More evidence that we're paying attention to the wrong stuff

Apocalypto

Didja ever notice that most of Mel Gibson's movies have the same premise: Nice moral guy is living a peaceful life with his family until some bad guy messes with/kills his family, then it's payback time for Mad Mel. We saw it in the original Mad Max, it's the underlying theme in the Lethal Weapon series, it's the engine that drives Braveheart and we got it again in The Patriot. There are other Gibson flics involving a mob debt and a kidnapped son that also follow the pattern. Mel's remake of Macbeth fits too.
I watched Apocalypto on DVD this afternoon and guess what? Same theme, transposed to the pre-Columbian jungles of Latin America. This time the good guy is a noble savage living with his tribe in the jungle and the bad guys are the Mayas who come raiding for slaves and victims for their ritual sacrifices.
I had it figured out in the first 10 minutes, even though I was hoping I was wrong just for the sake of novelty. It's all in native dialect - not an English word in the whole script - but it's not that hard to follow. At 2 hours 18 minutes, the movie is a bit long and it's insanely violent and gory - beating hearts being hacked out of sacrificial victims and more beheadings than an evening of Al Jazeera.
That said, it's worth a look. After all, how many movies have you seen about the Mayas?

Vehicle recalls

Want to see if there are any recalls out for your car or motorcycle?
Click here.
Even if the vehicle is old, the recall notice should be there.

Ping!

I like customer reviews on Amazon.com.
My favorite tech authority, Leo Laporte, says it's the best way to get good information about a product you're thinking of buying and I agree. I've written a bunch of reviews on Amazon.com as well, sometimes wondering why anyone would care about what I think of a book or a movie or a gadget, but what the hell - sometimes you just gotta speak/write your mind.
One of the most brilliant customer reviews I've ever read anywhere was written by John E. Fracisco about my favorite childhood book - "The Story about Ping."
I remember badgering my mother to get it for me from the public library on several occasions and I loved having it read to me. In fact, I just ordered a copy for my granddaughter Lisa - along with another book - as a belated birthday gift.
Anyhow, Fracisco recognized the parallels between the adventures of the little duck in the story and a Unix networking utility called Ping. If you're a computer geek and can read this review without laughing out loud, you need to have your sense of humor checked.



Ping! I love that duck!, January 26, 2000
By John E. Fracisco (El Segundo, CA USA)
This review is from: The Story about Ping (Hardcover)

PING! The magic duck!
Using deft allegory, the authors have provided an insightful and intuitive explanation of one of Unix's most venerable networking utilities. Even more stunning is that they were clearly working with a very early beta of the program, as their book first appeared in 1933, years (decades!) before the operating system and network infrastructure were finalized.

The book describes networking in terms even a child could understand, choosing to anthropomorphize the underlying packet structure. The ping packet is described as a duck, who, with other packets (more ducks), spends a certain period of time on the host machine (the wise-eyed boat). At the same time each day (I suspect this is scheduled under cron), the little packets (ducks) exit the host (boat) by way of a bridge (a bridge). From the bridge, the packets travel onto the internet (here embodied by the Yangtze River).

The title character -- er, packet, is called Ping. Ping meanders around the river before being received by another host (another boat). He spends a brief time on the other boat, but eventually returns to his original host machine (the wise-eyed boat) somewhat the worse for wear.

If you need a good, high-level overview of the ping utility, this is the book. I can't recommend it for most managers, as the technical aspects may be too overwhelming and the basic concepts too daunting.

Problems With This Book

As good as it is, The Story About Ping is not without its faults. There is no index, and though the ping(8) man pages cover the command line options well enough, some review of them seems to be in order. Likewise, in a book solely about Ping, I would have expected a more detailed overview of the ICMP packet structure.

But even with these problems, The Story About Ping has earned a place on my bookshelf, right between Stevens' Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment, and my dog-eared copy of Dante's seminal work on MS Windows, Inferno. Who can read that passage on the Windows API ("Obscure, profound it was, and nebulous, So that by fixing on its depths my sight -- Nothing whatever I discerned therein."), without shaking their head with deep understanding. But I digress.

Mission scrubbed

George the disappearing garage contractor called yesterday afternoon and, in the hope of something happening in my back yard, I canceled the ride to North Carolina and the BMW RA rally.

Breakfast with Ronald

A quick, semi-healthy breakfast of fruit parfait and coffee at McDonald's.
I'm planning on an early morning departure tomorrow for the BMW Riders Association rally at the Biltmore in Asheville, N.C.
More roadfood. Yum!

Riding with the Gov.

That's me, the safety geek, on the left, then Commissioner Donahue and then Gov. Mitch.


Most of the 10,000 motorcycle miles I hope to ride this year will go by in a blur.
But not the 37 miles I rode last Friday from Crawfordsville to Putnamville. That's because I was in pretty good company.
I was invited to ride along with Gov. Mitch Daniels and Department of Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue on a leg of their roundabout journey from Indianapolis to Terre Haute.
Friday's forecast was mostly warm and sunny and Daniels had to be in Terre Haute Friday evening for the opening ceremonies of the 2007 Special Olympics Indiana Summer Games. So Daniels did what any motorcyclist would do when faced with an opportunity to mix business with pleasure – he went the long way and did it on two wheels.
He picked a route that included Crawfordsville, Greencastle, Putnamville, Rockville and finally Terre Haute. The route made it possible for Donahue to give the governor a look at a new program at the Putnamville Correctional Facility.
Daniels' staff discovered the opening luncheon of Wabash College's Big Bash Reunion Weekend was set for Friday at the Allen Athletics & Recreation Center, so Daniels and Donahue dropped in for lunch.
That's where I found them, their bikes parked at the curb just outside the building's south doors. Daniels rides a 2004 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider with a custom paint job that features the torch and stars from the state flag on the gas tank. Behind it stood Donahue's black 2007 Yamaha V-Star 1100 Classic.
Daniels came out a few minutes later, sporting a new Wabash baseball cap that looked like a good fit with his black Harley-Davidson T-shirt from – appropriately enough – Brandt's Harley shop in Wabash. Flamed Oakley sunglasses, jeans and Harley over-the-ankle boots completed the outfit, making him look like any other Harley guy out for a day ride.
“I started riding motorcycles when I was 20 or 21,” he said, recalling his first motorcycle was a 90cc Suzuki trail bike.
He said his wife Cheri doesn't share his love of riding, recalling with a grin that “she pretended to enjoy it until we were married.”
He always rides with a helmet. “You wear a helmet if you're going to live with Cheri Daniels,” he quipped. He owns several and chose a dark blue open-face model for Friday's jaunt. Daniels realizes he has a responsibility to set a good example, and that includes wearing a helmet while riding with the Patriot Guard Riders in the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade, even though they were only creeping along.
He likes the Harley's distinctively loud rumble, leading Donahue to observe with a smile that he has to start his much quieter V-Star before Daniels fires up the Harley just to be sure the Yamaha is running.
Donahue wore a black open-face helmet, blue denim shirt, and dark slacks over boots.
I felt a bit overdressed with my full-face helmet, jacket and gloves, but they didn't seem to mind.
Since the state of Indiana has a vested interest in keeping its governor safe, Daniels rides behind a State Police motorcycle escort. This day it was Master Trooper Rob Hawkins and Trooper Lenny Stepp.
“This is the first time we've been assigned to ride with the governor and I hope it's not the last,” Hawkins said, adding it's a welcome change from patrolling interstate highways.
Hawkins and Stepp, riding side-by-side on 2007 Harley-Davidson Electra Glides, led the way out of the parking lot and east on Jennison Street with Daniels, Donahue and me riding in staggered formation.
We turned south on Washington Street and headed out of town. Passing the new Wal-Mart, we came to the place where southbound U.S. 231 narrows from two lanes to one and I noticed an electrical contractor's panel truck rushing to pass us on the right.
I chuckled when the driver slowed momentarily, discovering he was about to speed past two mounted State Troopers and doubtless never guessing he was passing the governor of Indiana. At the last second, he punched it and surged ahead. Hawkins and Stepp remained focused on their escort mission and let him go.
They set a pace between 55 and 60 mph and we settled into the ride. I taught the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's beginning rider course for 10 years, so I tend to critique other riders, looking for mistakes and bad habits. As I studied Daniels from the back, I concluded I was following a competent rider. He keeps his knees close to the gas tank, gets his feet up and onto the pegs quickly when accelerating from a stop, turns his head to look through turns, doesn't brake in turns, cancels his turn signals promptly and looks relaxed and comfortable on his bike. And he executed a nice little countersteer when we came upon a shredded tire carcass in the road. As a motorcyclist, Daniels is the real deal – not a poser or a biker-wannabe.
As governor, Daniels has proven himself a friend to motorcycling in Indiana. He's a regular participant in motorcycle events, which included leading Sunday's 14th Annual Miracle Ride to benefit Riley Hospital for Children. (His bike has a special Riley Hospital license plate with the number 1.) And he contracted with ABATE of Indiana, a rider rights organization that runs rider training programs statewide, to take over the Bureau of Motor Vehicles' motorcycle skills testing program.
Almost before I knew it, we were past the Putnam County Courthouse and its V-1 buzz bomb in downtown Greencastle and minutes later we were waved through the gates at the Putnamville Correctional Facility.
We visited its farming operations, pallet shop, computer recycling shop and ended the visit at stables housing the new Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation program. The program opened in May and so far is home to six retired racehorses. A total of 50 horses eventually will be housed at the farm where offenders learn to care for horses.
Thunder rumbled from darkening clouds in the west as we wrapped up the tour and Daniels regretfully gave up the rest of the day's ride and had the bikes loaded onto trailers.
“I have a deal with the State Police,” he said. “They let me ride and I don't make them ride in the rain or at night.”
Does he ever sneak out for a ride without an escort?
“I like to get away once in awhile,” he said, “but not very often and I'm always careful because I know these guys (the State Police) would be in trouble if anything happened to the bike or to me.”

Memorial Day 2007

This is Joey Strong's dogtag, hanging from a handle on the end of his casket.
He was killed earlier this year in Iraq and is buried in a cemetery that I can see from my bedroom window.
I believe he died for a good cause, the goodness of which becomes more apparent to me every day.
So I salute him on this Memorial Day.

Heil Optimator!

I just finished a bottle of Spaten Optimator and I have a serious buzz on.
Spaten is Munich's oldest brewery and Optimator is a doppelbock with a serious (7.something percent alcohol) kick and is judged by many to be the best doppelbock beer in the world.
I believe it.
Our day has been somewhat laid back. We went to a birthday party for Maria's brother Raph around midday and came home to relax for awhile before going to the newspaper to help get tomorrow's edition to press.
I can hear Maria's Bernina humming as she works on a quilt and I've been surfing the internet and sipping my beer.
I also called Craig, the building inspector, and told him George expects to have cement forms and footings ready for his inspection about 1 p.m. tomorrow. I find this insanely ambitious, but am willing to suspend my disbelief long enought to see if it really happens.

Another one

Make your own at redkid.net.

Choices

I love my iPod.
But there are a lot of times when I can't use it because people feel compelled to talk to me and get upset when I can't hear them. Well, isn't that the point?

Sounds like an interesting story, doesn't it?

I feel like I oughta blog something about my Phi Beta Kappa stepdaughter getting punched in the face outside a Bloomington bar by an out-of-control girl screaming, "You fucked my boyfriend! You fucked my boyfriend!" but I'm not in the mood to run the whole thing down in print.
Bottom line: the other girl spent the night in jail and faces three class A misdemeanors - just a tick below a class D felony - so she's in deep shit and will probably get a year's probation, which means drug tests that she won't have a chance of passing, leading to actual incarceration.

Hope springs eternal

I finally caught up with George this afternoon.
The new plan for our garage project calls for the demolition guys to appear early Tuesday (Monday being a holiday) and remove the remainder of the bad concrete in time for the new slab forms to be built, with 3.5' footers, and inspected in time for the new slab to be poured in the afternoon.
Considering that he completely blew out his schedule for this week, this seems like an impossibly tight schedule and I'm embarrassed to call the building inspector and ask him to be there around midday.
He also pledged to get the hot tub on the deck and hooked up.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Turns out the cell phone number he gave us last week is his mom's. I called it this afternoon and she answered. So now I know how to contact his mother if he doesn't do right.

Here we go again...

As per George, our construction guy, a demolition crew was supposed to show up yesterday to remove the remainder of the ill-fated, improperly done concrete slab.
They did not.
I left voicemail last night on the new cell phone number that George gave us last Friday in which I said I don't want to be considered a high-maintenance client, but I would like to be considered a "maintenance" client in the sense that I'd like a response to my queries and, if possible, reliable information on when a crew would be here for my garage project. I have things to do and places to be, I said, and it's annoying to organize my day on the basis of when a crew is supposed to be here, then spend all day not getting stuff done because I'm waiting for people who aren't going to show up.
I haven't received a response and if I don't hear from him by this evening, I'll call his brother Aaron's cell phone and try to get a message to George that way.
This is all especially disturbing when you consider that seven (rain-free) work days have passed since we got our building permit and no work has occurred. As I probably mentioned earlier, the building inspector is going out of town tomorrow morning for the holiday weekend, then leaves again next Thursday for a seven-day vacation, so the garage project cluster-fuck continues unabated.
I'm giving serious thought to packing my bike and heading for the Biltmore in North Carolina for the BMW Riders Association National Rally in a couple of weeks as compensation for a spring of very little riding and for having to miss the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America National Rally in Wisconsin a month later because we have a wedding shoot that weekend.

Maria & Lauri

Fun at the office.

Listening to Sean's work at Applebee's

I don't care much for Applebee's, but it's pretty much the only game in town when Maria and I go to lunch while she's working.
The menu is unimaginative, the food is overpriced and the ambience is faux eclectic. The only thing missing is the wait staff being festooned with bushels of "flair."
But today's experience was different.
I was lunching with Maria and Lauri when I noticed the PA playing "Phantom Limb" from the new Shins album, Wincing the Night Away. It's the first time that I know of that I've heard music my son Sean worked on being played in a restaurant or other such public place and it was very cool. I suppressed an impulse to tell the hostess why that particular piece of music is significant to me because I figured it would have been wasted on her.

Stuff

Had my annual visit to the eye doc today. The cataracts are more developed, but he figures I have another 2 years or so before I need to do anything about it.
In the meantime, he gave me a new glasses/contacts script that just cost me $255 at Lenscrafters. And that's after a $45 AARP discount. At least I can see better now.
At the moment, I'm being held hostage at Kohl's while Maria clothes-shops. Fortunately, I can lose myself in the Who on my iPod.
The March Indy concert recording is amazing!

Sean's in Billboard!!!!

Hey! My son Sean is is Billboard magazine!

Wakeup call

We heard sirens this morning as we tried to stretch our sleep time as long as we could.
Turns out it was emergency personnel responding to a fatal car crash east of town.
Here's the sheriff's department report and photo:
At 8:43 this morning, the County Communications Center received a call about a car into a tree with the driver lying next to it, on Ind. 47 west of I-65. The caller then advised the vehicle was on fire. Deputies responded with Fire, Medics and State Police.
A white male was driving a 2002 Pontiac when for an unknown reason, his vehicle left the north side of 47 and struck a tree. The driver was ejected from the vehicle. The vehicle then became engulfed in flames.
The driver was transported to a nearby hospital where he later died from his injuries. At this time, the driver has been identified by a former pastor, however, family members have not been notified. The crash is still under investigation. He was from North Carolina and, therefore, nobody we knew.

Happy Birthday, Pete!

Pete Townshend of The Who is 62 today.