Monthly Archives: May 2007

Ryan Seacrest, Speaker of the House

In the midst of his extensive internet travels, official Mindreader anti-lock brake consultant Tobin uncovered a dirty little secret about the electoral process in the United States:

Yes, that’s right, an American Idol runner-up is representing Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives. And he’s so important that he merits two separates grades.  (How he manages to pass and fail at the same time … well, only Simon Cowell can explain that.)

So remember: that vote for your favorite Idol contestant is far more important than you thought!

(Grades grabbed from the GOA House Ratings.)

Photo of the Variable Time Period, vol. 102

Memory aids (28 May 2007).

Local veterans honor their fallen comrades-in-arms at Chelsea’s Memorial Day parade.

After the ceremony, I had the honor of having a conversation with Richard Laws, a World War II veteran who was very pleasant and willing to speak of his experiences. His uniform informed me that he served as a paratrooper, and he informed me that he fought in the Pacific.

Our brief conversation yielded an interesting tidbit. Before Truman decided to drop the bombs on Japan, Laws was part of the plans for an invasion of Japan; however, the Japanese found out about the invasion, and they would have been waiting for Laws and his fellow paratroopers. So, Laws told me, “Truman saved [his] life” when he decided to bomb Japan.

(Full Memorial Day gallery.)

It’s a holiday for a reason

At the end of Band of Brothers, one of the veterans portrayed in that remarkable series quotes the words of a fellow veteran.

I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, “Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?”

Grandpa said, “No, but I served in a company of heroes.”

Happy Memorial Day.

(Those of you who have not yet seen Band of Brothers should remedy that oversight as soon as possible.)

How much aluminum could an aluminumchuck chuck?

A few weeks ago, the New York City Council chose to ban aluminum bats in high school baseball, saying a move back to wood bats would make the game safer; more recently, the Detroit Free Press decided to run a story with local opinion on the topic of aluminum bats. And for that story, they happened to contact a very familiar baseball coach:

Chelsea baseball coach Wayne Welton, who has been coaching for 30 years, wouldn’t mind switching to wooden bats.

Welton’s preference for wood bats wasn’t a surprise to me, but I was interested to note that he does not consider it a safety issue.

“I just think that so many kids get a false sense that they’re pretty good hitters using that big barrel of the metal bat,” Welton said.

[…]

“If we used wood bats, we would develop better hitters,” he said.

And he has one other problem with aluminum bats:

“That ‘ping’ sound makes me cringe today,” he said. “I’d much rather hear the crack of the wood, myself.”

Welton’s quotes also made an appearance at the end of a Freep article concerning the likelihood of a similar ban in Michigan.

(If the Freep links are cantankerous, try reading the stories here and here.)

Photo of the Variable Time Period, vol. 100 – Special Old-School Edition

In honor of the 100th installment of the Photo of the Variable Time Period series, I’ve gone back to the beginning. No, not the beginning of tPotVTP — that started with one image last August — but the beginning of my foray into digital photography. I got my Canon Digital Rebel XT on 31 August 2005, and … well, you can see what’s happened since then.

Anyway, a week and a half after I got my Rebel XT, I took the picture that was destined to be the 100th Photo of the Variable Time Period.

The shade of the Irish (10 September 2005).

Official Mindreader Aerospace Engineer Becky enjoys a superb shade tree on the campus of Notre Dame.

I’m sorry; I just don’t have the time

Last year, Official Mindreader Troubadour Jenny presented me with an item I had long desired: a Fauxlex from New York. The watch has given me no real problems over the last year; in fact, it has been an excellent watch. But last week I was reminded that even the mighty Fauxlex is subject to the ravages of Burrill.

I was driving back to Michigan after a weekend in Columbus, and along the way, I stopped at the wonderfully-named Love’s Travel Stop. When I got out of my car, I remembered just a moment too late that my watch was not on my wrist, but on my lap; as a result, my watch took a fall onto the pavement.

At first glance, I happily noticed only that the hands were in their proper places performing their proper functions. But then I looked again, and I noticed that something had changed.

That’s right: in my Fauxlex’s opinion, 9 and 10 o’clock are no longer fixed times; they may occur at any moment. But don’t worry; as soon as the jeweler successfully reattaches the hour markers, 9 and 10 o’clock will return to their regularly-scheduled time slots.

(Other reading: there is another satisfied owner of a Fauxlex.)