Shane Life

Read part one here.

So the rest of our trip consisted of the most notable stuff. We woke up really early on Sunday morning and went and had the free “continental breakfast” in our hotel. There was nothing “continental” about this breakfast. It was a full-on buffet with make-your-own omelettes and all-you-can-eat bacon. Is there anything better than all-you-can-eat bacon?

We left the hotel around 7:30 to drive to the site of the car show that would be doubling as a memorial service for my uncle. Some people said that there would be people getting there as early as 6 to “get the good parking spots”. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant until I got there.

The above picture doesn’t do this car show justice. There were well over 300 hot rods in the parking lot and a bunch of other just regular old cars. All these people were there for one of two reasons:

1. They had been coming for a while and knew my uncle, since he started the cruise and was crucial in organizing it or,
2. They knew my uncle and were there in support of my Aunt Paula.

Either way, the amount of support was overwhelming. By our estimation, there were about 1,000 people at the car show / memorial. Quite a testament to my uncle and the number of people that he effected.

Once the memorial started, it was even more clear:

I took this from behind my dad (the bald guy with his arm around my aunt) and it doesn’t even capture all of the people that were there. It was amazing. I’m so glad that we were able to be there.

The cars there were pretty cool too. There were two cars (that I knew of) that were worth over $1 million. One was Howard Hughes’ car. Hughes, a notorious obsessive-complusive germophobe, had completely sealed the windows of the car and put a commercial-airline-grade filtration system in the trunk. That guy was crazier than a straw.

After the memorial, we went on the cruise. Jake rode in my late uncle’s ‘56 Ford Fairlane (probably the sweetest car at the show) and Alli and my mom rode in my Aunt’s ‘37 Ford Pheaton. I rode in a sweet early 21st century Lincoln Town Car.

After, we went to one of my aunt and uncle’s friends’ houses for some food and then it was back to just hang out and be together as a family. Despite the sadness of the day, it really was great to see all my family from California that I never see. We had a great time with all of my cousins and Alli even got a hair consultation with my cousin’s husband. She was VERY excited about that.

Monday, we didn’t do much. Slept in, had some breakfast (more “continental”…mmm…bacon), and then walked around Long Beach a little bit, but most everything was closed. After that, we met up with my aunt and walked around on Rodeo Drive and then drove up into Beverly Hills and Bel-Air. There were some insanely huge houses up there…some I’m sure that were celebrity houses, but none of which I could identify since I didn’t find this list until yesterday. Would have made things more interesting, I think.

We got up early Tuesday and flew home. It was a long, exhausting trip, but one that I was happy to make and one I would make again in a heartbeat. I think that it still hasn’t hit me that my uncle is really gone. I’m trying to make sense of that. In time, I think I’ll be able to sort it out. Until then, thanks for the prayers and thoughts.

Last Thursday night, we left for California to attend the memorial service for my late Uncle Larry. It was quite a trip. We found some amazing tickets on Midwest Express ($218 round trip at the last minute…REALLY?…REALLY.) and were able to be out there with my Aunt Paula and the rest of our family on my mom’s side that we rarely get to see. (One caveat of those cheap tickets was that we could not return until today…no problem in my eyes.)

Anyway, we got in late Thursday night and were picked up at LAX by my dad who arrived from Thailand early that morning. Let me just say that LAX (at least the Midwest/Frontier/Alaska Airlines terminal) is absolutely BOOTY. When we departed the plane, I felt a little like Stillwater in the movie Almost Famous after they get off of the plane and are walking through the terminal. It was almost abandoned and extremely boring. Check it out:

Don’t the three of them totally look like Stillwater?

Anyway, not much doing that night. We got up the next day and drove to Laguna Beach for breakfast at The Beach House, a restaurant that Alli and I visited about 8 years ago when we went on one of our first vacations together to visit my family back then. The food wasn’t as great as I remembered it, but the ambiance was just as spectacular. It’s a small restaurant that overlooks the ocean, the kind of out-of-the-way place that you’d probably find some celebrity at, but alas, we didn’t find anyone. We drove down to the Dana Point Doubletree Hotel and bought tins of cookies. Why? Because everyone loves cookies and these cookies were absolutely incredible.
Saturday was an open day, but it was also my dad’s birthday. We went CD shopping with him and tried to go to places that he would want to go to eat (of course, it was darn near impossible). It was a pretty lax day after that. We went to my Aunt and late Uncle’s house and were joined by a lot of other family members, including my two older cousins, Cindy and Stacy, my other two uncles, Monte and Byron, as well as Byron’s wife, Robyn and their youngest son, Sid. Check Sid out:

On Saturday night, we went to California Pizza Kitchen, a nationwide chain that I’d actually never been to. I had an awesome, totally unexpected pizza. Since I was there, I thought I’d try something different…the California Club Pizza. It had freaking LETTUCE on it. It was incredible.

We also talked briefly about what we was going to happen the next day at the memorial service and then everyone dispersed (other family members arrived that evening as well). A side note…we TRIED to go to the Olive Garden (I’m glad we didn’t, or should I say COULDN’T), but there was a 3 hour wait. Thus, we went on to CPK. Yum. And we have one in KC on the Plaza!

Sunday and Monday…to be continued…

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell
Rating: 9 out of 10

Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most talented writers I have ever read. The author of The Tipping Point and Blink, Gladwell spends his days writing for The New Yorker, one of the most prestigious and well-regarded magazines in America. His first book, The Tipping Point is a National Bestseller that has been published in eleven countries.

Classified as a non-fiction book about social psychology, The Tipping Point examines just what makes things become social epidemics. When he first uses the word “epidemic” it is pretty jarring, because your mind immediately assumes that he is talking about things that are negative, but Gladwell covers both negative and positive social epidemics in his search to figure out what makes things “tip”.

I had heard a lot about this book and I bought it with some Amazon.com money that I had a while back. It’s been sitting on my shelf until The Great Read of 2006 came upon me. Actually, I let my friend Kevin read it first and upon his recommendation, I anxiously read it.

Honestly, this was one of the best non-fiction books that I have ever read. I felt intelligent carrying it around and I found myself telling people about what I was reading because:

1. I wanted to feel smart…and…
2. It’s really REALLY good.

Gladwell takes subjects like the increase in syphilis in Baltimore or the rise of suicide rates among teens in Micronesa or the rapid decline of crime in New York City in the early 1990s. He talks at length about the return of Hush Puppies (not the Long John Silvers side, but the shoe), Paul Revere’s Ride, Sesame Street, and many other case examples of epidemics that represented his points.

When I talked to my friend Julie, she said to me, “I never thought I would be so fascinated reading about syphilis, but it was so interesting, I just couldn’t put it down.” (OK, so that’s paraphrasing, she may not have said those exact words.)

What makes The Tipping Point so good is Gladwell’s writing style. It is intellectual and conversational at the same time. Not only that, but he manages to take complex social and scientific theories and apply them easily into situations that make them more understandable to the average reader. And while some might suggest that what he presents seems somewhat like common sense, you cannot help but respect the amount of research that he did in preparing his arguments.

To Gladwell, The Tipping Point is determined by 3 key factors:

1. The Law of the Few, which explains that the fastest way to spread news is through 3 specific types of people: Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen. These people are considered the most important people in pushing an epidimic over the edge.
2. The Stickiness Factor which measures how effective messaging is (this was my favorite section). And,
3. The Power of Context, an explanation as to why certain things effect some people in one way and others in another way.

Throughout the book, Gladwell’s storytelling ability is evident as he explains his points through case studies and examples of his theories in action. It is through these stories that he proves that these three things all contribute in one way or another to determining The Tipping Point of any social epidemic.

I really enjoyed this book, but moreso, I enjoyed reading Gladwell’s writing. It almost made me wish that I had a subscription to The New Yorker so I could read his column there, but I then discovered that Gladwell posts archived articles on his web site at gladwell.com. Plus, he has a blog. In fact, I recently read his back-and-forth e-mail conversation with ESPN’s Sports Guy Bill Simmons on ESPN.com’s Page 2. If you like sports (most of the major ones are covered and Gladwell shares his serious, yet funny disdain for Isaiah Thomas as a GM), it is a really good read.

Overall, like I said before, I loved this book. I think that it should be required reading for Marketing classes and that everyone should read it at their own leisure. Perhaps I am a Connector who can make this book even “stickier” to those around me. If you would like to borrow this book, let me know…I would be happy to lend it out.

I have three four new blogs to announce. Two of them I helped set up and in the other one, I’m mentioned in the first post (WORD!).

Last weekend, Alli and I traveled to St. Louis to visit our good friends Julie & Bret Mahoney and Rich & Sarah Allen. Now, what last names do not indicate is that Julie and Sarah are sisters. They are what I like to call THE SISTERS STEELE.

The Sisters Steele now have blogs.

Sarah, the compassionate environmentalist (who got married on the same day as us):
Living Compassionately

Julie, the independent, elder sister who loves poetry and Dog the Bounty Hunter:
Insatiable Articulation

Both have a couple posts up now, so go check them out…they’re good people.

The third blog is Scott’s. Scott is a guy that I have gotten to know better in the past year through the great family that he’s marrying into. There’s Brad, June, Travis, Rachel, Chelsea, and now Scott. I’m excited for him to blog because he is a funny guy and one that I am certain that I’ll enjoy learning more about.

So, here’s Scott’s blog, also known as either Scott182 or Sammy182.

UPDATE: I also need to make sure and include JenB on here: Have you seen her other hat?

I really enjoy reading the blogs of my friends, not just because they are my friends, but because they are fun people as well.

My Uncle Larry passed away this morning at 5:30 AM Pacific Time.

Jake has a really good post about Larry here. I just wanted to share my thoughts too.

Larry Beck was one of the best uncles that anyone could ask for. He was fun, quirky, and he loved his family. When I was growing up, my uncle was a magician at Magic Mountain. How cool would it be to have a magician for an uncle. he used to do all sorts of tricks for us and he would always get this wry smile when he saw how impressed we were.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if this was your card? That would be a pretty good trick, wouldn’t it?”

That’s what I remember him saying when he would put on his magic shows for me, Jake and all of our cousins.

The past 3 years have been increasingly difficult as I have watched his health deteriorate very rapidly. I’m really glad that Alli, Jake and my mom and I were able to go out there two Decembers ago. That was the last time I saw my uncle, and while it was in a hospital (he was laid up in UCLA Med Center at the time), it was a good trip. We laughed (although not as hard as usual because laughing was painful to Larry physically), we cried, and we talked. We spent almost the whole time there in the hospital in Westwood and while I LOATHE hospitals, I never thought about that once. I enjoyed every second of it.

That’s Larry on the left, his wife Paula, and my mom. I’m sad that I don’t have a picture of me and him from that trip. Despite his sickness, he was still the same old Larry.

I’ll miss him a lot. It’s really tough when some of your closest family live many miles away. I wish that we could have seen him more often. If only.

To those of you that read this, I ask you to please pray for my Aunt Paula, Larry’s two daughters, Cindy and Stacey, as well as the rest of the Beck family. Larry was a good man and he’ll be missed by all of us.

Another basketball season, another first-round exit by the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament.

To be totally honest, I never felt really good about this game. In my pool, I almost picked Bradley (almost doesn’t count does it), instead of taking KU to the Elite Eight. Fortunately, I don’t have them out any further than that.

I’m still in decent shape as long as I don’t miss very many more games. Right now, I’m sitting at unlucky number 13, but if today goes well (and I need some help from Georgetown for that to happen), I shouldn’t be sitting too poorly going into the next weekend of the tournament.

I am hoping that with KU out of it, I can look at the tournament a little more rationally. Not that it matters much…I just wouldn’t mind taking home that 65%.

Right now in my NCAA bracket, I’m 7th. I only missed 3 games yesterday and none of them were of major importance (Indiana, LSU, Alabama). I haven’t lost a Sweet 16 team yet, which is a first for me. I almost lost 2 Final Four teams (BC and Gonzaga), but they both escaped.

I’m not counting on winning, but it sure would be nice. There are 117 people in our pool at $10 each…winner gets 65%.

You do the math.

In an essay published by British newspaper The Guardian, Brokeback Mountain author, Annie Proulx describes voters as “out of touch” and “segregated” from current issues, and insists they were easily influenced by Crash’s production company Lions Gate Entertainment. She writes, “Roughly 6,000 film industry voters, most in the Los Angeles area, many living cloistered lives behind wrought-iron gates or in deluxe rest homes, out of touch not only with the shifting larger culture and the yeasty ferment that is America these days, but also out of touch with their own segregated city, decide which films are good. And rumor has it that Lions Gate inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of ‘Trash’ – excuse me, Crash – a few weeks before the ballot deadline. Next year we can look to the awards for controversial themes on the punishment of adulterers with a branding iron in the shape of the letter A, runaway slaves, and the debate over free silver.”

Wow.

Sour grapes anyone?

Proulx isn’t the only one to complain about the loss. Whatever happened to Oscar non-winners being graceful about not being chosen? You don’t see Joaquin Phoenix out there complaining because Philip Seymour Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar, do you? You know why? BECAUSE HE HAS CLASS.

I saw Brokeback Mountain and I saw Crash. I have to go with the Academy on this one. I thought that Crash was a far better movie as a whole. That’s not to take away from the acting put forth by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, but I just found the story kind of blah. Not only that, but what is interesting about Proulx’s comments is that they claim that Crash didn’t really tackle tough issues. I guess racism isn’t a touchy subject.

Here’s a tip to Ms. Proulx and anyone else who thinks their movie or their actor got the shaft at the Oscars: Quit crying. Get over it. Go write something new.

“Baby, we’re gonna be up five HUNDIE by midnight!”

Trent, Swingers

Greatest movie about Vegas.

EVER.

OK, so there’s a lot to talk about. First, I want to congratulate myself on making it to 200 posts. This is my official 200th post (according to Wordpress), so I’m going to do a little mental macarena for myself. 200 posts since October 1st of 2004. 200 posts in 529 days; that’s approximately 1 post every 2.645 days. Not too bad…but I’m going to try to get to 400 by the end of the year. Think I can do it?

Friday night, we tried to do some staging at my parents’ old house. It’s been for sale for quite a while now and we (and by we, I mean Alli’s mom…) tried to make it more appealing by putting some furniture in it. It looks A LOT better now.
Played this weekend in the Big G Volleyball tournament, a tournament that was hosted by my alma mater, Graceland University. It was disappointing. First, I was disappointed in the turnout of teams. Originally, they were expecting as many as 16. When we got the schedule last week, it was down to 11. When we showed up on Saturday, there were only 6. While I still had fun playing in the old gym, I was disappointed that more teams didn’t show up. Plus, we played HORRIBLY. I had to pass all day and I did decent for most of it, but then started passing really poorly and the problem was that it was more when it counted that I passed badly. I made up for it as much as I could with some good defense and my hitting was really pretty good for most of the day…I just chose to stop passing at the worst possible time. Plus, with only 6 teams, there was no rest built into the schedule. We were either playing or reffing the whole time. Not fun. By the time the tournament rolled around, we were all pretty beat. So we lost in the quarterfinals to a team we had beat easily in pool play.

Boo.

Best part about it though was that, since we were in Lamoni, we got to partake in the best pizza ever from Hampton’s Pizza Shack. I was able to keep some leftovers for lunch today and man, were they tasty!

Sunday, we got up and went to Bob Evans for some tasty breakfast and then basically slept the rest of the day away. I tried to watch the Big 12 Tournament Finals, but I couldn’t stay awake, only waking up to see that my Jayhawks had pulled it out in impressive fashion. I thought that their win over Texas could get them as high as a 3 seed, but I guess not. We’ll have to settle for a #4 in a pretty tough bracket. This year, I’m not going to let my homer attitude take the best of me and I’ll probably have KU losing to Pittsburgh and I’ll just be happy if they don’t, even if it does break up my bracket a little.

Finished off the weekend by watching Pride & Prejudice last night. It was an interesting flick, but we both couldn’t figure out why Keira Knightley was nominated for Best Actress. Gwyneth Paltrow or Claire Danes would have been much more deserving candidates in my opinion.

So that was it. Long, tiring weekend. Another on the docket for this weekend when we go to St. Louis to visit our friends there. Should be fun. Plus, the tournament starts. Good times.