Who's the Rabbi???

Isn't that a pretty picture....

Now if I'm not a great influence..... Here is a picture of my little sweet girl...holding something that says genocide on it. Well....She is a tyrant after all.

This poor child, I've been thinking about it, and from my influence alone by the time she is 5 years old she my be the only kid in kindergarten that knows about all concentration camps. And world war two. And how referees are striped incarnations of the anti-christ, based solely on the Jordan push-off of Russell "no-call" in the 1998 NBA Finals.

We are going to bore her mother to death with Mets baseball this summer.

Poor child...her father is a huge nerd...and an oppressive one at that.

She's going to be just like me.........

Hahahahahahahahahaha (to be read in a sinister tone).

And in passing... Joe, what is your number? I've been trying to get a hold of you for ages.



And we must revisit this picture, because it seems so very appropriate in light of my new job in the summer. Perhaps I should just leave that to your imagination. Unfortunately, I am familiar with some of my friends' imaginations, so I will tell you that I will be working on a research project studying premature lambs on respirators.... Maybe I should have left it to your imagination...

Good Fortune

Sometimes its better to not ask questions...just let good fortune smile upon you....

Like when I opened up my email and was greeted by this sight.

I share it with you now. Joe, this one's for you especially.

Marital Star Wars Debate

Ok, so I need some input. The other day we were driving to the Sandy library down 13th East and Meredith asks me an innocent, yet inflammatory question. "What is it with Star Wars?" I responded with the obvious incredulous look that any boy born between 1965 and the present would give, one that said, "Are you going to ask me why I love my grandmother next?" Honestly....what a ridiculous question. Only I couldn't answer her convincingly. So I come to you for help.

I thought of the obvious themes:

The black and white nature of good and evil (or is it?)
The combination of space, cowboys, pirates, robots, weird creatures, and explosions (perhaps some skeletons would have enhanced the film?)
The time period the movie came out, after the Vietnam War, and all those disaster films (Towering Inferno and the like)
The groundbreaking sound and visual effects.
The timeless story of the ordinary boy who finds out he is extraordinary?
The dialogue (hahahaha)

So what is it that makes Star Wars a given for every boy age 2 to 42? I'm looking to my nerdy friends especially on this one, you know who you are!

Tell me why it is an unquestioned part of our lives. Not that I really care to question, but when someone wants you to explain something so essential and basic to your existence, you need some ammo. So let me know what it is!!!

I would also be intrigued to hear of any dissenting opinions on the universality of the Star Wars male instinct.

Sign a copia

There are so many wonderfully ridiculous signs around SLC. My favorites are along State Street. Case in point below:



My question is...who's kitchen is it? We have three ethnicities fighting for one restaurant. Gino? David? Won't someone claim this place once and for all?

Another I have to get a picture of says simply "WIZARDS/DREAMS"

What a wonderful place that must be.

Here's a picture of my kid taking after her dad....what a sweet sweet hairdo. She's giving the camera the evil eye in the first one.




I supposedly have an early case of walking pneumonia....sounds like a bad B-movie horror film title...
I'm a bit skeptical of this diagnosis, but I'll take my z-pak like a good boy.

Oh, I thought of some more great signs on State street. As you drive by there are multiple seedy motels advertising the fleeting chance of not only a room, but "Color TV, and a Phone". Will the luxury never end?

Hey Bonesy!

I saw one of the most wondrous scenes I have ever witnessed the other day and I had to share it with you. This display was in a dinosaur museum down here in Utah. Actually it was a "museum of ancient life". If you drive past the point of the mountain you will see what I'm talking about. Well I thought it was just dinosaurs going in, but to my very very pleasant surprise, this sight greeted me as I turned one of the last corners in the museum.





There may not be anything as amusing to me as animated skeletons. I know some of you will be with me on this one. At least any of you who have any taste for the ridiculous. And just to preempt any "chicken or the egg" type theories that may develop about my fascination of skeletons and matriculation at medical school, the following will set straight the true chronology of events.













I will now attempt to defend my love of skeletons. If you find yourself in disagreement with me, please peruse the following. If you agree with me already (Joe, Mark, Cruz, etc.) just enjoy. Long ago, in a land far away (Disneyland in California) I witnessed, at the age of 5, my first animated skeleton. I'm not sure of this skeleton's name, only that his attempts at drinking from a bottle of rum were obviously quite futile.

At nearly the same time (shortly thereafter) I saw the 1929 Disney classic Silly Symphony - Dance of the Skeletons. Mr. Walt Disney began my addiction to skeletons. Every time I see a skeleton I now have the nearly irresistible urge to play its ribs like a xylophone. Highly inappropriate in many settings I find myself in currently. Numerous succeeding Halloweens could only serve to reinforce skeletons as hilarious.





And who could leave out the creations of Ray Harryhausen. See exhibit B and C below from Jason and the Argonauts and Sinbad, respectively. An honorable mention goes here to Clash of the Titans, because while lacking in skeletons, it abounds with other stop motion creatures from Mister Harryhausen (who, for the longest time, I thought was Harry Hausen, not Ray).



Exhibit B

via videosift.com


Exhibit C


Of course in this same tradition, or rather a tribute to it, is Sam Raimi's "Army of Darkness", chock full of animated skeleton goodness. The culmination of my love for skeletons came circa 2002, when Joe and I purchased a five foot tall cast skeleton. Yes Joe, you still get credit for that particular Ebay purchase despite a lack of ultimate financial backing.

"Duncan Xavier, the Duke of WellingBONE". (draw out the bone..."Booooooooowwwwennnnaaa"

I sold him to someone in Michigan for a handsome profit some months later, but not before plenty of entertainment was had by all.

Whether it be the imagined chattering mandibles or the free movement of joints unhindered by muscles and tendons, skeletons are truly natures physical comedians. The pure illogical nature of moving bones without the aid of musculature is worth diamonds in my book. So enjoy skeletons where ever you may see them. Let me know about your favorite skeleton cameos. And until we meet again I'll secretly chuckle at every x-ray I observe.

Kicked to the curb

An interesting week. Lauren has been sick all week. Our house has been like Rome under Caligula. Lots of ranting and raving and the servants are forced to just obey. She made us pronounce her teddy bear as her successor and top general. She getting a little better now, which is fortunate, because I think that means we won't have to follow through with the gladiatorial games in the kitchen.

Lk kept us both up so much lately that I missed 1 1/4 classes on Thursday. Not that that was such a bad thing, she kept us up the night before, I made it to class Wednesday, and slept right through most of an otherwise engaging discussion of the human bowel. As this is the area of the human body we are studying in earnest right now, I will not mention too much of the laboratory escapades from this week. Its better for you and better for me this way. If you find yourself disappointed or in withdrawals from this lack of explicitness, don't worry, we start the perineum next week.

With my cold I have apparently (at least this is what I'm told) started snoring. Subsequently I was summarily sent to the couch the other night. I have been subject to some master log sawers in my day, so I in no way consider this unjust treatment. And we do have a pretty comfy couch, but I do hope it resolves soon (Breath right strips are so 1995).

In truth we each taken turns on the couch. Its not because of Meredith that I was sent to the couch, the snoring just so happened to awaken the beast (Caligula), so it was really better for everyone involved that my snorting was sequestered to the living room. Otherwise LK would simply try to best my own noises with her dog whistles pitched screeching. I'm completely outmatched, I assure you.

I have two recommendations this week. One is "Word Play", an endearing little documentary about the cross word puzzle championship of the world. Oh my goodness, this must be what happens to the kids from "Spellbound" when they grow up. The next suggestion I have is that you look up Helmuth Hubener. (That's Hubener with an umlaut over the u".)
If you can find his leaflets, they're pretty astounding. He was a 17 year old german boy that resisted the nazis by tuning into the BBC and putting out leaflets refuting Goebbels progaganda. Really gutsy stuff.





Hmm...Breath Right strips are actually kind of nice....