Not so Off-Duty

On the plane today I had the unfortunate luck to have an off-duty stewardess sit next to me. She was decked out in her Southwest uniform, but must've just been along for the ride. We did the polite head-nod thing when she sat down, and my experience has been that these folks are usually pleasant and nice, but she quickly proved me wrong.

As the plane backed up I was listening to a book-on-iPod, but she annoyingly taps me on the shoulder and said, and I'm not making this up, "you need to turn off all electronic devices." Seriously? The REAL Stewardesses hadn't even gotten close to that part of the schpeel yet. I begrudgingly took the ear buds out of my ears and pushed pause. How is the iPod gonna make the plane crash, can anyone explain that to me?

After we were up and flying I dozed off - and in my mid-snooze the lady again does the nasty shoulder tap asking me if I want something to drink. Would any of you do that?! Sheesh!

To cap the whole thing off I was holding a book in my lap (not reading it) as we were descending to land, and she told me I should "probably put that underneath the seat." So if you happen to ever happen to board the plane and there's an open seat next to the off-duty stewardess - go find a different one.

NPR and the Spoon

That's my brother with his tongue out. Check out this story from NPR. Hopefully a lot of you can catch the show. I'm actually gonna be in DC next week at the same time, so I should be there. They were on Conan O'Brien last night. Fun!!

Here's the first bit from NPR:
The Austin-based rock band Spoon has been making tight, adventurous art-pop for nearly 15 years. On the strength of frontman Britt Daniel's meticulously crafted songs, the group has amassed a nearly flawless catalog — including its latest album, the oddly titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Hear Spoon live online in a full concert webcast on NPR.org Oct. 23. The performance from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET.

United We Stand

Over the last few weeks I've been watching "The War" which is a PBS special about World War II. It goes into decent detail about what was going on abroad and back in the US during the war. And I have to tell you, it looks like a COMPLETELY different world. I get that it was a few years ago and all, but seriously, when I do a little comparing to our world today, it's unrecognizable. I'm not gonna get too deep into current politics here, but it's mind-boggling how extensive the support for that war was and the SACRIFICE people were willing to make to win it. We've absolutely lost that.

I get that the cause was absolutely different than what we're fighting today - I am making an apples to oranges comparison a bit. But can you fathom the Congress in 1944 having hearings about cutting funding for troops, while those troops are dying on the other side of the world - even if the goal was to bring them home? What we're doing in Iraq (right or wrong) is costing $275 million a day - that's over $100 BILLION a year. OUCH! Have you heard a single politician talk about raising taxes or rationing anything to pay for it? I haven't. We'll just tack it on to the deficit we pass on to our kids. In WWII (which cost the US $341 BILLION in 1945 dollars) families made huge sacrifices in addition to sending their husbands and fathers away for years at a time - where over 300,000 of them were killed or injured. That part of our culture is almost (and I stress that word) completely gone. If whomever we were fighting saw our country and the men & women fighting for our country unite and willing to do whatever it would take to win - the bad guys wouldn't have a chance. Heck, they might not even show up.

Our ability to pull together as a nation and get behind something has been so obliterated by a bunch of factors, that I challenge you to name a cause that we would really get behind and be willing to broadly give up something for. For many people, a majority, what we're doing in Iraq isn't the right cause. Ok, I can get the thinking there - to a point. But name one that is, and that we would really get behind. I could write a list of problems I'd like to see us solve, but wow, I could list lost of reasons why we won't get it done. I know that many, many individuals are choosing to sacrifice significantly for our nation. I so admire that, and sure am not trying to discount it.

So, nothing prescriptive here, just observations. Hopefully we'll never have to go through something that requires that much sacrifice, but if (when) we do - I think we're soft.

Spoon - The Underdog on SNL

Pastey Mop

Is there anyone out there who can explain what would possess Braeden (my 6 year old) to put toothpaste on a comb and then to comb his hair? We just found all of the remnants of the crime and he's sleeping happily, but his pillow smells minty fresh. Luv it.

CherryBomb on SNL

I did end up staying up to see Spoon play on SNL - and I'm so glad I did. It was marvelous!! I was really impressed and I also liked that Roberto got loads of face time on the camera. Here's the second song they did:

Booty Shakin', BBQ, and Brothers

I was on such a roll with consistently posting and the readership was showing it . . . now, not so much. Sorry.

Here are a few things on my mind:

• I’m reading the last Harry Potter book, so I can be like everyone else. I now concede that these books are as good as the 2 billion or so of you that have read them have been telling me they are.
• The new job has been really up and down, but consistently busy. I’m still at Sprint, and overall things are good in the new role, but literally, I haven’t been able to free up the time or the mind to do a lot else. I’ll quit whining now.
• Sydney (4 year old) did her first dance class last night, and for those of you who haven’t seen her dance, this little girl gives new meaning to the term “shake your booty.” Gonna have to keep and eye on her . . .
• I am now a combined 1-7 in my two fantasy football leagues. Mind you that I’m the one who sets ‘em up and gets everyone to play along. I must be some kind of masochist without knowing it!
• General Conference weekend
• Trevor’s in town – that’s a huge happy!
• The new Dashboard Confessional record is a little dark, but I like the acoustic and it’ll grow on me I think.
• The relief society CATERED in Jack Stack BBQ last night for and Enrichment Activity. I’m not ok with that.
• I saw my brother on an SNL commercial during The Office last night – it was wild. I got e-mails all morning from people asking which one my brother was. I made sure they understood that he’s tall, handsome, and has great hair – that’s why they couldn’t make the connection.

Peace Out!