beachfront condo in Tampa (thanks to Dorene's sister) and drove over to Orlando on Christmas Eve to re-experience the Disney magic.

Flash forward to the next day. Anna and Cameron were pleading to us to never, ever take them back to Disney World. So, what did Mickey and Minnie do to them to make them feel that way?

They just weren't all that enthralled by it all. Let's start with Cameron. When we get there, the first thing we go to is the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride, which he loved. When you leave the ride you oh so conveniently exit through the gift shop. We told each kid they had $20.00 to spend however they wanted to. Cameron saw a toy pirate gun he wanted. We told him we'd come by and pick it up when we were leaving. About an hour later, Cameron starts asking us when we're leaving, and basically doesn't stop asking us all day long. Didn't he realize we paid $61.00 for him to come to Disney? Come on kid, it's the land of Mickey, Pluto, etc. You're supposed to HAVE FUN. But no, he wanted to get his gun and get out of Dodge.

Anna just wasn't into it either. She enjoyed the rides, especially the ones that were more of the thrill ride variety (which Disney doesn't really have, so our next amusement park visit needs to be along the lines of Cedar Point or Kings Island). By the end of the day, she was in tears. It was time for the electrical light parade, but she didn't care. She just wanted out of there. One problem is she got motion sick on back to back roller coaster rides. That coupled with the fact of probably too much snack food, and just being tired out from all the walking, she was d-o-n-e.

For me and Dorene? We don't care if we ever go back, unless it's an all-expense paid trip to one of the Disney resorts where we have several days and we go on an off-peak time. To say Disney was insanely crowded would be a massive understatement. It was literally wall-to-wall people and just going from place to place was difficult, and we had a dual stroller to make navigation even more difficult.

So farewell Magic Kingdom. The rest of the week was just spent on the beach collecting sea shells or in the pool. The kids never said one word about Disney. Cameron spent most of his time running around the condo with his gone and shooting at dolphins or birds in the ocean.

Just a couple days ago at breakfast, Cameron again said, "Dad, remember, never, ever, ever, ever, ever take us back to Disney World." Not a problem, kid.

Re-entering Politics

Since the 2006 mid-term elections, I've basically ignored everything political. Have rarely watched any news program focusing on the candidates running for President. I kinda got burned out on the 2006 election when I was heavily involved in an unsuccessful campaign for state representative.

But, now I think I'll get back into it. The Iowa caucus is finally over, and I don't think the result was all that surprising. I figured Huckabee would have a strong showing, but you also have to factor in that both McCain and Rudy weren't there, so I'm not sure how much you can read into that victory.

As for Clinton finishing third? That's where things could get interesting. But then again, she may come roaring back and Obama's Iowa win will just be a footnote to this presidential campaign. Nevertheless, I'm ready to start getting back into it. There's a long, long way to go before we hit the polls in November. Although for a while I've figured it would be Hillary v. Rudy, I'm not completely sure anymore if that's a done deal or not.

Parental Advice from a Spears

Thomas Nelson, the Christian publishing company, has just announced they have put a hold on publishing the book by Lynne Spears on parenting. Hmm, now why would they do that? Surely this book has some valuable insights that I could benefit from.

School programs, church programs, lots of snow, and going to Florida

On Sunday, we were supposed to have our children's program at church. But we got dumped with a lot of snow and church was called off. So, we will be having the program tonight. On Thursday, we will be performing it again at a local homeless shelter. That same Sunday night was Anna and Cameron's Christmas program at their school, but it too was canceled. It was rescheduled for next Sunday, but they'll miss it because we'll be out of town.

It will be a mad scramble the next couple days because on Friday, as soon as the kids get out of school, we hop in the van and head to Kentucky; stay the night, then head down to Tampa, Florida. Dorene's sister, Diane, has a timeshare there and all of us, including Diane and Carlene (Dorene's mom), will be spending the week there.

One of the days will be spent going to Disney World, during what is the absolute busiest time of the year. We did it 5 years ago and it was indeed crowded, but we still were able to see and do pretty much everything we wanted. Anna and Cameron are obviously very excited about going. Anna remembers the last time we were there, but Cameron was only a baby, so he's pumped up about it. The rest of the time we're in Florida will be spent enjoying our beachfront condo.

We'll head back to Indiana on December 30, then head to Fort Wayne for Christmas, part II, which will take place on New Year's Day. Yikes, then I go back to work on the 2nd while Dorene and the kids still have the rest of the week off.

Looking forward to the break in Florida, though, it'll be nice.

Anna W. Bush

A couple days ago, Anna and Cameron were bickering at the dinner table over something relatively minor. Cameron complained that Anna snatched something from his hand. He got sent to his room for a timeout and Anna got sent downstairs.

She was very indignant and insisted she did nothing wrong. As she went downstairs, in between her tears, she cried out, "Not fair! I didn't do anything wrong! That is false accusiation."

When she finished serving her timeout, I informed her that there was no such word, which made her laugh.

Catching up with Curt

Last Sunday morning, Dorene and I had breakfast with our nephew Curt. Went to a little hole-in-the-wall place on the south side of Fort Wayne called Spyros, which, by, the way, was excellent.

Curt works many hours at the Fort Wayne airport, so we haven't seen him much lately, so it was good to see him. Curt will always have a special connection with me because he was my first nephew and the one that I was with the most from the day he was born on May 29, 1981. Then, there's the fact that my son Cameron was also born on May 29. I told Curt I had Cameron dressed over Thanksgiving in an outfit he'd appreciate. It was camouflage pants and a "Green Day" shirt. Curt agreed that was pretty cool.

I'm sure his parents are glad Curt is working again at the airport, because they get to take advantage of little perks, such as flying to Maine at a reduced rate (or free, I'm not sure). Curt told us he and him mom were at an airport coming back from somewhere and just decided to randomly go somewhere, and chose Vermont. Curt has been quite the world traveler, certainly been to more countries than me, which isn't saying much since the furthest I've ventured out is Nogales, Mexico.

If you need any gift ideas for Curt, you may want to consider a snake. On the other hand, you may not want to, for the sake of the snake. He keeps losing them. So, I'd watch my step around his apartment.

Hating Holidays

In Anderson Cooper's book, "Dispatches from the Edge" which my freshman class read recently, Cooper talks about how he always hated New Year's Eve, because that is when his father died. So, when it was time to get festive on December 31, he wanted nothing to do with it.

I have always enjoyed holidays and this weekend had a great Thanksgiving, but there were several around me that didn't.

• A friend of my in-laws had a 50-year old son die in a hunting accident the previous weekend;
• A husband of one of our secretaries had his appendix burst on Wednesday, and is still not out of the hospital;
• The 34 year-old father of one of Cameron's kindergarten classmates suddenly died.

I imagine that from this point on, particularly for those who experienced a sudden death (and both of the deaths above were very sudden), Thanksgiving will forever be linked with painful memories.

Anderson Cooper said he volunteered to cover the ball dropping in Times Square just so he wouldn't have to do anything social on New Year's Eve. I imagine that holds true for many who experience a tragedy over a holiday and I doubt I'd be in much of celebratory mood either.

Sesame Street Trauma

I read recently that early seasons of Sesame Street, which were just released on DVD, come with a warning that the characters may be modeling the wrong behavior. Turns out that the Cookie Monster appeared with a pipe in a parody of Masterpiece Theatre. To make matters worse, the Sesame Street folks said it appears that Oscar the Grouch "appeared too grouchy."

Wow, and to think I actually watched this! It's time to get on Dr. Phil and let it all out.

Missed this Election

For the first time in I don't know how long, I didn't vote. I kinda procrastinated and forgot to file a change of address with voter registration, so I had to skip out on this one. I guess I technically could have voted at our old precinct, but figured I'd cause a huge scandal when it turns out I voted fraudently.

The big race up here was for mayor of South Bend, but we don't live in South Bend anymore, so I couldn't have voted for that anyway. The choice was between the 3-time incumbent, Steve Luecke, or my former Sunday School teacher, Juan Manigault, whose kids were on the Bible quiz team we coached for several years. I'll let you take a guess who was the Democrat and Republican in this race. Juan got beaten very soundly, 62%-38%. Meanwhile, my boss, Karen White, cruised to reelection on the South Bend City Council with more votes than anyone, including the Mayor (she kinda liked that factoid).

I Don't Like These Guys

I am really getting irritated at the New England Patriots. I rooted for them when they won their first Super Bowl against the Rams. Thought it was a neat story this Tom Brady guy stepping in and taking them all the way. Kinda was okay when they won again. But this year, they are going the way of the classic despised teams like the Raiders and Steelers.

Do these feelings have anything to do with the fact I'm a Colts fan? Well, kinda. Yes, they lost the big showdown today, although I don't think that's the end of the world. The pressure will now be totally on the Patriots to go for the perfect season. But the controversy with Belicheck stealing signals, the Patriots running up scores (VERY obvious against the Redskins last week) just doesn't set well with me. Today, one of their players went to midfield where the Colts logo is at and spiked the ball very hard when they made the game-winning interception. I just don't like it when players do that. That's an attitude that starts at the top.

I guess this is sometimes what sports needs, a team to really root against. Well, you can include me on the anti-Patriots bandwagon. I'll be rooting against them every step of the way now.

Final Dispatches from Dallas - A Night Out that I Skipped

Monday night at the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA) was the 6th Annual NODA Night Out. This would involve going to some local establishment for food, fun and fellowship (okay, this wasn't exactly a Sunday School convention, so maybe that wasn't a completely accurate description). This event was heavily hyped and it sounded like it could be fun . . .until I read between the lines. This wasn't NODA Night Out. This was NODA night OUT. Place the emphasis on the OUT, you know, as in exiting from a closet.

I stayed in the hotel room and watched Monday Night Football.

Dispatches from Dallas - A Couple Blocks from History

Dallas is a very non-descript city. Nothing about it stands out. It's in the southwest, but doesn't have the distinct southwest "look" that you'd find in Arizona or New Mexico. All in all, a rather drab city. Don't care if I ever come back here. The conference has been great, but the city itself, don't care for it.

A couple days ago we left the hotel and walked towards downtown. As we reached a certain point I was like, "uh, this looks familiar." Sure enough, we were right in Dealey Plaza, which was just a couple blocks from the hotel. I looked up and there was where Oswald shot (okay, Oliver Stone, allegedly shot) JFK that fateful day almost 44 years ago. The whole area seemed smaller than I was expecting. The School Book Depository Building was not all that large and the 6th floor not all that high up and yes. The motorcade would have been very close so I can easily agree with the single shooter theory. Of course, I could also see how someone could have been hidden in the "grassy knoll." Hmmm.

The 6th floor of the depository building has been turned into a museum now, and just down the block is the JFK "conspiracy museum." I didn't visit either one, as I've pretty much read and seen everything there is about this event. But it did hold a certain fascination to be right there where such a watershed moment in our history took place.

Dispatches from Dallas

I am in Dallas right now at the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA) annual conference. It's all professional staff and students that work in college orientations. I'm one of a handful from Indiana. There are several Purdue colleagues and some from IU Bloomington. It's been a good conference thus far, except for a horrible keynote speaker that tried to be motivational but struck me more as Chris Farley's motivational speaker on SNL. She had us stand up and point to ourselves, and how we are the only ones who can change ourselves, to all take a step forward, and . . . . .GAG! How much they pay this woman to be here?

The rest of the time has been in breakout sessions with various topics all related to putting on orientation programs. I'll be going back to South Bend with a lot of good ideas. One area I'm looking very closely at is an online orientation to supplment our regular orientation. Although I'm also very cautious of it. In higher education, there's a huge movement to online and electronic delivery of information, which is good, but we can't lose the one on one interactions either. In fact, one colleague from the University of Iowa predicted that colleges are going so over the top with being online that it'll all eventually circle back to paper based methods. He may not be too far off. I've found that students want information available online, but when they are struggling with something and need answers, they want to talk to a real person.

Jumping the Shark

This term is used to describe a television show that hits an absolute low and never recovers. It gets it's name from an infamous episode of "Happy Days" where Fonzie jumped a shark on water skis. After that, the show allegedly never recovered.

I'm wondering if my favorite show "24" will do that now. One thing you can always count on with this show is that when someone is killed off, they are truly gone. However, when a show gets desperate, they start thinking how to creatively bring back characters that we saw die ("hey, they weren't really dead" or the ever reliable "it was a dream"). Well, this season, they are resurrecting Tony, who we all saw killed off in Season 5. I hope they handle it right, because that opens the door to "anything can happen" and what all took place previously doesn't matter. We'll see in January when the show returns.

ASU #4???

How did I miss this one? I keep up with both college and pro football. This has been a good year for the PAC 10 with USC, Oregon and Cal having great years. But after this last weekend, Arizona State University is #4? I swear I didn't even know they were ranked!

I frequented Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona several times when I lived out there. The best game I attended was ASU v. UCLA, when Troy Aikman led the Bruins to victory. ASU had some good teams in the late 80's and early 90's, but then pretty much dropped off the map. Now, they are back. I have a feeling, though, that they could quickly plummet. Their schedule hasn't been too tough and they'll be playing a lot of the good PAC 10 teams in the next few weeks. But for now, I'm excited to see them that far up in the rankings. It's been a crazy year in college football, because no one seems to stay on top for very long.

In Class with Anderson Cooper

In the freshman class I'm teaching, we are currently reading "Dispatches from the Edge," by Anderson Cooper. I'm enjoying reading the book and so far the students (none of whom has ever watched Anderson Cooper 360) are enjoying it too.

In our last class, the topic was the Asian Tsunami of 2004. Even though this event is less than 3 years old, it was surprising how little the students knew about it. After the class discussion that day, many commented that they didn't realize the extent of the disaster (over 200,000 dead). In fact, many of them weren't even completely aware what a tsunami was, so I spent time with a little science lesson describing it and played a CNN clip with Anderson Cooper reporting on the disaster.

Cooper has covered a lot of tragedies, and he's had his own share of tragedies in his life. His dad died at age 53 when Anderson was only 11. His older brother, Carter, died by jumping off the balcony of their 14th floor apartment . . .as his mother watched. His mother, by the way, is Gloria Vanderbilt.

I just didn't know all that about him. He's a very good writer, and thus far, the students have been pleasantly surprised at how much they've liked the book. This generation of student does not read a whole lot, so getting them to read an entire book will be an accomplishment in and of itself. Next up, we'll talk about Iraq and the siege of Saravejo.

Someone actually is less popular than Bush

Senator Harry Reid's approval rating in Nevada is lower than that of the President. Note to Senator Reid: People are more concerned with just about anything else than what Rush Limbaugh says on the radio. Why you felt it necessary to use the Senate floor to take up this cause, I have no idea.

I bet Reid was up all night with his advisors coming up with a positive spin after that letter sold for $2.1 million on Ebay. Dude, move on to the issues that, you know, people put you in power for.

Maybe it's Dutch

Anna came home and said she had been told of a new way of kissing at her elementary school. She first said, "I think it's called European, or maybe it's English." Her grandma said, "Do you mean French?" Ah yes, Anna confirmed that was it. She then went into detail as to what she was told it meant, and yeah, she had been given the correct definition.

This is one of those parental moments that on one hand is funny and on the other hand has you dreading what's still to come as she gets older.

Taking Praying for Everyone to a New Level

Each night at bedtime, Cameron likes us to pray with him out loud. Not sure why it started, but it's his thing (Anna is more of the silent prayer type). Anyway, Cameron will have one us pray first and then he takes his turn, and I'll tell you, he goes on and on and on like some Baptist minister.

He prays for everyone, and I mean everyone. He prays for God to "protect daddy and protect his heart, protect Uncle Stu and protect his heart, protect Lydia and protect her heart . . . ." and on and on through every family member, friend, and church member he can think of. Sometimes he throws in for God to protect the lions and zebras and other animals. He also likes to throw things in once in a while like "hoping daddy lets me have a cookie tomorrow" or "mom and dad let me go to a friends house." Sneaky little tyke.

One night, he was going through his usual long list of who to protect, but then added a more universal touch. Instead of going on to the next name, he paused then said, " . . . . and protect . . .everyone on this planet."

So that's what he does now, he just prays for everyone on the planet so he doesn't leave anyone out. That does help shorten things a bit, and at least I don't have to stand during this prayer.

Eight is Enough?

Our pastor and his wife recently announced they are expecting . . .their 8th child. Sarah is their oldest and is a junior in high school. Their youngest is Lydia and just entered Kindergarten. Wow, that's a lot of kids. We have two kids, two dogs, and a cat, which is plenty for us.

But you know what, if anyone should have more children, it's Pastor Greg and Cheryl. They are wonderful parents and their kids are so delightful. Lydia and Cameron are the best of buddies and it is really entertaining to watch them play together. Their other daughters, Becca and Hannah, get along great with Anna. In fact, we can have most of their kids at our house and you wouldn't even know they are there. They are extremely well-behaved and polite as all get out.

Great kids, great parents, but don't look for us to try and close the gap here. We're stopping with two, unless God has some surprises in store for us (which, by the way, is what happened with our pastor).

The Company you Keep

So now Marion Jones admits what she had been vehemently denying for years, that yes, she did use steroids. Jones was a star at the 2000 Olympics, winning 3 gold medals and seeming to have a long endorsement career. But the allegations started coming in fairly soon, and for years and years, she deinied any involvement. If she ever wondered why people suspected her, she should have taken a look at those around her.

First of all, at those same 2000 Olympics, her husband, who I believe was a shot putter, was disqualified for using banned substances. Even worse, before the Olympics, Jones had once trained with the same individual who trained Ben Johnson, the sprinter who lost his gold medal from the 1988 Olympics for steroid use. Finally, she was named in the whole BALCO thing, which first raised suspicion about Barry Bonds. Put all that together, and Jones wondered why she was perceived as being a cheater? Of course, turns out she was trying to fool us all along.

Kinda makes you more cynical anytime someone "categorically denies" involvement in such and such (i.e. Vick, Haggard, Rose, et al.). Just give it time and once the odds are stacked against them, they'll "come clean" and tell us all what we suspected all along.

Twix for a Lifetime

Last week, a promotional company called me at IU South Bend and said they had delivered a bunch of cartons of Twix bars to Notre Dame to give away (this was a new Twix made with peanut butter and chocolate wafers). They ended up with more than they needed so they asked me if I'd want some to give away at new student orientation or any other events. I said sure. I asked how many they had, and he said, "20 cartons." I assumed this to mean 20 cartons of 24 candy bars.

The delivery came, and in comes 10 BOXES of candy bars. Each box had 12 cartons of 24 candy bars. Furthermore, that was only half of the delivery. The delivery guy goes out and brings in 1o more boxes. So, I now have 20 boxes of Twix bars in my office. If you want to do the math, that is a total of 5,760 candy bars.

I like Twix, but not that much. For my family reading this, don't be surprised if Twix bars end up as presents this year.

Listen to Your Body

On Friday morning, Dorene woke up with some severe pain in her lower abdominal area. She first thought it could be appendicitis, but wasn't sure. She took the day off work and decided to go see her doctor later in the afternoon. The pain subsided a bit but was still there throughout the day, although she went with a friend to some garage sales.

At her doctor's appointment, she was told she needed to go to the ER to get tested. Dorene questioned it and was asking, "well, what if it's just some intestinal thing?" The doctor said that she had to play it safe and go get tested. So, somewhat reluctantly, Dorene went to the ER.

I joined her there after work as she was waiting the results of the test. After a couple hours, the nurse came in and said, "You have appendicitis, the surgeon will be down in about an hour to talk about the surgery tonight." Actually, the surgeon came down in about 15 minutes and the preparations were immediately made. He said it was "early" appendicitis. I figured that meant real trouble was a few weeks or months away. He said, no, real trouble was 48 to 72 hours away.

So, Dorene was wheeled up to surgery. One of the surgical assistants on duty that night was a woman named Esther, a good friend of Dorene's and Bible Study regular. Another assistant was part of a family from our former church. So, that was nice. Neither of us was worried about the procedure, and Dorene was especially shocked that she even needed to have surgery, she just didn't think she really had appendicitis.

Surgery was over in about 20 minutes. Dorene came home yesterday and under doctor's orders, will be off work this week. We've already had one family from our church bring us dinner and have been told not to worry about the rest of the week. That's certainly nice.

I am so glad listened to what her body was telling her. Sometimes we can tell others what they should do when it comes to medical issues, but ignore the same advice when it comes to us. Dorene followed through and because of that, prevented what could have been a much more dire situation later in the weekend.

Football Headlines

So, do you think the latest O.J. story will gone on for a while? Consider this an early Christmas present for Nancy Grace and Geraldo Rivera.

Bill Belicheck is in t-r-o-u-b-l-e. Mr. NFL Commissioner not too happy with what he did in stealing coaching signals. A very stupid move on his part. Belicheck said in a press conference that he's said all he's going to on the subject. Not so fast, I imagine there may be more to come on this one and this could really taint his legacy of 3 Super Bowl wins.

The Arizona Cardinals lost in week 1 because they couldn't recover a fumble. They won this week because of a bonehead play by the Seahawks, fumbling a snap as they drove for the winning field goal. Finally, they are on the right side of a lucky break. If they can keep it going, this could maybe, just maybe, be an interesting year for them.

I heard Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weiss speak at a luncheon back in the spring. Talked about how he and his wife were truly dedicated to planting their roots in South Bend and staying here for a while and being dedicated to giving back to the community. He'd better be careful not to plant those roots too deep, because the fans may be getting out their lawn equipment to pull out some weeds real soon. Weiss says that "God should strike me dead" if he ever uttered the words that this was a rebuilding year. I guess he views an 0-3 start with a total of 10 points scored and not one offensive touchdown as being on the verge of something great. Hmm, wonder if he helped steal signals while he was with the Patriots?

Three Good Movies about Germany (in German)

Over the past few months, I've seen some really good foreign films, all of which are in German. So yes, they are subtitled, but if you'd like a good story, you can't go wrong with any of these.

The Lives of Others
Winner of the Oscar for best foreign film of 2006. This is about the "Stasi," the East German secret police that utlized thousands of informants to keep track of just about everyone in the country that was seen as a threat (during the cold war years, a threat was very loosely defined).
This movie tells the story of a Stasi officer and his latest assignment of spying on a playwright and his girlfriend. This isn't Hollywood, so don't expect non-stop action, but it is a very involving story, very well told, and since the movie is in German, gives it a very authentic touch. In fact, I just read that the actor portraying the Stasi officer was in fact kept under surveillance by the Stasi himself from age 16.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Wow, what a woman! I had never heard of her, and her story is certainly one of those sidebar items in the whole of World War II that gets tucked away. Sophie Scholl, her brother, and some other students formed the "White Rose" movement. This was a student-led movement of German college students that wrote and distributed anti-Nazi literature.

Scholl and others get caught distributing the information very early on in the movie (this movie starts quickly and is quite suspenseful early on). The rest of the movie is Scholl's interrogation and trial. In fact, a large chunk of the movie is simply Scholl sitting in front of an officer's desk being interrogated. So, this is a very dialogue heavy movie, but boy is it good. I read that the actual transcripts of Scholl's interrogation and trial were just recently discovered, so what you see on screen is almost verbatim as to what happened.

Justice was swift for those that dared to stand up against Hitler, and you'll see what I mean. But Scholl comes of as one courageous figure. Kinda reminds me of that lone Chinese student standing down the tank in Tianemen Square back in 1989. One lowly student, temporarily bringing a whole evil regime to a momentary standstill.

Downfall
My favorite movie of the three. This is the story of Hitler's last days in the bunker. Yep, you've seen it before, but never like this. I think what really helps is having it in German. Instead of English speaking actors portraying Hitler and his henchmen with fake German accents, you have German actors speaking in the native language. That to me really made a difference.

The opening scene kinda throws you a bit. It shows Hitler interviewing several women to be his next secretary. This isn't Hitler the monster, but Hitler the kind superior (his secretary said he always treated her well). But, never fear, Hitler the paranoid maniac does come out before long, and it is just a fascinating portrayal of what all went on in that bunker. Not all of the German officers were convinced of Hitler's strategy during this time, and while some were committed to fighting to the death, others felt quite differently.

With all the maniacs that ran Germany, the one that comes across as the most icy and cold blooded may be Mrs. Goebbels. If you are not familiar with what she does in her final moments, you'll find out. Forget any other portrayals of Nazi Germany you've seen. This is the real deal and I strongly recommend it.

9/11 Remembered?

In years past, I've always watched several documentaries, reflections, etc. as we approached the anniversary of September 11. This year, didn't watch a single one. There didn't seem to be that many on either. Maybe there's not much more to be said that hasn't been said already.

Kinda interesting how such a major event will now probably start to disappear from our memories. Last year was the 5-year anniversary, and a lot was done to commemorate that. But now, the years will keep going by and less and less will get said about it. But maybe that's the point. President Bush urged everyone after the attacks to return to doing what we've always done, not to alter our way of life.

Anna asked me why the flags yesterday were at half-mast. She's too inquisitive to brush her off, so I told her that some very bad people crashed airplanes into some buildings in New York City and a lot of people died. That seemed to satisfy her curiosity and she moved on and didn't ask anymore about it.

Headline of the Week

From USA Today, in a preview of next weekend's Notre Dame v. Michigan game: "Clash of the Titanics."

In Front of the Class

For the past two weeks, I've been in class. But unlike the past 10 years as I slowly pecked away at getting my Master's Degree, this time was different. I'm in front of the class . . .in the role of instructor.

I am teaching a class called Threshold Seminar, which is is a learning strategies/study skills class designed for first semester freshmen. More specifically, it's designed for students that are coming in underprepared and need some extra help. This past summer, myself and several other staff were recruited to teach the class. In the past, the class was taught by part-time instructors who taught the class, then left. The idea was now to use full-time employees to teach the class, thus fostering a better connection between student and instructor.

Beginning in early May, we all went to workshops led by Dr. Randy Isaacson, Education instructor extraordinaire, to learn the ropes on teaching the class. A great deal of the time spent in the summer was learning about the new generation of student, known as "millenials" and how they differ from past generations, such as baby boomers and my own, which is "generation x." They think different, learn different, and have different expecations coming in.

It has been both rewarding and a little nerve-wracking teaching thus far. I have a class of 20, ranging from students right out of high school, to those that are older and returning to school after being in the "real world" for a while. At times I'm not sure if they are getting anything I'm telling them, and at other times they've been very responsive. It'll get easier as I go, and I'm looking forward to connecting even more to these students as the semester progresses. They are a great group, and my role is to see them succeed not only this semester, but to lay the foundation that ensures their future success in college. A lot of responsibility there, but it's a challenge I'm glad I took up.

A Big Pile of #*^#$, Part II

Last year, I went to the Notre Dame v. Michigan game. At the conclusion, a fan uttered, "That was a big pile of suck." My friend Peter called me late Friday night and said he had a ticket for the Georgia Tech game the next day, of which I quickly said yes.

After about the second play from scrimmage, it was obviously going to be a long day. This will be a rebuilding year for the Irish. Notre Dame doesn't do rebuilding years very well, so coach Charlie Weiss isn't gonna have a great time. They went through three quarterbacks en route to a 33-3 loss. The one bright spot was when the third quarterback came in, a freshman by the name of Jamie Clausen, who was the #1 recruit last year. For a freshman, he looked very poised and made some great throws. My friend and I said that maybe if this kid becomes a star, we can look back and say, "We were there when . . ."

The biggest cheer of the day? That was simple. When they announced that Division I-AA school Appalachian State beat #5 Michigan, the place went crazy. Sorry Michigan fans, but it's gonna be a very long time before you live that one down. That's a team Michigan brought in on opening weekend as a sacrificial lamb to beat up on. It's been rightfully called the biggest college football upset ever.

I Kinda Like John Edwards

I always tell my Democrat colleagues that had their ticket been reversed in 2004, then they'd be in the White House right now. But with Kerry as the nominee, that sealed it for Bush.

I actually kinda like John Edwards and think he has one of the better messages out there with his "Tale of Two Americas." He is trailing behind Clinton and Obama big time, but I think there's a chance he could pull a surprise in Iowa. Maybe not, he could get trounced, but I don't think he's done yet.

I also like hearing what Elizabeth Edwards has to say. She's not afraid to put it out there and say things everyone's thinking but no one wants to say (maybe she should go on "The View"). She said something recently that I told my colleagues after the 2006 election bloodbath. I told everyone that the only thing that could reenergize the Republicans is a Hillary Clinton ticket. She has been demonized over the years, and with her as the nominee, that could actually give hope to Republicans.

I don't think she's as bad as everyone makes her out to be, but I'm not sure I want her to be president either. But Elizabeth said, “I don't know where it comes from. I don't begin to understand it. But you can't pretend it doesn't exist, and it will energize the Republican base."

Could be.

Bathroom Techniques

Another Republican lawmaker biting the dust. Yet another so-called man of upstanding virtue caught in the act. I don't have any sympathy for Larry Craig. You get caught doing what he was evidently doing in an airport bathroom, ya got it coming.

But I really had to laugh at one of his defenses. You see, he tapped the guy in the next stall with his foot, which was evidently a signal of, well, whatever. What was Craig's excuse? Honest to goodness, he said he had a "wide stance" when using the bathroom, which caused his foot to inadvertantly bump that of the police officer in the next stall.

A wide bathroom stance?!? I didn't realize there was such technique involved when using the facilities. Wow, you could come up with all kinds of football metaphors here with the stance and what he was wanting to accomplish. But, we'd better just stop now . . .

Being Chastised by the Eye Doctor

For the last few days, my left eye has been really red. Not really painful, but just very red and irritated. I've had this before but have always chalked it up to my contact lens causing it. So, I kept putting in my lenses anyway, figuring it would clear up.

Well, yesterday afternoon, the pain started to get a little intense, and any sunlight at all was literally blinding me. So, I called the eye doctor to see if I could get in. Luckily, there was an opening. So I drove over, which I had no business doing. I had to pull over about 4 times because I was at the point I was sqiniting so bad I could barely see out of just one eye. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Well, I finally got there and was subjected to the worst experience ever at an optometrist. For over an hour, he kept putting drops in my eyes and then looking at them through this extremely bright light. He'd pause, put in more drops, then back to the light. I was about to confess my links to terrorism so Mr. Bauer would stop the torture, but finally he was done.

It just so happened Dorene was there for Cameron's annual exam. The doctor spoke to her and said that if I had kept putting in my lenses, I could have lost the eye. It turns out I have a severe cornea infection. It's a good thing Dorene was there because I could not drive home by any means. Dorene had to walk me to the car because I couldn't open my eyes.

Added to the torture was the fact we had to take my car, which has no air conditioning and it was over 90 degrees on this day (she drove in our van, but we left it there because the brakes are going out). Yikes, what else could happen? The sunlight was so bad that I had to throw a jacket over my head to block out all light, which made me look like a major dork to people driving by us. We finally got home and Dorene made me, per doctor's orders, put in eyedrops on the hour.

I don't think I'll need much persuading this time to seek out the doctor if my eye starts acting up again, because the experience yesterday with the drops and bright light was one I don't care to go through again.

The Dog Days of Michael Vick

I have nothing more to say, I just wanted to put in my own cheesy headline of the Michael Vick story.

Pulse Fest 2007

Today I spent all day at the World Pulse Festival, an annual Christian music festival held on the grounds of a contemporary Christian radio station in South Bend. The festival typically occurs on a Saturday when I work so I have not been able to attend for years. However, this year I didn't have to work so I was finally able to make a return trip.

The Festival has grown immensely from when I last attended. When I went about 10 years ago, the groups were The Imperials, Phillips, Craig & Dean, and Billy Crockett. Yeah, not too exciting. This year, the lineup was Kristal Myers, Superchic(k), Sanctus Real, Desperation Band, Kutless, Third Day, and Michael W. Smith. Yeah, they've "slightly" improved the lineup. Attendance has also skyrocketed. There had to be thousands there today and for good reason. The festival is free (parking costs, but that's it).

But this year there was an added bonus. My niece Paula and her husband Tom, and my nephew Benjamin came over from Ohio with their youth group to attend the festival. They came up on Friday night and stayed at our church as we hosted a "Pre-Pulse Festival" party along with a church from Michigan. That was a lot of fun and it was great to see my nephew and niece interacting with their youth (they are great leaders).

After serving everyone breakfast this morning, we headed out to the festival about 90 minutes before it was scheduled to begin. People had been camping out since about 2:00 a.m. so we knew we wouldn't get front row seats. That's okay, even being pretty far back you could still see well and there was a jumbotron screen which also helped. Typically this time of year it is very hot. But today, it was 78 degrees, which was absolutely perfect.

The first artist was Kristal Myers, who someone commented looks like Paris Hilton . . .and she does. Her music? Boring! Let's move on. Next group was Superchic(k) which consists of two sisters singing lead and their band. They weren't bad but I wasn't all that crazy about their music. So, the festival didn't really begin for me until the next group, Sanctus Real. I had just seen them earlier in the year in Fort Wayne. I enjoyed them then and enjoyed them again today.

I had never heard of the Desperation Band so I figured I'd go check out the merchandise tents during their set. But I stuck around anyway, and this is one of the great things about seeing a big lineup of bands which contain ones you've never heard of . . .you may discover one of those bands is actually quite good. That's how it was with Desperation Band, which is the worship band from New Life Church in Colorado Springs (Ted Haggard's former church). They started out with "I am Free," a song they had written and had been performing on their own, but it only became more widely known when the Newsboys included it on their newest CD. Desperation Band not only had a good sound, but they looked like they were having a lot of fun out there (something lots of bands don't seem to get). The set was extremely short, only about 4 songs. I'll be checking out their CD's now.

Next up was Kutless, and they were loud and crazy and full of energy. I'm not a huge fan of their music, but they are a very good live band and they were my favorite act of the day. Benjamin took most of his youth group closer to the stage so they could get some "moshing" going. He said it was moderately successful although some older folks with earplugs gave them some dirty looks (what they were doing that close to the stage anyway, I have no idea).

Third Day is a band I have always been continuously disappointed at when it comes to their CD's. A few good songs here and there but they never seem to let loose in the studio. Live, however, is a different story. They were doing some major rockin' and Mac Powell is a great lead singer. On tape, I think they can be pretty dull, but in person, they are probably one of the better bands out there.

Finishing out the day was Michael W. Smith. Basically, his set was pretty yawn-inducing, save for a couple songs here and there. It started raining and about half the crowd (including us) were headed to the exits during his set. I first saw Michael W. Smith in 1985 as the opening act for Petra. Needless to say, he was a far different live performer back then. His "Big Picture" tour of 1986 still, for me, ranks as the best Christian concert ever. Youth today can't believe it when I say one of the loudest, most rockin' and jammin' concerts I ever went to was a Michael W. Smith concert. Today, he's gone all profound and "worship moment" on us, so it's kind of impossible to imagine him in any other context than up there singing praise and worship songs.

It was a great day and Paula and Benjamin said their youth had a wonderful time. We hope to make this an annual tradition and have them back next year.

Raising Ebenezer

Last Sunday, we sang the classic hymn, "Come thou Fount (of every blessing)" during our morning worship. As we sang that one line, "Now I raise my Ebenezer . . ." I turned to Dorene and asked her what the heck that means. Wondered if anyone knew.

So, I checked it out and the answer was simpler than I thought. It's based on a passage in I Samuel when Samuel erected a rock commemorating a victorious battle in which the Israelites reclaimed the Ark of the Covenant over a battle with the Nazis, I mean, Philistines.

"Samuel took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer—"the stone of help"—for he said, "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!" —1 Samuel 7:12"

So, the next time we sing this song, I'll be more knowledgeable on the whole Ebenezer thing and know I'm not singing about a character from Charles Dickens. The last time I heard this song in church was during special music when this child from the 60's sang a rendition of it (okay, she was only 20, but dressed like a child of the 60's). Her rendition mixed the traditional hymn with U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Yes, you read that right. I guess you had to be there, because it was pretty cool.

Witness to (yawn) History

Last night, I stayed up late to watch Barry Bonds break one of the biggest records in all of sports, that of all-time home runs. Since the game was in San Francisco, his big moment didn't come until 11:30 p.m. or so. It wasn't all that exciting. They love Barry in the bay area, which is good for him, because he certainly isn't loved anywhere else.

Almost 10 years ago, I remember watching Mark McGwire break the single-season home run record set by Roger Maris. That was really exciting to watch, as was that whole season as he and Sammy Sosa battled it out (although it's been tainted now with the revelations that both of them likely were steroid users). But on that night, when the Cardinals were home against the Cubs, it was truly a moment to remember when he smacked #62.

As for Bonds, it seems so obvious that he has used steroids. If you look at pictures of him from the late 90's and then now, he is so bulked up he almost looks like Hanz and Franz from Saturday Night Live. Plus, he's basically been a total jerk all his life, which media and players alike have atested to. So now that he breaks one of the biggest records in all of sports, it was impossible to get excited for him. Bob Costas commented on the "Today" show that if this were a criminal case, the circumstantial evidence would be so overwhelming that he would easily be convicted.

Bonds will likely retire after this year. The debate over his record will go on, but maybe it'll be short lived. This past weekend, Alex Rodriguez hit number 500. If he keeps up the pace (and he's only 32), he could approach Bonds in 7 - 8 years. If that happens, everyone will get very excited about it, because A-Rod is very well liked and has not had any inkling of scandal around him.

There is still something to get excited about in baseball this year. The Cubs are making a run again, and I have the perfectly scripted moment. The Cubs get to the World Series, and throwing out the first pitch in Chicago is none other than Steve Bartman, the fan who is blamed for their playoff loss in 2003. That would be really cool to watch.

Mamma Mia, Send Her Over!

Mia Farrow has offered to "exchange her freedom" and take the place of an ailing Darfur rebel leader to ensure safe passage out of a hospital. Don't you just love it when celebrities do this and sound so compassionate and willing to put their lives on the line (puke alert).

What I would just love to see is for the President of Sudan to say, "Okay, come on over." Hmm, wonder if she'd still be as eager?

My Luck with the Cops Runs Out

It's been a while since I've been stopped by the police. It's been a loooong while since I've ever gotten a ticket from being pulled over. I've gotten lots of warnings, but rarely actually get a ticket (insert obligatory Steve-gets-pulled-over joke here).

So, a few weeks ago, we are all headed to Meijer on a stretch of road where everyone does about 60 mph (see, I'm already going with the "everyone else does it" defense). Well, I was actually going 52 mph but there was a cop sitting in what was a sneaky speed trap. The speed limit goes from 40 to 30 to 40 real quick. Well, he got me in the 30 mph zone.

But, I figured I'd still be okay. I went with my usual admit-what-I-did-wrong defense and say that he had every right to stop me. But, I knew immediately this wasn't going to work. The cop as he walked up to me said, "Yeah, I was going to stop the car before you, but you came along and were going much faster." I knew right then that nothing was going to spare me from the ticket this time. He conceded that I was very nice and everything but still had to give me the ticket. Part of me wanted to cry out at the injustice of it all. Yes, those red mini-vans are a real nuisance and should be pulled over. The cop really had an attitude of "Ha, Gotcha!" and then lectured me on how much worse it could have been, yada, yada, yada. But, whatever, just give me the ticket.

When we finally got to Meijer, Cameron was very, very reserved. We asked him what was wrong but he wouldn't answer. Basically, as we ultimately found out, he basically thought daddy was going to get hauled off to jail and it really had him rattled. I mean, it really bugged him a lot. So much so that he reminds me every minute he's in the van now for me to slow down.

I do slow down now, because today I mailed the fine that I owed . . . . . . .$181.50!!!!

The Passing of Two Movie, uh, Legends

Both Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonini died yesterday. I already can picture next year's Oscar ceremony full of tributes to their films.

Pop quiz, hotshot, how many of their films have you seen? I have not seen a single film from either director, and I'm a big fan of foreign films. Bergman's films all seem kinda strange and I'm just not sure I'll have a Bergman film festival anytime soon.

Watching My Table (tennis) Manners

The South Bend Table Tennis Club has been on hiatus for the summer, so I've been making the drive over to Elkhart to play at their club. Much smaller, but you get a lot of play time in, so I enjoy going there.

In table tennis, you occasionally have those times where you hit the ball and it hits the top of the net and drops over for an easy point. Or, you hit the ball and it richochets off the side or back of the table, again for an easy point. When those instances occur, you are supposed to do one of two things: 1) say "I'm sorry" or 2) raise your hand to acknowledge you were lucky on that point. In other words, you're supposed to apologize for making those points.

So, when I make points in that fashion, I do the sportsmanlike thing and say I'm sorry or wave my hand. The thing is, I'M NOT SORRY! Hey, deal with it. Sometimes you get lucky breaks, sometimes not. Why should I apologize for scoring a point like that? If LeBron James gets a lucky bounce off the rim and makes a basket, does he stop and say, "You know, I'm really sorry about that, I hope next time it gets nothing but net. Please accept my apologies and I'll try better next time not to get so lucky." No way.

But, that's the way of table tennis. So, for all you players out there, if I ever play you and I score a point with a drop over the net or a bounce off the side, I'll follow protocol, but deep down, I ain't feelin' it!

Kentucky's State Drink

Dorene brought me back a couple 6-packs of a very popular drink from the hills of Kentucky. No, my relatives down there aren't running some distillery. It's the soft drink that folks down there are wild about . . . Ale-8.

I'm not completely sure why people love this drink so much, it's basically a form of ginger ale, but with a lot of sugar and caffeine. Basically a turbo version of Vernors. It tastes okay, but I'm not necessarily wild about it. But anywhere you go in Kentucky, especially around where it's produced, it's everywhere. I remember going out for breakfast one morning and literally half the restaurant had an Ale-8 on their table instead of (or in addition to) coffee or juice. Go to any gathering, and there are cases of the stuff.

If you do drink it, make sure you get it in the bottles, it does taste better, but I'm not sure why. Pop in general tastes better in bottles (the best is still Coca-Cola classic in the little bottles). For the best cold bottled pop ever, go to a little dumpy market called Jernagins in Pixley, California. Growing up, that was always a treat to stop by there. It was very, very cold, not quite iced over when you opened it, but just right. I'm sure the store is long closed by now, and pop is pretty much in cans now, but on a hot summer day, Jernagins was the place to be.

"I Shoulda Been a Teacha"

This time of year I always ask myself, "Why didn't I go into teaching." Dorene is down in Kentucky until next Tuesday with the kids, attending the annual Simpson reunion on the shores of Lake Cumberland (this family loves getting together, and the times I've been able to attend the reunion really is a lot of fun, they do it every year).

But, I'm not a teacher so I don't get my summers off. In fact, summer is my busiest time as I coordinate the new student orientation programs for IU South Bend. Since five times in the summer I'm responsible for about 400-500 students, parents and guests at each orientation, I can't exactly be out of the office much. I usually get a few days here and there but that's about it. But that's okay, I'm really glad Dorene is able to have the extra time in the summer with the kids, that is a real perk.

Oh yeah, I forgot. The reason I didn't go into teaching? You have to teach . . . .kids . . . .every day. I'll stick with my day job.

Anna at Church Camp

For the first time, Anna got to spend a week at church camp. She attended Junior Bible Camp at the Wesleyan Campground in Fairmount, Indiana. Dorene was there the whole week working in the kitchen, occasionally "spying" on Anna and the other kids from our church that went, but otherwise leaving her alone.

Anna had a great time. She said her favorite part was the chapel speaker. She has a cassette from the speaker that she has been playing non-stop since she got back. That was kind of nice to hear that with all the activities going on, she liked the chapel services the best.

Towards the end of the week, there was the big altar call service where emotions ran high (a church camp staple). Practically the whole camp went forward and tears were flowing. Dorene was there and said that as all this was going on, Anna and another camper were just sitting in the back, passing notes back and forth, basically oblivious to what was going on. The next day, all the kids went forward to gather aroound the speaker and sing a farewell song. Again, Anna just sat in the back, oblivious to all the emotion. Dorene finally went and got her and Anna went forward but asked "Where are we going . . .and what for?"

I remember attending church camp and how during the latter part of the week you'd have these services where it seemed everyone was crying and there was this emotional high. I too would have been just like my daughter, just sitting in the back waiting for all this to pass (and of course knowing that as soon as camp was over, a lot of what happened during those intense emotional times would all be forgotten).

A Busy Sunday

Yesterday began at about 8:00 a.m. and ended at about 1:00 a.m. this morning.

It was a typical Sunday at church. But afterwards, we had a church board meeting, which was the first for Dorene and I after being recently elected to the board. Aside from voting out the pastor, it was uneventful. Okay, not really. We actually seemed to accomplish quite a bit in a short amount of time (as opposed to many meetings I've been a part of where you accomplish a little in a long time). We have a good group of board members and we both look forward to serving.

We scrambled home in time to let the dogs out and then came back to town. We went to a church across the street for a presentation of "Godspell," which was put on by none other than Huntington University (it still sounds weird to call it "university"). They did a great job. We took five of our youth and they all enjoyed it too.

"Godspell" has been around a long time, but it's an interchangeable production. If you've seen it before, this version may be a little different. Songs are mostly the same, but how they are presented can differ. For example, there are more modern day references to things like Dr. Phil and the cover art is lifted from American Idol. All the cast members (except for one that I found annoying) did a superb job. It's still touring this summer and I highly recommend it. The only downside is that I'm really beginning to feel old as I realized that it's conceivable cast members could be children of classmates I attended college with.

After the musical, we went back to our church and had pizza with the youth and talked about the musical and how it did (or didn't) stick to scripture. In actuality, it is pretty straight forward with scripture, just the presentation is unique.

We got home and it was time for Dorene and Anna to pack up. They headed out this morning for junior Bible camp in Fairmount, Indiana. They'll be there until Friday morning. Dorene is working in the kitchen all week. Cameron is spending today and tomorrow and Grandma and Grandpa Simpson's house. On Wednesday e'll be at our pastor's house during the day, then in the evening, I'll take him to Fort Wayne to be at Grandma and Grandpa Dennie's house. So, the little tyke is getting the tour this week.

Catching Up with Rocky, 007, and John McLane

Seen a few movies lately featuring characters in long-running movie series:

Live Free or Die Hard
Also known as Die Hard 4. I liked this movie, it was a lot of fun, exactly what a summer movie is supposed to be. Bruce Willis is very good at this character and it didn't disappoint. To appeal to a younger audience, they added a young sidekick, who actually turned out to be very good. A computer geek, but not whiny or too smart aleck. He actually added a lot to the movie. Lots of chases, lots of explosions, lots of times when maybe things were not terribly realistic. But, so what, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Rocky Balboa
Also known as Rocky 6. The last Rocky was not very good at all, and that's one reason Stallone gave for making this one. This really evoked the memory of the first one in style and tone. This is very much for fans of the series, Stallone isn't trying to win new converts, but focusing on those that, especially, liked the first one in the series. You have to really think back to that first movie to know who Little Marie and Spider Rico are, who have major (Little Marie) and minor (Spider) roles in this one.

Yes, there's a fight at the end, and yes, there's a training montage, but what would a Rocky movie be without those. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one. Stallone closes the series on a very high note. For die hard fans, watch the closing credits and see if you don't say to yourself, "Yeah, I'd like to do that, too." Next up for Stallone is "John Rambo," due in 2008. In this one, he goes to Burma to rescue some Christian aid workers. That's probably a better career move than in Rambo III, when he went to Afghanistan to fight with (not against) the Taliban.

Casino Royale
Also known as the 27th James Bond movie (or something like that). In this one, the series is completely rebooted. You are basically supposed to wipe out all memories of the Bond movies that came before (kinda like what they did with "Batman Begins"). This tells the origin of Bond, and to be quite honest, I wasn't too intrigued. Daniel Craig did okay as Bond, but the movie itself I found lacking. There was a bizarre chase scene near the beginning where the bad guy is jumping onto buildings and off things and through things, using Matrix and Jackie Chan moves. really odd. Also, not sure why they kept Judi Dench as "M," since she's a direct link to the most recent Pierce Brosnan Bonds.

I understand what they were trying to do, and sometimes the movie was interesting as you found out the origins of different Bond things (his favorite drink, set of wheels, etc.). But overall, I just didn't care for it all that much.

"Greeeeeen Acres is the Place to Be"

Tell me a few years ago I'd be living in the country and lovin' it, I'd be telling you "no way, no how." But here I am with my family in a little house in the country with an acre in our back yard, a dairy farm on one side and a hay barn across the street.

We have all just really latched on to country life. This is going to be such a great place to raise our kids. Things have just really slowed down for us. We don't run around town much anymore, because we're 20-25 minutes from town. We spend a lot of time just hanging around and reading, playing with the kids and dogs, and just enjoying the quiet. We have a satellite dish (mainly to get the local channels) but we spend surprisingly little amount of time watching t.v. We just simply enjoy our house and certainly much more family time.

Anna and Cameron haven't even mentioned once about going back to our old house. They love it here too. Dorene and I drove by our old house last night and didn't feel one iota of regret for not being there anymore. We are both so glad we made the move.

Anna Rides a Bike

Some kids have fears . . .and other kids have FEARS! For Anna, learning to ride a bike was just one of those things she could not get in her head to do. She was still riding her bike with training wheels. It didn't really seem to bug her that other kids a couple years younger were already riding around the neighborhood. Well, it didn't use to at least.

Finally, Sunday afternoon, she seemed ready to conquer this fear. Needless to say, it took a while. Many false starts, many times Anna throwing the bike down and saying "Dumb bike, I hate this bike." But she stuck with it, which she doesn't always do. Finally, she began to get it. She'd ride a little bit on her own (not always realizing it, she thought I was still holding on). Then, we all took a break. I whispered to Anna, "Let's sneak out and surprise mommy." This did it. She hopped on, I pushed, let go, and off she went. I had let Dorene know what we were up to so she didn't miss out.

Anna had kept bugging us about a new bike. We told her absolutely no way until she learned to ride her current bike, which indeed was too small. We kept our promise, and shortly after learning to ride, we headed off to Meijer and got her new bike. I told her I'd be ticked off if on Father's Day I had to go spend money on a bike (hey, sometimes the reverse psychology thing does indeed work).

Yeah, this dad was jumping up and down over this little daddy/daughter moment.