Monday and last links for the Year!

Good campaign blog

Instead of looking at the actual issues it focuses solely on the campaigns and what the are doing (or not doing). Kind of nice to have a kind of running commentary. With the campaigns heating up we will see some real action. I for one intentionally ignored the campaigns up until very recently because it just didn't seem real to me. But now it is, and so my attention has focused in.

Interesting study on public library use

I have always been a library user, I try to use it more now. In fact I was there this past weekend, partly to get a book for me, but also as a way to get some books on Lego's and therefore show James that if you want to know more about something, the library is the best resource. Of course my family has always been big on the library, I think my Dad goes there everyday, or just about. So I have good examples to follow.

Perennially grumpy Hitchens on the Iowa Caucus

Of course his perpetual anger at the world, and especially anyone who is not an atheist, makes Hitchens far from an unbiased observer. But I do think that hidden deep down in there somewhere there is a valid point. Although, since these are Primary and therefore Party elections, I don't think he can truly brandish the Un-Democratic sword.

Fascinating study, blowing holes in the gifted & talented mindset

This is just a fascinating study. And it makes sense to me. From my own experience, when I was in grade school I was treated 'differently' by some teachers, and I think it was more of a long term detriment. In elementary school the teacher who probably got the most out of me was my 5th grade teacher who insisted on treating me the same, regardless of whether others had not done so. And at least as far as math, it really made a difference. And it reaffirms my feeling to not look for my children to have any special 'gifts' or at least to not treat them that way. When James came up to me the other day displaying a piece of paper where he was writing down some basic 3 letter words I just said good job, but didn't exclaim how 'Super smart he was'. I want him and the other 2 to have their mom's work ethic rather than mine. Kim has an extraordinary work ethic and I think that is why her school record is so much better than mine.

Weekend recap

A good weekend overall, got some good stuff done around the house, had some fun with James, didn't watch too much football. Saturday we mostly just relaxed around the house, although I did run down to the library to pick up a book I had on hold and a couple of Lego books for James and I.

Yesterday we spent some time making Lego things for James, then Kim got real energetic and put away all the Christmas stuff and then cleaned up the entire basement. I mostly just watched the kids, fed them, and picked up the living room and kitchen. It will be nice to start the new year with a clean, organized basement.

We don't have anything planned or New Years, the last night we went out and did anything for New Years was 6 years ago, when we just went over to a friends house for some games. For all the hosting of parties Kim & I just aren't that social outside of family and my smallish circle of friends. We are not the life of a party when we go out, preferring to keep to each other's company. Which is fine, it's probably better that we found someone we have that in common with.

Tomorrow I will be home with the kids while Kim works, so that will be a good chance to see how the boys react to the newly cleaned play area. Really the only games I care about are the Cotton Bowl and Rose Bowl. So I may not spend the whole day watching football. And I will not be hosting some huge party either.

Kid's camera

So Lolly bought the boys a kids digital camera for Christmas, and they have enjoyed the heck out of it. Just wandering round snapping pictures to their heart's content. Here are a Few shots that were worth uploading.

Kim sleeping with Emily
James' friend Jon Dell from across the street.
James had to take pictures of all sorts of his presents, here is a book that he received.
Since the sharpness isn't always that great it's a great excuse to play around with effects. So here is one of me and Emily that I ran through a Sepia filter. I think it looks pretty cool that way.

Holiday Pictures

So here are some shots of us and the kids taken over the holidays. I am actually in 2 of them for a change, as opposed to normally when I am the one taking the pictures. Anyway her I am with my hands full at my family's Pre- Christmas Christmas party at Nancy & Bill's house.
Except for James missing this is an almost complete family picture. Taken at our house on Christmas day.
Here are a couple of shots of Emily on Christmas day, I would say she was enjoying her presents, except her looks are more on the line of "what are you doing now you crazy people? Can't you just leave me alone and let me sit in my bouncer or on the floor or something? I guess this stuff is all nice but I really have no idea what it is and what I should do with it."

Restless Night

So yesterday Kim finally went and saw the Dr. about her sore throat. And while they didn't diagnose her with strep or pneumonia they did at least give her something practical that she can do. Apparently Ibuprofen can assist in keeping your inflammation in your throat down, which would have allowed her to sleep better, except...

Also yesterday was Emily's 2 month check up. Which meant shots for her, and also flu shots for all 3 kids (well James had the spray as he is too freaked out about shots). The end result of that was Emily did not sleep well, ending up in our bed all night and alternating between cuddling with me or Kim. Which meant no sleep for either of us.

Otherwise Emily was just fine, like her brothers she was in 25th percentile on length and 10th percentile on weight, but everything was in proportion so she's just fine, just petite like her brothers.

Friday Links

Big Brother Inc.: Politics & Power

You see these sorts of things in movies and TV shows but you don't really believe they exist until see them. I guess in light of the book on data mining that I read earlier thisyear I shouldn't be surprised that it occurs in politics. The most upsetting thing is that it means that people don't see everything about a candidate, they will get targeted by single issues. And in our current body politic, where people have a hard enough time keeping track of personal details, it is unlikely they will take the time to look beyond a single trigger button issue when that issue is in their face all the time due to this kind of tailored campaigning.

The best graphical display of what is really going in the election cycle

So with 2008 a week away, and the football season winding down I guess I should start paying some attention. And so my first task was to find a map with dates on it like this. So I can see when things are happening and who is who. While this is not the first 'Internet' election, it is the first one where the Internet has become the primary source for news while there is no incumbent. While the Internet was certainly a presence in 2000 I don't think it had become as omnipresent as it is now. Should be interesting.


The Fundamental Principles of Colorado Football

More from Coach Hawk. Very interesting, good insight into what he is trying to build. I said it before and I will say it again, if I had a High school age athlete, and I wanted to be sure he was going somewhere where he was going to learn something other than football and how to party, where his character would be challenged and grow, I would want Coach Hawk as his coach. And if, in 12 years James is at a level where he can play college ball I will look to see where Coach Hawk is, even if (shudder) he is not coaching at CU.

Thursday Links

Very interesting summation of trends and technology that affect people's privacy

There's a lot to talk about here. I'll throw out a few: Item's 1 & 2, I am a little too libertarian to approve of either "war". I will admit it's much nicer to go places and not have to deal with cigarette smoke, but I think things might be going too far. Item 10, it's amazing how genetic manipulation can inflame the Christian Right when it might possible mean that a life is missing, but when it might mean an 'end' to homosexuality, it's OK. Get a sense of perspective folks.

Mark Cuban's business story in his own word's

Interesting stuff, very motivating if you are an entrepreneurial type, which I am not. But interesting because you wonder what happened to all those sales guys who did not RTF all those years ago, and now look at Cuban's success...

Attempting to preserve the illusion of Net Privacy

I don't worry about these types of things to be honest. My life is a pretty open book. I try to keep the financials under wraps but my personal life is right out there for pretty much everyone to see. Here's my personal view on this: If I want something to remain private, I don't write it down. Simple, to the point. When talking about people I know might get upset if they are included on my blog, I don't use their names.

Professor iPod Tells How IPods Insulate City Dwellers

An interesting article on the very general impact that iPod's (and probably by extension MP3 players) have on society

Since I received an iPod for Christmas (thanks again Mom) I have been reading up more on them and what they can do. It is pretty amazing that I can set up a calendar, keep track of contacts, and also play games on the device. Between the iPod and the new phone I am feeling far more up to date technologically now. Which is a good thing.

One of the presents James received was a replacement Leapster. And he has been playing it pretty incessantly, and when he isn't playing it Daniel is. Which makes me ponder the impact of technology on children. On the one hand I understand and appreciate the health reasons of separating kids from electronics, and I think James 'gets' more from his Lego playing time in terms of stimulating his imagination.

But they are growing up in an ever more digital world, and I want the kids to be able to compete and operate on an equal footing with their peers. So if that means working with electronic devices at an earlier age, so be it.

Happy Holidays

Well Happy Holidays to everyone. We managed to survive the craze of the Holidays intact. Had a bit of a scare as Daniel started showing all of the signs of an ear infection: temperature, tugging on his ears, generally miserable. So I took him to Dr. on Monday morning where he was given a clean bill of health, just a cold. Which eased up after a lazy relaxing Christmas Eve.

There is lots to talk about, but I would rather tell the stories as I add pictures. So I will leave it with saying we had a good vacation, I think everyone had a good Christmas.

Holiday changes

So King Soopers threw a monkey wrench into our plans. Kim was scheduled to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She was able to negotiate down half of the Christmas Day shift though.

So the upshot is that we will not have a Christmas Eve party this year (but next year it should return). But instead we will host a Christmas Dinner at our house at 2. So for those of you who read this who were planning on attending the Christmas eve party, if you don't have plans for Christmas Day at 2, come on over.

Why the NFL needs to expand it's rosters

This guy really has a point.

I was commenting just the other day that the impact of injuries is so damaging in this era of the small rosters and salary cap. All it takes is a few key injuries and bam there goes the season. It's a domino effect: a starter on the offensive line goes down, the blocking is disrupted, so the timing is disrupted, leading to the QB, RB and WR more likely to just get killed, then they are out of action etc. placing greater stress on other players. Plus the depth that was needed for areas like special teams is also gone because the backups who used to play are not starters. It's just a vicious circle.

And I think that the last thing we as fans deserve is having luck become THE factor in determining if our team, that we spend time money and energy supporting, fails to win. I understand that some luck is involved, but as a fan I would prefer that my team won or lost because of coaching and team management, not pure luck.

Holiday plans

So here are our current plans (times subject to change based on Kim's schedule):

Saturday: day spent cleaning house, organizing the boys toys, coordinating Christmas Eve party (expect calls from me)
Saturday night: Christmas party with friends, followed by drive to see Christmas lights

Sunday Day: cleaning house, picking up last second gifts
Sunday Night: Christmas treat cooking at Mom's house (expect a special guest)

Monday Day: Final cleaning, cooking and preparation for...
Christmas Eve Party! Our annual event, it may start without Kim, but she should show up at some point.

Tuesday: something important, can't quite remember... oh yeah
Christmas! The boys (spurred on by James) will awake at some god awful early hour no doubt. Then the destruction of the wrapping paper will commence.

We don't currently have plans for a brunch or lunch or dinner at this point. We usually don't make the final plan for that until the Christmas Eve dinner.

So there you have it our plans for the holiday weekend. Sounds pretty busy huh? Not very relaxing. Well we shall see how it all turns out.

My letter to the Editor was published by the Gazette!

Opinion: Letters - Wednesday | assault, giuliani, romney - Gazette.com

I have no idea how mine was picked but hooray none the less. Of course, because this is the Gazette, it was followed by a gun advocate letter.

House repair time

So the plumbers were at the house yesterday. Dug up and replaced the entire outside sewer line. Unfortunately also cut up some of the sprinkler line and chopped down my holly bush. But they also took the top off our front porch so now Manual should be able to get out on Friday or the weekend and replace the porch with some better deck materials, including a hand railing. As I mentioned yesterday, it's not a big holiday event without us starting a big household project just ahead of it.

The holiday stress is starting to kick in because we still don't know what Kim's schedule is for next week. Which makes it near impossible for us to plan out the holiday events. And for those of you who know me, I am a planner, and not being able to do so drives me a little nuts.

We shall see what happens.

Kids Pictures

3 Kids

Emily

Daniel

James

So here are some recent shots of the kids for folks to upload what have you. We have the first good shot of the 3 of them, dressed up fancy for Megan's birthday party. Plus individual shots of each of them.

Sitting at home sick

So today I am at home. Woke up with a worse sore throat than I have had and decided to call in. Plus this way James will not be subjected to his cousins, which means a true day of rest. He didn't get all the rest he needed yesterday as Megan watched the kids and that meant Dillon came over and they were pretty active.

I am keeping busy screening pictures from the camera. I have uploaded the raw shots from the preChristmas party and Megan's birthday to the Picasa site. I will also do a separate post with some selected shots of the kids that we have taken recently, with them all dressed up.

Weekend Recap

A busy and tiring weekend. Kim was fighting a cold, so I had to take up some slack from her with the middle of the night feedings. We had some errands on Saturday, then a big family pre-Christmas gathering. Which was lots of fun, and since we didn't host, not too overwhelming.

Then yesterday we got to relax some, but it appears James' strep has caught him, so no Sunday school. Followed by a birthday/graduation party for Megan. Then we finally got home to relax a little more, get some cleanup done at the house.

So busy, a prelude to the holidays. And today I will take James to the Dr. to keep him from getting worse.

Which might give me the opportunity to upload the bunches of pictures I took this weekend to Picasa and Facebook.

Stop the Insanity

So the Events over the weekend have me thinking. And then something I was told on Monday night made it worse. James, my 6 year old son, was telling me how they were practicing a lock down drill at school in case of an attack like Columbine or New Life. James is in Kindergarten.

Then this morning in the paper I read an article detailing how the New Life killer bought all of his weapons legally, including 2 assault rifles, only one of which he used in the attacks. Thank you NRA and George Bush for ending the Assault rifle ban. The Omaha Mall shooter was also carrying an Assault rifle, an Ak-47 to be precise. Again thank you George Bush.

When is this all going to stop? What is it going to take for things to change so that things like this don't happen anymore? So that people can attend church without fear. So that children can attend school with only the normal childhood fears of bullies, gym class and tests.

First, a substantive immediate change is to reinstitute the Assault weapon ban, so that no one can gain access to these weapons without being a member of law enforcement or military or theft. There is no reasonable justification for owning an assault rifle in my opinion. Ideally I would implement the Lynyrd Skynyrd solution:

"So why don't we dump 'em people
To the bottom of the sea "

Second, we need to address mental health as a culture. We need to remove the stigma. And we need to provide funding for reasonable facilities so that people who are mentally ill have a place to go and get help. I am not talking about a return to the dreadful mental health facilities of the past century. But there needs to be an alternative location for these people. And have that alternative be decent enough that parents and families don't feel like they are committing their loved ones to a fate worse than death.

I have a number of other thoughts on this but I will leave it at these for now. I think these are the 2 most important lessons we can learn from the events of the last week. And if we don't learn those lessons and take action as a society New Life and Omaha will not be the end.

Brady Campaign

Go here to sign the petition and send an e-mail to the President, Congress etc. to reinstate the Assault weapon ban.

Wednesday

Will Michael Vick play football in prison?

Everyone wants to talk about a real life Longest Yard scenario. Which would be interesting. You just team up Mike with CU Alum Rae Carruth and you have an almost unstoppable passing combo. Of course I think that Vick's time should not be easy, he needs to be treated just like any other inmate. But I also wonder if his life might be made just a little worse because he is Mike Vick.

This looks cool

Kind of a compromise between James' former obsession with trains and Thomas the Tank Engine, and his current love of Legos.

Interesting commentary on the results of absent fathers

While the commentary is focused on the African American community I can tell you I see the effects of this everyday. My sister in law has 4 kids, and 3 of them see their dad maybe twice a year, while the youngest sees his dad once or twice a week. And you can see the effect this lack of an adult male role model has on them. Lately I have been reading James stories or songs from Free to be you and me and while sometimes Kim gives me a hard time for my 'weird' music I think she understands the impact these stories have. And most of these lessons are things that have a much bigger impact coming from a man than a woman. It means a lot more for a man to sing "It's alright to Cry" to his son than it would be for a mom. And that is the kind of impact that a Dad has. And when I see the sullen, resentful boy that my nephew is becoming I just count my lucky stars that I had a dad in my life, and that I can be there for my son's.

On the lighter side

One thing I picked up from my father is that seeming chaos really isn't. Apparently Steven Leavitt agrees.

R.I.P. I guess...

Ike Turner, Rock n Roll Pioneer, great musician and band leader, abusive husband and drug addict.

Mark Cuban on taxes, government accoutning and politics

And he actually raises some really good points

This is an interesting read. And I am for most of what he proposes. I think he hit the nail on the head with his point that 250K is not the point that should be considered 'rich'. People at that level are comfortable, but they cannot afford the luxury items that Cuban talks about.

And his idea of eliminating taxes on small businesses is very interesting. I would be interested to see a study done on the feasibility of it.

And last I have not made a study of the financials for the government but sometimes you do wonder. Where does all that money go and where does it really come from?

Sad Commentary

So first of all my thoughts and best wishes are with those shot on Sunday (as it turns out the family most affected are cousins to one of my sisters friends). It never makes sense when these sorts of shootings occur.

But between this shooting and the shooting last week in Omaha I think it is time to reopen the national dialogue on the assault rifle ban. I think it is ridiculous that these weapons are available again. And after 2 shootings made all the worse because of the firepower available to the killers I would find it hard to agree with any justification for the legality of these types of weapons. Will ridding the country of these weapons make everyone safer? Maybe, maybe not, but it might at least reduce the carnage. New Life was lucky that there was a trained security officer there, and that the killer was not better trained.

Friday

Why the Patriots will lose

While he certainly makes his case, and many others I have have made similar cases, I am not certain I agree. I think that the history of this Patriots team, at the core, has been they play at their best in big games. I think that Bill Belichik has something up his sleeve for a game like this. And given how the Steelers have a bad road record, and the game is at Foxborough, it is not a clear case for the upset.

Another example of a writer talking himself into a Patriots loss

This may end up being the best sub plot of the undefeated season: how writers talked themselves into believing that other teams would win. I really think this team, love it or hate it, will go undefeated, at least for the regular season. The playoffs might be different if they have to face the Chargers, Colts and/ Steelers and possible Dallas. Although if they played Dallas on a neutral field with Belichik given 2 weeks to prepare, it could be real ugly.

Finally Friday

It seems like it was an extra long week. But the bad news with the plumbing probably had something to do with that. We have the other plumber coming today to give an estimate on the work. Then we make our choice on who to go with and schedule the work.

No plans this weekend, my normal every 2 week game night was cancelled until January. So it will be a weekend at home. Now the problem becomes one of finding something to do for James. He is such a social child and he is not happy just playing on his own or with Daniel. And it gets a little draining trying to keep up with him and Daniel and Emily on days when Kim works.

Thursday

A Cool Christmas gift in case anyone is interested

Particularly the 'I Just Go Berserk' and 'The Power' shirts. Those 2 really capture the spirit of what made Billy Jack such a powerful symbol.

I think someone has finally broken the 'Code'

As my father would say. It is strange that this viewpoint, also known as Theistic evolution is really downplayed. Like there is no middle ground in the battle of religion versus science. But there apparently is a pretty widespread system of beliefs that occupies the middle ground in this battle. And it is a middle ground that makes sense really. If you believe in God, or similar Supreme Being, but also embrace science it is possible to accommodate both beliefs.

Mitt Romney delivers his big speech on religion

And he did the politically safe thing, hedging his bets whenever possible without coming out and saying that being a candidate meant he was renouncing his beliefs. Some interesting excerpts:

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone,"

I am not entirely certain that he would get a lot agreement on this from a number of Middle Eastern countries. But a good point none the less.

Romney said he thought some have taken the idea of separation of church and state beyond its original meaning by trying to remove any acknowledgment of God from the public arena.

"It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America -- the religion of secularism. They are wrong," he said.

I am not sure I agree with him there. I think the idea was that religion would have no place in the government. Not saying that leaders cannot be religious but their religion should have no bearing on their political choices.

All in all this is a very interesting test case for the politically active Evangelical Christians, what is really important to them: electing a Christian or someone who shares their political beliefs?

House saga continues

So the plumber came out yesterday and it was pretty much the worst case scenario. 3 cracks/offsets in the line by the house, major collapse right by the street. So we spent some time last night trying to determine exactly how we will pay for the work. We have worked out a solution for the financing, and it won't be hugely painful. But the overall effect is we have to forego any thoughts for any big family presents like a new TV for the downstairs or a new PC or anything like that for Christmas. Bummer, the joys of being a responsible adult with a family and house.

Wednesday

This is humorous

Especially the updated Live interpretation of it's a Charlie Brown Christmas:

Plus Charlie Brown gets hit in the crotch about two dozen times!

A very interesting spin

On the impact of divorce. Also at the end it glosses over an endorsement of couples living together, and even 'commune' style living.

More House Problems

Well if it's not one thing it's another. We thought we had our plumbing problems under control last time I ran the sewer snake in the front yard. Well it turns out I was wrong. The sewer is backed up to the cut out again and overflowing there. Which means we have a nice green patch in the lawn, but with the nice weather the smell can get pretty strong. So it is time to put a call into the plumber to have them run a camera down the line and see where the problem is. And hope that it is just a clog that the standard 50 foot rented snake can't handle. Because if that isn't the issue and we have a collapsed or cracked line that gets real expensive.

Tuesday

Mitt Romney to talk about his beliefs

I am looking forward to this, it's really a make or break moment for him. And also for the Mormon Church in this country, because if your defense of your beliefs makes those beliefs look bad then it pretty much eliminates any chance of that belief system becoming a major player. So it should be interesting to read about. Although I will probably not read Hitchen's response as this column pretty much cinches him in my mind as crazy as a loon.

Is there a difference between an MP3 and Vinyl?

An interesting commentary on the state of technology, audiophiles and what really matters when listening to music. I am not an audiophile snob. I have never cared that much, so long as I could play it loud and the medium was durable is all that mattered to me. And convenience is crucial for me now. But I have friends who are audiophiles and they are all about how the right equipment does make a difference.

Patriots-Ravens game last night

So I only watched the first half, before family pressures overcame my control of the TV. But from what I saw and what I have read about this morning I think that the Ravens did have the right idea. And what is surprsing to me is that the recipe to defeat the Partiots is the exact same one that the Patriots used to defeat the Rams in their signature victory. That is beat them up, hammer the receivers, jam them at the line, let loose the dog blitzes from all directions. And on offense play keep away, ball control, power running.

If I was a big Patriots fan I would be getting worried right now, because there are teams in the AFC capable of playing that game. This is a team that is built to beat the Colts, but if they have to play the Jaguars, Steelers or Chargers they could be in trouble.

That being said I would not be surprised if Bill Belichik is not just keeping his running game under wraps. That he doesn't just switch gears in the coming weeks and start pounding the ball. He's too smart a coach to not realize what has happened to his team. Of course I hope they stick with the high wire passing attack so I can get all those points from Tom Brady in my fantasy league.

Monday Links

Link to an interesting article in Rolling Stone

This is a review of an article in Rolling Stone (The actual article ), I will read the article next, but this review makes it very intriguing. I have long thought the War on Drugs was not that effective. And judging by the easy availability to those people I know who are or have been regular users I don't think it has been that effective. I do think that the culture has changed from the alarmist stage it was in in the early 90's. But I don't think you can lay that at the hands of the War on Drugs. The actual article is pretty dense so it may be a while before I finish it.

Tonight looks to be a hectic TV night, with New episodes of 4 of our favorite shows, plus a big night for my fantasy football team. Loks like the Tivo and VCR combo will get a serious workout. I can only guess this perfect storm has something to do with the Writers strike and networks trying to dump the shows that they have taped.

Weekend Recap

Well a good weekend overall. Relaxed at home with the kids on Saturday while Kim worked. Yesterday we got the Christmas tree and decorations out and up. Which was a little frustrating as we tried to maintain some control over the proceedings while the boys just wanted to be involved and hanging things up. But it is up, as are the decorations on the Mantel piece. So that much is complete. Now the hope is that when Tammy watches the kids at our house, that they don't destroy it.

Very disappointing loss by the Broncos yesterday. They are just a young team that is making young team mistakes. But I had really high hopes for them, so it is pretty disappointing. But the Rams won, I should win in my fantasy leagues this week, and the Buffs are Bowl bound!

Some new photos

 

 

 

 

Daniel and his interesting fashion choices coupled with his potty training. We think this is The Trend of the year for 2008, underwear with cowboy boots.

Since James just started taking piano lessons I doubt this will be the last shot we have of him at the piano. And Daniel like all little brothers wants to do just what big Bubba is doing. Hence the dueling maestro's.

The boys like to curl up close to their little sister and talk so here are a couple of examples. Daniel curled up with Emily and James curled up with Emily, she's not so sure about this of course, but she was quiet for a minute.

THere a bunch more new photos at the Picasa site on the left.