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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Three passings of note


It's old news by now, but Patrick Swayze passed away of cancer Monday. His autobiography, The Time of My Life, is scheduled to drop September 29th. He was 57.

Dirty Dancing was on constant rotation in my house at the tail end of grade school, and I greatly admire his all too public fight with cancer. Not that they'll ever read this, but my condolences to the family, especially his wife of over 30 years.

* * *

The real-life inspiration for the film Norma Rae, Crystal Lee Sutton, passed away from cancer as well.

She remains an icon of the labor movement, but Sutton never reaped the financial benefits of her life story. She had to return to the workforce as a nursing assistant before being sidelined with cancer. She was 68.

* * *

Lastly, Jody Powell, long time Press Secretary for Jimmy Carter, died of an apparent heart attack.


Powell plays a role in a few upcoming posts about Carter, and so the timing of his passing struck a nerve. Powell was with Carter from the late '60's until his political end, and carried a deserved reputation as a hothead. He once dumped red wine on Sam Donaldson on an airline flight, and answered a letter to the then-Governor by referring to the writer as a moron.

He was 65.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Kanye on Capitol Hill



H/T BadgerBlogger

Monday Roundup


It was great to see the Packers open their season with a win, especially against the Bears. It wasn't a very entertaining game, unless you enjoy the pigskin version of a pitcher's duel, but a W's a W. I thought the Packers defense looked great and exhibited tons of controlled, measured aggression. Plus I again had the chance to see Lovie Smith lose multiple challenges, which he seems to do each and every time I have to suffer through a Bears game. That's always fun.

Good to see Aaron Rodgers notch a last minute comeback too, which should shut up the brainwashed Favre lovers for a minute or two.

* * * *

Kanye West at the VMA's, interrupting Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech? Assholish. The guy makes great music, but it's about time he shut up and became a reclusive - and QUIET - artist.

* * * * *

Speaking of inappropriate outbursts, a co-worker of mine asked my opinion on Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" comment to the President. She isn't a conservative; well, that goes without saying as I'm the only one there who doesn't drink the Kool-Aid ;)

In fact this is a transgender co-worker, and as you can imagine we've had a fun time debating politics before.

"I think it was a stupid time to say it, and the wrong place to say it. I think he deserves some form of censure for his outburst, but in the end all he did was call a guy a liar. There are people on the web acting like he raped their Grandma and killed a baby. Get over yourselves. You know Wilson and the guy he beat have both raised over a million dollars since the speech? F that. I don't live in South Carolina, neither do most of the people getting all up in it. Let the people down there decide what they want to do with him. If they don't like him, they'll vote him out."

Here's what suprised me.

"Yeah," she said. "I agree with you. I mean, I so don't agree with the content of what he said, or where he said it, but you kinda have to admire the guy. It took guts to stand up there and say that. At least the Republicans know what they want and aren't afraid to say it. I wish there were more Democrats that had the balls to fight for what they want."

"We AGREE???," I said. Wow. Hell done froze over. :)

* * * *

Congrats to Antonio for winning HGTV's Design Star 4. I knew he was going to take the crown , but I'll let you in on a little secret: I think Dan out-designed him in the final challenge.




* * * *

Finally, I watched Doctor Who: The Next Doctor last night after the game. Great episode, really well done, and quite touching in parts.You know what? Jackson Lake would have made an entertaining and unique 11th Doctor.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Fantasy Football

And notch the W . . a fine ending to a long night of fantasy football. :)

It was going to be something more, but in the end it's 'just' a family update :)

First things first: if anyone knows of a part-time job for a 15 year old boy or a 16 year old girl in the Milwaukee area, let me know.

* * * *

Oy. Long day. I worked until 11 Friday, then went back to work this morning. I missed the Badger game (we won), the Tea Party rallies (wouldn't have gone, but would have liked to see some of the news coverage), and Mass. I actually left work 15minutes early to get to church on time, but the baby was sound asleep when I got home and I nixed the trip. As a rule -as THE rule of parenthood, as a matter of fact - I do not wake a sleeping baby.

There I go again. "Baby". She's two years old for Pete's sake. When YaYa was two I was having her take out the garbage and resole my shoes. I guess parents really do coddle their youngest.

Speaking of YaYa, to answer a question in the comments: she'll be 8 in October. Lisa was pregnant with her when the towers fell. Because YaYa's birth date is after the 'cut off date' for the state she technically shouldn't be in her current grade; we pushed it through, in part by enrolling her in all day K3 at age two and a half. In short, she skipped a grade without skipping a grade.

* * * *

The kids are enamored by foam animals that grow when you put them in water. Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're imagining those foam capsules that expand to all of a few inches high in the end. I don't blame you; I thought that's what they were. Nuh-uh. These buggers GROW. They have a turtle as big as our actual, full grown Red Ear. They have an alligator that is still growing, and a starfish so big in diamter it barely fits inside one of our large kettles.

Technology has really advanced since we were kids, eh?

* * * *

As part of the back-to-school routine I took the kids to the dentist. Smiley was terrified but came out with a spotless record. YaYa not so much, and will have to have some cavities filled. LuLu will also return, for one cavity and to have several teeth extracted from the front of her lower jaw. Right now those teeth are fouling up her jaw by cramming everything together. The doc thinks removing them should allow the adult teeth to come in properly.

* * * *

We (well, I) caught a grasshopper the other day, a huge one a couple inches long. The dang thing was a scrapper too, pawing at my hand until I got him in the cage. He's still doing well, and we'll release him soon.

Meanwhile Smiley's two goldfish have finally made their way to the great Hereafter, following a vicious attack by Ginger. She dumped an entire container of goldfish flakes in the bowl, and I'm afraid the fish never recovered.

* * *

Oh, to answer another comment about the history of my home: my house has been in my family for around seventy or more years of its 117 year history. In that time there are two recorded deaths here. Both my great-grandparents passed away on the first floor, one in this very room.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Jeżeli lubisz kawę, dziękuj Polaka. (If you like coffee, thank a Pole.)

Today, September 12th, is the anniversary of The Battle of Vienna, one of the most decisive battles in Western history.

In 1683 an invading Turkish army of 150,000 men was on the verge of conquering Central Europe. Their siege was Vienna was nearly complete, and only a last ditch, frantic defense had repelled the latest assault. Within days, if not hours, a large chunk of Europe would fall under Islamic rule.

That'd be about the time these guys showed up.



King Jan III Sobieski of Poland
, honoring a mutual defense treaty, organized a relief expedition to Vienna. Upon arriving at the battlefied the Polish army launched an infantry attack that tied up the Turkish troops; after twelve hours of fierce fighting Poles held the high ground on the right.

Then, at 5 pm, Sobieski ordered the single largest calvary attack in history, with over 20,000 horsemen crashing down on the enemy.

Sobieski was in the lead, along with 3000 of his heavy lancers - the feared Winged Hussars.

These famous cavalrymen would ride into battle with wings of eagle or ostrich feathers attached to their back. It is rumoured the sound of the wings frightened and confused enemy horses, disrupting any defense. Certainly the sight of the signature wings struck fear into their riders as well.

What, at the start of the day, seemed a certain victory for the Turks quickly turned into a murderous rout. The winged horsemen bowled over the first line of defense, sliced and hacked through the rest, and burst through into the heart of the Ottoman camp, narrowly missing capturing the Turkish leader.

Said Sobieski, paraphrasing Casesar: “Veni, vidi, Deus vicit:” “I came, I saw, God conquered.”. For his victory against them, the Turks would label Sobieski the "Lion of Lechistan [a contemporary name for Poland]"

The implications of the battle were clear: Islamic forces never again threatened European soil in any meaningful way, and centuries of conflict were at an end - at least until modern times.

One result of the battle is less obvious. The Turks fled the battlefield so abruptly they left a kings ransom of items behind in their camp. Among them were stores of hard, bitter beans. While the drink made from the beans had been introduced to the wealthy and royal elsewhere in Europe, an enterprising Pole opened a shop in Vienna and sold the liquid to the masses.

Ladies and gentlmen: the introduction of coffee into everyday European life.

h/t

ISO

Needed: part time after school job for two teenagers, a 16 year old girl and a 15 year old boy. Bay View or thereabouts preferred, but not a requirement.

Yum Nums

While I sit here Ginger's raided the fridge. She's brought me string cheese, her Mom's abandoned McDonald's meal, and other "yum nums" as she calls them. Now she's bawling because I won't let her eat the Angus burger. No chance kid. Too much goodness to waste on someone that eats cheerios off the floor.

Beats so big I'm steppin on leprechauns

The other day I had the car radio blasting when YaYa tried to talk to me. I grew frustrated. "YaYa, I want to hear the song. Later." I said.

"You like this song too?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. What, do I have to spell "QUIET" on the rear view mirror?

"Cool!," she said. "You and I have so much in common. We both like books, and writing, and this song, and the Jonas Brothers' Love Bug!"

* * * *

Moving on, here's the song in question, Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas. I adore the line "I'm so 3008, you're so two thousand and late."

The video is quite funky in and of itself, and I will go on record as saying Fergie looks super hot throughout. I've seen her work since she was six years old on Kids Incorporated. My sister Chrissy was nuts for her as a kid and joined the Stacey Ferguson fan club. Hell, she went and named her youngest kid after Fergie. I kid you not.

Anyhow, it's cool to see her succeed. (trivia: Her former cast mate Renee, who I always thought was hotter, sings the "Pump it Up" jingle in Crystal Light commercials)

Enough talk. Get ta dancin'. Will-I-Am, drop the beat now.



Gotta get that [x3]
Gotta get that that that, that that

Boom boom boom (Gotta get that) [x4]

Boom boom boom (Yeah) [x2]
Boom boom boom [x2]

[Will.I.am]
Yo
I got the hit that beat the block
You can get that bass overload
I got the that rock and roll
That future flow

That digital spit
Next level visual shit
I got that (Boom boom boom)
How the beat bang (Boom boom boom)

[Fergie]
I like that boom boom pow
Them chicken jackin' my style
They try copy my swagger
I'm on that next shit now
I'm so 3008
You so 2000 and late
I got that boom boom boom
That future boom boom boom
Let me get it now

Boom boom boom (Gotta get that) [x4]

Boom boom boom (Yeah) [x2]
Boom boom boom [x2]

[Taboo]
I'm on the supersonic boom
Y'all hear the space shit zoom
When when I step inside the room them girls go apeshit, uh
Y'all stuck on super A-shit
They're no fast stupid a bit
I'm on that HD flat
This beat go boom boom pow

[Apl.de.ap]
I'm a beast when you turn me on
Into the future cybertron
Harder, faster, better, stronger
Sexy ladies extra longer, cuz
We got the beat that bounce
We got the beat that pow
We got the beat that 808
That the boom boom in your town

[Fergie]
People in the place
If you wanna get down
Put your hands in the air
Will.I.am drop the beat now

[Will.I.am]
Yep yep
I be rockin' the beats (Yep, yep)
I be rockin' the beats (Yep yep yep, yep)

Here we go, here we go
Satellite radio
Y'all getting hit with (Boom boom)
Beats so big I'm steppin on leprechauns
Shitin' on y'all you with the (Boom boom)
Shitin' on y'all you with the (Boom boom)
Shitin' on y'all you with the...
This beat be bumpin' bumpin'
This beat go boom boom

Let the beat rock
Let the beat rock
Let the beat r...

This beat be bumpin' bumpin'
This beat go boom boom

[Fergie]
I like that boom boom pow
Them chicken jackin' my style
They try copy my swagger
I'm on that next shit now
I'm so 3008
You so 2000 and late
I got that boom boom boom
That future boom boom boom
Let me get it now

Boom boom boom (Gotta get that) [x4]

Boom boom boom (Yeah) [x2]
Boom boom boom [x2]

Let the beat rock (Let the beat rock)
Let the beat rock (Let the beat...)
Let the beat r... (Let the beat rock, rock, rock, rock)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Eight Years On



Today is the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I don't think there are any major events scheduled to mark the date, and I'm fine with that. Stress the 'big' anniversaries, of course, but in years like this have faith in your fellow Americans; know that they'll bow their heads at some point in the day and remember the lost.

Man, that was a awful day. Words will never be able to describe it. Still, as recent as it feels in my head, I have to stop and remember that each and every one of my kids had yet to be born when the towers fell, yet my oldest is now in third grade. That seems crazy.

Time runs away from all our memories, the good and the bad.

* * * *

I'm not planning in any way to politicize the anniversary, and I wish others would do the same. But while I'm not angered by the following headline on MSNBC.com, I am left shaking my head: U.S. Muslims Fear Backlash for 9/11

If the need exists to run with a 9/11 headline - and does it? - there are better avenues to explore. Why run an article in which the interview subjects admit nothing much has happened to them because of 9/11, then or in the eight years since? How is that news? And why run such an empty piece under a fear-mongering headline?

Why, even on 9/11, is there such an obsessive need for some news agencies to find fault with the American people, and our character - to the point where they'll even massage a story to create an angle?

When the towers fell Lisa and I were living in a predominantly Muslim apartment building. It was the two of us, a middle aged white guy across the hall, and a building of Pakistini, Saudi, and Palestinian families. We exchanged cards on the holidays, we asked about each others families, and we shared meals (yes, even goat).

I wrote the following on the fifth anniversary of the attack:

For days [after 9/11] my neighbors would not step foot outside their doors, fearful of retaliation. In the end we knocked and offered to buy them groceries. My wife embraced one of the women and told them not to be afraid, that we didn’t hold them responsible.


It wasn't long at all before things were back to normal. No one threatened them, no one harmed them, no one treated them any differently, nor did they feel compelled to change their own way of life.

I'm PROUD of the way my country treated our Muslim population in the wake of the attacks, as we all should be. Somewhere, at sometime, was someone cursed at or even threatened? I'm sure. We are a nation of 300 million people, and not all of them angels. But we, AS A SOCIETY, reacted with compassion and understanding.

Not for one moment do I believe there's another country that would have acted as well when embraced by the dark emotions that day inspired.

Anyway, I just needed to get that off my chest.

To the victims of that day: Rest in Peace.