Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas, everyone!

Remember, there's no "X" in Xmas, rather a Greek letter "chi" (say the word "key" while hissing like a cat).

The title "Christ" is spelled with a "ch" in English because the Greek word starts with "chi". The "chi" is perfectly acceptable abbreviation for Christ.

Xmas should not even be pronounced "ex-mas," but "Christmas."

Funny Pet Names, Part 2

With the unfortunate loss of our little kitty, Leukas, we found ourselves looking for a new cat and a new pet name.

Lo and behold, I came home from work last night and a little black-and-white long-haired kitty was running through my living room. Shannon and Tanner had found a replacement kitty, about the same age and size as Leukas but with much more energy. This kitten is a female and every bit as friendly.

This one's name is Mellie Snowflake, from the Greek melas meaning dark or black. So in a way, this cat's name means black and white (Tanner added the "Snowflake" part).

The Sports Machine Mourns

George Michael died today at 70 from leukemia. He was famous for his sports highlight show, "George Michael's Sports Machine," which I watched faithfully in the late '80's and early '90's, before I had ESPN.

The show ended last year due to budget cuts.

More on the Boeing 787

Here's more great info on the remarkable Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I don't fly much anymore, but something like the 787 has me salivating for the romantic days of yore, when jet-travel was something really special and not so much like being herded into a cattle car.

Here's a great article, with pictures, of the radical new interior.

Excellent background and technical geekery in this short article.

Poor Little Kitty

Tanner's kitty died today, probably of a congenital defect. We had him 10 days.

Good Camo For Where You Are

…not the perfect camouflage for where you'd like to be.

The video interview with this British Army spokesman is about the best explanation for what modern "universal" camouflage schemes are actually meant to do. I thought this squaddie really spells it out: the perfect camouflage for one spot is likely to stick out everywhere else. So the goal isn't to have one uniform that's the best in one spot but a uniform that's not dangerously bad in any spot.

Thin Man Marathon

I was introduced just this year to the Thin Man series of movies, consisting of six films from the 1930's and 40's.

On December 31 and January 1, there will be a Thin Man marathon on Turner Classic Movies that runs through the night. I'll be at a church lock-in, but it's a great opportunity to get all the films on your DVR, in order.

7:00pm - The Thin Man (1934)
8:45pm - After the Thin Man (1936)
10:45pm - Another Thin Man (1939)
12:45am - Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
2:30am - The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
4:15am - Song of the Thin Man (1947)

You could even have your own lock-in, watching almost 12 hours of Thin Man non-stop… well, perhaps that would be a bit much.

By the way, have I mentioned how much I like the free IMDB iPhone app? It's good stuff for cinephiles.

Tanner's Birthday and Funny Pet Names

Tanner, my tender-hearted second son, is turning 8 today. That sweet little boy opened a couple of presents early this morning but his main present was Leukas, the Siamese kitten we picked up a week ago. Leukas (derived from the Greek word for white) sleeps with Tanner every night and is carried by him all day. He loves that kitty.

As for the goofy pet names, I name all of our pets in Greek (or loosely based on Greek).

Dogs:
Sophie - "wisdom"
Maury - derived from moros, meaning "foolishness"
These names turned out to be ironic because Maury is the smart one and Sophie is the idiot beagle.

Cats:
Kala - from the Greek for "beautiful"
Leukas - derived from leuk, meaning "white"
Tanner helped with the Leuk's full name: Leukas Snowflake Maxwell III

Piranha:
Thanatos - "death"
Dunatos - "power"
Chiliarch - "leader of 1000"
Sarcophagus - "flesh eater"
We sold the fish when we moved to KC. Someday though I'm going to have a huge tank of piranha again, maybe in my office.

Stained Glass

The local hospital had some new stained glass installed. I expected it to be more religious (since the hospital is a Catholic hospital and all), but the theme appears to be pretty generic: a heart, an anchor, a rod of Asclepius*, and a dove. The dove however could possibly represent the Holy Spirit, so I'll go with that. Hey it's art, I'm being subjective.

*Now that I think about it the rod of Asclepius might have been the two-snake, winged staff of Caduceus. I'll have to look the next time I'm there. The two have been confused for so long that they're used interchangeably now.

Random Thoughts 12/15/09

• KC-based Applebee's opened their 2,000th restaurant this week. For that kind of restaurant (fancy dining for college students), this is the largest chain in the world. And it's expected to grow even more, now that Applebee's is owned by IHOP.
• Favorite App of the Week: Bump. I haven't used Bump a whole lot, but it's been updated and I used it today to pass a bunch of contacts from my phone to Chris C.'s phone. Worked great and was fast too!
  
• Our church website got relaunched. It looks great! Thanks, David, for all your hard work.
• Second Favorite App of the Week: IMDB. I'm a hopeless movie-nut and my wife and I are always pausing the TV to ask, "what's that actor's name?" or "what other movie was she in?" Now there's a really good app for that.
• Geek alert: Avatar is released in theaters on Friday, "Chuck" begins on January 10 with three hours in two days, and both "V" and "Stargate: Universe" have had more episodes ordered, despite low ratings for both.
• Do you care about the Golden Globes? Nah, me neither. But here are the nominees.

The 787 Takes Flight!

The super-advanced Boeing 787 Dreamliner had its first flight today. For aviation nuts, this is very cool, as the 787 is an innovative aircraft both inside and out.

Lots of pics and videos here, at the official website. More info here too.

Preview of "Entertainment in 2009"

At the end of this month, I'll release my annual review of entertainment for the year, or more specifically, my experience this year in what I found entertaining and what I thought was perfectly horrible.

2009 saw me reading a lot more books but playing fewer video games (I had entire months where I just didn't have the time). I played more board games this year than at any point in my life, but less Texas Hold 'Em than in recent years.

My regular dose of TV news and commentary was lessened somewhat but watched more Canadian produced entertainment than ever before. My dwindling list of classic movies was also neglected. After seeing dozens of the best movies ever made, it gets harder and harder to find the time to see the second-best offerings.

So what was my favorite movie of the year? I saw Up and Star Trek but I haven't seen Avatar, yet, so the jury is still out until December 31.

Palin and Shatner on the Same Stage

Move the Jags to LA

The Jacksonville Jaguars are 7-5 but can't sell out their own stadium. This week they play in-state rival, Miami, with playoff implications (they'd be in if the playoffs started now), which you'd think would generate some interest… but the Jags will once again be blacked-out on local television due to a partly empty stadium.

The Jags have seemed under-supported in the Jacksonville area for years, so maybe the right thing is to move them to LA (the largest television market without an NFL team).

This would possibly lesson the felt need by the NFL to expand beyond the 32-team-sweet-spot they have now. My personal opinion is that a 33+ team NFL would ruin its schedule, balance, and water down the talent too much. I'd much rather see existing teams relocate.

If the idea of the "Los Angeles Jaguars" doesn't sit well with you, consider this: It would make economic sense to reshuffle the AFC. You take the new LA Jags and put them in the AFC West with San Diego, Oakland, and Denver. Then you take the eastern-most AFC West team, the Kansas City Chiefs, and put them in the AFC South with Indianapolis, Tennessee, and Houston. The savings in travel costs alone ought to tempt the NFL.

This would mean, however, that the Chiefs would only play their old rivals once every 1 to 3 years, instead of twice a year. Chiefs-Broncos games and Chiefs-Raiders games are big deals around here, but if the Chiefs had been playing Peyton Manning twice a year for the last 10 years, that would be a bigger deal too.