So I'll go ahead and pick tonight's game, then give you all my Saturday picks tomorrow.
This evening we have the University of South Florida at the University of Pittsburgh. While I like both of these teams, Pitt has let me down a couple of times and USF has not. South Florida has the ability to force turnovers and Pitt's QB has a penchant for offering them. The line is USF by three points. I think that's conservative.
I'm going with the Bulls--by 10-14 points. One hour 'til kickoff...
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Process Begins...
We were electrified yesterday; not nearly as exciting as being alarmed, but that was Hyacinth's project on "Keeping Up Appearances" because there was nothing gone awry with her meter. That I know of.
Seems our electric meter killed itself, but not us thankfully, and had to be replaced. We now have 200 amperes rather than 100. I'm not sure what to do with the extra 100--perhaps it can be traded in for airline miles or at least those kiddie backpacks you can get if you send in enough Dum-Dum wrappers.
Next week we'll be barn raising, and you know how insolent they get when they-re teen-barn-agers! Every other word is "hay, ewe" or "shut me up!" Should be a hoot, if we have an owl take up residence.
Have you ever been in a barn full of owls? I have. In California. It was pretty cool too, if you knew where to step that is. Myself, I've always fancied a barn peacock. I like how on cold mornings it sounds exactly if they are shouting: "Oh, my god...oh, my god."
Maybe four barn dogs will be sufficient. That and whatever vermin sort out how to tunnel under. And spiders, and wasps, and woodpeckers, and... Gotta love life in the country! It's in the handbook.
Seems our electric meter killed itself, but not us thankfully, and had to be replaced. We now have 200 amperes rather than 100. I'm not sure what to do with the extra 100--perhaps it can be traded in for airline miles or at least those kiddie backpacks you can get if you send in enough Dum-Dum wrappers.
Next week we'll be barn raising, and you know how insolent they get when they-re teen-barn-agers! Every other word is "hay, ewe" or "shut me up!" Should be a hoot, if we have an owl take up residence.
Have you ever been in a barn full of owls? I have. In California. It was pretty cool too, if you knew where to step that is. Myself, I've always fancied a barn peacock. I like how on cold mornings it sounds exactly if they are shouting: "Oh, my god...oh, my god."
Maybe four barn dogs will be sufficient. That and whatever vermin sort out how to tunnel under. And spiders, and wasps, and woodpeckers, and... Gotta love life in the country! It's in the handbook.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
I Saw Perry Vomit (and more "Tales from the Script")
Like an Angry Bird sitting on her toxic brood for far too long, I present to you the eggs of my take on last week's GOP debate. (Not to be confused with the kernels of any wisdom, or the nuggets of any chicken.)
Why let them sit and crack a bit first? Well, I usually dash off a post as soon as a debate has concluded, and before the media anal-ists (I intended that misspelling) can tell me what I thought. This time I decided to listen to them first. Didn't change a damned thing, I'm happy to report.
Here are the topics of debate I found most interesting, listed in the order in which they were taken.
HOW TO GET RID OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Santorum: Says not local, state, nor federal employees should be able to join a union. Plans to sign into law "National Right to Work" legislation. (And if that doesn't make you crazy then you already are.)
Bachmann: Says according to the 10th Amendment, she questions the constitutionality of the Government to do anything at all. (Guess she wants to be the President of Iowa.)
Romney: Wants Social Security to remain "nationalized". Ooh, sounds so dirty.
HOW TO GET RID OF THE US GOVERNMENT, ONE PIECE AT A TIME
Cain: Would eliminate the EPA.
Gingrich: Will wage a "21st Century Contract ON America"; then took credit for everything Bill Clinton did in his second term...with one exception, of course. How many marriages is Bill on?
Johnson: The New Mexican ex-Gov entered the fray promising to eliminate the Department of Ed. (I had no idea we had a federal agency just to see to the needs of dead ex-TV star horsies.)
Gingrich/Santorum/Paul/Perry/Romney/Bachmann/Cain/Huntsman: Not to be outdone (or out underdone) by the new debater on the block, the entire rest of the field then piled on about how education is so, so bad. (It's too easy; make your own joke here.) They went on about "localized" which I thought was a type of injection and which I thought Perry would favor. They espoused "parental rights" because I guess "parental lefts" would be child abuse. (Ask how many parents really want the job of educating their kids, and how many--if they are employed--can afford to quit their jobs to do so.) Note: I did homeschool my kids for 2 years--not because of some religious viewpoint--because we were moving a lot and because I went through a spell of finding the school atmosphere to be TOO CONSERVATIVE (gulp). See, I can be just as close-minded as these nuts sometimes. "Opt out" was also a popular refrain.
HOW TO KEEP OUT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO A CENTURY OR TWO AGO WE WOULD HAVE PROUDLY CALLED "OUR FOREBEARS"--And here's a fix: Move Ellis Island to the Bay of Galveston--Problem Solved!
Bachmann: Chides the Big O for suing Arizona. Wants a fenced-in country. Would add even more children to the teeming poverty rolls.
Romney: Tells Perry to turn off his Mexican Magnet.
Perry: (in a moment of unadulterated grace) "If you say we shouldn't educate kids who are here through no fault of their own, you have no heart." Of course he was booed.
Santorum: Just before having a hissy fit of interrupting, told Perry that no one said "they" couldn't go to school, said we just shouldn't give "them" special treatment.
Paul: Paranoid Paul reminded us that "data banks are not just for illegals. With a national ID card, they'll have us all in there." (Sigh.)
HOW TO BE PRO-NEO CON WARS AND STILL BLAME OBAMA
Johnson: (Also known by his preamble to each answer: "I. Promise Johnson".) Would magically cut 43% of the military budget. Good luck with the Tea-O-P and that one!)
Bachmann: No US-to-Cuba flights because "Cuba is one of the four state sponsors of terrorism". Wow, what a sweet, simple little world the wild-eyed one lives in.
Huntsman: "This country's ready for our troops to come home." Met with mixed, unsure audience noise.
Santorum: Blames Obama for "fighting" and cannot begin to pronounce Afghanistan. (Maybe it wasn't listed in his phonetic bible.)
Audience: Biggest boos of the night to a gay Army servicemember currently serving in Iraq. Note: Why is it they boo the two groups whose jobs they would NEVER DO: Gay soldiers and illegal immigrants?
Santorum, again: Says repealing DADT (yay!) "puts sex in the military and it doesn't belong there." He goes on to, evidently, push the self-gratification issue: "Sex shouldn't be an issue--keep it to yourself." WHICH BRINGS US TO YOUR ANTI-CHOICE POSITION. When men can get pregnant, I'll listen to what they have to say about abortion. CASE CLOSED!
PAUL: While on the subject, he interjected his belief that abortion might be okay in the case of rape and that a morning after pill of a certain variety might be okay as well. Thanks for deciding that, SIR.
HOW TO KILL THE UNINSURED, NOT THE JOBS
Cain: Says of his cancer-survivor status, "I'd be dead under 'Obamacare' because the bureacrats would micromanage care." (Please refer to the above anti-choice/hypocritcal (yes) oath rant.)
Huntsman: Evidently channelling Michael Dukakis, Huntsman listens to a question from a kid with heart disease who, still on his parents' policy, is getting healthcare under the President's plan. When the kid asks if Jon would take that coverage away from him, Jon first says he would "let the states experiment with healthcare solutions". Fifty small government studies--just what someone with heart disease has time to see through. Then, if it couldn't get "heart-less", Jon waxes on about his kid with diabetes. Really?! Then he launches into a protracted dissertation of policy positions. (I felt so bad for that questioner.)
Texas: Speaking on behalf of its governor, the state reported in with 25% uninsured and tough eligibility rules for Medicaid, giving the state a ranking of 49th in that service. Only one more to go!!
Romney: Wants every state to get a waiver to exempt itself from the President's plan. You get the theme here, with strains of "Glory, Glory, Haliburton" playing the background of your head, right? Where were these get-the-government-off-my-back people in the last decade of Constitution shredding??
HOW I WOULD FIX WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE USA or HOW TO BRING BACK THAT AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM (yes)
Romney: Actually says: "There are lots of reasons not to elect me" but says he will stand by what he says in his book and that he has the experience to "get the country going again". In a sleezy play to the audience, he says that patriotism will save us because we are the "only people on Earth who put their hand over their heart" when they sing the Pledge of Alliegiance? Say the National Anthem? See 40 percent of black kids in poverty? (I think I must've dreamed that last bit.)
Huntsman: Going to his widdy-biddy base in this one county in New Hampshire, Jon laments its woes: "It's sad that for the first time ever a county in New Hampshire is giving out foreclosure notices to the Middle Class." I guess it wasn't sad when poor people got 'em everywhere else. Is there still a Middle Class anyway?
Bachmann: "Brass Ring of Liberty." I don't know what the hell she was trying to say. "'Obamacare is the #1 reason there's no hiring." Ditto. Explain all the unemployment/offshoring/reckless spending/economic collapse that occurred BEFORE the inauguration, please.
Paul: He's worried about bubbles--they'll kill us all if they have their way--and wants less regulation. Remind me again, how did we get into a lot of this financial trouble in the first place? That's what I thought. "Free" market.
Santorum: "Obama doesn't understand what this country is about." Now I just don't know where to start there. (Maybe, if he'd immigrated to Texas instead of Hawai'i when he came over from Kenya he'd have gotten his US History and Civics lessons?) Then Santo calls the President the "New King George III." Uh-oh. If you will recall, there were some other history re-enactors in Colonial garb who toured the country during the 2004 election cycle reading the writ of complaints lodged against KG3 by the Colonists. The re-enactors were quick to point out that the then current President was guilty of committing many, if not all, of the same fouls. No, Ricky, the New King George III was the Old Bush II. You've just hooked up with the uninformed branch of the re-enactors. Again, history lessons. Then, in a nod to Bush I, Santo seemed to suggest those 1,000 points of light as a foreign aid policy.
HOW TO CHOOSE MY FACILITATOR
The "Field of Screams" was asked to select their VP pick from amongst each other. Here's what they said:
Johnson: He'd pick Ron Paul, Liberty, and Freedom. (Don't think you can have three. Maybe he's going for a Caesarian Government, or a barbershop quartet.)
Santorum: He'd pick Newt Gingrich because "he'd do what I'd say". (Nervous laughter.)
Gingrich: Immediately follows Santo and refuses to pick.
Paul: Stomps his little foot and says he won't choose until he's ranked number 1 or number 2.
Huntsman: In a nod to...something, picks Herman Cain.
Perry: Asks for a love child combo of Cain and Gingrich. (Nervous upchucking.)
Romney: Won't pick because he wants to stay number 1 or number 2. Adds, "We all have stuff in our past that would make our election difficult." Not as difficult however as, say, their nomination nor their inauguration.
Bachmann: Would pick a "straight, Constitutional, Conservative". (The punctuation may be mine.) Then she adds the much ballyhooed falsehood of: "Obama has the lowest public approval rating in modern history." Yeah, unless you include every US President going back to Truman and Tricky Dick.
Or perhaps "modern history" to Hysterical Michele-ical is the very last "thought" she had. Look at the facts: Oh, that's right. She is in possession of none.
Cain: Would pick Romney if he would go along with Cain's 9-9-9 which I believe is a special mix of fertilizer for the economy. If Romney said "No" to the soil amendment, he'd go with Newt. (I think in some cultures, that's actually a curse.)
THE TAKEAWAYS
1. The GOP platform seems to be two-fold:
WHEN WE WANT YOU...TO DO SOMETHING= NATIONALISM!!!!!
WHEN YOU WANT SOMETHING FROM US= STATES' RIGHTS!!!!!
2. If you "work" at Fox you can actually ask a question with actually in it and get away with said actual statement. Miss Meagan sez: "Sixty-six percent of people actually believe in raising taxes on the wealthy..." The dirty bastards! Don't they know they are defiling the JOB CREATORS. (Say that in a "calling on the Super Heroes" voice and let it echo. It's fun! Takes your mind off the hunger pangs, too.)
3. Wal-Mart has no sensitivity training seminars for their ad agency. During this debate, one commercial compelled me to rewind it again and again to be sure of what I'd seen. They go through this whole montage of small towns with Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard signs placed prominently. Then they end with a Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard sign with a Wal-Mart store in the background. The voice-over dude reminds us that Wal-Mart has always been "with us" or "on our side" or some such platitude. Maybe it's my own problem, but that struck me as creepy. Seemed to cheapen it somehow: Like a false equivalency. Or like anything you buy at Wal-Mart. (And yes, I shop there sometimes because the option is driving for 45 minutes each way. I'm a hypocrite, but an honest one, at least.) But then again, corporations are people. Hey, maybe some of my best friends are Wal-Marts!
Why let them sit and crack a bit first? Well, I usually dash off a post as soon as a debate has concluded, and before the media anal-ists (I intended that misspelling) can tell me what I thought. This time I decided to listen to them first. Didn't change a damned thing, I'm happy to report.
Here are the topics of debate I found most interesting, listed in the order in which they were taken.
HOW TO GET RID OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Santorum: Says not local, state, nor federal employees should be able to join a union. Plans to sign into law "National Right to Work" legislation. (And if that doesn't make you crazy then you already are.)
Bachmann: Says according to the 10th Amendment, she questions the constitutionality of the Government to do anything at all. (Guess she wants to be the President of Iowa.)
Romney: Wants Social Security to remain "nationalized". Ooh, sounds so dirty.
HOW TO GET RID OF THE US GOVERNMENT, ONE PIECE AT A TIME
Cain: Would eliminate the EPA.
Gingrich: Will wage a "21st Century Contract ON America"; then took credit for everything Bill Clinton did in his second term...with one exception, of course. How many marriages is Bill on?
Johnson: The New Mexican ex-Gov entered the fray promising to eliminate the Department of Ed. (I had no idea we had a federal agency just to see to the needs of dead ex-TV star horsies.)
Gingrich/Santorum/Paul/Perry/Romney/Bachmann/Cain/Huntsman: Not to be outdone (or out underdone) by the new debater on the block, the entire rest of the field then piled on about how education is so, so bad. (It's too easy; make your own joke here.) They went on about "localized" which I thought was a type of injection and which I thought Perry would favor. They espoused "parental rights" because I guess "parental lefts" would be child abuse. (Ask how many parents really want the job of educating their kids, and how many--if they are employed--can afford to quit their jobs to do so.) Note: I did homeschool my kids for 2 years--not because of some religious viewpoint--because we were moving a lot and because I went through a spell of finding the school atmosphere to be TOO CONSERVATIVE (gulp). See, I can be just as close-minded as these nuts sometimes. "Opt out" was also a popular refrain.
HOW TO KEEP OUT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO A CENTURY OR TWO AGO WE WOULD HAVE PROUDLY CALLED "OUR FOREBEARS"--And here's a fix: Move Ellis Island to the Bay of Galveston--Problem Solved!
Bachmann: Chides the Big O for suing Arizona. Wants a fenced-in country. Would add even more children to the teeming poverty rolls.
Romney: Tells Perry to turn off his Mexican Magnet.
Perry: (in a moment of unadulterated grace) "If you say we shouldn't educate kids who are here through no fault of their own, you have no heart." Of course he was booed.
Santorum: Just before having a hissy fit of interrupting, told Perry that no one said "they" couldn't go to school, said we just shouldn't give "them" special treatment.
Paul: Paranoid Paul reminded us that "data banks are not just for illegals. With a national ID card, they'll have us all in there." (Sigh.)
HOW TO BE PRO-NEO CON WARS AND STILL BLAME OBAMA
Johnson: (Also known by his preamble to each answer: "I. Promise Johnson".) Would magically cut 43% of the military budget. Good luck with the Tea-O-P and that one!)
Bachmann: No US-to-Cuba flights because "Cuba is one of the four state sponsors of terrorism". Wow, what a sweet, simple little world the wild-eyed one lives in.
Huntsman: "This country's ready for our troops to come home." Met with mixed, unsure audience noise.
Santorum: Blames Obama for "fighting" and cannot begin to pronounce Afghanistan. (Maybe it wasn't listed in his phonetic bible.)
Audience: Biggest boos of the night to a gay Army servicemember currently serving in Iraq. Note: Why is it they boo the two groups whose jobs they would NEVER DO: Gay soldiers and illegal immigrants?
Santorum, again: Says repealing DADT (yay!) "puts sex in the military and it doesn't belong there." He goes on to, evidently, push the self-gratification issue: "Sex shouldn't be an issue--keep it to yourself." WHICH BRINGS US TO YOUR ANTI-CHOICE POSITION. When men can get pregnant, I'll listen to what they have to say about abortion. CASE CLOSED!
PAUL: While on the subject, he interjected his belief that abortion might be okay in the case of rape and that a morning after pill of a certain variety might be okay as well. Thanks for deciding that, SIR.
HOW TO KILL THE UNINSURED, NOT THE JOBS
Cain: Says of his cancer-survivor status, "I'd be dead under 'Obamacare' because the bureacrats would micromanage care." (Please refer to the above anti-choice/hypocritcal (yes) oath rant.)
Huntsman: Evidently channelling Michael Dukakis, Huntsman listens to a question from a kid with heart disease who, still on his parents' policy, is getting healthcare under the President's plan. When the kid asks if Jon would take that coverage away from him, Jon first says he would "let the states experiment with healthcare solutions". Fifty small government studies--just what someone with heart disease has time to see through. Then, if it couldn't get "heart-less", Jon waxes on about his kid with diabetes. Really?! Then he launches into a protracted dissertation of policy positions. (I felt so bad for that questioner.)
Texas: Speaking on behalf of its governor, the state reported in with 25% uninsured and tough eligibility rules for Medicaid, giving the state a ranking of 49th in that service. Only one more to go!!
Romney: Wants every state to get a waiver to exempt itself from the President's plan. You get the theme here, with strains of "Glory, Glory, Haliburton" playing the background of your head, right? Where were these get-the-government-off-my-back people in the last decade of Constitution shredding??
HOW I WOULD FIX WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE USA or HOW TO BRING BACK THAT AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM (yes)
Romney: Actually says: "There are lots of reasons not to elect me" but says he will stand by what he says in his book and that he has the experience to "get the country going again". In a sleezy play to the audience, he says that patriotism will save us because we are the "only people on Earth who put their hand over their heart" when they sing the Pledge of Alliegiance? Say the National Anthem? See 40 percent of black kids in poverty? (I think I must've dreamed that last bit.)
Huntsman: Going to his widdy-biddy base in this one county in New Hampshire, Jon laments its woes: "It's sad that for the first time ever a county in New Hampshire is giving out foreclosure notices to the Middle Class." I guess it wasn't sad when poor people got 'em everywhere else. Is there still a Middle Class anyway?
Bachmann: "Brass Ring of Liberty." I don't know what the hell she was trying to say. "'Obamacare is the #1 reason there's no hiring." Ditto. Explain all the unemployment/offshoring/reckless spending/economic collapse that occurred BEFORE the inauguration, please.
Paul: He's worried about bubbles--they'll kill us all if they have their way--and wants less regulation. Remind me again, how did we get into a lot of this financial trouble in the first place? That's what I thought. "Free" market.
Santorum: "Obama doesn't understand what this country is about." Now I just don't know where to start there. (Maybe, if he'd immigrated to Texas instead of Hawai'i when he came over from Kenya he'd have gotten his US History and Civics lessons?) Then Santo calls the President the "New King George III." Uh-oh. If you will recall, there were some other history re-enactors in Colonial garb who toured the country during the 2004 election cycle reading the writ of complaints lodged against KG3 by the Colonists. The re-enactors were quick to point out that the then current President was guilty of committing many, if not all, of the same fouls. No, Ricky, the New King George III was the Old Bush II. You've just hooked up with the uninformed branch of the re-enactors. Again, history lessons. Then, in a nod to Bush I, Santo seemed to suggest those 1,000 points of light as a foreign aid policy.
HOW TO CHOOSE MY FACILITATOR
The "Field of Screams" was asked to select their VP pick from amongst each other. Here's what they said:
Johnson: He'd pick Ron Paul, Liberty, and Freedom. (Don't think you can have three. Maybe he's going for a Caesarian Government, or a barbershop quartet.)
Santorum: He'd pick Newt Gingrich because "he'd do what I'd say". (Nervous laughter.)
Gingrich: Immediately follows Santo and refuses to pick.
Paul: Stomps his little foot and says he won't choose until he's ranked number 1 or number 2.
Huntsman: In a nod to...something, picks Herman Cain.
Perry: Asks for a love child combo of Cain and Gingrich. (Nervous upchucking.)
Romney: Won't pick because he wants to stay number 1 or number 2. Adds, "We all have stuff in our past that would make our election difficult." Not as difficult however as, say, their nomination nor their inauguration.
Bachmann: Would pick a "straight, Constitutional, Conservative". (The punctuation may be mine.) Then she adds the much ballyhooed falsehood of: "Obama has the lowest public approval rating in modern history." Yeah, unless you include every US President going back to Truman and Tricky Dick.
Or perhaps "modern history" to Hysterical Michele-ical is the very last "thought" she had. Look at the facts: Oh, that's right. She is in possession of none.
Cain: Would pick Romney if he would go along with Cain's 9-9-9 which I believe is a special mix of fertilizer for the economy. If Romney said "No" to the soil amendment, he'd go with Newt. (I think in some cultures, that's actually a curse.)
THE TAKEAWAYS
1. The GOP platform seems to be two-fold:
WHEN WE WANT YOU...TO DO SOMETHING= NATIONALISM!!!!!
WHEN YOU WANT SOMETHING FROM US= STATES' RIGHTS!!!!!
2. If you "work" at Fox you can actually ask a question with actually in it and get away with said actual statement. Miss Meagan sez: "Sixty-six percent of people actually believe in raising taxes on the wealthy..." The dirty bastards! Don't they know they are defiling the JOB CREATORS. (Say that in a "calling on the Super Heroes" voice and let it echo. It's fun! Takes your mind off the hunger pangs, too.)
3. Wal-Mart has no sensitivity training seminars for their ad agency. During this debate, one commercial compelled me to rewind it again and again to be sure of what I'd seen. They go through this whole montage of small towns with Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard signs placed prominently. Then they end with a Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard sign with a Wal-Mart store in the background. The voice-over dude reminds us that Wal-Mart has always been "with us" or "on our side" or some such platitude. Maybe it's my own problem, but that struck me as creepy. Seemed to cheapen it somehow: Like a false equivalency. Or like anything you buy at Wal-Mart. (And yes, I shop there sometimes because the option is driving for 45 minutes each way. I'm a hypocrite, but an honest one, at least.) But then again, corporations are people. Hey, maybe some of my best friends are Wal-Marts!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Ted Haggard's Ten Favorite Merle Haggard Songs
10."I Must Have Done Something Bad"
9. "If Anyone Ought to Know"
8. "Can't Break the Habit"
7. "The Way I Am"
6. "Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room"
5. "If You See a Change in Me"
4. "I'm Always On a Mountain When I Fall"
3. "I Didn't Mean to Love You"
2. "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers"
1. "I Take a Lot of PRIDE in What I Am"
9. "If Anyone Ought to Know"
8. "Can't Break the Habit"
7. "The Way I Am"
6. "Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room"
5. "If You See a Change in Me"
4. "I'm Always On a Mountain When I Fall"
3. "I Didn't Mean to Love You"
2. "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers"
1. "I Take a Lot of PRIDE in What I Am"
Week Four Results
Saturday here was a near-perfect day. Temperature: middle 70s. Sky: bright blue and sunny. Winds: light. Atmosphere: awesome! Hubby set up the smaller flat screen out on the deck, pulled over the firepit and the comfy chairs: it was magical. I baked up some pizzas and chocolate chip cookies, and we watched the games all day. Next fall we're gonna set up a ton of tables and chairs out there, have some pals over, and set up an outdoor football sports bar. Should be a hoot, especially when you can light up the firepit and jump in the hot tub after the sun goes down over the mountains. Man, I love Fall!
But, yikes! Out of my 26 picks, I went 17 and 9. Who let me down? Pitt, Vandy, Indiana, UCF, Arkansas, Florida State, Wyoming, Miami...and Cal.
Jeff Tedford, I was there (in Berkeley's Memorial Stadium) at the infamous "time runs out all we needed was a field goal, we would've been number one" game a few years back, and you've nearly done it again. Really. You're in the red zone, you need a score, there are two minutes left. And you run, and run, and run. Down the middle. Every time. The left side was open--no tacklers, the blockers engaged them each time.
Did you choose not to try to win? Sure looked like it. That loss stung more than any other because I love Cal, and because they didn't have to lose.
But on the positive tip, kudos to the Buffs for playing all four quarters--though they made them look more like dimes--with Ohio State and not getting pummeled. One of these years we might just be good again.
Hey, at least THEY tried. Dang you, Tedford.
But, yikes! Out of my 26 picks, I went 17 and 9. Who let me down? Pitt, Vandy, Indiana, UCF, Arkansas, Florida State, Wyoming, Miami...and Cal.
Jeff Tedford, I was there (in Berkeley's Memorial Stadium) at the infamous "time runs out all we needed was a field goal, we would've been number one" game a few years back, and you've nearly done it again. Really. You're in the red zone, you need a score, there are two minutes left. And you run, and run, and run. Down the middle. Every time. The left side was open--no tacklers, the blockers engaged them each time.
Did you choose not to try to win? Sure looked like it. That loss stung more than any other because I love Cal, and because they didn't have to lose.
But on the positive tip, kudos to the Buffs for playing all four quarters--though they made them look more like dimes--with Ohio State and not getting pummeled. One of these years we might just be good again.
Hey, at least THEY tried. Dang you, Tedford.
12 at 50
So we're up to September's first--one of such a personal nature that I cannot reveal it at this point--but know that it is by far the most life-altering first so far.
Here's the recap in my "something new every month until I'm 50" progress:
MARCH-started blogging
APRIL---gave an outdoor speech to a large crowd in my hometown
MAY-----set up a small tree farm and a large irrigation system
JUNE----drove my first boat, our Kon-Tiki
JULY----published the first two books of the mystery series
AUGUST-gave a boy a ring, for our 25th wedding anniversary
SEPTEMBER-made decision to radically adjust my lifestyle for the benefit of another (details later)
Seven months down and five to go. I'm pretty sure what January holds, but beyond that, it's all kismet.
Here's the recap in my "something new every month until I'm 50" progress:
MARCH-started blogging
APRIL---gave an outdoor speech to a large crowd in my hometown
MAY-----set up a small tree farm and a large irrigation system
JUNE----drove my first boat, our Kon-Tiki
JULY----published the first two books of the mystery series
AUGUST-gave a boy a ring, for our 25th wedding anniversary
SEPTEMBER-made decision to radically adjust my lifestyle for the benefit of another (details later)
Seven months down and five to go. I'm pretty sure what January holds, but beyond that, it's all kismet.
Chip RIP
You never know how much you will miss someone until they are gone.
While I've not met the man, I know his heart and it is pure. I didn't come to realize his greatness--even thought his work to be "awful"--until just this year. And now he is gone.
Sir, you thrill us with your variety, your flavor, your delightful crispness. You never fail to rise to our expectations, giving us exactly what we need every time we engage your creation. You have left your dust on the trail of history.
Little, sweet, salty, cheesy, perfect orange dust.
Thank you, 97-year-old Father of the Doritos. May you rest in the peace of knowing you will continue to bring joy to millions...one wonderful triangle at a time.
While I've not met the man, I know his heart and it is pure. I didn't come to realize his greatness--even thought his work to be "awful"--until just this year. And now he is gone.
Sir, you thrill us with your variety, your flavor, your delightful crispness. You never fail to rise to our expectations, giving us exactly what we need every time we engage your creation. You have left your dust on the trail of history.
Little, sweet, salty, cheesy, perfect orange dust.
Thank you, 97-year-old Father of the Doritos. May you rest in the peace of knowing you will continue to bring joy to millions...one wonderful triangle at a time.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Embarrassment of Riches
Well here I am, up at 1 am in the Mountain World, resting idly on the horns of a dilemma: I have six pages of notes from tonight's installment of the Eight is Enough crowd debating (though with the addition of New Mexico's Gary Johnson, now we're up to nine), thoughts about my R.E.M. memories, and the overwhelming desire to riff on our ever-story-worthy local boy made bad, Brother Haggard.
It's a pregnant pause which I'm sure the matrons of the sleep world will sort out for me shortly. I shall drift off with thoughts of low-hanging, ripe fruit, giant beach balls on tees, and wheelbarrows full of witticisms.
Hopefully I'll wake up: It is Equinox after all.
It's a pregnant pause which I'm sure the matrons of the sleep world will sort out for me shortly. I shall drift off with thoughts of low-hanging, ripe fruit, giant beach balls on tees, and wheelbarrows full of witticisms.
Hopefully I'll wake up: It is Equinox after all.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
WEEK FOUR: Breaking Even Week/Lucky 13
Though I was sickly and without the possession of all of my faculties, Week Three was kind enough to look the other way and pay me handsomely with a 14-6 record. Not bad considering I went out on nearly a half dozen limbs--dang it Vandals! And Our Dame finally recorded a W, thanks a lot Irish! But I did go long with CU and Miami, so I'm happy.
This week I'm taking a shot at 26 games and, as luck would have it, I've selected 13 homies and 13 roadies. We'll have to see which 13 are the lucky ones--if I'm anywhere close at all. Here's hoping.
WEEK FOUR WINNERS (in caps):
Friday's game--UCF @ Brigham Young
Saturday games:
*University of North Carolina @ GEORGIA TECH
*San Diego State University @ MICHIGAN (sorry, T. P.)
*Portland State @ TCU
*FLORIDA STATE @ Clemson
*OKLAHOMA STATE @ Texas Agricultural and Military (sorry, K. Mc.)
*South Dakota @ WISCONSIN (or "Warehouse 13" takes on a Badger of an artifact)
*VIRGINIA TECH @ Marshall
*ARKANSAS @ Alabama ('cuz it's more interesting that way)
*Western Michigan @ ILLINOIS
*University of Texas-El Paso @ UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
*FLORIDA @ Kentucky
*Rice @ BAYLOR (RG3, RG3, RG3!)
*VANDERBILT @ South Carolina (Now Edie, don't hex me, but the Vandykins need a year to cheer about. Let's see how long they can ride their magic pony.)
*Nebraska @ WYOMING (I'm still not letting that bad call go--because bad calls ALWAYS go to the 'Huskers--even though it didn't matter in the end.)
*Tulsa @ BOISE STATE (Love me some Kellen Moore!)
*Missouri @ OKLAHOMA (After that win over FSU, you gotta figure these guys are serious.)
*LSU @ West Virginia (Poor Mountaineers, so much rejection in one week, ouch!)
*USC @ Arizona State
*OREGON @ Arizona (I was worried for The Cardinal last week, but my boys made me damned proud. Enjoyed every second of that one. Now the Wildcats will be pissed, and we're not at Autzen, but I still think the Duckies can do the job. Besides, it's always fun to watch Mike Stoops blow a gasket.)
*University of Colorado @ OHIO STATE (Buffies, I was proud of you Saturday as well, but come on, Ohio State? Nah. You win this one and I'll buy tickets to all the home games next year...pricey dare, that. And I think hubby will suit up to help you out.)
*Notre Dame @ PITT (Okay, again I dream. But if I'm right, two great things happen: Notre Dame loses and I'm right.)
*Kansas State @ MIAMI (It's fun to be able to pull for the 'Canes after all these years of eschewing.)
*UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA @ Washington (I just can't figure out what kind of year the Huskies are going for. But Tedford has Cal focused, for the moment.)
*UCLA @ Oregon State (Though I love my Duckies, I do not hate the Beavers, unless of course it's the rivalry game. The poor Beavs are having a horrendous year--they're as bad as Washington State is good. The tide has turned on those two. Good news for Neuheisel (who needs some desperately) bad news for the good folks of Corvalis.)
*INDIANA @ North Texas (My pick for two things: to win this game, and for having the worst unis and coachwear going back at least five years--or whenever it was they decided to go "Nascar". YUCK)
Enjoy the games. I gotta go see this amazing sunset right now. The whole world seems striped in amber.
This week I'm taking a shot at 26 games and, as luck would have it, I've selected 13 homies and 13 roadies. We'll have to see which 13 are the lucky ones--if I'm anywhere close at all. Here's hoping.
WEEK FOUR WINNERS (in caps):
Friday's game--UCF @ Brigham Young
Saturday games:
*University of North Carolina @ GEORGIA TECH
*San Diego State University @ MICHIGAN (sorry, T. P.)
*Portland State @ TCU
*FLORIDA STATE @ Clemson
*OKLAHOMA STATE @ Texas Agricultural and Military (sorry, K. Mc.)
*South Dakota @ WISCONSIN (or "Warehouse 13" takes on a Badger of an artifact)
*VIRGINIA TECH @ Marshall
*ARKANSAS @ Alabama ('cuz it's more interesting that way)
*Western Michigan @ ILLINOIS
*University of Texas-El Paso @ UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
*FLORIDA @ Kentucky
*Rice @ BAYLOR (RG3, RG3, RG3!)
*VANDERBILT @ South Carolina (Now Edie, don't hex me, but the Vandykins need a year to cheer about. Let's see how long they can ride their magic pony.)
*Nebraska @ WYOMING (I'm still not letting that bad call go--because bad calls ALWAYS go to the 'Huskers--even though it didn't matter in the end.)
*Tulsa @ BOISE STATE (Love me some Kellen Moore!)
*Missouri @ OKLAHOMA (After that win over FSU, you gotta figure these guys are serious.)
*LSU @ West Virginia (Poor Mountaineers, so much rejection in one week, ouch!)
*USC @ Arizona State
*OREGON @ Arizona (I was worried for The Cardinal last week, but my boys made me damned proud. Enjoyed every second of that one. Now the Wildcats will be pissed, and we're not at Autzen, but I still think the Duckies can do the job. Besides, it's always fun to watch Mike Stoops blow a gasket.)
*University of Colorado @ OHIO STATE (Buffies, I was proud of you Saturday as well, but come on, Ohio State? Nah. You win this one and I'll buy tickets to all the home games next year...pricey dare, that. And I think hubby will suit up to help you out.)
*Notre Dame @ PITT (Okay, again I dream. But if I'm right, two great things happen: Notre Dame loses and I'm right.)
*Kansas State @ MIAMI (It's fun to be able to pull for the 'Canes after all these years of eschewing.)
*UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA @ Washington (I just can't figure out what kind of year the Huskies are going for. But Tedford has Cal focused, for the moment.)
*UCLA @ Oregon State (Though I love my Duckies, I do not hate the Beavers, unless of course it's the rivalry game. The poor Beavs are having a horrendous year--they're as bad as Washington State is good. The tide has turned on those two. Good news for Neuheisel (who needs some desperately) bad news for the good folks of Corvalis.)
*INDIANA @ North Texas (My pick for two things: to win this game, and for having the worst unis and coachwear going back at least five years--or whenever it was they decided to go "Nascar". YUCK)
Enjoy the games. I gotta go see this amazing sunset right now. The whole world seems striped in amber.
Curse of the Equinox
Equinoxes kick my ass.
Happens every year: Spring Equinox comes and some putridly-vile occurrence overtakes me; Autumn Equinox comes and tries, usually with great success, to outdo the devastations of the Spring. Maybe it's all in the vernacular (careful, I'm punning): Spring and Fall are both action words, bad bad action words, too.
I've already elucidated the Easter Curse and the Mother's Day Curse, so Spring's wrath should not escape your understanding. With the Autumnal event I normally welcome debilitating illness, gothic family overtones, and on occasion, therapy-worthy relationship poison. It's just a seasonal allergy of a sort, I suppose.
So this week found me--boy did it--with the "by any means necessary" clause suddenly activated by my GI tract. Think tract housing but without the glamour. Yeah. One after another hour of internal fights--a Civil War of the Gut, if you will. While still off solid food and making gad-awful rumblings which I likened to a water cooler resetting itself (my doctor grinned), the familial horror began to wind its magic spell. By magic I mean "tragic" and by spell I mean "hell", but that's another story. Read up on the "Scorched Earth" policy of warfare and you'll get the idea.
I found myself coming to terms with the Equinoxical horrors by instituting phrases like these: "It's like the places you visit versus the places you live, except with people" and "Sometimes you come to that intersection so often, the one you know you have to go through even though you shouldn't and you just wish someone would change the Yield sign to a Stop sign for your own good." I can wax philosophical, or poetic. I'd do better to wax my car.
But given time and the proper pharmaceuticals one realizes that all will pass--and pass and pass--because this is just the Equinox talking. You never fail to let it kill you a little bit, but somehow just before it all goes dark you manage to recall the date or pass by a calendar or glance at your phone to see who's really calling. Damn curses!
Evidently I have a deal with the Solstices, because they never seem to trouble me. Maybe they trouble others? I say it's because Winter and Summer are only verbs for rich folks and that, my friends, is something I will never need to fear. I know this because I am an "evener".
If you have studied the teachings of the Prophet Jerry Seinfeld, you will no doubt recall that he too, is an evener. He comes out even. Happens to me all the time. While others come into extra money and still others come up short, I always seem to come out even. The grocery store shorts me 50 cents, I find a lime in an abandoned cart. The fridge decides it wants occupational therapy for $150 a session, I get a random rebate for $75, a relative gifts me with $25, and a catalog order refunds $50 to my card because its shipment of some thing or other I'd wanted did not arrive. It's weird, but that's how it goes, and I am immensely grateful. I may never become rich, but hopefully I will always have enough.
I would like to sort out this Equinox bit though. But I guess if I'm two-for-four on seasonal irregularities what with the friendly Solstices and whatnot, that's even and therefore must explain things.
Still, I just wonder what the heck it was I've ever done to horses!
Happens every year: Spring Equinox comes and some putridly-vile occurrence overtakes me; Autumn Equinox comes and tries, usually with great success, to outdo the devastations of the Spring. Maybe it's all in the vernacular (careful, I'm punning): Spring and Fall are both action words, bad bad action words, too.
I've already elucidated the Easter Curse and the Mother's Day Curse, so Spring's wrath should not escape your understanding. With the Autumnal event I normally welcome debilitating illness, gothic family overtones, and on occasion, therapy-worthy relationship poison. It's just a seasonal allergy of a sort, I suppose.
So this week found me--boy did it--with the "by any means necessary" clause suddenly activated by my GI tract. Think tract housing but without the glamour. Yeah. One after another hour of internal fights--a Civil War of the Gut, if you will. While still off solid food and making gad-awful rumblings which I likened to a water cooler resetting itself (my doctor grinned), the familial horror began to wind its magic spell. By magic I mean "tragic" and by spell I mean "hell", but that's another story. Read up on the "Scorched Earth" policy of warfare and you'll get the idea.
I found myself coming to terms with the Equinoxical horrors by instituting phrases like these: "It's like the places you visit versus the places you live, except with people" and "Sometimes you come to that intersection so often, the one you know you have to go through even though you shouldn't and you just wish someone would change the Yield sign to a Stop sign for your own good." I can wax philosophical, or poetic. I'd do better to wax my car.
But given time and the proper pharmaceuticals one realizes that all will pass--and pass and pass--because this is just the Equinox talking. You never fail to let it kill you a little bit, but somehow just before it all goes dark you manage to recall the date or pass by a calendar or glance at your phone to see who's really calling. Damn curses!
Evidently I have a deal with the Solstices, because they never seem to trouble me. Maybe they trouble others? I say it's because Winter and Summer are only verbs for rich folks and that, my friends, is something I will never need to fear. I know this because I am an "evener".
If you have studied the teachings of the Prophet Jerry Seinfeld, you will no doubt recall that he too, is an evener. He comes out even. Happens to me all the time. While others come into extra money and still others come up short, I always seem to come out even. The grocery store shorts me 50 cents, I find a lime in an abandoned cart. The fridge decides it wants occupational therapy for $150 a session, I get a random rebate for $75, a relative gifts me with $25, and a catalog order refunds $50 to my card because its shipment of some thing or other I'd wanted did not arrive. It's weird, but that's how it goes, and I am immensely grateful. I may never become rich, but hopefully I will always have enough.
I would like to sort out this Equinox bit though. But I guess if I'm two-for-four on seasonal irregularities what with the friendly Solstices and whatnot, that's even and therefore must explain things.
Still, I just wonder what the heck it was I've ever done to horses!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Programming note
Due to revolting subject matter, the details of which I will not foist upon you,
viewers are advised to check the library of posts available to you at the lower left
of this page.
Your regularly scheduled programming will resume when a quite heinous bout
with a combatant known only as GI-Whoa! is completed. She won the fight
overnight, but the war shall belong to me...soon...I hope.
Check back, dip into past postings, or just stare at the secretly subliminal
image located somewhere close to your location right now.
viewers are advised to check the library of posts available to you at the lower left
of this page.
Your regularly scheduled programming will resume when a quite heinous bout
with a combatant known only as GI-Whoa! is completed. She won the fight
overnight, but the war shall belong to me...soon...I hope.
Check back, dip into past postings, or just stare at the secretly subliminal
image located somewhere close to your location right now.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
These Little Piggies Win, Too--Mark It!
Suffering with a stomach virus the young child was thoughtful enough to give me. That's what I get for teaching my kids to share.
So this week's list is short--just the big guys in the current standings.
They are:
*STANFORD defeats Arizona (I am especially worried about this one because evil Arizona has a way of procuring wins they shouldn't. They can be giant-killers. Get after 'em, The Cardinal! Be strong, Tree!)
*OKLAHOMA STATE defeats Tulsa (Like, I guess.)
*Texas loses to UCLA (Just going with Rick and my heart here. If I say it, they will win???)
*IDAHO defeats Texas A&M (Hey, the Vandals have been good to me so why not?)
*Navy loses to SOUTH CAROLINA (See Edie, I listened.)
*WASHINGTON defeats Nebraska (Because somebody's gotta do it and I think Sarkesian is looking for a break-out type of season. I could be wrong; often am.)
*OKLAHOMA defeats Florida State (I know it is currently fashionable to pick the Seminoles in this one, but I calls 'em as I sees 'em.)
*Missouri State loses to OREGON (Fly high again brave, over-dressed Ducks! Even if I don't like Phil Knight's politics, you boys are capable of ruling that roost--so do it! Get me, I made a Nike joke.)
*Arkansas State loses to VIRGINIA TECH (This one pains me slightly, but Beamer's Dreamers have been biting me in the ass all season.)
*Troy loses to ARKANSAS (The 'hoggiebacks have a nice, well-rounded team. Good stats, good play.)
*MICHIGAN STATE defeats Notre Dame (Oh TD-J forgive me but I LOVES it when you go down!)
*Tennessee loses to FLORIDA (Because I said so. There.)
*Ohio State loses to MIAMI (Oh yes, I hear that mocking laughter, but a girl can dream. And if I am right, I will look like such a prescient genius that you'll follow me anywhere...I will Rule, bwaahhh!)
*WEST VIRGINIA defeats Maryland
*SF Austin loses to BAYLOR (Love me some RG3!)
*Florida A&M loses to SOUTH FLORIDA (Though I enjoy watching both teams quite a lot.)
*AUBURN defeats Clemson (Oh yes they do...uh-huh...oh-yeah.)
*ARIZONA STATE defeats Illinois (I don't know, I just figure if State wins then maybe it'll go down a lot better if Arizona loses to Stanford. Seriously, that's my entire rationale. Pitiful, really.)
*La-Monroe loses to TCU (They may be frogs, but they are horny. That 's all I got.)
(Addendum: Oh god, fine. I suppose I have to pick the in-state rivalry game today. Like I'm not in enough discomfort as it is...what the hey...CU defeats CSU. It is somewhat possible, right?! Buffs?)
Forgive any typos or stupidity. I hope to be back to the planned typos and stupidity soon. For now, every move I make is NOT planned and are only the dictates of the gods of pharmaceuticals.
So this week's list is short--just the big guys in the current standings.
They are:
*STANFORD defeats Arizona (I am especially worried about this one because evil Arizona has a way of procuring wins they shouldn't. They can be giant-killers. Get after 'em, The Cardinal! Be strong, Tree!)
*OKLAHOMA STATE defeats Tulsa (Like, I guess.)
*Texas loses to UCLA (Just going with Rick and my heart here. If I say it, they will win???)
*IDAHO defeats Texas A&M (Hey, the Vandals have been good to me so why not?)
*Navy loses to SOUTH CAROLINA (See Edie, I listened.)
*WASHINGTON defeats Nebraska (Because somebody's gotta do it and I think Sarkesian is looking for a break-out type of season. I could be wrong; often am.)
*OKLAHOMA defeats Florida State (I know it is currently fashionable to pick the Seminoles in this one, but I calls 'em as I sees 'em.)
*Missouri State loses to OREGON (Fly high again brave, over-dressed Ducks! Even if I don't like Phil Knight's politics, you boys are capable of ruling that roost--so do it! Get me, I made a Nike joke.)
*Arkansas State loses to VIRGINIA TECH (This one pains me slightly, but Beamer's Dreamers have been biting me in the ass all season.)
*Troy loses to ARKANSAS (The 'hoggiebacks have a nice, well-rounded team. Good stats, good play.)
*MICHIGAN STATE defeats Notre Dame (Oh TD-J forgive me but I LOVES it when you go down!)
*Tennessee loses to FLORIDA (Because I said so. There.)
*Ohio State loses to MIAMI (Oh yes, I hear that mocking laughter, but a girl can dream. And if I am right, I will look like such a prescient genius that you'll follow me anywhere...I will Rule, bwaahhh!)
*WEST VIRGINIA defeats Maryland
*SF Austin loses to BAYLOR (Love me some RG3!)
*Florida A&M loses to SOUTH FLORIDA (Though I enjoy watching both teams quite a lot.)
*AUBURN defeats Clemson (Oh yes they do...uh-huh...oh-yeah.)
*ARIZONA STATE defeats Illinois (I don't know, I just figure if State wins then maybe it'll go down a lot better if Arizona loses to Stanford. Seriously, that's my entire rationale. Pitiful, really.)
*La-Monroe loses to TCU (They may be frogs, but they are horny. That 's all I got.)
(Addendum: Oh god, fine. I suppose I have to pick the in-state rivalry game today. Like I'm not in enough discomfort as it is...what the hey...CU defeats CSU. It is somewhat possible, right?! Buffs?)
Forgive any typos or stupidity. I hope to be back to the planned typos and stupidity soon. For now, every move I make is NOT planned and are only the dictates of the gods of pharmaceuticals.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Boehner vs POTUS: The Stand-zas
Speaker Boehner just did...speak, that is. And here, in a much more interesting way than he could ever put it, is his plan to create jobs in America: (with a few interruptions from You Know Who)
Mr. President, you are a feigner
Your gimmicks those of a campaigner
You hurt the creators
Who sit as spectators
And warn that they can't be sustainers.
Your cabinet, the agencies' reigners
You should enlist as proclaimers
Of the task at hand
For a new tax plan
Which will make all of us the great gainers.
But as sure as we'll wax they'll be waners
Two other thoughts need entertainers
Regulations kill jobs
And spending still robs
Our economy, what could be plainer?
Our tax code could be so much saner
Give that to the committee, says Boehner
Our economy to liberate
More jobs then to create
Than some short term fix, a no-brainer!
And I must reply, Mr. Boehner
That while I have quit you're a chainer
So stop blowing smoke
Before everyone's broke
I can give you the name of my trainer.
I know where you're going, Explainer
That bridge near the home of us Boehners
Well, good luck for tryin'
But we've got Paul Ryan
Whose 3-pointer's a leveling painer.
Now that gives my neck a big craner
The way your words fall through the strainer
Compare round ball's maxes
To fair or flat taxes?
On my country parade you're the rainer.
And just one more thought for you, Boehner
Since you like being such a complainer
Without my impression
We'd be in Depression
And we'd all have gone down the drainer!
My Favorite "FALL" Poem
Tender-Heartedness
Billy, in one of his nice new sashes,
Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes;
Now, although the room grows chilly,
I haven't the heart to poke poor Billy.
by Harry Graham (1874-1936)
(Taken from The Penguin Book of Light Verse, edited by Gavin Ewart. Copyright Gavin Ewart, 1980.)
My Job's Better Than Your Job...
Full notes here later today on the Boehner Plan. Until then, I'll be working on a string of words to rhyme with Boehner. (Probably not true rhymes, just the close-enough kind to which we've become accustomed.)
Who will win the Jobs Plan War? I hear "Dueling Banjos"...or the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme. There's just no way to be sure. Check back!
Who will win the Jobs Plan War? I hear "Dueling Banjos"...or the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme. There's just no way to be sure. Check back!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Testy Calls: 1550 or Bust
I just read the article fretting over the fact that SAT Reading scores for last year were the lowest ever on record. Yes, that is troubling and likely says a lot about us as a society--our unwillingness to financially support education to the level it deserves and our ongoing love affair with our electronics--but I'm not ready to press the panic button just yet.
The article went on to say that a benchmark for college freshman year success is to score a 1550 or above on the test. In a study of 100 colleges, the students who had achieved that score had averages of B- or above. Last year, only 43% of test-takers hit the 1550 mark. The average score was 1003.
I can only look at my own experience for perspective. I scored a 990 on the SAT, not even worthy of "average" by last year's standards. My high school counselor called me into his office for a meeting over my test performance. I vaguely recall a phrase like "I expected you to score much higher than this" being uttered. Then he pulled out a stack of papers: college admissions guidelines and incoming student expectations. Of course I fell back on the standardized test bias: I scored higher in Math than in Critical Reading, a huge tip-off that something in Princeton, New Jersey was out to get me. (Subsequently I have met many people who have similar stories of outscoring their better subject area.)
So I suppose after that conference I could have thrown in the collegiate-striped towel and gone into radio. I had a job offer to DJ at a local station and my eye on a particular Datsun 380 ZX--black-and-gold--parked inside the mall for some drawing. My cousin and I seriously weighed the merits of this choice for weeks. But I had been raised with that "college expectation" so common in families with only one or no generations of college attendees or grads. So someone else would be the DJ, someone else would drive the Datsun.
Then, at the prodding of my AP English teacher I took the ACT...and got a 4-out-of-5. I exempted the first year of English in college, attended a branch of the state university near my home over the summers, and graduated with close to a 3.0 in three years. I did well enough on the very difficult Graduate School English Exam (GRE: Advanced English Exam)--a half-day-long affair--that I was accepted into the Master's Program for Comparative Literature. That SAT score had nothing to do with any of those accomplishments.
I don't know of too many people who made 1550, but did have another cousin who aced the SAT with a perfect score--he's an engineer now. But I do know a lot of people I consider intelligent. I even know of more than one who never attended college who are geniuses, photographic recall or not.
Would I like to see improvements in our public education system? Sure. Do I think the kids have way too tough a time getting reading and writing under their belts? I see it all the time. I've even tried to make a difference for the kids around me in those areas for years now.
I heard (I think it was on Thom Hartman's program on Free Speech TV--coming to you proudly from Denver, CO) that for the first time, the generation entering the workforce was less prepared than the generation exiting the workforce. That too is troubling. But so many paradigms are shifting in our world and culture that I'm still not quite ready to toss in that towel.
Because you just never know how things are going to turn out or why. I say let's do whatever we can to volunteer time, let's pay into the education system with our taxes, and let's keep the pressure on not just the school districts, but also the politicians to put education first. Oh, and I guess we really could read more and watch less--a tough pill I have yet to fully swallow!
But let's not allow the screaming headlines to discourage us or our kids. If we tell them they're no good they will damned sure live down to that assessment. If, on the other hand, we invest in them all that we can, they will get the message that they are worthy of the best teachers, the challenging assignments, and the free time to explore whatever it is that makes them feel alive.
And hang on to that towel like Linus with his blanket because things always seem to have a way of "coming out" in the wash.
The article went on to say that a benchmark for college freshman year success is to score a 1550 or above on the test. In a study of 100 colleges, the students who had achieved that score had averages of B- or above. Last year, only 43% of test-takers hit the 1550 mark. The average score was 1003.
I can only look at my own experience for perspective. I scored a 990 on the SAT, not even worthy of "average" by last year's standards. My high school counselor called me into his office for a meeting over my test performance. I vaguely recall a phrase like "I expected you to score much higher than this" being uttered. Then he pulled out a stack of papers: college admissions guidelines and incoming student expectations. Of course I fell back on the standardized test bias: I scored higher in Math than in Critical Reading, a huge tip-off that something in Princeton, New Jersey was out to get me. (Subsequently I have met many people who have similar stories of outscoring their better subject area.)
So I suppose after that conference I could have thrown in the collegiate-striped towel and gone into radio. I had a job offer to DJ at a local station and my eye on a particular Datsun 380 ZX--black-and-gold--parked inside the mall for some drawing. My cousin and I seriously weighed the merits of this choice for weeks. But I had been raised with that "college expectation" so common in families with only one or no generations of college attendees or grads. So someone else would be the DJ, someone else would drive the Datsun.
Then, at the prodding of my AP English teacher I took the ACT...and got a 4-out-of-5. I exempted the first year of English in college, attended a branch of the state university near my home over the summers, and graduated with close to a 3.0 in three years. I did well enough on the very difficult Graduate School English Exam (GRE: Advanced English Exam)--a half-day-long affair--that I was accepted into the Master's Program for Comparative Literature. That SAT score had nothing to do with any of those accomplishments.
I don't know of too many people who made 1550, but did have another cousin who aced the SAT with a perfect score--he's an engineer now. But I do know a lot of people I consider intelligent. I even know of more than one who never attended college who are geniuses, photographic recall or not.
Would I like to see improvements in our public education system? Sure. Do I think the kids have way too tough a time getting reading and writing under their belts? I see it all the time. I've even tried to make a difference for the kids around me in those areas for years now.
I heard (I think it was on Thom Hartman's program on Free Speech TV--coming to you proudly from Denver, CO) that for the first time, the generation entering the workforce was less prepared than the generation exiting the workforce. That too is troubling. But so many paradigms are shifting in our world and culture that I'm still not quite ready to toss in that towel.
Because you just never know how things are going to turn out or why. I say let's do whatever we can to volunteer time, let's pay into the education system with our taxes, and let's keep the pressure on not just the school districts, but also the politicians to put education first. Oh, and I guess we really could read more and watch less--a tough pill I have yet to fully swallow!
But let's not allow the screaming headlines to discourage us or our kids. If we tell them they're no good they will damned sure live down to that assessment. If, on the other hand, we invest in them all that we can, they will get the message that they are worthy of the best teachers, the challenging assignments, and the free time to explore whatever it is that makes them feel alive.
And hang on to that towel like Linus with his blanket because things always seem to have a way of "coming out" in the wash.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Anagrams: New and Used
No answers for this one? Come on, hippiechik62! (Was it far too easy and beneath your greatness?)
I absolutely expect it was--what with my attempt to be contextual and whatnot.
So, if you're interested, this posting was from September 4th and was about...Mount Rushmore! Obviously the four guys are: (you do know which POTUSes are up there, don't you??)
* Washington
* Jefferson
* (Teddy) Roosevelt
* Lincoln
Now, which of these National Parks is your favorite? (no context this time, but still way too easy)
* D. Gray Cannon
* Eye Lost One L
* De Strong Ant
* U. Ky/Mo Train Co.
* Sage Delver
I absolutely expect it was--what with my attempt to be contextual and whatnot.
So, if you're interested, this posting was from September 4th and was about...Mount Rushmore! Obviously the four guys are: (you do know which POTUSes are up there, don't you??)
* Washington
* Jefferson
* (Teddy) Roosevelt
* Lincoln
Now, which of these National Parks is your favorite? (no context this time, but still way too easy)
* D. Gray Cannon
* Eye Lost One L
* De Strong Ant
* U. Ky/Mo Train Co.
* Sage Delver
The Story of the Eight Little Elephants
I am not a "sports mom." My children's great triumphs have often come in the Arts.
I specifically recall one summer evening entering an arts camp show and being drawn to one painting lying there amongst the others. It was vivid and lovely, and in a moment of greed I really wanted that one to be my kid's piece. As he paraded me past the works, looking for his, I let go of my foolish envy and prepared myself to fully embrace my son's creative accomplishment.
"Oh, here it is," he said. He held up The One that had called to me from across the room. It was his. I told him what had just gone through my mind and we shared a good laugh over the fact that, like the cry of a newborn, sometimes a mom just knows.
Everyone has at least one mom, whether they happen to know her or not, and I began to feel that in last night's debate, the audience was playing stand-in for that role. Granted, there were "favorites" among the boisterous brood of eight just as sure as there was estrangement.
So here in a fictional account of an actual event--or in a horribly pained analogy--is my take on the family affair that was the CNN/Tea Party Debate.
"Mother always liked you best," Hermie, Jonny, Newty, Ronnie, Mitty, and Ricky-S said to Ricky-P and 'Chelie.
Little Jonny stepped forward, "And I can't do anything right! She hates everything I say. And when I try to make a joke, she never laughs."
"Don't blame us for your crappy jokes," Ricky-P added.
Then they all turned on 'Chelie: "You're lucky you're a girl!"
Their mom--"Tampa-Tea"--sat watching their spats. First it was little Mitty going after Ricky-P. It was a classic case of he-said/he-said, or at times, he-wrote/he-wrote. They argued over who won the Jobs Game, who loved Mommie most with hugs and Social Security, and who had the extra deck in their last game of Texas Hold 'Em. Then smaller arguments broke out among the others. When mom told them to be quiet (with her applause), little Newty complained that Mommie was taking away from his play time.
You see they have this playset out back which they've nicknamed The Federal Government. Newt thought it should be "modernized"--the older kids always want more after all. Mitty thought that just cleaning it would help, but would not be enough to fix it. 'Chelie felt that each kid should only clean up or fix the parts that they had broken--that the entire Federal Government should not be owned together but broken into little individual chunks. Ricky-P said that each kid was a State and that each State should clean up or fix its own section. At that point Mommie's favorites shared a conspiratorial wink. Little Ronnie said he was Department of Energy tired and just did not want to go to school (Department of Education) ever!
Since they couldn't all agree about The Federal Government--apart from the fact that it was broken and bad--they turned their attention to trying to out-do one another on cutting Mommie's taxes and finding a job for Daddy. Ricky-P called his plan "Texas"--which is an anagram for taxes--and little Jonny called his plan "Utah"--which is an anagram for the sound you make when you spit. Then the neighbor kid, Bennie Bernanke, came over and Mommie had her young'uns try him for treason. 'Chelie, who had a different idea of how to deal with Bennie, said: Let's "put a tight leash on "The Fed" (that's Bennie's nickname) that makes it squeak!" You can tell she was raised defending herself against seven brothers.
Poor Jonny, when faced with a simple question from Mommie, did not give a direct answer. He rambled on when she wanted to know how much of each of her dollars he thought should go to The Federal Government. In the words of the Prophet Chris Stevens, Jonny was "asked for the time and instead taught her how to build a watch." Newt stepped into the fray with "I'm cheerfully opposed to raising taxes" which made Mommie smile again. But little Mitty couldn't leave well enough alone: "I'm in favor of the Fair Tax." Mommie spanked him fiercely.
Then it was time to take their medicine. That's when Ricky-P and 'Chelie really got into it. You see, Ricky-P likes the medicine--he calls it HPV--and 'Chelie thinks it'll kill her. They argued over some kid "Merck" who had dared Ricky-P to the tune of $5,000 to sneak HPV into 'Chelie's food. Turns out it was actually $30,000, but Ricky-P said he didn't do it because of the dare, but because he loved his sister and wanted her to never get cervical cancer. Hermie said that taking your medicine (healthcare) should be organized amongst the eight of them according to who needed how much of a dose. But he went on to say that their arrangement would never work for the entire neighborhood. There was some discussion about whether or not the kids should have to save their own money to buy the medicine--not have Mommie's help--so that they would give more of a darn about how it tasted and how much it cost. When little Ronnie pointed out that some kids couldn't afford to buy their own medicine Mommie shouted to Let 'em die! which frightened the other families watching over the fence (TV). 'Chelie warned those folks that if they didn't go along with her family's (Party's) idea, the whole neighborhood would be renamed Socialism.
Then it got ugly. The kids began arguing about how to decide who gets to move into the neighborhood and who does not. Ricky-S, who had been observing for most of the arguments, reminded his family that they too had been new in the neighborhood once, and that letting new families in was good for the "life blood" of the neighborhood. Mommie was not pleased. Ricky-P complained that Mommie's fence wasn't strong enough to keep the other kids out of his part of the playset, Texas, and that he'd had to spend his own money to plug up the holes. He didn't think Mommie should tell him how Texas should be run but he sure wanted her help with that fence! He only vexed her more when he seemed to side with Ricky-S saying, "It shouldn't matter what your last name sounds like." Yes, Mommie said loudly, it did. So the two Rickys set about racing to the bottom of Mommie's favor: "P let's the new kids go to school like they've been here as long as we have!" Ricky-P defended himself with: "Yeah, but I make 'em learn our games, talk like we do, live in their house for three years, and join the Homeowners' Association!" To which Ricky-S retorted that P wouldn't know a melting pot from a salad bowl. Again, 'Chelie had a different approach. She wanted the new families to be invited into the neighborhood in something she called the Sponsorship of the 1960s (that's their house number, I guess). At least one observer, Susan, thought that sounded like indentured servitude. Entirely off-key again--they think his voice is changing--Jonny said that not fixing the fence was treasonous. Mommie made him get a switch in order to, in the words of the Prophet Richard Pryor, "beat his own ass."
Hermie wanted to talk about EPA, a girl who always pees in the kiddie pool. He thought that if EPA was to be reformed that those who had been in the kiddie pool while she had peed should be the ones to do the reforming (butt kicking). He wanted to do the same for all the other places where she'd peed (agencies).
But no one was having that discussion. They wanted to talk about bullies. Ronnie tried to explain to the kids that if they even seemed to be mistreating another kid that kid might think they were bullies and retaliate. Mommie stepped in right then and sent him to his room--where she hoped to release a noxious gas through the vents. Ricky-S piled on, calling his absent brother a "parrot of OBL." (OBL is a nasty kid who just moved out of the neighborhood. He now lives at the bottom of the sea.) Jonny thought that the kids shouldn't build clubhouses for the bullies to please them that he needed his own clubhouse right here. From the upstairs window, not having been gassed yet, Ronnie shouted out that religious intolerance was to blame for most bullying. Mommie made all seven kids uproot an entire tree with which to beat Ronnie's ass. (No one has seen Ronnie lately, by the way.)
Then Mommie asked what they wanted Santa to bring to their little White House for Christmas: Ronnie-S wanted a new bedroom, Newty wanted to trade in his toy Czars for music and ballet lessons and a chess set, between the whacks with the giant tree, Ronnie said that if he was around at Christmas he wanted nothing fancy, just the run-of-the-mill common sense they sold down at the corner store. Ricky-P wanted a beautiful First Lady, and Mitty wanted some alien toy no one had ever heard of, a Churchill Bust. (Mommie hoped it was a special poker set, but Ricky-P had already warned Mitty that he was no good at poker.) 'Chelie asked for reading materials so that she would always have the bills to be right, the constitution to eat whatever she chose, and the declaration that she had independence. (Again, seven boys.) Hermie wanted everyone to laugh, and Jonny wanted both a Harley and a motocross bike. (Yeah kid, fat chance.)
All in all the kids do get along; neighbor Susan thinks that Ricky-P and Mitty secretly really like each other a lot. That they might even pool their tickets the next time they find themselves at the Florida State Fair. Mommie is worrisome, though. She's awfully hard on the kids--kind of a stage mom type. Or maybe the kind of parent who fights the coach (moderator) to get her kid more playing time. Sometimes she got so mad you didn't know what she might be in favor of doing.
I hope the kids sort out their differences before they have their big argument with little Barry who lives on the left side of town. He's an only child who has never had to fight for attention. He gets to speak whenever he wants, eats seconds, and has the best playset in the whole universe. He even has his own life-sized toy jets, helicopters, and limos. He has his friends over to his own private Rose Garden. There's a bowling alley in his basement. He's tough to beat.
The big fight is set for November 2012, and the kids have a lot of training to do before their bout. Here's hoping everyone gets in shape and does their strength training because all our Mommie's can use all the help they can get. The woman may get over-the-top sometimes, but she is raising all those kids with Daddy still out of work.
Besides, everyone enjoys a good fair fight...as long as the best man/woman/child wins.
I specifically recall one summer evening entering an arts camp show and being drawn to one painting lying there amongst the others. It was vivid and lovely, and in a moment of greed I really wanted that one to be my kid's piece. As he paraded me past the works, looking for his, I let go of my foolish envy and prepared myself to fully embrace my son's creative accomplishment.
"Oh, here it is," he said. He held up The One that had called to me from across the room. It was his. I told him what had just gone through my mind and we shared a good laugh over the fact that, like the cry of a newborn, sometimes a mom just knows.
Everyone has at least one mom, whether they happen to know her or not, and I began to feel that in last night's debate, the audience was playing stand-in for that role. Granted, there were "favorites" among the boisterous brood of eight just as sure as there was estrangement.
So here in a fictional account of an actual event--or in a horribly pained analogy--is my take on the family affair that was the CNN/Tea Party Debate.
"Mother always liked you best," Hermie, Jonny, Newty, Ronnie, Mitty, and Ricky-S said to Ricky-P and 'Chelie.
Little Jonny stepped forward, "And I can't do anything right! She hates everything I say. And when I try to make a joke, she never laughs."
"Don't blame us for your crappy jokes," Ricky-P added.
Then they all turned on 'Chelie: "You're lucky you're a girl!"
Their mom--"Tampa-Tea"--sat watching their spats. First it was little Mitty going after Ricky-P. It was a classic case of he-said/he-said, or at times, he-wrote/he-wrote. They argued over who won the Jobs Game, who loved Mommie most with hugs and Social Security, and who had the extra deck in their last game of Texas Hold 'Em. Then smaller arguments broke out among the others. When mom told them to be quiet (with her applause), little Newty complained that Mommie was taking away from his play time.
You see they have this playset out back which they've nicknamed The Federal Government. Newt thought it should be "modernized"--the older kids always want more after all. Mitty thought that just cleaning it would help, but would not be enough to fix it. 'Chelie felt that each kid should only clean up or fix the parts that they had broken--that the entire Federal Government should not be owned together but broken into little individual chunks. Ricky-P said that each kid was a State and that each State should clean up or fix its own section. At that point Mommie's favorites shared a conspiratorial wink. Little Ronnie said he was Department of Energy tired and just did not want to go to school (Department of Education) ever!
Since they couldn't all agree about The Federal Government--apart from the fact that it was broken and bad--they turned their attention to trying to out-do one another on cutting Mommie's taxes and finding a job for Daddy. Ricky-P called his plan "Texas"--which is an anagram for taxes--and little Jonny called his plan "Utah"--which is an anagram for the sound you make when you spit. Then the neighbor kid, Bennie Bernanke, came over and Mommie had her young'uns try him for treason. 'Chelie, who had a different idea of how to deal with Bennie, said: Let's "put a tight leash on "The Fed" (that's Bennie's nickname) that makes it squeak!" You can tell she was raised defending herself against seven brothers.
Poor Jonny, when faced with a simple question from Mommie, did not give a direct answer. He rambled on when she wanted to know how much of each of her dollars he thought should go to The Federal Government. In the words of the Prophet Chris Stevens, Jonny was "asked for the time and instead taught her how to build a watch." Newt stepped into the fray with "I'm cheerfully opposed to raising taxes" which made Mommie smile again. But little Mitty couldn't leave well enough alone: "I'm in favor of the Fair Tax." Mommie spanked him fiercely.
Then it was time to take their medicine. That's when Ricky-P and 'Chelie really got into it. You see, Ricky-P likes the medicine--he calls it HPV--and 'Chelie thinks it'll kill her. They argued over some kid "Merck" who had dared Ricky-P to the tune of $5,000 to sneak HPV into 'Chelie's food. Turns out it was actually $30,000, but Ricky-P said he didn't do it because of the dare, but because he loved his sister and wanted her to never get cervical cancer. Hermie said that taking your medicine (healthcare) should be organized amongst the eight of them according to who needed how much of a dose. But he went on to say that their arrangement would never work for the entire neighborhood. There was some discussion about whether or not the kids should have to save their own money to buy the medicine--not have Mommie's help--so that they would give more of a darn about how it tasted and how much it cost. When little Ronnie pointed out that some kids couldn't afford to buy their own medicine Mommie shouted to Let 'em die! which frightened the other families watching over the fence (TV). 'Chelie warned those folks that if they didn't go along with her family's (Party's) idea, the whole neighborhood would be renamed Socialism.
Then it got ugly. The kids began arguing about how to decide who gets to move into the neighborhood and who does not. Ricky-S, who had been observing for most of the arguments, reminded his family that they too had been new in the neighborhood once, and that letting new families in was good for the "life blood" of the neighborhood. Mommie was not pleased. Ricky-P complained that Mommie's fence wasn't strong enough to keep the other kids out of his part of the playset, Texas, and that he'd had to spend his own money to plug up the holes. He didn't think Mommie should tell him how Texas should be run but he sure wanted her help with that fence! He only vexed her more when he seemed to side with Ricky-S saying, "It shouldn't matter what your last name sounds like." Yes, Mommie said loudly, it did. So the two Rickys set about racing to the bottom of Mommie's favor: "P let's the new kids go to school like they've been here as long as we have!" Ricky-P defended himself with: "Yeah, but I make 'em learn our games, talk like we do, live in their house for three years, and join the Homeowners' Association!" To which Ricky-S retorted that P wouldn't know a melting pot from a salad bowl. Again, 'Chelie had a different approach. She wanted the new families to be invited into the neighborhood in something she called the Sponsorship of the 1960s (that's their house number, I guess). At least one observer, Susan, thought that sounded like indentured servitude. Entirely off-key again--they think his voice is changing--Jonny said that not fixing the fence was treasonous. Mommie made him get a switch in order to, in the words of the Prophet Richard Pryor, "beat his own ass."
Hermie wanted to talk about EPA, a girl who always pees in the kiddie pool. He thought that if EPA was to be reformed that those who had been in the kiddie pool while she had peed should be the ones to do the reforming (butt kicking). He wanted to do the same for all the other places where she'd peed (agencies).
But no one was having that discussion. They wanted to talk about bullies. Ronnie tried to explain to the kids that if they even seemed to be mistreating another kid that kid might think they were bullies and retaliate. Mommie stepped in right then and sent him to his room--where she hoped to release a noxious gas through the vents. Ricky-S piled on, calling his absent brother a "parrot of OBL." (OBL is a nasty kid who just moved out of the neighborhood. He now lives at the bottom of the sea.) Jonny thought that the kids shouldn't build clubhouses for the bullies to please them that he needed his own clubhouse right here. From the upstairs window, not having been gassed yet, Ronnie shouted out that religious intolerance was to blame for most bullying. Mommie made all seven kids uproot an entire tree with which to beat Ronnie's ass. (No one has seen Ronnie lately, by the way.)
Then Mommie asked what they wanted Santa to bring to their little White House for Christmas: Ronnie-S wanted a new bedroom, Newty wanted to trade in his toy Czars for music and ballet lessons and a chess set, between the whacks with the giant tree, Ronnie said that if he was around at Christmas he wanted nothing fancy, just the run-of-the-mill common sense they sold down at the corner store. Ricky-P wanted a beautiful First Lady, and Mitty wanted some alien toy no one had ever heard of, a Churchill Bust. (Mommie hoped it was a special poker set, but Ricky-P had already warned Mitty that he was no good at poker.) 'Chelie asked for reading materials so that she would always have the bills to be right, the constitution to eat whatever she chose, and the declaration that she had independence. (Again, seven boys.) Hermie wanted everyone to laugh, and Jonny wanted both a Harley and a motocross bike. (Yeah kid, fat chance.)
All in all the kids do get along; neighbor Susan thinks that Ricky-P and Mitty secretly really like each other a lot. That they might even pool their tickets the next time they find themselves at the Florida State Fair. Mommie is worrisome, though. She's awfully hard on the kids--kind of a stage mom type. Or maybe the kind of parent who fights the coach (moderator) to get her kid more playing time. Sometimes she got so mad you didn't know what she might be in favor of doing.
I hope the kids sort out their differences before they have their big argument with little Barry who lives on the left side of town. He's an only child who has never had to fight for attention. He gets to speak whenever he wants, eats seconds, and has the best playset in the whole universe. He even has his own life-sized toy jets, helicopters, and limos. He has his friends over to his own private Rose Garden. There's a bowling alley in his basement. He's tough to beat.
The big fight is set for November 2012, and the kids have a lot of training to do before their bout. Here's hoping everyone gets in shape and does their strength training because all our Mommie's can use all the help they can get. The woman may get over-the-top sometimes, but she is raising all those kids with Daddy still out of work.
Besides, everyone enjoys a good fair fight...as long as the best man/woman/child wins.
Monday, September 12, 2011
GOP Tea-bait in Tampa
I'm sorry, but I cannot sugar-coat this. That was the most troubling audience I've ever heard at a debate.
These two got raves:
*LETTING THE UNINSURED DIE
*TREASON TRIAL FOR BERNANKE
These got booed:
*Mitt Romney trying a poker analogy
*All Huntsman's "jokes/attack lines"
*Fair tax if it eases burden on highest and lowest earners but worsens impact on the Middle Class (?)
*In-state tuition rates for illegals if in college, in USA 3-yrs., and working toward citizenship
*Rick Perry saying it shouldn't matter what your last name sounds like
*Ron Paul's attempt to explain the equation between terrorist attacks and religious intolerence
The words, the "ideas" speak for themselves and do not need my rhetoric to further define them.
I don't know how better to explain what is at stake in our Democracy than that.
I've gotta go sit in the dark somewhere and shake...or have a beer, can't decide. I will give a long-winded AND I PROMISE, HUMOROUS take on the policy issues discussed tonight in tomorrow morning's posting.
Forgive the brevity and please don't "Mind the Gap"--I'll step in front of the debate's inner "tube" tomorrow. You Anglophiles got that, didn't you? Hello, UK pals!
These two got raves:
*LETTING THE UNINSURED DIE
*TREASON TRIAL FOR BERNANKE
These got booed:
*Mitt Romney trying a poker analogy
*All Huntsman's "jokes/attack lines"
*Fair tax if it eases burden on highest and lowest earners but worsens impact on the Middle Class (?)
*In-state tuition rates for illegals if in college, in USA 3-yrs., and working toward citizenship
*Rick Perry saying it shouldn't matter what your last name sounds like
*Ron Paul's attempt to explain the equation between terrorist attacks and religious intolerence
The words, the "ideas" speak for themselves and do not need my rhetoric to further define them.
I don't know how better to explain what is at stake in our Democracy than that.
I've gotta go sit in the dark somewhere and shake...or have a beer, can't decide. I will give a long-winded AND I PROMISE, HUMOROUS take on the policy issues discussed tonight in tomorrow morning's posting.
Forgive the brevity and please don't "Mind the Gap"--I'll step in front of the debate's inner "tube" tomorrow. You Anglophiles got that, didn't you? Hello, UK pals!
D-bate C-later B-tweeting A-lot
And another football night filled with politics...or is that another political night filled with football?
The GOPpers are scrumming again tonight, this time in Tampa, Florida. Join me @cockeyedsusan for the live tweeting extravaganza! Quotes, commentary, play-calling evaluations, and arbitrary scoring: all for your amusement.
As usual, I will blog here afterward for your post-game wrap up dining and dancing pleasure.
Let the games begin!
P.S. And if the NFLers do anything interesting, I'll let you know about that too.
The GOPpers are scrumming again tonight, this time in Tampa, Florida. Join me @cockeyedsusan for the live tweeting extravaganza! Quotes, commentary, play-calling evaluations, and arbitrary scoring: all for your amusement.
As usual, I will blog here afterward for your post-game wrap up dining and dancing pleasure.
Let the games begin!
P.S. And if the NFLers do anything interesting, I'll let you know about that too.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
In Memoriam: An Air Traffic Controller's Story
This is my husband's story from that awful morning ten years ago, committed to written words for the first time. May it serve in some tiny way to honor the heroes, the victims, and the families of those so unfathomably effected on September 11, 2001.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Listening to the firefighters of the FDNYon a YouTube account of that day, I feel ashamed to even tell my story. Climbing 80 flights of stairs hoping to save people, knowing what awaited them. Yet they kept climbing up and up until the moment the South Tower fell. I cannot imagine such bravery. ~Randy)
I began my shift at the Colorado Springs Air Traffic Control Facility--located not at the airport but on nearby Peterson Air Force Base--on the morning of September 11, 2001 in the normal fashion: I worked a few airplanes then we had our normal morning crew briefing. Walking through the breakroom after the meeting, we noticed the television coverage of smoke rising from the North Tower of the World Trade Center as CNN explained that a plane had crashed. Of course our assumption was that a small aircraft had accidentally struck the building. One among us wondered how a general aviation pilot could make sure an overt mistake.
I continued across the hall to the radar room, thinking the story was as simple as that. I began working airplanes on a somewhat busy Tuesday morning, when a fellow controller came into the room and informed us that a second plane has struck the second (South) Tower and that it was a commercial airliner. I wondered what was going on, but was primarily focused on the traffic in my care.
The next few hours are still a blur. I know I got a break and went to watch the television. I remember the flames, the burning. I saw that the Pentagon had also been attacked. Now I knew that something really bad had begun. Something was spiraling out of control: We were under attack and I wondered how much worse it could get. There seemed to be nothing I could do. I went back on position and continued working aircraft. Within minutes, a supervisor came over to my position and told me "All aircraft must land immediately." She handed me a sheet of paper, an official FAA order, which I read from, announcing over the frequency to all the aircraft in our airspace that they had to land. There were two of us in the radar room--working planes within 30 miles of our airport--and we began sequencing planes into a pattern in order to have them land either in the Springs or at a nearby facility. Two other controllers in the tower halted planes on the tarmac, returning them to their gates. They also informed general aviation pilots who were performing their touch-and-go exercises that they had to land.
We began to receive unscheduled air carrier presence in our airspace as those pilots had been instructed to find the closest airport and land. It wasn't the busiest I've ever been and larger facilities actually had to close down runways to create parking for the extra aircraft, but those moments, however many of them there were, were hectic: I was scared, not knowing just what was going on.
In the middle of this massive shutdown we learned that the South Tower, the second to be hit, had fallen. I recall saying, "Oh My God!" I recall thinking that once I'd gotten all my planes down safely I had to call home to make sure they were okay. On my next break I saw the North Tower fall and learned about the crash into that field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
With no planes to work, we wondered what we would do; a short-lived concern as it became evident with the verbal command to: "Watch the airspace for any aircraft not in communication with air traffic control." Fighter jets were on their way to fly over NORAD and we were to communicate with them in the event that such a "primary target" appeared on the scopes. Shortly after the F-16s begin their flights over NORAD we spotted a "primary target" coming off of a general aviation airport within ten miles of our location or within twenty miles of NORAD. We radioed the F-16s and they responded, "We've got it." In the twenty years I've done this job (ten years at that time) I've never seen any aircraft fly that fast. It seemed like they covered those twenty miles in a matter of seconds. They intercepted the plane, whose pilot was unaware of the morning's events, and escorted him to the ground without incident.
With the horror of the morning settling in, and some of us unable to get into communication with our families, we began to ask if we would be able to go home after our shifts or if we would be retained for security reasons. President Bush was in flight at the time and we were told that he was coming to NORAD and would be landing at our airport. No one would be leaving until the President was secured within that underground facility, deep in Cheyenne Mountain. Moments later we were informed that a United flight from San Diego was missing, was not in communication with air traffic control, and might indeed be headed for NORAD. We manned the scopes and shortened our "on position time" in order to give each other opportunities to communicate to family members that we might not be coming home that night.
President Bush in fact did not come our way and the San Diego United flight simply had a very badly timed case of radio equipment failure. We were going to be able to go home. Little did I know as I passed through the gate at Peterson Air Force Base, that the protocol would change, that I had just left the Base on its last day of operation as normal.
I returned on Friday, after my two-day mid-week "weekend" to a very different work environment. As a matter of fact my supervisor had to call me with directions around the barricades, had to instruct me on how to get to a job I'd been driving to for six years. I expected increased security, but had not realized the degree to which readiness had been escalated. Every vehicle was searched by bomb-sniffing dogs; sometimes it would take a half-hour to get onto the Base. And the one thing I will always remember, the one thing that signified that the world had changed was having machine gun nests with 18-to-20-year-olds pointing machine guns at my car as I came to work over the next few months. Not even the snipers walking around our tower's catwalk those same months--only their heads and the tips of their guns visible to us--would have that effect on me.
My kids were one and two years old. It's sad that they will never know the world, this country as it was before that day. I'm proud that in fact there was something that I could do that morning and that along with my brother and sister controllers, we got it done.
In the years that followed, the FAA decided to develop a strategic plan to put into place should U.S. airspace need to be shut down again. After much research, the agency came to the conclusion that what we had done in fact couldn't be planned for, that leaving the emergency in the hands of the controllers on the job at the time was really the only way with which the situation could be dealt. There was no plan for what we had done and there never would be.
I cannot imagine going a day without my family much less ten years. My heart goes out to all of those whose reality was altered materially more, whose horror and grief so eclipses the slights of my experience that the two cannot be compared. I can adjust to more security at work, to a new protocol there. What I could not adjust to would be a new protocol at home.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Listening to the firefighters of the FDNYon a YouTube account of that day, I feel ashamed to even tell my story. Climbing 80 flights of stairs hoping to save people, knowing what awaited them. Yet they kept climbing up and up until the moment the South Tower fell. I cannot imagine such bravery. ~Randy)
I began my shift at the Colorado Springs Air Traffic Control Facility--located not at the airport but on nearby Peterson Air Force Base--on the morning of September 11, 2001 in the normal fashion: I worked a few airplanes then we had our normal morning crew briefing. Walking through the breakroom after the meeting, we noticed the television coverage of smoke rising from the North Tower of the World Trade Center as CNN explained that a plane had crashed. Of course our assumption was that a small aircraft had accidentally struck the building. One among us wondered how a general aviation pilot could make sure an overt mistake.
I continued across the hall to the radar room, thinking the story was as simple as that. I began working airplanes on a somewhat busy Tuesday morning, when a fellow controller came into the room and informed us that a second plane has struck the second (South) Tower and that it was a commercial airliner. I wondered what was going on, but was primarily focused on the traffic in my care.
The next few hours are still a blur. I know I got a break and went to watch the television. I remember the flames, the burning. I saw that the Pentagon had also been attacked. Now I knew that something really bad had begun. Something was spiraling out of control: We were under attack and I wondered how much worse it could get. There seemed to be nothing I could do. I went back on position and continued working aircraft. Within minutes, a supervisor came over to my position and told me "All aircraft must land immediately." She handed me a sheet of paper, an official FAA order, which I read from, announcing over the frequency to all the aircraft in our airspace that they had to land. There were two of us in the radar room--working planes within 30 miles of our airport--and we began sequencing planes into a pattern in order to have them land either in the Springs or at a nearby facility. Two other controllers in the tower halted planes on the tarmac, returning them to their gates. They also informed general aviation pilots who were performing their touch-and-go exercises that they had to land.
We began to receive unscheduled air carrier presence in our airspace as those pilots had been instructed to find the closest airport and land. It wasn't the busiest I've ever been and larger facilities actually had to close down runways to create parking for the extra aircraft, but those moments, however many of them there were, were hectic: I was scared, not knowing just what was going on.
In the middle of this massive shutdown we learned that the South Tower, the second to be hit, had fallen. I recall saying, "Oh My God!" I recall thinking that once I'd gotten all my planes down safely I had to call home to make sure they were okay. On my next break I saw the North Tower fall and learned about the crash into that field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
With no planes to work, we wondered what we would do; a short-lived concern as it became evident with the verbal command to: "Watch the airspace for any aircraft not in communication with air traffic control." Fighter jets were on their way to fly over NORAD and we were to communicate with them in the event that such a "primary target" appeared on the scopes. Shortly after the F-16s begin their flights over NORAD we spotted a "primary target" coming off of a general aviation airport within ten miles of our location or within twenty miles of NORAD. We radioed the F-16s and they responded, "We've got it." In the twenty years I've done this job (ten years at that time) I've never seen any aircraft fly that fast. It seemed like they covered those twenty miles in a matter of seconds. They intercepted the plane, whose pilot was unaware of the morning's events, and escorted him to the ground without incident.
With the horror of the morning settling in, and some of us unable to get into communication with our families, we began to ask if we would be able to go home after our shifts or if we would be retained for security reasons. President Bush was in flight at the time and we were told that he was coming to NORAD and would be landing at our airport. No one would be leaving until the President was secured within that underground facility, deep in Cheyenne Mountain. Moments later we were informed that a United flight from San Diego was missing, was not in communication with air traffic control, and might indeed be headed for NORAD. We manned the scopes and shortened our "on position time" in order to give each other opportunities to communicate to family members that we might not be coming home that night.
President Bush in fact did not come our way and the San Diego United flight simply had a very badly timed case of radio equipment failure. We were going to be able to go home. Little did I know as I passed through the gate at Peterson Air Force Base, that the protocol would change, that I had just left the Base on its last day of operation as normal.
I returned on Friday, after my two-day mid-week "weekend" to a very different work environment. As a matter of fact my supervisor had to call me with directions around the barricades, had to instruct me on how to get to a job I'd been driving to for six years. I expected increased security, but had not realized the degree to which readiness had been escalated. Every vehicle was searched by bomb-sniffing dogs; sometimes it would take a half-hour to get onto the Base. And the one thing I will always remember, the one thing that signified that the world had changed was having machine gun nests with 18-to-20-year-olds pointing machine guns at my car as I came to work over the next few months. Not even the snipers walking around our tower's catwalk those same months--only their heads and the tips of their guns visible to us--would have that effect on me.
My kids were one and two years old. It's sad that they will never know the world, this country as it was before that day. I'm proud that in fact there was something that I could do that morning and that along with my brother and sister controllers, we got it done.
In the years that followed, the FAA decided to develop a strategic plan to put into place should U.S. airspace need to be shut down again. After much research, the agency came to the conclusion that what we had done in fact couldn't be planned for, that leaving the emergency in the hands of the controllers on the job at the time was really the only way with which the situation could be dealt. There was no plan for what we had done and there never would be.
I cannot imagine going a day without my family much less ten years. My heart goes out to all of those whose reality was altered materially more, whose horror and grief so eclipses the slights of my experience that the two cannot be compared. I can adjust to more security at work, to a new protocol there. What I could not adjust to would be a new protocol at home.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Long Day of Long Ball
It's late, so I'll be brief.
Today's football games were fantastic: Lots of terrific endings and some satisfying underdog victories. And there were some valiant efforts that fell short, most notably for me, Colorado's OT defeat by Cal. Since the game was not on TV, we had to do the old "Fireside Chat" bit and listen over the radio--actually on the web to the live stream from KOA-850AM "Colorado's Progressive Talk" and home of the Colorado Radio Network for CU sports.
Those of you lucky enough to have a venerable and excitable "voice of" guy for your team would appreciate Larry Zimmer, voice of the Buffs. He is impassioned and says what he thinks. Think Keith Jackson (a sports god, in my opinion) without the accent, then replace the warm charm with light sarcasm and you've got Zimm.
Of the 64 games I picked, I was successful in just 39. That's batting over .500, but I would liked to have had a few more.
So I had a great Week One and an average Week Two. If I don't have another breakout week next time I'm letting the dogs pick. Hey, they do pretty well in our annual household Battle of the Bowls!
Today's football games were fantastic: Lots of terrific endings and some satisfying underdog victories. And there were some valiant efforts that fell short, most notably for me, Colorado's OT defeat by Cal. Since the game was not on TV, we had to do the old "Fireside Chat" bit and listen over the radio--actually on the web to the live stream from KOA-850AM "Colorado's Progressive Talk" and home of the Colorado Radio Network for CU sports.
Those of you lucky enough to have a venerable and excitable "voice of" guy for your team would appreciate Larry Zimmer, voice of the Buffs. He is impassioned and says what he thinks. Think Keith Jackson (a sports god, in my opinion) without the accent, then replace the warm charm with light sarcasm and you've got Zimm.
Of the 64 games I picked, I was successful in just 39. That's batting over .500, but I would liked to have had a few more.
So I had a great Week One and an average Week Two. If I don't have another breakout week next time I'm letting the dogs pick. Hey, they do pretty well in our annual household Battle of the Bowls!
In Order to Honor
Today will, of course, be full of college football for me and I will blog at length later about what looks like an epically bad week for me.
But that is sport and inconsequential when compared to what will weigh on the minds of many this weekend. The tenth anniversary of "Today Our Nation Saw Evil" (as the headline recalled) is upon us and it seemed more appropriate given the importance of the day to have a voice here of someone who has a story to tell.
My husband, Randy, will be the guest blogger tomorrow and will share with you what it was like to be an air traffic controller on duty that morning. He will be able to give an insider's view into how a thing that had never been done--a complete US ground-stop of all aircraft--was accomplished.
And I think that's the thing I most remember about the days that followed: No airplanes. There were the F-16s roaring through their turns over our mountains in order to draw their constant circles above NORAD, but in between their passovers it was eerily quiet: the sky didn't wink aluminum glints at us through the sunlight, it didn't groan with a far away hunger, it just sat there empty and blue.
The joyous pretend people were gone and we couldn't look up to notice the contrail and wonder if someone was bound for a vacation on a Mexican beach or to a long-awaited retirement in Hawaii, headed to visit a much missed college student in the Arizona desert or going to some life-affirming job interview in LA. The things moving through the sky were no longer about happiness but watchfulness and we knew exactly why there were there.
I hope you will find your own special way to pay tribute to all those touched by that day whether the effect was felt ten years ago or will occur ten years from now. So many ripples from that stagnant pond of fear and hate and pain. But where there was stagnation, water now flows freely beneath the rising shadow of One World Trade Center or The Freedom Tower. Two lovely waterfall/reflection pools fill those two voids and honor the names of all who perished on that day whether in New York, Washington, or Pennsylvania. The flag stirs with the breezes outside the Pentagon. And in a forest-surrounded field in Shanksville, birds sing and grass grows.
Nature reminds us that time marches on, the sun and moon come up and go down, and the days and years flow like those Ground Zero waterfalls. We do not stand still, frozen in a moment, but we do stand quietly letting our hearts go to all those who hurt and our minds wander over all the special moments, all the memories-to-be that one too crisp, too pretty fall morning suddenly made impossible.
So tomorrow we pause, and in doing so we will likely recall many things that have lain dormant for a decade. We will be shown video, will hear audio, will read accounts that may set off our own flood of mental imagery from our own personal 9/11. May we all find a restorative way in which to observe, honor, and remember.
But that is sport and inconsequential when compared to what will weigh on the minds of many this weekend. The tenth anniversary of "Today Our Nation Saw Evil" (as the headline recalled) is upon us and it seemed more appropriate given the importance of the day to have a voice here of someone who has a story to tell.
My husband, Randy, will be the guest blogger tomorrow and will share with you what it was like to be an air traffic controller on duty that morning. He will be able to give an insider's view into how a thing that had never been done--a complete US ground-stop of all aircraft--was accomplished.
And I think that's the thing I most remember about the days that followed: No airplanes. There were the F-16s roaring through their turns over our mountains in order to draw their constant circles above NORAD, but in between their passovers it was eerily quiet: the sky didn't wink aluminum glints at us through the sunlight, it didn't groan with a far away hunger, it just sat there empty and blue.
The joyous pretend people were gone and we couldn't look up to notice the contrail and wonder if someone was bound for a vacation on a Mexican beach or to a long-awaited retirement in Hawaii, headed to visit a much missed college student in the Arizona desert or going to some life-affirming job interview in LA. The things moving through the sky were no longer about happiness but watchfulness and we knew exactly why there were there.
I hope you will find your own special way to pay tribute to all those touched by that day whether the effect was felt ten years ago or will occur ten years from now. So many ripples from that stagnant pond of fear and hate and pain. But where there was stagnation, water now flows freely beneath the rising shadow of One World Trade Center or The Freedom Tower. Two lovely waterfall/reflection pools fill those two voids and honor the names of all who perished on that day whether in New York, Washington, or Pennsylvania. The flag stirs with the breezes outside the Pentagon. And in a forest-surrounded field in Shanksville, birds sing and grass grows.
Nature reminds us that time marches on, the sun and moon come up and go down, and the days and years flow like those Ground Zero waterfalls. We do not stand still, frozen in a moment, but we do stand quietly letting our hearts go to all those who hurt and our minds wander over all the special moments, all the memories-to-be that one too crisp, too pretty fall morning suddenly made impossible.
So tomorrow we pause, and in doing so we will likely recall many things that have lain dormant for a decade. We will be shown video, will hear audio, will read accounts that may set off our own flood of mental imagery from our own personal 9/11. May we all find a restorative way in which to observe, honor, and remember.
Friday, September 9, 2011
WEEK TWO: Pigskin Pick'ems
Well fresh off a Week One of a victorious 3-1 prognostication streak with over 30 games selected, I'm gonna press my luck and pick over 40 games for Week Two.
And here they are (WINNERS in caps):
Friday Night Games
*MISSOURI @ Arizona State
*Florida International @ LOUISVILLE
Saturday's Games
*Northwestern State @ LSU
*ALABAMA @ Penn State (Hi, Mr. Scarborough!--I picked red over blue??!!)
*Charleston Southern @ FLORIDA STATE
*STANFORD @ Duke (Andy the Lucky, don't wear out your arm! FEAR THE TREE and GO THE CARDINAL! All the way, baby.)
*Oregon State @ WISCONSIN (I was amazed at how awful the Beavers were in Week One.)
*Fresno State @ NEBRASKA (It absolutely pains me to pick the Huskers, but the Bulldogs are weak.)
*Virginia Tech @ EAST CAROLINA (I know, but I'm goin' w/the Pirates until they win...soon?)
*SOUTH CAROLINA @ Georgia (For hippiechik62 who is very often right.)
*Nevada @ OREGON (Nevada is a good team and hopefully the game will reflect that, but not too much as the DUCKIES need a salve for last week's wounding. CheeriO-DUCKS!)
*New Mexico @ ARKANSAS
*Toledo @ OHIO STATE (I'd love to be wrong here.)
*MISSISSIPPI STATE @ Auburn
*FLORIDA ATLANTIC @ Michigan State (Sorry, Sparty.)
*University of Alabama-Birmingham @ FLORIDA
*Norfolk State @ WEST VIRGINIA (Picked against Mountaineers last week and they burned me.)
*Ball State @ SOUTH FLORIDA (I think this will be a very good game; edge goes to USF.)
*Brigham Young @ TEXAS (The 'Horns could use a reason to smile this week. Good luck to them.)
*Texas Christian @ AIR FORCE (Our "Flacons" have a good team this year. Gotta go with homies.)
*Central Michigan @ KENTUCKY
*RUTGERS @ University of North Carolina
*Maine @ PITT
*NC STATE @ Wake Forest
*WOFFORD @ Clemson (Reason 1: My old hometown. Reason 2: Grad of S.C., hate Clemson.)
*CINCINNATI @ Tennessee (Gotta go long once in a while.)
*SC STATE @ Bethune-Cookman (Bulldogs need that first win.)
*Rhode Island @ SYRACUSE
*North Dakota @ IDAHO (Go Vandals!)
*MURRAY STATE @ Mississippi Valley State (Pure freaking guess here.)
*Southern Illinois @ OLE MISS
*TEMPLE @ Akron (Whoo, whoo...)
*STONY BROOK @ Buffalo (Again, just a weird feeling b/c I would normally go with Buffalo.)
*FURMAN @ Citadel (Good memories and best wishes.)
*NAVY @ Western Kentucky
*HOUSTON @ North Texas
*Memphis @ ARKANSAS STATE (It's a mental coin flip.)
*Robert Morris @ LIBERTY
*Central Arkansas @ LOUISIANA TECH (See ARK ST pick.)
*GEORGIA TECH @ Middle Tennessee
*GRAMBLING STATE @ Louisiana-Monroe
*Connecticut @ VANDERBILT (This one's for you, Willie Geist. GetWellSoon & welcome to the broken coccyx club.)
*Notre Dame @ MICHIGAN (Hey, I was right about "Our Ladies" last week wasn't I?!)
*WEBER STATE @ Utah State (Again, a toss up for me.)
44 picks, 44th President: May the tallest, smartest, most patient man win. OK, I give already.
Enjoy the games, all. (Results and commentary will be posted on Monday.)
AND LEST I FORGET #45: CALIFORNIA @ Colorado (Sorry Buffs, I hope you'll surprise me.)
DANG IT ALL, I just don't know when to quit. Do you think I'm watering down the results with sheer volume here? You know, leveling out the curve as it were? Whatever the reason, I have 19 more picks. This is it, I swear. 64 has got to be a representative sampling already!
*IOWA @ Iowa State
*San Diego State @ ARMY
*University of Northern Colorado @ COLORADO STATE
*PURDUE @ Rice
*HAWAII @ Washington (Sorry Steve, I'm picking against you again my old USC "pal".)
*Southern Mississippi @ MARSHALL
*Tulsa @ TULANE
*University of Nevada-Las Vegas @ WASHINGTON STATE (This one should be good as well.)
*Texas State @ WYOMING
*Virginia @ INDIANA
*Morgan State @ BOWLING GREEN
*Gardner-Webb @ OHIO
*Louisiana-Lafayette @ KENT STATE
*Northern Illinois @ KANSAS
*UTEP @ Southern Methodist University
*UTAH @ University of Southern California (I like the Trojans but the Utes are good.)
*Nicholls State @ WESTERN MICHIGAN
*BOSTON COLLEGE @ University of Central Florida
*San Jose State @ UCLA (Come on Rick, keep your dream job alive buddy!! Best, best wishes.)
Let me explain that last one. I was living in Northern California when Rick Neuheisel was finally allowed back into college football. Rick was good to us here in Colorado--even though he left abruptly to go to the Huskies--and we had no idea how good until he was gone. (Not you, Gary Barnett, you are far too pretty a man to ever make me mad.) But Rick is a decent guy and a good coach and he got royally screwed in Seattle. He did nothing to manifest the level of crap visited upon him, and did a lovely pro-bono stint in high school ball as a way to stay sane and to appease the critics. I was so happy for him when he got the UCLA job--the one he'd always wanted--that I made signs and put up on all the windows in my car that I did not need to navigate safely. I was so glad he got his happy ending. Now, with UCLA's struggles, that ending may soon morph into something other than happy. So I want him to win, and not just win, but to bring the great offensive tradition back to UCLA. I hope he gets his chance.
See you again on Saturday evening...either with my head in my hands or my hands in the air.
And here they are (WINNERS in caps):
Friday Night Games
*MISSOURI @ Arizona State
*Florida International @ LOUISVILLE
Saturday's Games
*Northwestern State @ LSU
*ALABAMA @ Penn State (Hi, Mr. Scarborough!--I picked red over blue??!!)
*Charleston Southern @ FLORIDA STATE
*STANFORD @ Duke (Andy the Lucky, don't wear out your arm! FEAR THE TREE and GO THE CARDINAL! All the way, baby.)
*Oregon State @ WISCONSIN (I was amazed at how awful the Beavers were in Week One.)
*Fresno State @ NEBRASKA (It absolutely pains me to pick the Huskers, but the Bulldogs are weak.)
*Virginia Tech @ EAST CAROLINA (I know, but I'm goin' w/the Pirates until they win...soon?)
*SOUTH CAROLINA @ Georgia (For hippiechik62 who is very often right.)
*Nevada @ OREGON (Nevada is a good team and hopefully the game will reflect that, but not too much as the DUCKIES need a salve for last week's wounding. CheeriO-DUCKS!)
*New Mexico @ ARKANSAS
*Toledo @ OHIO STATE (I'd love to be wrong here.)
*MISSISSIPPI STATE @ Auburn
*FLORIDA ATLANTIC @ Michigan State (Sorry, Sparty.)
*University of Alabama-Birmingham @ FLORIDA
*Norfolk State @ WEST VIRGINIA (Picked against Mountaineers last week and they burned me.)
*Ball State @ SOUTH FLORIDA (I think this will be a very good game; edge goes to USF.)
*Brigham Young @ TEXAS (The 'Horns could use a reason to smile this week. Good luck to them.)
*Texas Christian @ AIR FORCE (Our "Flacons" have a good team this year. Gotta go with homies.)
*Central Michigan @ KENTUCKY
*RUTGERS @ University of North Carolina
*Maine @ PITT
*NC STATE @ Wake Forest
*WOFFORD @ Clemson (Reason 1: My old hometown. Reason 2: Grad of S.C., hate Clemson.)
*CINCINNATI @ Tennessee (Gotta go long once in a while.)
*SC STATE @ Bethune-Cookman (Bulldogs need that first win.)
*Rhode Island @ SYRACUSE
*North Dakota @ IDAHO (Go Vandals!)
*MURRAY STATE @ Mississippi Valley State (Pure freaking guess here.)
*Southern Illinois @ OLE MISS
*TEMPLE @ Akron (Whoo, whoo...)
*STONY BROOK @ Buffalo (Again, just a weird feeling b/c I would normally go with Buffalo.)
*FURMAN @ Citadel (Good memories and best wishes.)
*NAVY @ Western Kentucky
*HOUSTON @ North Texas
*Memphis @ ARKANSAS STATE (It's a mental coin flip.)
*Robert Morris @ LIBERTY
*Central Arkansas @ LOUISIANA TECH (See ARK ST pick.)
*GEORGIA TECH @ Middle Tennessee
*GRAMBLING STATE @ Louisiana-Monroe
*Connecticut @ VANDERBILT (This one's for you, Willie Geist. GetWellSoon & welcome to the broken coccyx club.)
*Notre Dame @ MICHIGAN (Hey, I was right about "Our Ladies" last week wasn't I?!)
*WEBER STATE @ Utah State (Again, a toss up for me.)
44 picks, 44th President: May the tallest, smartest, most patient man win. OK, I give already.
Enjoy the games, all. (Results and commentary will be posted on Monday.)
AND LEST I FORGET #45: CALIFORNIA @ Colorado (Sorry Buffs, I hope you'll surprise me.)
DANG IT ALL, I just don't know when to quit. Do you think I'm watering down the results with sheer volume here? You know, leveling out the curve as it were? Whatever the reason, I have 19 more picks. This is it, I swear. 64 has got to be a representative sampling already!
*IOWA @ Iowa State
*San Diego State @ ARMY
*University of Northern Colorado @ COLORADO STATE
*PURDUE @ Rice
*HAWAII @ Washington (Sorry Steve, I'm picking against you again my old USC "pal".)
*Southern Mississippi @ MARSHALL
*Tulsa @ TULANE
*University of Nevada-Las Vegas @ WASHINGTON STATE (This one should be good as well.)
*Texas State @ WYOMING
*Virginia @ INDIANA
*Morgan State @ BOWLING GREEN
*Gardner-Webb @ OHIO
*Louisiana-Lafayette @ KENT STATE
*Northern Illinois @ KANSAS
*UTEP @ Southern Methodist University
*UTAH @ University of Southern California (I like the Trojans but the Utes are good.)
*Nicholls State @ WESTERN MICHIGAN
*BOSTON COLLEGE @ University of Central Florida
*San Jose State @ UCLA (Come on Rick, keep your dream job alive buddy!! Best, best wishes.)
Let me explain that last one. I was living in Northern California when Rick Neuheisel was finally allowed back into college football. Rick was good to us here in Colorado--even though he left abruptly to go to the Huskies--and we had no idea how good until he was gone. (Not you, Gary Barnett, you are far too pretty a man to ever make me mad.) But Rick is a decent guy and a good coach and he got royally screwed in Seattle. He did nothing to manifest the level of crap visited upon him, and did a lovely pro-bono stint in high school ball as a way to stay sane and to appease the critics. I was so happy for him when he got the UCLA job--the one he'd always wanted--that I made signs and put up on all the windows in my car that I did not need to navigate safely. I was so glad he got his happy ending. Now, with UCLA's struggles, that ending may soon morph into something other than happy. So I want him to win, and not just win, but to bring the great offensive tradition back to UCLA. I hope he gets his chance.
See you again on Saturday evening...either with my head in my hands or my hands in the air.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
American Jobs Act: A Country Song
"You should pass it right away" was the President's cadenced refrain in tonight's speech to a joint session of Congress in which he unveiled his plan, The American Jobs Act.
Some of the highlights of his proposal:
*Payroll Taxes would be cut in half for individuals and businesses
*At least 30,000 schools would be repaired or modernized
*Emphasis on hiring construction workers, teachers, veterans, and the long-term unemployed
*All measures would be paid for with off-setting "aggressive debt reduction plan" TBA
*No earmarks
*Every aspect of the plan has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past or currently
The President basically wants to create incentives for businesses to hire people, get the government hiring workers to perform construction projects in education and transportation, and reform the tax code so that everyone pays their "fair share". The plan would also continue the President's directive to examine all government regulations (500 of which have already been identified for retirement) to determine which are necessary and which are harmful to the business climate. Unemployment insurance would be extended for another year, allowing those folks to continue to exist and contribute to their local economies. The President also favors cutting red tape in order to assure that government contracted businesses receive their payments quicker and in order to get more homeowners qualified to refinance and take advantage of the nearly record low rate of around 4%. The President also urged the members of Congress to work quickly to pass the current stack of trade agreements so that "the next generation of manufacturing will be here in America and not in China."
And once he had all that laid out in much more detail than I will go into here, once he had the sheet music laid bare upon the piano top, then he began to play the music many of us had so desperately wished to hear. He lifted us from the Blues with lines like these:
"No single American built this nation"
"We are responsible to ourselves and to each other"
"The next election is 14 months away and the people who hired us, who sent us here don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months"
"We're bigger than our politics have been"
"The last thing our veterans should have to do is fight for a job when they come home"
He brought us back to Earth with arias of truth:
"Every rule in this plan will have to meet a common sense test"
"Every project will have to meet two requirements: 'How badly is it needed?' and 'Is it good for the economy?'"
And he belted out cautionary tales with the vibrancy of voice, the glint in the eye of a cause-driven singer-songwriter when he reminded us:
"I know some of you have signed pledges to never pass a raise in taxes on anything for as long as you live, but now is not the time to carve out an exception and raise taxes on the middle class"
"Tax breaks shouldn't go to corporations with the best lobbyists, they should go to companies that create jobs in America"
"We can't afford to do both" (pass the AJA and give breaks to the top earners and corps.)
"I will not allow this economic crisis to be used as an excuse for (taking away) the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades"
"I do not believe we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to save the economy"
He told us that "This is not political grandstanding, it's not class warfare, it's simple math." He asked that we all be willing to "change the way we do business." He explained that Medicare and Social Security would have to be reformed, not because they are fool's errands but because the future retirees who would need those funds that had been withheld from their paychecks all their working years would not receive their monies unless reforms are made. He did not ask that we soak the rich, but that we all stand in the fountain together and let a little mist fall out way.
Tonight, President Obama spoke of the tapestry of our great nation. He reminded us that we all have a duty to ourselves to be responsible, but he rejected the notion that we should gut the government of all size and spending in order to just be on our own. "There is another thread" that winds through America, he said. "A belief that we're all connected." He asked us to ponder what this country would look like today if nothing had been built because government wasn't supposed to do those things. What if we had no research universities, no high school buildings, no highways, no bridges, no GI Bill (which allowed his own grandfather to receive an education), no internet, no Medicare and no Social Security? "How many would have suffered over some rigid idea of government?"
To circle back to the beginning of the speech in which he enumerated the skepticism prevalent in the country concerning our "greatness" and the promise of the future, he quoted President Kennedy who said that "Problems are man made and man can solve them". He cast his purview back to the beginnings of the Republican Party and President Lincoln who began our land grant colleges, the first trans-continental railroad, and the National Academy of Sciences. And in doing so the President laid out the map of who we've been and who we still should endeavor to be as a nation.
"That's not who we are" he said more than once when speaking of our gridlock or our baiting of one against another. "This is America" he intoned with a sincerity that elevated even the grand hall in which he stood. Tonight, President Barack Obama was a statesman.
When the glow of the moment wears off, what will be accomplished? I cannot say for sure. But I do believe that the President intends to do what he can on his own and go to the American people for support with what (if anything) the Republicans choose not to do. And I hope we'll listen because we are all connected and not one of us can do everything without the others.
I may never meet you, but I've laid metaphorical hands on your child's school books. I may never run into you in the market, but I've heard about your town's flooding and I want you to get those soggy sandbags turned into levees or dams. We may never share a conversation over a cup of coffee, but I want your child to come home safely from the wars. And though you haven't driven on my mountain pass, you have cast the shadow of your largess alongside the spruce trees there.
We are all investors in each other. We are not really labels nor parties, though those are fun rhetorical playthings for us and that's fine. When I'm doing okay I pull you up and when I fall you keep me in gear. We are all in the same chorus with the same sheet music in the same 235-season long opera.
I'm willing to take on the alto parts. Are you soprano or tenor?
Some of the highlights of his proposal:
*Payroll Taxes would be cut in half for individuals and businesses
*At least 30,000 schools would be repaired or modernized
*Emphasis on hiring construction workers, teachers, veterans, and the long-term unemployed
*All measures would be paid for with off-setting "aggressive debt reduction plan" TBA
*No earmarks
*Every aspect of the plan has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past or currently
The President basically wants to create incentives for businesses to hire people, get the government hiring workers to perform construction projects in education and transportation, and reform the tax code so that everyone pays their "fair share". The plan would also continue the President's directive to examine all government regulations (500 of which have already been identified for retirement) to determine which are necessary and which are harmful to the business climate. Unemployment insurance would be extended for another year, allowing those folks to continue to exist and contribute to their local economies. The President also favors cutting red tape in order to assure that government contracted businesses receive their payments quicker and in order to get more homeowners qualified to refinance and take advantage of the nearly record low rate of around 4%. The President also urged the members of Congress to work quickly to pass the current stack of trade agreements so that "the next generation of manufacturing will be here in America and not in China."
And once he had all that laid out in much more detail than I will go into here, once he had the sheet music laid bare upon the piano top, then he began to play the music many of us had so desperately wished to hear. He lifted us from the Blues with lines like these:
"No single American built this nation"
"We are responsible to ourselves and to each other"
"The next election is 14 months away and the people who hired us, who sent us here don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months"
"We're bigger than our politics have been"
"The last thing our veterans should have to do is fight for a job when they come home"
He brought us back to Earth with arias of truth:
"Every rule in this plan will have to meet a common sense test"
"Every project will have to meet two requirements: 'How badly is it needed?' and 'Is it good for the economy?'"
And he belted out cautionary tales with the vibrancy of voice, the glint in the eye of a cause-driven singer-songwriter when he reminded us:
"I know some of you have signed pledges to never pass a raise in taxes on anything for as long as you live, but now is not the time to carve out an exception and raise taxes on the middle class"
"Tax breaks shouldn't go to corporations with the best lobbyists, they should go to companies that create jobs in America"
"We can't afford to do both" (pass the AJA and give breaks to the top earners and corps.)
"I will not allow this economic crisis to be used as an excuse for (taking away) the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades"
"I do not believe we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to save the economy"
He told us that "This is not political grandstanding, it's not class warfare, it's simple math." He asked that we all be willing to "change the way we do business." He explained that Medicare and Social Security would have to be reformed, not because they are fool's errands but because the future retirees who would need those funds that had been withheld from their paychecks all their working years would not receive their monies unless reforms are made. He did not ask that we soak the rich, but that we all stand in the fountain together and let a little mist fall out way.
Tonight, President Obama spoke of the tapestry of our great nation. He reminded us that we all have a duty to ourselves to be responsible, but he rejected the notion that we should gut the government of all size and spending in order to just be on our own. "There is another thread" that winds through America, he said. "A belief that we're all connected." He asked us to ponder what this country would look like today if nothing had been built because government wasn't supposed to do those things. What if we had no research universities, no high school buildings, no highways, no bridges, no GI Bill (which allowed his own grandfather to receive an education), no internet, no Medicare and no Social Security? "How many would have suffered over some rigid idea of government?"
To circle back to the beginning of the speech in which he enumerated the skepticism prevalent in the country concerning our "greatness" and the promise of the future, he quoted President Kennedy who said that "Problems are man made and man can solve them". He cast his purview back to the beginnings of the Republican Party and President Lincoln who began our land grant colleges, the first trans-continental railroad, and the National Academy of Sciences. And in doing so the President laid out the map of who we've been and who we still should endeavor to be as a nation.
"That's not who we are" he said more than once when speaking of our gridlock or our baiting of one against another. "This is America" he intoned with a sincerity that elevated even the grand hall in which he stood. Tonight, President Barack Obama was a statesman.
When the glow of the moment wears off, what will be accomplished? I cannot say for sure. But I do believe that the President intends to do what he can on his own and go to the American people for support with what (if anything) the Republicans choose not to do. And I hope we'll listen because we are all connected and not one of us can do everything without the others.
I may never meet you, but I've laid metaphorical hands on your child's school books. I may never run into you in the market, but I've heard about your town's flooding and I want you to get those soggy sandbags turned into levees or dams. We may never share a conversation over a cup of coffee, but I want your child to come home safely from the wars. And though you haven't driven on my mountain pass, you have cast the shadow of your largess alongside the spruce trees there.
We are all investors in each other. We are not really labels nor parties, though those are fun rhetorical playthings for us and that's fine. When I'm doing okay I pull you up and when I fall you keep me in gear. We are all in the same chorus with the same sheet music in the same 235-season long opera.
I'm willing to take on the alto parts. Are you soprano or tenor?
Quote Us, POTUS! (please)
"Oh please, oh please!" to quote the dog in the Far Side cartoon hoping to lure the cat into the clothes dryer with the crudely painted sign: "Cat Fud!"
Likewise I'm working on my crude sign for tonight as I hope to lure POTUS into a mood with "Big Idea!" But I know that he knows more than I know (channeling Rumsfeld?) about the whole situation and hopefully he's gonna go with what makes sense, given that intel, to him and not to his advisers.
I realize that no matter what he says and suggests, he's going to be criticized unmercifully; if not by a caucus, then by a candidate or a news outlet--the man truly cannot win.
BUT he can surprise. And maybe that's all he needs to do--other than write out an executive order demanding 15 million jobs...and yesterday at that. Seriously, if he manages to make his case make sense to the people--in other words if he says what we're feeling--and if he does so in a way that is "inspiring" with details upon which we had not planned, then he may well talk himself out of a tough spot and some folks out of the unemployment lines.
I do want him at the helm throughout this fiscal folly of ours, and I need for him to be strong-willed and confident. Problem for him is we all want something slightly different from the man. We say we want strength and if he gives it he'll be chastised for incitement. We say we want calm and if he gives it he'll be called "uninspired". We say we want compromise and if he gives it, though his efforts may well be rewarded with approval from Congress, he'll be called a sell-out.
If I were him I wouldn't know what to do which is why we are all glad that I am not him. And I think most of us wish him well tonight, would like him to have a victory for US.
I guess the safest quarters for President would involve the adjectives "strong" and "sincere", though throwing in "determined" and "effective" couldn't hurt. We want ideas/plans that will work and they will only work if they can get through the least effective Congress on record. Yeah folks, that's all we're asking of the man.
Let's hope he threads the imperceivable needle with tonight's address. Let's hope he gets at least as much advice from the people he's met in his travels as he does from the well-intending but often misguided desk jockeys in the West Wing. Let's hope a lot of those in need today get some change for their pockets after tonight.
I think my sign will read the same as it does when I wave it in front of Santa: "...AND, lots of surprises!"
P.S. Full, half-wit review here following speech. Come back and read it at half-time. You "half" to!
Likewise I'm working on my crude sign for tonight as I hope to lure POTUS into a mood with "Big Idea!" But I know that he knows more than I know (channeling Rumsfeld?) about the whole situation and hopefully he's gonna go with what makes sense, given that intel, to him and not to his advisers.
I realize that no matter what he says and suggests, he's going to be criticized unmercifully; if not by a caucus, then by a candidate or a news outlet--the man truly cannot win.
BUT he can surprise. And maybe that's all he needs to do--other than write out an executive order demanding 15 million jobs...and yesterday at that. Seriously, if he manages to make his case make sense to the people--in other words if he says what we're feeling--and if he does so in a way that is "inspiring" with details upon which we had not planned, then he may well talk himself out of a tough spot and some folks out of the unemployment lines.
I do want him at the helm throughout this fiscal folly of ours, and I need for him to be strong-willed and confident. Problem for him is we all want something slightly different from the man. We say we want strength and if he gives it he'll be chastised for incitement. We say we want calm and if he gives it he'll be called "uninspired". We say we want compromise and if he gives it, though his efforts may well be rewarded with approval from Congress, he'll be called a sell-out.
If I were him I wouldn't know what to do which is why we are all glad that I am not him. And I think most of us wish him well tonight, would like him to have a victory for US.
I guess the safest quarters for President would involve the adjectives "strong" and "sincere", though throwing in "determined" and "effective" couldn't hurt. We want ideas/plans that will work and they will only work if they can get through the least effective Congress on record. Yeah folks, that's all we're asking of the man.
Let's hope he threads the imperceivable needle with tonight's address. Let's hope he gets at least as much advice from the people he's met in his travels as he does from the well-intending but often misguided desk jockeys in the West Wing. Let's hope a lot of those in need today get some change for their pockets after tonight.
I think my sign will read the same as it does when I wave it in front of Santa: "...AND, lots of surprises!"
P.S. Full, half-wit review here following speech. Come back and read it at half-time. You "half" to!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
On the RED Carpet: Shallow Aesthetics
So who really won and who really lost on the one thing that matters most--appearances?!
Here's how I rank them and why:
1. Rick Perry--looked reasonable and relaxed, very strong instinct to sense an ambush (ask the coyote) and re-direct it into a money shot, even-keeled, respectful to the others and the moderators. Had to be ma'am, that's how he was raised.
2. Jon Huntsman--looked put-together, made some truthful statements, knew how to work the camera, carried himself as if he was smarter than he actually is...which I really hope he realizes.
3. Mitt Romney--dude, who picked out that tie? The man's hair was just shy of "socket shock" and with that 1970s tie he looked like a nervous, mad scientist. (Maybe that was his anti-Perry subliminal ad?) He had some reasonable things to say which helped his ranking, but one wonders how he would do in a really scary situation...like wind.
4. Michele Bachmann--she only looked truly crazy one time, she was calm and in control of her grasp of the information, she did not let herself get rattled, but after the last debate tonight was a breeze.
5. Herman Cain--really liked the suit as it made him appear much thinner, he knew what he wanted to say and he said it. But most of it was goofy.
6. Ron Paul--teensy, little hobbit, more of a small garden gnome really, Paul got lots of face time which upped his stock but, as usual, he seemed agitated and desperate. Did everything but pull on the moderators' pants legs for attention.
7. Newt Gingrich--the luster, if ever there was one, is now gone and Newt was more like the weird uncle who interjects himself into the conversation during Thanksgiving dinner just often enough that you realize he's still there and not yet passed out.
8. Rick Santorum--the man always looks terrified as if he's staring something down that no one else can see. Maybe he is, but it isn't inspiring to watch.
Okay, I've taken up enough ether. I need to go watch the analysts' appraisals of the evening's folly.
Here's how I rank them and why:
1. Rick Perry--looked reasonable and relaxed, very strong instinct to sense an ambush (ask the coyote) and re-direct it into a money shot, even-keeled, respectful to the others and the moderators. Had to be ma'am, that's how he was raised.
2. Jon Huntsman--looked put-together, made some truthful statements, knew how to work the camera, carried himself as if he was smarter than he actually is...which I really hope he realizes.
3. Mitt Romney--dude, who picked out that tie? The man's hair was just shy of "socket shock" and with that 1970s tie he looked like a nervous, mad scientist. (Maybe that was his anti-Perry subliminal ad?) He had some reasonable things to say which helped his ranking, but one wonders how he would do in a really scary situation...like wind.
4. Michele Bachmann--she only looked truly crazy one time, she was calm and in control of her grasp of the information, she did not let herself get rattled, but after the last debate tonight was a breeze.
5. Herman Cain--really liked the suit as it made him appear much thinner, he knew what he wanted to say and he said it. But most of it was goofy.
6. Ron Paul--teensy, little hobbit, more of a small garden gnome really, Paul got lots of face time which upped his stock but, as usual, he seemed agitated and desperate. Did everything but pull on the moderators' pants legs for attention.
7. Newt Gingrich--the luster, if ever there was one, is now gone and Newt was more like the weird uncle who interjects himself into the conversation during Thanksgiving dinner just often enough that you realize he's still there and not yet passed out.
8. Rick Santorum--the man always looks terrified as if he's staring something down that no one else can see. Maybe he is, but it isn't inspiring to watch.
Okay, I've taken up enough ether. I need to go watch the analysts' appraisals of the evening's folly.
Crazy Eights: The Awards Show
Well it was a fine and steamy evening under the wings of the 747 in Simi Valley, and I managed to take 12 pages of notes. Granted, I do write REALLY BIG, but I have compiled a list of things I liked and did not like from the evening.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LIKES! ;~)
Best ad lib of the evening goes to Newt Gingrich. When asked if his foreward in Rick Perry's FED UP! in which he wrote that the Texas governor was "uniquely qualified" meant that Perry had Newt's proxy, Newt said it means "if he wants to write another book, I'll write another foreward."
Best passive/agressive statement goes to Mitt Romney. When commenting on Perry's "job creation" in Texas--and citing that state's many oil reserves, the fact that it's a "right-to-work" state, and that they have zero income tax--Romney said Perry's taking credit for that "is like Al Gore saying he invented the internet". Nice way to work in a jab on Gore without seeming to be overt.
Best use of children goes to Michele Bachmann. She's raised 28 kids so, as she said, "I know kids need a job". Not sure where she stands on child labor laws, however.
Best ambush of the evening goes to Rick Perry. When Ron Paul tried to skewer Perry on the Hillarycare letter, Perry threw it back in Paul's face with, "I'm more interested in your letter to President Reagan saying you were gonna quit the party because of his policies."
Best truth of the evening goes to Ron Paul and was a direct response to the "best ambush". Paul asked us to remember the 1980s and stated that that era wasn't so great. "Reagan ran up huge deficits." Damn straight you odd, little man!
Best use of irony for the evening is a tie between Rick Perry and the audience. Perry, who earlier in the debate, while defending his reasoning for the executive order on HPV vaccines, said: "I'll err on the side of saving lives" got huge applause later for being the governor with 234 more executions than any other modern-day governor.
Best use of double-entendre goes to...of course, Rick Perry. When asked to defend big cuts in education while claiming education as a top priority of his administration, he said it best: "(we) made thoughtful reductions". I'll just bet they did reduce thought. Why do we let these people make the textbook selection for the rest of the country?!
Best use of advertising goes to Newt. He managed to work in three plugs when he said we should let "American Express, MasterCard, and Visa run a legal guest worker program." (This information was just brought to you by Apple.)
Best idea if you don't think about it too long goes to Mitt Romney. He wants people with incomes up to and under $200,000/year to pay no taxes on savings: tax-free interest, tax-free dividends, and no tax on capital gains. I would benefit from that and so would most people I know. But aren't we supposed to be looking for revenue? So where is the pain gonna come from? You know there has to be pain.
DISLIKES! ;+{
The worst impact on my family award goes to Ron Paul, who would privatize ATC. No thank you, after 20 years of service--and millions of lives protected--let's not change the rules, please.
Worst instance of paranoia goes to Ron Paul as well. He worries that a border fence "might be used to keep us in." Oh lord, where to start...
Worst source of a bad nightmare tonight goes to Michele Bachmann. She said she is privvy to classified stuff. And no, I don't think that's a euphemism.
Worst timing for a policy position goes to Newt Gingrich who wants to raise the unemployment rate by firing Fed Chair Bernanke "tomorrow". Then who would not tell us what not to do?
Worst prioritizing also goes to Newt who wants a Department of Homeland Security which makes us capable of handling 3 nuclear attacks in one day. But what about levees for New Orleans, dams for Vermont, and eventually re-seeding for Texas. Score: Forest=1, Trees=0.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But let's end on a high note. I believe the most important thing is not what I liked or did not like but rather what I learned. Here's a tally of the things I heard that were...
NEWS TO ME! <:o
8. Michele Bachmann, I cannot believe it but you taught me nothing tonight!
7. Herman Cain only taught me that 10 percent is "good enough for God" so 9 percent should be good enough for the government.
6. Rick Santorum taught me two things during the debate. In the 12 years he was serving on the Hill he "did the most work for the poor." And, the United Nations told President Obama to go in to Libya.
4/5. We have a tie! Jon Huntsman taught me three things: Teleprompters are bad for gas prices, America is a bad apple with a "weak, broken core", and in his biggest lesson he said, "I can get elected." Newt Gingrich also taught me three things: You cannot examine Rick Perry's book because when he wrote it he wasn't running for President, President Obama is committed to class warfare because he doesn't consult the candidates in the GOP race, and the media is trying to get the Republicans to argue so that they can prop up President Obama.
2/3. Another tie! Mitt Romney taught me four lessons tonight. Independent mandates only work in Massachusetts, green jobs are not real jobs, the heart of the Republican Party has always been to care for those in need, and we have so many illegal immigrants because nobody has bothered to turn off the big magnet that draws them all here! Not to be outdone by the competition, Rick Perry also rattled off four teachings. Apparently, when it comes to job creation 3 months of Perry = 4 years of Romney, the reason there are so many uninsured people in Texas is because the feds won't let them run their own program, you do not have to explain a statement you made if it is "philosophical", and science is "unsettled".
AND NOW FOR OUR WINNER>>>
<<<They say wisdom comes with age...
1. And it's true! Ron Paul, you have taken me to school to the tune of seven big lessons. And here they are: The marketplace regulates itself, the minimum wage hurts the poor, a dime is worth $3.50, big government kept the pilots from carrying guns which facilitated events such as 9/11, FEMA conditions people to build where they shouldn't, the way to end the war in Afghanistan is to take the A/C out of the troops' tents, and--did you know this--Rep. Paul has THE RULE BOOK so he's the only one who knows what the government can do, legally. I guess that means we don't have another choice: If he has the thing I suppose we've gotta vote him in, right? Nope, but that's what he's counting on.
(FYI: If you want to read my moment-by-moment account, check out my twitter feed on the left side of this page.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LIKES! ;~)
Best ad lib of the evening goes to Newt Gingrich. When asked if his foreward in Rick Perry's FED UP! in which he wrote that the Texas governor was "uniquely qualified" meant that Perry had Newt's proxy, Newt said it means "if he wants to write another book, I'll write another foreward."
Best passive/agressive statement goes to Mitt Romney. When commenting on Perry's "job creation" in Texas--and citing that state's many oil reserves, the fact that it's a "right-to-work" state, and that they have zero income tax--Romney said Perry's taking credit for that "is like Al Gore saying he invented the internet". Nice way to work in a jab on Gore without seeming to be overt.
Best use of children goes to Michele Bachmann. She's raised 28 kids so, as she said, "I know kids need a job". Not sure where she stands on child labor laws, however.
Best ambush of the evening goes to Rick Perry. When Ron Paul tried to skewer Perry on the Hillarycare letter, Perry threw it back in Paul's face with, "I'm more interested in your letter to President Reagan saying you were gonna quit the party because of his policies."
Best truth of the evening goes to Ron Paul and was a direct response to the "best ambush". Paul asked us to remember the 1980s and stated that that era wasn't so great. "Reagan ran up huge deficits." Damn straight you odd, little man!
Best use of irony for the evening is a tie between Rick Perry and the audience. Perry, who earlier in the debate, while defending his reasoning for the executive order on HPV vaccines, said: "I'll err on the side of saving lives" got huge applause later for being the governor with 234 more executions than any other modern-day governor.
Best use of double-entendre goes to...of course, Rick Perry. When asked to defend big cuts in education while claiming education as a top priority of his administration, he said it best: "(we) made thoughtful reductions". I'll just bet they did reduce thought. Why do we let these people make the textbook selection for the rest of the country?!
Best use of advertising goes to Newt. He managed to work in three plugs when he said we should let "American Express, MasterCard, and Visa run a legal guest worker program." (This information was just brought to you by Apple.)
Best idea if you don't think about it too long goes to Mitt Romney. He wants people with incomes up to and under $200,000/year to pay no taxes on savings: tax-free interest, tax-free dividends, and no tax on capital gains. I would benefit from that and so would most people I know. But aren't we supposed to be looking for revenue? So where is the pain gonna come from? You know there has to be pain.
DISLIKES! ;+{
The worst impact on my family award goes to Ron Paul, who would privatize ATC. No thank you, after 20 years of service--and millions of lives protected--let's not change the rules, please.
Worst instance of paranoia goes to Ron Paul as well. He worries that a border fence "might be used to keep us in." Oh lord, where to start...
Worst source of a bad nightmare tonight goes to Michele Bachmann. She said she is privvy to classified stuff. And no, I don't think that's a euphemism.
Worst timing for a policy position goes to Newt Gingrich who wants to raise the unemployment rate by firing Fed Chair Bernanke "tomorrow". Then who would not tell us what not to do?
Worst prioritizing also goes to Newt who wants a Department of Homeland Security which makes us capable of handling 3 nuclear attacks in one day. But what about levees for New Orleans, dams for Vermont, and eventually re-seeding for Texas. Score: Forest=1, Trees=0.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But let's end on a high note. I believe the most important thing is not what I liked or did not like but rather what I learned. Here's a tally of the things I heard that were...
NEWS TO ME! <:o
8. Michele Bachmann, I cannot believe it but you taught me nothing tonight!
7. Herman Cain only taught me that 10 percent is "good enough for God" so 9 percent should be good enough for the government.
6. Rick Santorum taught me two things during the debate. In the 12 years he was serving on the Hill he "did the most work for the poor." And, the United Nations told President Obama to go in to Libya.
4/5. We have a tie! Jon Huntsman taught me three things: Teleprompters are bad for gas prices, America is a bad apple with a "weak, broken core", and in his biggest lesson he said, "I can get elected." Newt Gingrich also taught me three things: You cannot examine Rick Perry's book because when he wrote it he wasn't running for President, President Obama is committed to class warfare because he doesn't consult the candidates in the GOP race, and the media is trying to get the Republicans to argue so that they can prop up President Obama.
2/3. Another tie! Mitt Romney taught me four lessons tonight. Independent mandates only work in Massachusetts, green jobs are not real jobs, the heart of the Republican Party has always been to care for those in need, and we have so many illegal immigrants because nobody has bothered to turn off the big magnet that draws them all here! Not to be outdone by the competition, Rick Perry also rattled off four teachings. Apparently, when it comes to job creation 3 months of Perry = 4 years of Romney, the reason there are so many uninsured people in Texas is because the feds won't let them run their own program, you do not have to explain a statement you made if it is "philosophical", and science is "unsettled".
AND NOW FOR OUR WINNER>>>
<<<They say wisdom comes with age...
1. And it's true! Ron Paul, you have taken me to school to the tune of seven big lessons. And here they are: The marketplace regulates itself, the minimum wage hurts the poor, a dime is worth $3.50, big government kept the pilots from carrying guns which facilitated events such as 9/11, FEMA conditions people to build where they shouldn't, the way to end the war in Afghanistan is to take the A/C out of the troops' tents, and--did you know this--Rep. Paul has THE RULE BOOK so he's the only one who knows what the government can do, legally. I guess that means we don't have another choice: If he has the thing I suppose we've gotta vote him in, right? Nope, but that's what he's counting on.
(FYI: If you want to read my moment-by-moment account, check out my twitter feed on the left side of this page.)
SPECIAL PROGRAMMING TONIGHT
I will be live tweeting tonight's GOP Debate @cockeyedsusan and will follow up with a lengthy posting here afterward.
It should be a funny evening--you know, if you find tragedy quite similar to comedy. Luckily for you, I do. Join me back here later and we will poke fun together.
If you want the play-by-play, follow the live tweets. And if this debate is anything like the last one, I'll be firing 'em off every few minutes. Wheee!!
Now, to rest the fingertips...
It should be a funny evening--you know, if you find tragedy quite similar to comedy. Luckily for you, I do. Join me back here later and we will poke fun together.
If you want the play-by-play, follow the live tweets. And if this debate is anything like the last one, I'll be firing 'em off every few minutes. Wheee!!
Now, to rest the fingertips...
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
There's no "I" in Team...
...but there is a "tea" in Teamsters.
Look, I know a lot of the talking heads are all aflutter about Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa's verbage in his Labor Day speech in Detroit. But you know what I did? I listened to the "offending" passages and came to my own conclusion before I let the pundits influence me.
Here's what I HONESTLY believe I heard Hoffa say: We've all got a vote...let's take these SOBs out and reclaim America (to paraphrase). I think he was talking about the damage that so many Republican/Tea Party types have inflicted upon union workers on the local, state, and national level. I think the man was asking people to vote these people out whenever their terms expire. I DO NOT think he was asking them to make that expiration premature through violence.
I have no feeling one way or the other about Hoffa himself, and I don't think that I'm looking at this as an AFL-CIO surrogate. I'm examining this flap from the point of view of a grammarian and a contextual reader. As such, having made my evaluation, I was amazed at the tenor and assumption of the press coverage that followed. Did no one else hear the prefacing "We have a vote" bit?
I may be naive, probably am, but if I thought Hoffa was inciting violence I would say so and call him out on the carpet. If he did in fact mean to elicit such a response, I think he should offer an apology. But if, on the other hand, my reading of his intention is correct, he owes nothing to anyone except perhaps a healthy dose of skepticism toward all his detractors, no matter which end of the political spectrum they claim as their own.
Sometimes we need to be reminded not to succumb to a "produced view" of reality. Sometimes we just need to pay attention to the first draft and not the multiple revisions.
Look, I know a lot of the talking heads are all aflutter about Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa's verbage in his Labor Day speech in Detroit. But you know what I did? I listened to the "offending" passages and came to my own conclusion before I let the pundits influence me.
Here's what I HONESTLY believe I heard Hoffa say: We've all got a vote...let's take these SOBs out and reclaim America (to paraphrase). I think he was talking about the damage that so many Republican/Tea Party types have inflicted upon union workers on the local, state, and national level. I think the man was asking people to vote these people out whenever their terms expire. I DO NOT think he was asking them to make that expiration premature through violence.
I have no feeling one way or the other about Hoffa himself, and I don't think that I'm looking at this as an AFL-CIO surrogate. I'm examining this flap from the point of view of a grammarian and a contextual reader. As such, having made my evaluation, I was amazed at the tenor and assumption of the press coverage that followed. Did no one else hear the prefacing "We have a vote" bit?
I may be naive, probably am, but if I thought Hoffa was inciting violence I would say so and call him out on the carpet. If he did in fact mean to elicit such a response, I think he should offer an apology. But if, on the other hand, my reading of his intention is correct, he owes nothing to anyone except perhaps a healthy dose of skepticism toward all his detractors, no matter which end of the political spectrum they claim as their own.
Sometimes we need to be reminded not to succumb to a "produced view" of reality. Sometimes we just need to pay attention to the first draft and not the multiple revisions.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Love's LABORs Lost: Political Baseball
I believe it was the Fox News Prophet Gregg Jarrett who, just moments ago, replied to the Wall Street Journal's Steve Moore concerning the payroll tax cut: "that goes to workers, not the people who create jobs!"
Workers, one of those loathsome dirty words like people and humans. Revolting really. And therein lies the parameters of the little game we call the two-party American political system. You're supposed to pick sides. If you're rooting for the Elephants, all decked out in red uniforms with a style of offense which makes some fans cringe, you are meant to be on the side of the Evil Empires (the owners, aka lobbyists) who lock out not their players, but do lock them in to just a few play calls. And if you're a Donkeys fan, dressing out in your team's bold blue, you are on the side of the Riff-Raff (the folks who sneak into the stadium without a ticket) who steal everything they've ever gotten including the toilet paper from the bathroom stalls and the relish from the hot dog condiments station. The Donkeys manage to keep their fans astounded with their style of defense: they don't have one.
So you pays your ticket (ballot), you takes your chances (elections). And, sadly, money cannot buy everything and, in this broken political system, we have to actually let those workers (if they're lucky enough to hold the title these days) into the stadium (booth) to cheer (vote).
I was raised by workers. Not just any workers but the worst kind, Unionized workers and in a Right to Work state at that. And much to the chagrin of the Elephant world, I married into a Unionized workers family and...gulp...we procreated. Now we have our own Unionized family, oh, the horror.
You've no doubt heard all the bad press about our type:
*Responsible for the 40-hour workweek
*Inventors of "the weekend"
*Anti-harrassment
*Friends with OSHA
*Arbiters of the evil EOE rule (talk about strangulating regulations!)
and then there's the worst, nasty rumor of all
*Pullers of needy children the world over from their nice, warm chimney flues
I mean really, is it any wonder we are the Muggles in a world of Corporate Wizards? We obviously asked for whatever rotten treatment we get. Like say, working 29 and 3/4 hours a week just so we don't get those benefit-thingies, whatever that is. Like a little game of chase the secretary around the desk until she succumbs. Oh, and the old "Sick? That's not sick. I've seen sick, buddy and you ain't it."
Really, who needs to stay home with a newborn? How are they supposed to learn anything if we coddle them from day one? That's ludicrous. If you do everything for them now, they're gonna expect everything in life from Uncle Sam. They'll feel ENTITLED to every last program they've put money into for every year they work, if they work at all. They're shiftless from the start, of course.
So on this LABOR DAY, I personally apologize for my involvement in all those nasty things that us Union-types may or may not have had anything to do with. And when you're transporting that food to the resort where your wife cleans their toilets, you can wave to the vacationing class because if it wasn't for them you wouldn't have those jobs. And when you linger by your truck waiting for it to be loaded and a kindly Elephant asks about your kids, make sure to smile sincerely and say that the last time you saw them they were doing just fine in that top-notch school of theirs with those well-paid and highly valued teachers, because after all, the Elephants make all those things possible.
And try not to have a wreck on the way back to the warehouse because the EMTs may be busy dealing with other ignorant slobs causing important people to be late for their stockholders' meetings. They just don't think about anyone but themselves, lying there in the ditch bleeding out all of America's treasure.
Hope you splurged for the Season Ticket package as they're promising some great fireworks shows this year. They may even bring out the red, white, and blue Tea-msters who played in the old Constitutional League for an old-timers game of "You're a Socialist!" Ah, what fun for the kiddies.
Now let's all sing-along with that golden oldie, "Pay the Piper, You Know the Tune!":
"Take me out to the Wall (Street) game, listen not to the crowds, poll just the wealthy aristocrats, I can't hear well my Medicare's flat, so it's root, root, root for the House Team, if they don't win we'll be shamed. Cause it's one (chance), two (choices), three STRIKES you're out in the old bold game."
Hey, Hey and Holy Cow, it's a great day, let's play two!
Workers, one of those loathsome dirty words like people and humans. Revolting really. And therein lies the parameters of the little game we call the two-party American political system. You're supposed to pick sides. If you're rooting for the Elephants, all decked out in red uniforms with a style of offense which makes some fans cringe, you are meant to be on the side of the Evil Empires (the owners, aka lobbyists) who lock out not their players, but do lock them in to just a few play calls. And if you're a Donkeys fan, dressing out in your team's bold blue, you are on the side of the Riff-Raff (the folks who sneak into the stadium without a ticket) who steal everything they've ever gotten including the toilet paper from the bathroom stalls and the relish from the hot dog condiments station. The Donkeys manage to keep their fans astounded with their style of defense: they don't have one.
So you pays your ticket (ballot), you takes your chances (elections). And, sadly, money cannot buy everything and, in this broken political system, we have to actually let those workers (if they're lucky enough to hold the title these days) into the stadium (booth) to cheer (vote).
I was raised by workers. Not just any workers but the worst kind, Unionized workers and in a Right to Work state at that. And much to the chagrin of the Elephant world, I married into a Unionized workers family and...gulp...we procreated. Now we have our own Unionized family, oh, the horror.
You've no doubt heard all the bad press about our type:
*Responsible for the 40-hour workweek
*Inventors of "the weekend"
*Anti-harrassment
*Friends with OSHA
*Arbiters of the evil EOE rule (talk about strangulating regulations!)
and then there's the worst, nasty rumor of all
*Pullers of needy children the world over from their nice, warm chimney flues
I mean really, is it any wonder we are the Muggles in a world of Corporate Wizards? We obviously asked for whatever rotten treatment we get. Like say, working 29 and 3/4 hours a week just so we don't get those benefit-thingies, whatever that is. Like a little game of chase the secretary around the desk until she succumbs. Oh, and the old "Sick? That's not sick. I've seen sick, buddy and you ain't it."
Really, who needs to stay home with a newborn? How are they supposed to learn anything if we coddle them from day one? That's ludicrous. If you do everything for them now, they're gonna expect everything in life from Uncle Sam. They'll feel ENTITLED to every last program they've put money into for every year they work, if they work at all. They're shiftless from the start, of course.
So on this LABOR DAY, I personally apologize for my involvement in all those nasty things that us Union-types may or may not have had anything to do with. And when you're transporting that food to the resort where your wife cleans their toilets, you can wave to the vacationing class because if it wasn't for them you wouldn't have those jobs. And when you linger by your truck waiting for it to be loaded and a kindly Elephant asks about your kids, make sure to smile sincerely and say that the last time you saw them they were doing just fine in that top-notch school of theirs with those well-paid and highly valued teachers, because after all, the Elephants make all those things possible.
And try not to have a wreck on the way back to the warehouse because the EMTs may be busy dealing with other ignorant slobs causing important people to be late for their stockholders' meetings. They just don't think about anyone but themselves, lying there in the ditch bleeding out all of America's treasure.
Hope you splurged for the Season Ticket package as they're promising some great fireworks shows this year. They may even bring out the red, white, and blue Tea-msters who played in the old Constitutional League for an old-timers game of "You're a Socialist!" Ah, what fun for the kiddies.
Now let's all sing-along with that golden oldie, "Pay the Piper, You Know the Tune!":
"Take me out to the Wall (Street) game, listen not to the crowds, poll just the wealthy aristocrats, I can't hear well my Medicare's flat, so it's root, root, root for the House Team, if they don't win we'll be shamed. Cause it's one (chance), two (choices), three STRIKES you're out in the old bold game."
Hey, Hey and Holy Cow, it's a great day, let's play two!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Anagram American--or--Ran a Game in a Cram
Everybody knows Mr. Nose Mouth R U is a famous spot on many visitors' list of "must sees" when traveling in America.
When you're there you will enjoy:
a Giant N. Show,
Sneer-off J.,
V. Solo Tree,
and L. L. N Coin.
And if you only see colored italics--
You don't need to stare,
Then you'll know all the whats,
As well as the way out where.
When you're there you will enjoy:
a Giant N. Show,
Sneer-off J.,
V. Solo Tree,
and L. L. N Coin.
And if you only see colored italics--
You don't need to stare,
Then you'll know all the whats,
As well as the way out where.
Political Anagrams: "A Topical Sign Alarm"
Who is:
a) Mr. Money Tit?
b) Prick-erry?
c) R. Sick Man Tour?
d) Abba Karma Co.?
e) I. Eden Job?
f) An M.B. Heal Chic Men?
g) Our Plan?
h) Ran Nice Ham?
i) Gen. Ring Witch?
j) Hon. Jan N. Smut?
k) Lt. Y. Pawn Time?
l) A. Sharp Nail?
m) H. H. Nere No Job?
a) Mr. Money Tit?
b) Prick-erry?
c) R. Sick Man Tour?
d) Abba Karma Co.?
e) I. Eden Job?
f) An M.B. Heal Chic Men?
g) Our Plan?
h) Ran Nice Ham?
i) Gen. Ring Witch?
j) Hon. Jan N. Smut?
k) Lt. Y. Pawn Time?
l) A. Sharp Nail?
m) H. H. Nere No Job?
Pigskin Prophesies: Picks and Axes
Looks like I'm 27-10 so far. Dang it all, Ducks! East Carolina you teased me, but I should congratulate Spurrier for his Gamecocks' rally. Rick, hope your days aren't numbered at UCLA, but they probably are. 'Ole Miss--one point, really? Eastern Washingon...so close; props to the other Coach Steve, too.
Things I loved: Andrew Luck (best Stanford QB since Elway--wish they could win it all in this system), CU's advert which showed the stark difference between an Education and Having Fun (hey Rainbow Warriors, I'll have more to say about the on-the-field comparison later).
Things I did not love: Georgia's unis--were they going for the "Dread Red" or "Bloody Awful"? They looked as if they were on a green screen and not a green field, Brent Musburger's hyperbolic commentary (as usual), the refs in the first quarter of the Oregon-LSU game (though Ducks you know you shot your own little luminous duck feet way too much for that to have mattered in the end), also, Oregon's penalty-machine hi-jinx.
Curiosities: Under Armor's new marbelized-sleeve shirts, the mass exodus from the Big-12...now 10...soon to be none? Let's chat about this a second.
When I first came to be a Colorado Buffs fan it was 1989 and the conference was the Big 8. If rumors pan out it may soon be that again. If T. Boone puts his $ where his mouth is--and he usually does--more defections are in the works. Remember a few years back when the Big 12 was THE conference of note? How quickly things change. And what will the Pac-10, now 12, do with 16 teams? The "Pac-Baker's Dozen Plus Three" sounds a little too Reality TV and is unwieldy at best. But the worst part of re-alignments is always the loss of games amongst rivals. I think one of the best weekends of the season is the Rivalry Week which usually occurs, for most teams, in the third weekend of November. If some of these folks never play each other again, that would be near-tragic.
Then again sometimes you cannot wait long enough to travel back in time. Take the Buffs and Hawaii. Take 1924 and last night. They don't call it "Pair-a-dice" for no reason, and both came up snake-eyes for the Buffaloes. But "Big Mo", the country's most prolific QB did have a personal best in support of Hawaii's 34-17 defeat of CU and Colorado did keep its record streak in tact--18 road games lost. Hey, a record is a record people! Try to think of one streak you've maintained since the Fall of 2007. Sorry if that brings up a sore spot, or a lonely one.
Buffs and Ducks, you make me sad. Cal, I'm proud you stuck with it and won. Stanford...well, what else is there to say but you are magnificent! And when I get blue over the Day-Glo Ducks or the Not-So-Golden Buffs, I know what my mantra shall be: "Fear the Tree", "Fear the Tree", "Fear the Tree".
Things I loved: Andrew Luck (best Stanford QB since Elway--wish they could win it all in this system), CU's advert which showed the stark difference between an Education and Having Fun (hey Rainbow Warriors, I'll have more to say about the on-the-field comparison later).
Things I did not love: Georgia's unis--were they going for the "Dread Red" or "Bloody Awful"? They looked as if they were on a green screen and not a green field, Brent Musburger's hyperbolic commentary (as usual), the refs in the first quarter of the Oregon-LSU game (though Ducks you know you shot your own little luminous duck feet way too much for that to have mattered in the end), also, Oregon's penalty-machine hi-jinx.
Curiosities: Under Armor's new marbelized-sleeve shirts, the mass exodus from the Big-12...now 10...soon to be none? Let's chat about this a second.
When I first came to be a Colorado Buffs fan it was 1989 and the conference was the Big 8. If rumors pan out it may soon be that again. If T. Boone puts his $ where his mouth is--and he usually does--more defections are in the works. Remember a few years back when the Big 12 was THE conference of note? How quickly things change. And what will the Pac-10, now 12, do with 16 teams? The "Pac-Baker's Dozen Plus Three" sounds a little too Reality TV and is unwieldy at best. But the worst part of re-alignments is always the loss of games amongst rivals. I think one of the best weekends of the season is the Rivalry Week which usually occurs, for most teams, in the third weekend of November. If some of these folks never play each other again, that would be near-tragic.
Then again sometimes you cannot wait long enough to travel back in time. Take the Buffs and Hawaii. Take 1924 and last night. They don't call it "Pair-a-dice" for no reason, and both came up snake-eyes for the Buffaloes. But "Big Mo", the country's most prolific QB did have a personal best in support of Hawaii's 34-17 defeat of CU and Colorado did keep its record streak in tact--18 road games lost. Hey, a record is a record people! Try to think of one streak you've maintained since the Fall of 2007. Sorry if that brings up a sore spot, or a lonely one.
Buffs and Ducks, you make me sad. Cal, I'm proud you stuck with it and won. Stanford...well, what else is there to say but you are magnificent! And when I get blue over the Day-Glo Ducks or the Not-So-Golden Buffs, I know what my mantra shall be: "Fear the Tree", "Fear the Tree", "Fear the Tree".
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Prognostication, Week One
COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS UPON US AGAIN!! YIPPEE. I know I'm late to the dance today, but we had some major, major electrical and electronic hullabaloo in Cockeyed Country yesterday. We seem to be out of the smoldering woods...for now. So, as a result, I cannot give you all of my prognostications, but I can give you the majority and update you on my picks for the games that are over or in progress.
I grew up listening to "Leonard's Losers" on the radio every Saturday morning. My folks are not sports fans, but I am, and Leonard was always a fun way to kickoff the kickoffs. Now my go to "get your pigskin on" spot is ESPN's "College Gameday". We never, ever, ever miss an episode--even the Thursday nighters. (I will try to give Thursday NCAA postings as well, but the week got away from me what with the volunteer meeting and a party--both on Thursday night. I should have Boehner's secretary double-check my schedule from now on.)
So, without further ado--and often without anything but heart and soul--I give you my WEEK ONE picks for the magical sport we call NCAA College Football.
The Already Rans (winners or leaders in caps):
Got 'em Right--Tennessee Tech v IOWA, Akron v OHIO STATE, Fordham v CONNECTICUT, Utah State v AUBURN, Indiana State v PENN STATE, Kent State v ALABAMA
Got 'em Wrong--NORTHWESTERN v Boston College
A note about this one. I've been a Northwestern fan for many years, but with QB Persa out, I figured BC had a chance to pull one out. Ironically, on the last play of the game, BC's QB went down.
In Progress Picks:
MISSOURI 17 v Miami (Ohio) 6
Middle Tennessee 24 v PURDUE 27
AND NOW, THE GRAND PROGNOSTICATIONS:
Indiana v BALL STATE (just go with me, here; also, for David Letterman)
Miami v MARYLAND (Miami's off the field distractions are more recent--MON NITE GAME)
UCLA v Houston (gotta pull for Rick Neuheisel to keep his alma mater gig)
Brigham Young v MISSISSIPPI (I don't like BYU, but it isn't "hatred")
SOUTHERN FLORIDA v Notre Dame (this one is pretty close to "hate"--sorry, Irish)
BOISE STATE v Georgia (gotta pull for Kellen and the boys of blue)
OREGON v Louisiana State (the G.o.D. rule applies: "GO DUCKS!!!!!)
Minnesota v USC
Louisiana-Monroe v FLORIDA STATE
Western Michigan v MICHIGAN
Delaware v NAVY
JAMES MADISON v North Carolina (you gotta have an upset or two)
Montana v TENNESSEE (I'd love to pick Montana but lack the balls to do so)
Florida Atlantic v FLORIDA
EAST CAROLINA v South Carolina (I am known to pick against my alma mater whenever they face reasonable opposition. Call it a healthy dose of self-loathing that keeps me grounded.)
RICHMOND v Duke (Dislike for Duke stronger than fear of Spiders...or their uniforms.)
WILLIAM & MARY v Virginia (I know, but "Bill and Mare" was my dream college--I never applied--but I still love them even when they don't stand a chance in Jefferson-land.)
TROY v Clemson (Like I said, I was graduated from the University of SC--Clemson is their arch rival.)
Rice v TEXAS (Like I have a choice here.)
Austin Peay v CINNCINNATI
Missouri State v ARKANSAS (This one's for Bill C.)
Elon v VANDERBILT (This one's for Willie G.)
Tulsa v OKLAHOMA
OHIO v New Mexico State
Louisiana Tech v SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
COLORADO v Hawaii (Yes, I'm a dreamer...nothing but a dreamer-er-er.)
GRAMBLING STATE v Alcorn
EASTERN WASHINGTON v Washington (Nothing against Steve Sarkesian, but the Red can get you.)
San Jose v STANFORD (Go The Cardinal, Go Tree!!)
Idaho State v WASHINGTON STATE (they could really use it)
Buffalo v PITTSBURGH
COLORADO STATE v New Mexico (good luck, Rams!)
Northern Iowa v IOWA STATE
Texas State v TEXAS TECH (not a student; definitely a "rambling wreck", or am I thinking GA Tech?)
Army v NORTHERN ILLINOIS (a tough call for Henry Blake)
Weber State v WYOMING (get 'em, Cowboys!)
Northern Arizona v ARIZONA
Cal Poly v SAN DIEGO STATE (this one's for you, Tony the Aztec!)
MARSHALL v West Virginia (a girl can dream--SUNDAY NITE GAME)
Southern Methodist v TEXAS A&M (this one's for Kevin the Aggie-Techie Man--SUNDAY NITE GAME)
Sacramento State v OREGON STATE (I can pull for the "Beaves" if they aren't playing the Ducks.)
Fresno State v CALIFORNIA (Even on the 49ers field, Cal can bring the Golden Bear charm!)
Sorry for those I left out, I try to be as complete as I can with over 170 teams in play. Looks like the "Flacons" as we call them around here (Air Force) are gonna win handily. (Note: They did, by 17 pts.) And congrats to the Orangemen of Syracuse on their Thursday night win over Wake Forest (I would likely have gone with Wake on that one.) Also congrats to last night's winner of the "Baptist Bowl", where Baylor bested TCU. The Horned Frogs usually find a way to win or hang in forever, but it's hard to overcome hard feelings from last season. Especially when you're up against a quarterback like Griffin (aka RG3). Cute and talented--that's a win-win in my book.
In the complaint department: Maybe I will come to like the new rule, but at first blush I do not care for the matter in which it changes game-ending play call decisions. I speak of the NFL-style 10 second run-off. If you commit a penalty with under a minute left in the game, 10 seconds automatically clicks off the clock. In addition, the game clock restarts as soon as the refs ready the ball for play. I think this will take too much air out of the end of the games, but we'll see.
So crank up your TV or computer machines and enjoy the rest of today's contests. The cheers of the crowds like the rustling of drying leaves on the branches, the strong, buttery, low sunlight, the cool and crisp of the air and the sky: Nothing says Fall like the first weekend of football! Enjoy, my friends. And, of course, GO-PAC 10...I mean, 12!!
I grew up listening to "Leonard's Losers" on the radio every Saturday morning. My folks are not sports fans, but I am, and Leonard was always a fun way to kickoff the kickoffs. Now my go to "get your pigskin on" spot is ESPN's "College Gameday". We never, ever, ever miss an episode--even the Thursday nighters. (I will try to give Thursday NCAA postings as well, but the week got away from me what with the volunteer meeting and a party--both on Thursday night. I should have Boehner's secretary double-check my schedule from now on.)
So, without further ado--and often without anything but heart and soul--I give you my WEEK ONE picks for the magical sport we call NCAA College Football.
The Already Rans (winners or leaders in caps):
Got 'em Right--Tennessee Tech v IOWA, Akron v OHIO STATE, Fordham v CONNECTICUT, Utah State v AUBURN, Indiana State v PENN STATE, Kent State v ALABAMA
Got 'em Wrong--NORTHWESTERN v Boston College
A note about this one. I've been a Northwestern fan for many years, but with QB Persa out, I figured BC had a chance to pull one out. Ironically, on the last play of the game, BC's QB went down.
In Progress Picks:
MISSOURI 17 v Miami (Ohio) 6
Middle Tennessee 24 v PURDUE 27
AND NOW, THE GRAND PROGNOSTICATIONS:
Indiana v BALL STATE (just go with me, here; also, for David Letterman)
Miami v MARYLAND (Miami's off the field distractions are more recent--MON NITE GAME)
UCLA v Houston (gotta pull for Rick Neuheisel to keep his alma mater gig)
Brigham Young v MISSISSIPPI (I don't like BYU, but it isn't "hatred")
SOUTHERN FLORIDA v Notre Dame (this one is pretty close to "hate"--sorry, Irish)
BOISE STATE v Georgia (gotta pull for Kellen and the boys of blue)
OREGON v Louisiana State (the G.o.D. rule applies: "GO DUCKS!!!!!)
Minnesota v USC
Louisiana-Monroe v FLORIDA STATE
Western Michigan v MICHIGAN
Delaware v NAVY
JAMES MADISON v North Carolina (you gotta have an upset or two)
Montana v TENNESSEE (I'd love to pick Montana but lack the balls to do so)
Florida Atlantic v FLORIDA
EAST CAROLINA v South Carolina (I am known to pick against my alma mater whenever they face reasonable opposition. Call it a healthy dose of self-loathing that keeps me grounded.)
RICHMOND v Duke (Dislike for Duke stronger than fear of Spiders...or their uniforms.)
WILLIAM & MARY v Virginia (I know, but "Bill and Mare" was my dream college--I never applied--but I still love them even when they don't stand a chance in Jefferson-land.)
TROY v Clemson (Like I said, I was graduated from the University of SC--Clemson is their arch rival.)
Rice v TEXAS (Like I have a choice here.)
Austin Peay v CINNCINNATI
Missouri State v ARKANSAS (This one's for Bill C.)
Elon v VANDERBILT (This one's for Willie G.)
Tulsa v OKLAHOMA
OHIO v New Mexico State
Louisiana Tech v SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
COLORADO v Hawaii (Yes, I'm a dreamer...nothing but a dreamer-er-er.)
GRAMBLING STATE v Alcorn
EASTERN WASHINGTON v Washington (Nothing against Steve Sarkesian, but the Red can get you.)
San Jose v STANFORD (Go The Cardinal, Go Tree!!)
Idaho State v WASHINGTON STATE (they could really use it)
Buffalo v PITTSBURGH
COLORADO STATE v New Mexico (good luck, Rams!)
Northern Iowa v IOWA STATE
Texas State v TEXAS TECH (not a student; definitely a "rambling wreck", or am I thinking GA Tech?)
Army v NORTHERN ILLINOIS (a tough call for Henry Blake)
Weber State v WYOMING (get 'em, Cowboys!)
Northern Arizona v ARIZONA
Cal Poly v SAN DIEGO STATE (this one's for you, Tony the Aztec!)
MARSHALL v West Virginia (a girl can dream--SUNDAY NITE GAME)
Southern Methodist v TEXAS A&M (this one's for Kevin the Aggie-Techie Man--SUNDAY NITE GAME)
Sacramento State v OREGON STATE (I can pull for the "Beaves" if they aren't playing the Ducks.)
Fresno State v CALIFORNIA (Even on the 49ers field, Cal can bring the Golden Bear charm!)
Sorry for those I left out, I try to be as complete as I can with over 170 teams in play. Looks like the "Flacons" as we call them around here (Air Force) are gonna win handily. (Note: They did, by 17 pts.) And congrats to the Orangemen of Syracuse on their Thursday night win over Wake Forest (I would likely have gone with Wake on that one.) Also congrats to last night's winner of the "Baptist Bowl", where Baylor bested TCU. The Horned Frogs usually find a way to win or hang in forever, but it's hard to overcome hard feelings from last season. Especially when you're up against a quarterback like Griffin (aka RG3). Cute and talented--that's a win-win in my book.
In the complaint department: Maybe I will come to like the new rule, but at first blush I do not care for the matter in which it changes game-ending play call decisions. I speak of the NFL-style 10 second run-off. If you commit a penalty with under a minute left in the game, 10 seconds automatically clicks off the clock. In addition, the game clock restarts as soon as the refs ready the ball for play. I think this will take too much air out of the end of the games, but we'll see.
So crank up your TV or computer machines and enjoy the rest of today's contests. The cheers of the crowds like the rustling of drying leaves on the branches, the strong, buttery, low sunlight, the cool and crisp of the air and the sky: Nothing says Fall like the first weekend of football! Enjoy, my friends. And, of course, GO-PAC 10...I mean, 12!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)