Harlem Globetrotters at the Hub Cap

The Yogi family ventured downtown to the Hub Cap, I mean the BOK Center, to see the Harlem Globetrotters. We had a good time. They are still doing the same corny gags they have been doing since I was a kid. They are a lot better athletes though.

SuperPizzaBoy was not a fan for the underdog, Washington Generals. He was very partisan in his cheers. He is turning into a little ham.

Sweetie grabbed the camera and took a picture right back at me.
The Generals lost again, even though they cheated! The coach had to wear a tutu. SPB loved that.

And then we went home!

Geocaching Saturday

Saturday was a perfect day for winter in Oklahoma. Sunny and warm, maybe a little breezy but I’ll take it.

The whole family loaded up along with one dog, Ginger, the dachsund mutt mix.

We went to Haikey Creek Park in Broken Arrow. Sweetie, SuperPizzaBoy, and Ginger went walking on the the various paths.

I went went looking for geocaches: Haikey Creek #4 and #5. The first I have found in MONTHS.

I found both pretty handily. Originally I had posted pics of both but they both looked kind of alike. The above is of #5. #4 looks just like only it was a round container. I knew that it had been some time since I’ve gone caching because I actually hesitated sticking my hand in there to get the cache. I was so ashamed of myself. If you don’t like sticking your hand into logs and rock crevices to find things then you had better stick with scrapbooking.

I finished up and headed back to find the rest of my pack. They were headed toward me.

SPB’s vehicle is a Triton. It is very cool. It steers with the rear wheels and has a very low center of gravity. I had a theory for a long time that it cannot be turned over. I tested that theory last summer and found out that my theory was wrong but there was no photographic evidence. Sweetie again proved the theory wrong a few months ago at Jewell Lake. I have video of that but she has forbidden the posting of that evidence. This is not the sort of pioneering, can do, attitude that has made our United States of America the powerhouse of science and technology and the bastion of free enterprise and democracy that it is today.
Anybody want me to post the video? If I get enough responses then maybe Sweetie will relent. Let me know.

We had a great time. We finished up by going to Quik Trip, for giant drinks. SPB and I got hot dogs.

Read Your Own Book Challenge

I found another Reading Challenge listed on the Oklahoma Booklady blog. It is called the Read Your Own Book Challenge. You challenge yourself to read in 2009 a certain number of books that you already own. You sign up for it with MizB here.

I’m going to do 12 in 2009. One a month.

1. Asperger’s from the Inside Out by Michael John Carley – finished.

2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer – in progress

3.

4.

5.

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12.

“Bedtime Stories” with Adam Sandler

I took the day off Friday so, Sweetie, SuperPizzaBoy, and I went to see Bedtime Stories. It has Adam Sandler, in a restrained performance (thanks Mr. Sandler), Teresa Palmer, and Keri Russell in a lightly romantic comedy – children’s movie – fantasy movie.

Sandler’s Character, Skeeter, is a hotel maintenance guy. He is taking care of his sister’s two children and he found out that the bedtime stories that he tells tells the children come true the next day. The complication is that the children enhance the stories in ways that lead to unanticipated results.

I had never heard SPB laugh so hard at a movie. I thought it was funny also and very entertaining.

So, another kids movie that the adults like. I rate it 3 stars out of 4.

Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” for Guys

I had never heard of the Twilight series until the middle of last year when I noticed the books all over the place. People were reading them on airplanes, in restaurants, everywhere. It seemed like it came out of nowhere.

When I checked into it a little, I found that the books were initially marketed to young adult girls but it had morphed into a hit for women. I didn’t know of any guys that were reading it.

I was reading that this was the next Harry Potter series. That really perked my attention since I love the Harry Potter books.

The thing that puzzled me though was when I asked women if they thought a guy would like it, I never got an answer. Not once. Strange. Sweetie told me that I wouldn’t “get it.”

I couldn’t resist, especially if the series is the next Harry Potter series.

I read it. I liked it. The writing just sucks you in. Not much happens for the first 335 pages. The female protagonist, Isabella (“Bella”) and Edward Cullen engage in endless conversations that establish the relationship and sets up the yin and yang of attraction and danger that drives the plot. I saw this a being in a tunnel, all Bella and Edward see is each other and the rest of the world doesn’t really exist.

Finally they are deeply in love and meet each others parents and then stuff start happening. Meyer engages in a little too much “deus ex machina” rescues for me but given the target market of teenage girls the mechanism is needed to avoid too much blood. Given that, there is enough drama and tension in the last part of the book for anybody. However, a little more description and detail of what happened in the final crucial rescue scene would be much appreciated.

There are lots of plot holes in the book and I could enumerate them but they don’t really matter. What matters is the relationship between Edward and Bella, how it began and how it develops.

The ending leaves me wanting to read more and I will.

Did I “get it?” Nope, not entirely. Why Bella was attracted to Edward mystifies me. Did I like it? Yep. Is it the next Harry Potter series? Not even close, but it wasn’t meant to be. “Twilight” is its own thing. Will guys like it? If they have patience to get through the first 2/3 of the book, sure they will like it.

I give the book three stars out of four.

There is a Stephenie Meyer reading challenge out there. I’ll post about it soon.

A Hole in the Sky – Skywatch #2

After about a week of very overcast, cloudy skies, the clouds finally broke up, and the sun came out. It was a welcome relief. Don’t mistake me. I generally like whatever nature sends me (except for tornadoes and ice storms) but it is nice to see blue sky every now and then. I selected this one because of the hole configuration.

Since I’ve found out about Skywatch Friday I’ve been looking at the sky a lot more frequently. Lots to see up there if you just look.

To see more photographs of the sky, check the SkyWatch link below.

Guitar Hero – Metallica

Great News Everybody! Especially those who got Guitar Hero for Christmas. And double good news for those who find the game FUN but the songs, well, they are good but … There is a Guitar Hero Metallica edition coming sometime in the first half in 2009. 28 Metallica Songs, 20 songs from their friends, a new “Expert+” mode”, and much much more.
Read about it here.

Wow, 2009 is already looking better than last year!
You don’t want to miss out. Go to Metallica.com to sign up for the email list so you can stay up with the news. Or, don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted.

Shaming, Exterminating, and Picketing Downtown

Went out to walk around after lunch today downtown. A whole lot was happening near the intersection of 5th and Cheyenne.

The IBC Bank Shamers were out again. They are out every day. IBC Bank must have done something awful bad to deserve this much shaming. It kind of reminds of the movie “Cold Comfort Farm” that came out a few years ago. One of the characters kept saying “I saw something nasty in the woodshed last night.” (or something like that).

Come on IBC, say your sorry! These guys shaming you look really bored. Let them go home, or something.

The Exterminators were just down the street at the Mayo Hotel. They have a whole new crew but the same leader. The crew still pickets but they don’t say much. The leader does the chants. He has a good strong, clear, loud voice. You can hear him all over downtown. They have added a sandwhich board that says “Honk for Labor Rights.”
They are back to the basic chant “Get the Ra-ats Oo-ut, Get the Rats Out”.
The old crew was much better at it. Maybe they got a recording contract.

Meanwhile, right across the street from the exterminators there are a bunch of picketers protesting the labor practices of the law firm Pray, Walker, Jackman, Williamson & Marlar. I didn’t get a picture. For crying out loud guys, treat your people right! Whats wrong with you?

I think this all part of a plot myself. The mayor wants to bring more people downtown so the city is bringing in picketers. I mean you bring them in and after a while they are going to get tired and hungry so they’ll buy stuff at the few stores and restaurants downtown. They’ll get bored so they’ll buy tickets for BOK events. These guys are of a downtown renaissance!

My World Tuesday #1

My World is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Among other things, Tulsa is known as an Art Deco mecca. There are many different Art Deco buildings in Tulsa and one that I like very much is the Tulsa Fire Alarm building, built in 1934. You can find all the details here in an article by the Tulsa Preservation Commission.

The building features a double headed dragon design over the front door. I tried to show it in the second photograph.


Please check out other My World Tuesday photographs from all over the world.

Movie Review “Seven Pounds” SPOILER

Sweetie and I had a date night the other night. Dinner and a Movie. The movie was “Seven Pounds” with Will Smith and Rosario Dawson. In terms of the the quality of the movie including the acting, and judging in terms of what I think the movie wanted to do I give the movie a 3 out of 4. Will Smith does a god job and Rosario Dawson is fabulous. However, this is one miserable little movie and I suggest that you go see something else.

I have real big problems with the premise of the movie. Will Smith’s character, Ben Thomas caused an accident that killed seven people including his wife. So presumably to make up for that he arranges to commit suicide and donate his organs to seven people. These seven people though have to be good people and Ben Thomas is the sole determiner of what a good person is.

In doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. What about the context? The seven people who died surely had loved ones, relatives, friends, and coworkers who cared for them. Where is their redemption? They don’t get any, they just get one more person killed out of a tragedy. In fact they don’t exist at all as far as this movie is concerned. How is that for compassion? Isn’t there anything that Ben could do for the survivors?

From a Christian perspective I have huge trouble with this movie. How do you go about determining who is good and who is bad? What gives one the right to determine who lives and who dies? I know that on the wings we have Hitler and Mother Teresa. Most of us fall in the middle somewhere. Plus what about Ben Thomas’s soul. He is cutting and running, leaving everybody else to deal with it.

Their is nothing to learn from or enjoy with this movie.