Author: Adam

Holmes

Observations

A friend and I watched the new Sherlock Holmes together.  It was just as enjoyable as the first and about as good as a sequel could be — enough of the first to give you the taste you want, yet enough freshness too.  About this film, however, one thing stood out — the relationship between the Holmes and Watson characters.  In this film, the pair enjoyed a friendship, a brotherhood, a bond that I dare say most men today wish they could have, but don’t know how to find it.  Furthermore, this bond was portrayed in a way that you rarely see in popular media.  To wit, in a way that was warm, wholesome, and uplifting.  It was not overplayed.  It was definitely not belittled.  In fact, the character of the friendship buttressed the entire story line and I walked away with a notion that I need to do more to nurture my masculine friendships.

Complex Endorsement

Adventures

There is important news from this weekend.  I achieved my goal — to receive a complex aircraft endorsement by the end of 2011.  The endorsement took about ten hours of instruction in a Piper Arrow II (PA-28R-200).  We could justifiably gripe a bit about the glide ratio of the Arrow, but it is a forgiving, enjoyable, and I think capable cross-country machine.  Next step…a real cross-country flight!

Merry Christmas

Observations

We have had enough of hearing about “holiday lights,” “holiday shopping,” “holiday songs,” and the “holiday season” that we shall have to introduce a negative post here.  Now you know we are not a negative person, so really this will just be a bit of thinly disguised levity.  We recently discussed with a friend what the worst Christmas songs of all time were and concluded that a top five list was in order.  The criteria: A nationally popular song; as written, not as covered; although a particularly bad or good cover might tip the scales one way or the other; a cover is eligible for dishonorable mention. So here they are, our top five worst Christmas songs of all time:

1. Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas-time
2. So This is Christmas (War is Over)
3. Little Saint Nick
4. Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer
5. Santa Baby

Dishonorable Mention:

  • Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey
  • Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Bruce Springsteen)
  • Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do you have a Christmas song to nominate?  Nominations will almost certainly make dishonorable mention.

Killing Flies with a Crane

Adventures

The other day we witnessed something remarkable. The crane operator at the junkyard was using his crane to extract the motors from refrigerators, obviously for the copper.  The following was his process:

  1. Snatch one refrigerator from pile o’ refrigerators.
  2. Set refrigerator on ground.
  3. Violently smash refrigerator with crane, sometimes twice just for fun.
  4. Find motor and grab with crane.
  5. Lift.
  6. If motor does not come loose, shake, yank, smash, till it comes loose.
  7. Toss motor 75 feet through the air to pile of motors.
  8. Toss refrigerator 50 feet through the air to pile of miscellaneous scrap.

Upon noticing this fascinating process, the boys would mark each smashing with a chorus of “whoah!” and each tossing with a laugh.  They did not want to leave so we stayed for a few more.