Random Thoughts

Standing up for Down Syndrome: The Story of Milo Castillo

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We’re defined moments. Those instinctive reactions to an extraordinary situation. And one of those moments happened on a Wednesday evening in mid-January, 2013.

A family of three, Eric, Kim and their five-year-old son Milo Castillo were dining at one of their favorite restaurants, Laurenzo’s Prime Rib in Houston. Little Milo, who I’m sure is an awesome 5-year old boy, happens to have Down Syndrome.

castillo

Friends describe Milo Castillo by saying he “loves to give hugs”.

The Castillos are regulars at the restaurant, and since they haven’t been there for dinner in a few weeks, the wait staff came over to say, “hi” to their young friend, Milo, and asked about his recent birthday.

About 10 minutes after the Castillo’s arrived, a second family of regulars came in and sat in an adjacent booth.  Minutes later, Milo’s mother, Kim, noticed that the family moved to another table, and then got up to leave the restaurant entirely.

That in itself it not a very remarkable story, but Kim later found out why they left.

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What honor looks like: The flash mob at Gate 38 of Reagan National Airport

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Honor is a hard term to describe. It doesn’t have a color or weight or shape. If someone were to ask me what honor looked like, I’d probably struggle with what to say.

But something happened on May 23, 2012 at 9:31 a.m. at Gate 38 of Reagan National Airport that might change that.  A flash mob of sorts broke out. But not like you’ve seen on YouTube with highly choreographed dance numbers or people singing a song in unison.  In fact, virtually all of the participants of this “flash mob” didn’t know they would be participating until moments before it happened. Read more »

Why Dweezil Zappa will win the 2012 Presidential Election

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We’re fully in the swing of the Republican Primary season, and our research staff has been poring through the results to accurately predict the winner.  Based on our extensive research of the candidates, experience and positions on key policies, we’ve found that the best indicator of political success is a ridiculous first name and somewhat recognizable, two syllable last name.  Due new rules from Sarbanes Oxley, HIPAA, SOPA, and the NFL, we’ve decided to proactively make our research results public.  So, below is our ultra-scientific analysis of the candidates, followed by the indisputable winner this year.

Newt Gingrich.  Not long ago, the mention of his name would have caused children and adults alike to giggle.  His name has a subliminal message of things that Republican voters like including “New and Rich”.   But, our testing has also found less desirable sounds including “Ewww” and “Itch”. Read more »

Seven Billion, Occupy Wall Street, and the Death of Critical Thinking

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The world population crossing seven billion is just a statistic. A giant, seemingly made-up number.  Like a 22 gazillion jillion.  But – according to the media, we should be concerned because seven billion is WAY worse than 6.999 billion.

And here’s why – when I was a kid, there was less than five billion, and people were constantly starving in Africa.  I even have the audio track of “We are the World” to prove it.  So – if we ran out of food somewhere around 4.5 billion, there must be at least 2.5 billion people with nothing to eat.

But – that’s not what we’re seeing. With modern farming methods and improved distribution, we’re able to feed more people than ever before.

And then there’s the Occupy Wall Street (#OWS). Again, when I was a kid, we went to Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffet concerts. Today, kids still party and tail gate but in city parks.  The Wall Street protesters are upset about the disparity between the really rich and the rest of us. Capitalism is a failure. Read more »

iPhone 4S: Are you Siri-ous?

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Revolutions sometimes begin with a gun shot.  And sometimes, they begin in front of a room full of tech reporters by a leader conspicuously not wearing a turtleneck.

Apple CEO Tim Cook under the watchful eye of Siri

You see, that’s where it changed.  We became outnumbered.  That’s when the largest company in the world, Apple, unveiled its non-iPhone 5 with artificial intelligence built in.

Now, anyone who has seen a science fiction movie knows that artificial intelligence is a pretty bad idea.  It’s like handling plutonium: as long as properly contained, it can power the world.  But once it gets out, it can start a chain reaction and blow us all up.  And today, it got out. Read more »

Beyond 9/11, the Lesson of 9/12 that We Must Never Forget

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Never before has Congress been so divided, or the approval level of politicians been so low.  A week ago, the two most powerful men in the American  government bickered about which night of the week that President would address Congress.  And during that speech, it was clear that the room was full of political enemies intent to not cede political ground to their opponent – regardless of the issue.

Then, turn on a television set this weekend and you’ll undoubtedly see footage of 9/11.  Jets exploding.  Horrified onlookers.  Rescue workers running.

9/11 was a sucker punch.  Contrary to Bill Maher’s comments after the events, the attackers were cowards. Like a 100 pound weakling sneaking up and punching a napping Chuck Norris in the jaw and scurrying away into the dark.

But 9/11 is just the start of the story. As every American remembers, something incredible happened on 9/12 that the terrorists probably weren’t expecting.

And also 9/13.  And 9/14. Read more »

“You like me! You really like me!”

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In 1984, Sally Field won the Oscar for Places in the Heart, and is often misquoted as saying in her acceptance speech, “You like me!  You really like me!”.  For decades, people have mocked that speech because it seemed to be dripping with narcissism and an unhealthy need for validation from others.  

If only Sally just had something like a button which the audience could press to say they like her. In 1984, that was ridiculous. But in 2011, that’s life.

It’s the “Like” button on Facebook.  A virtual scoreboard bringing all the sensibilities and social discernment of a Jr. High cafeteria into adulthood and serves as the very basis of Social Media.  We can see what other people like so we can like that too.  Or “digg”, or “+1″. Read more »

The Case Against Father’s Day (and for Dad’s Day)

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Every June, the fine people at the greeting card companies encourage us to celebrate Father’s Day. According to the dictionary, a father is “a man who has begotten a child”.  Hmm – I’m not sure if that is a noble accomplishment worth dedicating and entire day of the year.  Frankly, a chimpanzee can meet that definition.

But – there is something far more important that we don’t talk about enough.  It’s dads.  I also looked up the definition of “dad” in the dictionary, and with respect to Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster, it’s woefully inadequate.  So, in order to help out the dictionary industry, here’s how I think a “dad” should be defined. Read more »

Hashtags Aren’t Just for Breakfast Anymore

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As a young kid, I closely examined a touch tone phone and noticed a symbol which I immediately recognized as odd. It was a tic tac toe grid or sometimes called a pound sign. I asked my dad about this  intriguing but apparently useless key, and he assured me that someday, the powers that be had big plans for that symbol. It was going to be great, but neither of us had any idea what it could be.  

Thirty years later, that magic symbol finally has a purpose. #FacebookKiller It’s cooler and more amazing than anyone could have ever imagined. #LikeAngryBirds And it could completely change how the world communicates. Read more »

Arnold Schwarzeneggar is a Pathetic, Skinny, Cowardly “Girly Man”

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Anyone who was around in the 80′s knows Hans and Franz, the recurring Schwarzeneggar wanna-be’s on Saturday Night Live played by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon.  The plot was hilarious – the two Austrian accented jugheads would talk about how much they loved working out, flexing their muscles, and lamented the existence of “girly men” who didn’t share their passion for biceps and pectorals.

The premise was that they were real men.  And their hero, the manliest man of them all, was Arnold Schwarzenegger.   Arnold could battle aliens.  Fight the Russians.  And save the world many times over.

And I kind of believed it.

But now that  the special effects operators have gone home along with the writers and stunt men, we see Arnold not as a man, but as the pathetically small little boy that he is. Read more »