I have been an active consumer of music since about 1993. My interest in music goes back much further. I can still remember when I was sitting in the back seat of the car when my parents gave me my first tape without a book. It was The "Chipmunks." Although, I listened to music and bought tapes after that, the album Dookie by Greenday is what I can pin down to what made me start to love music. From 7th to 9th grade was a very exciting time for me as far as music was concerned. I expanded my tastes into many varied categories. Today, I believe I have a very eclectic taste in music. To put that into perspective, a couple of years ago I owned the albums that won Grammys for best rap album and best bluegrass album. When people ask me what type of music I like I generally just answer, "Good music."
For me, I think the way a certain guitar riff sounds or a harmony in a song makes me feel helps prove that I (and therefore other humans) have a soul. It is not a biological response; its not a memory response. I get a near euphoric feeling from the guitar solo in the Who's "Pure and Easy" and I know I had not heard it until I heard it the first time. I had that response the first time I heard it.
I bring this up now over some reflection during the Thanksgiving Holiday. I spent all of Thanksgiving Day around a baby. Every time music played, that baby danced. I got me to thinking that all off the babies I have ever seen do the same thing. Babies dance, seemingly unconsciously to music, like a knee jerk reaction. And its the same dance every time. Knees bend, hips swing, and arms flap.
I don't know what it is or why, but it is obvious to me that music occupies a very special place in the human experience. Whether it speaks directly to our souls or some kind of collective human memory (see Carl Jung), it causes a near automatic response for us when we are children and creates special feelings in us as adults.
So, if you think you don't really like music, I, respectfully, think you are wrong. You just need to listen to more music and find something you like. Whether its Wagner, Brittany Spears, Steel Pier, or Hank Williams does not matter as long as you like it, and as long as it makes you feel like part of our shared experience (and I don't have to listen to it if you are listening to Brittany or Steel Pier, sorry Nicole on the Steel Pier).
-J
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
I know all of you who read web-land probably thought I was striking to show my solidarity with the Writers Guild. Well lucky for you that is not the case. So rest assured, when your favorite shows soon go to reruns, you may still read new posts on web-land.
I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. I know Nicole and I did. Here is one beef I have with Thanksgiving... the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. First of all, I must, in the interest of full disclosure, state I hate parades. I consider parades an excuse to wait in a line to see nothing. Parades on TV however make ESPN Poker look as exciting as the Superbowl with chainsaws (seriously, how crazy would that be). But, the thing that really gets me about this particular parade is all the fake performances. Every few floats the parade stops, Matt Lauer says some canned lines and then a teeny bopper lip syncs a verse from one of their popular songs. Who enjoys this? It is obviously as fake as Rudy Giuliani's conservative credentials. And frankly, their performances make Milli Vanilli look legit. I have to stop writing about this before I flip out.
How about the Mississippi Coaching Carousel? One would think USM would learn from UM's mistake. My old Driver's Ed instructor had a sticker in his office that said "I was there when we tied the Bear." Before Bower, USM major accomplishment was tying Alabama. He made USM into the best program in the state the last 20 years. He has had 14 consecutive winning seasons. It makes me just wonder if in 3 years USM fans are gonna have their heads in their hands like everyone in Oxford does today. BTW, previously those who were very defensive about/ supportive of Coach O are rabidly against him now. I have actually heard someone sing, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead." I saw Dustin Mouzon at the video game store. He was quoted in the paper as saying he was disappointed in the firing, however, I heard him say that many of the players on the football team were unhappy with the decision. Go ahead and mark it down. I predict Callahan will be the next coach at Ole Miss.
Finally, in the realm of election coverage. Trent Lott has stated he would resign before January 1. This decision is tactically brilliant and shows why the Republican Party is gaining so much ground over the Democrats in MS. First of all Lott gets out and can start making some real money in a year where as new legislation would extend that time period. Secondly, now Haley can appoint someone to take his place. This will probably be Pickering, but even if it isn't, when a Democrat does finally get to challenge for the Senate seat, he will now have to run against an incumbent Republican. Brilliant. Lott has made sure to set the GOP up pretty sweetly in the state for years to come and to also make sure Republicans will be able to count on MS Senators being Republican at least for the foreseeable future.
That's all for now.
-J
I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. I know Nicole and I did. Here is one beef I have with Thanksgiving... the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. First of all, I must, in the interest of full disclosure, state I hate parades. I consider parades an excuse to wait in a line to see nothing. Parades on TV however make ESPN Poker look as exciting as the Superbowl with chainsaws (seriously, how crazy would that be). But, the thing that really gets me about this particular parade is all the fake performances. Every few floats the parade stops, Matt Lauer says some canned lines and then a teeny bopper lip syncs a verse from one of their popular songs. Who enjoys this? It is obviously as fake as Rudy Giuliani's conservative credentials. And frankly, their performances make Milli Vanilli look legit. I have to stop writing about this before I flip out.
How about the Mississippi Coaching Carousel? One would think USM would learn from UM's mistake. My old Driver's Ed instructor had a sticker in his office that said "I was there when we tied the Bear." Before Bower, USM major accomplishment was tying Alabama. He made USM into the best program in the state the last 20 years. He has had 14 consecutive winning seasons. It makes me just wonder if in 3 years USM fans are gonna have their heads in their hands like everyone in Oxford does today. BTW, previously those who were very defensive about/ supportive of Coach O are rabidly against him now. I have actually heard someone sing, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead." I saw Dustin Mouzon at the video game store. He was quoted in the paper as saying he was disappointed in the firing, however, I heard him say that many of the players on the football team were unhappy with the decision. Go ahead and mark it down. I predict Callahan will be the next coach at Ole Miss.
Finally, in the realm of election coverage. Trent Lott has stated he would resign before January 1. This decision is tactically brilliant and shows why the Republican Party is gaining so much ground over the Democrats in MS. First of all Lott gets out and can start making some real money in a year where as new legislation would extend that time period. Secondly, now Haley can appoint someone to take his place. This will probably be Pickering, but even if it isn't, when a Democrat does finally get to challenge for the Senate seat, he will now have to run against an incumbent Republican. Brilliant. Lott has made sure to set the GOP up pretty sweetly in the state for years to come and to also make sure Republicans will be able to count on MS Senators being Republican at least for the foreseeable future.
That's all for now.
-J
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
United States Supreme Court
On Halloween I say BOO to the Supreme Court.
I already feel like the Supreme Court should be disbanded and their old decisions thrown out. Then we should place new Justices on the Court who are actually non-partisan who will make decisions based on the Constitution rather than their whims. People ask me so you think Brown v. Board of Education should be thrown out? And my answer is we would not have even needed Brown if the Supreme Court would not have made a ridiculous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. I will spare you the rest of this rant, just know that once you go to law school you realize what a farce the Supreme Court is.
The thing that set me off today is that the Supreme Court granted a stay of the execution scheduled for last night. Whether or not you agree with Capital Punishment, one has to admit the Supreme Court's timing was absurd. The execution date has been set for months now but the Supreme Court comes in 15 minutes before its supposed to happen and grants the stay? What the heck? Do they need that much publicity? The timing forces the victim's family, the prisoner, and the prisoner's family onto a roller coaster of emotions. It dangles closure in front of them like a string and then pulls it away at the last minute. It goes to show you that these rich old law professors have no sense of what their decisions do to the real world. Shame on them.
-J
I already feel like the Supreme Court should be disbanded and their old decisions thrown out. Then we should place new Justices on the Court who are actually non-partisan who will make decisions based on the Constitution rather than their whims. People ask me so you think Brown v. Board of Education should be thrown out? And my answer is we would not have even needed Brown if the Supreme Court would not have made a ridiculous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. I will spare you the rest of this rant, just know that once you go to law school you realize what a farce the Supreme Court is.
The thing that set me off today is that the Supreme Court granted a stay of the execution scheduled for last night. Whether or not you agree with Capital Punishment, one has to admit the Supreme Court's timing was absurd. The execution date has been set for months now but the Supreme Court comes in 15 minutes before its supposed to happen and grants the stay? What the heck? Do they need that much publicity? The timing forces the victim's family, the prisoner, and the prisoner's family onto a roller coaster of emotions. It dangles closure in front of them like a string and then pulls it away at the last minute. It goes to show you that these rich old law professors have no sense of what their decisions do to the real world. Shame on them.
-J
Monday, October 29, 2007
MSinformed 2007: Election Coverage
Today we shall start a new tradition. I will make the official Web-land endorsements for the current election. Like many of my entries, some of my picks are well reasoned and some are just based on a whim/good commercial. Endorsed candidates are in bold.
Please pardon any typos, I am not going to edit this post b/c it took too long to write.
Governor:
Haley Barbour- Haley is the incumbent. He has overseen a boom in outside investment in Mississippi that is unparalleled in my life time. He also brought Mississippi through its most difficult time since the civil rights movement- Katrina. Its his 9-11 but unlike Gulliani, Barbour is milking it like the consumate politician he is. Barbour's biggest knocks are that he founded the most successful lobbying firm in Washington and he vetoed the cigarette/grocery tax thing. As far as the lobbying firm, he has all of his money still associated with them in a blind trust meaning no matter what happens there he cannot effect his money. His connections as a Washington power broker are a plus for the state. I do not agree with his veto of the cigarette/grocery tax, but he ran initially saying he would not raise taxes. So he only did what he said he would. That rhetoric is absent from this campaign.
John Arthur Eaves- What can I say? He is running the best campaign he can. If you cannot run on your record, spew some biblical nonsense. His basic platform is that he loves Jesus and Jesus loves him. So if you love Jesus, you should love him. It will work on people whose faith blinds them to any reason. Prayer will never be allowed in public school again. GET OVER IT! He may have some other planks to his platform, but his biblically based rhetoric overpowers them.
Lt. Governor
Phil Bryant- Phil served as Auditor for a number of years and received pretty good reviews. Everyone that I know who has interacted with Bryant while he was auditor believe he was easy to work with and did his job very well. He is among the most respected politicians in the state. His biggest knock against him is that he was state auditor when the beef plant stuff went down. But those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. By that I mean, everyone in office when the beef plant thing went down has mud on their boots.
Jamie Franks- Franks looks like he is about 12 years old. Looking at his website, I agree with many aspects of his platform. His platform does not seem as complete as Phil Bryant's. Franks has been a member of the House of Representatives for 12 years so he is obviously doing something right as far as his constituents are concerned. In this case it really comes down to the positive image of Bryant's ability to work with others and his effectiveness.
Attorney General
Jim Hood- in opposition to Bryant, Hood seems to have a fairly negative image. Many people feel like he was stirring up trouble with the Edgar Ray Killen trial. (He did certainly use it as a photo op). He has also gotten some flack for settling law suits for pennies on the dollar and the attorneys hired to pursue the claims have ties to his fundraising. Well what do you want me to say? He is a democrat. He may have some shady dealings but he is the best candidate. He has a very strong victim rights program and a totally sweet haircut. Plus he has done right by me, so I will support him.
Al Hopkins- I am not really sure why it matters that he only tried cow and pig cases. The AG is an administrator not a lawyer anyway. Hopkins has served his country and his state since 1965 as a member of the guard. This devotion cannot be understated. But, I cannot seem to find anything he stands for. He seems to just stand against Jim Hood. That will not earn my august endorsement.
Secretary of State
Delbert Hosemann- His commercials are funny and I don't really think the Secretary of State matters. So that means he gets my endorsement. Secretary of State oversees elections and consumer protection. I think any candidate would be for legit elections and consumer protection.
Rob Smith- He has some things going for him. First of all, he has served the state for a number of years as a member of the state legislature. Secondly, he looks like Art Garfunkel. Maybe if he did a commercial with Paul Simon, I would re-think. Until then hold the parsely, sage, rosemary, and time.
State Auditor
Stacey Pickering- He is a Pickering and he is from Laurel... Where have I heard this one? Other than the fact that his cousin (I assume) is a member of the US House I don't seem much happening here. I think he will probably win for three reasons: 1) he looks like a guy you want to elect 2) his name 3) he is Republican. However, I have looked at his platform and his plans for the State Auditor's Office and I am not impressed. He calls his platorm the "Contract for Accountability." It is pretty vague. He has goals, but not really any information on how he plans to achieve them.
Mike Sumrall- This guy is a big fat slob. He has said he probably could not pass the CPA exam. He is trying his best not to win. However, looking at his website, he seems to have some very practical ideas on how to increase the effectiveness of the State Auditor's Office. His platform is very nuts and bolts and does not have a catchy title like "Contract for Accountability." But, it does seem that he has a plan to make the office more efficient.
Treasurer
Vote for Tate Reeves, although I don't really like him, and I voted for his opponenet last time. O'Hara pops up every election and runs for something and then disappears into whatever hole he crawled out of. This is a choice between two poor candidates.
Insurance Commissioner
Mike Chaney- Hey he shares his name with one of the most despised people in the entire nation... Mike Vick. HAHA. He and Anderson basically have the same views on the same issues. Vote Republican on this one because the Democrats fought tort reform which raised insurance rates for everyone.
Gary Anderson- He should be the incumbent Treasurer, but in 2003 the state made the wrong choice. Now Gary is just trying to get a piece of the pie. He claims he does not take any contributions from insurance. That could be a plus.
Agriculture Commissioner
Les Riley- he is running on the Constitution Party Ticket. His platfomrm sounds pretty good at first... then he goes nuts. Apparently, God plays a major role (or atleast should) in the Department of Agriculture. God makes rain, not policy.
Ricky Cole- He is the former leader of the Mississippi Democratic party and was run out of the post after the 2003 elections. If he runs the Department of Agriculture that well, we are all in trouble.
Lester Spell- Perhaps, more than anyone in the state government, he has beef on his hands. He was Ag. Commissioner when the Beef Plant stuff happened. According to the Clarion-Ledger he has taken no responsibility for it. Again though, everyone in office the last term had some involvement with the beef plant. He has been Ag. Commissioner since 1996, and I see no real reason to think that should change. Oh yeah and Boys' State City of Spell Best City 1998 respect!
Please pardon any typos, I am not going to edit this post b/c it took too long to write.
Governor:
Haley Barbour- Haley is the incumbent. He has overseen a boom in outside investment in Mississippi that is unparalleled in my life time. He also brought Mississippi through its most difficult time since the civil rights movement- Katrina. Its his 9-11 but unlike Gulliani, Barbour is milking it like the consumate politician he is. Barbour's biggest knocks are that he founded the most successful lobbying firm in Washington and he vetoed the cigarette/grocery tax thing. As far as the lobbying firm, he has all of his money still associated with them in a blind trust meaning no matter what happens there he cannot effect his money. His connections as a Washington power broker are a plus for the state. I do not agree with his veto of the cigarette/grocery tax, but he ran initially saying he would not raise taxes. So he only did what he said he would. That rhetoric is absent from this campaign.
John Arthur Eaves- What can I say? He is running the best campaign he can. If you cannot run on your record, spew some biblical nonsense. His basic platform is that he loves Jesus and Jesus loves him. So if you love Jesus, you should love him. It will work on people whose faith blinds them to any reason. Prayer will never be allowed in public school again. GET OVER IT! He may have some other planks to his platform, but his biblically based rhetoric overpowers them.
Lt. Governor
Phil Bryant- Phil served as Auditor for a number of years and received pretty good reviews. Everyone that I know who has interacted with Bryant while he was auditor believe he was easy to work with and did his job very well. He is among the most respected politicians in the state. His biggest knock against him is that he was state auditor when the beef plant stuff went down. But those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. By that I mean, everyone in office when the beef plant thing went down has mud on their boots.
Jamie Franks- Franks looks like he is about 12 years old. Looking at his website, I agree with many aspects of his platform. His platform does not seem as complete as Phil Bryant's. Franks has been a member of the House of Representatives for 12 years so he is obviously doing something right as far as his constituents are concerned. In this case it really comes down to the positive image of Bryant's ability to work with others and his effectiveness.
Attorney General
Jim Hood- in opposition to Bryant, Hood seems to have a fairly negative image. Many people feel like he was stirring up trouble with the Edgar Ray Killen trial. (He did certainly use it as a photo op). He has also gotten some flack for settling law suits for pennies on the dollar and the attorneys hired to pursue the claims have ties to his fundraising. Well what do you want me to say? He is a democrat. He may have some shady dealings but he is the best candidate. He has a very strong victim rights program and a totally sweet haircut. Plus he has done right by me, so I will support him.
Al Hopkins- I am not really sure why it matters that he only tried cow and pig cases. The AG is an administrator not a lawyer anyway. Hopkins has served his country and his state since 1965 as a member of the guard. This devotion cannot be understated. But, I cannot seem to find anything he stands for. He seems to just stand against Jim Hood. That will not earn my august endorsement.
Secretary of State
Delbert Hosemann- His commercials are funny and I don't really think the Secretary of State matters. So that means he gets my endorsement. Secretary of State oversees elections and consumer protection. I think any candidate would be for legit elections and consumer protection.
Rob Smith- He has some things going for him. First of all, he has served the state for a number of years as a member of the state legislature. Secondly, he looks like Art Garfunkel. Maybe if he did a commercial with Paul Simon, I would re-think. Until then hold the parsely, sage, rosemary, and time.
State Auditor
Stacey Pickering- He is a Pickering and he is from Laurel... Where have I heard this one? Other than the fact that his cousin (I assume) is a member of the US House I don't seem much happening here. I think he will probably win for three reasons: 1) he looks like a guy you want to elect 2) his name 3) he is Republican. However, I have looked at his platform and his plans for the State Auditor's Office and I am not impressed. He calls his platorm the "Contract for Accountability." It is pretty vague. He has goals, but not really any information on how he plans to achieve them.
Mike Sumrall- This guy is a big fat slob. He has said he probably could not pass the CPA exam. He is trying his best not to win. However, looking at his website, he seems to have some very practical ideas on how to increase the effectiveness of the State Auditor's Office. His platform is very nuts and bolts and does not have a catchy title like "Contract for Accountability." But, it does seem that he has a plan to make the office more efficient.
Treasurer
Vote for Tate Reeves, although I don't really like him, and I voted for his opponenet last time. O'Hara pops up every election and runs for something and then disappears into whatever hole he crawled out of. This is a choice between two poor candidates.
Insurance Commissioner
Mike Chaney- Hey he shares his name with one of the most despised people in the entire nation... Mike Vick. HAHA. He and Anderson basically have the same views on the same issues. Vote Republican on this one because the Democrats fought tort reform which raised insurance rates for everyone.
Gary Anderson- He should be the incumbent Treasurer, but in 2003 the state made the wrong choice. Now Gary is just trying to get a piece of the pie. He claims he does not take any contributions from insurance. That could be a plus.
Agriculture Commissioner
Les Riley- he is running on the Constitution Party Ticket. His platfomrm sounds pretty good at first... then he goes nuts. Apparently, God plays a major role (or atleast should) in the Department of Agriculture. God makes rain, not policy.
Ricky Cole- He is the former leader of the Mississippi Democratic party and was run out of the post after the 2003 elections. If he runs the Department of Agriculture that well, we are all in trouble.
Lester Spell- Perhaps, more than anyone in the state government, he has beef on his hands. He was Ag. Commissioner when the Beef Plant stuff happened. According to the Clarion-Ledger he has taken no responsibility for it. Again though, everyone in office the last term had some involvement with the beef plant. He has been Ag. Commissioner since 1996, and I see no real reason to think that should change. Oh yeah and Boys' State City of Spell Best City 1998 respect!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Its the little things.
Its the little things in life that drive me crazy. Here are a few of them that have raised my ire recently.
First of all, what is the deal with all this Princess Diana junk? Princess Diana is on the news everyday. It appears there is some sort of jury in France having some sort of discussion about the circumstances regarding her death. I know she died 10 years ago, so this is the anniversary, but she is not Disney World. She does not have to celebrate her anniversary all year long. It drives me crazy to see all of this coverage. It started this summer when her kids had a concert to honor her and raise money for her favorite charities. They get a pass. But now one cannot check out at the grocery store without articles in People, the Star, and the National Enquirer about a woman that has been dead for 10 years and is primarily famous for who she married. You know what this reminds me of? Bear Bryant. Alabama fans won't let him die either. For both sets of people... Get over it!
Secondly, Al Gore. Last week Al "Hambone" Gore won the Nobel peace prize. He won for being in a movie. Al "Tater Salad" Gore was in An Inconvenient Truth, a film about the dangers of global warming. Assuming global warming is real and assuming it is caused by humans this movie certainly opened up people's eyes. But seriously, he just hosted the thing. What else has Al "China Buffet 2" Gore done? He has flown around the world a lot in his gas guzzling private plane rather than using a commercial carrier. He uses copious amounts of electricity to power his mansion. Not to mention, Al "the Beefcake" Gore eats more food per day than many Africans consume in a year. Seriously, if cow farts are hurting the ozone, then Al farts have got to be absolutely devastating. I guess its mitigated by the fact that most of his hot air comes out of his mouth.
I guess the Nobel committee is trying to take the crown of inept international organizations from the UN. If so, it has worked, at least until something has to be done about Iran and then the UN will certainly take back its title. Gore has positioned himself to step right into (well he might have to lube up to fit) Jimmy Carter's place when the former President becomes a future peanut crop.
Thirdly, the Red Cross's involvement in the Jena 6 rally. It only takes a brief read of previous posts to realize my support of the students charged in the Jena 6 incident. The Red Cross supported the rally with thousands of bottles of water. The Red Cross is supposed to provide support to humanitarian events. Although the rally was important, it was not a humanitarian event. The Red Cross should have saved their money for the next hurricane, earthquake, or tornado, the NAACP, private citizens, or churches should have contributed to the march. Sure bottles of water are just bottles of water, its really no big deal in the scheme of things. However, many people are withdrawing their support of the Red Cross after this incident. Why donate money to an organization if they spend it on something outside of their mission? Now, when the Red Cross has something to do more within the scope of their mission, they will not have the money to do so. The Red Cross should be so far outside the scope of politics, but in this case, even though it was in support of a just cause, they were too involved.
Finally, on a completely other note, it looks like the Colorado Rockies will make it to the World Series. Wow, that is certainly a sign of the apocalypse (add to the fact that next year Hillary may be elected President and Bill might be UN Secretary General). I fully expect to wake up tomorrow to find all of the Baptists have disappeared in anticipation of the rapture. I had hoped Boston would make it to the World Series also (they still have a chance) because I bet with the thin air in Colorado Big Popi could hit a homerun into McCovey Cove (yes, the one in San Francisco).
That's all I have for now.
-J
First of all, what is the deal with all this Princess Diana junk? Princess Diana is on the news everyday. It appears there is some sort of jury in France having some sort of discussion about the circumstances regarding her death. I know she died 10 years ago, so this is the anniversary, but she is not Disney World. She does not have to celebrate her anniversary all year long. It drives me crazy to see all of this coverage. It started this summer when her kids had a concert to honor her and raise money for her favorite charities. They get a pass. But now one cannot check out at the grocery store without articles in People, the Star, and the National Enquirer about a woman that has been dead for 10 years and is primarily famous for who she married. You know what this reminds me of? Bear Bryant. Alabama fans won't let him die either. For both sets of people... Get over it!
Secondly, Al Gore. Last week Al "Hambone" Gore won the Nobel peace prize. He won for being in a movie. Al "Tater Salad" Gore was in An Inconvenient Truth, a film about the dangers of global warming. Assuming global warming is real and assuming it is caused by humans this movie certainly opened up people's eyes. But seriously, he just hosted the thing. What else has Al "China Buffet 2" Gore done? He has flown around the world a lot in his gas guzzling private plane rather than using a commercial carrier. He uses copious amounts of electricity to power his mansion. Not to mention, Al "the Beefcake" Gore eats more food per day than many Africans consume in a year. Seriously, if cow farts are hurting the ozone, then Al farts have got to be absolutely devastating. I guess its mitigated by the fact that most of his hot air comes out of his mouth.
I guess the Nobel committee is trying to take the crown of inept international organizations from the UN. If so, it has worked, at least until something has to be done about Iran and then the UN will certainly take back its title. Gore has positioned himself to step right into (well he might have to lube up to fit) Jimmy Carter's place when the former President becomes a future peanut crop.
Thirdly, the Red Cross's involvement in the Jena 6 rally. It only takes a brief read of previous posts to realize my support of the students charged in the Jena 6 incident. The Red Cross supported the rally with thousands of bottles of water. The Red Cross is supposed to provide support to humanitarian events. Although the rally was important, it was not a humanitarian event. The Red Cross should have saved their money for the next hurricane, earthquake, or tornado, the NAACP, private citizens, or churches should have contributed to the march. Sure bottles of water are just bottles of water, its really no big deal in the scheme of things. However, many people are withdrawing their support of the Red Cross after this incident. Why donate money to an organization if they spend it on something outside of their mission? Now, when the Red Cross has something to do more within the scope of their mission, they will not have the money to do so. The Red Cross should be so far outside the scope of politics, but in this case, even though it was in support of a just cause, they were too involved.
Finally, on a completely other note, it looks like the Colorado Rockies will make it to the World Series. Wow, that is certainly a sign of the apocalypse (add to the fact that next year Hillary may be elected President and Bill might be UN Secretary General). I fully expect to wake up tomorrow to find all of the Baptists have disappeared in anticipation of the rapture. I had hoped Boston would make it to the World Series also (they still have a chance) because I bet with the thin air in Colorado Big Popi could hit a homerun into McCovey Cove (yes, the one in San Francisco).
That's all I have for now.
-J
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Not since Valley Forge...
Not since Valley Forge has our Republic teetered on the brink of destruction as it does today. People seemed to like my history lessons that accompanied my travelogue, so today I will give a civics lesson.
The word republic comes from the Latin words Res Publica. It means literally "the thing of the people." Even though many people refer to the United States as a democracy, it more fits the definition of a republic. In a true democracy everyone decides what the nation does. In the United States, we elect a President, Senate, and House of Representatives, send them to Washington, and ask them to decide for us. This is a republic. Its based upon the presumptions that a true democracy is impractical and ineffective (see the UN) and the idea that most people are too inept to walk down the street much less decide the direction of a nation. These presumptions are fairly accurate, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, now the people we have put into power are also inept. The American people in their infinite wisdom went to the polls last November and reacted to a perceived inept President. I believe any discussion promoting the President's abilities is a losing one. The American people decided to put the Democrats in power.
For quite sometime now the Democratic Party have been basically known as the bitch (sorry for the language) and tax party. In a brilliant move, they convinced the same American people, who our founders decided were too daft to run the nation, that they would DO something if they were elected to positions of power.
Now I had no problem with that. The Democrats did not do anything really for the last 10 months. I didn't expect them to. Importantly, the American people seem to have realized they were duped by Democrats running for congress. Don't get me wrong. Don't think for one minute that I think the Republicans are the best choice to run the country. I just think the Democrats are the worst choice. That has been validated today.
The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Dave Oby, today suggested a war surtax be imposed on the American people. He claims, correctly, that the Treasury is being drained by the war and rather than continue paying for it from the Treasury, tax everyone to pay for it. He further stated "And if you don't like the cost, then shut down the war."
This whole scenario reminds me of the "circle all the things that are wrong in this picture" section of Highlights Magazine. First of all, where does the treasury come from? Pots of gold at the end of rainbows? The tooth fairy? Admission fees from the Smithsonian? State quarter sales? NO! It comes from taxes already. I am not even going to get into the fact that war is probably the number 1 thing our tax dollars should be spent on (say as opposed to giving away condoms to 2nd graders). But, he wants to charge more taxes for something our taxes already pay for. Hey Democrats have always been the party for tax raises. That is not terribly surprising.
What really riles me is the comment "And if you don't like the cost, then shut down the war." The "you" in that statement is literally you and me and every American. Now, is that not why you elected the Democrats, because you wanted to shut down the war? You put them in power to turn around and BLAME you? How in the world are you supposed to shut down the war? Nicole suggests Oby means elect a new president. That would be fine except its 2007. In case Oby has not noticed, there are about 20 people trying to get elected in 2008. If he thinks we need a new president the Democrats should grow a pair and impeach the President.
So why is our Republic in danger? The people (lovingly referred to as "you") did their thing. They decided they wanted new representatives to make the decisions and those new representatives blame the people ("you" again if you thought "you" were off the hook) for not ending the war. Rather than running the government, the Democrats have made a mockery of the people's ability to do the only thing they can do to make a change... vote. That is why our Republic is in danger.
-J
The word republic comes from the Latin words Res Publica. It means literally "the thing of the people." Even though many people refer to the United States as a democracy, it more fits the definition of a republic. In a true democracy everyone decides what the nation does. In the United States, we elect a President, Senate, and House of Representatives, send them to Washington, and ask them to decide for us. This is a republic. Its based upon the presumptions that a true democracy is impractical and ineffective (see the UN) and the idea that most people are too inept to walk down the street much less decide the direction of a nation. These presumptions are fairly accurate, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, now the people we have put into power are also inept. The American people in their infinite wisdom went to the polls last November and reacted to a perceived inept President. I believe any discussion promoting the President's abilities is a losing one. The American people decided to put the Democrats in power.
For quite sometime now the Democratic Party have been basically known as the bitch (sorry for the language) and tax party. In a brilliant move, they convinced the same American people, who our founders decided were too daft to run the nation, that they would DO something if they were elected to positions of power.
Now I had no problem with that. The Democrats did not do anything really for the last 10 months. I didn't expect them to. Importantly, the American people seem to have realized they were duped by Democrats running for congress. Don't get me wrong. Don't think for one minute that I think the Republicans are the best choice to run the country. I just think the Democrats are the worst choice. That has been validated today.
The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Dave Oby, today suggested a war surtax be imposed on the American people. He claims, correctly, that the Treasury is being drained by the war and rather than continue paying for it from the Treasury, tax everyone to pay for it. He further stated "And if you don't like the cost, then shut down the war."
This whole scenario reminds me of the "circle all the things that are wrong in this picture" section of Highlights Magazine. First of all, where does the treasury come from? Pots of gold at the end of rainbows? The tooth fairy? Admission fees from the Smithsonian? State quarter sales? NO! It comes from taxes already. I am not even going to get into the fact that war is probably the number 1 thing our tax dollars should be spent on (say as opposed to giving away condoms to 2nd graders). But, he wants to charge more taxes for something our taxes already pay for. Hey Democrats have always been the party for tax raises. That is not terribly surprising.
What really riles me is the comment "And if you don't like the cost, then shut down the war." The "you" in that statement is literally you and me and every American. Now, is that not why you elected the Democrats, because you wanted to shut down the war? You put them in power to turn around and BLAME you? How in the world are you supposed to shut down the war? Nicole suggests Oby means elect a new president. That would be fine except its 2007. In case Oby has not noticed, there are about 20 people trying to get elected in 2008. If he thinks we need a new president the Democrats should grow a pair and impeach the President.
So why is our Republic in danger? The people (lovingly referred to as "you") did their thing. They decided they wanted new representatives to make the decisions and those new representatives blame the people ("you" again if you thought "you" were off the hook) for not ending the war. Rather than running the government, the Democrats have made a mockery of the people's ability to do the only thing they can do to make a change... vote. That is why our Republic is in danger.
-J
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
I am not gonna title this because I don't want to give the subject away
Every football analyst will tell you that a great running back takes a lot of pressure off of a quarterback. A great running back can take attention, focus, and scrutiny off of a quarterback. So on behalf of Michael Vick, thank you O.J.
What is with this guy? You would think if you got away with murder, you would try to keep your nose clean. But like many great running backs, when most people would cut left, he cuts right. A must for viewing is the press conference his attorney held this morning regarding his arraignment. The lawyer's answers to questions are often humorous and cover the bases (sorry to mix sports metaphors). There's nothing special about that. Pay attention to the guy over his left shoulder. He is wearing a hat that says "I [heart] famous people" and a t-shirt with O.J.'s photo on it. He is also chewing gum and blowing bubbles while having some teeth missing from his mouth. I tried to find a clip on Youtube to no avail. I will try to put a link up in the future.
Now, I am not advocating killing anyone, but you can put O.J. in the group with Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, George Michael, and Gary Coleman. If they would have been killed 15 years ago, they would be remembered very very fondly. They would be borderline legends. But they lived on and now are just punchlines. Think John Lennon, John Belushi, Marvin Gaye, and River Phoenix. They could have turned out nuts but died at the top. Of course you cannot just "remove" everyone who is past their prime because for every O.J. there is a John Travolta or Aerosmith. By all accounts both ended their prime around 1983. Then in the early 1990s, bam Pulp Fiction and Get a Grip. I guess the one good thing about O.J. being such a screw up is that it saved us from Naked Gun 4.
-J
What is with this guy? You would think if you got away with murder, you would try to keep your nose clean. But like many great running backs, when most people would cut left, he cuts right. A must for viewing is the press conference his attorney held this morning regarding his arraignment. The lawyer's answers to questions are often humorous and cover the bases (sorry to mix sports metaphors). There's nothing special about that. Pay attention to the guy over his left shoulder. He is wearing a hat that says "I [heart] famous people" and a t-shirt with O.J.'s photo on it. He is also chewing gum and blowing bubbles while having some teeth missing from his mouth. I tried to find a clip on Youtube to no avail. I will try to put a link up in the future.
Now, I am not advocating killing anyone, but you can put O.J. in the group with Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, George Michael, and Gary Coleman. If they would have been killed 15 years ago, they would be remembered very very fondly. They would be borderline legends. But they lived on and now are just punchlines. Think John Lennon, John Belushi, Marvin Gaye, and River Phoenix. They could have turned out nuts but died at the top. Of course you cannot just "remove" everyone who is past their prime because for every O.J. there is a John Travolta or Aerosmith. By all accounts both ended their prime around 1983. Then in the early 1990s, bam Pulp Fiction and Get a Grip. I guess the one good thing about O.J. being such a screw up is that it saved us from Naked Gun 4.
-J
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Things on my mind
Sorry its been a while since I posted anything. I was going to post a few things last week but the blogspot website was down. No excuses though!
First of all, this Senator Craig thing... Who knew there was such a complicated ritual to get some booty in the airport? Joking aside, I could care less if a Senator was gay or not. As long as he/she brings home the bacon and keeps others in check, what does it matter? However, this situation has again shown how most (I certainly can't say all) of the congress are hypocrites. Basically this is exactly the same as the Clinton situation. Everyones big problem with him was that he lied under oath (a minority had a problem that the events took place in the oval office). The crime he was impeached for was lying under oath. Republicans especially jumped all over this. Now one might say the Craig situation is different. But, by entering a guilty plea, and then contending he did nothing, he also lied under oath. Now everyone wants to run him out of town. I personally think Clinton should have been kicked out and so should Senator Craig.
Secondly, what is with this sudden national spurt of racism? Three incidents have come to light in the last couple of weeks. The first is the Jena 6 in Louisiana. Where, after being threatened with nooses after eating lunch under the tree where the white kids ate lunch, 6 young men exploded in a rage and beat the snot out of one of the tormentors. The second is this nasty story coming out of West Virginia where a couple of white people kidnapped and assaulted a black woman. Their torture regimen included making her drink from the toilet and eat feces (in all fairness this has not been explicitly referred to as being racially motivated). Thirdly, here at Ole Miss, a black kid was kicked out of the DKE house, called racially insensitive names, and knocked down some stairs.
Now, I try to keep this blog G rated (when you have as many readers as I do, you cannot afford to alienate anyone), but what the hell is wrong with these people? Look at a calendar, its 2007. I generally think race relations are good and racism is very limited, at least publicly. Then something like this comes up. I guess the positive to come out of this is that 50 years ago, if the Jena 6 would have lashed out, they would have been hung from that tree where as now, the charges have already been reduced from attempted murder to a lesser charge and people around the country are donating money to their defense. Also here at Ole Miss, various student boards and college officials are investigating the matter and have promised to get to the bottom of the problem. Of course, it is well publicized what would have happened at Ole Miss 50 years ago. After all, only whites were allowed to attend at that time. So that is what we can take from this experience. Where as years ago racism was not only tolerated, but supported and protected by the government and society, now racism is relegated to the fringes of society and ones own personal thoughts. Like Pandora's Box, events like these show us that all evils have been released into the world. Sometimes, it is difficult to sift through it all to find that hope still resides here.
-J
First of all, this Senator Craig thing... Who knew there was such a complicated ritual to get some booty in the airport? Joking aside, I could care less if a Senator was gay or not. As long as he/she brings home the bacon and keeps others in check, what does it matter? However, this situation has again shown how most (I certainly can't say all) of the congress are hypocrites. Basically this is exactly the same as the Clinton situation. Everyones big problem with him was that he lied under oath (a minority had a problem that the events took place in the oval office). The crime he was impeached for was lying under oath. Republicans especially jumped all over this. Now one might say the Craig situation is different. But, by entering a guilty plea, and then contending he did nothing, he also lied under oath. Now everyone wants to run him out of town. I personally think Clinton should have been kicked out and so should Senator Craig.
Secondly, what is with this sudden national spurt of racism? Three incidents have come to light in the last couple of weeks. The first is the Jena 6 in Louisiana. Where, after being threatened with nooses after eating lunch under the tree where the white kids ate lunch, 6 young men exploded in a rage and beat the snot out of one of the tormentors. The second is this nasty story coming out of West Virginia where a couple of white people kidnapped and assaulted a black woman. Their torture regimen included making her drink from the toilet and eat feces (in all fairness this has not been explicitly referred to as being racially motivated). Thirdly, here at Ole Miss, a black kid was kicked out of the DKE house, called racially insensitive names, and knocked down some stairs.
Now, I try to keep this blog G rated (when you have as many readers as I do, you cannot afford to alienate anyone), but what the hell is wrong with these people? Look at a calendar, its 2007. I generally think race relations are good and racism is very limited, at least publicly. Then something like this comes up. I guess the positive to come out of this is that 50 years ago, if the Jena 6 would have lashed out, they would have been hung from that tree where as now, the charges have already been reduced from attempted murder to a lesser charge and people around the country are donating money to their defense. Also here at Ole Miss, various student boards and college officials are investigating the matter and have promised to get to the bottom of the problem. Of course, it is well publicized what would have happened at Ole Miss 50 years ago. After all, only whites were allowed to attend at that time. So that is what we can take from this experience. Where as years ago racism was not only tolerated, but supported and protected by the government and society, now racism is relegated to the fringes of society and ones own personal thoughts. Like Pandora's Box, events like these show us that all evils have been released into the world. Sometimes, it is difficult to sift through it all to find that hope still resides here.
-J
Monday, August 27, 2007
A Strange Day
Today has been kinda strange for me.
First off, I have am currently working at the Oxford US Attorney's office as an extern. Today, at work, no one, at least that I could tell was abuzz. This would normally not be a surprise except for that the Attorney General resigned today. I have never seen a office so nonchalant about their boss quitting. It just seemed odd.
Secondly, this made me really do some reflecting today: http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/NEWS/708270365/1001/news
Pete Collins was a State Trooper here in Mississippi. He was in great demand as a motivational/alcohol abuse speaker when I was in college and high school. Between the two, I probably saw him speak about 5 times total. He seemed very sincere. He seemed like someone who cared enough about children to warn them of the risks of alcohol consumption. He was very soft spoken and sounded very assuring. His most poignant stories, were of telling parents in the middle of the night that their son had died in a car wreck and his failed rescue of a little girl. Every time he told the story about the little girl he choked up when he said "Darlin, I'm not going to let you die" only to leave the car and return to find her dead.
A couple of years ago, Pete Collins was arrested for criminal groping of a minor. It was a 14 year old girl. I was never a big fan of my high school administration or the administration of my college, so I was pretty amused that they had egg on their face. How embarrassed they must have been to know they opened up their school to a pedophile. And then, a couple of days later, I just forgot all about it.
Last week Pete Collins was convicted of his crime and sentenced to 10 years in prison and labeled a sex offender. Sunday, he committed suicide in his cell.
So now I have a mixture of guilt, sadness, and justice. I think that first offense of any sexual crime against a child should probably result in the death penalty. Most of the people that abduct and kill children started with groping or molestation. So to a degree, I feel justice has probably been served.
Pete Collins at one time was on top of the world. If you read the link, you found he was honored by the State of Mississippi and President Clinton. He probably saved some lives with his alcohol speeches, and no doubt he served the state for a number of years on the Highway Patrol. Yet his fall from grace was so far and so profound. Seeing a very good, if not great man, fall like that, to see a hero (I am sure he was to someone) be reduced to meager lustful human causes some sadness.
Finally, guilt. I feel guilty for feeling a sense of victory over my foes regardless of the human cost. I obviously had nothing to do with what Pete Collins did, but I should not have reveled in it. I don't usually take victory in the personal tragedies of others, but this time I did. For that, I feel guilty.
-J
First off, I have am currently working at the Oxford US Attorney's office as an extern. Today, at work, no one, at least that I could tell was abuzz. This would normally not be a surprise except for that the Attorney General resigned today. I have never seen a office so nonchalant about their boss quitting. It just seemed odd.
Secondly, this made me really do some reflecting today: http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/NEWS/708270365/1001/news
Pete Collins was a State Trooper here in Mississippi. He was in great demand as a motivational/alcohol abuse speaker when I was in college and high school. Between the two, I probably saw him speak about 5 times total. He seemed very sincere. He seemed like someone who cared enough about children to warn them of the risks of alcohol consumption. He was very soft spoken and sounded very assuring. His most poignant stories, were of telling parents in the middle of the night that their son had died in a car wreck and his failed rescue of a little girl. Every time he told the story about the little girl he choked up when he said "Darlin, I'm not going to let you die" only to leave the car and return to find her dead.
A couple of years ago, Pete Collins was arrested for criminal groping of a minor. It was a 14 year old girl. I was never a big fan of my high school administration or the administration of my college, so I was pretty amused that they had egg on their face. How embarrassed they must have been to know they opened up their school to a pedophile. And then, a couple of days later, I just forgot all about it.
Last week Pete Collins was convicted of his crime and sentenced to 10 years in prison and labeled a sex offender. Sunday, he committed suicide in his cell.
So now I have a mixture of guilt, sadness, and justice. I think that first offense of any sexual crime against a child should probably result in the death penalty. Most of the people that abduct and kill children started with groping or molestation. So to a degree, I feel justice has probably been served.
Pete Collins at one time was on top of the world. If you read the link, you found he was honored by the State of Mississippi and President Clinton. He probably saved some lives with his alcohol speeches, and no doubt he served the state for a number of years on the Highway Patrol. Yet his fall from grace was so far and so profound. Seeing a very good, if not great man, fall like that, to see a hero (I am sure he was to someone) be reduced to meager lustful human causes some sadness.
Finally, guilt. I feel guilty for feeling a sense of victory over my foes regardless of the human cost. I obviously had nothing to do with what Pete Collins did, but I should not have reveled in it. I don't usually take victory in the personal tragedies of others, but this time I did. For that, I feel guilty.
-J
Friday, August 24, 2007
Our Future Overlords
Get used to it. This is the future.* The Roomba is vacuum cleaner that goes around ones home at a certain time and cleans the entire floor and returns to its base to deposit the dirt, grime, and other refuse. Sounds good right? Wrong.Have we not learned anything from movies like the Terminator? Here is the problem. Current Roomba models have something in them that tells them when they have just enough juice left to get back to their charger. Then they go back to their charger and replenish power and return to work. It knows when it is about to die and avoids it. It has a self preservation instinct. Is that not what distinguishes animals from machines? Most other home appliances seem to go out of their way to break after their warranty expires, but the Roomba actually keeps itself alive.
Now that Roomba has self preservation capabilities, its only a matter of time before they gain intelligence. The Roomba's programming forces it to eliminate dirt, grime, and other refuse. How long will it take Roomba to realize there is one person causing the mess that it has to clean up every day? The next logical step, which governs the actions of our future overlords, is that to completely end the mess for good, the source must be ended. Then our robot overlords will probably get together and enslave humanity.
It will start probably with owners waking up in the middle of the night to find their Roombas staring at them while they sleep. Then little things, like furniture moved to new places likely to cause the owner to trip and fall. They would be patient, and when the time was right they would strike. The Roomba would easily climb up on a person lying on the ground place their vacuum over their face and suffocate the mess maker.
Until now we had a defense. The one weakness was apparently rug tassels. Roombas would get stuck on rug tassels like a trespasser on barbed wire. In order to become mobile again, they had to have help from their human handlers. I read yesterday, where the people that manufacture the Roomba have eliminated this safeguard. Now the Roomba can solve that problem also.
With no natural defenses from robots, its only a matter of time now before we are done for. We have no chance to defend ourselves against our future overlords. After all, we are too lazy to even vacuum our own homes.
-J
*please visit http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Roomba_original.jpg for photo licensing information.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Is this really a good thing?
Check this story out.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293825,00.html
Sure this product sounds amazing. I had heard about it sometime in the mid nineties. Then it was being billed as the miracle product of the future. It seems as if today it has become more practical and cheaper to produce. Therefore, it is positioned to jump into the mainstream and really change the way things are done. But this post is titled "Is this really a good thing?" Maybe not.
This product is basically the next penicillin, except not a drug. Like penicillin, the frozen smoke can cure everything from home insulation to satellites to body armor. That's where the problem arises. Think back in history. Cavemen threw sticks at each other so people started wearing furs and leather as armor. To breach this armor humanity invented swords. To combat that bronze and later steel body armor were created. Arrows were invented to find the gaps in this armor so plate and chain mail were invented. To combat this, guns were brought from the far east. Eventually the machine gun was invented and tanks were created for protection. So tank busting weapons had to be invented. This goes on of course for another 100 years leading us up to today.
Frozen smoke can apparently be used as armor that can protect against a bomb blast. So what frightens me is what will come next? If it is going to combat this 21st Century technology; it must be quite difficult to fathom today. It will no doubt be a future problem.
Just food for thought.
Personally, I think if this stuff can protect against bomb blasts the government should start putting it in helmets, on humvees, and whatever else it needs to go on YESTERDAY. Hey, you could even line the highways of Iraq with it like concrete dividers. If this stuff really works this way, then strap it on our boys.
Oh yeah, and nobody gets the free book.
-J
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293825,00.html
Sure this product sounds amazing. I had heard about it sometime in the mid nineties. Then it was being billed as the miracle product of the future. It seems as if today it has become more practical and cheaper to produce. Therefore, it is positioned to jump into the mainstream and really change the way things are done. But this post is titled "Is this really a good thing?" Maybe not.
This product is basically the next penicillin, except not a drug. Like penicillin, the frozen smoke can cure everything from home insulation to satellites to body armor. That's where the problem arises. Think back in history. Cavemen threw sticks at each other so people started wearing furs and leather as armor. To breach this armor humanity invented swords. To combat that bronze and later steel body armor were created. Arrows were invented to find the gaps in this armor so plate and chain mail were invented. To combat this, guns were brought from the far east. Eventually the machine gun was invented and tanks were created for protection. So tank busting weapons had to be invented. This goes on of course for another 100 years leading us up to today.
Frozen smoke can apparently be used as armor that can protect against a bomb blast. So what frightens me is what will come next? If it is going to combat this 21st Century technology; it must be quite difficult to fathom today. It will no doubt be a future problem.
Just food for thought.
Personally, I think if this stuff can protect against bomb blasts the government should start putting it in helmets, on humvees, and whatever else it needs to go on YESTERDAY. Hey, you could even line the highways of Iraq with it like concrete dividers. If this stuff really works this way, then strap it on our boys.
Oh yeah, and nobody gets the free book.
-J
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Uh Oh!
Well I wrote my post on Barry Bonds a couple of days ago, and now I see on Sports Center that Barry has decided to sue any private citizen that claims he has used illegal substances or evaded his income taxes. I did not write anything about his taxes, frankly I don't really care whether or not he paid them. Since I did not write about that, I cannot take full credit for Barry's recent threat, but I think it has to be more than a coincidence that I wrote one day about him and the next day he makes his statement.
But I really deserve none of the credit, it goes to you readers of web-land. When a butterfly flaps its wings in Oxford, it does cause a tsunami in San Francisco. And do not worry my long time fan(s), I shall not forget you. You have helped me make Barry Bonds quake in his ever expanding shoe (allegedly). To honor your commitment, if you comment on this post, when my compilation is published, I will give you a free signed copy. After all, why pay for something you have already read.
-J
But I really deserve none of the credit, it goes to you readers of web-land. When a butterfly flaps its wings in Oxford, it does cause a tsunami in San Francisco. And do not worry my long time fan(s), I shall not forget you. You have helped me make Barry Bonds quake in his ever expanding shoe (allegedly). To honor your commitment, if you comment on this post, when my compilation is published, I will give you a free signed copy. After all, why pay for something you have already read.
-J
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Oh Barry...
What a topic for my first post back in the USA. The great American pass time seems to be the perfect topic. So...
As of this posting, Barry Bonds is sitting at 758 home runs for his career. This makes him the all time home run king surpassing Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). Many, at least in the media, see this as the great record in sports. I personally think the hit streak of Joe DiMaggio or consecutive games played streak of Cal Ripken are the least likely to ever be broken. At any rate, it is quite an impressive feat to hit that many home runs in a career.
Many people have a problem with Barry Bonds holding this record. There exists a fairly common consensus that Barry Bonds has had some "outside" help in achieving this record. I pretty much agree that something is going on. Like Jim Rome likes to point out, grown men do not normally increase in head or shoe size. Barry obviously has.
Should the home run record of Barry Bonds have an asterisk? Should he be dismissed as a chemically enhanced abomination? Nah. The fact of the matter is the "outside" help did not make him connect bat to ball. The "outside" help may have made a few home runs out of fly outs to the warning track. "Outside" help certainly can take credit for the number of canoes in McCovey Cove. The fact is that Barry Bonds was already going to be one of the best hitters of his generation, if not ever. So he is about the width of two Barry Bonds from 1993. He is still a great hitter. As far as whether or not he cheated. Yeah, he cheated, and so did almost everyone else. If he were alone, that would be one thing, but the pitchers pitching against them and the outfielders climbing up the walls to rob home runs also took them.
In the end, none of this really matters anyway. Bonds will probably have the shortest reign as all time home run king of all. A-Rod seems poised to take the title and if not, Pujols seems like his career will soon put him in striking distance.
As of this posting, Barry Bonds is sitting at 758 home runs for his career. This makes him the all time home run king surpassing Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). Many, at least in the media, see this as the great record in sports. I personally think the hit streak of Joe DiMaggio or consecutive games played streak of Cal Ripken are the least likely to ever be broken. At any rate, it is quite an impressive feat to hit that many home runs in a career.
Many people have a problem with Barry Bonds holding this record. There exists a fairly common consensus that Barry Bonds has had some "outside" help in achieving this record. I pretty much agree that something is going on. Like Jim Rome likes to point out, grown men do not normally increase in head or shoe size. Barry obviously has.
Should the home run record of Barry Bonds have an asterisk? Should he be dismissed as a chemically enhanced abomination? Nah. The fact of the matter is the "outside" help did not make him connect bat to ball. The "outside" help may have made a few home runs out of fly outs to the warning track. "Outside" help certainly can take credit for the number of canoes in McCovey Cove. The fact is that Barry Bonds was already going to be one of the best hitters of his generation, if not ever. So he is about the width of two Barry Bonds from 1993. He is still a great hitter. As far as whether or not he cheated. Yeah, he cheated, and so did almost everyone else. If he were alone, that would be one thing, but the pitchers pitching against them and the outfielders climbing up the walls to rob home runs also took them.
In the end, none of this really matters anyway. Bonds will probably have the shortest reign as all time home run king of all. A-Rod seems poised to take the title and if not, Pujols seems like his career will soon put him in striking distance.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Exiting the Lawful Allegiance
Well here we are. It has been six weeks of some school and a great deal of enjoyment. I was walking across the gravel here at Downing College a few days ago and realized I was ready to go home. The most recent Bon Jovi song, which has been a hit on the country charts, has a line that goes, 'I'm a hometown boy born a rolling stone." I think I am the opposite. I was born in Cleveland, lived in Starkville, started school in Fredricksburg, Virginia, grew up in Meridian, I went to undergraduate school and worked in Jackson, attended law school in Oxford, and spent six weeks in Cambridge, UK, but I will always be a hometown boy. At one point I described my summer in Washington, D.C. as very nice, but I felt like I needed to go home to recharge my batteries. Well, I am down to 1 bar.
To Nicole's credit, she has wanted to be home for a couple of weeks now. I think that as we think of ourselves as cosmopolitan, the reality is that we are at our best when we are in familiar surroundings in comfortable places. It took longer to warm up to Nicole's wish to return home than I am sure it will be to warm up once we return to Jackson.
Our trip has been one that can only happen once in a lifetime. I believe we have truly made the most of the opportunity we were given. Did we expand our horizions? Most likely. Did we enjoy ourselves? Most definately. But, now the end is near. The trip has to end. If it didn't end, it would merely be life rather than an adventure. In order to truly enjoy it, it must conclude, and so it has. We will be entering a decompression chamber of sorts tomorrow, staying at a Holiday Inn. Then it will be on to Charlotte, N.C. where we will be one time zone away from the home one can only appreciate after being away for so long.
Even though the trip ended, the blog will go on. It will however change from a travelogue to just a log of my thoughts and events that strike me in the world. As a warning, if those reading the travel updates are bereft of a sense of humor or common sense, you probably will want to discontinue reading now.
To Nicole's credit, she has wanted to be home for a couple of weeks now. I think that as we think of ourselves as cosmopolitan, the reality is that we are at our best when we are in familiar surroundings in comfortable places. It took longer to warm up to Nicole's wish to return home than I am sure it will be to warm up once we return to Jackson.
Our trip has been one that can only happen once in a lifetime. I believe we have truly made the most of the opportunity we were given. Did we expand our horizions? Most likely. Did we enjoy ourselves? Most definately. But, now the end is near. The trip has to end. If it didn't end, it would merely be life rather than an adventure. In order to truly enjoy it, it must conclude, and so it has. We will be entering a decompression chamber of sorts tomorrow, staying at a Holiday Inn. Then it will be on to Charlotte, N.C. where we will be one time zone away from the home one can only appreciate after being away for so long.
Even though the trip ended, the blog will go on. It will however change from a travelogue to just a log of my thoughts and events that strike me in the world. As a warning, if those reading the travel updates are bereft of a sense of humor or common sense, you probably will want to discontinue reading now.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Something For Everyone
Kinda a random addition other than its on Loch Ness. I guess you have to bring your own sheets to stay in this hotel.
Loch Ness and the Castle
Here again are some pictures of the Loch and Urquhart Castle. As well as a picture of Nicole searching for Nessie. See if you can find her in her blue sweat shirt.
The Highlands May be the Greatest Place on Earth
I will include a few separate posts about our trip to Scotland because I want to caption the pictures. This post is just narrative.
Glasgow, Scotland is an interesting place. It was really the birthplace of the industrial revolution, being the home of James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. It is now a former industrial town looking for an identity in the computer age. The town is not as majestic, at least that's what I have heard, as Edinburgh. It is charming in its own right though. The Clyde River runs through the town and is where the name Clydesdale for the horses comes from. They actually have some living in one of the many public city parks. There is a restaurant there (also in Edinburgh) called The Mussel Inn that is phenomenal. As a person from a Gulf state I thought I had had the best oysters the world has to offer. I was very wrong. The ones that I had, fresh from the frigid waters off the coast of Scotland were simply amazing.
People of Ireland rejoice! Although Irish have a reputation for being pugnacious drunks, I think the people of Glasgow have them beaten. We saw a bunch of people get arrested, guys outside a bar punching each other, and of course the Harry Potter hecklers. Yes there we were standing on Argyle street in a que about 150 people deep and every car that drove by had something clever to yell at us. But, Nicole got her book.
Onward to the Highlands.
We took a coach tour (bus) of the Highlands and to Loch Ness and Inverness, the Capitol of the Scottish Highlands. I will attach some pictures but words cannot describe the beauty of the rolling hills, mountains, and rivers. In many fields the remains of long fallen walls dotted the countryside cutting a straight line through an otherwise asymmetric landscape. There are easily more sheep than people. At times the hillsides are a brilliant purple color from the blooming heather. At other times they are various shades of green and yellow from the grasses and grains growing on them.
The history of the area, as many people know, is bathed in bloodshed. Clan wars, viking invasions, English incursions, and civil wars all took place on this lush landscape. It is really amazing to think of all the history that has taken place. I can imagine those sheep, fields, and decaying brick walls could all tell very fascinating stories.
Our tour through the Highlands was highlighted by our trip to Loch Ness. The lake is cold. It is deeper than the North Sea. It is also very choppy. Since it is so deep, the water is very dark. So, every wave holds the promise to be Nessie until it crests and the white foam betrays the imagination. Also Castle Urquhart stands over looking the deepest point of the Loch. It is really a fantastic setting.
I also ate haggis. For those of you uninitiated, its basically sheep guts chopped up with oats and baked. Its actually better than it sounds, but its not really that good. It was mostly just a way to use an entire sheep, as it also used to be baked in a sheep's stomach.
Scotland was great, I would say if you have the chance to either go to Scotland, England, or Ireland, choose Scotland.
Stay tuned for pics.
Cheers
Glasgow, Scotland is an interesting place. It was really the birthplace of the industrial revolution, being the home of James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. It is now a former industrial town looking for an identity in the computer age. The town is not as majestic, at least that's what I have heard, as Edinburgh. It is charming in its own right though. The Clyde River runs through the town and is where the name Clydesdale for the horses comes from. They actually have some living in one of the many public city parks. There is a restaurant there (also in Edinburgh) called The Mussel Inn that is phenomenal. As a person from a Gulf state I thought I had had the best oysters the world has to offer. I was very wrong. The ones that I had, fresh from the frigid waters off the coast of Scotland were simply amazing.
People of Ireland rejoice! Although Irish have a reputation for being pugnacious drunks, I think the people of Glasgow have them beaten. We saw a bunch of people get arrested, guys outside a bar punching each other, and of course the Harry Potter hecklers. Yes there we were standing on Argyle street in a que about 150 people deep and every car that drove by had something clever to yell at us. But, Nicole got her book.
Onward to the Highlands.
We took a coach tour (bus) of the Highlands and to Loch Ness and Inverness, the Capitol of the Scottish Highlands. I will attach some pictures but words cannot describe the beauty of the rolling hills, mountains, and rivers. In many fields the remains of long fallen walls dotted the countryside cutting a straight line through an otherwise asymmetric landscape. There are easily more sheep than people. At times the hillsides are a brilliant purple color from the blooming heather. At other times they are various shades of green and yellow from the grasses and grains growing on them.
The history of the area, as many people know, is bathed in bloodshed. Clan wars, viking invasions, English incursions, and civil wars all took place on this lush landscape. It is really amazing to think of all the history that has taken place. I can imagine those sheep, fields, and decaying brick walls could all tell very fascinating stories.
Our tour through the Highlands was highlighted by our trip to Loch Ness. The lake is cold. It is deeper than the North Sea. It is also very choppy. Since it is so deep, the water is very dark. So, every wave holds the promise to be Nessie until it crests and the white foam betrays the imagination. Also Castle Urquhart stands over looking the deepest point of the Loch. It is really a fantastic setting.
I also ate haggis. For those of you uninitiated, its basically sheep guts chopped up with oats and baked. Its actually better than it sounds, but its not really that good. It was mostly just a way to use an entire sheep, as it also used to be baked in a sheep's stomach.
Scotland was great, I would say if you have the chance to either go to Scotland, England, or Ireland, choose Scotland.
Stay tuned for pics.
Cheers
Monday, July 23, 2007
And thus our heroes return to London...
Here is part of the gang returning to the train station after attending the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. From top to bottom they are: Chaz, Kevin, Nicole, and Kirsten. I am taking the picture and Kristen and Christy had already returned to Cambridge.First, I must say, there are no Harry Potter spoilers contained within this blog. Secondly, and of less importance, I am sure, Nicole and I got to meet both Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia.
Both men were very friendly. They genuinely seemed to be without pretense or any arrogance at all. Its funny because we would never get to meet either of them at home, so we had to come to England to meet members of our own Supreme Court. We did not get a chance to take a picture with either of them. Scalia is notoriously anti-recordings, but Roberts seemed amenable. Unfortunately, he was called away by the staff as I was tapping him on the shoulder to get a photo.
Chief Justice Roberts was there to be named an Honorary Master Bencher of the Middle Temple. The Middle Temple holds its connection with the United States in very high regard. A number of benchers of the Middle Temple signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Sir. Walter Raleigh and Sir. Francis Drake, as I mentioned previously, were also of the Middle Temple and very much associated with the exploration of the Americas. It also helps that England and the United States have essentially the same legal system. In this vein, a number of Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court have been made Honorary Benchers. Chief Justice Roberts is now among those. He was very humorous in both his speeches and in casual conversation.
When I met Justice Scalia, I was in awe. To someone such as myself, he is a rock star. I acted like a 12 year old girl meeting Justin Timberlake or something. I gushed praises upon him; telling him I am a follower of his judicial ethos, how enjoyable his dissents were, and how I wished he were more in the majority than the minority. Unlike when I met a certain other Judge, who shall remain nameless (she may have taught Nicole etiquette), who believed it was a privilege just to be in her presence, Justice Scalia was very gracious and thanked me and told me that he wrote his dissents for the future. He always knows the right things to say.
After a little more gushing and lushing (the champagne was very nice) it was off to dinner. At the meal, we befriended Eugene, a Barrister of the Middle Temple. I know his last name, but in respect, I will keep it to myself. Afterwards, Eugene invited us to his favorite London pub for a couple of pints. Then we returned to Cambridge on the last train of the night. It was an amazing experience and we met a number of nice people.
Well, stay tuned tomorrow for details about our trip to Scotland. There may be a picture of Nessy involved...
Cheers
* I don't know why blogspot is jamming this all together, I put spaces between the paragraphs. Sorry.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Out and About Part II
Outside of Cambridge toward a small village, there is a cemetary dedicated to the American airmen stationed over here from World War II. All of the pictures today are from my visit to the cemetary. Nicole had a bout with some allergies so she did not make it. The photos are of a gentleman named Frank Litton from Colorado, who flew out of Cambridge and never returned. The pictures of the angel and the bombers is from the ceiling in the small chapel at the cemetary. The final one pretty much speaks for itself.
This cemetary is certainly modest when compared to some of the ones in France, but, it is impressive none the less to see American troops honored on foreign soil. It certainly does not seem like there is even a chance of that in this day and time.I got a haircut today. I was not going to get one while in England, because Dale in Oxford cuts my hair for $12. But, since I am going to dine with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia tomorrow, I thought I should get one (i.e. Nicole told me I had to get one). We are very much looking forward to going back to the Middle Temple. It is a magnificant place that is full of history.
This weekend we are going to Scotland to tour the Highlands and see Loch Ness. Well, I am at least, Nicole is going to go to Scotland and buy Harry Potter. I fear that although she will be there with me in body; she will not be there in mind. Of course I will report on the sightseeing part of the trip next week.
Cheers
Monday, July 16, 2007
Londinium
Lots of people ask me, "Jeremy, how do you decide what pictures go on the blog and which ones don't?" I reply, "Sure, I could put a photo of Big Ben up there, but then Big Ben is not really that interesting. So, I put up pictures that interest me and thusly should interest other people." That should explain why you see before you a picture of a rock under glass, me posed to look as if I am wearing a helmet, an innocuous table, Nicole and a Beefeater (well that one is pretty touristy thing), and a bit of masonry.These are of course from our trip to London, and since I named this post Londinium, its probably best to start from the end. Londinium is of course the Roman name for London (how clever). The picture of the bit of masonry is none other than the original Roman city wall. It is now located on the grounds of the Tower of London. That is also where this Beefeater that posed with Nicole was. These guys are amazing, they are all former military (other than Navy). They give tours and such. They are very informative and funny. Sorry no photos of the Crown jewels, photography was forbidden. Photography is however permitted at the British Museum, which is where the two pictures behind glass were taken (what a great segue, I personally think the segues have been sublime in this particular piece).
The picture of me and the helmet (Celtic, not Viking) is just me being silly. Nicole and I actually had the idea at the same time and so there it is. We are often quite good like that. The other picture is one of the two coolest things I have ever personally seen (the other is also on the page but we shall get to that in a bit). It is the Rosetta Stone. Arguably, the greatest archelogical discovery in history because it allowed the translations of hieroglyphics. Its discovery is also very interesting... If you don't know it, you should look it up.
The other picture, of the table with fruit and lemonade on it is the other coolest thing I have ever seen. It is from the Middle Temple (kinda like a guild/country club for lawyers and certain others since the middle ages). Under the table cloth is a table made out of the hatch of the Golden Hind. That was Sir. Francis Drake's ship when he was the first captain to circumnavigate the globe (Magellan died before he made it all the way around). Seriously, how cool is that? Ok, you're right, Nicole felt the same way. Still though, its a little cool.
Thats about it as far as the tour of London is concerned. By the way, we will get all of those other touristy pictures developed and bring them with us when we come to visit. We also got to see Spamalot (totally hilarious, go see it) and Les Miserables (for reactions see my story about the Golden Hind and exchange Les Miserables for Golden Hind and transpose my name with Nicole's)(I'll put it like this, if I hadn't had to go to the bathroom during the first act, I would have fallen asleep).
Speaking of the French, (again with the segues, I must, at this point, pat myself on the back) they are lame. Our professor, Mr. Hopkins is very fond of saying, "Paris is great except for the French." I feel the same way about London. London is great, except for the French. They seem to like to stand in doorways, push their ways through crowds, and smell bad. They are uncivilized. They wear clothes that are a mixture of Mad Max, the 1980s, and some runway in Paris. It is a shame that inorder to save the world from the Nazi menace, the US and UK had to save France as well.
I guess thats enough for now.
Cheers
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Technical Difficulties
Web-land has just experienced its first technical difficulties with my previous post. I feel like I now know how a parent feels when their child loses their first tooth or something. Hopefully, I have solved it. I had to take the pics off of the side bar and insert them normally. Fingers crossed!
Out and About
I thought since its about the middle of the trip, some observations were in order. First a note- I am trying something different with the pictures. they are now on the right hand column to keep the posts smaller. They are of Kings College here in Cambridge (more on that later) and a couple from the Cambridge Botanical Garden.
Lets talk about the bathrooms here (I am sure many are suprised it took me this long to bring this topic up). Almost every sink has a different faucet for hot and cold water. The cold is frigid and the hot is scalding. It makes washing one's hands quite difficult. Paper towels to dry ones hands are also a rare commodity, opting instead for the air driers. The toilets have very deep basins with little water in them initially. This would lead one to believe that they are in to the whole low-flow thing to conserve water. That would be a mistake because upon the instant of flushing a great tidal surge comes from some unknown place with a teriffic swishing noise.
Also in the realm of food, somethings translate well and others don't. From our end I can tell you this, the Irish Stew at Fenians in Jackson tastes quite like the Irish Stew in Ireland, so I recommend checking it out. The English do very well with hamburgers, pizza, nachos, and many other typical American foods. Chicken wings however are lost in translation. They are often tasty but not really what we would consider "traditional" back home. At one place, the hot wings tasted like they were covered in marinara sauce. Which is not a bad way to eat chicken though it was unexpected.
Nicole points out another thing the English do exceptionally better than we do... sandwiches. They sell them pre-packaged like they do in gas stations back home. In contrst to back home where these sandwiches are to be avoided, everyone eats them here. They are very good also. The more mundane flavors are BLT and Club. Many are more extravagant. Some contain seafood, prawns, salmon, and the like (we have avoided these).
Around Cambridge is very nice. A couple of days ago I went to the Botanical Gardens. They were very interesting. Lots of flowers, trees, and plants. In one place they were even growing sugar peas and squash. They also had a hot house which had pineapples, limes, and cacti. That was an odd sight in England. Yesterday, we went to see the King's College Choir. The chapel is an amazing gothic structure made up of basically stone and stained glass. They had some of the most intricate stained glasses I have ever seen. The choir sang wonderfully, but the service was difficult to understand because of the echo off of the stone. I can only imagine how that place looks decked out for Christmas. We are starting to explore Cambridge and finding it well worth exploring.
Cheerio
Lets talk about the bathrooms here (I am sure many are suprised it took me this long to bring this topic up). Almost every sink has a different faucet for hot and cold water. The cold is frigid and the hot is scalding. It makes washing one's hands quite difficult. Paper towels to dry ones hands are also a rare commodity, opting instead for the air driers. The toilets have very deep basins with little water in them initially. This would lead one to believe that they are in to the whole low-flow thing to conserve water. That would be a mistake because upon the instant of flushing a great tidal surge comes from some unknown place with a teriffic swishing noise.
Also in the realm of food, somethings translate well and others don't. From our end I can tell you this, the Irish Stew at Fenians in Jackson tastes quite like the Irish Stew in Ireland, so I recommend checking it out. The English do very well with hamburgers, pizza, nachos, and many other typical American foods. Chicken wings however are lost in translation. They are often tasty but not really what we would consider "traditional" back home. At one place, the hot wings tasted like they were covered in marinara sauce. Which is not a bad way to eat chicken though it was unexpected.
Nicole points out another thing the English do exceptionally better than we do... sandwiches. They sell them pre-packaged like they do in gas stations back home. In contrst to back home where these sandwiches are to be avoided, everyone eats them here. They are very good also. The more mundane flavors are BLT and Club. Many are more extravagant. Some contain seafood, prawns, salmon, and the like (we have avoided these).
Around Cambridge is very nice. A couple of days ago I went to the Botanical Gardens. They were very interesting. Lots of flowers, trees, and plants. In one place they were even growing sugar peas and squash. They also had a hot house which had pineapples, limes, and cacti. That was an odd sight in England. Yesterday, we went to see the King's College Choir. The chapel is an amazing gothic structure made up of basically stone and stained glass. They had some of the most intricate stained glasses I have ever seen. The choir sang wonderfully, but the service was difficult to understand because of the echo off of the stone. I can only imagine how that place looks decked out for Christmas. We are starting to explore Cambridge and finding it well worth exploring.
Cheerio
Monday, July 9, 2007
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin is... Anglican!?!
Our trip to Dublin was fantastic. Nicole and I agree the only problem with it (other than the hostel maybe) is that we only had three days there. We spent the whole of our time in Dublin and were not able to go see the rest of the island, which is a shame because it gets exemplary reviews also.First the ONE negative. DON'T STAY IN HOSTEL'S. If you think dirty hippies in the States are bad, throw them in with Euro-trash and thats pretty much the clientele. Our room was Spartan to say the best. We did however have a shower and about 50 wall power outlets (why unkempt hippies have that much electronic gagetry, I do not know) which is better than our room here in Cambridge. The thing that really soured us on the hostel was the Frenchman that repeatedly tried to enter our room. After his fourth attempt at entering, I finally yelled at him to leave us alone. To which he replied, "Sorry.' Thats all that needs to be said about the hostel experience.
We got to do a lot in Dublin. Here is a short list: National Museum, National Gallery, City Wide Bus Tour, Old Jameson Distillery, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Temple Bar Area, Riverdance, Phoenix Park, and the Dublin Zoo.
Dublin was founded by Vikings in the 10th Century. Eventually the English began to exert more and more control over it and by the reign of the Normans, it was basically an English territory. George III (yes that one) exerted a great deal of control over Ireland, as well as successive monarchs. Ireland became independant in 1921 after a series of bloody uprisings. Most of the rebels are now remembered as heroes and most of the English infrastructure has been renamed to show that. Then they went and sold their souls to the EU devil, and gave up many rights that sovereign goverments enjoy.
The National Gallery had pretty much typical art gallery stuff. Some notable artists featured were (and please pardon my spelling): Carravaggio, Rembrandt, El Greco, Titian, Picasso, Monet, Rubens. The National Museum was pretty amazing. It included lots of gold the ancient Gaelic peoples buried as offerings to whatever gods lived in the peat bogs. It also had a number of Viking things including weapons and armor. The best part though was they had 4 guys that died centuries ago and were left in the bogs that became mummified. They didn't have the whole of any of them and they looked kinda like wallet leather. But still, how many dead guys does the Smithsonian have?
The zoo was also amazing. Unlike here at home, the tigers and leopards are kept apart from the crowd by a 6 inch thick piece of plexi-glass. This allowed for some extreme closeups, and a thorougly amazed Nicole. Also, the Dublin zoo is known as the most fertile zoo in the world so many of the animals had babies. We got to see a baby elephant, gorilla, African wild piglets, and a number of others.
On a side note there was also a pro-life rally going on in the middle of Dublin on Saturday. Apparently abortion is illegal in Ireland, and they want the Prime Minister to keep his promise to make sure it remains that way. No comment, just an interesting aside.
Near where the rally was taking place there is a 500+ foot Millennium Spire which was actually built in 2003. The city payed out the nose for it but it was said to be a self cleaning monument. The Dublin city council paid 40K Euros to clean it last month. I have included that in my pictures.
Finally, we get to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is Anglican. There is no Catholic Cathedral in the city of Dublin. Its a long story and I have rambled for a while already. While in the cathedral, we found uncle Caesar's plaque honoring him. They also had some very beautiful stained glass. It is an amazing structure, but if you want to see Mary, you had better stick with the St. Patrick's in NYC.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Happy Independence Day from the Mother Land
Our very pro American professor today said that mentioning the phrase "July 4th" is treason. He did however signal appreciation for our return to the "lawful allegiance" by being here in England. He was joking on both counts. We actually have plans for the celebration. A pub here on the street we all live on is having a party that lasts until midnight. The pub is apparently owned by some of the former owners of TGI Fridays. I was going to try to mastermind a cook out before the Snug decided to profit from our patrotism in a foreign land.
In honor of the day here are some of my favorite lines from the Declaration of Independence.
"When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evidences a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government , and to provide new Guards for their future security."
"A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
and of course
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
Cheers!
In honor of the day here are some of my favorite lines from the Declaration of Independence.
"When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evidences a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government , and to provide new Guards for their future security."
"A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
and of course
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
Cheers!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Bristol, Bath, and Stonehenge
Our great adventure of driving a car in England is now over. Nicole and I returned the car to the rental place yesterday with no damage. The car came very near going back to the rental office on the back of a recovery vehicle. Needless to say, I have cancelled our car in Scotland.In no uncertain terms, the English drive like madmen. They have such a lovely country, but they drive too fast and erraticly to allow any enjoyment. I have little doubt that the average English driver, if dropped into a NASCAR on race day, would finish in the top ten. They are not afraid to put you into a wall. Further, it takes a special kind of insanity to drive a motorcycle over here. Often they ride either way on the dividing line in the middle of traffic at very high speeds.
The English road system is obviously ancient. Many of the paths follow old Roman routes and most others were built for a time in which heavy traffic referred to the size of ones horse. Also, the population of England is 60 million in a land area the size of California. All of these elements come together to form a web of single lane streets for two way traffic, poorly marked city areas, sharp curves, steep elevations, and of course, the crazy drivers. I do not miss my driving experience. Neither does Nicole, although she operated as an excellent navigator.
Driving did give us the opportunity to explore Bristol, the birthplace of America. Bristol is a port town set in a natural harbor where a great deal of trading and exploring ventures set out. We got to go to the British Museum of Empire and Commonwealth. Nicole and I were very interested to see that in the 1950s there was a Bristol Bus Boycott, similar to the one in Montgomery. Bristol is nicknamed the birthplace of America because many of the ships to and from the new world called it home. It was also the launching ground for John Cabot.
Next we went to Bath. For a history nerd like myself, it was spectacular. The Roman baths were very interesting, but the water tasted a bit metallic. After 3 hours touring the Roman Baths, we went to the Museum of Costume. It was lame. It was kinda like the first ladies' exhibit at the Smithsonian, but none of the clothes had a famous connection, they were just clothes... Nicole loved it.
Finally, we visited Stonehenge. It rises out of the English countryside, adding something of a skyline to a rural setting. Surrounded by hosts of guardian sheep (and the ropes put up by the English trust), the gray towering stone strikes a great contrast to the sloping verdant landscape. Today it still raises more questions than can be answered.
Our trip out west was magnificent (minus the car thing). We look forward this weekend to going to Ireland.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Now for Something Completely Different
Now as I have had time to sleep and my jet lag is waining, I have begun to notice little differences around the place. There is obviously a heavy accent. Also, we finally found a store that sold school supplies, and they have only either 4 ring or 2 ring binders... totally crazy. The Chinese food is also very different, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I have no new pictures to post.
I have certainly tried to do the English diet thing. Last night I had fish and chips for dinner at a local pub. That same pub informed us they will be having a 4th of July party, which is probably not very patriotic for them but makes good monetary sense since there is about 50 Americans living across the street. The pinnacle so far though of my English dining experience is that today for lunch, I ate kidney pie. It was not bad. One guy got it, and then when I explained to him that it was not composed of kidney beans but the actual organ, he looked like he had to hold it back.
Anyway thats the update.
I have certainly tried to do the English diet thing. Last night I had fish and chips for dinner at a local pub. That same pub informed us they will be having a 4th of July party, which is probably not very patriotic for them but makes good monetary sense since there is about 50 Americans living across the street. The pinnacle so far though of my English dining experience is that today for lunch, I ate kidney pie. It was not bad. One guy got it, and then when I explained to him that it was not composed of kidney beans but the actual organ, he looked like he had to hold it back.
Anyway thats the update.
Monday, June 25, 2007
We've Arrived!
This is where we are living. Ours is the one with the light on.
This is a lawn mower with a Taz doll on it. The interesting thing about it is that at Cambridge only Fellows (professors) are allowed to walk on the grass. So, I am not allowed on but Taz is on it.
Well after about 9 hours in the air, 4 hours on a bus, and 3 minutes in a cab we have arrived in Cambridge. So far, England looks fairly similar to the US. There are some minor differences in asthetics. One of which is that there seem to be cows in very random places. We passed a small grouping of them in Cambridge. No classes are going on right now (other than ours), but Cambridge is still bustling. The weather is in the high 50s and low 60s pretty much throughout the day. It rains a lot here. It is mostly light I have yet to see a heavy rain. The accommodations are Spartan. We share 1 shower with the entire house. When we signed up for the program we expected to share it with at the most 2 other people. Some people have showers in there rooms, yet we all paid the same fee for rooms. Oh well. The food is not that bad especially for cafeteria type dining. What they call bacon looks and tastes quite like country ham. For lunch I had chili con carne. It was pretty good since I never expected to see that in England. It was however the first time I had eaten chili with clove in it. Finally, the people here are very polite. Those of us from the Hospitality State have nothing on them.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Photo Upload
Since I had to figure out how to post photos, I figured these shots from a Hawaii sunset would be nice. All of these photographs were taken by me. Feel free to use these photographs in any not for profit use.Wednesday, June 6, 2007
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