Random Thoughts for the Week of July 30, 2012

• There are a few news agencies I check in with every day: CNN.com (good summary site), USA Today (excellent writing/reviews), Omaha.com (hometown news), NY Post (those wacky New Yorkers and their crazy perspectives on what’s important) and NBC 4 here in Columbus (trustworthy, entertaining).  In every single one of these sources this past week I found at least 3-4 articles reporting senseless, random acts of gun violence.  In many cases they were drive-by shootings (gang-related or not, doesn’t matter) or random arguments that escalated into gunplay.  Give me a fucking break, people.  There are real idiots in the world, people who are using up vital natural resources and oxygen better used by weeds, and they all seem to not only have guns (obtained legally, I’d bet) but also a lack of common sense and humanity that would prevent them from using the gun to solve their problems.  Let them all rot away in prison, I say (in a very non-Christian manner).  They shot or killed innocent children without any regard for their safety much less the consequences!  What a sad, pathetic waste of human life, all of them.
• Read an interesting article on CNN.com asking where God was during the Aurora shootings.  I think the best point the author made was not answering the base question of the article but rather reminding us of a simple fact of existence:  God does not guarantee a life free of suffering.  The Bible, as flawed as it is, is ripe with human suffering created by man and God alike. Buddha said it himself, it’s the #1 Noble Truth in our existence: we will experience suffering.  It’s how we choose to deal with it that helps define our humanity.  As Mindi put so well God was there in Aurora, no doubt.  But it’s not God’s place to stay the hand of assholes with guns (obviously based on last week’s article count), but more to support a world where we as humans must make the conscious choice (i.e. free will) to use violence or not.  God’s “plan” is not to say that 12 people shall die in Aurora.  God’s plan, if you want to call it that, is to have a world where people live their lives, make choices, thrive and from time-to-time experience suffering.  The rest is up to us.  God will be there to comfort us and encourage us to be our best if we look for him.  At least that’s what I think. 
• Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers donated $100K to the families of the victims of the Aurora shooting. I have a totally new view of the man now. I’m disappointed that so little press was given to this. I think it was classy of the local hospitals to also get together and unload the bills from the victims as well. God’s at work there, folks.
• RIP, Barb Magner.  You too experienced suffering in your life, although you worked hard to ensure it did not impact your friends at PCM.  You were always there at bell choir with a smile, a joke and you found such great delight and pleasure in making the beautiful music you did.  You will be missed in the choir and in the church.
• Does anyone use those wide-ruled, black and white composition books anymore?  I swear I went through almost 20 years of schooling without using one once.  I have to think so since they’re still on the shelves for school supplies shopping.  Weird.  I for one am not a big fan of wide-ruled paper.  Even still, they have a “classic” sense to them that I’m glad is still in use today, if not by the Millard Public School system.
• Walking through Target the other day I flashed back to how much I LOVED school supply shopping as a kid.  The right folders and Trapper Keeper did more to ensure a fun school year than any piece of clothing or grade I got.
• Wow, is anyone surprised by Kristen Stewart’s behavior?  All I know is the tours for the release of the last Twilight film are going to be painful for everyone to participate in or watch, no matter how good/bad the movie is.
• Happy 39th Birthday to my best friend Kevin this week on August 1.  May this year be filled with twice the blessings of the last year.  By the time he turns 40 he’ll be a new man.  Proud of you, Schmedley!
• Also proud of my brother Tom for losing enough weight this past week to make it under 200 pounds for the first time in years.  Keep it up, dude!
• Mindi and I had a good first week back on the MyFitnessPal food logging.  Mindi can fit into her pre-pregnancy pants, and I can see my neck again.  A good start.    Our weigh-ins are Wednesday mornings so the plug-in will update then.
• Stay away from moving brokers.  They’re just as annoying as telemarkers.  Just deal with the moving companies directly.
• I enjoyed visiting the Cleveland Indians’ stadium this past week for a game.  They played like shit (at least until after we left), but I don’t care as much.  Baseball stadiums are, to me, as interesting as half-complete Greek/Roman temples (or ruins, as they’re normally called).  Each stadium has its own personality, its own design philosophy and its own way of enhancing the experience of watching a baseball game.  As America’s pastime (real or imagined), a great deal of thought and art is put into stadiums.  So I want to see as many of them as I can before I die.  Happy to cross that one off the list.  Progressive Field is very new but holds true to some older designs.  It didn’t feel as constrictive as the Diamondbacks’ stadium but lacked the openness off the Clippers/Stormchasers stadiums.  The hot dog was average to below average (just like the Indians themselves).  The crowd barely got into the game, even while the starters were announced.  Kinda sad.
• I need to start a list and scoring sheet for all these baseball stadiums!

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE OLYMPICS SO FAR

• Mindi is an admitted Olympics Junkie, so the TV has been on all weekend as we watched (primarily Ryan Lochte) game after game.  I don’t mind one bit.
• In fact, I think one of the coolest things about the Olympics is my ability to watch any sport/event on the iPad if it isn’t already on one of a half-dozen NBC channels (conveniently organized by DirectTV to easily find the sport we want).  It was fun watching cycling on the TV Saturday morning with women’s foil on the iPad with the same HD-quality picture.  I think it’s using technology at its finest, providing us with real-time access to events around the world.  Add to that the social media aspect where we can get the first-hand opinions of the participants, viewers and commentators via Facebook, Twitter, etc.  More and more experiencing something somewhere else in the world becomes more and more real, no matter where we are.  The world is flat, indeed.
• That being said, NBC made a massive and surprisingly obvious mistake in setting up such easy access:  we know what happens before primetime TV coverage starts!  In the past Olympics, the network that covered the event had the benefit of tape-delay as well as the lack of a 24/7 news cycle that could report the results overseas before they could be re-broadcast in primetime where the real money is made.  So far, after three days of events, the viewers in the U.S. already knew the outcome hours before they are broadcast on NBC.  I know why NBC is doing it.  Primetime is when the real money is made, and that’s what they’re here for: to make money.  Even still, it’s a little pie in their face trying to hype up the importance or surprise of a result when whatever feeling has been absorbed and processed LONG before we actually see it on screen.  I doubt NBC would be able to make money if they limited Olympic coverage to just LIVE viewings, so I don’t blame them for showing the big events in the evenings.  For those Americans who do not have Facebook, Twitter or basic Internet access this is the only way they can experience the Olympics.  Well, them and hardcore watchers like Mindi and I who simply enjoy watching it, even if we already read the spoilers.  I think NBC will take the pie in the face but keep the money they make.
• The opening ceremonies were odd.  It was like watching a mural we made in Elementary school come to life.  The most amazing moments to me were the 5 gold Olympic rings showering the floor with sparks (great camera angle) and the lighting of the Olympic torch.  I love that torch.  Not just a single torch for the events, but a culmination of every participating country.  It was amazing to see.  I don’t like that it’s hidden away from the participants inside the stadium, but it is one of the coolest torches I’ve seen since the Atlanta games.
• What a waste of a great James Bond moment.  The series has been around for 60 years and not once did Bond share the same screen as real royalty.  And here, in this great first time, the opportunity was short, quiet and frankly not that entertaining.  Did I want Bond to hit on the Queen?  No, but a little more interaction would have been lovely.  Maybe a little thank you from the Queen for destroying so much of British property or wooing British girls.  But, I guess her Majesty wasn’t quite up for so much Hollywood and did the bare minimum.  Too bad.  I know the Brits love their Queen, but if she showed a little youth and energy the World would have loved her. 
• I looked it up.  The “Olympic Anthem” they play when they raise the Olympic flag is not used for commercials or on TV.  The song they use the most is the “Bugler’s Dream” which was written back in the 1950’s.  It’s the brass triumph that plays almost in every commercial.  I remember it most because it played in all the Olympic computer games I played as a kid (everyone remember Decathlon with Bruce Jenner?).  The “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” from the 1984 games (the first set of games I ever watched) was written by John Williams is used a lot too and rightfully so.  It’s a magnificent piece and should last long, long after I’m dead and gone.  I think each time we hear that music we get jazzed up for the amazing displays of human greatness we’re about to see.
• Yeah, you can add “carry the Olympic torch” to my bucket list.  Even for a 10-25 mile stretch, it would be a moment I’d cherish forever.
• You know what amazes me most?  The multitude of people who lined the streets of England for the cycling events.  This is a 60-mile+ track, and the entire stretch was covered by spectators, 3 rows deep in some places.  That just fucking amazes me.  That’s dedication on the party of the host country.  Amazing!
• I’ll probably make plenty of references to the Ancient Olympics in the coming weeks, but I’ll just make one here.  In the Ancient Olympics, when the games were played all wars were stopped in honor of the games.  If only that were still true today.

ALEXANDER UPDATE

• One of my favorite things in the world now is being a human pillow for my son.  I could do it for hours and hours.
• We’ve moved Alex into jumpers for his evenings.  So far, so good.  We can’t swaddle him forever, you know. 
• I could spend my entire weekend watching Alex wiggle on the couch.  I’ve never seen anyone simply enjoy moving his arms and legs as much as he does.
• I’m in California most of the week for work.  I know Mindi will rock it out here by herself while I’m gone, but I’ve got a good feeling that when I get back I get to do a TON of the feeding and diaper changes for a while. LOL.  I’m okay with that.