‘Tis the season for gluttony, greed and lust. So this week’s white board quip is a gentle reminder to keep your holiday wish list in check and your holiday serving sizes reasonable.

You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?
– Steven Wright

I’m sure you saw the news for yesterday’s sad loss. Actor Leslie Nielsen passed away at 84.

Yes, he had a slightly above average acting career. Yes, he had comic genius rather thrust upon him when, as a previously serious actor, he played the dead pan doctor on “Airplane.” Yes, he went on to be a fixture of the slap stick and silly, such as the Naked Gun series. So why would I devote space here for a tribute?

Well, have you read my blog’s title and tag line?! Duh!!

Hopefully, you haven’t seen too many previews for Megamind. I managed to avoid most of them. And as such, all but a couple of the gags were really funny and the various plot twists were actually surprising. I can’t say the script completely avoids predictability. It is Hollywood, after all. But it is thoroughly enjoyable.

Megamind is your classic turn-the-stereotypes-upside-down tale that Shrek (you know, the good one, before it became a pathetic franchise) set the bar for. Whoever was in charge of casting on this show deserves every award they can get. The “hero” is a gag-me-sweet, suave media darling. (Brad Pitt… Heck ya!) The “damsel in distress” is a wry, sarcastic wise-cracker. (Tina Fey… Nailed it!) And the “villain” is a cutely naive klutz with a crush. (Will Ferrell… Have you seen Elf?!)

A movie poster containing both “Dreamworks” and “Will Ferrell” may have you concerned. You don’t want your kids repeating the same fart jokes for the next month. (Ahem… Shrek.) But not to fear. The humor manages to avoid the bathroom (mostly). It’s smart enough to entertain the grown ups and silly enough to keep the kids rolling. There are several pop-culture gags that the kids probably won’t even catch. (Keep eye out for the original Donkey Kong.) And most importantly, it really is just darned cute. The character animation for Ferrell’s Megamind is brilliant. For a guy with a giant, blue head; he really can warm your heart.

Long story short, see this movie! Take your kids! You will love it!! It easily earns these four grins.

I like Sarah Palin. I think she’s a true conservative. I think she’s smart. I think she’s a great mom. But I don’ think she’s presidential. I don’t think she’s electable. I don’t think she should run.

Any conservative in the public eye, politician or otherwise, must accept Lamestream Media venom and SNL mockery. Notice I didn’t say “expect.” By “accept” I mean be able to ignore it, laugh it off, and get on with business. Sarah Palin has proven she can’t do that.

Any conservative running for public office needs have a solid resume. Conservatives, by definition, don’t care about “flair.” We care about policy. We care about getting things done. Former Governor Palin had a real chance to get some things done in Alaska, to beef up her resume. And she quit. Since then, she’s written a couple of books and is now … *sigh* … a reality TV “star.”

Before I can cast my vote for President of the United States of America, I have to know the candidate is serious. Before I can vote to put someone in charge of the big red button, I need to know they can handle the responsibility. The Leader of the Free World needs to have the nerve to sit across a table from Vladimir Putin and tell him to stuff is nuke treaty, to have the chops ignore Kim Jong Il and Ahmadinejad when they are squealing for attention, and the cojones to go nose to nose with Hippy Pelosi and put her in her place.

I like Sarah Palin, but I see no evidence she can do any of those things.

Dear Sarah Palin,

America loves you. I think your great. Please please please please DON’T RUN FOR PRESIDENT!!

Thanks,
Trint

P.S. I’m not the only one who feels this way.

This week’s white board quip (Okay, so it’s actually this month’s quip. Get over it.) is to honor those brave souls protecting us from mayhem and certain death in the skies. Of course, I’m talking about the TSA … ‘s pat-down victims.

*Knock knock* Hey, pilot! I promise not to terror you.
Paul – who is a ghost

Yep. You read it right. I’m wishing you a bad day today. Why? Why would I be so mean and hateful? Well, because November 19th is “Have a Bad Day” day, of course.

So get out there and make the worst of it!

[Cross posting my sister’s post from my mom’s blog.]

Dad just called. Mom made it through the procedure [to remove the external drain tube from her liver]. The stint is working. The docs are looking into getting her some other meds for the nausea.

However, Mom was crying from being so, so tired as she went into the procedure. She came out still tired. The nurse told Dad that Mom is ready to go, as in ready to see Jesus. Dad couldn’t talk after saying that, so I don’t know how that assessment was made. Mom is just very tired, that I know.

Mom does have cancer in the area of her liver again. She opts for no treatment, and they wouldn’t give it to her now anyway since she is so weak. There you have it. The brutal truth.

Maybe we are just all very tired and emotional. I hope so.

Today, I contacted my U.S. Representative and both of my U.S. Senators with the following letter. Please feel free to do the same.

As usual, thank you for the work you do protecting my conservative values in Washington.

I admit I have not made an exhaustive search, but I have not been able to find out your position on the earmark moratorium.

I understand that some in Congress feel that pork projects are vital to their local districts, but, as a tax payer, I don’t care.

I pay my taxes “in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” not to refurbish baseball parks and add airport terminals with shiny brass plaques honoring our members of Congress.

We are trillions of dollars in debt. In my house, when we can’t pay the bills, every last penny is accounted for and every last expense is curtailed until the budget is balanced and the debt is paid. (Yes, as a matter of fact, my household has no unsecured debt and we have a budget surplus. I know. I’m weird.)

Please take the time to express publicly your support for ending earmark spending, and all wasteful and unconstitutional spending by the Federal government.

Thank you.

Your constituent,
Trint Ladd

[Reposed from 11/8/2008]

Several years ago, we put together a tribute for Memorial Day at our church. The script was actually written for Veteran’s Day, so I thought I’d offer it up again.

(These files are pretty big, so you may want to right click on the link and choose “Save Target As.”)
MemorialDayTribute.mp3
MemorialDayTribute.wma (Windows Media)

And the script can be found here: WhatIsAVeteran.doc

P.S. The speaker gives me credit for the script, but I’m pretty sure I just adapted some else’s. I can’t find it, or I would give credit were it’s due.

The Geeks of the 80’s and 90’s are now ruling the world. (But that’s no surprise, right?!) And yet, we still find ourselves sorely lacking many of the technologies that were taken for granted 30 years ago. In the movie 2010, trips to Jupiter were no big deal, but here it is the twilight of the real 2010 and we haven’t even been past the moon! The moon!! We landed there 40 years ago!! C’mon people!

3D movies are making a big come back, but the technology is so 1950. What happened to real 3D movies?! You know, immersive, holographic images that you can walk around or even through?! Remember the “Jaws 19” bill board in “Back to the Future 2” that reached out and ate Marty McFly? And of course, the hologram in the dreams of all children of the 80’s, Princess Leia’s plea to Obi-Wan.

I remember the euphoric, chills-and-goose-bumps experience when I saw the first holographic video game (Time Traveler). Yes! Are real live holographic video game that you could put your hand into! Who cares if the game itself sucked? There was a six inch tall cowboy hologram walking around that shiny black table!! That was 1991. Can you imagine the crushing despair I would have felt if, at that moment, you had told me it would also be the last holographic video game?

Well. There may be hope after all.

The scientists at the University of Arizona say their prototype “holographic three-dimensional telepresence” is the world’s first practical 3D transmission system that works without requiring viewers to wear special glasses or other devices.
…
The heart of the system is a new “photographic” polymer. … A 3D image is recorded with an array of cameras … and is then encoded digitally in a fast-pulsed laser beam, which creates holographic pixels or “hogels” in the polymer. The image itself results from an optical interference pattern between two laser beams.

Lasers and polymers and holograms, OH MY!!

Clicky clicky for the full article.