The Smarmy Carny

Sandra Day O'Connor announced today that she is retiring after 24 years on the bench. Huzzah!

Sure, O'Connor was a Reagan nomination, but she was also a swing voter. For those annoyed that W gets to "pick one," remind them that he's replacing another Republican choice, and that Clinton got to pick two SC judges.

Senate Liberals, no doubt, are poised to complain about any appointee that Bush offers up, no matter how moderate. I, personally, would be offended if Bush appointed anyone who wasn't deserving of Liberal gripes.

I'm going to be keeping my eye on UpOrDownVote.com, as it looks like it will keep a good eye on the situation. (UODV is run by Progress for America.)

You must see the internet commercial put out by UODV/PFA titled "Ben & George," as it rings true.

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Person One: Knock, knock!

Person Two: Who's there?

Person One: Control freak. Now — you say, "Control freak WHO?"

Two jokes for the price of one today! Enjoy this Tom Cruise joke, thanks to Banterist. See what an Xbox custom made for Tom Cruise might look like.

Take the MIT Weblog Survey

I have taken the "MIT Weblog Survey," and will therefore be included in whatever information they pull out of the survey. The survey is "a general social survey of weblog authors."

The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete, and they are asking anyone with a blog to participate. The larger the sample of individuals they get, the better the results, of course.

So, if you're bored, take the survey. It doesn't even hurt that much. Or don't take the survey. Fine! Be that way!

Murderball

No, it's not a horror film. Murderball is a documentary about the sport of wheelchair rugby.

The documentary follows various Murderball players as they follow their dream to the Paralympics, the official Olympics for paraplegics. There, of course, the not-so-PC term "Murderball" is replaced with "Wheelchair Rugby." The trailer highlights Team USA and Team Canada, and I imagine that the movie does as well.

I would bet that the movie goes far in proving that wheelchair-bound people are not necessarily the feeble, fragile people that many people would assume. One of the athletes comments that he does more now in a wheelchair than he ever did able-bodied. Beyond the "I'm out to prove something" angle, the film seems to want to show you the touching stories of some of the players as well.

As expected, this excellent-looking movie that received the Audience Award and Jury Prize Award at both Sundance and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will receive only a limited release on July 8, 2005. Is anyone surprised?

Our new baby Dylan

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and thoughts the past 30 hours.

Long story short, everything went well, and we now have our second son!

Dylan was born on June 24, 2005 at 14:34. He weighed 5 lbs, 5 oz and measured 19 inches long. Due to his early arrival and small size, he was taken to NICU (Neonatal ICU) and is currently hanging out there. He is fine, except for some blood sugar levels, which have now stabilized. Technically, I believe he was born one day before he would officially become "full term."

Long story long, we went in on the 23rd at 19:30 and my wife was given something to help the dilation, considering a woman is not usually dilated at all a month before the due date. The doctor said that some time after 08:00 the following morning, he would check things out. He came in around 09:00 and started my wife on the medication that would increase the contractions. She started pushing around 14:00 and at 14:34, Dylan came out and said hello. He reported that he saw his shadow, so there will reportedly be six more weeks of summer. All in all, the labor was much less intensive than our first son due to Dylan's smaller size. She only had to push for about a half an hour, compared to hours and hours with our first son, who weighed in at 8 lbs, 15 oz.

My wife has had a chance to hold Dylan, and it was wonderful. I'll be uploading some pictures in a day or two. Stay tuned . . .

PS: Thanks to all those who replied on these boards and via e-mail. I'm off for a much needed nap before heading back to the hospital. I will reply to you all personally in due time.

Be sure to check out Dylan's page!

This post has been re-posted at Random Fodder, Novac's personal blog.

Our baby in February

You may already know that my wife and I are expecting our second child. We had a second sonogram at the doctor's request, and it looks like there is "restricted growth," whatever that means. The effects of this is that the baby is smaller than he should be, around five pounds, and will likely not thrive in the womb any further.

Long story short, we are heading in to the hospital shortly for my wife to be induced into labor. The doctors feel that the baby will be safer outside of the womb than inside. His due date was originally set for July 18, 2005. Thus, my wife will be induced almost a month early, but the baby is now considered full-term. Still, we are not prepared materially or mentally for such a sudden change of plans.

Please pray throughout the night and tomorrow that our baby is well and healthy, and also that my wife will remain strong throughout the birthing process. Thank you . . . your thoughts and especially your prayers are appreciated in this time.