Funny Flashback

Yesterday I heard a song that caused a flashback......

Back in spring of 2002 I was at Tomax at 8:00 for a meeting held by Jeff Patton. I was in the Snowbird Conference room at 8:00 sharp. Jeff came in and started setting up his presentation on his laptop. Michael Colpitts came in and sat down. Jeff realized he had left something at his desk. Before he left he started playing this song on his laptop loud enough for everyone to hear. I think he was trying to entertain Mike and I for the couple minutes he would be gone.

I immediately recognized the band - Soul Coughing. Jeff Patton has great musical taste I thought. Granted this wasn't Soul Coughing's best song, but Mike Doughty is a great song writer and poet. I like the jazzy and funky sound of his music! When Jeff had left the room, Michael in his effeminate Canadian accent said something like "That's rude. Playing music and then leaving the room, and listen to those lyrics! How offensive!" (The song refers to a plane crashing into a building. The song was written before 9/11 so I'm sure people had unjustly attributed the song to that event.)

"Oh brother lighten up!" I thought. Maybe if he played country, opera or some gay crap, I would have agreed. I didn't say anything, but Jeff scored points with me and Mike lost a couple.

Oops

A few nights ago I was putting the kids to bed, and I admit I wasn't in the best mood. I was gruff with them and wasn't being the best dad in the world. Then I hear a very faint "Hello?" "Who is this?". Oh crap someone is hearing me be a grumpy dad. The phone in my left pocket which has my keys, mp3 player, and possibly my Garmin GPS had called Brian and Robyn Young and I'm on the air!

I quickly hung up, took a deep breath and helped the kids calm down for sleepy time.

Kind of embarrassing though. Brother Gridley sometimes is a Drill Sargent Dad and is broadcasting it to random people using his cell phone. Duh! Gotta remember to do a key lock on the phone EVERY TIME before putting it in my pocket with all my other stuff.

Poop family

Early this morning Isaac (who is 4) was going to the bathroom. Cathi was getting ready for her run and just checked up on him. He was audibly grunting. She commented on his success, "Great Job Isaac, you went Poo!" Isaac wasn't satisfied, "I've got a whole family." "A Family?" Cathi said. Isaac laughs and says "Yeah, A poo poo family". I had to laugh. What an imagination these kids have!

Napolean Sounds

I put together a new Napolean Theme for my desktop with lots of short Napolean clips. Got alot of Napolean Wavs from here.

Seriously one of my favorite movies ever.

Wake up call

I recently watched a home made video by a guy in my Stake of various Iraq war video coverage that was produced with some patriotic country music to go with it. At the time I watched it and while others around me were crying with pride, I thought it was a little over emotionalized.

I recently watched a couple of video clips of soldiers in Iraq who took video of Camel Spiders. Some people think of US soldiers as brave and honorable. What does that mean? I don't think anybody thinks these guys are perfect human beings. But it was eye opening to hear the language these guys were using. It was disappointing.

I'm an adult and I've heard profanity before and even used it myself in times of duress. But to hear profanity used flamboyantly and as common language makes me sick and angry. I'd like to think that our soldiers are god-fearing men and that we truly are fighting evil. I'm sure that many of them are, but definitely not all. But the experience reminds me that there is black and white mixed everywhere. There are very few absolutes (at least where men are involved), good vs. evil.

Who are we to think we have all the answers and start executing judgment by taking away the lives of others on the other side of the world? Some say "Better in Iraq, than here at home". Well, show me your crystal ball. Are our soldiers really fighting for our freedom by fighting in Iraq right now? I don't think so. Maybe to a small extent. Sure there are some really bad things happening in Iraq right now. But how much better off is it really than when they were ruled by a dictator? Instead of an organized madness, it's a disorganized madness.

But this is coming from a very narrow point of view. I don't claim to know a whole bunch about what's going on. But it is my point of view nonetheless and unless someone can explain and show otherwise I'll probably not really see the point of our being there.

Your thoughts?

How I look on Simpsons

I watched a show last night about Burger King and how they have some aggressive marketing going on. They're partnering with the Simpson's movie and showed a website where you can "Simpsonize" yourself.

I went ahead and tried that. The picture uploading is very picky. It needs to be fairly large and a straight on head shot. No less than 640x480, but not too large. I used this photo.

After "simpsonizing" me, and making a few changes to some details, I ended up like this:
They wouldn't let you customize the head shape which I think they were rather kind about. I think the rendering could have been much less flattering. But pretty entertaining nonetheless.

Here is Cathi's likeness:

Cabin Trip

Friday I was all ready for my outpatient surgery vasectomy but when I presented them with my new Insurance card they said they don't take Aetna. I was very annoyed. I had taken work off for this, I even shaved for this! So now I have to go find another Urologist who will make me wait another three months for the procedure. I was quite angry at the whole situation, but went ahead with the plan to go to the cabin.

The good news is that I won't just sit on my backside at the cabin as I was expecting. We did some fishing, went down the Canal twice, went in the hot tub, ate some good food and enjoyed the scenery.



We had a fun time and enjoyed the trip.