Tomorrow, minus 25 years, the World Came to Knoxville

Read about all the festivities planned. (ahem)

Wrong

This is wrong on so many levels it just reeks wrongness with its wrongly wrong wrongitude.

Local church uses wrestling as witnessing tool

Did I mention it's just wrong???



(Sorry, BS Tommy)

Reaching the Point

This was an exhausting weekend. I spent approximately 5-1/2 hours on Saturday and 7 hours on Sunday working auditions for and casting "Suessical" - my next big production I'm Music Directing. I'll be keeping tabs of that show as time goes on until we open at the end of June. I hope local folks will be make plans to come see it, it's a great show for kids and all fans of Dr. Suess.

In addition to that, The Atomic Horns played Saturday night at a cruise ship-themed fundraiser for Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge and its Foundation. We started playing around 7pm and I finally left about midnight. Again I didn't sleep well that night, with the usual post-gig "wiredness" keeping me awake.

On top of all that, my dad's doing much better. He should be heading home from the hospital today.

At one point yesterday afternoon in the middle of auditions, I almost reached that point of exhaustion. Combine with additional drama at home afterwards as the director and I tried to solve other casting problems over the phone, plus a partial meltdown by Brainyboy....

I slept well last night.

What pleased me about the aftermath of Brainyboy's meltdown is that he came back out and contritely apologized, admitted he had messed up and told us he didn't know how to keep from losing his temper. It was a nice step for him. I had taken away some TV privileges but restored them since I think I saw some growth at that point. What do you think, should I have hung tough and kept the punishment or restored the privileges based on his apology?

Stent

My dad is having a coronary artery stent put in Friday afternoon about noon. Everything should be fine.

Please remember him, my mom and my family in your prayers.

UPDATE: Everything went fine, no problems in the procedure. There was a possibility he might've had to had two stents because another artery nearby could've been blocked when the first one was opened up, but it turned out to not be necessary.

He should go home Sunday - thank you for all your kind words :)

And in the, "Expressions That Came Out of Nowhere and I Wish Would Really Just Go Away" Department...

"Oh, snap!"

And Then You See It, Ominously Floating Over the Hilltop, and All You Hear is the Breathing...

This is probably the greatest thing ever.



Can you imagine seeing that thing flying over your head?

Interviewed By a Kat

I've been interviewed by Tish. She asked me five questions and I'm answering her here.

If you'd like me to ask you five questions, leave me a reply in the comments. You will then post the questions and your answers on your site.

1. What were you like in high school?

I spent a lot of time in the arts (band, chorus, drama) and hung out with all the people I knew in those areas. I was also in the honors English program, so I knew that set of people. Our class at Knoxville Central High School was fairly small that year, actually the smallest class that had come through in many years, so I knew a lot of people that most arts students wouldn't typically know. I never dated anyone in high school, but it wasn't from lack of trying - which was a source of great frustration for me. Schoolwork was fairly easy, and I never really had any desire to stay out late and party. Going to Mr Gatti's on Clinton Hwy (RIP) after football games was quite enough for me. My high school experience was overall very positive and I didn't develop any of the angst and disillusionment so many teens seemed to feel back then and on into today.


2. If you could have three wishes, what would they be?

a) I wish people would take time to see the other side of their arguments and who they're arguing with.
b) I wish there were 36 hours in a day.
c) I wish I could fly.


3. How and when did you know that Laura was the woman you wanted to marry?

When she suggested we go look at rings at the jewelry store and I heard myself agreeing. For a number of months she'd been hinting about it, and I'd always resisted (in a joking way) until one day I just agreed.


4. If you could have any job, other than the one you currently have, what would it be and why?

I'd work with John Lassater as a Disney Imagineer to develop new Disney attractions, or to develop theme park worlds and other immersive experiences like MagiQuest or Wannnado City


5. If you could go back in time to any period in history, where would you go?

Here are a few: I'd like to go back to the mid-Cretaceous or mid-Jurassic to observe real dinosaurs in the wild. I'd like to see an actual performance of Oedipus Rex in a Greek theatre, as well as see a medieval melodrama circus, see Macbeth at the Globe Theatre, attend a performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle or watch the opening night of "Oklahoma!". I'd like to see and hear Beethoven conduct his 9th Symphony. I'd like to attend the taping of an episode of "I Love Lucy" or "The Dick Van Dyke Show". I'd like to see the faces of Generals Lee and Grant as they signed the surrender documents at Appomattox Courthouse. I'd like to be at one of the legendary UT/Bama games when the other General and the Bear prowled the sidelines. And I'd like to visit the 1982 World's Fair one more time.

Hang on a second, let me check outside....

.

.

.

Rats, still no Delorean in the parking lot. Maybe someday...

Watermelon, Watermelon, Watermelon

Ever have one of those Tom Sawyer kind of days?

Where the weather's nice, not too hot, sunny... the kids are outside playing, you're in the house reading a book. Yeah, me neither.

No wait, that happened to me yesterday. And wherein there lies an adventure. Of sorts. Of the gastronomical variety. But bear with me.

Brainyboy asks me to come outside and shoot some hoops, so I slap my tennies on and go outside. He's demonstrating his complete mastery of the standing-backward-to-the-goal-flipping-the-ball-over-his-head bank shot which doesn't do much more than fly straight up in the air and hit me on the head, when we hear a sound...

A sweet, sweet sound. Musical almost. The sound that to me brings back hot summer days roasting in the St. Thomas sun, fingers idly lapping at the surf... Oh wait, that wasn't me. Anyway I recalled the hot Tennessee summers of my youth as the melodious tones of a wandering Ice Cream Truck reached our ears.

BB looked at me, eyes gleaming, tongue lolling.

I said sure, and to go ask his mom if she wanted one, and to bring me my wallet.

So to make a short story impossibly longer, the ice cream truck finally rolls down the street (anti-grav engines still some years away from ice cream truck installation). We make our purchases. A strawberry Crunch thing for BB, an ice cream sandwich for mom, and Tink and I decide on something called a Watermelon Bomb Pop. I remember eating plenty of those red, white and blue bomb pops when I was a kid (and those were available too) but you can't beat the taste of artificially flavored watermelon gelatin-based frozen ice treat.

So we dug in.

The kids wandered off again, BB inside the house and Tink to talk to the kids next door and gloat at her new treat. Laura and I sat around the front door steps and chatted, downing our treats.

Mmmmmmm.

Mine was quite good - the red part was watermelon flavored (whoda thought?) and the green I believe was lime. Since I'm a greedy ice cream eater, I chomped down almost to the bottom...

And bit into something harder than regular ice.

I reached a finger into my mouth and pulled out a sliver of something....black. My immediate thought was an old filling, but I couldn't imagine ice cream doing something like that and it wasn't hard enough for a filling.

The second thought was...bug. A fly. About the right shape and consistency... Ok, gross. G-R-O-S-S. I glanced down at the pop and saw a small cavity where the strange nasty black mass had lived only moments before I bit it out.

I tossed the stuff to the ground and showed the pop to Laura. She was puzzled but suggested I see if the other side had anything in it. Sure, hey, anything for science.

I bit into the other side, and found another black mass. I spit out the (then) offending green, red and black mass on the ground.

Are you seeing where this is going?

Fearing both our watermelon pops had been contaminated, I called Tink over and asked to see her pop. Thus far, no offending black mass on hers. I asked her if she'd noticed any strange dark objects in her Watermelon Pop.

Notice, strange dark objects. The light had still not yet begun to dawn on me.

"What?" Tink said. "No, daddy, those are seeds."

*blink*

"Oh," I said. And I looked at the wrapper description:

Cool down with the taste of refreshingly sweet watermelon - complete with sweet candy seeds and a lime rind!

Ok, return to your homes, citizens. Nothing to see here.

I finished my yummy Watermelon Bomb Pop, candy black seeds and all.

Now this time it wasn't the magical sound of the ice cream truck I heard, but my dear wife and daughter laughing at me.

But I'll get them back, oh, I will....

Take a Deep Breath

That clean smell you smell is the yard mowed, mulch laid, house vacuumed and dusted, all that spring cleaning type stuff one does in well, the spring. Which is now, finally that the thermometer has decided to come out of hiding. The temp was in the 80's this weekend and the skies were sunny so the annual shaking out of the cobwebs to ensue.

Gonzales

GOP senator calls for Gonzales to resign

The best way to put this behind us is your resignation," Sen. Tom Coburn (news, bio, voting record) of Oklahoma bluntly told Gonzales, one conservative to another. Gonzales disagreed, rejecting the idea that his departure would put the controversy to rest.

Ok, so this is like the biggest non-story in the past year or so. I've followed this peripherally, and correct me if I'm wrong, but nobody is alleging Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez did anything illegal in being involved in firing the federal judges, correct?

There are no Democrats accusing him of doing something that was outside the rights and duties of his job, or outside the laws of the United States, right? Am I correct in that assumption?

And am I further correct in assuming that the sole reason they feel the Attorney General of the United States is incompetent and incapable of doing his job....is because he did something political, and that they didn't like? I mean, that's all there is isn't it?

That's it???

Are they really that stupid to waste time on that???

And, by not calling them on it, are we?

Friday's Feast

Feast One Hundred & Forty

Appetizer - What is your favorite kind of bread?

I love all kinds of bread - hard to pick a favorite. I like sourdough when it's not hard and crusty. My favorite is a good butter and garlic-covered french bread or italian.


Soup - When was the last time you bought a new pillow?

People buy new pillows? You're asking a guy this?


Salad - Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net?

Way more than I should. Since the web is my job and I'm constantly online during the work day I have to say 40 hours a week, plus another 10 at home in the evening or over the weekend. So 50 hours a week or so.


Main Course - What’s the highest you remember your temperature being?

735 Kelvin. Or that may just have been the fever talking...


Dessert - Fill in the blanks: When I ____________, I _____________.

When I feel wronged, I brood.

Why Do I Blog?

I have been tagged by Tish for the "Why Do You Blog?" meme that is currently circulating around the blogosphere. I am supposed to name five reasons that I blog.

1. I don't make the time to do any other kind of creative writing, and this is a good way to express myself that doesn't take a lot of time.

2. I enjoy being part of an online local community.

3. I like floating thoughts, theories, etc about TV shows that I watch. Ok, that one's kind of lame :)

4. It's important to me to have someplace I can float ideas about current events, things I'm thinking about, and get opinions and ideas from people I trust.

5. The voices in my head tell me to.



I'm not going to tag five more people, anyone can do this one.

Thinking Blog Award

I can't imagine many bloggers who don't think more than me. It's not difficult to make the first cut. My thoughts are random, incoherent and more likely to stray into random TV show musings than deep philosophy or logical reasonings. Anyway, here's the rules:

1. If you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the “Thinking Blogger Award” with a link to the post that you wrote.

And Inn of the Last Home's 2007 Thinking Blog Awards go to:

1. The Beast's Lair for helping me think about spiritual matters, and how important it is to reach youth with the love of God.

2. Tennessee Kings because she's my kids' school librarian, a great mom, a new friend and a fun new blog to read. Julie cares a lot about kids and how they grow up by reading.

3. Bedazzled because she shows me often how important family is.

4. Logtar helps me think about how to live in relation to others that might not be quite like myself.

5. And finally, of course, Uncle Mikey makes me think about good times, laughs, discussions, trips, enjoying kids, watching TV, and just enjoying the company - even far away - of a good friend.

Post Coming

Tish has tagged me for the "Why Do I Blog" meme.

Jay has thoughtfully given me one of his "Thinking Blog" Awards.

I will get to these memes soon, I promise.... Thanks, guys!

"Ismael" is another spelling for "Is Lame"

Can we just end all the speculation right there?

Wait...if you add in "Ax" you could get "Lame Axis". Maybe he was an anti-Nazi?





Ok, that's what I get for watching too much Lost...

More Lost-guistics

Moriah Vineyards

Don't Feel Too Bad...

News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy issues a "mea culpa" of sorts on his site in regards to the headline in this morning's paper:

Blood on their hands: Did Va. Tech officials do enough?

McElroy explains a bit the thinking behind the headline:

The newspaper's story, we knew, could not and should not simply recite what occurred as if we were delivering fresh news. Instead, we knew we would have to examine new angles. Likewise, a straight headline reporting the massacre would seem quite dated, and the suggestion was made to look for a quote that might serve as a headline, advancing the story and reflecting its emotional impact.

Jack shouldn't feel too badly, since the Sentinel was trying to think ahead and project out what would be of interest the next morning. However NBC News Nightline last night presented an hour's worth of "coverage" that was little more than thinly-veiled accusations, innuendo, and "I wonder if..." masquerading as same-evening coverage of the massacre. Throughout the broadcast (at least the first half, after which I couldn't watch any more through my disgust) the NBC News staff floated all kinds of questions like, "Did administration officials do enough" without real evidence at that point to back any kinds of questions up.

We hear it all the time these days...no questions may exist in a particular controversy until a reporter floats out a speculative question or two - then through repetition the questions become accusations and reputations are ruined.

I'm not saying they're at all untrue - the Va. Tech officials may have a lot to answer for in the days and weeks ahead - but at that point in the story it was too soon for the media to begin pointing fingers, winking and nudging the hand of blame away from the shooter and toward the school.

But it's all in the name of ratings, of course. Sensationalism is the norm, and just reporting the facts is boring.

News Sentinel, at least you tried to think ahead. You deal with an impossible 24-hour news story turnaround in an instant access news world. But NBC has no such excuse.

In the "Things You Didn't Really Need to Know" Department..

After sliding into third base last night at my softball game, I now have a huge bruise on my butt.



Yep, like the title said...



Anyway, I've played CoEd church league softball for about 7-8 years now and enjoyed every minute of it. Well, except for the final game of the season two years ago when my family came to see me play and the coach never even put me in the game. But other than that...

I played baseball when I was younger and have always loved playing first base - there's something about the potential to be involved in every single play from the plate that's always appealed to me. With my long frame I'm good at grabbing those errant throws that most other, smaller guys can't reach. My arm's improved somewhat over the years, as has my hitting.

This season I'm 4-5 with four singles, a fly out and a fielder's choice (FC doesn't count as an official At-Bat, right dad?). I've got that mid-range to either hit the ball on the ground through the gap between 2nd and 3rd or drop it into short field.

Well, last night after my 2nd at-bat I found myself on 2nd base. The batter hit a slow grounder between the 3rd-base(woman) and 3rd, and she bobbled it picking it up in her glove. Racing to put the tag on me at the base, I slid and knocked the ball away from her glove. When I felt the impact on my foot, I really thought I'd slid into her jaw and broken it. There's a such a terrifying feeling when you think you might've actually hurt someone - it shook me up for a little while and I wasn't able to ascertain exactly what had happened until later in the game. She was fine.

But I have the bruise to remind me...



I've never been in a real fight. Even in school as a kid, the worst tumble I ever got into was a wrestling match with this skinny kid my freshman year. I've never punched anyone, or had any kind of actual physical altercation. With my size, I think I could probably hurt someone if necessary, to protect myself or others. I obviously hope it never comes to that, but I also wonder how much of my heart would ever go into it (assuming my emotions didn't totally take over) because I always care too much about the other person and would be extremely concerned if they were hurt or injured. I guess that's a good thing.

Knoxville Google Map "Huh?"

I've lived in Knoxville my whole life, but since when did Kingston Pike also carry the moniker "Broadway of America?"




Apparently this starts west of Pellissippi Parkway/I-140. Maybe it's a Farragut thing...I blame rezoning.

We already have one Broadway in Knoxville. Don't need another....

BrainyBoy and Friends Rock

Catch the whole story on Brainyboy's team excursion to Nashville this weekend for the state Destination Imagination competition.

(He's the one in the Buzz Lightyear costume)

Come One Come All

Tonight the Atomic Horns play their first more-or-less open-to-the-public concert...

Atomic Horns
Eagles Lodge
Oak Ridge
(turn left at the Illinois Ave./OR Turnpike intersection, it's just ahead on the right. There's apparently a "FOR SALE" sign in the yard)

I have no idea what cover is (I assume its minimal) but kids under 18 are not allowed.

The Atomic Horns play all styles of music, from funk to rock to soul to polka (ok, no polka - but we'd sure like to). Elvis, Jimmy Buffet, Motown, oldies, Blues Brothers, all over the map. There's something for everyone, and we try to make sure everyone has a good time....

Last night we played for the Oak Ridge Playhouse fundraiser. The event was at the new Flatwater Grill/Inspiration Point in Oak Ridge and the facility/restaurant there is amazing, go have dinner there some night. We were under a tent behind the meeting rooms, and it was cold and drizzly. I have a sore throat this morning, but it isn't affecting my voice thank goodness.

Come on down tonight!

Quote of the Day

"I have too much to lose by getting on this ride, my hair, my eyelashes, my fingernails. Lord knows what else will spill out," Dolly Parton said.

-- Dolly Parton, regarding riding "Mystery Mine", the new roller coaster at Dollywood

Friday's Feast

Feast One Hundred & Thirty Nine

Appetizer - When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite?

Any of the natural greens: kelly green, forest green....it's something that's carried over throughout my life as organic greens are very calming and yet vibrant to me.


Soup - On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move?

I'd say a 3 - It would be very difficult to actaully leave Knoxville, as I have lived here all my life. My wife would have to find a new, comparable job in the new location (unless my new salary would be enough so she didn't have to work. Both our sets of parents live here, our church is here, all my extended family... I can't ever imagine leaving Knoxville or the mountains of East Tennessee for anoth---

*RING RING*

hello?

"Yes, please hold for Mr. John Lassater..."

(I'll get back to you guys...I need to take a call)


Salad - Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total?

9488

Main Course - Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to?

We've occasionally received white elephant gifts at Christmas parties that we've given again the following year at other parties, but they're such small gifts and fairly impersonally given, it's no big deal if you don't want it.


Dessert - Name something you need from the store.

I want a keyboard carrying case from the Guitar Store.

UPDATE (04/13/07): Got it!!


UPDATE (04/14/07): Here's how I arrived at my number. 12+30+1966 (my birthday) + 865+xxx+xxxx (my phone number) adds up to a big ol' number (the subtotal is 2873. Subtract that from the total of 9488 and see if you can guess my phone number. Good luck.

Lost-guistics

1) Herarat Airways - the new airlines on "Lost".


her-a-rat - adj, Hirsute, full of hair.


What does this mean? I have no idea. Only that Juliet has long hair. Other than that, I'm stumped.

Well, it could also be a play on "Here a rat".


2) Sabine, the "Other" woman who died on the table in Juliet's flashback.

The Sabines were an ancient race of people who lived in Italy near Rome. Legends hold that the Sabine women were abducted by the Romans to help populate Rome, and later threw themselves and their children in between their own men and the Romans to stop war.

The "Other" women were trying to survive pregnancy, and presumably populate the Island. Juliet herself was "kidnapped" to assist that process, so in a manner of speaking she is a Sabine woman. She of the herarat blond locks.

Perhaps she will eventually throw herself and her (Claire's?) child between the Losties and the Others to prevent open conflict....

Coding Help

If anyone out there who can point me in the right direction where I can find the differences in Javascript support between Internet Explorer and Firefox, I'd gratefully appreciate it. Or someone I can just ask a question about it to.

I have a Javascript function that works great in IE6, but totally crashes out in FF2 - I need it to be able to work in both, or it's back to the drawing board.

And back to the drawing board would make me very cranky. And I don't need cranky right now.

This Just In....

Tennessee's oldest resident dies in Maryville

Marion Stout -- thought to be the oldest person in Tennessee -- has died at a Maryville nursing home. She was 111.

Our crack staff of gully dwarf newshounds have set out to interview the newest oldest resident of Tennessee, but have been unable to track him/her down. Reports vary but most seem to say the person is in hiding, shaking in their boots as they know they are surely the next to go.

Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.




(I know, old SNL Weekend Update joke. But it's still funny)

One Liners

• Imus Apologizes For Controversial Comments About Rutgers Players
  
  The only thing more pathetic than a Howard Stern is somebody trying to imitate a Howard Stern.
  
  
• Bleakest climate report approved
  
  It's so important to make global a political issue with both sides, it's going to slip up and turn into a disaster.
  
  

UPDATE (04/09/07): I wanted to pull this out of comments and put it out here to explain a little more what I meant...

Buck said:

I love Don Imus. I have listened to him for years and years.

I figure he did not call the team anything that their coach has not already called them at times when they were behind at the half or what they called each other when their play was not up to standards.

Don has apologized. His apology this morning was difficult to watch for those of us who know what he is and what he does.

All that is left now is to write a check to Rutgers. I think that is what is called "reaching out". He should go ahead and do that and put this all behind him.

I replied:

There are comments that come out of people's mouths that demonstrate the kind of people they are, inside.

When you say something like Imus said, it freezes your persona for that moment in time. We get a glimpse of a person's soul. No amount of contrition, apologies, personal appearances, offers to meet with players/families/etc in the days following the event can remove the fact that the opinion exists and will continue to exist. We may forgive, and Rutgers may forgive but it does not expunge his permanent record, unless some clear pattern of behavioral change becomes apparent.

We all have terrible thoughts in our head. I daresay anyone reading this has a very good chance of having denigrating thoughts about blacks, whites, women, men, gays, Arabs, Jews, Yankees, southerners, Florida fans, Trekkies, NASCAR fans, fantasy league players, whatever. In our private, most secret thoughts we may get a flashing impulse across our brain: "That (person) is a real ****". But just as quickly, that thought passes by and reason, good taste and morality prevails. Sometimes we might even feel guilty for having such a judgmental thought.

But others allow those thoughts to find residence, and worse to come out their mouths and become public. When you make that step, the thought has already become a belief and you can't just apologize it away. You have to be willing to understand what was wrong about it, and take steps to correct it.

Rush Limbaugh has made similar comments about Michael J Fox. Comedian Michael Richards got in trouble for letting his latent bigotry come out when he was angered. Some of us remember Jimmy the Greek's comments many years ago.

We are commanded to forgive. Most of us do so freely, not because of the command but because we know it's the right thing to do. But we cannot simply shrug and say, "Yeah, we know you didn't mean it." because they did, and that fact will be around for a long, long time.

Friday's Feast

Feast One Hundred & Thirty Eight

Appetizer - When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?

I love flying, and enjoy taking a plane to a far-off place. I don't mind riding in a car for a long distance as long as I have decent legroom, but I don't enjoy driving for extended periods of time... I rarely ever ride a bus - I can't remember the last time I was one on. I enjoy riding bikes, but I don't have one right now since there's really no where around my neighborhood to ride one. I like boating, but most especially I love sailing on a cruise ship. That's probably my favorite form of travel.


Soup - Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?

I've been to a couple of Blogger Bashes here in Knoxville, most recently a couple of months ago...


Salad - When was the last time you were really, really tired?

Probably after my last workout. Whenever that was...


Main Course - If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?

I'd have a drink with Hawkeye Pierce, dinner with President Jed Bartlett and "dessert" with Jamie Buchman.


Dessert - Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _______________.

One day, I hope to see The Loch Ness Monster.

Just Calm Down, Everyone...

Yes, I know we've hit Dogwood Winter here in the East Tennessee and the South in general.

Yes, I know that it's supposed to dip below freezing tonight and outside flowering plants and small crops could be affected if not protected.

Yes, it's nippy out.

But c'mon - the low will be in the mid-to-upper-20's. It was colder than that a month or so ago.

Really, people, we're not going to die. Put on a sweater and live with it for a couple of days...

This is Just Wrong....

I'm sorry Michael but if you agree with this we've got to have a long talk examining our friendship...

Serenity named top sci-fi movie

Space thriller Serenity has beaten Star Wars to the title of best sci-fi movie in an SFX magazine poll of 3,000 fans.

I would wager there was a massive ballot-stuffing initiative by Serenity fans, because that just doesn't make sense the general public - even the general sci-fi public - would choose it over Star Wars.

But interestingly, the poll now shows Star Wars (36%) in front of Serenity (28%).

Sometimes reason prevails...

AND ONE MORE MAKES.....

7!!!

One Month

Yesterday was April 1, 2007.

In one month it will be May 1, the 25th Anniversary of the grand opening of the 1982 World’s Fair here in Knoxville, TN.

What is Knoxville planning to commemorate this silver anniversary of arguably the biggest, most important event to happen to this city?

As far as I can tell, nothing.

If anyone has heard of anything - anything at all - being planned to honor or remember this date and occasion, please let me know and I’ll publicize it here.

Otherwise I guess we’ll all just have to celebrate quietly at home with friends….


(Crossposted with 25th Anniversary of 1982 World's Fair blog.)

The Big Announcement

I have a big announcement to make, and this is not going to be easy.

I've spent several weeks debating whether to share this with the blog audience but I think everybody has a right to know.

One's physical appearance has a lot to do with one's self-confidence and how they interact with the world. If one is convinced they are "ugly" or somehow not presentable in modern society it can affect how you deal with coworkers, clients, even the girl at the grocery store. It can cause one to shun human contact and eventually become a recluse.

I think I have the strength of will to overcome that. My self image, while not spectacular, may survive this big thing that's happened to me.

It's embarrassing to bring up, but I'm confident my friends in the blogging community will be supportive and help me cope.

You see, I have a banana in my ear.

I just woke up one morning and it was there. Small, green, a couple inches long. Growing out of my left ear. I hoped to ignore it at first but it was too obvious to pretend it didn't exist. I tried floppy hats, wool hats, even a took. By last week it was simply too big to hide anymore, so I've decided not to worry about it anymore.

There have moments I've been tempted to, well, peel it and eat it. But I'm afraid it will hurt so I haven't yet. But it smells so good, and appears to have the potential of making a good banana pudding. I must resist.

I will be venturing out in public with this banana in my ear and I will wear it proudly. I won't be ashamed, and I won't be afraid of the reactions I'll get.

I have confirmation that I am, ahem, appealing in my own right.

I've even decided to start my own support group, "Really Ugly Banana Ears", with which I'll share my story and help others combat this social stigma.

I hope you will join the bunch in supporting people with bananas in their ears, and help everyone recognize our rightful place in this world.