An American in Paris.....Tennessee or thereabouts

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and would probably be best described as a former mall rat so I can't say that I grew up in the hood; pretty far from it. When I first moved to Tennessee, I lived in Jackson. There was a lot of culture shock for me. Everyone seemed nicer, but really they were less likely to tell you what they thought of you and tell everyone else instead. I also have learned what the phrase "the other side of the tracks" means. In Jackson, it literally seemed like on some invisible line the town is divided between whites and blacks and the only place one would meet someone of the other race was at Walmart.

In Chicago, I remember neighborhoods that had lots people from Poland here and Italians there and Hispanics there, but I don't not remember such clear dividing lines between who lived where. I guess I really wasn't that aware of differences because everyone was different, but a former white southerner living in Chicago told me "in the south whites don't get along with blacks and blacks don't get along with whites; in Chicago everybody hates everybody." I often get frustrated by southern racism, but growing up though I learned every derogatory phrase for everybody and used most of them. I can hold a contest with George Carlin for knowledge of the most ethnic insults. The difference though I think is that I don't know of anyone where I grew up who actually meant the insults as racial insults just as insults. Here people seem to mean them.

It seems to me that whites and blacks in south have developed two independent cultures side by side due to segregation. If someone meets someone from another country, we expect that there are differences and forgive each other's faux pas. I don't necessary think that the two cultures recognize that the two cultures exist and think "well they're Americans, they should act like me." I am also amazed that we are afraid to ask simple questions about each others cultures for fear of embarrassment. Instead of "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask," someone needs to write "Everything You Wanted to Know About (African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, Northerners, Southerners, or You Name It), but Were Afraid to Ask."

Movie Ratings

I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR today and Terry Gross interviewed Kirby Dick, the director of This Film Is Not Yet Rated. I had previously seen clips of the film on IFC. It was pretty interesting. While I do not necessary agree with Mr. Dick's conclusions, it is interesting how arbitrarily it seems how films are rated. I do agree with him that perhaps it would be more valuable to have rating that actually describe the content rather than whether some unknown people think that a kids should be able to see.

One movie that really intrigues me is Big Fish directed by Tim Burton. The film is great and I would put it as one of the cleanest films I have seen in a while and I have no idea why it got an R rating. There is a mermaidish woman and at one ocasion I think you can see crack. The film is not exactly a children's movie I guess the topics it covers include death, father-son relationships, marital relationships, etc. To me it is a classic PG film in the line of Terms of Endearment except less of a tear jerker.

I also have noticed that older movies with content appealing to adult audiences had received G ratings. Today the only movies that get G ratings are cartoons and movies that probably should not have been made because they are so bad. Also some of those cartoons have content so that if the film was live action film, it would probably earn a PG-13.

I have tried to come with my own personal rating system for about 30 minutes and I haven't come up with anything.

Kenny Loggins-The movie song god

My wife and I went to Sonic tonight and I'm Alright was playing over the loudspeaker. Then naturally I started thinking about Kenny Loggins and his other movie songs Footloose from Footloose (duh) and Danger Zone from Top Gun. I thought that it was interesting that one man wrote big songs for 3 of the biggest movies of the eighties. I guess that it shouldn't be surprising considering Henry Mancini, Dave Grusin, or the like, but I don't know many people who go out and but their records. I take that back, anyway I don't hear their music played on the radio. Also I don't know of popular musician who has been around for so long and yet is mainly known for 3 super famous songs. I know that I have probably offended the individual that knows every Kenny Loggins tune ever written, but hey I've heard other Kenny Loggins songs, but I don't know other Kenny Loggins songs. Survivor has 2 big movie songs that I know of from Rocky (numeral unknown) and the Karate Kid, but I know more their music. I guess there is no point to this, but I think that it is a musicological oddity.

Wordy Dirds

I was thinking about my respect thing which is one of my standard rants. I always would use these verses to say that swearing was okay:

Matthew 5:21-22
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brotherwill be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. (NIV)

I figure Raca is the equivalent of "F-you!" Whenever someone said a wordy dird, most Christians that I know go nuts. It's almost as if the person had commented the unpardonable sin by using a four letter word and we as Christians generally make a value judgment of the character of the person that used the word. If I read the passage right, it is not the word choice that is important, but rather the intent of the speaker and the way words are meant to be received. People in general and Christians in particular have become very skilled treating people like garbage without using the magic words as if the magic words are missing then the words don't hurt.
I spoke a professor at college about my thoughts and he said I was right, but that he chose not to swear because it made a person sound unintelligent. I have also learned that some people swear because they have learned that language pattern from birth, but that doesn't indicate anything about the character of the person, rather that their word choice is appropriate to their upbringing and culture.
I guess my point is that you can not tell anything about someone's character by their vocabulary. One has to consider their actions and the intent of their words. Also that we can be meaner to each other than we pretend to ourselves.

Great Expectations

This week something at work that I thought was going to happen, well...didn't happen. First I was shocked and a little upset. Then slowly as I began to take it all in, I realized this just saved me a ton of work. Why would I want something to happen that is going to make me work harder? I mean I'm doing my job. The person that decided that this wasn't going to happen thinks I'm doing a good job. What else can you ask for?

Getting it all in

Life has been pretty hectic. I have been working alot. I got a gym membership. I have been trying to practice guitar. I have been trying to review my musical skills and knowledge. (I have degrees in music, but I do nothing vocation-wise that uses those degrees. I feel like I losing the knowledge I had, but that's another post entirely.) I got a playstation 2 for my birth day a few months ago and I feel like I need to play to get my moneys worth out of it. I have a collection of movies tivo-ed that I keep meaning to see. Who thought tivo would be so much pressure. I have the blog which I intended to post regularly on, but obviously I haven't. I haven't even talked about house chores. I have never been able to balance it all very well. Oh well.

Offended

A woman I work with asked me if I was offended by her use of foul language today. I told her that I wasn't and I'm not. I began to wonder "What am I offended by?" I don't really have good answer yet, but I would have to say I'm offended when people don't treat people with respect. Then I guess the natural question is "Do I treat people with respect?" The honest answer to that question is "When I feel like it."

Delmar Dog-My little Man-Redux

Delmar passed away Saturday night. Delmar when we got him was described as a chihuahua dachsund mix at the pound. He later grew up to be we think a rat terrier mix of some kind. He was amazing with kids; they could pick him up by his head and he wouldn't do a thing to them. My wife and I were really looking forward to seeing him play with our own kids, but it was not to be. Things are quieter without Delmar; we have 2 other 4 legged pets but he seems to have been to one that kept them all riled up. It's amazing how you get attached to these animals. I miss him.

You could not imagine a better dog.

Democrat Senate Conspiracy

This has been my theory for a while, but only now have the means to share it. Democrat senators' filibusters of President Bushes judicial nominees shows that if an issue is important enough to the party the issue can be dead in its tracks. Here is my theory, the Democrat senators allow certain legislation to go through for the sole purpose of being able to claim that the Republicans did it. It seems like nothing seems to get passed other than the stupidest bills ever created (bankruptcy reform, the Patriot Act, etc). And there has never been any real discussion of real things that need to be addressed like Social Security reform, which every financial counselor I have ever had says not expect SS when I retire. I do not think that the Republicans have not or would not stoop to that level (latest federal marriage amendment), but this is my idea and I have never heard of anyone expressing this idea other than me. I basically think the Democrat Party and Republican party are in cahoots to prevent legitimate discussion and suppress other voices in politics.

Billy Graham Edited

I just read this article about Billy Graham on MSNBC from Newsweek. It is pretty interesting to me that the article reveals more about the theology of the writer of the article than about the theology of Billy Graham. I don't want to say that author is forcing words into his mouth, but perhaps trying to make him palatable for the universalist mindset. I'm afraid to say more.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14204483/

The Gym

Saturday I joined a gym. Now, a long time ago circa 15 years ago, I was in pretty good shape; I could run 3 or 4 miles and not think too much of it. Now....I can run 3 or 4 steps and not think too much of it. I am 90 POUNDS heavier than I was 15 years ago and my muscles have atrophied so much, I'm a skinny wimp trapped in a fat man's body. Joining the gym is my attempt at fixing that.
The first thing I notice is no matter how much I could lift before, I can't lift any where near those amounts. That is kind of depressing. It's kind of like picking up my guitar after a month or so of not practicing.
The second thing (which I hope will remain true), watching other people work hard inspires me to work hard. I got to walk faster and longer than I normally would because that guy next to me has been running and has been doing even before I got on the treadmill.
The third thing related to number 1 and number 2, there were a few times, I said to myself "Please God, let me be able to lift more than my wife!"

The Pokey

Now I must say that I have been in several detention centers (not as a resident), but recently I had the opportunity to go to the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center. Each jail that I have been to has been pretty much what you expect. I have never seen bars; mostly solid steal doors with a tiny little slit open window. Some, like the cells I saw the other day, have unbreakable glass windows where the inmate can be seen at all times.
When I went into the juvenile court building I was told that I could use the gated parking area since I was transporting an inmate and told to go in the door and upstairs. I drive up to the gate hit the button, and wait a few minutes and the gate opens. I pull up and get my shackles and walk up to the door and hit a button, after about 30 seconds it opened. I enter a tiny room and there is another door in front of me. I hit the button and nothing happens. I hear a lock open, but when I pull it wont budge. I hit it a again, I hear the noise behind me and I see another door around the corner. I push the door and it opens to a stairwell.

"Go up," I remember. I walk up one flight of stairs, see a door, and hit a button. Nothing happens. I go up another flight of stairs, reach the last floor, see a door, and hit a button. I look around and see a camera pointed at me. I hear a women's voice on a speaker system say "Sir, where are you going?" I say "I'm trying to pick up my kid from detention." She says "go down." I am starting to get a little nervous now. I walk down to the 2nd floor and hit that button and try to open the door; it won't open. I walk down to the original floor and there is no button to push. I'm getting really nervous now. I walk back up to the top floor, hit the button and a woman again says "where are you going?" "I WANT TO PICK MY KID UP FROM DETENTION!" I said (not yelled) frustratedly. She tells me to go down one floor and hit the button. I start to walk down and a door opens on the top floor, and a guy wearing a tie says go down one floor and hit the button. I say I did, but the door wont open. He says that they must be asleep. I reach the second floor hit the button and wait.

I hear the lock, I open the door, and enter a new very tiny room. On my left and right are doors with the buttons; in front of me there is an elevator with a button. I hit the button by the door on the right; nothing happens. I hit the button by the door on my left; nothing happens. I hit the button by the elevator; I hear the elevator move. I wait. Nothing. I look around there are no cameras, or windows. I wonder "Do these buttons even work?" I start hitting buttons and pushing on doors like a maniac. I feel like I'm about to pass out. Finally the door on the right opens. I'm there! My heart is beating like crazy.

The workers can tell that I've been scared, but they think that it is because of prisoners. Not in this place. I'm afraid of becoming a skeleton locked in some room with buttons.

I now know what claustrophobia feels like.

World Community Grid

I was listening to NPR several years ago and I heard about this research project that involved university researchers using the internet to connect individual PCs together to act like a supercomputer. Last November, I again was listening to NPR and I heard about it again and caught the name: World Community Grid. You download this software and once you set it up, your computer downloads a "problem" and begins making calculations when your CPU is available. When the calculations are complete your computer uploads the results and downloads a new problem. My computer is currently doing AIDS research. Projects include, Help Defeat Cancer, Human Proteome Folding, and Fight AIDS @ Home.

World Community Grid's mission is to create the world's largest public computing grid to tackle projects that benefit humanity. Our work has developed the technical infrastructure that serves as the grid's foundation for scientific research. Our success depends upon individuals collectively contributing their unused computer time to change the world for the better. World Community Grid is making technology available only to public and not-for-profit organizations to use in humanitarian research that might otherwise not be completed due to the high cost of the computer infrastructure required in the absence of a public grid. As part of our commitment to advancing human welfare, all results will be in the public domain and made public to the global research community.

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org

The software created by IBM is not obtrusive and most people wouldn't even know that it was running. You can even join teams and compete for the heck of it to get the most points. I am on the Nashville, TN team, but there should be a Nashville Bloggers team. Check it out and make your computers down time do something.

Movie Madness

I am a movie and DVD nuts. We have at least 160 DVD movies, 10 seasons of Friends, 9 seasons of X-files, 8 seasons of Frazier, 3 seasons of Cheers, 4 seasons of Seinfeld, 2 seasons of Law and Order, 2 seasons of Mad About You, 1 season of Night Court, 1 season of The Andy Griffith Show, 2 seasons of Homicide, and 1 season of The Flintstones. Needless to say, I have more AV media than anyone could watch in a year. Since I basically have run out of space to store these discs, today I went through my entire collection, we found 2 discs that I was willing to get rid of. It was pretty pathetic.
You may ask why so many DVDs of TV shows. There are several reasons why TV DVD is superior to movies on DVD or TV on TV.

1. Who has time to watch a movie?-A sitcom with no commercials will last about 24-25 minutes, so it is pretty easy to fit in.
2. More bang for your buck-for about $30, you get at least 10 hours of entertainment versus 2 hours of entertainment for $14-20.
3. When you watch a season on DVD, you can see the arch of story lines and see the characters develop more clearly over time.
4. Watching old shows on DVD, you relive memories from the past-The other day I was watching Cheers season 8 and felt like I was back in school doing my homework in front of the tube.
5. I WILL win at any Friends or Frazier trivia.

Cops

I saw a cop put a guy who was resisting arrest on the ground in 0.0 seconds. No bullets, no guns, and it didn't even get physical. It was cool. It is amazing at least how well trained this guy was. I know some people aren't that amazed by cops, but the ones that wear uniforms are just plain cool.

Have you ever wondered how much family connections affect how far you go career-wise in this world?

The Man knows best

If you haven't heard the story of Starchild Abraham Cherrix, you need to hear of him. He is a 16 year old with Hodgkin's Disease. Here is his basic story:

After three months of chemotherapy last year made him nauseated and weak, Abraham rejected doctors' recommendations to go through a second round when he learned early this year that his Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes, was active again.

A social worker then asked a judge to require the teen to continue conventional treatment. In May, the judge issued a temporary order finding Abraham's parents neglectful and awarding partial custody to the county,
with Abraham continuing to live at home with his four siblings.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/21/D8J0MGOO1.html

I don't understand why the government feels that it needs to be involved in every family situation. Laws about medical right seem to outrightly contradict each other. Parents do not have the legal right to know if their child has HIV, because it is the child's right to withhold that information from their parents because the child's right to control his medical information and treatment under HIPAA. While I disagree and believe a parent needs to know if their child has HIV, it the law and would seem to contradict the ruling in Abraham's case. By restricting the information from parents, the government has said that a child know what is best for him or her. Abraham's family and Abraham feel that the standard medical treatment is not for him. If Abraham is choosing the course of treatment, why is some paper pusher more qualified to make the decision. I may disagree with the decision and feel it is unwise, but it is not my decision to make.

Trix are for kids!

My supervisor at work informed me of an interesting blog. This woman rates kids breakfast cereals. Finally, a topic worth blogging about.

http://cerealfest.blogspot.com

FUTUREQUAKE!

This evening, Tuesday, July 18, 2006 at 8-10 central time, Paul Winkler is the tentatively scheduled guest on the Futurequake radio show. Paul Winkler is an investor coach with his own radio show, the Investor Coaching Show, on WLAC 1510AM in Nashville. The topic will be Strategies for Investing in the World of the Future. Basically how does all of the conflicts and brouhaha around the world change where one should invest his or her money. You can listen to the show online at http://radiofreenashville.org. If you have any questions that you would to ask, post them as a comment and the good doctor ask the question of Mr. Winkler. You can also email Dr. Future at drfuture@futurequake.com with questions, show ideas, or plain old mental torture. I'm not the good doctor so it wont hurt me. I'm Emmett if you don't know.


http://www.investorcoaching.com

Motorcycles are coooool!

Let's face it: everyone knows that motorcycles are cool, but not everyone knows how cool. There are several things that only someone who rides one can now about.

1. You smell more on a motorcycle. Yes, you probably do smell worse after riding on a motorcycle, but you smell more of the world around you. Every restaurant you pass, you can smell the individual odors of the cuisine served at each restaurant. When passing by flowers or woods, you can smell the scents of the buds and pollens. You realize that the scents of your community change more than you'd think.

2. The ride is more of an experience. Frankly, you're a little scared that you're not going to have face when you reach your destination, so your much more focused on your driving. This can be such a stress release because you don't have time to worry about work or whatever. It clears your head.

3. The gas mileage is amazing. I have a small motorcycle, so I get at least 75 mpg. I have got about 100 mpg when I was learning to ride and riding like a granny. You also get the moral high ground in any environmental debate, unlike the SUV driving, bonfire for global warming crowd.

4. It's like a fraternity. Everyone is friendlier on a motorcycle. Expect to be waved at while riding. I have even had 1 percenters admire my baby bike.

5. People are jealous of you. If you don't ride, admit it. You are. Pre-teen boys everywhere think that you are a god!

6. You get to dress up like an astronaut! Think of the fun you can have with the biker clothes that you couldn't have otherwise.