henry winkler

So I ran into The Fonz today in the St. Louis airport. It was a bit surreal. I was traveling to San Diego for a conference; he was on his way home to L.A. from a speech at a local school.

Henry is currently writing children's books and making appearances when possible. He recently finished a stage role as Captain Hook in London.

He's shorter than I expected, and he seemed a bit travel-weary, but he was pleasant and seemed happy to talk to a few of us while we waited in the security line (before he realized he could jump the line as a first class passenger, let alone the fact that he's Arthur Fonzarelli).

During our short conversation another "fan" approached, pledging his devotion to Mr. Winkler and assuring him that Fonzie was the real star of Happy Days, not Richie.

I don't frequently have run-ins with the famous or semi-famous. My most memorable are a random handshake with Roy Williams, a quick hello in the home of Don S. Davis (http://imdb.com/name/nm0204493/#actor1980 , and a possible shared plane flight with pro wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

It made me think about fame, and how Henry Winkler can't get on an airplane without first having to talk to a bunch of strangers (some stranger than others) about stuff he did decades ago. I know it's the price of fame, and it was fun to meet him, but after shaking hands with him today it got me thinking... mainly about how many times he probably washes his hands every day.

1987 - music

Though I had begun listening to pop music earlier in the 80s (my first albums were Michael Jackson's Thriller and the Ghostbusters Soundtrack), it wasn't until 1987 that I really got into it.

My first favorite rock song and MTV video was "Sweet Child O' Mine." Following were my favorite albums of '87.

Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet

Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation

Michael Jackson - Bad

INXS - Kick

Def Leppard - Hysteria

gaming with kids

Gaming as a dad is different than gaming as a kid, college student, or husband. The amount of time is somewhat less, but the real decrease is "time per sitting." It's difficult to get a solid hour of gaming in, particularly if the kids are awake. And there is the content issue ... no Gear of War for the kiddos.

My solution: Bing them along. Following are a few games I've enjoyed both playing in front of the kids, and even better, playing with them.
(Note: Being a Nintendo fanboy for 20+ years, it made it pretty easy to go the kiddie route. The selection of games here will be heavily Big N.)

Gamecube/XBOX/PS2 -- Lego Star Wars
This is number 1 for numerous reasons. The kids are big Star Wars fans (though I guess there are some semi-obvious content issues there), so Lego Star Wars is a big hit. The violence is limited to shattered Lego pieces, and the gameplay is easy to pick up on. The coop mode is fantastic, especially the "drop-in, drop-out" style. It's good when the kids are stuck and want to drop out for a few seconds, and equally as important when one of us wants to quit but the other doesn't.

Wii - Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
Though rated T, this is a pretty tame game. It's beatiful to look at, and the kids enjoyed watching almost as much as I enjoyed playing. Also, a six year-old can be very helpful when Dad is stuck in a dungeon. They see things we miss, and if they're following along throughout the game, they know the items as well as we do. Good times.

Gamecube - Mario Party
This has been a great "Mom, Dad, and kids" game on Saturday afternoons or just before bed. The settings allow for a variety of time needs, and the handicap feature levels the playing field. And it's Mario on a game board -- tough to beat.

Gamecube - Mario Kart Double Dash
Even though I called Star Wars #1, my daughter and I have had the most fun playing this game together. In Double Dash two characters ride each kart -- one to drive (usually my job) and the other to use the collected items. This is a total blast, easy to get the hang of (she was throwing turtle shells at age 4), and the sense of shared accomplishment is great.

Web sites on the subject:

www.gamerdad.com

www.shortattentiongamer.com

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lyrics i like

From "On the Radio" by Regina Spektor

This is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again

booknotes - god is closer than you think

John Ortberg.

- Finding God is often like the Waldo books. You gotta keep looking. Sometimes it's hard. I know he's there, but sometimes it seems like he isn't.

- You're going to shower/work/drive/watchTV anyway, why not do it with Jesus?

- Don't add a bunch of things to your life, thinking that's what you need to get closer to God. Instead, involve God in the things you're already doing.

- Morning Prayer: 1)Acknowledge God for who He is, 2)Express concerns/fears about the day, 3)Invite God into the day.

- God's Grace = Ocean Waves. He keeps making them. He's a wave machine.

- CIHU (Can I Help You) Prayer. Ask God to give you opportunities to be inolved in others' lives.

- Dust of the Rabbi. If I live "at the feet" of my rabbi/mentor/leader, it's defined as working under him. I am so close to my rabbi in that situation that when he walks the dust from his feet end up on me.

- Mary & Martha. This is not a personality story. Martha isn't chastised because she works too hard. And Mary isn't praised for being a lazy ass. Martha was DISTRACTED with other things while Jesus desired meeting with her.

- God's Silence does not equal Absence. Purposeful silence can say "I'm not going to make this decision for you."

- Resistors & Conductors. Resistors are not open to be used. They stop the flow. Conductors are open to let energy flow through them. Be a conductor. "The Gulf stream will pass through a straw if the straw aligns itself with the gulf stream."

- God loves pizzazz: He delights in the beauty of his least strategic creatures (e.g. Hippos)

- The Hedge. I'm currently in temporary housing (my body) with a backyard (my world) and a hedge. Jesus traveled across the hedge to bring some of "up there" "down here."

"...thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

the legend of zelda

This is still my favorite video game of all time. I worked my first newspaper route in the summer of 1987. I put most of month's earnings in my pocket, hopped on my bike, and rode to Wal-Mart to pick up this game. After laying down my $35 (games were cheap in the 80s) I began. It was the first game I played with a battery save, meaning you could actually start each play session at the place you left off (without Metroid's 65-digit code that we always messed up). The puzzles were tricky, enemies were tough (especially the Knights and Magicians), and weapons were legendary, particularly the magic boomerang.

At that time many of my friends were playing the same game (we each had THE video game system popular at the time), so many school recesses and church events were full of strategy discussion and secret finding. Nintendo Power helped with some additional maps and a few hints here and there.

Finally finding Level 9 (best video game music ever) and defeating Gannon were a couple of the more proud moments of my 11 year-old life at the time.

Take any one you want... as long as it's the heart container.

review - zelda twilight princess

OK, so I got the Nintendo Wii and Twlight Princess for Christmas. I played through it, beat it, and put in 60+ hours to do so. I enjoyed the game, but it didn't really rank in the "Top all-time video gaming experiences" like I expected it might. Overhype? Maybe. Pickiness? Likely.

First off, this is a very good game. Lots of dungeons, good enemies, pretty good story, and some great gameplay mechanics with the Wii remote (particularly the grapple and bow & arrow). I enjoyed being a wolf, liked the variety of dungeons (though the generally follow the same type as every other adventure game ever), and even thought some of the NPCs were interesting.

TP also added some nice new tools/weapons not previously seen in an Zelda game. But even with all that, I felt a little disappointed. The boss battles were extremely easy -- I never felt like I was going to die and have to come back. And once I figured out what to do, it seemed like I only had to do it 3-4-5 times to kill the boss.

Side quests were virtually non-existent. Everything you did filtered into the main story. This has some benefit, but I would have liked to see more shooting ranges, target practice, and skill challenges ala Ocarina of Time. Particularly with the Wiimote addition, mini-games would have been a welcome addition.

It's also important to note that I played through this game in about six weeks -- much faster than my typically experience. That might have been what made the game feel shorter than it was. In terms of the calendar, it was a short game.

In the end, I put TP in the middle of the pack of my Zelda gaming experiences. I enjoyed it, but not as much as Ocarina or Majora's Mask -- and none of them provided the experience of the original for me.

1987 - baseball cards

The year was 1987. I had toyed with baseball cards a little in the past, as I really got into baseball during the Kansas City Royals' 1985 World Series run (little did I know they would not make the playoffs again my entire life -- oh to hold the hand of that impressionable 9 year-old and convince him to be a Cardinals fan). I digress...

Memories of baseball 1987, and in particular baseball cards, are stuck in my brain. There were a ton of rookie cards that year -- Bo Jackson, the "Bash Brothers (Mark McGwire & Jose Canseco), Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Raphael Palmero, Wally Joyner, and I'm sure others I can't remember. It was the year McGwire broke the rookie record for home runs (a pedestrian 49 in today's numbers).

Topps baseball cards were three for a dollar at Pete's Swap Shop in downtown Nevada. It was a dirty basement pawn shop in town with a man in his 40s (who most people called Pete, though his name was Joe. I heard Pete was his dad, but we might have made that up) whose top sellers were romance novels to old ladies and 1987 Topps baseball cards to kids.

I spent about every dime of my paper route money (less a little for video games -- I'll hit that subject later), one dollar at a time, on three packs of baseball cards and three horrible pieces of chewing gum that left ugly stains on the back of the last card of each pack. I can still remember the smell of the pack, the taste of the gum, and the excitement when I got a Don Mattingly ($2.50), Wade Boggs ($1.00) or George Brett ($.50, but my hometown hero). We would fill pages and pages of books with multiple copies of these cards. It was a sign of power to show a full page (9 cards) of a hot rookie (like Bo or McGwire) or a superstar (like Mattingly, Clemens, or Boggs).

1987

I don't have a lot of memories from my childhood, for known and unknown reasons, but one time period that seems to stick out to me is the time around 5th and 6th grade -- 1987. A number of new events transpired in my life during this year, including becoming a baseball card collector, getting my first newspaper route, an real introduction to popular music, and a development of neighborhood friendships.

Now, in 2007, I feel very old as I look back 20 years (20 years????) at myself as an 11 year-old in small-town Missouri.

best football weekend of year

It's Round 2 of the playoffs -- arguably the most exciting two days of football in the season. The eight best teams are left for four (typically very good) games. My "rooting for" picks:

Colts & Ravens
I must admit, I'm a Peyton Manning fan, so I'm leaning Colts. I also have the "they beat my team" factor playing (as the Chiefs were beat painfully last week), so if they win the Superbowl then we could have, too. COLTS.

Bears & Seahawks
I'm the least interested in this game, but am generally a fan of Seattle. However, I like the Bears' story this year, and I think Grossman can do it. BEARS

Patriots & Chargers
Being a Chiefs fan I got to know Marty pretty well, and I'm now to the point I'm rooting for him. I would like to see L.T. play deeper into the playoffs as well. And I'm bored with the Patriots. CHARGERS

Saints & Eagles
Two good stories. New Orleans/Katrina/Drew Brees vs. Dumped T.O./McNabb Injury/Jeff Garcia resurgence. I had Brees on my fantasy team this year (and can keep him for next season), so I'm rooting New Orleans 'til the end. SAINTS

the apple: a lesson in complexity

Eating an apple never ends well.

You take the first bite into the juicy fruit, but it all goes downhill from there. Subsequent bites put apple goo on your face. And then comes the final few -- those "avoid the core" bites where you attempt to get the last little "apple-like" tastes without eating the center or a seed.

Sometimes other seemingly positive experiences end up this way as well. New books, video games, and -- in particular -- relationships often start out great with the first bite, but quickly add the complexities of goo and seeds as time passes.

I've solved my problem with apples -- a slicer. It cuts out the core and allows me to eat my apple without much goo. Unfortunately, I may do this with people as well. I will avoid their goo, their "core," for the convenience of surfacy bites. In order to build lasting relationships, I must allow these aspects to enter my life. They're not as clean and crisp as apple slices, but in the complexity is life. A life, if I would take the time to learn about, will be worth connecting to.

gaming 2.0

In my 25 years of video game playing, the games have been relatively similar. In 1981 I used Pac-Man to clear levels. Pitfall Harry jumped over crocodiles. "The square" killed dragons and collected keys to open castle doors. In the mid-80's Mario and Link replaced Harry and square with increased graphics and complexity, but with similar themes -- unlock doors with keys, jump over bad guys, and save Princess Peach and Zelda, respectively.

The 90's brought 3D graphics, but again, the story stayed the same. In each of the previous gaming generations, my most vivid memories are beating an intense boss, finishing a game, or discovering a new tool/weapon. In each case, I completed these tasks alone (or with someone watching over my shoulder, but not involved).

With the popularity of games like Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and the Nintendo Wii, I see a significant change occurring. "Gaming 2.0," if you will. Instead of my focus always being the TV, it is becoming as much fun to watch others play as to play myself.

25 years after receiving an Atari 2600 for Christmas (the aforementioned 1981), I received a Nintendo Wii. In that 25 years I do not recall ever playing video games with my dad. But on Christmas Day 2006, at 30 years old (and Dad at 60), I found myself playing Wii Golf with my father, watching my parents battle it out in Wii Bowling, and feeling strangely sentimental.

Gaming has finally gone beyond the TV screen, after past failed attempts (e.g. Power Glove). It is a new day for video games, one that breaks the barriers of "gamer" and "non-gamer" and creates a game that anyone can pick up and play. I for one am excited for the possibilities.