In Awe of Flying

Sometimes an occurrence can become so routine that we are blinded to just how amazing it is. I fly for business sometimes. Not as much as the guy I met recently who lives in San Diego and works in Tampa, but enough so that flying is not a novelty. When I am not travelling someplace really fun, flying brings up images of standing in security lines, waiting between flights and eating bad over-priced airport food (except at the Austin airport where they have Salt Lick barbecue!). Mostly it tires me out and leaves me achy the next day.


Yesterday my jaded eyes opened to the wonder around me for just a moment. I was on a Southwest flight taking off from Phoenix on my way home from a bankruptcy conference in Las Vegas. At the moment that the plane left the ground, I realized that I was in a long metal tube which was blasting off into the atmosphere. With new eyes, I realized that my commuter flight was a close cousin to a rocket ship, defying gravity like Icarus (but without the part about getting too close to the sun and melting). In a matter of moments, we were cruising at a level where the air was too thin to breathe and the temperature was too cold to survive without the protective shell of the aircraft. Even though I was tired and ready to be home in my own bed, I was amazed for a moment.

Morning in Las Vegas

The cool, crisp air and the pastel blue of the desert sky give the Las Vegas strip a feeling of innocence and natural beauty. As I jog down the strip, my lungs grasp for traction in the thin mountain air. However I am glad to be out of the hotel alone with my music and my thoughts. On this morning, my run is not going so well. I am running out of steam about halfway through. I take the time to walk a bit and observe. Gone are the bustling crowds of the strip with their cigarettes and beer cans, the girls in cocktail dresses and the ever present hustlers passing out cards for girlie clubs from the night before. The sidewalk is home to a few joggers, service workers going to their jobs and a homeless person carrying a garbage bag full of his possessions. However, reminders of the other Las Vegas are everywhere. LED signs (the high tech version of neon) on every building advertise shows. Abandoned news stands contain advertisements for seedy clubs. Nevertheless, the morning is one of vitality rather than excess. Construction workers in orange safety vests appear every hundred yards or so, fixing the streets and renovating the insides of future shops. This is a bustling city brimming with the hope of a new day which will give way to the carnival atmosphere after sundown.

All About Sathers

My last name is Sather, which is not a particularly common name in Texas. I am told that Sather is Norwegian for shepherd, but I can't verify that. Ironically, my family is Swedish. When they came to this country, they did not have a fixed surname. The son was referred to as the son of the father and the daughter was referred to as the daughter of the mother. Thus, my ancestors were named Olson and Martasdottir. According to family legend, nearly everyone in the town where my ancestor settled was named Olson, making mail delivery difficult. As a result, Carl Olson became Carl Sather. The name Sather was not based on the Norwegian, but was derived from Satterbergen, a mountain in Sweden near where Carl came from.

Having a somewhat obscure name, I take interest whenever I see the name Sather come up. Here are a few instances of the name.

The Berkley Connection

Probably the largest concentration of Sather-related people, places and things relates to UC Berkley. Peder Sather was a Norwegian-born banker who donated money for two important landmarks at UC-Berkley in memory of his wife Jane K. Sather. These were the Sather Gate and the Sather Tower.



The Sather Gate seems to be a place where protesters tend to gather. According to recent news, demonstrators against budget cuts by UC President Mark Yudof (who was dean of the UT Law School when I attended) gathered at the Sather Gate.



The Sather Tower is also known as the Campanile due to its resemblance to the Campanile di San Marco in Venice. The Sather Tower was the inspiration for the Sather computer language.

According to Wikipedia, "Sather is an object-oriented programming language. It originated circa 1990 at the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California-Berkley, developed by an international team led by Steve Omohundro. It supports garbage collectoin and generics by subtypes."

Apparently Sather was intended to be a simpler, more elegant version of the Eiffel computer language. Since the group which developed it was based at Berkley, they named their language after the Sather Tower, a tower which was smaller and more elegant than the Eiffel Tower. According to something that I found on the web somewhere, "The name 'Sather' is a pun of sorts-Sather was originally envisioned as a smaller, efficient, cleaned-up alternative to the language Eiffel. However, since its conception the two languages have evolved to be quite distinct."

Other Places Named Sather



Sather Air Base is located on the West side of Baghdad International Airport. It is named after Staff Sergeant Scott Sather, the first airman to give his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

3292 Sather is a main-belt asteroid disocvered on September 24, 1960 by Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory.

Sathers Candy

John Sather, a local grocer in Round Lake, Minnesota, established the Sather Company in 1936. In 1972, Sathers went national. It is now part of Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. You can find Sathers candy at grocery stores and Walgreen's everywhere.

Notable Sathers Who Aren't Part of My Family

Steve Sather is one of the most interesting Sathers who is not part of my family. In 1979, he was a guitarist and vocalist for Potliquor, a band from Louisiana which "straddled the line between country, blues, southern rock and hard rock, all the while throwing in horns just to keep things fresh." Steve lives in Round Rock, Texas. The proximity has caused me to receive his mail as well as calls from his ex-wife.

According to the blogs, Glen Sather may be the most hated man in New York. Sather is the current president and general manager of the New York Rangers. He was nicknamed "Tomato Face" due to his perpetually red face during his playing days. He played ten full seasons in the NHL and another season in the WHA. He played 739 regular season games as a pro and earned 801 minutes in penalties. Whenever he does something as GM of the Rangers, he is immediately criticised by dozens of hockey fanatic bloggers.



Natalie "Speed" Sather is a 24 year old race car driver from Fargo, North Dakota. Her favorite movie is "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Her favorite food is grilled cheese with pickles. Her favorite tv show is the Austin based "Friday Night Lights." You can read more about her at www.nataliesather.com.

Drake Sather was a stand up comedian and Emmy nominated television show writer. His credits included Zoolander, Saturday Night Live, the Dennis Miller Show, Ed and NewsRadio. He had an untimely death in 2004.



Jeanne Sather is the author of the blog, The Assertive Cancer Patient, http://assertivecancerpatient.com. She began her career as a journalist. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in in 1998 at age 43, she began to write about her experiences.

When American Healthcare Works Well

One difficulty with the current debate on healthcare is that people's experiences vary dramatically. However, for most people the system works pretty well. Today was a case in point. I was preparing for my daughter's birthday party when I fell off a ladder and landed on a sawhorse. I knew right away that I had landed hard on my ribs.

Since it was Saturday, I couldn't go to see my own doctor. However, there was a minor emergency center less than a mile from my house. In just an hour and a half, I had been x-rayed and seen a doctor who confirmed that I had fractured a rib. However, it was not anything which required treatment. I left with a CD containing my x-rays and a prescription for pain medicine. All it cost me was a $50 co-pay. With the pain that I was in, I am sure that I would have willingly paid a lot more.

I was able to return to finish preparations for Kristen's party and was a lot more careful around ladders and sawhorses.

For me, the healthcare system worked extraordinarily well. I was able to get affordable treatment in a short period of time in my own neighborhood. I realize that many people don't have the same experience. However, it is important to make sure that we don't throw out the parts of the system that currently work.

Why It's Great to Be an Adult

Today I had two contrasting experiences. I spent day 4 of a hearing in bankruptcy court, then I went to my daughter's back to school night. In each class, the message was the same: if we see your phone, it will be confiscated. I felt guilty because I was texting my daughter with my progress from class to class to let her know that I hadn't gotten lost yet. However, the high school experience really contrasted with the court experience. While I was sitting in court all day, I had access to my email and texts on my phone. While the U.S. Marshalls would never allow me to make a phone call while court was in session, I was perfectly free to email my assistant to let her know that I needed a document or more bottled water or just to let her know that I was bored. The smartphone is both an incredible communications tool and a great antidote to a short attention span. However, I can see why they don't allow their use in high school classrooms. Sometimes, it's great to be an adult.

Four Questions About Healthcare

I have been trying to follow the healthcare debate. However, most of the coverage seems to be about people shouting at town hall meetings. Here are a few questions that I can't seem to get answers to.

1. Does the bill reduce costs? The healthcare bill is supposed to reduce the cost of healthcare. However, I have seen estimates from the Congressional Budget Office that it will cost anywhere from $597 billion to $1 trillion. Are you really reducing costs if you are just shifting them to the taxpayers?

2. Does the bill do anything to encourage healthcare practices that work? From what I have read, places like the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and Scott & White in Central Texas do an excellent job of containing costs. However, I haven't heard anything about whether the bill encourages these kind of practices.

3. Does the bill increase government control over our lives? From what I have heard, the bill requires everyone to get health insurance or pay a fine. Also, while the impact of the end of life counselling provisions has been greatly exaggerated, my understanding is that the bill makes these sessions mandatory. How much freedom are we giving up in the name of healthcare coverage?

4. What is up with the public option? Democrats make a big deal about having a government sponsored healthcare option. At first blush, it sounds like a good idea. After all, competition and more choices are generally good. However, I have heard that the other side is that a government subsidized public option would have an unfair advantage over private insurers (who don't have the benefit of government funding) and would eventually drive private insurers out of the market. Does the government have the expertise to design a public option which would compete on an equal footing with private insurance? Is the public option intended to compete with private insurance or drive it from the market?

Three Plays, About a Million Words: Shakespeare at Winedale

We just returned from our annual trip to the University of Texas's Shakespeare at Winedale program. Each summer, an ensemble of college students explores three works from Shakespeare. If you stay the night, you can see all the plays in one weekend. Val, Stephanie and I look forward to immersing ourselves in Shakespeare plays the same way that some people devote themselves to Broadway musicals. We are not super intellectual or anything like that. We just enjoy the chance to get away and absorb some good acting. Part of the appeal lies in the ability to spend some quality family time together (or at least 3/4 of the family). This year, we stayed at a renovated 1899 farmhouse, which had two upstairs bedrooms for Stephanie to choose from, but which required ascending a narrow staircase.

This year we saw Cymbeline, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard the Third. This was my first time to see Cymbeline, which is one of the lesser known plays. However, it was well worth it. Cymbeline is a dark comedy set in the days of the ancient Britons. However, it has all the elements of a modern soap. The king has a daughter who wants to marry a commoner. This poses a threat to the realm since the king's two male sons disappeared mysteriously many years ago. The daughter runs away. Meanwhile, the Step-Queen is scheming to get her son on the throne and would like nothing better for the daughter to go away. In the midst of all this, the Romans invade. Who could hope for more drama?

Much Ado About Nothing is like a screwball 1950s comedy with Cary Grant, except that it is 400 years old (think Bringing Up Baby, the Philadelphia Story). Friends conspire to unite the disdainful Beatrice with the haughty Benedict. Verbal banter flies. Meanwhile, the evil Don John, the bastard prince, maliciously impugns the honor of the noble Hero (which is the name of a girl, not an actual hero).

Richard III is a history involving one of the two most hated figures in English history. Clocking in at a butt-numbing three hours, this is a fast-moving and exciting drama. The hunchbacked, black-clad Richard spreads deceit in his effort to eliminate the many claimants between him and the throne. He has his brother murdered, causes the king's sons to be smothered, seduces the widow of a man he has killed. You get the idea, he's a bad dude. Of course, no sooner does he get the throne, then "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" and he's out of there.

A few thoughts about the plays. These plays show how similar themes show up in Shakespeare with different variations. The plot device of the helpful friar who feigns the death of a girl is central to Romeo & Juliet. However, it also appears in Much Ado About Nothing. The main difference is that in Much Ado About Nothing, the friar's plot does not miscarry and ends up with a wedding instead of multiple deaths. The Romeo & Juliet comparison is also present in Cymbeline in which a girl is drugged with a potion given to her by the evil step-Queen, which has been altered to merely feign death by a good doctor, who then wakes up next to the decapitated body of a man dressed in her husband's clothes. Of course, since this is a comedy, albeit a dark one, the girl is ultimately reunited with her husband who still has his head about him. These plays demonstrate the fine line between comedy and tragedy. In Romeo & Juliet, the well-meaning friar's plan goes awry with a missed message and everyone ends up dead. Here, everyone enjoys a good laugh when they are reunited.

Each play has a scene which defines it. In Cymbeline, there is a scene where Posthumous (the good guy) despairs. He is visited by the ghosts of his mother, father and brothers, who appeal to Jupiter to save him. In a totally campy scene, the barechested Jupiter appears and is lowered to earth on the hands of the ghosts. This scene shifts the tone of the play from possible tragedy to ultimate comedy. The director's choice to play this as camp rather than drama made the scene all the more memorable.

In Richard the Third, the defining moment is the night before the battle between Richard the III and Richmond. During the night, the ghosts of Richard's victims appear to him and bid him to "despair and die." While Richard regains his composure and rallies his troops to battle the next day, the outcome is clear.

In Much Ado About Nothing, "the scene" is the Constable's interrogation of the villains. The Constable is a clown, mangling his words worse than Sarah Palin saying good bye. However, despite his fractured syntax and opposite meanings, he is able to bring the plot of the evil Don John to light. Once the plot is uncovered, the good guys are able to shame the other good guys into repentence and everyone gets married and lives happily ever after.