I Love Football!!!!!!

ESPN.com - E-ticket: Pulled Pork & Pigskin

No other sport inspires this type of writing these days. Maybe at one time baseball did (and maybe still does). But this article inspires me and makes me want to do nothing come Saturday but watch football. And this is the type of love that Pro football fans don't have. A Pro football team might inspire a city for a season, like the Saints last year, or Denver when Elway won his Super Bowl finally. But pro football fans do not have the same ties, the overall experience that college football provides. I can still close my eyes and picture Folsom Field in the fall, the walk through campus before the game and the feel after the game. Yeah I was excited when the Broncos and Rams won their Super Bowls but they never inpired me to get a tattoo celebrating the victory. Being a pro football fan only, without having gone to college and therefore having a college team to cheer for, is kind of like being the parent of only 1 child. Yeah you get a lot of joy and it has it's challenges, but it's not the same as having multiple kids (OK I am stretching my analogy just a little bit). You don't have the same depth of feeling for a pro team as you do for college teams.

And all of this is in no way diminished by the fact that Ole Miss had a miserable season last year and probably won't do much better this year. Or that the same can be said about CU. And that is what truly separates the Pro fans from the College fans, when your pro team is bad, your enthusiasm wanes, but in college there is still that wonderful feeling of who knows?

Updates and recent books

1. I was out sick yesterday, caught a cold, and I have noticed that taking a day of rest when I first catch a cold tends to keep it from getting worse. So I had a day of relaxation, slept and read pretty much all day. Since I have not fixed my PC at home yet I am off line when I'm at home.

2. So Yesterday I plowed through most of this book: Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart By Ian Ayres which is really interesting. I don't know enough to say what he is talking about is wrong necessarily. But it does place an interesting twist on some things that happen in ordinary daily life. I would strongly recommend this book, although it would best borrowed from the library, I don't know if it has the potential to be a good book to own and go back and re-read.

3. One of the other things I did last weekend was go to the Library, picked up a replacement card and picked up this book: House of Chains (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 4 by Steven Erikson This is the 4th book in an excellent fantasy series. It is not the easiest series to read (although this is probably the best one as far as getting into at the start). But it is without a doubt the most in depth, layered fantasy setting I have ever encountered. Again, these are thick books, not for the casual reader, but well worth the read if you can get into them.

Weekend Recap

1. So on Saturday I was finally able to get to my favorite clothing store Steve & Barry's so I could get some new shoes. I really like this store. And I love my new shoes, a new pair of Starburys. While I may not agree with everything Stephon Marbury does or says I strongly approve of his Starbury concept. And I have not had any problems with the shoes (and this is my third pair!).

2. Sunday morning I received a rude shock as my Operating system on my PC at home just crashed, and the only option is a system recovery. Fortunately one of the advantages of working at a technology company is that I have the resources to get this repaired without loss of data. And I can use this as the incentive to get a portable Hard Drive to use for backing up our data.

3. And on Sunday I went to my Fantasy Football Draft, where I had fun, and I think ended up with a pretty darn good team. I won't bore people with the details of my team as getting too deep into this sort of thing is like telling the blow by blow on your golf game or a game of poker. Really the only people who care are the ones directly involved.

One of the many reasons having a girl scares me

Shopping for clothes that will—and won't!—make your daughter look like a tramp.

And who knows what people will be wearing in 10 year! Be afraid, be very afraid. I know that if my wife and I raise her right that this (hopefully) not be a huge deal, but who knows...

I know I was not exactly the easiest person in the world to dress as a teen (the only clothes that fit me consistently were fatigues from the surplus store). But at least I never had these types of issues to face.

A couple of my favorite Blogs

Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog I just discovered this yesterday. True to their book they explore a wide variety of topics. Just a fascinating read.

Blog Maverick Mark Cuban's blog, you can say a lot of negative things about Mark Cuban, but he is a remarkable individual. And he is living the dream most people (at leat most men) dream of. And he is a pretty intersting writer as well.

ESPN - TrueHoop Just a collection of NBA related articles and links. But he really digs up some cool stuff, and has an interesting take on the NBA.

Games and Fantasy Football

1. I like to play games, all sorts: Card games, dice games, board games, computer games, role playing games, table top miniatures etc. And I have gotten great joy through the years from these games. Kim also enjoys playing games, it is one of the things we have in common. Well lately James has started to learn to play games. From the basic Candyland or Chutes a& Ladders on up. Well last week I taught him to play Crazy 8's, and he has really taken to it. I can remember many hours of fun playing Crazy 8's with my Grandmother Ruch, then Yahtzee and Scrabble as I got older. And Kim has similar memories of her grandparents. So I think it is an important thing that we are taking the time to pass this pleasurable hobby along to our children.

2. Well the NFL preseason is in full swing which means one thing: Fantasy football is ready to start. And once again I am running a league, and joining another one. Every year I vow that it will be my last year of fantasy football, and every year I end up playing again. Fantasy football presents an odd challenge for the big fans, becuase it can water down your fanaticism about your NFL team in favor of your fantasy team. Which can get frustrating at the end of the season if your NFL team is doing well because you can find yourself simultaneously rooting for your NFL team and for players on the other team because you have them on your fantasy team. And if your fantasy team and NFL team both do poorly it can be a double emotional downer. But it's addictive, so I am back into it again this year.

The great job search saga (continued)

So yesterday Kim had a Dr. appt and then also had to take Daniel to the Dr. (see more details below). So she skipped the job fair, but she did finally meet up with a family friend who manages the Carl's Jr. I frequent. So after the visit to the Dr. I took the boys and went home.

And I was home when Kim called and said that she now had 2 jobs! First, her friend basically said she can have as many hours as she wants working the register etc. at Carl's Jr. Then she returned a call to the King Soopers lady from last week. Well it turned out the lady really went to the mat for Kim, telling her boss that Kim would not be someone that they would hire only to have her go on light duty due the pregancy then quit when the baby came and never be seen again. So the big boss relented so Kim has that job back! Since neither is full time she'll be stringing the 2 part time jobs together to help make ends meet until the baby comes.

Then once the baby is born she'll probably just go back to King Soopers, assuming she likes the work. I told her to take advantage of the opportunity to really explore both jobs and decide what she wants to do full time after the baby comes. Both jobs will be new experiences for her so it should be a positive.

As far as Daniel, Kim had begun noticing that when he walks in tennis shoes (on those rare occasions before he kicks them off) he walks kind of bowlegged. With his right foot turned in especially. Well after hearing all kinds of advice and pricing high top tennis shoes (not the easiest or cheapest things to find for a toddler), Kim decided it might be best to have a Dr. look at him. Well the Dr. took a look at him and said he was fine, he doesn't need special shoe's at all. And in fact his experience was that kids with this condition tend to end up being more athletic (obviously appealing to Dad there).

International jihad against tobacco

The international jihad against tobacco. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine

A very interesting article. While I don't smoke, and most of my friends do not, some of my family does. And there are times when I really do feel kind of sorry for the segregation they have to cope with. While I support the ban on smoking in bars (and soon casino's) here in Colorado this article does bring up an interesting point. Which casues more actual harm and damage: secondhand smoke or drunk drivers and/or alcohol related violence? Both drinking and smoking are voluntary activities, both are addictive, and both can cause the user serious damage. So why do people accept the smoking prohibition but not alcohol prohibition?

Weekend Recap

So we had a good weekend.

1. Friday Night Kim & I went out, left the boys with Tammy. We had a good time overall, had a long talk, hashed out some things about finances and stress and the job search. Bottom line she is stressed out, and sometimes I don't realize how stressed she is.

2. Saturday we had a family Barbecue. It went quite well, everyone had a good time. I kind of watched the Broncos game, but didn't pay too close attention. It was a good time, and a chance for Kim to relax which was good.

3. Sunday we just relaxed around the house then took the boys to Mr. Biggs for a while. Managed to survive that without any physical trauma this time. Plus I replace the 2 light fixtures in the basement. Which was something I wanted to do for a while, but wanted to get other stuff done first.

So a good weekend overall, kind of nice to spend time with the family and relax. And since who knows what Kim's schedule will be once she starts working again it may be our last family weekend for a while.

Family Update

1. So it didn't take Kim long to find a new job. She starts today as a courtesy clerk at the King Soopers by our house. In a way it's kind of a dream job. What I mean is that she has always wanted to work there as kind a fall back. And it's tough to get in, but once you do get your foot in the door there's a lot of chances an opportunities to move up. And she's happy, which is really what is most important.

2. I want to spread the word about a show I have been watching on TV. It's called Mad Men, it runs on AMC on Thursday nights. Here's a link to the show's web site: AMC » Mad Men. This is really an excellent show. It really does an excellent job of capturing a time and place in our country. The scene that best capture's what the show is about was from the second episode. In this scene you have 2 housewives sitting in the kitchen talking, smoking cigarettes (everyone smokes in this show, everyone). One of them comments about how the kids are too quiet so she yells for them to come. When the kids come you see one of them with a big plastic bag over her head. Then one of the wives stands up and you see that she's pregnant. Then the other one starts to speak to the girl with the plastic bag over her head, and you anticipate a statement like get that bag off your head, but instead she asks the girl if the clothes in that dry cleaning bag were hung up or just tossed on the floor. This scene brilliantly captures a time when things that we commonly accept now as wrong were just normal: smoking while pregnant, kids playing with plastic bags on their heads etc. Most of the show is like that.

The chartacters are all pretty flawed, for some of them the story is like a train wreck, you don't want to watch but you can't stop yourself. But I still find myself drawn into it. It's a lot like the Soprano's in that way. Anyway, I really like the show and wanted to recommend it to everyone who might read this blog.

This about sums up my feelings about Mike Vick

ESPN Page 2 - Easterbrook: Sympathy for Vick

It's not so much a defense of Mike Vick and what he may or may not have done. Instead it's an indictment of a system of athletic celebrity and wealth that allows someone to think they can do whatever they want, damn the consequences. I may not always agree with what Gregg Easterbrook writes, but here he is dead on in condemning a system that allows a situation like this to arise.

A follow up on what would happen if sports allowed doping.

Readers imagine what would happen if sports allowed doping. - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine

Some interesting suggestions. I think the biggest and most important effect would be some real long term research into the true effects of the drugs, not just how damaging they might be, but whether they really improve performance. And I also think that you would see an eventual leveling effect.

I Forgot How to Write !

I Forgot How to Write ! - Blog Maverick

From Mark Cuban's Blog.

And this is so true. My handwriting has never been the best anyway, as my parents and former teachers can attest. But at least it was legible at one time. Now if I try to hand write anything it becomes a chore. And God forbid I try to write in cursive, I have forgotten half the letters! As society gradually becomes more and more electronic I imagine that kids will start to really fight the whole concept of penmanship. Joy, another parenting fight to look forward to.

First impressions of the Bronco game + what am I listening to?

1. Well the First team offense certainly looked good. I think that Travis Henry is going to have a huge season barring any injury issues. He made a couple of plays last night that neither Tatum Bell or Mike Bell could have made last year. Cutler looked good, connecting on a nice pass to Walker and nearly bulling himself into the End zone on a run.

2. The defense looked like they were either a) out of position because they are still learning the new system or b) not very good against the run. I prefer to think they were just out of position. Their pass rush was decent. So the Jury's still out on that until we have a few more games under the belt.

3. So I created a couple of play lists. The first is an assortment of 80's Punk Rock: The Clash, Dead Kennedy's, Flipper, Murphy's Law, Fear and the Vandals. The other is some 80's ska/funk: Fishbone, The English Beat, Living Colour and some other's. I was striving to create some variety but hold to some kind of theme. We'll see how they go.

The last word on Harry Potter

Stephen King: The last word on Harry Potter

An excellent summation of the books, their place in literature, their quality and their impact. As I have said previously, the best thing about the Harry Potter books was that we had all of this excitement about books, not a movie or the latest 'reality' TV show. And King gets that, and helps to explain it.

Team nicknames

ESPN Page 2 - Pearlman: Aimed at the alma mater

So this made me think. Which is what I generally ask of any decent sports article. I have been fortunate that with the exception of Grad school my team nicknames were rather innocuous or basic animals. And in fact my favorite Pro teams also meet that criteria.

But he does make me think of one thing: what makes something a tradition? And at what point do you resign yourself and accept the "tradition" as reasonable justification? 20 years? 50? 100? And when do you say, I don't care how old or revered it is, this tradition has to go? And then how do you convince people that a tradition like this deserves to be trashed?

When I was attending Ole Miss the school was going through the painful stage of ridding itself of a few traditions: the use of the Confederate battle flag at games as a symbol of the school, and playing "Dixie" at half time. These clearly fell into the category of too much negatives vs. no matter how old. And I don't know if the Native American nicknames fall into that category, but I can't say for sure, so I will throw open the matter for dsicussion.

Weekend Recap

We had a very good weekend, chances to relax, enjoy some time with friends.



1. So Kim took advantage of her newly unemployed status by doing a really great job getting the house cleaned up. Also special thanks to Connie & Manny for helping out and for Manny putting up the sheet rock downstairs that I have been meaning to do, just haven't had the time. So the house was very ready for the party on Sunday, including getting the basement ready.



2. Had a really good time Saturday, not the turnout I would have liked, but a good time overall. We had James and his family, And Rittgers came down from Denver, and Amy Cornish came over (turns out she lives here in town, teaching at PPCC). A good friendly visit. I already uploaded my pictures on Picasa and Andy uploaded his on Flickr.



3. Yesterday we did something we haven't done in a long time: just stayed at home, not working on any projects, just relaxed, the kids played, we played on the computer, and played some cards. It was really nice, sometimes it's pretty hard to get Kim to really relax around the house, and understand that the kids don't have to go some place to have fun.



4. So today Kim will start her job search, which is a little more promising than last year, at least as far as opportunities. Hopefully she won't have her sights set too high.

We can only hope...

American politics Is America turning left? Economist.com

That some of what this article states is true. As a teenager growing up in the early 80's I liked Reagan's 'Western' conservatism: strong on individual freedom, foreign policy Hawk. But I have not liked the 'Southern' Republicans: Moralistic, intrusive, religious. And I can only hope that a repudiation of the 'Southern Strategy' that would come from a Strong Democratic electoral victory would change things around.

What it boils down to is American's don't like being told what to do, be it through overtaxation to fund poorly thought out welfare policy or being told how and whom to pray to and how to live our lives.

Weekend Plans and family news

1. First the news: Kim finally had it with Papa John's yesterday and quit. This had been percolating for a while. Then yesterday when she went to work, found out there was no driver, and then notified the manager and his reaction was 'oh well I have other plans' and the District Manager's was: 'sorry I can't help you I'm helping out another store and your manager deserves a day off'. And that was it, she decided (and I agreed) that she didn't need that level of stress when she's 7 months pregnant. So She'll be looking for a job on Monday, but setting her sights low, mainly just looking for something to pay the bills until the baby comes.

2. So tomorrow James Case and his family are coming over for a barbecue. I invited a number of other old CU friends, but have no idea who will actually show up. They are very difficult to pin down as far as committing to coming. We'll see who shows up, and if need be we can always run up to the store to get more food.

Sensational and difficult news from Iraq

What to make of the New Republic's Baghdad Diarist? - By Phillip Carter - Slate Magazine

I haven't read these dispatches in New Republic, and in fact the first I read about this was yesterday when I was linking the Michelle Malkin Blog, which clearly is one of the Right Wing columnists that this article mentions, albeit not directly, who is attacking these articles. I tend to agree with his viewpoint that in war bad things happen. And surrounded by those bad things on a daily basis can take it's toll. And we may never know the whole truth of some of these stories. One of the things about Iraq is that it seems unlikely that there will be a My Lai or anything quite like that because of the intensity of the news coverage. But that doesn't mean that the soldiers will not do things that would be considered beyond the norm in any other situation. It just means that the public is more likely to hear about it.

I think that the most important issue is that we as a country do not paint the troops as a whole with the same brush as we did the Vietnam era soldiers. And that we avoid the cliches that became so much a part of Vietnam lore, even though they were eventually proved wrong in most cases.

Is there a we in Hitchens and I? - Compiled by Geoffrey Andersen - Slate Magazine

Is there a we in Hitchens and I? - Compiled by Geoffrey Andersen - Slate Magazine
A follow up on yesterday's column. The key point is this:
What would Hitchen's have us do?
Which is a valid point, it's one thing to sit and point out the faults of extremism, terrorist etc. but at some point it would be nice to hear said columnists give us an actual solution or policy direction that doesn't smack of even worse intolerance or violation of civil liberties. Even Michelle Malkin provides a solution in most of her diatribes.

Sports News

Latest news about one of my favorite Rams

For those of you who don't know me or anything about football this guy is one of my favorite players, and for an odd reason. Pisa Tinoisamoa's cousin was Sal Aunese, who played football for CU when I went to school there. Sal died the year after I graduated, and the team that year used his illness and death as an inspiration that carried them to an undefeated record until losing their bowl game against Notre Dame. So to see his cousin do well and play for my favorite pro team is pretty cool to me.

Also More Sports
ESPN Page 2 - Easterbrook: The return of TMQ
One of my favorite Non-fiction writers, and a CC graduate. Easterbrook writes this interesting football column during the football season, I always enjoy his "outsider" take on pro football.

What if the major sports allowed doping? - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine

What if the major sports allowed doping? - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine

I talked about a similar thing in my blog a number of months ago. And while I agree that allowing people to "cheat" would undermine the 'integrity' of the sport, the question this article asks and answers after a fashion is: what if it wasn't illegal (as far as the rules of the game)? If the Steroids and doping etc. weren't illegal per the rules of the game would it really make a difference (other than some changes in the record books)? I think the article at least gives an interesting answer to that question. I'm not saying that they should be legal in general, but it is food for thought.

The faith-based thugs of Oakland's Your Black Muslim Bakery. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine

The faith-based thugs of Oakland's Your Black Muslim Bakery. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine

Last year my father suggested I read, and loaned/bought a copy of Hitchen's book:

[URL = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_to_a_Christian_Nation"] Letter to a Christian Nation[/URL]

Which was an intersting read, presents the atheists side pretty well. But this recent example of his work suggests that Hitchens is subsiding to simple anti-religious demagoguery. Doesn't mean that his basic point is good:

"Now, again, I am just asking, but what if this racket had been named the White Christian or Aryan Nations Cookie Parlor? (Motto and mission statement: "Don't F*** With Us.") "

But the remainder of his point: 'because they claim to be Muslim's they can get away with anything' is poorly presented, letting his anger against Islamic Fundamentalists get the best of him.

Weekend Recap

1. Very calm and relaxing weekend, didn't do much of anything. Saturday was James' last T-ball game (some updated pictures on the Picasa link to your right). Then we did some shopping then home for some cleaning. Sunday the boys and I just relaxed around the house while Kim went to work.

2. Yesterday I took the day off so I could attend J.L. Case's funeral. Which was by turns sad, and then nice, then sad some more, then finally enjoyable overall. It was really tough to sit and listen to these people (some of whom I had known their entire lives) talk about a man I had known my entire life, and realize: a) that he's really gone, b) that they were all hurting as a result and there was only so much I could do to help. But we spent an overall enjoyable afternoon at the Case's house afterwards, where I got the chance to visit with people I hadn't seen in 12 or so years, a lot of catching up to do.

3. So I did not watch the first NFL preseason game, even though it is a yearly milestone of sorts I know that in order to maintain the interest and excitement for the entire season I need to gear back the preseason watching. But I know the game has been played, which means it is football time again! And that is a very good thing...

In Memoriam

Yesterday I found out that me best friend James Case's father passed away on Wednesday, August 1. While it was a shock in some ways, it wasn't in others, he was considerably older than my parents (83 years old in fact) and not in the best of health since his bypass.

So I thought I would take some time to share some of my thoughts and memories of J.L., as we called him.

Mr. Case was a talker, he loved to talk and tell stories, and could talk all day and all night if you let him. In fact when James got married one of my principal roles was to sit and listen to him talk, keeping him occupied while other people were getting things done. Which I really enjoyed, J.L. lived a very long and full life.

One of the earliest memories I have was when I left a toy plastic shield at James house, and Mr. Case, thinking it was a toy for demonstrating how strong you were snapped it by flexing his arm with it on.

Like a lot of people who lived through the depression, and his memories of that time were very strong, he was both a pack rat and always made sure the pantry was full of food. As a kid I always enjoyed going to the Case house because there was always plenty of kid friendly food around.

Mr. Case was a builder and developer, and this was demonstrated at their house by his building nearly full houses as play houses for each of the kids; these were framed out, roofed, 2 story structures. Which looking back was a really astounding feat, I cannot imagine anyone I know doing something like that for their kids even if they had the land.

Although I know it happened, I can never remember Mr. Case getting mad or yelling at the kids, he was a very pleasant host for kids. As a habitual early riser, even as a kid, sometimes I would get up and have breakfast with him when I spent the night, and he was always fun to listen to. And he was really quite permissive, (which probably resulted in us doing things we shouldn't have) one of my other early memories was when I was in grade school and the television show Roots was on, and while Mrs. Case didn't want us to watch it he let us, realizing that maybe we might learn something, and regardless it wouldn't be more harmful than watching 'Cowboys and Indians'.

So for all those wonderful memories I raise a figurative toast to J.L. Case, Rest In Peace

Quick Note

I added some new pictures to my Picasa site under Various Family Album. Some pictures of James and Daniel playing at the park, and a shot of James with his T-ball coach. These are the first shots of James with his new glasses.

Product of culture

So I was thinking about my childhood, how I was brought up, my educational experiences and social education. And the reality is I was really a product of wannabe hippie's. Although neither of my parents went full blown into the long hair, Tye died clothing etc. Much of their approach was influenced by the late '60's counterculture. The first school I attended was the Community School of Colorado Springs, which in essence was a bunch of parents getting together and building their own school, It was very much a hippie school. There was very little structure, we learned odd things for our age: sex ed for kindergarten, dissecting frogs in 1st/2nd grade. Much of what we learned about other people, genders etc. is embodied in the music, book and TV show Free to Be... You and Me (for more info go here):
Free to Be… You and Me - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Then in junior high and high school I went to the Colorado Springs School which embodied much of the same spirit, albeit with a little more structure. But the whole approach was the same and the culture was very definitely the same. This similarity was highlighted by the fact that a good number of the same kids I went to the Community School with attended CSS, including one of the teachers who taught at both schools.

Then I went off to CU Boulder, where I spent a good chunk of the time rebelling against my whole liberal upbringing: shaving my head, hanging out with punks and skinheads, voting Republican, generally taking extreme Right wing views. When the movie Flashback came out I found myself sympathizing greatly with the main character.

So fast forward 20 odd years, and now that I have kids I am finding that it is not the Right wing Republican views that I am leaning on when I teach and raise my children. It is the views of my childhood. And my politics in general have changed from the very conservative to the liberal side of things.

The point of all of this is that while people tend to get very bent out of shape when their children start to rebel and do dumb things, if you raised them right, the chances are they will return to the values you teach them when they are young. And while I kid my parents about the seemingly odd choices they made for me, it definitely turned out all right.

The freaky origins of Christian rock. - By Erik Davis - Slate Magazine

The freaky origins of Christian rock. - By Erik Davis - Slate Magazine

This just caught my eye. It brought to mind the Movie/musical Godspell and to a certain extent Jesus Christ Superstar, both of which were albums I listened to a lot when I was growing up. And were the only 'rock' I was allowed to listen to out loud when my stepmother was around.