The Bauer Confidential

A little more than half of everything I am is thanks to you!!

April — Sat, 07 May 2011 20:53:06 +0000

The science dork in me loves this video. This guys is great, I also enjoyed these:
The St. Patty’s Day Song
The NPR rap
I can do anything good

Gravity

Matthew — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:22:32 +0000

I’m back from Casper, WY and my brother is doing much better than we all expected. I debated on writing this note, but I decided that family and friends would want to know, and the other people could, if they choose to, pray, meditate, send good karma, or do whatever they wanted to help. Plus, if I didn’t write something soon, I might forget parts of it.

Chris was in a horrific accident on April 1^st. Chris, a semi-truck driver, was traveling on highway 16 near Buffalo, WY. While driving down the side of a mountain, his brakes stopped working. I don’t know the details of the accident, and Chris has no recollection after the failed braking, but the Police suspect that after the breaks failed, the load Chris was hauling sifted toppling the trailer over the side of the road and pulling the truck with it. The truck and trailer rolled several times eventually landing in a gulch. Although Chris was wearing his seatbelt, the force eventually threw him from the truck and into the muddy gulch. That is were he was found and a helicopter “life-lifted” him to the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper.

An article from the local paper, the Buffalo Bulletin, picture included: http://bit.ly/i4Uzay

Chris suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, which was operated on immediately when he arrived. With pins and whatnot, they fused his damaged vertebrae together with healthy ones. That’s all I know about that operation. His lungs were bruised, which placed him on a ventilator (it was taken out three days later). He had other minor internal injuries, but nothing requiring an operation. With some drugs those injuries are healing. His brain and lower spin were not dramatically hurt (hurray!!). He also has “road-rash” all over his body, especially his knees, and his eyes are black and purple like he took a beating in a boxing match.

The blunt force trauma to his body was focused on his left side, and mangled his left arm and hand. The mud and dirt embedded in his arm also caused a major infection, but using copious amounts of antibiotics has cleared it out. In another operation, the doctor told me that they literally put his left elbow and hand back together. They reattached many ligaments and I can’t remember what else but the Ulnar nerve was damaged and is healing now. Chris has feeling and can move his fingertips, but how much strength and overall use of his left arm he will regain is yet to be determined. It will probably never be 100% again, but he will have a functional arm, which I think is a great compared to no arm at all. Although being thrown from a vehicle in an accident like this kills most people, the doctors think that landing mostly on his left arm, as opposed to his head or chest, plus the muddy wet conditions of the ground he landed on, all helped to keep him alive.

As of 4/11/11, the doctors have basically immobilized Chris from the shoulders up. He has to wear a neck brace when he is lying down, or this head-and-neck brace for sitting/standing/walking. I’m not exactly sure what this latter brace’s official name is, but it wraps around his chest, the back goes up and partially wraps his head. The front has a chin rest, and there is a part that wraps around his neck. It’s all hard plastic and metal and does not look easy to put on or to take off. His left arm is in a 90-degree angle splint, and wrapped up with so much gauze that it looks like those arm things animal trainers wear to protect their arm from attacking dogs.

Right now, he can move his right arm and both legs, but he can’t get up on his own, sit for very long, or walk on his own, walk very far, or basically do anything that puts a strain on his neck. He was transferred to a physical rehabilitation hospital today, and will begin the long arduous journey of rebuilding his strength in his back, neck, and his left arm and hand. The doctor said it takes normally three months for the vertebrae to both heal from the operation and to have enough strength so that he can walk without the head-and-neck brace, but he’ll have to wear a neck brace and have physical therapy for a long time. No one knows about his left arm and hand. Only physical therapy and time will tell. Once the doctors think he can travel without the aid of a nurse, they’ll transfer him somewhere closer to home, probably St. Louis, and he’ll have outpatient physical therapy from then on out.

I think Chris is in good spirits, and I think Karen being there is directly contributing to that good spirit. I think that with Karen there, having his kids Patrick and Ashley eagerly waiting for their daddy to come home so they can smother him with love, and knowing that many people, especially family, are pulling for him to get better, has all greatly helped Chris emotionally. Chris appears determined to overcome these injuries.

2010 movies that I saw and decided to tell you about.

Matthew — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:18:41 +0000

So, I haven’t posted much of anything in about half a year or more. Recently, I’ve been looking at various movie critics’ top ten list for recommendations to rent on Netflix. Now, I used to go to more then my fair share of movies, but since my daughter was born, going to the movies has become much less important. Last year, April and I went to the movies a total of 3, yes count them, 3 times. I’ll count them for you: 1) Avatar, 2) Toy Story 3, and 3) HP 7.1.

Instead of the normal top 10 list, I thought I would compile a top 10 (or 11) list of any movie I saw in 2010. It’s a good thing Netflix keeps track of what I’ve rented.

Also, I reserve the right to change my mind on any of these, at any time.

1) Toy Story 3 (2010)
This movie is funny! When I look at critical reviews on this movie, they are always glowing, but I feel it doesn’t get the end of the year credit it deserves (not enough best movie of the year votes) because it’s animated. The movie is great! It’s emotional, it had a fun story line, interesting themes of loyalty and abandonment, and I found it to have a really suspenseful third act. It is a damn near perfect film!

2) Paper Moon (1973)
“I want my 200 dollars!” A wonderful movie. I was going to say a wonderful classic, but I’m not sure how old a movie has to be before it falls into the category of classic. Anyway, the acting is top notch, with a surprisingly satisfactory ending.

3) Winter’s Bone (2010)
A mystery/drama. It has been described as a country noir. Interestingly for me, it was both set and filmed around Forsyth, MO. It’s a strong character driven movie exploring the meth trade, the lives of the people that are desperate enough to turn to such an occupation, and the effect it has on families. It’s a really good movie…sad though.

4) The Hurt Locker (2009)
Intelligent script, intense acting, and beautiful directing.

5) The Hangover (2009)
A hilarious comedy/mystery. The casting made all the difference. If you don’t know, it’s about a bachelor party in Las Vegas in which everyone wakes up the next morning with no memory of what happened the night before and with zero trace of the groom to be. The vulgarity of the language bothered some, but not me so much. I’m bit leery if the sequel. Often with comedies, they try to duplicate the original instead of building on what was already there.

Alan Garner: Can I ask you another question?
Lisa: Sure.
Alan Garner: You probably get this a lot. This isn’t the real Caesar’s Palace is it?
Lisa: What do you mean?
Alan Garner: Did, umm… did Caesar live here?
Lisa: No
Alan Garner: I didn’t think so.

6) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid (1969)
Another classic. Dramatic, well acted, sharp writing, and a bit funny. Ending was odd, didn’t like that part.

Butch Cassidy: [to Sundance] If he’d just pay me what he’s spending to make me stop robbing him, I’d stop robbing him.

7) Up in the Air (2009)
Great writing, good story, and well acted. It’s about a man that travels for a living and doesn’t have any commitments, until he meets that someone that forces him to rethink his own philosophy on life. For my Midwest friends, some scenes were film at the Lambert International Airport.

8 ) How to train your dragon (2010)
Funny and creative. It’s about a Viking community that is always on alert, defending themselves from attacking dragons. The movie focuses on the clan leader’s son, who’s a bit of a disappointment to his father due to his lack of dragon fighting skills. The boy befriends a dragon and soon discovers there is more to dragons than people assume. I had a lot of fun watching this movie.

9) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010)
That’s right, I’m saying HP-7.1 is a better movie than Inception, but only if you’ve read the book. The movie should really be titled: “Harry Potter and, well, you really need to read the book first.” If you watch this movie without reading the book first (and possibly the six books before it), I believe most people will end up totally confused. If you have read the books, I think you’ll find this movie to be highly enjoyable. Oh, is HP 7.1 better than Inception? I might change my mind, but honestly I don’t really care. They’re both fine movies.

10) Inception (2010)
Ultimately, it’s about a man who is dealing with the death of his wife, and had to flee the states because he was framed for her murder. Wanting to return to the states to reunite with his two children, he takes on a dangerous and near impossible job. The plot is complicated and the director, Chris Nolan, wants the audience to keep guessing what is real and what is not. The problem is that the complications of the plot, and the constant effort to keep the audience guessing, forces the story to get kind of lost. Even with those faults, I couldn’t stop watching it. It’s exquisite film art. Especially that fight scene in the hotel with no gravity. Really cool film making!

11) Persepolis (2007)
It gives a perspective of the Iranian revolution and it’s aftermath (about 1970’s-present). It’s a story about a little girl growing up in Iran, her parents forcing her to leave the misogynistic, oppressive theocratical Iranian regime in her early teens, and how she eventually had to struggle with her own thoughts about being a women, and Iranian women, with no home. An all around important and good story, albeit a depressing one. The pacing is extremely slow, thus although the movie is relatively short it feels extremely long.

Here are another 10 movies that I liked. The order isn’t really important, but I thought these movies were entertaining.

12) The Girl with the dragon tattoo (2007)

13) Date night (2010)

14) 500 days of summer (2009)

15) The Blind Side (2009)

16) A Single Man (2009)

17) Funny girl (1968)

18) Where the wild things are (2009)

19) Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

20) Zombieland (2009)

The days are long….but the years are short…

April — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:28:50 +0000

It’s been a long while since we posted here, there are lots of reasons, but generally life has left little extra time and the blog has suffered. I couldn’t let our little girl’s second birthday go by without sharing a little bit of it with our blog readers. I can’t believe two years have flown by already. I’ve learned so much from my daughter, expanded both my patience and my wonder. Here’s how we celebrated her birthday this past week.

She got too close to the cake when blowing out the candle.

Wordless Wednesday: A Morning by the Bay

April — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:58:21 +0000

Bay Area Discovery Museum. August 2010.

More about Wordless Wednesday here.

Wordless Wednesday: A Pirate’s Life for Me

April — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:43:49 +0000

August 2010. Bay Area Discovery Museum.

More about Wordless Wednesday Here.

Wordless Wednesday: Smiles

April — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:22:10 +0000

A genuine smile!

What you get when you point a camera at a child and say “Smile.” I’m starting to wonder if I’m raising a baby pirate.
Not entirely wordless, but hey, it’s hump day and I’ll do what I want.
More Wordless Wednesday here.

Knee High By the 4th of July: What a difference a year makes!

April — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 04:28:48 +0000

July 4th 2009 and 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Irises

April — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:09:36 +0000