T-Bone's Movie Minute

I finally got around to viewing LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE this past weekend and I'm sorry I did not see this film sooner than I did. I was completely smitten with it. It was right up my alley with a good mix of emotional depth, humor, & quirkiness. The film follows the Hoover family as they trek from New Mexico to California so that the youngest of the Hoover's, Olive, can compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Actually, its about so much more than that, but you'll have to rent the film to find out.

One moment that really stood out to me is when lovable & innocent Olive is backstage at the pageant getting ready to go on stage. She has seen all of the other competition, a collection of dolled-up, hair sprayed & airbrushed 7 year olds. They looked like miniature supermodels......in a bad way. It was grotesquely fake. Olive is looking at herself in the mirror and sizing up her body, comparing hers to the other girls after only being exposed to the whole situation for a short period of time. The scene was a subtle & brief commentary of what society (us) and the media are doing to the young ladies of this world.

I think I loved this film because we get to witness this dysfunctional family come together and realize that, despite of the flaws that they each have, there is a love binds them to each other. They trudge through the crud and unite to reach a goal. It made me think of me and my family. I am flawed in so many ways. On numerous occasions I felt as if I have failed members of my family in one way or another, yet they still love me. They want to bring out the best in me. Too many times I have been floored and humbled when one of my children say to me, "Dad? You know what? You're the best Dad anyone could ever have!" Come again? Really? Its moments like that that inspire me to rise above my own critical self-evaluation and be the best person I can be for my family.

Each of the actors gave a fine performance. It was good to see Steve Carell play a more understated role and Alan Arkin was great as usual. I'm glad he got the Oscar for his performance. It was a good rental, although I wish I had seen this in the theaters.

Yes, You Can Blend Novell, Microsoft, and Apple in your Environment!

For all you IT folk out there:




If you work in IT, you'll appreciate this. Otherwise, move along....nothing to see here.

Hey Spring! Nice to see you again!

At 7:07 PM CDT, the vernal equinox arrives, a.k.a Spring! At that time, the direct rays of the Sun are over the equator and we experience equal time of daylight and darkness. I am ready for Spring after our first Winter here in Minnesota. It has been warming up over the last week or so and we should be in the 50s by the end of the week. Just about all of the snow has melted away and the lakes are starting to look like lakes again. Its amazing how warm 40 degree temps feel after experiencing single digit to below zero temps. I have noticed moods have improved amongst the people. I am seeing more smiles. In fact, I witnessed my neighbor down the street playing with his dog outside and he was wearing shorts.

Anyway, sorry that a lot of my posts have been about the weather. I guess I should just call this 'T-Bone's Weather Blog' now or something.

Here is something that is vaguely Spring related. From THE PRODUCERS......

Time for a New Look

I was getting tired of how my blog looked, so I decided to change it. I love the color blue and I consider it my favorite color, but the site was looking kind of dark. I like the new lighter green color. I was probably influenced by the green I was seeing at Jon Hall's site and Just Some English Guy's site (see link on the right).

I use Blogger for this site for a couple of reasons. One reason, and the most important, its FREE. Two, it is easy to use. I work in the IT field, but I have never been a web/html guy. I'm not very good at it and have never put the time into learning it. Due to the lack of my web coding experience, I use the default templates provided by Blogger. This template is called 'no. 565' hence the number 565 on the page. In my opinion, Blogger has a paltry selection of templates and the templates they do have aren't very customizable. Recently Blogger made changes to its service so one could do small bits of customization, but I think they didn't go far enough. If anyone out there can help me spruce up my site, I would be most grateful. Until then, enjoy 'no. 565.'

**Edit** OK, I was able to remove the 565 numbers from the page and added my own pic. I still can't figure out how to lower the text of the title and make the picture fit better. I'll keep trying....

Going Back to Cali.....

I thought I could contrast the last cold & snowy post with a reflection on our recent January trip to sunny Southern California. We made plans for the trip last summer not long after we moved to Minnesota. It was my first time back since that time. The main catalyst for the trip was to keep up the tradition Julie and I have where we get away to a bed and breakfast in Julian with our dear friends for a weekend. We have been doing this for the last 8 years. We also knew that January would probably be a good time to get away from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Well, our first weekend in Julian was surreal due to the fact that we were experiencing the same weather in California that we had left in Minnesota. Temps in the 20's and snow flurries. Our trip to California happened to coincide with a rare cold snap. We were a bit bummed. But, being with our friends for the first time in 6 months more than made up for that. It was a great weekend to unwind, re-connect, and refresh.....without the kids! I love our kids, but it was a needed break from them!

After Julian, we spent the rest of our week visiting family and friends. I got to see my new niece for the first time, which was great. she is already growing way too fast! We went to the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu with Julie's dad. What a beautiful setting for a museum! I had never been there before, but always wanted to go. The museum showcases Greek and Roman art and artifacts that date way back before Christ. Very cool stuff. The kids got to go to Legoland & The San Diego Wild Animal Park with my folks. We also took the kids to a miniature golf/mini-amusement park with Julie's folks. It was a good time.

People here in Minnesota often ask why in the heck would we leave California and do we miss not being there? Well, I can't explain it, but we had this tugging on our hearts that brought us here. For me it was a desire to connect with a place that I felt was home even though I did not grow up here. I wanted to lay down roots and attempt to connect with a family that I did not see enough of growing up. When we decided to go for it, Julie had a stronger conviction than I did. She loves it here. I also think that God has good and interesting things in store for us. What it is I do not know, but its a feeling I have. Do I miss California? I miss the family and good friends we left in California. Its not really that we left them. We just won't get to see them as much. The friends we have are my friends for life and the trip back cemented that in my mind. I have no doubt that these people will be there for many years to come.

Not seeing family as much is harder. I love the relationship that our kids have with their grandparents and it is not easy for them to not see them as much. The up side to this is that when we do get to see our friends and family the visits are much more meaningful. We make the time we spend with them count and don't take it for granted, which is so easy to do sometimes.

There are days when I have a hole in my heart and wish I could just jump on a plane and head back for a visit. But I know, deep down, that we did the right thing. Julie and I do not doubt it for a second. We are looking forward to forging ahead and making new friendships and connections, which is already happening. Our family in California are already making plans to come back and visit us, if they haven't already.

Its kind of weird to say, but our trip to California confirmed for me that we did, in fact, do the right thing. When we landed in Minneapolis on the flight back, we felt like we were coming back to home.

More Snow

Here are a few more pictures from today's snow storm:

10" already, and we're not even done yet


Stephen King's SNOW DOG OF EVIL!



BBQ? Um, no.


Where's Waldo?

Isn't Snow Supposed to Fall Down?

Well, I got to go home early today. The company I work for closed early today due to severe weather conditions. I'm looking out my window, watching the snow fall horizontally. Happy Birthday to me!

From the National Weather Service:

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST FRIDAY.

SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND WESTERN WISCONSIN. SEVERAL ROADS... INCLUDING INTERSTATE 90 WEST OF ALBERT LEA...HAVE BEEN CLOSED ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA...AND DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA.

SEVERAL SNOW BANDS HAVE DEVELOPED TODAY ACROSS SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA...EXTENDING INTO WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. AS OF 330 PM... MAXIMUM SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS HAVE REACHED 10.5 INCHES...WITH AN AVERAGE OF 6 TO 8 INCHES IN THE BANDS. THE SNOW BANDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING BEFORE TRANSLATING NORTHEASTWARD. MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL BE PREVALENT IN THE BANDS...FREQUENTLY REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO A QUARTER MILE OR LESS. THIS INCLUDES THE TWIN CITIES METRO AREA. NORTHEAST TO NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS EVENING... REACHING SPEEDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS...ESPECIALLY ACROSS WESTERN WISCONSIN. THE WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH THE HEAVY SNOW TO PRODUCE NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AT TIMES. THIS INCLUDES DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING RUSH HOUR. THE MOST SUSTAINED NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE FAVORED IN OPEN AREAS FROM MONTEVIDEO DOWN THE MINNESOTA RIVER VALLEY TO MANKATO AND FAIRMONT... INCLUDING ALONG THE I-90 CORRIDOR. CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT TRAVEL WILL CONTINUE TO BE DANGEROUS ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA... AND MOTORISTS SHOULD PLAN ON AVOIDING TRAVEL DURING THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING.




Road trip anyone?