Letters From A Nut #7

This one was sent in anticipation of the Oscars last night - but it didn't make it into the newspaper - I guess it was too controversial to publish!

Dear Editor,

The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards (“The Oscars")ceremonies are coming up February 26. Included among the nominees this year are movies like “The Artist", “The Descendants", “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" and “The Tree of Life." Has anyone ever even heard of these movies before, much less actually watched any of them? Nominees for best actors and actresses are people like Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Demian Bichir, Jean Dujardin and Gary Oldman. I think some of these are made up names. I've never heard of these people!

Give me the good old fashioned Acadamy Awards where movies we actually saw got awards like “Ben Hur" and “Lord of the Rings". And people we actually know get nominated like Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and Gary Oldman!

Thank you,

Tim Duncan
A concerned citizen

Letter Writing Challenge!

In case you were wondering about the letter writing challenge I've been referring to here and on Facebook here's the 411. I've taken up the task of mailing at least one item through the post every day it runs in the month of February. And writing back to everyone who writes to me! Month month is quickly waning but I challenge everyone to do the same for a week. It's been quite a challenge, since I didn't want to just send a plain old letter. I wanted to put some creativity into it, so if you were on my list you got a drawing, craft or something silly in the mail. For more info here's where I found out about it!

Letters From A Nut #6

It's been a while since we've posted anything here and it's been a while since I've written a letter to the editor! So in the spirit of the letter writing challenge I've taken for the month of February there will be 2, I repeat, 2 letters to the editor this month! The first is in response to a previous letter published earlier this month:

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to Jack P. Smith's letter of February 16.

No offense to Mr. Smith, I do not know him personally, though I do know many Smiths in the area and they could be related, it seems to me that our local economy could use more alcohol and coffee consumption, bars, casinos, tattoo parlors and other locally owned businesses. And university football, though a thorn in the side of local motorists during the hours prior and after game time, seems to be a boon for economic growth in Norman. Particularly from traffic and parking tickets.

Eliminating iPods and electronic games would be like eliminating televisions and radios. As for Blackberries, I don't think anyone really uses them nowadays anyway.

If we were to eliminate these things from our lives, how could we look in the mirror in the morning and call ourselves Americans? I personally challenge Mr. Smith to get out there today, get himself a tattoo and season tickets and stop by the liquor store on the way home to play on his electronic games. Help get this great city of ours back on its feet!


Thank you,

Tim Duncan
A concerned citizen

Published link at Norman Transcript

Exploring the Old House on the Hill

Wilburton, Oklahoma, November 6th, 2010.

Ashley, Jordan and Hailey decided they wanted to see the house on the hill. Where is that house on the hill? What was Rock City? Mike and I decided to venture to the hill country. North hill that is. The hill side had decided to reclaim the lot. You could barely see the house from the road. We drove up to the top of the hill. The girls explored the house. Ashley said, "This house is small.". Small? This house was huge growing up. What was she talking about? We went upstairs to check out the bedrooms and explored the rest of the house. The ceilings on the second floor seemed low. I don't recall them being this low growing up. We walked outside and we went to the bank behind the house. This is where I spend my after school time. I built streets and buildings for the inhabitants of Rock City. Built the paper box plant to provide jobs to the citizens. This is where Rock City existed. There was nothing left. The streets and rock buildings of the past, gone. As with all cities abandoned by time nature had reclaimed Rock City. The walking path down to the junk house had been taken over by vines (you couldn't see the path). The path from the junk house to the road was gone. Elm shrubs had taken over the path. This was the short cut we used to walk to school.


The junk house was looking to be in sad shape. The pre-fab building Dad had started to put up was still standing but with no walls. I remember walking home from lunch to see the bulldozer clearing out the road to the junk house. Mike talked about the cement truck delivering the cement up to the split level. The cement truck on backing down that steep drive way lost control. The truck zoomed down the hillside out of control and luckily headed into the trees across the street. The cement truck took out several trees before stopping. No one was hurt. Memories of the house on the hill.


The girls decided they wanted to walk back to NeeNee's. Uncle Mike walked with them. They went further up the hill to take the old school steps back to the house. The house on the hill. Memories of the past. It too would eventually be reclaimed by the hill side.

NeeNee's 80th Birthday

NeeNee, Grandma, Mom (Fern Duncan) celebrated her 80th birthday on November 6th, 2010 in Wilburton, OK. To celebrate we had three cakes to choose from: a white cake, a red velvet cake and a caramel cake. I think that is enough cake to cause a sugar attack.

Ashley and Jordan decided to make presents for NeeNee.

Check out the video on the girls unique gifts to NeeNee.

Cruise to Mexico

October 16th, Saturday. Sailed out from Galveston, Texas on the Carnival ship Ecstasy for five day cruise. Sailed to Yucatan Peninsula. Day three in Progresso Mexico. On Monday took an hour and half bus ride to Uxmal. There got to climb a Mayan temple and see Mayan ball game court. You don't want to be the winner in Mayan ball games. Third day the ship travels to the island of Cozumel. Take a submarine 100 feet down to see the coral reef.

On the ship there is food , food and more food. Four buffet lines in back of ship. Ice Cream 24/7. Girls loved Camp Carnival. Thursday back to United States and customs line. Hey they let us back in.

Our cruise director was not named Julie but Brad.

Oh and yes Hailey did get her stitches out on the ship. The doctor took them out and did not charge us for her services.

Hailey Attacked by Concrete Floor

October 12th, 7pm. Tuesday. Open house today at Fletcher School. All the girls had their fair share of energy power bars today. I didn't see them eat today but then again they never eat much and always have tons of energy. Hailey decided to run around her classroom. As she was making the turn around a table her feet went out from under her. Her chin decided to be first hitting the classroom floor. That is when the blood starting coming out of the inch or more cut in her chin. 7:30pm visit to AM/PM clinic. Sorry but you need to go to the ER the doctor tells us. Five minutes later Comanche Memorial Hospital ER. Eight o'clock in to see doctor. Six stitches later and a $650 bill (before insurance). The doctor informs us that the stitches need to come out Sunday or Monday. Uh, we will be on a cruise ship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.

Hail Storm Hit Lawton

October 10th, 2010, Sunday, started out as a quite evening. Then at nine o'clock something unseen for months appeared. Rain wait that's not just rain that's hail and more hail. It looked like it snowed outside. The hail came down so hard that it caused the rain to back up into the garage. Great, another inch of standing water flowed in. Emergency action required a causeway to be created for the water to flow past the garage.
The girls slept during the hail storm.

Hello, Sara? Get me the sheriff's office.

We needed an old fashioned desktop telephone for a film project we're working on for church. I told Melissa I'd take care of it. After collecting a handful of odds & ends, gluing them together and spray painting the whole thing black, here's what I came up with. You can call me "Propmaster Tim"! :P

Letters From A Nut #5

Speaking of letters to the editor, this one didn't get posted last year in response to a previous letter. I believe it was published September 26, 2009 in response to this letter which was a response to this letter. Whew! At least I think that's what happened.

Editor, The Transcript:

I feel compeled to write to you in response to a recent letter published in your fine publication from Ms. Joan Kozalowski. She questioned my truthfulness concerning a letter I wrote you about my neighbors. I can assure you that it was completely true. I do have neighbors and they are not figments of my imagination nor characters from a movie or television program, though I often enjoy watching television and movies.

I wonder if this response is a result of the growing cynicism in society. No one can be trusted. Everyone is out to get your money or pull a “fast one”. No one is willing to help their fellow man anymore!

I have seen a man at a busy intersection in Oklahoma City with a cardboard sign “Veteran Needs Money!”. Do I assume he’s not really a Veteran?

Someone in Nigeria e-mailed me an urgent message that his money was tied up here in America and needed my help. Should I assume he's trying to con me?

If we can't trust what is written in our local newspaper who can we trust? Who is Ms. Kozalowski going to tell us we can't trust next? Our own government of this great country that we live in? Shame on you Ms. Kozalowski!

If Joan Kozalowski (if that is her real name) does not believe me, I invite her to join my wife and I in my front yard. We've been watching the neighbors for weeks and we still don't know what they're up to.

Thank you,
Tim Duncan
A concerned citizen

Letters From A Nut #4

Published in Norman Transcript July 18, 2010 -
Link here. But here's the original:

Dear Editor,
I have a suggestion for the Norman developers who are striving to improve our fair city and I hope that you can pass this suggestion on to the appropriate city council member, clerk, alderman or whoever makes these decisions. If not, perhaps they read your fine publication or someone who knows who makes these decisions reads your fine publication and can pass on the information.

The road construction at Robinson and Stubbeman has brought a growing concern to my mind that has been there building like the continued development of Norman. This construction, like similar construction in various locales around town, has caused a serious bind in traffic. There's hardly a time I travel to Wal-Mart without feeling that there are far too many people on the road and most of them seem to end up at Wal-Mart. These various construction projects don't help.

I propose we build a cross-town ramp that bypasses the traffic altogether. We could have one end begin at the East-side Wal-Mart and the other end at the West-side Wal-Mart. In this way we can expedite travel to and from Wal-Marts without interference from construction on the various streets and thoroughfares in between.

It can be called the Norman All-City Bypass. Or you can name it after me.

Thank you,
Tim Duncan
A concerned citizen

Who do you write like?

Paste a sample of your writing and find out what famous author you write like based on statistical analysis. It's very scientific, I'm sure!

I write like
Douglas Adams

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Kitty Cat Crisis!

For those not in the "know", two weeks ago we took our little three-legged kitty, Seven, to the vet. She was very lethargic, clingier than usual and had little head tremors every now and then. After blood work showed slightly low electrolytes, the vet gave her some fluids and we took her home. Saturday night she couldn't hold her supper down and Sunday morning she began some very disturbing seizures every half hour or so!

After a trip to the emergency clinic, more inconclusive blood tests, and another trip to her regular vet, she was prescribed phenobarbitol for the seizures. Her situation got worse, she couldn't stand, her equilibrium was gone, her eyesight seemed to have gone, she barely ate and we scheduled an appointment to have her put down.

But, then, after a web search, we found other people with cats that had similar symptoms. Their cats had strokes. And many, with time and help, recovered! We canceled our vet appointment and after a week and a half, Seven has made an incredible recovery. She's still a little weak and unstable, but she can jump up and down from the bed, cries to be fed in the morning with the other cats and seems more like the old Seven every day!

Hopefully she'll keep up the recovery!

New C&H:ITC!

Egg Drop Soup

Cassie's 8th grade science class had an end of the year Egg Drop Project in which they had to design a container for a single egg that would be dropped from the top of the school football bleachers.

The container had to use certain criteria (no "padding" or wings, had to be less than 12" wide, etc.) After several brainstorming sessions (including one involving her uncle Mike at The Library) Cassie came up with "The Sphere". The Sphere was created from a styrofoam ball hollowed out, encased in Dixie cups for force distribution and air resistance. The egg was suspended in the center of the sphere by a nylon hose.

After assembling the package on Monday night, Cassie & I performed a test run on the church front lawn. It failed. But after discussing possible improvements, Cassie pressed on and took The Sphere to school for The Egg Drop Tuesday afternoon. We ventured by the school to check out how it went. The teacher saved Cassie's for one of the last to be dropped (it was one of the coolest looking designs). After several promising drops from other students' designs, and a few very disheartening crashes, slams and splooshes (one used water as a cushioning system) it was Cassie's turn.

We held our breath. The Sphere plummeted to earth. Cassie timidly cracked it open to examine the damage... and plucked the perfect unbroken egg from within! The Sphere was a success!

Thanks to Mike from some inspiration and Sir Isaac Newton, without whom we wouldn't have these silly projects at school!

Happy Iron Man Day!

Cassie has been anticipating the next Iron Man movie ever since watching the first one. He's her new number two hero (her father being number one of course, right?) and as soon as tickets were available online we purchased them for the midnight show. Today's the day and the entire family has Iron Man fever.

I still contend that the first in the series was the definitive "comic book movie", combining the best of action film making and comic book sensibilities. Hopefully Robert Downey Jr. and crew will be able to maintain the feel of the first without falling into the typical snares of these kind of things, keeping away from the hokey but still staying true to the spirit of the original.

To add to all the Marvel Magic, they've now released the first glimpse of Thor from the next Marvel blockbuster! If you're unfamiliar with the God of Thunder then check out your Norse mythology at Wikipedia, the Marvel character actually stays pretty true to the original fabled version. He's a noble son of Odin the All Father, king of the Norse pantheon and wields his trusty hammer Mjolnir to deal out justice! In the Marvel story he's been banished to earth by Odin to learn the lesson of humility (being a nigh omnipotent god tends to go to your head) and must live a dual life as a humble disabled human Dr. Donald Blake and The Almighty Thor!

It's going to be hard to stay clear of the hokey in this one! The film makers have a difficult task but with master Shakesperian thespian Kenneth Brannagh heading the production there just might be a chance. And so far, the look of Thor seems to fall into a good place. Like Thor and Dr. Blake, it seems to be precariously balanced between the classic look of the comicbook and something that could actually exist in the real world (or as real as a superhero tale can possibly get).

And I understand we might get a little tidbit of Goldilocks after the credits of Iron Man II so stick around and cross your fingers!

Vacation Report #17

On the Friday of Spring Break we awoke to a disturbing weather report. Nothing devastating, no tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis or giant, mutant bipedal dinosaur attacks. Just your average first-day-of-Spring snow storm, that's all.

We were faced with a choice: stick to the plan of leaving Saturday morning after breakfast and face chancy-at-best road conditions - or - skip our last set of vacation sites and leave early to try and beat Snow Miser to the punch. After weighing the two possibilities, debating the merits of each and flipping several coins we finally came to a decision.


We decided to compromise. We'd do some last minute sightseeing, eat out at Incredible Pizza for dinner and leave in the late afternoon/early evening on Friday. That would put us back in Norman excrutiatingly late (or the wee early hours of Saturday morning) but the only thing we'd really miss would be miscellaneous roadside photo opportunities.

After visiting Laclede's Landing Wax Museum it was time for our last St. Louis attraction. Our resident co-host Ralph suggested we visit the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis located in the heart of the Gateway City.

Construction of the monumental structure was begun in 1907 and it wasn't completed until 1988! And it's not like they were goldbricking the entire time - well, they sort of were... The building, if you can call it simply that, is a throwback to European cathedral's of the Middle Ages. It is huge. Whether you have a spiritual bone in your body, are christian, muslim or buddhist, believe in a greater power or not, it is a beautiful and inspirational place! It's complete with golden mosaics, giant rose windows, amazing marble sculptures... and a gift shop!

The first thing you see is the narthex decorated with a golden mosaic depicting the life of Louis IX of France (St. Louis). As we entered into the nave we were greeted by the angelic voices of a children's choir that really resonated in the huge space of the church. We pretty much just wandered around from there in awe of the structure and the amazing art that filled the place. The Cathedral Basilica was a great way to finish off our visit to St. Louis!

Next up: There's no place like home!

Sole Mates!

New t-shirt design - and I think the best one yet!

Cassie & Hannah: In The Cave

Cassie & Hannah filmed a quick episode while at Meramec Caverns!

Vacation Report #16

My daughter, the mad scientist!

Madame Tussaud's is the premier museum for wax sculptures. Expect to see amazingly lifelike representations of actors, politicians and historical figures that could seemingly walk out of the displays at any moment.

Laclede's Landing Wax Museum in St. Louis, MO however is a different story! Some of the figures are laughable, some with fingers missing and most miss the mark of their intended portraiture by a St. Louis mile! Not to say it wasn't great fun to visit! This is the sort of thing we live for! Cheese in every direction and fun for the whole family (though Hannah was terrified of the Chamber of Horrors and decided to opt out of the basement with the more "scary" figures.

Cassie's most frightening moment was in front of the Nightmare On Elm Street exhibit. Another couple were trying to pass by her, making a sort of scratchy noise while squeezing between her and the wall. She pretty much freaked out, jumped a foot off the floor and paused clutching her heart ala Redd Foxx. "Elizabeth! I'm coming ta join ya!"

Providing some presidential advice.

Next up: Do these pants make my buttresses look big?