ground beef

Over the Christmas/New Year holidays I went to the doctor for the first time in many many years. I am not fond of the sterile environment; drab uniforms, needles, boring artwork, certificates on walls, etc. I also dislike the forms, the waiting and waiting, and the lame magazines. More than anything I detest dropping trow and turning my head to the right and left and coughing while a doctor touches my privates. I'm 36 now and don't believe it's necessary anymore. TMI???

At this visit I did blood tests and have high cholesterol of the bad kind. The doctor asked me if I exercise (yes), told me to watch how much fat I eat, and was nice enough not to tell me to lose weight.

Tonight I was grocery shopping and I needed some ground beef for tomorrow night's spaghetti and meatballs. I forced myself to look at the nutritional labels. First was the 80/20 ground beef at $3.29 a pound. I didn't have a calculator with me but I deduced that it meant 80% fat and 20% meat. I set it down and picked up the beef with about half the fat as the other which was $4.99 a lb. I struggled between my frugal nature and the images I could recall from the novel The Jungle. Finally I thought about the doctor's office and put the expensive meat in the cart and moved on. Score one for good health!

30 down, 20 to go

A goal I have in my travels is to eventually to see all 50 states. This week I was lucky enough to see arguably the hardest to reach, Hawaii. I spent my time on Maui, which is the second biggest island in the state.

I still haven't figured out how I feel about Hawaii. It's definitely a beautiful place with many natural wonders. There's plenty of sunshine and the people are friendly. For whatever reason it just didn't feel like America to me. I'm sure there are people that will argue that but there are also native Hawaiians that resent the US turning their kingdom into a state. There are still many reports of tensions between native Hawaiians and the "haoles" as white folk are called.

The intent of this post is not to discredit Hawaii as a state. It's just to remind people that all of what is called America, whether Jamestown, Texas, or California, used to belong to someone else.

Also, one other point is that being in an airport in a certain state doesn't count as visiting the state.

The Blind Side - book

A few days ago I finished reading The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. It is the interesting story of a teenager from Memphis named Michael Oher. He was headed towards a very uncertain future when a man named Big Tony took him to a born-again Christian school. He enrolled and was eventually cared for and adopted by the Touhy family.

Lewis is adept at weaving Michael's story with that of the evolving NFL and how the left tackle position became so important. Michael ended up being a first round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens. It runs a little long at 329 pages but I recommend it to anyone interested in football or just a unique story about someone overcoming the odds with strong support group. There is also a movie which I hope to see in the near future.

Molokai

I've been out in Maui, Hawaii the last few days. It's my first time here and it's kind of like the land of the lotus eaters. It's so beautiful that it dulls the senses and makes your lose track of time. Nice!

All the islands came to be 1.5 million years ago. Today I went on a helicopter ride around Maui and to the sparsely populated island Molokai. Molokai has everything: waterfalls, valleys, cliffs, beaches, and is as green as Ireland.

Here's a slide show for your enjoyment.

The Stepfather - movie

Daddy's home.

Danger lives closer than you think.

Last night I went to Blockbuster Video and on the request of my wife rented The Stepfather. On the cover it looked like the same ol' predictable suspense movie that has been recycled for decades. It surely was but it was well-done and fairly entertaining, too.

Dylan Walsh is the psychotic killer. Sela Ward is the divorced mom who is denial. Penn Badgely is the son who is skeptical of his new stepfather and Amber Heard is the attractive girlfriend that looks great in the pool scenes.

Dylan Walsh was the one who made the difference. He portrayed a man that seemed in control but also just a moment or two from becoming violent.

If you're at a loss for a movie to rent and like these types of movies then I recommend it.

a sunny day off

Today I took the day off. Besides not being in the office, another benefit is the slower pace and all the things one doesn't notice on a typical, hectic day, One example is other people. Also, the sun was really shining for the first time in a long time.

I was able to drive my daughter to school without cursing every slow or imcompetent driver on the road. Just every other one.

I went grocery shopping at 8:30 AM instead of after work. The store was much calmer and I sensed less stress in the air. Also the cashier was folksy unlike the night cashiers. I guess it's easier to be that way because your customers have nowhere else they need to be.

Speaking of folksy, the lady at the McDonald's drive thru window was downright giddy. Her window was facing east.

I was stood up for lunch (OK they honestly mixed up the date) and I didn't really even care.

I got my haircut and the comely stylist turned out to be a big microbrew drinker. She really pepped up when we started talking about beer.

On my second try for lunch the cashier at the nearly empty Mexican restaurant walked over to my table to chat about the Olympics. That wouldn't have happened at rush hour because he mentioned they were really busy.

I went for a 5 mile walk/jog.

To top it all off, when my daughter and I were shopping for sporting goods the R.E.M. song Shiny Happy People was playing in the store.

all's well that ends well

Tonight was the last game for the 5th grade basketball team I have coached for the last three months. We were able to pull out a 17-12 victory in a hard-fought game. I really enjoyed coaching this group. They are seven carefree, happy-go-lucky kids that had fun learning how to play. As if that wasn't enough the parents were supportive and encouraging, too.

When people learn of me coaching a team the questions are almost always, "Did you win?" or "What's your record?" as if the only thing that matters is winning or losing. I wouldn't have traded these kids for seven all-stars,and I like to win as much as anyone. We only won 3 out of 10 games but who really cares. We were competitive in all but two of our losses and nobody cried or got hurt the whole season. Besides that, they got involved in youth sports.

I strongly believe that youth sports are important for two reasons. 1) it gives them a chance to play a sport they can hopefully enjoy their whole lives, and 2)they learn what it's like to be part of a team and enjoy the camaraderie that comes with it.

Please support school athletics! There's more to growing up than what you learn in the classroom.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - movie

Usually when I take the kids to a movie I fall asleep within 30 minutes and don't wake up until the beginning of the end. True to form I did doze off but just for a few minutes which I suppose speaks well of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
This movie will interest kids that enjoy Harry Potter or that sort of thing. Besides the special effects and action I liked the way they wove Greek mythology into the story line. I've always had an passive interest in it and appreciated learning a little about it through a movie (assuming it was accurate of course!).
Kudos also to the writer who kept the dialogue from becoming too staid like an old epic and also from being sarcastic and smarmy. The gods spoke like gods and the kids like kids for the most part.

Rather than include the trailer I'll instead put a clip of Hercules against Moon Men. This was part of the classic 90s Comedy Central show Mystery Science Theater 3000. You can see how much movies have improved. Also, when was the last time you heard someone make a reference to Gymkata?

Sin Nombre - movie

Sin Nombre is a one of those movies that dares you to turn it off. It's set mostly in Mexico about a young woman from Honduras named Sayra and a young Mexican man from Chiapas named Casper. The first half of the movie takes turns telling their stories until their paths cross. Sayra is riding on the top of a freight train on her way to New Jersey and Casper is running away from his gang trying to escape almost certain death.

Rather than going into details about the movie I'll just set out the criteria for who probably will and won't like this movie. If you like suspenseful, gritty, and violent movies this is for you. If you also like seeing people perservere through very difficult situations you'll enjoy it even more. If you you're turned off by tattoes, blood, and brutality, you'll hate it.

My wife and I were riveted by it and then afterward all we could say was how horrible it was. Kind of like the old ladies who complained about the bad food that was in such small portions, too.

the missing ingredient in today's music

Many music lovers that came of age any time from the 50s to the 90s will lament the state of pop/rock music today. It's almost as if it doesn't exist anymore. People keep listening to the same ol' songs on light rock and classic rock stations while almost nothing is being added to the canons of music. I think the problem is that artists don't play the music anymore. For instance American Idol is just vocalists. In the past those vocalists were also accomplished musicians.

When you listen closely to some of the greats it's easy to hear the guitars and drums, and a little harder to pick out the bass. The instrument that gets missed the most but is arguably as important as guitar is the piano. So many of the greats wrote and played piano: Brian Wilson, Lennon, McCartney, Elton John, Billy Joel, Freddie Mercury, Eddie Van Halen, and Prince are just a start. Even those Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd had a cool piano solo at the end of Sweet Home Alabama. Next time you're listening to a classic see if you can hear some piano. Chances are you will.

So what's a way to get music going again? Has it all really been done already as some say? I think it's possible. There are still great songs to be written. But to really make those songs great the right music has to be made to accompany it.
The game Guitar Hero gives me hope. Hopefully in the future there will be Piano Hero so that there are some pianists to go along with all the guitarists.

For an example of some good piano in a Bob Seger song check Beautiful Loser. It starts at about the 2 minute mark.

check yourself out

Tonight at the local grocery I was presented with the difficult choice of waiting in line for a cashier to scan and bag my groceries or to do it all myself. It's difficult because I'm impatient and I'd be ruing myself if I made the wrong decision. Normally I'm happy to while away a few minutes looking at magazines like People, Us, or In Touch. But tonight the only cashier line was three deep, and from sizing up the cashier and the customers I decided I could do it faster myself. Luckily it worked out for the best as I left the store before the person who would of been ahead of me in the other line had even finished paying.

I've watched the store evolve from a cashier with a bagger who loaded your cart to a cashier that bags and you load the cart to offloading all the work on the customer. Many customers have complained every step of the way. I think it's great because it theoretically keeps prices lower and it gives the customer more choice. ATMs, pay at the pump, and airport kiosks have also been great inventions for consumers.

Some will say that it is making society impersonal. I'd argue that people have plenty of chances for personal interaction during the day. They could talk with co-workers, eat lunch with a friend, join a club, or call someone on the phone. The list goes on. So if you're quick to complain about what you have to do as a customer think a little deeper because it may actually be for your benefit.

odd jobs - part 1

Hearing so much about jobs (or lack thereof) in the news lately caused me to reflect on some jobs I've had in the past. I think it's important for teenagers to have at least part-time jobs to cover some expenses and learn about the real world. I have lots of memories of the different places I worked. Some still bring a smile to my face.

One of the interesting jobs I has was two summers in college working at a windowless warehouse with adults anywhere from 18 to 60. Interesting not so much for the work but for the other workers and the things I saw and heard there. The first shift consisted of what were called the "lifers", or the people that had been there long enough to move up to normal working hours. They were surly but dependable so they would stay there until retirement. Next was second shift where I worked. These people were mostly from the edges of society; busted for drunk driving, messy divorces, white collar and high school dropouts, and a handful of college students like me. They had colorful personalities, interesting life stories full of bad decisions, and were mostly hard workers and trying to make a living. Third shift was 'Night of the Living Dead' because of the trance-like state in which they entered the building. They were either stoned or had been under the stoned so often in the past that they were burned out.

2nd shift was definitely the best to work on. I liked the way people were given degrading nicknames and mocked at every opportunity but also that no one ever took it seriously. I think that's why everyone had a persona, which worked like a plate of armor against outside attacks.
Since then I've always appreciated people like the ones I met in those summers. They were 100% genuine.

Less is more

Maybe the world is moving faster than ever, maybe people just have shorter attention spans, or maybe something that takes too long gives the audience the time to daydream about what they'd rather be doing.

Whether it's a presentation, movie, wedding toast, commencement speech, blog entry, news article, or a meeting, less is usually more. I don't understand why people feel that a certain time period or length is necessary for anything. Remember when a book report or term paper had to be x number of words or pages? Unless the express purpose is to have fun, I think there should be an effort to abbreviate whenever possible.

Some industries and people and industries get it, others don't. Some examples and exceptions:
Music - most of the Beatles songs were shorter than three minutes. The long ones were usually the worst on the album (see Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road).
Newspapers - USA Today usually has the highest circulation. Most stories are short.
Sports - Fans can tolerate a long football game but baseball not so much.
Movies - People will still sit through a long movie if it's great. If it's not then 90 minutes is a good length.
Photography - How to get viewers to focus and pay attention to your photo.

At the risk of going on too long I better stop now!

Super Bowl commercials past and present

As I sat through an above-average Super Bowl yesterday I slowly realized one of the reasons I hardly ever watch TV: commercials. Super Bowl commercials cost $3 million per 30 second spot so they have to get their brand into your consciousness as quickly and effectively as possible.

Again I had to watch Madison Avenue attack it's favorite target: white men. Apparently one ad agency was sharing the idea with multiple clients that showing flaccid white men in their whitey tighties was good stuff. We had Career Builder, Bud Light, and Dockers. Also there was the spineless shopper and the men that control nothing in their life besides driving a macho car. To their credit I pretty well remember the brands now.

My theory is that someone with some clout at the ad agencies got tired of all those Old Milwaukee commercials (it doesn't get any better than this) or the Miller Lite ads (tastes great, less filling)and wanted to take over not only beer advertising but all advertising. The final straw of course was the Swedish Bikini team ad. Here's a look at one of many Old Milwaukee beer commercials. Is it that bad?

Beer - Can't we all just get along?

For my own benefit I've never really liked mayonnaise, the Detroit Lions, or the taste of beer. However, I've always have had an admiration of the people that drink cans of Miller High Life, Milwaukee's Best, Pabst, Old Style, or any other low quality beer a la Homer Simpson and his beloved Duff beer. They seem to be purists and don't worry about what people think of their beer of choice. They just enjoy it in it's most basic form.

Until the last couple of years, microbrew fans have always struck me as snobbish and smug like the people that know what kind of wine tastes better with a certain type of food. I have no idea! For me life is too short to keep track of all these different kinds of beers and wines. I just want to get an occasional healthy glow and avoid a hangover.

A couple of events in the last year or so have changed my opinion on microbrews. One was at an barbecue on a beautiful fall day when the hosts served homemade beer. Delicious and strong! Then last night I drank a pair of $6.50 micro beers with some friends and actually enjoyed the taste. Well, I realized, gol' dammit, microbrews are much better than regular beer and I just have to concede that those pompous microbrewers have better taste than Joe Six-Pack. Hopefully someday the two different worlds will come together so I can enjoy a tasty microbrew with beer-drinking people that wouldn't even consider it.

Super Bowl memories

Super Bowl Sunday is somewhere on my top 20 list of great things about America. It's a virtual holiday that brings people together to watch the nation's favorite sport and all those wacky million dollar commercials. Tomorrow the favored Colts and the underdog Saints will duke it out in the 44th edition. It should be an exciting game.

I have many great memories of this game. I can remember at least one thing about the last 30 games. My first memory was Super Bowl XIV (14) when the Steelers beat the Rams. I remember my dad and all the other men watching the game being pumped to see the Steelers' defense. And of course the classic Bradshaw to Stallworth pass that put the Steelers up for good in the 4th quarter.

Some interesting facts about that game and tomorrow's game:

Halftime show - 1980 Up With People presented "A Salute to the Big Band Era"
2010 The Who (so old they were already almost retired 30 years ago)
National anthem - 1980 Cheryl Ladd (my older brothers had a Cheryl Ladd bikini poster next to a Loni Anderson poster and I spent a lot of time looking at them both. Couldn't do it at home now...I guess my parents were more laid back than my wife).2010 - Carrie Underwood
30 second commercial - 1980 $222k 2010 $3 million.

Office Space - clean or clutter?

There seem to be three types office and cubicle dwellers in the workplace; 1)clean and organized, 2)unabashedly messy, 3)those that vacillate between 1 and 2.

This week I had two people comment on my work area. The first was a first-time visitor that complimented me for my messy area. He said there were too many clean people and that it was good to see someone like him. The second was my next-door neighbor who visits just about every day. She said I need to clean up my act.

This is a topic that occasionally causes me some angst. But who's really to say which is right? Does it really matter? Isn't practically everything on the computer anyway so is filing and organizing that important? A double whammy that people like me encounter is the constant bombardment of people dropping stuff in my space and all the mostly useless handouts received at meetings.

I'm going to continue as a vacillator for the time being but I think as I get older and care less and less what others think I may just become and unrepentant slob!

the beauty of a nap

A good nap is one of the most underrated and under-utilized gifts a person can give to themself. According to Wikipedia (so it must be true):

Napping has been found to be beneficial. Napping for 20 minutes can help refresh the mind, improve overall alertness, boost mood and increase productivity. Napping may benefit the heart. In a six-year study of Greek adults, researchers found that men who took naps at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

The Greeks have been around long enough that I'll take their word for it.

Today I took a 30 minute nap after dinner and I feel so much better. Typically I'll only take a nap on vacation or a weekend but sometimes you just have to do it where ever and whenever. Another testimonial: my 71 year old father-in-law takes one like clockwork after lunch every day and he seems happy and healthy. A fringe benefit is that by the time he wakes up everything has been cleaned up.

When was the last time you took a nap? I hope this motivated you to go lay down and fall asleep.

McGuire brothers & quotes from Al

This morning Dick McGuire died at the age of 84. He was a Hall of Fame basketball player for the New York Knicks and the older brother of fellow Hall of Famer Al McGuire; former player, Marquette coach, and TV analyst. Dick and Al both grew up in Rockaway Beach (part of Queens, NY),worked at the family saloon, and played basketball among other things. Their Irish father once said "the difference between Dick and Al is that Dick can play."

Since Dick was shy and quiet, I'll take this opportunity to sample a few of Al's 100s of famous quotes.

1) You've got to remember, it's a game. If we lose, a new star will appear in the east.
2) Winning is only important in war and surgery.
3) All love affairs end. Eventually the girl is gonna put curlers in her hair.
4) My personal style is not negotiable. That's how I fly. If you don't like my onion sandwiches, too bad. I can't change.

So much to think about. I think Al was not only entertaining but also a very wise man. He was never as good as Dick at basketball but was able to carve out his own niche. See Al dance at the end of this video with an ecstatic Syracuse team. There's also a current NFL quarterback in there if you look closely.

"real" Mexican food

Since I am married to a lovely native of Mexico City, I am often asked where is the best local Mexican food and which is the most authentic. Sometimes people really want to know and others are just waiting to tell me about their favorite Mexican restaurant. The answer is not as simple as it sounds.

To begin, for me growing up in Michigan, Mexican food was when Mom put some taco seasoning on ground beef, stuffed it into hard shells and topped it off with cheese and lettuce. And we liked it. As teenagers we moved on to Ole Tacos and Taco Bell and it was all good. So that was the original Mexican food for me.

Later, after experiencing food all over Mexico, I gained an understanding of real Mexican food, and it is as varied and complex as any other cuisine. Also it is usually quite different than what you find in the USA. Two basic distinctions are ground beef and burritos, things you won't see in Mexico.

My recommendations are to be open to try new things and figure out what you like the most, and then don't worry about whether it's authentic. The important thing is to get value for your money and to enjoy the food. ¡Buen provecho!

Rod & Kenny & deejay

Rod Stewart once was the cause of a broken relationship for me. In college I was at a party with a new girlfriend when her best friend, she, and I started looking at the CD collection of the host. One of the CDs we saw was Rod Stewart and I commented something to the effect that Rod was good. I got a look from both of the them that put me immediately on the defensive. I stood my ground and started talking about The Faces and some of Rod's hits from the 70s and early 80s. But alas, they weren't having it, and that was the beginning of the end of the relationship that had really only just begun.

What's this have to do with Kenny Loggins? Before Kenny started doing hit songs on movie soundtracks, he had a solo career in his own right and even won a couple of Grammy's. So if someone just evaluated Kenny (like Rod at the party) on the latter part of his career, they may not get it quite right. I think musicians should be judged on their entire body of work, and not just on when one started watching MTV or VH1.

Finally, kudos to the deejay who played 'This is It' on the radio tonight. I appreciate you making the effort to play a song that's not on the heavy rotation list. Hearing a nearly forgotten oldie but goodie is like running into an old friend.