Did you hear about the guy from Brooklyn who slept underneath his car at night?
He wanted to wake up oily.

Yesterday had another Survivor episode. Robb the skateboarder was voted off the island. He made the critical mistake of dipping into the food supply. One tribe has several bunches of green bananas that they won in a challenge contest. Robb was seen taking bananas every time he got hungry; up to thirty a day. He would defiantly eat a banana in front of everyone, while basically daring anyone to say something about it. Well, he may have gotten his share of bananas, but he was unanimously voted off by the other tribe members. That is just a basic understanding in nature and society. If you take food away from someone who's starving, they will turn against you every time.
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The other tribe is still looking for it's lost boat. They need one because their fresh water source is three miles away over water. The three men swam five or six miles to try to find the boat on another island. They thought that it might have drifted over. They found nothing and then had to swim back. Why don't they just build a raft? I don't think that it would take the five of them more than a couple hours. They don't sound like they're rocket scientists. They make Gilligan look like the Professor.
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The immunity challenge was called Thailand 21. Twenty-One flags are in a circle. The idea is for each team to remove 1 to 3 flags until none are left. The team to remove the last flag wins. I wish that I could have played. I figured out that if you went first that you could win every time. The key is to have four flags left when it is the other team's turn. If they take 1, 2, or 3 flags, then you always take the remaining flags to win. Starting at 21 you would take 1 flag, leaving 20 for the other team. From then on, your team would always take the other teams pick subtracted from four, eg. if they take 1 flags then you take 4 -1 or 3, if they take 2 then you take 4 -2 or 2, etc. That way their pick would progress from 20 to 16 to 12 to 8 to 4. If the other team goes first, then you have to hope that they make a mistake. Last night the first team took 2 flags to start. The correct response would have been to take 3 flags to put the other team at 16. It would then progress 16 to 12 to 8 to 4. Again, at 4 they could only choose 1, 2, or 3 with you taking the remaining flags to win.

I finished reading "The Lovely Bones". It turned out to be much, much better than I originally thought. I think that I was initially put-off by the brutality against the young girl. Violence towards innocent children always makes my blood boil. I thought that this might be another book which turns a serial killer into some kind of hero while forgetting about the victims. I get tired of hearing how bright someone like Hannibal the Cannibal is killing people when in reality it is not that hard to take advantage of someone who is a trusting soul. The book isn't like that, though. It exposes the killer for the creep that he is while examing how the tragedy affects the friends and family of the girl. It is from her point of view as she watches from Heaven. Interestingly, she wants the killer to be stopped, but does not overtly express her hatred for him or question God for allowing the murder to occur. It was one of the more thought provoking novels that I have read in some time. It even made me wonder whether contact with the deceased is possible. It is not a feel good book, but I would recommend it. The ending is surprisingly uplifting.

Nature's first green is gold,
her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
but only for an hour.
The leaf subsides to leaf,
so Eden sank to grief,
so dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
*** Robert Frost ***

I started reading "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. I've only read the first third, but so far it doesn't ring true. In the book, a young girl in middle school is killed by a man from the community. She observes the aftermath from Heaven and tries to uncover the killer to her family and friends. I have a much different view of Heaven. I see it as a place of serenity and peace, not one of anxiety and vengeance. When we pass on, I think that we discard our worldly problems like a rumpled robe or perhaps we toss them on a table with our keys and loose change, never to be picked up again. I think of some of the great works here like a painting by Van Gogh, a sonnet by Shakespeare, a piano concerto by Mozart, or a poem by Browning. I can only imagine the beauty that must await in God's Kingdom. I don't believe that one would spend one minute contemplating the last hours on Earth. If you were killed, I think that you would lament that you could be the reason that someone might forever be separated from God. Certainly, you would have the wisdom to forgive him, even if your loved ones still living could not. The Heaven in the book seems to be devoid of God and any joy. That can't be true. God's plan is unfolding as it should, even when we don't understand it.

People who I have met in my life:
I once knew a woman who was so skinny that she had to run around in the shower to get wet. I once saw a man fall into a lens grinding machine and make a spectacle of himself. I once met a woman who was so fat that she had her own zip code. I once knew a couple, a woman who was bowlegged and a man who was knock-kneed, and when they stood next to each other, they spelled out OK. I once saw a man who was so short and skinny that he was mistakenly used as a bat by a near-sighted player in a baseball game. I once knew a woman who had everything that a man could want; strong arms, broad shoulders, and hair on her chest.

I saw Tom & Gina, my brother-inlaw and sister, yesterday. We went to see "One Hour Photo" with Robin Williams at the old Highland Park Theater. I remember when it was just one large theater, but it has been split into four. It's still a nice place to see a movie. It reminds of the Genesee and Academy Theaters in downtown Waukegan that I went to as a kid. They put a lot more work into theaters when they were built in the 20's and 30's with a lot of ornate decorations and balconies. They often had stages for plays and vaudeville acts. Movie theaters today are kind of sterile looking and, of course, they usually have anywhere from 2 to 32 screens. Anyway, the movie was just average. Robin Williams does give a good performance, though. It seemed to be a little bit derivative of "Psycho". It's hard to be creepier than Anthony Perkins and no one can match Hitchcock when setting a mood. We then went to Barnaby's for pizza. I usually have sausage pizza, but they also make it with ground beef which my sister likes. It reminded of the pizzas that we made at home which always had hamburger bits on top. My niece Carrie may be getting married next September. She's been thru a lot of weird boyfriends, but this one is supposed to be nice. I hope it lasts. Carrie can't make it alone in this world, in my opinion. I then finished the day by watching "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" an under-rated clasic. All in all, a great day.