Seeing that it is now just past one week after the heavily covered 9/11 commemoration, I notice that practically nothing remains in the broadcast or printed media which discusses this terribly important subject. So let me refresh the attention-span-challenged public's historical memory by discussing it here.
On September 11, 2001, 19 guests from other nations, in direct contradiction to the principles of the great Islamic faith and its traditions, betrayed the hospitality and good will that another land had bestowed upon them and committed horrendous acts of mass murder of its innocent people and wanton destruction. All in the name of the same religion whose values they so blatantly violated. Of course, the land I'm referring to is the United States and the terrorists from the Middle East, mainly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and under the direction of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, hijacked four passenger planes and flew two of them into the World Trade Center twin towers, with the third plane hitting the Pentagon and the fourth forced into a crash in a western Pennsylvania field when the passengers, aware of the other hijackings, rose up against the hijackers.
I noticed that most of the coverage that occurred on 9/11 this year concentrated on the victims and was light on the actual perpetrators. This gave a false impression that what happened that day was more an act of fate than an act of deliberate mass murder. Having said that, I will say as well that I was impressed with what two television channels did to remind us of this infamous day in history.
MSNBC simply replayed its coverage of the September 11, 2001 events as they had unfolded, complete with the often inaccurate information and speculation from announcers and correspondents that typified this day. The cameras were generally trained on the burning WTC towers, apparently from the Jersey side of the Hudson River. Well, they were, that is, until the South and then the North Towers came tumbling down in a catastrophic toxic cloud of rubble, metal, and ash, with the thick smoke and haze obscuring the skyline. I found sitting through this coverage mesmerizing.
The History Channel showed a collection of videos, in chronological order, made from various people who happened to be in the general vicinity of the World Trade Center as the events unfolded. Titled 102 Minutes, this is an incredible account of the mass tragedy from up close, showing the horrified, confused, panicky, angry, and even disbelieving reactions of residents, workers, and visitors as they witnessed the events in person.
No, I don't think we should wait for another entire year to remember the 9/11 attacks. I can understand it if MSNBC doesn't show its program except on September 11, but the History Channel program is something that should be aired much more often...
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
To Coffee Shops: Close Up AFTER You Close, Not Before
Here is a little peeve of mine that I would like to get off my chest...
I get off from work a little early, around 10 at night. I go over to a nearby coffee shop that stays open until 11. So I get there and sit down to study and write. And enjoy my coffee. But during most of the time I'm there, the employees are sweeping and mopping the floor, taking out boxes to restock their shelves for the next morning, and carrying in tables and chairs from the outside. Often, if I had wanted to sit outside, there are no longer any available seats or tables. And inside, sections of the seating area are often closed off, the floor wet from mopping. Meanwhile, other tables are off-limits because of inventory stacked up on them. Maybe this shouldn't bother me, but it does.
I get the vibes from places such as I just described (and there are way too many of them) that, sure, they are "technically" open until their stated closing time, but hey...
The workers eager to close up in advance of the actual "closing" convey the impression that, by coming in to do business with them in their final hour, I am being an impediment to their agenda: they want to get off the clock and the hell out of there as soon as possible after closing. To this end, they want to get ahead of the game by doing things in front of the (paying) customers that are distractions and nuisances. I just think it's damned tacky, and is a violation of the unspoken contract I (possibly delusionally) agreed to when I walked through their doors, spent my money there, and expected a certain type of ambiance in the surroundings as I sat in their establishment, final hour of the day or not.
To put it in a more general context, if I had guests visiting me in my home, I sure as all wouldn't then get out and use my vacuum cleaner or fold up my laundry in front of them! Then again, maybe the old virtues of etiquette and hospitality have become buried in the past, increasingly distant memories never to be revived...
I get off from work a little early, around 10 at night. I go over to a nearby coffee shop that stays open until 11. So I get there and sit down to study and write. And enjoy my coffee. But during most of the time I'm there, the employees are sweeping and mopping the floor, taking out boxes to restock their shelves for the next morning, and carrying in tables and chairs from the outside. Often, if I had wanted to sit outside, there are no longer any available seats or tables. And inside, sections of the seating area are often closed off, the floor wet from mopping. Meanwhile, other tables are off-limits because of inventory stacked up on them. Maybe this shouldn't bother me, but it does.
I get the vibes from places such as I just described (and there are way too many of them) that, sure, they are "technically" open until their stated closing time, but hey...
The workers eager to close up in advance of the actual "closing" convey the impression that, by coming in to do business with them in their final hour, I am being an impediment to their agenda: they want to get off the clock and the hell out of there as soon as possible after closing. To this end, they want to get ahead of the game by doing things in front of the (paying) customers that are distractions and nuisances. I just think it's damned tacky, and is a violation of the unspoken contract I (possibly delusionally) agreed to when I walked through their doors, spent my money there, and expected a certain type of ambiance in the surroundings as I sat in their establishment, final hour of the day or not.
To put it in a more general context, if I had guests visiting me in my home, I sure as all wouldn't then get out and use my vacuum cleaner or fold up my laundry in front of them! Then again, maybe the old virtues of etiquette and hospitality have become buried in the past, increasingly distant memories never to be revived...
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Emotional Hot-Button Issues Define GOP Support
I often wonder to myself why so many Americans who are either retired and actively receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits or are approaching that time in their lives are vehemently pro-tea party and staunchly support Republicans in their political leanings. After all, those politicians are the ones that most radically want to change these important institutions in a negative way for their recipients. I mean, from where I'm at at age 54, I feel that just when I'm about to retire, they will turn Social Security and Medicare into a sorry, sad joke, with greatly reduced benefits and much higher costs. I'm not about to vote for any politician who espouses the kind of anti-retiree views of Rick Perry or Eric Cantor. But that brings me back to those citizens who do support them. Why?
Last week's special election in southern Brooklyn, where a vacant Democratic congressional seat they had held since 1920 went over to a Republican, provides a major clue. The GOP winner targeted the largely Jewish community living there by engaging in Muslim-baiting, actually showing an Islamic mosque superimposed on Ground Zero in one of his campaign ads. And it worked, apparently convincing enough people that by being anti-Muslim, he was somehow looking out for them. This in spite of whatever issues on which he stands in diametric opposition to the majority of the voters who put him into office (including wrecking Social Security and Medicare beyond recognition). He found an emotional hot-button issue and exploited it to victory.
And that just might be the answer to my earlier question: many, if not most voters have hot-button issues that a candidate must be on their side with if he or she wants their votes. So a voter's fear about having their guns taken away from them may prompt them to vote for the Republicans more than the Democrats, as would someone with overriding concerns about legalized abortion. Or, as was the case in New York, a fear that the Muslims are coming to take over. Or that our nation is to suffer divine judgement and punishment if we give gays the basic human rights that others have. Sometimes stances on hot-button issues may seem so over-the-top that they are dismissed as being foolish or bigoted. But they still translate into votes for the candidate who is successful at exploiting them. It seems illogical that people would allow themselves to vote against their own best interests because of emotionally-charged, irrelevant issues, but then again we're humans and not Vulcans...
On the other hand, someone standing back looking at the situation could also point a finger a me and say that I'm making Social Security and Medicare into hot-button issues. Maybe that's so, but don't you think they just might carry some true relevance to our lives, if not right now then in the foreseeable future?
I have a novel idea: let's get ourselves all worked up over the issues that REALLY MATTER, all right??!!
Last week's special election in southern Brooklyn, where a vacant Democratic congressional seat they had held since 1920 went over to a Republican, provides a major clue. The GOP winner targeted the largely Jewish community living there by engaging in Muslim-baiting, actually showing an Islamic mosque superimposed on Ground Zero in one of his campaign ads. And it worked, apparently convincing enough people that by being anti-Muslim, he was somehow looking out for them. This in spite of whatever issues on which he stands in diametric opposition to the majority of the voters who put him into office (including wrecking Social Security and Medicare beyond recognition). He found an emotional hot-button issue and exploited it to victory.
And that just might be the answer to my earlier question: many, if not most voters have hot-button issues that a candidate must be on their side with if he or she wants their votes. So a voter's fear about having their guns taken away from them may prompt them to vote for the Republicans more than the Democrats, as would someone with overriding concerns about legalized abortion. Or, as was the case in New York, a fear that the Muslims are coming to take over. Or that our nation is to suffer divine judgement and punishment if we give gays the basic human rights that others have. Sometimes stances on hot-button issues may seem so over-the-top that they are dismissed as being foolish or bigoted. But they still translate into votes for the candidate who is successful at exploiting them. It seems illogical that people would allow themselves to vote against their own best interests because of emotionally-charged, irrelevant issues, but then again we're humans and not Vulcans...
On the other hand, someone standing back looking at the situation could also point a finger a me and say that I'm making Social Security and Medicare into hot-button issues. Maybe that's so, but don't you think they just might carry some true relevance to our lives, if not right now then in the foreseeable future?
I have a novel idea: let's get ourselves all worked up over the issues that REALLY MATTER, all right??!!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Sweating It Out
Lately I have been suffering, I'm afraid, from a little hypochondria. At various times over the past few weeks I have been imagining myself as being afflicted with all sorts of horrible disorders, none of which have been even remotely confirmed. Then one day I noticed that the perspiration on my clothes after exercising had a strange odor. Rushing to my computer, I found that a sweetish smell to perspiration is an indicator of a condition called ketoacidosis and may possibly be due to type I diabetes. Damn, is there anything else bad that I can think I'm afflicted with?
Then, I thought, why not just throw in liver disease as a possible cause. That could be just as fatal... and then something resembling the "control" of a completely unplanned experimental trial changed the "diagnosis".
In spite of all my (hopefully) imaginary health woes, I still kept up with my running, albeit on a lighter level. One day I was looking for the old technical running shirt I had picked up at the Tom Walker Memorial half-marathon a year ago. But I knew it was buried somewhere deep in a pile of clothes in my bedroom. I persisted in my search, though, and found it, wearing it in my workout run that day.
As usual, I worked up a good sweat with my run and, when it was over and time for my shower, I noticed that smell on my sweaty clothes again. Except for that old tee-shirt, that is. It had no smell at all! And then it suddenly hit me...
I recently had changed my laundry detergent to a different, cheaper brand. The Tom Walker shirt, hidden away in that pile for weeks, hadn't been washed with it. Obviously, this new detergent was leaving an embedded scent on my clothing that came out strongly with perspiration. Subsequent "experiments" bore this out. So scratch out diabetes type I and liver failure!
I think I had better lighten up on my health self-diagnosis or I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. Or be a suitable subject for a lead role in a Woody Allen movie (see Hannah and Her Sisters)...
Then, I thought, why not just throw in liver disease as a possible cause. That could be just as fatal... and then something resembling the "control" of a completely unplanned experimental trial changed the "diagnosis".
In spite of all my (hopefully) imaginary health woes, I still kept up with my running, albeit on a lighter level. One day I was looking for the old technical running shirt I had picked up at the Tom Walker Memorial half-marathon a year ago. But I knew it was buried somewhere deep in a pile of clothes in my bedroom. I persisted in my search, though, and found it, wearing it in my workout run that day.
As usual, I worked up a good sweat with my run and, when it was over and time for my shower, I noticed that smell on my sweaty clothes again. Except for that old tee-shirt, that is. It had no smell at all! And then it suddenly hit me...
I recently had changed my laundry detergent to a different, cheaper brand. The Tom Walker shirt, hidden away in that pile for weeks, hadn't been washed with it. Obviously, this new detergent was leaving an embedded scent on my clothing that came out strongly with perspiration. Subsequent "experiments" bore this out. So scratch out diabetes type I and liver failure!
I think I had better lighten up on my health self-diagnosis or I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. Or be a suitable subject for a lead role in a Woody Allen movie (see Hannah and Her Sisters)...
Friday, September 16, 2011
Univision and Its Youthbots
I am more than a little concerned at how the large Spanish-language television network, Univision, apparently has declared war on personalities who are middle-age or elderly. With a handful of notable exceptions (e.g. Don Francisco and Raul de Molina), the network has recently been replacing longtime and well-known (and popular) figures with people who look like they came out on a Twilight Zone-style "beautiful young people only" assembly line (I term these replacements "youth-bots"). I am especially offended by what they did to their weekday morning news/talk show Despierta America. Funny and endearing host Fernando Arau was suddenly and unceremoniously let go a couple of years ago by new management at Univision. Then, much to my consternation, they terminated the most charming, lovely Ana Maria Canseco from their lineup, although they did at least allow her to say good-bye on the air. And now their longtime award-winning newscaster/journalist, Neida Sandoval, is no longer anywhere to be seen.
I once saw a science fiction movie many years ago called Logan's Run. In it, an Earth in the not-so-distant future is dominated by a society that has dealt with the overpopulation problem by simply killing off anyone and everyone who reaches the age of 30. While not accusing Univision of stooping to this level with the aged, I still wonder to myself whether they are doing this "house-cleaning of the aged" on their own initiative or are responding to something that they are picking up in society: that old people are presumed to be a drag and burden on others, and are better left unseen and unheard (and maybe they'll all just go away).
It would have been a different matter altogether if Fernando Arau, Ana Maria Canseco, and Neida Sandoval had been replaced by others in their general age group. And for a little while, Arau's immediate replacement was a friendly, likable middle-aged man. But he didn't last long either and was replaced by a colorless assembly-line youthbot devoid of any personality to speak of...
I once saw a science fiction movie many years ago called Logan's Run. In it, an Earth in the not-so-distant future is dominated by a society that has dealt with the overpopulation problem by simply killing off anyone and everyone who reaches the age of 30. While not accusing Univision of stooping to this level with the aged, I still wonder to myself whether they are doing this "house-cleaning of the aged" on their own initiative or are responding to something that they are picking up in society: that old people are presumed to be a drag and burden on others, and are better left unseen and unheard (and maybe they'll all just go away).
It would have been a different matter altogether if Fernando Arau, Ana Maria Canseco, and Neida Sandoval had been replaced by others in their general age group. And for a little while, Arau's immediate replacement was a friendly, likable middle-aged man. But he didn't last long either and was replaced by a colorless assembly-line youthbot devoid of any personality to speak of...
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Maybe a Hurricane Would Help
It is highly unusual for anyone to go around rooting for hurricanes to hit them, but I'm beginning to wonder whether that might be the only way to avoid possibly the most disastrous forest fire season we've ever had. Tuesday morning I stepped out of my front door to run around the block (.67 mile). To my disgust, the air was thick again with smoky haze, something that I had thought we were rid of by late spring this year.
There are reportedly three forest fires ringing Gainesville, and any slight shift in the wind is liable to send that noxious haze descending over our area. We are already in the midst of a drought, which has caused a poor harvest of hay, an important agricultural product of Alachua county (where I live). Other than an occasional cold front, often weak and sometimes even rainless, the shifting seasonal weather patterns are diminishing the likelihood of showers and storms coming into the area from the Gulf of Mexico. We need a lot of rain, and in a hurry.
So I understand those in Texas who are deploring the fact that, for once, they actually WANT a tropical storm system to hit their state and go inland to provide desperately needed rain; but the tropical storms are all veering away from the Texas coastline like a repelling magnet. Of course, it's the rain we need and not the wind: a simple tropical depression will do fine, thank you. Not that there wouldn't be some flooding associated with such a storm. But...
Unlike the case in the northeastern U.S., where basement after basement was flooded by Hurricane Irene and the remnants of Lee, buildings around here in Florida tend not to have basements. Hence, a smaller flooding problem. Add to that the fact that, as in Texas (and unlike in places like Vermont and parts of many other states), Florida isn't susceptible to floods caused by downhill flow from nearby mountains (although both states have issues with rivers overflowing into adjacent plains).
No, I don't particularly want a strong hurricane to hit us this year (or any year, for that matter). But we do desperately need to recoup our natural fresh water and moisten the ground, both to save our agriculture and to prevent the fire-friendly dry conditions that have plagued Florida over the past few years, and this year especially.
There are reportedly three forest fires ringing Gainesville, and any slight shift in the wind is liable to send that noxious haze descending over our area. We are already in the midst of a drought, which has caused a poor harvest of hay, an important agricultural product of Alachua county (where I live). Other than an occasional cold front, often weak and sometimes even rainless, the shifting seasonal weather patterns are diminishing the likelihood of showers and storms coming into the area from the Gulf of Mexico. We need a lot of rain, and in a hurry.
So I understand those in Texas who are deploring the fact that, for once, they actually WANT a tropical storm system to hit their state and go inland to provide desperately needed rain; but the tropical storms are all veering away from the Texas coastline like a repelling magnet. Of course, it's the rain we need and not the wind: a simple tropical depression will do fine, thank you. Not that there wouldn't be some flooding associated with such a storm. But...
Unlike the case in the northeastern U.S., where basement after basement was flooded by Hurricane Irene and the remnants of Lee, buildings around here in Florida tend not to have basements. Hence, a smaller flooding problem. Add to that the fact that, as in Texas (and unlike in places like Vermont and parts of many other states), Florida isn't susceptible to floods caused by downhill flow from nearby mountains (although both states have issues with rivers overflowing into adjacent plains).
No, I don't particularly want a strong hurricane to hit us this year (or any year, for that matter). But we do desperately need to recoup our natural fresh water and moisten the ground, both to save our agriculture and to prevent the fire-friendly dry conditions that have plagued Florida over the past few years, and this year especially.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
How to Leave a Blog Comment
You can leave a comment on this blog, whether or not you are a member of Google. All you have to do is go to the line immediately following the text of the article on which you want to comment. Click on the word "COMMENTS" and you will be redirected to the comments posting page. On the right hand top section is an open box in which you can type in your comment. Below that is "word verification": just type in the letters you see scribbled there. Then, below that, click on the appropriate bubble for you. If you're a Google member, you can click that and sign in. If not, you can either leave a name or tag, or just comment anonymously. If you hit "name/url" bubble, a small box will appear for you to type in whatever name you want to use, with a url address optional. Finally, at the bottom just click on "publish your comment" and it will appear following the article (if you click on "COMMENTS" again. Before doing this, though, you can preview your comment as it would appear before sending it. I recommend previewing your comment because sometimes readers inadvertently comment on the wrong article.
I am currently screening comments for spam messages, a chronic problem on the Internet. Also if, after sending a comment, you decide you want it removed for any reason, just send me another comment requesting its removal and I'll be happy to oblige.
You are welcome to comment on ANY of the 1,500 articles I have written since April, 2007. You can access any article via the "BLOG ARCHIVE" section left of the articles. Even though a comment on an earlier article may appear on the blog buried in the archives, I will still be notified of it and read it...
I am currently screening comments for spam messages, a chronic problem on the Internet. Also if, after sending a comment, you decide you want it removed for any reason, just send me another comment requesting its removal and I'll be happy to oblige.
You are welcome to comment on ANY of the 1,500 articles I have written since April, 2007. You can access any article via the "BLOG ARCHIVE" section left of the articles. Even though a comment on an earlier article may appear on the blog buried in the archives, I will still be notified of it and read it...
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Running Course Draws In Closer to Home
I have fond memories of the old, lengthy running course I had devised last year. It ran through several subdivisions and down several thoroughfares in the far northern area of Gainesville. Regardless of how long and intricate of a course I ran, the starting and finishing points were always the same: my house. By winding up and down streets in each neighborhood I entered, I was able to amass a lot of mileage and cover the distance I needed to train up to my goal of a marathon (which I succeeded in running this past January 15).
Now, though, I have abandoned much of the course and have confined my runs to my own subdivision and the one immediately adjacent. But since I can build up a ten-mile course just by running up and down the individual streets near my house, there really is no need to go elsewhere. Unless, of course, weather conditions dictate that a treadmill session at the YMCA would work better.
I am currently working on building my running distance back up to about six or seven miles, three days a week, with either rest or lighter cross-training on the other days. Maybe I'll try half-marathon races that come up; I'll just have to see where I'm at when those opportunities arise. But more than anything, I am seeking to balance my running with the rest of my life and make this enjoyable activity something sustainable for many more years (I am currently 54).
I admire folks who take an activity like long-distance running and turn it into a passion that they fanatically pursue for many years. But at least with running, I don't feel the same intensity. There are other areas in my life that I want to devote my attention to as well, and there's no reason I can't pursue excellence in them while sticking with my running in a reasonable way. In other words, I see myself as being an "anti-fanatic", engaging in several different areas of self-improvement while integrating them into my routine existence. That's not the kind of lifestyle that will garner me the kind of publicity that running fanatics like Dean "Karno" Karnazes and John "Maddog" Wallace have enjoyed, but everyone's different and I am just as entitled to be myself as they are themselves. After all, each of us has to write our own story...
Now, though, I have abandoned much of the course and have confined my runs to my own subdivision and the one immediately adjacent. But since I can build up a ten-mile course just by running up and down the individual streets near my house, there really is no need to go elsewhere. Unless, of course, weather conditions dictate that a treadmill session at the YMCA would work better.
I am currently working on building my running distance back up to about six or seven miles, three days a week, with either rest or lighter cross-training on the other days. Maybe I'll try half-marathon races that come up; I'll just have to see where I'm at when those opportunities arise. But more than anything, I am seeking to balance my running with the rest of my life and make this enjoyable activity something sustainable for many more years (I am currently 54).
I admire folks who take an activity like long-distance running and turn it into a passion that they fanatically pursue for many years. But at least with running, I don't feel the same intensity. There are other areas in my life that I want to devote my attention to as well, and there's no reason I can't pursue excellence in them while sticking with my running in a reasonable way. In other words, I see myself as being an "anti-fanatic", engaging in several different areas of self-improvement while integrating them into my routine existence. That's not the kind of lifestyle that will garner me the kind of publicity that running fanatics like Dean "Karno" Karnazes and John "Maddog" Wallace have enjoyed, but everyone's different and I am just as entitled to be myself as they are themselves. After all, each of us has to write our own story...
Monday, September 12, 2011
Some Football Observations
--The University of Florida team has impressed me so far as one with much promise this season. Their offense may well be like that unstoppable Alabama attack a couple of years ago: there are too many explosive, talented runners and receivers for the defense to key on. Admittedly, Florida's first two opponents this year have been smaller schools. But I saw a versatility to the offense that simply wasn't there last year. Whether the offensive line will fair well against more serious opposition will be the key to their success this season. But right now at least, the Gator running attack is back! They play their Southeastern Conference season opener at home against Tennessee next Saturday. I may well be the only Florida fan in the world who roots for Tennessee when they're not playing us...
--I thought it was highly inappropriate for a major television broadcast network, NBC, to make an exclusive deal with one college, namely Notre Dame, to broadcast their games this year. So I automatically began to root against them, naturally. In the first game last week against South Florida, the Fighting Irish fumbled the ball repeatedly, choking in a 23-20 loss. Then, a couple of days ago they repeated their choke act, giving up a 24-7 lead against Michigan in the fourth quarter to lose 35-31. And once again they fumbled the ball away several times, coughing it up 9 times in their first two games, often as they were about to score points on their opponents...
--I am having more than the usual difficulty generating any enthusiasm for the NFL pro football season this time around. I think it may be in large part due to that long-term shutdown and threatened cancellation of this season due to management/labor contractual squabbles. I'm sure I'll get on board with the season eventually. Maybe I should just stick with following the Dolphins and ignore the rest of the league...
--Speaking of Miami, I was impressed by the way quarterback Chad Henne played in the game they just finished earlier this evening against New England. Unfortunately, now that the Dolphin offense seems to be clicking well (they had serious issues last year), their defense apparently decided to take the night off. For although Henne racked up more than 400 yards in passing, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady picked apart Miami's defense for more than 500 yards as they beat "my" team 38-24...
--I thought it was highly inappropriate for a major television broadcast network, NBC, to make an exclusive deal with one college, namely Notre Dame, to broadcast their games this year. So I automatically began to root against them, naturally. In the first game last week against South Florida, the Fighting Irish fumbled the ball repeatedly, choking in a 23-20 loss. Then, a couple of days ago they repeated their choke act, giving up a 24-7 lead against Michigan in the fourth quarter to lose 35-31. And once again they fumbled the ball away several times, coughing it up 9 times in their first two games, often as they were about to score points on their opponents...
--I am having more than the usual difficulty generating any enthusiasm for the NFL pro football season this time around. I think it may be in large part due to that long-term shutdown and threatened cancellation of this season due to management/labor contractual squabbles. I'm sure I'll get on board with the season eventually. Maybe I should just stick with following the Dolphins and ignore the rest of the league...
--Speaking of Miami, I was impressed by the way quarterback Chad Henne played in the game they just finished earlier this evening against New England. Unfortunately, now that the Dolphin offense seems to be clicking well (they had serious issues last year), their defense apparently decided to take the night off. For although Henne racked up more than 400 yards in passing, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady picked apart Miami's defense for more than 500 yards as they beat "my" team 38-24...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Unwelcome National Holiday
Because we live in a society that is obsessed with the decimal system, today carries with it great numerological significance in that not only is it the anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terror attacks, but it is also the TENTH anniversary. So just about anyone and everyone in media and government seems to have planned out something special to devote to the events, much more than in previous 9/11 anniversaries, and have made it something akin to a national holiday, albeit a very unwelcome one. Perhaps, though, attempting to refresh the general population's memories every ten years or so is a wise course, seeing how completely memory-challenged people in general are nowadays, at least regarding recent history. Of course, if I were in the professional news media I wouldn't even wait more than a year to review the facts surrounding 9/11: just two years after the attacks, a large percentage of the American population was convinced that we invaded Iraq because it was part of the 9/11 conspiracy...
But then again, hopefully with that epidemic challenged memory among the masses may come a blessing for those who are currently drowning in the 9/11 coverage. For it probably won't be more than a week from now before everyone conveniently forgets about it and goes back to their precious, transitory little lives all focused on the present moment. I say "hopefully" because of the alert going around to possible plans for 9/11-day attacks in New York or Washington. Supposing that they don't find the suspects in any such plans and 9/11 passes without incident, are we all then just supposed to breathe a collective sigh of relief and resume our happy little lives without concern? After all, not everyone is a slave to anniversaries, the decimal system, and revisiting crime scenes! Especially those nasty people out there who commit their foul deeds based on available opportunities...
But then again, hopefully with that epidemic challenged memory among the masses may come a blessing for those who are currently drowning in the 9/11 coverage. For it probably won't be more than a week from now before everyone conveniently forgets about it and goes back to their precious, transitory little lives all focused on the present moment. I say "hopefully" because of the alert going around to possible plans for 9/11-day attacks in New York or Washington. Supposing that they don't find the suspects in any such plans and 9/11 passes without incident, are we all then just supposed to breathe a collective sigh of relief and resume our happy little lives without concern? After all, not everyone is a slave to anniversaries, the decimal system, and revisiting crime scenes! Especially those nasty people out there who commit their foul deeds based on available opportunities...
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Gorillaz Worth a Listen
Late in 2002, the local (then) alternative rock station I used to listen to, 100.5/WHHZ, had on their playlist rotation a peculiar song that was a mixture of hip-hop and languid singing. It was an infectious piece that intrigued me, but it took a long time before I discovered the title and artist. No wonder I had trouble discerning the title: it was Clint Eastwood and the artist was a group called "Gorillaz". Later I found out that Gorillaz is a collaborative multimedia project between English artists Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Albarn is the primary musical side of Gorillaz while Hewlett has created a memorable animated band with individual personalities and stories that live though cartoon adventures on Gorillaz's videos and pretend to be the singers and performers. For the music, Albarn uses extensive collaboration with others on his albums and then assembles some good live performers to go on the "band"'s concert tours. But in essence, when you hear a Gorillaz album, you're really hearing the brain child of Damon Albarn, complete with his chosen cast of collaborators.
Gorillaz songs cannot be pigeonholed into any one specific category. Sometimes they are orchestral. Sometimes they are ambient. Sometimes they are alternative rock. Sometimes they are hip-hop. Sometimes they are techno. Sometimes they are punk. Sometimes they are artistic exercises in quirkiness. And much of the time, they are interesting mixtures of the above styles!
Damon Albarn reminds me a bit of Sufjan Stevens, albeit with a British accent and whose voice, at least to me, bears a slight resemblance to Randy Newman. Much of the instrumental background to the Gorillaz tracks is similar to how Stevens arranges the music for his albums, although Albarn seems to be more attentive to genres like punk and hip-hop.
Currently, Gorillaz is the primary act that I listen to on my mp3 player. They have come out with four lp albums so far: Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), and The Fall (2011). As I listen to them, I am continually discovering and reveling over interesting tracks on them. One song on Plastic Beach, Stylo, has captured my interest so much that I tend to listen to it repeatedly, often for hours at a time. Yet I never seem to get tired of hearing it one more time.
Here is my personal "Top Twenty" list of Gorillaz songs, certain to change as I become more accustomed to their material. Each song's album is listed in abbreviated form: Gorillaz: g, Demon Days: dd, Plastic Beach: pb, and The Fall: f.
1 Stylo [pb]
2 Last Living Souls [dd]
3 The Binge [pb]
4 Revolving Doors [f]
5 Clint Eastwood [g]
6 Dare [dd]
7 M1A1 [g]
8 Faust [G Sides "extras" album]
9 Rehash [g]
10 Hillbilly Man [f]
11 Orchestral Intro [pb]
12 Glitter Freeze [pb]
13 Left Hand Suzuki Method [g]
14 Feel Good, Inc. [dd]
15 Empire Ants [pb]
16 Amarillo [f]
17 The Joplin Spider [f]
18 Aspen Forest [f]
19 Double Bass [g]
20 Detroit [f]
Gorillaz songs cannot be pigeonholed into any one specific category. Sometimes they are orchestral. Sometimes they are ambient. Sometimes they are alternative rock. Sometimes they are hip-hop. Sometimes they are techno. Sometimes they are punk. Sometimes they are artistic exercises in quirkiness. And much of the time, they are interesting mixtures of the above styles!
Damon Albarn reminds me a bit of Sufjan Stevens, albeit with a British accent and whose voice, at least to me, bears a slight resemblance to Randy Newman. Much of the instrumental background to the Gorillaz tracks is similar to how Stevens arranges the music for his albums, although Albarn seems to be more attentive to genres like punk and hip-hop.
Currently, Gorillaz is the primary act that I listen to on my mp3 player. They have come out with four lp albums so far: Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), and The Fall (2011). As I listen to them, I am continually discovering and reveling over interesting tracks on them. One song on Plastic Beach, Stylo, has captured my interest so much that I tend to listen to it repeatedly, often for hours at a time. Yet I never seem to get tired of hearing it one more time.
Here is my personal "Top Twenty" list of Gorillaz songs, certain to change as I become more accustomed to their material. Each song's album is listed in abbreviated form: Gorillaz: g, Demon Days: dd, Plastic Beach: pb, and The Fall: f.
1 Stylo [pb]
2 Last Living Souls [dd]
3 The Binge [pb]
4 Revolving Doors [f]
5 Clint Eastwood [g]
6 Dare [dd]
7 M1A1 [g]
8 Faust [G Sides "extras" album]
9 Rehash [g]
10 Hillbilly Man [f]
11 Orchestral Intro [pb]
12 Glitter Freeze [pb]
13 Left Hand Suzuki Method [g]
14 Feel Good, Inc. [dd]
15 Empire Ants [pb]
16 Amarillo [f]
17 The Joplin Spider [f]
18 Aspen Forest [f]
19 Double Bass [g]
20 Detroit [f]
Friday, September 9, 2011
My Running "Slow" Lately
My running and overall fitness activities have slowed down considerably over the past month as I have had to deal with personal medical/health issues. The running has been sporadic, with low distances (shown in miles):
8-17: 5.00
8-25: 0.67
8-26: 0.67
8-28: 1.34
8-30: 1.08
9-01: 2.87
9-07: 4.10
9-08: 2.87
Over the next few weeks, I'll be working at increasing both the frequency and distance of my runs. I still have hopes of running in this November's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon and other ensuing half-marathon events. But I'll first need to build up my endurance again, something that depends in large part on the weather and a larger part on my overall health. Speaking of the weather, this summer may have been one of the most severely hot and humid that I have ever experienced. But as far as the heat is concerned, even though I'm complaining about the conditions here in northern Florida, I know how much worse it was in other parts of the country, especially in areas unaccustomed to extreme heat. Fortunately, the last couple of days here have seen more moderate temperatures, something that I have been taking advantage of with my outdoor workouts.
The swimming part of my fitness workouts has virtually disappeared, and it is difficult for me to get back into the pool. I got frustrated over the summer at how crowded the YMCA pool was, with school out and swimming classes going on there. The number of available lanes was often reduced to only three, and frankly I never felt confident of being able to find a place in the pool to swim once I got there. At least now, school's back in session and in the morning on weekdays I should be able to find a place there to swim...at least when the water aerobics "bouncers" aren't clogging up the pool!
8-17: 5.00
8-25: 0.67
8-26: 0.67
8-28: 1.34
8-30: 1.08
9-01: 2.87
9-07: 4.10
9-08: 2.87
Over the next few weeks, I'll be working at increasing both the frequency and distance of my runs. I still have hopes of running in this November's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon and other ensuing half-marathon events. But I'll first need to build up my endurance again, something that depends in large part on the weather and a larger part on my overall health. Speaking of the weather, this summer may have been one of the most severely hot and humid that I have ever experienced. But as far as the heat is concerned, even though I'm complaining about the conditions here in northern Florida, I know how much worse it was in other parts of the country, especially in areas unaccustomed to extreme heat. Fortunately, the last couple of days here have seen more moderate temperatures, something that I have been taking advantage of with my outdoor workouts.
The swimming part of my fitness workouts has virtually disappeared, and it is difficult for me to get back into the pool. I got frustrated over the summer at how crowded the YMCA pool was, with school out and swimming classes going on there. The number of available lanes was often reduced to only three, and frankly I never felt confident of being able to find a place in the pool to swim once I got there. At least now, school's back in session and in the morning on weekdays I should be able to find a place there to swim...at least when the water aerobics "bouncers" aren't clogging up the pool!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
USPS Changing Due to Financial Crisis
The United States Postal Service is in the midst of tumult nationwide and here in Gainesville. Slated to run out of money sometime this month, drastic measures are currently being taken to dramatically consolidate processing, reduce the amount of employees by more than 200,000, and save money by closing hundreds of offices nationwide and severely reducing delivery standards. Those proposed standards reductions include ending the overnight delivery standard for first class mail within a specified area and changing from a six-day-a-week delivery system to only five days...or maybe even four...for mail delivery. The entire outgoing mail processing in the Gainesville plant will be transferred to Jacksonville at the end of this year, and the remainder of the processing here may close in about a year and a half (or sooner) due to consolidation plans. So someone mailing a letter in Gainesville to another location in Gainesville may soon see their letter taking several days to reach its destination! Might as well just drive across town and hand it in person...
We'll see what kind of staffing reductions will take place in Gainesville. With the loss of outgoing mail operations several employees will be excessed to other facilities at the close of the year (or sooner). Others will see their schedules and assignments changed. It looks like a very bumpy road ahead during the next couple of years for postal employees here in Gainesville and nationwide. And, I might say, for postal customers as well!
One of the causes for the financial trouble is self-evident: with the Internet's convenient online billing and payment, e-mail, and social networking sites, the volume of first class letters has plummeted. And with that drop in volume has come a drop in revenue. Also, Congress passed into law a few years ago a special provision, applying only to the Postal Service, that compels it to pre-fund its retirees' health care accounts each year, giving it automatic massive multi-billion-dollar deficits to overcome. To top this off, about $50 billion in past overpayments by the USPS to the federal government for its pension funds have yet to be compensated for. Leaving the USPS currently in a crisis of liquidity...
We'll see what kind of staffing reductions will take place in Gainesville. With the loss of outgoing mail operations several employees will be excessed to other facilities at the close of the year (or sooner). Others will see their schedules and assignments changed. It looks like a very bumpy road ahead during the next couple of years for postal employees here in Gainesville and nationwide. And, I might say, for postal customers as well!
One of the causes for the financial trouble is self-evident: with the Internet's convenient online billing and payment, e-mail, and social networking sites, the volume of first class letters has plummeted. And with that drop in volume has come a drop in revenue. Also, Congress passed into law a few years ago a special provision, applying only to the Postal Service, that compels it to pre-fund its retirees' health care accounts each year, giving it automatic massive multi-billion-dollar deficits to overcome. To top this off, about $50 billion in past overpayments by the USPS to the federal government for its pension funds have yet to be compensated for. Leaving the USPS currently in a crisis of liquidity...
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart
Happy anniversary to my beautiful sweetheart Melissa. We're celebrating our first quarter century together, with hopes of more "quarters" to come.
Baby, you're the greatest!
Baby, you're the greatest!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Reading Short Fiction Again
I have recently resumed my old habit of reading short stories, as opposed to novels (I'm still plugging away at Robert Ludlum's Bourne Trilogy, though). In doing so, I have been abruptly reminded of the entirely different nature of short fiction.
Short fiction, it needs to be noted, has very few rules that need to be obeyed, unlike novellas and novels. A longer work needs to create a viable setting with characters and a reasonably logical progression of the plot that leads to a climax and resolution. While a short story may indeed feature all of these, often one or more of the above elements of longer literature is deemphasized or even largely ignored.
One can be lazy while reading a novel, but with a short story the words have a much greater intensity and purpose. If your mind drifts for a couple of paragraphs, you're liable to get lost and have to backtrack! I have had this experience on more than one occasion with my recent reading.
Often a short story is presented as a puzzle: an enigmatic setting or mysterious characters dominate the tale and the reader tries to solve the mystery. Sometimes the answer is revealed at the end; sometimes it isn't, but subtle clues left throughout the story lead to the solution (which is one big reason why you have to read carefully). Then, sometimes you're left at the end of a story wondering why you just wasted your good time reading it, with the only consolation being that it was short!
The current anthology I'm reading is Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy, Volume II, edited by Al Sarrantonio. As the title implies, fantasy is the general theme. I have Volume I as well, but this was the book that I happened to pull out of my "book box". I have noticed in all of the disparate, vastly different stories I have read from it so far one trend that unites them: their endings all left me feeling unsettled and hanging out there in the breeze. I wonder if this phenomenon has more to do with the editor's personal tastes in literature than the nature of the genre itself. Or is the modern short story a slave to this pattern...
Short fiction, it needs to be noted, has very few rules that need to be obeyed, unlike novellas and novels. A longer work needs to create a viable setting with characters and a reasonably logical progression of the plot that leads to a climax and resolution. While a short story may indeed feature all of these, often one or more of the above elements of longer literature is deemphasized or even largely ignored.
One can be lazy while reading a novel, but with a short story the words have a much greater intensity and purpose. If your mind drifts for a couple of paragraphs, you're liable to get lost and have to backtrack! I have had this experience on more than one occasion with my recent reading.
Often a short story is presented as a puzzle: an enigmatic setting or mysterious characters dominate the tale and the reader tries to solve the mystery. Sometimes the answer is revealed at the end; sometimes it isn't, but subtle clues left throughout the story lead to the solution (which is one big reason why you have to read carefully). Then, sometimes you're left at the end of a story wondering why you just wasted your good time reading it, with the only consolation being that it was short!
The current anthology I'm reading is Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy, Volume II, edited by Al Sarrantonio. As the title implies, fantasy is the general theme. I have Volume I as well, but this was the book that I happened to pull out of my "book box". I have noticed in all of the disparate, vastly different stories I have read from it so far one trend that unites them: their endings all left me feeling unsettled and hanging out there in the breeze. I wonder if this phenomenon has more to do with the editor's personal tastes in literature than the nature of the genre itself. Or is the modern short story a slave to this pattern...
Monday, September 5, 2011
Berea, Kentucky Visitors and Artisan Center
Usually, when I cross over a state line on the Interstate and encounter the new state's welcome center, I just keep driving on unless someone in my party needs to use the restroom. For that's usually about all they're good for. Recently, though, I had a different experience with Kentucky's visitors center.
For one, the Kentucky visitors center was 77 miles into the state from Tennessee, off I-75 just outside the community of Berea. Smack dab in the middle of the state! For another, there was much more to it than the obligatory counter with brochures, maps, and restrooms (although they were there, too). This place featured a huge artisan center and cafeteria, both of which featured items "Made in Kentucky".
While browsing through the artisan store, I joked to my son that I was going to find something made in China. I never did: everything was truly "homemade". Likewise, the food was more Southern-oriented as well (like the tasty catfish and derby pie we ate). And...wonder of all wonders, they brewed hazelnut-flavored coffee (and sold bourbon-flavored coffee by the bag).
I enjoyed our little stop at Berea on the way to Lexington so much that I had us stop there again on our way back. The Spring Valley Farms (from Holland, KY) old-fashioned pecan pumpkin butter we bought on our first stop tasted so good that we bought some more on our return. It's a pretty cool place to get off the road, stretch your legs, get a good meal, and look at some area-based arts and crafts. I decided to stay away from their bourbon-flavored coffee, though!
This place seems to be such a big hit with travellers that I wonder why this hasn't been repeated wherever there is a busy highway passing though just about any region in the country. For each area, not just Kentucky, has its own character, crafts, music, cuisine, and history. Let's promote local-based culture as a counterbalance to the homogenizing effect that mass media and megacorporations exert on us to make us the "same" everywhere...
For one, the Kentucky visitors center was 77 miles into the state from Tennessee, off I-75 just outside the community of Berea. Smack dab in the middle of the state! For another, there was much more to it than the obligatory counter with brochures, maps, and restrooms (although they were there, too). This place featured a huge artisan center and cafeteria, both of which featured items "Made in Kentucky".
While browsing through the artisan store, I joked to my son that I was going to find something made in China. I never did: everything was truly "homemade". Likewise, the food was more Southern-oriented as well (like the tasty catfish and derby pie we ate). And...wonder of all wonders, they brewed hazelnut-flavored coffee (and sold bourbon-flavored coffee by the bag).
I enjoyed our little stop at Berea on the way to Lexington so much that I had us stop there again on our way back. The Spring Valley Farms (from Holland, KY) old-fashioned pecan pumpkin butter we bought on our first stop tasted so good that we bought some more on our return. It's a pretty cool place to get off the road, stretch your legs, get a good meal, and look at some area-based arts and crafts. I decided to stay away from their bourbon-flavored coffee, though!
This place seems to be such a big hit with travellers that I wonder why this hasn't been repeated wherever there is a busy highway passing though just about any region in the country. For each area, not just Kentucky, has its own character, crafts, music, cuisine, and history. Let's promote local-based culture as a counterbalance to the homogenizing effect that mass media and megacorporations exert on us to make us the "same" everywhere...
Sunday, September 4, 2011
The Missing Sith Mystery
Spike TV has been showing a Star Wars movie marathon this Labor Day weekend. Featured have been the three movies detailing the story of Anakin Skywalker, who embraced the Dark Side to become Darth Vader. But this article eventually wants to discuss another character: the Sith lord Darth Sidious, who is actually an extremely important character in the six-part series. And how he was completely ignored in the very first movie, 1977's Star Wars (now called Star Wars IV: A New Hope).
But first, I can't write an article about Star Wars without lambasting its confusing system of titles. This happened because the last three movies made in the series are actually prequels to the earlier three films. So when I refer to the first Star Wars movie, that means Star Wars IV, but when I talk about Stars Wars I, well, that's movie #4! Jeez, couldn't they have done a better job of dealing with this nomenclature mess??!!
As I mentioned before, when the first Star Wars movie came out in 1977, the Emperor was rarely even mentioned, and without any indication of him being a Sith lord, or for that matter there being such a thing as the Sith to begin with. The Sith character was introduced in the second movie (although not identified as such), and with each subsequent release, became a stronger and more integral and indispensable character in the developing story. Finally, he became so crucial that the final movie made in the series was named after him: Revenge of the Sith. But if you watch the series in the story-order (not in the order that the movies were made), one movie (III) has Darth Sidious being one of the central, crucial characters and the next (IV) has him completely absent! Worse than that, the character of Darth Vader, only second-in-command to the Sith lord at the end of Episode III, is shown taking orders from some stooge officer in Episode IV.
There was a lot of flack from a tiny revision to the third movie (Star Wars VI: The Return of the Jedi) about the "latter" Anakin being (very) briefly substituted for the "earlier" actor portraying him in one of that movie's closing scenes. But I bet those who made these movies would have also wanted to insert at least a couple of scenes with the Sith Lord in that "original" Part IV film. Or at least a passing reference to his existence...
Hey, it would have been cool with me: I kind of liked that no-account son-of-a-gun!
But first, I can't write an article about Star Wars without lambasting its confusing system of titles. This happened because the last three movies made in the series are actually prequels to the earlier three films. So when I refer to the first Star Wars movie, that means Star Wars IV, but when I talk about Stars Wars I, well, that's movie #4! Jeez, couldn't they have done a better job of dealing with this nomenclature mess??!!
As I mentioned before, when the first Star Wars movie came out in 1977, the Emperor was rarely even mentioned, and without any indication of him being a Sith lord, or for that matter there being such a thing as the Sith to begin with. The Sith character was introduced in the second movie (although not identified as such), and with each subsequent release, became a stronger and more integral and indispensable character in the developing story. Finally, he became so crucial that the final movie made in the series was named after him: Revenge of the Sith. But if you watch the series in the story-order (not in the order that the movies were made), one movie (III) has Darth Sidious being one of the central, crucial characters and the next (IV) has him completely absent! Worse than that, the character of Darth Vader, only second-in-command to the Sith lord at the end of Episode III, is shown taking orders from some stooge officer in Episode IV.
There was a lot of flack from a tiny revision to the third movie (Star Wars VI: The Return of the Jedi) about the "latter" Anakin being (very) briefly substituted for the "earlier" actor portraying him in one of that movie's closing scenes. But I bet those who made these movies would have also wanted to insert at least a couple of scenes with the Sith Lord in that "original" Part IV film. Or at least a passing reference to his existence...
Hey, it would have been cool with me: I kind of liked that no-account son-of-a-gun!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Goofball Candidates Become Mainstream With Exposure
Poor Michele Bachmann: she was just making an impromptu, offhand joke to her supporters at a political rally about how, maybe, the great power upstairs is sending a message to Washington by providing an earthquake and hurricane in rapid succession. Next thing I know, political pundits are ridiculing her comment by taking it literally...c'mon! There is enough about Michelle Bachmann for her political opponents to criticize without distorting the context of her words.
The way that presidential campaigns are currently set up, with the need for almost constant media exposure and a continuing source of funding, candidates tend to be forced into a position where they not only have to be continually on the stump making speeches, but also those speeches have to contain new material from time to time. And it's a certainty that, from time to time, a candidate will commit a gaffe and say something that their critics will jump on and lampoon. Like Bachmann's statement the other day commemorating Elvis Presley's birthday when it was actually the day he died. O.K., so she goofed; can't even her opponents get the fact that she was trying to honor the late great rock and roll star with her words?
Ironically, while goofy, inconsequential statements often get a lot of press, the process of constant coverage of some of the candidates who have really bad, controversial ideas for the country tends to make them more familiar and somehow less dangerous. So people like Bachmann and goofball Texas governor Rick Perry, who would like nothing better than to dismantle your Social Security and Medicare and leave you twisting in the wind in your old age while giving rich people bigger tax breaks, are becoming mainstream just by dint of their exposure on television. And that bothers me.
By the time that November 2012 rolls around, will the country be so jaded by the extremist agenda of those on the teabagger political right that it will simply give their candidate, presumably Perry, a free pass on their destructive policies and elect him anyway? Once the attention-span-challenged American public becomes accustomed to the goofiness of these candidates, they will begin to look for other things in them. And truth be told, take away their crappy ideology and I myself like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry! Well, maybe Michele...
But I'll never vote for either of them...
The way that presidential campaigns are currently set up, with the need for almost constant media exposure and a continuing source of funding, candidates tend to be forced into a position where they not only have to be continually on the stump making speeches, but also those speeches have to contain new material from time to time. And it's a certainty that, from time to time, a candidate will commit a gaffe and say something that their critics will jump on and lampoon. Like Bachmann's statement the other day commemorating Elvis Presley's birthday when it was actually the day he died. O.K., so she goofed; can't even her opponents get the fact that she was trying to honor the late great rock and roll star with her words?
Ironically, while goofy, inconsequential statements often get a lot of press, the process of constant coverage of some of the candidates who have really bad, controversial ideas for the country tends to make them more familiar and somehow less dangerous. So people like Bachmann and goofball Texas governor Rick Perry, who would like nothing better than to dismantle your Social Security and Medicare and leave you twisting in the wind in your old age while giving rich people bigger tax breaks, are becoming mainstream just by dint of their exposure on television. And that bothers me.
By the time that November 2012 rolls around, will the country be so jaded by the extremist agenda of those on the teabagger political right that it will simply give their candidate, presumably Perry, a free pass on their destructive policies and elect him anyway? Once the attention-span-challenged American public becomes accustomed to the goofiness of these candidates, they will begin to look for other things in them. And truth be told, take away their crappy ideology and I myself like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry! Well, maybe Michele...
But I'll never vote for either of them...
Friday, September 2, 2011
Ahead of My Time With Seniors Look
I had a disconcerting experience recently at my local Hungry Howie's pizza restaurant. In case you didn't know it, Hungry Howie's features an all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, and salad buffet. They used to have a Monday lunch special, with the buffet costing only $3.99. I availed myself of this many times in the past, but a few months ago they ended this special and went back to charging five bucks per buffet. I responded, expressing my displeasure by simply not going there for a while. But during the past couple of weeks, I went back. I figured that five dollars still was a pretty good deal for what I got there. But...
When I walked up to the counter to give my order, the cashier rang me up at $4.23 (the old price plus tax). I thought that maybe they had reinstituted the old special without advertising it, so that pleased me. Then, more recently, I paid another visit there. Once again, it cost me $4.23, with the order rung up by a different worker. Then I looked at the small print on a sign by the cash register: seniors and children pay only $3.99. In other words, two completely different people took a look at me and immediately sized me up a a "senior" without even bothering to ask...
So apparently I have been fooling myself thinking that I would have to wait until my 55th birthday this fall to take advantage myself of senior's discounts at different restaurants. Then again, who knows what the age cutoff for being a "senior" is for Hungry Howie's: for all I know it is 65 and I look even more ancient than I thought...
Speaking of cutoff ages for being considered as a "senior", don't you think it's weird that, as consumers, the age keeps getting lowered, while as workers approaching retirement, the age keeps getting raised??!!
When I walked up to the counter to give my order, the cashier rang me up at $4.23 (the old price plus tax). I thought that maybe they had reinstituted the old special without advertising it, so that pleased me. Then, more recently, I paid another visit there. Once again, it cost me $4.23, with the order rung up by a different worker. Then I looked at the small print on a sign by the cash register: seniors and children pay only $3.99. In other words, two completely different people took a look at me and immediately sized me up a a "senior" without even bothering to ask...
So apparently I have been fooling myself thinking that I would have to wait until my 55th birthday this fall to take advantage myself of senior's discounts at different restaurants. Then again, who knows what the age cutoff for being a "senior" is for Hungry Howie's: for all I know it is 65 and I look even more ancient than I thought...
Speaking of cutoff ages for being considered as a "senior", don't you think it's weird that, as consumers, the age keeps getting lowered, while as workers approaching retirement, the age keeps getting raised??!!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
9/11 TV Specials Abound Soon
Now that we've entered September, the "entertainment" section of my local paper The Gainesville Sun is running an article about the enormous quantity and variety of television programming that will discuss the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. I will probably watch of some of these, as I am acutely interested in the topic. After all, who would disagree that 9/11, as tragic and dastardly as it was, has so far been the single most defining event of this still relatively new century?
One of the topics that will be presented in the coming days are the reconstruction efforts around Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center towers were destroyed on that terrible day. I won't need to wait for any analysis on any TV show, though, to make this one observation: have you noticed how, politically speaking, we in this country have collectively spared no expense at aggressively lashing out to destroy our perceived enemies in response to the attacks while in the same time period letting ourselves become bogged down and divided over the comparatively smaller expense involved in projects designed to actually repair the damage, construct new buildings, and give some compensation to victims and their families?
I commiserate with others over the horrible loss of life from 9/11 and deeply admire the heroic efforts on that day, ranging from the rescuers who sacrificed themselves in the collapsing twin towers to those "let's roll" passengers on Flight 93 who prevented another attack on the nation's capital. And I'm sure that there will be plenty of accounts of that day and its aftermath by participants, eyewitnesses, and friends and relatives of the perished. But let's face it...
There is what I might term a little ugly side to all of this televised commemorating, too. The 9/11 attacks, especially on the Trade Center towers in NYC, were incredibly striking in their video images, much more intense than the mind-numbing computer generated special effects that too many moviemakers nowadays seem to have substituted for good stories and characters in their films. Just as the post JFK-assassination public couldn't get enough of the footage of our late president's fateful motorcade ride down that stretch of road in Dallas on 11/22, the more recent tragedy carries its own almost perverse vicarious attraction...
One of the topics that will be presented in the coming days are the reconstruction efforts around Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center towers were destroyed on that terrible day. I won't need to wait for any analysis on any TV show, though, to make this one observation: have you noticed how, politically speaking, we in this country have collectively spared no expense at aggressively lashing out to destroy our perceived enemies in response to the attacks while in the same time period letting ourselves become bogged down and divided over the comparatively smaller expense involved in projects designed to actually repair the damage, construct new buildings, and give some compensation to victims and their families?
I commiserate with others over the horrible loss of life from 9/11 and deeply admire the heroic efforts on that day, ranging from the rescuers who sacrificed themselves in the collapsing twin towers to those "let's roll" passengers on Flight 93 who prevented another attack on the nation's capital. And I'm sure that there will be plenty of accounts of that day and its aftermath by participants, eyewitnesses, and friends and relatives of the perished. But let's face it...
There is what I might term a little ugly side to all of this televised commemorating, too. The 9/11 attacks, especially on the Trade Center towers in NYC, were incredibly striking in their video images, much more intense than the mind-numbing computer generated special effects that too many moviemakers nowadays seem to have substituted for good stories and characters in their films. Just as the post JFK-assassination public couldn't get enough of the footage of our late president's fateful motorcade ride down that stretch of road in Dallas on 11/22, the more recent tragedy carries its own almost perverse vicarious attraction...
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