The Falconer Response

Here is my response to Mr. Falconer's letter (see here)
Dear Mr. Falconer,

I am responding to the letter that you kindly sent to me last month. Unfortunately, I believe that you have me confused with someone else, as I do not know a Kathrine Hunter. My parents moved to the United States shortly before I was born.

In return for my responding to your letter to clarify your situation, I do ask that you satisfy my curiosity. Could you please let me know the reason why you contacted me? Who were you trying to reach? I would greatly appreciate knowing the reason why you wrote to me.

Was The Election Fixed?

Ever since the 2004 Presidential election, I have heard small reports and rumors about fishy things happening in various states during the election. I wrote off most of these stories as being crackpot conspiracy theories. However, I just recently read a fascinating article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that details how the election was rigged in Ohio. After reading the article, I think it is quite conceivable that the Republicans stole the election. Read it yourself and let me know what you think.

Iraq WMDs

Certain politicians are still trying to use the WMD justification for going to war in Iraq. Here is the latest news on WMDs. Fox News even ran a news alert that WMDs had been found. This claim has of course been debunked by about everyone, as the weapons are likely left over from the Iran-Iraq war and weren't even maintained by Saddam. Even David Kay, Bush's appointee who headed the WMD search team, noted, "It is less toxic than most things that Americans have under their kitchen sink at this point."

Film on the Rocks

A group of us went to the opening of Film on the Rocks at Red Rocks last night. The featured film was Top Gun, and it was totally ballistic! The audience was really into the movie, with people cheering, quoting lines, and singing along - "You've lost that loving feeling...". Every year, I have intended to go to FOTR, but I never did. I have a strong feeling that I will end up going to quite a few more this summer. Almost Famous, Animal House, the original Willy Wonka, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are some of the other movies they are showing this season.

Ali's Surgery

Our dog Ali recently underwent surgery after partially tearing her ACl. We opted to have the Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) surgery done to repair her knee. The surgery is pretty difficult to explain, so here is an explanation from a veterinary website, which also has some diagrams. The natural shape of the knee is such that when weight is placed on it, shear forces and the slope of the angle causes the joint bones to slip. Normally, the ACL ligament counters these forces. The TPLO surgery is an operation in which the tibia is cut and the knee joint rotated so that the slope is leveled, thus negating the need for the ACL. The semi-circular cut is made in the tibia, the piece of bone is rotated, and then a plate and screws are used to re-attach the bone. It is pretty serious stuff! The x-rays shown are not Ali's, but her x-rays are very similar. Ali is about halfway through her rehabilitation, and she is doing quite well. She is able to go on short walks, but is not allowed to run yet. The rabbits in the neighborhood are enjoying their temporary freedom.

Mini Ha Ha

On Sunday, I competed in the Broomfield Mini Haha triathalon. It was my first official triathalon competition, and I am pretty happy with the results. Our friend Christine convinced a group of us to do it, as she had done it the past couple of years. We had two relay teams and 9 individual competitors. The swim portion was 12 lengths of the pool, followed by an eleven mile bike, and two mile run. It is comparatively short, but you are still competing for around an hour. Our group was all in the same heat, which had the bad fortune of starting at 10:20 when the temperature was starting to rise. I really surprised myself in the swim portion, putting up a time which wasn't far off the top competitors. But the bike ride was my weakness. Johnny passed me on the first lap and I didn't see him again until the finish line. Travis made up some good time on the bike and run, finishing right behind me. As it turns out, if Johnny, Travis, and I would have entered the team competition together, we would have won the team competition. It was a lot of fun, and we will likely do it again next year. Congratulations to everyone who competed - Cherilyn, Travis, Johnny, Allison, JC, Liz, Joe, Sarah, Brandon, Albert, Katie, and Harry.

Wear a Helmet!

I really don't understand riding a motorcycle without a helmet. As you have likely heard, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger had an accident on motorcycle. He was in serious but stable condition after seven hours of surgery to repair multiple facial fractures. He was not wearing a helmet and reportedly did not have a valid license. If you want to know why Ben did not wear a helmet, here are his own words regarding the subject. I remember watching watching the interview on ESPN and thinking he was just asking for something to happen. Although, I do think he was stupid, I do wish him a fast and speedy recovery.

NBA Championship

Since 1979, only seven franchises have won the NBA title. The Lakers, Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, Bulls, Rockets and Spurs are the only teams to win a title in the last 27 years. Crazy, eh? That is one of the many reasons why I am looking forward to the NBA championsip series. Two exciting teams, with some big names (Shaq, Wade, Dirk, Cuban, Riley), should be able to put a nice cap on an already thrilling postseason. Let's hope that it doesn't provide a letdown similar to the NCAA this year, which followed the first four amazing rounds with a comparitively dull final four.

For those who are curious, during the same period, Major League Baseball has had 18 different franchises win the World Series, the NFL has had 13 franchises win the Super Bowl, and the NHL has had 11 Stanley Cup winners.

Zoltan the Creek Tuber

Read about the world's first professional creek inner tuber. For those of you with experience tubing down Boulder Creek, the Yampa, or any other river, I highly recommend watching the video.