What a difference a year can make! In the National Football League this time last year, after ten regular-season games, the New England Patriots were undefeated at 10-0 while the Miami Dolphins were a pathetic mirror image at 0-10. Speculation was running rampant on whether the Pats would finish the regular season undefeated (which they did) or whether the Fins would finish without a win (they did win one game near the end). New England did go on to lose to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl (yippee!), but Miami had a lot of changes to make. They brought in veteran, former Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells as executive vice-president, and he went about rebuilding the team. Head coach Cam Cameron was replaced with Tony Sparano, and several trades were made (as well as some crucial draft picks). One of Miami’s acquisitions was Jet quarterback Chad Pennington, who had experienced problems regaining his old form following injuries.
This year, we’re at the same point in the season and the two teams are tied in their division at 6-4. And they’re playing each other this Sunday! Miami stunned the football world a few weeks ago by demolishing the Patriots 38-13 on the road in Foxboro, Massachusetts. A late November game at home should be to the Dolphins’ advantage. New England has been handicapped this season with future Hall-of-Fame and NFL record-holder quarterback Tom Brady being out for the season with an injury. And Pennington has stayed healthy and effective for Miami, as have their two star running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.
Miami is in the thick of a playoff hunt for the first time since 2003. I think I am now ready to forgive former coach Nick Saban for deserting them for the Alabama coaching job now. Especially if this turnaround for the Dolphins holds and endures for the next few years. That upcoming Dolphins-Patriots game stands to be a classic!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Scholastic Cyber-Priesthood
I just had a very unsettling personal experience. Relatively late in my life, but recent enough to be clear in my memory, I graduated from the University of Florida in December, 2002. To take the remaining few classes needed for my degree, I extensively used the UF Library West and its academic journals. Even by this time, some of the journals I needed articles from were on-line and restricted to those with the needed passwords and accounts (i.e. authorized scholars and students). But I could still freely access their valuable microform collection of newspapers that went back into the nineteenth century by simply finding the spool I was looking for, loading it into one of the simple machines provided in the microform room, and viewing it.
Since 2002, Library West was completely rebuilt and redesigned to be more compatible with our digital era. This past Monday evening, I went there for the first time since its recent reopening. And got thoroughly blasted with culture shock. Every student there, I mean EVERY student, had a laptop with them and was doing their work on it. That in itself was a major change in the span of six years for me. But the most unsettling and disturbing thing was that I could no longer access the microform collection since the machines were all now computerized and demanded user IDs and passwords. Except for one dilapidated old machine, the type of which I had never used and I would have had to stand at.
Digitalizing of our academic knowledge should be a liberating, not restricting experience. But nowadays, it seems that one either needs permission from the uppity muckity-mucks in academia or has to be willing to pay through the nose just for being able to read current academic journals or research microforms. Sure, I’m a UF alumnus and I can apply for the privilege of checking out books (for a fee) from UF libraries. And maybe with this I’ll be able to access the microforms as well. But before, I could just have walked in and viewed them “for free” (although my tax dollars are supporting UF) and now I need to apply for someone’s permission.
This reeks of academic elitism in its worst form. In the Old Testament accounts of the Israelites, their priests, and the tabernacle, only the high priests were granted access to the inner chambers of the tabernacle. In like manner, the state of our academics is becoming such that the general population is not only suffering from a vast gap of understanding and knowledge between them and the learned: they are now being physically denied access to that knowledge! This must change!
Since 2002, Library West was completely rebuilt and redesigned to be more compatible with our digital era. This past Monday evening, I went there for the first time since its recent reopening. And got thoroughly blasted with culture shock. Every student there, I mean EVERY student, had a laptop with them and was doing their work on it. That in itself was a major change in the span of six years for me. But the most unsettling and disturbing thing was that I could no longer access the microform collection since the machines were all now computerized and demanded user IDs and passwords. Except for one dilapidated old machine, the type of which I had never used and I would have had to stand at.
Digitalizing of our academic knowledge should be a liberating, not restricting experience. But nowadays, it seems that one either needs permission from the uppity muckity-mucks in academia or has to be willing to pay through the nose just for being able to read current academic journals or research microforms. Sure, I’m a UF alumnus and I can apply for the privilege of checking out books (for a fee) from UF libraries. And maybe with this I’ll be able to access the microforms as well. But before, I could just have walked in and viewed them “for free” (although my tax dollars are supporting UF) and now I need to apply for someone’s permission.
This reeks of academic elitism in its worst form. In the Old Testament accounts of the Israelites, their priests, and the tabernacle, only the high priests were granted access to the inner chambers of the tabernacle. In like manner, the state of our academics is becoming such that the general population is not only suffering from a vast gap of understanding and knowledge between them and the learned: they are now being physically denied access to that knowledge! This must change!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Short Break
I'm going to take a short break from this blog, hoping to resume later this week. Please feel free to browse through the archives and comment on any article that you want.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Koyaanisqatsi and the Pristine
One of my all-time favorite movies is the 1983 documentary Koyaanisqatsi, beautifully scored by Philip Glass. It is a wordless depiction of the beauties of pristine nature in the American southwest, contrasted with the ugliness and pollution of western materialistic culture in the area. The film explains that the term “koyaanisqatsi” is Hopi for “life out of balance”. And its message is clearly that things have gotten quite out of hand with the prevailing philosophy of mankind trying to dominate nature, instead of coexisting with it in a symbiotic relationship (which the Hopis were implicitly able to do).
The first few minutes of Koyaanisqatsi depict the awe-inspiring procession of a day in the southwestern wilderness. Everything seems pristine, untouched by human hands. But just as the viewer begins to expect more of the same, the camera shots shift to construction vehicles and high-tension power lines strung along the heretofore “natural” landscape. And it gave me pause for some reflection.
I remember pretty vividly a few years ago when Florida Senator Bill Nelson stood up on the Senate floor and announced his intention to hold up any bill that authorized oil drilling off Florida’s “pristine” shores, as he put it. His contention was that the natural beauty of Florida’s beaches was an important element of the state’s economy, drawing in much tourist revenue from out-of-state. And the presence of visible oil platforms and equipment would somehow make things “un-pristine”, I suppose. Well, I concur with Senator Nelson with his objection to oil exploration and drilling close to our shores. But just who is he trying to fool with his (repeated) invocation of the term “pristine”? I’ve been to quite a few Florida beaches, and even on the most remote of them, there is a noticeable LACK of anything “pristine”.
In like manner, Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander complained that the pristine beauty of Tennessee’s landscapes would be ruined if windmills were set up to harness the clean energy of wind power there. Hypocritically, Senator Alexander had no trouble opposing Senator Nelson’s desire to protect his state’s “pristine” beauty. But is there really anything pristine left, anyway?
We’re used to seeing photographs of natural wonders, unencumbered by the mark of civilization. But weren’t many of these specially shot at angles and locations designed to eliminate from view the close presence of that civilization? How many times have you seen breath-taking photographs of the Grand Canyon or some other national park? But you know, if you go there in person, you’re liable to have to search out places to recreate that same sense of natural isolation.
I live close to a natural sinkhole named Devil’s Millhopper. It isn’t pristine by any stretch of the imagination, nor was it ever intended to be. There is a wooden path winding down into the hole to its bottom. And circling around it is a dirt walking path. The park is bordered by a busy state highway, a housing development, and a very tall radio tower. A Publix grocery store and its shopping plaza are about a half mile down the road. But given the circumstances, this park does give the urban dweller a feeling of being out in nature. So I don’t think you have to eliminate all traces of human presence to accomplish this effect.
I think that setting large amounts of land aside for publicly-accessible parks can be a good thing. And in some cases, there may be a good reason to restrict the public’s access, especially if the ecosystem there is very fragile and/or contains endangered species. Also, sometimes there may be a particular vista that the area provides which would be ruined by development. But for the most part, we need to apply some reason here, recognizing that while we want to avoid destroying or polluting an area, we also may need to obtain natural resources from it or use it for people to live in. It is here that our federal and state governments, which we as a people have entrusted to protect our environment through regulations and their enforcement, must be independent of outside pressure to “tweak” things in the favor of one interested group or another. No, decisions like this need to be made deliberately and completely out in the open. Hopefully, the new administration will move in this direction.
The first few minutes of Koyaanisqatsi depict the awe-inspiring procession of a day in the southwestern wilderness. Everything seems pristine, untouched by human hands. But just as the viewer begins to expect more of the same, the camera shots shift to construction vehicles and high-tension power lines strung along the heretofore “natural” landscape. And it gave me pause for some reflection.
I remember pretty vividly a few years ago when Florida Senator Bill Nelson stood up on the Senate floor and announced his intention to hold up any bill that authorized oil drilling off Florida’s “pristine” shores, as he put it. His contention was that the natural beauty of Florida’s beaches was an important element of the state’s economy, drawing in much tourist revenue from out-of-state. And the presence of visible oil platforms and equipment would somehow make things “un-pristine”, I suppose. Well, I concur with Senator Nelson with his objection to oil exploration and drilling close to our shores. But just who is he trying to fool with his (repeated) invocation of the term “pristine”? I’ve been to quite a few Florida beaches, and even on the most remote of them, there is a noticeable LACK of anything “pristine”.
In like manner, Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander complained that the pristine beauty of Tennessee’s landscapes would be ruined if windmills were set up to harness the clean energy of wind power there. Hypocritically, Senator Alexander had no trouble opposing Senator Nelson’s desire to protect his state’s “pristine” beauty. But is there really anything pristine left, anyway?
We’re used to seeing photographs of natural wonders, unencumbered by the mark of civilization. But weren’t many of these specially shot at angles and locations designed to eliminate from view the close presence of that civilization? How many times have you seen breath-taking photographs of the Grand Canyon or some other national park? But you know, if you go there in person, you’re liable to have to search out places to recreate that same sense of natural isolation.
I live close to a natural sinkhole named Devil’s Millhopper. It isn’t pristine by any stretch of the imagination, nor was it ever intended to be. There is a wooden path winding down into the hole to its bottom. And circling around it is a dirt walking path. The park is bordered by a busy state highway, a housing development, and a very tall radio tower. A Publix grocery store and its shopping plaza are about a half mile down the road. But given the circumstances, this park does give the urban dweller a feeling of being out in nature. So I don’t think you have to eliminate all traces of human presence to accomplish this effect.
I think that setting large amounts of land aside for publicly-accessible parks can be a good thing. And in some cases, there may be a good reason to restrict the public’s access, especially if the ecosystem there is very fragile and/or contains endangered species. Also, sometimes there may be a particular vista that the area provides which would be ruined by development. But for the most part, we need to apply some reason here, recognizing that while we want to avoid destroying or polluting an area, we also may need to obtain natural resources from it or use it for people to live in. It is here that our federal and state governments, which we as a people have entrusted to protect our environment through regulations and their enforcement, must be independent of outside pressure to “tweak” things in the favor of one interested group or another. No, decisions like this need to be made deliberately and completely out in the open. Hopefully, the new administration will move in this direction.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Slow Count, Recount, and Run-Off
Not quite all is finished with this year's election. For the U.S. Senate, three seats have yet to be decided: Alaska, Minnesota, and Georgia.
In Alaska, long-time senator Republican Ted Stevens, having just been convicted on seven felony counts, won the preliminary vote against his Democratic challenger, Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. Begich, relatively young at 46, stands in stark contrast to Stevens, who appeared at times to be lost on the Senate floor. I think the reason that Alaskan voters still went for Stevens after the convictions was to ensure that, after he was forced out of office, Stevens would be replaced by another Republican (appointed by Republican governor Sarah Palin). But as the rest of the votes are counted (extremely slowly), Begich has pulled ahead of Stevens (by 814 votes at last count). Questions have been raised regarding the relatively low Alaskan voter turnout, especially since their own popular governor was one of the vice-presidential candidates and the Democrats had put on a large-scale voter registration drive there.
In Minnesota, liberal Democrat comedian, author, and commentator Al Franken challenged one-term incumbent Republican Norm Coleman for the seat. Independent Dean Barkley (whom then-Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura had appointed interim senator after Paul Wellstone’s tragic death in 2002) ran a distant third in the vote. The campaign was pretty vicious between Franken and Coleman, and the final vote count (so far) has them separated by only about 200 votes. So a statewide recount is about to begin to resolve this election. Franken had entered this race largely due to his past friendship with Wellstone and his resentment against Coleman for his behavior at the end of the 2002 campaign. The recount results are bound to enrage one of the sides regardless who wins. Although these two are ideologically very different, I respect them both and wish that they both could have been in the Senate. But I’m pulling for Franken to win the recount. Still, I think his grudge against Coleman is bogus.
And in Georgia, their Senate electoral system requires the winner to garner a majority of votes. One-term Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss won a narrow plurality with 49.8 % of the vote over Democratic challenger, Dekalb County chief executive and former state representative Jim Martin, who received about 47 %. The run-off election will be held December 2. Republican and Democratic political big shots have descended upon Georgia to try to influence the voters in one direction or the other. Including losing Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who in 2002 had severely deplored Chambliss’s campaign ads against then-incumbent opponent Max Cleland, who had lost three limbs in combat in Vietnam. The ads clearly implied that Cleland lacked the courage to make important decisions in the interests of our nation’s security following 9/11. Chambliss, for his part, skirted military duty during Vietnam (he was pursuing his law degree then). Which on its face I sympathize with, since Vietnam was a meat-grinder of a war with our soldiers deliberately placed in harm’s way to draw enemy fire. But his ads against Cleland were hypocritical and disgusting. Well, Chambliss’s current opponent Jim Martin also served in Vietnam, and I don’t think that hypocrisy is going to work this time around. I see two different scenarios with this run-off. On one hand, since greater turnout tends to favor the Democrats and Obama isn’t in it, a smaller turnout in the run-off election should favor Chambliss. On the other hand, the negative pre-election hysteria generated against Obama has abated and his overall popularity has soared. This, coupled with the continuing tanking of the economy, may change a few minds in favor of Democrat Martin.
These three races should be pretty interesting to follow. I’m just glad that the presidency has already been clearly decided this time around!
In Alaska, long-time senator Republican Ted Stevens, having just been convicted on seven felony counts, won the preliminary vote against his Democratic challenger, Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. Begich, relatively young at 46, stands in stark contrast to Stevens, who appeared at times to be lost on the Senate floor. I think the reason that Alaskan voters still went for Stevens after the convictions was to ensure that, after he was forced out of office, Stevens would be replaced by another Republican (appointed by Republican governor Sarah Palin). But as the rest of the votes are counted (extremely slowly), Begich has pulled ahead of Stevens (by 814 votes at last count). Questions have been raised regarding the relatively low Alaskan voter turnout, especially since their own popular governor was one of the vice-presidential candidates and the Democrats had put on a large-scale voter registration drive there.
In Minnesota, liberal Democrat comedian, author, and commentator Al Franken challenged one-term incumbent Republican Norm Coleman for the seat. Independent Dean Barkley (whom then-Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura had appointed interim senator after Paul Wellstone’s tragic death in 2002) ran a distant third in the vote. The campaign was pretty vicious between Franken and Coleman, and the final vote count (so far) has them separated by only about 200 votes. So a statewide recount is about to begin to resolve this election. Franken had entered this race largely due to his past friendship with Wellstone and his resentment against Coleman for his behavior at the end of the 2002 campaign. The recount results are bound to enrage one of the sides regardless who wins. Although these two are ideologically very different, I respect them both and wish that they both could have been in the Senate. But I’m pulling for Franken to win the recount. Still, I think his grudge against Coleman is bogus.
And in Georgia, their Senate electoral system requires the winner to garner a majority of votes. One-term Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss won a narrow plurality with 49.8 % of the vote over Democratic challenger, Dekalb County chief executive and former state representative Jim Martin, who received about 47 %. The run-off election will be held December 2. Republican and Democratic political big shots have descended upon Georgia to try to influence the voters in one direction or the other. Including losing Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who in 2002 had severely deplored Chambliss’s campaign ads against then-incumbent opponent Max Cleland, who had lost three limbs in combat in Vietnam. The ads clearly implied that Cleland lacked the courage to make important decisions in the interests of our nation’s security following 9/11. Chambliss, for his part, skirted military duty during Vietnam (he was pursuing his law degree then). Which on its face I sympathize with, since Vietnam was a meat-grinder of a war with our soldiers deliberately placed in harm’s way to draw enemy fire. But his ads against Cleland were hypocritical and disgusting. Well, Chambliss’s current opponent Jim Martin also served in Vietnam, and I don’t think that hypocrisy is going to work this time around. I see two different scenarios with this run-off. On one hand, since greater turnout tends to favor the Democrats and Obama isn’t in it, a smaller turnout in the run-off election should favor Chambliss. On the other hand, the negative pre-election hysteria generated against Obama has abated and his overall popularity has soared. This, coupled with the continuing tanking of the economy, may change a few minds in favor of Democrat Martin.
These three races should be pretty interesting to follow. I’m just glad that the presidency has already been clearly decided this time around!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
My Running Update: 11/12
My running has been a little spotty lately. I had been experiencing a soreness on my right side for about 2-3 weeks. Although running didn’t seem to exacerbate it, it wasn’t pleasant either. Also, I had been changing my running to a more outdoors, on-the-road type of activity and used my YMCA’s treadmill less often. While this represents a step forward in my training, it also breaks up a simple routine I had established, the YMCA being very close to my home and convenient.
On October 21, I ran an eight-mile loop around far-northern Gainesville nonstop. It was easily the longest I had run non-stop since early 1975. I didn’t seem to be much the worse for wear after the run, but then again it may have been one of the contributing factors to my soreness. But I was still in enough shape to complete the Florida Track Club’s Dog Days 5-K Run on November 1.
I’m trying to come up with a better format to list my training runs on this blog. The way I’ve been doing it is very tedious. I saw on another running blog how the writer was able to copy and paste a spreadsheet showing his training record onto his blog. That seems to be the road for me to take as well, although it seems that a database file would work better. When I compile it, I’ll insert it at a later date at the end of this entry.
As for my training, I do think I’ve found a course comparable to the old “block” I used to run around in Davie, Florida (encompassing the Broward Community College/Nova educational complex) when I was much younger. It’s about the same distance around (three miles) and has long stretches free of serious traffic concerns. It also was the site of two of the races I’ve run so far!
I think I will run in the next race in December. Titled the “Jingle Bell Run”, it will be held on the University of Florida campus and is once again being put on by the Florida Track Club. It, like the last race I ran, will be a 5-kilometer run.
Click on the image below to enlarge (yes, I figured out a method):
On October 21, I ran an eight-mile loop around far-northern Gainesville nonstop. It was easily the longest I had run non-stop since early 1975. I didn’t seem to be much the worse for wear after the run, but then again it may have been one of the contributing factors to my soreness. But I was still in enough shape to complete the Florida Track Club’s Dog Days 5-K Run on November 1.
I’m trying to come up with a better format to list my training runs on this blog. The way I’ve been doing it is very tedious. I saw on another running blog how the writer was able to copy and paste a spreadsheet showing his training record onto his blog. That seems to be the road for me to take as well, although it seems that a database file would work better. When I compile it, I’ll insert it at a later date at the end of this entry.
As for my training, I do think I’ve found a course comparable to the old “block” I used to run around in Davie, Florida (encompassing the Broward Community College/Nova educational complex) when I was much younger. It’s about the same distance around (three miles) and has long stretches free of serious traffic concerns. It also was the site of two of the races I’ve run so far!
I think I will run in the next race in December. Titled the “Jingle Bell Run”, it will be held on the University of Florida campus and is once again being put on by the Florida Track Club. It, like the last race I ran, will be a 5-kilometer run.
Click on the image below to enlarge (yes, I figured out a method):
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Self-Presentation Could Stand Improvement
I remember an old Twilight Zone episode titled A Piano in the House. In it, a cruel, malevolent man buys a player piano for his wife’s birthday. He soon discovers that playing it forces different people to openly reveal their concealed feelings. This man’s butler is a continually scowling, most unhappy-looking sort. But upon hearing the piano, he instantly begins to joyfully laugh, dance, and proclaim how much fun he has being this jerk’s butler! And when the piano piece ends, the butler immediately reverts back to his old unpleasant demeanor.
I don’t exactly project a positive, ebullient image of myself in public. Even when I am feeling all right, even happy, others tend to come away with the idea that I am miserable. I think a lot of it has to do with the natural expression I have plastered over my face. Coupled with the fact that I am usually a very quiet person, sometimes I believe others think that I am undergoing extreme depression.
In truth, I think that I am like others in that my life is a mixture of both the positive and negative, with things pretty much balancing themselves out over the long run. This doesn’t mean that my life is stagnant or “not” happy; those who insist on keeping up ecstatic feelings as a measurement of their joi de vivre, are also those, in my opinion, more likely to stumble in the areas of drugs, violence, and crime in general. They also tend to creep me out when I'm around them!
It’s normal to be sad, afraid, or angry sometimes. I just need to figure out a way to avoid wearing it on my face all the time! And a little positive initiative on my part in stimulating conversation with others can go a long way in revealing my emotional state as “normal”, not “depressed”. As a matter of fact, I have a few ideas that I’ve used on this blog that just might be good conversation starters. On the other hand, even if I just stood on my head spouting gibberish, that would probably improve my image to others as well!
I don’t exactly project a positive, ebullient image of myself in public. Even when I am feeling all right, even happy, others tend to come away with the idea that I am miserable. I think a lot of it has to do with the natural expression I have plastered over my face. Coupled with the fact that I am usually a very quiet person, sometimes I believe others think that I am undergoing extreme depression.
In truth, I think that I am like others in that my life is a mixture of both the positive and negative, with things pretty much balancing themselves out over the long run. This doesn’t mean that my life is stagnant or “not” happy; those who insist on keeping up ecstatic feelings as a measurement of their joi de vivre, are also those, in my opinion, more likely to stumble in the areas of drugs, violence, and crime in general. They also tend to creep me out when I'm around them!
It’s normal to be sad, afraid, or angry sometimes. I just need to figure out a way to avoid wearing it on my face all the time! And a little positive initiative on my part in stimulating conversation with others can go a long way in revealing my emotional state as “normal”, not “depressed”. As a matter of fact, I have a few ideas that I’ve used on this blog that just might be good conversation starters. On the other hand, even if I just stood on my head spouting gibberish, that would probably improve my image to others as well!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Veteran’s Day
I’d like to take this time to salute those who have served in our armed forces. Their efforts and sacrifices are appreciated, as they carry out our country’s foreign (and domestic) policy. May those who served in the past enjoy the respect and honor they so rightfully deserve. And may those presently serving enjoy the protection they need to safely fulfill their assignments and complete their tours of duty successfully.
Some in our country confuse honoring our brave soldiers with endorsing whatever policy sent them into harm's way. Blurring this important distinction is, to me, inexcusable and actually dishonors those working to protect us. We are a civilian-governed nation because our armed forces do not dictate policy. That is ultimately the job of our elected leaders. Defending the U.S. Constitution is the highest calling of our fighting men and women. And the document puts political leadership into the hands of the people, both by means of the ballot box and by the recognized right to freely speak their minds about the government, either in agreement or in dissent. So criticizing a decision to go to war in no way disparages the honor of soldiers or of our armed forces in general. It instead actually validates them and is a legitimate exercise of our rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Again, thank you veterans!
Some in our country confuse honoring our brave soldiers with endorsing whatever policy sent them into harm's way. Blurring this important distinction is, to me, inexcusable and actually dishonors those working to protect us. We are a civilian-governed nation because our armed forces do not dictate policy. That is ultimately the job of our elected leaders. Defending the U.S. Constitution is the highest calling of our fighting men and women. And the document puts political leadership into the hands of the people, both by means of the ballot box and by the recognized right to freely speak their minds about the government, either in agreement or in dissent. So criticizing a decision to go to war in no way disparages the honor of soldiers or of our armed forces in general. It instead actually validates them and is a legitimate exercise of our rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Again, thank you veterans!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Seether's Rise Above This
The hard rock band Seether came out with a hit single earlier this year titled Rise Above This. Lead singer Shaun Morgan wrote this song about his brother Eugene Welgemoed, who recently committed suicide. Rise Above This is all about choosing to survive through personal difficulties instead of taking what, at the time, may appear to be the easier way out. For when we do rise above our deep times of anguish, we sometimes look back and wonder why it seemed that bad. And we'll never know what tomorrow will bring. Choosing to be a survivor can sometimes be--no, it IS an honorable and courageous thing to do!
Here is the official video for Rise Above This:
Here is the official video for Rise Above This:
Monday Newsbreak: 11/10
--Now that Barack Obama is the president-elect, people are wondering whether he will reveal an all-encompassing economic plan on the order of FDR’s New Deal, or simply tackle the various problems one by one, with restraint. I don’t believe that we in America, our problems notwithstanding, are anywhere near the level of trouble that we experienced during the Great Depression of the thirties. Making a complete overhaul of everything may be counterproductive. Part of what makes such a complex world economic system work is a sense of trust, derived in a large part from a feeling of continuity. Ironically, the cascading demise of financial companies makes government intervention necessary to restore this continuity. The stop-gap measures recently taken (“bailout”) may reflect agreement between Bush and Obama, but under the incoming president we should see a dramatic increase in regulation of the financial sector in order to ensure that this very continuity (and trust) continues into the foreseeable future.
--The American auto industry is undergoing bad times. The problem is largely due to the fact that they did not get ahead in technology and production to save mileage and promote alternative sources of fuel (while foreign companies did). Although they enjoy blaming the labor unions for their troubles, the simple fact is that they haven’t been making the products that people want to buy in large enough numbers to sustain their industry. Quality has to come first.
--Hurricane Paloma, a category-three storm, slammed into Cuba Saturday. It is the third hurricane to punish this island nation this season. Meanwhile, speculation is mounting on how far the new U.S. president will go toward lifting the economic embargo against Cuba. The way I see it, all that the U.S. accomplished by ostracizing Cuba and its Communist leaders Fidel and Raul Castro was to shield their people from the more liberal influences of the outside world (and thus help consolidate their hold on political power). We were so concerned that their ideology would spread to other countries in Latin America. But look now at Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil (I’m probably leaving some out), all countries with DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED leftist governments sympathetic to the Castros! And Mexico is teetering on the edge of joining this group. Just who do we think we are kidding with this embargo, anyway?
--The state constitutional amendments in California and Florida designed to outlaw gay marriage (under the guise of “saving” marriage) both passed. While we’re standing around patting ourselves on the back about electing an African-American as president, I can see that we’ve still got a long way to go in this country…
--My favorite football team, NFL’s Miami Dolphins, won their third straight game, 21-19 over Seattle. They are now 5-4 and in the running to make the playoffs. The Dolphins are what I would call a “complete team”, with both the offense, defense, and special teams playing important roles in their success this year (last year they went 1-15). Plus, like I’ve said before, they look like they’re having a lot of fun out there! And clearly their fans are as well!
--The University of Florida Gators football team achieved one of their main goals this season by clinching the Eastern Division of their Southeastern Conference with a convincing 42-14 win over Vanderbilt. Like the Dolphins, the Gators are a balanced team this year with strengths in every department. And also like Miami, UF is in the running to win the overall championship if they keep winning.
--The American auto industry is undergoing bad times. The problem is largely due to the fact that they did not get ahead in technology and production to save mileage and promote alternative sources of fuel (while foreign companies did). Although they enjoy blaming the labor unions for their troubles, the simple fact is that they haven’t been making the products that people want to buy in large enough numbers to sustain their industry. Quality has to come first.
--Hurricane Paloma, a category-three storm, slammed into Cuba Saturday. It is the third hurricane to punish this island nation this season. Meanwhile, speculation is mounting on how far the new U.S. president will go toward lifting the economic embargo against Cuba. The way I see it, all that the U.S. accomplished by ostracizing Cuba and its Communist leaders Fidel and Raul Castro was to shield their people from the more liberal influences of the outside world (and thus help consolidate their hold on political power). We were so concerned that their ideology would spread to other countries in Latin America. But look now at Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil (I’m probably leaving some out), all countries with DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED leftist governments sympathetic to the Castros! And Mexico is teetering on the edge of joining this group. Just who do we think we are kidding with this embargo, anyway?
--The state constitutional amendments in California and Florida designed to outlaw gay marriage (under the guise of “saving” marriage) both passed. While we’re standing around patting ourselves on the back about electing an African-American as president, I can see that we’ve still got a long way to go in this country…
--My favorite football team, NFL’s Miami Dolphins, won their third straight game, 21-19 over Seattle. They are now 5-4 and in the running to make the playoffs. The Dolphins are what I would call a “complete team”, with both the offense, defense, and special teams playing important roles in their success this year (last year they went 1-15). Plus, like I’ve said before, they look like they’re having a lot of fun out there! And clearly their fans are as well!
--The University of Florida Gators football team achieved one of their main goals this season by clinching the Eastern Division of their Southeastern Conference with a convincing 42-14 win over Vanderbilt. Like the Dolphins, the Gators are a balanced team this year with strengths in every department. And also like Miami, UF is in the running to win the overall championship if they keep winning.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
My Top Twelve Favorite Pink Floyd Songs
Pink Floyd, like REM, is one of those stupendous bands who made so many songs I liked that it was too painful to reduce it to a “top ten” list. So once again, I’m doing a “top twelve” (but I still had to make some hard decisions).
Three notes:
One, the most acclaimed album of theirs, 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon, has no entries here. I thought all of the songs on it were very listenable, but none of them ever really “grabbed” me. Except for one moment, that is, which I like to refer to as the greatest “instant” in rock n’ roll: the transition from the On the Run track into Time nearly sent me through the ceiling the first time I heard it!
Two, I never was very impressed with Pink Floyd after Roger Waters left. I did like Learning to Fly, but I think that was largely due to the wonderful video that accompanied it.
Three, it’s sad that former members Syd Barrett and Richard Wright have recently died. I suppose that this sort of thing just comes with growing older. More and more of the old rock heroes are passing on. But it still hurts.
Well, here’s the list, from #12 to #1:
#12: Mother
From The Wall, Mother is a rather morose, bitter song containing a sad “letter” from a grown son to his mother, describing his upbringing under her overprotective hand and how it contributed to the “wall” that ultimately arose to separate him from loving, close relationships. Pretty heavy, but then this was a pretty heavy (double) album.
#11: Welcome to the Machine
A truly science fiction song (as I see it), what struck me personally was the utterly maniacal tone of the crowds at its end. I have a phobia of sorts about disorganized crowds of people, all seeming to be talking at once. After a few minutes in this environment, the crowd will often seem to take on a sinister, even maniacal personality to me. And this song captures that perfectly.
#10: Have a Cigar
This was one of those tunes that I used to change stations on whenever I heard it. And then I realized that it was so hilarious that I couldn’t stop listening to it. Especially the line "The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think! Oh by the way, which one’s Pink?" And lead guitarist David Gilmour’s riffs toward the end are unforgettable as well.
#9: One of These Days
Another science-fiction type Floyd song, One of These Days reeks with evil lurking hidden behind a rock, occasionally flashing its presence until, at the end, the monster comes out in full view, thundering its frightening message. Well, at least that’s what my imagination did to this song. It’s the opening track to their underrated 1971 Meddle album.
#8: Pigs (Three Different Kinds)
Off of their rather spotty 1977 Animals album, Pigs is a pretty long track that is very biting with its satire and rage. But what impressed me with it was the texture of musical instrumentation that pervaded it. Once again, there is an atmosphere of foreboding and danger throughout the song that raises a sense of suspense within the listener.
#7: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (side one)
On the album Wish You Were Here, this song is divided into a number of “parts”, each of which theoretically represents a track. I don’t know why they did that, unless they had to fulfill some kind of contractual obligation for numbers of tracks per album. But Crazy Diamond is really a long, coherent piece dedicated to former Pink Floyd member and creative force Syd Barrett, who suffered mental illness and had to leave the group in the late sixties. You have to be very patient with this song (in this way it reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s Rain Song), but it works for me! Wish You Were Here is a great album of theirs, second only (in my estimation) to their debut album (featuring Barrett) The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
#6: Goodbye Blue Sky
Another Floyd sci-fi piece, from The Wall, this song represents all of the fears I have about future potential nuclear and/or environmental holocausts that threaten to engulf us. I think, though, that Roger Waters’s original inspiration for this song may have been the air raids on England by Germany in 1940 during World War II.
#5: Wish You Were Here
The title track to my second-favorite Pink Floyd album, it is the complex interplay between guitars that thoroughly blows me away listening to it. Another ode to Syd Barrett, Wish You Were Here is a song that ranks right up there in the “air guitar” hall of fame. The lyrics and the singing are fine, but the lengthy instrumental lead-in is what carries it, in my opinion.
#4: Remember a Day
Keyboardist Richard Wright just recently passed away. He was a rare lead vocalist in Pink Floyd’s musical works, but made a bigger impact in the earlier Pink Floyd works. Remember a Day, from their second album A Saucerful of Secrets , was one of his songs (he composed it). He had a very soft, pleasant singing voice that was in stark contrast to the rougher, more grating voices of David Gilmour and Roger Waters. Remember a Day is a simple, but sad ode to yearnings for a better past. I can’t recall hearing this song’s beat in any of the thousands of other popular songs I’ve heard. And that’s amazing, considering the cannibalistic nature of this business (regarding songwriting and production).
#3: Fearless
Fearless, off the Meddle album, is a curious mix of a positive “face the fear” message, a satirical political swipe, and the admixture of a sports crowd cheering and chanting. But it works! And I loved the message expressed in the lines
[You say the hill's too steep to climb, chiding
You say you'd like to see me try, climbing
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb the hill in my own way]
#2: Run Like Hell
Hearing this song, from The Wall, literally puts my body into a get-up-and-run mode. It emanates the kind of urgency felt when a running a big race, or simply just running for your life from something really bad! There is also a “basketball” sense to this song, making me want to dribble a basketball up and down the court. Especially at the song’s end.
#1: Flaming
One of my all-time favorites, Flaming is a psychedelic “mind-expansion” song that Syd Barrett wrote and sang for their 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Very wistful and full of innocent wonder, Flaming makes me, the listener, feel more like a child enjoying the sights and sounds of the world around me without the overbearing and encumbering stressors polluting my adult existence. So it’s an escape piece, pure and simple! And I love it! And I like the opening phrase "Alone in the clouds all blue" very much, as some of you may already know.
Three notes:
One, the most acclaimed album of theirs, 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon, has no entries here. I thought all of the songs on it were very listenable, but none of them ever really “grabbed” me. Except for one moment, that is, which I like to refer to as the greatest “instant” in rock n’ roll: the transition from the On the Run track into Time nearly sent me through the ceiling the first time I heard it!
Two, I never was very impressed with Pink Floyd after Roger Waters left. I did like Learning to Fly, but I think that was largely due to the wonderful video that accompanied it.
Three, it’s sad that former members Syd Barrett and Richard Wright have recently died. I suppose that this sort of thing just comes with growing older. More and more of the old rock heroes are passing on. But it still hurts.
Well, here’s the list, from #12 to #1:
#12: Mother
From The Wall, Mother is a rather morose, bitter song containing a sad “letter” from a grown son to his mother, describing his upbringing under her overprotective hand and how it contributed to the “wall” that ultimately arose to separate him from loving, close relationships. Pretty heavy, but then this was a pretty heavy (double) album.
#11: Welcome to the Machine
A truly science fiction song (as I see it), what struck me personally was the utterly maniacal tone of the crowds at its end. I have a phobia of sorts about disorganized crowds of people, all seeming to be talking at once. After a few minutes in this environment, the crowd will often seem to take on a sinister, even maniacal personality to me. And this song captures that perfectly.
#10: Have a Cigar
This was one of those tunes that I used to change stations on whenever I heard it. And then I realized that it was so hilarious that I couldn’t stop listening to it. Especially the line "The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think! Oh by the way, which one’s Pink?" And lead guitarist David Gilmour’s riffs toward the end are unforgettable as well.
#9: One of These Days
Another science-fiction type Floyd song, One of These Days reeks with evil lurking hidden behind a rock, occasionally flashing its presence until, at the end, the monster comes out in full view, thundering its frightening message. Well, at least that’s what my imagination did to this song. It’s the opening track to their underrated 1971 Meddle album.
#8: Pigs (Three Different Kinds)
Off of their rather spotty 1977 Animals album, Pigs is a pretty long track that is very biting with its satire and rage. But what impressed me with it was the texture of musical instrumentation that pervaded it. Once again, there is an atmosphere of foreboding and danger throughout the song that raises a sense of suspense within the listener.
#7: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (side one)
On the album Wish You Were Here, this song is divided into a number of “parts”, each of which theoretically represents a track. I don’t know why they did that, unless they had to fulfill some kind of contractual obligation for numbers of tracks per album. But Crazy Diamond is really a long, coherent piece dedicated to former Pink Floyd member and creative force Syd Barrett, who suffered mental illness and had to leave the group in the late sixties. You have to be very patient with this song (in this way it reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s Rain Song), but it works for me! Wish You Were Here is a great album of theirs, second only (in my estimation) to their debut album (featuring Barrett) The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
#6: Goodbye Blue Sky
Another Floyd sci-fi piece, from The Wall, this song represents all of the fears I have about future potential nuclear and/or environmental holocausts that threaten to engulf us. I think, though, that Roger Waters’s original inspiration for this song may have been the air raids on England by Germany in 1940 during World War II.
#5: Wish You Were Here
The title track to my second-favorite Pink Floyd album, it is the complex interplay between guitars that thoroughly blows me away listening to it. Another ode to Syd Barrett, Wish You Were Here is a song that ranks right up there in the “air guitar” hall of fame. The lyrics and the singing are fine, but the lengthy instrumental lead-in is what carries it, in my opinion.
#4: Remember a Day
Keyboardist Richard Wright just recently passed away. He was a rare lead vocalist in Pink Floyd’s musical works, but made a bigger impact in the earlier Pink Floyd works. Remember a Day, from their second album A Saucerful of Secrets , was one of his songs (he composed it). He had a very soft, pleasant singing voice that was in stark contrast to the rougher, more grating voices of David Gilmour and Roger Waters. Remember a Day is a simple, but sad ode to yearnings for a better past. I can’t recall hearing this song’s beat in any of the thousands of other popular songs I’ve heard. And that’s amazing, considering the cannibalistic nature of this business (regarding songwriting and production).
#3: Fearless
Fearless, off the Meddle album, is a curious mix of a positive “face the fear” message, a satirical political swipe, and the admixture of a sports crowd cheering and chanting. But it works! And I loved the message expressed in the lines
[You say the hill's too steep to climb, chiding
You say you'd like to see me try, climbing
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb the hill in my own way]
#2: Run Like Hell
Hearing this song, from The Wall, literally puts my body into a get-up-and-run mode. It emanates the kind of urgency felt when a running a big race, or simply just running for your life from something really bad! There is also a “basketball” sense to this song, making me want to dribble a basketball up and down the court. Especially at the song’s end.
#1: Flaming
One of my all-time favorites, Flaming is a psychedelic “mind-expansion” song that Syd Barrett wrote and sang for their 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Very wistful and full of innocent wonder, Flaming makes me, the listener, feel more like a child enjoying the sights and sounds of the world around me without the overbearing and encumbering stressors polluting my adult existence. So it’s an escape piece, pure and simple! And I love it! And I like the opening phrase "Alone in the clouds all blue" very much, as some of you may already know.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Goodbye, Michael Crichton
American popular literature icon Michael Crichton died this past Tuesday at age 66 due to cancer. His death was largely met with complete surprise by the public. It sure did hit me hard. I had just bought a few of his old novels (The Terminal Man, Congo, Sphere, and Rising Sun). I had just finished reading The Terminal Man and am planning to begin Congo in a few days. A few years ago, I read his Timeline, an exciting time-travel novel largely set in medieval France just before the Black Death devastated Europe. I greatly enjoyed it (the novel, not the plague). I’m also thinking of getting and reading Jurassic Park since, although I know how the movie ended, I missed most of it and would like to see how Crichton treated it on paper.
But my favorite Crichton work (and one of my favorite novels in general) is his Andromeda Strain. I saw parts of the movie that was made from it decades ago, and I have to say that the movie paled badly in comparison with the book. I liked how Crichton made the crisis in this story into a kind of puzzle that invited the reader to try to figure out its resolution. And the novel’s conclusion ranks right up there with my favorite, most-exciting endings.
Apart from his novels, Michael Crichton was also was responsible for movies such as Coma and Westworld, as well as the popular TV series ER. And who can forget Twister, for which he co-wrote the screenplay?
I think I’m going to continue reading Crichton’s novels. Although they usually seem to contain the formula theme of prideful human technological and scientific achievements-gone-awry, they do get the reader thoroughly immersed and interested in areas that normally wouldn’t be examined.
As an important side note, Michael Crichton’s death from cancer is a reminder to me (and hopefully, to you, cherished reader) to have regular medical checkups for early cancer detection as well as to live a lifestyle conducive to the prevention of this terrible disease.
But my favorite Crichton work (and one of my favorite novels in general) is his Andromeda Strain. I saw parts of the movie that was made from it decades ago, and I have to say that the movie paled badly in comparison with the book. I liked how Crichton made the crisis in this story into a kind of puzzle that invited the reader to try to figure out its resolution. And the novel’s conclusion ranks right up there with my favorite, most-exciting endings.
Apart from his novels, Michael Crichton was also was responsible for movies such as Coma and Westworld, as well as the popular TV series ER. And who can forget Twister, for which he co-wrote the screenplay?
I think I’m going to continue reading Crichton’s novels. Although they usually seem to contain the formula theme of prideful human technological and scientific achievements-gone-awry, they do get the reader thoroughly immersed and interested in areas that normally wouldn’t be examined.
As an important side note, Michael Crichton’s death from cancer is a reminder to me (and hopefully, to you, cherished reader) to have regular medical checkups for early cancer detection as well as to live a lifestyle conducive to the prevention of this terrible disease.
Friday, November 7, 2008
This Blog’s Outlook
If you’ve read this blog since its inception in April 2007, you may have noticed that I tend to get involved in various self-improvement projects, updates of which I put out from time to time as blog entries. Lately, I hadn’t been doing this. But it is a good device to publicly proclaim different things that I am doing to better my life. It gives me a sense of accountability that helps get me through times of discouragement and/or backsliding. So once again, I will be putting out weekly “updates” about various projects I’m engaged to make my life a little more interesting. Perhaps, if one or more of these areas overlaps interests of yours, then reading them won’t seem so tedious.
Another feature that I’m renewing is my “favorites”. And this could be any category of favorites that comes to mind, so don’t expect a pattern to this (not that one won’t eventually develop).
I’d also like to start going around town taking pictures of different Gainesville locales that are of interest. And then writing a little about them. I enjoyed doing the piece about the Solar Walk. Although Gainesville isn’t exactly known as a tourist or sightseeing city, it still has a few areas of interest.
I’ll continue the “Monday Newsbreak” feature that gives me the opportunity to pick out a few news items that attract my interest and elicit a reaction from me.
The rest of the entries will be pretty much whatever I happen to write on the spur of the moment. More often than not, when I sit down to write on this blog, I have no preconceived idea what I am going to end up writing about. And as Jack Crabb’s adoptive Cheyenne grandfather told him at the end of the highly recommended (by me) 1970 movie Little Big Man, “Sometimes the magic works; sometimes it doesn’t!”
Another feature that I’m renewing is my “favorites”. And this could be any category of favorites that comes to mind, so don’t expect a pattern to this (not that one won’t eventually develop).
I’d also like to start going around town taking pictures of different Gainesville locales that are of interest. And then writing a little about them. I enjoyed doing the piece about the Solar Walk. Although Gainesville isn’t exactly known as a tourist or sightseeing city, it still has a few areas of interest.
I’ll continue the “Monday Newsbreak” feature that gives me the opportunity to pick out a few news items that attract my interest and elicit a reaction from me.
The rest of the entries will be pretty much whatever I happen to write on the spur of the moment. More often than not, when I sit down to write on this blog, I have no preconceived idea what I am going to end up writing about. And as Jack Crabb’s adoptive Cheyenne grandfather told him at the end of the highly recommended (by me) 1970 movie Little Big Man, “Sometimes the magic works; sometimes it doesn’t!”
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Solipsist Television
[Warning #1: Contains series ending spoilers for St. Elsewhere, Newhart, a season spoiler for Dallas, and an episode spoiler for The Twilight Zone]
[Warning #2: Probably contains an overly-broad interpretation of the term “solipsism”. Philosophers beware!]
There is a most special type of TV series that does something very peculiar in the final series episode: the two that come immediately to my mind are St. Elsewhere and Newhart. And what is it that happens in these episodes but the very overturning of reality itself!
The hospital drama series St. Elsewhere was a continuation of the successful formula that was demonstrated in the police series Hill Street Blues. It presented a view of life at a big hospital through the experiences of its employees, from the lowest levels all the way to top management. And it was moderately popular, lasting six seasons. I watched it from time to time, although I couldn’t call myself a regular viewer. But I did watch the final episode, which changed everything. For in the closing moments of that episode, it was revealed that almost all of the characters and all of the episodes were the product of a little autistic boy’s strong imagination!
The comedy series Newhart was Bob Newhart’s follow-up sitcom series to his wildly successful Bob Newhart Show. In Newhart, he pretty much kept to his trademark comic personality from the earlier series, but his character, his wife’s and all of the cast were completely different. Newhart was set in Vermont, while The Bob Newhart Show was set in Chicago. At the very end of the final episode of Newhart, though, we find Bob waking up next to Emily, his wife from the earlier series! It appeared that the entire Newhart series was a dream of the earlier Bob Newhart character!
What unites these two widely different series is that they display the concept of solipsism. Solipsism, briefly (and probably crudely) stated, claims that one’s own self is the only truly real element of the universe. Whatever else there is either an unreal illusion, or a creation of the self. I love series that end this way. That St. Elsewhere ending especially had me yelling out “WHAT?! WHAT?!!!”
Besides hitting the viewer with a solipsist revelation at the end of a series, solipsism can appear for a season or for one episode. The overblown eighties prime time soap opera Dallas belongs in this category. For one entire season of the series, one of the characters dreamed everything that happened (without the audience being informed of this as it was happening). In this case, a lot of the viewers reportedly felt (rightly) manipulated.
The Twilight Zone had an episode titled Shadow Play where a man was put on trial, condemned, sent to death row, struggled to get a pardon, and then got electrocuted in a 24-hour period. But it wasn't real either, but rather a continuing nightmare. All of the characters and the world around the protagonist were his creation; only he was real. And when the switch was pulled for his execution, the dream cycle started all over, with the various imaginary people in his story randomly switching their roles around in the repeating nightmare. There is one stirring moment in this story when one of the characters believes that he isn't real and that his own "life" will end at the dreamer's execution.
The idea that a character is completely responsible for creating his/her environment, even to the extent of having all of the people being unreal, occurs from time to time in different shows. If done well, revealing this solipsist “universe” can be pretty jolting to the viewer (like in St. Elsewhere). But often, as in the case of Dallas, it can result in nothing better than groans from the viewing audience.
[Warning #2: Probably contains an overly-broad interpretation of the term “solipsism”. Philosophers beware!]
There is a most special type of TV series that does something very peculiar in the final series episode: the two that come immediately to my mind are St. Elsewhere and Newhart. And what is it that happens in these episodes but the very overturning of reality itself!
The hospital drama series St. Elsewhere was a continuation of the successful formula that was demonstrated in the police series Hill Street Blues. It presented a view of life at a big hospital through the experiences of its employees, from the lowest levels all the way to top management. And it was moderately popular, lasting six seasons. I watched it from time to time, although I couldn’t call myself a regular viewer. But I did watch the final episode, which changed everything. For in the closing moments of that episode, it was revealed that almost all of the characters and all of the episodes were the product of a little autistic boy’s strong imagination!
The comedy series Newhart was Bob Newhart’s follow-up sitcom series to his wildly successful Bob Newhart Show. In Newhart, he pretty much kept to his trademark comic personality from the earlier series, but his character, his wife’s and all of the cast were completely different. Newhart was set in Vermont, while The Bob Newhart Show was set in Chicago. At the very end of the final episode of Newhart, though, we find Bob waking up next to Emily, his wife from the earlier series! It appeared that the entire Newhart series was a dream of the earlier Bob Newhart character!
What unites these two widely different series is that they display the concept of solipsism. Solipsism, briefly (and probably crudely) stated, claims that one’s own self is the only truly real element of the universe. Whatever else there is either an unreal illusion, or a creation of the self. I love series that end this way. That St. Elsewhere ending especially had me yelling out “WHAT?! WHAT?!!!”
Besides hitting the viewer with a solipsist revelation at the end of a series, solipsism can appear for a season or for one episode. The overblown eighties prime time soap opera Dallas belongs in this category. For one entire season of the series, one of the characters dreamed everything that happened (without the audience being informed of this as it was happening). In this case, a lot of the viewers reportedly felt (rightly) manipulated.
The Twilight Zone had an episode titled Shadow Play where a man was put on trial, condemned, sent to death row, struggled to get a pardon, and then got electrocuted in a 24-hour period. But it wasn't real either, but rather a continuing nightmare. All of the characters and the world around the protagonist were his creation; only he was real. And when the switch was pulled for his execution, the dream cycle started all over, with the various imaginary people in his story randomly switching their roles around in the repeating nightmare. There is one stirring moment in this story when one of the characters believes that he isn't real and that his own "life" will end at the dreamer's execution.
The idea that a character is completely responsible for creating his/her environment, even to the extent of having all of the people being unreal, occurs from time to time in different shows. If done well, revealing this solipsist “universe” can be pretty jolting to the viewer (like in St. Elsewhere). But often, as in the case of Dallas, it can result in nothing better than groans from the viewing audience.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Election Commentary
Now that our period of national insanity is over, it being the day AFTER the election, the rest of the world can stop holding its breath and resume its various wars and other crises. Already I’m hearing reports of hostilities flaring up between Israel and Hamas. Or is it just that the press itself puts everything else going on in the world on the news back burner whenever something is going on here that they want to dwell on? Could it be that Israel and Hamas have been “at it” against each other this whole time and now they’ve been judged to merit news coverage?
I noticed a few things from the election results. First, the excessively emotional reaction to Obama’s election is understandable, especially due to the fact that he is the first African-American to become our president. But I’m hoping that this near-delirium on the part of some of Obama’s supporters abates some during the next few weeks. Otherwise, it’s going to start creeping me out. Hey, I voted for the guy too, but enough is enough. Let's all celebrate, but eventually realize that we elected a president, not an idol.
The people of the state of Alaska, who voted Sarah Palin into power as their governor, decided to reelect convicted felon senator Ted Stevens. Hmmm, maybe we should get on board with that Alaskan independence movement after all… [11-23-08 note: when this was written, Stevens led in the vote count, but eventually lost the final tally]
Comedian, political commentator, and author Al Franken, at this writing, appears to be less than 800 votes behind incumbent Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race, with almost all votes counted. I expect a recount, of course. It appeared that a few of those who were initially supporting independent candidate Dean Barkely decided to vote for Coleman. I would like to see Franken up there in the Senate, to be sure, but I also recognize that Coleman was a pretty decent senator (for a Republican), although I felt he should have shown a little more independence from the Bush administration than he did. Coleman strikes me (I could be dead wrong, of course) as one of those who would be willing to work across the aisle with the Democrats on various bills.
I believe that, with a more liberal face in the White House beginning on January 20, 2009, the way will finally be clear for the more liberal Supreme Court justices to retire, knowing that their replacements won’t be right-wing ideologues vested by conservative think tanks. John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and David Souter are all in line for retirement, probably in that order. I wonder if Antonin Scalia will ever retire. Probably not. Justice Anthony Kennedy is also getting along in years, but he has so much power as the swing vote in most of their close decisions that he may want to stay on the bench a little longer. For one of Obama’s future court nominations, I know a New Jersey law school professor who is highly respected by his peers for his scholarly approach to the law as well as being simply one of the most compassionate and engaging people I have ever had the privilege to know (and grow up with). I think he would be a perfect fit for the Supreme Court. But I’m sure the country is full of other suitable prospects as well. It should be interesting to see how events unfold in this area during the next few months. I expect Justice Stevens to announce his retirement soon after Obama is sworn in.
I’m looking forward to this new president being more proactive in the area of scientific research. In particular, I’m referring to the area of stem-cell research that holds so much promise and which has been unnecessarily stymied by the current president. Our new president should be more sympathetic to the efforts being made slow down global warming. I’m also wondering whether or not Obama will finally be the president who sets in motion, with the backing of congress, a viable space exploration program that finally brings us back to the Moon, and possibly takes us to Mars.
It doesn’t look as if the Senate will have enough votes (60) to prevent opposition filibusters. I’m not sure that this isn’t a blessing of sorts. The House of Representatives pretty much does everything by simple majority vote. The Senate is the one recognized place in our national government where a minority party can have some influence on the political process, and I think that can be a good thing. After all, the Senate Democrats were able to exert some influence when they were the opposition party under a Republican president. But expect the Republicans to try to “pay back” the Democrats for holding up a small handful of Bush high court nominees by attempting judicial filibusters themselves. If they try to do this, though, the Dems themselves (thanks to previous GOP Senate majority leader Bill Frist) have the “nuclear option” that they can in turn exercise to bypass any filibusters of Obama's future nominees.
I'm a bit concerned in the area of foreign policy with the incoming administration. Although I believe the era of ostracizing and shunning entire nations because we see them as adversaries is soon to be behind us, there is another serious concern. Both Obama and Biden have expressed a willingness to deepen the American involvement in Afghanistan against not only Al-Qaeda, but also against the indigenous political-military movement Taliban, which has enormous popular support in large areas in southeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. But maybe reason will prevail and we'll also begin to talk with the Taliban who, although they did give sanctuary to Al-Qaeda and allied with them for their own military advantage in their own civil war, did not play a direct role in the 9/11 attacks on our country.
So there is plenty of excitement ahead for people like me who think that the C-Span channels are “tops”. I applaud all of those who ran for office in this election, both the winners and the defeated. It takes a lot of guts to get out there in public and put your reputation on the line like that. I wish the best for all of them in their lives, although I’m grateful that some of them won’t be in political office with the police powers of the state at their disposal.
I noticed a few things from the election results. First, the excessively emotional reaction to Obama’s election is understandable, especially due to the fact that he is the first African-American to become our president. But I’m hoping that this near-delirium on the part of some of Obama’s supporters abates some during the next few weeks. Otherwise, it’s going to start creeping me out. Hey, I voted for the guy too, but enough is enough. Let's all celebrate, but eventually realize that we elected a president, not an idol.
The people of the state of Alaska, who voted Sarah Palin into power as their governor, decided to reelect convicted felon senator Ted Stevens. Hmmm, maybe we should get on board with that Alaskan independence movement after all… [11-23-08 note: when this was written, Stevens led in the vote count, but eventually lost the final tally]
Comedian, political commentator, and author Al Franken, at this writing, appears to be less than 800 votes behind incumbent Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race, with almost all votes counted. I expect a recount, of course. It appeared that a few of those who were initially supporting independent candidate Dean Barkely decided to vote for Coleman. I would like to see Franken up there in the Senate, to be sure, but I also recognize that Coleman was a pretty decent senator (for a Republican), although I felt he should have shown a little more independence from the Bush administration than he did. Coleman strikes me (I could be dead wrong, of course) as one of those who would be willing to work across the aisle with the Democrats on various bills.
I believe that, with a more liberal face in the White House beginning on January 20, 2009, the way will finally be clear for the more liberal Supreme Court justices to retire, knowing that their replacements won’t be right-wing ideologues vested by conservative think tanks. John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and David Souter are all in line for retirement, probably in that order. I wonder if Antonin Scalia will ever retire. Probably not. Justice Anthony Kennedy is also getting along in years, but he has so much power as the swing vote in most of their close decisions that he may want to stay on the bench a little longer. For one of Obama’s future court nominations, I know a New Jersey law school professor who is highly respected by his peers for his scholarly approach to the law as well as being simply one of the most compassionate and engaging people I have ever had the privilege to know (and grow up with). I think he would be a perfect fit for the Supreme Court. But I’m sure the country is full of other suitable prospects as well. It should be interesting to see how events unfold in this area during the next few months. I expect Justice Stevens to announce his retirement soon after Obama is sworn in.
I’m looking forward to this new president being more proactive in the area of scientific research. In particular, I’m referring to the area of stem-cell research that holds so much promise and which has been unnecessarily stymied by the current president. Our new president should be more sympathetic to the efforts being made slow down global warming. I’m also wondering whether or not Obama will finally be the president who sets in motion, with the backing of congress, a viable space exploration program that finally brings us back to the Moon, and possibly takes us to Mars.
It doesn’t look as if the Senate will have enough votes (60) to prevent opposition filibusters. I’m not sure that this isn’t a blessing of sorts. The House of Representatives pretty much does everything by simple majority vote. The Senate is the one recognized place in our national government where a minority party can have some influence on the political process, and I think that can be a good thing. After all, the Senate Democrats were able to exert some influence when they were the opposition party under a Republican president. But expect the Republicans to try to “pay back” the Democrats for holding up a small handful of Bush high court nominees by attempting judicial filibusters themselves. If they try to do this, though, the Dems themselves (thanks to previous GOP Senate majority leader Bill Frist) have the “nuclear option” that they can in turn exercise to bypass any filibusters of Obama's future nominees.
I'm a bit concerned in the area of foreign policy with the incoming administration. Although I believe the era of ostracizing and shunning entire nations because we see them as adversaries is soon to be behind us, there is another serious concern. Both Obama and Biden have expressed a willingness to deepen the American involvement in Afghanistan against not only Al-Qaeda, but also against the indigenous political-military movement Taliban, which has enormous popular support in large areas in southeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. But maybe reason will prevail and we'll also begin to talk with the Taliban who, although they did give sanctuary to Al-Qaeda and allied with them for their own military advantage in their own civil war, did not play a direct role in the 9/11 attacks on our country.
So there is plenty of excitement ahead for people like me who think that the C-Span channels are “tops”. I applaud all of those who ran for office in this election, both the winners and the defeated. It takes a lot of guts to get out there in public and put your reputation on the line like that. I wish the best for all of them in their lives, although I’m grateful that some of them won’t be in political office with the police powers of the state at their disposal.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Personal Voting Observations
I went to vote at my local precinct at 8 a.m. today. I had no trouble finding a parking space. Someone at the entrance was there to greet me and direct me to the proper tables, which were divided according to alphabetical divisions of the voters’ last names. I walked up to the table designated for “I”s and immediately got my identity and registration confirmed and my paper ballot handed to me, without standing behind even one person in line. I then walked immediately over to a voting station, once again with no waiting at all. I looked over my paper ballot. Yes, everything was there. And I already knew how I was going to vote, having studied the sample ballot and articles about the issues and candidates (except for those obscure water conservation district races I had alluded to in an earlier entry). Using the felt pen provided, I then proceeded to go down the simply-designed ballot, filling in the bubbles beside each choice of mine. When I was finished, I fed the ballot into the designated machine (there was an attendant on duty to help me had I had any difficulty with this), got my “I Voted” sticker, and easily pulled out of the parking lot.
I said all of this because I look at my TV screen and see all of these painfully long lines in other parts of the country. New Jersey governor Jon Corzine appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe show and revealed that he had just voted in Hoboken after waiting in line there for an hour and a half. Y’know, people don’t have to make things so difficult. The system employed here in Gainesville, Florida works excellently. I’ve never had a problem voting here. Ever. Why can’t these other places use successful places like my hometown here as models to emulate? One of problems I see is the tendency to use these expensive voting machines instead of using low-tech paper ballots with which many voting stands can be set up to accommodate a big voting crowd. Also, I suspect that there aren’t enough voting precincts set up in some of the most densely populated areas. In my opinion, those conducting the election are welcome to use high-tech solutions when it comes to any phase of the operation EXCEPT FOR actual voting. Within the precinct itself, the process should--no, MUST be as simple and low-tech as possible. Which is how they do it in Gainesville!
How was your voting experience? Which voting method was used, what time of the day did you vote, how long did you have to wait to vote, and what were the conditions at your precinct? Or did you already vote early (if your state permitted early voting) or by absentee ballot?
I said all of this because I look at my TV screen and see all of these painfully long lines in other parts of the country. New Jersey governor Jon Corzine appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe show and revealed that he had just voted in Hoboken after waiting in line there for an hour and a half. Y’know, people don’t have to make things so difficult. The system employed here in Gainesville, Florida works excellently. I’ve never had a problem voting here. Ever. Why can’t these other places use successful places like my hometown here as models to emulate? One of problems I see is the tendency to use these expensive voting machines instead of using low-tech paper ballots with which many voting stands can be set up to accommodate a big voting crowd. Also, I suspect that there aren’t enough voting precincts set up in some of the most densely populated areas. In my opinion, those conducting the election are welcome to use high-tech solutions when it comes to any phase of the operation EXCEPT FOR actual voting. Within the precinct itself, the process should--no, MUST be as simple and low-tech as possible. Which is how they do it in Gainesville!
How was your voting experience? Which voting method was used, what time of the day did you vote, how long did you have to wait to vote, and what were the conditions at your precinct? Or did you already vote early (if your state permitted early voting) or by absentee ballot?
It's Politics, Not Personal
Today is another banner day, weatherwise, in Gainesville. I’m sitting here outside the Magnolia Parke Starbucks enjoying the slightly breezy, slightly cool, dry autumn air. Everyone in the media seems all wrapped up with the election, but people around me generally don’t bring it up in conversation, whether I’m one of the participants or just eavesdropping on others. And why should they? There’s a lot more to life than elections and the overblown campaigns leading up to them. Nevertheless, at this stage of the game, it’s tempting to get tightly wound up over who’s going to win and who’s going to lose, even if you haven’t been paying too much attention to national politics over the past year and a half or so.It’s like that with sports, too. Sometimes there will be a football game between two teams, neither of which I care for. Like the game last Saturday night between Texas and Texas Tech. But I just picked Tech out of the air to root for, and wouldn’t you know it, the game turned out to be a nail-biter at the end. I was momentarily so excited when “my” team pulled off an improbable last-second victory. Until reality set in and I realized that I really didn’t like either team. But it’s usually more fun to pick sides in a contest and root for one over the other, even if you’re essentially flipping a coin to decide who to support. With the election, I feel differently.
Since early this spring, I expressed that I was voting for Barack Obama, and was also pleased to see John McCain get the GOP nomination. I still feel that way about both candidates. As the campaign wore on, I increasingly resented the attacks against Obama from the McCain side. And tended to see the attacks against McCain from “my” side as being legitimate. But I’m sure that, had I come down on the side of McCain in this presidential campaign, I would have felt the reverse.
Isn’t it funny, whether you are following a political election, a spectator sport, or even just a silly TV reality show, how you can identify so personally with the side you’re rooting for that you react emotionally to the attacks of the opposition? Nobody’s attacking ME on the campaign circuit. But the more I identify with my candidate, the more that seems so. My advice to all you folks out there is: if you haven’t voted yet, then vote by all means for the candidates and issues that matter to you. But don’t take it too personally if the people and propositions you support don’t win. You didn’t lose; they did. Besides, if the “bad guys” win out, wouldn’t that be a great incentive to start up your own blog to daily rant about how screwed up they are!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Monday Newsbreak: 11/3
--The Gainesville Sun reported Sunday that about 47.5 % of registered voters in Alachua County (where Gainesville is) have already voted, either by absentee ballot or early voting. I’ve voted early once in the past, and would have this time as well, just for the opportunity to vote together with my wife (we have conflicting schedules on Tuesday). But things just didn’t work out, so we’ll each find a time to vote on Election Day. Unlike in other parts of the country, I have never experienced any appreciable lines or snags with voting. I suspect that the problem in some of the concentrated urban areas is that they don’t have enough precincts set up. In some areas, there needs to be a precinct every couple of blocks or so because of the high population density.
--Fox has canceled animator Mike Judge’s long-running cartoon series King of the Hill. After liking his relatively shorter-lived and controversial Beavis and Butt-Head series, I was pretty disappointed in King of the Hill. The main problem I had was relating in a sympathetic way to any of its characters. In a way, they were unintentionally more pathetic than Beavis and Butt-Head’s title characters were deliberately made to be. But who knows, maybe twenty years from now I’ll be channel-surfing and come across an old Hill episode and it will hit me: masterpiece! Well, maybe not.
--I’m looking at my sample ballot and the election guide in today’s local newspaper. And I see some obscure races (Alachua County Soil and Water Conservation District, for example) on the sample ballot that are completely ignored in the paper. Now how am I supposed to know anything about these candidates to make an informed choice? And if your answer to me is for me to search the Web for information, then my rejoinder would be, “Why then even bother having a newspaper in the first place?”
--The “thrill” activity of zip-line riding came to my attention for the first time in an article in Sundays Gainesville Sun. Apparently, a rider can zip down a line traveling through a forest at speeds near 50 mph, whizzing by trees in a manner that must resemble the forest chase scene in 1983’s Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi. Well, you know what I want to do now!
--The University of Florida Gators paid back their football rival, the Georgia Bulldogs, Saturday for last year’s defeat by routing them 49-10. Of course, the way this game is, they could turn around and lose to them again next year. Still, the win gives Florida a clear shot at the Southeastern Conference championship and a possible shot for a national championship game (if the other teams ranked ahead of them find a way to lose during the next few weeks). The Gators this year have a complete team, with both the offense, defense, and special teams playing important roles in their victories.
--Fox has canceled animator Mike Judge’s long-running cartoon series King of the Hill. After liking his relatively shorter-lived and controversial Beavis and Butt-Head series, I was pretty disappointed in King of the Hill. The main problem I had was relating in a sympathetic way to any of its characters. In a way, they were unintentionally more pathetic than Beavis and Butt-Head’s title characters were deliberately made to be. But who knows, maybe twenty years from now I’ll be channel-surfing and come across an old Hill episode and it will hit me: masterpiece! Well, maybe not.
--I’m looking at my sample ballot and the election guide in today’s local newspaper. And I see some obscure races (Alachua County Soil and Water Conservation District, for example) on the sample ballot that are completely ignored in the paper. Now how am I supposed to know anything about these candidates to make an informed choice? And if your answer to me is for me to search the Web for information, then my rejoinder would be, “Why then even bother having a newspaper in the first place?”
--The “thrill” activity of zip-line riding came to my attention for the first time in an article in Sundays Gainesville Sun. Apparently, a rider can zip down a line traveling through a forest at speeds near 50 mph, whizzing by trees in a manner that must resemble the forest chase scene in 1983’s Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi. Well, you know what I want to do now!
--The University of Florida Gators paid back their football rival, the Georgia Bulldogs, Saturday for last year’s defeat by routing them 49-10. Of course, the way this game is, they could turn around and lose to them again next year. Still, the win gives Florida a clear shot at the Southeastern Conference championship and a possible shot for a national championship game (if the other teams ranked ahead of them find a way to lose during the next few weeks). The Gators this year have a complete team, with both the offense, defense, and special teams playing important roles in their victories.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Social Activity Niche Search
Admittedly, I have something of the personality of a hermit. Recognizing this, I also recognize the need to fight this tendency of mine to be reclusive. For one, I’m out here right now in a Starbucks typing out this entry. But more than that, I know that I need to consciously reach out in public to interact on a more normal level with people in general.
For example, with my running, I could have just gone on running on my own, by myself. But instead, I decided to (1) use the treadmill in the very public YMCA and (2) enter and run in some public races recently. To this end, I probably will continue to run in public races, although I would like to run longer distances. But looking through Section D of my Sunday newspaper, I see all sorts of social activities out there for people to avail themselves of. The problem is that many of them conflict with my work schedule. And a few of them also--let’s just be frank-- don’t seem very interesting. But let’s see what there is, those factors taken into account.
Yikes, I keep looking down the page and seeing interesting things, only to find that I have to be at work when they’re going on. And although concerts and plays are fun to watch, they don’t really require interaction on my part. So what’s left?
--At 9 a.m. on Thursday I can take a guided walking tour through Paynes Prairie, identifying the flora and fauna we encounter. But that’s good for only once every now and then.
--Next Saturday, starting at 10 a.m., is the Downtown Festival and Arts Show. Should be a fun event to hang out at! But it isn’t a regular activity, either.
--I’ve never been into dancing, but there are opportunities for classes/dances in cross creek clogging, first klass klogging (?), Israeli dancing, and line dancing. Does any of that sound promising?
--On Monday evenings, there’s a writers’ roundtable at a local Books-a-Million.
--Times are available to me should I want to partake in elementary aikido or yoga classes.
--And there are quite a few volunteer organizations as well. Although, (I'm sure) to my discredit, I really don’t feel like being a cog in someone else’s “machine” on my time off from my job, taking orders from others. This is one big reason I steer clear of church activities.
So I don’t know. I doubt that the Gainesville Sun is the only source of activities available around town. I’m thinking of picking out one thing that I can get socially involved in. That writer’s roundtable, at least right now, sounds pretty cool. Do you suppose they would actually expect me to contribute input to the group? Maybe that’s just what I need, though (shudder)!
For example, with my running, I could have just gone on running on my own, by myself. But instead, I decided to (1) use the treadmill in the very public YMCA and (2) enter and run in some public races recently. To this end, I probably will continue to run in public races, although I would like to run longer distances. But looking through Section D of my Sunday newspaper, I see all sorts of social activities out there for people to avail themselves of. The problem is that many of them conflict with my work schedule. And a few of them also--let’s just be frank-- don’t seem very interesting. But let’s see what there is, those factors taken into account.
Yikes, I keep looking down the page and seeing interesting things, only to find that I have to be at work when they’re going on. And although concerts and plays are fun to watch, they don’t really require interaction on my part. So what’s left?
--At 9 a.m. on Thursday I can take a guided walking tour through Paynes Prairie, identifying the flora and fauna we encounter. But that’s good for only once every now and then.
--Next Saturday, starting at 10 a.m., is the Downtown Festival and Arts Show. Should be a fun event to hang out at! But it isn’t a regular activity, either.
--I’ve never been into dancing, but there are opportunities for classes/dances in cross creek clogging, first klass klogging (?), Israeli dancing, and line dancing. Does any of that sound promising?
--On Monday evenings, there’s a writers’ roundtable at a local Books-a-Million.
--Times are available to me should I want to partake in elementary aikido or yoga classes.
--And there are quite a few volunteer organizations as well. Although, (I'm sure) to my discredit, I really don’t feel like being a cog in someone else’s “machine” on my time off from my job, taking orders from others. This is one big reason I steer clear of church activities.
So I don’t know. I doubt that the Gainesville Sun is the only source of activities available around town. I’m thinking of picking out one thing that I can get socially involved in. That writer’s roundtable, at least right now, sounds pretty cool. Do you suppose they would actually expect me to contribute input to the group? Maybe that’s just what I need, though (shudder)!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Running Race Number Eight
I just finished running my third public running race in a month’s span (and my eighth ever): Florida Track Club’s annual Dog Days 5-kilometer run (to benefit the University of Florida Student Chapter of the Veterinary Medical Association and the Alliance for Rabies Control). I didn’t do as well as I did in the last race, finishing it in 24:28. The competition was much better, as I had expected. The course was almost identical to my previous race, except that it went in the opposite direction. That made for a very (for Gainesville) steep hill at one point (approaching NW 22 Street going east along NW 8 Avenue). When the Florida Track Club posts the results on their website, I’ll put the link here.The Dog Days Run also featured a one mile race in which dogs could run (accompanied by their humans on leashes, of course). So the crowd before and after my run included dogs of every size and shape and pedigree (and non-pedigree).
I did not feel very good this morning, so just getting up and running the race (and finishing it) was an accomplishment in itself. And it also established a firm pattern in my mind of running in races held by people who know what they’re doing and who have the runners’ interests in mind. There will be another 5K race on December 7 (also held by the Florida Track Club) on the UF campus. I’m not sure whether I’ll enter it or not. I’d really like to begin running longer distances, and not necessarily for competing in races. There’s something a bit exhilarating in running 7-10 miles out on the open road or in the country, especially when the season changes and the temperature begins to drop. The race temperature today was in the upper fifties, somewhat nippy for a Floridian like me (but I’ll get used to it). The picture above is what is on the tee shirts they handed out to the runners.
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