KC Mayor's Christmas Tree Lighting

I got some nice blog fodder when we went to our "spot" to read at Union Station. We saw the huge miniature train sets, and walked the Link, and went to Crown Center where there was a gingerbread house set up. Then we happened to stumble upon the Christmas Tree lighting celebration. They were about to light the mayor's Christmas Tree for KC MO in 30 minutes. So we stuck around. We sat right in front of the tree. First there was a really bad band playing, and then the KC Symphony Chorus sang too many songs. A few people said a few words. Some one gave us some candles and lit them. So finally, about an hour later, we counted down and the lights came on, and then there was a fireworks show.




Here's some pics from the KC Star:

Thanksgiving at Bades

We got to have Thanksgiving at my in-laws and my parents went as well! Mo was not able to make it because of work, and she went to Manhattan over the weekend to spend time with relatives. Courtney's brother Ryan was there, but left before the picture was taken

It was nice to stay in town and sleep in. The food was excellent. And I loved how it provided my parents to connect with Courtney's parents and brother.

I got an awesome gluten-free flourless cake out of the deal that Kenny picked up from Whole Foods!

The cats also enjoyed the time because the dogs were boarded up for the day

24 New Season

We watched the 2 hour preview of the next season of 24. Actually about 20 minutes of it was spent standing still holding the antenna when the picture suddenly got bad.

The subject was gripping, and involved child soldiers in Africa and an impending genocide. It honestly made me want to write a check to someone who can help the child soldiers currently in the world.

The 2 hour preview was genius, fascinating, gripping, frightening, and relevant. I think it will turn out to be an awesome season when it starts up in January

See http://www.fox.com/24/dossier/

*Edit - To "help" the child soldiers means to help to improve the situation so that they are no longer child soldiers! Also, I am not too naive to think that writing a check would solve a complex situation. I am just expressing that the episode aroused sympathy within me.

Book Review: Freakonomics

Book: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Authors: Steven D Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Year: 2005

• This book has to do a lot about analyzing mounds of data to find trends, which is a lot of what my company does every day.
• Steven D. Levitt was the economist that found all of the cool trends, and the other guy is a professional author who made the book easier to read.
• The reason why crime went down in the late 90s as provided by this book is astounding, a moral dilemma. Courtney wants to read this book, so I can't really spell out that reason here.
• This book has a lot of great information about crime: how drug sales in gangs work, why crack cocaine became popular, and conventional thinking about why crime went down in the 90s.
• This book theorizes that who a parent is (demographics) has more to do with how a child will end up than what a parent does. And it claims that parenting does not matter as much as people think it does. And it has data to back it up.

So in summary, analyzing data to come up with conclusions that defy conventional wisdom means that this book is good.

Movie Review: The French Connection

Featuring Gene Hackman, this is a movie about drug cops making a huge drug bust. I really liked it. the music was eerie. There were some slow parts, but it was otherwise riveting. My heart was beating fast at many points.

The ending was the worst ending of a Best Picture Winner since Marty (1955). This one was Best Picture in 1971. Next up is the Godfather.

The sad thing is that the ending was on the cusp of greatness. It was just the very end that was bad where the bad guy got away. This was probably because it was based on a true story.

Just to be prudent, I'll mention that there is profanity and drug-related content.

This is the famous car chase scene, but don't watch it if you're going to watch the movie later.

Movie Review: Hello Dolly!

This was nominated for Best Picture in 1969. Barbra Streisand is my least favorite outspoken Hollywood liberal, and I don't know why! But she did great in this movie. Her character, Dolly, is quite garrulous and therefore annoying at times. But that was how it was supposed to be, and she played it well.

This movie had really long dancing and singing scenes - very entertaining. It doesn't quite have the charm that other musicals have, maybe because there aren't very many good songs.

I related the story to Courtney about how our family sang "Hello, Dolly", but switched the words to "Hello, Family". We sang it at a Taussig family reunion. Instead of being impressed as I expected, Courtney didn't understand why we would embarass ourselves at a family reunion by singing. Then to try to make things better, I told her about how my parents did the "Little Man skit". And then how we had the reunion t-shirt. But that did not help Courtney to understand. Anyway, "Hello, Dolly" will always make me think of "Hello, Family".

Thoughts from events surrounding the funeral

We had the funeral Thursday for Aunt Therese, and I served as a pallbearer. That was my first experience as pallbearer, also it was my first time at a Catholic funeral. I also rode in a limo for the first time, to assist with getting the pallbearers to the right places, but it was cramped. And it was really quiet of course since we were grieving. I'm glad I got to ride in a limo, but it was not awesome or anything.

My eyes teared up as the preacher, who knew Therese, shared his personal thoughts about her. He said as a silversmith puts silver to the fire so that it shines, God used suffering in Therese's life to make Christ shine more brightly. And he said, "And guess what? It did." Also special was when he shared that the real miracle at work was that Therese had the opportunity to participate in the resurrection, which Christ obtained for us through his sufferings.

It was the first family funeral I have attended in a very long time (I think since I was 9?) . The part that most brought closure was the time right before the casket was closed. The priest had a short religious service, and then one-by-one, we walked to the casket to say goodbye. The attendant had us leave the room before he closed the casket.

I am probably the only person in the family with no exposure to the Catholic faith. This was clear when I said the Lord's Prayer incorrectly, and when I did not know any of the liturgy except for the Lord's Prayer that I messed up! I wanted to experience the Rosary on Wednesday night, and to me it was unusual, but I understand the comfort it can bring to some Catholics.

The occasion was sad, but I appreciated seeing the Bade side of the family - it's a great extended family! On Wednesday night we had dinner at one of Bades' house. And a lot of the time was spent talking about and drinking beer. But at my own extended family gatherings, beer would be a bad word, and if beer showed up, that would be something to talk about! It's just families with their own set of values and I am thankful that I am part of both families.

Politics of Image

I am probably one of the last to realize the importance of image in politics. I should have known in the beginning that John McCain didn't have a chance against the young and popular Barack Obama.

I think now that political issues keep a candidacy valid, and negative gotchas can energize a base, but in the end the person with the most likeability wins. I can support this back to how far I can remember

• Bush 41 vs. Clinton - Clinton was the young energetic guy that Obama is now
• Clinton vs. Dole - Dole was the old guy, kind of having parallels to McCain
• Bush 43 vs. Gore - Gore suffered second hand from the image problems that Clinton had. Plus he was famous for being boring. He did win the popular vote, but lost his own state.
  
• Bush 43 vs. Kerry - I don't know how Kerry got selected, but he was the most unlikeable candidate for Pres I can remember. Dems blame his loss on Swift Boat, but that is not the reason.
• Obama vs. McCain- we all are familar with this one
• Obama vs. ? - It's hard to imagine that Obama will lose unless his image gets banged up because of unlikeable performance of some kind
  

I think Bush has damaged the image of Republicans in general. He didn't seem do anything that he promised to do, except persevere in Iraq and nominate good judges.

Best of October 2008

Best Movie That I Saw for the First Time: Patton - only one we watched

Best New-To-Me Restaurant: Grandstand Burgers

Best Life Happening: Manhattan trip

Best Book I Read: Presence-Centered Youth Ministry

Best online video I watched for the First time: Lyre Bird - Imitating Sounds - David Attenborough



2nd place: Horse Dancing




Picture(s) of the Month by Courtney. There were so many good ones, it was tough to choose.

Top pic:




Other favorites:

Obituary for Therese Bade

I'll try to post a couple of pictures as well.

http://www.legacy.com/KansasCity/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=119697709



Therese is the 3rd person from right in this picture.