Seeing the movie "Click" yesterday reminded me of the childhood fantasy of the "time stopper", a theoretical device that could, as its name implies, stop time, for any reason, yet retain the flexibility needed to act on situations as the holder of said time stopper preferred. In my mind, the time stopper could be used for putting the world on snooze while catching extra sleep, while finishing uncompleted homework, or for snaking the cookies on the counter, and nobody finding out it was you who had done it. In fact, the time stopper I had mentally developed as a youth would have been much better utilized than Adam Sandler's foray into fourth dimension manipulation in the film.

In "Click", Sandler, frustrated by a litany of remotes dedicated to a single task, goes "Beyond" in a nearby Bed Bath and Beyond, looking for a universal remote, and finds a doozy, thanks to the inventiveness of Christopher Walken. The remote enables him to fast-forward through boring dinners, spousal fights, and to pause time, as in the often-shown preview where he manipulated the annoying neighbor's son into getting hit in the face by a thrown baseball, from his own son. But while many of the movie's central frustrations were around completing work-related tasks at the expense of family obligations, Sandler acted like a complete novice with this amazing tool.

In two instances in the film, Sandler shows he is able to manipulate others or surroundings while the remote has paused the rest of the world. The first, with his son tossing a ball at the neighbor kid, and the second, when he pauses time to slap his ungrateful boss silly. When unpaused, the boss has a massive headache, resulting from Sandler's assault. Yet, he doesn't use those tools when it comes time to work on his architecture plans, instead, sleepwalking through his family life, and hoping his "autopilot" self did a good job. While his drone does, why not simply pause time, take the attention and effort needed on the documents, and then unpause, with work done, to enjoy the family? When tired, why not pause time and take a nap? When he gains weight, why not pause time, go exercise and drop the extra poundage? He certainly didn't use his universal remote to the best of its ability.

As children, we were much more inventive, and likely better prepared for the advent of the time stopper than was Sandler. While we didn't ask for the fast forward and rewind buttons common on most remotes, all we really needed was the ability to stop time - though I admit a great deal of the activities we had imagined during paused time were either immoral or illegal.

With a time stopper, you could shoplift at will and never be caught on camera, you could sleep as long as you needed, or procrastinate as long as possible before writing papers and doing assignments in "no time". You could manipulate (or assault) others without concern of retribution. The concept that you would be rushed would go away. Demands of work vs. home would be greatly diminished, and if you were aching for a promotion at the office, you could accomplish more than anybody else, in less time. You would be the dream employee.

So where Adam Sandler struggled as a father and eventually lost his wife thanks to his universal remote, he deserved to - not so much because he was a bad guy, but because he didn't properly use this amazing gift available.

1. Pay Per View Movies at Your Seat
2. 25+ Live Cable Channels at Your Seat
3. CD Jukebox available at Your Seat

(note a trend here?)

4. Shortbread cookies, not roasted peanuts...
5. Lower ticket prices
6. Taller chair backrests
7. More leg room
8. Electronic check-in by credit card at every airport
9. Flight tracker at the seat
10. You can challenge other passengers at trivia

Simply put, the little built-in entertainment console in every seat on the cross-country flights make a real difference. I wasn't forced to read my book and live off the iPod Shuffle's songs to be entertained. On our flight from Atlanta to San Jose today, we saw "Click" with Adam Sandler, watched CNBC, ESPN and CNN, and sampled new tracks by Madonna, Zero 7 and Thievery Corporation.

Not too shabby. Considering it cost 70% less than United, this is something we will want to do again.

Flying coast to coast always guarantees some level of discontinuity, as the three time zone change never seems to sink in until just as I'm forced to return, meaning my body's slow adjustments don't do me well. When you combine that with a schedule that had me up until 2 a.m. Eastern Time, and a 7 a.m. flight that had me out of bed at 4:30 Eastern, you can see how I'm just a little frazzled right now. Home, but not exactly settled.

Earlier, I wrote that I signed up for two 7 a.m. flights from Delta, in an attempt to save the company money. That was expected, and while I wasn't excited about forcing myself awake at 4:30 to make the cab ride to make the flight, it seemed like something I could pull off. Yet, on Tuesday, I received an e-mail from the editor of Sactown Royalty, the SportsBlog Nation Kings blog, that he was headed out on vacation, and I would need to run the site in his absence. Though eager to help, it set me up for a pair of late nights. Last night's game, nationally televised, started at 10:30 eastern, and wrapped up after 1 a.m. 

See:
Sactown Royalty: Run 'N' Gun At the Oracle Ends Kings Streak
Sactown Royalty: Game #8: at Golden State

So, on 2+ hours of sleep, we stumbled to our flights, first from Tampa to Atlanta, and then from Atlanta to San Jose, where we rolled our watch back three hours, went to Long Term Parking, and drove home. I'd love to say two hours of sleep is good enough for anybody, but it's not. Next time, we won't be scheduling flights that early. I'm frazzled, somewhat out of it. Good thing I still remember how to type.

Cross-posted at Daily Kos

In the left wing blogosphere, it seems there is one religious group that does not receive the same welcomes, the same understanding, the same care that others do - apparently being Mormon (common slang for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is a key delimiter that defines people based on their single characteristic. I don't see that any other religion, be you Muslim, Jewish, Presbyterian or Catholic, raises the ire of the left's community with such clarity - and any politician who happens to be Mormon cannot act independent of their faith without being constantly reminded of it, whether it be Harry Reid, Orrin Hatch or Mitt Romney.

As a viewer of many left-leaning political blogs, from DailyKos to MyDD and AmericaBlog for the last few years, I have been very impressed with the great variety of people who post their views, actions, frustrations and plans to push the Democratic party forward, or in many cases, finding the many wrongs in today's political sphere. As Democrats, we have always been the advocates for diversity, understanding of other viewpoints, and champions for the disenfranchised or those outside the majority.

When John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960, it was remarkable that a Catholic would have ascended to the highest post in the country - and countless people were afraid that he would "answer to the Pope". Now, a politician being Catholic hardly raises an eyebrow. Yet, we are all very familiar with the religious affiliations of Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (Mormon), Utah senator Orrin Hatch (Mormon) and Nevada Senator Harry Reid (Mormon). When each of these political leaders is written of or spoken of, it is done so through the lens of their religion.

I have been Mormon my whole life.

This to you probably means I lived in Utah, have eight brothers and sisters, got married at eighteen, attended BYU, hate homosexuals, am anti-abortion, and would vote for a moldy lettuce leaf if it had the word "Republican" stamped on it. (A phrase I picked up when a fellow Mormon complained about her father's voting preferences...)

Wrong.

I went to the "non-conservative" UC Berkeley, got married after completing college, and have always voted Democrat. I am pro-choice. I am pro-environment. My three best male friends are gay - two of whom I've known since junior high school, and both of whom have been invited and come with me to church services on more than one occasion. In fact, for a church so widely considered a "cult", the LDS church is one of the most open out there - period. Everybody is invited to every meeting. Heck, we even run commercials and offer free Bibles and Book of Mormons!

One of the major tenets of the church is a belief in free agency - that everybody has the opportunity to select between right and wrong, or when it comes to earthly affairs, the church pretty much stays out of it. Every year around election time, the church makes it a point to proclaim their neutrality, without bias toward any specific party, proposition or individual. And while Utah and Idaho (where many Mormons reside) can be counted on to vote Republican, there is no political litmus test to be an active member of the church. Reid is a fantastic example of a Democrat who happens to be Mormon, without conflict. That is his agency, as much as it is the agency of those who choose to consistently vote Republican.

The issue reared its ugly head again today on AmericaBlog, which I often find to have some of the best political news out there, but runs a serious mean streak when it comes to the Mormon church, one I've seen time and again, with frustration. In an article this morning around Romney's hire of an extremist ad consultant (according to the site), comments that raged against his religion were rampant.

Some excerpts:

"Jesus why are these pretty haired cons so obsessed with us? Mitty go back to Salt Lake and worship that idiotic cult of yours."

"Romney=Mormon Cultist"

"All you have to ask a christian republican is if they want their country run by someone who thinks he can have all the women he wants on his own planet. Watch their heads spin off into space when they get a real look at what the mormons believe."

Not-so-brilliant insight from people who are supposed to be among the most tolerant out there. Comments against blacks, Jews or Muslims would be uproarious, but Mormons continue to be fair game. And this is nothing new.

For example:DKos: Tag: Mormon

From:
Hinckley a Walking Corpse?

The President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, walking corpse Gordon B. Hinckley, wants to solve our "problem."

Utah and Idaho are worse than the South...

"Their guilt and inferiority complexes are infused with not just racism, but polygamy, incest, and in-breeding!"

It's hard to believe that a party or its followers wouldn't want me or my family to be a part of it because of the religion in which I was born. A religion which supports stem cell research, a religion which was one of the first to organize help and aid for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and those affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I hope that this bewildering response represents the lunatic fringe, and not the silent majority who understands that there are many of us who love the church and love the party. I'm not the only one (See: DKos and Bigotry)

They say to turn the other cheek and to take it. They say to pray for your those that persecuteth you. I hope that we can move beyond the times of ignorant, roving mobs that plagued the Mormons in the 1800s, and recognize that as our society has grown more enlightened to people of all colors and backgrounds, that there are no exceptions to the rule.