The L.A. Dime

This weekend, we visited Jan and his lovely girlfriend, Kerry, at her sister’s home in Topanga Canyon. Other than her trips to KY and FL, this was Sophie’s first overnight, and she did very well. She also went on her first hike — about an hour and a half through the gorgeous, still green and blooming canyon trails. While daddy was struggling to hike up the hill back to the house, Sophie decided a little nap was in order.

Due to tremendous box office success and critical acclaim for her last video, Sophie decided to reward her fans with a special bath and bedtime video, now available at YouTube. She’s come a long way from bathing on the kitchen counter, to crying at the mere sight of water, to enjoying sitting in the tub and splashing around.  I suggest you watch in “high quality.”

I hope you like the new look, thanks to Chris Carrier of Carrier Designs.

Boone County Kentucky’s Congressman Geoff Davis speaking of Senator Barack Obama:

“I’m going to tell you something: That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Davis said. “He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country.

So much is wrong about that statement, I don’t even know where to begin. Don’t tell me it was a comment about Obama’s age, because even if it was, what congressman calls a U.S. Senator and leading Presidential candidate a “boy?” Show some class. Some respect. Davis himself is only three years older than Obama, so what does that make him? A “young man?” Rail against our PC culture all you want, but that was a racist remark, and it reinforces unfortunate stereotypes about Kentucky I’ve encountered myself traveling the nation. It’s just more of the same old hate-driven, fear-mongering, negative-propaganda-Carl Rove politics we’ve had for the last eight years and I’m through with it.

Davis rode in on Bush’s coattails, and maybe he should ride out on them, too. This is so embarrassing.

Last Friday night Jan came over to revive an old summer tradition — Gin and Tonics by the pool.  Jan even got Sophie into the water and she loved it.   Not to worry, that was before we sliced the limes.

After Sophie had her bath and dinner, Jan cooked up some gigantic blackened catfish fillets, red beans and rice, and okra.  I made the Jiffy corn bread and drank more gin.  Fun night.  Good times.

This just in: tonight at Cafe 50’s in Van Nuys, California, 7 month-old Sophia ordered a patty melt, cherry coke, and subbed fries for cole slaw, all right off the menu. Photo documentation courtesy of Faleena Dempsey. Click to enlarge.

While procrastinating two months ago, I went to Chad Johnson’s website and posted a note imploring him to remain a Bengal. I’m a Trojan. And a huge Carson Palmer fan. But 85 truly was the renaissance to the Bengal organization he claimed he wanted to be on draft day. He was a legitimate, high profile star with humble roots whom everyone loved for his talent, passion, and showmanship — the latter of which was all good natured and never bitter, spiteful, or self-righteous like many other prima dona WRs across the league.

Now, sadly, he’s become all of those things. Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer believes this childish temper tantrum is an agent-driven ploy by Drew Rosenhaus, the guy who also represents T.O. and engineered his flight from the Eagles to Dallas. Read Daugherty’s take on why Johnson should be traded despite the huge salary cap hit the team will take, and all the town and the organization have done for him.

Personally, I think the team is rebuilding now (yet again), anyway, so my dream would be to draw a line in the sand and let him sit on the other side of it wasting his career away on the couch eating McDonalds. Someone needs to remind Chad, and the idiot athletes like him, that the game, the team, the city, and the fans are ALL bigger than he is. The Bengals have long been the joke of the league both as losers, and recently, delinquents. Let’s do something positive and be the organization that sends a message. And to Ocho Stinko: I retract my plea on your website, and bid you good riddance.

Uncle Brian asked, and he hath received. Click here for the latest Sophie video from months six and seven.

I wish I could imbed the video, but I can’t get it to work. Sorry.

George F. Will, in his April 7 Newsweek Column, “The Last Word,” discusses the book Your Brain on Cubs, which addresses the effects of rooting for a losing team on both individuals and a larger community as a whole. He quotes Jordan Grafman, an expert on neurological disorders:

The scientific literature suggests that fans of losing teams turn out to be better decision-makers and deal better with divergent thought, as opposed to the unreflective fans of winning teams.

My first thought upon reading this, was: “Isn’t Bush a Rangers fan?”

My second thought was to thank the Bengals and Reds for helping to develop my critical thinking skills.

And now, here’s a totally unrelated photo:

I’m gonna get up on my soap box again and do a little preaching, but this sermon has nothing to do with politics or our brain-dead sound bite culture. I want to talk about perspective. It’s as easy to lose as it every was — with family, work, war, recession, and the thousand other obligations, responsibilities and desires that occupy our minds.

Lately, I’ve been stressed balancing a lot of work with my desire to spend time with my wife and daughter. Like most people in that situation, I’ve been stressed. Recently I have found respite in, of all things, a TV show on the History Channel called The Universe. Astronomers, physicists, cosmologists, astrobiologists, rocket scientists — all come off as every day people, bringing the mysteries and wonder of the cosmos into my home in layman’s terms. Nubulae. Black Holes. The Sun. Galaxies. Each show addresses a new, very specific topic with top-notch (if somewhat dorky) experts, plus amazing photography and animations.

Personally, I find knowing that the orion nebula is 1270 light-years from earth and 24 light-years wide (a light-year being 5,878,625,373,183.61 miles), to be a profound dose of perspective. That it takes days for a ray of light to travel from the sun’s core to its surface, then only a few minutes to reach earth. That when we look to the sky, we are looking into the past, for almost every sparkle from every star we see has taken millions of years to reach us. That dark energy is winning the war against gravity, and that the Universe may never stop expanding. And knowing that earth is just a small planet orbiting an average star on the outskirts of one run-of-the mill galaxy among billions is inspiring.

We’ve been given an amazing gift with this planet and the miracle of life that thrives upon it, and I think civilization would benefit if people stopped to consider things larger than themselves for an hour a week.