My daughters perfect paragraph

Thought I would keep it just to look back at it later. It is what it is.

The brain is constantly developing throughout your life; the brain does the most developing from the ages of 2 to 18. I do not agree that minors who commit felonies should be treated as adults in the U.S. criminal justice system. When one is under the age of 18 it is easier to learn from mistakes because of the connections the brain is still creating. A minor should not be sentenced to death when they still have a chance to be a better person and bring positivity into the world. Being a teenager is difficult and comes with a lot of pressure from peers to make mistakes and push limits. When one still has the chance to make up for what they have wronged they should be given every chance to make better.

Comets from the Stars

Sometimes out of the blue, from something you have prepared for forever, whet you trully expected would happen actually does.

The perfect weekend is sometimes not a trip out of town or gala celebration but rather just a simple quiet weekend at home with family.

With gentle dis-agreements with your daugher that ends in gentel agreements gaining new level of repsect that was hard earned on both sides.
And a weeknd with being in synch with your partner in life, when a gentle nod of the head neans I am with you. That gentle nod of the head that says I am with you.

What Constitues Normal TeenAge Behavior

In general, normal behavior is behavior that does not interfere with a person's ability to cope with his environment or to get along with others.

Become Aware of the Attitudes and Behaviors of Adolescents Your Child's Age

However, you must consider your teenager's peer group and take into account the behaviors and actions of his age mates in order to determine if your teenager's behavior is typical or should be of concern.

Here in lies a particular problem as who are the kids peers and how exactly does he or she pick them. I as a parent always hope for kids (Our) to pick peers that are better than them and help them raise the level of their game. By choosing peers\boyfriends with low standards you are already setting the bar pretty low.

Some peer groups are themselves deviant, and may be associated with serious impairments or difficulties.


Not sure how to address this as we have little say in that and when we help choose them we get resentment and ill guided behavior.
 
Consider Individual Differences


Children have different personalities. One child may be sensitive, another talkative, a third shy, and so forth. In determining whether behavior is normal. Other parents are going through the same thing. Parents with multiple children sometimes have some that behave according and others that do not. They are all different.

The Nascar Demographic is Dead and how it Relates to the Portland Timbers

Just finished reading "Southern Culture on the Skids" talking about the dying demographic of NasCar fans. Ben Austin describes the early beginnings of NasCar and tracks it through an ill-fated pit row spat that rocketed Racing's popularity and now NasCar is left with a model that is indeed broken.

Competitive stock-car racing has its roots in moonshine-running, NASCAR president Mike Helton has said "The old southeastern redneck heritage that we had is no longer in existence.  But what NASCAR has done is that it has strayed away from its roots. NASCAR had grand ideas of tracks in New York City, fans have now complained that drivers are too corporate and bland and that the racing is now boring. The cars no longer look like the cars the fans had driven as kids. In another odd move NASCAR moved race times to later in the day that no longer coincided with the traditional time when people where arriving home from church. What NasCar has done is to get away from its traditional base. They now screen off entire sections of Daytona grandstands so the track appears full to sponsors and fans.

What does that have to do with the Portland Timbers one may ask.

Well the Timbers have had similar success with a campy comfortable product with a real feel good approach to its success. It has been a grass roots word of mouth growth where the the team now is drawing 10000 fans a night to see their beloved team play in a league that is truly bad.  Not really the players but rather promotion and opponent fan base.

Well the Timbers have been awarded an MLS franchise and start playing next year in what looks like a  beautifully renovated  PGE park. It is estimated the 10000 figure next year will be 20000 and that is not a stretch. That will happen in the short term. Now the challenge is to produce those numbers in the long term and the Timbers will do that by sticking to their roots.

A recent uprising against the new crest was a result of a perceived lack of management insight into sticking to their roots. Out sourcing the logo design to an out of state firm was not a great start. Hopefully that public relations hiccup was merely that.

But change is constant but change need not be chaotic. The Timbers must keep with what got them here.

The Timbers are not NASCAR and they are not the Portland Trail Blazers and there is no need for cheer leaders or for gods sake (NASCAR term) please keep out the pumped in music. Footy fans are spur of the moment and don't need cues as when to be fired up. The Timbers Army is doing a great job in talking with the field office and vise versa. This needs to continue as the fans understand the direction of the teams just as well as the field office much like the fans of the Oval sport.

But it is the teams money and resources. It is preferred to put a winner on the field, but it just as important to stick with tradition. Little traditions such as "Green is the Color" playing before games, sales reps stopping by your seat and asking for feed back, plenty of bike racks for those riding to games and may i repeat NO PUMPED IN  MUSIC. Sorry a little pet peeve of mine but we are fans and not customers and we like seeing PGE park filled to the brim. We have great tradition, a great city and it what got us here and will help us grow in the future.

Guns

When I lived in Arlington Va. I went for a run and waved hello to a neighbor and his friend who were innocently drinking beer on sultry typical DC fall evening. When I got back from my run there was a swarm of police and ambulances in front of the house and apparently they had played with their Dads hand gun and it went off and killed one of the boys. I still remember the neighbors gathering that night and the father of the boy who owned the gun was pissed that he could not get blood stains out of the carpet. He had the only NRA bumper sticker on a mostly liberal minded community.

Yesterday a 3 year old got to playing with his Dad's handgun (a police officer non the less) and we lost another young person. Story here if you are so inclined.

Our founding fathers are 286 years old and their original intention is now distorted. It took 5 minutes to load a damn musket. Now a days we have guns that can shoot 100 rounds a minute. I must admit I did not research the fact but the direction of my statement should be understood.

My questions are.

1.Why does one have to own a handgun.?
2. If so how hard is to lock it up.?
3. What if anything can be done?

From some Pro Gun site
A fatal gun accident, particularly when a child is involved, often makes state or national news. This gives the impression that: fatal gun accidents are more prevalent than other fatal accidents, gun accidents are increasing, and civilian gun ownership must be further restricted or regulated.


The reality does not correspond to the perception created by media coverage. Fatal gun accidents declined by almost sixty percent from 1975 to 1995, even though the number of guns per capita increased by almost forty percent.

Tongue in cheek one can concluse the per capita is up because we accidently killed so many. But once again it is a single life that ended, a father lost a son and its an acceptble risk.

I disagree.

Just Random stuff that Comes to My Mind

I am really doing some repetitive work and when something pops in mu mind I will just jot it down.

From NPR of Montreal

1. NPR is a great place to listen to new releases. Currently Listening to the New "Of Montreal cd" . I used to like this band but it seems like they now have Prince like vocals. On second thought its a little more like Spoon.

2. UP is playing PSU in soccer this weekend. That PSU is my ala mater Penn State. Go Lady pilots. Wonder where Kendra Chandhoke has disappeared to.

3. Muslims find America, the Tolerant. It seems like they have not ventured out side the city, but that Jones dude in Florida is crazy.

4. When I asked my family via text message what the score of the Braves/Cards game was they all had an answer within 10 seconds.

5. This is the last scheduled around-the-clock weekend closure for southbound I-205. Crews plan to use night time double-lane closures through October to complete joint work and restripe lanes on both directions of the bridge. I hate this as I will be missing my soccer game again.

6. Just started reading a book with a cover and Pages. My first one since I got the kindle a year ago. J. Robert Lenin's Funny Papers. and its pretty good.

7. My wife is reading to her students and playing the cd from our wedding. Wonder what the kids thing of the Loch Lomond song called Carl Sagen.

Love this  JRL wackiness. (This is lifted from here).

1 egg = 2 T vegetable oil

1 T prepared mustard = 1 t dry mustard

1 prune = 8 raisins

1 pizza = 12 dollars

1 C Coke = 1 C Pepsi

sunrise = sunset

1 wasp = 14 ants

1 hug = 5 handshakes

1 punch in jaw = 8 middle fingers

1 stomach flu = 10 staff meetings

completing free coffee card = spying nude neighbor through the window

licked by dog = gift of ugly necktie

cloud = crow

bowling trophy = promotional t-shirt

finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk = finding 20 $1 bills on the sidewalk

thunderstorm = trick-or-treating

car door slammed on fingers = testifying against brother-in-law

legalized gambling = africanized killer bees

car alarm = painful urination

misspelling = untied shoe

 lawyer jokes = 1 C bread crumbs

empty parking lot = dream-within-a-dream

shaving = sauteeing

pinking shears = parsley

tapanade = “Rashamon”

bone spur = church pew

eleventy-twelve = 122

 

9. A new way to make eggplant happened by accident as we were out of eggs.

• Soak sliced eggplants in salt and water
• Dip in a mixture of vegetablee oil and Mayo.
• Bread accordingly
• Broil in Oven

 10.  I swear or cat Astrid was getting poop out of the liter box and taking it to our Beagle who promptly ate it and then proceeded to run around like Marion Berry on Crack.

Our weather has been weird  We get sights like this. But how can one argue as it has been late October weather in early September.

 

Let's Build a Temple for the Overly Religious

http://en.wikipedia/.

Lets for arguments sake just say that Timothy McVeigh (At the end of his life he would state his belief that the United States government is the ultimate bully) was a Christian zealot. For example, " Throughout his childhood, he and his father were Roman Catholic and regularly attended daily Mass at Good Shepherd Church in Pendleton, New York" .This statement ,alone taken on purpose somewhat out of context from Wikipedia, (a common Internet tool that many times is mistaken as absolute truth by those doing book reports) can in our media driven world be read and interpreted as true by many in American society. It happens all the time.

Which in a sound byte world would come across as "Christian goes Jihad on Government Building"  if the press decided to report this in such a way the fallout could be different..  It is a far fetched scenario of sorts but the truth is somewhat close. Number one and besides the point the the basically pro Christian Press would not report it this way. Number two -Let us suppose the press reports it this way and Americans actually believe that a Radical Christian bombed the  Federal buildings (including a day care center) that actual resentment toward Christians would result in threats against God Loving Christians/

Would it cause a national uproar (Ill call it a major chasm) against a church going up near ground zero in New York.

The Sunshine Goal

SUNSHINE SUNFLOWER PROJECT

From soccercityusa

Thursday Sept.2 will be the last regular season home game at PGE Park for our beloved Portland Timbers before the leap to MLS.
Please bring a large Sunflower to this historic event.
At the 80th minute we will sing "You are my Sunshine" and display these tokens of our affection until the end of the match.
Sunflowers will be collected and given to players and coaches as the Timbers pass the Timbers Army.


"You are my Sunshine" is part of Timbers lore. It is sung at every Timbers game as a tribute. Timber Jim's daughter, Hannah, was killed in an automobile accident in 2004, and in her memory, the Timbers Army made a tradition of singing "You Are My Sunshine," often led by a tearful Timber Jim.

Tonight was a tribute to everything Timbers as it was the last home game for the Current squad and we were locked into a key division game against the Islanders from Puerto Rico. The atmosphere at the park was trully electric. Sunflowers were every where and there was a great game on the pitch as both sides settled into a defensive struggle. Ryan Pore nearly found the back of the net as the first half ended.

As the 80th minute approached sunflowers appeared out of every corner of PGE park and almost everybody in attendance broke into "You are My Sunshine" with sunflowers raised. The game proceeded and James Marcelin wrestled a the ball away midfield sending a cross to Ian Joy who fed Doug Demartin on the wing. Demartin lofted a perfect through ball that Ryan Pore out marked his opponent and headed in the game winner as the crowd was singing. The place went absolutely crazy.

You honestly could not have scripted it better and it retrospect as I write this it seems like a script but it happened at PGE park in front of 15000 thousand plus fans. Some had tears in their eyes, others donned sunglasses and it was a magical moment that I was happy to share with my wife, my son and our friend Erin on her bithday and 15000 people I will see agian.

As we walked out of the stadium I ran into a friend and he asked me if I shed a tear.

My answer was simply "Yes". one guy speaking to another.

Timbers by dougall5505, on Flickr

I Remember 1969 -Researching the Expanding Past

I was having a discussion with Dad the other day and he told me he played baseball with Charlie Engle when he was 53. Charlie is an interesting chap who just threw a no hitter at the age of 79. I replied that the last time he (Dad) played baseball was when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.  Dad's flippant response was that he was not 30 in 1958.

So a little research. Debunking the myths.

When we were kids on Sunday nights all our cousins (The Hoovers) would come over to the house and we would usually eat Chicken Delight. I did some quick research and the place still exists in some form. We loved the chicken wings, the blueberry muffins and the coleslaw. We would usually eat, the parents would drink beer and the kids would run around the house and eventually get their leg stuck in a wagon or some other calamity.

And in some seasons the parents would sit down and watch Roller Derby. The Philadelphia Warriors.with the likes of Buddy Atkinson. Jim Trotter and Judy Arnold. They would watch them them play or skate or what ever they did.

Well the reason for this diversion is that Dad tells me he was not 30 when Niel and the gang landed on the Moon. But he did back up his mis-claim that the lunar landing happened in 1958.

So I did some checking as Charlie Engle is real and one night in the summer of 1969 Roller Derby was pre-emted by the lunar landing. I remember watching those grainy images and to me it was one of the more exciting moments in my life.

The Basic facts behind it.

The Apollo 11 space flight landed the first humans on Earth's Moon on July 20, 1969. The mission, carried out by the United States, is considered a major accomplishment in the history of exploration and represented a victory by the U.S. in the Cold War Space Race with the Soviet Union.. I did some additional research and July 20th was indeed a Sunday. It all fits.

Whether Dad played against Charlie Engle at the age of 53 is open for debate.

It Broke Free

Our car broke down the other day on the way to work. I left home from work and noticed my front tire looked really low.  So I stopped and filled up the tire hoping the problem would Brake Free. Brake free is my term for fixing it self. I was sitting in traffic on the Marcum bridge and somebody signaled me that my tire was flat. Portland is that type of town and people are nice that way. So 3 long minutes later (they were probably 72 seconds long -you know you have had them) I pulled in front of OMSI and put the wobbling car next to the curb. Quickly a homeless person pedaled up to me on his bike and offers to fix the tire. I once again wondered if the problem would break free again.  But for the life of me I could not find the spare tire and the homeless man quickly grew restless and pedaled on. There I was with a flat tire and with  precious little time to rush home get our son and head off to our beloved soccer teams game at PGE park. Then I thought like a super hero. At the time super hero could have been a term for large hoagie from Pennsylvania. But out of the phone booth I emerged determined to make the footy game.

From droppingtimber.com

So I did the illogical thing at the time and took out the directions provided in my car. The car never broke free or fixed itself. Then I read the directions and actually followed them. All the time thinking about one time when I had gnarled my finger as a teenager changing a tire for my girlfriend on an icy frigid day in Pennsylvania.   But i surprised my self and actually located the spare on the Prius (Toyota hides them to save mileage by encouraging walking when having a flat tire) and changed it with an attitude.

Thank you tire for not breaking free and fixing your self. We made the game and had a glorious evening at the Timbers game.

We just back from Maui on what I would describe a perfect vacation. We had a wonderful young man named Anthony house sit while we on vacation. He was asked to do he usual stuff like walking our very bad beagle, watering the plants during Portland non rain season and just live there and not party too much.

We got back and the house was in an expected disarray when a teen ager stays in your house. But the one thing I did notice is that garbage disposal simply did not work when we got home. I would turn it on and either the entire sink shook violently or the disposal did nothing but hum. I asked Anthony about the disposal and sheepishly said that it shook violently albeit rather surprised that I would notice such a thing.

So I spent the last few days just doing nothing to the disposal (taking an Allen wrench and spinning the nut on the  bottom of the disposal like some direction book I had once read) and still the disposal either hummed or shook the kitchen violently.

Today I woke up early for work and mindlessly put the coffee grounds from the coffee maker into the disposal. In retrospect, I usually dump the coffee grounds into the compost can we have on the kitchen counter but in my groggy state I put he grounds down the drain then Iand mindlessly turned on the disposal.

The disposal had broken free.
It was working perfectly.
It had fixed itself.

It broke free.

As in no charge to fix it when its broken.

Call to the Teachers in The World (Well actually one)

This week the state of Washington was fortunate to land a great Teacher. My lovely wife has started teaching at Ilahee up in Camus Washington. She brings a passion for teaching that I wish I had in my job everyday. She brings in the experience of some great mentors as well as the foundation set by her hard work obtained at Lewis and Clark College.

But it is the passion of teaching and doing what she loves that will serve these kids well. She sits at home and makes charts and graphs for the kids much like a kid. That is with open eyes like she is seeing it and living it for the first ime. She loves the feel of crayons, sharpies and abrand new note book.

She wrote lettters to the kids before the first days of summer had barely passed. She recieved her first response and she read it with starry eyed anticipation. She has decorated her room so it lools like ma room where I want to just sit in the back room and give the teacher an apple.

I look forward to hearing the updates daily and even when the day is difficult. It looks like it is going to be a long year of learning and growning as she falls asleep while getting a much needed foot rub.

Hawaii 11.11 Things

1. Bob and Lana got married  At  what I can consider one of the cooler weddings I have ever been to. Beautiful evening to get married on the beach with family and friends. I was honoured to be there. Bob and I now appear on each others marriage certificates.

2. Running - Got to run every day and on most days it felt really good.

3. Spending time with my wife -Don't get to do that all that often and it was nice to be un rushed and not on a schedule. That was pretty special.

• 4. Snorkeling -That was   funner than i anticipated. I lost my wedding ring the second I hit the water but I was swimming along and I said to Jenna "Look Down" and there was a giant sea Turtle under us.

5. Gary the Car Rental guy is a flaming idiot. He is a company man on a mission. The car my friends is a gift to you. Would you like to purchase the additional insurance for 30.00 a day. NO.  Do you realize if you crash the car you will have to pay blalablablablabla...Oh would you like a car with windows that roll up for another 10 dollars a day...NO. Well we don't have that car anyways so I'll have to give you a nice car at the same price. GARY AT Advantage. You are an idiot.

6. The Picnic Bench Bunch - Everyday at 730 the locals gather by the picnic benches and stood around and told stories and drank Budweiser the entire day. They were a cool bunch.

7. The Pineapples- I really can't explain it but the Pineapples were sofa king good.  I kind of like Pineapples, but these were off the planet.

8. The fact that I like Hawaii - I tend to veer away from things that are popular and mainstream. Everybody loves Hawaii and so did I.

9. Mark, Patty, Ellen, Allie, Callie, Curt, Ed, Marilana, Bob Sr and Jill. -They made us feel like family.

10. Geckos - are pretty cool. Its comforting to have them in the room with you.

11. 91.5 KEAO "Mana'o Radio": Eclectic / Free Form (LP).  They played great music..Loved the free form radio.
11.11 - Doing absolutely Nothing - Have not perfected it yet.


Koaniani & a Konane
A Gentle Breeze and a Bright moonlight

Bob and Lana

The Smitten One

Life is full of quirky nuances. You know the cliches.

1. Being in the right place at the right time.
2. No matter where you go, There you are.
3. Good things happen to good people.
4. It is better to be Lucky than Good.

And on this lovely planet the fickle hand of randomness
is truly just that. Some may say it is in the cards and others
may say WHOA. How in the world did that actually happen.

From an analytical perspective lets look do the Math real quickly. There are 6.5 billion people on this planet, with a basic assumption that half are boys and half are girls what are the chances that a boy from the deep south would meet a girl from the from the Pacific Northwest.

About 18 billion to one.   (Give or take a billion)

Then You get over that 18 billion to one odds thing and actually meet.

What are the chances of making it to a second date.  (Multiply that by  the fact they met in pool room, in the dark of winter) and a third date, and that they would actually could effectively communicate with each other and actually like each other and that falling in love thing.

That's straight math with a sardonic touch of my own.

The world doesn't work in mathematical equations.

Back to life's Axioms -Which of these are true in this case?

• Being in the right place at the right time.
• No matter where you go, There you are.
• Good things happen to Good people.
• It is better to be Lucky than Good.

How about Really Fantastic people who were in the right place at the right time and were starry eyed and love struck enough .

The one axiom from above that does not exactly hold true is that it is better to be lucky than good. There is some luck involved but for now it is about being good and that is exactly what Bob and Lana are. Well not exactly they are great together.

There is hardly anything that Bob has not done. He has practically fixed most things in our house and he is always there to help. Today we learned he knows how to make a pineapple upside down cake.Unlike myself, Bob thinks things through and can be be calculated and analytical. Bob is a warm spirit and has a heart of gold. Add in Lana's angelic spirit, optimism and zest for life you have a couple destined for greatness.Getting here had some luck involved but moving on from here is all about being great, putting in the hard work that marriage requires and enjoying ones self.

I improvised here.

Bob and I were running down a hill today and I commented that this is like being a kid. And that's part of moving forward the ability to have fun and enjoy yourself and remembering the kid inside.

Numbers (Simple Math Made Complicated)

1/2  + 1/2 = 1/4

The theory of dumb (or drunk) or something people getting together.  When two half minds get together you do not add the halves but rather multiply. When many half minds get together it gets ugly quickly. 1/2 raised to any power gets dumb real quickly.

2B Continued.

A lesson in Communication -How to Argue (The last temptation Jesus Christ(sic))

Mel Gibson has come under fire after a recording of a hate-filled outburst at ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva was leaked onto the internet. An effective tool in couples communication.

MG “… because you’re trying to breastfeed with f***ing foreign bodies in you. Is that it?”
OG “That has nothing to do with it.”
MG “Oh, it has nothing to do with what – the fact that you had foreign bodies in there?”
OG “Correct.”
MG “Correct okay good. So you’re not lying to me about fake tits?”
OG “I never have.”
MG “Yes. Yes, you just did. You said they weren’t. You f***ing lied to me before.”
OG “I didn’t. I never said anything of the kind. You never asked me, I never told you. Or maybe you asked me but I never lied about this.”
---Dont ask dont tell
MG “Who cares, they look ridiculous, get rid of ‘em why don’t you. Anyway –“
-- Very loving very endearing MEL
OG “That’s not none of your f***ing business.”
MG “It is, it is. They look stupid. It’s just an appraisal. Keep ‘em if you want. Look stupid, see if I give a f***.”
MG “They’re too big and they look stupid. They look like some vegas bitch. They look like a vegas whore. And you go around sashaying in your tight clothes and stuff – I won’t stand for that anymore.”
-- Mel draws the line on sashaying
OG “I don’t walk around in tight clothes. I stay at home most of the time.”
Oksana Grigorieva: Yes?

Mel Gibson: Stay on this phone and don't hang up on me. I have plenty of energy to drive over there. You understand me? AND I WILL! SO JUST F------ LISTEN TO ME. LISTEN TO MY F------ RANTING. LISTEN TO WHAT YOU DO TO ME.
--well played Mel you should use kind words like I feel ot that makes me feel instead of LISTEN TO ME. LISTEN TO MY F------ RANTING.
OG: I didn't do anything to you.
MG: A pain in the ass!
OG: You are ruining my life!
MG: You make my life so f------ difficult!
OG: Well you know what, it's so --
MG: Why can't you be a woman who f------ supports me instead of a woman that sucks off me. And just f------ sucks me dry. And wants, and wants. Go through this relationship if you're a good woman and you love me. I don't believe you anymore. I'm sick of your bulls---! Has any relationship ever worked with you? NO!
--Now hes complaining about a woman that sucks off him. WOW
OG: Listen to me. You don't love me because somebody who loves does not behave this way.
(crosstalk)
MG: Shut the f--- up. I know I'm behaving like this because I know absolutely that you do not love me and you treat me with no consideration.
OG: One second please. Can I please speak?
MG: I love you because I've treated you with every kindness, every consideration. You rejected … you will never be happy. F--- you! Get the f--- away from me! But my daughter is important! All right? Now, you have one more chance. And I mean it. Now f------ go if you want, but I will give you one more chance. (huffing with anger) You make me wanna smoke. You f----- my day up. You care about yourself.
--You make me wanna smoke.   Wow that was strong. Surprised she didn't just get naked there.
OG: You're so selfish.
MG: When I've been so f------ good to you. You f------ try to destroy me.
OG: I didn't do anything. I did not do anything. This is your selfish imagination. That's bull!
MG: Shut the f--- up! You should just f------ smile and blow me! 'Cause I deserve it.
-- Little early to play that card.
OG: I'm sleeping with the baby. I'm waking up every two hours. I fell asleep because I was waiting for you because you weren't ready to go to the jacuzzi as we agreed.
MG: Who the f--- cares? We agreed nothing.

I Hate FireWorks

Fourth of July brings the hot season and every year in Oregon it just stops raining on the fourth of July.
For one thing, I will miss the rain.

I remember when I first moved to the Northwest.

• We had a neighbor
• Who got up at 8.
• He drank a beer.
• Walked to the end of the driveway.
• And blew shit up.
• Than at nine. (Could have been 830)
• He drank a beer.
• Walked to the end of the driveway.
• And blew shit up.
• REPEAT UNTIL MIDNIGHT

Nothing good comes from fireworks.  Yeah yeah yeah , great orgasmic explosions in the sky.
You have to love the clandenstine stands that sprout up this time of year.
To sell fire works. One has to sneak over to the Couv to Buy them.
So a certain percentage of the population can blow off a finger.
 
And they scare the Dogs bigtime.
And people blow their hands off.
And stop on the Marcum bridge to see them.
So a certain percentage of the population can blow off a finger.
 
I 'll give you the finger. and Linger.
 
One can probably conclude that I am not a big fan of patriotism.
Not liking fireworks does not mean I am not patriotic.
But being over patriotic is pathetic.
 
But fourth of July is fun, I still like people who like fireworks.
Even those with six fingers om two hands 
I even like hot dogs. Love them , but I don't eat them.
 
Heres are some great lyrics from a little Canadian band.
(Canada Day was July ist)
 
Love these lyrics -Tragically Hip Fireworks 
If there's a goal that everyone remembers it was back in ol' 72

We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger
And all I remember was sitting beside you
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

Fireworks exploding in the distance

Temporary towers soar
Fireworks emulating heaven
Til there are no stars anymore
Fireworks aiming straight at heaven
Temporary towers soar

Hashing, Russian Spies in American Suburbs

Hashing, Russian Spies in American Suburbs: Shades of the Cold War? (12:07PM)


Ten Russians posing as ordinary Americans, including parents with children, have been arrested as "deep cover" spies after seven years of investigation by the FBI. Their alleged paymaster was picked up in Cyprus. US officials reportedly were astonished when Christopher Metsos was released on bail in the first place. Both countries say the incident won't damage relations, but a lot of questions remain. What were the agents doing here decades after the Cold War? Why have they been arrested now? If they posed a danger to national security, why don't they face more serious charges? Does the US have its own spy rings in Russia? We hear from a former CIA agent, a Russian scholar and others.

One my fondest memories was right after Aldrich Hazen Ames, was arrested out side his Arlington abode  the DC hash House Harriers set a trail to his some what deserted house and continued to have the beer check on his back deck. I honestly can not remember the hares that day, I do remember it was a sunny day, and I remember sitting on his back desk and drinking a beer.  If any body else remembers the details please help me fill them in.  Its nice to have russian spies back.


Virginia residence,

Birth control for the Feet

5 Toed Vibram running shoes arrived on Saturday. I ordered these shoes because my back and legs ache from running. More often than not I want to stop as opposed to keep running.

I missed my soccer game on Saturday and made the best of it and took the vibrams out for a test run not before actually taking 5 minutes to get on the shoe.

Aligning the toes was a piece of work and they are unconventionally tight. Despite this they seemed to be cool and comfortable.

Run One (Sat June 26th) - Was one of those see how it goes run. I half expected to pull up lame having a part of my leg or back aching but I kept going. It was 3.0 miles at a fairly slow pace but all in all it did not go all that bad. I was warned that my calves would hurt and the did not. (3.0 miles in 28 minutes). It should be noted it was a beautiful day with a beautiful breeze and when everything does not hurt you notice such things.

Run Two - (Sun June 27th) -A bold move running 2 days in a row and especially the morning after. things again went well with another splendid day. (3.5 miles in 33 minutes)

Run Three -(Monday June 28th) - At the start of the Oregon Kahuna hash run a friend I have not seen in 11 year tells me I got heavy. Not running health for a year tends to do that. STFU Steve it is nice to see you. I emerge out of the first shiggy batch with brambles and briar's stuck between the toes. (Never thought of that). Then we run down a rocky rail road patch  (Never thought of that). and all in all it did not feel all that bad. My speed is still not there but I have enjoyed running the last few days. Oh yeah i walked about 1.7 miles with my wife before that.  (5 miles in who knows).

I am expecting a set back somewhere but none has come of yet. Need to learn to run on my toes. Tonight's goal is for 40 minutes.
UPDATE
Here I sit 3 months later and the shoes are great and I am back to 30 miles a week, with only minor problems like when I set them next to the bed my wife asks me. WHAT STINKS

We Wuz Robbed!

We Wuz Robbed! (The Hand Gun Nation was robbed)

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Maurice Edu kicked the ball into the net just before the 86th minute. American players jumped around wildly, thinking they had capped a historic comeback, turning a two-goal, first-half deficit into a 3-2 victory over Slovenia.


“Then I heard the whistle,” Edu said
Referee Koman Coulibaly of Mali had called it off.
Over and over, American players asked, “Why?”
In English. Then in French. (Yes ironically in French)

Fans & players have a right to be livid after a referee cost the US team a place in World Cup history. An excerpt when Ireland was denied a place on the Center stage because of a disputed hand ball.

FIFA, the governing body of international football (soccer to Americans), rejected a request by the Football Association of Ireland to replay the controversial match on Wednesday that gifted a World Cup spot to France according to the New York Times. In their statement, FIFA properly said that "As clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final."


It Is What It Is.  During a career these things even out.  People in the united States seem to be crying foul and I for one am not one of them.  Its their own damn fault for starting with suck (sic) lethargy and one again bringing out the latent Irishmen that every American seems to need and want.

The again it is the American way where we have proven over and over again. Life is not fair.
We prove it in America everyday.
If you are poor. We seem to think Life isn't fair.  GET OVER IT.
If you are a minority. We seem to think Life isn't fair. GET OVER IT.

In international football (soccer to Americans) referees are human and probably somewhat I little bit biased against the big bully oil guzzling Americans. Really can you blame them. Life isn't fair. GET OVER IT.
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For the record, I see the US edging out Algeria in the final game of match play thus avoiding the Germans in the first round. See what goes around comes around.

Suburbs Part 2

Week one of soccer.  We lost 5 to 2.  Paul drove to the game and he printed out the directions. I assumed he printed out my directions.  So we headed out to the the Couv (Beaverton with Washington plates) and Paul gets us to the game with 20 minutes to spare.  From my suburban recollection we got off at mill pane made a a quick left and got there some how. (Remembering the quick left.)

Week 2 of soccer -We won .  The commute was fine except somebody blew up the 205 bridge. We abandoned ship at half time about a mile before the I 205 bridge.

Week3 commute. Paul had a meeting with foreign dignitaries there fore I was the pilot. I printed out what i thought were the same directions. We got off at Mill Plan but the travels (sans the aforementioned immediate left) took us by different Olive Gardens and Chevy's. So I doubted my self and made an several  illegal U turns and tried to find my way in suburbia only to get more and more lost. I decided to go back to my original directions that I had written down. Marina said to me this is where we were 20 minutes ago. So I followed the original directions doubting myself and meekly telling the kids this does not look at all like the way Paul and i went to the game. Which I found out it was not. We made it to the game as it was starting.

We lost 4 to 2. If I would have abandoned ship like last week I would have avoided spraining my ankle. Vancouver will not defeat me.

Lessons Learned.

1. When I play we lose when I do not we win.
2. Vancouver will not defeat me.
3. It is better to have played and sprained an ankle then not played at all.
4. Sometimes its good to have Paul in the Car.