The government recently released a report from 2002 which states the findings of the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration. They found that cell phone are dangerous when used behind the wheel. This is no surprise. The NHTSA wanted to ban cell phone use behind the wheel. This is also not much of a surprise, as many state governments already have laws like this. You can read more about the report here. The more interesting part of the report is where they talk about their determination that handsfree cell phone use is as dangerous as normal cell phone use.

I found this finding interesting, and wrote the author of the article about it, and he did me the favor of pulling some choice qoutes out of the report, which has been posted here by the New York Times. The quotes follow:

• “Driver distraction contributes to about 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes. Though all distractions are a concern, we have seen the growth of a particular distraction, namely cell phone use while driving. While the precise impact cannot be quantified, we nevertheless have concluded that the use of cell phones while driving has contributed to an increasing number of crashes, injuries and fatalities.” 
• There is “little, if any, difference between the use of hand-held and hands-free phones in contributing to the risk of a crash while driving distracted. Hands-free or hand-held, we have found that the cognitive distraction is significant enough to degrade a driver’s performance.” 
• While “all distractions can be dangerous, wireless communication devices are a (sic) particularly unique and troublesome since they involve cognitive distraction … the reality is, driver performance can be compromised regardless of whether the device is hand-held or hands-free. Consequently, we recommend that drivers not use a cell phone while driving.” 
• “A significant body of research worldwide indicates that both hand-held and hands-free cell phones increase the risk of a crash. Indeed, research has demonstrated that there is little, if any difference between the use of hand-held and hands-free phones in contributing to the risk of driving while distracted. In either operational mode, we have found that the cognitive distraction is significant enough to degrade a driver’s performance.”

I find these parts of the report very interesting. The main point seems to be that the task of talking on a cell phone is cognitively distracting. For the sake of simplifying, let’s just say that they are saying it is not the act of having a hand off the wheel holding a cell phone, or typing on the keypad to send a text message is not the true danger, rather the danger lies in having to think about what you are saying in your conversation. Basically, it is the act of carrying on a phone conversation in itself which is dangerous.

I am sure there are scientific studies which support this idea. It even makes sense. Thinking about something other than your driving would make your driving worse. My question is, is having a phone conversation any more dangerous than having any conversation. That is, is it just as distracting for me to carry on a conversation with another passenger in my car as it is for me to have a conversation over the phone? I don’t know. If anyone knows of a study that documents this, I would be very interested in hearing about it. If I consider the argument, and granted this is without any concrete evidence beyond personal experience, it seems to me that any conversation is a cognitive distraction.

My question then is, if we are going to legislate against cell phone use while driving, including handsfree use, what is the next step. We have known for a long time passengers can distract the driver. How many movies have scenes where the driver looks away from the road to see what a passenger is doing, and then gets in an accident. If our government legislates against cell phone use due to the cognitive distraction, it must legislate against other cognitive distractions. Where does this lead? In an extreme world, I can imagine future cars where the driver sits in a sound proof bubble. Only the passengers can listen to the radio. The driver does not have any cup holders, or any other place to set any items down. By law, the driver must be alone in the bubble with only the vehicle controls.

This is an extreme view. I certainly do not believe it would ever actually happen. The line must be drawn somewhere however. So, where should the line be drawn?

Have you ever watched a movie and seen a great story play out? Have you ever followed through the movie, and realized as you watched that there was great deal missing? Did the story seem filled with holes? That was my experience with Inkheart.

Granted I experience this feeling with many movies, but they are almost always movies which I have read the books for in the past. I watch the movies and think, “Wow, what a great portrayal of this story I loved so much, if only they hadn’t left out this one scene…” It was actually rather odd to experience that feeling without ever having actually read the book the movie is based on.

All said, Inkheart is a wonderful tale, one that draws you in, with a mystical quality to it that sends shivers down your spine. Unfortunately it suffers from some jarring edits. It is difficult to watch straight through as you often feel that something was not fully developed. A good film adaption of a novel often finds ways around the content that a film could never contain without being a television mini-series.

The actors and script writers do their best however. The action moves along at a good clip, the effects and visual feel of the movie draws you in. The characters make you feel their struggles. Brendan Frasier as Mo plays a man who loves books, but dreads what comes from his ability to tell their stories. Eliza Bennet as Meggie is the proto-typical lost girl, who only wants to find what is missing in the family life she holds so dearly. Paul Bettany as Dustfinger plays a heroic man who was unfortunately written as a selfish coward and must get past his written flaws. Andy Serkis plays the villain, Capricorn, to the hilt.

The actors did well in the roles they were given, but it does seem that one of the cuts made to keep the movie short was any kind of character development whatsoever. The characters come across flat and one-dimensional. They are static, keeping the same attitudes throughout the whole movie, the one exception being Dustfinger.

All in all a good movie to add to your library if you like a good fantasy story, and especially if you love books. It just isn’t anywhere near as good as it could have been. Personally, I’m going to go read Inkheart and hope to finally meet the characters I barely glimpsed in the film.

In the midst of an Olympics that has been good and bad, that has seen controversy before it ever started and as it continues, there are still moments of wonder and awe. Maybe it is because I am an American citizen that the ones which come immediately to mind involve Americans, but I do believe that the kind of good sportsmanship that the Olympics seems to bring out in most people does not hold to any borders. Anyway, I started writing all this to point out one specific incident of a truly good sport and what I believe is a wrong which has been done him.

I have been watching the Olympics live late at night, and tonight I happened to catch the BMX Quarterfinals. It shows that I have not been paying total attention in that this was the first time I realized that they had actually added this sport to the Olympic schedule. I applaud the IOC for this. I do not know whether all extreme sports should be in the Olympics (I am not saying they are not sports, just that the Olympics can only add so many sports), but BMX was a great choice to represent the extreme sports world in the Summer Olympics. So as I watched the races continue, I saw something that made me gasp. In the third and last run of the 2 set of quarterfinalists, several racers crashed. Granted this is not uncommon in the world of BMX, but what happened after the crash I believe was.

Raymon van der Biezen of the Netherlands went down on the first corner and Kyle Bennett was unable to avoid crashing into him, and that brought down at least two other riders behind him. Eventually, the other riders got up and finished the race, but Kyle Bennett was left lying on the course, and he was very still. Medics ran out to him, and a teammate came back to watch. When a couple of medics brought out a backboard, I thought that his Olympics was over. Rather, as I watched, he eventually got back to his feet, and then I thought, “Oh, he is going to be able to walk off the track. I am glad he is not hurt too bad.” Then he did something even more astounding to me. He got back on his bike, and rode all the way around the course, granted going very slowly, and he crossed the finish line.

After this I started going online to see if I could find out what kind of injury he had. The first place I looked was the official Beijing Olympics result site, where I was somewhat surprised to see that he was listed as “DNF” for “Did Not Finish”. Then I thought, “Okay, well I guess there must be a rule somewhere that says you have to finish within a certain time, or that once you are attended to by the medics, you are out of the race.” I was okay with that, although I thought that it diminished the spirit which he showed in getting back on his bicycle.

I then checked Google News to see if anyone had written a story on the crash yet. It took a few minutes, but a few popped up. I took note of a couple. One I checked was the LA Times article. I finally found out that Bennett had dislocated his shoulder, but that a physician had popped it back in. I do not know if that happened on the track or off, either way, my respect for Kyle Bennett increased. I noticed something though. The LA Times article said that Bennett had not finished, but that he had got back on his bike and rode off the course. I figured that maybe that was true, as the official site had listed him as DNF, but I still did not think it was a fair description of the kind of spirit Bennett had displayed. Then I read the International Herald Tribune article,  which came from the AP. It did not even mention that he rode off the course, merely that he “didn’t complete the course.” This really annoyed me. He got back on his bike with a dislocated shoulder, probably in quite a bit of pain, rode over every hill and corner of that track until he crossed the finish line. That is very tough.

The Olympics are being advertised by commercial, I think from NBC, that depicts a track runner who falls during a race and limps across the finish line with the help of his dad. The narrator talks about how he did not win a medal, but he still finished. Kyle Bennett did that very same thing, and yet not a single article I have read does him the justice he deserves. I hope someone out there is watching and will give him the kind of attention he deserves for his finish. I know that I am now a fan, I hope others will be too.

It’s been a long time since I posted. I mean a really long time. Look – over a year! My life has really changed since then. My last post told a story of me calling my mom to let her know I had started dating. Well, not too long after that, I got engaged, and then a year or so later, I was married. Not only that, but I have graduated now, and have joined the great ranks of those searching for a job. I have something for now, but it will not last, unfortunately, and so I have to keep looking. Meantime, I have more free time in the evenings, and so I am going to try blogging again. Maybe this time I will stick with it. So here we go again!

One more reason conversations are better had in person, although in this case it wasn’t an option. I decided that I wanted to call my mom and tell her I had a girlfriend, since I couldn’t talk in person (she’s in Zambia) and text messages seemed inappropriate. So here I am in the middle of the Critical sentence, and I get a dropped call. So I go back to my room, dial her again, and try once again to get the sentence out. Then, I hear from the other end, “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” So I ended up almost yelling into my cellphone, at least four times, “I have a girlfriend.”  Needless to say, much pain is saved when one uses true interpersonal communication.

I have come to the inescapable conclusion many have come to before me. When one is having a truly serious conversation with someone, technology is not very good at facilitating it. IM misses the whole concept. Words just can’t convey the true emotions of the moment when one is having a hard conversation. Phone is not much better, voices lose so much quality, and you still don’t get facial tells. Video conferencing may be better, but I get the feeling that there would still be something missing. It’s that presence you can feel whenever you are there in person. So, for your sake and theirs, carry on serious conversations in person, as much as possible.

Quickly, as an update to my last post – my macbook arrived and I’m typing on it now. On to the real topic of today’s discussion – loneliness. I was reading Ani Ruhama’s blog and it brought to the fore all of the things I had been thinking about relationships lately. So, instead of preparing for my project in TV Production class today, I’m writing about this because I can’t really think about anything else.

I have always been a bit of a coward. I hate to take risks, especially ones that are physically dangerous or emotionally so. Therefore, I went through all of high school with a grand total of one date. Yes, that’s right – one in the entire four years. Now, this was not due to lack of wanting a relationship, no peer pressure at least guaranteed I wanted to be known as somebody’s boyfriend. Instead I was just too much of a coward to ask anyone. The girls I developed “crushes” over often seemed to far out of reach, or had boyfriends. The ones who were in reach and fit my “standards” often turned out to be really shallow after I talked with them for a while. Maybe I should have taken that as a sign I needed to switch standards, but I wasn’t that mature.

Now, as I go through my college career, I realize I have yet to have another date. Once again, I have girls I’m interested in, and they even happen to be intelligent and beautiful – man was I stupid before. Now I find myself gun shy. I haven’t ever had but one date, and I’m terrified of asking someone on another one. The first one was a disaster – she spent the entire evening talking to the guy across the table – and I’m afraid to try again.

I’ve also come to another realization though. I used to want to have a relationship because that was what I was supposed to want. Now, I’m lonely. I’ve never been great at having other friends even on that level. I’ve had maybe two “best friends” through the ages, and those were both girls a year older than me. I miss having someone I can talk to about pretty much anything. I don’t feel comfortable talking about everything to other guys – we’re all too closed up and unemotional.

So I’m stuck. I’m desperately wishing God would point me to someone, but whenever I feel a nudge, I back off and say, “But what if she’s not interested?” To quote Back to the Future, “I just don’t think I could handle that kind of rejection.” What can I say, I’m a wimp. If anyone has some of the courage lying around bottled up, I’m just the cowardly lion looking for it.

So, I have rediscovered my least favorite form of torture. At least, my least favorite among those I have experienced, which is, admittedly, few. My gallant iBook died this previous weekend, I believe from overheating, and I am fortunate to have a mother who believes laptops are critical to the college experience. She paid for me to order one of the new MacBooks on Wednesday. I opted to get the middle of the road 2.0 GHz white macbook with a hd upgrade to make it the equal of the black one in everything but color. I’m afraid I just couldn’t justify an extra $150 or so for a paint job. Maybe I’ll go out and find some spray paint that will stick to plastic and change my macbooks color myself. Anyway, bak to the torture I was talking about. I received an email this morning that said my macbook had shipped. According to FedEx’s website it had left Suzhou, CN at 1:25 pm, presumably local time, as I got the email earlier than that even in GMT. So, that converts to1:25 am EDT. Ever since that email I have been checking FedEx’s website at least twice every hour to see if there might be a new update. No luck so far. Maybe I’ll write something when I see it arrives in the area. As soon as I actually get it, I’ll probably be far too busy to write anything.

So, while I lived in Los Angeles there was a radio station that I loved to listen to. It was KFI AM 640. Now I would often listen to it while coming home from school, and during those hours there were two particular hosts on, John and Ken. Now they are fiscal conservatives, and while I definitely don’t agree with them on everything, alot of what they say makes sense. They are big opponents to programs that would allow illegal immigrants to become citizens without them being punished. This has become their biggest focusin the last few years as it is very important to Southern California. Even though I’m in Kentucky now, I still like to go back to their website and see what’s up. Recently there has been an interesting little tidbit about Los Angeles’ mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, and his opinion of John and Ken. Mayor Villaraigosa is a proponent of legalizing illegal immigrants. He spends his time in the speech which sparked all this condemningJohn and Ken for their views on immigration. Now, I would be completely fine with that, he’s entitled to his opinion, except for the factthat he claims they are anti-immigration. This is one of my biggest pet peeves in this whole illegal immigration business. Those in favor of programs like President Bush’s work program always claim that anyone who favorsthe punishment of illegal immigrants are anti-immigration. I’ve been accused of this myself. It’s very frustrating. While I lived in Los Angeles I had several friends who were not citizens. They were immigrants with green cards trying to become citizens for the most part. They told me how difficult the process was, and I understood that. I would be totally in favor of changing the immigration laws to allow more immigrants from other countries, especially those, like South Africa where my friends were from, which do not have massive problems causing a flood of emigration. I would even be in favor of making it easier for immigrants from distressed countries, like Mexico, to come in. They deserve a chanceat theAmerican dream. I’m still not in favor of allowing or condoning the breaking of the law though, and so I’m opposed to anything that rewards illegal immigrants with citizenship status. This means I’m an opponent of illegal immigration, not immigration as whole. Yet still, people claim I’m anti-immigration. It makes me frustrated. Where better to express it but here?

So, I got an email this past weekend. It was letting me know that someone had actually commented on my blog. Well, that’s such a rare occurence (to be honest, that was the only occurence) that I looked at the comment right away. Alas, I found it was not actually a comment about what I had said. It was something better though. It was an old friend who I hadn’t seen in 7 years. She was one of my best and only friends around the time my dad died, so I had fond memories. I emailed her back and asked her what she was up to. Lo and behold, she was attending the same college that my roommate had transferred to Asbur from. Now if this were some huge and famous college, that wouldn’t mean much, but since my roommate comes from the remote stretches of northern Idaho, I found it rather remarkable. It reminded me of another strange coincidence I had encountered last summer. I was working at a summer camp, and the worship leader and I got to talking. It turns out she was from only a mile or so down the road from where I lived from age 5 to age 13. Since she was in high school while I was in elementary school, we never met while we were living there. But it was rather interesting since my neighborhood consisted entirely of people on tracts of land at least five acres in size. In other words, it was a very rural area. It’s rather funny, but both of these incident’s just prove Walt Disney’s genius, because it truly is a “small, small world”.