T Wrecks

We took our daughter out for a birthday diner last night at T-Rex in The Legends mall in WyCo (more on The Legends later).

Our now-4-year-old daughter has really been into dinosaurs lately, an influence from the majority male class at daycare (she's the only girl in the class). So we thought she would enjoy the experience.

In case you've never been, T-Rex is a dinosaur-themed restaurant (duh) with gigantic animatronic dinos including (obviously) the Tyranosaurus Rex. There is lots of paleozoic atmosphere, giant octopuses (octopi?), bugs etc.

It's all very fascinating... for about 20 minutes.

Then the overstimulation starts to grate on your nerves. The noise level is about the same as Arrowhead Stadium when the Chiefs are protecting a third quarter lead. The dinos are constantly growling and moaning and the insect are incessantly chirping. I assume all of the noise is to cover the sound of the continuously screaming kids.

Our daughter was pretty intimidated from the moment she walked in the door. The first thing you see is the gaping maw of an enormous 4-year-old-eating T-Rex.

Add that and the overstimulation to mediocre food and bad service (we were offered other customers' meals twice, but we had to wait 45 minutes for our own) and needless to say we were there way too long.

When we left, I had a splitting headache and was on my very last nerve.

In short, while I think the whole Legends area is an economic boon for Wyandotte County, save yourself some money, gas, and a headache and avoid T-Rex.

tagged: Kansas, Wyandotte County, restaurant, dining, T-Rex, dinosaur, Legends

Deployed: A hell of a ballance

I wanted to post a follow up to two previous posts about my brother-in-law Nick, who was deployed last month as part of an MP patrol unit in Iraq.

I'm sure you've all read/heard that October was one of the deadliest months so far of the war in Iraq with 104 soldiers killed.

As a member of the military police, Nick is tasked with making regular patrols outside of American bases. He and his comrades are the targets of the infamous IEDs.

Anyway, I wanted to pass along this note from Nick to anyone who might be interested. I've edited out some of the more personal and personally identifiable information.

Hey Everyone,
Really great to hear from you all. Iraq is okay and ironically enough though it is sandy, it's way less sandy than Kuwait was.

I find myself here being very bored when I'm not going on missions and also very uncertain when I go out. It's a hell of a balance: either stay back and be bored or go out into Iraq on missions and play chance. In the end I find that playing chance works better for me because at least it keeps my mind occupied.

I don't really follow anything in the news, all I know is that for us (Military Police) it's been dubbed the year of the police in Iraq, and we're here to support that. No explosions yet, knock on wood.

I'm glad that Julie has you all there to help her with this. Being away from her makes me realize how terribly in love I am with her. Simply put I am not the same guy without her, and I just want to get this over with and come home to her the same person I was. That's all this year is to me. It's what I have to do to get home, and I'm just going to lower my head and motor through it until it's done.

Anyway you all take care. Write often cause its great hearing from everyone. Take care of Julie the best you can for me (thanks for helping with the house) and take care of yourselves.

tagged: Iraq, war, soldier, military police, October, home

Soccer ballot

I've been trying to decide on how to vote on this $75 million soccer complex proposal.

That doesn’t make me special. Lot’s of people have been weighing in on it. Cara over at …JustCara gave a pretty good (though not-so-objective) point-by-point breakdown of her opinion on the matter. And Tony has published a well-produced video which backs the initiative for its ability to add to Johnson County’s cultural diversity.

I'm not vehemently against the proposal, as Cara seems to be. I'm actually okay with the County paying for parks and rec and other quality of life-type amenities. Anyone ever been to the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead? Ever walked/jogged/biked along the Indian Creek Trail?

These are the kinds of amenities that keep property values high. These are the kind of amenities that contribute to healthy lifestyles. These are the kind of amenities that separate us from the barbarians who live in KCMO.

But let’s face it, $75 million is a lot of money for a soccer field – even in Johnson County. And, while we don’t suffer the fiscal ineptitude that KCMO and Jackson County, Mo., are plagued with, it’s always a tough sell to get people to volunteer even more of their hard-earned money.

What I would like to hear (it might be out there and I might find it with a little research), is whether there is some kind of revenue opportunity here. As Tony points out, there is definitely an opportunity for increased visitors and tourism.

Is there a plan to leverage this for additional income? Can the soccer complex be used to host tournaments to help retire the debt? Is it possible to have some kind of special sales tax on concessions, etc., to help pay for maintenance?

I think these questions have been overlooked in the campaign efforts of the measure's proponents. And they are definitely questions I'll have to have answered before I'll vote yes.

tagged: soccer, Kansas, Johnson County, taxes, ballot, vote

YouTube Tuesday: Happy Halloween

Halloween is a special time of year. The air is filled with brotherhood, peace and goodwill toward men.

And of course, there's the spoiled brats raiding every home in the neighborhood for candy, and you have to pay or your home will be vandalized. Ah, sweet extortion.

Anyway, be careful out there tonight, kids.

And to you parents, here's another public service announcement from Three O'Clock in the Morning:

Every year, we like to decorate our homes with Halloween fare, including the ever popular jack-o'-lantern. But please be sure to clean up that carved pumpkin in a timely manner. There's nothing more disgusting than the rotted corpse of a carved jack-o'-lantern -- with the possible exception of the rotted corpse of Phill Kline's political carreer.

Don't believe me? Well take a look at this time-lapse demonstration, courtesy of YouTuber Hirnduebel:



tagged: movie, YouTube, video, Halloween, pumpkin, humor, jack-o'-lantern, rotting, corpse

Campaign Ad nauseam

Why do candidates even bother with campaign advertising?

I know, I know. I can answer my own question. They bother with it because it works. They make horrible ads – I mean c’mon the amateurishness of these ads is downright offensive – because a PR firm or election consultant told them that they can get n percentage of a lift in the polls if they do.

Trouble is, the ads are all the same. And I don’t just mean that the Democrats ads are just like all the other Democrats ads or that the Republicans ads are just like all the other Republicans ads. I mean all ads are the same, they all say the same thing and they have for years (I’ve been voting for nearly 20 years now).

In a year when we’re finally seeing a little original creativity out of Hollywood (a drama show about a comedy show? Now that’s something I can watch), the advertising firms are sticking to the same old hyperbolic, melodramatic bullshit that they know will appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Here's one example. The original poster noted that “who say’s Democrats aren’t fighting back.” I’m not sure what that means, but when Dan points to an ad, I go and watch. The ad is a bunch of hyper-emotional drivel about how if you don't support stem cells, you daughter is going to die of diabetes, your son is going to die a car crash and your wife is going to develop Alzheimer's. You shouldn't vote for Rep. Chocola because he didn't vote for stem cells.

Let me be clear on this. I'm in favor of stem cell research. There's a lot to be learned just for the sake of basic science, let alone cures for every disease known to man. And besides, the state of Missouri has enough excess chromosomes to keep pharmaceutical companies busy for years.

But the way that ad slaps you in the face with a fake emotional appeal just makes me want to gag on a cloned fetus. What happened to the so-called rational, scientific community supporting this initiative?

(I also get a kick out of the people, many of whom rant daily about the Bush administration being in bed with big corporations, who don't see that the big pharmaceutical companies are going to make tons of dinero on this stem cell thing. Hypocrisy can be so subtle sometimes.)

Anyway, the problem with this approach is that it works on the mindless sheep who think CSI is compelling television. At the same time, it's a huge turnoff to people who want real information about where candidates stand on any given issue.

Imagine this fantasy world: Instead of hearing how Mr. Candidate wants your baby dead because he didn't "vote for stem cells" (I didn't know stem cells could run for office), how about telling me specifically how Mrs. Candidate would use her position to support stem cell research.

But I guess campaign advertising is a good proving ground for when candidates are actually elected. They have to learn how to speak without actually saying anything.

tagged: campaign, advertising, stem cells, canditate, Missouri, debate, Republican, Democrat

autumn

One of the many reason I love this time of year...


tagged: fall, autumn, foliage, leaves

Are you in, genius?

Saw this quiz on TFK and Blog Meridian, so I thought I'd give it a go.

The results were encouraging. Contrary to what my Super Model Wife says, I'm not stupider than 98% of the country.

Although in the interest of full disclosure, I feel I should point out that when the third-to-last question asked -- "Without looking, what is the second question that you answered?" -- I did scroll up to look.

I figured, if James T. Kirk can reprogram the Kobayashi Maru test, then I can do the same for some dumb Internet quiz.

tagged: intelligence, quiz, Star Trek, Kobayashi Maru, James T. Kirk, culture

YouTube Tuesday: Et tu Mr. Pringles?

Jeffrey Skilling has been sentenced, Mark Foley was forced to resign, and Mel Gibson has been eating crow since his drunken outburst. Now yet another public figure is facing embarrassment in the media.



tagged: movie, YouTube, video, Mel Gibson, Pringles, humor, comedy, culture

Enter the smoking chimp

Hoards people have noticed some major changes to the 3AM blog.

And what I mean by "many people" is one or two. And when I say "major changes" I really mean a single very minor change.

But it was enough to prompt XO to ask about it, so I figure here's a quick explanation:

Hey XO, thanks for noticing my monkey.

The previous profile image was a self portrait of me as a South Park character. Although, since my eye surgery, it was a bit out of date.

So I decided to shake things up a little (you know how I like to shake things up) and use a new profile image, one that closely resembles my personality. Enter the smoking chimp.

I've been considering adding another pseudonym for the chimp. My first choice was Jack Maimunkie, but that name is taken. Let me know if you have any better ideas.

While your thinking about it, go ahead and check out Jonathan Coulton's My Monkey.

tagged: chimp, monkey, smoking, blog, Jonathan Coulton, South Park, eye surgery

Minor dilemma

JD at Evolution gives a good (as usual) quickie analysis of the Kansas Attorney General race.

I have to agree that Phil Kline is acting like a complete idiot (Al Gore) with his fundraising and memo-writing. But unfortunately, all of the focus on this fundraising issue makes it difficult to judge who would do the best job in the AG's office.

As a JOCO resident, I'm familiar with Paul Morrison (even had lunch with him one time at Jose Pepper's in Olathe). He’s got a great record on criminal prosecutions, winning convictions of rapists and serial killers and all. But I've heard lawyer-types say that he lacks background and experience in constitutional law. Also, do I want to vote for someone who's willing to switch political parties just to get elected?

At the same time, do I want to support Kline if he's showing this amazingly poor judgment in campaign fundraising? And if his own staff/party doesn't support him, why should I (not to mention his apparent lack of respect for individual privacy rights).

Maybe I'll just wage a write-in campaign for JD.

tagged: Kansas, politics, Phil Kline, Paul Morrison, attorney general