February 26, 2013

 1. With colleges and universities emphasizing online courses more and more, I think my grandchildren will be much better writers than those of us educated in colleges and universities in the last half of the 20^th century. By definition, online courses require more writing from students. More writing means more practice writing. More practice writing means better writing. Better writing means better writers. And come to think of it, better writers means less cheesy repetition that the readers will be forced to endure.

2. Last Wednesday night, somebody in Bible class mentioned they had read that Saturday Night Live had a skit portraying Jesus in a sacrilegious way. People everywhere were talking about it, so I decided to check it out. The skit was filmed and depicted Jesus coming out of the tomb, with guns-a-blazing, shooting up the bad guys. It was sacrilegious. And unfortunately, it revealed the way many in the world view American Christians who claim to be followers of Jesus. Consequently, they view Jesus as being somewhat like those who claim to be his followers.

3. I think the cover story in this week’s Time magazine is worth reading. It is a detailed and understandable look at why health care in the United States is so expensive. To me, the two most eye popping sentences were these: “We may be shocked at the $60 billion price tag for cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy. We spent almost that much last week on health care.”

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/#ixzz2M3jhA4ea

4. I was surprised but not shocked that Lincoln lost best picture to Argo. Personally, I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job than Spielberg taking an essentially dry, factual story and making it compelling—not to mention coaxing academy award caliber performances from his cast. Then again, Hollywood seems to want to keep him in check.

5. Here are my sports thoughts for the week:

            A. I pray that like Manti Te’o, Oscar Pistorius is proven innocent. I heard that Te’o has impressed many NFL scouts at the NFL Combine with his character and personality. Some say that after interviewing him they understand why he was “catfished.” They found him to be one of the most trusting human beings they have ever met.

            B. Tom Brady may have solidified his legacy by agreeing to a contract extension for far less money than he is worth on the market. He wants to win, so he left $10 million per year (or more) on the table so the team can sign more players of excellence.

         C. Something I had forgotten, Alex Rodriguez was willing to walk away from his historic $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers and sign with the Boston Red Sox in an arranged trade, but the players’ union nullified the deal. A-Rod wanted to win and make less… and the union stopped him. That says a lot about baseball a decade ago.

             *Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this title.

August 14, 2012

1. November will get here soon enough, but I am eagerly anticipating the November 16^th release of the movie LINCOLN. Stephen Spielberg is directing this motion picture, and he is focusing strictly on the last four months of the 16^th president’s life. Word is LINCOLN is based upon Doris Kearns Goodwin’s award-winning-book TEAM OF RIVALS.

2. This may be a good sign for the future of the space program–more than 23 million people watched NASA’s live streaming of the landing of the “Curiosity” on Mars. I would love to see humans land on Mars in my lifetime.

3. Judy and I got a chance to take three of our four kids to NASA the week before last. Let me tell you, if you have kids, it is a great place to go.

            Don’t miss the tour that takes you to the old Mission Control.             

            Timothy and I obsessed over trying to a land space shuttle simulator, which is a lot harder than you would think.

            Of course, I’m an old-school junkie, so I loved looking at the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space capsules.

            Meanwhile, my kids were mega-impressed by the 363-foot-long Saturn Five rocket. Inside the building where they housed the rocket, NASA has posted nice summaries of each Apollo mission. This allowed me to sow the seeds to show Timothy and Annie the Tom Hanks’ miniseries FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, which I hope to do soon.

            Last night, our family watched APOLLO 13 together. (If you have younger kids, be aware of the language… and a couple of scenes you’ll want to fast forward. The scenes are no worse than commercials you see today, but who says the commercials today are good for television?)

            I loved the movie and the book it is based upon. Here’s a little behind-the-scenes nugget–Ron Howard created much of the crew’s conflict in the movie for the purpose of dramatic tension. The real-life crew was much more calm than the portrayal. As for Hanks’ miniseries, based upon the Apollo space program, it is much more kid friendly, much cleaner, and much more spiritual.

4. If you ever get the chance, tour the BATTLESHIP TEXAS located near Houston. On the NASA trip, Judy and I took the kids to see the old vessel commissioned in 1912. I am amazed at how far below deck the ship extends. You can tour the depths of the ship, and the heights—all the way up into some of the crows’ nests. It staggers me to think about sailors traveling on that ship 100 years ago.

5. In addition to what I wrote two weeks ago, here are some of the things I liked about the 2012 Olympics:

A. Michael Phelps. I feel like he is the greatest Olympian of all time. He’s won more medals than anyone else and more gold medals than anyone else. Moreover, for someone who is so obviously competitive, he seems to have a balanced view toward life.

            In 2009 and 2010, Phelps barely trained. After his first loss in this year’s games, Phelps did not pull his hair out and lament his misfortune. He took responsibility and announced that, considering the work he put in, he got what he deserved.

            For example, Phelps through the years has also demonstrated more of the Olympic Spirit than I have given him credit for. I had not remembered that in the 2004 Olympic Games, Phelps gave up his spot on a relay team (sure to win a gold medal) to allow an older swimmer the chance to win his first gold medal. Gold medals are hard to come by. (I know; I still have not won my first.) Yet Phelps was willing to sacrifice for a teammate.

B. Oscar Pistorius. How did he do it? How did he run on those prosthetic legs? And the speed with which he ran… amazing!

C. Kirani James. Yes, he won the gold medal in the 400 meters. However, he also reminded us of the original dream of the Olympic Games: athletes competing at their highest level in the spirit of sportsmanship. It was moving to see James, after his semi-final win, ask Oscar Pistorius to exchange identification tags. Furthermore, he then symbolically removed himself from the Olympic Stadium spotlight and placed Pistorius in it. Truly touching. 

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this blog's title.