NaNoWriMo Update (Plus Football)

November 5, 2012

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Kosmo and I are both are deep into the NaNoWriMo effort. I have not seen Kosmo’s update, but so far I am on track with this year’s event with 7828 words so far. This is just barely above the 1667 words per day. It has been fun. My one piece of advice is based on my lessons learned. For the actual NaNoWriMo effort, do not spend time reviewing what you have already written. I have spent many hours in the past reading and editing my work with very little progress to the 50,000 word goal. That is only advice for the month of writing. When you are trying to create a novel, most of your time is reading and rereading your own effort to knock the edges off of the sharp corners and make sure the work in internally consistent.

This year I started with a four element outline, just four major events that I am trying to weave together with a good connecting steam of actions and descriptions. I am almost a fifth of the way into the work with the joining of the first two events underway and background for the next event already sort of in place.

To keep up the pace of writing, I have been trying to get two uninterrupted hours each night. The weekend days provided several writing opportunities, but many more interruptions than the week nights. I have even snuck in a couple of minutes typing before heading to work. I hope all of you are getting similar opportunities.

On Football, the traditional power houses are slowly floating to the top, both in college and in professional ranks. In College, Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon are the major undefeated with Louisville being the ugly duckling undefeated. In the pros, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, the New York Giants, San Francisco and New England are back in the top. Denver, Atlanta and Houston are new comers, but not very surprising.

I have noticed plenty of chants for the replacement referees. A little sooner than I expected, but it just depends on if you think your team is being short changed. We are in the final stretch for the college teams and the half way point for the pros. Now we should start seeing the games in the mud and snow, which to me is real football weather. I personally cannot wait for Johnny’s college update.

NaNoWriMo 2012

October 31, 2012

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It is that time of year again. National Novel Writing Month is almost upon us. It is time to sharpen you pencil or warm up you keyboard. The goal is 50,000 words captured during the month of November. The rewards are tremendous; bragging rights, nifty icons, and your novel captured.

I have participated in NaNoWriMo each of the last three years. The first two saw success. My first effort was finally complete and available for the public early this year. It is a romance, and nothing like what I had originally planned. I am planning a freebee week during November, and will advertise it on The Soap Boxers. My second effort was also a success in that I reached 50,000 words. It is still incomplete, a science fiction effort that I have really enjoyed writing. My third effort fell well short of the 50,000 words and will likely never be finished. It is a teenage adventure fantasy involving fire breathing ninja squirrels from outer space. I thought it would be the easiest of my attempts, but I was wrong.

This year I am planning a fantasy word epic that I think can actually spread across several books. Of course you have to finish one before you can have a second.

Some of you may not have heard of NaNoWriMo before. It is an event sponsored by the office of letters and lights at NaNoWriMo.org. The site provides plenty of encouragement, examples of success, and the opportunity to support writing at all levels, from kids to professionals. There are writing communities that can be joined either electronically or locally. They schedule write ins and web casts. The official word counter is provided so that you can gauge your progress and claim your prizes.

I hope that each and every one of you participates. It is not really about winning the day, it is about writing. It is about capturing your ideas in written words, and if you choose, to share them with others. It is not a contest to see who is the best, strongest, or most long winded. It is not an election or a game. This is an opportunity to have fun, write, and be with others trying to do the same thing. It all begins on November 1. If you want to participate in the actual event, log on to NaNoWriMo.org and set up your profile.

Let the writing begin!!!!!

 

Movie Review: Hope Springs

October 22, 2012

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We are hitting the movies again, so here is another movie review. This week we saw Hope Springs. The movie stars Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell. You will recognize a lot of other actors and actresses throughout the movie in bit parts. The most intriguing aspect in this movie is the reversal of roles. Steve Carell is the serious character with Meryl and Tommy being the comics. Tommy has had experience being the straight man in comic movies throughout the Men In Black series, but in this movie, he is the comedian. His delivery, facial expressions, responses to dialog and situations is supurb. Meryl continues to be the best older lady actress, playing her age. I would rate this as a third success following The Iron Lady and July & Julia.

The trailer sets up the action as an older couple in the doldrums of a boring marriage. The wife decides to spice things up. After reading a self help book, she pays for a marriage counseling session. The couple live in Omaha (and from the scenery, it looks like they actually filmed in Omaha) and the counselor is in Maine (again it looks like if was filmed on location). The wife drives the husband into attending and the action moves on from there.

The advertisements and even the movie suggest that the problems are all because of Tommy Lee’s character. As the story unwinds, there are plenty of problems for each to solve. The attempts at physical reconciliation are well played, along with the deeper character development. This is a good movie, especially for the over 40 crowd. Teenagers may be disturbed to find out that their parents and even their grandparents might still be sexually active.

I would recommend full price theatre, but if you missed it, pick it up on video or at the discount theatres.

Next week I hope to have seen Hotel Transylvania.

Should We Intervene In Syria?

October 15, 2012

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I have written several articles on the various activities in the middle east that are general associated as the Arab spring. There have been calls for intervention in every location that has had violence. The United States chose not to intervene in Egypt. The choice was to provide air cover for the rebels in Libya. There has apparently been no decision to intervene in Syria, at least not yet. I have taken the stance that the United States should not intervene in any of these conflicts.

Yes, innocent people are being injured and killed. Yes, the existing governments are cruel and corrupt. No, it is not the responsibility of the United States to beat sense into every country in the world.

I did support intervention in Iraq and in Afghanistan. In Iraq, a sovereign nation, Kuwait, was invaded and asked for assistance. Saudi Arabia felt threatened by Iraq and also asked for assistance. A lot of people forget that the Iraq war was started by Iraq and that Iraq violated every article of the cease fire that they begged for. People also forget that President Bush went back to the United Nations and asked permission to enforce those articles. He did not need to but he did. Instead, the political left claimed he was going in to steal the oil or take revenge for an attempt on the life of former President Bush, his father. Unfortunately, the reason for fighting was confused by the declaration of the presence of weapons of mass destruction. Again, this claim was presented by Iraq, then denied. At least one of the issues that drove the second phase of the Iraq war could easily have been deflated by the Iraqi government simply stating that they had used all of their chemical weapons when they put down protests from their own people. An the evidence of the weapons was found, just downplayed by the political opponents of the president. Now there are birth defects in record numbers in Iraq near the various military bases, and the same people who claimed there were no Iraqi weapons are now trying to claim that the birth defects are the result of the United States using depleted uranium.

In Afghanistan, we had active supporters of a group that attacked the United States. I am not a hawk in general, I feel we should support out friends and defend ourselves. It is also not a point of who is president. I felt that President G.H.W Bush was completely wrong in sending our troops into Somalia, and set President Clinton up for failure. I thought that President Clinton was wrong to get involved in the Balkans, that was a European problem and the Europeans should have taken care of it. I praised President Obama for not taking action in Egypt. We may not like the group in charge, but it is not our problem. I criticized President Obama for intervening in Libya. Sure the guy we hated is gone, but what of the groups now competing for power? We have a dead ambassador, possibly killed with weapons that the United States provided.

The biggest problem with civil wars is that as an outsider, we do not know who the good guys are, or even if there are any good guys. We can generally identify the innocent victims by seeing who is dead and who has guns. We do not want other countries to tell us what government or leader we have, and I think that we should have the same stance for others. The original call for action in Syria was from the national press. The second wave came from the “internation community” basically people who wanted the United States to spend its blood and treasure on their fight. Now we have calls from Senator McCain and other in congress. In my opinion, they are just plain wrong and I hope that President Obama does not buckle under the pressure to act.

Looking At The Old Classics

October 8, 2012

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One of the oldest classic literary works is Oedipus. This three part play has been studies by academics and high school students for generations. As with last week’s article, I am taking inspiration from my son’s classics course assignment. This week, his class is finishing up reading and analyzing Oedipus. They are to choose a character and find an equivalent in another work. Beyond that equivalence, they are to create imagery of their own to show that they actually understand and can defend the characteristics they have chosen to analyze.

My son chose Oedipus as his character and the biblical Job as the equivalent. Neither character had personally done anything that would lead to punishment, yet both were punished by the gods. In the case of Oedipus, it was jealousy between gods and the crimes of his ancestors, both conditions that he was unaware of, that caused his suffering. In the case of Job, it is a rather odd bet between God and Lucifer, again without any knowledge or provocation from the victim. Both characters whine and complain about their fate, but neither actually blames the gods or God. They are both led through the trials and tribulations without any choices except the choice to honor the gods or not.

The imagery that my son chose was that of sheep. Sheep follow their herder both out of habit and necessity. The habit is the association with the herder from birth and not knowing any other life. The necessity is the herder leading the sheep to food, protecting them from predators and searching for them when they are lost or separated from the flock. In fact, domesticated sheep would not survive without the direct and constant intervention of the herders.

Many classic Greeks and modern religious people believe that the direct and constant shepherding is essential to their lives. Others live their lives either hoping that such attention is not needed or convinced that it is not provided. Regardless of your individual belief system, the story in Oedipus allows a certain amount of soul searching, as does the story of Job. If the shepherd purposely allows harm even if it is not fatal, is the shepherd actually doing his job? One could say that the Judeo-Christian God is better since Job gets some of what he lost back in the end, but in both cases the suffering does not help the victim at all. In the case of the Oedipus, the moral is “don’t upset the gods” and “the gods will punish you even if you have no clue why”. In the Job story, the moral seems to be “bad things happen, but if you believe in God, it will not be all bad”.

Building on the question from last week of what makes a classic a classic, consider the implications of a moral or teaching within a story. Most religious texts, fables and myths include morals and teaching. Any story has to have a point and many of the classics depend on moral imperatives to make that point.

 

What Makes A Book A Classic?

October 1, 2012

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My son is in high school and taking a classics course. He posed the question “what makes a classic a classic?” This is a difficult question to answer. Everyone has there own opinion. There have been many times I was told to read something because it was a classic, yet it seemed to be basically pulp fiction. To me, a classic has certain elements. First, the story must cross the boundaries of time. Although both are considered classics, it is far easier to understand the motives and characters in The Odyssey they those in The Great Gatsby. The reason for this is that The Odyssey was written assuming that the audience did not understand the motives and therefore they are explained in great detail. The Great Gatsby is written only to the audience of the time. What is obvious to the characters and writer are lost on the current audience.

Most people assume that what is popular during their lifetime will be popular for ever. The fact is that only a small portion of the art of a period moves into the future, the far greater proportion drops into obscurity. In music, for the 1700s, many people could identify Mozart, Bach, and Wagner, but few but experts would even know who Buxtehude was (he was Bach’s teacher). In more modern times, who from the 1960’s would have thought that Pink Floyd would still be selling out live performances in the 2010s but find it almost impossible to get a copy of a Guess Who song other than in an compilation.

With the visual arts the same is true. There were literally hundreds of portrait painters in the 1600s, but he Mona Lisa is still the most famous. True, some masterpieces have been lost due to left, natural disaster, war and the temporary nature of the medium. Today, visual classics could be in the work of the commercial advertiser, but we cannot know for sure until a significant about of time has passed.

The same timelessness is the driver for all forms of art, music, visual and literature. Style changes, what is popular changes, but when something can be shared across generations or even centuries, then it becomes a classic. The works of J. R. R. Tolkien could also be considered classics. They are the basic story of good versus evil with a small hero overcoming immense odds. All of this was born in the nightmare that was the trenches of World War I. It has the forms of a classic, not just because it is a favorite among the anachronistic communities, but because the work itself drew upon earlier classics. Tolkien was a professor of classics specializing in Nordic and ancient Anglo-Saxon literature. He wove a tale that included the details required to allow the reader to understand the circumstances of the characters, even after history had moved well beyond the period he was writing in.

The 19th century novelists also went to great lengths to give background information, thus allowing Jane Austin’s works to last as well. Similarly, Shakespeare wrote with the same push for completeness of story. In many of his works, specifically the histories, his audience was rather ignorant of the topic. Schooling was not what it is today, and some of his effort was to educate his audience as well as entertain. Some works are studied in classics courses more for the fame of the author than the durability of the work. Earnest Hemmingway is studied at length, but as time goes on, many of his works fail the test. They are specific to his time and generation. What is famous today may well fall to the wayside. For example, the Harry Potter novels are very popular and even have the classic good versus evil story line, but they will never stand the test of time. The same goes for the Twighlight series and other popular works. These are all good books, as can be seen by their current popularity, sales and movie deals. The bigger test will be if the next generation even hears about them.

So what makes a classic a classic? Only time will tell.

Violent Outbursts In The Muslim World

September 17, 2012

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Last week, there were violent outbursts in the Muslim world.  The cause of this explosion was reported to be an internet video that is insulting to the Prophet.  This is hard to support since the video was weeks old and unknown to most of the world until an Egyptian television station broadcast it.  Somehow, this video provided an excuse to attack the United States, protesting at American facilities, storming American consulates and embassies, and killing of Americans including an Ambassador.  A video that was never condoned by any official of the United States, never broadcast by or in the United States, possibly not even made in America or by an American, is an excuse to burn and kill.  If this standard was held for all speech, then when Rachel Madow said that the Westborough Baptist Church was wrong to protest at fallen servicemen’s funerals, the Belgian Embassy should have been torched rockets should have been lobed into the economic mission of Nepal, after all, there is probably someone in those countries that do not like Baptists.

Last year I wrote an article defending the President for his decision to not intervene in Egypt.  I also wrote an article questioning his decision to intervene in Libya.  I also wrote an article questioning the media outcry to intervene in Syria.  I am grateful to the President for resisting that call for action.  In all of these situations, American intervention would have justified the people of those nations fighting America to keep their own identity.  The activities in Libya may actually be more closely related to our intervention than to the video.  The other outbursts show a culture that is too ready to be insulted and to ready to resort to violence at the slightest context.  That these events occurred on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the United States and the graffiti stating that there are thousands of Osamas attacking America would betray that the video is of no consequence.

So what is the reaction to these attacks?  First, the embassy in Egypt put out a message that the United States did not condone the video and condemned the violence in Libya.  The media only looked at the first part of this message, the right condemning it as weak and the left as an explanation of the violence.  Currently the United States is intervening.  We are arming the Marines who guard out embassies (why they guard without bullets is something that cannot be understood).  We are calling on host nations to protect our sovereignty and our people.  We are calling for the arrest and punishment of those people responsible for damage to property and life.  All of these are responsible reactions to the crimes that were committed against America.

What else can be done?  Evaluations will have to be made to test the intent of host nations.  If they are honestly trying to bring criminals to justice, then the United States should work with them.  If they appear to be supporting the criminals and concentrating on demand that the United States change their basic believes to shut down free speech, then other actions can be taken including cutting off financial support.  There have been calls for cutting the support without investigation, that would be irresponsible.  There has also been harassment of the supposed producer of the video, this is also irresponsible. My suggestion to anyone who is insulted by a video is DON’T WATCH IT.

 

College Football National Championship Rant

September 10, 2012

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This is my annual rant about college football ranking. The two major systems that are used until the 6th week when the BCS system kicks in, are the coaches poll and the sports writer poll. Both of them are based on the feelings of the voters and are heavily stilted toward the fashionable conferences. Admittedly, the major conferences do each have 3 or even 4 good teams. I also do not have a problem with the polls being the opinions of the voters. What I complain about the is the inconsistency that this method brings. A team can win and still drop in the polls. A team can get pounded and only drop a few spots. The thing that gets to me is when teams with several losses is still ranked above an undefeated team. Now we are only in the second week of the season, so there are no apparent problems yet.

When we finally get the BCS system results, the rankings get much more stable. An opinion pole is include in that system along with a computer poll and several statistical polls. As the polls progress, there is still a bias towards certain conferences based on “strength of schedule”. So if you play teams that are ranked, you go up in ranking. If a lot of the teams in your conference are ranked, you guaranteed a ranked position. The result of this type system is the insanity of having a national championship game featuring two teams from the same conference.

There are 12 conferences plus some independent schools eligible for the BCS. A true playoff would have the 12 conference winners contending for the championship. To be fair to the independent teams, there would have to be some “wild card” invitations for those independent teams that are still highly ranked. This would allow teams who are blocked out of BCS bowls because of the polls to have a chance. If there is that big of a talent difference, then the playoff games will just be warm ups for the big boys. If the opinions are incorrect, then the smaller schools will have a chance to prove them wrong.

Is there a perfect polling method? Probably not. My rant is a reaction to the ridiculous statements by sports casters with the new playoff proposal that two slots should be reserved for the South East Conference. One of the problems, or benefits, of the bowl system is automatic bids. For the national championship, all positions should be earned, not awarded. The four team playoff is a good start, let’s not mess it up immediately by determining who should be in it at the beginning of the season. The SEC is good right now, but that is the genius of the conference system, you determine a single champion. Then you have the various champions compete for the right to claim the top spot for the year, just like the pros.

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What Should The Role Of Government Be?

September 3, 2012

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There have been many comments on the President’s statement about businesses, that “you didn’t build that, someone else did.” The right wing talking heads claim that this is obviously a socialist statement that all is owned the collective. The left wing talking heads will defend the statement by rephrasing the lead up comments, that without the aid of government, the roads, electric, internet, educated workers would not be available for the success of the business. Both are correct and both are wrong.

Business of any kind is the action of human beings on raw materials to increase the value of a product and provide it to others for the benefit of the business. The raw material can be ideas, services or actual physical resources. Can you actually say that the government provided someone with the cleaning business that they have built up? Most would claim that the government has done almost the reverse with regulations. But again, could that business exist without the guarantees of property, the enforcement of laws and the security provide by the armed forces?

The government only took over the maintenance and building of roads in the last 100 years. Government education is also about 100 years old. Before that, individuals and businesses built the road that they needed and educated themselves through apprenticeships or the world of hard knocks. What about the raw materials? Most people do not understand that the ownership of resources has only been sure for about 300 years. Prior to the British commonwealth, the strongest person or group owned the resources, usually obtaining them through force and violence or the threat of violence.

Let’s look at the simplest form of a business, the small farm. The farmer claims some land, by his own strength, he plants seeds, raises animals and gathers his harvest. He can live off of his produce and trade is excess for goods he cannot make himself, such as better plows, stronger horses, etc. It all looks like the perfect growth plan. But he has to defend his land from predators, not all of them wild animals. If he is not well enough prepared, someone else will take what he has, and if he is fortunate enough to escape with his life, he may start the process all over again.

So both camps are right in that each can point to points that support their argument, but both are also wrong in stating it is an either/or argument. Without government programs, no business can succeed very long without becoming a government of their own (see the Mexican drug cartels or the British East India company). Claiming that the government has come claim over a business beyond the taxes paid to fund the services that make running the business easier and those government functions that allow the business to exist, is statism (whether you call if fascism, communism, socialism, despotism, does not really matter).

Now no part of this essay suggests that government has no part in business. Government is essential in providing security and restraint on business. If a business becomes too powerful, excesses can result that are harmful to the community that the government is expected to protect. In the United States, the government has stepped in to support the rights of workers from abuse. The government has also intervened when one business becomes too powerful within an industry, resulting in artificial increase in cost for what could be considered an essential product or service.

Recently (within the last 50 years), the effort to protect workers has migrated at times to punitive actions against businesses that are not for the good of the worker, but for the good of the individual political office holder or the organizational hierarchy of the labor organization. Also (within the last 25 years) the government has started to protect businesses that are “too big to fail” rather than harnessing those businesses into manageable sizes.

As examples, in the early 1900s, intervened to help workers including assisting in establishing work weeks and holidays. Now the emphasis is on increasing the minimum wage. The stated goal is to get people more money to spend, but the minimum wage is for entry level jobs, not full time careers. The result of increases in the minimum wage is the loss of entry level jobs until the market can adjust to absorb the increased costs. So the net result is a loss of opportunity, not an increase. But, there is a side effect. Most union contracts have a wage clause that pushes up the cost when the minimum wage is raised. The biggest effect is on contracts with government agencies resulting in a positive feedback.

Also in the early 1900s and as late as the 1970s, the government broke up large businesses. Standard Oil became 7 separate companies, Bell telephone was broken up, and railway crossings were regulated so that one company could not block common roads with trains to prevent their competitors from getting their raw materials. In 2010, the government was bailing out car companies and financial institutions.

As with any political action, there is some good and some bad for everyone involved. With unions, workers are protected, but now have to pay heavy dues to fund a top heavy highly paid administration. With unions, businesses cannot set the wages across and industry and have to provide certain benefits to lure skilled workers to their doors. With government interference, large businesses have been broken into smaller pieces for some short term pain for their customers, but overall better climate for all concerned. With government interference, large businesses have been “saved” to continue along flawed business plans that can only result in additional bailouts in the future.

The point of this essay is not to suggest that we return to the 1800s. The point is to expose that both the left and the right are both correct and incorrect in their interpretation of the role of government and business. We must have government protection of workers, communities, and other businesses. We must also avoid the idea of a collective. Each worker and business should be rewarded for the value of the work they do. It does not matter what you perceive the value of your effort is, only what the community determines the value is. If you have spent a lot of money on a college degree that will not get you a job, then you have prepared poorly. It is not the responsibility of the government or anyone else to assure that you effort is rewarded. If on the other hand, you build up a business that fills a need in the community, you should not be penalized. Restraint should only be applied if you are harming someone in the process of you effort.

Remembering Neil Armstrong

August 27, 2012

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Flag of the United States on American astronau...

Neil Armstrong

I worked at NASA during the Space Shuttle era. I missed the Apollo era mostly because of age. I was almost 5 years old when I stayed up all night to watch the first man on the moon. July 1969 and Neil Armstrong were major drivers that made me who I am today. Bad eyes prevented the ultimate goal of being an astronaut, but studying and dreaming lead me to a degree in Aerospace Engineering, a Cooperative Engineering experience at the Johnson Space Center, and the opportunity to support the space program with my talents and enthusiasm. All of this came from one man stepping onto the surface of the moon and stating “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

To be fair, twelve men walked on the moon, all of them are my heroes. Hundreds of men and women worked thousands of hours to build the machines that took them and trained them for the mission. Thousands more men and women developed the science and technology that led to those tools. Truly this was a case of standing on the shoulders of giants.

Neil had the opportunity to succeed and capitalized on that opportunity. It seems that all of history focused on him at that singular historic event. The science of rocketry had taken a thousand years to put a man made object in orbit around the Earth. A world war had been fought driving the final steps of that journey and setting up the industrial and technological infrastructure to allow the vehicle to be assembled. Colliding with these advancements was the conflict of two former allies in an all out race to achieve the goal of putting a man on the moon. Some would claim that only a democratic country like the United States could even try to go to the moon, and that may be true since we are the only ones who have sent men there to date.

Neil had trained to be a pilot in the military, but had retired to civilian life before becoming an astronaut. The civilian status added to his technical qualifications to make him the choice for that one small step. Were there others as qualified? Definitely. Were there any more qualified? Possibly, but it there were, they were not American Astronauts. When asked, he spoke of duty and responsibility, not of celebrity and renown. His humility was that extra part of his personality that made him by far the best choice for the job. He was supported by a talented team, including his pilot “Buzz” Aldrin. A lot of people cannot name the second man to walk on the moon, but Neil could not and would not forget him.

When I look up at the moon, I think of Neil and all of the others who walked on or orbited the moon. I still dream of doing so myself, although my age is making that dream less accessible. I also dream of the accomplishments yet to come. I dream of humanity’s (specifically America’s) return to the moon. I dream of man on Mars, the asteroids, and even the moons of Jupiter. I know we can do all of the things because we have already done so much. All we need is the will and drive to achieve, just like we did in the decade that was the 1960s.

 

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