William Stamper: 1928 - 2006

My grandfather, my mom's father, Baba Bill, died last Sunday morning. He was a great man. He loved his family and he loved the Lord. I have hundreds of great memories of him. He was beloved by all who knew him.

My mom made a comment the other day: "I wonder what he's seeing? What he's doing?" This thought makes me happy. Though I miss him a lot, I'll see him again.


Above is a nice picture of he and my grandmother at my Torrey graduation, but here's how I really remember him:

This was a great Christmas. We played lots of games with my mom's side of the family and it was pure joy. Baba Bill is miming something like horseshoes here. I remember laughing till my sides hurt that day.

"Jersey Finger"

"Avulsion (tearing) of the flexor tendon to the fingertip usually occurs from grabbing a jersey during a tackle. It most often affects the ring finger. Following the injury, the fingertip cannot be flexed (bent down) and the tendon can often be felt in the finger or the palm. X-rays will rule out an associated fracture. Treatment consists of surgery to reattach the tendon to the base of the fingertip."

Tore the tendon in a flag football game Thursday night. I thought it was only jammed at first, so I played the rest of the game (not very effectively). Got it X-rayed Friday afternoon, they scheduled me for surgery Saturday. Now I have a soft cast and 6 weeks to learn how to do my job one-handed.

DON'T GO THERE, J.OL. I know you're thinking it.

Duel (1971)

I wasn't very entertained by the movie, but it was interesting on an academic level to trace some early Spielberg fingerprints.

There are also a couple money-shots worth seeing the whole film for, like the rig toppling over the cliff at the end like a giant iron dragon (complete with Godzilla-like scream of defeat). I thought I'd seen a vehicle go over a cliff before, but the way they staged and captured it with the billowing dust and smoke was very beautiful, like a mortally-wounded stone golem slowly toppling.

Much more interesting than the movie were the two behind the scenes interviews with Spielberg, one about Duel and the other about Spielberg's television work. He's fascinating to listen to.