The SoapBoxers

We are in that time of year where you can have overload of sports. College and Professional Football are in full swing, Basketball and Hockey are in preseason, Major League baseball is approaching the World Series and auto racing is in the final lap. It is quite easy to overload or get in trouble with your spouse this time of year.

Many people around the country live and die with their teams or heroes. I am partial to college and pro football and wear that allegiance on my sleeve. I have a bar that caters to my pro team even though we are hundreds of miles from the home city. My college team is nationally known, so I have many opportunities to see them on TV, but when I can’t, enter the internet.

These events bring people together, most of the time for camaraderie, sometimes in competition. These are opportunities for all of us to show our own sportsmanship. The results of each contest result in week long discussions. Conspiracy theories come and go, complaints are registered, wins are celebrated, loses are mourned. The true benefit this year is that we get distracted from the politics that have overwhelmed our entertainment options. Politics are not bad in general, but who is elected dog catcher is not an end of the world decision. Sports just gives us a break, possibly giving us a chance to breath and look at the political landscape with a fresh attitude after a weekend of sheering on the home team.

Unfortunately, the full sports story is not on the field. I am a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. My team had to play the first four games of the season without their star quarterback. This absence was due to the personal conduct of that player. He seems to have trouble making good choices when in comes to behavior off the field. He has been accused of rape. He has driven his motor cycle into the side of a panel van during the early hours of a morning. He has exposed himself to a woman in a bar with probable sexual contact in a public place. If he can get the team into the playoffs, most fans will forgive him, some will always condemn him.

So what does all of our sports addiction do for us? It gives us an escape. We can claim to be part of an activity that most of us do not have the physical qualifications to perform. It allows us to ignore the rest of the world for a few hours. It allows us to argue about something that is not politics or religion. In the end, we are less active and eat poorly while watching people exercise and having well maintained bodies (except for some of the linemen in football and designated hitters in baseball). As in all things in life, some good and some bad results come from sporting events. My advice is to get as much enjoyment as you can from any source. And just to complete my affiliation confession – Go Texas Longhorns

Last week I made my triumphant return as the weekly entertainment contributor after many months off. I know this will make all of my regular readers sad, but I’m going to contribute from a different angle this week.

Let me say beforehand, I’m not trying to prove anything, and I’m definitely not trying to preach to anybody, so please don’t take it that way. I’m simply going to write from the heart, and am only doing so as a way to help myself – whether that be to grieve or to mourn I do not know. You’ll understand more once you’re finished reading.

I’ll start off by saying my dad wasn’t the healthiest guy in the world, having suffered from several heart attacks, a quadruple bypass open heart surgery, and a leg amputation in the last 10 years or so. Since his heart failure and leg amputation in 2006, he’s had monthly checkups, just to make sure everything is still running ok.

Fast forward to the day before Thanksgiving, 2009. After going to a local VA clinic for his blood work, they noticed that his blood was nearly 5 times thinner than it should have been, and they also noticed that his skin had a yellow “tint” to it. His doctor urged him to go across the street to the ER to get checked out because something was clearly not right.

After a few tests and some medicines, the doctors concluded that he had either gall stones, which are very painful, or he had a tumor, which was blocking some liquids in the gall bladder / pancreas / liver area. He had absolutely no pain, so the diagnosis was a tumor. Since it was the holiday, they wouldn’t be able to go in and do a biopsy until the following Monday, but that would give them a very clear picture of what was going on.

After taking the biopsy, the doctor informed me that it was obviously cancerous and had spread to the lymph nodes. We need to meet with an Oncologist to discuss our options.

So, we met with a surgeon at the VA hospital in Indianapolis (my dad received all of his medical care from the VA). The tumor was surrounding the blood vessels of the pancreas, making surgery to remove the tumor impossible. The only other option was Chemotherapy. He would get started on Chemo ASAP, as pancreatic cancer is one of, if not the most aggressive form of cancer. His Chemo option was to do 1 treatment per week through an IV, along with taking a pill form twice a day. We’d do that for 6 weeks, do another CT scan, and see if it was eliminating any of the cancer, stopping it from spreading, or doing nothing at all.

Those first few treatments were extremely rough. He got very sick, just like most Chemo patients do. But, through it all, he stayed as strong as ever. When we went back for the 6 week scan, the doctor explained that they cancer had spread to his liver, and the Chemo treatments were doing nothing at all.

Now it was time for plan B. Another Chemo. This time it would be in the form of pills only – 4 in the morning and 4 at night. Do this for 6 weeks and then do CT scan #2, with a 3 week checkup in between. The first 3 weeks went just fine. Dad did lose some weight, but that’s normal. At his 3 week checkup, the doctors decided that he was still healthy enough to do another 3 weeks of Chemo treatments, so he did. That’s when everything started to change. He just started getting “weird”. Kinda like he was just not really there.

The bottom dropped out on Sunday, July 11th. In my daily trip down to his house, I found him lying in bed, like a zombie. He had no idea what was going on or even where he was. I eventually called 911, and the EMT’s talked him into going to the hospital to get checked out. Once there, the nurses said his blood pressure was extremely low, something like 50/20. He hadn’t eaten in a few days. Wasn’t really going to bathroom. Deep down, I knew that none of this was a good sign.

They eventually moved him to a room in the ICU. The plan was going to be to run some tests, then possibly put him on kidney dialysis to try to regain some function. When my wife and I left Sunday night, he seemed ok. He was still responding to everybody. We left around midnight and would come back up the next morning.

When we got there Monday morning he seemed a little worse than the night before. He was still responding, but not as often and he seemed extremely irritated. After sticking around for a little while, the docs were going to run some more tests so we left and were going to come back later in the afternoon. Around 5 that night, I got a call from the nurse that we needed to get to the hospital ASAP. Dad was no longer responding and was not doing well at all. After seeing him when we got there, I knew he was in bad shape. The nurse explained to me that they could still do the kidney dialysis, but at this point that would be a form of life support. She also explained the kidney doctor didn’t think that was the best option for him.

Now came the hardest, yet easiest decision I’ve ever had to make. Knowing how the last week had been, how much pain he had been in and how miserable his life was becoming, why drag it out for no reason, when he would have no good quality of life. I made the decision to not do dialysis, and to take him off the medicines that he was on for his heart, liver, etc. She informed Shana and I that it wouldn’t be long without those medicines, and it wasn’t. I’d say no more than 30 minutes.

I couldn’t have been more thankful that the nurse called us, because I got to be there with him during his last few moments, and that’s something I’ll never forget. It was July 12, and it’s been more than 3 months, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.

I lost not only my dad, but my best friend. He chose to raise me from the time I was born as he and my mother got divorced soon after I was born. To this day, I have no relationship with her. But I couldn’t be more thankful that he was willing to raise me as a single dad without blinking an eye. He was always the coach on whatever sports team I played on and he was my sports watching buddy. We saw each other nearly every day, whether it be just going to each others’ house to hang out or going to Menards to walk around mindlessly and look at stuff. When he wanted to do that, it drove me crazy. I’d just think how can you keep coming to the same place and keep looking at the same stuff for hours. Yet, I want nothing more than to do that now.

I don’t know that I have a “goal” from this article, but I do know that the cheesy saying “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” could not be more true. Finding out that my dad had pancreatic cancer, I knew that the odds were against him. And you try to prepare yourself for something like this, but as I found out, there is absolutely no way to prepare. When you lose somebody who is not only a parent but a best friend, it hits you like a ton of bricks.

I think about him every minute of every day. Growing up, I was always too embarrassed to give him a hug, or to tell him that I love him. I’m thankful that in the last few years, I got over that. Every time I saw him, I made sure to give him a hug and to tell him that I love him. Who cares what people think! We had a lot of talks during our trips to Indianapolis for Chemo treatments, but to this day I still feel like I never had closure with him. I always avoided sitting down and actually having that GOOD talk with him. When I say I’d do anything just to talk to him one more time, I really would. I’d just want to thank him for everything he did for me. For raising me like a lot of fathers would not have done. For instilling in me the qualities that I have today and am proud of. Without him, I don’t know that I’d have any of those qualities and have no idea where I’d be in today’s world.

I don’t know that I’ve ever gone through the grieving process before his death. I’ve lost other people that were extremely close to me, like my Grandmother and an Aunt. But ironically, my dad was the person I went to for support. To listen to me or to spend time with me to take my mind off of it. In this situation, he’s the person I would’ve gone to, but he’s not there. So I guess I just have that feeling of being lost. Don’t get me wrong, I have a wonderful wife who has been there for me for the past 3 months and has been wonderful with listening and helping me with everything. But that doesn’t take away the pain from his passing.

I’ve tried different ways to “deal” with it, or to grieve, and I’ve been unsuccessful so far. I guess I’m hoping that this article will help, if only in a small way. I’ve been told that getting feelings down on paper will help, so we’ll see.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! Next week we’ll get back to the fun and exciting entertainment article!

There are some people who would suggest that the ever-present nature of technology is tearing apart the very fabric of society.  Indeed, it can be disturbing to see teens hospitalized with texting-induced carpal tunnel syndrome.  Really, though, technology is not all bad.  In fact, the internet is contributing significantly to our daily lives – perhaps even saving society!

Keeping In Touch

As a result of an ever-increasing number of people attending college, more people find themselves moving away from their ancestral homes as they market their specialized skills.  22 year old kids end up moving hundreds, or even thousands of miles away – often without a support structure in their new town.

Without technology, it would be pretty easy to lose touch with old friends.  Today, there’s really no excuse.  You can just shoot off an email to a friend, and they’ll respond when they get a chance.  Unlike phone calls, time zones don’t matter.  Keeping in touch with a friend halfway around the world via phone can be tricky because of time zones – not to mention extremely expensive.

I use Facebook to keep in touch with a lot of friends from my younger days.  I can see pictures of their kids, news about their promotions, and more – with just the click of a mouse.  Additionally, I get a chance to see sides of people that I didn’t realize existed – particularly true regarding people that I wasn’t overly close to in high school.  Sure, there are distractions like Wordscraper (which I play) and Farmville (which I don’t), but really, it’s all about the people.

Friends With Common Interests

Now, more than ever, it’s easy to meet people with common interests.  I have a wide variety of interests that include (but are not limited to) sports, writing, and forensics.  It can often be difficult to find others who share these interests at the same levels.  This is particulalry true with baseball, which I follow with a fanatical passion.

When I find people who share these interests with the same intensity, I make an effort to stay in contact with them.  Increasingly, many of these people are friends whom I know only from the internet.  I have never met them in “real life”, nor have I talked them on the phone.  They are nothing but a string of emails to me.

Expose Yourself

I abdondoned my fiction writing for about a decade, largely because there really wasn’t a good way to get feedback.  I’d write some stories, but then what?  Show them to a handful of close friends?

With the explosion in the popularity of blogs, it’s incredibly easy to put your writing (or artwork) on display for the world to see.  With six billion people in the world, there is a decent chance that someone will enjoy your work.  It’s incredibly easy to get started.  For the quick and easy setup, go the Blogger or WordPress.com and you’ll have a blog within minutes – at no cost to you.

Want a bit more control over your site (with a bit more cost)?  Go to a web host like Dreamhost, register a domain, pick a hosting plan, and you’re good to go.

Never has it been easier to reach an audience.  The great thing about the internet is that readers place imortance on the message itself, with few pre-conceived notions about the author.  I could care less if you are the son of doctors or ditch-diggers – if you write an interesting anlytical piece about baseball, I’ll read it.

Collaborate

The Soap Boxers has 16 official writers.  One of these writers does not actually exist in real life, but is just a fig newton of my imagination.  Another of them is me.  Of the 14 others, I have met four of them in person.  I have long friendships with Crunchy and Phil – friendships that orginated in “real life”.  I knew Squeaky from work.  I became acquainted with Bob over the computer – and, although I consider him a good friend, I’ve only met him a handful of times (always at the same pizza joint in the town that houses my company’s corporate headquarters).  I’m actually meeting Martin for lunch later today (we work a few blocks from each other).

The others?  I wouldn’t know some of them if I bumped into them on the street.  I know most of them from before the days of The Soap Boxers, but that’s not true of everyone.  Zarberg writes an article every month, but I didn’t know him until last fall.  He’s a friend of another of the writers (nope, I haven’t actually met our mutual friend, either).

In the “real world” it would be unusual for such a motley group to come together in one organization.  But in today’s world, it’s realitively easy for this group of writers to come together and create a collaborative work – albeit with wildly different components.

I don’t hide the fact that I find the Republican party disgusting for giving massive gifts to corporate America, but I find the Democratic party at least as culpable for having no spine and allowing it to happen. With the Citizen’s United ruling on January 21st of this year, the floodgates opened completely in terms of buying elections. At this point in time political ads can now be paid for by any corporation and the ad itself does not have to disclose where that money came from. That doesn’t seem so bad, does it? Picture this: Imagine a television ad that shows police brutalizing people, or overbearing and threatening border guards harassing people. The ad says to vote for candidate X who will reign in police and border guard power, and slash spending on those things. Now picture that same ad paid for by North Korean or Chinese corporations, or even holding companies with terrorist sponsors. How about ads secretly paid for by the Westboro Baptist Church that wants guarantees of free speech rights at funerals regardless of state or local laws? (my simple solution for Fred Phelps is to have local laws that allow privacy in an certain radius for military funerals, as if the funeral were private property for that specific event only).

Those are just extreme examples, don’t worry, I’m not advocating those things.

The Republican butt-kissing of corporate power is so ingrained at this point that they actually have voted down The DISCLOSE Act, which would require the source of any money spent on all on political ads to be known and public. That’s corporate dollars, union dollars, and private dollars – DISCLOSE doesn’t discriminate. Seems like a no-brainer, right? I wonder what republicans have to hide – shady corporate money, maybe?

Ahh yes, those Republicans. The champions of small business. Small business like Bechtel and Koch Industries.

… wait, what?

That’s right, thanks to government business classifications, those companies and many more are called “S Corporations“. This means that they may have revenues well into the billions, but because that money is passed directly on to owners who then pay taxes, they are considered small business. What is a big business, then? One that takes in profits that are taxed and then passes those profits on to shareholders. John Boehner recently claimed that under the current Democrat tax proposal “about half of all small business income will be taxed [at a higher rate]. ” Well, if you take the actual number of businesses only 3% of REAL small business will be taxed at a higher rate. Boehner can only claim that 50% of small business income would be taxed at a higher rate when he includes multibillion dollar companies like Bechtel and Koch. These companies fit Boehner’s definition of a small business – being non-shareholder (private) companies – but have very little in common with the small business that used to line main street in your home town.

In other words, he’s holding up continuing tax breaks for Mom-and-Pop businesses because he wants to pass off Bechtel and Koch as small business without the average person knowing about it.  This is the same John Boehner who blamed the current financial crisis on “3 things – Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, and subprime lending” without saying that it was de-regulation and laws pushed through by Republican majority congresses that allowed those things to happen. They call it freedom for business, I call it corporate power screwing people over because government allowed it.

What are the Democrats doing about it? Well, once again they’re looking for their spine. At least they have their heart in the right place; the current administration wants the George W. Bush tax cuts to be extended only for the first $200,000 of a person’s income, or $250,000 for families. While Republicans claim those tax breaks would affect us all because they keep pushing the trickle-down economy lie, the real numbers tell a different story: fewer than 750,000 people, less than .25% would be affected by the top tax rate under the Democrat proposal.  Trickle-down does not work. It is simply an expression created to hide the fact that big business is allowed to feed on the average Joe and legal loopholes and laws are created every year to favor corporations and the rich. Data simply does not support any claim that trickle-down does work.

With massive evidence that the disparity between income classes only continues to grow bigger, the Republican Party of No is just pushing for more laws to make the rich richer at everyone else’s expense. Hooray for the Corporate States of America – would you trust BP, Dow Chemical, or Toyota with unchecked power?

As some of you may be aware, there was a census in 2010.  A major result of the census will be a reapportionment of seats in the US House of Representatives.  States lose seats when they grow at a slower pace than the rest of the nation (and thus represent a smaller percentage of citizens) and gain seats when they grow at a faster rate than the rest of the nation.

For this reason, races for the state legislatures are critically important in many states.  In 36 states, the legislature is responsible for drawing the new districts.  The party that controls the state legislature controls the redistricting process.

On the surface, this would appear to be a rather straightforward exercise – but there is an ugly underbelly to the process.  Whichever party is in control of the legislature would prefer to consolidate the supporters on the other part into as few districts as possible.

Let’s look at a very simple example.  We have a state with six congressional districts.  There are thirty citizens – eighteen are affiliated with the Alpha party and twelve with the Beta party.  Let’s look at two different district maps.

The first map cuts the state of Confusion into two identical halves north/south and three equal sections east/west.  The resulting districts each have three Alphas and two Betas.  If everyone toes the party line, the states representatives in the US House will all be Alphas.

The second map cuts the state into three sections north/south and two sections east/west.  This time, the districts break down this way:

• District 1: 5 Alpha, 0 Beta
• District 2: 5 Alpha, 0 Beta
• District 3: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha
• District 4: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha
• District 5: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha
• District 6: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha

Now, the Alphas – comprising sixty percent of the voters, statewide – hold just two of the congressional districts, while the minority Betas will send four representatives to Washington.

These maps were drawn without any attempt to manipulate – just simply by splitting a rectangular state into six equal parts via the two most logical methods.  Yet, we end up with a situation where neither map will send a congressional delegation that accurate reflects the political distribution of the constituents.

Now, imagine that politicians were to get involved?  The party in control of the state legislature could do several things to minimize the political power of the opposing party.  They could consolidate the supporters of the other part into as few districts as possible (as I’ve done with the second scenario above) or draw the maps in such a way that two (or more) incumbents from the other party are now in the same district.

The courts help to reign in the worst of the gerrymandering (creating non-contiguous districts in an effort to strengthen the power of one party), but I wonder why we even need to travel down this road any more.

One solution would be to simply make the US House seats represent all constituents of the state.  If you have six representatives, they represent every citizen of the state.

This wouldn’t be a popular idea – or even a good one – in many states.  San Diego has issues that San Francisco doesn’t, and vice versa.  A generic “California” representative might not have enough knowledge to competently represent the entire state.

Earlier, I mentioned that state legislatures draw the districts in 36 states.  What do the others do?  Well, seven state have just one representative, making the issue academic.

Five states – Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey, Washington – have an independent bipartisan committee draw the districts without interference from the legislature.  In Iowa and Maine, an independent body proposes redistricting plans, which must then be approved by the legislature.

I’d like to see a move toward more states using a bipartisan group to redistrict.  It’s impossible for each district to reflect the political leanings of the entire state – and in many cases, you’ll see completely fair maps that happen to lean toward one party by mere coincidence – simply because some geographical area within the state are more liberal or conservative that the state as a whole.

However, intentional gerrymandering of districts undermines the will of the voters – and continued partisan involvement in the process can only serve to make the problem worse.

Thursday

Kansas State (-4.5) @ Kansas – Wildcats still stinging after the Husker beatdown last week. Kansas is T-R-B-L terrible. KSU- 28- KU 17

Saturday

Illinois @ Michigan State (-9.5) – Let down after big win last week. Illinois 21- Mich St 20

Missouri @ Texas A&M (-3.5) – A&M is better than advertised, Mizzou, not as good as advertised. A&M 28- Mizzou 27

Pittsburgh @ Syracuse (even) – One of these weeks the panthers get it done for me. Pitt 31- Syracuse 21

Minnesota @ Purdue (-6.5) – gophers are ticked off after Wisco goes for two late in a blowout last week. Won’t matter. Purdue 28- Minn 14

Texas @ Nebraska (-8.5) – Too many points, Texas has had an extra week but still have worst head coach at a major college program. Corn – 27 – Horn 24

Iowa (-3.5) @ Michigan – Bounce back at the big house. MEEEEEECHIGAN 28 – Iowa 21

California @ USC (-3.5) – I love it when USC loses. USC 31- Cal 28

Arkansas @ Auburn (-2.5) – Match up of the weekend. Ark 21- Aub 19

Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech (-3.5) – Red Raiders have less defense than the cowboys, but are tougher at home. OSU 42- TT 35

South Carolina (-6.5) @ Kentucky – Hanogver after big win. Kentucky 21- SC 17

THE Ohio State (-6.5) @ Wisconsin – Wisconsin running game gets on track WI – 24- OSU 20

Iowa State @ Oklahoma (-23.5) – Clones get rolled for 2nd straight week. OU – 35- ISU 10

Baylor @ Colorado (even) – three words. R – G – 3. Baylor 35- Col 17

Oregon State @ Washington (even) – Why are people still Jake Locker Believers? OSU 31- Wash 20

Why do solutions to problems have to be all or nothing these days? A few years ago, my state was reconsidering the deposit on cans and bottles. One group in our legislature wanted to put a five cent deposit on all cans, regardless of use. This would include soup cans and the like. Others wanted to drop the whole deposit effort. The question I had was; what problem were they trying to solve? The original intent of the can and bottle deposit was to put a financial stimulus in returning the items with the goal of reducing road side trash. From the data I could find, this was exceptionally successful. Not from people saving their cans and bottles, but because industrious people went around picking them up to redeem them.

So, if we look at what the legislature was taking up; was there a sudden increase in soup cans on the side of the road, or had the deposit suddenly become too big of a burden for the citizens of our state? Neither condition was evident. The deposit program is actually a pretty big money maker for the state, with many people simply throwing their containers away or people purchasing on their way through the state. At the end of the debate, no change was made, much to my relief.

Now we have new national legislation on health care, or rather health insurance. It was an all or nothing debate. The legislation completely dismembers the existing health care system by putting the government in as the primary health insurance provider (even though this is denied by many who voted for it). I do not understand why the specific problems were not addressed. The main reason seems to be that no one could define any real reasons or problems in the system. All of the arguments were nebulous. Some people can not afford insurance, true, but does this require an overhaul of the system? Some people are denied coverage, again true, but again is this a full fledged disaster?

My father chimed on the debate stating that we have a member of our family without insurance. What did we do before the government stepped in? Most of us depended on family to pay the bill. Those who could not went to the hospital and were cared for by the county (this is true for every county in the United States). So if some people cannot afford insurance, why not provide some sort of support? With the new law, many part time employees are losing what coverage they have due to cost. If some people are denied treatment, set up an agency to investigate and help those people who really need it get treatment.

I really wish I could take the time to really read legislation (before or after it is passed) since our legislators do not seem to be doing the job (the speaker of the house actually said we cannot know what is in the bill until we pass it). The problem is, I do not have the time or the training to comb though it. I could not find it, but at one time I knew where in the bill it stated that taxes in this bill will not be considered taxes. I hope there is no penalty associated with this statement, as I will definitely consider any extra charges as taxes.

I am not currently under threat of losing my health care or insurance. The company I work for has sent out informational sheets telling us that things will be changing, but they could not tell us how until they are told. My doctor has suggested retiring rather than dealing with the added costs and effort that the government program will entail. So I will still have insurance (of some kind) and still have health care (of some kind), but all will be well, right? My question is; how much should I be saving to pay for my free health care?

Way back in May of 2009, I posted my very first article … hoping to become the very best entertainment blogger ever. Well, I’ve only contributed a total of 2 articles (both very good, I might add) and have had a very long layoff since my last one.

Well, today marks my triumphant return as a regular contributor for all of your entertainment news and reviews!!

For those that don’t remember, my plan is simple. Review all of my favorite TV shows, movies, video games, etc, with an occasional mix of vacation destination reviews. Today, I’m going to give you the most honest feedback on one of the best video game franchises ever, Madden Football (for Playstation 3).

Like I do every year, along with thousands of other people, I made sure to pick up my copy the day it was released. I wasn’t, however, one of the crazies that stood in line for hours to pick up a copy at midnight so that I could stay up for hours, call in sick to work, and play Madden all day long.

Just like in years past, the game has gotten so good that you think there’s no way they can make any significant improvements over the prior year’s game. There is one very significant change to the game this year, though, that makes it an overall better experience. The addition of Gameflow to the game not only speeds up game play, but also takes away the massive confusion of a team’s playbook. Gameflow analyzes everything from what down it is and how many yards you need for a first down to what the score is to pick the best play for your current situation.

In previous versions of Madden, you had an entire playbook at your disposal. There are literally hundreds of different plays in a playbook. Most of the time, I’d find myself continually running the same handful of plays throughout the game, because they were the easiest to find or because they worked the most. Doing that really took away from the realism of the game. Do coaches really call the same 3 plays, over and over? No, they don’t.

So, having the computer call plays for you not only adds to the realism, but also speeds up game play as you’re not wasting 15-20 seconds every play by frantically searching a playbook to call the perfect play. You simply press X at the end of each play to utilize the Gameflow function, the play call pops up on the screen, and you’re good to go. You do have the option to audible to a different play, or even have the option to look through your team’s playbook. So nothing was removed from the game to add the Gameflow option. So far, I love the Gameflow option. The computer really does make the correct play call in most situations. I’ve rarely had to audible or call a timeout due to a terrible play call.

As far as graphics and game play, there were some subtle changes, but nothing drastic. Overall, Madden did it again with a great game. Easily, in my opinion, the best game available for any system. On a scale of 1-10, I give it a 9.5, because there’s no such thing as the “perfect” game!

Want to pick up a copy of Madden 11 and put a few coins in Bob’s pocket at the same time? Buy from Amazon using the links below. Bob gets a small commission, but your price stays the same.

Available on: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, and PS2

Official Guide

It’s Friday, a day which usually brings a new Fiction Friday story from Kosmo.  However, I’ve decreed that I will not write any stories this month (although I am accepting guest submissions at kosmo@ObservingCasually.com).  I was having to dip the bucket a bit lower into the well of creativity each week and had run into some symptoms of temporary burnout.  Time for a break to recharge the batteries.  Better to go a month without new stories than to lose the desire forever.

So, then, what do I (and other writers) do when I’m not writing?

Break the Rules

Two days into the month, I was technically in violation of my self-imposed exile when I wrote a satire about a shocking new smartphone app.  However, I’ll rationalize this by saying that I don’t consider satires and parodies to be true fiction stories, since they tend to be “based on a true story.”

Read

One thing that makes a writer better – and gives the writer new ideas – is reading the work of good writers.  I love reading, and am a fast reader, but a shortage of time meant that I was really having trouble finishing  books lately.  When Jeffery Deaver’s new Lincoln Rhyme book, The Burning Wire, landed in my mailbox, I knew that I had to do something!  You may know Rhyme as Denzel Washington’s character in the movie The Bone Collector.  I love mysteries and forensics, and was happy to see that Rhyme is a recurring character!

Research

A big reason for taking the break from short fiction is that I am in the early stages of adapting The Cell Window into a novel.  In the short story, I winged it a bit, making up some things out of whole cloth (how many of them did you catch?).  However, I’m going to make a more concerted effort toward accuracy of details in the novel.  I personally hate it when I read a book and can pick up glaring errors that point to a lack of research.  I’m definitely going to engage consultants in the areas of technology and law enforcement, and may learn a few things about the psychological makeup of voyeurs.  I’ve become quite attached to this story and have a lot of pride in the work.

Steal Use Other People’s Ideas

While The Cell Window didn’t rise to the level of national bestseller, it did receive a very positive response at the local level.  I’m going back to some people who gave me very positive feedback to see what they would like to see in the novel version.  I won’t guarantee that I’ll use any of their ideas, but I’m happy to listen.

If you want to look at this in a different way, I’m engaging unpaid consultants to help me with the creative process.

Outline

While many of the plot elements of The Cell Window are going to carry forward from the short story to the novel, transforming a work from a 10,000 word story to a 100,000 word novel necessitates a lot of new content – both in terms of the plot and new characters that need to be developed.  I’m going to let these develop within a lengthy brainstorm (likely a couple of weeks in duration), but will eventually hammer out a high level outline to aid the actual writing process.

Watch Baseball

Hey, it’s the playoffs!  My favorite thing to watch on TV is a Rockies game … but my second favorite thing to watch is ANY baseball game.  I’m trying to actually be in front of the TV for some game action, but when I’m not, I’m making and effort to listen to the games.  All work and no play makes Kosmo a dull boy.

Happy Meals or Unhappy Meals?

Put on your seatbelt.  Put down that phone while you’re driving.  No smoking in establishments that serve food.  Speed limit is 35.  No kid’s meals with toys.  What?

We have become a nation filled with laws, statutes and ordinances.  I remember when the seat belt law took effect; I thought my Dad’s head was going to explode.  When cities and states began passing anti-smoking laws for restaurants, all the bars said that they were going to go under.  I don’t particularly like most of the speed limits because they get in my way and make me late.  Under the latest moves McDonalds won’t be able to include toys in Happy Meals—Seriously?  Is this where we’re going?

I struggle with this latest move by San Francisco and the private group CSPI.  They are both fighting McDonald’s and trying to regulate a parent’s job.  They’re not targeting the food at McDonald’s, but rather a toy.  The kids don’t eat the toys; they eat the fries and whatever else they order.  I’m a father of two kids (5 & 7) and when they ask to go to McDonalds, it has nothing to do with the toys.  I asked my kids why they like to go to McDonalds and Kiley said the hamburger and fries while Kayla said the chicken nuggets.  McDonalds has offered healthier choices like apple dippers, salad, juice, milk, etc for a few years.  The patrons are given a choice—let them decide.

None of this changes the fact that as a parent, it’s my job to regulate what my kids eat just like it’s my job to regulate what I eat.  I certainly don’t want anyone in the government making my meal decisions for my family.  I would hope that I have the basic intelligence to keep things in balance.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has threatened to sue McDonalds over toys being used to market Happy Meals.  They have indicated that 93% of Happy Meals are served with French Fries.  To that statistic I say no kidding!  I love french fries and I love McDonald’s french fries.  If this is the issue, why not sue McDonald’s to not serve Happy Meals with french fries?  Better yet, why not butt out of our business!  They could simply issue a statement that they don’t recommend Happy Meals, french fries or McDonalds. 

Interestingly enough, the CSPI indicates on their site that they are an advocacy group to research and provide information to consumers.  I’m curious when and why they decided to add sue companies to that list.

So the biggest question in all of this—-why do liberals feel that they need to legislate how I live?  I have a kegerator at home, and yes I enjoy quality craft beer.  Will I be targeted next?  No more beer sales?  No more steak?  No more unprotected sex with my wife?  Where does this stop?

I realize that the groups targeting McDonald’s Happy Meals are probably founded on good intentions.  Just like previous laws were: wearing a seat belt or helmet provides obvious protection, no smoking laws certainly have proven health benefits to everyone, both the smoker and those around them and outlawing texting was supposed to reduce crashes (but it has since been proven ineffective).

However, I for one am just sick and tired of people trying to regulate our lives.  We are a nation built on freedoms.  I believe that freedom includes eating a hamburger with fries and getting a happy little Barbie toy with it if that is what me or my kids choose.  I also believe that as a parent, I have a responsibility to take care of my children and that includes making healthy decisions for them.  I don’t want someone dictating how my wife and I should parent or what we should feed our kids.  This is a not a socialist government and it has no business meddling in how I raise my kids.

I’m hopeful that as we move forward, people will see the insanity of this latest move.  (Of course) San Francisco is trying to be the first to pass a law outlawing Happy Meal toys.  It shouldn’t be a surprise since they have already outlawed tobacco sales in some retail outlets and have even banned the sale of sweetened beverages from vending machines on city property.

The citizens of San Francisco have the equivalent of George Orwell’s Big Brother (1984) watching out for them and making decisions for them.  Obviously, Mayor Gavin Newsom doesn’t believe that they can make decisions on their own. 

In the immortal words of 2Pac in his work, Only God Can Judge Me, “Let me live baby. Let me live!” 

Are there any other conservative hip hop/rap fanatics or is it just me?

Squeaky…