Seneca Nation Casino at Niagara Falls

I met my son and daughter in law in Niagara Falls for the weekend - lots of fun! They convinced me I couldn't walk across bridge to Canada since I didn't have a passport or birth certificate, so I stayed behind and had a coffee at Starbucks. But I saw the Seneca Nation Casino across the street so I figured why not gamble? Last weekend I fired shotguns for 2 hrs with Nathaniel, so this weekend i figured I would gamble at a casino. So i went in, and the casino was huge, as big as a convention center. There was background music like I was entering heaven. Mostly there were slot machines, and the customers were for the most part older seniors, some with canes, over weight, and smoking - the same crowd you see at a racetrack. So I sat down by the slots that had a grand prize of a Lexus SUV, on display above us. I put in $10, played three times, and I won: whistles went off, sirens, bells, lights, I mean my machine made more noise than anyone else's. I thought I must have won the Lexus, but then again, no one was rushing up to congratulate me. The machine wanted to know if I wanted to play some more, and I selected a receipt. I put the receipt in a cashout machine, and it turned out I won $19. That is, I bet $10, and got $19 back, so I really only won $9 (they count what you bet as part of your winnings). So I left $9 richer. I gave the housekeeper who made my room at the holiday inn a $5 tip, so I only had $4 left. Thats my only experience gambling. A winner!

Dolce the cats hideout

I spread a blanket over my leather couch to prevent dolce the cat from clawing the leather, and he likes to knock the blanket off and hide in it. Its funny, because I wonder where he is, and then all of a sudden the blanket starts to move, and I see part of a tail, or part of an ear. he also hides on the dining room chair, the table spread covers the chair, so he is not visible unless I bend over and look for him, and then I see a paw.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Great film - just remade in 2008 - haven't seen the remake, but hard to believe it could be an improvement over the original (1953). But the great scene is when Helen ( the babe of interest) tells the robot:
" Gort! Klaatu barada nikto! "
we don't know what that means, but it gives instructions to the robot to protect helen, rescue Klaatu, bring him back to life, and help save earth. Great film!

Shoot skeet in Texas

So my son nathaniel and I are driving from Austin back to Dallas, in the afternoon, after attending a morning orientation to U Texas School of Business. He is checking out MBA schools. As we drive on I 35, we discuss possibly renting shotguns and shooting skeet the next day, even though its something we have never done. And then we saw it: a skeet range off I 35 (there is a frontage road on texas interstates, so its one long side of the road advertisement for used cars (wrecks) and flea markets (junk). So we turn off, walk in, "we want to shoot." They gave us a shotgun, 2 boxes of shells, and some tokens and turned us loose. We shot with a very large man who was a self professed "expert." He helped us alot, but he was kinda marginal (like after he shoots all his co-workers, the survivors say, "he was quiet, liked guns, but we never thought..."). We shot for two hours, and Nathaniel was good. This is a great way to release stress. But only in Texas can you pull off the interstate, flop down $80, no identification, nothing, just cash down on the counter top, and they give you a shotgun and shells to blast away for 2 hours. Only in texas. or maybe Afghanistan...

the F word in Big Lebowski, 281 times

here it is, all 281 times. the origin of "f.u.c.k" is hard to determine, but many languages have verbs that are very similar. Let us just say that the movie the big lebowski explores the various forms of this word, from verb to noun, adjective, adverb and so forth ("what have you...") Newsweek did a story on the movie this week - nothing new there for us "Achievers" - we know it all already. One of my students wrote an analysis, suggesting that the cowboy ("you got that whole...cowboy thing...") is really The Dude in an earlier life - that in the past, the Dude was a cowboy, herding the steers, fighting rustlers, and...eh...abiding. I thought this gave a whole new spiritual dimension to the movie, The Dude as a reincarnation of past heros. I gave the guy an A on the paper, probably BS though, but fun reading it. Newsweek's analysis says that the Dude, is broke, lives in poverty, has an aimless life, is drunk or stoned most of the time, and his only recreation is bowling, and that somehow today's college students who are caught up in upwardly mobile lifestyles and expectations see him as the ultimate anti hero - no crap?! Wow! they figured that out! only took them ten years !

Great Song "Common People": Rock Out William Shatner!

I have listened to this song before, really liked it, never realized (until I was entering grades in Blackboard at negative warp 3.5 - there are delays between each entry, and 106 grades TAKES ONE HOUR SO I HOPE THE STUDENT APPRECIATE THIS) but enough with my anger at Gradebook, check out this song! Part of it narrated by William Shatner, great music. Rock it Bill! And yet here is another version.
Here are lesser appreciable Shatner music attempts:
Rocket Man
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

I have it from good authority, that the last two Shatner music contributions have been played to enemy noncombatants at Camp XRay, and that they have all confessed to everything, including alien abduction and the Kennedy assasination. Book em' Danno!!!

Fake Sarah Palin pic: Real vid Palin firing auto rifle

I was so disappointed to hear that this photo is fake. It's a good phoney though, her head is proportional to the body, so someone worked on this more than a couple seconds. My regret is that it is a fake, because it would have boosted McCain ticket polls by at least 3 % ! Perhaps the McCain campaign should not have been so quick to dismiss this as a fake - maybe they should have said yeah it real, and notice that the safety is on too because she is careful with firearms. Here she is getting firing range practice in Kuwait with auto weapon. this is not a fake. Update: I finally saw the vid, and I believe she is firing a M16 variant, a model used by marines and some army units.

funny impersonator Sarah Palin

here is a funny you tube video of a sarah palin impersonator. So funny I laughed my a** off even though my back is killing me and pain killers haven't kicked in yet. There is part 1 and 2, and a McCain video too. I only saw Part 1 and it is really funny!!!

Village of Stonington

Stonington is a beautiful village, a former fishing village, and in the late 1700's and early 1800's, a seal hunting port. We saw only one commercial fishing boat coming in from the Sound, so now stonington is a place for wealthy people to have a summer house, and retirement condos. Cheapest place I found was over $600K, a two bedroom home. the condo's are over $one million. Here is a video of the public dock, and from a park located on the sound. Videos show how beautiful, peaceful this village is.

Ships at Mystic Seaport

here are photos of ships at the Mystic Seaport taken over Labor Day.

Whaling ship

Here are pictures of Harpoons on the whaling ship Morgan in Mystic Seaport. these are authentic! hard to imagine hunting whales with these small weapons - at least the whale had a fighting chance.

Sarah Palin as VP

It is obvious to me that McCain's campaign against Obama will not be about Obama's lack of experience. Hillary tried that, and failed. Sarah Palin also lacks experience, so Democrats can't use that against her without opening themselves to a similar attack. I dont think experience will be an issue in the fall campaign.

I think McCain will raise questions about Obama's ideology, not his experience. Obama has ties to kenya, indonesia, he comes from an unusual family and geographic background. But getting beyond his style, his physical posturing, his speech making, what are his positions? What do we really know about him? Will he socialize health care? Is he a radical liberal? Is he a "manchurian candidate?" that is, someone with a hidden agenda that is remarkably unAmerican? I have a hunch that something is missing, and his link to bill Ayers, the former Weather Underground terrorist, might be it. Ayers appears on the documentary "The Weather underground" and is unrepentant about his bomb making. he and other Weather Underground terrorists turned themselves in to the authorities, but they did not confess to their crimes, nor were they prosecuted (lack of evidence, without an outright confession).
So how radical is Obama?

Palin's biggest problem is that for republican environmentalists, she is a problem. She supports aerial hunting of wolves, opposed naming Polar bears as endangered, does not think global warming is human generated, and wants to drill in the artic wildlife reserve. But she has a remarkable record fighting against corruption, and Alaska is full of that, with all the natural reserves, there has been constant payoffs from big corporations to alaskan politicians.

Grace is Gone: the movie and the song

"Grace is Gone" is a movie produced and starring Pittsburgh's own Johnny Cusack. Music by john's friend Clint Eastwood, lyrics by Jamie Cullen. The film has its SRU debut on Wednesday, September 17th. It's a beautiful film about love, loss and healing. Surprisingly to me, almost no one likes this film for many reasons: its unpatriotic; its unrealistic; it exploits the sacrifice made by our troops; its another antiwar Hollywood movie. the list goes on and on. There is much symbolism in the film: Stanley can't "see," he takes his daughters to "Enchanted Gardens" (what does that symbolize?), and he tells them about their mom on the beach next to the ocean (ocean symbolizes what?), the three of them embracing in a small club house in the Walmart store, his daughters getting earrings, the eldest daughter getting a young woman's dress, all symbols Incredibly well done. Its a beautiful film about love, loss and healing, and thats all.

Grace is Gone

Can't find all the words yet
It's still not the time yet
And my mind can't think of anything
it only sees you

You know I am trying
God knows I am trying
And why does the wind keeps shouting out
it's still not over

I keep on trying
I think I'm learning
To live in hearts you leave behind
is not to die, Grace

Can't find the right place
Is there a right place?
Where I can make it all make sense somehow
and face tomorrow

I keep on trying
I think I'm learning
To live in hearts you leave behind
is not to die, Grace

The world go 'round some
We move along some
To live in hearts of theirs and mine
is not to die
Grace...

Nied's bar

Great bar on Butler Street in lawrenceville. The building is beautiful, restored, and the front sign is funny. they need to get rid of the phoney stone face front - should be restored to original brick. Problem with many old neighborhoods in the city is that the aluminum sales guys sold all these false fronts, taking away from the brick, stone or wood underneath. I think siding is ugly - always go with the original building material.

bike ride sunday august 24

here are pictures of Lawrenceville neighborhood in pittsburgh. One is a shop that sells tiles, and the outside is covered in bright shining tiles. Another is an american flag mural. Then there is the bar that sells fish sandwiches, serving beers throughout the years, ever since repeal of prohibition. and i saw a triumph spitfire car in nice shape. and don't forget to look for the gargoyle on one of the houses.

Dolce in his stroller

here are some pictures of Dolce in his stroller - I am not sure if he likes it yet. It should grow on him. He is cooped up in the apt all day.

Joan of Arcadia

One of my favorite movies is "One True thing," which is probably considered a "chic flick." But I really enjoy watching it, and actually shared it with my neighbor. My fear is that this will become widely known and my reputation for watching post modern films with shocking violence and sex will be challenged. So i will come clean: I just ordered seasons 1 and 2 of Joan of Arcadia. It was my favorite TV show 10 years ago, and i actually stayed home on friday nights so I didnt miss it. Its about an average high school girl and her family: dad's the small town police chief, mom's an art teacher at the school, younger brother is a geek at the high school, and older brother is the golden boy of the family who tragically became paralyzed in a drunk driving crash. The whole spin of the show is that God talks to joan at the beginning of each episode and asks her to do something.For example, God asks her to organize a garage sale...Why? doesnt make sense? But the sale reveals art work, portraits, that her mom made many years earlier. Turns out her mom was raped when she was a college student, and the pictures express her outrage and pain. At the same time Dad is investigating a rape case, he is sure he has the guilty party, but there is very little evidence. His favorite police officer therefore changes the original police report in order to have a stronger case, and dad has to fire him for his dishonesty, even though it would have made a stronger case against someone he knows is guilty. Turns out the rapist is never charged, goes free. meanwhile a popular jock at the HS is flirting with Joan, turns out he is dishonest, manipulative - she confronts him and he dumps her, he was never really interested in her, he just wanted to use her. Mom has told Joan to avoid this jock (she doesnt like him - intuition) and finally dad tells mom to talk to joan about the rape, that joan needs to understand what dangers confront young women, and mom needs to open up and share herself with her daughter. that is just a shortened plot synopsis - there were a few subplots I left out. This is a 50 min tv show, so it covers a lot of ground. I like the show because the scripts are incredible, the acting first rate, and there is always a spiritual conclusion that involves hope, love, or faith. Of course a tv show this good was cancelled....I have to say some of the episodes are stunning in their profoundity. seriously.

A guide for Professors for understanding incoming Freshmen

Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally born in 1990.
Here is a list of facts about them compiled by Beloit college.
For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.

1. Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
2. Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.
3. They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
4. GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
5. Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
6. Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
7. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
8. Their parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard George Bush announce “tax revenue increases.”
9. Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
10. Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.
11. All have had a relative--or known about a friend's relative--who died comfortably at home with Hospice.
12. As a precursor to “whatever,” they have recognized that some people “just don’t get it.”
13. Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.
14. Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.
15. Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.
16. Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
17. Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
18. WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
19. Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
20. The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
21. Students have always been "Rocking the Vote.”
22. Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
23. Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
24. We have always known that “All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
25. There have always been gay rabbis.
26. Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.
27. College grads have always been able to Teach for America.
28. IBM has never made typewriters.
29. Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the National Anthem again.
30. McDonald’s and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
31. They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.
32. There has always been Pearl Jam.
33. The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
34. Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
35. They never tasted Benefit Cereal with psyllium.
36. They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
37. Authorities have always been building a wall across the Mexican border.
38. Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.
39. Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
40. Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.
41. Macaulay Culkin has always been Home Alone.
42. Their parents may have watched The American Gladiators on TV the day they were born.
43. Personal privacy has always been threatened.
44. Caller ID has always been available on phones.
45. Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
46. The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
47. They never heard an attendant ask “Want me to check under the hood?”
48. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
49. Soft drink refills have always been free.
50. They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”
51. Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
52. Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.
53. The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily ration of rum.
54. The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
55. 98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
56. Michael Millken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate cancer research.
57. Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
58. Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
59. There have always been charter schools.
60. Students always had Goosebumps.

Ancient grave - the last action of love

A tiny woman and two children were laid to rest on a bed of flowers 5,000 years ago in what is now the barren Sahara Desert.

The slender arms of the youngsters were still extended to the woman in perpetual embrace when researchers discovered their skeletons in a remarkable cemetery that is providing clues to two civilizations who lived there, a thousand years apart, when the region was moist and green.

Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and colleagues were searching for the remains of dinosaurs in the African country of Niger when they came across the startling find, detailed at a news conference Thursday at the National Geographic Society.

Dolce the cat - has a new home

Here are pictures of Dolce, as in La Dolce Vita, the cat. he immediately checked out the apartment, and now is feeling at home. I am surprised how fast he took to me, I mean like the very next day I was his best friend. He is relaxed on the couch, lying on a towel I placed there for him. He is very friendly and likes to walk around the apartment, sleeping in different spots. Thank you noah and chika for such a sweet pet!