Did You Know?

Bill Bixby (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was one of my favorite actors while I was growing up, mostly for his portrayal of the perfect father, Eddie’s father in “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”. Of course I loved Eddie too because he represented everything that was good (and safe, despite losing his Mom). They had the perfect father-son relationship. Apparently they were close off the set and spent a lot of time together as friends, which obviously helped the credibility of their relationship on the set.

The Dead Kennedy's - That's "Eddie" on the far right

Actor Brandon Cruz who played Eddie Corbett is my age, he retired from acting at age 18 in 1980 to focus on a music career to shed his squeaky-clean Eddie image. He was the lead singer for the hard core punk band “The Dead Kennedys” around the same time that I began listening to hard core punk, yet I never knew it was “Eddie” singing those obscenities until just less than a year ago when I decided to google “The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father”. The Dead Kennedy’s were never my favorite, but I did own one LP (Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables mainly for the song, "Holiday In Cambodia"). Cruz grew up surfing and skateboarding, not all that different from me in my youthful days. Personally, I liked him better as “Eddie”. Of course, I liked me better in my pre-teen years too!

Me when I was a nice boy (notice the tie)

Me (1979) trying hard not be a nice boy

A Tad Bit More Levity Please

My blog requires a bit more levity after a slew of deep thought regurgitation posts. My wife sent this story to me in an email this morning and it put a smile on my face (OK, I lol'd). You gotta love those West Virginians!


C'mon man, yo no fui! No te tire' el pedo!


Dude, that was like HAZMAT-Agent Orange nasty

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Sept. 25) -- A West Virginia man who police said passed gas and fanned it toward a patrolman has been charged with battery on a police officer.

Jose A. Cruz, 34, of Clarksburg, was pulled over early Tuesday for driving without headlights, police said. According to the criminal complaint, Cruz smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and failed three field sobriety tests before he was handcuffed and taken to a police station for a breathalyzer test.

As Patrolman T.E. Parsons prepared the machine, Cruz scooted his chair toward Parsons, lifted his leg and "passed gas loudly," the complaint said. Cruz, according to complaint, then fanned the gas toward the officer. "The gas was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Patrolman Parsons," the complaint alleged. He was also charged with driving under the influence, driving without headlights and two counts of obstruction.

Cruz acknowledged passing gas, but said he didn't move his chair toward the officer nor aim gas at the patrolman. He said he had an upset stomach at the time, but police denied his request to go to the bathroom when he first arrived at the station. "I couldn't hold it no more," he said.

He also denied being drunk and uncooperative as the police complaint alleged. He added he was upset at being prepared for a breathalyzer test while having an asthma attack. The police statement said he later resisted being secured for a trip to a hospital that he requested for asthma treatment.

Cruz said the officers thought the gas incident was funny when it happened and laughed about it with him. "This is ridiculous," he said. "I could be facing time."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. 2008-09-24 20:24:44

BTW, my brothers and I have tested the fanning technique and it is in fact quite effective! (Just ask my sister, and youngest brother Seth)

Three Men On Horses (Revised)

On a previous post I had a discussion with blogger buddy Adam about the sensitive subject of deciding to have children and he claimed that “wisdom” or “using our heads” should be exercised when making such decisions. It is my contention that man’s“wisdom” and “using our heads” is not necessarily always in concordance with God’s wisdom (in other words, “the natural man is an enemy to God”). And that perhaps less wisdom (using our heads) should be exercised…

My wife and I were discussing the wisdom of marriage, and that if people really understood what they were getting into up front (taking away any knowledge of the Gospel plan), they might think again about their decision. Granted, falling in love is a strong motivator, but we’re talking about conventional wisdom here, falling in love doesn’t fall into that category, in fact it often opposes it.

In reality, marriage and bearing children could be lumped in with other less than fruitful to the natural man LDS practices such as paying tithing, serving others, storing food, keeping the Sabbath day holy, etc. If you use the natural man’s wisdom, each of these would likely hinder your success and progress in this life, just citing survival in today’s worsening economy as one indicator of “success and progress”. For example, a recent story in a magazine highlighted a couple who had submitted to receiving free financial counseling in debt reduction in exchange for their story for the article. The very first expense this couple was counseled to get rid of was their $400/month tithing contribution. That has the natural man’s wisdom written all over it.

Going back to the decision to have children, we obviously know there are many and varying reasons why people might still be having children despite the natural man’s wisdom screaming in protest against it. I imagine much has to do with the natural consequences of uncontrolled passion combined with our God-given innate conscience which testifies that this is now human life and should be protected at all cost.

But you also have those who have a belief system which putteth off the natural man. This system demands sacrifice and requires faith, which is a belief in something that one can not actually see or which is not obvious, yet promises to be for one’s betterment. The woman willingly sacrifices her shapely body (in many cases forever more) to become a birthing vessel, she submits to being horribly sick, tired and uncomfortable and to crown the whole ordeal with a crescendo of pain, and that’s just the beginning. The man commits to providing a part of his earnings, personal time, devotion and to emotionally enduring all of his wife’s hardships and trials without ever having firsthand knowledge for himself of what it is like to be “Mom”. And all of this for the sake of the little offspring who will fill its diaper with smelly stuff, need every amount of help imaginable, rarely ever appreciate anything, eventually think you are completely off your rocker having been duped by your imaginations, and then expect your help all over again when raising their own children all the while acknowledging that while you may have done OK, they will do it much better (did I get it right Mom/Dad?)

Another thought about man’s wisdom is the idea that something that holds its value (i.e. Toyota/Honda) is good or wise and that something that appreciates in value is genius. That which depreciates in value is unwise (politely speaking). God’s wisdom isn’t all that different, but one significant variation is the timeline, God views things with a much longer one, eternal in fact. Mortality is but a blink of the eye so His wisdom requires a much longer term value to merit true worth. We LDS believers are taught that we come into mortality with nothing and that we depart with nothing except our knowledge gained from experiences in mortality and our relationships (those bound for eternity in our temples). Knowledge is therefore a wise investment, acknowledging that some types of knowledge are of far greater worth than other types. Of course there simply can’t be enough said with regards to the value of temple sealings and eternal relationships.

I love this quote by an unknown author: Three men on horses riding through the forest. A man stops them, he picks up some stones and gives them to the riders saying, "tomorrow you will be both happy and sad". They awoke the next morning, the stones had turned to precious jewels. Happy with the value of the jewels, sad they did not pick up more. Our experiences and the knowledge we gain in mortality are like the stones that turn to precious jewels. I am of the belief that those jewels with the most value are directly related to the experiences that we collect as parents. God’s primary role is that of Father (parent), and do we not desire to be like God?

What are the things of greatest value or worth to God? The scriptures most often relate “worth” to the written word (i.e. records that were commanded to be preserved throughout the ages). This sounds like “knowledge” to me. But we shouldn’t forget this one: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God” Also this one: “Children are an heritage from the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward”. And here’s my favorite part: HAPPY IS THE MAN that hath his quiver full of them PSALMS 127:5.

I find it extremely interesting that the greatest gift that God has to offer us (exaltation) involves eternal increase. It’s as though He has granted us these procreative powers temporarily in this test environment (mortality) to see how we’ll do, and will reward those who prove worthy of such eternal blessings.

As for people who are unable to marry and/or have children but desire these things, I know that God is a fair God and that he will provide a way. Maybe not here in mortality but somehow he will make it right. I don’t proclaim to know all of the mysteries of heaven, only to know that God is fair and loves us.

Finally, I view parenting as selfish service, if there is such a thing (not to be confused with “self service”). Service indeed (extremely hard work as anyone with teenagers can attest), for clearly these little ones could not make it on their own without help, without mentors. At the same time and in so doing I am hopefully earning my own rite of passage (after grace/redemption of course) to exaltation. And in addition, these children that we serve can become ours forever too, and all of their posterity forever and ever. But is it really service, if the one serving has as much to gain as those being served???

Paying Respects To The Victims of 9/11

We had a moment of silence today at work at 9:03am. I had to go back to the details of that day to understand the significance of 9:03: when the 2nd (south) tower was hit signaling the first outward indicator to the world that this was not merely an accident, this was intentional.


It is always sobering each year to relive the events of that day but I felt like I needed to. The schools in our district encouraged the children to wear red, white and blue to school and I was moved to heed the counsel as well.


At 9:03 during the silence, I googled up the timeline of 9/11. I then found myself wanting to review once again the many photos for a visual remembrance. I reviewed the pictures online but this one (see above) impacts me most because it makes me recall witnessing the gravity and horror that the victims were faced with and makes me consider the complete despair and hopelessness that they were experiencing. I watched live several people leap to their deaths before it was decided by the media that it was simply too horrible to witness. I read this article with great reverence, always wondering about the details of those people. There is just nothing more disturbing and it so pulls on the heart strings to witness these innocent people who were forced to choose their own manner of death, by fire or by impact.

Most all children have had a discussion with their friends at some point in their young lives contemplating the worst way to die. Of course the various forms of torture come up but barring those, most people tend to agree that death by fire has got to be one of the worst. I fear dying in all forms but death by fire and drowning have always been my “most feared”. Falling to one’s death usually always comes up but is often reduced in horribleness by the assumption that the pain would only last a fraction of split second. I have to think that this is what those people were thinking as the flames grew nearer and hotter.

In the 1974 movie Towering Inferno, some people above the fire were rescued. Any of the 9/11 victims who had seen that film might have maintained the futile hope to hold out until the very end. But at some point if the flames get close and hot enough, a decision has to be made and I’d think that for me falling to my death would be the better way to go (not sure I'd have the courage to do it though). Either way, I’d be praying with all my heart to be translated before actually tasting death.

On September 11, 2001 I was working from home (living in Marietta, GA), my wife was planning to attend a play date at the park with our youngest kids and some of the other neighborhood mothers. When she called next door to Alicen to inquire of the exact time, Alicen replied that she didn’t feel quite up to it any more with all that was going on. And that’s when we tuned in and from that point forward we watched and witnessed the tragic events unfold. The collapsing of the first building (north tower) was devastating, the second was equally as devastating but essentially anticipated, it was just a matter of when it was going to happen. We had no idea how the evacuations were going, no way to offer a hand or to assist in any way. All we could do is watch helplessly from our family room and pray along with the rest of the world.