The Turner Family

Nick as either a member of the Army , or the Michigan Militia . Dr. Cori Crocker, in class with siblings. The cowgal and her horse. Seamus as the Human Torch , from the Fantastic Four , in a pose that both displays his muscles, and hopefully not foreshadowing, yet unfortunately resembling a mug shot. The pre-departure crew, with no worries about the drizzle of the night, just visions of massive candy acquisitions. They were under strict orders to retrieve Butterfingers and Paydays for their parents.

The reason for the October season, why we're all at the restaurant, the man of the hour. Jack forever eating. Contemplative Jenny. Or, is this the effect of draining that glass in front of her? Who ordered that giant margarita? "Hi-yah" The smile and the cake. Teamwork makes the dream work. Josh is serenaded with the birthday song, Jenny and Dad are amused. Sophie grins, mom cringes. Josh's girlfriend, Alexa Simon, tries the hat on for size. And Abbie's turn with the hat. The new Charlie's Angels. Is this restaurant-appropriate? We wrecked that place.

What begins with a plausible, funny plot, Knocked up transforms into an overly long, more serious exploration on relationships, responsibility, compatibility, and family. The initial scenes are comic enough, yet the union between the protagonists -- Alison and Ben -- continues to a less plausible (to me, at least) relationship between the two due to Alison's pregnancy. I found the Ben and Alison relationship unlikely, considering her ambition and blossoming, very public television career, countered by his dope-induced lack of momentum and immaturity, but especially as the plot moves forward and it's revealed that Ben is increasingly unable to grasp a parental level of involvement or an informed nature. Tiffani, on the other hand, saw an honesty and understanding between the leads that was refreshing and hopeful, and certainly the ending doesn't disappoint in that regards. Somewhat funny and somewhat illuminating, Knocked up tries very hard to straddle a difficult gap, and ...

In town for the Morgan memorial on the weekend of October 12 - 14, the Beiters arrived from Buffalo via the Ontario shortcut Friday morning around 1:15 A.M. After a draining, 1 point, last second loss to our rival football team earlier that evening, I was fast asleep on the couch with the lights and TV on, and Drew and Mary tapping on the window above my head. Some greetings and unloading of the car, a walk of the dog , some minor beer and Buffalo wing noshing, and everyone was tucked in to prepare for Morgan's memorial the next day. Mom and dad, in their extraordinary gracious usualness, offered to watch both our and the Beiter kids, whom they hardly knew, so that we could attend the memorial. We thankfully arrived slightly early in the crisp, clear weather, and the service was very well-attended. That evening, we trooped up to the local Chinese takeout , and then across the street to borrow some videos (see movie review , above), and bunkered down for the night. The service it...

On October 11, 2007 (Spain's Day of the Nation) Mom received the Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Católica by royal decree from the King of Spain! Wonderfully, Ahni and I were on hand to celebrate with her and document the occasion! Although the award comes from King Juan Carlos I, it was given that evening by Spain's ambassador to the US, D. Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza (pictured here, pinning the award on Hallie). There were four recipients that evening, so Mom shared the honor with 2 of her dear friends and colleagues, David Geis (on Mom's right) and Roberta Johnson. The Ambassador is in the center of this photo and the fourth recepient (on the end), George (I'm sorry to say, I don't know his last name...) The ceremony and following reception was held at the Ambassador's house...so we were checked by the Spanish Guard before we went in... And here's proof that Ahni came too! It was so great that she was able to join us - it made it so much more fun a...

While today had all the makings for a routine flight training day--the morning briefing officer predicted beautiful weather , assigned us an airplane , and my stick buddy was set to fly first before we would hot-swap so that I could get my time--then we walked outside and things started to change almost immediately. With only a small difference in temperature and dew point , and nearly calm winds, we had all the makings for ground fog, which began to form as we walked out to pre-flight our airplane. We had just unbuttoned the airplane when the maintenance guys informed us we need to fly a different airplane due to an overnight maintenance problem. As we walk to the newly assigned tail number we notice that a group of workers are busy cleaning up a fuel leak, and have a bucket under the wing catching the still-dripping jet fuel. Seems they needed this airplane flown to burn off the fuel so they can change out a faulty check valve. No big deal. We finished our pre-flight inspection and w...

Our good friend, Dr. J. Morgan Sweeney, passed away while teaching in London on Wednesday, August 8, 2007. Morgan -- an Irishman by clan, an Englishman by education, and a Gotham resident during his youth (his father was employed at the United Nations ) -- returned to the United States after completing his Ph.D at Oxford , and took a job with the History Department of Michigan State in 1976. Morgan wrote and lectured on modern European history, especially British, was active teaching in MSU's Study Abroad program in London , and was especially valued and loved by former students. Click for the obituary. Not having Morgan as an instructor during my time at MSU, I was introduced to him by our mutual friend, Drew Beiter, a former student. With Drew sequestered off working in California or Wyoming or the greater Buffalo area, and me living here in Williamston or Grand Ledge, I was able to more fully develop my own relationship with Morgan. More recently, Morgan was our infreque...