Tag Archives: News

Toreador, don’t spit on the floor

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Dave In Yosemite, Totally Organic, Yet Very Linear

Toreador, don’t spit on the floor. Please use the cuspidor. That’s what it’s a for.

Tonight is a date night. Anne and I are going to the opera. The Saint Louis Opera Theater is performing ‘Carmen’, Georges Bizet’s classic opera about love and betrayal. It is one of Anne’s favorites and tonight’s performance is a belated birthday present for her. In addition to the opera, we are going out to dinner at the Big Sky Cafe. It should be a fun evening and fortified with coffee at dinner, I plan on staying awake through the entire show. Otherwise, our seats become a very expensive place to take a nap. The following is Wiki’s synopsis of the plot:

The opera, written in the genre of opéra comique with musical numbers separated by dialogue, tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naive soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses Carmen’s love to the glamorous toreador Escamillo after which José kills her in a jealous rage.

Anne took the day off from working in the bathroom and did what all great home improvers love to do, she went shopping. She didn’t want to tire herself out and then consequently fall asleep during the opera. Besides going to the hardware store and buying things is the reward for doing home improvement, or should I say the pre-ward, since it invariably occurs before the work is done.

Dave is coming into town tonight. He and Kennard have concert tickets tonight for “Flogging Molly”, at the Pageant. This band has been a favorite of theirs since high school.

Anne got a wrong number call for David today. At least we think that it was a wrong number. The caller asked if our David was the one that wrote a book. Anne said that she didn’t think so. I know of another David that shares our David’s name that is a war correspondent. He recently made the news by reporting what an American general had told him in an interview. He reported that American special forces are infiltrating North Korea. Said general quickly denied saying this, but was just as quickly relieved.

Dave is pictured above in Yosemite, on our family vacation visit there, last month. While in the park we stayed in a ‘tent cabin’ at the Curry Village campground. These are basically glorified tents, with wooden floors and cots. While there, we were constantly warned about bringing food or cosmetics into the tent at night, because of the bears. We had a steel bear box just outside the tent. On our last night there our other son, Dan, heard and felt a bump in the middle of the night. He said that it shook the tent. The rest of us were asleep. Since, he heard no voices, it could have been another camper stumbling home in the dark, but I prefer to believe that it was a bear. The tents were narrowly spaced apart.

Same-Sex Marriage Coming Out

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When the Train Leaves the Station, Are You Onboard?

It has been kind of a blur today, but here goes nothing. I’m a latte-drinking, Prius-driving, NPR-listening liberal. So, it would not be a major leap of imagination to surmise that I support President Obama. This would include today’s announcement, where he stated that “same-sex marriage should be legal”. This statement was a long time coming. The fact that it was made was no surprise, but its timing was. I did not expect it until after the election. It was foreshadowed last week, when Vice-President Biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage. Tossed-off at the time as another Biden gaff, it might have been a trial balloon instead. Anyway, today Obama doubled-down on the issue.

Whatever, the nuances of Obama’s position is, mine is that the legal definition should be broadened to include a marriage contract between any two consenting adults. The benefits and responsibilities of marriage should be available, without regard to sex. Not doing so is discriminatory. I also feel that any lesser forms of marriage, like domestic partnerships, are as fair as separate but equal was. Fundamentally, this is a civil rights issue.

Others might protest that homosexuality is an affront to God. It is written in the Bible. It is written. I should strike this paragraph, because I don’t want to invite an argument with the religious right, it is a waste of my time and theirs. I simply want to acknowledge their differing beliefs. They are entitled to their beliefs. Their beliefs are enshrined in the Constitution, as are mine. Pray for me, if you think it helps.

I believe that my dear departed mother was way out ahead of me on this. Back as far as the early ‘80, she studied, and socialized with gay men. When the AIDS epidemic erupted, she also mourned for and with her friends. I never discussed the issue of same-sex marriage with her, but she always believed in gay rights, so connect the dots.

The ‘Fortune 100’ corporation that I work for offers same-sex dependent benefits. It also prohibits discrimination based upon sexual preference. Both of these policies are to its credit. Between my mom and my employer, my coming out in support for equal rights for gay people, is almost as overdue as the president’s. Well, better late then never.

Slow Jammin’ the Day Away

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We had plans to bicycle in Illinois today, but weather interfered. So, we ended up planning some penitential cleaning instead. Before we started though, as part of the process of girding our loins to do battle, we web surfed the morning away. One gem that was found was President Barack Obama’s address at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This annual event, also dubbed the ‘Nerd Prom’, has a history of roasting Washington insiders. It is an event where politician rub shoulders with celebrities. Last night’s dinner was attended by the likes of Rick Santorum, Lindsay Lohan, Newt Gingrich and Kim Kardashian, to name a few. Maybe address is not the right word, how about stand-up routine? Whatever you call it, Obama kills, IMHO. Fox News of course, had a different spin, “Obama mocks scandals and Republicans”, but I don’t think that that was exactly a fair and balanced assessment.

  • Now, some have said I blame too many problems on my predecessor, but let’s not forget that’s a practice that was initiated by George W. Bush.
  • Four years ago, I was locked in a brutal primary battle with Hillary Clinton. Four years later, she won’t stop drunk-texting me from Cartagena.
  • I’d be remiss if I didn’t congratulate the Huffington Post on their Pulitzer Prize. […] There’s no one else out there linking to the kinds of hard-hitting journalism that HuffPo is linking to every single day.
  • What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? A pit bull is delicious. A little soy sauce.
  • [On Romney] We also both have degrees from Harvard; I have one, he has two. What a snob.
  • And just to set the record straight, I really do enjoy attending these dinners. In fact, I had a lot more material prepared, but I have to get the Secret Service home in time for their new curfew.

I’ve included some of my favorite jokes and one-liners and above, a link to the entire speech. I wonder, will this entitle me to next year’s Pulitzer? It is long, but worth watching. A lot of the jokes are visual and hardly a political troupe goes unsung. Come November though, who will have the last laugh?

It never did rain. Chalk today up as a rest day. I cleaned, while Anne flung. I get in trouble, if we reverse these roles. Inspecting last night’s hail damage, Anne found a baker’s dozen dimples on the Prius. Oh well, they add character. Our friend John, suffered worse. His car windows were broken and on his house, “Half of my solar panels got kerplunked.” Downtown, a beer tent collapsed, killing one and injuring 100. It was a dark and stormy night.

I’m not so good at other things, but I do maintain my Litespeed to within a gnat’s ass of perfection. However, I have not replaced any of its decals. They and the titanium frame are all that’s left of the original equipment. Not even the badge is original. It fell off and a new one was sent at an email’s request. I could get new decals for free too, but these worn ones have character. Some Litespeed owners strip their decals. Either they don’t appreciate the unsightliness of a worn decal, or they hope removing the brand makes their bikes less theft worthy.

Baseball, Space, Guns and Mitt

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In the ending of the movie, “The Natural”, Robert Redford’s baseball is propelled out of the ballpark, winning the game. Against a black background with molten sparks descending like falling stars, the ball arcs higher and higher into the night’s sky. It floats across the screen, as it floats across both time and space, and eventually drops into the glove of his son. Glenn Close watches her two men play catch. Redford looks content, at peace with himself. Fade to black.

Apollo 11 vs MLB Map (Click to Enlarge)

The graphic for this post comes from NASA. NASA has superimposed a map of the first moon walk, Aldrin and Armstrong’s strolls around the Sea of Tranquility onto a standard baseball diamond. They didn’t cover too much ground, it turns out. Both stayed close to the mound where the Eagle set down, except for Armstrong’s quick jaunt over to the rim of East Crater to photograph the outfield.

The NASA map is in honor of the World Champion Saint Louis Cardinals. Today is the Cardinal’s home opener. They’re playing the Cubs. Unfortunately, I do not have tickets to the game. Besides, it is day game and I have to work. On opening day, not even the sky is a limit, but it will be tough to top last year. Go Cards!

Traffic was horrible on Thursday night. An extra long commute combined with two accidents on the new I-64, one blocking the east-bound lanes and one the west-bound, all combined to create a ninety-minute drive. So, it is with some trepidation that I look towards Friday night’s commute. Home Cardinal games always exacerbate traffic. A daytime home opener is about as bad as it can be, except that this is not all of it, not even by half.

The NRA is holding its national convention in Saint Louis. I briefly toyed with the idea of going to it. It is sure to be a spectacle full of much worthy blog fodder. I could be the sinner in an unholy land. Alas though, commonsense won out. That and cheapness, the $30 membership fee seemed too steep for just a blog post or two.

Now there is news that Mitt Romney is coming to town, to speak at the convention. As the newly anointed Republican candidate-elect, he plans on trying to convince the gun-toting tourists downtown that he never meant it when he said that he would never be beholden to the NRA. “Leave it to Mitt Romney to shoot himself in the foot with a gun he doesn’t own.” Good luck with that Mitt. 😳

As bad as Thursday’s commute was, Friday’s looks to be a trifecta of pain worse. The combination of a Cardinal’s home opener, a major convention and the visitation from a Presidential candidate ought to ensure traffic snarls galore. This is why I am posting early. I may not make it home.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight

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TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED Talks are 15 to 20 minute standup slide show presentations, in front of a live audience. These genius talks once commanded a small, but highly influential audience. At $2K a seat, the 99% was not admitted. They still command the same live audience, but through the internet, the rest of us can hear these speeches too. Held live in Monterey, really Pacific Grove, just up the beach from Asilomar, TED has posted over a thousand online talks. Notables like Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Steve Jobs have all given TED Talks, but Jill Bolte Taylor’s is the one that I would like to share.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist brain scientist who specializes in the postmortem investigation of the human brain. She is affiliated with Indiana University and is the spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center. Her own personal experience with a massive stroke, in 1996 at age 37, and her subsequent eight-year recovery, has informed her work as a scientist and speaker. Her experience and this episode is the subject of her TED Talk.

To say that her speech is moving is an understatement. It was once said that everyone has a book in them. Maybe the new rubric is that everyone has a Ted Talk in them. Andy Warhol once said that everyone had just 15 minutes of fame. Who knew it came with PowerPoint slides.

Court Rex Obama-Care?

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Supreme Court Rex The Affordable Health Care Act?

Taking a page from the HuffPo, which I’ve just pilloried for doing this same thing, this post’s title and graphic, suggests monstrous must-read imminent disaster, on a Godzilla scale, while the real story is more ho-hum prosaic. Monday, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments on the validity of the Affordable Care Act, the so-called, Obama-care. This week the court will wrestle with the several legal questions: Can the court even rule on this law yet? Is the question ripe? [experts seem to think that it is] Can government force you to buy health insurance? If this mandate is struck down, does the entire law unravel? If not, which parts remain? Can Congress require the states to participate too? The importance and complexity of this case has moved the court to devote three days to arguments. Most cases get less than one.

One question that the court won’t be discussing is, will the court’s decision be based in politics? The short answer is yes, but this is an answer that like the rest of these questions, we will have to wait to hear the Supreme Court’s decision. Once the court pronounces judgement, how will this affect the presidential election? Will striking down Obama-Care, reinvigorate a troubled Republican ticket? If Romney is elected, will Obama-Care be replaced with Romney-Care? Will the Mayan calendar make all these questions moot?

Nine Jurassic jurists hold the key to all of these questions. Well not the Mayan one, and not the Romney ones either. At this point, I don’t think that even the Mayans could stave off his defeat. Pundits have the court parsed into four justices for the act and four against it. Justice Kennedy sits in-between these two factions, the sole deciding vote. In 2008, millions of Americans elected President Obama and his Democratic Senate and House majorities. They passed the Affordable Care Act. Now those millions of American votes sit in the balance, waiting for one more vote. It seems unfair, but it is the law.

What occurs this week in the Supreme Court and around it, is national politics, but it is not without personal implications. The Sunday Saint Louis Post-Dispatch led with an article about the death of Anna Brown. The article explained that Brown, a 29 year-old homeless woman, died in a Richmond-Heights jail cell, a little over an hour after being forcibly expelled from St. Mary Hospital’s emergency room. Both these locations are less than a mile from our house. She reported with leg pains and in the past had experienced swelling of the legs. St. Mary’s wasn’t the only area hospital to have failed her, just the last. The attending physician thought that she was just trying to score pain meds. An ultrasound showed no clots and the hospital discharged her, but she wouldn’t leave. She demanded treatment. The police were called. They hauled her away and she died in her cell from a blood clot in the lungs.

In other news, the dinosaur, Dick Cheney received a heart transplant. I wonder how the man without a heart is adjusting to his new organ. What are his feelings? Transplants are a life saver, a modern-day miracle, but is the system really working? I pray that you are in good health, but someday you won’t be. No one gets out alive. When your health fails and your life is held in the balance, where on the continuum will your care come from. Will you be treated royally like the former Vice-President, or kicked out onto the street, like Anna Brown? Either way, you are going to die. Life is just that fair.