It all started with a trip to Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. a month or so ago.

 

Actually, it began a little earlier than that, as the Elvis Christmas album is a holiday staple in our house. But my six-year-old’s interest in Elvis Presley really piqued since our visit there, as he’s constantly talking about TCB (taking care of business–the mantra to which Elvis and his Memphis Mafia swore in everything they did), and has been asking all kinds of questions about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The most interesting of our conversations as of late went like this:

 

Him: “Where’s Elvis now?”

 

Me: “Well some think he’s still out there somewhere, but most believe that he died.”

 

Him: “Did Elvis die in a volcano?”

 

Me: <Stifling laughter> “No, he died from a heart attack.”

 

Then just the other day, we were driving down the highway, listening to the essential Michael Jackson collection we bought after getting caught up in the wave of nostalgia after he passed on. As our oldest Yahoo was jamming out to “Beat It” in the back seat, he started asking all sorts of questions about the White Gloved One, including how he died.

 

Me: “From a heart attack.”

 

Him: “Just like Elvis?”

 

Me: “Yes, just like Elvis.”

 

Him: “Lots of famous people have heart attacks.”

 

Me: “I guess they do.”

 

Him: “Who was more famous, Elvis or Michael Jackson?”

 

Good question. My wife and I looked at each other for the answer, so we did what every adult does when they’re not exactly sure about a curious child’s inquiry.

 

Us: “Who do you think was more famous?”

 

Him: “I say Elvis, because he was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

 

Me: “That’s true. But you know Michael Jackson was the King of Pop.”

 

Him: “What’s that?”

 

Me: “Popular music, what you mostly hear on the radio. Like Hannah Montana.”

 

Him: “Ewww. I say Elvis. Because I like to rock out.”

 

Me: “That’s a good choice.”

 

Him: “Did Michael Jackson live in a mansion like Elvis?”

 

Wife: “He did. It was called Neverland. He had all kinds of roller coasters and merry-go-rounds there in his back yard.”

 

Him: “Wow. That sounds fun.”

 

Fortunately, he didn’t say he wanted to go there because we’d have to explain how it wasn’t a safe place for little boys. Instead, he went a different direction.

 

Him: “When can we get a roller coaster in our back yard?”

 

Me: “When you become king of something…”

 

Him: “OK. I think I’ll become King of Skateboarding. Is that Tony Hawk right now?”

 

Me: “Probably so. Does that mean you’re going to dethrone Tony Hawk one day?”

 

Him: “Definitely… what’s dethrone mean?”

 

All I know is given all the bumps and bruises and acts of stupidity I experienced from skating and BMXing growing up, if he becomes the King of Vert as he proclaims, I’ll probably end up dying of a heart attack myself after all the moments of panic he’ll give me every time he catches air.

 

But I guess it beats death by volcano.

 

Sure, I think Dolphins are better… But this is priceless.

 From the most recent Bizmosis newsletter:

Not that we’re officially endorsing it (though we’ll admit we’re nerds who were counting down its release), but it’s quite an impressive piece of cinematic entertainment.
 
What’s interesting are all the technological gadgets and wizardry it shows people using in the 23rd Century, which got us thinking: We’re already partly there with our iPhones.
 
Sure, it can’t quite do all the things that the Trek universe’s tri-corder does when it comes to scanning and analysis. And you can’t set your iPhone to stun (though a Tazer app would be pretty cool…). 
 
But thanks to the GPS capabilities of your iPhone, the Enterprise—or whatever mother ship you might claim—could track you down on this planet and beam you up to safety… though we can’t say the same for the guys wearing the red shirts that were with you (they probably had Blackberries anyway).
 
Speaking of GPS, if you’re not fully utilizing this nifty iPhone feature, consider below what it can do:

What’s your 20? – The iPhone goes further than your typical GPS technology, using A-GPS (assisted), which incorporates Wi-Fi hot spots and cell towers in addition to satellites. That means it better pinpoints your location than just regular old GPS. The smaller the circle on your viewscreen, the more accurate the location findings are.

Leave Your Mark – Did you know you can geo-tag with your iPhone? When sharing photos online, people can see exactly where it was taken. You can also use it to find friends, show where you’ve been, figure out where you parked your car and more. There are way too many apps out there to list, so search for Navigation or GPS at the iTunes App Store.

Turn-by-Turn – The big news concerning iPhones and GPS is that true turn-by-turn, voice prompted navigation is almost here! That means, if you’re piloting your Voyager (as in minivan, not spaceship) and need to dock it somewhere specific, your iPhone will guide you each step of the way. And if they don’t speak your native tongue where you’re going, just use our nifty universal translator: iTranslate Ultimate!

As mentioned here previously, GPS does suck the life out of your battery. So powering it down unless needed will allow your battery to “live long and prosper.”

No, it’s not some Celebrity Death Match gone bad (though I’d certainly put my money on Scrooge McDuck and his nephews totally maneating Daryl Hall and John Oates in the squared circle). It’s the similarities between two of their songs, a la the Coldplay and Joe Satriani plagarism ruckus (CP’s “Viva la Vida” does sound like Joe’s guitar riff, but I think the claims are bogus).

As mentioned previously, it’s been a habit of mine to introduce some of the favorite things of my youth into the lives of my own kids. Most of it’s been met with success, such as Star Wars, Legos, and G.I. Joe (though not so much with the Smurfs). And thanks to youtube, and our VCR–before it finally died of too much use and abuse–I was able to share that centerpiece of the former Disney Animated Afternoon: Duck Tales. I actually watched it well into high school (go ahead, call me a loser) and learned more about economics from the richest duck in the world than I ever did through my macro- and micro-economic courses in college. So I thought I’d introduce the boys to it as well. They couldn’t get enough.

What’s funny, though, was the other day while taking Yahoo #2 to his preschool and flipping through radio stations, Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True–Hoo-Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Doo doo doo, Hoo-Hoo” (not the official title) came on. And from the back seat I heard, “Daddy! It’s the Duck Tales song!”

You know what? I think he might be on to something. Do we have another copyright controversary? You be the judge:

From the most recent Bizmosis iPhone newsletter:

There’s nothing we love more than a good post-apocalyptic, Down Under adventure flick that features a heroic loner driving a supercharged, pimped out sportster while battling a gang of mohawked and hockey mask-wearing barbarians in high-octane chases across barren wastelands. It just makes us all warm and fuzzy inside. But also because we can relate to the plot.

We’ve lost count the numbers of times we’ve been charging down the road when suddenly—Crikey!—our iPhone loses power. Like gasoline in the Outback in all those movies, the charge in our battery is a precious commodity that always seems to be in short supply—in fact, most iPhones only have an active usage life of four to six hours. Not having max power makes us mad as, well, Max.

We’re sure you feel the same way. But fear not, because there a few things you can do to prolong your iPhone battery life… From the iPhoneCanada.ca forums (we know, the Australian/Tomorrow-morrow Land forums would have been more appropriate):

*Turn off Location Services
*Turn off Auto-Brightness and manually set the slider to a 25 or 33% brightness level
*Keep the Wi-Fi off until you need a hotspot. Your iPhone will continually search for and try to connect to SSIDs it detects
*Set Auto-Lock to one minute
*Limit GPS use unless you really need it

The Gizmodo Gadget folks also have a few suggestions:
*Toggle off 3G until ready. Otherwise, use EDGE. This setting is under Settings > General > Network
*Turn off vibrate in games
*Buy (Shameless Plug Alert) Bizmosis Apps and Songs in iTunes, rather than over Wi-Fi or 3G. Plus when using your computer to get them, you’ll also be getting a phone charge up.
*Apple itself also encourages a monthly battery calibration. Fully charge your iPhone, then let the battery drain to empty and recharge.

Hopefully that helps. And you know, now that we’re thinking about it, getting Beyond Thunderdome would’ve been a whole lot easier with GPS. Too bad Max didn’t have an iPhone. Of course, keeping it charged would’ve been a whole lot harder for him… Unless that Interceptor he drove had a cigarette lighter and charger adapter.

I’ve managed to withhold saying much of anything here about what I like to call “The Greatest Show in the History of Broadcast Television,” otherwise known as Lost. Initially, I thought I could do episode recaps and share insights on all the symbolism, meaningful themes, character development, poignant storytelling, amazing plot lines, surprises, twists, Easter eggs and everything else that makes the show so freaking awesome. But then I realized all I’d ever be doing on here would be writing posts about Lost and the Dolphins. Plus, I’m just not that smart (it’s best left to professionals like Doc Jensen and the Boob-Tube Dude).

But with the season finale (yes, incredible episode) now done and just one more season remaining, it got me thinking about all the loose-ends that are remaining on the show that I hope are ultimately resolved before the series ends with an extreme close-up of somebody’s eye (probably Jack’s, as we see him captaining the Black Rock off the island’s coast in another time with Kate by his side… OK, no way that’s happening, right?).

I did a mental loose-end list for Revenge of the Sith with mixed results (how did Obi Wan and Yoda get SO old SO fast? Did R2D2 forget he had rocket boosters in the original trilogy? Anakin’s virgin birth? C’mon…), so I’m hoping Lindelof and Cuse do a better job. They’ve not let me down yet (even that Bai Ling episode wasn’t all that bad like everyone says it was), so I have faith for getting answers to the following (in no particular order):

-Will we ever get an explanation for the voices in the jungle?
-Who were the Adam and Eve skeletons in the caves? (Barnard and Rose?)
-Who were the people shooting at Sawyer & Co. in the canoe before the time-bouncing island zapped them to another period?
-Who left the unedited movie in the hatch that Eko shared with Locke?
-Will we ever see Patchy again? Where’d he come from, anyway?
-WAAALLLLLTTTTTT? (Not a lingering question, I’d just like to hear it one more time.)
-Speaking of him, why was he always soaking wet when he appeared to people?
-Room 23… and the point of that was?
-Who built the Egyptian crocodile statue?
-What is this “the war is coming” all about?
-What’s up with creepy Claire? Is she dead? Alive?
-Does Hurley really see dead people? (Kind of addresses in this season’s finale)
-Will Sawyer ever face judgement? Everyone else has had to come to terms with their past wrongs…
-What’s the deal with the magic box that brought Locke’s dad to the island?
-Where did the Black Rock come from?
-Cabin Christian… dead? Alive? Jacob? The Man in Black (not Johnny Cash… or Will Smith for that matter)?
-How was Eloise Hawking able to contact Desmond in his time-trippy, post-hatch implode episode?
-Just who or what is Richard Alpart, and why doesn’t he ever get old?
-What are all the apparitions people see on the island?
-What’s the true origin of The Others/Hostiles?
-Why couldn’t babies be born on the island?

There’s probably more, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind. Hopefully, next season will be just as revealing and satisfying as the past 102 episodes have been. Until then, namaste!

JT comes waltzing back to Dolphinland. Here’s hoping he and Joey Porter stay healthy, wreak havoc and knock Tom Brady to the turf together all season long.

You’d think I would’ve known better. Heck, I even did a post about Mother’s Day over at vacations.com. Instead, I just outed myself as hypocrite. Granted, I didn’t actually forget the holiday. I called my mom and gave my wife a card. And I even got my wife a silver chain she mentioned that she wanted in passing a while back and made her brunch. The problem was, I got her this as a gift too:

See, her old alarm clock worked OK, but the alarm radio setting was unreliable, meaning she’d overslept a few times. But when using the buzzer alarm option, it was so loud it made us think we were under attack or something. So I thought she could use a replacement. But one should never buy it as a Mother’s Day gift. It’s impersonal. And plugs in – the cardinal fau paux of any Mother’s Day gift. And, it was to my benefit as well because it served the dual purpose of also waking me up to some soft melody and not the air raid siren.

I would’ve been better off though greeting an actual airbombing with welcoming arms. Or just taking cover in the dog house. Because that’s where I ended up.

But it got worse.

The real main issue was all she really wanted me to do for her Mother’s Day gift was to make these cement pavers with the boys names and hand prints. A simple, considerate gift of love and appreciation. She didn’t want necklaces, brunches and um, radio alarm clocks. But I wasn’t thinking straight. I did actually buy the stuff to make the pavers the day before, but didn’t get around to doing them. See, Saturday was a really busy day. We had a little league baseball game, an end-of-the-season baseball party, groceries to buy, a post office to run by, chicken wings to eat, and a movie to watch (Dark City–good film). It was busy. Really, really busy (No really, I’m serious).

But… I have to admit, those are pitiful excuses. And when I tried making the pavers out of desperation on Sunday afternoon (that would be Mother’s Day), I realized I hadn’t bought all the right materials. After pouring the cement. So while I gave her a few items, they weren’t really tokens of love and appreciation… just marks off the to-do checklist of “Buy wife Mother’s Day gifts.” She didn’t feel special. I was thoughtless. I was an idiot.

Finally, I got the paver project done on Monday. In addition to paying the price relationally, I also paid it physically, as mixing the mortar for six different pavers (two for each mom/grandmom) literally tore apart the skin on my hands and fingers. At the end of the evening, the project finally done (and the wife very pleased with the results, thank God—better late than never, right?), I told her my bloodied, dirty hands looked like I had been trying to dig myself out from a grave.

She just gave me a look that said, “That’s exactly what you just did.”

Happy Mother’s Day, Honey. Mommies are the best… even when Daddies sometimes suck.

Dedicated to my childhood idol—I couldn’t have sung it any better.

From the most recent Bizmosis iPhone newsletter:

If you’re like us (and if that’s the case, we’re really sorry), then you’ve probably got a plethora of instant message accounts: AIM, google talk, yahoo!, Windows Messenger, you name it. It’s so hard to keep track, so we even tried one of those partner sites that tries to consolidate them all into one place so we didn’t have six different windows open while chatting with our different buddies who also had a bunch of different IM accounts.

It was crazy. That is, until we discovered Skype—the one IM to rule them all. We pretty much ditched the rest, because Skype is quick, easy, user-friendly, and good for file-sharing, and even lets you make free PC to PC phone calls AND do video conferencing. Did we mention it does instant messaging too?

We love Skype.

Then we heard Skype released a free app for the iPhone just a couple of weeks ago. And so we love Skype even more.

What does this new app offer? For one, you can make and receive VoIP calls with your iPhone over a Wi-Fi network—for free—to another Skype user. For calls to landlines and cell phones, it’s still rather inexpensive (much cheaper than those 1-900 calls… not that we ever did that—no really, we’re serious). If you travel a lot, or run out of minutes often, this could be great news for you.

There are a few negative quirks, such as not being able to utilize Skype’s regular videoconferencing feature, but we’re thinking that update will be here on our iPhone before we know it. Also, some networks will charge data usage costs, so you might want to consider a plan that’s unlimited.

And then there’s the occasional issue such as when we think we’re trading lines from Talladega Nights with a buddy (“Shake and Bake…,” “I wanna be formal but I’m here to party too,” and “I’m gonna come at you like a spider monkey”), only to realize we just IM’d that to a client instead—a case of mistaken chat window identity. (We scream, “Help me, Jesus! Help me, Tom Cruise!” when that happens—especially when it’s a big client). But that’s just an us problem, not a technical one with the Skype app.

Otherwise, Skype and the iPhone make for a beautiful marriage: less cumbersome than email, quicker than texting… It’s, well, messaging that’s instant, right in the palm of your hand, wherever you go.