I predicted a 20-point win by USA. I was wrong.
Kobe started strong with the first 8 points for USA.
USA ahead by 19 at the half, ahead by 21 end of third quarter, but only won by 15 points.
TWENTY turnovers did not help.
It seems they took control of the game early, and never let Argentina catch up.
Here’s the question, do you help a fallen opponent up?/ In NBA playoffs you do not. But I would say, here, with the friendly atmosphere of the games, you do help an opponent to his feet at the end of a play. And it’s friendly, because no one is expected to be close to USA, so there is no animosity.
Here’s another, when will the USA loose the #1 ranking in the world? USA is still, THE team to beat. For the Olympics USA has won 114 and lost only 5. For world championship, not as good, but still a very respectable 105 wins, 27 loses.
NBA professionals did not play until 1992. Remember, other professional basketball league players were competing for their countries.
One of the good things about USA bringing their best athletes, is that is shows other countries just how hard they have to work. Good competition makes people better.
I suspect that soon, there will be a few powerhouses that will equal USA on a regular basis. It will take a culture of basketball (which is why USA sucks at soccer) and the luck of genetically gifted athletes. I predict, China, Mexico, and Brazil have the best shots of being able to become powerhouses within the next 10 years.
I believe Stephen King said fantasy is about great power either lost or found.
Some fantasy movies that I think are perfect. Note, they all seem to deal with love, have sword fights, and are coming of age stories.
"Star Wars"
"Willow"
"Princess Bride"
We just saw...for our 9th year wedding anniversary the movie "Stardust"
my grade: A+
We went for a walk after I got home, because mommy was going to a party. They were screaming after mommy left, but after we got going they were fine. I was singing to them about going for a walk (I don’t know why I didn’t sing “On the Road Again”).
Mr Grunty quickly fell asleep, and the only reaction we got from him was when the stroller hit a big bump in the sidewalk. He smiled big, but continued to sleep.
Miss Squeaky was very happy to look at the trees and the sky, or try and make faces at her papa. Oh yeah, she did lots of practice sticking out her tongue too.
We turned around when Miss S got fussy, she was crying by the time we got home. Mr. G, still slept. Once inside, Miss S relaxed enough to fall asleep. Mr. G groggily opened his eyes as if to say, “I thought we were going for a walk.” I explained that we already went for a walk, then he and I had a conversation about his day. Evidently there was lots of grunting involved with the day. A few minutes later, Miss S woke up and was pissed that food was not prepared for her.
I fed them, did some laundry, made some tasty curried lentils, and then we watched a basketball game.
First quarter – we’ve seen LeBron diving after loose balls. Mexico took a shot after the whistle, and even though it didn’t matter, LeBron came over and swatted the shot away. Sending a message, no free points vs the USA. We’ve seen a lot of nice assists, lots of beautiful passes, lobs across the court for easy dunks. Can we call it a basketball clinic yet?
Score USA ahead 45 – 23…almost double the score.
Second quarter – we just saw LeBron run back to swat away what could have been an easy layup. The USA is up by 22 points, and they are still playing intense like it is a close game. Hey, now that I think about it, USA hasn’t expanded the lead.
65 – 51 USA still ahead at the half…but, uh…they calmed down a bit. They were out-scored in the quarter.
Third quarter – Mexico is sticking around. Hey, I thought I typed something about sending a message. Alright, get Jason Kidd back on the floor. I know, we don’t need him, we will win this, and there is no sense in taxing any of the players. Well…they brought out Kidd but still the quarter ends
101 – 78 still ahead, but only by 23 points L
it ends with USA win 127 vs 100
Looks like USA couldn’t keep up the intensity. So much for it being a basketball clinic.
I like the Nike add campaign, “together you are a beautiful monster”. That reminds me, some have compared jazz & basketball. Five guys, general plan, but improvisation needed. I was gonna compare the position vs instruments…but that got silly, quickly.
It was a great morning. I had conversations with my babies.
Miss Squeaky will mouth a word, and try to have the perfect shape of her mouth, and I have to remind her that she needs to make noise for the word to be heard. She smiles and lets out a squeak.
Mr. Grunty, he just coos and ahhs away. And when he’s talkative, he’ll talk to anything or anyone.
We had a bit of a shock, Miss S, was practicing sticking out her tongue. And Oliver was offended by that, or thought she was initiating playtime. He tapped her on the cheek. Miss S thought it was funny.
We went for a walk today. It was fun.
Hey Sports fans, who would have thought the road to redemption would lead through Las Vegas? USA basketball is back, and they are crushing the competition. We can only hope this will keep up through next summer in the Olympics.
Brazil was supposed to be competition. And well it looked a bit close in the first quarter. And it seemed to me a few too many isolation, one-on-one plays in the first half. But, wow, the second half started nicely. Team play, team USA wanted to make a statement that this was their game and Brazil was not allowed to think about victory.
Speaking of redemption…Kobe is playing amazing. He’s passing the ball, he’s ferocious on defense (rumor has he has asked to guard the best opposing player), and he’s going after loose balls like a college kid in the Final Four. It almost makes me forget he’s a Laker. Maybe the rest of America will forget about his other sins.
It is true, I do like Kobe a lot more if he’s not playing for the Lakers. Lakers and the Yankees, I look forward to rooting against both of those teams. Why? Maybe because they always at the top (well, not anymore for the Lakers), because they seem to buy their way to talent (either with cash or just the promise of Hollywood – remember, Kobe, before he even played a game, demanded to be traded to Lakers), or because they have such obnoxious famous fans who seem more interested in being seen at something popular than actually rooting for their team. Yes, I am sure that Jack Nicholson is a true Lakers fan, but he really needs to sit down and shut up. The same could be said about Spike Lee and the NY Knicks, BUT when was the last time they were champs? And the taunting between Spike & Reggie Miller make for great entertainment.
So, I don’t like the Lakers.
And I can see why the rest of the world doesn’t like America. We go huge money, we manage to acquire a lot of the rest of the world’s talent, and we are obnoxious fans.
It would be nice if instead of chit-chat, Bill Walton could give us some of his basketball wisdom. Seriously, I am trying to teach my daughter the nuances of the game. Well, besides “feed the big man” which he says incessantly while commenting on Shaq’s games. We got to listen to him sing “Oh Canada”, we heard all about Canadian trivia. Mr. Walton brought up artic circle mining rights, and how the USA has not signed some treaty regarding the mining rights, evidently the ratification will be before Congress soon. Anyone know about this? Bill’s best quote, talking about professional NBA players that didn’t want to play for their national team, “Nationalism is one thing, but capitalism is another.”
So, what do you do, when you are up by 52 points with 4 minutes left in the game? Looks like they put in the second string, and made sure to play tough defense, but not necessarily push the offence.
I think I will attempt to start up another on going series. Maybe one of these days I can go back to Short Story Sunday & Movie Monday.
Are science and religion at odds with each other?
Does one have to be a atheist to be a good scientist?
I will say "no".
From Alan I. Leshner, CEO American Assoc for the Advancement of Science
in Science, 8 July 2005
"...it is important for scientists to acknowledge that not all questions can be answered by science. Scientific insights are limited to the natural world. For reasons of their own, some scientists argue with some passion that there could not have been an intelligent designer behind the process of evolution. In fact, we cannot answer that question scientifically, because it is a matter of belief that is outside our realm."
Yes, science can not answer all questions. It can't answer which is the best sonnet by Shakespeare, which of Beethoven's symphonies is the best, or how to pick the best presidential candidate.
I am also sometimes confused on why people try to prove or disprove the existence of God with science.
Science = natural
God = supernatural
Part one of a hopefully ongoing series.
Some may say that religion has made very little positive contribution to society.
The great logician/mathematician/Nobel Laureate Bertrand Russell claims religion’s contributions were to fix the calendar, and predict eclipses, “These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others.”
I suspect that Richard Dawkins feels something similar.
Well, keeping in mind that I’m not a historian, I will have to respectfully disagree.
In this week’s Nature, Yasmin Khan, of the Science Museum in London, does a review of:
Medieval Islamic Medicineby Peter Pormann and & Emilie Savage-Smith.
Sounds like a very interesting book, someone remind me to read it someday.
Khan writes: “We are given a sense of how Muslims perceived the body as well as the soul as precious, because it was derived from and accountable to God as the creator. The body therefore required constant and dutiful care, and had the right to be maintained and preserved and protected from abuse, meaning that the individual was bound to seek a cure for any ills. These sensibilities were influenced by precursor civilizations — particularly ancient Greece — and reinforced by the Islamic faith.”
“The medieval period when the Islamic world drove medical development and discovery is an indication that Islam itself is not inimical to progress.”
So, it appears that Islam has made positive contributions to society. Or maybe the review completely misinterpreted the book, or maybe the authors of the book are completely wrong.
the authors:
Emilie Savage-Smith, Professor of the History of Islamic Science, University of Oxford
Peter E Pormann, Assistant Professor, University of Warwick…oooh…he has a Medieval Islamic Medicine pod cast. Maybe I should try out the pod cast thing, now that it is blasé.
Well…surprisingly I stayed away on the bus ride home to finish out the book.
Also…spoilers follow.
Chp 35 – the required chapter of Dumbledore debriefing. We start thinking; maybe Harry is in the afterlife. Maybe JK killed him. We find Harry is the 7th Horocrux and other wonky stuff that ties everything all together and explains how and why. This chapter had two good Dumbledore quotes:
“perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it” something important to remember this election season.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, buy why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
Chp 36 – Narcissa lies to Voldemort in order to protect her son. Aww…the evil one has a bit of love in her heart. Maybe there’s a chance for her to be redeemed. This chapter is the big fight…and alls well that ends well. I would like to say, that a lot of fantasy authors will details each swing of the blade and a battle will stretch on for 30 pages giving the exact details of every combatant. JK sums up nicely, she trusts her readers to fill in the rest of the fight details in their heads.
Voldemort raises a question, when he says Harry “ was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him.” I swear once upon a time I read a Slate.com article that said Harry wasn’t a hero, but a patsy for the good guys who happened to get very luck very often. So, readers, is Harry a hero? This book was about Dumbledore from the grave, and Snape from deep cover, leading Harry on his quest. A lot of people die to protect Harry. Harry is kind to others, and he does want to protect others from harm. He does have the perseverance that CS Lewis says is required of a hero.
Nineteen Years Later!
Yes, as luck would have it, I had to get off the bus. This epilogue was pretty lame.
All in all, I enjoyed the book. Nicely done JK!
grade: A--
I was talking to a friend at work, and said I believe Stephen King is a better writer, but JK is a better closer.
Maybe now I can go back to reading short stories.
At the college, 10 weeks is about the average time for a class.
Well, I hope that I’ve passed Parenting 101…because I am already enrolled in Parenting 102 and it starts in about three hours.
Things I’ve learned. I cannot do two picnics & a movie date in a weekend. I need the weekend time to catch up on naps with my babies. I was exhausted Monday. I might have started the habit of coffee before I leave the house. Seriously, how much of this stuff is safe for me to drink. I used to aim for an AM coffee & an afternoon cola…I’ve easily doubled that. Maybe for Lent I’ll give it up.
I’ve learned by that by talking with your children, letting them know the plan, which they will help out. For example:
“Alright Mr. Grunty, we’re gonna change your diaper now. Now remember, we are a team. You remember your job. Yes, good boy, your job is to hold your fire.”
Last night, Sophie kitty actually visited me in bed. She hasn't done that...well, in ten weeks. She think the childrens are OK, as long as they don't move or make noise. If they do, she's outta there. Well, maybe last night, she realized, maybe the little creatures are gonna stay. Or Sophie was really hungry.
Last night, Mr. Grunty was staring in the general direction of his mommy. She walked to the other side of the room, and he turned his head to continue to watch her. Then he noticed he had her attention and started talking to her. SO. Very. Cute.
It seems these days Miss Squeaky is taking catnaps. Which doesn’t leave the parental units much time to do chores.
Sometimes it looks like Miss S is trying to play the drums. I tell her, “It will be fantastic if you want to be a drummer later, sweetie. But I still want you to learn to play a musical instrument.”
I had a horrible dream the other night that I lost one of the babies. You know, the same way one might lose their car keys. This was the night that I was having off to sleep all by myself in the loft, in order to in theory get a good solid night of sleep. (My better half slept solo the next night. We try to watch out for each other. Teamwork.) I almost went back to the bedroom so I could listen to my babies sleep.
I’ve pro’lly already said some of this stuff. Oh well…things for me to look back and remember years from now.
Sometimes, Miss S, when she is pissed off, does a perfect little back arch and can actually lift her body up.
Right now, Miss S is sleeping on a pillow on my lap as I type. A bit ago she was starving. Evidently she only wanted and ounce and a half. Oh well, light snacks to go with the catnaps.
It has been the best ten weeks of my life. I still haven’t come down from the emotional high of becoming a papa.
In defense of formula. It has been said, that JK’s writing are a bit formulaic. Well, I don’t necessarily think there is anything inherently wrong with a formula. The Sonata form of classical music, haiku, and chocolate chip cookies, are three examples of a formula that can have lots of interesting variation. It works. JK grips the reader, she entertains.
Remember, this is sort of a play by play, I write a few notes whilst reading.
warning ….Serenity Spoilers & Harry Potter spoilers
oh yeah I forgot from Chapter 29…I really liked the Logic tests to get into Ravenclaw. That was nice. I think I would have enjoyed staying there.
I’m curious about how many Slytherines stay with Harry.
Chp 31 – Sure…generations have looked for the diadem…but Harry lucks out to find it. Wait a minute…Hagrid shows up. Uh-oh…is he to die? Seriously, I don’t know who JK is gonna off next. Like in Serenity when Wash got killed. All bets were off. Everyone was fair game. I am nervous.
Ron is developing into the hero, speaking Parsel-tongue, and remembering to evacuate the house elves, kissing the girl.
Malfoy, Crabbe & Goyle…why? Sure, we need to; they’ve been jerks since book 1. But seriously, Harry is to be fighting Voldemort. Those three are the equivalent to the Springfield Girls’ School for the Blind football team trying to slow down some one going to the Superbowl. If those three are a challenge, then either A) Harry has no business messing with the big bad V, or B) Voldemort isn’t so tough after all. This is an issue with JK, she doesn’t seem to have the right balance of power.
Fred killed. Yeah…that didn’t mean too much to me. I could never keep him & his brother straight anyway.
Chp 32 Hermione needs to remind Ron to keep eyes on the prize, to remember the goal, to not get sidetracked by emotion. An important lesson for the youth.
So, they can see things bump into the cloak…well, if that’s the case, how about sprinkle some flour in the air, and what ever invisible thing it sticks too…well, that’s where Potter is.
Snape killed. Hmmm…I wasn’t expecting that.
Chp 33 Snape’s back-story. Ha! I was right; Snape is on the side of good, and working deep undercover. Although, I didn’t think the duplicity went back 16 years. Dumble told Snape that Potter must die, now was Dumbledore playing Snape so that he would play Harry?
Uh oh…JK is gonna piss off people again with “You alone will know whether it will harm your sould to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation.” Sounds like a call for legalizing euthanasia.
Chp 34…Lupin & Tonks dead – leave an orphan. But they were trying to make the world a better place for their child. Made me think of Iraq. A lot of parents are dieing over there in. Hats off to them.
And, as usual, JK has a nice cliff-hanger…Harry is about to be killed!!!???!!!
And, as usual, it was the end of my lunch break!!!
So I happened to be looking back at some old email archives. My friends had discussed Harry Potter 6, and well, maybe…by chance, there might have been some useful information in that book. Also, for note, I did not read book 5, but I saw the movie.
Oh well, it’s kinda like my education. Skip some, try and figure out what’s going on, ask a few questions of friends, and maybe later go back to fill in the blanks and get valuable information that might have made my quest a lot simpler.
Spoilers follow…
Chp 16 – Well, JK gets some flak from some very conservative Christian groups because the books deal with witchcraft. Well, they will be pleased to know that JK sneaks some scripture into her story. Now these are not allusions, or approximations, but it matches up exactly with my little Gideon’s Bible. Don’t worry; I’m sure those that hate witchcraft will continue to do so, for even the Devil used scripture while tempting Jesus. I just found it interesting.
At Dumbledore’s mom & sister’s grave is “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21, from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.)
At Harry’s parents grave is “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” ( I Corinthians 15:26)
Chp 17 – The Snake was animating a corpse; the kids fell for a trap. They were warned they’d encounter magic they’ve never heard of. Hmmm…I wonder if it will get creepier. Harry’s wand got broke, that can’t be good.
Chp 18 – Dumbledore & Grindelwald and “the greater good”. They fought in ’45. I am curious about the wizards during war, do they take sides? Or is it simply Muggles fighting? And during WW2, maybe that would be a good example on why Muggles can’t be trusted to govern themselves.
Chp 19 – Silver Doe patronis. Gee Harry…is it too good to be true. You sure are a trusting fool. Oh, I guess it wasn’t a trap. Ron’s back!! Thanks to the Deluminator. “Dumbledore always knew you would want to come back.” Hermione is pissed at Ron. I think she likes him.
Chp 20 – So they can track you down if you say the name Voldemort. Is that what gave them away back in Chp 4?
Chp 21 – talk to Lovegood about the legend of the Deathly Hollows. And he turns them in to get his daughter back.
Chp 22 – Wow, were at March already. I am glad that JK didn’t do the day-by-day tedium that JRR did with Frodo’s march through the death swamps.
Chp 23 – a few minor wizards and a werewolf quickly and easily capture them. Remember this. It is one of JK faults…HarryRonHermione easily get captured by this group, who later challenges Bellatrix and they are quickly furiously defeated, but later HarryRonHermione defeat Bellatrix. Sometimes, there isn’t consistently in how battles match up. (But then again, there was that one year that the lottery bound Sonics beat the champion bound Lakers in every regular season game.) One interesting thing, Draco seems nervous to identify Potter. Has Draco had a change of heart? Doby saves the day.
Doby dies. Dang it, I never liked that house-elf until now. Wow, JK is dropping people Harry cares about left and right. Are Ron & Hermione safe???
Chp 24 Doby’s burial, very heartful. I would assume that Hedwigs passing was just as heartfelt, only JK didn’t want the book to be too long. I am a little miffed at how little it seemed to matter. I thought the owl was a sort of friend.
Talk of wizard – goblin race relations. Now this I find intriguing. Blah, blah…wand lore. Oh yeah, Dumbledor had the Elderwand.
Chp 25 Wow…I’m like a goblin, and so are Metallica. Well, at least when it comes to intellectual property, “rightful and true master of any object is the maker not the purchaser.” And with my fondness for digging, I thought I was a dwarf. Well, the goblins like to dig tunnels too.
Chp 26 – Three kids break into Gringotts…the second safest place. Once again JK gives them super luck.
Chp 27 – at some cottage with friends
Chp 28 – Aberforth, Dumbledore’s brother. Ah…so that’s who has been peering through the mirror at Harry. Well…more solid proof that Dumbledore’s really dead. (Yeah, like I believe it.) Aberforth does say, “funny thing, how many of the people my brother cared about very much ended in a worse state.” So, Dumbledore is a user. I am sure he rationalizes it since it is for the greater good.
Chp 29 – Neville’s back. I like Neville. I can relate to him, the bumbling tag along who isn’t in the inner circle but still tries to help out. Oh yeah…from the 5th movie I just saw, can’t prophecies only be found by those they are about? And didn’t Neville get the prophecy that they thought was about Voldemort & Harry. Oh no. Is JK gonna kill off Neville. Room of requirement is back as a fort / hideout…but I seem to remember that it was not impenetrable from the 5th movie. (JK makes allusion to Neville is very good about being very specific about what you need to ask the room to do…so maybe I’ll let her get away with it.)
Chp 30 – Now this is the exciting part for me. I liked it in Willow when Mad Mardigan & Willlow were running around the castle; get ready to hold off the bad guys. I like in Fellowship when they have to hold off the orcs from the tomb in Mordor. I liked the mini-series Massada. And I like the Alamo. (Nope, don’t like “300” but I think that’s Frank Miller’s fault.) I like the get ready to hold off the overpowering force. And then the ensuing battle, too.
Let’s see, McGonagal & others make Snape flee. Is that just a bit too convenient? Remember he allegedly killed Dumbledore, so in theory he should be powerful.
And Cliffhanger! Ron & Herminone are missing!!
Well, only 151 pages left, but I gotta go feed the babies
yes...I've been reading on the bus ride, and the lunch hour...
You know the drill...spoilers follow.
Chp 8 Luna Lovegood can see through the disguise.
Krum wants to fight Luna’s dad because of a symbol.
Chp 9 – Hermione saves the day by pre-packing. (Aww…just like MyBetterHalf.)
Death eaters quickly find them.
Chp 10 – Kreacher is back. They are nice to him, eventually. And it seems to pay off.
Chp 11 – Lupin wants to ditch his pregnant wife. Aw…the good guys can make bad decisions, thanks JK! Scringolor, who was a jerk in Chp 7, allegedly dies protecting the secret location of Harry. Once again, jerks can do good. Muggle born registry…anyone else picking up on the Nazi implications? And, surprisingly, house elves seem to have some cool powers. Did I miss some of that? What the other magical sentient creatures…goblins, giants, house-elves, centaurs….can do? I am interested in the race relations (which seem to be going down hill under the Deatheater influence.)
Chp 12 – Kreacher cleans up the house, seems to be kind towards the Harry et al. Snape is in charge of Hogwarts (ha! once again passed over for the Defense Against Dark Arts post!!). See, he’s in the perfect place to look like he’s working for Voldamort, but, can make sure the children are not abused too much.
Chp 13 & 14 ….eh…Ministry adventure / fiasco. (It seems Harry relies too much on luck.) Also I think here it was mentioned that Ginny et al had to help Hagrid with chores as punishment…which, is kind of a safe punishment, if Hagrid likes you.
Chp 15 Goblins on run. Yup, bad race relations. Will all the oppressed stand against the DeathEaters? I dunno. The goblins say, “…it’s a wizards war.” Ron leaves.
I really like J.K. Rowling. She got a generation of kids to wait in line for hours for the release of a book. Yes, that seems a lot more effective than the Reading Is Fundamental ads by NBA stars that dropped out of college. (Then again, if some one offered me a couple of million…I’ld say “school can wait”.) The Harry Potter books are well crafted and entertaining. It seems there is a formula to them, that’s OK. Every book starts with a chapter on the bad guy. Every chapter ending has a hook. The stories are balanced, so there is emotional ebb and flow to the story.
I wonder what she’s going to do next.
Also, I’m impressed that the money hasn’t destroyed her craft.
Comments on Chapters follow.
So, that means there are spoilers.
I know, I’m probably the only person in the free world who hasn’t finished the book yet.
Chp 1 – Is Snape a bad guy? I don’t think so. I think he’s deep undercover.
Chp 2 & 3 – Finally, the Dursley’s are almost civil to Harry.
Chp 4 – Hedwig dies!!! That makes me very sad. They don’t seem to dwell on this, but I assume that it would be worse than a pet dieing…and I would be devastated to lose Oliver or Sophie.
Chp 5 Snape got George’s ear….still think Snape is a good guy. Mad-eye is dead. Wow, she ain’t playing around.
Chp 6 eh, no comment
Chp 7 I like the 12 Fail Safe Ways to Charm Witches book. With crazy ideas like “compliment the girl”. Yes, JK remembers she is dealing with teen age boys.
Speaking of…wow, Ginny kissed Harry.
How can I say Snape is still a good guy...well, it's hope. I hope that JK uses a totally unlikeable character to work on the side of good. I hope he's in deep cover. I don't want a last minute change of heart.
I heard Bob Rock will not be producing the next metallica album.
YAY!!
Rumor has Rick Rubin.
Mr Rubin seems to actually bring out the best in a band, AND, he is not tied to one genre (of pop music).
Dixie Chix "Taking the Long Way"
Johnny Cash "American" series
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magic"
Shakira "Oral Fixation"
Audioslave
Beastie Boys "Licensed to Ill"
Run DMC "Tougher than Leather"
We can hope they bring back Pus-head for the artwork.
Well, tonight, Blub & Pablo convinced us to go out to eat. We went to the Rowdy Cowgirl.
I was very nervous about babies in restaurant. How can one have a relaxing dinner if baby is screaming? (And it kinda is rude to the other patrons, too.) But Blub assured me that she and Pablo would be there to help, so it was like a 2:1 adult to child ratio.
Little Mr. Grunty slept the whole time.
Little Miss Squeaky fussed and cried and wanted to be held the whole time. Luckily between me, MyBetterHalf, and my mom…we all got a chance to eat. I don’t think poor Blub even got a chance to hold the babies.
The food made me smile. The succotash was a very pleasant surprise. I like it. Even with edamame in it. I had the ribs…very nice. I believe in a previous post, I talked about how BBQ was invented by poor people…they had to use tough (cheap) cuts of meat, and it had to be tender, because they were lacking teeth. The meat easily flaked off of the bone. The spice combination was very nice, a nice blend, nothing over powering. It was not salty. There were BBQ sauces to add, but it was perfectly tasty with just the pork.
On the way home, the childrens yelled at us for not giving them any BBQ.
After dinner, I hung out with the childrens. We talked and made faces at each other.
You know, even after reading Newscat rant about eating out…I think it was healthy. Well, at least healthier than some chain-restaurant steak house. (Which we were thinking of going to for our wedding anniversary…but now…I dunno.)
There’s a lot of talk these days about bad products coming from China. Well sports fans, I have to advise you don’t draft Chinese for the NBA.
This advise comes a little late for the Bucks, who may have wasted the #6 draft spot on Yi Jianlian, who may not even play for them, because he (or his handlers) wanted to be in a market with more Chinese fans. I can see why they drafted him, he’s seven feet tall, and you need a center to win a championship…unless you have Jordon.
Or, take the successful transition from China to the NBA, Yao Ming. Well, the Chinese media recently chastised Yao because he wanted to take some time off of basketball this summer and get married. The Chinese press writes, "No matter how sweet personal life is, it can't be compared to the exultation of capturing glory for one's nation."
Yes, they want him to risk his career, so he can play in the Stankovic Cup. The what? I dunno, some warm up before next year’s Olympics. The NBA takes its toll on centers, and Yao is a bit injury prone already. But that doesn’t matter to the Chinese; they don’t have a multi-million dollar contract on him, like the Houston Rockets do. What a crazy business, every summer all the NBA owners must be worried that their investment will blow out a knee.
I think that if you sign in the NBA you should give up your rights to play in other international tournaments. Seriously, would you want an employee on your payroll who would be risking his career during vacation?
Then it wouldn’t be so humiliating when we lost at the Olympics either.
Charlie Rosen has a great article about how to solve TeamUSA basketball woes:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7113220
Well, since the babies were waking each other up, evidently getting into arguments with each other on who was more miserable after their shots, we decided to split them up for the night. Miss Squeaky and I took the loft. Mr. Grunty, since he’s a better breast feeder, stayed with his mommy, so in theory she wouldn’t have to pump at 2am and could just feed him.
It went OK.
And evidently today, they slept most of the day. I hope they sleep tonight.
While our curried beef roast was cooking up, we hung out with the babies. Miss S was very fascinated by the toys and burp towel hanging above her. Mr. G was trying conversation with his mommy & me.
I find it very cute & interesting when they are trying to talk. They just stare into your eyes, and open the mouths, trying so hard to make a word come out, and so proud of them selves when they do make a “word”. It’s awesome.
Today was the children’s 2-month medical appointment.
Mr. Grunty is a bit chunky…at the 75% for weight, and the 50% for height.
Miss Squeaky is petite…at the 25% for height and weight.
They got three shots for 5 different immunizations. What a bargain! They screamed.
A while after, Miss S was fussy, and Mr. G was sleeping. We were warned that they may be “a bit agitated.” That’s an understatement. They are pissed off. (Mr. G is way more screaming now than after his circumcision.) And, they are actually waking each other up to share how pissed off they are. (Usually they can sleep through each other…unless Miss S. notices food is on the way.) I don’t think any of us will get much sleep tonight.
Things they are working on these days.
Mr. G is practicing blowing bubbles.
Miss S is practicing sticking out her tongue.
…The other day, while feeding Mr. G, I said to my boy, “are you about done? Papa is hungry and needs to eat too.” Immediately he spit up some formula. “That’s very nice of you to offer Mr. G, but that’s what birds do for their babies. Human babies don’t need to regurgitate food for their parents.”
Oh yeah…also, a friend was talking about how a relative is a pain on vacations. Because they are super-critical, and shoot down ideas, even if others are super excited something. Well, it got me thinking. I’m the same way on family vacations. I’m terribly rude. So hopefully, in the future, I will smile and be excited about the stuff my family is excited about, or at least if I can’t say something nice, then won’t say anything at all.
I'm thinking about last summer in Twisp...I wanted to go to X for dinner, but other people wanted to go to Y...and I was pissy.
Or a few years ago in San Diego...when my brother wanted to take us to X for dessert, and also to Y to look at the sights...I was just rude and ungrateful.
Wow...I hope my kids take after my better half.
It has been the happiest two months of my life. I love them so very much. And I suppose, dear sports’ fans that I let you in on their names.
Unter, our daughter who was born first, goes by “Miss Squeaky”. I don’t know where she learned it, but she knows how to speak dolphin. She doesn’t do it all the time. But she is teaching some Dolphin words to our son. I hope they’re not naughty dolphin words…like “tuna” or “propeller” or “SeaWorld”.
Uber, our son, is “Mr. Grunty” it’s kinda obvious why.
The other night, MyBetterHalf went to bed early. A bit later I went to check up on the three of them. Mr Grunty & Miss Squeaky were having a grunt off. It was so very cute and funny. “I thought so too, twenty minutes ago,” MyBetterHalf sighed.
Last night, when we swaddled them up and put them to bed, they were having a very good conversation, cooing and making noises. Using my superior powers of parental translation, it went something like this:
Miss S: “I can’t believe it.”
Mr. G: “Yes, the Swaddler got us good this time. Can you escape?”
Miss S: “No. It’s too tight. You?”
Mr. G: “No. I heard the Swaddler talking to Mommy. He has bigger blankets.”
Miss S: “Oh no.”
Mr. G: “Precisely.”
Miss S: “We got to work at it, I know we can break free.”
Mr. G: “Yes, use your arms” (while punching from under the blankets)
Miss S: “No, use your legs, they’re stronger.” (while lifting her legs straight into the air)
This weekend was good. I had excellent conversations with both of them. One morning after feeding with Miss Squeaky, and once with Mr. Grunty while he was on the play mat.
Tonight was bath night. Which, once the babies are in the bathwater and have a warm wash cloth on them, it isn’t so bad. Until we take them out of the warm water. Which reminds me, I haven’t been peed on yet. Which probably means I gots moves like a cat.
They’re sleeping for longer periods, so we can get more uninterrupted sleep. We are discussing the possibility of every now and then one of us sleeping in the loft, to get an uninterrupted 8 hrs of sleep. We did this once before, I took the twin duties as MyBetterHalf got a good night’s sleep. Made sense. She was exhausted and needed to take care of the babies the next day. I was just sleepy and only had to do office work the next day. It went OK. MBH only checked on us once, “while going to the bathroom” she claims, that I know of. I feel a bit whimpy for suggesting that I take a night off, and kinda feel a bit bad too. But, if we use it as a time to recharge, and come back at 100% then that will be better for the childrens.
The other day, me, Unter & Uber went on a walk at the park. We freaked out a boy. He and his girlfriend were walking hand-in-hand, acting all lovey-dovey…and then the girl saw the twins. “Oh…so very cute,” she said (the obvious) very excitedly. The boy had an “uh-oh” look on his face.
And yet another day, we all went on a walk to the park as a family. It was great. MyBetterHalf was carrying our daughter in a Baby Bjorn, while I was pushing the stroller with Uber in it. Little Unter was very interested in everything she could see. Little Uber was peacefully sleeping during his stroller ride. However, on the way back, Uber got cold, and so I carried him to keep him warm. He got heavy after 10 minutes. And him on my chest kept me warm.
Here’s the thing…I am getting drowned in best intentions.
Fortunately I have gotten fed up enough to try and rectify the situation. Thanks to our friends at the TikiLodge, this weekend hopefully the MumboJumboMobile ( a Dodge Do Mor) will help transfer my junk to the dump.
There are plenty of best-intentioned, half-started projects that I am finally being honest and realizing that since I haven’t done anything in more than a year, realistically they won’t ever get done.
I do feel guilty about the American disposable throwaway mindset.