The Hurt Locker (2008)

This movie has been out for a long time now (a really long time when you consider when it was made) and hauled in a bunch of awards yet I just saw it.  Why?  Don’t know, sat there with some other Blu-rays from Netflix for a while.  Rather than write an entire treatise I will do a micro-review, a quick snapshot of what I liked and didn’t like.

Liked

• Fantastic cinematography: Really wish the Academy voters would have rewarded some great old school cinematography over the 3D gimmickry.
• Great core characters: The three core characters of the film are well fleshed out, they are what drives the film.  Wow, a film with characters, how un-Hollywood!
• Kathryn Bigelow: Best Director was well deserved, I was floored.  I thought this was hype (i.e. how could the director of Point Break get best director?) but it surely was not.  Excellent work.
• Core theme:  The core theme about combat and what it does to soldiers was, I think, well done.  In that regard this film is probably one of the best films about war ever made.  I don’t like all of how it got there (see below) but it was well done.
• Jeremy Renner: Absolutely fantastic job.  He had his John Wayne game face but could flip it around and show the vulnerability (i.e. Beckham parts and shower scene).  It’s too bad he ran into someone who was owed an Oscar.

Disliked

• Complete fancy: This film is a joke when it comes to representing the job of an EOD.  They don’t act like this, if they do they are dead EODs.
• Unit of supermen: Hey let’s make ourselves snipers and we won’t call for any support we’ll just hang out here with these mercs all day!  Let’s split up in a hostile area at night!  Let’s never use a radio or call for support!  It helps isolate the core characters but there is no doubt this film fails miserably when it comes to realism.
• Military stereotypes: We have another “all officers are idiots” film.  I love David Morse, he’s one of my favorite actors but to see him do this cheesy stereotypical good ole boy full bird colonel imitation was terrible and pointless.  Depicting our troops acting this way I think bordered on disrespectful and stretched artistic license.  Then we have the lieutenant colonel psychologist which was equally nauseating (like the team would just leave him to hang out in the street).
• US stereotypes: Just what we needed, another movie portraying Americans as a bunch of “yee ha let’s go kill ‘em all” types.

I’ve never had such a film that struck me with this kind of mixed verdict.  I am going Machiavelli on this one in that I like the point the film made and I liked this as a film so overall I score it as a great film.  However, I certainly didn’t like how it got there.  It leaves me asking the question if Bigelow could have gotten to that message without taking the shortcuts or not?  Did she have to create these utterly unrealistic situations to isolate the core characters?  I’ve come to the conclusion that, to an extent, she did.

There’s a great risk you take when you make a war film about a war that is still going on.  Many will demand accuracy and this film was very inaccurate in a lot of areas.  Also, as I said, it bordered on being disrespectful and cartoonish with how it portrayed its characters.  Do I think there are some characters like this in the military?  Probably, but not many and not the ones we should be focused on.  At the same time I loved one of those characters even though he was completely unrealistic.

So there you have it, if you are looking for an accurate war movie, this is not your film.  However, if you are looking for a great movie about war, that sums up The Hurt Locker I believe.

Clash of the Titans (2010)

If you are looking for a faithful remake of the great Ray Harryhausen cult classic keep on looking, because this isn’t it.  No, this Titans is a stripped down (although there we more stripping in the original) no nonsense action flick and that’s pretty much it. The screenwriters on this film got way overpaid because there is very little dialogue in this film at all other than to fill in and drive Perseus and his band of gods haters on to the next part of their task.

The beginning starts out true to the original, Perseus and his mother are cast off in a coffin by his father Acrisius (who later comes back as Callibos is a bizarre time saving twist), you don’t know why at the time but they just are.  The coffin is pulled from the water by, to my shock, Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father) making his appearance as the first character you will have no clue what his name is (there will be many more).  You will only know him as Perseus’ dad and, amazingly, we all have British accents in Ancient Greece.  The first departure of the film takes place as Perseus’ mom dies (didn’t happen that way in myth or the original) and Pete and his family raise Perseus until, you know, he gets that higher calling.

From there on the stories really have little in common other than the general framework — the gods are pissed and they’re going to let the kracken out to go aggro on Argos (Joppa in the original) unless someone does something about it.  They get the magnificent Polly Walker (Rome and now Caprica) and they kill her after about three lines.  Perseus leaves with his band of droogs after a little encouragement from another demi-god named Io (hey, we know someone else’s name and it’s a hot Bond girl, Gemma Arterton). Perseus is out to avenge his human father, no saving the damsel this time, he doesn’t have a thing for Andromeda like Harry Hamlin did.

Then non-stop action takes place as they quickly dispatch one trial after the next and whittle the band of droogs down.  You learn none of their names really even though they are about the only human element to the film.  I’m completely serious you only hear their names a couple times and usually when they’re dying, “Eusebios!” Perseus utters as the stone head crumbles to the floor and you say to yourself “oh wow, that was that dude’s name.”

All in all a few things save this film from being completely mindless.  Mads Mikkelsen, the Dane better known for previously playing Le Chiffre in the last two Bond films is great as the captain of the guard who heads up the droogs who head out with Perseus (he also gives Perseus a 2 minute sword lesson and immediately after Perseus nearly kills him, being a demi-god rules). I wouldn’t be surprised if he had the most lines in the film, he’s earnest and personable and quickly allows you to build some admiration for him with very little dialogue. His partner in crime, who I’ll be darned if you ever hear that character’s name in the film is played by Liam Cunningham, he gets all the jokes as a character called Solon apparently. The play between Mikkelsen and Cunningham is great and really livens things up and hits you on a human level.  Aside from that you’ll find yourself grasping at a lot of names — those two funny dudes who come along (we don’t know who they are or where they came from but, by all means, come along with us and survive even), another sort of weird creature made out of scorpion hides and blue fire and one hot yet deadly looking Medusa and you have this film summed up.

Sure, there’s Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades but there’s little for them to do except play it easy as two brothers in need of a serious intervention and some time to hug it out but that’s about it. Sam Worthington is buff and does a bit of fighting, he’s the reluctant hero we really don’t get invested in at all. You think he doesn’t care about anything until he starts to put the moves on Io on what turns into Charon’s fantasy pleasure death cruise ship of the River Styx apparently!  Oh sure, the moment gets broken up but the gratuitous romance was thrown in. A completely forgettable performance from Worthington as far as I’m concerned.

The effects are pretty dang good, the girls are gorgeous and it moves along quickly and before you know it it’s over.  If this film were a magazine it would be Maxim, what can I say. There is a nice tip of the hat to Harryhausen with Bobo the owl but he only makes a cameo. We also have two interesting “oh that’s where they are now” moments with Alexandar Siddig of Deep Space Nine fame as Hermes and Jane March (The Lover and Color of Night) as Hestia where she not only manages to not have sex with anybody, she keeps her clothes on as well! Well done, Jane!

Overall a relaxing piece of afternoon fun, I’d catch it at the matinée showing, definitely not worth paying full price for or just catch it on video. I wasn’t expecting a faithful remake, I was expecting it to stand on its own and it really doesn’t do that. But for the fame of the original I don’t see the appeal. Percy Jackson & the Olympians had a far better plot, action that was at least as good and actual characters. Your two coins for the boatman are far better spent there.

Guy’s Tips For Driving In Snow

I’ve been a “road warrior” for 13 years now (shudder!) so I guess I am what you would call a professional driver. I’ve driven in all seasons and environments from our nasty Chicago winters to truly nasty Southwestern Michigan winters. I’ve come to the conclusion that the vast majority of people have no clue what they’re doing when they’re driving in snow. Having never been in an accident or required the use of a tow truck to be removed from a ditch I thought I would offer these helpful tips.

Legal notice: these are my helpful hints, I’m not responsible for how you use them. If you lose control and wreck your car or otherwise it’s not my fault, it’s yours.  Viewer discretion is advised.

Tires, Tires and Tires

There’s just no substitute for a decent set of tires for driving in the winter. In my job inspecting cars in the field I’ve found the first place most people pay little or no attention to on their vehicle is tires. I see all different brands, worn out, cupped, dry rotted, under inflated, never rotated, never balanced, the list goes on and on.

If you want to put money well spent into your car, spend it on your tires. Tires give you traction, tires keep you on the road and tires keep you in control. No other component on a car affects these areas as much as tires. So stop cheaping out on them!

If you have a sporty car with hard low-profile (i.e. skinny on the side) tires you should really invest in a set of winter rims and tires. Tire Rack offers great deals on these packages and it’s simplicity in itself. The snow comes, you swap over to the snow rims and tires.  When the snow is gone you put your stock rims and tires back on. You get great winter traction, you save your cool alloy wheels from harsh winter conditions and everyone is happy.

Maybe you don’t have that kind of cash to spend and you want a year-round solution. Then you need to look for a set of truly all-season tires. I can’t recommend Nokian tires enough, their latest tire being the WRG2. I put a set of these on my 2006 Mitsubishi Galant GTS which had some performance tires that were horrid in the snow and the difference is astounding. The price isn’t bad either but more than you’re used to spending if you’ve consistently cheaped out on tires. There’s other brands out there with some great all season tires but I have put the Nokians on three different cars and never regretted it.

Once you have that nice set of tires keep them up to pressure, get them rotated at least every 10,000 miles and get an alignment done if you are noticing any pulls or shimmies when you drive.

Power Is Your Friend, Your Brakes Are Not

So now you have a great set of tires on your car, awesome! Now learn how to use them. The number one mistake I see when people are driving in snow, above all others, is being on the brake all the time. When you are breaking you have reduced traction since your tires are going against the grain to try to slow you down. This is a bad situation and why most people go into slides and rear-end people or lose control and go off the road.

However, when you are applying power to your drive wheels your tires are working for you and not against you. You are taking control of the traction and keeping your car pointed in the right direction and reducing the chances of hydroplaning. I know this sounds the opposite of what may make sense to you but the next time you’re driving in snow try following these simple power turn rules:

• Rely on laying off the gas as opposed to hitting your brakes to slow your car down, this means you have to start slowing down earlier.
• When making a turn reduce your speed before going into the turn, not during the turn.
• Brake lightly before going into the turn, not during the turn.
• Apply power during the turn to pull your car through the snow and slush, you will have far better control.

If you stick to these guidelines you will find yourself much more confident taking turns in the snow, just don’t get carried away!

4×4 Is Not Invincible

Have you ever noticed during a bad snowstorm the vast majority of the vehicles off the road and in a ditch are sport utilities? “How can that be?” you may ask. The reason is simple, while four-wheel drive (4×4 or 4WD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) gives you better traction it doesn’t help you stop any better!

Most 4×4 owners get a false sense of security from it and think that it will take care of them. They accelerate faster, take more risks and end up going much too fast for the conditions.  To add insult to injury most 4×4s and AWD vehicles are bigger and heavier which means it takes a lot more room to stop them. On top of that they have a higher center of gravity which means when they start to go into a slide they are more difficult to control. Add all these things up and you have a formula for disaster and the reason why so many SUVs in the ditch.

Finally, most 4×4 drivers were never taught how to use their toy the right way, so I will tell you:

• Learn if your car is a 4×4 (will have selectable mode) or is AWD.  There’s a difference.
• If you have an AWD stick with the rules I gave you above. Only the most advanced AWD vehicles (Mitsubishi Evo, Subaru WRX, Acura RDX, Audis with Quattro, to name a few) have AWD systems that are as capable as true 4WD.  Most AWD systems, especially on mini-vans and compact SUVs, are glorified front-wheel drive with some power to the rear when needed.
• If you have good clean pavement leave it in 2WD and save on gas.  Only put it in 4WD when you really need it.
• Reduce speed going into curves and turns and apply power going through them to take full advantage of 4WD and your increased traction.
• If you start to slide turn into the direction of the slide and apply power to regain traction. Don’t brake, and don’t steer away from the slide.
• 4WD requires more power from the motor to run so when you let off the gas it will usually slow you down faster than in a regular car.
• You’re probably bigger and heavier and require more room to stop and slow down — slow down earlier and start to brake well behind the person in front of you.
• When most people lose control it’s because they lost the rear end. Put some tube sand or bags of kitty litter (also helpful for putting in the snow if you do get stuck) in your trunk, cargo area, or pickup bed to give you some additional weight on your rear wheels so they can provide you power.

Lights On For Safety

Fortunately there are a lot of cars with daytime running lights now so this applies less. But remember, in Illinois we have a law that if your wipers are on, your lights are to be on — follow it! It’s not so you can see, it’s so you can be seen. I don’t know how many times I’ve been out in a bad snow storm or in fog and some gibroni doesn’t have his lights on and can’t be seen.

Also, if you have a European car, for pete sake don’t put your rear fog lights on unless there is really fog!!  Rear fog lights are common on European cars and your fog lights will usually have two settings, the first one puts your front fog lights on and the second puts your rear fog light(s) on. You can always see these cars as they have one or two really bright taillights and look like they’re breaking but it’s actually a rear fog light. Read your owner’s manual and figure out how your Euro toy works for pete sake! I’ve been blinded for miles by these types in perfectly clear weather and it is truly annoying. Don’t do it!

There you go, the Guy Certified tips for driving in the winter. Be safe out there!

Voices In My Head

I wrote this a few months ago but my life changed 10 years ago today.  By the date it was yesterday but in my head it’s always Labor Day 1999, the day my father died.  I didn’t post it to my blog so I thought I would do it now and remember what was lost ten Labor Days ago.

There are times when I wonder how my life would be different now if my father were still here. On September 6, 1999, my life changed forever because that was the day that God called my hero, my father, home.

When I get selfish I get angry at God for what he took from me that day because I wasn’t through learning what I needed to learn from him. My father, without a solitary doubt, was the most selfless person I have ever known. He was a man that this world does not see much of any more — someone who will give all of himself and expect nothing in return. A co-worker who would chew your butt and then go about helping you do whatever it was you were screwing up. A community servant who spent countless hours doing public works with the Grayslake Jaycess (and having a lot of fun too). A brother who would forgive again and again. A son who would only wish for his own father’s happiness despite how painful the choices he made might have been to him. A husband who loved his wife with all of his being through all the good times and the tough ones. And a father who would walk through the fires of hell for his children and would let loose that hell on any person who would seek to do us harm.

I’m not half the man my father was. I’m a selfish bastard that doesn’t deserve to bear part of his name compared to him. I was a lousy husband, I can be a half-ass father, an ungrateful son and a distant brother. I have few people who I would call close friends because I don’t let them in. I don’t let anyone near me. What my father could do with a smile and a joke I can only pretend to do.

So there are times when I have conversations with my father in my head. Most of the time he’s trying to straighten me out as I’m sure he would if he were still here. Where are these voices coming from? Are they of my design, something that I do totally on my own? Are they recessed programming of my father in my brain, my sub-conscious acting out as what my father was? Or is it his spirit come to visit me in times when I need it, when I feel an absolute and total failure and unable to go any further? I don’t know what they are but I hope they are him.

Life is a series of choices we make every day and for whatever reason as of late I seem compelled to make the quick and easy ones. My father never made the quick and easy choices. Despite being a superb mechanic he always drove the worst car. My father was driving a car with more then 200,000 miles on it and it sang like a top because that’s what he could do with an engine. When he wasn’t satisfied with what he could do with a wrench or the powerful hands that would pound my shoulder when he got home he would do any number of other things.

He spent years in the Jaycees giving of himself and proving to be a very capable leader. He took to the stage always happy to take on any role on the stage or behind it, whatever it did to put on a great show my father was there to do. He was a lousy golfer known to break clubs during trying times but would laugh it all off with a beer when he was through. I suppose that was key to who my father was — he was a man who saw himself as fallible and would then go about making sure that didn’t happen very often.

So perhaps it is a time of choosing for me, time for me to decide that I would do as he did and let go of what pains me and do more to embrace life. I think that anyone who knows me knows that I’m not the same person I was before September 6, 1999. Maybe it’s time to change that as I’m sure he would be the first one to let me know his displeasure with me carrying on about it.

Reconciliation is an interesting word and it’s used in many different contexts but there’s a stronger word than that though, and that word is reckoning.  I think I have been too hot in the pursuit of reckoning and exacting of the punishment that reckoning brings upon myself.  It’s a part of who I am or probably more of what I have become.  Expecting perfection of one’s self you are always certain to fall short.   I think there’s a selfishness and greed in me though that never accepts things as good enough – those I don’t completely let slide that is.

No, reconcile is a much better word and much better place to be. Reconciliation is about accepting the way things have gone and realizing there is no way to change them, only to move forward. It involves the release of pain, the burdens we choose to carry around with us like boulders that we want others to see.

I think those voices are the voices of reconciliation in my head, encouraging me to let go and move forward realizing that tomorrow is another day, another opportunity to further reconcile with myself. Because, after all, I have far more issues with me than anyone else does — it’s time to put down the shovel and climb out of the hole.  It’s time to fill it in and recognize that’s where the hole was but it’s filled now and while I might remember the hole I can still walk across it, jump up and down on it, plant whatever I wish to on it — I can move past it.

I can if I start by putting down the shovel.  Thanks Dad, I love you

An Open Letter To AT&T

Dear AT&T:

To fill you in on where I’m coming from regarding the iPhone 3G S upgrade that you state I have to wait until December 12th to get without paying in full for the phone:

I’m a purchaser of the original iPhone, I didn’t wait in line the first day but I got it the first weekend it was available. I ditched my previous carrier of several years that I was perfectly happy with to get your service as the exclusive carrier for the iPhone. I paid $200 to cancel that contract on top of the $500 I paid for the phone (unsubsidized).

Happy with your wireless service and seeing your new uVerse service available in my area I switched from Comcast to AT&T for my internet, television and phone. My wireless bill is combined with that bill.

I was in line the first day the iPhone 3G came out. That phone was subsidized but I had to extend my contract which I happily did as I was pleased with your service.

I have been pleased with my service aside from a couple of dead spots (all carriers have their dead spots) and have been an evangelist for AT&T and its wireless and uVerse services as providing me good service and value.

Because of me, and people like me, who are using the iPhone and extolling its virtues to others (I know of several people I convinced to get one) you’re able to sell more contracts to go along with all those phones. Market data clearly indicates AT&T has reaped great windfalls from the iPhone having sold over one million of them on the first weekend of the iPhone 3G release alone.

How do you reward me for being an early adopter of your service, paying good money for your services and advocating it to others? You tell me I have to pay $600 for the new iPhone unless I want to wait until December 12.

I don’t expect you to fully subsidize my next iPhone but you could at least come up with a nominal charge to keep me satisfied with your service.

I hear you’re in negotiations with Apple regarding your exclusivity agreement for the iPhone. I wonder how many of us you will be keeping having stuck it to us on the iPhone 3G S if say, Verizon is added as a carrier for the iPhone. I also wonder how long it will take me to call Comcast and get them to cut me a good deal to switch from uVerse.

You alone can answer that question.

Graduation, Loss, Futures At RLHS

I didn’t know Christopher Campos, but I wish I had after the sights I saw today.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
- M. Gandhi

Graduation is usually the best day of the year to be a school board member. After all the trials and tribulations that go on throughout the year graduation at Round Lake High School has been a welcome ending to the year. Last year I missed out when I had gotten tickets for the Indy 500 pretty early and it happened to fall on graduation day. Aside from that one I’ve been at every RLHS Graduation as a board member and spoke to the Class of 2007.

We had a full board at graduation this year so not wanting to clutter things with myself I just got both tables situated with three board members at each.  ”Remember to smile, you’re about to be in a few hundred pictures that will be on someones mantle for the next thirty years or so” I said to our newest board member.  A few quick instructions and a repositioning of the one “line” to help the photographer out and I stood to the side to take it in while they presented.  And so it was, I didn’t think I would present any diplomas this year but that was fine by me, better for those who haven’t had the experience I had thought.

In the flurry that is board work at many times we forget many of the things that happen throughout the year. While I certainly remember when Chris passed away, I called for a moment of silence for him at our board meeting, I had forgotten he was a senior.  So after a rather nice and well paced graduation ceremony I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next when two students took to the center in front of the stage for something that wasn’t on the program.

It was then that RLHS Principal Kurt Sinclair reminded those present of Chris’ death in January and the two students sang a lovely song in his memory.  I was unable to hold back the tears almost immediately marking the memory of a student I wasn’t lucky enough to know but was taken from us much too soon.  It’s not right for kids to have to learn they’re not immortal at such a young age but the Class of 2009 learned that in January.

So as the song progressed Kurt got my attention and presented me with a sealed diploma and asked me to present it to his family.  As soon as it entered my hands I looked down at it and either one of my tears or one of Kurt’s had already hit the sleeve containing it.  I was filled with thoughts of my friend David Thomas who passed away this year.

I remember thinking how Dave was the first of my classmates I knew to die and how I felt old seeing one of my classmates, one of our most beloved classmates, in his casket.  Reverend Lisle Kauffman gave a stirring and wonderful eulogy reminding us that our tears and our grief are for ourselves and that Dave was in a far better place.  Dave was someone who simply attending RLHS was an achievement for him, let alone to graduate, let alone to become one of our most loved friends.  I told his mother at the funeral that we didn’t know it at the time but Dave taught us a lot about life and about ourselves.  He taught us about bravery and courage and every time the words “I was just thinking” left his lips we may have held back a laugh but what usually followed may be crazy, may be hair-brained, but it was always full of pure innocence.  Innocence you just don’t find much any more.

Then there was the loss of Bobby Weinger earlier this year in Afghanistan.  Bobby, a member of the Class of 2002, was killed in action and had another poignant service at Wauconda High School.  I remember standing in line looking at all the mementos of a life cut all too short to help preserve the freedoms we have.  I paused at his casket to pray and think of the words I would say to his father and family who were there.  When I got to his father, the tears again flowing down my face, I was barely able to speak.  I couldn’t put together what I wanted to say, what could I possibly say to assuage the grief of this family?  All I could do was thank them, thank them for the life they gave us.

So as I stood with this diploma for a boy I never knew, with the thoughts of my departed friend and a noble soldier in my head, I tried to pull myself together.  I didn’t have anything that I could possibly say.  I stopped by the table and picked three roses that were there for graduates and presented one to each of his family and then the diploma to them.  There were many tears as I presented the only diploma I presented today.

The song sung at the end was a moving tribute to Chris but the whole ceremony was really.  Mr. Sinclair’s speech was about the “two minutes” that make the difference in all our lives.  The Panther Voices sang “Finale B” from one of my absolute favorite musicals, Rent.  Jonathan Larson, the composer and  creator of Rent died at 36 the evening of the final dress rehearsal for Rent’s off-Broadway opening.

If I had to pick just one song from Rent that I love the most (and that is incredibly hard) it would have to be “One Song Glory”:

One song

glory

one song

before I go

glory

one song to leave behind

find

one song

one last refrain

glory

from the pretty boy front-man

who wasted opportunity

It’s a song that’s always stirred something in me because in many ways I see my life a lot like Roger’s — one of wasted opportunities and the search for the ever elusive one thing to be remembered by and one love to make it worth it. Most of the time I have my hands in too many pots to find that one thing so the fault is without a doubt completely mine.

Somehow after it all I feel completely unworthy of the opportunities that I’ve had and wasted amongst the man who never let his disability hold him back, another man who gave his life for his country and another man who had his life taken from him before he could even get those opportunities. So in that moment I held the diploma for someone whose life was cut way too short, the single drop of water on the cover, hoping that it was one of my opportunities that I was giving him instead of one of my tears.

As the song for Chris was sung the Class of 2009 joined in trying to give something to him as well.  They started collecting the roses they had just been given and left them on the table that held their diplomas in tribute to him.  As I reflect on this poignant day at RLHS, the ending to a very tragic year, I came to the words of Gandhi that I captioned above.

We never know for how long we are here so it is important to live our lives like tomorrow will be our last (also wonderfully reflected in “Another Day” from Rent).  Because of that it is imperitive for us to try to learn and pass on what we have learned as if we would be here forever.  That is the glory we can pass on to those who follow us, knowledge to be built on for the future and hopes for a better future for the generations to come.

Generations where a mental disability can be cured.

Generations where people don’t have to die to preserve freedom.

Generations where the young need not be taken from us.

It may be impossible, it may never happen, but we must do our best to try.  I think we owe it to Dave, Bobby and Chris to try.

Dave Thomas Memorial

As many are aware our friend, Dave Thomas, RLHS Class of 1990 passed away on Sunday.  I have had some flowers sent to the funeral home on behalf of the Class, if you would like to help out with donations I would appreciate it.  Any extra funds received will be passed on to the charity of the family’s choice.

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Farewell BSG

One of the best shows ever had its final bow on Friday night, the “re-imagined” Battlestar Galactica or Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica (BSG) came to a wonderful end tying up almost all the dangling plot points and answering almost all questions that needed to be answered.

In the aftermath of Friday night I’ve reflected on it some and in many ways I feel like I’ve lost an old friend. In this case, a friend that was along with me through the journey.

When BSG had its mini-series premier in 2004, before it even became a regular weekly series, my life was much different than it is today. In December of 2004 I was a few months past my separation, having my first Christmas alone and the myriad of feelings and emotions that went into that. I was a broken man then but I didn’t know it at the time, I did a good job of keeping up appearances.

When I saw the ads for the new BSG I knew I would like to see it and while I blanched at some of the changes (i.e Starbuck as a woman) I was looking forward to see what a new series would be like. I was totally captivated by it, the mini was outstanding and for a few hours I forgot about my troubles after all, what were they compared to almost the entire race being wiped out!

Over the past five years I have had this friend by my side in BSG. I hate to make myself sound like one of those people who gets so caught up in a television series that they lose all perspective on reality and immerse themselves in the program but this is truly the way I feel about the end of the show.

When I started watching BSG I was a very broken person inside and aside from the escape the show gave me it did something rarely done in science fiction — deviated from perfection. Sci-fi is almost always about perfect pristine ships with perfect technology and our perfect political systems and the perfect captains leading the way. Every character on BSG was far from perfect, they were human just like you and I are. The effort put into creating these characters is above and beyond any other show on television and that’s saying a lot for me. I was a huge fan of Six Feet Under but I’m sorry, BSG was just a better show and character study.

BSG was born in a post 9/11 world where things are much different than they were before. You could never tell the political persuasion of the creative team because in one instant they might be focusing on the brutality of torture and then the next instant the female president is flushing a Cylon out an airlock. BSG was like the best comedian — no one is safe from scrutiny.

So if you have never given the show a chance or don’t care for sci-fi I encourage you to hop on to Netflix or head over to iTunes and start with the Battlestar Galactica mini-series. If you can’t watch an hour or two of that without being drawn to the immersive story and characters there’s no hope for you. Give it a try, I think you’ll be surprised.

To Ronald D. Moore, the cast and crew of BSG and the folks at Sci-Fi I want to say thank you for bringing me the best television show I have ever seen. I’m sad that it had to end but all things must end as they say. I’m glad that BSG went out at the top of its game and as intended, it’s a rare feat for a television show these days. But I’m afraid just like all the great ones, we will never see its like again.

The Power of Facebook

I’ve had a few blogs that I’ve been meaning to post but after Saturday night I definitely needed to post this one and that’s about the power of the coolest social networking app to hit the web called Facebook. Think of Facebook as MySpace for adults or for people who get majorly irritated with hideous HTML embedded on MySpace pages that take forever and a day to load no matter how fast your connection is.

It started out as a social networking app for college students and you had to actually be one to get a Facebook page before they opened it up to everyone. It has a slick AJAX interface that makes things just click and go so that even the most novice web user can quickly get a profile up and going that looks decent. It has “apps” which are various little games and diversions that keep people interested or embarrass the heck out of you.

However, where Facebook really shines is in the power of its feeds. A feed is where you see what your friends are up to be it posting their own items or commenting on someone else’s stuff they put on their own page. At a glance you can see what all your friends are up to and it encourages communication since it only takes a second to comment on the item or post one of your own. I witnessed the raw power of Facebook this past Saturday night when a group of RLHS alumni got together — for no reason really but just to get together.

We started an RLHS Alumni Nights group, basically after homecoming this year, we put together a place where RLHS alumni who are still in the area or might be coming back to visit can get together and hang out with old friends. For someone like me who can be a bit distant, getting to know people is tough. What easier way to hang out and have fun for someone like me than with people I grew up with, spent years with, shared embarrassing moments with? Heck, they already know my history. That’s my reason for starting the group and getting into it but the group has nearly a hundred members now and they each bring different reasons for why they are there.

So this past Saturday we had a get-together at The Vine in Grayslake. I had one of my online gigs but as soon as it was over I got dudded up and headed on over a bit later than most everyone else. When the girl who greeted me pointed out the corner where the group was I couldn’t believe my eyes as RLHS alumni had packed a whole section of the pub. The graduation years really ran the gamut but it was mostly late-80s to mid-90s graduates all getting together and having a good time. It wasn’t like your typical reunion though where you spent all your time about where you’ve been, what you’ve been up to and how your life has been for the past ten years.

Instead of reunited it was old friends reignited again just having a good time. The various classes bled so that you had groups of people who weren’t from the same class or weren’t even in RLHS at the same time grouping together. It didn’t matter, our experiences and our common background at RLHS were all the things we needed to share some drink and some good times. Looking at that corner of people, several had come from many miles away and just happened to be in town, it really struck me at how amazing Facebook and my friends from RLHS are. Sure, there’s other social networking sites that do similar things but at my 10-year reunion I would have never anticipated anything like this now.

At the end of the night, walking back to my car after parting with the last of the group it really struck me why I do what I do on school board as well. We weren’t just taught about learning at RLHS, we were taught about life. Many of my classmates are immensely successful and they’re strewn all over the United States and even overseas now. We all came from the same place though and had our lives forged in the same crucible together because, let’s face it, we fought a less than desirable reputation then just as we do now.

So I try to do my part to give the kids the best environment and learning experiences I can give them because in my own way I’m trying to do my small part to help them become who they’re going to be. People talk about the passion I can bring to the board table sometimes and I won’t deny it. I will fight for these kids, come hell or high water, there is no reason they can’t succeed and we can’t do more to help them get there. I will not settle for excuses for why Round Lake kids can’t achieve and thrive and not just merely survive. That will never change and spending time with my friends from RLHS just reinforces that for me all the more.

All Staff Welcome

It was a great day led off by the RLHS Marching Band. Dr. Martindale gave some remarks and I followed with some remarks about all the progress RLAS has made in the past year and about exciting new plans. Then I had to scoot for work.

I hope to write more later.

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