My opinions of Super Tuesday 2008

Warning: political post ahead. Skip it if politics bore you :)

 

Sadly, Super Tuesday proceeded as predicted, and by day’s end the death knell was sounded on Mitt Romney’s campaign. McCain is now the true frontrunner and barring a miracle will be the candidate in the fall. If Romney doesn’t give up the ghost officially this week I’d be surprised.

 

But . . if I were a McCain fan – and if I was, please shoot me – I still wouldn’t do my happy dance quite yet. McCain aced a few states – California, New York, etc – that will certainly fall to the Democrats in November while losing or struggling in the core ‘Red’ states.

 

That’s not a great omen for the man.

 

Plus, I’m just plain shocked at Mike Huckabee’s performance, especially in the south. I can see his home state giving him a futile pat on the back, but how do you explain his showing in other states?

 

Look, I’m a moderate on some positions, conservative on others, and overall I probably drift to the middle of the road in the GOP, but let me just come right out and say this:

 

The support for Huckabee is downright embarrassing.

 

It isn’t about the man himself, if my opinion hurts your feelings, it’s about the fact that America isn’t going to elect the guy.

 

Period.

 

And I know he’s no longer aiming for the Oval Office, instead hoping for VP, but the pundits are right: put him on the ticket and folks are going to point to the old man from Arizona and say “if he dies that Huckabee is in; do you really want a President Huckabee?”

 

The answer is no, and undecided voters are going to vote in droves for the other candidate.

 

On the other side of the table it sure looks messier for the Democrats, with Obama and Clinton still neck and neck and Super Tuesday deciding not much of anything at all.

 

Well, maybe it decided more than it first appears. They both essentially tied in delegates and the popular vote, but Obama carried more states and seemed to disprove some worries that his appeal was limited by his race.

 

{One site, pro-Dem, argues that race is a non-issue because Obama’s father is Kenyan. Thus he isn’t a descendent of slaves and doesn’t carry the stigma and contempt inherent with that title.

 

I’m thinking that’s a wee bit of a stretch, as even a decent newshound like me didn’t realize his heritage, (so how prevalent could the notion be?). Besides, the idea, right or wrong, sounds a wee bit Birth of a Nation-esque.

 

If a Republican had said the same thing . . . look out.}

 

Right now I think it’s legitimately anyone’s game, but Obama certainly looks to be on the upswing. Clinton is short on cash, physically tired, facing a youth movement from within her own party, winning tiny battles at far too high of a cost in effort, and she’s not the person who can pull off outstanding if meaningless rhetoric like Obama’s “the people we’ve been waiting for are us”.

 

On the other hand Obama failed to win the big prizes like New Yorkand California, and believe me, that nifty ten-point Clinton win in CA still paints her as the one to beat. Plus Obama did a McCain and scored big in states that are probably going to stay Red in ’08.

 

I still think it will be Clinton and McCain in November. As far as who would have the edge in that contest . . well, I’ll debate that another day.

 

 UPDATE:

 

Since I wrote that piece last night, Romney has indeed bowed out; the story is breaking across the web as I write this . . . 'tis a shame.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign.

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney will say at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country," Romney said.

Tags: Mitt Romney, John McCain, Obama, primaries, Clinton

One heck of a photo from Alaska

The National Weather Service is saying we might get up to 20 inches of snow by morning, while conservative estimates land around 13-14".

Sweet. Just what we need on top of the 52 odd inches we've already seen this winter.

But, as in all things, it's all relative. My friend Fred Bryan of Oftencold.com lives in Alaska, and when I mentioned the 20" he didn't even think it worthy of acknowledgment.

There are advantages to living in the boonies though - check out the visitors on Fred's back porch:

 

Tags: Fred Bryan, eagles

In which I nearly eat the unthinkable, send YaYa to the eye Dr, see Hannah Montana, and drink Tang

 With my wife at work I made dinner for the kids and afterwards, in exchange for some decent behavior, we made and shared a pan of brownies.

When I put them to bed YaYa asked for another brownie. "Nope," I said. "The last one's for Mommy"

 

So I kissed her goodnight and wandered downstairs, picking up brownie crumbs all along the way. On the kitchen floor I found the mother load, a huge if slightly squashed brownie that the kids must have dropped. With no one watching to scold me, I picked it up and greedily brought it up to my lips.

 

That'd be when I remembered that Smiley had wandered into the room naked a few hours back, his butt covered in poo. I'd quickly found the diaper he'd abandoned and it was clean, minus some racing stripes. Not unusual, considering he's *trying* to make an effort to go in the potty and often ditches his waste in the toilet.

 

'That's funny," I thought at time as I wiped his bum, "I could have sworn I cleaned him up pretty well last time".

 

Yes, dear readers, you guessed it.  

 

I had picked up and was set to consume a large, compacted chunk . . . of Smiley poop.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Earlier in the day, with Lu in tow, I took YaYa for her eye appointment. She was actually kind of psyched, having heard tell of some Hannah Montana glasses. She was a good sport for the doc and didn't flinch with the whole 'air puff to the eyeball' thing that always freaks me out. "Mr. Slap, you have to keep your chin on the bar!"

 

The verdict? Astigmatism, but very slight. "Three steps from nothing" in her right eye, "Two steps away from nothing" in her left eye. The doc wants her to wear glasses when reading and at school, but not in everyday activities.

 

Sounds like a pretty darn agreeable verdict to me. We picked out some glasses but with my wife absent I deferred the decision to another day.

 

For posterity, here is her prescription:

 

Spherical: p1, cylindrical: -.75  Axis 148

Spherical: p1  cylindrical -.5    Axis 032

 

 

 

* * * *

In a controversial decision we decided to keepboth girls home from school Monday so they could attend their beloved Hannah Montana's 3D movie with their Mom and cousins.

 

 

Hannah Montana is a family favorite here and enormously popular among the girls, especially LuLu, who happily sings along with her idol. [sidenote: each and every time I get a dorky giggle by pronouncing her name like Tony from Scarface. The problem is, it's always me giggling)

 

In January I had briefly, oh ever so briefly, considered getting a Hannah Montana tattoo as part of a local radio station contest to win tickets to her (actual) sold out concert.

 

In the end I just couldn't - I really don't dig tattoos - and I felt like I let Lu down.

 

So I shelled out $14 a ticket for her 3D movie and yeah, the only time that was open was during school hours.

 

I can't be the only parent who did it - the movie was sold out by showtime.

 

Anyhow, I had to work but the reports that filtered back to me were overwhelmingly positive. The girls loved Hannah, gave a thumbs down to the Jonas brothers (although YaYa liked Year 3000), LuLu loved when Hannah 'hit me on my nose' with her drumstick, and both thought the opening Disney logo was frightening when it shattered (so did Mom).

 

Even Lisa thought it was a pretty darn good show, although she would have liked more of the backstage stuff. I think Lu would have liked that too, as she was intent on telling me all about how Hannah gets to the stage via a lift of some sort.

 

It made me happy we didn't shell out big moolah for the real concert tho', since Lu got very tired by the end of the movie and had to sit on her Mom's lap.

 

Here's an LOL - Lisa said all the adults in the audience laughed when Hannah's Dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, bragged about performing at every Indian casino in America.

 

* * * *

 

 

To my chagrin, the mysterious 'they' still make Tang, the drink of Astronauts and beloved beverage of my youth. I bought a can of powdered mix, which I was pleasantly surprised to see was loaded with vitamins and contained 1/2 the sugar of pure OJ, and mixed up a batch for supper.

 

Here, with no exaggeration/dramatic license, was my honest and immediate reaction.

 

"Jesus!," I said, "This sh** is good!"

 

I'm telling you, it was like being paroled and getting your first taste of freedom - it was THAT good.

 

Why isn't this stuff still popular? The kids were instant fans of it too and I think it'll be a common purchase in the Slapinions household from now on.

 

One bad thing - Smiley, who is really a pain in the butt lately, decided to dump his entire cup into the casserole I made for dinner. I was furious and sent him up to his room. You know what though? I thought the orange flavor gave a pleasant little kick to the dish.

 

Then again, I eat poo.

 

Tags: Tang, Hannah Montana, Smiley, LuLu, YaYa,

A request

The father of longtime reader and  friend Mary of AlphawomansBlog passed away last night. She's written a touching post about him on her blog. If you can, stop by and give her your condolences.

Super Tuesday on the Horizon

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, when a full 24 states will get their say in choosing the candidates for President. Not Wisconsin mind you, so I still haven't had my say, and when I do it will probably  all be decided and in the bag.

Such is life.

The Democratic field is a mess, with Clinton and Obama neck to neck, but with the senator from Illinois gaining steam. Here's hoping the empty suit fails to sway the masses and Hilary wins (did I honestly just say that I wanted a Clinton to win anything? What a world!) but I think Obama will carry the day. I don't think it will be a decisive win, and as many people are predicting I think the Democratic convention will be contentious and home to a wee bit of drama.

On the Republican side it's hard to argue against the McCain momentum coming off of wins in Florida and South Carolina. If you ask me 90% of that 'momentum' is the pure invention of the media, but like I've always said, perception is nearly as good as reality.

 Florida was a close race, but the reaction in the press was that it all but decided the nomination. I disagree, but from what I've read McCain has a built in advantage tomorrow:

Not all state primaries are winner-take-all for the GOP, but in the states that are  McCain has the lead. So he can scrape by in some states but reap the whole benefit, while finishing second in others and still grab delegates. Meanwhile Romney has an uphill fight in many of the all-or-nothing states. Iin a worst-case scenario Super Tuesday might spell the end of Romney's campaign. It'll be a shame if that happens.

This is shaping up to be an odd election.  Voters will *probably* have to choose between a Democrat Lite in McCain, who's almost as liberal as the opposition (tho' granted,  he is hawkish on defense) and either a very left-leaning Obama (does anyone actually listen to the man's ideas, or is everyone sold on his charm?) or a suprisingly hawkish and middle of the road Clinton.

Take Obama out of the picture and it'd be hard to figure out what candidate is from what party - they've all switched philosophies.

My prediction: I think McCain aces the nomination, Obama slips by Hilary but not with enough to knock her out, and we all dance the dance another day.

If any of this stuff appeals to you, check out the two Electoral sites on the sidebar. Both are a wealth of information.

Tags: Super Tuesday, Romney, McCain, Clinton, Obama

My first professional submission of 2008

Well, I did it. I submitted my first, well, anything to a  publication in a long time. Nothing fancy mind you, just a book review. It spawned from winning an online contest on a popular book site, with the prize being a free copy of an upcoming release delivered straight to your door from the publisher.

So I figured what the heck, write a review and send it in.

It was hard to plow through the book at first. For a moment or two I got tangled in long, twisting passages that seemed to go nowhere. When I complained about this my wife said, and I quote: "That's just because it's different than your writing. Your writing is simple."

Cue my jaw dropping open. She scrambled to recover: "Not . . not.bad or anything, per se. . .. Just simple. You know. Like . . like, uh, like Hemingway!"

Ok, so I exaggerate; it's always fun to paint a spouse as a villian. Once my jaw dropped she actually said "I like your writing, but it's simpler, more down to earth. His style is different."

 To quote Hawthorne: Easy Reading is Hard Writing.

Anyhow the book picked up steam and wound up being a pretty good read. Here's a copy of the review (and I hope its presence here doesn't void any potential publishing opportunities):

* * *

Now You See Him

By Eli Gottlieb

ISBN: 9780061284649

262 pages

William Morrow, $22.95

By the time Now You See Him begins Rob Castor is dead and buried, reduced to nothing more than a lingering and tawdry story in the tabloids.

But make no mistake: Nick Framingham may be the narrator of the novel, but the story is Rob Castor's at every turn.

Now You See Him is the sophomore effort by award winning author Eli Gottlieb, who returns after a decade's absence with a novel of friendship, obsession, secrets, and the ever present clash between the nostalgic memories of the past and the harsh reality of the present.

Nick Framingham and Rob Castor were childhood friends and neighbors, but from the start Rob seemed destined for something more than their small, upstate New York town could provide him. While Nick would marry and settle down, Rob would become a minor celebrity as a writer - and a national obsession when he murdered his girlfriend and then committed suicide.

In the wake of his friend's death Nick is unable to resume his normal life. His marriage to his college sweetheart continues to deteriorate, with his wife unable to empathize with his loss as she is increasingly drawn to another man. His sons grow distant and his job performance puts his career in jeopardy.

It will only get worse.

Like a siren call Rob's family begins to draw Nick further into the chaos that envelopes anyone who grew close to the writer. Rob's mother, a bitter and alcoholic widow, is quick to wound with harsh words and hint at something sinister as yet unspoken. His sister, Nick's old flame, returns to town and seems eager to resume their relationship, further putting his marriage in jeopardy.

And somewhere beneath the surface lies a pair of secrets that will consume two families and haunt Nick for the rest of his life.

The publisher calls Gottlieb's prose 'extraordinarily luxuriant and evocative' and it is - but at some cost. Gottlieb has a knack for spinning a memorable and breathtaking phrase, but at times he tries too hard.

For every " . . .we found the quiet itself a fraught, richly communicating thing. If we listened carefully enough, we were certain that the distances had a hiss; that trees sighed, even on windless days; that clouds breathed their way backwards across the sky," there are four passages that seem strained and cumbersome, filler created not to fulfill a page count but that of a silent, self-assured quota of talent on display.

If at times, and only at times, the prose inhibits the reader's enjoyment, the framework of the story itself never fails to keep your interest. What seems at first like a pedestrian story about loss amid a midlife crisis soon morphs into a blistering attack on every facet of Nick's life, with a final plot revelation that changes the entire foundation of Nick's existence and how you relate to him.

All of these plot twists, each change in Nick's life, big and small, flow from his relationship with Rob. It is as if his death has broken a dam of long suppressed pain and secrecy and allowed the water to wash away every iota of what Nick thought was safe and secure.

Not bad for a character who only appears in flashbacks, and then usually at the lowest ebb of his life.

Now You See Him is an impressive and deceptively complicated novel about friendship, love, and the steep cost of living a lie, even one deferred. It's an impressive sophomore effort by Eli Gottlieb and no doubt a precursor of things to come.

-00-

Tags: Eli Gottlieb, book review, Now You See Him

Nobody's Perfect - The Giants Win! 18-1

Oh, Lordy . .once upon a time I thought SuperBowl XXV, another Giants nailbiting world championship, was the best drama a Super Bowl could produce. No sir; that'd be SuperBowl XLII.

Wow.

The Giants win by three points- as my gut predicted - to win the Lombardi Trophy.

Forget the Patriots and their smug, quick dismissal of the Giants as overconfident, and Brady's cocky rejection of Burress' prediction that the Pats would be held to 17 points.

Try 14 buddy.

The Giants just plain refused to be cowed, attacking Brady relentlessly and knocking him around like a tennis ball. Give credit where it was due; a lesser quarterback would have folded by halftime, but Brady just kept coming.

Two moments  had me on my feet, pumping my fist in the air and screaming:

Eli Manning on his way to getting sacked in the midst of his historic 84 yard game winning drive, but somehow squirming out and unloading a deep pass to Tryee, who hauled it in like an acrobat, all the time wrapped in the arms of a Patriots defender.

                       

That one actually caused me to bust my living room chandlier, knocking the glass loose with my fist and shattering a bulb.

I'll have to explain that one to the Mrs.very carefully.

The second was that booming sack of Brady with ~20 seconds left.

I left the chandelier alone that time.

So Eli joins his brother as a Super Bowl Champion - has that ever happened before? Probably not - and has come into his own.

And how does history judge the Patriots? Even at 18-1 they can't be considered the best ever, not without a championship ring. Realistically, on a numerical ranking they must be placed behind each and every championship team, just like the 116 win Seattle Mariners in baseball, despite the fact that they are/were one of the most dominating and suffocating units in history.

Congrats Eli and New York. Thanks for the great game!

Tags: SuperBowl XLII, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, New York Giants

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A Request for Help for a Fellow JLander, Sorrow for a Departed Friend, and Thanks for an Award!

I've been perusing http://journals.aol.com lately, and despite its many flaws I like the 'recently updated blogs' list. I'll often pop on to a blog I haven't seen before and take a look. You'd be suprised - or perhaps not - at the many great blogs on AOL, and the few that are absolutely dreadful.

My favorites tho' are the odd ones, the 'my minister is sleeping with my grandpa and they are plotting to kill the mayor because he's a Republican from Jupiter' versions.  And these people seem absolutely serious.

Sweet.

One of the brand new one's I stumbled on was Roses are Read (a nifty play on words, I think). She's brand new to the web and I've tried helping her with a few issues she's had here in JLand.

The trouble is she's now attempting to add music to her entries. I've always been print-centric and loathe to include anything that couldn't eventually be printed out - even my Youtube entries make me squirm - so I have no clue how to do it.

I've tried to help but it's no go. If you know how to do this, please stop by her site.

* * *

While trying to help her I came across the help site of Pam from One Girls Head Noise, a woman who was very kind and helpful to me when I started out here. She passed away in '06 but even now she reached out a helping hand.  Her alternate site is full of hints and tricks, and worth a look whenever you're stuck. A link to her site even created the license plate at the start of this entry.

Man, I really do miss Pam.

* * * *

I was flattered to receive my first award or recognition here in JLand, and it came from across the pond. Over at Villiage Life I was put up for a Nice Matters award with the following kind words:

I have only been looking in on Dan's journal for a few weeks now but he sure has a way with words and has a lovely family.

Thanks for the kind words. As you all can see I've loaded the award graphic in the sidebar and will display it with pride.

* * *

Ok, I really don't care and probably won't even watch, but as an American I'm obliged to give my Super Bowl picks. My head says the Patriots (gag) by a TD or more, but the rest of me is hoping the Giants take it by 3.

Tags: SuperBowl

Buddy Holly - 49 years on

Today is the 49th anniversary of ‘The Day the Music Died’, the fateful day when Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, along with their pilot, Roger Peterson, perished in a plane crash near Clear Lake Iowa.

Rest in peace guys.

My wife asked me if I was going to write anything new for the anniversary, and I said no, thinking I’d just rehash some of my old tributes. (here, and here, for instance). I’ve changed my mind for two reasons. One, the old stuff was kind of skimpy, and two, well, the mood struck me.

I first got into Buddy Holly because of Robocop. Back in ’87 Robocop was a double feature, playing first and followed by La Bamba. My friend Erv went with me to see Robocop, and I went because I wanted to see LaBamba.

I was immediately hooked on Ritchie Valens and grabbed every cassette of his I could find, including a copy of a concert he did at his high school. (you’d be surprised how much the man recorded in an 8 or 9 month career).

[Sidenote: The concert cassette had an address of a fan club - pre-zip code no less - and I wrote in. The President of the Club, at the time of my letter a woman in her fifties, kindly wrote back and said the club had been phased out nearly thirty years before.

I still have the letter somewhere around here.]

Anyways, the movie soundtrack had a great cover of Holly’s Crying, Waiting, Hoping and I hesitantly called Mean Mountain Music, a store specializing in ‘50’s LP’s and tapes, and asked if they had any Buddy Holly.

“Uh, yeah,” the guy said, sarcastically. I deserved it; hell, I deserved a ‘duh!’.

So I became hooked on Buddy and stayed hooked, long after my affection for Valens faded into childhood nostalgia.

Why do I love the guy?

Not to sound shallow, but first and foremost I like the songs themselves. They’ve held up great over the decades, much better than many of the ’50’s rock tunes, and they still get you moving.

[ It’s a shame most people only know of “Peggy Sue”, a song I find pretty dull by Holly standards. ]

I also love his inherent cockiness. Here’s this curly haired, scrawny Texas kid with huge glasses, in an era that idolized beauties like Elvis and Troy Donahue. Yet he goes out and records songs that just reek of smug self-assuredness.

In his cover of Chuck Berry’s Brown Eyed Handsome Man, a fun and aggressive song (and one of my favorite of Buddy’s) he sings:

Arrested on charges of unemployment,
he was sitting in the witness stand
The judge's wife called up the district attorney
Said you free that brown eyed man
You want your job you better free that brown eyed man

Or in one of his own tunes, That’ll be the Day, he rejects his girlfriends threats of breaking off their relationship and retorts: ‘if we ever part and I leave you’

I like the fact that a half century after he’s gone musicians still tip their hat to him and acknowledge his influence. In 1998 Bob Dylan won album of the year and said in his acceptance speech:

"And I just want to say that when I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armory [note: this was on the final and fateful tour} and I was three feet away from him...and he LOOKED at me. And I just have some sort of feeling that he was — I don't know how or why — but I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way."

I love the fact that no two songs of his ever sounded the same; Nickelback he was not. ‘Peggy Sue’ is not ‘Not Fade Away’ and ‘Words of Love’ is about as far away from “Oh Boy!” as a single artist can get. And whenever possible he was innovative, both in the recording studio and as a composer and arranger. Check out the use of the celeste/xylophone solo in ‘Everyday’. Who does that???

Finally, I love his inspired guitar work, which seems far and above anyone of the era, with the exception of Berry himself, and I really like Buddy’s voice and trademark ‘hiccup’.

Anyone can play ‘what might have been’ and mourn a great and productive future that never came to pass; Lord knows no one ever has the guts to come out and say ’had so-and-so lived, they’d have ended up locked in a mental hospital like Britney Spears’.

But with Buddy I think it’s safe to assume that the crash ended what would have been a long and influential career. Perhaps not as an artist himself, because he was already deeply interested in the producer/publishing aspect of the business. But with his knack for finding new and exciting ways to push the boundaries of rock ’n roll, who knows what he could have culled from some never-to-be-heard artist.

Next year is the 50th anniversary of the crash, and for the past 21 years I’ve wanted to spend that day in Clear Lake, Iowa to commemorate the event. I told my wife today to start making plans for the date, and God willing we’ll be there.

I only wish we were celebrating 50 years of new Buddy Holly recordings instead. 

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Tags: Buddy Holly

Lost: 'The Beginning of The End'

Truthfully, I wasn’t really feeling the season premiere of Lost.

Ok, sure, part of it was the terror that was the combined might of my children. And some can be chalked up to the disappointment of being greeted with a paltry one-hour season opener.

But really, there was no ‘oomph’ to the episode. No startling revelations or explanations (as if!). No sense of the drama of where the season 3 finale left off. No romantic news, no new characters, no new nothin'.

All of it a bit ‘blah’ really.

Here’s what we did learn:

At least six, but probably only six, survivors returned to the world. Among these ‘Oceanic Six’ are Hurley, Kate, and Jack. We can presume the coffin from the season finale contained another of the six, but that is just conjecture.

We’re made to think that the six returned only after forging a less than noble deal to keep their mouth shut about the island. We’re also led to believe that the rest of flight 815’s survivors remain, alive, on the island, held there at least in part by the complicit silence of the Six.

We know that neither Jack nor Hurley are comfortable with the deal they’ve made. Jack, however, seems to have choked down many of his demons and recovered a ‘normal’ life, albeit with a current of regret and pain running beneath the surface. Kate does not seem to share many of these misgivings, at least from what we’ve seen.

Hurley’s prediction about his money would seem to be incorrect, based soley on the car he was driving.

Hurley’s denial of Ana Lucia would indicate that the Six claim that no one but them survived the initial crash . . Or he just didn’t feel like talking : )

Much of the episode must be interpreted in light of Hurley’s illness. Is he crazy and imagining things, or are these people real? Or is it a combination of the two?

Presuming he is real, the mysterious visitor to the mental hospital would indicate that dark forces are still searching for both the island and the survivors. Whoare these people and what do they want? They can’t be the people who forged the ‘deal’, so who in fact did ‘rescue’ the Six?

By the way, that characters’ name, Matthew Abbadon, means roughly ‘place of the dead’ in Hebrew, presuming a reference on the web is correct. UPDATE: I guess that's wrong. Abbadon is an angel in Revelations who guards the place of the dead (hell).

Was Charley a real ghost or an imagined phantom? Either way he represents Hurley’s regret and his concern for the survivors so it really doesn’t matter. And they did surprise me with that one. I thought Hurley ran from the ’numbers’, not a person.

I vote that he’s a hallucination. No, make that a ghost - er, I can’t make up my mind quite yet.

Some questions I have:

“Not Penny’s Boat”. Maybe I’m misremembering the finale, but aren’t the Losties reading a whole lot into the scribbled words of a dying man?

The man in the chair in Jacob’s cabin looked an awful lot like Christian Sheppard, Jack’s Dad, didn’t it?

I didn’t dig Jack pulling the trigger on John, even if John deserved it. Jack is the moral compass of the show, and I don’t want to see him deviate from that.

If you’re hiding from a sophisticated boat-plane-skydiving-satellite phone yielding bad guys, why choose to hide in a man-made, in-the-open barracks John? Why not head for the caves from Season One?

Who left the second blood trail?

Hurley regrets going with John. That doesn’t bode well for Locke’s group, does it? Or is he simply just apologizing for not supporting Jack?

Well, fiddle-de-dee. Going into this I never would have thought that much of the episode sunk in. Huh.

You can bet I’ll be back for more next week.

* * * *

Update: Here's some interesting tidbits about the episode that were posted on Lostpedia this morning.

While playing horse with Hurley, Jack gets the letters "H" and "O". "H" is the 8th letter of the alphabet and "O" is the 15th - 815 (the flight number)

• Behind Hurley as he’s freaking out over Abbadon there’s a small sculpture of the letters ‘HO’ on a shelf.
• Hurley mentions Charlie’s ghost showing up in the convenience store right next to the “Ho Ho’s”.

Tags: Lost, blogplugs

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On how my kids are far from perfect and why my evening was awful

My Mom, of all people, occasionally criticizes me by saying I want my family life to be perfect and that I'm prone to expecting - demanding - it at every turn.

Frankly, that's an empty and annoying accusation because I've never claimed perfection. I am happy with my wife, I am happy with my kids, and not a day goes by where I do not count my blessings.

That's not perfection, that's being damn lucky.

But yes, of course there are moments/hours/days (hell, weeks) when all hell breaks loose and I'm full of frustration and anger and every other emotion in the dictionary.

Take tonight as a prime example. My wife had gone out for the evening and it was my job to put the kids to bed before watching Lost. Let me preface this by saying that it is usually my job to put them to bed; I am no rookie, I am not a pushover at bedtime, and normally the process is 1-2-3.

Anyway, the kids had been prepped for days about the importance of this show to me. They'd noted my excitement, they'd asked questions about the show's premise and they dressed quickly and peacefully for bed. I didn't even care if they went to sleep, since Friday they have no school, but I did want silence and for them to stay in their rooms (not that I was dumb enough to tell them that and open the floodgates)

Either way it was two plus hours of hell. This is what a typical minute of that time was like:

* YaYa, with that evil sparkle in her eyes, claiming innocence and victimhood and declaring - with a straight face and calm pulse no less - that the other kids were interrupting her attempts to sleep.

* LuLu, ever the tattle-tale of the trio, reporting every slight, large and small, and crying because a) her cheerleader doll had 'ugly' bangs b) her cheerleader doll was dirty c) she wanted her cheerleaders audio shut off d) the blanket was the wrong one e) YaYa took the good spot f) Smiley was annoying her

* Smiley, the devil fully at work in his two year old body, running back and forth upstairs so hard that the chandelier shook in the dining room and just plain wiping out the entire second floor by throwing the contents of drawers and closets willy-nilly. It will take an hour to put it back together tomorrow.

No threat, no punishment, no coercion could stop the madness. It went on and on and on for the length of the show and more . . it is truly a miracle that I managed to choke it down and not lose my cool completely.

The most horrifying part is that they dang near killed Smiley. The girls were sick of him tossing things at them soYaYa tied a jump rope to a doorknob and the other end AROUND HIS NECK as a 'doggy leash'. It was nothing short of parental instinct that caused me to respond to his cries, since they were no more or less urgent than any of the other thousand noises from upstairs.

I went up to find him straining with all his might to extend the reach of the rope - and tightening it around his neck with every step.

My Lord!

The kicker: the baby, the dreaded and disliked resident of this house during her recent attempts to cut her teeth, was quiet and peaceful the whole time.

But, lest you think that 'perfection' escaped Nostalgic Avenue completely this evening  . . the girls came downstairs together and, very sincere, presented me a present (a tissue box with wrapping paper inside and a ribbon around it) and said "We're sorry for ruining your show Daddy". Then they hugged me, went upstairs, and for the last hour it's been a calm and relaxed household.

Take that, naysayers.

Of course, then I realized the tissue box had been full a few hours before . . .

Tags: LuLu, Lost, Smiley, YaYa, Baby

The Tet Offensive - 40 years later

Forty years ago today, following on the heels of premature attacks the day before, the infamous Tet Offensive began with co-coordinated strikes across South Vietnam.

From a military standpoint it was a blessing in disguise for the South, as in hindsight both sides agree the attack was a military disaster for the Communists.

It inspired no general uprising against Saigon - on the contrary, it inspired a wave of anti-VC sentiment. It did not lead to the disintegration of the ARVN (South Vietnamese forces); they fought some of their most successful actions during Tet. Casualties were high, virtually eliminating the Viet Cong as a military force and morphing the action from a perceived civil war into a blatant inter-nation conflict as the North was forced to assume the brunt of combat duties.

Of course, the perception was that the North was alarmingly successful, and in all things perception is 80% of the battle. The media and the American public came to the conclusion the war was a quagmire and, right or wrong, that victory was not possible.

It was the beginning of the end, for both American involvement and the nation of South Vietnam.

My father was there with the Air Force, stationed at Phu Cat airbase. From my understanding he arrived in-country not long before the attack and spent the majority of the next few weeks helping supply Khe Sanh.

On admittedly short notice I asked him to compile a few memories of his experiences. He has yet to get back to me, but when/if he does I’ll post it here, in this entry, and I’ll let folks know of its arrival via a quick new entry.

The anniversary of the attack garnered no media attention that I saw, heard, or read, not even a mention on Refdesk.

I suppose as a nation we don’t feel the need to look backwards or dwell on the past, and dredging up memories of Vietnam probably isn’t very popular in light of our involvement in Iraq. Besides, I doubt the media is eager to admit they altered the course of history by abandoning their role as objective or reasoned observers. Best all around to forget.

Well, I remembered. And to all the servicemen, US, ARVN, Australian and ROK, who held the line and turned back the Offensive, granting South Vietnam seven more years of precious freedom, . . . Thank you. Your sacrifice, even in light of Saigon’s fall, was valuable and honorable.

Again, thank you.

Tags: Tet Offensive, Phu Cat, Khe Sanh, ARVN, ROK, Vietnam

J-Land Photo Shoot #127

I enjoyed last weeks contest, so here's another entry in Sometime's I Thinks J-Land Photo Shoot.

The subject this week is OLD.

This is a picture taken on my first tour of the home I live in now, which was vacant for a number of years. 

The cloth electrical wires and old-school fuses above, when combined with a vastly outdated power supply (to my recollection, less than half the juice that flows into a 'normal' home), were not enough to power a modern fridge or washer.

As a result the house had only an old ringer washer and an icebox. As you can imagine we replaced and updated the electical service.

Now that I look at the link above I realize I've posted this pic before, as part of that tour. So, in the interest of not selling the same item twice, here's a shot of the washer I mentioned (there were actually two in the basement).

* * * *

Tonight Lost returns for Season Four, and let the word spread far and wide: knock on my door, call my phone, Nextel me, or otherwise interrupt the glory of watching my favorite show in HD on a big screen (for the first time) and you will face a wrath unseen since the time of the Pharoahs.

Have a nice day!

Tags: Lost, Photo Shoot, Nostalgic Ave

aoljpictureUpload, aoljpictureUpload_1

A follow up on our efforts w/ AOL Journals

I want to thank everyone who stopped by and supported our efforts to get a save and print option for our Journals.

Just so everyone knows I didn't give up the cause, I sent the following letter to some AOL editors.

"To all AOL Editors:

 

Last week I used my blog to request that AOL give us a means of making our journals a little more permanent, either by creating a ‘save’ feature or a ‘printable’ version of each entry.

 

http://journals.aol.com/slapinions/Slap-Inionscom/entries/2008/01/13/to-all-aol-journalers/2206

 

The entry seemed to hit a nerve in J-Land, since as of this writing nearly a hundred journalers have stopped by to lend their support in the comment section of that post. And small wonder – for most of us our journals are scrapbooks and biographies recording entire years of our life.

 

Each of these journals represents not only a valued customer but a consistent source of ad revenue. Remember, an ad banner runs across every page of an AOL Journal. There are many blogs that post dozens of entries a month and garner hundreds of hits or more- with each visit putting money in AOL’s pocketbook.

 

We ask again that AOL create both a save and a print option for our journals as soon as possible.

 

Thank you,

 

Dan (aka slapinions) and luddie343, hunybea4him, midwestvintage, mutualaide, manda2177, mleighin21st, rebuketheworld, sunnyside46, deshelestraci, irisheyes1929, merry1621, quartrlyfecrysis, oddb0dkins, fowfies, ladymagnolia1963, heavenlybama, helmswondermom, ma24179, jeanno43, maryajacobs5, jibaro6543,sybilsybil45, mariealicejoan, libragem007, redpoppy007, tendernoggle, ora4uk, wwfbison, blazensun, winivere2002, chasferris, gaboatman, thegirlnexdoor77, innxdoor, sylviam4000, easteeleco, southernmush, onemoretina, jhorky, layla44808, preciousone25, slimhawk,lsfp1960, stupidsheetguy, bojgill4375, justplainbill, jckfrstross, shrbrisc, magran42, barbpinion, nelishianatl, sdoscher458, cacklinrosie101, abaleman666, yakima127, kaydeejay5449, rdautumnsage, justaname4me2, bhbner2him, peytonswater, memes121, seraphoflove9001, astoriasand, oldetownephotos, lv2trnscrb, csandhollow, valphish, luvrte66, labdancer51, nightmaremom, jackiepie,aniracj, gehi6, madcobug, adlessor, thebaabee, bgilmore725, monponsett, catslittertray,bookncoffee, pharmolo, specialadyfink, kirkbyj05, edwardssoapy, geocachelinda66, jeanno43, rap4143,jeadie05, scotthlori, kellwitch, chevyz71gurl74, alphawoman1, astaryth,jeannescorsone, fisherkristina, quartrlyfecrysis, gaboatman, abaleman666, kirkbyj05

 

* * *

I wanted to send it to the editors/authors of all the 'editor blogs' located on the AOL Journals homepage (http://journals.aol.com) but the vast majority open to standard web sites, so I was unable to obtain their screenames. Moreover many of the blogs state that they've moved on to .com addresses.

Why AOL editors would choose to blog in a format completely unlike what they offer us is open for debate.

In the end the email went to:

 -----Original Message-----
From: ">slapinions@aol.com
To: JournalsEditor@aol.com Williammorris@aol.com" _nanciymeng@aol.com; leonaoflaherty@aol.com
Sent: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 4:46 pm
Subject: AOL Journals

But as it turns out nancyimeng has changed her email address so I forwarded it on to here new one: nancie.meng@corp.aol.com.

I'm also going to pop on Magic Smoke and copy the email into a comment there.

I'll let you all know what, if anything, I hear.

UPDATE: Mere hours after sending the email, I received this:

Thanks for the email on this!
Would printing to a PDF file be useful?

 ______________________________________________________________________________
William Morris
We've got Community! Try our new People Connection... http://peopleconnection.aol.com

 

Could a solution be on the horizon??

Tags: blogplugs

Crazy Day, a worrisome furnace, a physical and a Big Red Dog

Here's a few pics of the girls as they prepared to depart for school today during Catholic Schools Week.

Today was designated as "Crazy Day" and we took full advantage the opportunity to not hunt and peck for uniforms and matching socks. Not seen in the pics are their mismatched shoes.

 

Smiley got in the act too.

It certainly seemed crazy to be having school in the first place today, with temperatures of -4F,winds of 20 mph, and a wind chill approaching -40F. Many of the Catholic schools in the area are closed - most I think - but ours stays open whenever (Milwaukee) Public Schools give it a go, and so school was in session. Nevermind that MPS is insane and is making thousands of kids wait on bus stops in this weather.

 The wife asked if we should keep the kids home. Heck no, I said - it’s a warm building and a warm meal (we drop them off so there was no bus issue) and that ‘warm building’ was something I couldn’t guarantee here.

You see, at about 5 am I was woken up, in my cozy bedroom on the second floor, by the knock-knock-knocking on my chamber door of my basement furnace.

I headed downstairs thinking of that Dad from A Christmas Story “who closed the damper!"and wondering what magic he had to keep his furnace going. For those who don’t know, my furnace is age-old, certainly older than me.

Me? No clue. So at 6 in the morning I called my friend the Socialist, who said he’d be over in 20 minutes. He arrived promptly and fixed it almost as quickly, lubricating a drive shaft in what he called the ‘squirrel cage’. Maybe, just maybe, we can still hold off on a new furnace until next fall.

Once again Socialist has proved his worth and his loyalty, and I thank him.

 * * * * * *

YaYa and LuLu both had shots yesterday, and YaYa had a comprehensive physical. She weighs 47 pounds and stands 48 inches tall (“You’re almost a square!,” the nurse said) and is in good health.

Her eyesight didn’t come out that great though. It was 20/25 in one eye and 20/40 in the other and she was referred to an eye doctor. Not a big deal, seeing as both her parents wear glasses (I started in 1st grade), but there was some thought she was tanking the test for shi*s and giggles. She’s never shown signs of bad eyesight nor complained about it.

 “Are you sure? Do you have trouble seeing at school?“ my wife asked.

 “No,“ she answered. “Well, sometimes I can’t see the spelling words on the board, but that’s it.”

Oh, well, as long as it’s not affecting something important like your education kid.

 * * *

Lisa ran out of gas on the way home from the physical, and in a bad neighborhood no less, as she missed her original freeway exit. Just wanted my gallant rescue on the record. That’s all. :)

 * * *

I missed A.I. last night but gobbled up four episodes of Family Guy split between several stations. Lisa was laughing because as soon as one episode ended I’d holler “turn on channel 57, Family Guy’s on!”

Sure, I’m doing my usual binge, no doubt followed by a sharp purge in the near future, but for now Family Guy makes me burst out laughing time after time.

Obnoxiously, no less.

Here's a clip of the 'over' sketch from the episode where Stewie and Brian buy a home.

* * *

 I took my measurements on November 11th as my current weight-loss effort started and again last night. Despite a bad week here, the evidence was pretty clear.

 I lost 2 inches in my chest and stomach, an inch in my thighs, a half an inch in my waist, etc.. Last I checked I weighed in at 342, down maybe 30 from my 2007 highpoint.

 I can’t see the difference, although my clothes no longer feel like a girdle. The trick is to keepup the effort and push forward.

 * * *

Re: Clifford the Big Red Dog “Clifford grew so big the Howards’ had to leave their home . . “. That’d be the f*ing day.

Tags: YaYa, LuLu, furnace, Socialist

Some Shots of Lauren

 

Here's some pics of Lauren. For some reason the photo program would remove the red-eye on some pics but not others; if I ever have time I'll try to touch them up in the future. I love the last pic, by the way :)

Whoa, Nellie that's a big head! Mine, I mean, not the baby's.

 

Tags: Baby

Three shots of our living room and a chance to show off some of my wife's work

First, a little before and after. Before, circa Jan-Feb of 2007:

And then in September of the same year. Granted, it's mainly cosmetic (except the floors) but impressive all the same.

The painting above the fireplace was done by my wife. She has an impressive knack for the visual arts/crafts/decorating/party-planning. I have none of her skills in that area, but I have her on one point: she has no imagination for stories or make-believe. I'm serious. If you erased all stories from human memory and assigned her, and her alone, to get the ball rolling and come up with a story . well, better luck having me design a prom dress.

Here's another project of hers I find very impressive. She took an old painting we purchased at a yard sale and covered it with four squares of hand-selected fabric. I've always felt this rocked and that is was an imaginative improvement over the original painting.

[Note: I'm sorry the picture leaves a little to be desired. I just dashed upstairs to take the shot (it's 12:49am), flicked on the light, took the photo and dashed out before I woke up my wife. No time to orchestrate a great shot}

Tags: Nostalgia Avenue

aoljaolPictureAdd, aoljaolPictureAdd_5

Where's an editor when you need one?

From an AP article on the 2008 State of the Union address, written by Terence Hunt. The emphasis is my own:

"Bush made only one mention of Osama bin Laden, who remains at large more than seven years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 . . . "

Bear in mind that the last time I checked it was January 27th of 2008, nearly 8 months shy of the attack's seventh anniversary.

My intention here isn't political, and I know mistakes happen. I just find it amusing that an elementary school math error could slip past a professional journalist and his various editors.

My Wife's Artwork for Catholic School's Week 2008

Catholic Schools Week begins Monday and my wife, as room mother for both of my daughters' classes, had the responsiblity of decorating their classroom doors. She had to make sure to work in the theme of  "Catholic Schools Light The Way"

Here's LuLu's door:

Each of the paper dolls is dressed in 'clothing' crafted from fabric scraps my sister Katie donated to Lisa. They each also hold a candle in their hands to 'light the way' - the candle being a string of white battery-operated christmas lights Lisa bought for the project.

YaYa's door features an idea I came up with, the use of fireflies:

Because this one was in some part my idea, in concept if not execution, I include a second photo.

Each of the fireflies features one of the before-mentioned lights on their behind.

A heck of a job - kudo's to the Mrs. Here's hoping the kids remember some of what she did for them years down the road.

Tags: Lisa, art

OMG! (and please excuse all the !'s)

THIS IS NOT A JOKE

Woohoo!

People magazine's online edition is reporting a reunion of the New Kids on the Block, the seminal boy-band of the late '80's - early '90's!

Long time readers will recall that my wife and I have nearly 30  videotapes chock full of concerts and news footage of the band, and we have a trunk in storage jam-packed with everything from NKOTB slippers to trading cards to marbles and lunchboxes.

We even spent the turn-of-the-millenium in Boston at a Joey McIntyre concert. Hey I know it sounds odd, but my wife was a super fan and what the heck - they grew on me.

Who says you can't love Zeppelin and New Kids on the Block?

Man, what great news!

Here's the complete text of the article:

After months of speculation and rumor, the Kids are coming back. A well-placed source tells PEOPLE exclusively that New Kids On The Block are indeed getting back together.

The band's Web site, www.nkotb.com, which had been dormant, is now back up and running in anticipation of the official announcement, which the source says will be made in the next few weeks.

The site currently features a television graphic with a fuzzy, flickering photos of NKOTB in their heyday, and a link inviting fans to sign up for info.

The boy band, which made legions of tweens swoon in the early '90s, selling more than 50 million albums, became a worldwide phenomenon before calling it quits in 1994.

Eighteen years later, they're still "Hangin' Tough." The oldest "Kid," Jonathan Knight, now a real estate developer, will turn 40 later this year. Since the band's demise, former members Donnie Wahlberg, 38, and Joey McIntyre, 35, have seen acting success, while Danny Wood, 38, has worked as a music producer and Knight's brother, Jordan, 37, has continued to record.

Tags: NKTOB, New Kids on the Block, Donnie Wahlberg, Joey Mcintyre, Danny Wood, Jordan Knight, Jonathon Knight