Topic of the week: Death

Death has been our minds quite a bit this week. On June 7th the son of a good friend of ours died after seven weeks in a coma. The cause was accidental overdose. I went to his Buddhist funeral last night. It was said at the service "How many of us made a mistake in our twenties and were lucky enough to get a second chance. Ryan didn't get a second chance." He was only twenty years old. None of us know "the hour of our death."

What was especially beautiful of this service was how clear it was that Ryan was not just "a warning to others." I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but my sons did. We know Ryan's family because his mother and husband provide services for people with autism. They have been some of the most supportive people we have had the pleasure of working with on our own journey. It was said at last night's service that Ryan had the type of personality that attracted young children to him. It was so clear how much he had touched other people on his twenty year passage through our world.

Week in Review

· Winona bridge over Mississippi River reopens

"Pedestrians and bicyclists are also restricted from crossing, but a cab service will be available for 75 cents per person each way" That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense--I wonder what the reason is for this.

· Playbill News: New London Musical Is Gone with the Wind June 14

Plans for NY production are currently on hold... played a total of 79 performances

· Woman brands thoughtless date with hot iron - CNN.com

Caban's lawyer, James Friedman said, "She's a good kid, despite the picture painted of her, who exercised poor judgment and got herself into a bad situation. She is not the monster the prosecution made her out to be." HUH???

· CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Where has Clinton gone? « - Blogs from CNN.com

Senator Clinton takes a vacation. I get it--she needs a break.

· Fighting the Army . NOW on PBS

I'm watching this right now. These soldiers deserve better. They go for help and and instead get benefits taken away.

· The White Flag?

“Autism is not the enemy, but ignorance and prejudice, and misunderstanding about what autism is.” Great quote.

· Wait, What Did He Just Call the Pope? - The Lede - Breaking News - New York Times Blog

“...So are you, Governor.” Bush screws up addressing the Pope. Raise your hand if you're surprised.

· Poll: Republican support, enthusiasm down - CNN.com

"Bottom line: After eight years of the Bush presidency, Republicans are demoralized," said Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst.

· MinnPost - Doug Grow: Jim Johnson, Minnesota's 'Mr. Inside,' finds himself on the outside now of Obama campaign

I like that the Obama campaign deals with this quickly. Now before the Republicans talk, maybe we should spend some time reviewing the Keating Five [http://tinyurl.com/8nyvf]

· Bush Loyalist Fights to Save ‘No Child’ Law - NYTimes.com

Let it go. Or at least balance it and get rid of the name which is doublespeak at it’s worst.

· Music Review - Opera and Theater Stars in ‘Show Boat’ at Carnegie Hall - Review - NYTimes.com

Interesting discussion of using a microphone in Carnegie Hall.

· MPR: Singing in Grover's Corners

Heard this piece on the radio this morning. Got to be honest--the excerpts they played really didn't knock me out. Makes me question why turn this into an opera--the theatre experience is wonderful to begin with. I doubt we're going to get to see it.

· Fox News Calls Michelle "Obama's Baby Mama" - Media on The Huffington Post

Beyond the poor choice of words: FOX ran a banner saying "Outraged liberals: Stop picking on Obama's Baby Mama!" Hmmm, could you please name these "Outraged liberals"? Did FOX go out on the street and find one person who said they were liberal and get this quote?

· Christian leaders meet privately with Obama

You got to respect this Daniel—pity my first thought is of a lion’s den.

· PBS Goes Commercial on Hulu - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

PBS on Hulu--Oh brave new world, oh brave new world...

· The ADHD Advantage (for nomadic tribesman)

Hmmm… interesting.

· I Don’t Feel That I Suffer

This is a really interesting question--suffering: on the part of the person with autism and the people that love him/her. I want to think about this a bit.

· Online, Obama Outpaces McCain by Miles | The Trail | washingtonpost.com

But will it turn into votes? I sure hope so.

· NYC Mayor: I'd Ban Bikes on Subways | Autopia from Wired.com

That's why cyclists in the Big Apple were outraged when Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that, if it were up to him, he'd ban bikes from trains.

· Anderson Cooper 360: Blog Archive - A code of ethics for politicians « - Blogs from CNN.com

“Do No Harm, Make Things Better, Respect Others, Be Fair, and Be Loving”

· Posting stupidity on YouTube means having to post you’re sorry : Good Morning Silicon Valley

Punishment or more fame?

· MinnPost - Doug Grow: Fore! Could a Ventura Senate candidacy hang on Wednesday's golf game?

OMG

· ABC News: 'Autistic and Proud' Movement Spurs Debate

Interesting. They don't totally get it--but at least it is getting attention. (Questioning "Cure" does not mean against progress. )

· The Comeback Id: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com

Drive-by journalism or intervention-by-magazine?

· iPhone 3G is finally official! - Engadget

mmmmmm…. iPhone…. mmmmm…

· MinnPost - Republicans still need 6,000 volunteers for convention

Not me.

· Thirteen new Gmail features | Googling Google | ZDNet.com

I need to try this out.

· Gay Anglican U.S. bishop enters into civil union - washingtonpost.com

Good for him.

· Playbill News: It's Possible! Revised Seussical Will Get New Cast Recording

Way Cool!

· MPR: Pawlenty says he is open to being McCain's running mate

"...Pawlenty has repeatedly said that he has no interest in being vice president. When he announced his reelection bid in 2006, Pawlenty said he is committed to serving his full term."

· Producer Of Infamous Willie Horton Ad Now Targeting Obama - Politics on The Huffington Post

As always, the politics of fear from these people. We as a nation need to send a clear message that we are not going to let fear choose our leaders.

· Military Supercomputer Surpasses Petaflop Milestone - NYTimes.com

There was a time when these headlines went to Cray Research. But all things change.

· eHow | How To Do Just About Everything!

A how-to site: sounds helpful.

Review: Kung Fu Panda

I have a new personal hero: Po.



This movie is truly great for the whole family. Great story telling and great life lessons to learn. Both the voice work and the animation is terrific.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. (It didn't change my life, but it was a wonderful movie.)

The Week in Review

I have to get better at cleaning out my list of interesting links for the week. I'm going to try doing this every Sunday where I just go through my list of links from the week that I want to blog about. Here's the set for this first week:

1. wcco.com - Mpls. Motorists Restricted To Idling For 3 Minutes

   HUH? It takes only a minute to warm up a car in the winter? Not in MN. Although the intention may be good (save gas), this is a stupid law--over regulation at it's worse.

2. E. J. Dionne Jr. - For an 'Obamacon,' Communion Denied - washingtonpost.com

   A priest denies communion because a Catholic has publicly said they support Obama--who is pro-choice.
   
   This is wrong. Yes. A priest is wrong. And the bishops are wrong too.

3. Harold Perrineau Dishes on his Lost Exit (Again) - Celebrity and Entertainment News | TVGuide.com

   Perrineau claims Michael not reconnecting with Walt is a stereotype. But on LOST all the sons have Daddy issues.
   

4. Bill Clinton: 'Cover up' hiding Hillary Clinton's chances - CNN.com

   This just reinforces the idea of Clinton as the Democratic candidate of fear. What is with Bill? It is unfortunate that the Clintons choose this route. But to be honest this type of talk is a big part of the reason I chose to support Obama.
   

5. Spirit in the House » The Diary of Adam and Eve

   Before seeing it: What a great cast! I bet this is going to be excellent!
   
   After seeing it: It was a great cast. This is not my favorite show, but the skill of the performers saved the hour for me. Would I go out of my way to see this show again? Probably not.
   

6. Mother of autistic teen gets symbolic support as she prepares for court

7. Excluded?: On Keeping the Faith

   These past two links address the integration of individuals with autism within society. For the most part I think we have found a balance with this, but I have been to public events which I thought went OK. A day later I find that someone had complained that one of my boys had supposedly touched (or bumped or hit into) someone else when I was gone for a moment (leaving him in care of someone I completely trust). Nothing was said to me at the time when I returned, and the comment at times gotten back to me after passing through 4 other people. It is still frustrating.
   

8. Study Suggests Math Teachers Scrap Balls and Slices - New York Times

   I've seen this issue at work with my own kids. I always think the word problems were designed by English majors, not math majors.

9. THE Tunnel Project

   Great article about new tunnels for railroad into NYC. Great follow-up for reading Conquering Gotham.

10. Psychoanalysis Helps Kids With Autism, Researchers Say Psychoanalysis Should Be Part of Treatment for Children With Autism - CBS News

    Sounds great at beginning, but there is a hint of "blame the parent" in here.

WAKE UP ALREADY!!! (Or how to use Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth as a psychological weapon.)

“…Don’t you think that was your ego speaking?”

“…My, your pain-body must be really active today.”

“…I understand. You’re just not in the moment right now.”

I've been reading A New Earth (Awakening to Your Life's Purpose) and for the most part really enjoying it. But I do have a tendency to find parody in the things I love most. That applies both to books and my spouse. So reading the book has given me a number of passive/aggressive questions and statements that I can use as demonstrated above (which Wendy has pointed out to me).

I think I might have hit the snooze button again, but I’ll wake up in 5 minutes…. really….

Fortune Cookie

I'm cleaning out my man-cave office today and came across the following from a fortune cookie:

"You will live a long time,
long enough to open many, many fortune cookies."

It's the class sizes...

There was recently a MinnPost Article about Minneapolis Public Schools looking for more money just to keep the status quo of class sizes (and other things). My first reaction to hearing about all this was exactly what is brought up in the article--why can't the class sizes being reduced? Of course I know the answer: money.

Boy with autism barred from mass

This is just sad. So much for the concept of "The Good Shepherd". I'm going to post the article from the Star Tribune as well. It goes a bit more into the behaviors at issue and how they can be misinterpreted by people who do not understand autism. Please read the Star Tribune article, because the WCCO-TV pieces leave out any discussion of what the mother's response to the church's concerns.

WCCO-TV:
Article, Video

Star Tribune:
Article

My favorite quote from the mother is "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting." The church points out offensive behaviors--but the parents also point out how such behaviors can be misinterpreted. Speaking from experience, behaviors can be blown out of proportion by people who know very little about autism.

I'm really curious to see how this turns out. My own experience has been that a church does not like for it to be told that it is wrong. From what I've read so far, I think this case clearly violates the hospitality that Jesus Christ calls all of us to practice.

Busy, busy, busy...

Tommy is on my case because I haven't posted a blog entry for a long time. Life has been busy!

However, I did find this slide show on the NY Times website, which is very interesting.

Recently I've changed jobs. Wow--that takes a lot of time and effort to go through the whole process. The first two weeks have been busy, intense, and ultimately fun at the new place. I'm using technology that I haven't really had reason to do much work on since college.

One fringe benefit of the new place is a mile long walking trail through the woods around the building and parking lot. It is a bit bitter sweet, since we're moving to a new building in August. However, I hear that the new building will have walking trails as well--plus it is next to a public lake. Although there were many things about my old job I loved, the only walking you could do close to the building was through the business park in which it was located. Just blah buildings surrounded by blah parking lots.

I'll have to take pictures of the trails at my present building and post them.

Rainy day

After a few days of sunny Spring weather, we're getting the April Showers. Took a day off just to do a few things around the house. (Mainly, get the molding around the upstairs bedroom off the walls so we can get the last of the ugly wallpaper off.) And tonight, a new episode of LOST. We've also been watching DVDs of Freaks and Geeks. We have one last episode of that to watch. That show was so cool, pity it didn't even last a season.

As I'm typing this I got a recorded message from Minneapolis Public Schools about an event at school. I'm really starting to hate these reminders. I much rather get an email about these than have to sit through a recorded phone message. Are they worried I won't read the email? Then they should know that I've been hanging up on the recorded message after the first 2 seconds. I much rather have a place to choose my preference (phone or email)--but I know of no such option on the Minneapolis system.

Oh, well. Back to my mental preparations for LOST. Ommmmm!

When Hillary Clinton came to my hometown

Although I am a supporter of Obama, I was happy to hear that Senator Clinton came to my home town to speak at California University of Pennsylvania. (I'm not making up the name.)




There has also been some coverage in the local newspapers: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Uniontown Herald Standard.

I like the Youtube clip here because she is talking about the issues and talking about Bush. That's what I want to hear from both Clinton and Obama.

Martini, the Greek

People who know me know that I am not much of a drinking man. However, tonight I had a Greek Martini at Longfellow Grill. It was great--though I have to admit it is somewhat like drinking a salad. Then it was time for another long walk along the Mississippi West River Road.

Long walks

Tonight Wendy and I had some child care tonight, so we went out for dinner. Nothing fancy--just Davani's Pizza. Afterwards we drove up to the 35W Bridge site, parked the car, and walked across the 10th Ave. Bridge that's next to the site. It is amazing watching the new bridge go up. I think I'm going to try to get back there this weekend with my camera and take some pictures. We then walked through the U campus and ended up crossing the river across a pedestrian/bike bridge that use to carry the railroad across the river. From that bridge you could see where all the pieces of the old 35W bridge have been placed in a U parking lot for inspection.

Back in 1992 when I was interviewing for a job at Cray Research here in MN, I was also interviewing for a job with Cray Corporation in Colorado Springs, CO. It was finally a long walk around Lake Harriet that helped us decided that where we belonged was here in the Twin Cities.

Human Tetris

For Twin CIties Movie Lovers.

Sometimes you walk into a book store and just do a total impulse buy. I was recently at a Barnes and Noble and picked up Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing. (BTW--the link is to amazon.com. I guess there is a bit of irony in that.) I love movies. I love seeing pictures of the old movie palaces. This book is for anyone who enjoys this too.

The twin cities has had many great theaters. Unfortunately many of them are gone. Every time I would walk by the Hamm Building in St. Paul or go inside to the Park Square Theatre, I feel a certain sense of regret that I never got to walk into the Paramount before it was gutted. I find that I'm not reading this book in a linear fashion, but rather picking and choosing through the pages. Finding the sections that talk about the wonderful Riverview that still has the best popcorn in town.

It all brings back memories of going to the Hollywood Theater in little California, PA where I first saw the trailer for Star Wars and saw my first R rated movie, The Godfather. The building is still there, but it hasn't been used as a theater since before I left for college. It is really a pity considering that California, PA is home of California University of Pennsylvania (I'm not making this up) and has a ready audience of customers who would love to have a movie theater or 2 in town. Sigh.

Review: Horton Hears a Who

Rating: Four out of Five Stars.

I liked this movie much more than I thought I would. I love Dr. Seuss. I have not loved the previous movie adaptations of the books. They always seemed to be much more about the commercial tie ins rather than the stories. Although I have seen Jim Carey plays roles that I have enjoyed, I have also seen him totally take over a movie.

But this one walks a fine line. Yes, it is a Jim Carey take on Horton, but the character's sweetness does not get lost in it. Steve Carell and Carol Burnett are great to listen to. The movie is better than good, but not a knock-out like Ratatouille. But it I would still definitely recommend it.

Yes you can...

At the end of Rutter's The Reluctant Dragon, St. George tells the villagers that he can't kill the dragon. In the front row was a little boy who said "Yes, you can."

Sunday Night, time to blog

A lot happened this weekend, but for the most part it was low stress. The big news is that our house now has a copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl! It was released at midnight Saturday, but we told Tony that we would get it Sunday morning. Both boys were excited about getting it (Tony used his money) and Wendy made a "Happy Brawl Day" cake to celebrate.

I had fun singing this weekend with Chorus Polaris. We did a children's concert and sang "The Reluctant Dragon" by John Rutter. It was a very fun piece to sing. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Rutter. I like many of his pieces, but as a choir member I can really hate the way they are edited (with page turns at the worst possible moments). And every time I hear his Requiem I think the text for the main theme should be "Buy your film from Kodak, take a pretty picture..." (Sacrilege, I know, but the music is very "pop" to the point of sounding like background music for a commercial.)

The boys have FINALLY quieted down. After behaving well all day they decided to make bedtime interesting. Wendy is doing her NYTimes crossword and I'm starting to think about the coming week and what needs to get done.

Review: A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

Review: A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

This book is most unusual.

Its storytelling is quite minimal as it paints in fast brush strokes the story of two geniuses of the 20^th century: Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing. Both men never truly fit into their world. Both men ended up committing suicide. Gödel suffered from paranoia and spent time in a sanatorium. Turing was gay and also would have probably been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome today.

They each asked a great question of the 20^th. Gödel asked if we can ever truly know for sure if something is truly true? (His answer was ‘no’.) Turing asked if humans were anything more than just complicated machines? (His answer was also ‘no’.)

This book explores the implications of such questions and answers in regards to God and faith. What I enjoyed most about this book was that it did not offer answers. The older I get the less interested I am in finding the “right” answers. I find myself much more interested in asking the “right” questions. I would recommend this book to anyone who shares a similar point of view.

The lost Star Trek episode...