America was wrong!

I couldn't believe my eyes and ears last night when Ryan Seacrest said "And the person leaving American Idol tonight is......Casey Abrams!" My family all screamed "Noooooooo!" in unison. Especially since America voted to keep less better singers and musicians, and certainly less likeable personalities, like Jacob and Haley. I was sure that Jacob was going home last night. The only thing I can attribute Casey's going home to last night is that the audience segment that watches American Idol has absolutely no appreciation of Jazz whatsoever. It's a shame. Casey deserved to be in the top three. We all know James is going to win it all. I would have liked to see Casey and James in the finale show as the top two. But, America got it wrong!

How I Want My Meals Introduced

I want this guy to introduce every meal that I eat...exactly this way.

Riding in Style

For a few years now, Joi and I have been desiring a newer, larger vehicle. The Ford Taurus was nice and served us well, but it just wasn't feasible for a large family like ours. The boys were growing and becoming cramped in the backseat. We had to borrow someone's car just to get lumber or bring a Christmas Tree home. It was a pain. With the upcoming trip to California coming up, we weren't looking forward to cramming everything into our little Taurus (including all of my music equipment for the Cry for Mercy reunion concert) for a long drive and two week trip. But, we were going to do it because we are carefully budgeted and felt that God would provide a good deal for us when the time was right. The other day, Joi called and said she got a flyer for a cheap vehicle that was available at a local dealership. She and her sister went to check it out. Joi maneuvered the budget around and decided that we could only afford about $150 a month for a payment. The dealership thought that they could do something for us in that price range. They showed her a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan. They let Joi take the car for the afternoon. She went to a mechanic that we trust and had him look at it. He said it was a great deal if they could give it to us for $150 a month. I found the VIN # and looked up the CarFax. We asked for opinions and wisdom from family and friends that we trust. After work, I joined Joi and we looked at the car (which was used with 71,000 miles). After crunching the numbers, they got down to $180 a month. Nope, we said. They crunched again. $169 a month. Nope, we said again. We told them that the max we could do per month was $150 and that we didn't want a loan longer than 5 or 6 years. They got all the way down to $159. We stated again that the max we could do was $150. They said that they couldn't go lower, so we shook hands with them and drove away in our Taurus. We were proud of ourselves for sticking to our guns and not giving in to the sales pressure. We felt good, but a little bit bummed that we weren't in a newer, larger vehicle. On Saturday, the dealer called back and asked if we were able to find the extra $9 in our budget. Again, Joi said no. Last night, they called again. This time they said that they decided to give us to deal we were looking for. They were low on car sales for the month and wanted to make the sale. This time on our terms. So, last night, we went again. I was very on guard and nervous of a bait and switch or some other shenanigans. We went through the process and sure enough, they offered the car to us for $150.86 a month. They lowered the price of the car and upped the price for our trade in. They offered the car to us for about $4000 less then they were originally asking. After our trade in, we will only be paying $9800 for the car. We decided to go for it. So, after several hours of signing papers and asking tons of questions...we drove off in a Dodge Grand Caravan. It's nice. I love the dual passenger air conditioning controls. Joi likes it hot and I like it cold. Now, we can have both. I love the stow-and-go seats. Tons of room for storage. I love the roof rack. It's midnight blue and looks sharp. It's a nice car and finally we can seat seven passengers. So, if anyone comes out to visit, we have a place to put them when we drive somewhere. The boys love it. They are giddy. They are already planning where they will sit for our California trip. We are truly blessed. God provided a serious deal. We weren't really actively looking and this sort of fell into our lap. I'm glad we stuck to our guns and told them that we couldn't afford anything other than $150 a month. I'm glad that they decided to make the deal happen for us. I'm still slightly in shock. We are truly thankful and blessed.

Gavin's Deodorant Moment

Last night, Gavin got out of bed at 9:30pm and went into the bathroom. Joi and I were still awake watching the Lakers in their disappointing loss to New Orleans. We sat up and looked toward the bathroom from our bed to see if Gavin was okay or if he was just using the facilities. He shut the door slightly, but we could see him clearly from our bed through the bathroom mirror. He stood on the bathtub edge and started rummaging through my toiletries. We didn't interrupt him because we wanted to see what he was up to. He took one of my deodorant sticks down and while still standing on the bathtub edge proceeded to open it up and rub it on his forearms. And then he rubbed it on his neck (like he was shaving) and under his ears. Joi and I were laughing hysterically. I called him into my bedroom and told him to bring the deodorant with him. He thought he was in trouble. I proceeded to instruct him about where deodorant should actually be applied. He told me that Josiah, his 13 year old cousin, told him to put it on his arms and neck. I'm not sure if that's true, but maybe I need to show Josiah where the deodorant actually goes, too. It was such a crack up. A much needed moment of laughter while watching such a depressing Lakers game.

Hip Hop Cello

I love this guy! I'd buy his album today, if he had one. Finally someone put my guilty pleasure loves of classical music and hip-hop together into one genre.

Baby + Dog + Bubbles = Priceless

I already wanted a dog. This video almost makes me want to get a baby and some bubbles, too.

Responsible Boys

Joi had a rough day yesterday. But, our boys stepped in and took over. They offered to take care of her, they rubbed her shoulders, offered her drinks/snacks, and basically showed amazing maturity and responsibility. They even offered to make dinner, which they did. When I got home, Garrison was pouring misshapen pancakes onto a griddle and Gage was stirring scrambled eggs. I did jump in to remove the egg shells from the scrambled egg mixture and helped Garrison with some pancake flipping, but overall, they did it all themselves. And dinner was good. On top of that, they have been doing really well for the last week or so of taking care of their room. They have been cleaning up after themselves and making sure that before they go to bed each night that their room is picked up and clean. I've been impressed. I'm not sure how long this will last, but we'll take it. I like the responsibility that they have been showing us lately. Even Garrison, who is very frugal with his money, wanted to make a purchase. He compared prices at several different stores. Thought about it. Prayed about it. Drew up a price comparison spreadsheet and finally made his purchase after much careful thought. I was impressed. I wish I was as good with my money at age 38 as he is at 9.  I am very proud of my boys.

Lakers Limp Into Playoffs

It was ugly, but the Lakers secured the 2nd seed in the West. After going 17 and 1 since the All Star Break, they went on a five game losing streak. They ended it against the 1st seeded San Antonio Spurs who were resting three of their starters...and we still struggled to beat them. Oh...and Andrew Bynum hyperextended his knee in the 2nd quarter. We already lost Steve Blake to chicken pox and Matt Barnes to a sore knee. Speaking of chicken pox, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, and Andrew Bynum have never had it...so we have to watch them closely over the next two weeks, because now they've been exposed to it. Not a good sign. Last night we played the Sacramento Kings who were second to last in the Western Conference...and we went into overtime thanks to a game tying 3 pointer by Kobe. We beat them, but barely. What the heck? Hopefully, the Lakers will get everyone back and healthy by Sunday and they will find that proverbial switch and turn it on now that the playoffs are here. They will face the New Orleans Hornets. We won the season series 4-0. Chris Paul is good, so it won't be easy, but I think we can pull if off.

Also, on Tuesday's game Kobe got a technical foul. In his frustration he punched a chair, threw a towel, and called the ref a "faggot". Unfortunately, the nation-wide television audience got to see the whole thing and could easily read his lips. So then steps in the Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Defamation. After a flurry of statements and phone calls, the NBA fines Kobe $100,000 for his "offensive and inexcusable" statements. My wife pointed out that we catch basketball players yelling out profanity and slurs all the time. So, she wondered why someone doesn't step in and fine a player when he yells "Mother F****er"? Shouldn't the League of Mothers against Defamation step in and demand a fine be imposed? Or what about when they use God's name in vain (happens all the time)? Why doesn't the Alliance of God's Holy Name step in and demand that the player is disciplined? While I understand that his comment was offensive and distasteful, I wonder if there is way too much hyper-sensitivity to the gay and lesbian community. If the NBA is going to inflict discipline on a player for offending a particular group of society, then shouldn't it be equitable and defend mothers, Christians, people who mate, female dogs, and other groups that have profanity associated with their name? I'm just saying....let's be fair.

Lakers Up To Their Old Tricks Again

Every year around this time, I blog about the Lakers inconsistency. I blog about their inability to put away bad teams and their disinterest in playing hard to wrap up the season. Every year, I wonder if they really have what it takes to win it all. Every year, my wife tells me to keep the faith and that they will do fine. Every year (certainly the last two) she has been right. This year....same old story. The Lakers went 17 and 1 since the All-Star Break. A nice string of wins. I thought that maybe this year would be different. Maybe they would turn it on sooner and keep it on. Then they met the Denver Nuggets and lost. And then they lost the next five in a row. They haven't lost five in a row since 2007. They look terrible. Asleep. Lethargic. They are making rookie mistakes. Tons of turn-overs. No defense. They look sloppy and tired. Will they have what it takes to three-peat? It doesn't look like it right now. Phil Jackson will have to find one more creative zen-like way to exorcise the negative energy surrounding the team right now. Kobe will have to give another pep talk to encourage his team to have the "eye of the tiger". All of them need to play like a team that hasn't overdosed on NyQuil. This five game skid with only two games left in the season scares me. The teams in the playoff race are just too good this year. The Lakers can't sleep-walk their way into the Championship series. They need to wake up...or they will find themselves watching the rest of the playoff's from their couches.

Diagonal Crosswalks Revisited

In October of 2009, I blogged about Denver's diagonal crosswalks. Read it here. Unfortunaetly, they are going away. I heard on the radio this morning that they will be removed by May. I confirmed the story on the Denver Post's website. While reading the article I learned that Denver was the first to do that and it has since been adopted worldwide. This type of crosswalk is called the "Barnes Dance" or the pedestrian scramble. It was invented by Henry Barnes almost 60 years ago. Barnes was Denver's first traffic engineer. He came here to help with Denver's traffic issues and decided that stopping all lights and allowing pedestrians to cross at all angles (even diagonally) was the best solution. As I blogged in October of 2009, it tripped me out the first time I saw people walking diagonally across an intersection. Since getting used to it, I do it all the time. It's kind of fun. But, it's all going away in a couple of months. Why? Because the light rail is going to four-car trains to accommodate more passengers and eliminate overcrowding. Apparently, a four car train will take longer to cross an intersection, so the solution will be to increase the time between when a light goes from red to green. It is now 75 seconds. It will be changed to 90 seconds because of the longer train. In the scramble to deal with the light rail issues, they had to lose the "Barnes Dance" and go with traditional pedestrian crossings. So, how do I feel about all of this? I'm okay with it. While it is fun to cross diagonally, it will be much better to have more room on the trains when I ride them to work. I'm tired of being crammed on the trains and standing face to face with a stranger. I'm tired of feeling like a sardine. So, this change should make the light rail experience much better for us.

Murder Mystery Party

Joi and I attended a Murder Mystery Party on Saturday night that was put on by her sister. The setting was a bunch of investors in the 1980's who went to a meeting about one of their investments. As it turned out, the CEO of the company was murdered before he could attend the party and everyone at the party was a suspect. Using booklets that told us what we should divulge and what we shouldn't (unless asked directly), we spent the rest of the evening talking and interrogating each other over dinner and dessert. We each had a character to play and we all dressed accordingly. Joi found an awesomely ugly 80's dress from a thrift store and rocked it! I wore a bow-tie and suit because I was the partner of the company, had a bow-tie collection, and loved opera. As the evening went on, we discovered that we all had motive and that pretty much everyone had a means of murdering the victim. Near the end of the evening, we all made our decisions about who actually performed the murder. Then we all read a section to see what actually happened. As it turns out, Joi's character stabbed him with a fake fountain pen filled with poison. It didn't kill him. He went into the bathroom to wash his wound. While in the bathroom, two separate people at two separate times put two different poisons into his water glass. He came back from the bathroom and drank the poisons which were too weak to kill him but caused him to have heart palpitations and shortness of breath. He went to the balcony to get some fresh air. While out on the balcony, two separate people from two different angles shot poison darts at him (my character hired one of those people). One dart got caught in his clothes and the other missed him and hit someone else entirely. Finally, we figured out that one of the guests just simply walked out to the balcony and pushed him over the railing where he fell to his death. It was a fun evening and no one guessed the murderer. We all got it wrong. It definitely kept us guessing. All in all, it was a fun evening and a great chance to hang out with friends.

Chris on Technology: Gmail Motion

I read an article on Wired/GeekDad about a new technology called Gmail Motion that will allow you to interact with your gmail using your computer's webcam or camera and utilize full body motions to create specific actions. It's like sign language for geeks. Watch this video.

While I typically love innovation. I don't see this as being useful. For instance, they talk about the fact that we still use "outdated technology like keyboards and a mouse" but yet one of their motions to "send" an email is licking a stamp and placing it on your knee. Talk about outdated technology? When was the last time someone licked a stamp. For one, everyone uses the self-adhesive stamps. Two, hardly anyone uses the traditional mail system anymore. It's called "snail mail" for a reason. We can pay our bills online and send emails to friends rather than letters. Who needs stamps? The other thing I don't like about Gmail Motion is the fact that the motions are full body. Who stands at their computer? Very few people. Also, can you imagine using this while working? It would like more like you are playing Dance Dance Revolution rather than actually performing work duties. Maybe it's a stepping stone that will get us to more useful technology involving human interaction with computers, but I don't see Gmail Motion taking off.

P.S. Dante, I didn't mean to steal your byline.

P.S.S. This is an elaborate Google April Fool's Joke. Hope you enjoyed it. I know I did!!!