Reassessing where we are...

Well, here we go. One week left till I start making that daily trek up to Findlay and back twice a day. It’s so incredibly cliché to say it, but where has the summer gone? True, I haven’t really had a summer off for ten years, but still, it amazes me how fast time seems to fly as I get older.

A couple of times a year, I do this. I’ll look back on the past year, and take assessment as to where I am, what I am doing, and how much I’ve learned over the year. Usually, at this time of year and at New Years. When you consider the entirety of what has transpired over the last year, and what you have learned, it’s quite an assessment.

One year ago, I didn’t know many of the friends I know now, and others, I didn’t know quite as well. I have learned quite a bit, through school, work, and other experiences that I didn’t have then. I’ve seen things and been places that, before, I could only imagine, and they were not at all what I thought they would be. Some of my friends have graduated, from high school, college, and elsewhere, or have gotten married and are beginning a new life that was only a dream one year ago.

I have experienced loss, pain, and suffering, as well as happy times, great memories, and wonderful moments that I wouldn’t trade for anything else.

There’s much to do this week. In my experience I am never really prepared to begin another year or experience something new. Whoever is? But I am looking forward to experiencing it, learning from it, and seeing where it could take me.

I had an epiphany last week. For years I’ve been taking it easy, sort of coasting and not making too many waves other than the ones I was comfortable with. It hasn’t really gotten me anywhere. For much of the year, I would drift in and out of great highs that never seemed to last long enough, to depressions that never seemed to quit. It was an existence that only I could experience or control.

Then last week, I was watching an old TV show and something on it clicked for me. If you want to make a difference in this world, either for yourself, or someone else, you have to be willing to step outside of yourself and embrace life as it comes to you. That’s not to say you should damn the consequences, but you shouldn’t be afraid to take a chance, no matter how small, for fear that you’ll be hurt. I never really understood that till now, and now I have a clearer picture of what I want out of life, and how to go about getting it.

There are many things this year that will be new. New friends to make, growing existing friendships, trying out new things and seeing what can happen. It’s all a mystery now, but imagine where I’ll be a year from now and what I’ll have done since that time? I don’t know yet, but I do know, that I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

While I was out...

Vacations are good. Sometimes almost necessary if one is to retain their sanity. It’s good as it gives you something to look forward to, plan for, and dream about. Naturally, when they happen, they cannot live up to all of your expectations, however when they are over, you feel great that they’ve happened. This past week has been interesting, and not in the way I usually mean. It was quite fun.

My “vacation” began a week from last Friday when a group of us decided to travel down to Chillicothe to see the outdoor drama “Tecumseh”. If you haven’t had the chance to see this show, it is worth the trip. Using historical fact and a bit of dramatic license, it tells the story of the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh in the early 1800’s and the war he waged on the United States. While going down, you’ll also notice a set of hills which should look familiar. These hills were used in the design of the Great Seal of the State of Ohio. There’s a park and a marker there to indicate it. All in all, a great trip.

The following week, my friend Elliott and I hit the road to Illinois. Road trips are great as they give you a chance to see much of the countryside. This particular trip involved going to Springfield Illinois, and Moline.

Downtown Springfield

We arrived at the hotel in Springfield Monday night. The next morning, we planned to visit several sites pertaining to President Abraham Lincoln. His home, the museum in Springfield, and his tomb.

The first stop, his home was located in a part just south of our hotel. The park itself was designed to look just as it did when Lincoln lived there, minus the fact that trees have grown quite a bit since then. Along with the house, there are several other houses located at the park which also existed during that time.

The most common view of the Lincoln Home

If you go, you are given a ticket for a tour time. All tours in the Lincoln home are given by a ranger from the National Park Service and are given at half hour intervals. The home itself is not huge, nor immaculate, which makes sense given the time it was built. It began as a one story home, and the second story was added later. The Lincolns lived comfortably there. One interesting fact was that when Lincoln was elected, over three hundred people came through the home. Amazing when you see how small it really is. I could see houses like this being built in my hometown simply because it is basic but efficient.

Elliott at the Lincoln home. Pictures of the home were taken from this angle at this position.

The next stop was the Lincoln Museum and Library. Didn’t tour the library because we didn’t take the time, however the museum is interesting. It showcases displays which take the viewer through Lincoln’s life from his log cabin days and frontier days, his early political days and then the days in the White House. Pictures can be taken outside the displays but not in the exhibits. (Don’t know why but that’s the rules)

The museum is quite interesting and the displays are well crafted. It’s not 100% accurate (What museum can be?) but it’s quite an experience.

After that, we went north of town to the Lincoln Tomb. When President Lincoln was assassinated, he was brought back to Springfield and kept in a receiving vault until a proper tomb could be built. There was talk at the time of having him buried in town, but Mary Lincoln wanted him buried in a country cemetery as per his wishes. The ironic thing is that the city of Springfield now has grown up around the cemetery that it is no longer a simple country cemetery, but it is peaceful.

The tomb itself was completed first in 1874 and Lincoln rested there for two years. Then in 1876 an attempt to steal his body was made by a group of Chicago counterfeiters. They were not successful, but their attempt made the curators of Oak Ridge Cemetery re-evaluate the tomb and implement extra security. In doing so, it was discovered that the tomb itself was in danger of collapsing and the tomb was completely dismantled and rebuilt. At that time, the Lincoln’s (The President, Mary, Tad, Edward, and Will) were placed in a concrete tomb and buried 10 feet beneath the floor and encased in more concrete to prevent another attempt to steal the body. It would not be an easy task to do so today.

After Springfield, we headed out to Davenport Iowa. Davenport is a part of the Quad Cities in that area which included the city of Moline. When we arrived at the hotel we turned on the news and discovered that a county fair was going on during the week and it was happening in the same town. So, given my affinity for fairs and festivals, we decided to check it out.

The Mississippi Valley Fair was a great fair. It reminded me of the Hardin County Fair at home. It was about the same size and had many similar exhibits. You saw the antique tractors, implements, farm animals, and entertainment all across the grounds. 

Some of the unique sites included an old schoolhouse which was used as the fair museum. Inside were old newspapers and items from past fairs documenting its history. All in all, a great addition to the trip.

The John Deere Pavilion in Moline

The next morning, we went to Moline for a tour of the John Deere Pavilion and the Harvester Works.

I must be honest; I was less than impressed with the pavilion. It was interesting, but I was expecting more of a museum than what was displayed. It was interesting, and you can see some of the implements of past and currently sold, but overall, it was lacking, especially when compared to a museum like the Lincoln Museum.

Kind of amazing to think that from this plow, a multi-billion dollar multi national company was built.

However, this was made up by the Harvester Works. This place was simply AMAZING. I’ve seen videos of the process on harvesters being built but they cannot compare to actually being there. We saw the whole process. The metal fabrication with tiny lasers cutting out the pieces, to the assembly and painting process. From conception to completion, and then the harvesters are driven off the lot, the whole process is a site to see. The works consists of a factory that is 30 acres big and all sections are used.

Interestingly, John Deere doesn’t build a combine unless they have an order to do so. So every combine being built has been sold to dealers or farmers and they will not build one till then. They are working two shifts. An order placed today will be complete a year from now, given the backload and it takes a couple of weeks to complete one order.

We were not permitted to take pictures inside the factory, just the outside.

John Deere also has what they call, a golden key program, in that if you do this, and place an order, and you can be the first one to start up your combine right there on the lot. This factory is a sight to see if there ever was one. It was one of the highlights of the whole vacation.

After Moline, we returned home, where I rested and regrouped for a couple of days. Friday night, my cousin Nick and I headed to Findlay where we went to the Rib Off on Broadway. This was a rib cook off put on by the Arts Partnership in Findlay. 

Nick trying out the ribs.

It was great as there were many different eateries there showcasing their ribs. For five bucks you could try one and then rate it yourself. They also had some celebrity judges on hand for an official tasting, live entertainment and a beer garden. I was amazed at the number of people who came out. It was a great event.

These guys had, what we deemed the best of the night.

I guess you could say that my vacation concluded yesterday when my dad and I went to the Ohio State Fair. It was a warm day to be sure, but we were able to see the entire fair. Dad teaches hunter safety classes and as a part of that, he and several others travel down to the fair to man the BB gun range each year. This is in the nature pavilion where you can see sights such as other animals, Smokey Bear, and the BB and archery range.

Elsewhere, the Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine had an area setup where farm animals were giving birth and you could see the process and the baby animals. 

This was right next door to the Ohio Dairy Barn and the infamous butter cow which was displayed with a couple of other butter sculptures.

An open class lamb show was being held in the lamb barn which wasn’t much different than our county fair. Across from that, several members of a Civil War reenactors association were set up to display their history and Dad and I had a picture taken with “General William T. Sherman”

Further along, we ran into a couple of Hardin County natives. The Althausers Honey Farm was there to show and sell their honey products and my aunt and uncle, Robert and Elaine Grubbs were also there with their Ohio Colonial Soap Company selling homemade soaps and brooms. My aunt reported that her brooms were a giant hit at the fair.

Across from this was the youth exhibits building where members from 4-H, FFA, Grange, Boys and Girl Scouts, FCCLA, and many other programs had displays for their state fair entries. There was a massive city display made entirely of Lego’s, and the Boy Scouts had a program where children could build and race Lego cars.

On the way out, we stopped by the Ohio Farm Bureau building where they had on display, a corn climbing wall, a model train set with different sites from Ohio agriculture displayed, baby chickens being hatched and puppies. The puppies in particular must have been completely tired as they didn’t flinch from their nap in spite of all the people all around them looking into their pen.

The whole week has been great. I haven’t been able to take a real vacation in a couple of years so it was nice to take a break for a bit and do something fun. Even though I have to return to the ol’ grind like everyone else, I’ll remember this one for a long time. It was one for the books, that’s for sure.

UPDATE: I was asked about the above picture. I haven’t seen an episode of that show at all, so I wasn’t familiar with it. When my boss heard we were going to be near LaClair he kept going on and on about how we needed to visit it so we did. Elliott knew all about it but I didn’t.

At any rate, all it was, was an old shack with some antique things inside of it. Didn’t look much more than a garage. It was interesting, but that’s all it was. The picture was for the boss’s benefit. 

The Dark Knight Rises: An Epic Conclusion to an Amazing Film Series

I’m not sure where this would fall on the list but I suppose it would be at the third spot, which would cause all others behind it to move down a notch. Last night, I saw the most incredible film that I have ever seen. I thought that I would enjoy The Dark Knight Rises, but I never imagined that a film could be quite as satisfying, entertaining, enlightening, and complete. Considering the track record that films have by the time the third act gets made, and how it usually is a bit of a letdown, I was amazed at the result.

Taken as a whole, I have come to the conclusion that the Christopher Nolan Batman films must be viewed in their entirety in order to fully embrace all that they have to offer. It began back in 2005 with the revamp of the series in Batman Begins. Here, Nolan reintroduced the character to the mass audience and developed the concept of Batman operating in a real world, realistic setting. Prior to that, the world of the films was fantastical at its best (Batman-1989) and over the top campy at its worst (Batman & Robin). While the Tim Burton take on the character in 1989 was the best effort at that point, and in my opinion, it was still somewhat apart from reality. The world Burton created couldn’t actually exist, and it was so immersed with the dark, gothic overtones that you have to wonder what would possess anyone to actually want to live there.

Nolan, by contrast, sets his Gotham City in a realistic way. He knows what common features all cities have that brings people to them and makes them wish to make their lives there, and he makes sure that he incorporates those themes into his world. The world that Nolan created is no less corrupt or free of violence than any other take on the character, but it is believable in the sense that what you watch could be happening in any city in this country.

Watching the Nolan Batman Trilogy is like watching a classic opera unfold before your eyes. The first act (Batman Begins) sets up the series by introducing the characters, explaining their motivations, and showcasing the world in which they live. The second act (The Dark Knight) puts these characters through a meat grinder and pushes the limits as to what they can achieve. The Dark Knight took the world that Nolan created and pushed it to its breaking point, and like all good opera’s, act three (The Dark Knight Rises) breaks the world in two in an effort to bring closure to the piece as a whole.

In the Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne is brought to the breaking point, mentally, as he is faced with a madman that cannot be rationalized, reasoned with, or scared into submission. The loss of his one true love, Rachel Dawes, and the one ally he had in this crusade, Harvey Dent, tested Wayne mentally to the point of breaking. In the end, Batman becomes the enemy, rather than a symbol of hope.

In Rises, he faces this test once again, but now in the character of Bane, he is tested physically as well as mentally, and is broken. What remains is then, is a chance for redemption. Wayne must redeem himself in order to save his city from the chaos that it falls into by Bane’s hands, and by doing so, redeem not only himself, but restore Batman to the symbol of hope that can inspire his city to better itself.

In spite of all the evil that is around him, Wayne believes that his city is worth saving, that the people, as a whole are good, if they would be only shown the way, and he is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to show his city the greatness that lies within itself.

It really isn’t surprising that the films work so well. Under the careful directon of Chris Nolan and his crew, performances by some of the most talented performers working today shine through. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Christian Bale, Thomas Hardy, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and many many more make up the world with which we watch. All promise and all deliver, tenfold.

Taken, as an individual movie, The Dark Knight Rises is quite satisfying. It grips the viewer, holds their interest throughout, and makes an epic conclusion. (A conclusion, by the way, that I believe rivals the one in the Avengers for the most epic in movie history). The Nolan film series, taken as a whole, is simply, the best film series, bar none, in movie history. All the films promised, and delivered, and by the time it was over, left the viewer completely satisfied. You cannot ask for more than that. 

A Tempered View Of A Tragic Event

It’s been awhile since the last posting but I really haven’t been able to come up with anything interesting to write about. Then, yesterday happened.

It’s interesting to see how people react to tragic news. Many are sad, shocked, or simply numb from hearing about the situation and yet others have a completely different view on things.

Mentioning the horrific event in Colorado would be fruitless simply because many of you already know what happened. But what I find disheartening is how some people can take something like that, and turn it into yet another call for their favorite cause or to bolster their standing on a given issue.

In this case, it brought the issue of guns to the forefront, where it will be till at least next Wednesday or so. Reaction across the media, beginning with social media, and then going into the traditional media later on was swift. But rather than simply talking about what happened, many people were, only hours later, using it as a calling card to advocate either for more gun rights or stricter gun control, and frankly, to use it at that point for either position is shameless.

I believe that the 2^nd amendment to the constitution guarantees the individual the right to bear arms, but I don’t advocate that position, nor do I believe in shoving my views down the throat of someone who might disagree with me. However some in the media apparently feel that any moment such as that is worthy of their bully pulpit.

Media personalities such as DL Hughley, John Leguizamo, Cher, Roger Ebert and Michael Moore took to the media yesterday to advocate for more gun control as they believed that making the right to bear arms illegal would prevent atrocities such as this. Groups such as the NRA took the opposing view that allowing people to conceal carry would prevent it. Neither position is right, or wholly true.

It is true that people who do carry on their person are able to stop horrible things from happening. Here in the last week there was a case in which an elderly man stopped a robbery at an internet café by shooting the two armed robbers who came in demanding everyone turn over their money to them. He was trained, and knew how to handle his gun so that others wouldn’t be hurt and prevented the robbery.

At the same time, gun laws exist for a reason. John Hinckley, a mentally disturbed man was able to get a gun and attempted to assassinate President Reagan in a warped attempt to win the heart of the actress Jodi Foster. Hinckley wounded Reagan, Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy, DC Police Officer Thomas Delahanty, and White House Press Secretary James Brady in the attempt. Reagan was surrounded by armed guards who were all packing and yet Hinckley was still able to make the attempt without being shot.

The nature of the attack and the severity of the wounds inflicted to all, but especially to Brady prompted the Brady Bill which was signed into law by President Clinton. It called for background checks and a waiting period before the purchase of a firearm, an action panned by the gun rights individuals but one that I think was appropriate.

However, in spite of all of that, there is one fact that I know will always remain true. If a person is sick in the head, and is bound and determined to inflict harm, pain, and death onto another person, they will find a way to do it. Outlawing guns isn’t going to solve anything, any more than making them easier to get is going to solve anything. If a person is willing to kill, and kill as the Colorado shooter did, making guns illegal isn’t going to stop them. I mean, look at how many people have problems dealing with drugs and addiction in this country even though drugs are illegal. It doesn’t solve anything.

There needs to be regulation, and that regulation should be strictly monitored to at least make it difficult for sickos to get their hands on guns. But people should also be given the resources to defend themselves.

Granted, I believe in the 2^nd amendment, and much of this post comes from that point of view. I make no bones about that. However the problem I have with both points of view can be summed up by one of the early seasons of The West Wing. In the 2^nd season, a character was introduced named Ainsley Hayes who was a Republican hired by the Democratic White House. She and the Rob Lowe character, Sam Seaborn got into a discussion about guns. Naturally, Seaborn took the antigun approach, and Hayes took the pro-gun point of view. But she said something to Seaborn that really struck home with me, and is a problem that both sides of the debate equally share.

Sam Seaborn: But for a brilliant surgical team and two centimeters of a miracle, this guy

[meaning Josh]

Sam Seaborn: is dead right now. From bullets fired from a gun bought legally. They bought guns. They loaded them. They drove from Wheeling to Rosslyn. And until they pulled the trigger, they had yet to commit a crime. I am so off the charts tired of the gun lobby tossing around terms like "personal freedom" and nobody calling them on it. It's not about personal freedom. And it certainly has nothing to do with public safety. It's just that some people like guns.

Ainsley Hayes: Yes they do. But you know what’s more insidious than that? Your gun control position doesn’t have anything to do with public safety and it’s certainly not about personal freedom. It’s about; you don’t like people who do like guns. You don’t like the people. Think about that the next time you make a joke about the South.

It’s true. And it’s something that we all must come to terms with. We can disagree, and we can debate, and when we do, it’s not always one side being right or wrong. It’s possible that both sides can disagree and both be right. But when we start hating each other for what we are, we are no different than those who would do us harm for the same sick reasons.

Remembering Andy Griffith

The man who created one of the iconic characters in the history of American television has passed away. Andy Griffith died today at the age of 86 years old.

I have always had a personal connection to Andy Griffith. I can remember seeing him first, when I was younger, watching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show growing up and being completely immersed into the story, characters and culture. It has been a belief of mine, that I was named after him. My mother told me that she was a fan of the show, and Sheriff Andy Taylor when she was younger. When it came time to name me, she decided to go with the name Andrew. Sure, there are many explanations as to why she settled on that name, but I have always believed that it was due to the connection with the character. Years later, when I asked her about this, she couldn't deny that it may have played a part.

Andy Griffith was a highly versatile performer. His earliest work, a stark difference to what he would later become known for, is evidence of this. One of his earliest roles was the character of Lonesome Rhodes in the Ella Kazan film A Face in the Crowd. In this role, Griffith plays a nobody who is plucked out of oblivion into the television spotlight as the host of a comedy show that takes off nationally. Overnight, he becomes a major success, and lets the fame and fortune go to his head. 

He takes advantage of those around him, and those who care about him, and mocks his fans as worthless sheep clinging onto his every word. When his is exposed publicly, he climbs to the top of a large building in New York City and denounces the world for what he believes is its own ineptitude. It is a powerful moment in film.

In contrast to Sheriff Andy Taylor, Griffith could play villains as well as good guys. One of my favorite television films stars Griffith as a rich landowner in Georgia named John Wallace, who frames one of his sharecroppers for breaking out of jail after stealing one of his cows. He, and his friends, chase this sharecropper over the county line and murder him. They take him back to their own county, and burn the body, so as to not leave any evidence. 

The Sheriff of the other county, Coweta, is Lamar Potts (played by Johnny Cash) who has as much drive and tenacity as Wallace and who, through sheer determination and a bit of luck, finds the evidence needed to convict Wallace and send him to the electric chair. It is an interesting film, and seeing both Griffith and Cash playing roles that one wouldn't normally see them in is what makes it so compelling.

Naturally, I am, still to this day, a fan of Griffith’s iconic role, Sheriff Andy Taylor. Andy Taylor is a role model for any man in this world as to what it takes to be a real man in society. He isn’t perfect (far from it in fact) but his heart, his understanding of human nature, his compassion, and his drive to always look for the good in others in spite of their personal shortcomings is what makes him that role model.

Griffith designed the show early on to make him the center of attention and humor, and the first few episodes reflect this, but quickly he realized that the show would work better if he reacted to those around him instead of the other way. He had the wisdom, and, I believe, lack of major ego to realize this, and the show was better off for it. How many others working today could or would make the same decision?

Two episodes of the show stand out to me today as examples as to why it transcends so much. The first, Opie the Birdman, finds Sheriff Taylor’s youngest son Opie (Ron Howard) firing a slingshot and kills a mother bird. Sheriff Taylor realizes this when he discovers the dead bird later. His punishment for Opie isn’t a spanking or extra chores. Rather, he opens his son’s window and tells him that he needs to listen to the cries of the baby birds that no longer have a mother. This makes a profound impact on Opie and he decides to care for the birds himself. Eventually, they grow, but cannot be cared for anymore, and Taylor convinces Opie to let them fly. It’s a classic moment in television.

The second, and by far my favorite episode of the series was called, Man in a Hurry. In this, we find a businessman traveling through Mayberry on a Sunday, when everything is shut down, and gets car trouble. He is exasperated as he can’t get anyone to fix it on a Sunday. He finally gets Gomer and Goober to do so, but it will take all day, and he is forced to wait at Sheriff Taylors home while the repairs are made. While waiting, he observes the laid back, and slow routine of a Sunday in Mayberry and it has a profound impact on him. At the end of the day, when his car is ready, he decides to stick around and relax a bit.

It’s a lesson that all of us should take to heart. A fast paced lifestyle is nice, and these days almost necessary, but every once in a while we need to take time, slow down, and appreciate small things in life.

Andy Griffith was, and is my favorite performer. He was an actor, comedian, and singer, who made a profound impact on those who had the pleasure to take in his work. He was one of the all-time greats, and one that will be missed.