DaddyClaxton.com

Billboard in Wyoming, MN. Like him or not, this is funny

My daughter, Chandler's, godfather in Florida sent me this picture of a billboard that's said to be along Interstate 35 in Wyoming, MN. 

Like former President George W. Bush or not, this is funny.

 

The Al Gore Snowman Contest--Maybe we can build one in Dallas Thursday!

You had to expect it at some point.  The clever fokes at Human Events have created a snowman building contest for the nation's Capital in honor, or dishonor, of former Vice President Al Gore, who as you know, is the king of perpetuating the "global warming" myth that has been hyped beyond the limits of reason and drilled into the psyche of our schoolchildren nationwide as though it were concrete fact.  

How fitting a name for such a contest.  You know, Gore has predicted the end of life as we know it because the earth is getting so incredibly hot. 

Well, the global warming theorists get really, really torqued when you show snow, lots and lots of snow, particularly in Washington, or anywhere else for that matter.  If you will recall, I had one jerk calling me stupid across Twitter a week or two ago.  He's now blocked. 

The prize for the snowman that best resembles Al Gore?  You'll have to follow the link for details.  I wish we were going to get Thursday's snow before the Feb. 10 deadline. 

It'd be worth trying to make a similar snowman here in Texas.
Maybe, provided the National Weather Service gets it right, they'll accept a late entry.  Perhaps they'd also accept a Photoshoped version of a mug shot transformed into the appearance of snow....

I was talking to a friend of mine in Chattanooga Friday about all the snow they've had this winter.  She said the big joke here is, "We would all have frozen to death by now in Tennessee if it hadn't been for Al Gore's Global Warming." 

He's just saying that 'cos I'm here--The Leno, Letterman, Oprah Miracle

Wow.  What a logistical effort it must have been to sneak Jay Leno into the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC so that David Letterman, Oprah and Leno could all do the 15-second video for the Super Bowl last night.

You'd think that with all the attention Leno has had in recent months over the Conan O'Brien Show fiasco that he'd have something of a following to keep tabs on him.  And then over on CNN you can read how the idea came together at CBS, Letterman's people shared it with Oprah, then sold it to Leno and then got NBC's okay to share him on another network.  

In case you missed it, here's the spot.

Super Bowl Weekend; A Super Time to be a Super Dad

I had a very active weekend with my kids, though I must say, we didn't get out a lot.  I did get in some quality time with the children and that's not always an easy thing to do with them because their interests are different, their interest levels are different and then there are responsibilities I have around the house that also dictate that I can't just sit there with them the entire weekend.  

But I did learn some great things about my kids this weekend and here are a few things I'm ready to share:

For one thing, my 13-yo-daughter, Chandler, has a budding interest in science--particularly physics and astronomy.  This probably made me the happiest all weekend because I have a natural curiosity that's been mentioned on these posts during the past year. Thursday night we were talking about the size of the known universe--about 75 million light years across.  I got out my National Geographic map of the universe that shows how really, really, tiny, tiny, tiny we are in comparison to all the rest of what surrounds us. 

We tried to watch The Right Stuff on DVD this weekend, but alas, it's missing.  But then yesterday we found our From the Earth to the Moon series and spent a good couple of hours watching the first two episodes. Chandler is hooked and I must say, my interest in such is rekindled.   
Perhaps we should all buy a copy and send them to the White House for the president to watch.  He might get his interests rekindled as well and stop the nonsensical discussion about how we don't need to go back to the moon before we go on to Mars. 

I found out all four of my daughters have an interest in playing the piano, and they were getting riff lessons from their second oldest brother. Of course I got to hear the same piece over and over and over again--and that is the best way to learn--but.

Last night during the Super Bowl, when none of my three sons wanted to watch, much to my dismay, I learned that my five-year-old daughter, Ashleigh, really is becoming a Tom Boy.  She watched the first three quarters with me.  She knows Peyton Manning is number 18.  She knows what a Windmill is when listening to rock music.  She knows which blocks on the screen to look at to see who is winning.  That's a daddy's dream--you know, to have your daughters knowing a lot about football.  

My 10-year-old daughter Haley thought it was over-the-top when CBS's Sunday Morning did a segment on the Lingerie Bowl.  I did, too.  Talk about the sexploitation of women. 

And I learned this weekend that the cooking lessons of my Grandma Claxton, who grew up in Norther Alabama on the farm, are securely being passed on to all four of my daughters.  When we made our family Super Bowl Team Breakfast yesterday, eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and homemade gravy, and grits, each of the four had an item that they wanted to cook.  I'm getting more and more to the point where I just have to keep an eye on what's happening as opposed to having to do each step myself. 

Saturday night, my girls all continued to develop their interests in going to the bookstore and even though we didn't leave with a book, they all received further reinforcement that going and looking through magazines, books and other sources of information is something one can do and not have to spend money to receive a rich reward.

That's not to say all was peace and harmony.  Sisters are sisters and brothers are brothers and there are times when they can all get tired of being such with each other. And there were times, too, when I simply wanted to find a quite space in the house and not feel like it was my job to be the chairman of the individual entertainment committees for each of the seven kids.

The challenge with seven kids is being able to find the right balance between nurturing, spending time with them, and letting them find ways to do the same for themselves in order to properly take care of being myself.  And then there also is the challenge of knowing there is a finite amount of time they're going to be with us here in the house.  With each new day each of our children grow a step closer to opening the front door and making their own way into this world where they will have to work, find a home for themselves, get a good higher education and find a way to make themselves successful on their own.

With each passing day, I learn how much more of a daunting thing that really is.  When I was graduating from high school at age 18, I remember thinking to myself that I felt too young to be getting out of school and heading into the great unknown that was adulthood. How much I have learned and forgotten since that point.  It's frightening at times. 

But I know from the past three days, as challenging as it was, it also was rewarding. And as I told Ashleigh good night last night, I thanked her for watching the Super Bowl with me.  And from the quiet of the darkness of her room, came this wee little voice that said, "And thanks, Daddy, for watching The Who with me, too! I liked those Windmills."  My friend and almost seeming older brother, Terry Abbott, would have been proud to have been standing next to me; And so would have Pete Townshend.  

Should Audi Yank The Green Police Campaign?

I saw the Green Police Audi commercial during the Super Bowl.  To my knowledge it only played once, but it was kind of frightening on the face of it about people being arrested for not doing things that are considered "green."  And then comes the research and power of the Internet pointing out that in Germany, where the Audi hails, the Green Police under Himler were a pretty powerful group that helped facilitate the Holocaust. 

My guess is that in the next 24 hours there are going to be some serious repercussions over running this spot.  Yes, it was just a Super Bowl commercial, but it could also have been a super gaffe on the part of Audi.   

Audi hit on a raw nerve here that political conservatives are going to have found to be quite sensitive.  After all, it's been made pretty clear by some of the actions of the present administration in Washington that super government control into all aspects of life is something they're kind of into.  And it wouldn't be a leap to begin passing legislation by this present Congress to make some of these things actually a reality. 

It will be interesting to see how this shapes out over the next 24 hours.  It's already trending on Twitter and the comments are running 50/50 on if people thought it was cool or over the top.  What do you think?

truepatriotsnet Boycott Audi and their "Green Police!" What lovely marshal law brainwashing!

getglam Leave it to those people at Audi to come up with such a stupid idea as the Green Police. That ad was in such bad taste.

NoSkillz316 @memep20 green police scares me memep! lol

jasunshine RT @DrGrist Audi: if your customers have such hatred & contempt for "green police," why would they want to buy a green car? makes no sense.

Amber_126 Audi A3 TDI Green Police: Lame and barely showed the Product at the end. FAIL http://frostfires.com/notice/332149

I also didn't care for Cheap Trick doing the remake for this.  I've always liked this song and have always thought it to have a classic structure.  It's really a perfect song in its original form. 

In my younger years, I've tried satirical projects similar to this and I learned about 25 years ago that the public largely doesn't have a sense of humor when it comes to this sort of thing.  And then to see that this is a concerted effort on the part of Audi et al to push the Green agenda really leads me to believe they've done little more that to find a way to stir up their opponent than to motivate their base. 

There is going to be a call in the next few hours for Audi to pull this spot.  Count on it.  The question will become whether or not this is a good thing for them.  I get it that the inference is there that driving their car is good for the environment, but I'm not sure most of the public is going to get past the Gestapo type inferences it takes to get there. 

Have you seen the horrible messages that get posted on @twitter about #moms?

I've been using TweetDeck to follow posts on #moms and #dads for a while now and I help can't but notice one thing: there are some incredibly awful things people say about their moms on Twitter for all the world to see and I have to guess that these moms have absolutely no idea at all what's being said.

Take for instance this gem posted tonight:

@i_eat_cookiee: Ugh. Stupid F***ING people are pissing me f***ing off. like go die.My moms being a b****h too . F*** THIS MOTHER F***ING WORLD. stupid Pitty.

Or how about this one:  I know you're dating my mom and all and I should try to like you a little more for my moms sake but you. f***ing. suck. S***ty first imp ...

Or @ssg15 @PR3TTY_TATi oo na my moms turned it off she be askin likke a biitch sumtimes

I hope this guy's parents have a Twitter account he doesn't know about: @YOUNGRYANJETSON @sneakerfreak45 o boy you have no idea moms and pops outta town 4 da next few days! im finna showout.

Followed up by: looook yall 2morrow is super bowl and im finna be #TTU im abt to get sooo drunk and go downtown and turn the f*** up!

And then this really sage advice: Follow us or slit ur wrists @YOUNGRYANJETSON @7UPCGAR @FoxFamm @sneakerfreak45 @Who_Is_STB @DJJonCertified @R0cco @g00se317 bow

Just who I'd want one my kids to be hangin with if we left town.

Now I ask you if you think this little one is innocent: @HighLikeAStar Someones been lookin at porn on my moms laptop and shes blaming me . #F***EDUP

@BrieLikesSam My moms always telling me to 'hang out' with my sister. And when I finally do she gets all pissy cause we're too loud and send.

And then there is this doozy: @KuriousTrina "would u f*** yur moms 2 save her life"?

I can't believe there is this much absolute hate and absolute garbage on Twitter about moms.  Where have we gone wrong?  Where have these moms gone wrong that these kids would be talking about them so and telling the whole world? 

Will Texans elect this guy guv'ner? Not a Farouk'n Chance #Texas #Governor

I'm sure I'm falling into a trap by one of the Democratic campaigns here, but I had to laugh when I saw this the other day and when I went back for seconds, well, it was still there so here goes.

As you might know, the GOP has it's own negative campaign going on between Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson.  The election isn't until May and they were both running negative ads against each other at Thanksgiving.  Ridiculous. Perry has been endorsed by Sarah Palin--I had thought well of her up until that happened about nine months ago; and Kay has the support of former President G.W Bush.  So much for staying out of primary campaigns until we have a nominee.

Over of the Dem's side is the former mayor of Houston, Bill White and a political newcomer, businessman, ala, I can run the state like a business type because the politicians won't, I will, (gosh I think I was part of a campaign just like that in 1993-4).  The guy's name: Farouk Shami. 

So here's the trap.  See below the campaign yard sign of Mr. White:

 

Now see the campaign sign from Mr. Shami.

 

Now see what happens when they're put next to each other:

   

The trap is why hasn't the news media written about this?  Or if they have, I'm simply not paying attention, but maybe that's what the trap is.  If one complains that his signs look like my signs, all of a sudden the profiles of both are raised and we stop hearing about what Kay did or didn't vote for, or what friends Perry has helped or not helped.  For heaven's sake, I was putting in the turkey on Thanksgiving during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and heard a Perry attack ad. 

Anyways, to me, as an outsider, it looks like one of the campaigns purposely made their signs to look like the others.  Sure, there are lots of ways to design a campaign sign, but this truly looks suspicious, and certainly isn't very original. 

Not that it matters much anyway.  It'd take a miracle for most Texans to vote for a guy name Farouk Shami. Can you not just see the stereotypical dip chewing Cowboy when he hears that name, winces his eyes and then leans over to spit before he says somepin like, no Farouk'n way.....

The New Yorker v. The NY Times over @Twitter; Evidence of the Social Divide

If you haven't read the Nick Bilton piece about the piece The New Yorker writer George Packer wrote about why he's afraid of Twitter and his view of the trepidations of living in the Digital Age, take a second to do so.  I'll wait for you to get back....

Okay, glad you could rejoin here.  After reading what both have written, it seems to me what both writers could have spent time talking about was the true social divide in America that runs deeper than ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status: 

1. Those who do not have Internet--either because they can't afford it or because they don't want it,
   
2. Those who are so snobbish and/or rich they would belittle themselves to use communications tools that the 'little people" are using, and
   
3. Those who have it, do social media things like Twitter , Whrrl, and Facebook, and know a lot about what's actually going on in our world.  

Of course, there are varying degrees in each class of people.   My mom and dad can send me text messages and emails.  My MIL reads my Twitter account regularly I'm told and knows what we're up to that way. But none of them walk around with an iPhone using something like Twitter.

I read Nick Bilton's piece and thought he made some good points about the value of using Twitter.  Then I began reading the first page of comments and quickly had enough of what are obviously some pretty stupid yet intellectually snobbish people--and not all of them from New York.   

Take this intellectual from Atlanta, Dave Michaels, who wrote, "Twitter Dee Twitter Dumb!" 

Wow, that's expressive, gets straight to the point, or something.  It would have fit in a Twitter message if he hadn't been too arrogant to have sent it. And it would have made about as much sense on Twitter as it did on the comments section of the NYT. 

HF from Florida shows that maybe he's spent a little too much time outside in the Sunshine State:

"Twitter is a tool, use it or do not use it. The intensity people use to defend it reminds me of addicts. Businesses use it to advertise, people to communicate, but if you are saying its journalism.... you need to back up a few steps. Twitter never verifies a source or checks facts. Shouldn't that astronaut be doing experiments to benefit science- not typing on his Blackberry?

"Honestly, when did embracing every new technology coming out become a religious practice?"

HF shows why he/she isn't on Twitter--they have to use more than 140 words to say something intelligent.  Twitter isn't a form of journalism and I don't think that's what Bilton was implying.  But I do know there are many journalists who use Twitter as an effective tool for gathering additional sources.  Heck, when the US Airways plane crashed in the Hudson, I saw that photograph we all saw on CNN and everywhere else at least two hours before CNN had it on TV and I saw it almost immediately on Twitter.  

Frown on that as you might you snobby NYT and New Yorker readers, but that's a fact, one that doesn't have to be fact checked HF.

The simple point is, if you're rich and snobby and you don't want to use Twitter, that's fine, then don't.

Why would anyone want to know about what other people are going through in their daily lives that might be similar?  Why would anyone want to be able to do a search for a particular term and find out information about a subject often quicker and more informatively than with Google?  And when a tragic event happens, why would anyone want to be able to find out information faster than what the Networks can report? 

It's because we're human and most of us, albeit not many New Yorker readers and NYT commentors, actually like to use our brains, think for ourselves and find out our information firsthand. 

Remember that list of the social classes in America?  Up until right now, I had the snobby ones listed as the third category, but it occurs to me that it's the rest of us who have Internet service and who are using it to its fullest who are actually the top rung of the classes, and finally, for once in human history, it's not the other way around.       

On Being a Dad--On Purpose, with a Purpose

I've had several people tell me within the past year that being a dad is what I am.  I may have skills in politics, photography, video editing, polling, PR, media relations, crisis communications and all that, but with seven kids, a wonderful wife, and a future ahead for all of them, the number one thing in my life is this: I'm a dad--something I am on purpose and I am with a purpose.

And after four years of Kari's four children in my life, I've also stopped distinguishing between my kids and her kids.  They're our kids.  Same goes for my three with her.  They're ours.  

I chose this role--to be a dad.  And it's a role that doesn't come easy and it's something I don't do perfectly either--as much as it's convenient in verbal tussling to say that I think I do.  No, I've made and make my share of mistakes daily.  But I get up the next morning with a clean slate--with the opportunity to learn from what didn't work the day before and the drive to get up, the purpose, if you will, to get up and go after it all again. 

It's not easy to be a dad in 2010.  Maybe it's never been easy.  Thinking back to what it must have been like before running water, electricity, and grocery stores, I'd have to say those days likely were much rougher than we have it today--but in some very different ways as well.

Today our challenges are different.  We are under constant bombardment from moral temptations--from the television we watch, radio shows, books, magazines, and especially the Internet.  Then there are the pressures of working to support a family.  If you think the pressure of living the perfect American life with one boy and a girl is hard, add five more kids to the mix.  We have our obligations to friends, family and most importantly, our spouses.  Do you know how hard it is to be romantic with a mom who constantly is on the go with dropping kids here, there and everywhere?  We're making it work, but it's like scheduling exercise on the calendar, it has to be done.  Add to that Kari's efforts to also financially support the family. 

There are so many roadblocks and detours in the world today designed by Satan to keep us from living the wholesome, purposeful lives we're supposed to be living.  As a dad, I confess, I need to do more about getting my children focused on Christianity and their relationship with God.

And also I find that the closer I get to Kari, the more the intensity of the attacks become. Thankfully, we've both been right-minded--for she also is a mom on purpose, with a purpose, and that makes a huge difference.

My goal for the day? Be the best dad I can be.  I have eight special reasons to be alive, well and productive today--and the ninth one is even more special--it's me, because I have a purpose and I'm focused on it, on purpose.

New Web site layout--what do you think?

Like I said, I've been working on the graphics for a revision to the Web site and I'd like your input.  As you can see, I've really worked to incorporate the new look from the revised logo into the general flow of the site itself. 

What do you think?   Is this cool?  I've got a few more tweaks to add, but wanted to get your input, too.