Crazy Car Talker Dismounts

Ever been caught talking to yourself by another driver? I was talking with my friend Dan about this the other day (Dan is a real person by the way) :). I can't even count the number of times I have had a full on conversation with an imaginary somebody, only to gasp at the sudden realization that the guy in the next car is scrunching his nose, lip curling and squinting his eyes at me. Mouthing "What the?" You know the look. I've gone so far as to elevate my cell phone giving the appearance of talking via speaker to "London." v.s. quickly turning my head for fear of recognition. With this cell phone screen, the scrunchies usually drive off satisfied that I am no longer a danger to society. It works successfully while singing at the tops of lungs as well. The only unexplainable from the "rock performance" is why would I be clapping, snapping and dancing at the wheel while on the phone with "London." Perhaps my clean getaway is not so clean afterall. hmmm...

Beyond the cell phone screen, any car talker dismount "chips" to share?

Describe a Woman or Pass the Chips?

How do you safely describe a woman's appearance? I really had no idea the discomfort this question brings to men until I was talking with a friend of mine the other day. He started talking about a woman he had met. I can't recall what sparked me to ask the question but I said, "what did she look like?" The response intrigued me. My friend said "ohhhhh no Janet. I've not described the appearance of a woman in years and I'm not about to start." My seemingly innocent question was loaded with explosives. He said there is no answer to describe a woman that could not be misconstrued. I challenged him. I asked "What if you just said she was average?" He challenged me "what kind of an answer is that really?" He's right. It's no answer. As I started thinking about it. No woman really wants to be called skinny, average, shapely, short, tall, etc all having implications to the negative. I think color of hair, eyes, etc would be safe territory, but who knows. And do land mines only exist where a man is describing one woman to another woman? I haven't noticed an issue with women describing men to another man or woman. We pretty much just lay it out there, regardless. "He's bald", He's heavy", "He's short", etc....no mister yuck stickers for us. Does a safe dismount exist for men or should they just continue to pass on the "chips"?

Olympic Dismounts

Remember the agony of defeat guy on Wide World of Sports? I was explaining to my son who Jim McKay was and that I so missed hearing his voice during the Summer Olympics. I told him that every Sunday night, my family, after the weekly ice cream run, would watch Wide World of Sports. Jim McKay was the voice of WW of Sports and the Olympics for as long as I can remember. I began running through Jim's opening weekly monologue from the show for my son. Spotty recollection at best, but the phrase I do recall vividly - "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." I was describing the "agony of defeat" scene that would come into our living room every Sunday. Remember? The ski jumper who would come down the ramp, lose his balance, stumble and crash off the end of the jump, brutal. I did a little research. His name is Vinko Bogataj from Slovenia. His crash of March 21, 1970 was featured from 1970 onward on WW of Sports. I recall hearing that he wasn't actually hurt, but the crash just looked bad (Uh-huh)...I think this is one of the few moments in sports where you remember the loser v.s. the winner.

Oddly enough the gravity of Jim McKay passing in June of this year didn't really hit me until the first day of Olympic events and what a loss it was (for me) not to hear his voice and commentary throughout the summer games. The games are still incredible, but there's just a little less magic without him there...I found this link on utube, a brief tribute to Jim McKay. Paste this link to your browser. Take a moment to watch and listen... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRsuurXCfVk