Lunchtime with Cormac McCarthy

It used to be that a dear friend of mine (previously a literature professor at a local university) and I would get together on the pretense of drinking over-priced coffee and talk about life. I have no lack of friends but lately I have found myself more and more pressed for time. My friend tells me that our coffees together were good for him but I'm sure that I got the better end of the bargain. Because of one of our conversations, my friend gave me a copy of "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.

Seriously, if you haven't read this yet and you need a good read go get this book.

Also, if a book that I might enjoy is being made into a movie, I try to read the book first. So I had no trouble when my wife called me up (both of us acting like I didn't know that she was shopping for my birthday) and she asked me to "tell her a book title". No Country For Old Men (also by Cormac McCarthy). This book now goes with me to work and I leisurely read a few pages on my lunch hour. I learned my lesson with The Road - I couldn't put it down and I was done *too* soon. I'm gonna take my time and savor this one.

"Work really cuts into your free time." - I honestly don't remember if I heard that somewhere or if I made it up myself but its very true.

"What does not kill me makes me stronger." - This one keeps getting attributed to Nietzsche but it was originally said by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I know that "Johnny" beat "Freddy" on this one because Goethe died twelve years before Friedrich Nietzsche was born.

I guess Nietzsche had a better agent.

Cognitive Dissonance

I'm not sure where I first heard that phrase but Randy Pausch gives a humorous example of it in his Last Lecture speech - I blogged about him earlier this month. (He continues to fight his disease)

Psychology is not my strong suit (not by a long shot) so it is very possible that I am misusing this phrase but I have noticed something lately and this is the phrase that keeps popping in to my head. I have noticed that I (and quite a few other people) are greatly effected by the death of one individual.

The "wheels of justice" will turn and try to make some human solution to the horror that happened Thursday morning. While I strongly support the "rule of law", many of us know that no man or woman can find their purpose until they look beyond themselves to the Almighty.

And there are some who show us The Purpose every day of their lives.

Weekend Review

Okay I've had a couple tough weeks at work and today was no better. (btw Boss, if you're reading this, then that comment about work was just "dramatic license")

Also profound loss has recently been a significant part of the lives of those closest to me. It's not easy to watch those that you love the most suffering. Unfortunately this is part of our lot in life. But I won't get too morose. Between all the intense emotions (not just the suffering) that I've been close to during this month, I have found myself unable to muster a good political rant.

On more than one occasion this month I have started a blog entry and found myself so distracted by life that I couldn't even put a paragraph together.

I'm sure I've got something in the email box that is sufficiently "rant-worthy". More later.

Cheri Sarver

Our beloved school principal passed away from injuries received in automobile accident that happened at 8:45am this morning.

IRON MAN

Back on Thursday, May 1 at 10:56pm I received a text message from a buddy of mine:

So I just iron man. B jealous. B very jealous.

I was a bit jealous (and a bit confused - the movie wasn't supposed to open until May 2nd but...) Everything was so frantic for me right then that I thought maybe I would have a chance to rent it when it hit the video stores as a New Release. Well it turned out that the Fates smiled on me and tonight my wife and I got and unexpected opportunity to go see a (non-kiddie) movie. When I checked the listings for our local Cinemark theater, I was quite pleased to see that (5 weeks and 5 days after my buddy's "B jealous" message) Iron Man was still on the big screen. It was also nice that Tony Stark's alter ego was playing in the theater that my wife likes best.

Those of you that know me know that I am kind of a cheapskate. I prefer the theater that charges $1.50 a seat to the theater that charges $8 a seat (the one my wife likes). And when I go see a movie I want to get my monies worth. So my wife has learned to patiently sit next to me as (all) the credits roll. Hey sometimes (like in Finding Nemo) the credits are funny. And you get little pieces of trivia - like exactly where the movie was filmed, minutia like that.

But with Iron Man it was really worth sitting through all the (non-descript) credits.

There are no spoilers here but let me put it to you this way: if you saw Iron Man and you're one of the (majority of) people that walked out during the credits; then you

DID

NOT

SEE

the whole movie.

So, since I feel sorry for you (I mean you paid full price to see the movie but you didn't see the whole movie - nyah, nyah, nyah) here is a nice trailer. This trailer includes scenes of the Mark 1 and the Mark 3 in action (and a few seconds of a little tune that should be familiar to anyone in the continental United States. Seriously, if you've never heard this song then you're just not paying attention).

Living Green (Environmental Honesty)

(Links to verify this information through both Snopes and TruthOrFiction.com are at the end of the post)

House #1

A 20-room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated bynatural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

House #2

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000-gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ; it is the abode of the "environmentalist" Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas; is the residence of the President of the United States ,George W. Bush.

An "inconvenient truth."I sure hope this gets passed to everyone! And, yes ... I DID check Snopes AND TruthOrFiction.com prior to posting it.

You can verify it at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp and http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/gore-bush-houses.htm

McCain vs McCain

Gas is hovering around 4 bucks a gallon here so we are looking for ways to "economize" - but I'll post more on that subject later. For now, more PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN FUN-NESS!! (not to be confused with "finesse")

Speaking on June 3 in Kennar, LA, John McCain said
"We can say with confidence that the primary season is over and that the general election campaign has begun.".
He then went on to heap great praise on both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. Given McCain's record, it honestly wouldn't have surprised me if he had asked Hillary to be his Vice Presidental candidate.

Here, courtesy of YouTube, are two videos of John McCain. The first is a pro-McCain spot and the second uses sound bites of McCain to hoist him by his own petard.

I was listening to Glenn Beck today and he said
"I have never voted 'against' anyone. I always vote 'for' someone. I am going to have a very hard time voting 'for' John McCain and right now I am looking at a third party."
He didn't mention any specific third party (there are quite a few) and a 2006 survey revealed that 73% of Americans want more than two choices in the Presidential election.

Enjoy the videos. For that matter, enjoy life while you can because no matter who gets elected we are *so* screwed.

John McCain for President (music video)



John McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became A Nightmare

Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

In September 2006 (shortly before his forty-sixth birthday), Professor Randy Pausch was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. In August 2007 he was told that it had metastized to his liver and spleen and he was terminal with only a few months to live. He has acheived worldwide fame for his "Last Lecture" entitled "Really Acheiving Your Childhood Dreams" which was delivered September 18, 2007 at Carnegie-Mellon University.

The original speech (linked above on Google Video and here on YouTube) runs a little over an 1 hr. October 22, 2007 Professor Pausch was invited onto the Oprah Winphrey show and delivered an inspiring but abbreviated (10 minute) speech. At that time, despite his advanced cancer, he appears to be in better physical shape than most of the United States population. (Most of us cannot do the hand-clap push ups)

A PET scan taken May 2, 2008 showed that the cancer had spread to his lungs, some lymph nodes in his chest and that he had some metastases in his peritoneum and retroperitoneum, evidence that the disease has begun to take over.

On May 19, 2008 he appeared on Good Morning America still looking better than most and looking forward to Father's Day this year.

Bo Diddley - dead at 79

If by chance you grew up in:
1) a cave
2) a strict religious commune
3) a foreign country
and you somehow never heard of Bo Diddley then you owe it to yourself to watch these videos. (My wife is #3)


Bo Diddley - in his prime



Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley



(and from 1960)
Bo Diddley - Road Runner



(April 1999 Tom Petty has a wish come true - playing with Bo Diddley)
Tom Petty, Bo Diddley - Mona