TV Trivia Challenge

For you Google nuts out there, this should take only a moment or two; for you TV sitcom fans, you may be able to answer this one instantly.


Q. What do Vera Peterson, Maris Crane, and Stanley Walker all have in common?


And you can thank television producer, director, writer and legend James Burrows for all three characters. His current show is Back to You with Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton.

Random Thoughts 5/9/08

• Graham's favorite word now is "diarrhea." He says it a lot and it's hilarious. The older three boys have been saying, "ah-naw-shus." It's how they say obnoxious and apparently they're authorities on the subject.
  
• Did you know that the same guy who created the video game Super Mario Bros. also invented Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, and dozens of other popular games? Shigeru Miyamoto has worked for Nintendo for decades, creating some of the best selling video games in history. Mario Kart, Star Fox, Super Smash Bros., F-Zero, Metroid Prime, Wii Sports, and Super Mario Galaxy are just a few of the 84 games Mr. Miyamoto has worked on as either the designer, director, or producer. There's probably never been a game designer so prolific.
• Speaking of video games, we bought Brennan and Tanner Super Smash Bros. Brawl last week. We traded in some old games and used some in-store credit to get the game for $9 and change ($49 originally). Not bad! It was such a good deal that I'm eyeing all of current games, waiting to pounce on any title that isn't holding it's own. If the kids don't play it, trade it!
• There may be tens of thousands of dead people (and perhaps a lot more) in Burma and all that Al Gore can see… is political opportunity. Various blogs and news outlets are all over him on this, citing that Gore claims "Global Warming is forcing ocean temperatures to rise, which is causing storms, including cyclones and hurricanes, to intensify." But the actual data shows that the oceans and global temperatures are cooling right now, therefore global warming could not have killed those people in Burma.
• The Navy will name a new destroyer after Medal of Honor recipient Michael Murphy. This will be the second destroyer to be named after a recent Medal of Honor recipient, one for a Marine and one for a Navy SEAL.
• Don't wash your dog and then mow your yard and then put the clean wet dog out in the wet moist grass clippings. All the white parts on the dog turn green. Oops.
  

A Warship By Any Other Name

The Navy is weird.

I've been reading about Navy ships a lot recently (thanks to the History Channel's miniseries Battle 360) and I think the Navy might be too bound to traditional names for things. You see they can't seem to agree on how to classify their ships.

Starting small, some navies have corvettes but Americans don't. Or at least we don't call them that. We're designing the first of a new kind of ship, the Littoral Combat Ship, which will take the place of our frigates but does a lot of the close-in-to-shore work that corvettes and large cutters. A cutter, by the way, is a coast guard ship that ranges from 65' to over 300' in length and sometimes over 2000 tons displacement. So basically any big ship painted orange and white is a cutter.

Which bring to mind the use of the word "ship." Apparently, no large vessel is ever called a boat. Boats are little things that can be launched from a ship. Unless of course you're talking about a submarine, in which case even a ballistic missile sub the size of a WW1 battleship is still called a "boat."

Frigates are popular with some navies but the American Navy was confused for years about whether a frigate should be smallish or huge. In the end, our frigates are to be smallish, though they've grown to twice the size of a WW2 frigate. The Navy obviously needs numerous smaller, cheaper ships, but they seem intent on not calling them "frigates." So in the future we'll have LCS and HSV and all kinds of other small, fast, specialized ships.

The next ships, getting bigger as we go, should be destroyers, cruisers, and battleships. Destroyers have also grown significantly, from something like a coast guard cutter to a monstrosity twice as long and fifteen times as heavy. How can a fifteen thousand ton, $3 billion warship be called a little ol' "destroyer?" Tradition!

The term cruiser is too widely used to unpack here. But cruisers vary from the 300 foot, 6,000 ton Maine (remember the Maine?) to the 800 foot, 30,000 ton battlecruiser Alaska, which was almost indistinguishable from a battleship. Today's guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers are almost the same size, but future cruisers may be the size of WW1 Dreadnought battleships so why not just call them that?

To make it easier for us land-lubbers, let's call the small LCS ships "destoyers," the DDX ships "cruisers" (which they are really) and if we can afford to ever build a larger, guided missile DDX-style ship then lets call it a "battleship." It would be simple; it would make sense. The sizes of the ships would even line up historically. But in one word there's a reason why the Navy is highly unlikely to reclassify all of their ships: tradition!

Summer Movies (and Beyond)

Iron Man is taking the theater-going crowds by storm, setting box office records and apparently I'm the one who hasn't seen it. In fact, for all my movie watching, I just don't make it to the theater very often at all – maybe two or three times each year.

That's not to say that I'm not interested; it's just so expensive to take a family to the theater. If I wait six months, I can watch it for a few dollars. If I wait a year or two I can probably watch it for free.

Here's a short list of exciting movies that will be released soon:

• now - Iron Man
• 5/16 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
  
• 5/22 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
  
• 6/27 - Wall•E
  
• 7/18 - Dark Knight
• 8/15 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars (animated)
• 11/21 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• 2/13 - Valkyrie

Some of these movies I'm really eager for (like Wall•E), while others I'm just eager to support (like the Narnia movies). There are several films that I'm not as excited about but will still make a point to see eventually, like Mongol, Kung Fu Panda, Get Smart, Hancock, and many others.

Our Very Own Tom Brady?

From Fanball.com:

The News
Adam Schefter of the NFL Network is reporting that the Chiefs believe Tyler Thigpen is good enough to challenge Brodie Croyle for the starting job this summer.

Our View
We know Thigpen made some good impressions as a third-string rookie, but it's pretty tough to believe he'll step up to a starting gig before Week 1. We'll see if he actually shows any signs of unseating Croyle once training camp begins.

Thigpen was a rookie free agent last year, but the underwhelming Brodie Croyle is vulnerable. The question is whether the Chiefs could possibly develop their own quarterback, regardless of which one it is. For over a generation now, the Chiefs have almost exclusively relied upon veteran free agents at QB (Croyle and 1983's Todd Blackledge being the main exceptions).

Interesting note #1: all four Chiefs quarterbacks went to college in their home states (Washington, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). It may not mean much, but not one of them (Damon Huard, Thigpen, practice squad vet David Greene, and Croyle) were recruited away from home.

Interesting note #2: Chiefs' QB David Greene (from Georgia) and Brodie Croyle (from Alabama) were both picked 85th overall in consecutive drafts (2005 by the Seahawks and 2006 by the Chiefs). Greene has bounced from practice squad to practice squad, while Croyle has been a part time starter. By the way, Huard was undrafted as a rookie and Thigpen was drafted in the seventh round by the Vikings but cut.

Show Notes?

I've started a new feature on my church blog where I'll make notes about that previous Sunday. I'll report on sermons, attendance, noteworthy events, etc. – whatever seems relevant that week.

It might become a good place to provide links to resource materials on the net and generally provide reporting on what happened. Radio shows who blog like this call it their "show notes." I'll just call them "Sunday notes" until a better name comes along.

By the way, I missed taking a nap Sunday afternoon but slept ten hours that night. That's long for me; I was emotionally exhausted after a six-hour Sunday morning.

Successful Two Services

We had our first Sunday of our new worship schedule yesterday. It went really well! We had more than 90 people in each service, with about 170 total (we had some folks in both services). That's pretty good, because we only average about 140-150.

We didn't have any major hitches at all and we even ended our services right on time (we had to reduce them from 90-95 minutes down to 80 without really cutting anything). Sunday School is slightly shorter, which will complicate things for the classes that have a regular rhythm to what they do, but it's a minor adjustment.

All in all, the transition has been smooth and uneventful. Thanks so much to the people who helped make things work, especially the nursery workers, communion helpers, and worship team, not to mention our folks who do so much behind the scenes.

Frosty

Kansas City (and south of here) is under a frost advisory for tonight and Sunday morning. South Dakota, I heard, is experiencing blizzard conditions.

Seriously. It's May already, Al. C'mon and give us some global warming!

Actually, scientists were saying this last week that they were worried that people won't take man-made global warming seriously because we may be entering a 10-year global cooling period. Ya think?

Dave Ramsey in KC

Dave Ramsey is in Kansas City today and he gave a short interview to the local news, talking primarily about tax rebate checks and economic stimulus package.

Aviation Eye Candy

Here's a few aviation pics I found interesting:



This is the Army's new recon helicopter, the ARH-70A, that will replace the old OH-58 Kiowa Warriors. Notice the optics are mounted under the chin instead of on a mast above the rotors. I've heard this machine is having a lot of teething problems converting it from a civilian design to military uses. So much for saving money…


Here's a great shot of a World War 2 era P-38 Lightning and the new F-35 Lightning II side by side. I don't think the Lightning is that great of a name, but both planes are great in and of themselves.


And here's a new photo of the lastest version of the F-35, the first production model of the STOVL version of the plane. It can take off and land vertically like a Harrier and will be the primary version that the British will purchase.

I Have TiVo…

…so I can fast-forward through Paula Abdul.

Thank you, TiVo. Thank you.

Homemade Flamerthrowers

This is why I'll be watching Brennan and his brothers closely as they get older.

This kid is a young, evil genius! [Seriously, Mythbusters should find out about him and offer him an internship or something.]

In case you think parenting doesn't matter, the kid in this video could become either the next Unibomber or the next Thomas Edison depending on his upbringing. And, yes, I'm the type of Dad that would totally support this kind of dangerous project (it's merely a simulation of a movie special effect). Way to go, son.

57,000 Hits

We passed 57,000 hits this morning. Thanks for reading!

Also, a big thank you to my proofreaders who call me day and night to warn me of typos and mistakes that I make. I really do appreciate it.

Random Thoughts 4/29/08

• How much has sea level risen since 1850? One whole foot! Has the world ended? Were cities flooded? Read about other global warming misconceptions and understand the arguments involved with this great article here. It's also always good to hear from Victor Davis Hanson on any topic of historic importance.
• Our church is meeting with an architectural team tonight. I'm really looking forward to it. It should be really informative.
• Elijah is such a bandwagon fan. A few weeks ago he hardly ever mentioned Jayhawks. Now they're national champions and Elijah can't go a day without a KU shirt or a Jayhawk toy. Those four-year olds and their fair-weather devotions.
• I play basketball every Tuesday at Noon down in Bonner Springs. We were supposed to have a nice large group of ten or twelve guys, almost twice normal. So I arrive expecting a good crowd but actually find Jay-rod shooting baskets by himself. What?! We ended up with only four guys. So much for five-on-five.
• Don't miss the latest goings on in Mexico with Mexico Aviator, which is basically like Jungle Aviator but less green and more brown. And on a different continent. Other than that it's essentially the same.
  
• Most of the time spent on the Wii has been Brennan and Tanner playing games. I'm behind them at a distant second. But Mom hasn't played a whole lot… until now. We found a cheap pinball game that has ten classic pinball tables from the 70's, 80's, and 90's and Shannon's addicted! We've always liked pinball, but this game really takes the cake. If you like pinball at all, Pinball Hall of Fame: the Williams Collection is a must (and for $19 at Target it's much more affordable than all the quarters you'd go through).
• We're going back to two services this Sunday at church and I'm not freaking out yet. Hmm… maybe it will hit later…
• You should see the the boys! Shannon buzzed their heads for the summer and they all look like basic training recruits. Brennan and Tanner especially look like twins with the same haircut and matching clothes. Tanner is actually half an inch taller and a few pounds heavier than his older brother.
  
• In case you missed it, here's the link to the funny video Shannon had on her blog: Falcor!
  

Christmas in April

I received my Christmas present this week. After more than four months, I finally received my Leatherman tool, the Skeletool CX, that I've been waiting for since last December. It's been on back order and after several complaints it finally arrived Saturday. After such delay, it would have been appropriate for it's arrival to be accompanied by fanfare or a short speech. But it just arrived in a plain envelope wrapped in brown paper. How anticlimactic!

All I can think of is the countless times I could have used a knife or a tool in the last few months. As I've noted before, being a homeowner and a dad both require a lot of fixing and opening and removing. Christmas morning alone would have worn out a typical dad's pocket knife.

But now that I have it, how do I remember to carry it with me?

Chiefs Draft Notes

• In 12 picks, the Chiefs picked three Brandons, a Brian, a Brad, and a Barry.
• Only two offensive linemen were picked in this Chiefs' draft, though it was an area of urgent need. Both draftees are solid linemen though.
  
• The Chiefs drafted the tallest tight end available, 6' 8" Brad Cottam.
  
• The Chiefs may have drafted the best player overall (Glenn Dorsey), the best interior lineman (Brandon Alberts), and one of the best cornerbacks (Brandon Flowers). All three of these guys could be pro-bowlers.
  
• The Chiefs only have five players remaining from the six draft classes of 2000-2005. They currently have 12 of the 14 draftees from 2006 and 2007. Here's the update from January on those picks.
• The Chiefs drafted no Jayhawks and no Wildcats but they did draft a Mizzou Tiger, WR Will Franklin. Four Jayhawks, two Wildcats, and two Tigers were drafted. Notably, MU running back Tony Temple was not drafted (but signed with Cleveland). Washburn (Topeka) had a cornerback drafted in the seventh round by Tennessee.
  
• The Chiefs have picked up some rookie free agents, see the list here or here. This includes a quarterback and a kicker.
• Everyone loves the Chiefs' draft but no one will know for sure until about three years down the road.
  

Happy Birthday Elijah

Elijah's fourth birthday is today. When asked what he wanted for his birthday that sweet little boy only asked for two things: a stuffed Jayhawk and the presence of our friends.

So we went to McDonald's after church and were joined by several friends and lots of family. He got his stuffed Jayhawk, among several other gifts, and played to his heart's content.