So Sarah Palin is resigning from being governor of Alaska. Had John McCain not mistakenly picked her as his running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, she would probably be gearing up for reelection in 2010 instead of quitting her post. But it appears that she has become starstruck; the lure of national media exposure, along with the existence of a hardcore right-wing ideological following (like Ann Coulter), has changed this formerly pragmatic and unifying regional politician to a divisive and polarizing presence on the national level.
If Sarah Palin is leaving office because she wants to focus her undivided attention on campaigning for president in 2012, then I understand this. Being governor is much more of a demanding day-to-day job than is being a senator. A governor, like the president on a national level, is the chief executive of an entire state, with many decisions and responsibilities affecting its people. Part of being a chief executive, whether it be of a state or of a nation, is also just being there, making sure that everything is going O.K. and that the government that the governor or president has been elected to lead is functioning effectively in the interests of the people. So Palin’s resignation can be seen as a realization of this and a responsible act from someone who does care about her own state’s interests. The new governor, now-Lt-Governor Parnell, will be able to devote his full attention to taking care of Alaska’s interests.
On the other hand, it may be argued that Palin didn’t even come close to completing one term as governor. And her political résumé is very short to begin with. Plus, the only reason she was picked as McCain’s running mate was to attract disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters from the Democrats in the general presidential election. On top of all this, many conservatives are scratching their heads wondering why she couldn’t have just served the remainder of her one term, which would have ended in January 2011.
Apparently, nowadays it is necessary to begin campaigning for president the minute that the previous election has just ended (although it could be argued that Mitt Romney began campaigning for 2012 the minute he conceded the Republican nomination to McCain in the spring of ’08). I think that Sarah Palin wants to do much as Ronald Reagan successfully did in the mid-to-late seventies.
Ronald Reagan left office as governor of California in January 1975 after his second term expired. He immediately set his sights on taking the 1976 Republican presidential nomination from sitting President Gerald Ford, coming very close to pulling this off. For the next four years, Reagan became a columnist and a media commentator, which kept him in the spotlight without labeling him as a perpetual campaigner. And this is the mold in which Palin is trying to fit.
But it won’t work, in my opinion. Reagan was a very genial soul who laughed off criticisms and befriended ideological opponents. Palin, on the other hand, takes all criticisms very personally and uses what she regards as humor to personally attack others. She may want to emulate Reagan, but I see her in reality as emulating one of Reagan’s contemporaries: Richard Nixon, the master of the “enemies list”.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Not Rooting For the Superstar
Lance Armstrong is back in business, pursuing the lead in his comeback bid during the Tour de France bicycle race. And now the media is putting out long articles and news segments on this race. The French Tour has been largely ignored since Armstrong’s past “retirement” from the sport after he achieved his seventh Tour title.
I have seen Armstrong training, and he uses a lot of expensive technology that employs computers analyzing his bicycling movements to give him feedback as to the most efficient way to pedal. Other bicyclists possessing less wealth or who don’t have the connections that Armstrong has are not able to compete at this level. So what we see on the race course, where hundreds of bicyclists are apparently on the same course and also apparently are on an equal “footing”, is just an illusion: those with the advantages of advanced, expensive training will succeed while the others will drop back into the field.
I will not be rooting for Lance Armstrong in this year’s Tour de France. Nor will I be following it on television (there is a channel that has continuous coverage). Why? Because when Armstrong isn’t in the race, there is more spread out coverage of the race. But when Armstrong is in it, the attention focuses on him and his supporting team. The unspoken presumption is that he is the only bicyclist that anyone cares about!
Bicycling is a sport of margins. There isn’t very much difference between a champion and an also-ran. Getting the edge over other competitors not only requires special training; apparently a team of self-sacrificial bicyclists needs to be there to help the “champ” pace himself and strategically place himself in relation to his opponents. So when I’m watching the race, I see that many of the participants aren’t in it to win; they’re just sycophants of the team leader! And I have a problem with that. I’m not judging Armstrong, either. He is simply taking advantage of the considerably better resources available to him to optimize his performance.
The whole idea of bicycle riding, as I see it, is based on the notion that, in the midst of our technology-crazed society, a person can still get on a relatively simple vehicle and get around pretty doggone fast! I like to at least pretend that this is also true when applied to high-level athletic competition. But it seems that athletics, which I would have thought championed human performance as being separate from technology, has instead embraced that technology, even to the point of merging with it.
At this writing, it looks as if Lance Armstrong has a good chance to win the Tour de France again. So why should I root for this already extremely-wealthy glory seeker? Or even for any fellow American? Why not just pick out someone from another country and root for him instead?
I have seen Armstrong training, and he uses a lot of expensive technology that employs computers analyzing his bicycling movements to give him feedback as to the most efficient way to pedal. Other bicyclists possessing less wealth or who don’t have the connections that Armstrong has are not able to compete at this level. So what we see on the race course, where hundreds of bicyclists are apparently on the same course and also apparently are on an equal “footing”, is just an illusion: those with the advantages of advanced, expensive training will succeed while the others will drop back into the field.
I will not be rooting for Lance Armstrong in this year’s Tour de France. Nor will I be following it on television (there is a channel that has continuous coverage). Why? Because when Armstrong isn’t in the race, there is more spread out coverage of the race. But when Armstrong is in it, the attention focuses on him and his supporting team. The unspoken presumption is that he is the only bicyclist that anyone cares about!
Bicycling is a sport of margins. There isn’t very much difference between a champion and an also-ran. Getting the edge over other competitors not only requires special training; apparently a team of self-sacrificial bicyclists needs to be there to help the “champ” pace himself and strategically place himself in relation to his opponents. So when I’m watching the race, I see that many of the participants aren’t in it to win; they’re just sycophants of the team leader! And I have a problem with that. I’m not judging Armstrong, either. He is simply taking advantage of the considerably better resources available to him to optimize his performance.
The whole idea of bicycle riding, as I see it, is based on the notion that, in the midst of our technology-crazed society, a person can still get on a relatively simple vehicle and get around pretty doggone fast! I like to at least pretend that this is also true when applied to high-level athletic competition. But it seems that athletics, which I would have thought championed human performance as being separate from technology, has instead embraced that technology, even to the point of merging with it.
At this writing, it looks as if Lance Armstrong has a good chance to win the Tour de France again. So why should I root for this already extremely-wealthy glory seeker? Or even for any fellow American? Why not just pick out someone from another country and root for him instead?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Home in the Savanna
[In the morning]
My lawn is turning into a savanna of high grass. Why? I had let it grow for about a week after the previous mowing and was going to mow it again. But for the past few days, we've been getting rain. And rain. And more rain. And I'm really not keen on mowing sopping wet grass! And since the rain just speeds up its growth, the grass just keeps getting higher and higher.
I know people who get up in the morning just to work in their yards all day, gardening and maintaining their lawns with tender, loving care. And I respect them for that, as it is their passion in life to do this. But it's not mine. Yes, I live in a house with a lawn and some bushes and trees, but I'm definitely a minimalist when it comes to lawn maintenance. I have quite a healthy mix of different varieties of grass comprising my lawn. Others may call them "weeds"; I refer to them as "indigenous flora". When I see a fire ant hill, I calmly put some fire ant killer on it and then ignore it. When I see evidence of a mole's activity just under the surface, it matters not to me. And use treatments or fertilizers on my lawn? Forget it!
I really don't like the grass getting this high, though. Although I don't like my lawn mower blades getting wet, I may just have to go ahead and mow some, thoroughly wiping the blades dry afterward.
Although I'm not a lawn and garden enthusiast, I actually usually do enjoy mowing the lawn (with my gasoline-powered push mower). I either put on my radio headset or my MP3 and I'm good to go! This time around, though, I'd better be on guard for wild animals lurking in the savanna!
***************************
[Later in the afternoon]
Hooray, I just mowed my front lawn! The rain actually stopped for a little while. The ground under the surface was so saturated with water that my lightweight lawn mower's wheels cut deep grooves into the ground. There, that should keep the codes enforcement people at bay for a while. Next, the back yard (which is twice the size of the front).
My lawn is turning into a savanna of high grass. Why? I had let it grow for about a week after the previous mowing and was going to mow it again. But for the past few days, we've been getting rain. And rain. And more rain. And I'm really not keen on mowing sopping wet grass! And since the rain just speeds up its growth, the grass just keeps getting higher and higher.
I know people who get up in the morning just to work in their yards all day, gardening and maintaining their lawns with tender, loving care. And I respect them for that, as it is their passion in life to do this. But it's not mine. Yes, I live in a house with a lawn and some bushes and trees, but I'm definitely a minimalist when it comes to lawn maintenance. I have quite a healthy mix of different varieties of grass comprising my lawn. Others may call them "weeds"; I refer to them as "indigenous flora". When I see a fire ant hill, I calmly put some fire ant killer on it and then ignore it. When I see evidence of a mole's activity just under the surface, it matters not to me. And use treatments or fertilizers on my lawn? Forget it!
I really don't like the grass getting this high, though. Although I don't like my lawn mower blades getting wet, I may just have to go ahead and mow some, thoroughly wiping the blades dry afterward.
Although I'm not a lawn and garden enthusiast, I actually usually do enjoy mowing the lawn (with my gasoline-powered push mower). I either put on my radio headset or my MP3 and I'm good to go! This time around, though, I'd better be on guard for wild animals lurking in the savanna!
***************************
[Later in the afternoon]
Hooray, I just mowed my front lawn! The rain actually stopped for a little while. The ground under the surface was so saturated with water that my lightweight lawn mower's wheels cut deep grooves into the ground. There, that should keep the codes enforcement people at bay for a while. Next, the back yard (which is twice the size of the front).
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
WUFT Drops Classical Music
Now that my local Public Radio station, 89.1/WUFT, has decided to cave in to a few loud voices and stop broadcasting classical music in favor of talk and news, The Gainesville Sun, which was responsible for creating this phony controversy in the first place through its editorial pages, is now printing letter after letter decrying the change (which takes effect August 3).
In Monday’s editorial section, they printed a long letter by Mickie Edwardson (a retired UF professor) opposing the programming change. She notes that the biggest contributions to WUFT during fund drives always come during the times that they play classical music. And that the proposed added news/talk shows are very, very expensive. Edwardson, like me in a previous blog article, also points out that WUFT was already providing a great diversity of programming, not just classical music. And finally, she gives as an example the case of the Jacksonville Public Radio station, which (according to her) had done what WUFT is planning to do and then found out that it needed to restore some classical music in its programming.
Regarding the Jacksonville station (its call letters are WJCT), it is definitely airing talk/news programming most of the day and evening. But late at night, it does play classical music. WUFT, on the other hand, has always played jazz in the late night hours. I often listen to WJCT on my car radio when driving home from work, but its signal is generally not strong enough for other radios of mine.
It is true that Gainesville is a cultural center in north central Florida, and that many of its residents are patrons of the arts, especially classical music. But Gainesville is also an academic center as well as a more politically liberal “island” in a vast sea of conservative political sentiments. And all of the available commercial talk radio stations are either sports talk or extreme right-wing conservative talk. It would be nice to tune in to a station that at least displayed a sense of objectivity in its political outlook.
Once again, here is my lament: everybody picks on the one Public Radio station to criticize and ignores the many commercial stations that are dropping the ball with their programming, apparently because the public has now bought the line that the marketplace alone should determine what their programming is. But there are still laws on the books that mandate programming that serves the public interests on these stations as well, even with the Fairness Doctrine having been revoked.
In the middle of her article, Mickie Edwardson asks, “If Classic 89 doesn’t provide this music, where will people get it?” I have to presume that she meant “from off the radio dial”, because I can still gain access to classical music through other means. My local public library has an enormous number and variety of classical music CDs that I can check out for listening. My desktop computer has access to the Internet, which has many free classical music web stations to listen to. And my television service has some music channels on it as well, two of which are solely devoted to playing classical music.
I think that the question Mickie Edwardson was asking was posed in the sense of introducing and exposing the general public to classical music in the most accessible manner possible. And this would have been through the radio. But I have already pretty much written off radio anyway, getting more and more of what it used to provide from the Internet.
In Monday’s editorial section, they printed a long letter by Mickie Edwardson (a retired UF professor) opposing the programming change. She notes that the biggest contributions to WUFT during fund drives always come during the times that they play classical music. And that the proposed added news/talk shows are very, very expensive. Edwardson, like me in a previous blog article, also points out that WUFT was already providing a great diversity of programming, not just classical music. And finally, she gives as an example the case of the Jacksonville Public Radio station, which (according to her) had done what WUFT is planning to do and then found out that it needed to restore some classical music in its programming.
Regarding the Jacksonville station (its call letters are WJCT), it is definitely airing talk/news programming most of the day and evening. But late at night, it does play classical music. WUFT, on the other hand, has always played jazz in the late night hours. I often listen to WJCT on my car radio when driving home from work, but its signal is generally not strong enough for other radios of mine.
It is true that Gainesville is a cultural center in north central Florida, and that many of its residents are patrons of the arts, especially classical music. But Gainesville is also an academic center as well as a more politically liberal “island” in a vast sea of conservative political sentiments. And all of the available commercial talk radio stations are either sports talk or extreme right-wing conservative talk. It would be nice to tune in to a station that at least displayed a sense of objectivity in its political outlook.
Once again, here is my lament: everybody picks on the one Public Radio station to criticize and ignores the many commercial stations that are dropping the ball with their programming, apparently because the public has now bought the line that the marketplace alone should determine what their programming is. But there are still laws on the books that mandate programming that serves the public interests on these stations as well, even with the Fairness Doctrine having been revoked.
In the middle of her article, Mickie Edwardson asks, “If Classic 89 doesn’t provide this music, where will people get it?” I have to presume that she meant “from off the radio dial”, because I can still gain access to classical music through other means. My local public library has an enormous number and variety of classical music CDs that I can check out for listening. My desktop computer has access to the Internet, which has many free classical music web stations to listen to. And my television service has some music channels on it as well, two of which are solely devoted to playing classical music.
I think that the question Mickie Edwardson was asking was posed in the sense of introducing and exposing the general public to classical music in the most accessible manner possible. And this would have been through the radio. But I have already pretty much written off radio anyway, getting more and more of what it used to provide from the Internet.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Michael Jackson’s Death
I have tended to downplay the recent death of Michael Jackson. I am sorry that he died, but I am generally sorry when people die anyway. He was a very successful entertainer who surrounded himself with “yes” people and came to regard himself as a messiah figure and his fans as “his children”. That I just couldn’t take. I don’t care one way or another about his repeated surgeries and skin treatments that drastically altered his physical appearance. If he wanted to look a certain way, then that was his own business. And I’m not at all convinced that he ever had any designs on children that exceeded the most purely innocent of intentions. But since he was accused in the past of such nefarious designs, in the eyes of many in our society, he stands convicted solely on account of those accusations. Not from me, though.
I never cared too much for Michael Jackson’s stage performance, which even with my limited knowledge of dancing seemed to me to be overly repetitive. And I didn’t care at all for most of his over-produced and over-hyped videos. No, I was interested in his well-crafted studio music. And his best works by far were his Off the Wall and Thriller albums. But although I liked them, they still don’t figure as personal favorites of mine. I can pretty much count on one hand the Michael Jackson songs that really “grabbed” me: I Want to Be Where You Are (from 1972), Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough and Rock With You (from Off the Wall), P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing, from Thriller), and Man in the Mirror (from Bad). True, Off the Wall and Thriller had a continuity of good music in them, but most of the tracks were good, not super-great, listening.
Hopefully, all of the legal wrangling falling out from Michael Jackson’s death won’t wreck too many lives. Like many, the only party that I really care about is his children and that they are properly cared for. But this excessive public outpouring I’m seeing over him borders on the creepy (to me).
I never cared too much for Michael Jackson’s stage performance, which even with my limited knowledge of dancing seemed to me to be overly repetitive. And I didn’t care at all for most of his over-produced and over-hyped videos. No, I was interested in his well-crafted studio music. And his best works by far were his Off the Wall and Thriller albums. But although I liked them, they still don’t figure as personal favorites of mine. I can pretty much count on one hand the Michael Jackson songs that really “grabbed” me: I Want to Be Where You Are (from 1972), Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough and Rock With You (from Off the Wall), P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing, from Thriller), and Man in the Mirror (from Bad). True, Off the Wall and Thriller had a continuity of good music in them, but most of the tracks were good, not super-great, listening.
Hopefully, all of the legal wrangling falling out from Michael Jackson’s death won’t wreck too many lives. Like many, the only party that I really care about is his children and that they are properly cared for. But this excessive public outpouring I’m seeing over him borders on the creepy (to me).
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy Fourth of July
I'm taking a little time off from this blog, starting today. In a few days I should be back. Happy Independence Day!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Climbing Radio Towers
Although my instincts for self-preservation are very strong and probably would prevent me from doing this, I have a very strong desire, whenever I pass a tall radio tower (or any tower with those little built-in ladders extending to its summit), to scale the usually barbed-wire fence surrounding it and climb the tower to the top. And I also wonder how long (assuming I made it over the fence, that is) I could climb the ladder on one of these towers before people on the outside would notice. Also, do they all have someone there guarding the place, or is it assumed that (1) the barbed wire is enough of a deterrent and (2) no one would be foolhardy enough to try to scale the tower, anyway?
I think that my main reason for this attraction to high towers is the complete lack of thrill rides and theme parks in the Gainesville area in which I live. The closest thing to a thrill ride is the swivel chair that I sit on at my computer, (if you discount the little water slide at my municipal pool, that is).
Still, even when I’m actually at a theme park looking up at the imposing roller coasters, I sometimes feel that it would be more of a thrill were I a maintenance worker there with the duty of climbing up the flimsy-looking ladders on these rides to inspect them.
Wanting to climb things goes way back in my life to my childhood, when I would habitually climb the furniture around the house. Once, when I was very little, I was climbing a large chest of drawers when I pulled it down on top of me. I just quietly lay there with the chest of drawers sitting on top of me until my mother came back to see what caused the crash. I also used to, as a kid (and without my parents ever finding out) climb the hallway walls up to the ceiling by pushing my feet against either side. I also became an avid tree-climber, taking chances at times up there in the high branches that now make me shake my head at my own youthful foolishness.
Maybe I need to investigate rock-climbing as a hobby, starting with those plastic rocks. There are a couple of places in town with them. Or…wait, Williston, a few miles southwest of Gainesville, does have a skydiving club!
I think that my main reason for this attraction to high towers is the complete lack of thrill rides and theme parks in the Gainesville area in which I live. The closest thing to a thrill ride is the swivel chair that I sit on at my computer, (if you discount the little water slide at my municipal pool, that is).
Still, even when I’m actually at a theme park looking up at the imposing roller coasters, I sometimes feel that it would be more of a thrill were I a maintenance worker there with the duty of climbing up the flimsy-looking ladders on these rides to inspect them.
Wanting to climb things goes way back in my life to my childhood, when I would habitually climb the furniture around the house. Once, when I was very little, I was climbing a large chest of drawers when I pulled it down on top of me. I just quietly lay there with the chest of drawers sitting on top of me until my mother came back to see what caused the crash. I also used to, as a kid (and without my parents ever finding out) climb the hallway walls up to the ceiling by pushing my feet against either side. I also became an avid tree-climber, taking chances at times up there in the high branches that now make me shake my head at my own youthful foolishness.
Maybe I need to investigate rock-climbing as a hobby, starting with those plastic rocks. There are a couple of places in town with them. Or…wait, Williston, a few miles southwest of Gainesville, does have a skydiving club!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Cops and Gator Football Jocks Team Up
I read in the local newspaper a few days ago that the Gainesville Police Department and the University of Florida football team were going to “team up”, with Gator players riding with the police on their patrols. This is apparently a public relations stunt designed to repair the reputations of the two sides, both of which have received some bad press recently. The police have been implicated in an egg-throwing vandalism incident and several UF players have been arrested for various crimes recently.
Which brings me to the following potential scenario: Tim Tebow is riding next to Officer Smith, and Officer Smith gets a call that leads to…you guessed it…a physically unruly teammate of Tebow’s caught breaking the law. And the policeman calls out for Tebow to help in subduing the suspect. Now I ask, “WWTD” in this type of situation?
Or take another scenario. An irate motorist has been pulled over speeding a little over the limit or for some other minor infraction. How is seeing a University of Florida football player sitting next to the ticketing officer going to improve the police’s standing with that motorist? Wouldn’t that just serve to diminish UF’s standing instead?
It also sets up a dilemma at coffee shops. Do the employees offer free coffees to both the police and the football players, or do the jocks alone have to pay for their drinks? And if they’re given free drinks, isn’t this a violation of the NCAA’s asinine rules about material compensation for their supposedly “amateur” athletes? Wait until that new obnoxious, tattletale Tennessee coach hears about this!
Well, I read about this teaming up of Gator pigskin jocks with cops a while back and I haven’t seen any such pairings. But then again, other than with Tebow, how would I recognize an individual as being a Gator football player anyway unless he was in his uniform, complete with helmet and shoulder pads? Now seeing them like that in police cars would definitely change the public’s attitude toward both parties. Toward extreme laughter.
Which brings me to the following potential scenario: Tim Tebow is riding next to Officer Smith, and Officer Smith gets a call that leads to…you guessed it…a physically unruly teammate of Tebow’s caught breaking the law. And the policeman calls out for Tebow to help in subduing the suspect. Now I ask, “WWTD” in this type of situation?
Or take another scenario. An irate motorist has been pulled over speeding a little over the limit or for some other minor infraction. How is seeing a University of Florida football player sitting next to the ticketing officer going to improve the police’s standing with that motorist? Wouldn’t that just serve to diminish UF’s standing instead?
It also sets up a dilemma at coffee shops. Do the employees offer free coffees to both the police and the football players, or do the jocks alone have to pay for their drinks? And if they’re given free drinks, isn’t this a violation of the NCAA’s asinine rules about material compensation for their supposedly “amateur” athletes? Wait until that new obnoxious, tattletale Tennessee coach hears about this!
Well, I read about this teaming up of Gator pigskin jocks with cops a while back and I haven’t seen any such pairings. But then again, other than with Tebow, how would I recognize an individual as being a Gator football player anyway unless he was in his uniform, complete with helmet and shoulder pads? Now seeing them like that in police cars would definitely change the public’s attitude toward both parties. Toward extreme laughter.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Senator Franken, Finally
The Minnesota Supreme Court has finally gotten around to voting, at their unreasonably (to me) leisurely pace, 5-0 to affirm Democrat Al Franken as Minnesota's junior U.S. Senator yesterday. GOP loser Norm Coleman, soon after the ruling, conceded the election to Franken, averting an even longer drawn-out appeal process to the U.S. Supreme Court. And the Gopher State's Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has said that he will promptly sign the necessary certificate to allow the winner into the Senate.
Well, it's about time! A lot of the blame can be pinned on Coleman for being a sore loser. Certainly those Republicans (and others) who thought this about Al Gore in 2000 (who caused George W. Bush to miss not even one minute in office) can see this. Al Franken has missed six crucial months in office when he could have been an important factor in a new president's legislative agenda. How would Coleman have liked it if the shoe were on the other foot and it was Franken holding HIM up from taking his Senate seat?
But I think there is more to this delay than Norm Coleman. The Republican Party has embarked on an obstructionist strategy ever since the new Congress and President have taken office this year. In Congress, especially the Senate, they have used every trick in the rules book to hold up bills and presidential nominations. This even includes bills and nominees that the GOP had no particular objection to. The idea, apparently, is to slow down everything in order to keep as much legislation they disagree with from becoming law. Well, once again I say them, "You guys lost the election! The American people chose the Democrats and their agenda this time around. Better luck next time!"
I think Al Franken will be an excellent senator. I've read a couple of his books and, if they are any indication as to which issues matter the most to him and how he will vote, then his tenure in office will be a pleasure for me to follow.
I can't wait for the moment when I tune in to C-Span2 and see Senator Al Franken sitting up there, presiding over the United States Senate with a gavel in his hand and his trademark infectious grin stretching from ear to ear!
Well, it's about time! A lot of the blame can be pinned on Coleman for being a sore loser. Certainly those Republicans (and others) who thought this about Al Gore in 2000 (who caused George W. Bush to miss not even one minute in office) can see this. Al Franken has missed six crucial months in office when he could have been an important factor in a new president's legislative agenda. How would Coleman have liked it if the shoe were on the other foot and it was Franken holding HIM up from taking his Senate seat?
But I think there is more to this delay than Norm Coleman. The Republican Party has embarked on an obstructionist strategy ever since the new Congress and President have taken office this year. In Congress, especially the Senate, they have used every trick in the rules book to hold up bills and presidential nominations. This even includes bills and nominees that the GOP had no particular objection to. The idea, apparently, is to slow down everything in order to keep as much legislation they disagree with from becoming law. Well, once again I say them, "You guys lost the election! The American people chose the Democrats and their agenda this time around. Better luck next time!"
I think Al Franken will be an excellent senator. I've read a couple of his books and, if they are any indication as to which issues matter the most to him and how he will vote, then his tenure in office will be a pleasure for me to follow.
I can't wait for the moment when I tune in to C-Span2 and see Senator Al Franken sitting up there, presiding over the United States Senate with a gavel in his hand and his trademark infectious grin stretching from ear to ear!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Starting to Read Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
A couple of years ago, I finished reading Otherland, a four-part science fiction series by primarily-fantasy writer Tad Williams which explored the world of virtual reality, set one hundred years in the future. The author's writing impressed me enough to look into his fantasy works, although I have been distracted by other books in the meantime. However, this past weekend I bought a secondhand copy of the first volume in Williams's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn fantasy trilogy titled The Dragonbone Chair. And I'm starting it today! Blog feedback later!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Slim Pickings on TV Tonight
Sinking into my customary, comfortable role on Monday evening as television-junkie-couch-potato, I had trouble finding anything good to watch after the Spike channel's presentation of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Even Rachel Maddow was missing from The Rachel Maddow Show. So I've been alternating between baseball and cartoons. Oh well, some nights are better than others. Let me go pop up some popcorn and then see what's on computer-TV!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Bonus Tracks on Extended Audio CDs
Since the advent of the audio compact disc with its approximately eighty minutes of space, record companies reissuing old vinyl albums on CDs have often used the extra available space to issue "extended" albums with bonus tracks. Usually these are primarily other versions of the original album's tracks, sometimes including concert recordings. And sometimes these alternatives are better than the original. For example, in the Monkees' Head CD, the song Daddy's Song was originally released as a track with Davy Jones as the lead singer. And it was difficult to listen to, putting it mildly. But with the CD release, a bonus track featuring Mike Nesmith on lead vocals poignantly captured the sad message in this song. Besides repeated material, a CD may contain new songs heretofore unreleased, and that is always a treat (especially with the older recordings).
Having said that, I obtained one of those "extended" CDs, this one of the great album Morrison Hotel by the Doors. The signature, opening track is the classic Roadhouse Blues. Well, the record company apparently liked Roadhouse Blues so much that they included four other versions of it as extra tracks! Why couldn't they have put some different material on instead (they did include some "new" extra stuff on it, to be fair)?
But bonus tracks aren't really a selling point of these CDs for me. Actually, it can be quite a nuisance if I'm driving and I want to hear the main, original tracks in random fashion. Then I keep getting the extra material, most of which I really don't want to hear. But that isn't really too much of a problem, either. I just advance to the next track. Still, I don't understand why concentrating on putting different songs on as bonus tracks wouldn't be a more lucrative sales strategy than piling on different versions of already-heard songs.
Having said that, I obtained one of those "extended" CDs, this one of the great album Morrison Hotel by the Doors. The signature, opening track is the classic Roadhouse Blues. Well, the record company apparently liked Roadhouse Blues so much that they included four other versions of it as extra tracks! Why couldn't they have put some different material on instead (they did include some "new" extra stuff on it, to be fair)?
But bonus tracks aren't really a selling point of these CDs for me. Actually, it can be quite a nuisance if I'm driving and I want to hear the main, original tracks in random fashion. Then I keep getting the extra material, most of which I really don't want to hear. But that isn't really too much of a problem, either. I just advance to the next track. Still, I don't understand why concentrating on putting different songs on as bonus tracks wouldn't be a more lucrative sales strategy than piling on different versions of already-heard songs.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Three Celebrity Deaths
Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson have all just died. I'm sorry they died and all, just as most other people are sorry as well. But it's not exactly as if any of us, as Jim Morrison once sang, are getting out of here alive either!
Death is naturally something we fear, since it is a great mystery (from the point of view of the survivors, that is). But it is inevitable, so we shouldn't mourn too much at the inevitable loss of those we know, either personally or through the media. Still, the pain of knowing that these people will no longer be around is understandable. And since we only know for sure of this one chance at life, we should take care to value it, both for ourselves and others.
Anyway, if we were to define death as the state of not being alive in our bodies, then all of us had already been dead for, at last count, some 15 billion years before we were conceived and born! So regarding death, one may say, "Been there, done that!"
Naturally, all of this excludes supernatural interpretations of death, which the reader is certainly free to indulge in or reject.
Death is naturally something we fear, since it is a great mystery (from the point of view of the survivors, that is). But it is inevitable, so we shouldn't mourn too much at the inevitable loss of those we know, either personally or through the media. Still, the pain of knowing that these people will no longer be around is understandable. And since we only know for sure of this one chance at life, we should take care to value it, both for ourselves and others.
Anyway, if we were to define death as the state of not being alive in our bodies, then all of us had already been dead for, at last count, some 15 billion years before we were conceived and born! So regarding death, one may say, "Been there, done that!"
Naturally, all of this excludes supernatural interpretations of death, which the reader is certainly free to indulge in or reject.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
I just finished reading Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, comprised of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. As is the case with other reviews, I'm left with the dilemma of trying to express my impressions without revealing too much to anyone who hasn't yet read it. So here goes (don't say I didn't warn you).
His Dark Materials, to me, bears a disturbingly uncanny resemblance to Stephen King's much longer The Dark Tower series, above and beyond the titles. Besides the convenient literary ploy of having windows opening into alternate universes (with The Dark Tower it's doors), Pullman's fantasy resembles King's with its unlikely protagonists being responsible for not just saving the world, or even the universe, but ultimately for saving ALL of the universes (I miss the good old days when just saving the world was enough). And both series have a lot to say about the nature of good and evil, as well as the nature of God. Hey wait a minute, all this also sounds a lot like C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia!
The similarities to other works having been duly noted, Pullman does succeed quite well with his compelling characters and story. With a series like this, what I'm looking for the most are protagonists that I can either like or identify with, accompanied by an interesting, suspenseful sequence of events that they have to experience in their quest, whatever that may be. And the two protagonists, Lyra (introduced in The Golden Compass) and Will (introduced in The Subtle Knife) are truly compelling characters worth following. There are some really "bad" antagonists as well. And (what I like the most) a few characters who are so complex that they play an unpredictable, "wild card" role in the story's outcome. The plot also succeeds by carrying the reader from one dire situation to the next in an almost seamless manner.
What distinguishes Pullman in His Dark Materials from other similar works are his iconoclastic revelations concerning the true nature of God, angels, the Church, and other sensitive religious topics. Most of this comes out in the third book The Amber Spyglass, and (to me) almost sounds like the author is standing on a bully pulpit shouting out his views (much like Michael Crichton's distasteful excesses in his novel State of Fear). I suppose much of this is unavoidable since, having laid down so many mysteries in the first two books, it was necessary, to a degree, to explain them in the third.
Overall, I heartily recommend Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, especially to those readers who enjoyed other series like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark Tower, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings. And, speaking of Lord of the Rings, I discovered that the movie The Golden Compass ended in its story before the book did. I found this out after, having just finished reading that book, I gave away part of its ending to my children, who had only seen the movie (the Lord of the Rings movie played around like this with the book's story line, too). One caveat to my recommendation: those who are firmly entrenched in their religious beliefs may be (quite) a bit put off by what comes out at the end!
Oh, one other thing. At the end of The Amber Spyglass, I noticed that the author planted a couple of seeds for future stories. It will be interesting to see whether anything comes of this.
His Dark Materials, to me, bears a disturbingly uncanny resemblance to Stephen King's much longer The Dark Tower series, above and beyond the titles. Besides the convenient literary ploy of having windows opening into alternate universes (with The Dark Tower it's doors), Pullman's fantasy resembles King's with its unlikely protagonists being responsible for not just saving the world, or even the universe, but ultimately for saving ALL of the universes (I miss the good old days when just saving the world was enough). And both series have a lot to say about the nature of good and evil, as well as the nature of God. Hey wait a minute, all this also sounds a lot like C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia!
The similarities to other works having been duly noted, Pullman does succeed quite well with his compelling characters and story. With a series like this, what I'm looking for the most are protagonists that I can either like or identify with, accompanied by an interesting, suspenseful sequence of events that they have to experience in their quest, whatever that may be. And the two protagonists, Lyra (introduced in The Golden Compass) and Will (introduced in The Subtle Knife) are truly compelling characters worth following. There are some really "bad" antagonists as well. And (what I like the most) a few characters who are so complex that they play an unpredictable, "wild card" role in the story's outcome. The plot also succeeds by carrying the reader from one dire situation to the next in an almost seamless manner.
What distinguishes Pullman in His Dark Materials from other similar works are his iconoclastic revelations concerning the true nature of God, angels, the Church, and other sensitive religious topics. Most of this comes out in the third book The Amber Spyglass, and (to me) almost sounds like the author is standing on a bully pulpit shouting out his views (much like Michael Crichton's distasteful excesses in his novel State of Fear). I suppose much of this is unavoidable since, having laid down so many mysteries in the first two books, it was necessary, to a degree, to explain them in the third.
Overall, I heartily recommend Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, especially to those readers who enjoyed other series like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark Tower, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings. And, speaking of Lord of the Rings, I discovered that the movie The Golden Compass ended in its story before the book did. I found this out after, having just finished reading that book, I gave away part of its ending to my children, who had only seen the movie (the Lord of the Rings movie played around like this with the book's story line, too). One caveat to my recommendation: those who are firmly entrenched in their religious beliefs may be (quite) a bit put off by what comes out at the end!
Oh, one other thing. At the end of The Amber Spyglass, I noticed that the author planted a couple of seeds for future stories. It will be interesting to see whether anything comes of this.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Group Metric and the Military
The Canadian alternative band Metric, fronted by singer Emily Haines (also of Broken Social Scene), runs through many different themes in their music. One of them is their strong opposition to anything military, not just war. This distinguishes them from what many in the United States do when they "oppose the war but support the troops". Metric makes no such distinction, as the two videos below show.
Metric has put out four studio albums so far, and each of them is great. Right now, I think I'd have to put them at #2, right behind Sufjan Stevens, in my list of current favorite musical acts. They are quite passionately negative about the military and war, though a bit too "anti-troops" for me (yeh, I'm one of those wacky "anti-war troop-supporters")! Here's a link to another anti-war hit of theirs, Monster Hospital.
Metric has put out four studio albums so far, and each of them is great. Right now, I think I'd have to put them at #2, right behind Sufjan Stevens, in my list of current favorite musical acts. They are quite passionately negative about the military and war, though a bit too "anti-troops" for me (yeh, I'm one of those wacky "anti-war troop-supporters")! Here's a link to another anti-war hit of theirs, Monster Hospital.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
No Fun Following Gators
Maybe this year I'll take a pass on the college football season. The University of Florida Gators, with their coach Urban Meyer and superstar quarterback Tim Tebow want a repeat of last year's national championship run and will most likely regard anything less than that as a failure.
Well, that's no fun! I like for the team I'm following to be good, but perfect? I would much rather have some very suspenseful games to watch, where the outcome is uncertain, than a blow-out season where game after game is a rout.
Not that I'm planning to root against UF this year. I'll still be a fan, but I think I may just decide to focus my attention on some other conference. The current favorite: the Pac-Ten. Why? I may find myself in a better position to watch some of their games, seeing that I get off from work at midnight. If following another conference doesn't work out, I may just skip this year until things get more competitive for the Gators.
Well, that's no fun! I like for the team I'm following to be good, but perfect? I would much rather have some very suspenseful games to watch, where the outcome is uncertain, than a blow-out season where game after game is a rout.
Not that I'm planning to root against UF this year. I'll still be a fan, but I think I may just decide to focus my attention on some other conference. The current favorite: the Pac-Ten. Why? I may find myself in a better position to watch some of their games, seeing that I get off from work at midnight. If following another conference doesn't work out, I may just skip this year until things get more competitive for the Gators.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Iranian Presidential Election
Anyone who has been watching the news is keenly aware of the unrest in Iran following the recent controversial presidential election over there. Incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner over supposedly reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and in a landslide. No doubt exists in my mind that this was a fraudulant election. Boxes containing Mousavi votes were disposed of, the winner was declared before the voting was even finished, and Ahmadinejad won demographic categories that were believed to heavily favor his opponent. And people have been taking to the streets in protest, being met with intimidation and violence by the Iranian authorities (and responding with violence as well).
But I contend that this election was a complete fraud to begin with. Both candidates for "president" were handpicked by the so-called "supreme leader", who is nothing more than a ruthless dictator swathed in religion. And it is he, not the president, who controls this longtime UNDEMOCRATIC nation.
In order to have a truly functioning democracy, there needs to be freedom for candidates to openly campaign without press restrictions, something completely lacking in Iran. Also, there was no independent polling there to scientifically gauge the public opinion (this would have served as a rough guideline to the validity of the election results).
But I'm seeing all of this from the West, not from inside Iran. I get my information from the western journalists in Iran. And they get much of their information from those Iranians who tend to oppose Ahmadinejad, giving the built-in impression that he was very unpopular among the people at-large and should have lost his reelection bid. But, for all I know, Ahmadinejad would have won the election anyway, since there really wasn't any truly objective opinion polling there to indicate otherwise. The fact that there wasn't, though, shows the futility of even pretending that there was any democracy involved in this "election" to begin with. And does anyone seriously believe that getting opinions and reports from Twitter in Iran is a dependable way to get a pulse on how the Iranians as a whole feel?
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme dictator of Iran, is in some kind of power struggle with another dictator wanna-be by the name of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. Apparently, Ahmadinejad represents Khamenei's power while Mousavi is in some way on the side of Rafsanjani. And people are dying in Iranian streets thinking that they are pushing freedom, when in reality they are considered to be expendable pawns in a power struggle between two cruel autocrats.
President Obama recognizes this and is being careful with his comments about the situation in Iran. Meanwhile, the same old motley crew of hotheads on the right are beating the war drums again, led by John McCain. McCain, if you will recall, tried to make political hay during last year's presidential campaign by making vague threats against Russia during that country's brief armed conflict with neighboring Georgia. And naturally, these blabbermouths are trying to make the tragedies unfolding in Iran a referendum on Obama's leadership. Someone needs to remind McCain that the campaign's over ... and he lost!
The whole way in which this is being reported in the media gives me the feeling of being severely manipulated. It's the "good guys" versus the "bad guys" all over again. From where I stand, though, I don't see much difference between the two camps. I have a feeling, though, that many of the protesting Iranians don't like either side and are desperately trying to topple the "supreme" dictatorship and actually have a president whose election makes a difference.
But I contend that this election was a complete fraud to begin with. Both candidates for "president" were handpicked by the so-called "supreme leader", who is nothing more than a ruthless dictator swathed in religion. And it is he, not the president, who controls this longtime UNDEMOCRATIC nation.
In order to have a truly functioning democracy, there needs to be freedom for candidates to openly campaign without press restrictions, something completely lacking in Iran. Also, there was no independent polling there to scientifically gauge the public opinion (this would have served as a rough guideline to the validity of the election results).
But I'm seeing all of this from the West, not from inside Iran. I get my information from the western journalists in Iran. And they get much of their information from those Iranians who tend to oppose Ahmadinejad, giving the built-in impression that he was very unpopular among the people at-large and should have lost his reelection bid. But, for all I know, Ahmadinejad would have won the election anyway, since there really wasn't any truly objective opinion polling there to indicate otherwise. The fact that there wasn't, though, shows the futility of even pretending that there was any democracy involved in this "election" to begin with. And does anyone seriously believe that getting opinions and reports from Twitter in Iran is a dependable way to get a pulse on how the Iranians as a whole feel?
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme dictator of Iran, is in some kind of power struggle with another dictator wanna-be by the name of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. Apparently, Ahmadinejad represents Khamenei's power while Mousavi is in some way on the side of Rafsanjani. And people are dying in Iranian streets thinking that they are pushing freedom, when in reality they are considered to be expendable pawns in a power struggle between two cruel autocrats.
President Obama recognizes this and is being careful with his comments about the situation in Iran. Meanwhile, the same old motley crew of hotheads on the right are beating the war drums again, led by John McCain. McCain, if you will recall, tried to make political hay during last year's presidential campaign by making vague threats against Russia during that country's brief armed conflict with neighboring Georgia. And naturally, these blabbermouths are trying to make the tragedies unfolding in Iran a referendum on Obama's leadership. Someone needs to remind McCain that the campaign's over ... and he lost!
The whole way in which this is being reported in the media gives me the feeling of being severely manipulated. It's the "good guys" versus the "bad guys" all over again. From where I stand, though, I don't see much difference between the two camps. I have a feeling, though, that many of the protesting Iranians don't like either side and are desperately trying to topple the "supreme" dictatorship and actually have a president whose election makes a difference.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Beach Trip to Daytona
This past weekend, I spent some time with my family in Daytona Beach (technically Daytona Beach Shores). We all had a good time, but toward the end of the stay the temperatures skyrocketed to nearly 100 degrees (Fahrenheit), with the heat index reaching 110. And about 200 rescues of swimmers caught in strong rip currents were made on Friday and Saturday. So what did I do in the midst of this extreme heat and oceanic peril? Run on the beach and go out into the waves, of course!
Here are some photos of the beach:
Here are some photos of the beach:
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Robbins Giant Steps: Decisions
Self-improvement guru Anthony Robbins, in his book Giant Steps, lays out many constructive ideas that may help one to achieve success. Many of these may seem to be self-evident, but many of us (me included) nevertheless tend not to follow them in our daily lives.
One of the most profound is the idea that “those who succeed tend to make decisions rapidly and are slow to reverse a well-thought-out position.” (Day 10)
I tend to do the opposite: hem and haw about an issue that is gnawing on me, avoiding any decision about it until the last minute (or even later) and then backtracking from it once the decision has supposedly been made. Seems obvious that this is a process doomed to repeated failure, doesn’t it?
Going hand-in-hand with Robbins’ “Day 10” advice is the one from “Day 7”: “The more decisions you make, the better you’ll become at making them.”
The key to any good decision, though, is something that Robbins included in his advice: Think out your decision and consider its consequences, as well as what types of decisions you may be making as a result.
One of the most profound is the idea that “those who succeed tend to make decisions rapidly and are slow to reverse a well-thought-out position.” (Day 10)
I tend to do the opposite: hem and haw about an issue that is gnawing on me, avoiding any decision about it until the last minute (or even later) and then backtracking from it once the decision has supposedly been made. Seems obvious that this is a process doomed to repeated failure, doesn’t it?
Going hand-in-hand with Robbins’ “Day 10” advice is the one from “Day 7”: “The more decisions you make, the better you’ll become at making them.”
The key to any good decision, though, is something that Robbins included in his advice: Think out your decision and consider its consequences, as well as what types of decisions you may be making as a result.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Following Three More Baseball Teams
I decided to add three other teams to the list of baseball teams I’m trying to follow in greater detail this season: the Florida Marlins, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Chicago Cubs. Why? Because I can regularly see them play on TV, that’s all.
Added to the five teams of the American League Central Division (a great choice, I might say), I think “eight is enough”!
So far this year, all eight teams are hovering around the .500 mark, with Detroit currently enjoying the best record and Cleveland (whose pitcher Cliff Lee recently almost pitched a no-hitter) and Kansas City vying for worst. But they are all very close to each other in the standings. Who knows who will prevail at season’s end!
Added to the five teams of the American League Central Division (a great choice, I might say), I think “eight is enough”!
So far this year, all eight teams are hovering around the .500 mark, with Detroit currently enjoying the best record and Cleveland (whose pitcher Cliff Lee recently almost pitched a no-hitter) and Kansas City vying for worst. But they are all very close to each other in the standings. Who knows who will prevail at season’s end!
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