THOUGHTS/DOINGS

After a bit of moving stuff into the truck yesterday for Dave and Arina, and a quick trip to McDonalds, I took the boys to see UP, which turned out to be a delightful, if not at times melancholy, story about an old man trying to recapture some of his past love, of special love itself, and adventure. I really enjoyed it; probably laughed harder than the boys. We also took along my friend's three-year-old Luba. She was very good in the movie and seemed to enjoy it too. The Pixar animation was wonderful, as always. I highly recommend it to adults, for the main message is for you!

Finished reading Del Toro's The Strain. It is the first in a planned trilogy. If you like vampire stories, I think you will enjoy it. Nothing radically new from what you have seen or read, if you are a fan, but an enjoyable story nonetheless, fairly well told. I look forward to the next installment.

Chimo observation, while talking about recycling he did on his vacation: "Wow, Dad, you know, they drink a lot of beer in Connecticut."

I saw this very attractive woman and said, "Boy, she sure is pretty." Chimo looks over and says, "Well, if she had a better face." I was dumbstruck. He is 8.

Joey tried to get out of doing his vocabulary, which was supposed to be turned in on Friday. Guess who is in his room on Sunday doing old homework! :)

BONILLA VISIT

Last month my friend and graduate-school roommate, Clark, brought his lovely newlywed-wife, Eva, through Columbia on their way down to Charleston. It was delightful meeting Eva for the first time. We had dinner at Yesterdays, which happens to be the first place Clark and I ever ate together. It was a nice visit, albeit too short. Not sure why Chimo is grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

WHY THE LIES?

The current health-care debate is heated and getting uglier. Despite the fact that there are clearly problems in coverage (too many not covered, or underinsured, or financially burdened by the coverage they can afford) and decision-making based on crass profiteerism, rather than making sure all Americans get adequate and compassionate care, the conservative pundits and politicians---who seem to be in the pockets of BIG Insurance and other BIG financial interests---employ scare tactics and outright fabrications to thwart any positive improvements. There are legitimate and worrisome details for conservatives, and even liberals, to consider, but the Right has decided to employ major lies to scare people? Why? Because it is effective? Do Americans simply swallow everything Beck & Limbaugh say without thinking? Well, yeah. How can smart people misconstrue the funding for poor people to make legal decisions about the end of their lives (like most middle class and wealthy already do) before they are incapacitated, be misrepresented as encouraging euthanasia? What part of their asses are these people pulling their grossly wrong assessments of foreign health care? Do these people not look at all at the sound bites the insurance PR people supply them before they mouthing them? These little McCarthys simply assume that people will accept the lies, and if found out, no one will hold them accountable. We need constructive debate on a host of issues in this country, not rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth reactionary posturing. I guess there is nothing wrong with people getting heated up by policies that directly affect them, but the level of dishonesty recently is appalling.

Dad on Sennett

My old man served aboard the USS SENNET from around 1966 to 1968. I just found these pictures on a website devoted to the submarine (I think provided by him in most cases). Thought I would share them here as well. This is the boat:

My mom must have come aboard to visit Dad, sometime around 1968.

I think this pic was taken during a cruise around South America, most likely in port in Montevideo, Uruquay. My Dad is standing far right. The other officers (l to r) are identified as Larry Brownley, Victor (Gene) Clemons, Bob Burnett, Art Thompson (C.O.), Tom Luckman, and Jim Abbey.

Dad is in front of the trio of officer standing behing the speaker, his cap jauntily tilted forward!

PRETTY WINGS

I have really been enjoying this new song from Maxwell, Pretty Wings. I particularly like the use of the chimes. I attach here a link to the Youtube video. I will keep my music notifications to a minimum, but I really like this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mLfC2kkvPw

DEATH THUMB

A couple of days after I assured my son that his lonely sunflower, which had reached about three feet and was starting to flower, was safe and sound in his Dad's hands, it suddenly took a startling turn, grew limp, and perished, as if a miniature heatwave had gripped it by the stalk and melted it. In just two days it withered. I knew I had been keeping it watered. Only thing I can think is that perhaps I didn't dilute the Miracle Gro enough. Now, I have to figure out a way to get a replacement. He is going to be so upset if there is no flower here when he gets back. I am mortified! Bad Daddy! Bad Daddy!

A GATHERING OF SAINTS

I have always been somewhat interested in the Mormon Church, particularly after being introduced by a former professor (shout out to Nancy Hewitt) to the religious upheavals that swept through the "burned over district," which helped spawn much enthusiasm and not a few splinter churches. It was further fueled by a history of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. I never bought the Moroni & the golden tablet story, and to some extent think that Joseph Smith was little more than a successful con man (not unlike so many other charismatic preachers with devoted followings) who liked the ladies. But I respect the notion that churches are about people finding community, even if others do not agree with the details of faith or their foundings; the few Mormons I have known always impressed me with their faith and actions (although they tended to be a bit too conservative for me, and in some cases distant). Although these friends frowned upon many behaviors, I never once felt pushed to join their faith, possibly beyond a polite inquiry, and never felt pressured to not have that drink, or whatever. And as a (not-very-good) Catholic, I understand religious rigidity in accepting change and abhor my own leaders’s refusals to accept gays, or to provide better opportunities for women in the church (I believe women should be priests---I was influenced greatly in this belief by Sister Adrienne). And, though possibly not for religious reasons, I have never accepted polygamy as anything other than men finding an excuse to cheat, but being able to do it "legally." (I do understand that some women defend the practice as reducing the demands upon any one individual, but I just don't buy it.)
So reading A Gathering of Saints, by Robert Lindsey, opened a giant window into many of the beliefs and fears (paranoia) of members of the Latter-Day Saints, both those who wish to protect the church (from outside criticism as well as internal dissent) and honest searchers for truth and faith. This interesting foray into a secretive world, as well as the dealings of sketchy (and greedy) historical-document dealers---sparked by the bombing murder of two Salt Lake City residents, as well as another bombing that opened the doors to a determined police investigation---was worthy of a thrilling mystery novel. The killer, Mark Hoffman, was outwardly a devout Mormon channeling possibly damaging documents (at a nice profit) to church leaders eager to cover up potentially embarrassing information, who turns out to be a master forger and cold-blooded murderer who apparently had little faith at all, other than getting rich. So many people were duped, largely by the skillful maneuvering of Hoffman, or the failure to do proper legwork, or simple gullibility. I found some of the information on forgery quite good. The story lagged a bit, but it was compelling enough that I wanted to know "why" Hoffman killed and just how extensive his forgeries went, and indeed he fooled a lot more people than just the Mormons, all the way up to the specialists at the Library of Congress. I was especially interested in attempts by the Mormon hierarchy to silence academic inquiry (particulalry by critics), which I hate no matter who is putting up the roadblocks, be it church or government. There will be some who see "Mormon bashing," but I think Lindsey tried to take the middle road, letting others critique and he report. The second half of the book is a great detective story of a group of determined investigators (of mixed backgrounds and beliefs) who doggedly tracked down the truth, all over the country, and forced Hoffman to come clean about his crimes.