Cosmic Inundation

Well I guess this winter just felt the need to throw one last punch and pulled yet another weapon out of the bag – torrential rains.  It started raining on Saturday afternoon and hasn’t stopped yet.  I drove through an ice storm to work today which is kind of appropriate given how much fun commuting has been over the past couple months.  March decided it liked its leonine properties too much to let them go even as April looms.

My Date Yesterday Showing me a Raincoat That She Claims She's Had "Forever"
Buddy Approving Hoping for a Treat

Given the weather it was completely appropriate that the wife and I checked out the latest biblical epic, Noah, yesterday.  I can understand why all the religious organizations are in a bit of a tizzy about the “liberties” the film makers took with the story of the biblical flood.  I guess they’re really weren’t any exploding rock monster angels in book of Genesis but it made for an interesting flick.  Also, you put General Maximus Decimus Meridius in charge of the ark there’s going to be some serious fighting taking place; we’re talking donnybrook level here.

Even with all the non-biblical action inserted you can’t hide the fact of what good actors both Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly (wife of Noah) are.  They inserted a silly sub-plot about a stowaway and Noah’s obsession with planned parenthood which drew the movie down more than Noah’s previously unreported proficiency with a battle axe.  It was still a great ride and even Hollywood can’t hide the underlying message of hope.

While going through my rain induced pillaging of my DVR and on demand selections this weekend I checked out the new version of Cosmos.  It’s amazing.  I remember watching Carl’s Sagan’s first effort way back which became infamous on SNL for his pronunciation of “billions” but was a great attempt at interesting people in the majesty of science.  I didn’t have any talent in the area which was definitively established in freshman chemistry but I’m still fascinated by the scientific pursuit of knowledge.

That being the case, this was a lot of fun to watch, updated with today’s special effects.  The first show talked about time and that if you put all the time that has passed since the “Big Bang” until now on a calendar year, humans have existed for only the last 14 seconds prior to midnight on December 31^st (seems to me we’ve gotten a lot done in a short amount of time – reason for hope). 

Tyson

The show also makes an attempt to link back to Sagan’s work with the host starting the first show from the exact same spot on the California’s Pacific Coast Highway near Big Sur (which I unwittingly drove by just last year) that Sagan did.  The first show ended with the engaging new host, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, revealing that as a young teenager he traveled by bus from NYC to meet Sagan at Cornell for an afternoon that fired Tyson’s interest in science and the “billions” of stars.  This show should be required watching for all middle schoolers.

I'm beginning to think middle schoolers have been placed in charge of the newspaper business.  I remember when it was extremely rare and almost a game to find minor spelling errors in the daily paper.  They seem almost prevalent nowadays.  I know it's a dying industry but it should expire with a little dignity.  

Saturday Somnambulance

Yesterday morning I finally got out into the yard to survey some of the damage inflicted by the winter.  This is one of the things I enjoy about home ownership, there’s always something to do, sometimes a little too much.  With my faithful assistant Buddy the Wonder Pooch, I tackled several front yard tasks.

My Assistant Providing Site Security

I repaired the stone walls which tried to migrate while under the snow (they get fairly mobile when unobserved).  There were also a huge amount of small tree branches littering the lawn.  I was making at game effort at collecting them while my assistant was more focused on stealing them.  Apparently he saw no reason to remove such prime chewing material.

Making Off With One of the Branches

The ground finally released its frozen clutches on the Christmas tree light posts allowing retrieval.  I felt a little silly driving in each day and seeing the posts defiantly proclaiming winter’s hold on the land, at least after they finally reemerged from under the snow.  The most enjoyable task was removing the stakes that lined the driveway marking the edges for snow removal; again kind of depressing to see them each day.  I did find a couple that had been processed through the snow blower so I guess I expressed those feelings a little aggressively a couple times(good snow blower though!).   

Posts Are Finally Gone

The rains came in shortly after noon and it’s been raining steadily ever since.  Rain and temperatures in the 30s is not a recipe for continued outdoor activities (left that behind when I disconnected from the infantry).  The rest of the day was spent cleaning out the DVR list (Hannibal is one twisted dude).

We were supposed to go out dancing last night but the rains convinced my wife that wasn’t to be.  I may have to send her in for some medical assessment because rain and cold have never been enough to dissuade her from dancing.   

Friday Defaults

I was lucky enough to enjoy a Friday full of what has become the signature end of week events.  My excellent boss decreed the need for a celebration of the first Friday of the week to discuss the inanity of political leadership (a subject he feels strongly about).  The Brew City wait staff was up to their usual level of excellent service but it was a little telling that even the bar tender, not just our favorite waitress, knows what our order is when we walk in; the price of fame (or generous tipping).

She Was Worth The Wait

I returned home fully charged up for a non-keto extravaganza date with my wife at Zorba’s.  She assured me she would be ready promptly and told me to have a seat while I waited.  I’m not sure she’s fully grasped the concept of promptness.  I awoke from a nap about forty-five minutes later with no wife in view.  A half hour later we finally headed out the door, now very well rested (at least for my part).

Sister in Law Last Night in Panama

Zorba’s was typically awesome even though we had the worst waitress.  The owner was hovering most of the evening and even delivered our order when the befuddled waitress couldn’t figure it out.  My wife engaged in some very funny texting with her siblings down in Panama who were also out for some pizza.  It’s amazing that communications have reached the point that we can sit in a pizza place in Charlton, Massachusetts and exchange photos instantaneously to a similar place in the wilds of Panama (well maybe not so wild).

Brother in Law and His Wife at the Pizza Place Last Night

We finally received a reprieve from the penetrating cold although it brought a fairly steady rain all night.  As I look out into the back yard I can see grass all the way to the wood line for the first time since December.  It’s providing some sneaky optimism that spring may actually be attempting to show up.  I think it read the same book on promptness that my wife ascribes to.  

Spring Finally Showing Up - The View out Back This Morning
Buddy in the Distance Chasing Birds out of Yard

Political Tidal Wave

The back water that is Worcester was overrun with politicians yesterday which anybody who reads this blog regularly knows was not a pleasant development for me.  There was a good side to it, kind of, sort of.

General Colin Powell came in to talk with the students of the local technical high school and we had to provide some buses to transport him around Worcester.  Powell is one of the good guys and I liked that he shot straight with the kids he was speaking to.  Despite his august achievements he admitted to being a really poor student and credited his family for keeping him in school until he reached his potential in the military.

General Powell in Worcester Yesterday

It seems all too often kids are let down by their families when they struggle in school.  Instead of encouraging and insuring they remain in school they take the easy way out, throw their hands in the hair and let them quit.  The drop out then becomes society’s problem.  Everybody develops at a different rate and to give up on a kid before he /she finds himself approaches criminal behavior.  The most important lessons any kid can be taught is that the world is not going to fall into his  lap just because he’s out of school.  Families need to provide the support and love (even if it expressed in hard nosed discipline) to provide the young with the tools they’ll need to become contributory members of society and not drains.

The governor of the Commonwealth of Taxachusetts descended on Worcester yesterday specifically to visit our company and the new electric buses we’ve fielded.  The governor’s office corresponded directly with our political leadership so very few details were leaking down to the people who were responsible for getting everything arranged.  Why is that the higher in authority you go the more some people treat information as power and are reluctant to share, even if it’s needed.  I saw the same thing in the military, especially the Pentagon.

The governor’s advance team showed up two hours before the event and asked where all the arrangements they’d requested from our political leadership were.  We professed an honest mystification since we had not been told.  We were able to react, due to some magnificent efforts by a couple of employees, to save the political leadership’s bacon.

Governor Patrick at Our Bus Station Yesterday

I asked one of them why they hadn’t forwarded the emails with all the details sent a couple of week’s ago by the governor’s office.  He blithely dismissed my question while efforting himself into a photo op with the governor, saying they changed the time so he thought there would be more information coming.  Politicians really shouldn’t be allowed to actually run anything other than their mouths.

The Winter Just Got Tougher

I know it’s technically spring but that hasn’t happened yet.  The winter delivered the cruelest blow of all yesterday as the incredible winds generated by a Nor’easter far enough off shore to spare us snow still created conditions that fueled a devastating fire in the back bay of Boston that cost us the lives of two firefighters.

I say “cost us” because they sacrificed themselves for us and we are all poorer for the exchange.  It’s too easy to forget the peerless courage of these guys who daily charge into burning buildings when any sensible person is heading the other way.  We only seem to recognize that courage on days like this when that courage is so evident but they are doing this each and every day in every community around the world. 

R.I.P. to a Couple of Real Heroes

I didn’t know these guys but I miss them. I thank their families for allowing them to serve us and keep us safe.  I was a little startled when I saw the news coverage as the fire was not too far from where my own daughter lived during her time at Boston University.  She hasn’t been there in nearly a decade but I still felt a connection to the area which made it even tougher. 

Most of all I thank the firefighters around the world for doing what they do each day.  You are the bravest people I know.

It’s probably a little bit appropriate that I finished up my latest foray into the twisted mind of Chuck Palahniuk yesterday.  I really like Damned and I honestly think it’s his funniest effort.  The heroine of the story is a 13-year old daughter of a celebrity couple (think Jolie/Pitt) named Maddy who dies in a tragic accident and finds herself in hell, literally.

She takes to damnation fairly well blaming her parents for their unbelief:  “It’s one thing for my parents to behave all secular humanist and gamble with their own eternal souls; however, it’s altogether not all right that they also gambled with mine:  They placed their bets with such self-righteous bravado, but I’m the one who lost.”

Palahniuk is his normal merciless self as he skewers the self-importance of celebrities and pop culture myths.  Palahniuk writing in the first person as a 13-year girl is just too much fun to pass up.  Maddy forms a Breakfast Club like group of friends and proceeds to pretty much take over hell beating up villains ranging from Caligula to Adolph Hitler.  She also explores the vanity and feigned selflessness of her movie star parents (one of Chuck’s favorite targets).  “To my parents, death existed as merely the logical, albeit extreme, result of not adequately exfoliating your skin.”  Palahniuk is at his cringe worthy, satirical best in this – well worth the read. 

Diverging Roads

Because I Can't Post This Picture a sufficient amount
Enough Already!!!

Someone mentioned it was spring yesterday.  That comment seemed wildly out of context as passed through yet another day of frigid temps in the twenties.  Today there’s a snow storm pulsating just to the east of us pummeling the Cape Cod area.  This is kind of turnabout fair play because the Cape always seems to get over when it comes to snow totals. It does seem extremely odd that I’m talking about snow in the area and we didn’t get any – I’ll take it though.

Daughter and Son in Law in Palm Springs

The kids are both doing the globe trotting thang again.  My daughter just returned from a wedding in Palm Springs, California while the son is on another of his Virginia Beach business trips (no lunch today, dammit).  My daughter had a funny moment while preparing for the trip to California.  One of her friends who works in the jewelry business heard that there would be a semi-celebrity at the wedding (Nicole Richie I think).  She then requested my daughter wear some of her company’s jewelry to the wedding and provided her with nearly $60K worth of jewelry to wear.  My daughter, being of stern stuff, bravely volunteered herself for the effort.  So that was pretty cool, but I think she has to return it.

Son In Law Demonstrating his Altruistic Tendencies
Attempting to Civilize California

Date night last night saw us at the movie theater seeing Divergent.  I’m guessing this is some sort of Hunger Games rip off and I later learned it’s part of a trilogy penned by a young female author in that vein.  Thank God it wasn’t some of that soulless Twilight crap and was actually pretty entertaining.  It’s set in a future post-apocalyptic Chicago surrounded by a huge wall.  The people have divided themselves into factions based on their abilities which leads to a lot of intrigue.

Shailene Woodley who was the best thing about the movie The Descendants stars as the lead character and does a good job of carrying it. She’s a “divergent” which is a bad thing in this strictly structured class society and we follow her initiation into the war fighting faction.  Since this was penned for the young and female there’s a hunky trainer who falls madly in love with her but that doesn’t distract from the action and a fast moving plot.  It’s evidence that good acting can elevate some marginal writing, this was a lot of fun to watch.  Maggie Q and Ray Stevenson are severely underused but Kate Winslet chews up a lot of scenery as the villain.

Speaking of fun, a friend posted a link to Jon Stewart skewering the mainstream news coverage of the Malaysian plane disappearance.  In a very sad situation he does a good job of pointing the hilarious idiocy of CNN in their coverage, too funny. It can be found here:

http://www.forwardprogressives.com/jon-stewart-absolutely-annihilates-cnn-fox-news-msnbc/

Monster Among Us

I read a story yesterday that was linked to my favorite sports web site.  It was a story that ran in last Sunday’s Boston Globe about the tragedy surrounding the death of a young lady at the hands of Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy’s son.  It brought up some very troubling questions about how much blame or credit a parent can take for their children’s actions and my favorite topic of celebrity fame. 

The Victim - Ms Martel
A Young Lady With a Future Taken Away

The story has to be troubling for the Red Sox since Remy inveigled them to hire his son as a security guard despite a long history of arrests and abusive behavior towards women.  It’s a credit to John Henry who owns both the Red Sox and the Globe that he let the story run.

The real villain in the story though, outside of the scumbag murderer himself, is the Massachusetts criminal court system.  Remy was arrested numerous times but a high priced lawyer (supplied by dad) was able to repeatedly get the charges either reduced or dismissed without finding.  One of the problems I have with one party rule is the back room deals people with the right connections can maneuver and once Remy’s history is laid out that is exactly what this smacks of.  At a certain point, even a soulless, high priced attorney has to be able to look himself in the mirror and take responsibility for the lives they take.  Remy’s attorney and the judges who made those deals should be charged as accessories to this young lady’s murder.

Co-Conspirators - Remy and His Lawyer - Bella

There is nothing lower in the world than man who beats on women and this idiot made a literal career out of it and sneered at a court system he felt enabled by.  He drew his father’s name like a pistol and they were always there to get him another chance.  I find it hard to fault the elder Remys too much because a parent is going to try and support a child but there comes a point when they owe a greater debt to society as a whole.  Everyone who spent any time around their son knew he was eventually going to kill someone.  It’s a very sobering read and can be found at:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/22/remy/xFRaOQqrnZ1S1pfLa2eKgK/story.html

36 Years Ago Today - If He Only Knew What Was In Front of Him
He'd Probably be Smiling

Yesterday was also the anniversary my entry into the Army some thirty –six years ago.  I find it hard to fathom that it has been that long as I can clearly remember the day since it involved my first ever plane ride (which coincidentally stopped over in Worcester of all places).  It was the start of an adventure that took me places I could only dream of and I still treasure.

Basic Training - 1978

Granite State Madness

We had so much fun in New Hampshire on Saturday that we returned to the Granite State on Sunday for the long awaited day of hangs with the Keene Friend back in my hometown.  An earlier visit was canceled when I poisoned myself with dental hygiene equipment but that’s another story.  He finally had another day off and we descended on him in force along with the Wonder Pooch.

After a quick lunch and checking out some Keene homes for sale, we stopped in to visit my second mom who broke her hip back in October.  She’s still a very spry 91 years old and back home complaining about her kids moving the things around in her cupboards while she was in rehab.  I hope I’m half as feisty or just still around when I reach her age.

Keene Friend at Scores

My wife ejected the Keene Friend and I in the center of Keene and told us to amuse ourselves while she addressed the TJ Maxx gift cards that were burning serious holes in her pocketbook.  While feeling devastated about being excluded from shopping we made our way to Scores Sports Bar which had a couple thousand televisions going.  We watched the Sox in spring training, March Madness (male and female), soccer, D League NBA, motorcycle racing, and bull riding to mention a few. 

The Bud Light Gals in Front of My Friend's Future Car
Okay, Maybe 13 years Old

We were happily ensconced discussing the vagaries of life and employment basking in every sport currently being contested around the world when two beautiful young ladies arrived garbed in Bud Light apparel.  It’s a comment as to my advancing age that they both looked to be 12 years old despite t-shirts that gave lie to that assessment.  So we were shortly drinking Bud Light (a certain cousin of mine will approve of that) instead of Coors and I even won a t-shirt when I stood a bunch of small plastic champagne glasses more steadily than the Keene Friend.

Keene Friend in the 3-Point Competition

My Keene Friend became the star of the day though when he stunned the much younger crowd by winning the three point shot contest held outside in a blustery wintry courtyard.  The girls stayed inside (well so did I – it was freezing) but he calmly sank five out of ten shots to win the contest.  Several young guys were watching from inside and saw their own hopes dashed as my friend calmly drilled his way to the top of the heap; they were not pleased.  In a couple weeks he can win a Cadillac if he makes two out of three shots described as half-court in length.    

One of His Winning Shots

After reporting his triumph to all corners of the globe as well as Pennsylvania via text we adjourned across the street and placed ourselves under the care of the husky voiced waitress of Margarita’s to await my wife’s inevitable return.  Upon her return she did not seem entirely amused at the recollection of our adventures and prizes won.  She seemed more interested in our description of the Bud Light girls, go figure.  My wife reported running into one of my high school classmates at TJ Maxx.  Apparently he wasn’t as successful at avoiding shopping as we were.

Some of Our Loot From the Day

We ended the day back at Keene Friend’s house with a frantic Buddy who kept trying to steal some of my wife’s birthday cake that Keene Friend surprised her with.  I invoked a little known codicil of the keto diet law which allowed me to partake as well.  My wife insisted on driving home for reasons that elude me now.  New Hampshire went two for two this weekend, color me completely entertained.

MY Wife With Her Brownie/Cake - Buddy Hovering in the Background

T-Boned

Yesterday was one of those early spring days where everything seems dreary.  A damp kind of cold permeates while the snow slowly recedes with the recalcitrant claws of winter still sunk in our souls.  Thankfully March madness and a Bruins winning streak have arrived to rescue us from the worst impact of all the filthy snow banks lining the roads.

In addition yesterday saw a late afternoon run up to New Hampshire to spend the evening with the son, MEF, and her parents for another spirit lifting exercise.  In a startling development my wife was running a little late which saw the fracturing of some of the speed laws on our way up to Hudson and we arrived less than an hour after we started out which has to be some sort of record.

It had been too long since we’d seen the MEF’s parents and once again it was like falling in with old friends immediately.  The stated reason for our trip was to conduct reconnaissance on the restaurant selected to cater the rehearsal dinner in August but any opportunity to hang out with these people is welcome.

T-Bones

If the parking lot of the restraint is any indication of the quality of food the place offers than we may have struck gold as it was absolutely packed.  T-Bones required a bit of wait to get our reserved table but they thankfully had March Madness playing on several TVs and the MEF’s father started up a conversation with a displaced Michigan State fan from Macon, Georgia (huh?).  The food was more than worth the wait although the company was so excellent I might have been influenced by the warmth those feelings.

A Great Dinner

The MEF picked up on a statement I made last week about moving to Portsmouth based on the fertile pub crawling opportunities offered there.  She concocted a plan where we all bought a large house together where we occupied one wing, her parents another, with she and my son in the main house.   My wife jumped on the future babysitting facility by grandparents this plan presented.  It was cool that neither the son or MEF ran screaming from that discussion (a la my daughter (although she is getting better)).

The drive home was more sedate, time with such fun people will do that.  

Feeding Frenzy

Yesterday was my weekly keto holiday where I can eat anything I want; except for dead animal flesh (Friday!) as I’m trapped in Lent with a very Catholic wife.  I resembled nothing more than a shark circling the various offices trying to find any of the donuts, cakes, or candies I spied all week.  It got a little desperate as the rich bounty had been thoroughly pillaged by my non-keto encumbered co-workers.  I contented myself with a couple of those hideous Hostess cupcakes (well maybe not so hideous yesterday).

Since it was Friday and Lent has nothing against beer, my excellent boss and I conducted our weekly after-action review in the friendly confines of Brew City.  A new waitress was being trained in our idiosyncrasies by our regular one which led to some pretty funny moments and a large tip.  Again, it was Friday so the wife and I descended on Zorba’s for a Lenten induced pepperoni-less pizza which was still awesome, mostly due to the company I was keeping.

The Pizza and Awesome Company

While we were at Zorba’s my wife asked me what I thought of the 5^th grade picture a friend posted on Facebook.  I hadn’t seen it yet but checked it out this morning which brought back a lot of good memories.  The photo has the cantankerous one hovering over my left shoulder, so not a lot has changed in nearly a half century which is a good thing.  Was it really that long ago? I saw several of these classmates at the reunion last September – good memories.

My 5th Grade Picture
I'm Second From Right in Third Row
While the Cantankerous One is on the Far Right in the Top Row
In a Completely Dashing Striped Shirt

I had a good moment at work this week that I forgot to mention.  I’m chairing a joint union-management committee to improve communication and this week’s subject was proposed social activities.  I expected cookouts, trips, and parties to be proposed and while we got all of that the suggestion that brought almost immediate consensus from everybody was charity work.  They wanted to do something as a team to give back to the community. I was a little shocked to have these grizzled union workers demonstrate that the spirit of giving back isn’t necessarily (and all too rarely) clothed in a three piece suit.  I was proud to be associated with these guys.

Goodbye, Good Riddance
Maybe We Can Bury Our Heroes in Peace Now

The gene pool got a little deeper this week now that Fred Phelps, of Westwood Baptist fame, has departed the realm.  A real downside of the information age is that this buffoon and his misguided followers were allowed any kind of notoriety.  The world feels a little cleaner now.

Another friend sent me some more Obama-Putin stuff which I couldn’t resist as Crimea officially becomes part of Russia despite the thunderous gnashing of teeth from the West.

Speedful Things

We’ve had a major crisis going on in our kitchen for a couple months now.  I’ve been powerless to stop the recriminations and heartfelt sense of impending doom accompanied by the failure of the light panel over our stove.  When the lights failed I dutifully bought replacement light bulbs which did not ignite when required.  That led to a visit by my buddies from Sears (ruh roh!) since the light panel was part of a Kenmore microwave.  He located the problem and said for a mere $257 we could have the light functional again.

I asked, with no small amount of trepidation (knowing the answer), if it was that important to my wife.  She said she really needed the light.  The technician, to his immense credit (Sears may be growing on me again) said we would be better off just buying some battery powered lights for the area.  You ever get that blinding flash when someone says something and you realize you’re a complete idiot for not thinking of it yourself – bingo.  So for $14 we now have mobile LED lights illuminating the cooking area and the wife is pleased (almost as much as I am).

The New Lights

Since I was on a roll I instituted a second date night for the week and saw a movie which was the polar opposite of Son of God in terms of social relevance – Need for Speed.  In this we learn where Jesse (Aaron Paul) from Breaking Bad ended up after riding off into the night as Heisenberg plied his version of the final solution.  Paul plays a mechanic in Mt Kisco, New York (didn’t see that coming) who’s also a bad ass street car racer.  This movie has absolutely no socially redeeming value but it’s a hell of a lot of fun as the cars careen across the United States.  There’s kind of a plot but that’s just needed to set up the next car chase and death defying stunt.  Paul was head and shoulders above the rest of the cast in terms of acting ability and is much better than this kind of stuff.  This was the purest form of escapism but every now and then that’s not a bad thing.  I had to seriously fight down the urge to do some careening myself as we drove out of the parking lot.

Speaking of careening, I just finished dashing through my latest Scot Horvath book with Brad Thor’s The Last Patriot.  I mentioned last time that Thor seemed to get better with each book and that trend continues as Horvath is rapidly approaching Reacher status in my pantheon of literary heroes.  I literally could not put this book down as Thor expertly weaves another great adventure for his hero.  Horvath just happens to be sitting in a Paris cafe where he thwarts a terrorist bomb which leads him down a rabbit hole of international intrigue involving the Prophet Mohammed, Thomas Jefferson, the Barbary pirates, and the president of the USA.  It’s hard to describe without giving too much away but I’m firmly on the hook to complete my journey through Thor’s books.  It’s just so frustrating as I read them so quickly that I’m starting to worry about reaching the point I finish all that are available.  He’ll them join the queue with DeMille, Child, Ringo, Kratman, and Sanford; authors whom I wait with baited breath to issue a new book.

Spring While Daughter Solved Mystery

Today is finally the first day of spring so I guess I should ignore the ice festooning the road and trees.  I’ll request the Cantankerous Friend to consult all his radical liberal friends about this whole global warming thing – really could have used it this winter. 

Emerging Wall

The snow is grudgingly giving ground at the house.  The garden walls are starting to emerge and there was even a patch of grass spotted in the back yard.  This is the time we should be seeing the first crocuses so I’m not all that excited, yet.  This is the winter that just keeps on giving. 

Back Yard

At least I did get to return to my weekly ritual luncheon with my first born (last born) son which provided the expected lift.  My wife later castigated me for my limited recollection of everything we talked about.  Apparently I should be able to recall every single thing said and dutifully report same to her; going to have to work on that.

Son and I Yesterday

My daughter sent me a link to a fascinating article yesterday.  She was at the airport heading out with the son in law to California for a wedding in Palm Springs (well lahh…ti…dahhh!).  She must have been consulting things avionic because the well written article presents the first cogent theory I’ve seen on what might have happened in the weirdness that is the disappearance of the Malaysian airliner.

The well written article was authored by a pilot who presents a convincing explanation based on the known facts instead of the wild speculation we’ve been inundated with over the past couple of weeks.  He posits an undetected fire could have caused the sequential shut down of communication systems that all the experts claims had to be done from the pilot seat.  When the pilot became aware of the fire his first instinct would be to find an airfield capable of handling his huge airliner.  The programmed left turn that’s mystified everyone put the plane on a direct route to Palau Langkawi, a 13,000-foot airstrip with an approach over water and no obstacles (the nearest airfield able to handle the plane).

The author theorizes the pilot could not return to Kuala Lumpur because of the mountain range that stood between them at that point.  Once enroute to the alternate airfield the crew may have been overcome by smoke of a fire they couldn’t control and the plane continued on its programmed flight path until running out of fuel west of Australia which is where everyone seems to think it now lies.

Anyone who reads the blog regularly knows the absolute disdain I hold the fevered approach taken in television “news” reporting.  The wild theories and speculation we’ve seen pale in comparison to this simpler but entirely too logical one.  It just isn’t sexy or entertaining enough to make the “news”.  The article can be found here:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03/mh370-electrical-fire/

Science Fiction With a Touch of the Word

I’ve been a little overcome with my addiction to science fiction over the past week or so.  My son loaned me his audio book of Starship Troopers (which I gave him for Christmas).  Audio books were a staple of my Army career as we made constant transcontinental drives with my wife and the kids usually sound asleep.  I’ve was amazed at the ability of an audio book to kill the monotony and miles.  I listened to the book during my daily commutes over the past week and it performed it’s remembered magic of killing the time and had me hovering in the garage for a while waiting for a chapter to end on more than a couple occasions.

The book itself was one of the seminal works of my youth and it hasn’t lost any of its potency over the years.  The movie (my son’s favorite) didn’t capture the soul of Heinlein’s work which is sad because this really is one of the best hard science fiction books ever written.  I happily reunited with Sergeant Zim and Lieutenant Radcheck and was struck by how important this book was to my own attitude towards military service and officership.  A very nice stroll down memory lane.

As for actual reading I finished off my latest Christopher Nuttall science fiction opus, The Outcast.  I’m really taking to Nuttall as an author and this latest book was set once again in the ruins of his future galactic empire but with a completely new set of characters.  The hero of this book is not only female but a product of a strict Islamic world who escapes and becomes a starship captain and regional power as a trader.  The book has some really hard truths exposed about the hypocrisy of hard-line Islam (not as hard as Brad Thor which I’m reading now but close) which was interesting and Nuttall always keeps the action moving at breakneck pace.  I missed having the marines around in this one but that didn’t keep the carnage or battles down, at all; another very good read.

I took one for the team (marital) and my own immortal soul last night on date night by seeing, Son of God.  I came away impressed with how well this movie conveys the compelling lesson of the life of Jesus Christ.  Movies are a great way to get a message out but most biblical efforts try too hard to be dramatic or entertaining.  The life of Jesus was and is one of the greatest stories ever told and doesn’t need a lot of embellishment.  Caiaphas and Pilate don’t do well here but accurately so without demonization a la Mel Gibson’s Passion. The movie is long but the truths are timeless.  The simple but earth shaking days of the Nazarene Carpenter have so many important lessons for any truly complete life.  

Docudrama

There’s no getting around it, Mondays suck.  I know that’s not a blinding flash of news to anybody that works for a living but I felt it needed to be said.  Having said it, I don’t feel any better about Mondays; at all.

Our president must feel the same way about Mondays because his “virile” response to Putin’s Crimean adventure was met with humor and downright scorn in Moscow which felt emboldened enough to declare Crimea free of Ukraine and open to annexing it as part of Russia.  As stated by the Saudi Arabian foreign minister Obama’s foreign policies are that of a 3^rd World country not a superpower.  Even the Cantankerous One must be at very loose ends trying to defend this latest Obamian debacle (he’ll still try, throw his hands up and say what could he have done).  Obama counted on his European “allies” to stand up with him and this puerile Carteresque stance was doomed by their dependence on Russian natural gas.  Putin’s march to re-conquer what he sees as Russian Territory (read – Soviet Union) continues apace.

Technology got me again yesterday.  I was blithely passing the Monday afternoon fervently praying for an early Friday when I received a text from one of the political bosses asking if I was coming to a meeting that started in downtown Worcester, ten minutes earlier.  I’ve come to depend on the calendar reminders with those annoying pop up reminders throughout the day but apparently that feature failed yesterday (or I’ve developed a resistance to their presence).  I executed some fairly imaginative driving to reduce the amount of time and embarrassment at being so late to the meeting.

The wife and I spent the evening watching documentaries (I blame it on the general Monday malaise) which included The Stories We Tell.  This was a film by Canadian actress Sarah Polley in which she reveals the story of her deceased mother and the extramarital affair that led to her birth.  It was an intimate look into the lives of the people involved, including the man she grew up thinking was her father.  I loved the way she brought the story home; it’s an excellent object lesson in how people tailor their recollections to match preconceived notions (much like the Cantankerous One and anytime anyone criticizes the president). 

Finally, it’s nice to be reminded every now and then that some people do “get it”.  One of the fabulous Roothuggers sent me the following which I’d seen elsewhere but bears repeating:

In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher did something not to be forgotten. With the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. 'Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’  They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.' 'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.' She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.' And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.  Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.   Cothren said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

Cothren was awarded Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.