A Walk Home

Walking the kids home from school, 9-10-12

Thank You David Akers

Whooohoo David Akers aka my 14 fantasy point  - at halftime! -  kicker, who just made history by hitting a 63 yrd field goal, tying an NFL record. I want a Packers win, but another 14 points for Aker in the second half would be swell . . . .

I'm confused

In a military history book I'm reading is the following quote, one I don't fully understand. It rationalizes the failure to secure an area on the flank of the advance, saying.  ". . . there are security advantages to be gained from having a dangling flank curve behind an advancing front line; it prevent[s] the enemy from rolling up behind the advancing front line." How is that the case? By leaving the flank occupied by the enemy and pushing forward, isn't the enemy (by definition) already behind your line of advancement?  If you know, please explain.

If you're tactics are highly stressful, then your enemy will be driven before your line of advance, or destroyed by it.  Enemies behind your line of advance result from imperfections in, or the failure of your tactics.  - Fred

Sure, but the author was arguing that leaving the enemy on the flank - in this case - helped secure the rear of the advance. I do not see the logic involved. - Me

With forces on the flank, the enemy is prevented from sending troops in a circular maneuver to come at the rear from an oblique angle. - Fred

update: I wrote the author of that military quote (Eric Hammel) and asked him to explain. Here's what he wrote back: 

It's difficult in 2012 to know exaclty what I was thinking in 1991, but it seems to me now that I had had a line described to me that looked like this (taking into account the limitations of keyboard symbols:

  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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It would prevent--or at least constrain--an enemy force from rolling up the (in this case) left flank in detail from left to right.

If I'm not mistaken, Patton's right flank was open during the September 1944 part of the advance across France, but XIX Tactical Air Command "dangled" on that side of Third Army and thus provided that sort of flank protection.

I'm Disgusted

I am thoroughly disgusted with having to work as much as I do. I know there are folks here on FB who work more hours and others that seem to get all happy-wappy by working two jobs, but honey, that ain't me. Last weekend I worked 29 out of 48 hours and have pulled several 12 or 13 hour days since then for no appreciable financial gain. Something has to change.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Last night Lisa and I found ourselves at the Value Cinema, watching "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". 

The book was ok, but stretched a gimmick too far. The movie just plain SUCKED. Hokey dialogue, a 4th grader's grasp of history, anachronisms galore, and the mandatory African-American best friend who is treated as Abe's social equal by everyone despite, ya know, it being *1840*. 

Some of the action scenes were wicked good tho', and Mary Todd was hot - possibly the only time that's been said in the last 150 years. 

Lisa slept through most of it, including one embarrassing snoring incident, making her like *the worst date ever*, but the movie wasn't *that* bad. Grade: C-

Never use the verb "sucked" when critiquing a vampire movie. -Fred

it was a 9:55 movie and it was a loooong day!!! - Lisa

excuses, excuses - Me

Quote

It is often better to do the right thing for the wrong reason that the wrong thing for the right reason

Michael Clarke Duncan

R.I.P Michael Clarke Duncan

Two Quotes

"You're worrying about how other people feel at a time when you should only be worrying about yourself."

"There is no such time," she said. -Mr Monk and the Two Assistants, pg 29

Cast down your bucket where you are - Booker T Washington

The Yanks are Back

Thank you Lord! Arod is back in the Yankee lineup for the first time since July 24th. They cut his rehab stint short and recalled him because they needed him, the presence of "The Captain" be damned. Since he went on the DL the Yanks are 18-18 and saw their lead in the division trimmed from seven games to two. I know they sometimes need to give the appearance of fallibility so that fans in other cities mistakenly think they have a shot at a ring, but enough is enough. Time to start doing what Yankees do best: Just Win Baby.

Napoleon

"Josephine told lies practically all the time, but with elegance. I can say that she was the woman whom I have loved the most," Napoleon 

"He [Napoleon] might have been a better man if he had been more and better loved." - Madame de Remusat

Oddities

Watching "Oddities" with the bookends and Lisa . . .

Quote

In 3 words I can sum up everything I've learned in life; it goes on. - Robert Frost

Hiroshima by John Hersey

I finished reading John Hersey's "Hiroshima", a great early example of "new journalism". It was superb, and I have since passed it on to Grace. If I had a complaint it is that the bombing is presented without any context. There is no discussion of Japan's rape of China, its attack on Pearl Harbor, the torture and murder of thousands of American POW's, the fierce resistance on Okinawa that cemented the certainty that a conventional invasion of Japan would be an epic bloodbath, etc. It was not the TOOL that was evil, but the war that spawned it. That is touched on for a sentence or too in the epilogue, but that was not enough  Grade: A+ (book 73 of 2012)

Eastwood's speech

Just watched Clint Eastwood's speech at the Republican convention. Obviously age chipped away at his delivery, but his opinions were spot on. Well done sir, thank you.

Quote

"My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening," Alice Rooselevelt,  TR's daughter, on her Dad's thirst for the limelight

Guest of Honor by Deborah Davis

Friday I finished reading "Guest of Honor" by Deborah Davis. It's a non-fiction account of the 1901 White House dinner of Teddy Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington - the first time a black man was invited to break bread with the President, and an action that enflamed the South. I respect the dinner and the courage it took for all parties - but I think the book as a whole failed to live up to the importance of that moment. It was organized loosely, spending far too much time tracing the biographies of the two men and then relegating the dinner and its aftershocks to less than a third of the book. Also, while I know its a work of popular history and not a scholarly treatment, I could have done without some of the annoying hallmarks of that genre; such as endless times when successive, often irrelevant anecdotes and trivia were used to establish the feel for the time and place. One thing it did do well was re-establish the brilliance of Washington, a man long dismissed by historians weened on the jealousies of his rival W.E.B. DuBouis. Grade: C+/B- (book# 72 of the year)

You are so freaking smart. You need to become an editor for some these independents. They'd be in tears but smarter for it. Pays well too. - Violetta

Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants by Lee Goldberg

Thursday I finished reading "Mr Monk and the Two Assistants" by Lee Goldberg, a book based on the tv show "Monk". I liked the premise (bringing back the old assistant Sharona and having her lock horns with Natalie) but I thought the book was flat, with a messy plot and no real zest. Goldberg is the writing partner of William Rabkin, author of the Psych novels, and judging soley from this effort I'd say Rabkin has the lion's share of the talent. Still, the dialogue worked well so perhaps Goldberg is just handicapped by his history as a scriptwriter. Grade: C [book #71 of 2012]

You gotta wonder

The Mass Shooting at the Local Sikh Temple

JSOnline reporting btwn 8 and 20 shooting victims at an Oak Creek Sikh temple . . .developing

UPDATE: JSOnline reporting up to 30 shooting victims with children being held hostage . . .

UPDATE: Think before you comment: on a post about the temple shooting, with news of 30 dead or wounded, children held hostage, etc . . smack dab in a back and forth of prayers and thoughts of the victims. someone posts that she hopes the guy she just started dating is ok (he works for Oak Creek PD). All respect for the cops on scene and I hope for their safety, but bleep your boyfriend; spend a second thinking about the victims and the kids, *at least* when they are the stated subject at hand.  

update: I see that my reaction itself was an emotional response to the tragedy and off the mark. She had every right to think of those she knew personally. 

UPDATE: js now confirming @ least 7 dead. For those outside Wisconsin, Oak Creek is a Milwaukee suburb near our home.

This is horrible. 

UPDATE: The final numbers were six dead (and the shooter, who killed himself after being shot by police) and 4 wounded (including an officer shot multiple times).  A seventh victim died in 2020 from his head wound after living with partial paralysis for years. 

100% Accurate

U live in a house of 4 girls remember? We will remember this - Lulu

How Ginger Spent Her 5th Birthday pt 1

Hard to believe but it's been five whole years since little Ginger/Lump came into our world. This years event was held at Chuck E Cheese.

  We had the party at noon on her actual birthday, hoping weekday crowds would be far smaller than their weekend equivalents. We were right. While we didn't have the place to ourselves, it was close enough - it felt like our own private playground.


The party started off with the kids just playing and using their allotted tokens for a good 45 minutes.

Of course, some grown ups had to get in on the act too.

 











Meanwhile most of the grown-ups chilled.





At one point all the kids joined Chuck E for a dance along - including YaYa!







Then it was time for pizza!





The grown-ups, meanwhile, had a veggie tray and sandwiches.

Then it was time for cake:



and to sing happy birthday!





Ginger was loving it!



So was her Daddy!




Then Chuck E came out to visit her again





and we sang happy birthday AGAIN! (oopsies!)



not that she minded



Then they put her inside a booth that blew tickets into the air around her. The goal was the golden 1000 ticket prize, but the manager cheated and told her to step on it before the wind started :)







Mission accomplished!



Then it was time to open presents.



We got her a zebra print hassock





a Cuddle-Up-It (her favorite gift of the day!)






YaYa got her a princess movie DVD .



LuLu got her lipgloss




I got her a whiffle ball/bat and baseball mitt, and she got scads of other stuff from friends and family:












Smiley got her AppleJacks, a My Little Pony

and with her tickets from the games she got herself a gumball machine. It was a great time and a swell birthday party (oddly, very relaxing for the grown-ups too) and her day was only half done . . .

Look at these nails!

 I wish I could take credit for this set! But it's the work of Illiana (hot chick w/ the accent at the nail booth). Artistry, and so creative. Taxi is my fave, tennis shoe a close second :)  - Lisa

Silent House

A few nights ago Lisa and I Redboxed "Silent House", a 2011 horror movie filmed in 'real time' and in what appears to be a single, continuous camera shot.  It's creepy and atmospheric and once it even got me to jump in real terror. However - and I'm aware this makes me sound like a dawg - I was genuinely and persistently distracted by the  cleavage of star Elizabeth Olsen (sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley) and so my attention was divided. How divided? Even now, days later, I had to delete several adjectives I wrote before the word 'cleavage. I'd grade the movie a B+.