Life IS like a box of chocolates

Everyone has that movie that while flipping through the channels they stop on, always.  I have to admit I have several.  I like my movies and I like seeing them multiple times.  The other day I was flipping through to see what I could have on as background noise while working and I came across one of my All-Time favorites, Forrest Gump.  I must say if you are not a fan of this movie then the movie is not the problem, it has to be you.

That last sentence reminds of a conversation I had with my cousin while I was in Italy visiting family a couple years after the movie was released.  He asked me if I liked it.  I looked at him like he was crazy for even asking the question.  He told me he thought it was just "ok", and that he really didn't get it.  That's when it hit me.  That movie is an American thing.  No disrespect to other countries around the world but Forrest Gump is truly a piece of American Pie, and it has been truly embedded into American Culture.

Was there a message in that movie?  I think so.  I believe there were several.  It told us that anyone was capable of achieving success, not matter what the odds, isn't that what the American Dream is after all?  It showed us that people truly have a destiny whether they want to believe it or not.  It gave us a, somewhat skewed, view of American history and how it intertwined into America lives.  It showed us the benefits of the Civil Rights movement in the South.  It showed us the beauty of America while he was running across country and it showed us the ugly side of Vietnam and the AIDS epidemic.  

Most of all it showed the loyalty that Forrest Gump had and the loyalty that people befriended him had towards him.  He loved his Momma, He loved Bubba, he loved Lt. Dan and obviously he loved Jenny.  He would do anything for any of them and it showed when he kept his promise to Bubba's family on the partnership they had, or how he took a legless Lt. Dan and made him his first mate and partner.  He showed it when the dispatcher told him his mother was sick and he immediately jumped in the water to get to her, even though he had a boat at his disposal.  He took care of Jenny no matter the circumstance and never questioned what happened to her.

Believe it or not but Forrest Gump has become ingrained into our pop culture.  Mainly because the movie represents a certain piece of Americana that makes Americans proud.  But how many times have you uttered the phrase "...Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you are going to get".  Have you ever had to go to the bathroom and say "I gotta pee" in that southern drawl that Tom Hanks made so famous.  How many times have you referred to actor Gary Sinise as "Lt. Dan".  It had become so subliminally ingrained into our pop culture that there now is a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant.

You may not agree with what I have said above, or maybe have never realized it, there is nothing wrong with that.  But the next time you are surfing through the channels and the movie that you can never get past is on, ask yourself why is it you can't get past it?  Stupid is, as stupid does.

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife.

Upon Further Review

If you haven't heard by now the National Football League (NFL) has locked out its referees and are using replacement officials.  If you truly haven't heard by now you must live in a cocoon because last Tuesday morning all anyone was talking about was the call made in the previous night’s game.  The NFL has long since replaced baseball as America's Pastime and that is mainly because of the product it produces.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has recently had a referee scandal that spoke to the integrity of the game, and also had a player lockout last year that caused games to be missed, nobody cared.  Major League Baseball has been marred in recent years by a steroid scandal.  Baseball’s biggest problem is their inflated payrolls which see the same teams capturing playoff spots every year.  If the league were to miss games due to a lock out, nobody would care.  The National Hockey League is currently in a labor dispute which doesn't seem will be rectified soon, nobody cares.  Last year when there was a hint of the football season being interrupted it was the leading story every day and both sides came to agreement and the season was not touched, everybody rejoiced.

It's because the NFL is a fine tuned machine from top to bottom.  From league officials, to owners, to the players, to hit dog vendors.  The NFL has a great product.  That product is now being tarnished because of a labor dispute with its game officials, and its showing on the field.  I truly feel that  Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, is the best commissioner in professional sports, but he has dropped the ball on this one.  Call it professional pride, call it arrogance, call whatever you want but he needs to step in here and get something done, and done soon.

As a lower level official in two sports (baseball and basketball) it’s tough to take in what is happening to the replacement referees in the NFL, they are just pawns in a wicked game of chess. They are just trying to do the job they were hired to do and do it to the best of their ability.  Unfortunately for them, they are in way over their heads and it is obvious to everyone that watches the games.  That speaks volumes to the integrity of the NFL.

Being an NFL official is truly a difficult job, and not one I think I could ever do.  The rules to remember, the level of play and the speed of the game alone makes the job difficult.  To ask officials that haven't gotten higher than Division II college football and most of them Division III to work at that level with only a couple of weeks of training is unfair, and is some regard could be considered criminal.  These guys have been set up to fail from the word go.

I am a long time believer that the outcome of game is never really determined by an official’s call.  If the teams and players want to play the game to a point where it comes to the call of an official, that is the choice that the teams made and they have to live with the call.  I have told batters in baseball many times when they strikeout to end the game "Swing the bat and don't leave your at bat in my hands".  Games should be decided between the lines and not by the guys with the whistles.

However, I truly feel the replacement referees are not affecting the outcome of games, with the exception of the Green Bay/Seattle game. The replacement official have no control of the game, they don't understand the Instant Replay rules, they don't know what to look for on Pass Interference calls, and they lack confidence in their calls.  That makes the coaches preparation for the game and the players execution that much more difficult.

Last week everyone was talking about Interception/non-interception in the Monday Night game or the ball that went over the upright in the Sunday Night game, which led to Patriots coach Bill Belichick to grab a referee as he was running off the field.  Those weren't the calls that had me scratching my head that weekend.  In Minnesota the referees in the 49ers/Vikings game allowed 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to challenge a call on the field with no timeouts, TWICE.  Once shame on him, twice shame on you.

Once this labor dispute is resolved it is likely that we will never see these officials again.  Not only have they ruined any chance of ever officiating in the NFL but they may not be welcomed back to their local college boards back home, and for what?  To be part of the chess game.  A big price to pay if you ask me.

So I beg you Commissioner Goodell, Please end this lockout and get the true NFL officials back on the field, America needs its game back.

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife.

The Better Half

On October 20th Thinking In 3D will turn a year old.  When I decided to write a blog I had to think of where my material would come from.  Would it be news, would it be politics, pop culture, sports etc....  I decided to write about everything, like most bloggers do.  I have no hidden agenda and I will call it like I see it.  To be honest, it's not as easy as people think, however, one of my main inspirations for me to keep up with this long is, not to sound corny, my wife.

There have complete blogs that I have written that have been most my wife's idea. Last week, while we were in the car she said to me.  "Thanks for writing my ideas".  I looked at her with a quizzical look as if she was being accusatory.  She calmed my look by saying "I could never arrange my thoughts and put them together in an entertaining article like you do.  So I thank you"  She truly was thanking me.

My wife and I talk to each other a lot about everything, not just things around the house or how to raise our children.  We are not completely aligned politically, which makes some of our conversations interesting.  We are definitely aligned fiscally and we are both in tune with our core family values.  We have seen the great in people, and we have seen the worst in people.  We always have conversations about it. 

This is just a snippet of our exchanges.  This actually happened Friday night when deciding what Chinese Take-Out to order

Me: What do want to do about Lo Mein?

Wife: Well, you like beef and I like chicken, so we'll order pork?

My wife is extremely bright, and some would say she is much smarter than I am, which in most cases I concede to.  When I write these blog articles, or when I was writing papers for my college course, she reads them first.  Partly for spelling and grammar, but mostly for flow and substance.  She is the best copy editor you can find, and she has no issue telling me I am wrong, off base or to even shut up.  Ironically enough it was her asking a friend of mine when we first met if I ever stopped talking which endeared me to her.

I have always been a proponent of hearing both sides of the argument before you form an opinion, my wife has the same credo.  That’s why we have both tuned out the presidential elections until the debates, because the pundits don't adhere to that form of thinking.  That is why my wife and I work so well together, we know how to reel each other back in, and it definitely helps me when I go to write my blogs.  I am entering it with more than one perspective so I don't sound like Rush Limbaugh or Rachel Maddow.  

Everyone makes sense in their own way, you just have to find that sense and understand it.  If you don't believe me, just ask my wife.

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife.

iJustDontGetIt

Maybe I don't get it, even after 5 years, or has it been 11 years, or is it truly 28 years.  I am talking about the phenomenon that is Apple.  Last week Apple announced the release of the iPhone 5, and the phone from the company that changed the whole telecommunications landscape will have them in stores this Friday September 21st. The next iPhone I get will be my first.  Will it be the iPhone 5?  Unlikely.  I just don't get it, and it's not just the iPhone, it's the whole Apple obsession.

I felt that I was missing something, that's why I wasn't getting it, so I decided to read the Steve Jobs biography.  Steve Jobs had always been someone that I found intriguing and I had heard stories of how he operated. His innovative thinking, his obsessive attitude and his crudeness towards people is why he made Apple what it is today.  He was a perfectionist and expected nothing less from his products, employees and anyone that came in contact with him.  But that wasn't it, that only explains why people love his products.

The only piece of Jobs' persona that could possibly rub off on his flock is what they called in his book the "reality distortion disorder".  That is when Steve Jobs either saw something that just wasn't there or believed something that wasn't true and included it into his reality.  The Apple Flock truly believe that the answer to the worlds problems can be solved by the iPhone 5 or the iPad 3. 

I love my car, but I won't buy the same car every year.  It's too expensive to do that and quite frankly, I like MY car.  So why is it that when a new iPhone comes out people have to have it?  Even if they already have the latest one.  I don't want to use this word to describe the thousands of people who will sleep in the street days before it goes on sale and wait hours in the store to get it, but I will, pathetic.

Maybe, I just don't get it.  On Friday while looking through my Facebook page the number of people I know that were planning to pre-order the iPhone 5 was staggering.  I just don't get it.  Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press put it perfectly when describing this phenomenon "Apple, always brilliant in marketing, has targeted whatever human gene contains the "gotta be first" chromosome. If you have this in your DNA, all the common sense in the world can't get through your skull.".  I just don't get it.

This is a phone!  Not a cure for Cancer, not the answer for Hunger and certainly not the answer to the world’s problems.  The phones costs up to $400.  Now if millions of people have this much disposable income and all the time in the world to wait in line, for days, for a phone, isn't that a tad problematic?  There are people in third world countries that don't act like this for their next meal, but we have to have the iPhone.  The part that humors me the most about this whole phenomenon is the number that follows the title.  It is not indicative of the quality, it's the version.  It just tells me that there were four previous versions and it leaves room for versions to follow.  So why is this particular one, the one to have?  I just don't get it.

I own an iPod, and to be honest, I love it.  But I have had it for 3 years and there no sign in my future telling me that I will need a new one anytime soon.  I think Apple makes great products.  They are highly overpriced, but they can be, just look at what it does at $400.  Can you imagine if it was priced reasonably?  Armageddon.

I just don't get it, or is iJustDontGetit?

3D

Coming Right Atcha

Another Thing Ruined

Before I get started I want to take time to honor those who passed 11 years ago today.  Not a day goes by that I think of that horrific day.  We will never forget those who perished and we will definitely never forget those who sacrificed their lives to try and save others.  God Bless.

For those of you that know me well, I don't deal with absurdity very well.  That's not a bad thing, I don't think anyone should deal with absurdity well.  In my house this year I vowed not to watch one inning of the Red Sox because I felt that the collapse of last year was a sign of things to come and the organization had done its fan base a true disservice, so I decided not to watch.  I look pretty good with that decision.

Over the past couple of weeks another tradition that I always took pride in following has absolutely just become so absurd, I can't stand to watch anymore, and that is the Presidential Election.  The absurdity that I see is not even from the candidates.  I will actually watch the debates because that is where the true colors of the candidate come out.  The conventions did nothing for me, so far as much, I didn't even watch Mitt Romney's or President Obama's acceptance speeches.  All the conventions do is rally the bases of each party and spew more spin than a jet engine.

What has turned me off?  The Electorate.  It has gotten so bad and so divisive, some of the stories you read, and videos you see are just so absurd.  Blaming media bias is an old tune and I'm not going to do it, but I do blame the internet (Al Gore, I'm not blaming you here) and social media because it is a shield for peoples comments.  Everyone hides behind their blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts, no matter who they offend.  Why? Because someone is voting in the opposite direction of what they are.  It's not a contest.  You actually really don't win anything if the person you support wins, they do.

Four examples turned me off completely 

• The video from the Yahoo blogger that said the Romney's/Republicans  “are happy to have a party with black people drowning".  Referring to the Convention going on while Hurricane Isaac was hitting New Orleans during the RNC.

• Reports that during the RNC that a black cameraman from CNN was heckled so much that the hecklers had to be removed. They were throwing nuts at the man and saying "This is how we feed animals."

• A video that surfaced at the DNC of a woman speaking on how Romney would ruin the country if elected and that if she ever saw him she would "Kill Him"

• This example closed all the doors for me.  Musician Nikki Minaj, who happens to be African-American, came out in support of Mitt Romney.  The backlash was stomach turning, with physical threats and being called an "Uncle Tom" for supporting Romney.

I read an interesting comment on an article today and I had to use it "Who you cast your vote for is your business and yours alone.".  Amen.  I was telling a friend the other day, who obviously has opposite views than I do, "I don't care who you vote for just as long as you vote."  I will take it further by saying get informed on your own, that means don't get your views from Twitter, Facebook, MSNBC or Fox News.  If you truly want to know the truth review the Library of Congress, The Congressional Budget Office, Department of Labor and Department of Energy.

I long for the time when nobody knew who people voted for unless they were asked.  Now it seems to be a pre-requisite to be included into a group or a conversation.  Also, if you do happen to have the privilege to vote and do, mark your ballot and have no regrets.  Vote FOR someone, not AGAINST someone.  A vote for President Obama doesn't mean that you are a Socialist and support Communism.  A Vote for Mitt Romney doesn't mean that you are a Racist who hates Women.  No matter what anyone tells you.  Vote your conscience.

With all that said, I look forward to the debates both Presidential and Vice-Presidential and I will leave the Facebooking and Tweeting to the hacks.

3D OUT

Coming Right Atcha