DFWCards

Come on Cardinal fans; you know you want one of these

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(Lack of) Independence Day

My daughter Jenna underwent surgery this morning to remove all four of her wisdom teeth.

She was quite the trooper in the days leading up to the procedure, exhibiting no fear nor any nervousness.

The time spent at the doctor’s office – where the surgery was performed – went very smoothly, taking less than an hour from start to finish. Since returning home, Jenna has taken control of the living room, spending hour upon hour in the company of HBO On Demand, multiple viewings of Scrubs, and goodness knows what else. She has very little visible swelling so far, but that could change on day 2, so we’ll see.

As Jenna has grown, she’s become increasingly independent, which is very typical of teenagers. Because of that, it was initially disconcerting to hear her asking for help for every little thing this evening after I got home from work.

But your instincts return quickly, and the assistance you so readily provided when your child was small once again becomes second nature. That’s what parents do.

WALL*E Delivers

The family and I went today to see Pixar Animation Studio’s newest release – WALL*E – (perhaps you’ve heard of it) at the Cinemark Tinseltown in Plano. If you see the movie there, try to see it in one of the auditoriums in which it is being digitally projected. WALL*E includes some of the most photo-realistic animation ever created, and it looks absolutely magnificent in digital form.

The movie is getting exceptional reviews, and opened this weekend to an estimated $62 million domestic gross, ranking it third among Pixar releases, after Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.

It’s both a beautiful love story and an environmental cautionary tale, and presents its message in a way that doesn’t bash you over the head.

I liked the movie, but for me it does not rank in the upper echelon of the Pixar features.

Here is my current personal ranking of the nine Pixar feature films, from most- to least-favorite:

• Toy Story 2
• A Bug’s Life
• The Incredibles
• Toy Story
• Ratatouille
• WALL*E
• Finding Nemo
• Cars
• Monsters, Inc.

Do note that none of these are bad movies; in fact, all of them are better than most of the movies produced annually by Hollywood. Their real competition is with their brethren from Emeryville.

It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy

It seems that former Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino is already on the hot seat in Atlanta, where the combination of his team's lack of success to date (1-4 in advance of Monday's game against the New York Giants) and his demeanor, described by some in the Falcons organization as "cold, aloof and devoid of personality" are working against him.

Generally speaking, we wish no ill on those who have contributed to any UofL success, be it athletic or academic. For Petrino, who always looked at the Louisville job as a stepping stone to someplace better (as evidenced by his annual discussions with other schools), we gladly make an exception.

We'll Always Have Louisville

Melissa Joan Hart, best known as the star of TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and her musician husband, Mark Wilkerson, welcomed their first child, a baby boy, last Wednesday.

Mason Walter Wilkerson was born January 11 and weighs 9 pounds, People magazine reported. It is the first child for Hart, 29, and husband, Mark Wilkerson, 28, lead singer and guitarist for rock band Course of Nature.

Hart and Wilkerson met in May 2002 when she introduced his band at a Kentucky Derby event in Louisville, Kentucky.

Louisville Has a Hip-Hop Artist?

Dateline Louisville. Here's some breathless prose courtesy of the PETA Media Center:

"Hip-hop’s newest heavy hitter, Louisville emcee Lucy Diamonds, has a message for KFC execs: Stop the torture of the more than 850 million chickens raised and killed to fill your buckets. Diamonds—who is no stranger to controversy, as anyone who has heard her breakthrough single, "Sorry Right Number I & II," can attest—went public with her disdain for KFC cruelty when she recently sat down for an exclusive video interview with the folks at PETAWorld.com, PETA’s Urban Division."

Like Father, Like Son - Unfortunately

As a longtime Cincinnati Reds fan, I was not happy watching Pete Rose's inexorable slide from baseball star to gambler to huckster, with a stop in prison for tax evasion along the way.

In fact, Rose's life experiences have probably done more than anything else in professional sports (save for reading Ball Four ) to make me realize that most athletes are flawed and not worthy of hero worship by kids or anyone else.

Unfortunately, it appears that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, as Pete Rose, Jr., the son of the legendary hitter, is now facing drug trafficking charges.

Prayers and Good Thoughts

For Dallas-Ft. Worth area UofL alumni, the impact of Hurricane Rita - soon to make landfall on the Gulf Coast of Texas - is limited so far. There has been higher than usual traffic at both groceries and gas stations, but otherwise today was a typical Thursday - if more than a bit hot.

For Houstonians and other south Texans, however, Rita has already has had significant effect, even as the first bands of rain just begin to strike the coast.

For the last two days, there has been a massive exodus of people westward on I-10 and northward on I-45. Here in DFW, we are feeling this, as our freeways are crowded with the traffic of those from other parts of the state seeking shelter from the storm.

Hotels are full all the way into Oklahoma, and given Rita's strength (currently at Category 4), many of those who have evacuated have no idea what may await them when they eventually return.

Based on the current projected hurricane track, here in DFW, we don't expect to receive more than a series of hard rain showers from Rita, as we will be on the western (i.e., weaker) side of the system. But hurricanes are fickle beasts, and if Rita begins to wobble back toward the west, we could get a worse than predicted weather event.

Certainly we know by watching what happened with Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama what a strong hurricane is capable of. At this time of crisis for our state, our thoughts and prayers are with all the displaced citizens of the great state of Texas - especially any with ties to the University of Louisville.

Please be safe.

Gonzo to the Very End

Louisville native and writer Hunter S. Thompson's ashes will be blasted from a cannon mounted inside a 53-foot-high sculpture of the journalist's "gonzo fist" emblem, his wife said Tuesday. Thompson killed himself in February in his Woody Creek, Colorado home.

Less Than 50 Days Until Christmas ...

Based on what I've seen in the stores and heard on the radio in the last few days, it must not be too early to think about Christmas shopping. And if you've got a University of Louisville fan on your Christmas list, you might consider shopping at the UofLSports.com Official Store.

Please note that we here at dfwcards.com have no affiliation with this merchant.