Swell Foop from the Heartland

Tribute to Billy Jean King by Bill Clinton tonight

2009-03-02T21:13:00.005-06:00

Text of tribute to Billy Jean King by President Bill Clinton at the BNP Paribas tennis event tonight at Madison Square Garden and on HBO.

Ladies and Gentleman, when I watch the video on Billy Jean a few moments ago, I realized that I am one of the relatively few people in this audience old enough to remember what it was like when she beat Bobby Riggs the first time.

For young people here it's almost unimaginable that well into my late 20's and earlly 30's there were millions of young women all across American who couldn't play sports or pursue dreams that were thought to be the private providence of boys.

There are now thousands of women competitors at the very top of their sports, not just tennis but others, all across the world, who once couldn't even play. That was before Billy Jean King.

And now I can say that she's done alot not only to help women pursue their tennis dreams but other dreams, well beyond athletics. She has probably done more than any woman in the world to empower women and to educate men.

Even though it was 36 years ago, I still remmber Bobby Riggs standing there and I felt bad for poor old Bobby having to be the stand-in for all of us adults who just didn't get it until she won.

And since then she's helped to educate us all by empowering members of the GLBT community. And that time she didn't even have to beat anybody. She just had to be herself. Who she was.

Billy Jean, I think you know the person in my family who would like most to be her paying tribute to you tonight, is in the Middle East trying to make peace. But she wanted me to tell you how much you mean to her. How you tried to help her put those 18 million cracks in the last glass ceiling. And how grateful she is to you.

Let me just say one thing in closing that I want you all to think about. We have a new president and a gifted team. And they're trying to get our nation and the world on the right track, toward peace and prosperity. In the mean while there are people all over American and all over the world who are feeling at sea tonight. Successful men and women in New York who worked hard and have good educadtions who've now lost their jobs. Older people who have lost their retirement. And all over the world people on the margins of society, especially working mothers and their little children, who don't know where it's all going.

I'd like to say for them tonight, they should think about Billy Jean King. They should think about being who you are. Doing it as best you can. And never giving in. And realizing that to me, she proved once again that the beauty, the dignity, the meaning of life is available to anyone with enough heart to make the journey. So tonight, for all of you who are a little down and a little worried, remember, if you have the heart of a champion, if you have the heart of Billy Jean King, you can belong, you can prevail. Thank you my friend and God bless you.
---

UI News Service photos

2008-06-20T02:10:00.000-05:00

> Here is a collection of photos by the University of Iowa News
> Service that includes some stunning campus flood pictures.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/uinews

View from Paris Las Vegas

2008-06-19T21:45:00.001-05:00

Trying the email-to-blog with attachment from GMail as Yahoo doesn't
seem to be working.

View

2008-06-19T21:27:00.001-05:00

My iPhone has some problems completing the email send with a photo attached, when connected only to the AT&T Edge network. It reports to me that message delivery fails, but then proceeds to try a half-dozen or more times. Hence the mess you see below. Hopefully that won't be too hard to clean-up via the uPhone ( my only device while traveling). This is the view out our Harrah's Paeis Las Vegas room. The glass could use a good cleaning, but the view of the tower & Bellagio fountains was spectacular.

Fwd: In Taos

2008-06-19T16:29:00.001-05:00

Well, we made it to Taos. It wasn't quite as long a drive as we'd thought, but there were a couple of delays/distractions.

First was a road construction delay just 15 minutes into our drive out of Durango today. That lasted 50 minutes.

Then we saw a motorcycle accident scene about 45 minutes from Taos. Nothing gory, but the cyclist was still on the ground just off one of those tight turns high up in the mountains. The first law enforcement car was on the scene and just about to stop traffic as we went by for the hospital-helicopter overhead to land. It looked like the Harley driver, a heavier, older gent, may just have lost control in the corner, maybe coming into it too fast. Sobering.

As we neared Taos the Earthpark, semi-buried homes in the desert sagebrush, piqued our attention. I Goodled it and found they are open for tours and available for rental. No thanks.

The other big surprise for our acrophobic driver behind the wheel as we neared wholistic Taos was the Rio Grande river suspension bridge: 658 feet high, and the 2nd tallest in the U.S. Yikes!

LOTS of neat shops to explore. Did I mention how much teens & tweens just love shopping, with their parents!? Ha!

Two nights here, then onto Albrquerque..

Fly or drive?

2008-05-01T23:41:00.001-05:00

Whoops!

I tried to send a blog update via my iPhone and the text didn't make it.

I thought it was ironic, Doot, that you're planning a visit to Albuquerque this summer. We've pretty much settled on a southwest USA family vacation this summer.

The big dilemma was whether to fly or drive. I calculated ~61 hours of driving time round trip, versus 7 hours flying time and maybe ~20 hours time driving a rental car.

I'm really excited about recreating the Griswold's Wallyworld odyssey. Highlights surely will be the Grand Canyon, national parks in Utah, visiting the wife's sister & family, and VEGAS baby!

Your answer to question #18 (vacation) prompted me to write.

Another season

2007-11-18T23:11:00.000-06:00

With the official start of the holiday gift-giving season just a few days ahead (the big day after Thanksgiving kick-off), I pause, ever so briefly, and find myself all too ready to submit to go with it yet again this year.

Looking at my Amazon.com wish list for the first time in a while, recently, I see that it is neglected and stale, with stuff put there almost a year ago that, yeah, it might be nice to have, but what was I thinking?

In the past I'd often use my Amazon.com wish list just to track, say, books that I might like to read sometime but not necessarily own. It seems a more responsible way than actually buying the book as a commitment to read it sometime in the future (as I used to do in college).

Anywho (whenever I use that word, it never seems the same as Tea Leoni in The Family Man), the wishlist also tracks some big-ticket items that are truly more wished-for items than something I'd actually expect to get or purchase near-term. Say, oh, something like a big screen TV, (or this one, if you're feeling lavishly charitable; don't care which, surprise me!) or a ('nother) really nice lens for my camera (or a new camera, yeah...).

But this year a new item is going on the list (follow-me down the consumerist rabbit hole, kay?): an in-car satellite television receiver & antenna. It lets backseat passengers watch live TV as you're moving down the road. Similar to what RV's have had available, but instead of a large R2D2 antenna on top, in-car uses phased-array technology to scale down the antenna to the size of a large, flat, pizza-box, mounted on your van or SUV roof rack.

These things are just now getting some main-stream media attention. You may have seen them in the Chrysler/Jeep ads (the Sirius Backseat TV). DirectTV also has their KVH models, and a Google search (Love that Google!) reveals that our residential satellite provider, DishNetwork, supposedly showed their MobileDish product at the January '07 Consumer Electronics Show, and supposedly officially announced it in a May Echostar (Dish parent) press release.

Funny, the press release says to call DishNetwork's toll-free number for more information, so I did. Maybe it was because it was the weekend, or maybe because the product isn't ready yet (no mention at all on dishnetwork.com), the call center person knew nothing about it.

(Not only that, but I was told I had to go through a local installer. Ok, give me a phone number of one near me. Alas, nothing nearby. Try another city? Ok, how about Chicago? Sorry, no installers near-by that city either. C'mon, you cannot be serious (Sirius?)).

Finally I was told try Radio Shack. So I checked their web storefront, no mention of MobileDish there either, but just to be sure I also called their toll-free sales line, but struck out again.

It was at this point my SO suggested that I was more consumed by the fact that it was something that was officially launched in May and, one would expect, should be available by now. It's precisely because it isn't available that adds to the attraction, or pursuit of it, for me.

Maybe so. But it'd still be cool to have for that up-coming road trip. And supposedly you get your local channels, too. Maybe I should cool my jets and just wait. If it isn't ready there must be a reason.

And, as with the iPhone, perhaps the 2nd generation will have desirable features, like DVR capabilities. And with volume shipments (expected to sell 386,000 units by 2011, said one of the manufacturer reps in an on-line video interview & demonstration), the price should come down.

I should add that we are otherwise EXTREMELY happy DishNetwork customers. Not just because they've carried TheTennisChannel, but for the reliability of the home DVR's, the price (at least compared to cable). We tend to stick with what's worked for us (coming up on eight years for Dish, been with Sprint cellular since '94, American Express since '86...).

The other stocking stuffer idea I had was an iPod adapter for our minivan. Of course ours doesn't have the auxiliary audio-in for MP3 players, like so many new vehicles seem to have now. But an add-on kits are available, and much cheaper than the mobile-sats.

For now, though, I'm going to keep the list to a minimum and focus on the holiday before us, and reflect on how especially thankful I am to be healthy and able to resume my tennis regimen after my hiatus from a back injury earlier this year. And thankful that I found a local coffee shop offering 100% Kona coffee brew (and that they opened a new shop near my office). And so much more.

Grandpa got another computer

2007-10-31T22:07:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'll just post every time my dear old Dad gets a new computer. I ought to be able to keep up that frequency.

I have to admit to a bit of performance anxiety, not being able to keep up blog posting with the same frequency as dear, younger Sis. How she does it I don't know, but I am encouraged by her entertaining and often inspiring (on many levels) posts. What the hey, let's give it a shot.

A month ago Dad finally got up his gumption (is that a word?) and bought another new PC. Last time the purchase was for Mom. This one is for him.

It's so nice there is still local computer shops around that can tailor their business to folks who like the personal touch and who stand behind their products.

If you've ever bought a new car, and then suffered getting that first door ding, you know the look Dad had the first time two freebie software programs were loaded, didn't get along very well, and rendered his new PC dysfunctional.

Well the nice folks at the local PC shop where he bought it took mercy and reloaded Windows XP for no charge. That, and a three-year warranty, a weekly radio call-in show ("Now, I've got Windows Millennium Edition, do you think I should upgrade or wait for the next version?" Agghhh!). Seriously, the show is good, but some of the callers....

Anywho, I think I'll make a strong recommendation to our pastor, who asked for assistance for a new PC. They are surprisingly well built (the local PC shop's PCs). Heck, if I weren't so enamored of my Macintoshes (thank you thank you thank you for Spaces in Leopard!!), that'd be my next choice for my own machine.

I wonder if the hunt for the new PC for him was as much fun as it appeared to be last time for Mom's PC. The enjoyment often comes more from the hunt, seeking deals, comparing specs...

Well, it's going on a 17 hour day for me today (early morning at work). 'Will check in again soon.

Summer 2007 gallery

2007-06-06T19:10:00.000-05:00

Hi,

We hope to restart our postings this summer, attempting to chronicle daily. We'll see how far that goes.

Highlights today were:
- picking out fabric with Mommy for our summer projects (incl. camp)
- more chipmunk reditions (no torture, more like witness protection)
- inviting a friend over (thanks K.S.!)
- retirement party for a colleague of M.'s
- dinner at the new Coralville iHop (O.K. but nothing to write in your blog about, oh well)

And of course, best of all, is starting our blog. Hopefully we'll also soon have a picture-a-day to help us with our compositions

Tomorrow we're anticipating some possible sever weather. Time to batten down the hatches (how do you do that anyway? Ask a Navy man? Or Google to the rescue!)

The day with Opa

2007-06-05T19:12:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day home from school and the official start of SUMMER VACATION! YEA!

Instead of jumping with both feet, we're easing into summer vacation by sleeping just a little bit later every morning. Mustn't rush things.

Opa joined us for breakfast and the day ahead. First was a call to the Lake MacBride boat house to check hours. After b. we swung the badminton sticks back-n-forth on the drive out front.

Then we played a game of Rummikub, our favorite game of late (except for ATK, who really enjoyed cleaning up in the last Monopoly game, beating Dad who, up until then, always won with Boardwalk & Park Place). KAK was was the winner.

The neighborhood has resumed its infestation with chipmunks, and so our Have-A-Heart trap has been busy snapping them up. We gathered our latest incarcerated and hauled off for Lake MacBride, dropping 'Chippy' off on the way. The route was circuitous, through Solon on the way there.

Once there we checked in at the boat house and commenced our promenade across the water via light green paddleboat. A glorious time (about an hour) was had by Opa and KAK alike.

Next, off to visit the spillway between Lake MacBride and the Coralville Resevoir. Fun climbing on the big rock near the waterfall - you feel like kings of the world! Unfortunately we left the camera behind, so no pics for you on this visit, but we're surely going back.

Lunch was at Pizza Ranch, then home again for reading (outside until the bugs found us, then inside), and baseball in the back yard.

Mommy came home and Opa went home. A good first day of summer vacation.

Summer wind down

2006-08-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

Well, not much foop for you to digest this summer, and what has been published may not have been that swell. Anyway, here's some updates.

Summer is winding down as evidenced by offspring #2 getting real excited about starting 3rd grade in two weeks; planning wardrobe, collecting supplies, making lists. I used to feel the same way in school.

The Vegas trip ended well. The place is just such a spectacular oddity. It's certainly piqued my interest. I'm through two Ben Mezrich books on the MIT students who took Vegas to the cleaners, and about to begin reading a historical book about the city.

I was in three days at the office, then got back on a plane, with the family this time, and headed for Washington D.C. for almost two weeks (!). Another spectacular town, well setup for tourists. Library of Congress - Jefferson building was my favorite, and Kennedy Center, Georgetown, and Arlington were most impressive. Arlington brought forth an striking appreciation of the cost of freedom in a way I'm not capable of expressing properly. Leave it to say it was moving.

We flew into Reagan National, skipped getting a rental car, and instead made liberal (OK to use that term about this town?) use of the excellent Metro. A pleasant surprise, being a pedestrian in WashDC, was the courtesy of the drivers, yeilding to tourists in crosswalks was very strange in a Twilight Zone kind of way.

Some other favorites:
- Open City restaraunt in Wardman Park area
- Holiday Inn on the Hill (with rooftop pool and very good Senators Grille)
- walking, walking, everywhere
- Smithsonian Museum of American History
- National Building Museum (and EXCELLENT gift shop)
- the street musician at the Chinatown Metro stop

And certainly many, many more attractions. We could do another two weeks there easy and not end up with much overlap.

We kept a travel journal, started by #2, on the laptop along the way. That was fun, and we'll share some of those posts sometime too. It was a great vacation.

Other summer fun that has come and gone are kids camps, RAGBRAI (did three days this year and got to see Lance Armstrong speak along the way).

And now back to school shopping, planning for fall... The cycle continues.

shaky knee in Vegas

2006-06-19T01:23:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Am writing this fine eveing from upon high in the Las Vegas Hilton, home of the Barry Manilow's Music & Passion show! Everyone working here greets you with that information. This is also the hotel that hosted Elvis Pressley for record-breaking engagements in the 70's, and where he lived in the penthouse until his last performance in 1976. Check out other famous hotel "facts" (* from Wikipedia).

I'm travelling with some co-workers attending a vendor trade-show. We've attended this same show in years past, in Orlando, San Diego, New Orleans and Chicago. It starts tomorrow when all of the network-nerds descend on the LV Convention Center. The attendees, ourselves included, are quite a unique demographic, and quite a site to behold.

Today we took a guided tour to Hoover Dam, which was spectacular. These kind of things never look the same in person, but are no less impressive. The scale is just something pictures and video just can't convey.

One interesting project observed was the Hoover Dam Bypass being built across a gorge. Interesting is that a 20 foot-high wall is included to block the view of the dam from the bypass in order to keep traffic moving.

Our half-day tour was early Sunday morning (today). Judging by the heavy traffic even before our return before noon, the bypass seems completely necessary. The high-suspension bridge will be quite a drive when completed even without the dam view.

That was the joke of our retired tour guide, Tom; everything at Hoover Dam is the dam tour, dam road, dam traffic, (dam jokes). Tom did an excellent job and I'd recommend him to anyone. I especially enjoyed his take on who the players were in Vegas (Harrahs, MGM, Steve Wynn...)

Most impressive was the turbine room where the electricity was generated. Everything built in the 1930's is still pretty much in tact today, including liberal use of terrazo floors (1.5 - 3.5" thick), aluminum (first time used in a large-scale engineering proejct), the prevalent art-deco style throughout, and again the scale of everything. Definately a must-see.

In the afternoon we tromped around the strip, seeing such mega-resorts as MGM Grand, where a live lion exhibit was a real treat. The lions are about a year old and are playful just like domestic kitties (only 200 lbs). The Hagen-Das shake (Belgian chocolate & strawberry cheesecake ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate syrup & sprinkles) in the cavernous basement was another enjoyable treat.

We then tromped through the heat, across the many pedestrian bridges, to the Excalibur, the Luxor (very impressive), and Mandalay Bay (to see the Sharks Reef exhibit we'd thought was free but wasn't and so didn't see it), and then back through New York New York & the MGM Grand again, to the monorail back to the LVHilton. The heat was 100 degrees plus, and we walked alot outside. Quite the workout.

I extended my workout by jogging back to The Wynn where there is a Ferrari/Maserati dealership in the lobby. I ran because they said they closed at 6:00pm on Sundays, and I'd called at 5:30pm in the mile-plus away LVHilton.

I arrived at 5:55pm and they were just closing the doors. I asked the gentleman if they were closing early, and he just said yes. A nice clerk in the adjacent Ferrari gift shop saw this, went over and talked to the dealership museum guy and came back to say he could get me in, but the $10 admission (charged for non-Ferrari owners) would still apply for the five minues they were still open. I thanked him but declined. The view of the Enzo on display through the gift shop windows sated me for the moment.

I walked through the still high-90's heat back to LVHilton, joined our cadre, and headed for old downtown Vegas. Very different from the glitzy, overdone strip, it is a real throwback to the old days of vegas you picture from movies. The Golden Nugget & Binions, and the giant neon cowboy were all there, plus the fantastic Freemont street overhead light show. A fun night.

Best of all, I bet my first dollar on the slots, drawing down $0.25 per turn. At the $0.75 cents mark it paid! I got $6.75! Well I cashed out right then and there.

Tomorrow the conference begins and I'm looking forward to the many sessions I've picked out. Will try to get back to the ole blog here to report any more happenings that might be of interest, like House of Blues, the Ringo Starr & his All-Star band tour in town (Sheila E, Billy Squier, Edgar Winter among others!), and the Stratosphere.

Oh, and the reward for making it this far through the blog is the explanation of this post's title: shaky knee. I got a couple of good workouts in before leaving for Vegas that, unfortunately, stressed my one knee that has had problems in the past. Today I wore my knee brace & preemptively took Aleve as it's really been quite painful when left in the same position for very long. Hopefully the rest of the week will go easier for it.

2006-03-11T22:34:00.000-06:00

Vacation trip day one: in the car....
Well, we're off on yet another grand adventure. For spring break we're headed back to Winter Park, Colorado and the YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch.

I think that, getting older, I'm losing my tolerance to be in the car for long periods of time. My life partner was gracious enough to handle the majority of the driving as I just couldn't stay awake. I'm recovering from a cold, is what I'm telling myself.

We had a nice 2 1/2 hour break in Des Moines to visit sis & family. Her guys are all nice and fun to joke around with. And I was indulged as we got to visit the fabled Apple store in the Jordan Creek Mall, Des Moines. LOTS of store traffic, and always shiny new, desirable, high-touch-high-tech toys.

Anyway, we're all here at the halfway point, North Platte, Nebraska at a very nice Holiday Inn Express. 'Am glad we made reservations in advance. The last time through Nebraska we took our chances without reservations, and hit upon Nebraska Days; hotel rooms were at a premium.

This time again, the parking lots were full as we pulled into town. It happens that there is some bowling convention in town. Good thing we didn't leave it to chance.

We've stayed at this Holiday Inn before. Hot chocolate-chip cookies at night, and a very nice pool (not too chemical-ly). The kids treated us to a demonstration of synchronized swimming! Future Olympians, surely.

Tomorrow promises only five hours of driving, provided the snow in the mountains isn't too treacherous, never a safe assumption. Then we can relax, get ski rentals and psych up for a day on the hill Monday. More to come....

Go go geothermal

2006-03-09T09:28:00.000-06:00

Hi,

Sorry it's been a while. In fact, Kathy Griffin was on TV last night again, and previous comments apply. Maybe every time she's on it will prompt me to come back and give an update.

Anyway, today our boring contractor arrived to drill wells for our geothermal heating & cooling system. WE ARE *SO* EXCITED about this. It's a huge investment, but besides the long-term savings, it got geek cachet.

The furnance being replaced, American Standard, is original with the 1967? house, and is reliable & powerful, but not very efficient. Same with the Amana central air conditioner, which on hot Iowa days seems never to be able to keep up, running constantly.

We're also replacing the driveway in the process, which needed to go as it has continued to crack and crumble over the seven years since we moved in. Taken together the cost is equivalent to three or four very nice family vacations to Hawaii.

Well, not much is happening yet outside. I'm home today from work with a cold, so it's a good opportunity to watch by the sidelines the progress. Hopefully the inside-word can be held off until tomorrow. 'Will keep you posted as to progress.

Never a minute's peace...

2005-12-19T23:11:00.000-06:00

Let me just say this, Kathy Griffin ROCKS! Ok, here's me, in front of the TV, watching her 'Allegedly' special on Bravo (nice, the explitives are bleeped), and there's this stream of consciousness running on and on and on from the TV about topics like visits with the troops in Afhanistan, Brook Shields' wedding and getting into a fight with Barbara Walters. And my jaw is just dropped, open, enjoying this person and her stories, afraid to move or acknowledge any conversation for fear of missing an interjected comment by Kathy. She is so cool, I wish I could do that, you know?

Anyway, that, and my sister's blog inspiried me to rant a bit about our cat. You know they sleep 20+ hours a day, but I've only now come to understand why. I know they love us and all, but it's never a minute's peace with that animal. Trying to read, play a board game with the kids, take a shower, make food in the kitchen, or just enjoy reclining in our new recliner, the cat has to be there and not just on the side, but in the middle of things. How many times can you walk across and disrupt a Monopoly game without that getting old? Is lying on newspapers that are RIGHT in front of people so much better than lying on newspapers *off to the side**!!??!

Oh, the recliner is one of those back-friendly designs that can tip you WAY back to stretch things out back there. We got it at one of the back-friendly furniture galleries where everthing in the store is oriented to back health. Well, now that we got it home, everyone is competing to get time in the chair, including the cat, who is interested only when someone else is already in it. We thought we might have some peace because when you are even half-way tipped back, the cat can't approach and jump up (she's 16+ years old). But tonight she did figure out a work-around reconnoitering (is that a word, OK yeah, Google says it is) via the adjacent couch/sofa/davenport. Don't even get my domesic partner started about how the cat sidles up at night and tucks in behind your legs when you try to sleep on your side.

Last thought about cats in blogs: how many other blogs do you think you can find where people write about their cats? Ok, for those that know me, who'd thunk I'dve been one of them if you'd been asked before today?

Circumspect cat comments welcomed! (especially for those of you who also know the cat in question).

Grandpa got a new computer today

2005-12-15T22:21:00.000-06:00

Today I helped my dad buy a new computer. It seems he's been in the hunt for a year or two, but until now has been content to proudly percolate along on the '386 he'd upgraded to a '486 twice.

But it was the deal, I think, that got him. The model he'd been stalking for the last week, we found tonight to also have a $50 rebate. On a system that started at a shade over four bills, that's not a bad discount.

But alas, there were no models to take home, that is, unless you're interested in the floor model, we'll knock another 10% off. No box, just the manuals, and a heck of a deal. Sold!

Hopefully this will be adequate through the next couple (or four) generations of computer evolution. The killer app was really Google Earth, which really is addicting (but I can quit any time, really!). Now to get a wireless card for this desktop, and they'll be crusing the broadband.... (sshhhh, it's a secret, don't open until Dec. 25th).

Now, just when is Apple going to release their Intel-Powermac's?!??

September 24, 2005

2005-09-24T17:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, feeling like the first time on ice skates, let's see what this Blog experience is all about. Is anything I take the time to write ever going to be as sharp, witty, astute, erudite as so many wonderful blog examples out there?