Midnight Mass

I used to go with my mother every Sunday to mass. A long, long time ago, my family switched churches because of more convenient mass times. The church we switched to was very progressive. They had a mass on Sunday nights for teens and their families. That mass practically had a rock band as a choir. Everyone involved in the mas except for the priest, ushers and Eucharistic ministers were teenagers. When the Giants were in the Superbowl in the early 90's, the priest had a Watchman (remember those?) with him and he would give updates on the game during the service.

It was during this time that I became more aware that mass seems like a show, put on for entertainment. Everything is scripted, there is a stage (the altar), singing, and as a friend puts it, "Catholic Calisthenics". Their mass was very polished. It was slick. This church was in an affluent community in New Jersey, so they had all the toys, and I noticed. They had a lighting designer come in and adjust the lighting. Their audio was second to none. The Choir area had several hanging microphones, a monitor mix system, and was acoustically isolated. The priests (called celebrants and presenters) were given wireless microphones. PZM boundary microphones were put on the altar so you could hear the pouring of the wine and the breaking of the host clearly. The whole church was taken into account when speakers were hung. Like I said, their services were slick.

Last night I went to Midnight Mass with my parents. They've since moved down to a shore community and things couldn't be any different. (I should also mention that due to my work schedule and the NBA's penchant for playing basketball on Christmas I haven't been home for Christmas in at least 6 years). First off- Midnight Mass down here is at 8pm. I have a problem with that. They even call it Midnight Mass. Shouldn't Midnight Mass be at I don't know, Midnight? Secondly, I'm not sure where all the people were. At my old parish, they have their excellent musical groups start caroling at 11pm. This means if you want a seat for mass you have show up by 10:30pm. If you're not in the church by 11pm, you're standing in the vestibule it's that packed. Last night, we wanted to get there early because their carols started at 7:30pm and with my dad's back wanted to make sure we had a seat. We arrived shortly after 7pm, and their was no problem getting a seat. In fact, the church never got more than 1/4 full at any time during mass.

The church surprisingly has a similar layout to the one I was talking about. Both probably built during the 60's, they are large and wide, not your traditional church layout with only a single aisle down the middle. That's where the similarities ended. The musical group was awful. Granted, I can't sing or play a musical instrument, but I know that. I'm not going to subject others to it. There were a handful of good voices in the choir, but they were drowned out by the organ and the other singers who happened to be in the pick up pattern of the 2 microphones in the front row. Whenever one of the singers with a good voice would go for a solo to one of the microphones, their voice was too powerful for the microphones, and the small PA speakers they had mounted in the walls behind you couldn't reproduce the frequencies they were singing at accurately. There was a lot of distortion and clipping going on. The violin player never was on the same page as the singers or the organist.

With the way they had the speakers laid out, there was a lot of feedback when the priest would talk. The majority of speakers were facing TOWARD the altar. This doesn't take a genius to figure out. From that point it was down hill. Needless to say, I was back at my parents from Midnight Mass at 9:15pm.

A different Life

This morning I was riding down in the elevator of my hotel at 5am. When I got on there were two very attractive, very drunk women. I was bundled up for the elements today (-1 windchill currently and dropping) and had my credential around my neck. They were asking if I was going to the game. I said yes, I was going in to work. They giggled and said that they were going to the game as well, but were going to sleep first.

I've often wondered what it would be like to be one of those people. We're always going in early, and invariably, there are people going to bed when we're going in to work. There are also people already tailgating when we're going in to work. I often wonder what that would be like.

The kicker of the story was- they were very happy I wanted the Packers to win, and they were actually at the wrong hotel. Ooops.

Quick Travel Stats as of today for the year

This isn't quite complete yet, but...

Flight Distances		Flight Time		Flights
In Miles 79,947 In Kilometer 128,663 Earth Circumnavigation 3.21 x Distance to the Moon 0.335 x Distance to the Sun 0.0009 x		Hours 198:03 Days 8.3 Weeks 1.2 Months 0.28 Years 0.023		All 71 Domestic 71 Intra-Continental 0 Intercontinental 0 Other flights 0

Booking classes:	Economy	20		Business	1		First	42
Seat:	Window	35		Middle	0		Aisle	7

My Nemisis: Keys

For those that don't know- I lose keys a lot. (or temporarily misplace them)

The stories are many- in college, an staff member threatened to put attach a 1" tape reel to them to help me know where they were. The thinking was that it'd be hard to lose them with that large ring attached to them. There is the story (twice now) where I left the keys to the rental car inside the truck, and it wasn't realized until the side of the truck was in, and all packed up. Someone (not me) locked the doors to the rental car with the keys in it. Luckily, the small window in the back of the car was broken somehow, and we were able to unlock the door from there.

I was just reminded tonight of perhaps the best story however happened last year over Thanksgiving. We were in Dallas and had a leisurely lunch at a lovely steakhouse. As we went to leave, I couldn't find the keys. I asked around, and sure enough no one had the keys. We looked all around the booth we were sitting at, and they were no where to be found. We thought maybe they fell out of my pocket when exiting the car. We walk back to the car, and TG just starts laughing. Somehow, when I parked the car, I managed to NEVER TURN IT OFF. The car was sitting in the parking lot for a 90 minute lunch outside of Dallas unlocked and running the entire time.

Tonight we went back to the steakhouse, and I got a bunch of ribbing, but I had the keys in my possession the entire time.

Slingbox, oh how I love you.

This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I honestly don't know how we've gotten along with out it for so long. For those of you who don't know what a slingbox is go here for details. The basics- it lets me control and watch anything I can on my home TV on my laptop when I'm on the road. Why would you ever need that you're asking. Well, for starters, when the hotel that you're staying in only has 12 channels, and there really truly is nothing on TV. This allows me to have all of the channels I pay for at home with my in my hotel room. Granted, You do have to watch them on your computer, but It is pretty damn cool. A second benefit- If there's a show coming on that I want to record, I can control the DVR from my computer. I can also watch the shows that I have on my DVR while on the road. If I'm in say Kansas City, but really care about what is going on at home, I can watch the local news from home this way.

This device is currently for a niche market, but I predict it will take off.

The Mac and Cheese Secret

Since the Macaroni and Cheese was received so well tonight by the Lady in Red, I thought I'd share the ingredients to it so others may share in my Mac and Cheese. I never said it was healthy, but damn is it good.

8oz Macaroni- I prefer DeCecco Pasta, but this is up to you.
1/2 stick butter
4 TBSP Flour
1 Cup Milk (I go with skim)
1 Cup Cream (the reason I go with skim milk)
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar cheese- Buy good cheese in a block and shred it yourself
1/2 Cup Bread crumbs.

Heat the over to 400

Cook the pasta as usual.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter, and then add all the dry ingredients except the bread crumbs.

Stir in the milk and cream a little at a time, making sure you are always stirring.

It is very important to always be stirring the pot with this.

Let this cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. If you don't stir constantly, you won't be happy with the results.

Add the shredded cheese a little at a time, allowing it to melt before adding more cheese.

When all the cheese is melted and after the pasta is drained, pour the pasta into the saucepan with the cheesey goodness. Make sure to stir/toss to get them all covered.

Take the Macaroni mixture and put it into a baking dish.

Cover the top of the macaroni with the breadcrumbs and cook for 20-25 minutes. The top will be a golden brown when it's done.

What happened to me

I just realized when I was getting undressed at the hotel that I've become an Under Armour person. EVERYTHING I had on today except for my shoes and gloves bore the Under Armour logo. My underwear (the 6" inseam Boxer Jock), my leggings (the ColdGear 1.0 Base Layer), my shorts, my snow pants, my t-shirt, my fleece, my jacket, and yes even my socks. I had an Under Armour Beanie on as well.

All of these products fit me well and are very comfortable to wear. They are practical for me to be outside working in as they allow movement and warmth, but don't allow me to overheat. I'm ok with this, but I can't believe that this is what has happened to me.