Big Weekend

Friday was my wife's birthday, and I had spent the previous few nights making tamales and other goodies for her party. My tamales are so good they've caused family strife when their own family's recipe fails to measure up. Some of the party guests came specifically for the tamales!

My coworkers gave me no end of grief for not standing in line at the Apple store for an iPhone, claiming it'd be months that I'd have to wait if I didn't get one that day. But woe upon them, after my wife's party I dropped in at the Apple store downtown, and picked one up, and didn't even have to wait in a line! My wife played with the phone during the day today, and decided she really does want one, but now the Apple store is sold out..

Third World Infrastructure

Blogger Rick Perlstein has been keeping track of sinkholes caused by old water lines, which have not been maintained and are well beyond their designed life. Local counties, lacking the money to do anything about these problems, have passed the bill to homeowners when they can. These types of sinkholes are entirely preventable.

iPhone Dilemma

After making me wait for months, Apple is going to make their iPhone available this Friday. I'm already a Cingular customer, and for where I'm at in Chicago I tend to get decent coverage, so the lack of carrier choice will just mean Cingular won't have any real incentive to provide good customer service.

The dilemma isn't really if I'll get an iPhone, but when. See, Friday is also my wife's birthday, and while I really want an iPhone, I'm not too keen on sleeping on the couch for the next few months. I expect the stores in Chicago will be sold out in about 12 minutes, and an iPhone will be more difficult than a Nintendo Wii to acquire. I'm hoping that when I go to Rockford the next day that there might be one or two in a Cingular store out there.

Perry Family Reunion

A group of great grandkids is called a mess of great grandkids...

This weekend my mom's side of the family got together for the big reunion in Oklahoma City. Two years ago Uncle Jim put it on his shoulders to make a reunion happen, since many of us hadn't seen each other in nearly 25 years. Now we meet up every other year, down in Oklahoma where most of the family lives.

Most embarrassing moment? I was swimming in the hotel pool, underwater, and swam face first into the wall. I got a pretty nasty cut on the bridge of my nose, and a nose bleed as well.

Southern Baptists Reject Science!

Well, this isn't exactly news to anyone, but specifically they've voted on global warming, ignoring evidence and rejecting scientific findings.

In other news, the Chicago Field Museum will host a Darwin exhibit, countering the efforts of the Creationism amusement park, er-- "museum". Creationism makes everything so easy! How old is that old fossil? Can't be more than 6000 years old! Carbon dating? That the devil trying to trick you! Mathematicians, don't feel left out; according to the bible, pi is exactly 3!

Cicadas!

Should my son one day decide to study entomology, it will be because of a deeply rooted need for revenge, after what happened today. Our part of Chicago was amazingly lacking in any cicadas, despite this being the year they come out, so we took a trip to a forest preserve a ways south. As we got off the highway, we could hear their buzzing over the noise of the car, the air conditioner, and the radio! I knew these bugs didn't sting or bite, but they are fairly big (about two inches long) and very loud. Jason was wary as he left the car, and wasn't as eager as other kids to go poke these creatures, but tolerated following me around so I could take some pictures. About ten yards down the trail however, he suffered an attack of extreme heebeegeebees--screaming and shaking uncontrolably. Being a father first and photographer second, I scooped him up and ran him back to the one place safe from the bugs: the scorching hot interior of the car. Thus ended our foray into nature.

DPC Free Study from FAnime

I withheld this picture from FAnime from my online gallery, and entered it in a Free Study challenge on dpchallenge. It scored well enough, but I felt it should have landed a 5.8 or 5.9. I think the thing on her arm says "lifeguard," but I never did find out.

Perfection Averted

Yesterday, Curt Schilling nearly threw a perfect game against the Oakland A's, as the Red Sox tried to avoid getting swept. The perfect game ended when the Sox short stop made an error (though if it wasn't a hit or a walk, why does it end a pitcher's performance from being perfect?), but Curt took his no-hitter into the 9th inning. The hosts on ESPN radio gave a bit of play by play for the last inning, and with 2 outs Shannon Stewart hit a solid single.

How could this have ended better? The score was only 1-0, so any strategy that might get one run should be considered. Given that this is Curt Shilling though, the best ending would have been for Shannon Stewart to bunt for a single, ending the no-hit bid in a way that would have really pissed Curt off and made him lose his cool. Mark Ellis, the next hitter, takes a poorly placed fastball over the wall, and the A's win 2-1.

Of course, it didn't happen that way. Curt kept himself together after the single, and Mark Ellis popped out, and the Sox won 1-0. The A's did take 3 out of 4 from the best team in baseball, and might start to make up some of the ground against the division leading Angels.

Super Monkey Ball (Wii)

I got an early Father's Day present: Super Monkey Ball for the Wii. The game seems to be a natural fit for the Wii's controller interface; as the controller is angled so is the environment. There are 50 mini-games, all unlocked and ready for group play, and the main game isn't too shabby either. The only drawback is the music is a little obnoxious.