The Quest for a Puppy

(We've bought a puppy. He's the grey/brown runt in the middle.)

We’ve been thinking about getting a puppy. Kind of a “hole in the head” deal, I know, but my daughter has been asking for a pet. We have a cat, and cats are great, but they do their own things and do not enjoy being dressed up in pretty bows and sweaters. Ever since my sister got a Maltese for her family, my little one has been begging and we have continued to deny.

We’ve not good luck with dogs. The first time we rescued a stray Basset. He had been tied up to a tree in a field on a farm. His skin felt like sandpaper from all the ticks. He needed an immediate home and we gave it a shot. Why not? Good G … oh my … for the Love of Pete that dog stunk. We gave him oatmeal baths and he smelled like fresh stink. It was awful. You could hardly pet him without having to wash. He wasn’t a good fit. So we gave him to the Basset Rescue.

We did some research and filled out some breed selectors on the Internet. A Whippet continued to land high on the list of breeds for us. We called the Whippet Rescue and they had a dog ready. He was a perfect dog, they assured us. The lied. He urinated everywhere, especially on my daughter’s toys. I took him outside and he would hold it, then come back in and pee on her toys.

We are inexperienced dog people. The rescue knew that. We are not used to training any dog, especially a dog with a serious emotional disorder. We called them about his urinating and asked for help. They mailed me a potty band. If you have a dog that insists on going in the house, then you put a woman’s maxi pad on the band and wrap the band around his belly, covering his digit. When he urinates, it wets the maxi and keeps him wet. They assured me that he would not like it and would soon stop going. Again, they lied.

This dog would pee in his band and not care a bit. I was at a loss of what to do. We figured our next step was doggy school. Remember that he was an adult by the time we got him. Then it happened. One day he attacked my daughter, pushed her to the floor, got on top of her and bit her on the chest, drawing blood. My wife saw the entire incident and she states that it was an unprovoked attack. Had she ran over his tail or something like that, we would have felt different.

That was it for me. I was done. You can’t pin my daughter down and draw blood. Had I been an experienced dog trainer, I may have known what to do and been able to help this poor beast. I wasn’t. I called the rescue and they came to get him. Here’s the kicker: When they picked him up they told us that we were his third family. The last family threatened to put a bullet in his head if the rescue didn’t pick him back up that same day! That would have been helpful information before we agreed to take him.

That’s when we got a cat and put all this dog business behind us. Then my damned sister had to go and get a toy dog. This Maltese is the runt of her litter and weighs about three pounds. She is a tiny thing. They take her everywhere and dress her up. It’s like a living, breathing doll. You can see why my 7-year-old is frothing at the mouth for one of her own.

We’ve been back on the dog search. This time we searched for toy dogs using various breed selectors on the Internet. There are some really cute and cuddlies out there my friends: Maltese, Bichon, Yorkshire Terriers, Havanese, Japanese Chin and the like. What is a fella to do? Some of these dogs are really – really – expensive. Then you run into the problems of puppy mills and bad breeders and that kind of stuff. Some folks, like my buds Paul and Linda, prefer to get animals from sources other than breeders. Me, I’ve had my fill of the Division of Family Services (DFS) for dogs. Not had good luck there.

Then we found the right little guy. This Bishonki, a mixture of a Bishon and a Yorki, he is the runt of the litter weighing in at a whopping two pounds. He is adorable and a bit spunky. We went to the breeder’s home and met him and his parents. He and all the other dogs are well cared for. Despite the fact that there are two dozen or so dogs in the home, it did not smell of dog. I don’t know how, but it did not (and I have a pretty sensitive sniffer.)

He turned and spun, chewed and played then went to sleep in my baby’s lap. The best part of it all, the thing that really makes us feel sure, is that the breeder has offered to help train us in dog speak and to teach us how to help raise a good citizen-dog. She even demonstrated some techniques that night. If we run into problems with him, bad behaviors and such, all it takes is one call and we can send the pup back to her for boot camp to break the bad habit. And I guess we also get our own train-the-trainer boot camp, which is good for new dog owners.

It’s a done deal. We bought him and he is ready to come home. The breeder won’t let him come home until our kitchen remodel is finished. We have food in boxes in the family room so we can eat while the kitchen is being worked on. I can just imagine what a puppy would do with all that food. Hopefully he will come home late next week. All that is left is for us to go to the pet store and make our home puppy-ready.

We’ve been working on names. We’ve decided to let the 7-year-old name him. She did a great job naming the cat. So far she’s come up with several names, Harley being one of them. She came up with that one all on her own, I promise. We’ll see what she comes up with.

Local Blogger Passes Away

I am sorry to report that one of our fellow bloggers has passed away in a motorcycle accident. I didn't really know Dan as I had met him a couple of times at a blogger's meeting, but I'm sure he will be missed by his friends and family.

What Teacher's Make

Stupid Democrats

Leave it to my internet Granny to post the right stuff. I stole this from her. This is why I am a Demublican. Did some Democrats not get the message during the last election? People are tiring of President Bush's tactics and elected some different folks to stand up to his bullying and destruction of the US Constitution and our freedoms. Not small potatoes folks. And yet, we have elected officials who help him trample all over our rights. Why? I don't have the foggiest clue. How hard is it to stand up for what is right?

Come on! Why does the Attorney General need to be able to spy on Americans WITHOUT a warrant from the FISA court? Does that really sound like a good idea? What's so hard about getting a warrant from the FISA court?

Get On The Bus

We got a postcard in the mail today. My daughter now qualifies to ride the bus to school. Wow. She will be excited about that, although I don't know if we will do it or not.

Bullet Proof Backpack

School stabbings and shootings are all the fear these days and manufacturers are responding in kind. MJ Safety Solutions has created the Ballistic Bookbag, which provides level II ballistic protection, similar to most types of body armor, according to the website.

Amazingly, this backpack could have saved 97% of those who died, boosts the site. They even offer stats on the numbers of people killed and injured since 1999. What is the price of your child's life? A meager $175. What kind of mother would you be if you didn't buy it?

They state that response is so high that there are problems with the online checkout process. You can call them directly to purchase yours.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 10

Some kind of busy bees working in the house today. I have carpenters and electricians crawling the place. I can't hear myself think. I think I'm going to go get my school supplies and run errands.

They are putting up cabinets, laying some underlayment installing lights and plugs and all kinds of other stuff.

The Modern Church

I was reading Roger Ray’s article in yesterday’s paper (online edition) about the relevance of today’s church. My wife sent it to me thinking it would make a good blog post. She was right, as always. She acts as my editor in that capacity, by suggesting articles from which I can write my own thoughts.

Anyway, I read the article and wasn’t sure what to think, so I slept on it. Ray’s message is that the church should be taking on issues such as: poverty, injustice, and war rather than a more self-indulgent, egocentric worship service. We Christians should, in his view (if I understood it properly), be focusing on others more than ourselves.

“…spirituality which does not respond directly to the message of concern for the poor and liberation of the oppressed is little more than idolatry, fine for people whose real interests are narcissistic anyway but not much to offer to anyone who is sincerely seeking a relationship with the Divine.”

This is not a liberal viewpoint. In fact, I have heard Republicans and Libertarians state that it is the church that should be supporting the poor and working toward eliminating our ills, rather than the government. It is the church’s responsibility to come up with and sustain social programming to help the underprivileged rather than the government through taxation.

Although I do not think that a church should engaged exclusively in social programming, I do think that money is better spent on helping those listed in the Beattitudes rather than in building mega churches with gymnasiums and coffee bars. That is not to say that a church should not build or repair, but the building should never be the emphasis or the goal of the church. To build for the sake of building bigger is unnecessary and may not be what Christ intended. Putting on a fireworks show, the second one in the community, should take a back seat to serving the poor, the downtrodden and the sick.

Where did our churches get lost in all of that? They have become so consumed with looking good that they have lost their way. Some churches, many churches, have become consumed with bigness as a way to prove that they are spiritual and close to God, that they are the true path and that something good must be going on in order for God to grant them such bigness. Maybe it has nothing to do with God.

If your church is not engaged in the community by helping the poor and downtrodden, then maybe, and I say maybe, your church has lost its way. That can always be fixed. I grew up in a Baptist church that did nothing for anyone. We did not work with any community agency to help feed or cloth anyone or provide for the well being of others. True, we did not have much money. It was a mission church with 35-50 members, but that is no excuse. My current church gets it. We are involved in many movements to help others. Too many to list here, in fact.

We also have a capital campaign project right now. It is not that building is bad. Building is not what our church is about. For instance, we are building a new playground. Not a large one, but a useable one; one that is away from the street and safer for the children. Here again, it is not really for the church that we do this. There is a unrelated day care in our church and we partnered to help them serve their children. We will just use it too. That is good use of building money.

Who does your church serve?

The Great Con Experience

(My daughter, Hawk Girl, posing with Spider-Man.
She followed him throughout the weekend, telling
him all about Mary Jane and other Spidey tidbits.)

(Here is a nice shot of the crowd. This is only a small
portion of the convention center.)

Three days of comic book bliss. Let’s see here. How do I write this blog post without boring you to death with my “Aunt Bessie’s vacation to Florida extravaganza?” With 148 photos (60 of which I have posted on my photo web site) and plenty of stories to tell, it’s no easy task. I’ll try to break it up into sections for your reading pleasure.


Understanding Comics
I went to the con for one main reason: discover new comics for use in the classroom. Some of you may know that I have a website for the use of comics in the classroom called THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM. I want my site to be a resource for teachers, school librarians, and parents who may wish to introduce comics and graphics novels to their students. It’s going quite well, if you’ll pardon me the short horn tooting.

I wanted to meet comic creators – writers, illustrators and publishers – and discover new books that would be perfect for the classroom. I struck gold. I found fiction and nonfiction, fantasy and drama, high quality comics and those that have some work to do. I have to thank my friend, Linda, who works at a print shop. She was able to get me about 50 color business cards with only a two-hour notice. It’s a good thing I had the cards. I think it adds legitimacy to my endeavor and I know they helped me come home with so many media copies of titles, almost more than I could carry. Good thing I thought to bring an empty backpack with me to the con; it came back full.

I spent the whole of Friday and much of Saturday talking with comic creators about the need for high quality comics that can be used in the classroom. Much of today’s comics are not suitable for kids or the classroom. Comic geeks tend to like their girls with big boobs, little clothing and in compromising positions. I got a lot of laughs from some creators when I asked them if they had anything for kids. I know that there is a major untapped market in comics for kids. We just have a lot to do to convince creators to make them, publishers to print them, and parents and schools to accept comics as a legitimate form of literature. I know that it is and so do others, which is why the American Library Association is also promoting comics and graphic novels in libraries.

Not all creators are adult-only minded. Two such creators are Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja) and Russell Lissau (The Batman Strikes). Both of these guys get it. They understand the importance – the need – for high quality children’s comic literature and both are committed to the endeavor. I have previously reviewed Mail Order Ninja and I highly recommend it. I have not written a review of The Batman Strikes yet (although I have read one issue), but I have two copies on my desk, one of which is signed by Lissau. I was bummed that I didn’t take my Mail Order Ninja books with me to have Elder sign them. He emailed me before the con to tell me he would be there, but I had already left.

(Russell Lissau, left, and Josh Elder, right.)

It takes people like Elder and Lissau to change the children’s literature landscape and I will there with them reviewing and promoting their works in an effort to help our youth read for enjoyment again. It seems that many comic writers begin thinking of all-ages comics when they have children. I can not recall how many times a writer at the con would tell me about the moment they realized that they could not show their work to their own children. That is the point when those creators realize that children and teens are being left out of the comic world. I believe that things are changing rapidly, and that we will see the backing and support for all-ages comics and their use of in the classroom.


The Con
Once you’ve gone to a major comic book convention, you realize that everyone just calls it “the con.” You hear it all the time: “How’s the con going for you so far?” or maybe “Enjoying the con?” I just find that funny, I guess. It was huge. I can’t really describe it except to say that it took me all of Thursday night, Friday and most of Saturday to do what I came to do and see what I needed to see. It was that big. From what I understand, the Chicago con is a garage sale compared to the con in San Diego, Ca. I can’t imagine it. This was bigger than a football field and full of thousands of people buying and selling comics, toys, movies, games, posters, stickers, and other pop culture stuff. There were comic creators on hand to sign things and movie stars as well. Actor Michael Madsen (Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs) was there signing autographs. Lou Ferrigno from The Incredible Hulk tv show was also there. He signed an educational Hulk poster for my future classroom.


Once The Goals Were Met
After my initial job of making contacts with creators, I was free to play. I was on the hunt for some comics that I had previously been unable to find. I found out about The Lone Ranger comic with issue 5. So I was missing the first four and they are a bit hard to find. You never know about a con. You might find what you want and you might not. If you do find it, you may discover that it is expensive. That is how it is with The Lone Ranger #1. I found it for $30, $15, $10 and finally, after looking long and hard, I found it for $4. I snatched that puppy up quick. I also found the other three (issues 2,3 and 4) so I was a happy man.

I also went with the intention of finding some copies of Texas Strangers (1-3) and White Picket Fences (issues 1-3) for the classroom. I’ve heard a lot about both of these titles and I have been anxious to get my hands on them. Mission accomplished. I was also lucky to get a sketchbook of the much anticipated, The Mice Templar by Bryan Glass and Michael Oeming. The big surprise find for me was a signed copy of the George R. R. Martin piece, The Hedge Knight. Martin is one of my favorite prose writers. His ability to craft an emotional and engaging piece of fiction is a thing of beauty. His novella, The Hedge Knight, was turned into a comic by Image. This find was for me, rather than the classroom, and I almost passed it up until my wife spoke up and told me to buy it. I’m glad she said so and I’m glad I bought it.

The Journey to the Con

Drive or fly? We weren’t sure what to do, but realized that driving would probably be our cheapest alternative, even considering gas prices. Then a friend suggested we take the train. Train? Mass transit. Comfortable. More environmental than driving our own car. Perfect. So we drove to St. Louis (as Springfield doesn’t have an Amtrak station) and caught the train to Chicago. The train going out was a double-decker super liner. There was lots of room between seats, a foot rest, and plenty of room to fully recline and not bother the person behind you. It was comfortable. There was a dining car and a lounging car with seats and tables. The train coming back was less comfy but better than an airplane. No dining or lounge car, but it was fine. Best of all, I didn’t have to drive in Chicago. I must admit to you all that big city driving makes me a bit nervous. I don’t like it all. I don’t mind it if I am following someone else, but I hate to go it alone. So this was a nice alternative.

(Wife and daughter in the dining car of the train.)

The wife and daughter really loved the train ride. We played cards in the lounge car, got up and walked around, had a convenient restroom, and read too. Well, they read. I get motion sickness so I stuck to the iPod. It was a fine time and I would travel by train again. I see what folks talk about when they travel abroad. Trains really are the way to go. I don’t see why our nation is so reluctant.


The Cab Ride and Chicago-style Pizza
We’ve all heard cabbie jokes, but never having been in New York or taken a cab in a huge city, it made little sense. The taxi driver that picked us up at the train station was a lunatic. This guy had people honking at him from pick-up at the Amtrak station all the way to the hotel, a 35-minute taxi ride of terror. This nut job, I swear to you, drove on the shoulder of the 5-lane expressway. People got in this guys way, he went around them despite the rush hour traffic. Cutting people off, nearly running them off the road, nothing was off limits to this guy. I was convinced we were going to get in a wreck. I don’t really see how we didn’t.

I thought if I made conversation with him, he might calm down. It didn’t work, but the conversation was interesting enough. We were in Chicago. We wanted to try an authentic Chicago-style pizza pie. So we asked him. Always ask a local about the best little hole to eat in. He suggested this little Italian pizzeria. Maybe you’ve heard of it: Dominos. I kid you not. The cab driver suggested Dominos Pizza as the best Chicago-style pizza. I quit talking with him after that and just prayed that we would not get in a wreck.

We ended up asking the concierge where to eat pizza. It was yum. We ordered a large pizza with sausage, hamburger and pepperoni, and a small cheese for the little one, and a salad. That was nearly $50 by the way. Everything in Chicago was expensive, but I’ll get to that later. That was way too much pizza, even for us. Three days later, we were still eating on it and we never actually finished it. I had no idea how thick these pizzas were.

(This was the small pizza!)

The Prices
I promised to talk about the prices. Holy cow! I had no idea. Our hotel was connected to the convention center and the whole complex was close to O’Hare, so the prices were outrageous. A can of coke in our mini-bar was $4 a pop. A package of M&M’s was $3.50. That’s to be expected. The food at the convention wasn’t really much better. We did finally find a restaurant close by that was a basic American grill – $21 for plenty of breakfast for the three of us and it was much better than the hotel restaurant, called O’h. At first we thought it was called that because of the proximity to the airport. It’s because it was Oh so freaking expensive. The breakfast buffet was $17.50 and they didn’t even have biscuits and gravy! The prime rib dinner at night was $35. Needless to say, we were glad to find the other diner so we could avoid O’h.


Firsts
This vacation contained a lot of firsts for my daughter. I love documenting those. It’s so much fun to see a child experience the wonderful aspects of the world. She had a good time and asked me if we could come back next year. I love it that my daughter loves comics. It’s something else we can share together. We read comics together all the time.

We thought ahead and knew that she could get bored, what with all the shopping and standing. So my wife packed my daughter’s Hawk Girl Halloween costume. Boy, am I glad we had that thing. Once she donned her HG costume, she was the center of attention, which is here she likes to be. We couldn’t walk anywhere without being stopped for a picture. She did her share of picture asking too. She nearly stalked Spider-Man at the convention. He finally figured out that she loved him and he would pick her up and talk with her and the like. She talked to him about Mary Jane and how she loved him. She even told him that she knew he was really Peter Parker, but she did it quietly because she knew his identity needed to remain secret.

We talked a lot about costumes and she mentioned that she thought some folks thought she was the real Hawk Girl. Deep down inside, she knew that he wasn’t really Spider-Man, but part of her wanted to believe he was. Fine with me. That is the beauty of the child’s imagination so I don’t mind indulging her. It will not last forever. The world will school that imagination out of her soon enough.


The End
It was a worthwhile trip for me and should aid me not only with my website, but with my master’s thesis as well. Ultimately, this entire endeavor will help mold me into a better teacher. For that, I’m glad to pay the high prices. Besides, it is all kinds of fun.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 2

The work has begun and I have just gotten a taste of what it is like to live without a kitchen. I don't know if I can do this for a month. So far things are going well and progressing. A few glitches here and there but nothing we can't handle. I'll post a few pics later and I will post them all on my personal photo site when the deal is done.

Wizard World Chicago

I'm off to the biggest comic book convention I've ever been to. Wizard World Chicago is one of the biggies in the comic book world. The biggest, of course, is the Comicon in San Diego. We are making it a real experience by taking the Amtrak out of St. Louis. The family is going with me and we are planning to have a great time. We are taking my daughter's Hawk Girl costume so she can parade around and get all kinds of attention.

I'll blog on the adventure when I get back.

Spineless Twits

Warrantless wiretapping. What a shame. Aren’t we proud of our newly elected Democrats for standing up our rights? What’s that I hear? It is our Constitution being flushed down the toilet. Standing above is King George with his plunger.

The Religious Right

A serious question has been posed to me. I recently posted an article on the last Harry Potter book. I mentioned that there are many members of the religious right who denounce the books as nothing more than promotion of the occult. My friend and fellow blogger, Larry at Simple Thoughts, took issue with my statement and asked me to define the term “religious right”.

Says Larry in the comments section of the blog: “I was serious about finding your definition of the “religious right”. You have made a box that with (sic) ‘the majority of the religious right condemn the book’ and I want to know if I am supposed to get in it or not.” He didn’t pose the question to me by private email. He posted through my comments section, twice. So my response is also public, although I think I would have preferred the whole discussion in private first, seeing that we are friends.

INCOMING!

Larry, to quote Dr. Phil: It’s not about you. The story was not about your personal box. I think you are taking personally a statement that had nothing to do with you. You may very well fit into the category of “religious right” or you may not. You asked me if you are “supposed to get in it or not.” I’m not exactly sure that I am the one to decide if the label of “religious right” or “Christian right” is the label into which you fall. It could be that some of your views do, indeed, place you into that category. On the other hand some of your beliefs may be counter to the label. It’s really up to you to opt into the category of “religious right” or not. If your beliefs happen to place you there, then you should embrace the term and the box.

I stand by my statement that most of the members of the religious right see Harry Potter as a way to induct Americans, through its children, into the occult. Take notice here. I did not say “all”. A quick Google search will result in tons of articles on the evilness of Harry Potter. Watch the religious programs on Sunday morning. Pat Robertson, Jim Hagee, Jerry Faldwell, et. al have denounced Potter as the work of the devil. The religious right has had such an effect, that most elementary teachers do not read Harry Potter books aloud to their classrooms. It is not the liberal Christians and it is not the un-churched who have the problems with Harry Potter. Who is left?

Here is a partial list of criteria that one might use to determine if he or she is indeed a member of the religious right. This is not the DSM-IV. There are no “x out of x numbers” here to officially put someone into the religious right movement. It is a subjective term.


You Might Be a Member of the Religious Right

If you are a Christian and you believe the Harry Potter books are the spawn of Satan … you might be a part of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and you think God directed the US to fight the war in Iraq … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and support the Nation of Israel … you might be a member of the religious right.

If are a Christian and you oppose homosexuals having same rights under the law as heterosexual couples … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and you do not support stem cell research … you might be a member of the religious right.

If your pastor ever supported the election or re-election of George W. Bush from the pulpit (either directly or indirectly) … you might be a member of the religious right. (True liberal Christians would never use the pulpit to endorse or oppose any political candidate.)

If you are a Christian and you think Republicans are God’s chosen party … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and you think sex education in schools promotes teen sex … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and you think that liberals love killing babies … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and you believe that liberals want to teach 5-year-olds to have sex … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you believe that a middle school dance is evil because of the “sinful gyrations of the woman’s bosom” … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and you believe that all Hispanics are illegal immigrants … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you are a Christian and you oppose the “mixing of the breeds” (interracial marriage) … you might be a member of the religious right.

If you watch Pat Robertson, Jerry Faldwell, or Jim Hagee and buy their books or send them money … then you might be a member of the religious right.

If you believe Tinky Winky is gay … you might be a member of the religious right.

So there we are. I have some questions for you. Do you oppose the Harry Potter books? Are you a member of the religious right? Rather than asking me where you fall, why don’t you tell all of us if you meet this label. For an official definition, I point you to Wikipedia to look up both “religious right” and “Christian right”. If you really want me to try and label you, Larry, I will do so only in person.

I will tell you that I am a liberal Christian. Politically, I consider myself a Demublican because I have some beliefs that are both liberal and conservative. For instance, I am a gun owner and securely fall into the category of “from my cold dead hands” perspective. I lean toward the liberal side more than I lean toward the conservative. I think most people that know me, consider me a liberal. I am fine with that label even though I know that is not a perfect fit. You see, I tend not to support abortion, although I am not black and white about it.

Truth Haters

Some bloggers really get the hate mail. I’m lucky that I haven’t really gotten any thus far, and I am not opening an invitation either. The closest I have come is when the Springfield News-Leader voted this blog (and all other anonymous blogs) not worth reading.

The Voice of Truth, a new member of the local blogosphere, has had his share during his short time. He has taken some heat because he does not equate Christianity with the Republican party. Andy (whoever that is) called VoT “worthless”. Apparently if you are not a Republican, according to Andy, then you are not a real Christian and also do not stand up for what you think is right. Interesting, because that seems to be exactly what VoT is doing by virtue of having a blog and promoting his ideas, but that would involve logical thinking.

VoT is not the only one who has taken heat by not always being a Republican. I think my friend, Larry of Simple Thoughts can relate. He’s had folks follow him after he made comments on another blog. He’s had his own special hater with a hard-on. People are crazy as Hell these days.

Now Larry and I debate often and we have a great time with it. Sometimes we get after it and sometimes we just gouge each other, but it is not hate filled. Usually it is because Larry is confused about the definitions of words and labels! Larry is more conservative and I am more liberal, but we are both Christians and we get along fine. So it amazes me when folks can’t just debate and disagree with civility and grace.

I think VoT is taking it all in stride, which is a good thing. He knows that there are members of the right and left that will not like him because he doesn’t condemn either one. The price you pay for thinking on your own.

By the way, I’ve yet to meet a liberal, any liberal, who wants to teach 5-year-olds to have sex. That Andy guy is crazy for saying such a thing. As someone who believes in tolerance, I accept his right to believe and say what he wants, even if he is nuttier than a hoot owl. Of course I’m just having fun with this Andy person. My guess, and I don’t know him so I can’t say for sure, is that he doesn’t really understand what most Christian liberals believe. Maybe there are not any around him or maybe he does not care to understand the real viewpoints of Christian liberals?

Blog away, says I. Write what you think and add to the civil dialogue. You might even have fun. For every hater, there are twice as many friends.

Kitchen Remodel: 2 Days Before

We are spending the afternoon cleaning out our cupboards. It is a larger job than I anticipated and after working on it for a while I snuck off to blog. Our first problem is that we do not have enough boxes. The second problem is that we do not have enough garage space to store all this stuff while the kitchen is being remodeled. Having more stuff than you need is a good problem to have considering all those who go without, but it is still a pain.

The contractor starts on the kitchen/dining remodel on Tuesday. The cabinets will be delivered on Thursday or Friday. It is a done deal. The contractor thinks it will take 3-4 weeks, so we will be storing food in boxes and eating on paper plates for a while.

Sensationalism Leads To Stupidity and Death

The word on the street is that the man who stole a sport utility vehicle in Phoenix may be charged with the deaths of the television crews who died covering the event when their helicopters collided. The big debate is whether or not he should be charged with felony murder.

We discussed this event from a Christian perspective in our Sunday school class this morning. It was quite interesting. I can’t help but wonder, – can’t keep from thinking about – the newsmongers themselves. It was a car theft, not a murderer on the run. Was it really news to begin with, enough to warrant having news choppers sending in a live feed? It was a car theft in Phoenix, Arizona! I mean a car being stolen in Bois D’Arc is one thing. That will make the news.

They should have never been there in the first place. It was not news. It was nothing more than ambulance chasing for the purpose of sensationalism. It had nothing to do with news. Those reporters and photographers sacrificed their lives to cover a car theft: tragic and sickening. I am glad that I am no longer in the business.

More About Harry Potter

Harry Potter is not considered an abomination by all who practice the Christian faith. This morning our assistant minister mentioned in service that she got the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book. She was excited to read it, but hadn't had a chance yet. I thought it deserved mentioning considering how vehemently the majority of the religious right condemn the book. Of course our church has moved on from the middle ages. We even have a female minister [gasp!]

Nancy DisGrace

I've been out of pocket for almost a week and I am coming to this news event a bit late. The bridge collapse in Minnesota is tragic and yet our media is up to scrounging news before results come in. I am referring to the shameful excuse of a television show host known as Nancy Grace. Last night here headlines were asking “Who Is To Blame?” I’m sure she will carry her banner of hate and destruction for at least two weeks (as she always does).

As if there is some pressing need to jump to conclusions and lay blame before we even have the information. DisGrace is the queen of this, but the mainstream media in general is so good at this.

OZZFEST: HEADBANGER'S BALL 2007

I’m really not a hard-core metal rocker or anything like that, but I manage to make my way to some major metal concerts and motorcycle rallies. The bike things are by choice but the concerts have more to do with my cousin. I just got back from the biggest metal concert in the nation, OZZFEST. It was a crazy time. Think of thousands of toothless head bangers and drunk rockers in black leather, and high hardcore hillbillies. Actually that description works pretty well for either the concert or the biker rallies, but in this case I am talking about Ozzy Osbourne’s well known metal tour.

There were bands galore on two stages and the music rocked for a little over 12 hours. There we were –Austin, Evan and I – head banging, and moshing with the best of them. Austin is my 16-year-old cousin and I have taken him to concerts since he was about 14. We’ve seen Gwar, Rob Zombie and Anthrax, 3 Inches of Blood, Ozzy and all kinds of bands. This makes our third concert together and I’m sure it won’t be our last.

This was the first time that I have taken another minor with us. Austin’s long time friend, Evan (also 16-years-old) went with us. I was a bit hesitant of taking him because I hadn’t met Evan before. Normally I would insist on meeting the kid first. In this case, they have been friends for years and Austin’s parents vouched for him. Both he and Austin are great and I would take either one of them anywhere without worrying about them. They have good heads on their shoulders, which explains why they are both allowed to go to such things.

Austin and Evan with their favorite band, 3 Inches of Blood.

This concert was a hard one this year. Seeing how I am a full time student and am remodeling my kitchen, I don’t have any money just floating around. But the boys carried their own weight. They both work and have money. Cousins Jennifer and Tim got us the hotel room, which just happened to be 20 minutes from the concert. I hate driving in large cities. I’ve grew up in a small town and live in Springfield, so I’m not used to driving in the big city. Having the hotel so close was very handy and much appreciated. We owe Jennifer and Tim big time.

As for the concert itself, Ozzy arranged for the tickets to be free this year. We paid for parking ($20), food (a hot dog was $5), t-shirts ($30), and water ($4 for a 12-ounce bottle). You couldn’t take hardly anything in the venue with you. No backpacks, no food, no chairs, no towels, no CD’s to be signed, nothing really. They did allow each of us one bottle of water sans the cap and allowed me to bring my digital camera, my hat and sunscreen.

There were two stages. The second stage held the majority of the bands. It was a concrete pad with a stage. So we had no place to sit from noon to 5 pm. We just hung out and listened to the bands play. Two hours of which was in the pouring rain. The bands didn’t stop and we didn’t either. Just stuck it out and squished around the rest of the day. We did luck out. The main stage had seats, but they were reserved. Our free tickets were for the lawn, which was on a major slant.

This is a shot of the crowd at the main stage.

We found a seat and quickly figured out that sitting was not going to be an option either. There were going to be too many on the lawn. Some guys were walking around selling CD’s for the main stage bands. For a cool 20 bones, you could get an upgrade to the seats and a CD of your choice. I cajoled the salesman to give us three tickets and we had great seats really close to the stage. I got a Lamb of God CD to boot.

I will warn you. If you ever go to a concert be sure and take earplugs with you. You will need them. Having gone to other concerts with Austin I knew this. Luckly, I bought a whole pack of them because our first set in the beginning got really wet and nasty. We got seats in front of the speakers and had a ball. I was glad to sit. My dogs were barking. To be honest, when our bands were playing the main stage we didn’t sit anyway. It was too fun to get up and head bang and show are metal horns.

If you’ve ever seen the show, The Osbournes, you may be wondering if Ozzy himself actually made the venue. Yep. He was the headliner and the crowd went nuts when he hit the stage. He was amazingly spry.

It made their day. The boys loved the bands and were so excited to get to go. Austin couldn’t quit talking about getting to meet and talk to his favorite band, 3 Inches of Blood. We got his picture with the band and autographs. Nothing cooler than that. It was worth it: the rain, the high prices, the hours of standing.

Here is a list of the bands that were there:

SECOND STAGE:
3 Inches of Blood
Chthonic
Hatebreed
Behemoth
Nile
Ankla
Circus Diablo
The Showdown
Daath
In This Moment (female lead screamer)

MAIN STAGE:
Ozzy Osbourne
Lamb of God
Static X
Lordi (who should have never been a main stage band)

Some Dangerous Reading

Reading is such a great thing for the mind and yet so many people, kids and adults, find it such a bewildering hobby. Just ask Thinking Things. Boys are especially disinterested in reading, it seems.

I have my own undertakings to help bring books and readings to children and teens. Beyond comics and graphic novels there are so many other pieces of literature out there. I found two traditional pieces of literature recently, one for younger boys and the other for teens and adults. I just had to share.


THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS
By Conn and Hal Iqqulden
ISBN-10: 0061243582
ISBN-13: 978-0061243585
Hardcover
288 pages

I haven’t read The Dangerous Book for Boys but I suspect it would be a major player in the elementary and middle school libraries. I think I will buy a copy for inclusion in my personal classroom library. From paper airplanes and tying knots to famous battles, this book tries to recapture the active days before technology took such a hold on our youngsters. It is meant for boys and their fathers to bond and engage in something other than the everyday happenings. Be sure and check out the YouTube video about this book. What a great way to promote a book.


THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Edited by Christopher Tolkien
Illustrations by Alan Lee
ISBN-10: 0618894640
ISBN-13: 978-0618894642
Hardcover

Tolkien fans will be pleased to have another book from Middle Earth to read. The characters will be familiar to those who have read The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales but only in unfinished forms. This time the stories are complete. By the sounds of it, these children are in for some tragic times.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It has been a powerful two-and-a-half days. In between nursemaiding a wife with pneumonia, cleaning house and entertaining a 7-year-old on summer break, I have been consuming the seventh book of the mythic Harry Potter series. I got the book on Saturday afternoon and stopped reading it while the sun came up on Monday morning. The majority of my reading came in this one overnight sitting while I was free to fight alongside Harry and the others in the DA and the Order of the Phoenix undisturbed.

I was late to the Harry Potter game. I was busy with life and had little time to read when the Sorcerer’s Stone came out. I jumped aboard with the Goblet of Fire. I decided to give this series a read and bought the first one at the used book store. I read it in a day, then I scowered the city’s used books stores for the remaining three. I spent the next few weeks reading like a starved child at a buffet. I started purchasing the books new starting with Order of the Phoenix (my personal favorite).

Now that it is over, I am not sure what to feel and I cannot think out loud here as it may lead to plot spoilers and I would not wish that on anyone. So I will remain silent until I can find someone to talk with who has finished the series.

I toyed around with trying to review the book here. I am not prepared to do so. I am still absorbing the information and experience. I found a review from the New York Times, which is absent any spoilers, if you care to read.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Monday
5:50 am

It is finished. I'm going back to bed.

The Many Secrets of Albus Dumbledor

Monday
4:22 am
Chapter 33

I couldn't sleep. The book is to exciting. I tossed and turned until 3 am until finally I gave in and picked up the book. I have about 100 pages left, so I might as well keep going.

My original prediction about the great death question was wrong. It is obvious now.

Dumbledore's Army

Sunday Night
11:11 pm
Chapter 31

The teenage rebel rousers known as Dumbledore's Army kick ass. It's past my bedtime and this book is really starting to kick it in. I don't want to quit. I have less than 200 pages left, but they will have to remain until tomorrow. The next chapter: The Battle of Hogwarts. That has to be a great chapter.

A Suspicion Arises

I have my first real suspicion, based on the text, of who may be the one to die in the last installment of Harry Potter. Nothing concrete mind you, but a hunch. I got the idea at the end of chapter 15.

Special Delivery

Attention muggles and magical folks alike! Don’t be bothering me. I’m busy reading the last installment of the Harry Pottery series. It was delivered by broom today straight from Amazon.com and I am sitting myself down in my chair and devouring it as soon as this post is done. Food? Who needs food? Okay, JACK has to eat but other than that, the hope is to read, read, read.

If you are a fan and want to chime in on this book, then leave your comments. Under no circumstances are you to release who dies.

Remodeling Project Update

We’ve hired a contractor and picked out our cabinets. Now it is a waiting game – waiting for the cabinets to come in which only takes 4-6 weeks. Remodeling a kitchen is like trying to eat a whole cow in one bite. There are so many decisions to be made right away and it can be overwhelming. Of all the possible remodels, the kitchen is the most important. It’s one of the only places you can pour money and get it back when you sell the house. Building on a budget is hard my friends and I must confess that we have already passed our budget. We didn’t realize how much cabinets would cost. The amount we initially guessed it might cost was very low. Such is life. We have started to get things out of the kitchen/living room and packing things away. We will post pictures when the whole deal is done.

Little Sturgis Cancelled Due to Pneumonia

My first trip for the summer has been cancelled, at least for me. My Dad and I were heading to Sturgis, KY for the annual Little Sturgis biker rally. It is a very feral time. This rally is made up mostly of hard core 5-percenters (as the real biker guys are known) and a few RUBs (rich urban bikers) such as myself.

The wife got herself a bit of summer time pneumonia. Bless her heart, she is being a real trooper. Normally, my spouse is not very good patient. This time around she is really sick and she is trying her best to make the best of it. Despite the fact that my mother would come and nursemaid her while I am gone, I just can’t leave her. I’m in dutch with the wife for not going, but I’ll live with it.

Probably a good decision in the long run. Neither my daughter nor I feel very good today. Nothing in our chests yet, but it could turn South easy enough. Just what I need to do: ride a motorcycle back from Kentucky with a fever and pneumonia.

Raining Cocks and Dogs

Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. Ear-chomping. Steroids. Gambling. They have all taken down some of society’s most worshiped. We are so lucky to be able to add another vice to that list: dog fighting. Of all the things to have as an illegal hobby, Whats-his-nuts chose dog fighting. I don’t get it.

In the days of yore, JACK lived closed to Arkansas and had seen his share of little white houses spattered all of over the yards of some nefarious hillbilly characters. I have never seen a cock fight in all my days, but I have witnessed their little homes and I know the “sport” exists. I like boxing, and really enjoy mixed martial arts full contact fights. The difference between boxing and dog fighting is that grown-ups can make the decision to beat themselves stupid for my pleasure. There is no choice for cocks and dogs. (I wonder how many times I can work the word “cock” into a story?)

According to reports, Michael Vick was not just gambling, but he was a big part of running the show. I sense anger and fear in him. Could be that dog fighting was the only thing that fulfilled his blood lust. Fortunately for us he hadn’t made it up to chomping off the ear of an opponent or killing his wife to pieces. I sure hope that if the cops found blood-soaked leather gloves that they will not let Vick try them on in the trial.

I wonder what he says is the reasoning behind all of this senseless carnage?

Special Schools for Special People

Did you notice the announcement in Sunday’s paper? Springfield shall be the home of yet another private Christian school. Christian Education Cooperative (CEC) will cater to African American boys and offer classes from Kindergarten to fourth grade. Founder Barbara Smith stated that while the school is for black males, boys of other ethnic backgrounds “won’t be turned away.”

This brings up a whole host of questions, my friends, I am not sure that we will like the truth.

1. Are African American children getting something less than a quality education in the same school as their white counterparts?
2. Are boys somehow being discriminated against while n the same schools as their female counterparts?
3. Are special schools, any specialized schools regardless of type, better equipped to provide a higher education than more inclusive schools? For that matter, does the type of segregated school (gifted, special ed, all-boy, all-girl, homosexual, religious) setting have an impact?

These are not easy questions to answer. All across America we are experimenting with different types of specialized schools for all types of specialized communities. We have special schools for gifted students and those with disabilities (although the latter are becoming less common). We even have special schools for gay, lesbian and transgendered teens.

The simple existence of these schools begs the question: How much of an impact does the school setting and atmosphere have on a child’s educational abilities? I am sure there are studies on the subject, but I have not yet investigated the research. I would like to know if student achievement can be appropriately measured (apples to apples) and shown to increase as a result of the school setting alone. Simple anecdotal evidence – stories of my friend’s cousin’s aunt’s son who was doing terrible in school until he went to the All-Boys, Latino School for Disabled Scientologists – does little to actually demonstrate that specialized schools are indeed more successful at helping children reach their potential.

My first thought, my initial reaction, is rooted in the home environment. Children whose parents are interested and involved in their young lives will, as a whole, do better in school. Home-schooled students make my point. You can take any child who is struggling and having behavior issues and bus that student from school to school. That will fix nothing. However, if that student finds the right teacher, the mentor who takes an interest in the youngling, a pseudo-parent if you will, then that is what makes a difference in the child’s life.

A child who is discriminated against because of his gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual preferences (or who perceives to be discriminated against because of these issues) may very well be more likely to succeed in an environment where he is welcomed. In that case, it goes back to someone who takes an interest in the child.

From my own perspective, I suspect that our culture has changed so drastically that boys are now the ones being discriminated against while in the classroom. Especially on an elementary level, I think that many lesson plans and behavior management procedures are designed for a more female-oriented population. I think that some classrooms are designed for females and that boys are punished for their interests.

Do boys require their own school? I am not prepared to scientifically defend that boys are discriminated against, let alone that they need their own school. It is something that needs more research and investigation.

Give Comics Not Candy for Halloween

I know it is early to talk about Halloween. Too early really, but comics must be ordered ahead of time, so I am giving you ample warning to head to your comic book shop and order this year’s hot Halloween treat.

If you love comics and want to promote literacy, then Diamond Comic Distributors has a deal for you. In conjunction with Archie Comics, Gemstone Publishing, and Marvel, Diamond is putting together a Halloween comic deal. Click here for the press release.

Rather than Butterfingers, Tootsie Rolls, and popcorn balls you can give the gift of literacy in the form of mini-comics. That’s right. You can be the coolest house on the block, and the healthiest for that matter, by giving out comics on Halloween night rather than the traditional sugary fare. These will be smaller comics designed to fit in most trick-or-treat buckets and bags and each will be 16 pages.

There will be three different comics, one from each of the three publishers. They will be available in packs of 25 and are supposed to ship on September 27. No word yet on how much the bundles will cost and if the bundles will include all three titles or just one title per bundle.

Uncle Scrooge: The Hound of the Whiskervilles
From Gemstone Publishing
By Carl Barks

Marvel Adventures: Iron Man
From Marvel Comics
(cover not yet available)
B Fred Van Lente and Michael Golden

Little Archie Halloween
From Archie Comics
(cover not yet available)
By Dexter Taylor and Bob Bolling

POO Cheerleader

When my daughter gets older, she is going to kill me for telling these kinds of stories on my blog. Simple pleasures in the life of a blog parent. My tiny tot sometimes has problems with her tummy hurting. It’s been an ongoing thing and is really pretty normal. Kids hate to go number two.

After making sure that the problem was not something more serious, we have elected to push the fluids, the Metamucil– 7 going on 70 – and of course the encouragement. I am a poop cheerleader. That’s right a cheerleader for the bathroom duties. The youngling hated it at first, but she’s getting used to it and usually finds it funny. I go through the whole bit: clapping, raising my hands, and even giving the occasional kick. It’s great fun. I even wrote my very own Poo cheer:

P Double-O
P Double-O
P Double-O
Push out the poop.

P Double-O
P Double-O
P Double-O
Push out the poop.

This can be repeated, shouted, as many times as is needed to push that little devil right on out. Whatever it takes to encourage the kiddo. It’s never a dull moment in the HOUSE OF JACK.

The Rest of the Summer

Now that I’m out of school I have plans, most of which include my daughter. First of all, my wife and I have decided to use get a loan and remodel our kitchen. It is in sorry shape, I tell you what. The scratch-n-dent cabinets are original to the house built in 1964 and there was not much consideration toward space efficiency back then. That shall be remedied soon. We are installing new cabinets. The carpet – oh the carpet – is on its way out. We have hardwood floors in the three bedrooms, hallway and living room. For some strange reason the rest of the house (dining room, kitchen, utility and half-bath are all linoleum or carpet.

I have I ever mentioned how much I despise the vile crap trap that is known as carpet? Young families with children just cannot keep carpet up. It’s too hard. We are ripping it up and putting down hardwood floor – solid bamboo actually. We are especially excited about the bamboo because we got a great deal on it. It is a green product and it is also a very hard wood.

You cannot beat a good deal with a stick. So when we found solid bamboo at a great price, then we jumped on it even though the builder will not be ready for another three weeks. Bamboo only takes about seven years until it is ready to be harvested for flooring. So it is considered to be a renewable resource. If we can go green, and afford it, then that’s what we want to do. Besides, everyone I’ve talked to says that bamboo is a very hard floor and should stand up to the wear and tear of a FAT JACK family.

Later this month my Dad and I are going to Sturgis, KY for the annual Little Sturgis Biker Rally. This rally is what the real Sturgis (in South Dakota) was 25 years ago. It’s a lot of fun in the hot sun, but we like it.

In August, my wife, daughter and I are heading to Chicago for the annual Wizard World Chicago comic book convention. This will be fun, make no mistake about it, but it is also directly related to my master’s thesis. The cool aspect is that we are taking the Amtrak out of St. Louis. That should be an adventure.

In between those major events, my kiddo and I are going to White Water, Silver Dollar City, Celebration City and to visit family. Life is good, my friends. Life is good.

Pictures of the remodel, the biker rally, and the comic book convention will trickle in as they occur.

Another Semester Down

I’ve put another semester behind me. This one was quick but intense as I had 16 weeks of graduate classes compressed into 4 weeks. The upside is that I have the rest of the summer off. I am pulling my daughter out of summer camp and we are going to have fun doing all kinds of things. Some work, some play, but all good stuff.

It feels great. I can’t wait to hang out with her.

Blog Roll Update

Haven't update my blog role lately. I just haven't messed with it for some reason. Finally got around to it and added WELCOME TO THE REVOLUTION and CORNER OF THE SKY. If I have neglected to add you to my blog roll (and you wish to reciprocate) then email me.

Good Thing I'm Still in School

School is all about learning, and as mature and thoughtful as I might consider myself to be, I can still go to school and feel the fool. I had my own d’oh moment today while in my Economics for the Elementary Teacher class.

The assignment was to choose an economics-based field trip for your students. With comics on the brain I thought it would be fun to go to the local comic book store and examine what it takes to run a small business. There are tons of economic concepts to apply: unlimited wants, opportunity cost, goods and services, and resources (human, natural and capital) and I thought it would be fun.

Toward the end of my 10-minute presentation I saw the looks of my peers and I knew something was wrong. Ever so delicately, my instructor mentioned that he clued into some possible red flags. Two other students, who are currently teaching, agreed.

The issues were simple enough, but they managed to escape me during the planning process. Comic books shops sell role-playing games (dungeons and dragons) and kids card games (Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon.) Because adult men are also a target audience for these games, this was deemed as unacceptable.

The rationale here – and remember this has come from seasoned teachers and a very well seasoned male professor who taught elementary for many years – was that many parents object to things of this nature. Some of the comments based on previous knowledge:

One teacher mentioned that she read a piece of children’s literature once that had some mention of magic in it. Parents complained.

The professor stated the he had a teacher friend who got in trouble for having the students use a pair of dice in a game. The parents complained, and the teacher was reprimanded, because dice are kin to gambling. Even though the game itself was not gambling there were dice and that was a problem.

It was agreed that the trip to the comic shop would more than likely raise the ire of several parents and it would be advisable for me to reconsider this as a field trip choice. Thankfully, I was not asked to redo the assignment. I was just warned about the potential dangers.

I certainly do not think that mention of magical powers in a book is any kind of problem; however, I respect the fact that other people feel that way. I happen to think it is an abomination to pitch such a fit over the Harry Potter books, but parents do and I respect their right to have an opinion. My goal is not to create problems with myself or to try to change the opinions of the parents. Rather I am there to help my students become discerning citizens who can and will think. If that means that I need to find an alternate field trip then I can easily think of a substitute.

I guess the issue has more to do with the fact that I did not consider such a trip to be a problem to begin with. Now that I have been alerted to the potential pitfalls, I can understand why such a trip could be controversial, especially for this area. Maybe we could go to Bass Pro Shops, which is headquartered here, unless all the dead animals would pose a problem for anyone.

It’s hard to think out of the box when you are confined to one.

8 Things You'll Regret Asking About

Mary Helen who keeps her own Corner of the Sky popped me for a meme. Dang. I never know what to say on these things. I’ll give it a go, with the same vigor I had as a former government employee.

ICHI: I teach Kenpo Karate to children ages 5-12. They crack my martial butt up. (Now you know why the numbers are all in Japanese (i.e. ichi, ni, san, etc.).

NI: I’m going back to school to get my master’s in elementary ed. Oh wait! Most of you already knew that. I tend to mention it as often as I can.

SAN: I blog in my underwear. If you come knocking on my door, you should expect that I will answer the door in my underoos. It’s how I roll. One unbearably hot summer when my wife and I were first married and didn’t have air conditioning in the rental house, we spent lots of time in our skivvies. We were church shopping that year and when we got home from one church wed took off our clothes. Two old ladies from the church showed up on our doorstep to thank us for coming to church. I unashamedly opened the door in my white boxer briefs. (I wear colors and patterns too.) They said their piece and headed for the hills. You know, no one from the church ever visited us again. I have no shame. You’ve been warned. (I think the Old Stone would have liked that story. He had a bizarre fantasy of me riding my bicycle naked.)

SHI: I’ve been to the Indy 500 race once. There’s a story there, but I’ll save that one.

GO: I love to write. I do it everyday. I’ve started more than one book and I’ve been approached by a well connected person to write her story.

ROKKU: I use a Mac because I care about quality. I’ve converted another PC user to the world of Mac. He agrees that it is faster and easier. He thought the Mac-is-better-than-PC stuff was all bunk until he got one himself. Now he sees the light. Good for him, says I.

SHICHI: My first car was a 1956 Chevrolet Tudor. Red and white and fast as Hell. I got chased in it once, when I was a kid. I out ran the sheriff. He was not too happy and he let me know it the next time he saw me in town.

HACHI: I jumped off the Highway 86 bridge over Tablerock Lake when I was in high school. It was midnight and it was really dumb. There’s more to that story too, but I shouldn’t tell here.

Now I have to choose some other poor chumps to do this. That's how it goes, right? I like this part because I get to annoy my friends: Larry, Bryan (who never posts anymore, so this should sufficiently annoy him), Ron (who is probably too busy) and the always funny, Desdinova.

Libby Scoots Past Prison

Scooter Libby is not going to jail because King George communted the top GOP operative's sentence. The old buddy system is hard at work. Libby will still have to pay his $250,000 fine and remain on probation for two years, but he will not be serving time.

Anyone who is shocked or surprised, please leave the room. You are too stupid to have an opinion. Notice that King George never said that Scooter was innocent. He just didn’t want him to go to jail. In the end, I doubt it will matter much. Seems like many Republicans wanted their boy saved by the administration in some kind of nose-thumb to former President Clinton for not being hung from the gallows. Why this has anything to do with Clinton is beyond me, but that’s politics. Doc417 has a hard-on for Simple Thoughts and the Repugs have a blue-vein boner for Clinton. Oh well. You can’t trust people anyway. Hell almighty, people celebrated when OJ got off. Let the Repugs have their Scooter pie. It won’t affect the elections.

The Dems? Well they will be pissed and carry on and then they will have to deal with the fact that they didn’t get their pound of flesh. Life goes on. Maybe Scoot can write a book later about how he would leak a CIA operative’s name … if he really wanted to, that is.

It must be good to be rich and well connected.

[panting] and not from sex

Typical Semester: 16 weeks
Summer Session: 8 weeks
Summer Block: 4 weeks

[pant]

Four (or five) awful freaking weeks of ceaseless studying! It’s balls to the walls around here folks, 9 am to 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and even Sundays. It’s graduate school and it is a ton of work. Can’t wait for this short session to be done because my daughter and I are going to party it up.

Expect short blog posts. Enjoy what you get and consider yourself lucky.

The Holiday Weekend

Yesterday was my Father’s Day. I was treated to a breakfast at Anton’s restaurant (I had the “hungry student”), a flick at Springfield 8 (Fantastic Four), then I spent the rest of the day either reading comics with my daughter, or sitting my chair reading comics to myself. After the child went to bed my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary a day early. It was a dandy day, I tell you what.

On June 17, Father’s Day and our actual anniversary, we are celebrating with our families. My parents are coming to town, both grandmas will be here as will an aunt and a cousin. The best part of the whole deal is that I was able to get my homework (all of it) completed on Friday before all the festivities began. That makes for a nice holiday.

The Invisible Children

This is variant cover that you
should purchase if you want to
help out.

The atrocities occurring to the children in Uganda are getting comic treatment from Moonstone Books. Comic creator, Mike Bullock (Lions, Tigers and Bears) has written a three-part story arc in the Phantom series about the real life barbarity occurring to the children in Northern Uganda.

Proceeds from purchasing the variant cover B, by Darryl Banks & Terry Austin, will benefit the charitable organization, Invisible Children. Read a preview of the comic here.


From Invisible Children

Ripped from today's headlines, The Phantom takes on an African Warlord who believes he is a prophet of the Almighty God himself. At stake, are the lives of thousands of children stolen from their homes and indoctrinated into the Warlords Resistance Army through mental, physical and spiritual torture. The Warlord HIM has conscripted these 'Invisible Children' to fight his Holy War and assert his self-proclaimed 'Divine Will' on the peoples and Governments of Africa in his first step towards world domination.

Mike Bullock sent me the notice this morning. He didn't email me to drum up business or increase his own sales. He believes in this project enough that he was one of the first to give, donating his paycheck to Invisible Children. I have already contacted Stu, my comic book guy, so he can order me a copy of the three-part story. I was careful to specify that I wanted the variant cover so my money goes to charity.

A review of the book, and its appropriateness for the classroom, will be posted at THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM as soon as I read all three books.

There is also a documentary out about this issue. IMDb carries the information. Currently, Netflix does not carry the movie, but I sent a title request. If you have Netflix you should do the same.

The Next Month

The next four weeks will consist of light blogging. Thank goodness I spent time writing my comic book reviews for my other blog over break. Both of my summer classes are short and intense, lasting only 4-5 weeks rather than the traditional 16 weeks. My college owns my behind for the next month. So don’t be surprised to see a lack of blogging.

Plumb Partied Out

The parties have ended. My daughter is 7-years-old tomorrow (Monday) and we have partied ourselves silly over the last two weeks. We have a big family and lots of friends so we split the parties up.

At the slumber party last night, the girls decided to play in the tree house around 10:30 pm or so. My daughter was overheard telling her friends that her Daddy and Papa built that tree house for her. It’s nice to know that you are raising an appreciative person.

You can read all about the adventures and see the pictures here.

Quagmire of the Incidental

I was glad to hear, laughed to myself when I heard, that Paris Hilton was going back to the clink to serve her out her entire 45 days. I thought it was funny that she was crying for her momma. Then I saw all the news coverage on the ordeal and it hit me.

I should not celebrate this. This entire ordeal is a mess and is a distraction to the real problems of our world. I am being sucked into the quagmire of the incidental. Even if justice is served, we should not celebrate the pain and suffering of others. This is what we care about? How many people were more interested in the Paris Hilton jail time than CNN’s presidential forum on faith last night?

No Women or Blacks

I was talking to some of my more conservative-leaning family members the other day. One cousin mentioned that she didn’t think Hillary or Barack were viable candidates because one is a woman and one is black. Now before you see those as sexist or racist remarks, let me clarify the statements.

She said that anyone who is well traveled will know that the rest of the world has different standards and beliefs than the United States. Other places (the Middle East) look poorly on both women and blacks. If I am representing her position correctly, she felt that many parts of the world would not take a female or an African American seriously and that both those candidates would be left out of negotiations and the like. Ultimately, having either of those candidates as President would damage the United States’ standing in global affairs.

It is a point that I had not considered. So I've given it some thought. A Red Herring says I. It is an argument that is designed to distract us and put fear in the electorate. If I am not mistaken, seems that there are a lot of folks around the world, including the Middle East, who already do not respect any Americans. I direct your attention to our current President, King George. He’s a white man and he’s making no real progress with other countries.

Let’s see if this is really true? Have there been any females or blacks in major positions of power regarding foreign affairs?

• Madeline Albright, Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State
• Colin Powel, King George’s former Secretary of State
• Queen of England
• Queen Noor of Jordan (originally an American)

[cough] bullshit [couch]

Students in Illinois Denied Diplomas Because of Cheering

Five students in Galesburg, Ill. were denied their high school diplomas because their families cheered too loudly during graduation. It had been a problem before so the school board required the graduating seniors and their parents to sign a good behavior contract. Not everyone kept their part of the bargain and so their kid's diploma is being held hostage. Want the whole story? Click here.

Talk amongst yourselves.

(Skinny Wife gets the happy-gram for the tip.)

A Rose by any Other Name

The anonymous blogger, such as your truly, is all the talk in our online world these days. Tony Messenger wrote an editorial on the issue of blogger anonymity and it has sparked good discussion. To post our names or not to post our names, what shall the local blogger do?

Everyone under the electronic sun has chimed in on the subject. I would have sooner, but the wife has had me on detail lately since school is out. Been too busy with chores and a Memorial Day camping vacation to say my piece. Besides, I wasn’t really sure what I thought.

So here am I, Johnny-Come-Lately, with my own thoughts of this whole ordeal:

I think Messenger has missed the point of what a blog really is. He has confused blogs with traditional media. It is an understandable mistake. The creature known as a blog is confusing and difficult to define. Sure, some blogs are more journalistic in nature. In fact, some are part of the mainstream media – Ozarks Messenger is just one example – while others are simply personally-run outlets of non-traditional media. Those non-traditional blogs still, typically, follow the same journalistic ethics. At least they are supposed to. These types of political blogs are supposed to be public modes of information dissemination, just by non-traditional means and by citizen journalists. However, the definition of blog does not end there.

There are many more blogs out there that are not intended for public consumption. I know that sounds crazy, and maybe I am wrong here, but it seems to me that there is such a thing as a non-public blog that is published in the public domain. By that I mean a blog that is established as a creative outlet.

The writer may not intend for anyone to read it but family and friends. This person may not be looking for wide exposure or reprints in the local newspaper. While still in the public domain, the blog is for a small audience. The name is withheld to protect the writer because the blog is published in the public domain. The protection can be for many legitimate reasons. In this case, credibility and civility are non-issues. Those who need to know, do know who the writer is. Therefore they have credibility within their own readership.

This is true with me. Fat Jack doesn’t care if the world reads his blog online or in the newspaper. I write this blog out of a cathartic need for creative expression. I write for myself, my family, and my friends. Maybe that statement disqualifies me as a citizen journalist. That does not mean that I do not write about important issues facing my community. It just means that my blog is not intended for a large audience.

I’m keeping my pseudonym; it suits me fine. I don’t see why Messenger cares anyway. According to him the better blogs in this community are signed anyway. So why he cares about whether or not my crappy little blog is signed or not is beyond me.

Camping on Memorial Day

This was a camping weekend for the House of Jack. My sister’s family and my in-laws joined our little trio for an extended weekend of camping and swimming in Branson. Before we go on, it should be explained that the term “camping” is relative. In this case we had a mixture of styles. We were in a campground with electricity, running water, hot showers and lots of RV’s. My sister’s clan and the in-laws both do the camper thing. The House of Jack, on the other hand, camps in a primitive (pre-1860) mountain man lean-to with an open front.

We cooked some, ate out some, and got rained on some. The campground had two pools – a hot indoor pool and a frigid, grape-shrinking outdoor pool. Amazingly, the kids spent time in both. While they would not admit it, they liked the indoor pool better.

It never rained for very long, but one time it rained really hard for about 20 minutes and flooded the entire place. The water was ankle deep in lots of places. Everything was soaked. The kids and I were in the indoor pool at the time and the roof started leaking. So we got out of the pool and headed for camp. We were already wet from the pool so it seemed silly to try to huddle under a porch. Amazingly, folks got out of the pool, covered their heads and ran for cover. Crazy.

We didn’t cook for every meal. We had between 10 and 16 at every meal, so that made cooking hard work. So we cheated some and ate out for a few meals. One morning we decided to go up and eat at a place called Billy Gail’s Restaurant. We were warned before we went and the warnings were well deserved. One pancake at this place does a body fine, considering they are 14-inches in diameter. If you try to order more than that, the waitresses make sure you know what you are getting in to.

Another night we cooked, over the campfire, barbequed chicken and brats for a group of 16. We also had black forest cobbler cooked in my cast iron Dutch oven. Camp cobbler is always a big hit and it is easy to make, assuming you have a Dutch oven.

CAMP COBBLER

12-inch Dutch Oven (with convex lid)
2 cans of pie filling (this time I used cherry)
1.5 packages of dry cake mix (this time I used chocolate)
1.5 sticks of butter

Preheat the Dutch oven (lid and base) over the campfire. Pull the base off and put a half stick of butter in the bottom. Dump in the two cans of pie filling. Pour the dry cake mix on top of the pie filling. Cut up one stick of butter and place the pats on the top of the dry cake mix. Put the lid on the Dutch oven. Pull some coals out of the fire and place the Dutch oven on top of them. Place some hot coals on the lid. Cook for 35-45 minutes or so. This recipe fed 16 people.

I Know. I'm a Mess

Why don’t clothes washers come with alarms? Driers have them to remind us to take the clothes out. What I need is a washer with an alarm to remind me to finish a job that I started. In the 20 minutes that it takes to wash clothes, I have completely forgotten what I was doing and have moved on to other projects. It’s maddening. I can’t tell you how many times I have left a load of clothes in the washer overnight because I forgot I was doing laundry. The clothes don’t smell so good after they’ve sat in a wet lump for eight hours or more. Then I end up having to rewash them the next day.

Actually, what usually happens is my wife gets ready to do laundry and discovers my poor attempt at doing household chores. So she ends up finishing my job. You might think that would work to my advantage and I suppose it does sometimes. But then when she goes out of town and I need clothes for the next few days … well, I end up putting old clothes in the drier to fluff them up. My mother would be so proud.

All I need is an alarm on a washer. [sigh]. My wife and daughter are on a girl scout overnight. They are camping out at Wonders of Wildlife. Me? I need clothes for today and all I have to show for my work is a washer full of wet jeans. At least I picked up all the dirty clothes in the house and sorted them. I even did some dishes. Crap. That reminds me, I have a load of dishes in the dishwasher that need to be put away.

Making Sense Out of Mathematics

When I got to my Math class this morning to take my comprehensive final, my teacher met me outside the door. He pulled me aside and told me that I was exempted from the final because he felt confident that I had developed my math skills well and knew that material well. I have made A’s on all the tests, turned in all my homework, participated in class, helped others, participated in study groups, and taken the class very seriously. I tend to take all my classes seriously as I am concerned more with learning than I am grades.

Anyway, it was a nice gesture and I accepted his offer graciously. He has been one of my favorite teachers. I had him last semester for a previous math class and took him again this semester. He’s that good, not that any of the youngsters appreciate his genius. Rather than just mindlessly having us memorize equations and algorithms, this teacher focuses on conceptual knowledge – true understanding of the material. For the first time in my life I have finally started to understand mathematics.

Most college kids don’t want to work that hard, and this professor has a reputation of being very hard and very picky. He’s also very dedicated to making sure we actually think, rather than just memorize facts that we are likely to forget after the test. I am less likely to forget my material because of his teaching philosophy.

It’s great to learn, really learn.

What My Mother Taught Me

Hi, my name is Fat Jack and I am a recovering Baptist.

That means that I have well trained on being judgmental of others and seeing the world in black and white, good and bad, terms. I was especially good at being judgmental during my teen and early adult years.

I remember a girl in my class. She was part of the lower class of kids: an outcast. She was poor, disheveled, unconcerned with education and had a crush on me. Somehow everyone else found out about her feelings before I did. I was above her, you see. I was better than her and I was not about to cross the school cast system. I was not interested.

It was eighth grade and we were about to graduate junior high. At that time, my school held a eighth grade graduation ceremony. Each boy was paired with a girl to walk down the isle. My luck, I was paired with her. My friends thought that was great and it made for all the talk. We were going to share our love together and all of that. I was none too happy about the ordeal. So much so, that I told my mother about it. I was trying to find a way out of it.

A countertop separated us while I stood in the kitchen talking to her. She was washing dishes. She looked up at me and told me about girls. I didn’t know it then, and I really didn’t care, but she told me about how important it was for me to walk that girl down the isle. How it was likely that no one ever told her she was pretty. That being nice was what a good boy did, what a Christian did. She pointed her finger at me, soap clinging and water dripping, and told me that I (Faticus Jackson) was going to walk that girl down the isle and make her feel pretty and that was that.

Years later, I realize what my mother was teaching me. She wasn’t just telling me to be nice to ugly girls. No, she was training me to be a sensitive, caring adult who sees beyond a persons socio-economic status, and life choices, and see the person inside for what she (or he) really is. She taught me the importance of love and of not being judgmental. It’s a good thing, because I really needed to be balanced out and less black and white in my world. It took much more than one lesson to pound that into my head. It’s taken a mother and a wife to teach me a few things, but eventually it has taken effect.

I understand that importance of walking that young lady down the isle and acting like a man. People, all people, need to feel loved and accepted by others. Even if I didn’t reciprocate her strong feelings for me, I learned to show respect for women and love for other humans beyond my own self-indulgent teenage ego.

I like where I am at in my recovery. I enjoy being less judgmental and more understanding. That whole love thing is pretty cool. I have my mother to thank for that foundation.

Notes from Planet Comicon

You are dying, no doubt, to hear of my adventures at Planet Comicon comic book convention in Overland Park, Kansas this weekend. It went just as expected. I met several comic book creators and talked with lots of hard-core fans who know more about comics and the industry than I will ever know.

Of course there were plenty of vendors with comics, toys and whatnot to pilfer through. That is an adventure in and of itself, especially if the comics are not categorized or alphabetized. Plenty of the cheap comics are just boxes and boxes, lined up on tables, with all manner of comic goodness inside. It can take hours to make it through them all. I don’t have that kind of patience, but there are plenty who do and they walk away with arms loaded.

I spent my time doing research. I left my friend, Larry, and my cousin, Austin, to their own devices and headed for the creator corner. There I found a nice mix of artists and writers who were all too happy to discuss their works (and the works of others) with anyone who took the time.

I especially enjoyed talking with David Petersen, writer and illustrator of the acclaimed book MOUSE GUARD. He was working on some illustrations (inking) while we talked. Those illustrations were for sale as was some of the original art for MOUSE GUARD. I was tempted to buy some of the original art from the book, but the lowly graduate student cannot afford $350 on art. Would if I could, but can’t right now. The wife of the graduate student, who is the only one working, might furrow a brow over that. Who could blame her? Peterson and I talked about his work and how some classroom teachers have used it. He agreed to being interviewed by me at a later date for my thesis and for THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM.

Incidentally, I am keeping a list of people – writers, illustrators, publishers, teachers, librarians and students – who are involved in using comics in the classroom, especially the elementary classroom. If you are a part of that process and are interested, please drop me a note, either a comment on the blog or an email. I would love to talk to you.

I also talked to John Schuler. He is the illustrator for SUPER BILL & BUSTER. The interesting thing about Schuler is that he is also a middle school art teacher. So we talked shop for a bit, which was a lot of fun. He, too, agreed to a future interview for the thesis and THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM.

As for photos, I took what I could without being intrusive or annoying. I did not take pictures of the creators that I talked to. In hindsight, I think I should have. It would have made for a better blog post, but at the time I did not want to be a bother. I did, however, get some shots of the place. I have Comic Life on my Mac, so I put the photos into that. If you want to see my photo comic montage, then you can click here to go to my personal photo site and check them out. Don’t bother emailing me to critique my comic layout. I just did it for fun.

The table is set. I have made room reservations for Wizard World Chicago later this summer. I cannot wait to go. It sounds like so much fun. And the research opportunities! I can only imagine the creators and publishers I will be able to speak with out there. I giddy with anticipation.