Ferris Wheel: The Scariest Ride of All!

At the end of every school year the MidAmerica Nazarene University region for the Nazarene denomination hosts Nazarene Night at Worlds of Fun. Worlds of Fun is an amusement theme park in Kansas City and the day holds special meanings as I get to reunite with old friends and catch up on their lives.

Last Friday was another Nazarene Night at Worlds of Fun. I took my 11-yr old twin boys. We love to ride roller coasters. The Mamba is an awesome ride! Unfortunately the Boomerang was closed. We got stuck and passed on the Fury of the Nile. It was a pretty darn good night. The boys had a blast.

As the evening started to come to a close I decided that it would be fun to ride the ferris wheel! WOF calls it the Skyliner. I know it is somewhat of a slow ride. But the line wasn't too long and I thought it would be a nice pleasant ride.

I was wrong. Mistake #1 was opting to ride the scariest ride at the park.

There is always anticipation of the excitement you hope to have on the ride. Anticipation in a roller coaster line just adds to the thrills. We stood extra long in the Mamba ride so we could get the front car! Standing in the line for the Ferris Wheel we were fairly calm and relaxed. This was mistake number 2.

Hype in a roller coaster line might look like waiting until you are strapped in and commenting on how you hope the coaster doesn't derail. Ha, ha. Funny. And the roller coaster only lasts for a couple of minutes. Hype on the ferris wheel consisted of looking at the signs that read "Do not rock cart."

Something extra special about Nazarene Night at WOF is that the park hasn't been open too many times in the season. So there are young teens still trying to figure out how to operate the rides. This always scares me just a little. What if Teen Operator makes the ride go a little too fast or puts the brakes on a little too soon? One thing that we noticed was that every other car on the wheel was empty. That was fine as our line wasn't too long. But as we got closer to our turn the line got longer and the empty seats started to fill up. Keegan asked the operator why every other cart was empty and the reply was that the wheel needed to be balanced. We could see the operators trying to figure out which seats to fill as they filled all of the carts of the wheel.

Finally it was our turn to take a seat.

We sat in our ferris wheel cart and the bar latched in place. Keegan worriedly explained that he just heard the teen operators comment to each other as they tried to figure out which car to fill next, that the wheel would be impossible to control if it got off balanced. This was not what I wanted to hear. The wheel moved and more passengers got on.

With every stop the cart would shake just a little more violent than the time before. Kaleb & Keegan would scream louder each time. As our turn FINALLY came to get off the ferris wheel a girl in a cart behind us lost it. She started to scream that she wanted off. Thankfully Teen Operators understood and let her off.

As we exited the twins told anyone who would listen NOT to go on the ride. I saw a friend as we exited and I commented on the girl that lost it. My friend replied that the girl had been on the wheel for almost an hour!

I commented to another friend about our terrifying experience. He calmly replied that he couldn't believe that I went on the ferris wheel! That it was the worst ride there!

This year's scariest ride goes to the Skyliner, World's of Fun's ferris wheel. YIKES. Never again.

-Durk-

Virginia Tech Tragedy-Revenge of the Nerds 2007?

I don't know the motivations of the Virginia Tech shooter. I think it is a tragedy. I mourn with those that have lost friends and family and loved ones and offer my prayers.

It sounds like the shooter was disturbed, depressed, maybe shy and socially inept, bullied, angry and alienated.

I have been talking with folks this week about this horrible event. I heard one guy say that back when he was in school that they settled problems with fist fights-y'know, met after school and settle things like...well, like kids. I mentioned that I was never a popular kid in high school, not completely at the bottom of the social chain, but definitely deemed a social outcast along with the rest of my few friends. There were others that were ridiculed and made to feel much worse than me, but I was still way below the crowd of accepted folks. I got made fun of mostly because of my religious beliefs and the stands that I took on issues. I was a Jesus freak. I am still proud of that. I could have done many things differently, but I was radical about my faith.

I will quickly add that I had a support group outside of high school-namely my church youth group. I was pretty popular there. I will also quickly add that my college experiences were completely different than my high school experiences. I was cool within the crowd of friends that I had on campus. That crowd did not consist of the most popular folks on campus. My point is that I had awesome experiences outside of high school.

High school sucked. What kept me going in high school was a hope that I would fit in outside of high school. That I would be safe in my youth group and fit in at the religious college I planned to attend. So I kinda tolerated H.S. with the expectation that in the next life-experience I would be re-born into a different social class. And indeed that was the case.

I can relate to the feelings of social outcasts that release their rage on classmates. Like the kids in Columbine high school. And just maybe like the Virgina Tech shooter. I dreaded going to another day of H.S. classes. I hung out with the geeks and nerds and the socially inept. At times I hated the popular kids, the jocks and the rich kids and the popular kids-who were at the top of the food chain for no apparent reason. I hated it when the powerful picked on the weak. When a nerd was made fun of or physically harassed. There were times when I wanted justice. There were times that I would have loved to settle things after school. But I was the underdog. I was the weak. I could have never won in a fist fight! I could never had beaten anyone up! I could not have settled things on my own.

Things sure would have been different if I had something to make me strong. If I had just had something to put me on top. Something to strike fear in those bullies. If I had had something like...a gun.

Now don't get me wrong, one of the big differences between the "kids of today" and the "kids back in my day" (a mere 15 years ago) is that I never dreamed of getting a gun. I would never had known where to go to get a gun! But I also had outs...I had a few close friends. I had a place to go to fit in. I had hope in a future. I never thought of a gun as an option!

But those options exist today. Today the nerds fight back. Today those that got pushed around push back. Today those that got laughed at in the past have the last laugh. And really, no one is innocent in high school. There were those that were your friends and those that bullied you and made fun of you. And the rest? They were the ones that sat back and did nothing. they never came to anyone's defense. They never stood up and yelled STOP. They were just as guilty. They watched it all happen. They were just as guilty.

Part of me likes that. Part of me smiles at that revenge. Part of me agrees with that vigilante justice. Revenge of the Nerds for the 21st century-nerds with guns! Sounds like a video game. Kill the bullies! Part of me identifies with these guys. Part of me sees a hero.

Part of me. The part that I don't like. The part of me that I left behind in high school. Or that went and grew up. Or that made it out OK.

The truth is that there are bullies and there are those that get bullied and then there are innocent folks just trying not to be one or the other. They are avoiding the bullies and avoiding the bullied.

My wife is reading a book right now by Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes. It is the story of a high school nerd who gets a gun and carries out his form of justice. It is a Columbine story from the shooter's perspective. His brother made fun of him from day one; bullied him something fierce. Others join in. Not many take the time to get to know who he really is. You know the rest, maybe not all of the specifics. But the end. He snaps and kills.

As I watch the news and hear the reports people keep wanting to know why. The video that the gunman sent to NBC is being released and aired all over the airwaves. The shooter is getting his 15 minutes of fame the critics say. Don't make him into a celebrity. But we are starting to find out why. The reporters look at the pics and say that he looked like he was trying to act like someone from the Matrix. Or trying to be a villain. That he must have been calculating and cold to mail a package inbetween shootings. He's crazy, he's vicious, he's a mass murderer, he's bad. They use terms like "quiet" and "loner".

That is what the popular and "normal" people want to believe. It helps them feel better. They want to think that anyone who snaps like this is automatically evil. In all fairness he seems to have had mental issues. But maybe he is a product of his environment. Maybe he was pushed and pushed. Maybe terms like "quiet" and "loner" really mean "ignored" and "alienated".

It is the popular kids and the bullies-not the bullied nerds-that make Napoleon Dynamite and think that it is funny. I watch the movie and am reminded all over again that high school really, really sucked. And don't try to tell me that he is a hero at the end! No, a week later he is still the unpopular nerdy kid and everything goes back to the same old ways.

I want to stand up and yell! WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? YOU MADE THIS GUY! DUH! YOU DID THIS! You discarded him! You wrote him off! You pushed him around. You bullied him. Or worse, you ignored him altogether.

Only now is someone taking the time to get to know Cho. That's his name, Cho Seung-Hui. No one cared what his name was before, but they know it now. Maybe not Cho, maybe his life was different. But nerds like him. The Columbine kids. At some point they are gonna fight back! They are gonna seek their revenge. And in their mind it is justice! It is righting the wrongs! It is standing up! It is the after school confrontation with a chance to actually come away from the fight as the winner and not the beaten.

Take away the hope and what do you get? Take away the view of a future and what remains? Take away the possibility of someone ever loving you and what are you left with? Emptiness. Despair. No happy ending. Maybe that is what drove Cho mad. I don't know. We may never know.

I do know that his rage was misguided. That innocent people died-good people. And yet, for some bullied people a light bulb is going on.

I got my revenge. It is called a Wife and Kids. It is called a Real Life. But I could see that. I could imagine it. I was not short-sighted. I had hope.

What do nerds see? Erkel from Family Matters. Screech from Saved by the Bell. Cliff from Cheers. Millhouse and The Comic Book guy from the The Simpson's. Maybe I am dating myself... Carl from Jimmy Neutron, the Emo Kids from Malcolm in the Middle. Kramer from Seinfeld. They see a future without a girlfriend. They see loneliness as a kid and it getting worse as an adult. A loser job. A loser life. I am not blaming TV! These shows merely mirror life.

So as I pray for the mourning I also pray for the ones that are thinking and a smile is starting to form on their lips. The ones that play their video games just a little differently-imagining the faces that they kill are ones that they know all too well, their bullies. I pray for the ones that are getting ideas. I pray for the ones that might be forming plans in the back of their heads. I pray for the ones who see a hero. It isn't too late for them, their reality can be changed and improved.

I pray for the bullies. I pray for the bullied and I pray for the ones in the middle. I pray for healing. I pray for justice. I pray for change. I pray for understanding. I pray for hope. I pray for peace.

-Durk-

Professional Line Stander

I like to think of myself as a professional Line Stander. What that means is that I have stood in many a line to get something I wanted-for long periods of time, in less than pleasant circumstances.

I started off innocent and as an amateur standing in simple lines such as a line for a movie's opening day premier. I’ve stood in lines such as the last two Matrix Movies or for Harry Potter flicks. These lines take little preparation, you show up, buy a ticket, buy some popcorn and a drink, maybe some candy and then, well, then you stand in line. Or maybe you sit in line or fidget with both. You bring a buddy along and the time passes by and you have a great time. The most I have ever stood in line for a movie is about 3-4 hours. It was easy time spent and well worth it.

I have done most of my Line Standing with my good Line-Standing buddy Bill. Bill is the one who took me under his wing and slowly turned me from a newbie to a seasoned professional. Yeah, it is all his fault-I place the blame firmly on his shoulders.

He and I have stood in line for about a half a dozen movies. Then we stepped up and waited in line at a bookstore for the last Harry Potter book. We got there in the early evening and waited around until the book went on sale at midnight. Again, fun times. Long line, but relatively short wait.

Then the XBOX360 changed everything.

I must first mention that I am a HUGE eBay fan. I have bought on eBay for many, many years, but just in the last few years have I ventured out and sold things on eBay. I do OK, not great, not anywhere near a part-time job, but enough to keep me at it and keep me on the lookout for new things to sell.

I must also mention that Bill is a pretty huge gamer. He has a few gaming systems and a library of games. What can I say, he's an adult kid. Bill had a problem-namely his wife-who did not want Bill spending $500 on another game system. But Bill is an adult kid! HE HAD TO HAVE TEH SYSTEM. Bill also knew that many, many others would have to have the system too! He also thought that there would be many, many others who would look for a system on Ebay. So this is where I initially came in. The initial plan was for me to stand in line with Bill and I would buy a system that Bill could sell on Ebay possibly making enough money to pay for a system that Bill could keep.

At this point Bill had 2 problems, Penny-Pinching Wife and eBay-bitten friend-who was getting greedier by the second. So Bill and I modified the plan. Plan B: We'd stand in multiple lines to get multiple systems so that both of us could come out with a system that would be mostly paid for!

And that is what led me to stand in a line at a Wal-Mart for 10 hours. Then outside a Sears in 40 degree cold for 8 hours. And still another for more than 15 hours outside of a Best Buy. While it snow and sleeted. It was COLD. We came out of the lines with 3 systems each and sold the 2 systems for just about enough to cover all of the costs for all 3 systems plus games and controllers.

I suppose that in of itself made me a seasoned Line Stander. Then Bill and I did it all over again a year later-fall 2006 when we stood in line for about 36 hours for the PlayStation 3. And again for over 24 hours a couple of days later for the Nintendo Wii. For this venture I actually started to recruit followers. I invited my good friend and neighbor and partner in eBay, Clayton, to stand in line with me. And I even got my twin boys into the act! They hung out with me in both lines-and ended up buying their own units and making their own money! Skipping school for a day for the cause (they love me)! Both lines were inside a warm Wal-Mart (I am not an all-bad dad).

I turned around again with Bill and Clayton after that last Nintendo Wii line and stood in yet another line at a Target for about 8 hours (no twins, sent them to bed). We ended up with 8 Wiis to sell.

Finally Bill coaxed me again to stand in line with him for another Wii. At this point I truly am a professional. I am almost addicted-to the line, for the experience, for the thrill, to meet the people, to answer the question 503 times, "What are you in line for?" Because I am dumb. Call it what you want. And this time it was so that Bill could have one and then an extra for a family member.

So, if you're counting...that is multiple movie lines, a book line, 3 XBOX360 lines, 1 PS3 Line & 3 Wii lines. Yep I am a professional Line Stander.

What's next? The Next Harry Potter book and the next Harry Potter movie! SWEET. I can't wait.

-Durk-

Fred Thompson for President

The older I get the more I like talk radio. Specifically, conservative AM talk radio. I tolerate NPR in the mornings, and then listen to AM 980 KMBZ on my way to work and when I can throughout the day with shows like Darla Jay, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilley. But just about every day I listen to KMBZ’s afternoon show on my way home. It is a local Kansas City talk show. First it was Russ Johnson then Jerry Agar and now Mike Shanin and Scott Parks are the hosts that fill the timeslot. They do a great job. I have also called in several times to give my opinions on different issues. I enjoy being on the radio, it is my personal claim to fame!

So I was disappointed when I tried to call in last week to comment on Fred Thompson. Although he hasn’t thrown his hat into the political ring for a Republican candidate he has said that he is seriously considering it. So I called in and was placed on hold while I practiced what I planned to say. But then they went on to a new topic and I got cut off.

Thankfully yesterday the topic came up again and I called in and was placed on hold but then got to speak my mind and I even won movie tickets-4 tickets to A Perfect Stranger! SWEET!

Fred Thompson (the links throughout relate to him) is the first potential Republican candidate that I am actually excited about! Not only in this race, but EVER! I love this guy! I had seen him before he became a regular on one of my favorite shows, Emmy Award-winning drama series Law & Order. Here is their bio. He plays a DA on TV. But I had seen him on C-SPAN or something as the politician that he is. This guy really is the next Ronald Reagan. He is smart, extremely articulate and straight forward in his answers and comments. And he is smooth in a genuine manner and he is calm as he speaks but you can still see the emotion on his face and in his voice.

He was actually on KMBZ just this morning and he answered every question, evaded nothing and was intelligent and articulate. Yeah, I like the guy.

Who is Fred Thompson? Many of you will know him from his political career or from the movies or from NBC’s popular Law & Order. He is over 60, and in his latest marriage he has a newborn baby boy and a 3-year old girl.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say:

Fred Dalton Thompson (born August 19, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, character actor and former Republican Senator from Tennessee (now a resident of McLean, Virginia)[1], who is considering a bid in the 2008 Presidential Election.
In addition to acting, Thompson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. China Economic & Security Review Commission and a Visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, researching national security and intelligence (Communist China, North Korea, and Russia.) Thompson is also signed as a public speaker with the Washington Speakers Bureau.[2]
Thompson is also a special program host and senior analyst for ABC News Radio and fills in for Paul Harvey.

So let’s talk about his qualifications. He knows the law. He was a lawyer. He was co-chief counsel for the Senate Watergate committee, that’s right. Richard Nixon-30 years ago. He was actually responsible for one of the questions that ultimately led to the downfall of Nixon. So even though he is a conservative Republican he ultimately respects the law. I don't think he'll jump on the Presidential bandwagon to break or skirt the law.

He knows Washington. He was a lobbyist in Washington DC for 18 years. He been part of campaigns to get others elected. He has been a senator.

He knows how to present himself. His acting career just kinda took off as he acted in a movie that was based on a real case where he was the lawyer-he played himself. Then of course other movies and TV followed. He has been an ABC political analyst.

So he has the experience. He has the knowledge. He has the charisma. And some say he has the looks. I think he looks like a father figure. He is so calm and expressive when he speaks. He even has a bit of a southern drawl when he talks! Basically he has the substance and he has the superficial qualities to make him a leader and winner!

One of the things that I find fairly unique and very refreshing is Thompson’s straight forward style. When asked his stand on abortion he immediately responds that he is against it. When asked about his opinion about gay marriage he firmly responds that he is against it. There is no “I am researching what to think about what my position should be” or changing the subject. So unlike Hillary Clinton you know where he stands on issues.

He has lost a child to drug abuse. That saddens me. I don’t know the details.

Although there are no known skeletons in his closet, he’s not entirely perfect. He has some flaws. He’s been divorced, but so have most of the other candidates. Dr. James Dobson says that Thompson needs to express what his faith is. Although that would be nice, I am more concerned with the issues of the office. There is a concern that he may not have the name recognition that is needed to win national elections. But who had heard of Clinton before he was President? Who had heard of Gore or even Bush (dad or son) before Reagan? Maybe I am paying attention more as I get older, I don’t know, but I have actually liked Fred Thompson for many years now. I watch him on L & O, but I really pay attention when I can catch him on C-SPAN or as an analyst on the radio.

A March poll even showed him ahead of Hillary Clinton for the 2008 presidential run! He hasn’t even said he is running!

The Republican Party needs a front runner. Romney was in the news today saying that he was a life-long hunter and then one of his aids clarified that he had been on 2 hunting trips in his lifetime. He became a NRA member just last year to get their vote. I do think his Mormon faith will be a definite show stopper for many Christians.

Giuliani-YAWN. Don’t get me wrong, he is a 9/11 hero and he’s done great things for NYC. But he is not conservative enough on the issues.

Then there’s who? Oh yeah, McCain…he too is moderate on many issues as well. He is a war hero. And he likes to buddy up with Democrats against Bush.

My fear is that the 2008 Presidential race will come down to an extreme liberal on the Democrat side with Hillary and Gore and a moderate on the Republican side…How boring! Many of the liberal Democrats I know claim that they won’t vote for Hillary saying that she is too liberal. Many Christians won’t vote for Romney. Nor will they vote for Giuliani being pro abortion and pro gay. And McCain is not conservative enough. The Republican Party needs Fred Thompson to throw his hat in the race. I hope he decides to run soon. This morning on the radio he said he was still considering it.

Fred Thompson is a traditional Republican-he’s Reaganesque. He has the experience and knowledge. I think he has the name recognition. I think he has the money. And I actually am looking forward to this guy running and being president. America needs Fred Thompson.

FRED THOMPSON FOR PRESIDENT!

-Durk-