Ned Hibberd's Blog

This summer has been a hot one, and these hot and humid temperatures are going to be sticking around for a while longer.

Although we didn't get out of town and go anywhere this summer, if we did I would have wanted to go somewhere where the air is cool and crisp.

What is your ideal vacation during these summer months, with or without the kids?

Where did you vacation this summer, or did you just stay home?

With only a few weeks left before the kids go back to school, will you be making any last minute vacation plans?

Stay cool!

Ned

It's the end of an era for my son, who just turned two.

My wife and I have gotten used to watching DVD movies with him snuggling on the couch between us.  Normally, we'll be able to time things so that he falls asleep within the first few minutes.

This way, we can watch non-G-rated films without exposing him to "adult situations and language."

But this past weekend's screening of "There Will Be Blood" was different.

As promised in the title, there WAS blood.  A lot of it.  Near the beginning of the film, an oil worker is killed in a derrick accident.

Unfortunately our son was awake for this scene and he pointed to the screen and proclaimed, "Boo boo!"

This, of course, is how he lets us know when he has a minor injury that requires a kiss.

But the character in the film didn't need a kiss; he needed a coroner.

And with one proclamation, our two-year-old made it clear HE now needs to spend Movie Time in his bed upstairs!

Ned

The call came in the middle of the night.  The ringing telephone sounded far, far away as I struggled to shake off a deep slumber.

Once awake, I realized that the ring sounded distant...because it was.  The digital chirp was emanating from somewhere downstairs.

By the sound of it, I could tell the ringing was not my phone, nor my wife's.  Then it stopped, the house was quiet, and I allowed myself to slip back to sleep.

Cue the music from the movie "Groundhog Day."  Another night, another ringing telephone.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

I possess no super powers, but eventually I figured out the source of my nightly torment...

It was my 2 year old son's "Mr. Incredible" cell phone.  When new, it would emit its distinctive bleat only when it was flipped open or its buttons were pushed.

But one ill-advised foray into the shower changed everything.  Now, the phone rings without human intervention.  And it seems to prefer to release its inner demons not in the daytime, but in the deepest recesses of the night.

I ought to remove the batteries and give the phone a decent burial.  That would bring an end to my nocturnal misery.

But any parent could tell you the consequences of such an action: a phoneless and furious toddler!

Mankind's only hope?  Intervention by a superhero, like Mr. Incredible himself.

Now if only I could find his phone number...

Ned

Sometimes it not what somebody does...but what they don't do...

This past Saturday, the Hibberd and Iscovitz families got together and spent the afternoon at the Greek Festival.  We had a good time despite the rain, and the food was delicious!!

We walked around, enjoying the sites and sounds.  After a couple hours, we decided it was time to head home.  But we couldn't leave without some yummy homemade Greek dessert, so we took a short walk to the pastry tent and grabbed some baklava.

There were many people at the festival, and finding a table place our plates on was not easy.  But we finally found one, near the entrance/exit.  It was a tall circular table with no chairs.

We put our plates down, pushed our toddler's baby stroller underneath the table and chomped away on the baklava!

As we were getting ready to leave, another group moved in on our table, which was fine... since space was at a premium.

What was not fine was the woman who staked out the spot next to the parked stroller.  She casually shifted the plastic tablecloth so that it dumped all the rain it had collected.  Rainwater that landed, all of it, right in the seat of the stroller!

She glanced over to see what she'd done, but instead of apologizing... she turned away with a "harrrumph."  She proceeded to ignore all of our incredulous looks, as Mike and I and our wives exchanged those "can you believe she just did that?" glances!

The woman had just dumped a load of water right in the spot where our toddler was about to sit.  Okay, so it was an accident.  Accidents happen.

But this woman didn't even think it appropriate to say, "Oh, I'm sorry, let me see if I can find a napkin."  Or even, "oops."

We cleaned up the water ourselves and dried off the seat, still marveling at the depths of her rudeness...

...all the while, making a silent vow that we'd raise our children to be more considerate.

Ned

These are just some of the breathtaking images you'll see in the locally-produced television documentary, Into The Wind.

It's been a labor of love for one Pearland man, Chris Page, and his crew...who wanted to give viewers a glimpse of the majesty of powered paragliding.  Which is a nice way of saying you strap an oversized propeller to your back and hang on to your parasail...not to mention your $2,000 video camera!

Now, Chris is not a filmmaker who learned powered parasailing.  He's a computer guy who picked up the sport and then decided to turn his new love into a feature-length documentary.  This involved learning how to shoot, write and edit; a monumental undertaking for someone with little initial knowledge of show biz.  Now, he's a grizzled veteran.

And the results?  You can judge for yourself!

I interviewed Chris Page for a feature story that aired on Fox 26 a couple years ago.  Since then, his 90-minute film has been chosen as an Official Selection in several international film festivals.  It came out on DVD a while back, but now you can see it, for free!

Chris called to let me know the documentary will air, in its entirety, on PBS television, here in Houston.  KUHT-TV (Channel 8) will be showing the film on Monday, April 23 at 10pm.

And for more on Into The Wind, you can check out http://www.into-the-wind.com/ to check out some behind-the-scenes photos and information on the "making of" this high-flying documentary.

Enjoy!

Ned