Tonight as we always do before bedtime, I asked Spud who he would like to pray for. He responded as he has for the last three months: "uncwarary" (Uncle Larry). This was ok and after a mild admonishment that we should also pray for others I suggested that we also pray for Uncle Dan and Auntie Laurie, seeing as Auntie Laurie is with child.

As I was straightening out the bedclothing prior to settling down to pray I heard I heard "hankew fur day pway fur uncwarary pway fur uncdaaan anh antwe rahree".

"Hey, you're praying."

(Translation: Thank you for today. Pray for Uncle Larry. Pray for Uncle Dan and Auntie Laurie)

Well, I asked him to go on and finish up. Just a quick prompt from dad to pray for a good night's sleep and then "n pway hn Juhses nhaaam. Ooooooh-men".

I'm not sure how much Spud understands who we pray to and why we pray, but I was still stunned beyond belief. These kids just surprise the heck out of me all the time.

This fatherhood thing really is great!

Multimedia Math: As I sat here scanning a couple hundred pictures into my computer, I got to wondering. . .how many wedding slide shows have the Kawfemate and I built? 13. We're on 14. And we have one more to do next year.

In rough chronological order with comments:

Darren & Melissa: North & South theme. Sorry guys, funeral dirge-like final song. Polachrome slides of wedding in show. Worked with Byron on this one.

Janine & Gary: Princess Theme, nice interludes with lute music. Combination of E-6 and Polachrome slides of wedding day in show.

Ted & Amy: MOVIES! Jet Li opening theme. Superman. Used crude Freehand illustrations for "fuze" effect during Mission Impossible sequence, possibly our first "animation". First use of a partially faded projector and overlaying an image from the second projector on top.

Lis & Leon: Family!

Dan & Laurie: Mad About You theming, Theme from Dukes of Hazard, MNF. First use of engagement photos.

Kim & Shane: Magic carpet borders, first use of a Disney theme. Polachrome slides of wedding in show.

Brent & Grace: B & G script theming. First use of computer generated titles on top of images and first (limited) use of digital image manipulation.

Scott & Grace: Stars! Disney music.

Scott & Soraya: The 1/2 slide show. Titles, credits and some pictures supplied to support a MAJOR 30 minutes skit. Disappointed that they didn't request a show, we slid one in there. . .heh.

Warren & My-Hanh: Narration overdub.

Byron & Christine: Law & Order, Friends, audio clips from Mad About You, audio clips from Friends, Knight Rider, Barrage. First use of Vegas to dub track, THANKS BRIAN!

Aaron & Tiff: Island graphics, great song by Bruddah' Iz--What a Wonderful World. Theme from Dukes of Hazard. Last use of slides.

Abel & Wendy: When Harry Met Sally theming, Celine Dion, You've Got a Friend In Me, first all digital show, first all Vegas show (v3.0), played off of laptop. First extensive use of digital manipulation.

Brandon & Grace: Let's Get Ready to Rumble, Everybody Dance Now, Sesame Street, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 90210, Lean On Me, I Will Be Here, complex opening sequence, first show mastered to DVD and played from DVD (props to Elijah for the projector). Vegas 4.0. First use of video clips.

Pui-Yee & Jeremy: Stay tuned.

Suffice to say, as we have done more and more of these, we've gotten better. The engineer part of me really is bugged that some of the earlier shows are, well, not as good technically as I would like. I guess that just happens as technology gets better.

I'm working on a personal project to collect copies of all the shows that we did, from Aaron & Tiff on back. If you guys have a video copy or know of a video copy, let me know!

Not included are the various slide shows we've done for youth camps or other church functions.

Whew.

My son and daughter are asleep in the back seat on our trip home. As we enter Ventura on the 101, a black and white from Ventura's finest rockets onto the freeway with the candy bar blazing. He weaves through traffic, failing to get the Silver Corolla S that just cut a few people off. Dang. I resist the temptation to follow. In the opposite direction another black and white, also code three, appears, maybe a fast mover to the next exit before turning around. It never occurs to me why the Ventura Police department is responding to a freeway call.

Traffic then comes to a bumper to bumper stop and go affair.

I spend the next fifteen minutes alternately staring at the back bumper of a Granite Clearcoat Metallic XTerra and looking in the rearview mirror for the second black and white.

The second police car shows and passes me on the left shoulder and disappears around a left bend in the 101. As we round the bend and then past a right bend, I see a pumper engine from the fire department on the other side of the freeway. After a few more minutes, flares creep into view, marking off the left two lanes of the three lane highway, and then the two black and whites from the Ventura Police department, acting as blockades to the closed lanes. Again, I don't seem to understand why the CHP isn't out there.

Merging into the only lane available, and passing the two black and whites, a civilian carrying a videocam and another carrying a long lens SLR is walking away from whatever is gong on. What IS going on here? Passing a black and white that is positioned under an overpass, there are more police vehicles on the street above. A glance to the left and I see a yellow tarp spread out on the ground covering a form.

The tarp isn't big enough to cover the shoe that lies several feet from the form.

A 10-56? As I drive past the scene, there are a few cars stopped on left and the right of the road and several people milling about. What happened? If it was an accident, it would have had to be something on the street above, because there was no obvious wreckage on the freeway. What was this person's life story that led to this?

A search of the CHP incident site found the radio transcript for incident 0496. At 4:46PM there was an "Attempted Suicide - Jumping from Bridge" entry. Here's the text:

Incident:

0496

Location:

SB US101 AT S CALIFOR NIA ST

Map Page:

491 2C

Info as of:

5/27/2003 12:48:54 AM

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

6:46PM	- 1039 VCFD
6:47PM	- NUMEROUS VEHS PULLING OVER
6:48PM	- 1039 S8
6:48PM	- OLDER LADY WEARING BLK PANTS GRN JACKET ON FAR LEFT LN
6:49PM	- JUMPER IN #3LN
6:51PM	- WHI HONDA ACCORD WAS HIT BY JUMPER, 1023 ON RS, CHP OFFICER THERE NOW
6:54PM	- PED IS IN NUMB #1 UNDR CALIF
6:55PM	- S8 REQ 1021 TO VPD TO SEE IF THEY CALLED CORONER
6:55PM	- 305 ADVZING #1 AND #2 LNS CLOSED
6:56PM	- #3 LN WILL REMAIN OPEN
6:57PM	- PER VPD NEG ON CALLING THE CORONER
7:00PM	- 1039 VPD / THEY WILL BE TAKING PAPER ON THIS PRTY
7:01PM	- 1039 CORONERS OFFICE - JAMES REQ THAT ONLY MOVE BODY IF CAN TAKE LOTS OF POLAROID PICTURES SO CAN SEE WHERE CAME FRM IF NOT JUST LEAVE THERE -- ETA 30 MINS
7:02PM	- 1039 S8 IN REGARDS TO CORONER
7:04PM	- RED HOND AND WHI ACC JSO 1020 ON RS
7:15PM	- S8 REQ ADVZ ON CALL MANAGER OF TC
7:15PM	- ADVZ ON CALL MANAGER THAT WE HAVE ONE LN OPEN AND WILL BE OPENING ANOTHER ON AFTER PICS ARE TAKEN
7:16PM	- S8 REQ ETA ON CORONER
7:19PM	- 1039 CODE 20
7:22PM	- L2 REQ A CALL BACK WILL DURATION OF LN CLOSURE
7:33PM	- PER S8 / BODY IS MOVED TO CD
7:33PM	- S8 NOW OPENING #2
7:39PM	- 1039 L2 WITH LINE 44 AND 45 INFO
7:39PM	- PER S8 / #2 LN IS NOW OPEN
8:20PM	- S8 ADVZING ALL LNS NOW OPEN
8:40PM	- S8 REQ ADVZ CODE 20 ALL LNS CLR
8:40PM	- 1039 CODE 20

Baseball Behind the Orange Curtain: Father’s Day was a real treat after winning tickets to the Angels-Mets contest on Angel’s Money Clip Day (presented by Xerox). Spud and I left the house and got to the park early, which is strange for my family. Will wonders never cease? Getting out of the car, Spud was pretty impressed with the size of the park. To avoid returning my son (and
myself) to his mother looking like two big red hamhocks, we slapped on some suntan lotion, SPF 45, I believe. Neither of us tanned that day, I think we could have been sleeping on tanning beds for six hours and emerged looking like that guy from France who lived in a cave for six months. This stuff was so good, I think it took away some of my tan.

In my zeal to make sure we weren’t unprepared for anything, I packed about 10 pounds of gear into his tiny backpack. The zipper kind of broke. Then it comes to me that I really don’t want to be saddled with the guilt of making him carry the 10 pound sack into the park carrying his water bottle while I tote my camera. He’s not my pack animal—that will come when he turns 13. So, slinging his backpack over my shoulder, we headed towards Edison Field. The walk was long and warm, necessitating a couple of stops to drink from his water bottle.

As luck would have it, on Father’s Day, Little League District 55 was in attendance…all of them. Gangs of mini-baseball players running to the gate surrounded us as we trekked from the car. Long files of uniformed 7-12 year olds reached from the gate to the busses that brought them in. As Spud checked out the unis, I wondered if he’d be wearing one of them in a few years. Then again,
now I’m flashing back circa 3^rd grade to see classmate, Terry, needing three stitches in his upper lip because he couldn’t handle a bad hop to the right side by a recess-illegal hardball. In Terry’s defense, the groundskeeper was off that day, so the field at Willow Canyon Elementary was a little uneven. Soccer is probably a better choice. The chess club is even better. (Random sidebar: Have you guys SEEN the Nike freestyle soccer/football commercials? Money. Sick futball handling skills…look ma, NO HANDS. Maybe they need one of those commercials for chess…but I digress)

A quick bag search by security then we were able to hand the ticket taker our ducats and walk in. I received my Angel’s Money Clip presented by Xerox. We walk up the ramps and stairs, grab a couple of dogs ($8), head to our seats and sit down to eat. As we consume our dogs, I’m giving Spud the .50 cent tour of what the field is about (“that is first base…that is the pitcher’s mound”). It dawns on me that it’s pretty difficult to teach a kid the concepts of baseball. Things like what is a team, what scoring means and what an inning is are not easy concepts to grasp if you have no analogues to teach from. I give up and just let him wonder. It’s pretty hot out in the sun.

However, I was able to explain the intricacies of the Jumbotron (it’s a big TV); as the players file into the dugouts, the big TV features a video of All That Makes Baseball Great. It begins with James Earl Jones monologue from the Field of Dreams. Darth Vader intones:

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. Its been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But, baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and could be again.

—James Earl Jones,
Field of Dreams

In the video, there are clips from almost every famous play or event in baseball: May’s Miracle catch, “I’m the luckiest man alive”, The Shot Heard ‘Round the World (grrr), Hammerin’ Hanks 715^th, Kirk Gibson’s blast to right center game one, et cetera. Some of the fathers get emotional.

The pre-game video segues into the national anthem and some of the fathers get emotional again. Being at a baseball game with your kid singing the national anthem is what makes America great. And as the rocket’s red glare rises, the Disney Company reminds us of the cost of this freedom is not only $17 for the ticket, but lives given by men and women in battle; a reminder that comes by way of fireworks simulating the rocket’s red glare. Red glare is somewhat difficult to simulate during the day, but I give it an E for effort.

Much to my consternation, my two and half year old thinks that the ultimate sacrifice is being demanded of him, pulls a Saddam Hussein impersonation and goes into hiding. If you think that there isn’t a lot of legroom in a stadium seat, you’ve never had to stand there two deep with a frightened toddler clinging to your legs tighter than Warren Sapp on a QB (or, since this is baseball, tighter than Mike Lieberthal on Adam Dunn). With the bombs bursting mid-air concluded, and as the Halos take the field, the PA guy gives the defensive lineups. At this point ANOTHER round of fireworks goes off after EACH position is announced. Great. Nine more bombs. As if Spud wasn’t traumatized enough being my kid. Then I realize that this is an AL park, which means that they play with the DL, which means that there are 10 BOMBS, not nine. I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t grow up with the “I-hate-baseball-forever-because-of-that-Father’s-Day-Incident-of-2003” complex.

I reach an epiphany: the DH is a bad rule.

Three innings and we see Washburn K a couple of Mets and a rookie by name of Reyes hit a grand slam. Spud pretty much is still reeling from all the munitions detonating so I figure it’s time for an ice cream sandwich to cheer him up. $4 for a morale booster. The sun is beating down on us as we finish the ice cream so we head out to the concourse to get a lemonade. $4.50 for a “large”. But, a small price to pay when the alternative is heat exhaustion—which is bad if you want good memories of your first ballgame. I fork over the dough and we spend the next three innings walking around the entire stadium, stopping to call gramps and watch some midway games behind center field.

I think the Halos are down 7-0 by the time we return to our seats.

We sit back down and Spud uses the binoculars to check out the players. Then I realize that he’s also using the binoculars to check out people around him. Great, I’m raising a voyeur. Not only that, a pretty bad voyeur because he’s using the wrong end of the binoculars.

Not much is happening in the baseball game as the Halos are getting one hit by Steve Trachsel. My thoughts as to how this can happen dissolves into planning the exit: a jet to the car after the eighth inning…after all, this is Los Angeles/Orange County and I do need to make sure Spud understands the protocol concerning leaving early. Down the ramp and after a few “Goodbye, Angels”, we hike back to the car.

The rest of the day is spent driving down the 5 to San Juan Capistrano and back up the 5 to Disneyland so that Spud can get a good nap. At Disneyland, we meet up with Sprout and mom for dinner at The Storyteller Café (all you can eat buffet) and then an evening in the park.

Boy the trip up was a mess. Left work at 2pm to try to "beat the traffic". Got caught in the Friday-before-the-big-weekend-let's-try-to-beat-the-traffic traffic. By the time we made it out of the LA Basin, we decided to stop in Santa Barbara for dinner.

Ruby's was fine, but afterwards as we were walking in the plaza, my son decides to jump from a step on a fountain, about a foot and a half to the pavement. Jumps, lands, and his upper body momentum carries his cranium into the pavement.

A very audiable "donk" reaches my ears.

Two second pause, then turns and starts crying on my lap. We're thinking, that must have hurt real good when I look at my hand and see blood. Not just a smear of blood, not just the blood you get by wiping a scraped knee, but the full on blood-that-covers-your-whole-hand-like-on-ER kind. His whole forehead and nose is covered in his blood.

Wiping the blood off his forehead with about four or five baby wipes to clean up the wound. Lacking anything better, I stick my thumb on the spot where the blood is weeping out. Mall security gets there and heads off to get band aids and gauze, which we can't use because by the time they get the first aid there, the bleeding has stopped. Good thing there was three guards there, because there was a sizable crowd of onlookers who are apparently alternating thoughts between, "What terrible parents those two are" and "why doesn't that guy use something sterile besides his dang thumb?"

Then, some random guy in a baseball cap with a golf course logo takes one look at the golf ball sized bump developing on Tyus' forehead and tells us that we'd better call the paramedics because his "buddy got hit in the head by a golf ball and seemed fine for a day then fell over with serious head injuries". Great, my wife looks pale. So our golfing benefactor takes it on himself to call 911 on his cell phone and tell emergency dispatch. . .after a couple minute wait because he seems to be on hold. Now, dispatch asks benefactor where the accident occured and he says, "between Macy's and Nordstrum's at a fountain. . .street. . .(turns to security). . .what address is this mall?" Security then gets on the cell phone and chats with dispatch.

Well, that straightened out the paramedics, one whose name is "Rock", get there and take a look at Tyus. After the examination, Tyus is not crying anymore, but very shocked at the whole incident. The paramedics recommend that Tyus get looked at by a doctor, which seems be be a good idea. The paramedics say that they can take him to the hospital, which would mean that they would have to put him on a backboard and tape him down to immobilize him, which seems to be a bad idea. I'm imagining a screaming, crying kid, bleeding from the head, taped to a backboard and waiting in the ER for two hours.

As if Tyus doesn't have enough trauma already being my son. This could have pushed him over into a full blown I-never-loved-you-dad-because-of-that-fountain-incident-which-scarred-me-for-life complex.

Long story short, we take him to Santa Barbara Little Cottage Hospital and after about 20-30 minute wait, he gets to see the docs who, after five minutes, basically says that he has a nasty bump on the head. Tells us to just keep the wound clean and apply antibiotics. I ask the nurse if using baby wipes is ok: "Oh, no, you'd better use soap and water." Great, like I don't have enough guilt. "Oh and don't worry if he vomits once or twice tonight, usually happens with head injuries, just be careful if he repeatedly vomits."

Well, mom and dad are much relieved and we travel on from there, getting into town at 4am. Ugh.

One thing I learned, it's one thing to see another person's kid bleeding on the sidewalk, but an entirely another thing when it's YOUR kid. I was really worried that Tyus was going to go into shock, having suffered massive internal injuries from the 18" fall. Well, we're just glad that Tyus saw the doctor and I'm glad that it wasn't serious.