In retrospect, it was much easier than I imagined and never once left me feeling hungry or over-exercised. Through a series of minor lifestyle modifications, it came off slowly and steadily. We are not talking rocket science nor Herculean effort here.

I would like to continue to drop some weight just because the gut is still too big. That said, I’m pretty sure that’s about all I am going to lose for awhile. I have a couple things working against any further weight loss. I am eating a lot more recently because I have been hanging with people that make amazing homemade dinners every time I come near, also, things are really getting busy with work. Between football season about to go full blast and the videography gigs picking up speed… Jack is a very busy boy.

One last thing and probably the most important - when I first set the goal to crack 200, I told myself that I would dream up some great reward in honor of the accomplishment. I thought about skydiving - buying some cool new electronic gadget - taking a trip - you name it, none of it really seemed worthy of what amounts to erasing 20 years of poor eating and exercise habits.

Then, without noticing, I had my reward. It wasn’t one that I set out for myself. It wasn’t something I ever even imagined. It was something much more rewarding and much more worthwhile. I found happiness.

Not just “I’m the fun guy, jokester that enjoys a good laugh,” but happiness on the inside. Call it a peacefulness, call it joy, call it serenity, call it love. Whatever you call it - we’re talking about good stuff.

I have had to sit back and evaluate this part of my personality in light of my new relationship. It adds an entirely new element to “my nature.” Now, I have to deal with feelings of guilt, jealousy, and more. Is it right for me to flirt with a member of the opposite sex? Is that something that can coincide with a healthy relationship? Will it cause fear and doubt in the mind of my spouse/girlfriend? Is it okay to flirt and be charming as long as the subject is someone that I would have no interest in (someone too old, too young, wrong sex, etc.) ?

Is it fair to the object of my flirtation? I have no doubt that my current relationship is “the one.” Should the fact that I am “off the market” make it cruel or mean of me to give false hope to someone else?

If I were single, would this change the answer to any of those things? If I am viewing all these flirtations as superficial, fun diversions - it that fair to the flirtees?

Or, is the act of flirtation innocent and something that should be enjoyed by all involved? How do you go about doing that yet still making it perfectly clear that it is just simple hi jinx and nothing more?

I am guessing that 1) flirting with others while in a relationship is something that should be curtailed whether you mean it innocently or not, 2) flirting with others while not involved is something that is fun, but you need to be careful to not mislead someone. What are your thoughts?

Since this is going to be a very long post, I thought I would list the ones that I reviewed up front so you can decide which ones you want to read. They range from extremely recent, to quite old - with some oddball ones tossed in for good measure.

Up
Year One
Terminator Salvation
Taken
The Hangover
Stranger than Fiction
The Wrestler
Jeremiah Johnson
Eagle Eye

Up was a fun film. I have to admit, it wasn’t as good as I was expecting, and that’s just because so many people mentioned how much they loved it. Sure, it was a lot of fun. Sure, the humor was good enough to appeal to people of all ages. Sure, the animation was good. Sure, it had some great dog-related scenes/content. But you know what? It was just not that amazing.

As you can see from my rating, I liked it alot - I was just disappointed that it wasn’t as great as I had heard. The characters were a lot of fun and aside from the very sad story about the old man and his love, I dug almost every part of the film. Expect it to be a really good film - just not one of your all-time favs.

RATING 7 out of 10

————————————–

Terminator Salvation is so bad, I am not going to even invest the time required to find a picture to post with this review. This film is bad beyond description.

Christian Bale phone it in, McG (director) should go back to shooting lame music videos - he is a no-talent hack. The story and dialogue read like they were penned by 2nd grader - and I’m talking about the 2nd graders that ride the short bus and lick the windows on the way to school. This is quite possibly the worst movie I have seen in decades. Heck, I have already wasted too much time writing about it…. ugh!

RATING 2 out of 10

————————————–

The film Taken scores better marks with me than it should for a couple reasons. 1) I have always been a very big fan of Liam Neeson (with the exception of the Star Wars garbage.) 2) It featured a lot of great action scenes - hand-to-hand combat in particular, and 3) even though she doesn’t get much screen time - Maggie Grace is nice to look at.

Sure, it comes across as way over-the-top, but when done with a believable setting and backed up by a superb actor capable of selling it, it works. Not only will the action and intensity keep you interested, but the emotional tugs provided by a father trying desperately to save his daughter will win over anyone with a heart.

RATING 7 out of 10

————————————–

The Hangover was a funny little Vegas romp that I expected to be mildly amusing. Anyone who has been to a good bachelor party knows that these are stories you will tell the rest of your life. (Manny)

The interesting twist in The Hangover is that the narrative is about trying to remember what happened rather than just being a fly on the wall as the hi jinx ensued. Told in this way, the film is probably funnier than it would have been with the traditional formula.

Sure, it is sophomoric. It is absolutely juvenile and appeals the lowest common denominator. But lets face it - sometimes that is fun! The Three Stooges made careers out of going for the cheap laugh. Director Todd Phillips has made a career out of this kind of movie - Old School, Road Trip, etc. and he scored again with this one.

Don’t take your girlfriend’s parents to it, if you are trying to be seen as an intellectual. Don’t take your mom to it, unless she enjoys some good fart jokes. Don’t take your kids to it - period. But, if you want to go see a funny film with some friends that won’t bat an eye at crude jokes, crude language, and generally illegal treatment of a baby - this is your film.

RATING 8 out of 10

————————————–

Sorry, I got tired of blogging - I promise to write up reviews of the other four I listed when I get some time.

I am four pounds away with four days to go so it is likely that I will miss it by a pound or two, but that’s not really important. What is important is that I will shortly have lost 40 pounds and be on my way to looking decent in public with my shirt off. The closer I get to 200, the more I realize that I need to add muscle and still drop some gut, but I am pleased as punch with the results so far.

I am thinking that somewhere around 180 (but with much more muscle) is a good final destination for my fitness goals, but who knows - it will probably remain one of those moving targets.  All I can say is that I feel better in general, I have more energy, and a life that was always great anyway, is feeling even better now.

Cornering on an uphill, when your tire slides out, and you’re clipped into the pedals, usually means only one thing - you’re going down. It always means the fall will be ungraceful. Without the ability to put a foot down to catch, all you can do is hope to guide gravity a bit with some frantic body english. I splayed out over the handlebars and managed to break my fall with gloves on both hands taking the brunt of the impact. My right knee however, smacked hard into the top tube of the bike frame.

After a second to pause and do an internal system check, I popped up and went about my ride. I really didn’t notice the knee until the next day, but it has been pretty tender since.

As falling off my bike is something that comes very rarely, I had to think hard to remember the last time it happened.

I was riding the Ant Hills in Houston and decided to take the much more technical route in an area that gave us a choice. Dave took the high road as I bombed in and out of the trees, over vines, around rocks, and up and down gullies and ravines. As this was the first time I had taken that route, I should have done it slower to scout it a bit, but I was having a blast.

I broke out of a heavily wooded area and saw something I wasn’t expecting - a straight drop of about thirty feet with a narrow bridge crossing a ravine smack dab at the base. I was halfway down the drop before it even registered that this was not going to end well.

In an effort to cut right and line up with the bridge, I slid hard. The bike reacted more than I expected and my right shoulder smacked hard into an Oak tree about ten inches in diameter. I remember the impact, I remember instantly laying on my back on the tiny bridge, and I remember my bike flying through the air directly toward my head. Then it went black.

The guy that was down there watching it, tells me that my left arm shot out, grabbed the bike by the frame inches from my head, guiding its momentum enough to miss. Apparently, then I just lay there silently. He said that about ten seconds later, I kinda looked up and just lay there still for a bit.

I do remember waking up on the bridge and trying to decipher how I got there, but have no memory of the attack of the flying bike. I walked up the other side of the hill back to the easy trail where Dave was waiting with a look of triumph for having beaten me to that junction.

“Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow.”

– unknown

I took a big jump here because my journal entries during the Summer pretty much revolved around sports - the Tour de France (where Greg LeMond won by just 8 seconds,) baseball and basketball. There are also a bunch of letters from college friends, but no way I am going to transcribe them all here.

First of all I’m back at college - have been for over a week. Bryan and i moved in around the 20th. I’ve pretty much seen the whole gang since returning. I’m rooming with Bryan - Terry is rooming in the dorm - Jon has his own apartment - Dave has moved in with Stacey - Amy is living in an apartment with a friend - Linda and Tonya are staying together. I saw Sandy but I’m not sure if she’s staying in the same place. I haven’t seen Traci yet - she said she was getting a new apartment. I saw Kelly - she’s still in the ZTA house.

I met a really nice girl that works the information desk of the UC. Her name is Cindy Hanks - she’s beautiful (of course) and on a scale of 1 to 10, she has the personality of a 27. I asked her to go to a movie but that was three days ago and I haven’t really followed up since we didn’t set an exact date.

I picked my classes for the semester - they are: Weight Training, Intramural Sports, Prevention and Care of Injuries, Activities & Games in Sports, and I will be doing an internship too. Dr. Dinucci mentioned the cardiology department of the hospital and we have an appointment next Tuesday to get the info.

Arnie - my pet turtle enjoys college life much more now since I got a heater for his aquarium. Bryan and I went out and bought remote control cars - childish I know, but hey - it’s fun! I’ve been playing basketball a couple hours a day and riding about 5 -25 miles a day too.

———————-
Looks like college life got back to normal pretty fast.

The story of the Presidio La Bahia is fascinating and being able to walk the only fully restored Spanish mission in the United States is inspiring in itself.

For more pics, of the days events - head to my Flickr page

After that, we had a great lunch on the town square at The Empresario. It is a great little small town restaurant where everyone knows everyone else. It was great to watch the interactions. One gentleman, after finishing his lunch, walked toward the front door. It took him nearly 20 minutes to cover the 30 feet as he had to shake hands, and stop and talk with nearly every person in the place. I really dig small towns.

After that, we walked across the street to the courthouse square and particularly the “Hangin’ Tree.”

What a gorgeous old oak! The legend says that as soon as someone was found guilty in the courthouse, they were escorted outside, a rope was tossed over the tree limb and justice was meted out on the spot.

All in all, it was a fun excursion just a few miles outside of Victoria and a great opportunity to have more conversations with Avis and Mom. Fun stuff!

I nearly turned it off about 20 minutes in because it was too corny, too lame and too immature. I actually sorta zoned out while watching it and working on something else and was surprised a few minutes later to realize that I was pausing my work and finally stopping it altogether as I watched the storyline unfold. Somehow, it sunk in that these characters were interesting to me.

In the end, the story ended up being rich enough to hold my attention and I was glad to have seen it. I think I came around because Jack Black (Po) wasn’t over-the-top and when combined with great animation, was a very empathetic panda. Was it one of my top CGI films? Not even close. Was it one I will watch over and over? Again, not even close. Would I recommend it? Sure, why not?

Not exactly a ringing endorsement - but much better than I expected to rate it.

RATING 6 out of 10

Monsters vs Aliens is another recent CGI film that left me a little underwhelmed. I went to see it in 3D and while the new technology in 3D film is nothing short of amazing, MvA was nothing special.

It may have fallen short for me simply because of the animation style. I just didn’t like the monsters or the aliens. The comedy in MvA was very good - you can’t go wrong with giving Seth Rogan a boatload of great lines and just letting him go.

The story certainly held up and although nearly every single scene was pinched from other movies, it was put together well. The action was top-notch with several tense moments intercut brilliantly with comic lines. The characters were certainly likable. As an action-packed fun flick for the kids, MvA scores big.

If I had liked the animation style, it would certainly have earned a couple more stars.

RATING 7 out of 10

“Life is awesome… and it sure beats the alternative!”

I only recently started to actually do strenuous workouts. Up until now, it has all been about 1) lowering my caloric intake, and 2) getting back into cycling. I added P90 X last week and while it has been kicking my butt, the results are starting to show.

Don’t be mistaken here - there is some photographic skill going into getting this shot. Everything from setting the lighting right, shooting from the right angle, and yes… some serious “sucking in.” It also didn’t hurt that I had the shirt as a souvenir from the Nike Football Camp I was at this morning (as media, not participant) and they seem to be designed to make you look like you’re in better shape. Whatever it takes though, I am happy that my body is getting closer to how I would like, and who knows - maybe one day, I’ll be comfortable taking my shirt off in public - haha.

From what Blake was telling me, it will also include good guys. You can play on the side of the law, but I don’t imagine that will be much different when it comes to gameplay. Blake also says there is talk about evening the playing field due to the fact that most gamers will automatically choose to be a bad guy. I can see the attraction to escaping your life completely and being bad, but it just never appealed to me. Going way back to the days of Dungeons and Dragons, I have been unable to feel comfortable playing on the side of evil - just a personal quirk of mine.

Morals in an imaginary world aside, this does look like a fun title. I can’t decide whether I am going to play it or not mainly because I know how much I like these free-roaming games. This means that I can lose countless hours in pursuit of imaginary success in this imaginary setting. I definitely look forward to checking it out.

No clue on the release date and even if it will be out for the Xbox, but I am sure my crack research team (Blake) will keep me up to speed.

Murder Rooms is not, however, another retelling of the escapades of Holmes and Watson, but “the dark beginnings of Sherlock Holmes.” It is the story of the author, and the inspiration for the series of detective short stories. The main character in Murder Rooms is a young Arthur Conan Doyle (Charles Edwards), and tells of his adventures with mentor and teacher, Doctor Joseph Bell (Ian Richardson) - the inspiration for the amalgam that became Holmes and Watson.

Each of the four tales in the mini-series is presented as a standalone, feature that comes with great writing, excellent attention to time-period detail, and expertly delivered acting. The feel of the stories is right in line with the Sherlock Holmes pantheon but are delivered in their own unique way. If you are a fan of Holmes, you will love this series. If you are a fan of well-told murder mysteries, you will love this series. If you are a fan of good television, you will love this series.

If you don’t love this series… enjoy your monster trucks and fake reality tv shows.

RATING 9 out of 10

I am skipping a whole host of letters written from friends during the summer break. All are inserted into my journal, but it would take forever to rewrite them all here. Suffice it to say, that I received about 20 letters (in the mail) during the summer break.

Let me jump back in at the bicycling scene. Greg LeMond is currently in 2nd place of the Tour de France after 10 stages. He is just 7 seconds behind Laurent Fignon of France. Also, making strong showings are Andy Hampsten (USA), Delgade (SPAIN), and Moffet (FRA). I’m over the 1,000 mile mark cycling for the year - 1,039.

———————-
A whole entry that didn’t mention one girl. What are the odds of that? As it would turn out, this would become one of the most famous Tours de France. If you remember this tour, you know what I am talking about - if not, you will see in the next couple of entries.

Stage 17 was underway today and until last night, I had no clue the thing had even started! What could possibly have distracted me from one of my favorite events of the year? Let’s just call it an “affair of the heart.” Yes, I have been so preoccupied with other things that I missed it entirely. The good news is that thanks to modern media, all is not lost.

Not only are each of the days television coverage available LIVE online, they are all archived. This means that I can watch them all in order, and since the Giro doesn’t really hit the news in the US, it won’t be ruined by spoilers. As of this afternoon, between letting the coverage run while I work and do other things, I am just finishing up the end of Stage 4. Thirteen more stages and I will be caught up - should be just in time for the conclusion of the tour.

I also have to give a big shoutout to Universal Sports for the great coverage of the event. This looks like another great move by NBC that, along with Hulu, continues to prove they get new media.

I am pleased to see Lance Armstrong’s new team, Astana, doing well as well as Team Columbia High Road - another team I like - turning in a good tour. I am wondering what happened to George Hincapie as the last time I saw him, he was on Team Columbia High Road, but doesn’t seem to be in Italy at all - perhaps they are saving him for the Tour de France.

While listening to the tracks for the first time, my last.fm plugin was busy reporting the music I play and I surfed my “now playing” list to read about Silversun Pickups. It was there that I was struck by a term used to define the band - “shoegaze.” I assumed it meant a band that isn’t real active on stage and spends a lot of time “feeling” the song while staring at their own shoes. A quick trip to Wikipedia confirmed my guess.

The history is pretty interesting and as I am one that lives to learn, it was a good read.

Still not sure how I feel completely about the Pickups, but I have to thank them for adding to my vocabulary and I can say, I like the track “Little Lovers So Polite.”

“Winners are just dreamers that never gave up.”

– unknown

I have no choice but to start with the film that surprised me the most. Sure, I knew it would be all that and more when it came to everything that makes science fiction so much fun, but Star Trek blew me away in several other areas. First and foremost, was the casting.

Spock was a no-brainer, one look at Zachary Quinto with pointy ears and everyone was sold. I was skeptical of Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, but the little touches he added to the character made you believe he was a younger version of Shatner’s Kirk. Watch him take his saunter/skip down the steps of the Enterprise bridge and you’ll see it. The most shocking however, was Karl Urban as “Bones.” If there was ever a person cast to portray a character already well-known as a previous actor, I haven’t seen it. Urban was spot-on and left even the most casual Trek fan giggling every time he spoke, bitched or frowned.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and while I think most of it is due to the homage paid to the original actors, the storyline itself wasn’t bad. The action sequences were top-notch. Who doesn’t love a free fall dive to a drilling platform and then fighting for your life while it tilted, swayed, and pitched… all while a bunch of bad guys try to take off your head? Good times.

RATING 8 out of 10

I rarely see a film based on a comic book that can’t stand and for that reason, I probably rated this one a lot higher than I should. The story was lame, the CGI was subpar, and the dialogue sounded like it was written by a 13 year old. That said, I enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Hey, I told you I was a sucker for a comic book hero.

Wolverine has never been one of my favorite characters and I have read nothing of the Project X storyline, so I had no skin in the game. For me, it was just a story about a reluctant hero, suckered in by his heart, betrayed, and pissed off enough to turn in some pretty fun action sequences. I was upset that Gambit character (played by an actor I really like, Taylor Kitsch) wasn’t developed more. I would have liked to see Kitsch act more.

Hey, it wasn’t great… but if you want a fun little diversion that requires you to turn off your brain for 107 minutes, you could do much worse.

RATING 6 out of 10

“Isn’t love amazing?”

– a very close friend

(Time: 15:52)

Chris sits down with Hap Mansfield to discuss music and things that make Texas great. Also, thanks to the Dark Diver, he rolls out another great mashup:

Acoustic Alchemy - Norwegian Recycling

Jack Johnson - Bubble Toes
Green Day - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
Josh Rouse - Quiet Town
Joshua Radin - Only You
Wyclef Jean feat. Akon & Lil Wayne & Niia - Sweetest Girl
Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle
Atomic Kitten - Eternal Flame
Black Eyed Peas - Don’t Lie

[Norwegian Recycling]

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I still need some help coming up with a suitable self-reward for reaching 200 pounds. Originally, I was thinking of something like skydiving or similar, but I’m not sure. I had sorta narrowed to down finding something that was much easier at 200 pounds than 240 pounds, but hell - everything is.

I do have a pretty significant event coming up in about five weeks so if I pick up the pace a little, I could reach my goal around the same time. Maybe I could combine the two into some super celebration - who knows.

I celebrated today’s weigh in with finally being able to wear a shirt I bought when I first got to town.

They didn’t have it in my size (2XL) so I bought the XL figuring I would be able to fit in at some point.

Anyway, wish me luck and be sure to kick me in butt if you see pigging out or being lazy. Thanks for coming along on the journey.

Scientists have analyzed the “butterfly effect” (as it applies to relationships - not a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the world) and many write it off to nervousness and fear of the unknown from a new relationship. That certainly holds some merit. Everyone is a bit nervous at the start of something new. I think that it is MUCH more than that though.

I have seen people who have been in relationships for decades, and you can still see the physical change that comes over a spouse with the simplest of touches, or words from the other. Those same butterflies cause a wave of emotion as strong as any created at the onset of the coupling.

I’ve long been called overly-optimistic and even naive when it comes to happiness, but I see it every single day - even in my business life. Sure, when I start something new - a new venture, or project at work, there are butterflies of excitement. But you know what? Long after the new venture has passed into the “old hat” category, I still get that excitement at the prospect of a new day in that old venture. It works because I make DAMN sure to only choose to do business with people that I love to be around. If a relationship - business or romantic - is not an expression of honest, and committed efforts by all involved - you owe it to the people who count on you to cut it fast and keep pressing forward with the healthy partnerships.

A coworker stopped me the other day in fact, and simply asked, “Why are you so damn happy all the time?” Its because I do what I love and love what I do - that causes fresh excitement every single day.

Romantic relationships are no different. Be with who you love, and commit to love who you’re with - but make sure that you choose someone who can deliver the same. The butterflies will continue to flutter long after the body sags a bit and the wrinkles get more pronounced.

Click to play, right-click for direct MP3 download

(Time: 14:24)

I Believe - Peter Searcy

[Peter Searcy]

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Nothing much has been happening lately. I went to see two movies today with my brother, Tim. We saw “The Burbs” and “Three Fugitives” - they were okay. Last night, Tim and I played tennis - I hadn’t played in over two years and Tim had never really played. I beat him three games to one. It was pretty fun. I may have to get me a racquet now - I’ve got the tennis bug.

I haven’t played basketball or rode my bike in two days as I hurt my back at work Friday.

I’m thinking about taking a golf class this Summer - something to do.

I wrote to Traci, Amy, Jaimee and Bryan this evening - I should be getting some mail soon. I just hope Tonya writes me back. Well, I’m done for now - talk to you later.

———————-
As I rolled into the Summer break, it appears that the entries became more disjointed and choppy. Again, a familiar theme is present, but I wasn’t spending much time dwelling on things - at least in my writing. It looks as though as the Summer went on, the distractions continued to grow as there are some large gaps between entries coming up.

“Love is friendship set on fire.”

– French Proverb

Why do I care? Well, I had a HUGE crush on her in high school - nuff said.

Hey, Belinda - feel free to come by for lunch if you get bored too.

How did this happen to me Chris? You know, how I used to not understand at all the blogging, etc. that you did and all the rest. Now I’m loving the fact that I can make a comment and two or three people are interested enough to comment back and I am interested in them and what they are doing, etc,etc,. I’m loving it.

I responded with the following:

It is the greatest reality show of all time. It’s real. It’s not scripted situations or setups, but connecting with real people in a real way. “All the world’s a stage!”

That exchange got me inspired to write this post. Think about it - the very thing that has been accused of dividing us and forcing us away from conversations with our neighbors, is actually bringing us together. I liken it to the difference between grade school and college. In grade school, you get to choose your friends from a very small number of people (your class.) Most of those friendships are the result of the sheer coincidence that you happen to be in the same class of 20 or so kids. When you get to college, the student population is often 15,000 - 30,000… that is a big cohort to select from. The street you live on versus the Internet is the same thing.

Just because Billy’s family bought a house next to your family, you had to choose from Billy or Stinky Frank for the role of “best friend.” Those are the same people you are escaping when hitting the Internet. Suddenly, Stinky Frank no longer makes the cut because you have millions of options.

The reality show analogy is good, with the exception that television reality shows are actually the farthest thing from reality. What you find on the net however, can be completely real.

I weighed the thing this morning when it was fully loaded and it comes in at nearly 50 pounds. I just know one of the straps is going to break soon because I fling it over one shoulder and take it everywhere. I am going to try to eliminate some of the extraneous stuff and get down to a more appropriate weight.

It’s only 24 pounds, but it has been an amazing change. I won’t get into all the circumstances that led to my decision to do something about the expanding waistline, but let’s just say I found some reasons.

I am thinking about skydiving when I break the 200 pound mark, but not sure yet. I want to do something - just not sure if that is special enough. Any ideas?

I don’t know if it’s because I am just not buying as much crap or what - but that mad dash to eat all the cool stuff I bought just doesn’t hit anymore.

Maybe ALL food is getting boring? I still try tons of new and interesting junk food, but nothing seems to stick.

This was one of their Master Series featuring guest artists. Yuqing Meng, the 2007 Davidson Fellow, was born in Shanghai China and begun his musical studies at age 4. By the age of 12, Meng made his orchestral debut with the New York Philharmonic. He was the featured performer for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 in B-flat minor op.23 and his skill was amazing.

There was also a organ symphony that really just dragged on and wasn’t all that interesting. Overall though, the night was a lot of fun and even included reconnecting with an old professor of mine from the Victoria College days. Professor Michael Hummel taught History and Western Civilization, and was one of the most entertaining lecturers I remember from that period.

Prior to the symphony, I went to “The World Goes ‘Round” presented by Texas State University with my mother and Hap. The show featured classics from the famous musicals “Chicago,” “Cabaret,” “New York, New York” and many more. This was the highlight of the weekend as the talent of all the student performers was brilliant. The music was great, the story was great, the voices were great - the evening was superb.

1 - Capitalism is designed so that the smartest, leanest, best-run companies survive and the dinosaurs go under. You can’t complain that giving healthcare to citizens if communism without agreeing that giving welfare to giant conglomerates is communism as well - it is just welfare for the rich.

2 - GM’s largest stake holder is State Street Global Advisors. They are an 800lb gorilla in a room of 800lb gorilla institutional investors. They are owned by Barclays of London, Credit Suisse, themselves - you name it - all fabulously wealthy companies. In fact, if you look at the largest companies in the world, nearly all are owned by a dozen of these financial giants. THEY need to bailout their company. They have more money than the US Government and certainly more than the US taxpayers, who they are asking to foot the bill for their mismanagement.

3 - If your company was doing poorly, there would be no one to bail you out - at least not without taking over some ownership. They do NOT need a bailout from the US taxpayer. If these companies value GM, they will save it. We need to call their bluff.

How do you call their bluff. Bitch. That’s right - get on the phone or shoot an email to your elected officials (at every level) and tell them that you WILL NEVER VOTE FOR THEM AGAIN if the bailouts do not stop NOW.

This entry is to try to bring things up-to-date.

I pulled some muscles in my back lifting windows this morning, so I have the day off. I’m taking a break from cleaning my room. Tony came over and he’s playing a game on my computer.

I’ll start with Janie. She is beautiful - I mean drop-dead gorgeous. We hit it off real well at college, but she graduated and we sorta lost touch. I found out Dawn has moved to Corpus Christi - she’s working there. (I’m sure it is to be with her beau.) Now, I’ll try to explain the Amy thing. I’m not sure what I said about her before, but I’ll try to remember this right.

Terry really likes her, but she said she wasn’t interested in him. I had heard that she likes me, but I wasn’t really interested. Throughout this, I have held to my position that we are just friends. Anyway, one evening I was over at her apartment - it was a group thing - Bryan, Stacie and I came by. We were all laying around the floor watching TV. She was complaining about her shoulders and neck hurting and asked for a back rub - I proceeded to do so. She reciprocated.

The next thing I knew, I was about to fall asleep on the floor when she leaned over and kissed me. It was nothing big - just a simple little peck. I should have said something right then, but I just blew it off - afterall, I had no feelings for her.

Anyway, somehow this got back to Tonya and although she professes undying love for Brock, this really pissed her off. She said that because I didn’t volunteer the information, I was lying to her and she couldn’t handle that.
———————-
In retrospect, I probably should have corrected Amy instantly, and then told Tonya - but damn, she was all ga-ga over Brock and somehow “I” am the bad guy.

My journal takes an interesting turn from this point as I was home for the Summer and my friends were scattered around. I corresponded with several of them regularly through mail (yeah the old fashioned stuff) and have all of those letters inserted into the journal. Since half of those words are not mine, I will not include them in these posts.

Most of them revolved around very silly stuff like housing arrangements for the Fall. A couple of things stood out. I wrote to Amy and spent the entire letter talking about Tonya. Apparently, the two had planned to room together for the Summer, but according to Amy, Tonya found a cheaper place with some friends. I told her that I regretted the “incident” and that I was sure that Tonya hated me.

There are also some letters from girls I can’t even remember. Someone named Stacee who apparently had a big crush on me, the details of which escape me entirely.

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Another thing (and one of the side effects of the bike riding) is that I have dropped down to 217 pounds. (I maxed out at 240, just before moving to San Marcos.) This is pretty monumental as it has been years since I weighed this little. The combination of cycling every day and the recent addition of weight training to the routine seems to be a good fit. I have also greatly cut down the empty calories from things like soft drinks. I think my end goal should be somewhere around 200 lbs because I am going to continue the weight training, which will add some pounds.

It’s never too late.

Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. ]]> http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/04/17/raining-buckets/feed/ no Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. Chris Doelle Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. Photography, Podcasthttp://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/04/17/raining-buckets/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RidingWithTheWindowDown/~3/7BgvT4vEKpc/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/04/15/happy-remember-this-day-when-you-vote-day/#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:35:23 +0000 cdoelle@gmail.com (Chris Doelle) http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/?p=1973 That’s right - it is tax day. It’s the time of year when we pay “our share” of what it takes to run our government. This is where those highways and all those other great government services come from. Oh wait, we don’t really get much in the way of helpful government. This [...] That’s right - it is tax day. It’s the time of year when we pay “our share” of what it takes to run our government. This is where those highways and all those other great government services come from. Oh wait, we don’t really get much in the way of helpful government.

This is where we pay for those bridges to nowhere, $2,000 screwdrivers, corporate bailouts, fat-cat money laundering schemes, curbs on individual freedoms, military/industrial complexes, and countless other “services.”

If you don’t do it for yourself, please - remember this day when you vote - for our children’s future.

Yeah, the storyline is shlocky. Yeah, the script is riddled with goofiness. Yeah, the violence is over-the-top. But seriously - this is good stuff!

The biggest surprise for me in watching this film was the depth of acting. I have always been a big fan of Chow Yun-Fat, and the myriad of Chinese actors that appear throughout this film genre, but once you look past the comical looks and shlock, there are some scenes that took serious skill. The scene in which Yun-Fat’s character, Ken is trying to get his Uncle Lung to snap out of his psychosis and eat was in-freakin-tense.

The genre is fun stuff and I have to thank Hap for loaning me the DVD.

RATING 8 out of 10

Yes, the IIHS took the current trendy microcars - Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, and Smart ForTwo and crashed them into larger midsize sedans. Their findings were not at all surprising, but the report was written as if it was a shocking revelation. It read like something out of Fox News teaser - “Are you driving a coffin? Find out at 10!”

The IIHS went further and blamed lower fuel consumption, saying this is why manufacturers are making smaller (more dangerous) cars. They suggest that the plan by the Obama administration making fuel economy vehicle-type-specific instead of fleet-wide will take away the incentive for manufacturers to make smaller, more fuel efficient cars. (And they are probably right)

So what’s my take? Look, I don’t care what kind of car you buy. If you need (or want) a truck - then by all means - do it. If you want fuel economy to save some bucks - more power to you. This is America. What gets me steamed is when these entities spread propaganda under the guise of public safety or information. What’s wrong with telling the truth? Why all the damn spin? Oh yeah - we’re stupid and need you, obviously more intelligent people, to help us make up our minds.

I could have cut the clip at the end of the letter, but this payoff for the two of them coming together was too good to cut.

Overall, it does a nice job and the price makes it extremely inexpensive. Geez, now I better update my website layout to impress all the new visitors

“Love is a friendship set to music.”

– E. Joseph Cossman

One of the few beefs I had with the film is minor when laid side-by-side with the entire 007 movie archive. Bond has always been over-the-top on impossible jumps, explosions, death-defying-last-second-saves, and the like. The house in the finale had to be the most explosive building ever constructed. But, if that’s my biggest issue - this is a solid installment of the series.

I do like that they continued the tradition established with Craig’s first Bond - extensive use of the art of Parkour. The frenetic energy and grace displayed throughout any scene involving running was stunning.

Of course, the Bond girls just keep getting better - in that they are getting hotter, smarter, and just better characters for the stories. QoS is DOUBLE-O-COOL!

RATING 8 out of 10

It seems that this film was before he got too insane and too fond of his own voice and image. It was more like a real documentary and thus was easier to watch. You could see the beginnings of his celluloid soapbox being created here, but he had not yet become “Michael Moore.”

I probably rated it lower than I would have had I seen it back in ‘89, but I did like the film, just saw too much of what was to come. As a documentary about the fall of the city of Flint, Michigan as a result of the actions by General Motors, it was good. The thing that really turned me off was Moore’s habit of berating people who had nothing to do with the issue. Flint native, Bob Eubanks made it out of the area and made a good life for himself - just as Michael Moore did… why give him a hard time?

Those moments of yellow journalism took what could have been a decent documentary and made it subpar - which IS par for Michael Moore.

RATING 4 out of 10

Whether your thinking aligns with Karma, God, coincidence, or some other explanation, you can certainly get your head around payback.

Let me fill you in on my agenda for making that post. I wanted to see who would respond to it and how they would interpret the meaning. Although nobody posted a comment on the entry, I did get several in-person comments. One asked “What hell hounds are after you now?” assuming that I was talking about a negative Karmic payback. I also had people assuming it was good as well as being neutral and just asking me if it was good or bad. It was a good test to see whether people were optimists, pessimists, or neither. A total of nine people talked to me about the post and the score was 4 negative, 3 positive, and 2 neutral.

The point? If you expect bad things, you see bad things, and vice-versa. So how have “I” been thinking in terms of Karma? There is some payback going around in my life for good things I have done as well as some of the less empathetic gestures on my part. I take the good with the bad, but overall I am very pleased with how things are going.

When I moved from Houston to San Marcos, I weighed in at 240 pounds (my highest weight ever.) I didn’t move for the purpose of losing weight. I wasn’t even trying to lose weight when it started to come off. I rationalized that it was the new surroundings (particularly the lack of buffet restaurants and distance from my regular “going out to eat” buddies) that kicked things off. I also noticed that because my office location is right in the middle of downtown with a bunch of useful places within walking distance, that I was walking a lot more.

After the first couple of pounds dropped off and I had to move to a tighter notch on my belt, I decided to make a concerted effort. I brought one of my bikes up from Houston and eased back into some leisure rides.

Fast forward almost a year and a half later and I have lost over 20 pounds, set my most optimistic cycling mileage goal in over a decade, and it has worked like a charm. No pressure, no quick-fix, just routine repetition of good habits.

The weight loss had plateaued at 20 pounds and held steady for about a month until this morning. I believe though, that things are about to kick back into fitness gear even more.

The plan - 1) continue my cardio work with daily cycling, 2) continue to eat conscientiously, but not restricting what I like, and 3) add weight training. I have always responded quickly to weight training and can put on muscle pretty fast. It will be misleading on the scale as I replace fat with muscle because it weighs more, but I will gladly take a stall in weight loss in exchange for a return to being able to comfortably take my shirt off in public.

I hope to settle in between 180-200 pounds, with the emphasis being how I feel and how I look with my shirt off. I have brand new inspiration that should be just the ticket. I have always been more motivated to do things for someone else than myself and let’s just say that I have “someone else” to inspire me.

That’s right - turn your cap inside out and we can “turn this thing around.” Oh yeah, and uh…. buy a GM - that will help too.

What about helping out the person that just bought a car they can’t afford? This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Just like the mortgage bailout didn’t help the people who needed it - buying a new Corvette will not help the public either.

“You become what you think about.”

– Earl Nightingale

Check out the link - they did good on this one.

Some people say that love’s a losing game
You start with fire
But you lose the flame
The ashes smolder
But the warmth’s soon gone
You end up cold and lonely on your own
I’ll take my chances babe
I’ll risk it all
I’ll win your love
Or I’ll take the fall
I’ve made my mind up girl
It’s meant to be
Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me
Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me “

You have to love the subtlety with which Seger tosses out some serious emotion. The hopeless romantics of the world also have to like the confidence of the sentiment. Even though the relationship seems like a lost cause, he is sure that she will, in fact, “accomp’ny” him.

Just a small entry to let you know I’m alive - went to work today for Pops. We went to Bay City to set some windows. (Not sure if I mentioned that my father owns a stained glass studio that creates, installs, and repairs church windows.) My wrist hurt like hell from a basketball injury over a week ago. We’re going back to finish up tomorrow.

I’m watching “Empire of the Sun” - great movie - while writing. I just finished letters to Terry and Tonya. I really miss Tonya (more on that later.)

I rode 14 miles today on my bike, averaging around 18 miles per hour.

I’m going to write to Amy and Traci (from my Exercise Physiology class) when I get some time. Nah, I think I’ll go to sleep.

———————-
See, I told you the girls would return soon. Here, I mention three girls, but it was clear that two were an afterthought. This is the first real mention of my parent’s stained glass studio that I remember. It seemed rather mundane to me, but in retrospect, it is a very cool niche business that my brother, Tim still runs. I spent all of my summers from when I was old enough to tag along, traveling around the Southern United States with my Dad and brothers working on churches of all denominations. (Except for the ones that don’t do the stained glass thing.) Throughout junior high and high school, I worked as an artist, sketching the proposed window designs as well as actually painting the kiln-fired pieces.

Oh yeah, and Empire of the Sun is still one of the few I have rated 10 stars and remains among my favorite films.

My cycling had really dropped off in the past ten years. In fact, it was 2001 the last time I did 1,000 in a single year and that was because I had a specific goal of doing my first ever Hotter N’ Hundred in Wichita Falls. The motivation of a much-younger friend telling me he was going to wipe the floor with me was enough to make me log 100 miles in 108 degree temperature. (And I crushed him in it - haha)

The goal I set for myself this year was to break 20,000 total miles before the end. This was no small goal as to do so will require that I log around 1,300 miles. This is more than I have done in a single year in twenty (20) years!

I still need 990 to break 20K, but with the pace I have kept in the past couple months, I feel confident that I can make it.

“It’s funny how fast other people get old.”

– Janice Doelle

I am still cogitating my way through this whole facebook explosion.  At first I thought it was weird because the mainstream populace has discovered the super-secret hideout for us cool kids, but it really has nothing to do with that.  It is a game-changer as it applies to how we, as citizens, behave.

We have all heard tales of people getting sucked into the vortex of this unreal, reality-TV version of our lives, but time-wasters on the Internet are nothing new.  Facebook, however, offers a level of connectivity that previous Web 2.0 and social networking sites have failed to achieve.

Think of the sheer volume of former classmates, neighbors, friends, associates, etc. that are finding it easier to reconnect.  That reconnection is the power here.  The ability to be friends with people that time and distance have removed is huge.  Sure, you could do extensive searches online and find a small percentage of them if you were skilled enough online, were diligent in your pursuit, and more importantly - if they too, were a nominal player in the online community.

I have always been a breeze to find on the Internet - I have had big flashing neon billboards attesting to my existence long before the web existed.  I was a known entity in the bulletin board (BBS) community, heck - even back to the text-based institutional days of academic-only Internet.  The problem was never finding the bleeding edge nerds of the world - it has always been about finding the Joe Six-Pack, Jane Soccer-Mom, and every other mainstream person.  Facebook has changed that.

When I introduced my mother to facebook a few months back, she was a pioneer in her demographic cohort.  I assumed she would have some fun, but knew she would show me the real uses for facebook - the mainstream uses.  It’s not about rocket science - it’s not about the latest software - it’s not even about access to information.  It is entirely about fun.

That fun has taken many forms and it is evident by the evolution of the site itself.  The game playing, which was seen as an annoyance to most of the hard-core techies, has turned into the 800lb gorilla for the average user.  The ability to reconnect however, has shocked even me.  In a matter of a few days, my mother had connected with dozens and dozens of relatives around the country as well as HER old high school friends.  She is nearly 60 years old.

Sure, as Aunt May says, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and for that reason, I am scared about how facebook could totally screw up what they have going in favor of a payday, but will enjoy it while it lasts.  If you are not taking advantage of facebook to reconnect with important people that have fallen out of touch - now is your chance.

Chris Doelle

He said almost to the word what my impression was, “It’s okay, it doesn’t really have much flavor.”

“Yes! Thank you,” I told him. The thing tastes like carbonated water with a distant hint of cherry in the aftertaste. There is absolutely no hint of Dr. Pepper in there. It is just carbonated water.

I wouldn’t waste your time with this one.

The story revolves around this dude, Lars, that gets a Real Doll (CAUTION: link contains nudity) - a lifelike love doll. At first blush, it would seems a good setup for a raunchy (or at least bawdy) comical romp. It was NOTHING like that.

It is hard to say anything about the movie without spoiling what makes it so unique. Let me just say that Ryan Gosling turns in another great performance as the super-shy, Lars Lindstrom. More than just another great Gosling showcase, this film is touching on many levels. It is a warm look at what good people do for each other.

It is a completely charming film that is very well constructed throughout as it flows easily from laughter to tear-welling empathy.  As you travel with the story, you become a part of this amazing community of characters - each of which is more endearing than the last.

If you have a taste for good story, good acting, and non-Hollywood film fare - Lars and the Real Girl is a good find.

RATING 8 out of 10

Right now I’m in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I’m visiting my grandparents (Mom’s side.) We are planning on leaving in the morning - Tuesday. We’ve been here since Saturday. My parents and Tom picked me up at college.

Yesterday, Tom, Dan (Grandpa) and I went fishing in the lake. We made a bet with the money being split between the person that caught the most fish and the one that caught the largest fish. Grandpa Dan caught the most (nine) and I only caught one, but it was the biggest - so Grandpa and I split the money. We went fishing again with the same bet and I caught the most (ten) and Dan caught the biggest - Tom again missed out. .

We’ve had a great time but I am ready to get home. Oh, in case you hadn’t figured - I am going home for the Summer. I ran into roommate troubles (explanation later) and was without a roommate for the Summer.

Right now everything I own is in the parents van and headed back to Texas. I rode my bike around here the past few days to keep some semblance of of a training schedule, but these have to be the worst roads I’ve EVER ridden. I’ll be lucky if I didn’t bend a rim.

———————-
I think that was the first post in months that I didn’t mention a girl. Being away from school and involved in other things does wonders for distracting one from affairs of the heart. Fear not though - there is plenty of silliness and drama right around the corner.

There are several photos from the trip on my flickr account.

“To stay the leader of the pack, you have to keep moving.”

– Chris Doelle

Museum by dumpr.net

Good times at the Dumpr!

“I never met someone
Who hit a guy in the eye, like the way she came to me
Yeah, yeah, yeah
And in my best defense
I coulda swore that she was looking back at me
Yeah, yeah yeah

And everything, everything will be
Everything will be oh so sweet
White picket fence, a new kitchen set
Just me and her in and a 2 car garage
Matching underwear, matching leather chairs
Easy payments on the Dodge”

I love this track by The Cool Waters Band because, in a humorous way, it jumps right to the heart of infatuation. We have all been there - you see someone that you are instantly smitten with and you see yourself with them. Sure, this track takes that to the extreme, but it does it in a fun way.

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I have friended a past high school girlfriend, two former college girlfriends, a dozen relatives from around the country, and at least a dozen former high school friends in just the past two weeks.  (And I attended a country high school with a graduating class of around 50.)  These are all people that wouldn’t have gone anywhere near a social networking site just a few short months ago.  These are not cutting edge technologists - these are normal people.

So what does it all mean?  Does it mean that this bastion of uber-coolness has been invaded by the mainstream?  Yeah, it certainly has changed… but I think for the better.  Does it mean that I have to find something else to remain on the cutting edge?   Well, I kinda do that anyway.

I’m actually enjoying facebook’s explosion because it has allowed me to get in contact with so many cool people from my past.  Sure, it has changed the dynamic of how I view facebook, but its a dynamic that I like.

What are your thoughts?  When did you join?  Are you an old-timer like me, or did you just get sucked in recently?  What got you involved?

Now, I am no fan of Alexa (don’t get me started on how skewed their results are) but it looks like April of ‘08 is when facebook surpassed MySpace.  The incline in the past few months has been surprisingly steep though as it has indeed hit the mainstream.

Catch-up time. The 12th, I went to visit a girl named Traci to study for my Exercise Physiology test. She’s a real nice girl - I think I’ll go out with her before the semester ends. The 13th, I took the test and scored an 89 on it. The 14th, I made the mistake of running all out for 4 miles and then playing basketball for two hours. Normally, it would be no big deal, but the next day was my 50 mile bike race, the 2nd annual Tour de Pines. I cut my best time by 30 minutes but still finished out of the top.

Janie and I went out Saturday. We went to see Leviathon at the dollar theater. We were talking about heading out to the lake afterward, but she decided against it at the last minute. I saw her out later with Greg and Mark. I was pleasant but pretty pissed.

I started seeing more of Amy - every night for the past week I’ve been up until at least 2AM with her - she’s a really good friend.

Big news last night. Tonya plans on moving in with us this Summer (purely platonic) and this didn’t get a good reception from Brock (her beau.) I was totally surprised to find on my answering machine a message from Brock saying that he was upset and - to put it lightly - wants to kill me. Brock is a huge guy but he has a mongo beer gut and I don’t think he is smart enough to hurt me. I know I’m not dumb enough to stand there and find out. (The bigger they are…)

I tried calling Tonya this morning to see what was up but she wasn’t home. Oh well - like sands through the hourglass…

———————-
Another interesting post. Once again a whole host of girls are mentioned in a single post - and once again, the only one that keeps showing up in all of them is Tonya. It is a bit weird that these are the first Wayback posts I am making when I know one of the involved parties is actually either reading them as I post - or at least can read them easily. Maybe I should stop posting these? Maybe it is too much info. ????

“If you’re not willing to stand up for yourself - don’t complain when you’re pushed around.”

– Chris Doelle

I heard about twittersheep over a month ago, but just finally got around to running their word cloud application. This site takes the personal profiles of everyone following your twitter feed and creates a word cloud. I find this visually extremely informative.

Who is following you?

Did anyone think to ask the users what they liked about facebook?  It wasn’t the stream of stuff you could or could not give a damn about from your friends - it was YOUR homepage.  It was about YOU.  It was about YOUR likes - YOUR thoughts - YOUR games - YOUR posts.

The good news for blogging is that while facebook was the single biggest killer to personal blogs, this move has increased their relevance overnight.  Thank you facebook for removing the ongoing struggle between posting to my personal blog or facebook - you just made it a very easy choice.

I really enjoyed the heck out of the film despite never having been a fan of the graphic novel. I had numerous opportunities to read it through, but each time was put off by the sheer volume of text. It looks like a comic, but reads like a novel. I just couldn’t reconcile that.

With no background in the story, I went into the theater with a completely open mind. I was going to let the film speak for itself… and it did! I LOVE the characters. I LOVE the story. I LOVE the visuals. I LOVE just about everything about the Watchmen. Now, I want to go back and read the graphic novel and immerse myself in extremely rich universe. I am a fan.

There are few films that I would even consider watching more than once - this is one.

The character Rorschach is the perfect modern-day anti-hero. How can you not love this entirely unlikable guy? Even the despicable masked hero known as The Comedian has something strangely appealing. These heroes are flawed - these heroes are troubled - these heroes are real. (Well, except for all those cool abilities.)

One thing I found very cool was the historical backdrop against which the storyline is set.  Their world appears to be a parallel universe in which superheroes walked among us, and Nixon was in the middle of this third term as President.  You can see bits of this storyline (and others) in NBCs series Heroes.

FUN, FUN, stuff!

RATING 9 out of 10

Something interesting happened tonight when talking to an old girlfriend (not sure if that is really the right term - but I know I definitely had a thing for her - that’s all I am saying and you’ll see why.)

We got back in touch recently via facebook and were talking about things “back in the day.” One thing led to another and I remembered those series of blog entries. Sure enough, I did a search on her name and found at least 15 posts which mentioned her. I started reading through them and suddenly realized that some of it was very revealing of my feelings at the time. As posts to random people in cyberspace, I could care less that they knew what was going on back in college - but in the context of one of the involved parties now able to read my attitude toward her, feelings I had kept to myself, and things that happened without her knowledge - it was a bit scary.

Would this information change her perception of the events of the past? Most likely. Would it be for the better? Who knows. Was it right to put that out there and risk causing her pain in reading? I don’t think the truth is wrong, but would never want to hurt her. Would she just find it hilarious that I was such a dork and so insanely immature? I hope so.

I told her on the phone that I am going to rush out and delete the posts, but I knew I wasn’t. It is an interesting dilemma, but despite the fact that I was indeed a boorish, self-centered, cocky jerk at times in college - I just hope that the underlying “good guy” in me can be seen through the immaturity.

I am not sure the outcome or if she will even bother to go out and read the stuff, but the good thing to come from it is that it has reminded me to keep posting those entries. I will restart when I get back to San Marcos.

Hey Jerry Jones - T.O. didn’t get you into the SuperBowl, he didn’t even get you close. It seems like all the moves you have made with the exception of hiring Jimmy Johnson have been horrible.

The good news though is that the Cowboys have come through and I feel confident in giving the team my support once again.

The film I saw most recently was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I really enjoyed the movie on a couple levels. The fact that it was entirely story and character driven made it a welcome change from typical Hollywood fare. The other aspect that delighted me throughout was the use of special effects and makeup, without which this film would have been impossible. Benjamin as an “old” toddler and tween were some of the most amazing effects.

Watch this movie for the special effects. Watch this movie for the rich tapestry of sets and cinematography. Watch it for the great acting throughout the cast. Watch it for the emotional highs and lows. But most of all, watch it for the message.

RATING 8 out of 10

I also saw a documentary about jumpers at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge called The Bridge. Apparently, more people choose to end their life from this span than another other single location each year. The filmmakers setup their cameras to film jumpers for an entire calendar year. They then went back and investigated the deaths to talk with friends and families of the jumper.

What seems like a macabre, voyeuristic attempt to exploit people in their lowest (and often last) point, really turned into a look at suicide itself.

I am sure that some people will still find the entire subject matter too disturbing to watch, but as a student of humanity (hence the Psychology minor) I find the subject too important to ignore.

The film tastefully handles a very complex issue, but in the end, stops short of offering any real insight

RATING 6 out of 10

I was a little confused as getting flowers sent to me is a bit out of my normal routine. “From who?” I asked.

“It doesn’t say. When will you be at home so we can deliver?”

I asked the guy to instead deliver them to my office and gave him the address. After relaying the story to my coworkers and racking my brain to try and figure out who would be sending flowers, Eric said, “You’ve been SERVED!”

What? Could it be a process-server posing as a delivery guy and I was indeed being sued? I continued to rack my brain in an attempt to fathom who would possibly have a cause to sue me. I was dreaming up wild outlandish scenarios involving cases of mistaken identities, alter egos, corporate espionage… nothing made any sense.

I was still very freaked when the delivery guy showed up with a vase filled with 1 dozen long-stemmed, red roses. This actually freaked me out a little more than the idea that someone was suing me.

The card had no signature - no name - and simply said “Happy Birthday!”

Uh… my birthday is in November! Talk about adding a hint of weirdness to an already perplexing morning.

I called the flower shop - they said it came in off an internet site through FTD, but gave me an order number. I called FTD and they told me that they could not give out the sender’s name unless they had permission. They agreed to call the sender and see if permission would be given to reveal the name - they will call back if it is.

No call back as yet.

So did YOU do it? The whole thing has me a bit off-kilter, so I guess if that was the intent, it worked. Do I have someone playing an expensive prank (the order was $70,) do I have a stalker, do I have a secret crush?

Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/22/do-the-right-thang/feed/ no Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 Chris Doelle Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 Photography, Podcasthttp://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/22/do-the-right-thang/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RidingWithTheWindowDown/~3/90QlTgzXtUM/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/19/chris-needs/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:47:46 +0000 cdoelle@gmail.com (Chris Doelle) http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/?p=1894 I saw a friend post what is becoming a popular meme - letting Google tell you what you need. To do it is simple. Go to www.google.com and type in your first name, and the word needs. Put the search phrase in quotes, for best results. Here are the top ten things Chris needs [...] I saw a friend post what is becoming a popular meme - letting Google tell you what you need. To do it is simple.

Go to www.google.com and type in your first name, and the word needs. Put the search phrase in quotes, for best results. Here are the top ten things Chris needs according to Google?

1. Chris needs a blog
2. Chris needs the “new Paris Hilton sex video”
3. Chris needs a wee wee (this from a YouTube video)
4. Chris needs to give me cancer
5. Chris needs Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
6. Chris needs Americymru (this is an interview with someone actually named Chris Needs)
7. Chris needs My Autobiography (referring to same Chris Needs)
8. Chris needs your sex talk
9. Chris needs your vote for the European Video Music Awards
10. Chris needs Myspace music profile (that same musician from Wales)

Interesting results. They are very skewed in favor of the actual Chris Needs, who appears to be a musician from Wales. He appears to be the subject of five of the ten. The other big theme here is sex - between “sex talk”, “sex videos”, and a “wee wee,” Chris apparently is jonesing for some sweet love.

I have to give the Cytomax kudos for their inventive packaging. As it was in the section with milk, I assumed it was just milk with some added good stuff. The bottle doesn’t at all look like the massive tubs of protein powder which are closer to its origins. For what it is, I am sure that Muscle Milk is a great product - but as a milk shake… I don’t think so.

Drink it to help with your training… just don’t expect it to taste like a milkshake.

My father who was a true jack of all trades and master of none, built the family stained glass studio buildings by hand.  Actually, he built it by hand with the aid of child labor - namely his children.  I spent many a day shingling  a roof, pouring concrete, hammering studs, and yes - running electrical wires.  As my dad and I were in the rafters of the new shop hooking up overhead lights and the like, he discovered a very effective (albeit evil) way to determine if a line was hot or not - “Hold this.”  That was it.  He would simply hand me the wire (exposed end first) and say “Hold this a second.”

If I squeeled like a girl or shook violently while slumping in the rafters, he knew that was the hot line.  Simply buying a tester or shutting off the power in between lights would take too much effort.  As a result, I have avoided anything to do with electrical wiring for decades.  Something as simple as hanging a ceiling fan would be too risky,  That changed today.

I consider myself a rather skilled handyman and finally got fed up with this glaring weakness.  When i discovered that all the living room electrical outlets were dead and that all the lights in the kitchen didn’t work, the thought of some high priced electrician coming to do a ten minute job was too much.

I went online and searched for “several dead outlets” and found a very cool site run by The Circuit Detective.  After reading through, I decided that I could do this.  On top of all the great information on the site, you can call Detective Larry for $1 per minute and he will talk you through the entire fix.

As it was late (just before his availability ran out for the night) I called him and said, “I want to use your service tomorrow morning.  Is there anything in the way of testers or tools I should have handy when I call?”  He told me what tester to buy and I told him I would call back in the morning.

First thing today, I headed to Lowes, picked up the tester and proceeded to test the circuits.  As I had an hour or so to kill before he was up (Pacific time zone) I did some more research on the web.  It turns out that I found my answer online and had it all narrowed down by the time I called him - a loose neutral in the living room and a loose ground in the kitchen.

Is is one thing to know the name of the problem, but quite another to solve it. Detective Larry was extremely informational and although the progression through gathering historical information about my house seemed to drag, being someone accustomed to telephone support, I know that he needs the information to make sure his solution is the right one.

Larry made up for his methodical pace with shortcut methods of narrowing down the line of dead outlets. His insight into which outlet to try first saved me opening up as many as five other outlets and his trick of using a small lamp to detect poor connections saved much more time. In all, we spent right at 20 minutes troubleshooting the problem and he billed me via PayPal. We’re talking $20 to fix something that an electrician would have charged $100 to come over and another $100 to fix. I am going to give Detective Larry a nice bonus when I send my payment.

There is nothing new about this administration - it is business as usual. Who invented the plans for these bailouts? The same guys that put your elected officials in office. $800 billion for the credit crisis - how does it make sense to give that money to those that screwed it all up? Why not give the money BACK to the taxpayers, or better yet - pay off their mortgages with it. Then, the banks and lending institutions stay solvent AND you get a generation of citizens with their houses paid off. Talk about an incentive to get out and spend - pay off my house and watch how fast I put some cash into the system.

Same thing with this retarded stimulus plan. Put huge incentives on creating affordable, recyclable energy sources and watch the American people create what this “green” energy plan sets out to do, but in 1/10th the time - and at 1/100th of the cost. Stop the corporate handouts - why not try to return some of the people’s money to the people and eliminate the disgusting corporate tax breaks and loopholes. You’ll end up with MORE money in the system and MORE money available in the government coffers as well.

Long story short - if you’re expecting this stimulus package to change your life for the positive in any way - you are ill-informed. Politics as usual - unfortunately, over the past decade, the “usual” has been increasingly to plunder our country and economy with no regard for the future.

Thanks to motion-detecting automatic flushing toilets, it is nearly impossible to flush on demand - trust me, I have tested this out. I thought maybe if I leaned way forward, it would trigger… maybe leaning to the side or wiggling around - nothing works.

Hey, what can I say? When the opportunity comes to test out a theory - I do it… even if I don’t really need to give a courtesy flush.

I guess in the grand scheme of things - the automatic flusher saves water, ensures that toilets are clean, and maybe a host of other great things - but there are times when the good old-fashioned courtesy flush will be missed.

Nice stuff. I should have been snapping pictures all along, but the only ones I managed to get were 1-one that contained my thoughts on my buddy, Lou - Dave’s response - and then my final refrigerator retort.

Fun stuff. I will try to remember to catch more.

I discovered on this morning when updating my cycling statistics. It appears that a couple years back when totally up the html columns on my cycling page, I left roughly 100 miles off my career totals. I finally got smart and put the document into a Google doc so I could update from anywhere and actually let the spreadsheet do the math instead of me. Lo and behold, I found the error, and now I am that much closer to my goal of cracking 20,000 total miles by the end of 2009. See, sometimes errors do come out okay.

Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. ]]> http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/07/gator-motorplex-willis-tx/feed/ no Lone Star Speedzone took a trip out to Willis, Texas to chat with some of the people that make it all happen. Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. Chris Doelle Lone Star Speedzone took a trip out to Willis, Texas to chat with some of the people that make it all happen. Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. Photography, Podcasthttp://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/07/gator-motorplex-willis-tx/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RidingWithTheWindowDown/~3/f83_4RnCDis/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/07/people-good-or-bad/#comments Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:22:18 +0000 cdoelle@gmail.com (Chris Doelle) http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/?p=1874 One of the questions that has always interested me is “Are people basically good or basically evil?” I mean, we all know people who would give you the shirt off their back (and much more) without any regard for themselves. Yet, we all know people who would take the shirt off your back [...]

One of the questions that has always interested me is “Are people basically good or basically evil?” I mean, we all know people who would give you the shirt off their back (and much more) without any regard for themselves. Yet, we all know people who would take the shirt off your back without any regard for you. So what IS in man’s nature? Is it self-preservation, personal gain, and selfishness or is it more about community, assisting those who are down, and “doing the right thing?”

Again, we have all met absolutely evil and selfish people - but do they outnumber the ones that are absolutely good and sharing? I am sorry to report from my perspective that it is more of the former and less of the latter. But it could just be that the evil folks in the world do such tremendous amount of damage that it is more noticeable than the millions of kinds acts performed during that same time.

What are your thoughts? We can agree that both types exist in the world - who is the larger group? Who is in charge? What can you do to affect that balance? (Personally, I find that surrounding myself with good people and putting distance between myself and the bad folks in the world, does wonders for your faith in mankind - even if it is a bit of self-delusion.)

Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. ]]> http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/07/anything-worth-doing-is-worth-doing-with-power/feed/ no Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. Chris Doelle Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. Photography, Podcasthttp://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/07/anything-worth-doing-is-worth-doing-with-power/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RidingWithTheWindowDown/~3/NECcpkdVU-Y/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/06/from-my-mouth/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:42:30 +0000 cdoelle@gmail.com (Chris Doelle) http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/06/from-my-mouth/ Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/06/from-my-mouth/feed/ no Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 Chris Doelle Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 Podcasthttp://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/06/from-my-mouth/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RidingWithTheWindowDown/~3/EhhdxHuRzn8/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/road-ramblings-02-05-09/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:40:23 +0000 cdoelle@gmail.com (Chris Doelle) http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/road-ramblings-02-05-09/ Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/road-ramblings-02-05-09/feed/ no Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 Chris Doelle Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 Podcasthttp://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/road-ramblings-02-05-09/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RidingWithTheWindowDown/~3/2JFZF6__SI8/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/downtown-dallas-as-seen-from-the-deep-ellum-area/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:33:39 +0000 cdoelle@gmail.com (Chris Doelle) http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/downtown-dallas-as-seen-from-the-deep-ellum-area/ Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies.

Mobile post sent by ChrisDoelle using Utterli.  Replies. ]]> http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/downtown-dallas-as-seen-from-the-deep-ellum-area/feed/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/05/downtown-dallas-as-seen-from-the-deep-ellum-area/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RidingWithTheWindowDown/~3/uAJkyw27YGE/ http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/2009/02/03/join-me-in-sending-ginger-good-thoughts/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:37:01 +0000 cdoelle@gmail.com (Chris Doelle) http://www.ridingwiththewindowdown.com/?p=1867 I just heard some horrible news from my good friend, Tony. His dog, Ginger, has some sort of advanced sinus cancer that has already spread extensively. From what I understand, the prognosis is not good at all. I am just crushed by the news because Ginger is such a great dog and the absolutely [...] I just heard some horrible news from my good friend, Tony. His dog, Ginger, has some sort of advanced sinus cancer that has already spread extensively. From what I understand, the prognosis is not good at all.

I am just crushed by the news because Ginger is such a great dog and the absolutely sweetest girl.

Crap, I am without words. I wish Tony, Julie, and Ginger all the best and know that nothing I can say can help, but wanted them to know I am thinking of them.

I just rewatched all of them on HULU and while one or two may have given me a smile, there was nothing special.