Dave Mancuso dot Com

So the story in Red Lion School District next door in York County went national yesterday. It’s a terrible thing–people at our school knew the principal killed in the shooting.

It’s interesting to note, however, that the incident at Mechanicsburg Area School District next door in Cumberland County didn’t seem to get up there on the national media scene.

So in one story, a kid shoots and kills a principal. In the other, a kid throws firebombs at the school and tries to throw gasoline on an administrator, but fails to kill anyone. Is part of the problem with our society the fact that the one story gets all the attention because the kid managed to complete his plans? Is it all just about the drama?

That’s sad.

At least Mancuso’s Law of Media Accuracy was disproven with the Mechanicsburg story. My wife works at the school that was “firebombed” and verified that WGAL presented all the details exactly the way things happened (Mancuso’s Law of Media Accuracy:”I’ve been on the scene several times during news events. In none of these situations–not one–has the media reported things accurately.”).

The first DVD is out on August 26, 2003, and the extended edition (to me, the real one) is due out on November 18, 2003. the details are here.

The extended release may have up to 48 minutes of new footage.

Way cool.

I’m trying to wrap my mind around the idea of this new uber personal information manager, Chandler. This piece of software is in its nascent stages. It’s a super office manager–it’s like having a super secretary as a piece of software. Say you have a project you’re working on. Chandler will help you organize a project file that ties together everything to do with the project: emails, calendar dates, to dos, address book contacts, pictures, audio (MP3s), video, notes, spreadsheets, web pages, and more. It seems that virtually anything you have on your computer that has to do with your project can be tied together in Chandler.

But there’s more. It doesn’t just tie things together. It will help you create these things too. It helps you share them too.

If it does all this stuff, it really becomes a computer platform like Windows or Mac OS, or in this case a “sub-platform” inside Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.

I’m really curious about how this thing will turn out. I’m also curious how they’ll pull all of this off for three operating systems within 10 years.

By the way, the prime mover and shaker behind Chandler is Mitch Kapor, the guy who started Lotus and designed Lotus 123.

You know you’re in Atkins diet Induction mode when strips of bacon start looking to you like tiny little steaks…

To me, this is parenthood.

Two weeks ago at Giant, they have no Sesame Street vitamins, so the kids beg for Jimmy Neutron vitamins. They look good nutritionally, so that’s what I get.

Over the next week I get the kids to try the Jimmy Neutron vitamins on five separate occasions. They hate them. They won’t take them. Six bucks down the drain.

Last week, I mention to my wife that the kids won’t take the new vitamins. Denise doesn’t like to take her own vitamins (she considers them pills and she hates all pills–really hates them), so I think she will empathize with the kids. She doesn’t. I’ve already since bought the kids Sesame Street vitamins, so Denise decides to take the Jimmy Neutron vitamins herself.

Denise has now been taking Jimmy Neutron vitamins for over a week. She says she’ll finish the bottle. The kids really don’t know what to make of it. I think it’s hysterical. Apparently, the only thing my wife hates more than pills is wasting money.

So I see the weirdest thing as I’m shopping at Giant, and I figure “why not?” I buy it for the kids. It’s a new Jimmy Neutron food product. The kids want these every time I suggest them, but they’re never able to actually eat them. As my wife said, “These are possibly the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen.” The product? OreIda Jimmy Neutron chocolate french fries. I swear I am not making this up. Look here for the “Funky Fries” if you don’t believe me.

Mmmmmmm…Choclified french fries. Even Homer would have trouble getting behind that.

I’ve updated the logo at the top, thanks to Brad Rhine for the concept and tips with Adobe GoLive [Later–I actually meant Adobe ImageReady, but Brad got to the comments section before I could correct this, as usual]. It’ll change more, but it’s a start.

Easter was good–the kids had a great time at Uncle Keith and Aunt Cheryl’s. The funniest part of the day for me was church service. I go to a Methodist church now, but I was brought up Catholic. I’m slowly getting used to the Methodist faith, but it’s painfully apparent to me how Catholic I’ve been. Heck, when I moved out here west of Philly, I couldn’t figure out for the longest time where all the Catholic churches went (I’d thought it was the overwhelmingly dominant religion nationwide). At service, I constantly have to stop myself from answering things that seem vaguely familiar in a Catholic way. For instance, I keep biting my tongue at times to keep from saying “and also with you.” I keep saying the Apostle’s Creed slightly wrong. I wanted to sing the Hosannas today instead of speaking them. Friends are astounded that I don’t know the most basic hymns here. Stuff like that. It’s actually made me miss Mass a bit from time to time.

But today they did Communion. And I felt like I was “back home” again. I knew things by heart I gave the responses without having to follow along. People actually went up to the front of the church for Communion (they drank from the little cups still and went up row by row, but it was still familiar). But then at the end they launched into an “Our Father” that completely threw me, a short version with “trials” and other foreign stuff, and I was back into unfamiliar territory. I like the church, I like the community, I believe in the faith. I like the option of going to the traditional or contemporary service, too (the most contemporary thing about my old Catholic church was a guitar playing “Day by Day” at Mass). It’s just humorous to me that Methodists can’t seem to choose a single “Our Father” or a single Apostle’s Creed (and it’s funny how they have to footnote the word “catholic” and explain that it means “universal”). I guess part of me will always feel like a broken Catholic. I’ll get used to it as time goes by, though. Now if only I can stop calling the two pastors “priests.”

My conversation today in Alyssa’s room:

Alyssa: (throws dirty clothes on the floor and goes to the dresser to get new clothes)

Me: “Pick up those clothes and put them in the hamper. There’s no need to make your room a pig sty.”

Alyssa: “My room’s not a pig sty.”

Me: “It’s getting there. Look at this mess.”

Alyssa: (pointing to bookcase) “Well, maybe if my brother didn’t mess up all my books my room would be cleaner.”

Me: “Well, maybe if his sister would worry more about cleaning her room than blaming him, she’d be done by now.”

Alyssa: “Well, maybe his sister should do whatever she wants.”

She’s five. What will the teenage years be like?