The Everyday Miracle of Instant Communication

A few minutes ago (6:34 p.m. to be exact), I was pulling a bowl of chili out of the refrigerator for nuking in the ol' microwave. (Said chili was provided by our friend Stacey Accetta who sent it home with us last night after our Super Bowl bash.) Anyway, I happened to glance at the t.v. and saw the caption, "Fox News LIVE - 6:34 p.m., Los Angeles" over Sean Hannity's shoulder. Sean was having a little friendly banter with LA's mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Sean was in New York. Villaraigosa was here in California.

For some reason, seeing the NY/LA split-screen, and the "LIVE" caption sent me flashing back to my childhood. (Being an "old guy" blogger, you know that was a long time ago!) Anyway, I began recalling the many occasions when I'd be sitting with my dad in our Florida living room watching TV--network news and sports broadcasts, in particular .

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(Because my dad was born in 1905, I'll interrupt myself here with a little technological trivia about the 1st decade of the 20th century.)

• 1900 - The zeppelin was invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
• 1901 - A busy year: Gillette invented the double-edged safety razor blade; the first radio receiver received a radio transmission; Hubert Booth invented a compact vacuum cleaner (the earlier models required a horse! Don't ask!)
• 1902 - Willis Carrier invented the air conditioner
• 1903 - Another busy year: Edward Binney and Harold Smith co-invented crayons; the Wright Brothers invented the first gassed-motored/manned airplane; a woman named Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper
• 1904 - Thomas Sullivan invented the teabag
• 1905 - Einstein published his theory of relativity (E = mc2 ) and . . . Mary Anderson received a patent for her windshield wiper!
• 1906 - William Kellogg invented the corn flake
• 1907 - "Bakelite, " the first synthetic plastic, was invented by Leo Baekland; also, color photography was invented by Auguste and Louis Lumiere
• 1908 - Ford's Model T was first sold
• 1909 - Instant coffee was invented by G. Washington
• 1910 - Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture

A very productive slice of time, don't you think?
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Meanwhile, back to our humble living room in Kissimmee, Florida.

When Dad and I would watch any kind of news show in which an anchor in New York (Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite, for example) would converse with a colleague in Washington or Los Angeles (or LONDON!), my dad would shake his head, purse his lips, and grunt an incredulous "ummh!" He never ceased to be filled with awe and wonder about the technology which made a coast-to-coast conversation between newscasters possible. (He was similarly impressed with the microwave oven and the fact that something cold (a bowl of Stacey's chili , for example) could become piping hot in just seconds/minutes!) I can't help chuckling to myself when I think about how amazed he'd be with today's technological developments. He died in 1992--just before the widespread explosion of the internet and cellular communications. He'd never be able to wrap his head around Bluetooth! But . . . he'd have loved HDTV!

Come to think of it, those are pretty amazing things! (Just a bit more complex than Mary Anderson's windshield wiper!)

Pigskin Paradise

I watch . . . maybe two football games a season. (Truthfully, most years it's probably only one.) Of course that one game would be the Super Bowl! I'm a pathetic excuse for a sports fan, I know, but for some reason I usually get revved up for that one game each year. It may be the whole "national community" thing, knowing that tens of millions of Americans are glued to their flat screens. Maybe it's knowing that football season is finally over! :) I don't know for sure, but I really do enjoy it.

Anyway, this was the creme de la creme of 1-game seasons. Tonight Lyn and I shared the viewing experience with family and friends and food, and the whole thing was fantastic. Because of our NYC vacation last summer, it was easy to choose a team to root for this year.

I didn't enter the experience with any great expectations for the Giants, especially hearing all the sports pros (and my colleagues at church) place such low odds on Eli and company. Therefore, it was especially fun to be in the same room with people who watch football all the time, knowing that this game was really one of those magical, Cinderella contests, destined to be talked about for years to come.

Even though I don't have much experience as either a participant OR spectator in football, I know an amazing play when I see one: that "miraculous" showstopper when Manning refused to be tackled and then proceeded to throw the pass that put his team into scoring (winning) position. It was really a memorable moment. I can only imagine how it must have been for true Giants fans (not to mention those who'd wagered some risky $$ on the team)!

Of course, Jordin got the whole thing off to a great start with her rendering of the National Anthem. Goosebumps!

A great way to spend an evening!

When "Super-Duper" and "Fat" Tuesdays Converge

I was driving to my daughter's house this morning and passed a Catholic church with a huge banner across the front of the building. The sign said, "Ash Wednesday Mass & Ashes." Then it struck me that with Easter being so early this year, Lent would be early as well. Which means Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) and Ash Wednesday are upon us.

The irony of Fat Tuesday and Super (Duper) Tuesday coinciding is fascinating to me. (The fact that both are occurring right in the wake of Super Bowl weekend further heightens the irony.) The wildest day in the church calendar year meets the wildest day in a presidential election year. Can't you just picture the presidential hopefuls decked out in gaudy gold, green, and purple costumes in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade? Really? Me either. (Although it might be nice to see Hillary in something besides a less-than-flattering pantsuit! )

The conclusion of the matter: No matter how some people try, ya just can't separate church and state!

Depending on how things turn out in the voting booths of 22 states, there may be lots of folks smearing ashes on their foreheads Wednesday morning--for reasons other than confession!

Don't confuse me with . . .

I tried to Google my blog site last night...just the "Old Guy Blogging" part. I discovered there's another OG out there who blogs...and we basically share the same site name. (His doesn't have the "Caution" prefix.)

If you happen to look at his site ( http://mckora.blogspot.com/ ) your first impression will probably be that he's a strong Republican, based upon the headline. If you read it, however, you'll discover that he thinks the Democrats are actually too conservative for his tastes!

Anyway, it's safe to say that our views of things are strongly opposite--for blogging old guys!

Also, I discovered that there's another Don Sewell out there who actually made it to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. Whoda thunk it? In RIFLE Shooting, no less!

( http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/honoured/1993/dSewell.htm )

JT's Super Bowl Pepsi Commercial

When you're watching the Super Bowl tomorrow night, check out some detail on Justin Timberlake's Pepsi commercial. The venue where he's with his buds is his NYC restaurant, Southern Hospitality, your basic sit-down BBQ establishment.

Lyn. Kristi, and I ate there this summer on our Manhattan Madness vacation. In fact, Lyn and I think JT and his cronies are probably sitting at the very same table we did, though maybe moved a few feet for filming purposes. We were there for their pre-launch, so the menu was really limited, and the service staff was clueless. (Example: I know it sounds like a trivial thing, but they didn't have honey for their warm, fluffy biscuits!! What southern-themed restaurant would forget to include honey in their "must-have" condiment list?) Soooo, even though I can't recommend the joint based upon our one-shot experience, I'd assume they've got their act together by now.

Since the commercial renewed our warm & fuzzy "New York State of Mind," we may be forced to eat at the SH again next time we visit the Big Apple. (But I'll make sure Lyn throws a couple of little packets of honey in her purse!)

Enjoy the commercial!

Wish I'd Written THIS

Hands-down, Dean Koontz is one of my all-time favorite writers.  He usually gets labeled in the  "Horror" genre, but I think that really does him a disservice.  Granted, some of his books are smack-dab in the middle of horror (and these are my least favorite), but most of them--even the ones with "out there" story lines--are uplifting and full of brilliant humanitarian ideals.

I'm sharing here one of my favorite Koontz observations from one of his great books.  (I think it comes from From the Corner of His Eye.)  I  wish I'd written this.  Actually, what I really wish is that I could live each day of my life operating from this perspective.  Hope it resonates with you!

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Not one day in anyone's life is an uneventful day, no day without profound meaning, no matter how dull and boring it might seem, no matter whether you are a seamstress or a queen, a shoeshine boy or a movie star, a renowned philosopher or a Down's-Syndrome child.  Because in every day of your life, there are opportunities to perform little kindnesses for others, both by conscious acts of will and unconscious example.  Each smallest act of kindness--even just words of hope when they are needed, the remembrance of a birthday, a compliment that engenders a smile--reverberates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it's passed, until a simple courtesy becomes and act of selfless courage years later and far away. Likewise, each small meanness, each thoughtless expression of hatred, each envious and bitter act, regardless of how petty, can inspire others, and is therefore the seed the ultimately produces evil fruit, poisoning people whom you have never met and never will.

All human lives are so profoundly and intricately entwined--those dead, those living, those generations yet to come--that the fate of all is the fate of each, and the hope of humanity rests in every heart and in every pair of hands.  Therefore, after every failure, we are obliged to strive again for success, and when faced with the end of one thing, we must build something new and better in the ashes, just as from pain and grief, we must weave hope; for each of us is a thread critical to the strength--to the very survival--of the human tapestry.  Every hour of every life contains such often-unrecognized potential to affect the world that the great days for which we, in our dissatisfaction, so often yearn are already with us; all great days and thrilling possibilities are combined always in this momentous day.

What If . . .

No matter where you stand (or lean) in your political opinions, you gotta admit this year's presidential candidate pool is fascinating, to say the least.

I was intrigued when one of the moderators at last night's Democratic Duh!-bate suggested the possibility of two "Dream Ticket" scenarios for '08: Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton.

So, since we're dreaming, I indulged in a little imaginative presidential pondering of my own.

What if . . . the two Arkansas candidates (Red/Blue) had somehow followed different destinies years ago? Met, fell in love, married, and pursued similar political goals? We'd have HILLARY HUCKABEE!

What if . . . the GOP guys were brothers? We'd have MITT McCAIN or JOHNNY ROMNEY!

What if . . . the parents of the Illinois senator had consulted Ted Kennedy on the naming of their son back when? We'd have OSAMA OBAMA!

Talk about some dream teams!!! (At least, dream names!)