QuipSpot - Drive By Blogging

Eighteen!

2009-05-25T00:01:00.001-04:00

May 25, 1991

Seems like a ways back, but it's always fresh in my mind. It was an 80+ degree, 95% humidity day. The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the playoffs. My buddies and I were sneaking off to find a TV showing the Cavs playoff games. But it wasn't the temperature, the humidity or the Cavs that make that day special.

May 25, 1991. Eighteen years ago, it was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. This year, May 25 is Memorial Day.

Lots of things have changed since then. Beer commercials show guys sneaking off during parties to find a TV showing their sports games. The Cavs are back in the playoffs on a consistent basis. And the Cleveland temperatures still reach the mid- to upper-80s with a significant dose of humidity added.

Eighteen years ago, I was in a limo with my brother and buddies, sneaking a peak on the limo TV of the Cavs playoff game. A mere hour earlier, I was sweating like crazy through my shirt, cumberbun, and jacket, being wed to my wife in a very hot and muggy church.

One thing hasn't changed. That is the love, adoration and admiration I have for my lovely bride. The Cleveland weather may change every fifteen minutes, but not Marie. She is the most consistent, stable and supportive person I know. She is simply amazing. Marie runs our household, home schools our children, knits like no one else I know, and puts up with me, 24x7. Whether it's ranting and raving about work, talking politics or bands, or just figuring out where we want our life to go, Marie is always there for me. I couldn't have asked for a better helpmeet if I had designed that person from scratch. Who says God doesn't know what He's doing?

Happy Anniversary, Marie. Thank you so much for a wonderful eighteen years. I can't wait for the next eighteen to unfold along with you, side by side. I love you!

The Repetition of Life

2009-03-01T16:18:00.002-05:00

If I were to tell you what I did on a daily basis - oh, yeah, I have several times throughout the course of this blog - many of you would find it boring, mundane. Many times, the job is not that exciting. What you think about the job, though, doesn't matter to me. To me, it is satisfying and financially accommodating for my family. It enables me to pay the mortgage, pay bills, put food on the table, and still have time to engage in community and recreation activities as I choose. You would never see my profession made the key character in a b-grade movie, let alone a marquee production.

With those thoughts in mind, I introduce you to Animal Crossing: City Folk, available on Nintendo DS and Wii.

My brother and sister-in-law bought Animal Crossing for our kids for Christmas. It does not disappoint. If you are looking for high-energy, action-packed activities, this game is not for you. But, if you want your children to learn about our common, everyday existence - you know, the one TV doesn't show any more - this game is great.

You start by moving to a new town. In that town, you first meet the proprietor of the community store - Tom Nook. He gives you directions to follow before you can officially settle in with the game. You need to meet everyone in the town, work for him, and select the house you are going to purchase. After you work for Nook, then you are on your own. Yep, you are an employee for your first hour or so in the city, then you are a sole proprietor. Good luck!

How do you win in this game? You don't. It is not a "game". It is a simplified version of life. You earn "bells" by fishing, harvesting fruit, digging for gold, and other various ways. You have a mortgage, and can start a savings account which eventually earns you interest. And after you've paid off your first mortgage, you automatically get upgrades requiring a second mortgage. There is even the equivalent of a stock market - they call it the "Stalk" market, and you buy and sell turnips that have a fluctuating market value - but we haven't figured out how to use it yet.

You also continually run into the characters you met originally before you settled in. They often ask you to deliver packages for them, or they want to buy something you have. They have events you can attend - I attended the flea market and the fishing tournament - and you can visit the city for shopping and entertainment. You can also donate items to the city museum and recycle tin cans, boots and tires that you catch while fishing; the recycle bin is located conveniently in the Town Hall, which is also where you pay your mortgage and conduct other banking activities.

Whenever you decide to stop playing Animal Crossing, you retire to your bedroom. And the weather approximates our seasons because the game tracks current date and time. For example, there is finally no snow on the ground! Spring is here! (Okay, not really.)

You can send letters and gifts to other characters. If your Wii is internet-connected, you can even invite other friends to your town.

Marie and the kids have been playing since Christmas. I just started a couple weeks ago. Marie is on her fourth home improvement, and now has a basement. She has also planted several peach trees and is harvesting her bounty. The Artist is on her third home improvement, and the Engineer on his first, just like me.

I kept waiting for the game to get fun and exciting. You know, to have something really thrilling happen. Then I realized that the game is like life, especially for us who believe in the Lutheran definition of vocation. All four of us in the Quipper household have our preferences in home decor, how to earn bells, how much to spend and save, and how to contribute to the community itself. All along the way, you inherit the responsibility for paying down a mortgage and earning your keep. Mundane? Yes. Pertinent to your existence? Of course!

If you get annoyed with the entertainment industry constantly bombarding you with rock star type lifestyles, where you've failed if you only live a clean, safe, orderly, respectful life, and raise responsible children, then I strongly recommend Animal Crossing. It will give your children a good view of the day to day activities that we all conduct regardless of our vocation and talents.

What is the Cloward-Piven Strategy?

2009-02-22T22:34:00.002-05:00

If you think the latest attempts at reviving the economy through the politician stimulation plan (a.k.a. the stimulus bill) and the mortgage plan make President Obama and Congress look like total doofuses, then you are looking at their activities through the wrong lens. See, you are thinking only of your own self-interest, and not of the politicians' self-interest. They know exactly what they are doing.

If you've never heard of the Cloward-Piven Strategy, it's worth reading. This is all organized chaos, and happening according to plan.

Hmm...

2009-02-21T19:16:00.001-05:00

Looks tantalizing...doesn't it!

How to get that day off work...hmm....

Change You Can Count On Not Happening

2009-02-21T18:57:00.004-05:00

Last week, Marie and I stopped into our local second amendment support center and picked up some new hardware. The gal assisting us happened to be the owner of the business, and spoke freely about anything and everything. (She was very helpful, too.)

She started talking about how both Bush and Obama blew it. If they really wanted to help the economy, they could have taxed guns and ammo an additional 5%, and they would be in tall cotton. I thought she had a good point there. Not that I liked it, but that it was a good point.

On the way home, Marie and I started talking about this. We came to the conclusion it would never happen. Why, you ask? That's easy: Democrats and RINO's would never, ever formally admit that the gun industry is a significant part of the consumer economy, and would never knowingly support it by depending on taxes from it. That would be like a Christian knowingly and purposely supporting the porn industry.

So, instead, Obama will increase regulations on things like foreign manufactured guns and ammo, and put wholesalers and American manufacturers in a position of not keeping up with demand. If you haven't heard yet...yes, that is the plan. That way, Obama can say he will defend the Second Amendment but still eradicate our ability to use the arms we now own.

This One Is Too Easy

2009-02-18T00:31:00.002-05:00

How is the Democrat-led recession affecting you? Go here to let our beloved federal leaders know. Be sure to use terms that let them know. Like "Democrat-led recession".

I wonder if "transparency" means letting us see all the stories, even the ones that include phrases like "Democrat-led recession".

The anti-socialist/big brother side of me says you may want to set up a separate yahoo, google or msn e-mail address and use it. We all know that Google is already in bed with the lefties, so why push it?

The Propensity to Lie, Then to Increase the Lie

2009-02-12T12:07:00.003-05:00

If you live in Ohio, you've no doubt seen or heard the annoying "get your Congressman to change their 'no' vote to a 'yes' vote on the Obama Plan" commercials. In the first place, anyone who has paid attention to politics for longer than, say, the last Presidential election cycle, knows that the ads lean far left.

For those of you who haven't followed politics that closely, let me explain. One of the sponsoring groups for those ads is Americans United for Change. If you go to their About page, then Wiki on their leader, Brad Woodhouse, you'll see very plainly that this is a progressive organization that is all about the "little people". I don't use that word to judge those less fortunate, but to give my take on how that group of people is viewed by libs, progressives and Democrats - but I repeat myself.

Spread the word that these ads, which are full of lies anyway and getting more fallacious by the day, are not for the benefit of the working class, but for the benefit of the Democrat leadership class.

Oh, and by the way, if you would be willing to help support a third party or two, many of these folks would change their stripes in a heartbeat. They will follow the money as long as they can, since they are all money whores anyway. (Sorry, had to use that word to make my point.)

Freedom is Dead

2009-02-10T14:06:00.003-05:00

In his first public speech after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush said, “Freedom was attacked.” How right he was.

Now, a mere eight years and five months later, freedom is dead. Well, at least in the United States. The Partisan Democrats were joined by three Bipartisan Republicans to pass the largest socialist reform in America since, well, since, I don’t know. I haven’t done the compare/contrast to the New Deal to know for sure. I can say that thanks to the traitors in both parties, nationalized socialized health care is a certainty.

I hope none of your parents are past their working years and in need of an organ replacement.

I hope you don’t have kids just starting a practice in the medical profession.

I hope you don’t pay taxes now, because you’ll only pay more.

I hope you don’t home school, because that implied right will probably be taken away when the U.S. adopts the UN Rights of the Child contract.

We are who we elect. We let this happen to us because race, emotion, and “getting along” were more important than doing the right thing. We are lazy and selfish, and know better how to boss others around than to discipline ourselves.

Sounds just like our Congress and their puppet leader, The Jerk:

The only things left to do now are to lay waste to this concept of a consumer-based economy by spending no more than we absolutely need to, saving or investing the rest, letting the house of cards continue to fall until only the resourceful and self-sufficient remain, and teaching our kids about the “outdated” priniciples of civility, respect, responsibility and accountability.

Oh, and voting these idiots out of Congress in 2010 would go a long way to resolving this problem, too.

(This post is cross-posted at So Many Idiots, So Little Time.)

Then End of an Office

2009-02-09T21:57:00.003-05:00

I think tonight's press conference pretty much makes it official. The President of the United States is no longer a leadership office held by people who swear to uphold their presidential oath. Nope. It is now the highest-ranking sales position in the United States.

To say the press conference was narcissistic is an understatement. A person who takes accountability for their responsibilities does not blame past employees for current problems. Or, if they did, they would at least hold the right people accountable. The Jerk blamed Republicans for the current financial fiasco (geez, wasn't it the Republicans who tried to call attention to the Fannie Mae and Freddit Mac problems?). Then he says only government can solve the current problems. Then he lends his credibility to certain non-news "news" agencies by calling on them as though their representatives are really reports. Way to turn "fairness" on its head.

So, President Bush realized that playing cheerleader wasn't the way to go. Now, The Jerk has decided that he needs to make everybody feel bad for the country's current economic situation. All so his party can pass the socialism-in-a-single-bill plan.

And some people STILL wonder why I voted third party in the last election. The Republican idiots are complicit. Oh, and have you heard about the Daschle brain-child in the bill? Don't get old, it will kill you.

Clowns to the left of me, and jokers to the right? No, not really. They are on a much more sinister plane than I could ever be on.

Birds of a Feather

2009-02-08T19:50:00.002-05:00

Hey, for those of you who are loathe to support the big box political parties, be sure to stop in at Coup d'etat. I stumbled upon her (Rani's) blog when researching the term 'Revolution 2010' for my shirt line - you'll quickly see why when you look at the shirts. Be sure to drop her a comment, and let her know who sent you.

Blurt Shirts - Phase Two Begins

2009-01-27T20:47:00.004-05:00

The evolution of Blurt Shirts continues. Not only have I added several new lines of shirts - more athletic, music and Lutheran shirts to come soon - and reorganized the store a bit, but I officially started my Blurt Shirts website.

This site gives opportunity to link to my store at CafePress, but it also gives me a place to post blogs that are specific to Blurt Shirts material. Some of that stuff may occasionally overlap with material from this blog and SMISLT, but we'll see how that goes. I'm sure an idiot of the week here or there will give me fodder for a new shirt design.

And for those of you who are wise in the ways of website development - not necessarily the techie component, but layout and placement - I would greatly appreciate your feedback about the site. (Yes, a couple of you in particular know I am talking about YOU!!!)

The blog feature is RSS capable if you'd like to subscribe. Also, my storefront offers the ability to subscribe to the my "Monthly Blurt" newsletter, courtesy of CafePress.

Stop by the site and the store, come back often, and buy something if you like what you see.

Thanks,
Rick

Now, back to your regularly scheduled rant...oh yeah, I think I'm a day or so behind on my Idiot of the Week post. Someone mentioned a possible candidate, but I can't find the link....

Blocking, Tackling, and Gadget Plays

2008-12-25T06:41:00.002-05:00

"Blocking and tackling" - it is a term you hear a lot, not only if you follow football, but also if you are in the corporate world. The term signifies all the basic things you need to do well to have a well-oiled machine, one that runs successfully no matter what is happening in the world. It identifies the fundamentals. Obviously, it means the same thing in football. Blocking is necessary on offense to make sure that your skilled players can do what they do - run, pass and catch. You know, make positive yardage and score. Tackling is necessary on defense to ensure that the other team neither moves the ball nor scores. They are the unglorious tasks to be executed by all players to make sure that the team can win its championship and get the glory.

At times, a team may also toss in the element of surprise by doing something non-traditional, non-fundamental. They may throw in a flea-flicker, a Statue of Liberty play, or something else like that. Those plays are termed "gadget plays". Why? They are not normally in the basic arsenal - you don't want to use them too much - but they are available as necessary. Teams usually use them for one of two reasons: 1) They are desperate and out-manned, and are not good at the blocking and tackling components of the game, and 2) A game is so evenly matched, so tight and difficult, that a team needs to do something different to shock its opponent.

But, when life is consistently bad for a decent football team - my local professional variety notwithstanding - coaches talk about going back to the basics, blocking and tackling, and repeating those basics until the team again gets them right, and becomes the well-oiled machine it once was.

Believe it or not, this is not a football post.

I thought about this last night as our family was in church, celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Our confessional Lutheran congregation is not glorious. It does not have any gadget plays in its repertoire. Spiritually speaking, it is a well-oiled machine, and blocks and tackles to full effect. The sacraments are distributed. Hymns are sung by the choir and congregation, with wonderful playing by our choir director and our substitute organists. Visitors familiar with the basic blocking and tackling of our confessional team can participate without question of what is going to happen next. No gadget plays. We don't need to sneak up on our rival - he knows Christ takes care of us through his Word and sacraments. We do not need the gadget plays of the modern Christian church - contemporary worship, bands, or topic-based sermons.

At our congregation, we just keep ungloriously blocking and tackling. The newborn Savior of the world does everything for us. He shows us our imperfection, yet through his death and resurrection, has saved us so that we can experience his glory. We don't need any gadget plays. Do you?

Merry Christmas!

Blurt Shirts!

2008-12-11T22:29:00.000-05:00

I should be practicing for my next gig, but I'm just way too excited about something...

See those fancy, shmancy shirts that the Artist, the Engineer and I are wearing? They are my designs! And they are just two of the designs available at my new store, Blurt Shirts.

You all know that I'm not afraid to rant. I've done it here, and I even do it occasionally at my other blog. I decided to start blurting out my little quips onto shirts, and I am really pleased with the initial results. My Blurt Shirts store is hosted by CafePress.com. I purchased and received my first shirts this week - Marie has one, too, but she was too busy taking the photo above to be included in the shot - and I love the quality of the shirts and the quality of the printed designs.

The pic above, even at this size, does not do the shirts justice. I've been working on opening up my store for almost two months now, creating designs (sports, politics, and music are also fair game) and organizing my store front as I could make the time in my schedule. Now that I have my own shirts in my hand, and am satisfied with the quality of manufacturing and delivery, I want to blurt out to everyone that

BLURT SHIRTS IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

I'm Voting for Pedro

2008-10-07T22:05:00.000-04:00

No, this isn't live blogging at the Presidential debate. The debate would have to be a living event, attended by living beings for that to happen. These two characters can't hold a candle to watching paint dry. Heck, if they are not careful, they might motivate me to login and do some work for my office tonight.

I walked away from the TV less than ten minutes into the debate. I've been listening from in front of the pc ever since. Multi-tasking is keeping me from going insane.

I could barely sit all the way through Napoleon Dynamite. But this debate makes it look like an Oscar winner.

A commenter on Michelle Malkin's site said this debate sounds like listening to Charlie Brown's parents. I had thought the exact same thing a couple minutes before reading the comment.

My comments:

Neither of these opponents can stray beyond their company line.
Politics without competition sucks. When you get good and have no competition, you play it safe. Both competitors are playing it safe. Which sucks.
The effeminization of our federal government is complete.
I'm voting for Pedro. At least he'll make all my dreams come true: I could ignore him, and not worry about the government doing ANYTHING to destroy my family.

Fantasy Land

2008-10-03T18:12:00.000-04:00

In my dreams, it's still the same
Your love is strong, it still remains
In my dreams, you're still by me
Just the way it used to be
-- Dokken, In My Dreams

My dream candidate for POTUS is not Sarah Palin. It's definitely not John McCain, Barack Obama or Joe Biden. It may not even be Alan Keyes, Chuck Baldwin or Bob Barr.

So who is my dream candidate? What qualities do they possess?

Instead of putting it in terms of "qualities", let me put it in the frame of a response to a debate question:

Candidate "X", how can the American people trust you to reach across the aisle and put your differences aside?

Why, thank you for asking, Mr./Ms. Moderator, I have been hoping you would ask me that question. I think there is a lot to the question, and I will do my best to answer it within the two minute time frame.

Since 1980, Democrats have held the Senate majority for 2 years, the House majority for 6 years, and full Congressional majority for 10 years. Conversely, Republicans held the Senate for 6 years, the House for 2 years, and both for 10 years. Oddly enough, over the last 28 years, Democrats and Republicans have both held or shared control of the legislature for 18 years. You can see that both parties share in the creation of the problems over this period of time.

Now, to the question: "reaching across the aisle" is a myth that is meant to sound as though you are talking about compromise. But let's look at who is asked to "reach across the aisle". In my years of political experience, it is only the Republicans - and more specifically, conservatives - who are asked, and practically demanded, to reach across the aisle. Conversely, Democrats and liberals treat the aisle as though it's some type of invisible fence; should they cross it, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, and maybe even death. (smile)

So let's take off the blinders, and say what this really means: "Reaching across the aisle" is a call for conservatives to give up on their beliefs and ideals in order to write law that benefits Democrats and liberals. While Democrats continue to judge conservatives by their own values and call them on their indiscretions when they occur, Democrats are never called out on theirs, or called upon to compromise and sacrifice their beliefs and ideals for the good of the country. Shame on the Republicans for letting them get away with this! And shame on the Democrats for putting party over country!

As of today, right now, the term "reaching across the aisle" died. I will play by the same play book the Democrats do. If they want compromise, they can walk into the aisle just as easily as I can, but I will not reach across the aisle any more than they currently do.

And then, the response to a second debate question:

Candidate "X", what will you do to work with Congress and make progress on behalf of the American people?

That is another great question that I am excited to answer. On behalf of the American people, I would not work with Congress. As defined in the articles of our great Constitution, which I, on inauguration day, will promise to uphold and defend, I will work to fulfill the responsibilities of my office. My expectation would be that the 535 members of Congress would do the same. We will do no more, and no less, otherwise we would be abusing the powers and duties granted to us in the Constitution.

What does that mean? It means that it is the legislature's responsibility to create bills that they deem appropriate for the country. When I believe Congress gets it right, I will sign those bills into law. And, when I believe Congress gets it wrong, I am to veto those bills. And if Congress disagrees with my veto, then they have the ability by super majority vote to override my veto. These checks and balances were created so that the federal government doesn't become some type of super power, meant to be taken over by two political parties or special interests.

See, this isn't about how well the President and Congress work together. That plays to our desire to get along, but doesn't lead to good government. This is about performing our duties and obligations as stated in the Constitution. So I will not work with Congress, and I will not expect them to work with me. I will expect that they will do what they are required to do by the Constitution, and nothing more, and that I will do the same.

The candidate who answers those two questions in this manner will be my dream candidate. That would prove country over party, regardless of the party.

I can dream, can't I?

(And doesn't George Lynch play a wicked solo on the song at the link?)

Party in power facts taken from here.

Obama? Left-leaning?

2008-09-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

Whatever you've heard or know, I think you are wrong. You need to read this.

For my e-mail friends who think Obama is a bit left of center, they'll be receiving this article so they can see that they are wrong.

Full Moon?

2008-09-07T10:09:00.000-04:00

I get the impression that we will have a full moon from now until all the November election votes are counted, and maybe even longer. I've been taken in by the reporting and commentary regarding the Dem and Rep conventions and the events that followed. Not in a good way. You can read about it here.

I say they are all idiots, and we should start over. What do you think?

Men & Women, and Their Choice of Tools

2008-05-26T10:42:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, tools and talents go undiscovered by people for their entire life. Other times, it just takes a little frustration, inspiration or time for those tools and talents to be discovered.

My wife, Marie, has always had a talent for writing, and over the past couple years learned that she's pretty good at this knitting thing, too. (BTW...Happy Anniversary, Marie. We turned 17 years old yesterday!) She's decided to spread her wings, and start a second blog. You gotta see her new digs at Picking Up Pen and Needle.

As for me, I'm trying to upgrade Running in Circles a little bit, and make us more party- and event- available, instead of just having us play bars and deal with lots of the baloney from bar owners and booking agents. Plus, it'll keep us playing a couple years longer - getting home by 1am from parties instead of at 3am, like we do now.

I created this video, which I hope to use as a promo cd for the band. Let me know your thoughts. (Photobucket cut off the last 30 seconds, but the full video is viewable on CD.)

Finally, have you stopped at So Many Idiots, So Little Time yet? I'm looking for this week's submissions.

Idiots of the Week

2008-05-01T01:01:00.000-04:00

If you're interested, take a look at this blog: So Many Idiots, So Little Time (SMISLT). The content and writing style may look familiar to some of you.

Blogging about my personal life was not my thing, and I wasn't "quipping" as I had hoped. The new digs should be more up my alley, and will get me back into the heavy doses of humor, sarcasm, and wit that I like conveying the most.

Oh, but I need your help. 'Tis a weekly thing, and I need your input. Can ya help a guy ferret out the idiots? Thanks.

Hi Ate Us

2008-04-13T16:10:00.000-04:00

It's been almost two years since I followed in Marie's footsteps by creating my own blog. My, how time flies. I have thoroughly enjoyed making my Quipper News Service, Quipper Entertainment, Idiot of the Week, Definition Warp and music posts. I haven't necessarily liked posting about politics, but you could tell it hit a nerve with me many times.

Over the past couple months, I noticed myself having less and less quality time to peruse the blogosphere - including the personal blogs that I look forward to reading - let alone investing the time to find something meaningful or humorous to say.

Thankfully, though, I never obligated myself to writing a post or being on any regular type of posting schedule. Nor did I introduce myself to the blogosphere with any inclination of how long the fun would last, or that it would need to continue forever.

Yes, that means that I am terminating any semblance of regular posting to this blog. When I realized I wasn't even visiting some of my favorite "must read" blogs any more, I knew my time to concentrate on any regular blogging and reading had run its course.

Is the blog going bye-bye? No, I will keep it up. I plan on making reference to the political, music and referential links on the site regularly. I hope there were favorite posts that you would like to re-visit, too. I may still post the occasional Idiot of the (pick one: week/month/year), or a special note to my family, but the semi-regular frequency of posting will cease.

As time occasionally becomes a luxury, I hope to visit your blogs and comment where possible. I have enjoyed making new friends - and I do consider all of you to be my friends - across the U.S. this way. Maybe, one day, we can meet and sit down over a coffee, a beer or a meal. If you plan on passing through Cleveland on your travels, let me know.

God Bless,
Rick

How Did That Happen?

2008-04-05T13:18:00.000-04:00

What is this?

That's easy. It's a broken one of these:

Which usually sits right here (top left of the body of the bass):

And is used to hold this:

There is another fastener at the bottom of the body, but that one is not relevant to the story.

The useful life of this one fastener came to an end during last night's gig. Not only has this little component resisted gravity just in holding up the bass for the past two-plus years, but it resisted the added force from my jumping up and down during a number of songs that a bandmate of mine says have "jump value".

We were playing Take Me Out, the last song of our second set. On the jump value scale from 1-10, I say it ranks an 11.

About 1:10 into the song, right before we lead into the first verse, it happened! The fastener broke. It wasn't that the screw holding in the fastener was stripped and fell out of the hole. The fastener snapped. One piece went somewhere - where, I don't know. The other piece was still screwed into the bass itself. The accompanying part of the fastener, which is clipped to the strap, shaved through the part that was mounted on the bass.

Hence, the strap was no longer connected to the bass. The body of the bass started dropping, and I had to catch it. You're talking about 12-14 lbs of unbalanced weight, with the heavy part - the body - being the unheld part. Not only did I have to make sure I didn't hit any wrong notes as it was falling, I had to make sure the body didn't hit the ground - all with my weaker hand, which is loosely surrounding the top of the fretboard, at the position farthest away from the center of gravity.

Left hand works as planned. No bad notes, no dinged instruments.

But wait, there's more. I saw what happened to the fastener immediately, and knew there was nothing - NOTHING! - I could do during the song to fix it during the song. Yikes!

Having been on all types of stages - from making presentations in front of corporate officers, to performing in rock and jazz bands - I knew the show must go on. Thankfully, I was positioned right next to our speakers, so I was able to stretch up one of my legs onto the speaker cabinet, and prop up the bass on my knee. Okay, so that only took half the first verse straighten out.

Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to co-lead on the vocals on this song, too. So much for the first verse. But one of our singers had presence of mind to move my mic where I could use it, and I was able perform the rest of the song well, but without all the requisite jumping. It's a hard song not to move around to, but I did it.

During our break, I took off the fasteners, leaving only the screw used to attach the fastener to the bass. I attached the strap to that screw. This wasn't a great fix, but it mostly got me through the night. My focus on the strap did cause me to forget the first verse of Hang On Sloopy. (No Polly, that's not a reason for us to stop playing the song. Sorry.) No one cued me, because I'm known in the band for being the lyric guy; no one thinks I ever, ever forget lyrics.

Thankfully, I had all the proper hardware at home, and replaced the fasteners this morning. All is in working order again, ready for hundreds of jumps!

Come see us if you can. We are playing at Blue Canyon in Twinsburg on April 12 (a week from today), then at Flyers in Parma Heights on Friday, April 25. Come to think of it, I think that's the second anniversary of Running in Circles being on the gig circuit. Way cool!

A Takeover

2008-03-28T19:04:00.001-04:00

Pastors and Pastorettes,

Do you have an awesome vision for your church and the way it should work?

Is your church membership bucking your vision, you know, the one given directly to you BY GOD?

Are your members acting like Christianity started some two-thousand years ago and actually has a history behind it?

It's up to YOU to do something about it!

Okay, enough of the gibberish. I stumbled across what looks like a rational view not of what happened to Issues, Etc., but the "why".

This is an excellent article by someone who has seen this before. I think the confessional congregations ought to tell their members - even those that do not have computers - about it.

Simple Math

2008-03-13T23:23:00.002-04:00

You know, there are a number of simple mathematical equations that yield a result of 48:

6 * 8 = 48

24 * 2 = 48

96 / 2 = 48

47 + 1 = 48

49 - 1 = 48

But two simple equations are near and dear to my heart:

a) 4 * 12 = 48, otherwise written as

b) 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 48

You see, professional basketball is played in four, 12-minute quarters, or 48 minutes. However, if you've paid any attention to the Cleveland Cavaliers over the last two seasons, you've probably noticed that their games usually look like this:

12 + 12 + __ + 12 = 48

The missing number should be a twelve, because the total is still 48. But something happens when the Cavs come out of the locker room at half-time. Doesn't matter if it's the old Cavs, starring LeBron, Larry, Drew, Z, and Sasha, or the new Cavs, starring LeBron, Ben, Andy, Sasha, and Delonte. Many new faces, same old result: they stink up the joint. They normally lose the third quarter scoring battle. Many times it's a double-digit loss.

I have a difficult time believing that Mike Brown, the Cavs head coach, is that bad at preparing a team at half-time. He carries some of the burden, but not all of it. These guys get paid to play 36 minutes of basketball - oops, I'm sorry, they think they get paid to play 36 minutes. They get paid to play 48 minutes.

Maybe someone should explain that to them. My six-year old son, the Engineer, has already picked up on this problem. I'm ready to nominate the entire team for an off-season Idiot of the Week award.

Sheesh!

The Eleventh Commandment

2008-03-11T23:46:00.000-04:00

I think God missed a commandment. I really do.

Okay, maybe He didn't miss one. After all, He is perfect. But if I could add another one, it would be this one: Thou shalt not take other people for granted.

Marie and I were talking late last week that it's not really laziness that irritates us. Yes, some people are lazy and unproductive. Hey, it happens. But when the lazy people pull us into their vacuum to the extent that our time, money or emotions are invested (or wasted) on them, then yes, we get irritated. Then, it's not just that the people are lazy, but that they have taken us for granted.

This happens frequently enough at work. I am a project manager, so I usually catch the brunt of it, and have to make up the difference. There, I get paid to handle it; it's part of my daily responsibility, and fits into the context of my career.

Outside of work, if you waste my resources, it becomes personal. We all only have so many hours in a day, are blessed with a certain income granted us through our business, job or career, and drain every bit of energy out of our bodies that we can every day. To me, taking other peoples' time, funds, talents and emotions for granted is one of the biggest disservices you can do to someone.

If you really respect the resources someone provides for you, make sure you sincerely let them know that. But do it before you waste any more of their time, money or talents.

A Link From a Link

2008-03-10T20:46:00.000-04:00

I found the Health Insurance Myth off of a comment from the Tenth Amendment Center. The blog itself is interesting, and the links throughout the blog posts are just as compelling.

If you are interested in seeing the various sides and hearing all sorts of experiences involving health care, the Health Insurance Myth is a good place to start.

Oh No! Four-Oh!

2008-03-06T21:23:00.000-05:00

I become another year wiser tomorrow. That officially means I go into mid-life crisis, right? I mean, I think this is the way it's supposed to go. I will get bored with my life, and look for some wild, exhilarating way to get meaning back. It might be a car...a house...another band (lol).

It may be that I get tired of looking out for "number one" and decide, finally, to want to make a difference.

After all, isn't that why David Archuleta sang Imagine and Another Day in Paradise, on the biggest professional music stage in the world, American Idol? (Wait! Before you think Idol is still about the little guy, read here. David A. has a great voice, but he already knows how to play the game; so do his handlers.)

After all, isn't that why Green Day won a Grammy for American Idiot? It was because they wanted to make a difference...they wanted to get Bush out of office, and the lefty entertainment industry loved it. (Do you really think they would have won that Grammy had they written and released American Idiot when Clinton was in office? Oh, yeah, they wouldn't have recorded it...because the right person was in office!)

After all, isn't that why every feel-good show and sporting event talks about how the key actors and athletes are doing things for the community? To show that, no matter how much money they have, they are still helping others?

Well, I'll be forty years old tomorrow. And I am not changing a thing. Here's why:

I provide for my family, which enables Marie to homeschool our kids.
The kids get a two-parent, whole family perspective on life that is modeled daily.
I run the household to have a financial surplus. Debt is low and managed against intermediate term financial needs. If something happens to me, the family is taken care of. Rich? No, not at all. Managed? Yes.
I excel at my job - at least my latest employee evaluation tells me I do. Marie and the kids hear about what I do. The kids hear about the real life joys and frustrations of the daily grind. They will have no pre-conceived notions about dealing with people as adults.
Through my bands, I provide a release point for people, including myself. I'm not all buttoned-up in the bands, but get to let go a bit. My kids see that there is a difference between work and play, but that sometimes they commingle, like in the band.
Marie and I get to raise our kids they way we want.
I contribute to church and causes where I want and when I want.
I provide value in places where no monetary exchange occurs. Who cares if I don't do it for Habitat for Humanity or for a political party?
I am married to a wonderful wife who I can talk to about anything, and who is patient enough to hear me out. At times, that is not an easy thing to do.

What's my point? "Making a difference" has been turned into some romantic, idealistic thing. It's become sexy to make a difference. However, it does not take into account those little, daily, oft-repeated things that we do that make a consistent difference in the lives of those we encounter each and every day of our lives. I am making a difference to my family, my co-workers, my church family and my friends. Sometimes, they don't even know it. Other times, I don't even know it.

And that's the way it should be.

So, I'd like to thank the Academy, my family, and all of you up in the balcony who voted for me to reach my 40th birthday. I couldn't have done it without you. (snicker)

Thank you to all of you who make a difference to me, through your blog posts or your daily interactions. You make life interesting and fun.

Primarily Speaking

2008-03-03T20:30:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the Ohio primary. Big deal, right? It should be, but I don't view it that way. I am a constitutionalist in Republican's clothing. (I have not renounced my party affiliation yet although I should get around to that.)

I am going to take this opportunity to vote Republican AND protest the roster of remaining, unqualified candidates. You see, Marie voted absentee a couple weeks ago, so I know who is on the Republican ballot. And I can still vote for a candidate that is no longer in the race. It will be my way, as a registered Republican, of expressing my displeasure with the party.

Rock and Roll Fun

2008-03-03T20:16:00.002-05:00

If you happen to be out in Hollywood the weekend of March 14, be sure to see my brother's band, Elegantly Wasted, opening for Winger. If you grew up on 80's hair band music, you know who Winger is. (Snicker).

Tickets are available at ticketmaster for the March 14 show, being held at the Crash Mansion theatre.

And it gets more exciting for my brother, who will also be playing Rocklahoma this year! It's an 80's style rock and roll festival. The band should get themselves plenty of good press and an opportunity to sell lots of CDs and shirts! :-)

I'm really excited that the band has these gigs in their near future. Things are definitely coming together for them now. I wish them well.

Happy Leap Day!

2008-02-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

And it's almost over. Sniff.

BTW...I'm two rehearsals into a second band project. This one will be primarily 90s and 00s rock, with some old stuff thrown in. Dance is not the goal here, but "jump value" - you know, head bobbing and foot stomping - is. Everything from Santa Monica, to Otherside, to No One Knows and Paralyzer. Then we want to throw in some curve balls, like an 80s-revised rendition of Puff the Magic Dragon (don't ask...just run with it, okay?), some Lonely Ol' Night, and Ice Cream Man. Maybe some STP and Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters and - well, you get the idea.

The four band mates all knew (or knew of) each other. The same guy assembled all the bands we are in now. We each looked to gig a couple more times per month, and approached him separately - within a couple weeks of each other - about starting or joining another project. How about that! We'll see how it goes; we hope to start gigging in late summer.

A Question

2008-02-20T22:31:00.001-05:00

This is not a test. It's absolutely, positively 100% open for discussion. I hope it turns into a nice, long, meandering thread, because it should.

Question: when does it become a national security interest for the federal government to prop up the economy?

I'm sorry, but "never" is not a viable response on this thread. I want to see reasons for every response.

As most (if not all) of you know, I am conservative in my political ideals. I prefer that government be left out to the fullest extent possible when it comes to the economy, and definitely when it comes to trampling our liberties. Even as a Christian - confessional Lutheran, to be precise - I don't like religion being pushed down my throat. I'm not for tweaking or skewing the Constitution, and I despise that none of the branches of federal government utilize all of the checks and balances they've been granted. I also don't like that those state-to-federal checks and balances aren't used.

That's where I start. Which leads back to the question: when does it become a national security interest for the federal government to prop up the economy?

Doin' Anything this Friday Night?

2008-02-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

My employer is raising funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), and our Policy Services department wanted to do an after-work event. One of the managers was asked, "Why don't you ask one of your band friends if they will perform?" So she asked me if Running in Circles would perform.

Happily, the band said yes. This is a good chance for us to expand our audience - I've been trying to get some of these folks to come to our gigs for two years - and raise money for a good cause. We will be playing at the Mavis Winkles this Friday, February 22 starting at 8:00pm. Cover is $5, with proceeds going 50/50 to JDRF and the band.

For the employees, appetizers will be provided between 5:00-7:00pm. No, those of you reading are not employees, and I will not lie for you. :-p

Mavis Winkles is located in Independence, OH, in the Crown Centre Building on Rockside Road. Hope to see you there.

Sinking Sand

2008-02-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

I read this article, which sounds pretty much like doom and gloom. But I am not sure it is.

After all, if the economy is based on emotion, consumption, and the uncontrolled granting of credit, the bottom has to fall out some time. The scenario sounds more like a huge correction than doom and gloom.

That being said, even approaching the worst case scenario could cost a lot of people their savings and their 401(k)s. Many companies could have problems. Banks could go out of business. There could be mass hysteria, rioting in the streets, people mandating that government provide for them (oh, that last one is happening already, I forgot). Maybe even governments defaulting.

So that means the federal government must step in, right? The writer of the article tends to think so. But isn't it the government that has fostered all of these moves - lending credit to those who don't deserve it in the name of fairness, attempting to control the markets through the Fed, and promoting an economy based on consumption - that put us in the situation we are in?

I will truly be sorry for the U.S. if this scenario happens. Many people will have built their financial foundation on what they believed was right: retail investments, such as stocks and bonds. They may lose that foundation after decades of building it, or retire with drastically less then they had 5-10 years prior.

The wise will keep both eyes on the economy and the markets. But that is not the rest of the story....

Not all our wealth comes from the markets. It comes from the gifts and talents we have been given...our ability to think and reason...our ability to bend, but not break...our ability to work...our ability to live below our means. You know, the stuff WE were taught - and hated to hear - when we were growing up at home.

The traditional, orthodox method of survival: working hard, saving what you could, and investing what you had left over. It's still the best program for success. It keeps us humble and aware of our environment. It keeps us from thinking the almighty markets or, heaven forbid, the government can straighten things out for us. It keeps us from becoming lazy, and keeps us mentally acute.

And last but not least...when were we supposed to depend on the markets, anyway? I cannot remember a time when Christ said to lean on government for our livelihood, or look to the market to financially save us, or to strive for the work-free lifestyle. Those are all by-products of our society, not the teachings of Jesus. We praise God for the good times; let us remain faithful in Him when all about us are flailing because of their reliance on mammon.

Did Someone Say "Dissolving Rights"

2008-02-17T23:14:00.000-05:00

Not good, yet approved by Congress.

Fine Tuning

2008-02-16T13:35:00.000-05:00

It was time to clean up the right side of my blog. I like the not-so-new Blogger, but there is some formatting I would still like to do on my own. Being relatively HTML-ignorant, I was helped immensely by this site for making the little changes that I wanted to make.

What did I do?

I removed the CLC Radio graphic, and replaced it with a link in 'My Links'.
I put all my links into one form. I also added the links Scott and I had on the Patriots & Tyrants site, and then added a sports links section.
I removed the Labels section. I display the labels at the bottom of each post, so I didn't see the necessity of cluttering up the right side of the blog with that info.
I added more AdSense stuff, and will likely add an Amazon or Musicians Friend store in the near future. (Thanks for the idea, Scott!)

'Tis all for now. Have a great weekend!

Strike That. Reverse It.

2008-02-13T18:58:00.001-05:00

I was sooooooooo excited about my latest work project. We were going to convert our financial systems over to our parent company's system. It was going to be a full-year project. We were going to take our Senior Vice President of "I'm in the middle of everything" out of the picture for month-end closing activities. (Not eliminate him, just no longer have him be the single point of failure.)

We brought in a consultant who, in previous engagements, successfully conducted conversions to the system our parent company uses. She was just starting to understand our company's lingo, if you will, and make some productive gains.

Yesterday evening, around 5:15, I get the e-mail:

Subject: Ding, dong!

If you've ever been at a company where they FINALLY terminated that awful employee, or transferred them to another department, you know what that means. It means the awful horror is gone, as in, "Ding, dong, the witch is dead!"

I really didn't need to read the rest of the e-mail. Knowing who sent it, and to whom it was addressed, I knew. My project was terminated, thwarted, stopped, permanently delayed.

Shazbot!

Talking to the parent company yields one set of reasons. Talking to our CFO and CIO yields another. I got better info from the grapevine from a peer who is working on other projects to integrate our systems with our parent company's. It is likely a case of not enough planning, then realizing that the conversion is, um, "bigger than a breadbasket". It was not like converting from Money to QuickBooks. The approved funding would not be enough, and would be better spent on another project.

So, that's the "strike that" part of the post.

I also had to tell our consultant and her recruiter that her services are no longer needed at the end of the month. She only started two and a half weeks ago, and was starting to make good progress this week. I hate that stuff; so does my boss. I called a face-to-face meeting with the recruiter to let him know what happened. Yuck!

I then had to call my systems administrator in Florida, and let her know the project wasn't moving forward. She is an expert with the current system, but was looking forward to the cultural change of everyone moving to a new system, and being educated by professionals on the right and proper way to use that system. So much for that. She and I convened today, figuring out how to make lemonade out of lemons. Only time, patience, and a swift kick in the pants to some of the Finance staff will tell if our ideas will be successful.

In other words, I am back to where I was in October.

That's the "reverse it" part.

Now tell me, without using Google or any other search engine, YouTube, or Wiki (or anything of a sort)...in what movie is my post title used?

Too Bad, So Sad

2008-02-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

President Calderon of Mexico is upset at the anti-immigration tone in the United States. Just read what he says here.

Ironically, our pro-security President (maybe I should have put that in quotes) is working on a $1.4 BILLION stimulus/security package for Mexico, which would focus on securing Mexico's southern border.

Two plus two equals four.

Before you say this doesn't add up from the U.S. perspective, it adds up perfectly. At least, if you are Bush.

2 - Bush wants amnesty for illegal aliens coming across the Mexican border. Primarily, these aliens will be Mexicans.

+

2 - Calderon wants to secure his southern border from Central Americans. They just don't fit into the US/Canada/Mexico single-economy model.

= 4 - another step toward an American Union.

In a Nutshell

2008-02-11T17:48:00.000-05:00

If you've never read the daily comic Non Sequitur, I think this strip is a good introduction. Enjoy!

Par for the Course

2008-02-10T18:59:00.000-05:00

Patriots and Tyrants is going bye-bye. Based on blogs we had participated in prior to starting P&T, Scott and I believed more people wanted to discuss solutions for the U.S. rather than just gripe. Maybe, some day, we'll be able to start a similar site in the future, and get more action.

Would have probably helped for us to have posted more frequently, too.

Changing the Primary System

2008-02-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

Update: I added a survey about the political parties to the right side of my blog. Take a look at the parties' platforms, then answer the survey.

What's wrong with having a national primary?

No, I don't mean where the highest vote getter for each party gets all the delegates, then automatically gets their party's nomination. Heck no, think of all the revenue the parties would lose by not having to hold a national convention. (snicker)

No, I am talking about keeping all the state rules for delegates, but having all of the primaries on the same day. Talk about shaking things up? Then, the left-leaning RINO's in New Hampshire, and the liberals voting as independents in the open primaries in other states, wouldn't have as significant impact on my voting options.

Lookie here:

Mitt Romney - out before Valentine's Day
Rudy Guliani - out before February
Fred Thompson - out before February
Duncan Hunter - out before February
Tom Tancredo - out before the new year

So my "choices" for my Republican vote in the March Ohio primary are:

John McCain - who moves to the left on issues of importance to me when it's time to govern.
Mike Huckabee - who attracts Christian voters, but would be labeled a Democratic nominee if you just looked at what he did in Arkansas without looking at title or faith.
Ron Paul - libertarian/constitutionalist at heart, but with whom I disagree on matters of defense and foreign policy.

Be honest...where's the "choice"? I'm not being negative; I'm being a conservative realist. Would I choose the pro-amnesty, pro-election "reform" candidate? The tax-raising, amnesty-happy, Mexican-consulate creating "populist" candidate? Or the isolationist, we-are-the-problem, get out of everywhere NOW candidate?

I can honestly say none of them represent me to my satisfaction. Some of the eliminated candidates may have, much more than the remaining crop. And that was my thought before Romney suspended his campaign.

So, why not set up primaries so that I can at least vote for who I believe does represent me, and let the voters sort it out? Who's to say Vermont wouldn't select Paul as the 'R' candidate, while Arizona selects Hunter, and Utah selects Romney? If none of them get enough delegates, good for us! We arrange a do-over. :-)

I would also add a binding "none of the above" option for all primaries, without a do-over for the party whose winning candidate is "NOTA".

If I did that though, I would also level the opportunity to begin a campaign. We conservatives always talk about equality of opportunity, while being against equality of results. In terms of elections, we have neither, thanks to the goofy election laws.

So why not make our vote really count, instead of making only our "hold our nose" vote count?

Class Action

2008-02-07T17:08:00.000-05:00

Can I sue the Republican Party?

That's a serious question.

The Republican Party has given up the ship. Every remotely conservative candidate is out of the race. Except for Ron Paul, of course, for whom no "thinking" conservative would ever cast a vote. Well, that's what the media AND the Republican leadership say, isn't it.

Since the Republican Party is no longer as advertised, what is the opportunity for filing a class action lawsuit against the party for false advertising? The Dems are bozos, idiots, pacifists, , but for the most part, they are as advertised. The same cannot be said for Republicans.

Since I am still a member of the Republican Party due to the one $30 donation I made fifteen years ago, and the party has left me, can I seriously consider creating a class action lawsuit against the idiots who try to tell me, "I represent you, dammit, so vote for me!"?

Inbreeding

2008-02-07T12:39:00.000-05:00

Read this article. The points are well founded and make sense.

But that's not why I want you to read it.

After you've read and digested it, then let it settle in your brain for a little bit, I want you to tell me what's wrong with it.

That's Entertainment!

2008-02-04T21:20:00.000-05:00

After not paying attention to the Super Bowl hype, I got home from band practice just in time to sit in front of the tube with the whole family and watch "the big event". The Engineer, front-runner that he is, was rooting for the Patriots. The Artist didn't really care about the game; she was rooting for the commercials. Marie was doing the same, conducting research for the next day's post.

In a post I submitted a couple weeks ago, I said I didn't care who won. As the game went on, though, I found myself slowly getting excited about the opportunity for...for...for...

AN UPSET!

As the Giants hung on via their stifling defense, I couldn't help but start rooting for them. After watching them play the Patriots so well during the last week of the season, I thought they had a chance; they wouldn't be blown out, but I didn't know if they could win. But, as they kept thwarting the Patriot's offense, and Eli Manning kept not looking like an idiot (see his last three years to understand this), I grew more excited for the Giants.

Enter the fourth quarter. New England took the lead with less than three minutes left. You could even hear Marie groaning, "Oh no, not the Patriots!" As the Giants took over on offense, I thought, "They have enough time, they don't need to rush." They earned a couple first downs, then got themselves into a third down situation when this happened:

Awesome. The most awesome play I have ever seen in a Super Bowl. Probably the best non-trick play I've ever seen. David Tyree caught the ball with his right hand AND HIS HELMET! Talk about concentration. Talk about strength. Wow!

At that point, I knew they COULD win. Then, with less than 40 seconds left in the game, the Giants scored a touchdown, and stopped the Pats from scoring again. Game, set, match: New York Giants! I actually ended up rooting for a New York team. Imagine that!

All over a game I didn't care about two weeks ago. It was the best Super Bowl I have seen in my lifetime, all 39.912328767123288 years of it. I guess I waltzed into the den thinking, as some of my band fans say, "I'm coming to watch you play; DON'T SUCK!" Well, the Giants didn't. Neither did the Pats. The better team, on that day, won the game.

--------------------------------------------------

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played an excellent halftime show yesterday. They sounded great. Looks are a concern, though. I wasn't sure if I was watching Tom Petty

Or Red Green

Maybe they are related.

--------------------------------------------------

And finally, here are the songs Running in Circles chose to learn. Or, will at least attempt at our upcoming practices:

*1. Dirty Little Secret - All American Rejects

2. Over You - Daughtry

*3. Authority Song - John Mellencamp

4. Love Song - Sara Barellies

5. Absolutely (Story Of A Girl) - Nine Days

*6. Anyway You Want It - Journey

*7. Talk Dirty To Me - Posion

8. You And Your Hand - Pink

9. Lovefool - Cardigans

10. Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer

*11. Paralyzer - Finger Eleven

12. Who Says You Can't Go Home - Bon Jovi

13. Life Is A Highway - Rascal Flats

14. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

15. Fire - Red Hot Chili Peppers/Jimi Hendrix

16. Give A Little Bit - Goo Goo Dolls / Supertramp

17. Saturday Night Is Alright For Fighting - Elton John

Songs marked with (*) are songs that, for various reasons, I am ready to perform.

Lot of variety, although I think we are becoming more of a family/party band than a bar band. We'll see where that leads us. (p.s. It is not worth watching the RHCP version of Fire. Trust me on this one.)

--------------------------------------------------

So, when's my birthday? Marie, the kids, and anyone with our church's calendar cannot venture a guess. (That includes you, Scott!!!)

Platforms

2008-02-03T07:09:00.000-05:00

While Nero fiddles, and 90% of Rome along with it:

(talk about gibberish)

There are actually some leaders (10%, hopefully on the increase) who think something ought to be done about it.

And if you don't like the way Congress runs its operation, you may want to get behind this bill.

No one forcefully constrained us into supporting only two political parties. We do it to ourselves.

Is There a Football Game Tomorrow?

2008-02-02T22:48:00.000-05:00

Somebody told me ("you had a boyfriend". Sorry, I couldn't resist.) that a pretty important football game being played tomorrow. Last I recall, it didn't include the Cleveland Browns, so it cannot be all that important.

It has been a busy week, and I actually haven't thought about the game very much, only when asked. Beyond that, it was a typical week:

Someone in the family was sick (poor Engineer - he's okay now)
Someone in the family went to the hospital (my mom - she's okay now)
Construction crew continued the kitchen improvements, which went slower than expected because the crew chief/owner was sick.
I started working with a consultant/business liaison on the big Finance project at work, then...
Our parent company asks if they can leverage my consultant's experience on similar projects. Um, that was never part of the deal....

Along with that, I'm learning new songs to play with a second band that will rock out more than Running in Circles, but won't fill the dance floor nearly as much. And, tomorrow we are celebrating my father-in-law's birthday at lunch, then I am leaving the lunch to attend band practice for Running in Circles. Each band mate is bringing a list of songs for the band's consideration, as I mentioned in a prior post. I chose...

I'll let you know which of my songs the band chooses...after the break.

I'll get home from practice between 5:30-6:00pm. Just in time to eat dinner. Then log into work to submit my time sheet and prepare for tomorrow. Then obtain the songs that RIC has chosen to learn. Then start learning them.

Oh, yeah. Is there a football game tomorrow?

------------------------------------------------------

What song contains the lyrics in quotes in the first line of my post?

A Response to GDAEman

2008-01-28T21:53:00.000-05:00

I was going to respond to GDAEman's comment to this post in the comments section. I didn't realize I was writing another complete post!

An introduction is in order: GDAEman is a regular commenter on the Patriots and Tyrants blog co-hosted by Scott and me. (If you consider our posting on P&T to be regular.) If you looked at all three of our personal blogs, you would probably say that we shouldn't be agreeing on anything. However, we all believe there is a greater good than the two political parties we succumb to, and have some good conversations that transcend the current goo called U.S. Politics.

I also added GDAEman to my links on the right today. Welcome, GDAEman!

Here it goes.

GDAEman,

Agreed that we have gotten smarter on some principles, and made amends (pun intended). There is something to be said about "life, liberty, and property" though, that gets lost in the mix.

That which I am given, I tend to find less valuable. I'm not talking about family heirlooms or priceless treasures here, which are given to us and are extremely valuable, but primarily only to us. I am talking about commodities on the low end, and common assets that were once seen as luxuries - houses, cars, etc. - on the high end.

Those things that I earn - through profits, wages, battle, debate - I tend to defend and protect. Why do inventors protect and defend their ideas? Because of the years of toil and strain. It's pride of ownership.

What happens when pride of ownership disappears? When someone buys a house, and gets it on a zero down-pay mortgage, then cannot afford the mortgage, what did they really lose? Not the $20,000 they saved up for 5-10 years, because they didn't save it in the first place. Not the ding to their credit score, since their credit score might have been bad already. And who cares when it is socially acceptable to declare bankruptcy at the drop of a hat?

I'm not bundling everyone into the same category here in the sub-prime fiasco. My point is that it's easy to distance yourself from failure when there is nothing to defend, nothing that you owned.

We don't have to earn much nowadays to have more than people in 65-70% of the world. The monthly earnings of some entitlement recipients, which aren't taxed, rival the post-tax discretionary incomes of some low-level professionals and many blue collar workers. We look to be given more, instead of looking to work for more.

We are so far removed from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, where U.S. liberty was defended on American soil. This pride of ownership issue not only applies to tangible goods, but to ideals as well. Today, we take our liberties for granted, as though they were given to us as a gift, not as something for which we sacrificed lives. We don't "own" our country any more. Pride of ownership is taboo, because it makes those that don't own feel inferior. We can't have that now, can we? Instead, we must build up their self-esteem, tell them how wonderful they are, yet still not nurture them into being thoughtful, productive, progressive members of society.

What I'm saying is that we are a country of enablers. We enable politicians to take us for granted, to use us as their own pieces on their big Risk game board. I can hear it now:

"I want to be red this time."
"Okay, I'll be blue."
"Can I play, too?"
"No! There is only enough room for two of us."
"But what about all those other playing pieces?"
"Won't work. We'll both gang up on you so you can't win."

We enable businesses to take advantage of us by trying to create legal monopolies and stifling competition. We accept 'free' offers for cell phones, wireless service, and for 'click points' on websites. Or we register our buying habits with grocery stores...gas companies...airlines...credit card companies...all so we can pay a little less, or nothing at all, on our next gas purchase or big-ticket-I-still-can't-afford-it fantasy vacation (it's for the children, after all). Nothing like letting all these companies know exactly what our buying habits are. We might as well just give them the keys to the house!

We enable political action groups to tell us when to emote, while never actually delving into why they want us to emote. Why should I MoveOn, when it's just about bashing the Right? Same with Kos. Same with many right-leaning websites. Heck, lefties bash Kucinich and righties bash Paul. What's up with that? Each party now cannibalizes their own non-conformists, instead of letting the voters give them the thumbs up or thumbs down.

We enable the media to whittle down our presidential nominee list for us by volume of positive or negative coverage.

And, conversely, politicians enable us to ask for more, because they keep giving it to us. We get lazier and lazier, ask for more and more, and defend what we have less and less.

Okay, enough ranting. My point is that the Constitution may have been written by wealthy men looking to protect their assets from other wealthy men, but look what happens when we don't want to protect anything - ideals, borders, faiths, liberties. I remember seeing a graphic about the rise and fall of civilizations, I think by Benjamin Disraeli. Looking at the natural regression of civilization after we get "too much", civilization declines rather quickly. From what I recall of the representative graphic, we are almost halfway down the decline.

Geez, I didn't think I would be writing a sub-post. :-)

-----------------------------------------------------------

***I wish I could find that graphic somewhere, something about the body politic. Someone please help; even just citing a legitimate reference would be good.

Affirmative Action Presidency

2008-01-28T20:59:00.000-05:00

Are we going to make Barak Obama the first affirmative action President?

I'm not talking about his credentials. I'm not talking about his races, considering he is multi-racial. I'm not even talking about his beliefs or political aspirations.

I'm talking about the people who claim him for their own.

Is the need to vote for "my person" going to put us in a position where qualifications and an affinity with the candidate's direction of the country don't matter?

Okay, stop laughing. I know they don't really matter to any of the candidates still seriously in the running today, or to the people that will vote for them and only them. For those folks, it's still about "us vs. them".

But, seriously...are Oprah's disciples so starved for a "black" man to be president that, should a white man with the same political beliefs and ideals run against other white men, her disciples wouldn't look twice at him, but would instead vote for one of the other candidates?

And there, you would have it. The "unqualified" white version of this man would remain unqualified. The "unqualified" mixed race version of this man would be promoted over others more qualified. That sounds like affirmative action to me.

Of course, that would mean we had qualified candidates. But that's for another post....

Song Quest

2008-01-27T20:12:00.000-05:00

Hello friends,

We are at it again. Running in Circles is looking for new songs to add to its repertoire. We are looking for a couple different types of songs:

- sing-along anthems, like Journey's Don't Stop Believing
- dance or danceable rock songs

The way this works best for our band is that each band member picks five songs they would like the band to consider. Everyone listens to those five songs, and the band picks one. Six members, six songs selected. Unless our keyboardist says, "just tell me what to learn," then it's five new songs.

So I have to pick five songs. Here is my short (too short) list from which I will choose my five:
- Lovin' Every Minute of It - Loverboy
- Oh Boy! - Buddy Holly
- Any Way You Want It - Journey
- No Matter What - Badfinger or Def Leppard version
- Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne
- Heart & Soul - Huey Lewis & the News

Like I said, it's a short list. Got any other ideas?

Super Test

2008-01-21T18:25:00.000-05:00

With Super Tuesday coming soon, I think it's time to have a Super Test. The test is simple.

1. Read these articles:

Article #1
Article #2
Article #3

2. Answer this question: what does each article reference that which our current crop of Big Box candidates only gives lip service?

If you fail the test, then maybe you shouldn't vote in the November Presidential election, because you have no idea on what this country is founded.

If you fail the test, you should visit my political links on the right, because you just don't get it.

...now back to your regularly cordial Quipper.

Rooting for the Favorite

2008-01-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

The Engineer does not know who Bill Belichick is. He does not know what that name means to Cleveland sports. All he knows is that the New England Patriots had no losses prior to today's conference championship football games.

I asked the Engineer who he wanted to win the games. He chose New England and Green Bay. When I asked him who he wanted to win the Super Bowl if those two teams played, he chose Green Bay. (Must be something with the green.) He is asleep now, but will be disappointed tomorrow morning to hear that Green Bay lost. My guess is that he will pick New England.

I, on the other hand, really don't care who wins. Like most of the playoff games this year, it's a case of which team I disliked less. (Sounds like how some people approach voting in elections, doesn't it?) Whereas the Engineer is compelled to root for one team every game, I can watch a game without needing to root for one of them.

This is how I will be watching the Super Bowl. Generally, I don't like New York sports teams. Then again, I've had my fill of Boston teams winning all the marbles, too. The Belichick angle does not bother me, although I know it bothers a lot of other Clevelanders. The guy is an emotionless, abrasive, arrogant genius. We see what he might have been able to do in Cleveland if we weren't so star-crossed with our quarterback at the time, Bernie Kosar. I still can't root for the Patriots, though, but I'm tired of seeing the Manning quarterbacks in Super Bowls.

What is a football fan to do? I will watch the game considering the historical implications on the sport itself. The Patriots are in their fourth Super Bowl in seven years, and could still have an undefeated season. The Giants could, ironically, play the giant killer. They've seen this script before, and didn't like the way it ended during the last game of the regular season. And how's this for drama: New England and New York, playing the final game of the post-season after New York tried to end New England's undefeated year during the last week of the regular season. Poetic.

And if the game is anything like the regular season ender between the two of them, it should be a very good game.

Under the Bus?

2008-01-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

I was presented with two fabulous opportunities this weekend. From the business and Christian perspectives, however, I couldn't take them.

See, both were opportunities to throw someone under the bus. One was band-related, and the other work-related. Some heat was exchanged in the band-related issue, but nothing significant will come of it. I know who the culprit is and what to expect of them. I don't have to be happy about it, but will keep a closer eye on certain situations in the future.

The work issue relates to a C-level employee and a Senior Vice President. They tried throwing me under the bus on Friday, but they could only do that by providing scant information about a situation they knew about, but let fester in myriad ways. I could expose a significant number of issues relating to these persons' department, but that would do nothing. Instead, I took the high road and answered the charges factually, thoroughly and professionally.

I will be working with these folks on a huge conversion project this year. This project, by its mere existence and sponsorship by our new owners, Farmers, will eliminate virtually all of the causes and symptoms of the current situation. These two folks already do not trust IT, yet become their own worst enemy because they then try to have unqualified staff do the work IT should do. So why should I fan the flames of animosity if everything will be sorted out in the next twelve months?

In the meantime, I do what I do best: use my project management and organizational skills at work, and play bass and entertain the crowd at gigs. But, in both situations, I also bite my tongue and exercise patience, neither of which are easy for me.

Mulligan '08

2008-01-07T16:39:00.000-05:00

Between illness, lost days at work, and other things going on for family and friends, I am officially declaring a mulligan for 2008. We can all forget that the last week really happened, and can start the new year over tomorrow.

Happy New Year everyone!

Intelligence in Congress?

2007-12-28T11:45:00.000-05:00

No, I did not lose my head. Okay, my illness made me woozy, but I'm not drain bamaged yet.

Don't believe me? Just read this article by the Tenth Amendment Center, and get on board!

Oh, the Irony

2007-12-28T11:16:00.000-05:00

The Quipper family had a wonderful Christmas. We were a busy crew, but everything went well.

My brother and his fiancee visited from California. She asked for snow - lots of it - and got her wish. So much that family and friends were joking with her to stop asking for snow. Within 24 hours of their arrival, the snow started falling. So, of course, things needed to reverse as they prepared to go back home. Within 24 hours of their departure, the snow disappeared. Guess when they left? 8am on Christmas morning. Yep, green Christmas. They were able to spend practically the entire Sunday before Christmas with us, and were able to relax for really the first time on their "vacation". Everyone had fun, and Marie did a great job with food prep.
We had our traditional Christmas Eve with the Artist and Engineer. No guests, just us. We had a fun time doing what we do on Christmas Eve, which includes reviewing what we did over the past year and what we want to accomplish next year (I know, that has nothing to do with Christmas, but that's when we do it), attending Divine Service, and opening gifts afterwards. And Marie did a great job with food prep.
We went to Worship Service again on Christmas morning, but not before the kids opened what was left in their stockings by Santa Claus. (Yes, the Artist knows better, but she still plays along for the Engineer.) In the afternoon, both sets of parents and Marie's brother-in-law joined us for good food, fun, and gift opening. And Marie did a great job with food prep.
On Christmas evening, friends joined us and had a surprise in stow for their children. Their grandma flew in from Florida, and they didn't know it! You should have seen the looks of surprise and joy on the grandkids faces. They loved it, and so did we. And Marie did a great job with food prep. (See the recurring theme?)

But, Rick, what about the irony?

I explained the snow irony already; white pre-Christmas, green Christmas. Okay, so Marie called it a brown Christmas. Oh, well. At least we didn't have to shovel the driveway on Christmas as part of visitor prep at the house.

The other irony: I did not use all my vacation time at work this year. Since we are now on a "use it or lose it" policy, I planned as much as I could; however the company changed Christmas Eve and New Years Eve to holidays, so I lost two planned days. What am I doing today? Sitting at home, sick. Doh!

Happy New Year everyone!

Final note: if you are looking for good Christmas music to play throughout the day, and have broadband access, I strongly recommend using Pandora. You can register for free, and set up your own radio stations. I set up a Christmas station by asking for Silent Night, then selecting a version that was sung by a choir. For the rest of the day, my "radio station" only played religion-based Christmas songs (I wouldn't call them all hymns, though); no commercial Christmas songs hit the Quipper Family airwaves. It was a nice touch.

A Pleasant Mistake

2007-12-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

I realize that it is only Sunday evening, and Christmas Eve is a day away. Tomorrow is jam packed. I don't plan on hitting the blog, so I would like wish you all a Merry Christmas, and leave you with a pleasant "mistake":

I work with a Puerto Rican gal and an Italian gal in Florida. One is naturalized, and the other is on H1 visa but in the process of being naturalized. Both are professional gals, not too far removed from their native cultures and traditions.

Within the past week, each has notified their peers of their vacation, indicating they would not be in the office until after the new year. They made a "mistake" in preparing their notifications. Both said, as they were taught to say back home:

Happy holydays!

'Twas not a mistake to me. Christmas is a holy day, the day of the birth of our Lord. The unintended message was a comfort in these hectic times, a remembrance of God made man, who died and rose again for our salvation.

Happy Holy Day everyone! Christ, our Savior, is born!

Eight Points!

2007-12-22T19:28:00.000-05:00

Our help desk manager got into the holiday spirit last week. One day, she wore a red cap with deer antlers sticking out. While walking through the halls, I noticed her hat, and commented to a passer-by who happened to be a hunter.

I said, "Look, a ten point doe!".

He looked, and said, "No, it's only eight points."

As I walked further down the hall, he caught up to me and said, "Hey, Rick, doe don't have antlers." I said, "I know. Just making sure you were paying attention." :-)

Beware Who Funds You

2007-12-21T12:40:00.000-05:00

Have you heard? Senator James M. Inhofe delivered his latest report about the growing number of global warming skeptics. The report identifies over 400 individuals who have scientifically expressed their healthy skepticism via peer reviewed papers.

Al Gore's response? His spokeperson declared that 25-30 of these skeptics may have received funding from Exxon.

If I were a lib, I would jump on that and say, "See! It's industry that is promoting and funding the skeptics. Without Big Oil, there would be no skepticism because it is all manufactured anyway."

After months of not knowing how to address this, I finally figured it out:

Well, no one in the scientific or green community would fund their efforts to dispute the status quo. Where else should they go to get funding?

Funny how lib educators and scientists can exhaust all opportunities for fundraising so they can conduct their research. But when a skeptic does it, they are bad for going to bed with Big Oil.

Duh!

This Isn't What Christmas Is About

2007-12-19T22:58:00.000-05:00

I won't steal Scott's thunder. Just go to his post to see the sacrilege that is masquerading as a "cute Christmas message" in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Scott's comments are excellent. I, like he, fail to see the cuteness in this bit.

A Quipper News Service Exclusive - 12-19-2007

2007-12-19T20:29:00.000-05:00

EXCLUSIVE!

The federal government, in order to cut down the occurrence of knife usage in cafeterias, kitchens and restaurants across America, passed a bill scheduled to take effect on February 29, 2008. If signed by President Bush, all food placed before the public would need to be presented so that using a knife is no longer necessary.

Congress recognizes that this issue cuts to the heart of the ever-increasing violence issues in schools and elsewhere. "This issue has teeth," said one congressman.

President Bush is expected to sign the bill. His spokesman said, "There is no need to slice up this bill."

"We are incisively following this concern," said Dee Sagust, chairwoman of the nonpartisan organization Parents for Bliss. "There is sharp division between us and our opponents. We believe no child should be put in a position of hurting themselves or others. The temptation to do evil here is too great. It's not like we are talking about condoms; we are talking about kitchen utensils."

Congress has not yet dealt with the issue of knives used in meal prep. As a long term resolution, Congress believes that serving only pureed food is the safe option. WalMart is pre-emptively bidding to provide below-cost pureeing plants in China, while Tyson is offering to provide the service inexpensively by hiring only aliens with criminal records to perform the work.

An adult's eye view of beef puree, rare

The prickly issue of violence caused by fork tines will also be eliminated by the longer term solution.

Sagust says, "As long as people only use spoons, the world will be a much safer place."

The food service industry is carving out a response, as restaurants have the most to lose by this proposal. On the other hand, Gerber and Beech-Nut are enthralled with the new bill.

EXCLUSIVE!

Freakout Mode

2007-12-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

In my career as a project manager, I have devised a number of trite phrases that define what I do, or what other people do, and situations that pop up on occasion. Some of the phrases need no explaining:

I take the slings and arrows from all comers and still make sure the job gets done.
Project management is like herding cats, only harder.
Project plans are never "fact"; they start as "fiction" then go straight to "history".
You wouldn't need project managers if people would just do what they already committed to doing.
The five business days prior to a project being implemented for everyone to use are called "hell week".
You can't cram for a project implementation like you can for a final exam.

Then there are the funniest ones. Not that they are really funny, but I look back at the situations where I've used them and laugh.

Freakout mode - that is the period after people realize that they have responsibility for a project - much later than when the responsibility actually started - and try like crazy to make up for lost time. Depending on the person and the importance of the activity, some people may go into freakout mode before hell week. But most don't. Freakout mode is always preceded by the last item...
The "OH, SHOOT!" factor. Yes, I cleaned it up for public consumption. No matter what amount of planning, conversing, and reminding you do with some people, you cannot help them avoid this moment. Bribing, encouraging and cajoling do not help. So, you do all you can to avoid it, but you can't.

It's funny - okay, not really - when an entire department collectively hits the "OH, SHOOT!" factor. I get it a lot.

Fun times.

Train Wreck

2007-12-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

A train traveling to Los Angeles leaves New York City at 10:00am, due west, at 100 mph. Another train, traveling from Los Angeles to New York City leaves at 2:00pm, due east at 110 mph. Assuming that neither train makes any stops and are traveling on the same track, at what time would they crash? (Note: all times are EST.)

That would be quite a train wreck, wouldn't it?

All things considered, Running in Circles had a pretty good gig last night. We were more pit crew than band prior to the gig, because the venue was hosting a benefit that ran 45 minutes late. Instead of staging our equipment and then setting up, we went into fast-forward mode. Hence, we were not allowed to bring in any equipment until folks cleared out. This worked against us in two ways:

- The place was packed...for the benefit. Which means it looked full before we started, and anyone who popped their head into the venue would see there were no tables available, and go elsewhere.

- We were hurried and not in good form on a couple songs in the first set. We recovered, but were somewhat frustrated. Our cover of American Girl, by Tom Petty, always goes over well. This time, we got our wires crossed during the intro, but too far into the song to declare a mulligan.

The result...train wreck. It was the only one. Looking back, I realize we hadn't had a good train wreck in over nine months. I guess we were due, but I would have preferred it to happen in the last set, and not in the first.

This is the second weekend in a row where I have been to a gig that occurred right after a benefit. Last week, I watched Disco Inferno go thru the same thing; crowd loss, first set not tight as it could be. Fortunately for us, a number of patrons actually approached us and the venue manager to compliment us on our performance and song selection. The manager liked us, too. Can't complain about that.

But this is Sunday, Rick. Isn't this the time you craft some wily, wooly Idiots of the Week post?

Of course. Let's talk train wrecks:

The one that almost happened by My Idiots, the Cleveland Browns. They forgot that the games run for four quarters again, and made a can't-miss win a nail-biter again. It seems to me the coaching staff is still learning on the job, too, based on some decisions they made in the second half. Neither the players nor the coaches know how to close out games they should win.
The Detriot Lions season. The Lions were 6-2 at one time, and have since lost the last five. That is not significant from the sports perspective, but from another. After the Lions won their sixth game, QB John Kitna, a born-again Christian, declared that God destined their team for the playoffs. I hate when people do that. I will not go further here, but you can add your thoughts as you post your comments.
The Miami Dolphins season. Terrible, absolutely terrible. The road to 0-16 is more interesting than New England's road to 16-0. It is ironic, too: the only team to go undefeated for an entire season was the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Now, for the Idiots:

Win - The Browns defensive coaching staff, for playing the prevent defense for practically the entire fourth quarter. It almost prevented another victory; they gave up twice as many points in the fourth quarter as they did the rest of the game.

Place - John Kitna, QB for the Detriot Lions. Shut your mouth, and play football.

Show - QB Derek Anderson. for the second consecutive week. He has problems throwing passes in less-than-optimal conditions. He had problems in this game, and in the Steelers loss. No nail-biting this game if he throws a couple good passes in the third and fourth quarters.

Honorable Mention - The Miami Dolphins, who are redefining "incompetence".

Gateway Crime

2007-12-07T10:11:00.000-05:00

I broke the law today. Yes, I admit it.

Since I had a vacation day today, I decided to stay up late last night, learn some new songs, and traipse around my favorite blogs and sports web sites. I finally went to bed around 2:00am...

...which meant I slept in until around 9:00am. Being garbage day, I needed to take the garbage out.

Before 8:00am.

In our suburb, it is illegal to place your garbage on the lawn after 8:00am on garbage day.

So what does this crime lead to? Not taking out the garbage at all?

(snicker)

Bittersweet Returns

2007-12-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

I watched the value of my stock holdings increase at a satisfactory rate over the last couple of days. So I am jumping for joy, right?

No, not really.

But there was an upward correction, and all is right in the stock market again, isn't it?

No, not really.

But confidence is starting to rise again, isn't it?

No, not really.

But President Bush threw his weight behind government assistance for the country's mortgage issue, didn't he?

THAT'S IT!!!

That's exactly why I am not satisfied with the general uptick in the market.

Where the stock market was somewhat based on principled fundamentals and commitment to long-term investment, and driven by market forces, it is now driven by...by...by...emotion.

Good grief!

Yes, it has been driven by emotion for some time. Welcome to our "modern" world after all, where feelings are more important than objectivity. Where immediate returns are better than long-term prosperity. Where uncalculated risk-taking is better boring old saving and "buy and hold" investing.

We sure could use a little good news today, right?

I don't believe the last two days' gains for the Dow are good news. Not from the societal perspective, regardless of how good the gains look financially.

The Dow improved because the government communicated a proposed "amnesty" (my word) for the public relative to their mortgage woes.

Since when is it a good personal business decision to acquire a mortgage that you can't afford?

Since when is it a good corporate business decision to lend money to those who aren't a half-way decent credit risk?

Since when is it a good national business decision to prop up a consumer economy, when the propping will only make things worse in the future (higher taxes to maintain the amnesty or a steeper fall of the stock market)?

Good news? No, not really.

The Truth Shall Set You Free

2007-12-05T21:16:00.000-05:00

Too bad the author of this article writes for ESPN.com, and not a rag that would also be read by people that aren't sports fanatics.

Curious Questions

2007-12-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

Some of the muck going around in my mind today:

1) If an Allah-loving jihadist celebrates his religion's victory over an infidel by shooting his AK47 in the air, but forgets that bullets do not defy gravity and therefore kills a fellow jihadist, is the killed man considered a martyr?

2) If a Muslim man despised a woman because he couldn't have her, would he rape her so she could be executed on account of her promiscuity?

3) The British teacher that was pardoned for naming a stuffed animal Mohammed apologized sincerely. Since Islam is the religion of peace, will she be forgiven by those that wanted her murdered?

4) While the crazies in the U.S. want to ban smoking to lower the costs of health care for society, and are doing their best to ban trans-fats, why don't they want to reduce the occurrence of conception out of wedlock, which would have greater utilitarian benefit?

5) On the subject of health care, why is prevention a valid option for everything except AIDS and HIV?

I know the answers already, but the questions were churning in my mind anyway.

Bad Behavior

2007-12-02T22:42:00.000-05:00

I thought it might be safe to table the Idiot of the Week awards for a while, but I was mistaken.

Before I go there, I would like to say how much the Browns' offense reminds me a bunch of the Brian Sipe-led Kardiac Kids of the late 1970s. When the Browns are behind, the opposition must be scared stiff. It seems this team responds best while under duress, which isn't where you want to be against the better teams in the league. They almost pulled out another win today, in a game they had no business winning.

"Why?" you ask? That's a short list:

The offense only really played for two quarters again.
The special teams didn't show up at all.
The defense lost their head on a few bone-headed plays that either resulted in points given up or yards lost for our offense.

Yet they still almost won. If these guys ever learn how to play as the favored team, they could go far. Until then, we have to watch this team take their lumps.

Drum roll, please...

Win - Leigh Bodden, cornerback. After the defense stopped the Cardinals to bring up 4th down, Bodden kicked the ball off the field of play. This is a penalty, called "unsportsmanlike conduct". Instead of the Cardinals punting, they were awarded an automatic first down, and proceeded to score a touchdown. There are seven points that should not have been on the board.

Place - Simon Frasier, OSU Buckeye alumnus and Browns special teamer and defensive lineman. He head butted a Cardinals player as our special teams were returning a kickoff to set up for our final drive of the game. Penalty again. 15 yards further to drive, requiring more precious seconds to tick off the clock. Dumb, just plain dumb.

Show - QB Derek Anderson. He knows how to play from behind, but gets too relaxed (or lazy, maybe) when expected to win. His first quarter play was horrendous and directly cost us seven points, although he almost made up for it at the end.

Honorable Mention - The BCS, for not finding a BCS game for Missouri. It's time for a playoff system in college football.

Kudos to Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards for their spirited play today. Winslow's end of game catch, although being pushed out of bounds, is highlight reel material. Too bad the ref swallowed his whistle instead of a) calling pass interference, which he should have (the hit came before the ball touched Winslow's hands), or b) declaring that Winslow was pushed out of bounds, as everyone was griping about.

They get to try again next week. Hopefully they will have learned their lessons.

Fed Up

2007-11-29T18:14:00.000-05:00

That's it! I've had enough!

I'm sick of that huge, mammoth industry.

The one that takes in significant revenue.
That gouges its customers.
That hurts the environment and doesn't care about the children.
That continues to do things the way it always has.
That keeps putting gobs of money into R&D, but doesn't really think outside the box.

Money grubbing pigs! Dirty rotten filthy stinking rich!

No, I'm not talking about Big Oil. I'm talking about Big Politics.

And I'm not talking about government, but about political parties and interest groups.

How much money is taken in for conducting polls? For PR? For demographic research? For identifying and retaining marginal political talent that won't rock the boat? For non-lobby lobbying groups?

What percentage of the GDP goes to politicking? How much is spent per year, per person? I don't know, and wonder if those numbers can be found anywhere.

How much money goes into reporting about politicking? How many cable television channels exist and talking heads are employed simply because of Big Politics? Ultimately, we are paying for their existence.

To heck with lowering taxes or changing the underlying tax structure. (Okay, I still want that, too!) Let's eliminate Big Politics and their accomplices in the media first.

(Photo is the cover art for Warrant's album, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich.)

An Honest President?

2007-11-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

I read this at the Populist Party website. I don't agree with the second to last line; I would rather vote for none of the above, or maybe even Mickey Mouse. But the article is interesting.

Idiot of the Month

2007-11-27T19:38:00.000-05:00

I have two posts ready for public consumption, but I couldn't pass up this one. It is my first Idiot of the Month post.

The winner is:

If you don't know who this character is, I will give you a few clues:

He is a restricted free agent for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
No other team in the NBA tendered him a contract offer. Not one.
The Cavaliers tendered him an offer higher than what is expected for someone of his tenure, let alone his level of performance.
He rejected the offer.
He is sitting around, being all mopey in his homeland of Brazil.
Because of his being mopey, he couldn't even represent his home country in the Basketball Tournament of the Americas. Way to take one for the team!
He says the Cavs' GM, Danny Ferry, has not treated him fairly. Pretty good, considering the Cavs were offering him more than he is worth, yet he has no offensive skillz. (Shall I say those skillz were offensive?)
He wants a sign-and-trade, where the Cavs sign him to a "respectable" contract offer, then immediately trade him to another team. Yeah, right. Give him more than he is worth, even more than what the Cavs originally offered him, then trade him to a team that didn't want to afford him in the first place. BWAAAHAAAHAAHAAAHAAH!!!

His nickname, if you care, is "Wild Thing". His real name is MUD!, I mean, Anderson Varejao.

Congratulations, Andy! You win my first Idiot of the Month award.

A 'Must Read' Website

2007-11-11T18:42:00.000-05:00

I don't care if you are a lefty or a righty when it comes to politics. Most of it today is all the same.

If you want to get your feathers ruffled, but for legitimate reason, I encourage you to visit The Tenth Amendment Center. Many of the articles make me cringe, until I read them all the way through a couple of times and really try to understand them.

This doesn't mean I end up agreeing with everything I read there. I do end up, however, with a much better idea of what our government should be, as opposed to what politicians and the media tell me it is.

Deja Vu All Over Again

2007-11-11T17:28:00.000-05:00

I had my Idiot of the Week post conceptualized on Saturday evening. Operative word being "had".

Let me explain.

This time last year, I remember watching a superior OSU football team almost lose to the Illinios Fighting Illini, a miserable team that was the laughingstock of the Big Ten. The Buckeyes raced to a 17-0 lead at halftime, then proceeded to lose. Well, almost. The final score was 17-10. OSU survived a scare, beat That Team Up North, then got pounded in the BCS Championship Game.

At the start of the third quarter of yesterday's OSU-Illinios game, I got the feeling I had seen this act before. The Illini were energetic, prepared and eager to win. The Buckeyes were, well, business-like; no emotion, no spirit. Oh, and they looked slow compared to the Illini, too. It looked just like last year's game.

Then, it hit me: this looks like the BCS Championship Game all over again. The Illini defensive linemen were too fast for OSU's offensive line. Their special teams were popping harder. The kicker, though, was that the vaunted OSU defense could not defend against a multi-faceted quarterback who could pass, run, and orchestrate an offense based on misdirection.

Much like in the BCS game. Against Florida.

Earlier this morning, I read that the Illinois head coach, Ron Zook, was fired as head coach of - get this - Florida. Most of his Florida recruits were playing last year in the - yep - the BCS Championship Game against OSU. Maybe the guy knew what he was doing after all. Or, maybe he wasn't good enough to compete in the SEC, but is good enough to be a top tier coach in the Big Ten. Makes you wonder.

Looks like the rest of the "big" Ten will need to learn how to recruit to defend against the kind of team Illinois has. Maybe then the "big" Ten Conference will become strong again.

Deja vu

So, that was the post I mentally structured last night. Enough to identify some Idiots of the Week, right? I thought so, too. Then, Marie and I joined the Evil Genius and BrikWarrior at a local watering hole to watch the Browns-Steelers game. BTW, BrikWarrior would likely say it was the Steelers-Browns game. No big deal, just saying. :-)

We enjoyed the food and the company, and 3/4s of our party was enjoying the first half of the game. But, wait, I've read this script before. Browns have a double-digit lead, in Pittsburgh. Steelers make adjustments at halftime; Browns don't. Browns show they are learning to win instead of knowing how to win. Steelers, especially QB Ben Roth----burger, show they know how to win. Joshua Cribbs, Browns return specialist extraordinaire, makes matters worse by returning a kickoff for a touchdown, giving the Steelers the ball back, with our defense already on its heels. It's the second time in three years Cribbs has done this. Whodathunk returning a kickoff for a touchdown would hurt?

It did. Steelers scored again, and the Browns game-tying field goal attempt landed just short. On the mark, but short. Steelers won by three.

All over again

So, here it is, 6:00pm on Sunday evening in Cleveland. Two consecutive days of Groundhog Day, but with different scripts. Maybe Yogi Berra wasn't making a malapropism when he said, "It's like deja vu all over again."

That being said, it's time for the Idiot of the Week awards.

Win - Romeo Crennel, Browns head coach. Late in the game, he calls a timeout to determine whether to protest a touchdown pass caught by a Steelers receiver. He loses the reversal - it wasn't even close - thereby losing a second time out. Two time outs blown in no time at all. Give the Browns the time outs for their last drive, and they come back with at least a tie and OT.

Place - Darnell Dinkens, 3rd (or 4th) string tight end for the Browns. He made a dumb penalty on Pittsuburgh's final kickoff to us. Instead of starting with the ball at the Steeler's 38-yard line, they got it at their own 33-yard line. A 29 yard difference; not good. Without the penalty, the Browns at least would have the ball at mid-field, a 17-yard improvement from where they started. Take 17 yards of Phil Dawson's missed field goal attempt, and it's no longer a missed field goal.

Show - The Buckeyes, especially Jim Tressel. Looks like his folks are too slow to go against the strong and swift defenses. And his game plans do not have an answer for any team that has a quarterback that can run and pass successfully. Times are a-changing, and Tressel needs to show that he can change, too.

Honorable Mention - Willie McGinest, linebacker for the Browns. He had Roth---burger in his sights a couple times, and tried to tackle him high each time. If he tackles at the waist, he stops at least one Steelers drive, if not two.

The Browns' lessons learned should be too obvious to state: draft defensive linemen; get younger and faster in the linebacking crew; learn how to play offense against the Steelers (maybe let Cribbs get in for a few plays to loosen things up a bit); don't waste two time outs when the game is on the line; don't run the "prevent offense" in Pittsburgh; and assign someone to follow Roth---burger wherever he is.

The Buckeyes' lessons learned aren't so easy. How do you change what you've done for decades when it's always worked, and recently been the gold standard for the Big Ten? Now, that gold standard looks more like fools gold, especially since a coach who couldn't continue coaching in the SEC made the Big Ten's best look average.

Ninety Percent Participation

2007-11-10T19:24:00.000-05:00

Man, when I read this, I got jealous. I know I shouldn't get jealous, being that we are talking about church participation. But the number looks really good.

I thought variations of the 80/20 rule applied everywhere. I was wrong. Talk about enthusiastic people looking to grow.

Pacifists, Peacemakers and the Difference

2007-11-09T12:23:00.000-05:00

I was going to post another Definition Warp. The topic: "pacifists and peacemakers". To me, they were not the same thing. My perception was this:

* A pacifist is someone who is against war in particular, and against any use of violence in general.
* A peacemaker is someone who recognizes the need to make peace, but prepares for all possible circumstances.

I know people who are pacifists. I know people who declare themselves peacemakers. I know people who declare themselves "pacifists and peacemakers". To me, peacemakers are people who desire and strive for peace, but are aware that other options may be necessary.

When I looked up the definitions, I learned I was wrong:

Pacifism (from the American Heritage Dictionary):

1. The belief that disputes between nations should and can be settled peacefully.
2a. Opposition to war or violence as a means of resolving disputes.
2b. Such opposition demonstrated by refusal to participate in military action.

Peacemaker (from Dictionary.com):

A person, group, or nation that tries to make peace, esp. by reconciling parties who disagree, quarrel, or fight.

What did I learn? First, that my definition for "peacemaker" was incorrect. Second, that a peacemaker kind of sits above it all; they are not necessarily part of the fray, but are involved in stopping the fray.

What does this mean to me? It means that those labeling themselves as "pacifist and peacemaker" are not being redundant. They are against violence at all costs and find themselves not to be in the middle of the fight. If I thought that of myself, I could justify my idealism, too, and refuse to acknowledge the reality that I may have to prepare to defend myself. Or allow others to defend themselves.

What Idiots?

2007-11-06T19:29:00.000-05:00

Can you declare someone derelict in their duties if there was no duty?

My beloved "idiots", the Cleveland Browns, resemble a pretty decent football team right now. I have been tentative at the beginning of each game, but turned generally excited as each game progressed. So, what's to do with an "Idiots of the Week" post when you are not in the mood to nitpick? :-)

Hence, those of you looking for an "Idiots of the Week" post have been profoundly disappointed. You haven't mentioned this to me yet, but...you! You know who you are.

I take the defense to task practically every week. Looks like the loss of playing time to Ted Washington has improved the defensive line, ever-so-slightly. Our safeties, who still can't figure out how to play pass defense, have excelled in stopping the run in those fourth-and-short situations. Opportunistic defense, indeed! They have not reached the level of "good" yet, but I can say that they are improving.

Wazzup with the special teams, though? There is need for improvement there. I did not think that would be necessary coming into the year. For the most part, they are decent, but they had some pretty bad miscues last Sunday.

So, here we are, at Big Week #2. I won't mention what happened in Big Week #1.

Maybe I will.

Charlie Frye stunk. The offense was a mess. The defense was better than the offense, I think, but I didn't have a frame of reference since the starting point was "negative infinity". (I officially declare my love for the SEC, BoSox, Yankees, Wolverines, Pistons and Steelers to be at a "negative infinity", too.)

Things have looked up. I have a strange sense of confidence in the offense, and this odd feeling that the defense might actually step up for a series or two each game. Joshua Cribbs is always exciting to watch, and I can't wait to see what weird contortions Winslow and Edwards will make with their bodies in order to catch an otherwise un-catch-able ball. (Is that a woid?)

So, here we are, at Big Week #2. (Didn't I say that already?) Going into the game, I don't know what to expect. Embarrassment on the football field would be a disappointment. Anything else...tune in next week to get my thoughts.

You still want Idiots of the Week? Okay, here goes:

Win - Shaun Alexander, running back for the Seattle Seahawks. Granted, he played injured for a quarter or so, but looked tentative in everything he did. That really changed the Seahawks' game plan. I give him credit for trying to play injured, but against a porous Brown's run defense, he still could have made them pay had he given any effort at all.)

Place - Mike Holmgren, Seattle's head coach. If you know you can't gain a yard on fourth down via a rushing play, why not try something different? Hasselback can run; why not try a bootleg instead?

Show - The Brown's special teams. They missed an extra point, pooched a kickoff out of bounds, and gave up a touchdown on another kickoff. Browns win by three in overtime, but could have one by eight in regulation. I know, it would have killed the "feel good" story if it had happened that way. I no longer care about gutting it out to win the close games. I want blowouts all the way, man. No more of this stressful stuff. Not until after one Cleveland team wins a championship.

Honorable Mention - Whoever owns the #2 spot in the BCS rankings from week to week. It looks to be the kiss of death to be ranked #2. Maybe that means another SEC team will blow it this week, eh? (LSU currently holds that highly regarded, highly coveted #2 ranking.)

Watcha doin' on New Years Eve?

2007-10-26T16:01:00.000-04:00

Why not join Running in Circles at the Michaud's New Years Eve Bash in Strongsville, OH?

We will perform from 8:00pm-1:00am. Each room will have a different band.

You can get the details here.

Selfish Desires, Part II

2007-10-14T21:13:00.000-04:00

To: The Cleveland Indians
From: Quipper
Subject: Winning the ALCS

Dear Cleveland Indians,

Thank you for reading and responding so positively to my previous request. It was a pleasure to watch you clinch the division title live from Jacobs field. I also enjoyed watching you take it to the Yankees in four games in the ALDS. It was great to hear the silence in Yankee Stadium after you won game four and eliminated them from the playoffs.

I have been paying close attention to the ALCS, too. Always near a radio or TV, it is tough for me to concentrate on anything else during your games against the BoSox. While the first game was kind of a bummer, the second game gave me hope that you can achieve success in the ALCS, and advance to the World Series.

Running in Circles was scheduled to play at Spectators Grille last night, and we were to start performing after Game 2 of the ALCS. Well, you can guess how that went. The game ended at 1:44am - wow that's late! We didn't perform, but being the homers that we are, we cheered you on through each inning. We were excited that you pulled out the victory and are coming home with home field advantage in what is now a five game series.

I have a new request for you. The band is scheduled to play at McCarthy's Ale House this coming Saturday. I understand that, if the ALCS goes to game 6, the game will be played on Saturday, most likely starting at 8:20pm. This ALCS is a heavyweight battle; like with the ALDS, none of the games are fast, but all run close to four hours. And, if you go into extra innings again, who knows how long the game could run?

I'm sorry for babbling a bit, but here is my question: Could you close out the BoSox in Cleveland, and win the series in five games? It seems a bit improbable, but you have had a heck of a season so far. I want to celebrate the Tribe's ascension to the World Series. I just want to do it on the night of October 18 - or, shall I say, the early morning of October 19. :-)

Thank you. Go Tribe!

Offensive Showing

2007-09-30T22:37:00.000-04:00

This weekend was rough. I started getting sick on Friday, and it carried through the weekend. I didn't watch any football on Saturday, but logged into ESPN.com a couple times to find that the College "Top 25" were doing their best rendition of the Iraqi Republican Army. Slogan: RETREAT!

Yes, half the top 10 lost this week. Parity in college football? Whooda thunkit?

USC, the top-ranked team, almost let Washington beat them, the same Washington team that OSU beat soundly two weeks ago.

Remember Florida, the team that killed OSU in the championship game last year? They scored 17 points against two-loss Auburn. West Virginia's high-flying offense scored a whole 13 points. Oklahoma's was averaging over 50 points,; they only scored 24...and lost. Clemson mustered a whole three points.

Some mighty offensive showings by the alleged "Top 25" teams in college.

Then, you had the pro games, like Bills vs. Jets at 0-0 by halftime. (It wasn't because either team is a defensive powerhouse, either.) The Rams, once billed "The Greatest Show on Turf", scored one touchdown. The Chargers, one of last year's overpowering teams, lost to the Chiefs after only scoring 16 points and committing four turnovers. The Eagles have scored three points, and there are only two minutes left in the game.

No problems for the Brownies, though. They won, 24-13, and scored 24 or more points for the third consecutive week. I told Marie before the start of the game that, if the Browns would score 20+ points, they'd win. The Ravens offense just isn't good enough to score that much, even against a much-maligned Browns defense.

Talking about offensive showings, here are this week's Idiots of the Week:

Win - Brian Billick, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Did he forget his team was playing the Browns this week? I was surprised he didn't have his quarterback run the no-huddle offense throughout the fourth quarter. It wasn't as though the Browns' defense was stopping the Ravens, they were stopping themselves.

Place - The Browns defense. Yes, the Browns won, but they still allowed another running back to gain more than 100 yards rushing. They haven't shut down an offense in three weeks.

Show - The Pittsburgh Steelers, for graciously losing to the Arizona Cardinals, who were led by Methuselah, er, Kurt Warner. The high-flying offense was shut down by Arizona, whose head coach and defensive coordinator were candidates for the Pittsburgh head coaching job after Bill Cowher left. Now the Browns are only one game out of first place, although I don't expect them to get there.

Honorable Mention - Me, for strongly recommending that people not pick the Browns this year. Looks like the team could actually be competitive in many of this year's games. (BUT...don't pick them next week; they are playing the Patriots.)

Maybe the Browns' offense is pretty good. Oakland and Baltimore are supposed to have two of the better defenses in the league. We'll see next week.

Green Investments

2007-09-28T18:36:00.000-04:00

In July, I wrote this post, asking about investment opportunities in climate change industries. I have since done a little bit more of the due diligence that I expected to do. I was primarily motivated by this article that I saw on the Drudge Report. It talked about the "new millionaires" by way of environmentally friendly companies. I chose to investigate the three companies mentioned in the article to see what investment options they had for me, a U.S. investor.

Here's what I found:

EcoSecurities: based in Britian, sold only on one of the British stock exchanges, not registered for sale in the U.S.
Novera Energy: based in Australia or Britian, sold only on one of the British stock exchanges, not registered for sale in the U.S., Australia, Japan or South Africa.
Solar Integrated Technologies: Incorporated in Delaware, based in Los Angeles. Looks good, eh? Nope. Stocks are listed on one of the British stock exchanges, not registered for sale in the U.S.

What does this mean, "not registered for sale in the U.S."? It means that a U.S. citizen or someone in the U.S. can buy, sell, broker or trade these shares. Now I was getting confused. Why would a U.S. company, Solar Integrated Technologies, not make its shares available to U.S. citizens? I e-mailed the company:

Original request for info:

From: Rick ***
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2007 9:00 AM
To: Dona ***
Subject: US investor question

Hello,

I was curious why your company, which I learned about from the internet,
does not permit investment to U.S. citizens, even though you are
incorporated in Delaware and based in Los Angeles. Can you please
provide more information so I can understand?

Thank you,
Rick ***

Round 2: Dona's response

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dona ***"
To: Rick ***
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 11:35 AM
Subject: FW: US investor question

Thank you for your interest in Solar Integrated. SIT shares are not
registered for sale in the US.

If I can be of further assistance please let me know.

Thank you,
Dona ***

My next question:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick ***"

To: "Dona ***"

Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 9:30 PM

Subject: Re: US investor question

> Hi Dona,
>
> Thank you for responding. I was already aware that SIT shares were not
> registered for sale in the US. I would like to know why they were not
> registered, especially since the company is a legal entity of the United
> States.
>
> Thank you,
> Rick ***

Dona's next response: {crickets chirping}

Yep, no next response. First response only took them nine days to give a non-response. When I asked for more specifics, I received no response.

Why is it that they can't be forthright? Do I need to take this up a level - to the SEC - to find out what this company doesn't want U.S. investors to know? I mean, the company deals in industrial solar panels, not some freakish, space-cadet type of product. Why not let the U.S. investor - you know, the one whose government(s) allow them operate as a business in the first place - invest in your company and your product?

I am deciding what to do next. Any ideas besides going to the SEC? Has anyone else seen or experienced the same thing?

The Big One, Elizabeth! part 2 (The Show)

2007-09-26T20:12:00.000-04:00

The lineup for the Hi Fi concert highlighted three distinct musical styles: eclectic anti-establishment, hardcore punk, and rock.

The first band, Below Jupiter, was led by key-tickling front man Josh and drummer Chris. Yes, a two-piece band, and they pulled it off well. Josh’s piano playing is front and center for the band, and he is an outstanding performer. Chris’s drumming style fits perfectly with Josh’s performance abilities, making for a unique sound. The band’s style is hard to describe, even for the band, so they just go with “eclectic”.

Below Jupiter performed songs from their upcoming release, “Saul” as well as other concept-related pieces they have been performing for the last year. Their anti-establishment, anti-forced-religion themes came through loud and clear in their songs, especially “Political Robots”. The band and their sound were, at first, a curiosity to the crowd. However, as they continued to play, you could tell that interest in the band was growing, and the band morphed from “curiosity” into legitimate performers in the eyes of their audience. Keep an eye on these guys as they grow on the indie scene.

The second band rolled in from down the street, or so it seemed. No, wait, they really did! Dead Man’s Curve, from Lakewood, OH, came up to the stage, ready to take prisoners and name names with their no-holds-barred brand of hardcore punk. I was ready to put in my earplugs on the assumption that they would “turn it up to eleven”, but they didn’t. The sound was awesome, their music tight, and you could tell they were having a great time on stage.

This three-piece outfit – starring Jason on guitar and vocals, Mike on bass and vocals, and Dustin on drums – was “on” from the moment they hit the stage. They reminded me of 80s punk, when bands like the Misfits, Social Distortion and Suicidal Tendencies ruled the realm.

The band’s loyal audience was in full force, and showed their appreciation by whooping, hollering and singing along with the band. Dustin’s drumming was crisp, and Mike and Jason put on a great performance. Not just with their playing, but with their antics, gyrations and smirks on stage. They know what they’re doing, and they know how to do it. For all the new fans that bought DMC t-shirts at the gigs, DMC also threw in their demo CD. Awesome!

(Rumor has it a big-time punk band asked Dead Man’s Curve to open for them when they come into Cleveland. Let’s hope DMC gets the props they deserve and are able to do the show.)

As the witching hour approached, it was time for the headliners to take the stage. It had been three years since Pauly left Cleveland to pursue his dream in L.A., and he looks like a good fit with his band mates in Elegantly Wasted – Lenny J. on guitar and vocals, Queen D. (Diana) on guitar and vocals, and guest bassist/vocalist Fred. They have a good chemistry on and off stage, and have similar tastes in music. Can they find that label that understands their talents and sound, the one that would market them so the rest of the world would know what the folks in L.A., Cleveland and Europe already know? Let’s hope so.

EW did not disappoint. They started the night with “Sickhead”, the first song off their new CD, “Desolation Row”, and played most of the songs off that CD. They also threw in a three songs from their first release, “Greetings from a Strange Place”. (You can hear samples of all of their available songs at http://elegantlywasted.net/media.php.)

The show sounded like their earlier rehearsal: crisp, fun, and engaging. Lenny J. had a great rapport with the audience. The gestures and facial expressions he makes while he’s singing help convey the emotion and meaning behind the songs, and draw you into the performance. Diana kicked butt on guitar; she is calm and cool on stage, a great compliment to Lenny’s performance style. Fred and Pauly not only keep the bass and beat going strong, but are two of the most energetic performers I’ve seen in a while. They exemplify chaos under control.

The band threw in a couple curve balls by playing their renditions of “Ring of Fire” and "Rockin’ in a Free World”. They also covered a Bob Dylan tune, but I hope someone comes to my rescue by telling me the name of it.

Since this was Pauly’s homecoming, the band let him have a little fun with his family, friends and co-workers, and begrudgingly (I’m sure) let him own the mic while he rapped all the lines to Beastie Boys anthem “Fight for Your Right”. Before that, though, Pauly had a big surprise for a very important member of the audience. A friend of his and his brother joined the band onstage to play a special rendition of “Tonight, It’s You” by Cheap Trick. The song was dedicated to Pauly’s girlfriend, Brittany, who flew in with her sister, Erin, to see the show. Little did Brittany know the surprise waiting for her at the end of the tune: an engagement ring and a marriage proposal. She was probably the only surprised person in the club, but she said what we all expected her to say: yes. Good times all around!

After Pauly and Brittany had a couple minutes to collect themselves, the band played another cover tune with their friend, Trevor, playing bass, and finished the set with their smoking-hot song, “Too Much, Too Soon”. (A should-be classic, imho.) For an encore, they played “Rockin’ in a Free World”, with a great guitar call and response segment between Lenny and Diana that was a pleasure to watch and hear.

When the show ended, they were all spent, er, I mean “wasted”. They had given the audience their all, and were taking a well deserved break before taking down their equipment. They were readily available after the show, and talked freely to everyone who approached them. Rock stars? Yes, talent wise, but without any of the annoying attitude. It was great to see.

These guys are excellent performers. I could have watched any one of them all night. They all bring different styles to the table, and have different ways of showing off their talents. To watch them do it together, and blend they way they did, was a treat. I wish them all the best, and hope to see them perform again soon.

(cross-posted at my myspace blog)

Disclaimer: Show review does not indicate agreement with some song lyrics or themes.

The Big One, Elizabeth! part 1 (preview of Hi Fi show)

2007-09-24T15:57:00.000-04:00

Friday night was the date that many of us have waited for, seemingly for eons. Fresh off its third European tour, the band Elegantly Wasted kicked off its first American tour right here, in greater Cleveland, OH.

If you haven't heard of Elegantly Wasted yet, you must have just crawled out from underneath a rock. This hard hitting quartet recently started its run towards stardom and is starting to get the accolades it deserves. The band rocks the house, the way rock should be played! Each band member is truly a master of their craft. The guitar parts and styles are complimentary, the vocals are on target, and the rhythms are infectious.

No emo crap, no whining and whimpering, no screaming unintelligible lyrics into the defenseless microphone. Their lyrics are easy to understand and tell a good story in each and every song. You will relate, I guarantee it. Why? Because EW is a group of down to earth people, relating experiences like those you and I would have.

At times you will hear influences from Guns and Roses, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters and others. But your ultimate impression will be that EW carries a distinct sound, style, professionalism and performance ability that are missing from most of today's music.

I was privileged to first see the band two years ago in Hollywood, and again during their rehearsal on Friday afternoon. They were hanging loose, cracking jokes, and getting things ready for their first show with local bands Below Jupiter and Dead Man's Curve at the Hi Fi Club, a rockin' joint in Lakewood, just west of Cleveland. They were definitely ready to go; now, only a mere nine hours until showtime!

more coming soon, stay tuned....

(cross-posted at my myspace blog)

Roller Coaster Week

2007-09-24T11:03:00.000-04:00

If you're expecting this post to include the Idiot of the Week Awards, I will sadly disappoint you. There had been so many things going on this last week, that the Awards were not near the top of my priority list. Needless to say, it was a roller coaster week.

It looked something like this:

And went something like this:

Ups! - asked to play piano accompaniment for a baptism in October.
Downs - didn't hear back about the baptism during the week. Getting concerned.
Downs (how low can you go?) - work situations, and their affect on my projects.
Ups! & Downs - running interference before the Elegantly Wasted gig last Friday night. (Everything went great, it was just time consuming.)
Ups! - Bought Tribe tickets for the last home game of the year - could they clinch then?
Downs - Saturday's Running in Circles gig canceled; the bar double-booked.
Ups! - baptism accompaniment is on! I will learn "Mother's Prayer" by Celine Dion.

Super Ups! - The Elegantly Wasted concert on Friday night! (separate post on the show coming soon, links to many of their songs here.)

Triple Super Ups!!! - Brother proposed to his girlfriend at the show, and she said yes!!!

Ups! - Relaxed on Saturday; watched "Back to the Future" with the family.
Ups! - Watched "Oh, Brother, Where Are Thou?" with Marie.
Downs - Browns defense. Bummer.
Super Ups!!! - We were at Jacobs Field to watch the Tribe clinch the Central Division Championship! It was awesome.

It was a whirlwind weekend. The gig was great, and I got to see many people I had not seen in years. All the bands did really well, and baby bro's girlfriend had no idea what was happening, when even her sister, best friends, and everyone else on planet earth knew. :-) The Tribe game was the clincher (sorry, had to say it).

BTW...for my New York readers, Elegantly Wasted is coming to Brooklyn, NY tomorrow night! They'll be at The Trash Bar:

256 Grand St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Cost : $5

Selfish Desires

2007-09-20T19:32:00.000-04:00

To: The Cleveland Indians
From: Quipper
Subject: Clinching the playoffs

Dear Cleveland Indians,

As a lifelong fan of you, my hometown team, I am excited that the team is ever-so-close to clinching the Central Division pennant. I have waited a decade for this to happen. I remember the Tribe-Mariners series in 2001, when Robbie Alomar didn't give his all and potentially caused us to lose the series to Seattle. I watched the 1995 and 1997 World Series, heartbroken but not crushed. I watched Mark Shapiro trade Bartolo Colon, but knew it was the right thing to do. Others complained, but I bought into the plan.

I strayed slightly last year, seeing that the whole package wasn't there. It was not hangover from the season ending meltdown in 2005; I liked the team, but something just didn't seem right.

This year is different. There have been points of frustration, but I kept on listening. The family even afforded to attend one game this year. Our 5-yo boy got to see Jacobs Field for the first time. We had fun watching our first baseman bat, having great call-response fun with "Garko!"..."Polo!" I eagerly await the reduction of the Magic Number from three to zero, and anticipate celebrating that success with my family.

However, I have an issue. You see, as much as I want you to clinch this weekend, my band, Running in Circles, has a gig on Saturday night. We are supposed to start at 10pm. The locale is a very popular watering hole, and has televisions set up all over the place so patrons can watch the home team play, no matter what the sport.

In these situations, the bars usually delay the start of the gig until the game is over. Knowing how this works, I imagine that, if you clinch on Saturday night, we won't start until 11:30, maybe midnight, because of all the celebrating. I won't be at home, and won't be able to celebrate with my family.

In conclusion, seeing how (mostly) loyal I have been to you, can you please do me a favor and not clinch until Sunday? Your consideration would be most appreciated.

Thank you. Go Tribe, but don't go too quickly.

{snicker}

Update: they got my memo. Ha ha! :-)

Definition Warp iii

2007-09-13T19:42:00.000-04:00

Word: apolitical

Definition: not political; of no political significance: an apolitical organization. (dictionary.com)

Warp: doesn't exist any more, at least in terms of describing principles and beliefs.

Over a decade ago, I started complaining to Marie that certain subjects and issues should not be of no significance to governments. Or, at least, government should be diligent not to legislate on either side of said issues.

Now, no subject has merit, per se, unless it is politicized.

What happened to our liberties again?

He's Right!

2007-09-13T19:13:00.000-04:00

Yes! For the second time in a couple months, a Democrat got something right.

Charles Schumer, Democratic Senator from New York, said the following:

I think the American people are getting tired of sending the money with no end in sight.

He is right; I am sick of sending the money with no end in sight, to:

The war on poverty
The war on drugs
The IRS (to enable that awful organization)
Corporate welfare programs
State entitlement programs
Pet projects for Congressmen and Senators
Political campaigns

Oh, but that is not what he is referencing. He is talking about funding the soldiers. (See article here.) We should all use his own statement against him, and against all those re-running for political office in 2008.

One Frye Short...

2007-09-11T22:17:00.000-04:00

...and it's still not a happy meal. Nope, even with the possible addition by subtraction, the happy meal has not returned to Cleveland Browns Stadium.

In case you had not heard, but cared to know, the Cleveland Browns traded scapegoat quarterback Charlie Frye to the Seattle Seahawks. I'm not saying that he is a great quarterback, or that it was a bad move. It was just, well, convenient.

Last year, I frequently told Marie that the Browns had to replace their Offensive Coordinator, Maurice Carthon, and get a decent offensive system in place before they could truly evaluate their talent. They did that. However, I did not get the result I expected. Instead, the change confirmed more weaknesses.

The coaching staff has no idea how to prepare for a game
The coaching staff can't make decisions, which means...
The coaching staff has no idea how to make game time adjustments

The offense is often late in getting play calls into the huddle. They are often rushed, and out of place. A little birdie (i.e. an inside source of one of the local talk radio hosts) indicates that it's a good day if wide receiver Braylon Edwards runs 60% of his routes correctly. Did I mention that he attended That School Up North?

How does a Michigan football player introduce himself? "Hi, I'm ________, and I'm here to help you...lose."

We'll see if Braylon's route running increases to 100% precision now that a different quarterback - whomever it may be - is at the helm. Hard to judge your quarterback if your wide receivers can't run their routes correctly, but someone on the field was bound to take the fall. So Charlie became the scapegoat, wandering away from Cleveland, complete with the sins of the Browns hierarchy placed firmly on his back.

Again, I'm not saying that Frye was the answer. He had happy feet. He held onto the ball for too long. He made bad throws. I can't say he threw to the wrong spots on the field, because we do not know how many receivers are running the wrong routes or cutting their routes short.

To Charlie, I say: Good luck. I hope that the system in Seattle treats you kindly, and that you have a chance to learn from people with successful coaching experience.

To the Browns, I say: You are still many fries short of a happy meal. Your leaders are next on the chopping block.

Half Baked

2007-09-09T22:44:00.000-04:00

Last night, the Artist went to bed, knowing that the next morning she would be making cinnamon rolls as part of a nutritious breakfast. She was so excited, she woke up at 3:00am, and couldn't go back to sleep. Finally, at 5:30am, she decided to get out of bed and make the rolls. Somehow, she managed to do it without waking up anyone.

The Artist presented the rolls to the family, and served them herself. I bit into mine, and realized they were a little underbaked. Poor girl, in trying her best not to wake up anyone, watched the oven instead of setting a timer. She misjudged a bit, but it was no big deal; we stuck the rolls back in the oven, and - Presto! - in ten minutes, we had fresh baked rolls.

Before that, they were half baked, and needed go back into the oven to finish....kind of like the Cleveland Browns.

There was a football game in Cleveland today, I think. The Steelers showed up, but I think the Browns should have been arrested for impersonating the Michigan Wolverines. :-(

And so it goes, here is our first installment of the Idiot of the Week awards for the 2007-08 football season. Get ready for a bumpy ride.

Win - Charlie Frye - the winner of the quarterback derby managed to get himself demoted by the middle of the second quarter. He missed passes, threw an interception, and made several bad decisions. Not a good showing at all, may fall to third on the depth chart if he is not careful.

Place - Romeo Crennel - the team looked ill-prepared to play. No energy, no emotion. Looks like they never reviewed film of the Steelers defensive schemes. Bad, Romeo, very bad.

Show - Brady Quinn - why? Because he held out. If he must play due to quarterback injury or sheer ineptness, that missed time may become a factor in how much he picks up. I am not a proponent of starting Brady now. However, by week 6 (the Brown's bye week), they may give him the starting position if the season is a loss. That is a possibility.

Honorable Mention - That Stinky Team Up North. Any time Michigan can be embarrassed in two consecutive games, both occurring at their home stadium, the football weekend is not a total loss.

And the rolls turned out yummy. Good recovery, Artist!

Definition Warp B

2007-09-06T20:52:00.000-04:00

Word: go-getter

Definition: an enterprising, aggressive person (dictionary.com)

Warp: specifically, a person who gets results by cajoling, bruising egos, and throwing away common courtesies. To apologize would be a sign of failure. To give someone else credit would risk their own promotion. To be kind would risk looking weak.

Example: an aggressive person cannot get along with anyone, yet because this person gets results, he is noticed and respected by top tier management. He is the proverbial bull in a china shop on every project where he is involved, but management does not see his messes. On the other hand, a highly productive employee, who works on the same projects and makes everyone else on the team more effective, is ignored because he works quietly, courteously, and effectively. He cleans up the "go-getter's" messes, but doesn't look for accolades.

The term "go-getter" used to have a positive connotation to me, describing anyone who could get the job done and look forward to the next challenge. Now, I see it used as a politically correct term to describe a person who gets things done, but leaves a bunch of dead bodies in their wake.

Warning Signals

2007-09-04T21:43:00.000-04:00

Every industry and work environment has them. You know, those little phrases, statements or questions that, when asked, let you know exactly how little someone knows about what you do.

In my line of work - system development - you hear these doozies:

"But it's just a one line coding change, isn't it?"
"Can't you just change a couple lines in a table?"
"Can't twice as many of you do it in half the time?"
"We can just do the same thing we did ...."

On one hand, you want to whack the people upside the head with a 2"x4". On the other hand, you want to pat them on the head and say, "Don't worry, one day you, too, will become smart."

What statements do you hear, in your profession or place of employment, that let you know someone knows not what you really do?

But They Are Such Nice Boys

2007-08-31T21:31:00.000-04:00

I am talking about the illegal immigrant "children" that make up the gang MS-13.

Coming to - oops, I mean present in - a community near you. Read it here, courtesy of Maverick News Media.

Definition Warp

2007-08-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

Word: materialism

Definition: (from dictionary.com) Preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.

Warp: I've heard this term used as defense against a host expecting a guest in their house to respect their property and possessions.

Example: Friends of ours were hosting a family for dinner. After repeated attempts to get the guest's children to be careful - the guests would not do it, you see - the kids finally damaged something. When the host called out the guests for not keeping a close eye on their kids - setting boundaries, respecting what wasn't theirs, etc. - one of the guests told the host that she was materialistic.

How's that? The issue was shifted from one of parental responsibility and discipline to one of materialism.

Let's turn this around...a co-worker of mine who is married, but childless, refuses to let her nieces and nephews have a drink anywhere but the kitchen table or dining room table. She catches grief about it from her family - she cares about her furniture and carpets more than the kids, blah, blah, blah. Funny thing is, it's the only house where the kids know the rules and gladly oblige. And she's the favorite aunt.

New Post on P&T

2007-08-29T19:45:00.000-04:00

Yes, it took us a while, but we've finally started our next post at Patriots & Tyrants.

I would tell you about it, but then that would possibly stop you from reading it for yourself. :-)

What the heck, why not give you a teaser: It is about a federal government organization. You did not elect its leaders; they were appointed.

Here it is.

Entitlement Mentality

2007-08-28T19:21:00.000-04:00

Marie and I were discussing some family-based current events. The kids were completely disinterested in our conversation, but I thought it was important to bring the Artist into it.

She regularly hears the following exclamation from me:

I

HATE

LAZY!!!

(with the dreaded three exclamation points)

I do. I really do. Laziness, to me, is when someone chooses not to do something they are capable of doing, or chooses not to attempt to do something. Rather, they will be content with doing nothing, even if it is a detriment to them to do nothing. Or worse, they will wait until someone else does it for them.

Marie and I stopped our conversation, and I turned to the Artist, asking, "Have you heard of the term 'entitlement mentality'?" She gave that weird, deer in headlights look, and said, "I don't think so". We introduced the concept to her, explaining the concept in terms of money.

Dad: Let's say I gave you money every day. You didn't do anything to deserve it, but I continued to give it to you.

Artist: Okay.

Dad: Then one day, I didn't give it to you. If you are like most people, you would say, "Hey! Where is my money?" You would be expecting it, even though you didn't earn it.

Artist: Oh

Dad: Is that good?

Artist: No

Dad: Well, that is very common. There are people who are either too lazy to do something for themselves, or they find someone who is willing to do it for them. They come to expect the kindness ("charity", "love", pick your word) to continue. And when it doesn't, look out! They will get angry, upset, let you know that you don't care about them anymore, you're not fulfilling your 'responsibility' and all that stuff.

From there, Marie, the Artist and I discussed how this happens in families, in public, and even in churches. People become very comfortable having someone else do something for them, never attempting to do it for themselves yet getting angry with others when those others stop doing for them.

It's bad, spiritually speaking, because people become lazy and envious of others that have more. It's bad, socially speaking, because people harbor inappropriate expectations of their community, their church, and their government (ick - the worst of all!), and spend more time determining what they can get away with instead of how they need to grow.

We were pretty blunt with the Artist. How do you discuss these topics with your children?

Blinkers, please!

2007-08-27T21:47:00.000-04:00

To: The driving population
From: Me
Subject: Using your blinkers
--------------------------------------------------------------

As you get in your car, place your key into the ignition, and turn the key, don't look up so quickly next time. Instead, look at your steering wheel and your dashboard. You may find something you've never seen before. On the dashboard, you will notice left-pointing and right-pointing arrows. Surprisingly, they do not exist to point you to the front seat doors.

Extending from the left side of your steering column, somewhere between the 9:00-10:00 positions, you will find what looks like a handle.

As odd as it sounds, this handle and those arrows work together. You push the handle down, and the left arrow lights up - and off - and on - and off - until the handle returns to the regular position. You pull the handle up, and the right arrow lights up, just like the left arrow did when you pushed down the handle.

In what may be the biggest surprise to you, this handle and these lights were not part of your car's option package. Seriously, I'm not kidding. They weren't put there for your kids to gaze at when your spouse is stuck in the store, buying milk.

The lights are called blinkers. I think you can figure out why.

The neat things about blinkers is they are not accessories. They are not put there for your enjoyment. They are there to save your life, or at least stop someone else from getting into an accident with you.

That's right, they were assembled into your car to help you. When you oppose another car at an intersection, and both of you start traveling through that intersection, people assume you are going straight if you don't have on your blinker. If you are turning left and don't have on your blinker, let's just say that they have a good argument on their hands if you try to say they hit you unprovoked. Actually, it was your fault for not signaling. You didn't communicate your intentions.

Pedestrians appreciate the use of blinkers, too. It helps them understand that you are really not trying to plow them over, but have a specific intent in mind.

Use your blinkers. They communicate your intentions, and show your respect for the other drivers on the road. Mostly, they will protect you from you.

Thank you.

Making Scott Proud

2007-08-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

Found this article on what to do in the case of a nuclear or terrorist attack.

Scott is our resident survivalist. No, I did not say "wacko", I said "survivalist". Big difference

End Times

2007-08-15T18:27:00.000-04:00

Prognostications, made by prognosticators

These guys always get it wrong
They set dates, miss dates, revise dates

They say they had to tinker with their research, their translation, their computations.
It's never that they really don't know and can't tell.

They reassess and start again,
As though they are perfect and we just don't understand.

Oh, I'm not talking about evangelists. I'm talking about climate change prophets.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

And by the way, why wouldn't the environmentalists be for reformed Christianity, American style? Specifically relative to the rapture? After all, if the rapture is real, a la Left Behind style, millions upon millions of human beings would be removed from the earth, leaving only the truly intelligent (i.e. the unsaved) who would know best how to raise children and reduce CO2. And they wouldn't have those pesky Christians to deal with. :-)

They would also have a better human/animal/vegetation ratio. After all, they think the optimal planet population would only be a couple million people, don't they?

Arabs Arguing

2007-08-13T18:17:00.000-04:00

You'll never see this in America, although everyone should see it. Watch the video at this link.

Those Cwazy NASA Scientists

2007-08-09T23:30:00.000-04:00

1998 wasn't all that hot. Just ask the NASA scientists. (Courtesy of Michelle Malkin.)

Efficiency, shmishency

2007-08-08T19:39:00.000-04:00

At work today, I had the sheer delight and pleasure of working with one of the must curt, disrespectful managers within the company. This individual knows there is only one way to do things: her way.

I explained to her a way that I collaborate with one of my highest profile users, a manager in the Finance department. The gal I was talking to didn't like the method. To be precise, she said, "that's so darn inefficient".

She's right. The method is inefficient. But it's highly effective and garners much-needed good will for me and my department.

You tell me...what's the difference between efficiency and effectiveness? And when do you focus on one over the other?

I guess you can call this a test.

Virtual Pastors

2007-08-04T23:08:00.000-04:00

Wow! And I thought this was just fantasy. (Snicker)

I first saw the story at Locusts & Honey.

The Constitutionality of Income Tax

2007-07-31T22:52:00.000-04:00

Found this on the Constitution Party website. Interesting.

Investor Sanity Check

2007-07-31T19:42:00.000-04:00

For those of you that have stuck with me for the past year or so, you know that I can get pretty snarky. I get sarcastic, play with satire, conduct "tests", and so forth. Based on the content of this post, I am compelled to issue the following:

SINCERITY ALERT!

As you read this, you may think I am conducting a test. Or that the other shoe will drop. Or that there is a "right" answer to be presented at a later date.

The reason for this post is for you to answer the question: Am I missing something?

Let me explain.

Regarding global warming, I give up. Not that I believe in global warming, not at all. Having a business sense, however, I can watch trends and sense where businesses and political organizations are heading. I'm not ready to say that the "green" industry is a hit, but the number of people and organizations jumping on the bandwagon have led me to look into investment opportunities.

Based on what I've either casually or intentionally read over the past year, I've realized that there could be some positive gains on my hard-earned money for my family. Not that I want to get in on the ground floor; I am not wealthy, so I don't have the capital to risk by being a wholesale investor (not that I'm actually qualified to be one). You won't see me invest in IPOs or subsequent stock issuances. Bonds, maybe, but my preferred investments are of the retail variety: stocks and mutual funds. In other words, I won't help a company get started, but I'll trade on the exchanges.

Thus, my growing interest in green industries. I've monitored fuel cell companies for over a year. Recently, I started looking at the carbon credit exchange programs mentioned by Al Gore to learn more about them. If the gravy train is moving on, I figured that folks that have some money to invest ought to have a way to do so.

Here's where I am stuck. I haven't found that way. A number of Google searches have educated me on what "carbon credit investing" is, but it doesn't seem to present a market, per se. It looks to be an inter-company and inter-country exchange, brokered by well-meaning, well-placed individuals. But I can't find how or where average Joe can get involved.

Hence, my request. Is something right under my nose that I'm missing, or am I reading this right, that the average Joe has no play in this game? Please send links that answer the question in either direction.

Thanks.