Web Log October 2nd through October 15th, 2005
Saturday, October 15th, 2005 Happy Birthday, Skip!
Friday, October 14th,
2005 Happy
Birthday, Penny!
The urge
to get one's fair share is primal.
It is the very will to live!
One born without this urge
can not expect to thrive. Yet, not long past infancy, the urge
must spar with selfish...and
greed is never
praised.
In a zero-sum game, if someone gets more than their fair share, then
someone else gets less.
In infancy, the urge is
directed toward food...and warmth...and being cleansed. Well before age
two, however, the urge
is complex: directed toward toys, all forms of comfort...and
toward the on-demand-undiluted attention of caregivers. By age three, the
urge has expanded
to peer friendships, all forms of adventure and, somewhat
later, toward the bequeathal
of one's genetic material.
And it is by age three that the disappointment at not getting (what
is perceived to be) one's fair share becomes envy...and jealousy is never
praised.
Thursday, October 13th, 2005
"...the presidential eyes zoomed left, then right, then
left and right again, then center, down and up at the interviewer. The
presidential fidgeting spiked when Lauer mentioned the Democratic accusation
that Bush was performing a "photo op." Bush pushed out his lower front
lip, then licked the right corner of his mouth. Lauer's query about whether
conservatives "are feeling let down by you" appeared to provoke
furious jiggling of the right leg."
Excerpted from yesterday's Dana
Milbank column in the Washington Post.
Wednesday, October 12th, 2005 Yup! Columbus Day!
One hundred years ago, Colorado became the first state to observe Columbus Day and by 1920 the idea had 'caught on', so to speak, nationally. However, it was not until 1968 that Lyndon Johnson declared the second Monday in October to be a Federal Holiday...and that was just about the time by which public sensibility had come to recognize the legacy of Columbus to be one of violence and genocide. I do clearly remember, when I was in the third grade or so, that Christopher Columbus was held up as someone to be greatly admired. "He died without ever knowing what a wonderful thing he had done!" [He was quite lost, after all.] As if...there wooden even be an America if it wuddn't fer him!
"Anyone who has incurred the wrath of Trent Lott, Gary Bauer and George
Will can't be all bad." Robert
Scheer
Tuesday, October 11th, 2005
Fifty
years ago I was a big (well)
baseball fan and 'my' team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, won their
first World Series! I can still picture the final out! Let's see, wasn't it
a grounder hit by Yankee outfielder Elston Howard to shortstop Pee Wee Reese who
threw on to Gil Hodges who caught it (basket-style) at first base?
Then Vin Scully (who's still the Dodgers' announcer) said "and
the Dodgers are the Champions of the World!" Now I gotta tell ya, that
might sound pretty corny now but if you were a little fucker living in a
mosquito-infested suburb of New Jersey with a buncha drunks...well then, it
didn't get much better!
Today, of course, I don't give a rat's rear end about baseball except when, as
happened last night in Anaheim, the New York Yankees lose! And I never care to whom
they lose...just as long as they lose!
"You are the best governor ever - deserving of great respect." Pardon me while I blow chow.
Monday, October 10th, 2005
Shop talk: I'm messing with some different
file formats ('different'; that is, from MP3) in which to post music. So I've
posted the instrumental background portion of my
newest song...just to get to hear it on different computers. I'll add the
vocals, solos and percussion in a day or two. Using this format can save me a
few tedious conversion steps (if it works). The format is called Windows
Media Audio (*.wma).
It's probably the same as MP3 or at least the file sizes are about the same. Microsoft
has likely created this format in an attempt to lock out the Luddites
who insist on using Apple Computers. ;-)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005 Happy Birthday, Bob! John Lennon woulda been 65.
For the love of Mary I can't decide what to worry about first
these days. I mean, let's see, what were we obsessing about before
Hurricane Katrina? (Besides Iraq, I mean.) No sooner had the rains stopped from
one than another was bearing down and then something else happened and then this
morning a big earthquake let loose in Asia and now there's a bird flu and the
President's an imbecile and the Democrats are lying cowards!
Hey! I'm just thankful to be old
and mortal and one day, pretty soon now, none of this is gonna matter to
me.
Saturday, October 8th, 2005
SOLITUDE (X) by ELLA WHEELER WILCOX (1850-1919)
Laugh, and the world laughs with
you;
Weep, and you weep alone,
For sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air,
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure.
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all---
There are none to decline your nectar'd wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.
Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
Friday, October 7th, 2005
"I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me,
'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did, and then God
would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …' And I did. And now,
again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and
get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by
God I'm gonna do it.'"
Thursday, October 6th, 2005
From my buddy Skip, in the lockup, comes a description of a simian experiment with profound parallels to the interactions one sees in a large organization:
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to
climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries
to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a
new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise,
replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea WHY they were not
permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys has ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever
again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.
Why not? Because as far as they know,
"that's the way it's always been done around here".
Wednesday, October 5th, 2005
A fool and...
"...while they lost plenty of money..., they didn't lose any weight."
Tuesday, October 4th, 2005 Happy Birthday, Bing!
It
is not for, but
by our sins
that we suffer.
And you think you got something to complain about? Check out the world of Kyle Maynard.
Monday, October 3rd, 2005
From the What Am I To Think Department: The other day, Saturday, I was taking my customary and obligatory walk along my default route when a young woman walking twenty paces before me veered a few steps off the sidewalk (to our left) into a short driveway and then summarily dropped her pants to her ankles. Yes. She mooned me and I pretended not to notice. Must be a 'generational' thing!
Sunday, October 2nd, 2005
It wasn't too long ago that Alfred
was bragging about the three Iraqi battalions (out of more than a
hundred) who were 'battle ready' to 'defend their country'.
OK...I know: our oil is under their sand but wasn't the deal
that 'when the Iraqis stand up, then we'll stand down'?
Well...last week General George Casey told everyone that the three is
down to one. That's right! The Iraqis are now less able to 'defend
themselves'...regardless of what you think the
phrase 'defend themselves'
could possibly mean in the context of a foreign occupation! So, anyone
who had been paying attention would quite reasonably conclude that the
situation has worsened! But yesterday, Alfred used his weekly
radio address to say that "he is encouraged by the increasing size and
capability of the Iraqi security forces, touting [this] progress
on [this] key measure for when U.S. troops can come home."
Could he even be unaware that one is less than three?
"After a desperate and final effort at Burkesville, on the 9th of April, 1865, he was compelled to acknowledge his defeat, and surrendered his sword to Gen. Grant on the generous terms which were dictated by that great soldier."
"New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have always been known for gambling, sin and wickedness. It is the kind of behavior that ultimately brings the judgment of God." Alabama State Senator Hank Erwin