What is this? A glimmer of hope?
Despite the fact that my once brilliantly hued burgundy and gold heart has turned to the color of mud and dismay at the state of the NFL these days has significantly dampened my enthusiasm for the game, I can't help but feel a spark of excitement for the emerging Redskins. At 8-6 and in the midst of a five game winning streak, the Skins are going into their final two games - against hated rivals Philly and Dallas - with a serious chance of winning the division and making it to the playoffs. The Eagles are in complete meltdown, and the Cowboys have some serious chinks in their armor, so anything is possible. My belief in the Redskins still hasn't risen past the "I'll believe it when I see it" phase (too many years of futility for that to happen yet), but, Holy Turn Arounds, Batman! What if?
Shame the world is going to end on Friday.
HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Saturday, December 1, 2012
The PC Culture of Censorship
You know the world has taken a turn for the absurd when I agree with George Will on anything other than baseball. In today's Washington Post, Will opines on the death of free speech in this age of "sensitivity" and "diversity". As is his wont, Mr. Will blames the academic liberal elite for much of the problem and cites anecdotal evidence that would make any self-respecting liberal cringe. I totally agree with the idea that, as a people, we should be sensitive to other people's feelings and that embracing diversity in our culture is a truly noble and valuable thing.
The problem is that we've seem to gone over the edge to embrace hyper-sensitivity. It's one thing to use the "n" word or other other epithets that promote hate and violence against any group of people. But it's entirely another thing when you can be sued for looking at someone in a way that they "perceive" to be offensive. Let's say I'm at my desk at work listening to a Slayer cd on my headphones. I have the cd case next to me, and a co-worker walks by, sees the cd cover, and, for whatever reason is offended by it. Should I be sanctioned by my employer? If I'm on the bus reading William Shirer's, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, should I have to be worried I might offend someone because there's a swastika on the cover of the book? Where does it end?
Free speech is one of the cornerstones of American society. I disagree with everything that bloviating buffoon Rush Limbaugh has to say, but I don't deny his right to say it. The fact is that some folks out there simply need to grow a spine. Peace, love, and harmony would be great, but the world is an ugly place. There are people out there who are going to say and do things you don't like but are within their rights to do so. Deal with it!
This song is 30 years old and still as relevant now as then.
The problem is that we've seem to gone over the edge to embrace hyper-sensitivity. It's one thing to use the "n" word or other other epithets that promote hate and violence against any group of people. But it's entirely another thing when you can be sued for looking at someone in a way that they "perceive" to be offensive. Let's say I'm at my desk at work listening to a Slayer cd on my headphones. I have the cd case next to me, and a co-worker walks by, sees the cd cover, and, for whatever reason is offended by it. Should I be sanctioned by my employer? If I'm on the bus reading William Shirer's, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, should I have to be worried I might offend someone because there's a swastika on the cover of the book? Where does it end?
Free speech is one of the cornerstones of American society. I disagree with everything that bloviating buffoon Rush Limbaugh has to say, but I don't deny his right to say it. The fact is that some folks out there simply need to grow a spine. Peace, love, and harmony would be great, but the world is an ugly place. There are people out there who are going to say and do things you don't like but are within their rights to do so. Deal with it!
This song is 30 years old and still as relevant now as then.
Dead Kennedys
"California Uber Alles"
I am Governor Jerry Brown
My aura smiles
And never frowns
Soon I will be president...
Carter Power will soon go away
I will be Fuhrer one day
I will command all of you
Your kids will meditate in school
Your kids will meditate in school!
[Chorus:]
California Uber Alles
California Uber Alles
Uber Alles California
Uber Alles California
Zen fascists will control you
100% natural
You will jog for the master race
And always wear the happy face
Close your eyes, can't happen here
Big Bro' on white horse is near
The hippies won't come back you say
Mellow out or you will pay
Mellow out or you will pay!
[Chorus]
Now it is 1984
Knock-knock at your front door
It's the suede/denim secret police
They have come for your uncool niece
Come quietly to the camp
You'd look nice as a drawstring lamp
Don't you worry, it's only a shower
For your clothes here's a pretty flower.
DIE on organic poison gas
Serpent's egg's already hatched
You will croak, you little clown
When you mess with President Brown
When you mess with President Brown
[Chorus]
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Four More Years!
I am relieved. I am relieved that this interminable election is finally over. I am relieved that Barack Obama has been re-elected as president of the United States.
The task ahead for the president is a daunting one. The partisanship that divides the nation is deep, and if the vitriol flying in the comments section of the various newspapers I read today is any indication, it will continue for the foreseeable future. My hope (although John Boenher's quotes in the Washington Post today don't give me much comfort) is that the Republicans in the House and the Democrats in the Senate and the president himself will see that what is needed to set the country on the true road to recovery is a return to the ideals of compromise that the United States was founded on. The compromise that had to be achieved in order to create the Constitution in the first place.
There are serious problems the government needs to address which can only be tackled with the co-operation of both parties. I hope that over the next four years President Obama makes deals that piss off both the left and the right. I hope he gets Republicans and Democrats from both extremes to finally realize that progress needs to meet in the middle. If he can do that, we will see what actually happens when a president is allowed to do his job govern.
The country is recovering. The recovery is slow, but it is moving. The ballot initiatives that gave the right for LGBT couples to marry in Maryland and Maine and the votes to sustain the Dream Act to allow children of undocumented immigrants to go to school without the threat of deportation, lead me to believe that maybe, just maybe, the country is moving towards a more tolerant society in spite of the rantings of the ideologues. Obama was gracious in victory, and I can only hope that the Republicans can be as equally gracious in defeat
Saturday, October 13, 2012
There is no joy in Mudville.
In what can only be described as a crushing loss, the Washington Nationals fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in game five of the NLDS. The Nats went ahead 6-0 in the third inning with a power barrage that had been missing most of the post season. The Cards fought back little by little until, with two out in the 9th and down to their last strike, scored the go ahead runs to win 9-7.
I take solace in two things. 1) During spring training, no one in their right minds would have predicted that the Nats would have made this far, let alone have the best record in the MLB (Hell, not three years ago the team lost 103 games). It was a great season. 2) Most of the team, which, overall, is VERY young, will be around for a long time. They will get their chances at post season play again.
Unlike the haters and the fair weather fans out there, I don't have any bad words for Davey Johnson, who should be in line for Manager of the Year in my opinion, or for any of the players. The simple fact is this: the Cardinals were the better team, and they won. It's baseball.
I'm terribly disappointed, but I LOVE THIS TEAM!
See y'all in the playoffs next year.
I take solace in two things. 1) During spring training, no one in their right minds would have predicted that the Nats would have made this far, let alone have the best record in the MLB (Hell, not three years ago the team lost 103 games). It was a great season. 2) Most of the team, which, overall, is VERY young, will be around for a long time. They will get their chances at post season play again.
Unlike the haters and the fair weather fans out there, I don't have any bad words for Davey Johnson, who should be in line for Manager of the Year in my opinion, or for any of the players. The simple fact is this: the Cardinals were the better team, and they won. It's baseball.
I'm terribly disappointed, but I LOVE THIS TEAM!
See y'all in the playoffs next year.
Here we go! It's do or die for the Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS!
Boy oh boy oh boy! So far, this entire NLDS has been insane! All four series, Tigers/A's, Giants/Reds. O's/Yankees, and The Nats/Cards, have gone to 5 games for the first time in MLB history. It's been exciting baseball all around.
Now, as the Nats/Cards game 5 approaches, I find myself getting more and more excited. The Nats have their best pitcher on the mound, Gio Gonzales, who struggled to find the strike zone in game 1, but has a history of bouncing back from a tough outing and dominating. The real question will be the Nats offense. Can the Nats get to Adam Wainright, who struck out 10 in game 1? The Nats have the momentum after a dramatic walk-off homer by Jayson Werth last night in front of a boisterous hometown crowd tied the series at 2-2.
No matter what happens, it's gonna be a wild, fun ride! GO NATS!!
Now, as the Nats/Cards game 5 approaches, I find myself getting more and more excited. The Nats have their best pitcher on the mound, Gio Gonzales, who struggled to find the strike zone in game 1, but has a history of bouncing back from a tough outing and dominating. The real question will be the Nats offense. Can the Nats get to Adam Wainright, who struck out 10 in game 1? The Nats have the momentum after a dramatic walk-off homer by Jayson Werth last night in front of a boisterous hometown crowd tied the series at 2-2.
No matter what happens, it's gonna be a wild, fun ride! GO NATS!!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
PRETTY FRICKIN' BUENO!!!
NATIONALS ARE NL EAST CHAMPIONS!!!!
A sensational season! 96-64! Best record in baseball! As a fan that jumped on the Nats bandwagon from opening day in 2005, this is truly a great experience! After all the losses and the futile seasons, this is definitely worth the wait. The first playoff baseball in DC in 64 years since the Homestead Grays went to the Negro League Championship in 1948. Man, I would love to be back in DC today!!
Now it's on to the next task: the NLCS!!
GO NATS!!! GO NUTS!!!
A sensational season! 96-64! Best record in baseball! As a fan that jumped on the Nats bandwagon from opening day in 2005, this is truly a great experience! After all the losses and the futile seasons, this is definitely worth the wait. The first playoff baseball in DC in 64 years since the Homestead Grays went to the Negro League Championship in 1948. Man, I would love to be back in DC today!!
Now it's on to the next task: the NLCS!!
GO NATS!!! GO NUTS!!!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
It's a New Day! Rebecca and I get Married, August 11, 2012!
The first thing that happens when you step off the plane in Taipei is that you immediately say, "Damn! I forgot how hot this place is!" Korea in the summer is hot. Florida in the summer is hot. Taiwan in the summer is crazy, brain-melting hot. It's the kind of stifling, humid hot that, if you're a sweat hog like me, you never truly get used to. I also remember thinking to myself, "Oh yeah. Mom and (my aunt) Nancy are gonna LOVE this. Hee hee." However, I was a man on a mission, and a little heat wasn't going to deter me. I met Rebecca, got on the bus to Taipei, and the adventure began.
Once Rebecca and I got settled into our hotel, we headed out into the teeth of a typhoon to Keelong (pronounced Jee-long) for a dinner with some of Rebecca's relatives. Because of the weather and a few pre-dinner errands, we managed to arrive about an hour late, but that didn't seem to be too big a problem. March a large western man, whose Chinese vocabulary consists of two words, into a room full of non-English speaking, soon-to-be-relatives, and it creates a bit of a distraction. All-in-all, it was a very pleasant evening full of good food and many toasts (A couple of the uncles thought it might be fun to watch me get drunk. Little do they know...hahaha).
The next few days were filled with wedding related activities including, believe it or not, dance classes. When Rebecca first broached the idea of spending money for dance lessons - she wanted our first dance to "be beautiful" - I was not thrilled with the idea. I figured we could figure out something for the wedding that would be good enough. However, much to my surprise, the lesson turned out to be fun, and we ended up with a routine Rebecca and I both enjoyed and got pretty good at. The funny thing was that during the actual first dance we both forgot different steps. Regardless, the lessons were fun, and, after watching the video, we did pretty well and enjoyed ourselves.
On August 6 (Rebecca's Birthday), Mom and Aunt Nancy arrived in Taipei at Oh-My-God O'clock in the morning. After a day of rest, Rebecca had to go take care of some wedding related stuff, and Mom, Nancy and I went off to be tourists. Our first stop was Longshan Temple, which is a beautiful little oasis in the urban sprawl that is Taipei. Given the heat and humidity, Longshan temple proved to be the only touristy stuff we did that day. We headed back to the hotel, stopping along the way for some very good sushi, and rested for while. The rest of the time leading up to the wedding day was a blur of activity from getting the marriage license (Rebecca and I walked out of the Keelong District Office and kind of looked at each other and went, "Wow. We're married. And went off for fried rice. lol), finishing the dance classes and getting the final fittings done for Rebecca's dresses.
Rebecca looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress. In fact, she looked awesome in all the dresses she wore that day, but seeing her in the wedding gown took my breath away. I was rather overcome by emotion as Rebecca walked down the aisle with her mom but managed to compose myself and got through the initial part of the ceremony with my dignity relatively intact. Looking at Rebecca, I could see her struggling with the same emotions, but she was under strict orders from the make-up team not to cry and managed to maintain some decorum as well.
After the first of Rebecca's dress changes, she and I had our first dance: a slow rumba to Ronan Keating's "This I Promise You". As mentioned above we forgot a few steps along the way but got through it okay and had a few laughs. Then I had my dance with my mom to Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" and for the second time almost completely lost it. I then danced with Aunt Nancy to Dolly Parton's "Family". Tears all around. lol
~ Nancy, it means the world to me that you gave my mom the opportunity to attend and that you decided to come as well. I will never be able to thank you enough for such a great and generous gift. ~
After another dress change, Rebecca and I handed out flowers to the guests and Rebecca gave the bouquet to one of her friends whose birthday it was. Then Rebecca and her friend Hedy performed a salsa dance which they had been practicing for a couple of months. This led to one of the very funny post wedding discoveries. Rebecca's brother-in-law, San Ji Fou (Chinese for middle brother-in-law), who was in charge of my camera throughout the wedding, had taken photos of only Hedy during the dance. These, of course, we showed to his wife, which caused much consternation for him, but a good laugh for the rest of us (are we evil or what? lol).
Finally, after another dress change by Rebecca, we formed a reception line to thank all the guests and take final photos and the wedding was over. It was an exciting, emotional, blur of an event. I have to say is that the wedding went exceptionally well. Everyone seemed happy, there was great food (although neither Rebecca nor I got to eat much of it), and no drama. For that, I have to thank Rebecca, who had to deal with the vast majority of the planning and stress involved in getting the whole thing done, and her family, especially her sisters for also being so helpful. It was great!
Decisions. Choices. Life is full of them. Sometimes times you make the right choice, and sometimes you choose wrong. Then there is the time when a choice comes along that feels so good and so right that you would have to be stark raving mad to ignore it. The decision to marry Rebecca was one of those good and right choices. I love her with all my heart and know that she loves me in return and hot damn it feels good!
Once Rebecca and I got settled into our hotel, we headed out into the teeth of a typhoon to Keelong (pronounced Jee-long) for a dinner with some of Rebecca's relatives. Because of the weather and a few pre-dinner errands, we managed to arrive about an hour late, but that didn't seem to be too big a problem. March a large western man, whose Chinese vocabulary consists of two words, into a room full of non-English speaking, soon-to-be-relatives, and it creates a bit of a distraction. All-in-all, it was a very pleasant evening full of good food and many toasts (A couple of the uncles thought it might be fun to watch me get drunk. Little do they know...hahaha).
The next few days were filled with wedding related activities including, believe it or not, dance classes. When Rebecca first broached the idea of spending money for dance lessons - she wanted our first dance to "be beautiful" - I was not thrilled with the idea. I figured we could figure out something for the wedding that would be good enough. However, much to my surprise, the lesson turned out to be fun, and we ended up with a routine Rebecca and I both enjoyed and got pretty good at. The funny thing was that during the actual first dance we both forgot different steps. Regardless, the lessons were fun, and, after watching the video, we did pretty well and enjoyed ourselves.
On August 6 (Rebecca's Birthday), Mom and Aunt Nancy arrived in Taipei at Oh-My-God O'clock in the morning. After a day of rest, Rebecca had to go take care of some wedding related stuff, and Mom, Nancy and I went off to be tourists. Our first stop was Longshan Temple, which is a beautiful little oasis in the urban sprawl that is Taipei. Given the heat and humidity, Longshan temple proved to be the only touristy stuff we did that day. We headed back to the hotel, stopping along the way for some very good sushi, and rested for while. The rest of the time leading up to the wedding day was a blur of activity from getting the marriage license (Rebecca and I walked out of the Keelong District Office and kind of looked at each other and went, "Wow. We're married. And went off for fried rice. lol), finishing the dance classes and getting the final fittings done for Rebecca's dresses.
Rebecca looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress. In fact, she looked awesome in all the dresses she wore that day, but seeing her in the wedding gown took my breath away. I was rather overcome by emotion as Rebecca walked down the aisle with her mom but managed to compose myself and got through the initial part of the ceremony with my dignity relatively intact. Looking at Rebecca, I could see her struggling with the same emotions, but she was under strict orders from the make-up team not to cry and managed to maintain some decorum as well.
After the first of Rebecca's dress changes, she and I had our first dance: a slow rumba to Ronan Keating's "This I Promise You". As mentioned above we forgot a few steps along the way but got through it okay and had a few laughs. Then I had my dance with my mom to Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" and for the second time almost completely lost it. I then danced with Aunt Nancy to Dolly Parton's "Family". Tears all around. lol
~ Nancy, it means the world to me that you gave my mom the opportunity to attend and that you decided to come as well. I will never be able to thank you enough for such a great and generous gift. ~
After another dress change, Rebecca and I handed out flowers to the guests and Rebecca gave the bouquet to one of her friends whose birthday it was. Then Rebecca and her friend Hedy performed a salsa dance which they had been practicing for a couple of months. This led to one of the very funny post wedding discoveries. Rebecca's brother-in-law, San Ji Fou (Chinese for middle brother-in-law), who was in charge of my camera throughout the wedding, had taken photos of only Hedy during the dance. These, of course, we showed to his wife, which caused much consternation for him, but a good laugh for the rest of us (are we evil or what? lol).
Finally, after another dress change by Rebecca, we formed a reception line to thank all the guests and take final photos and the wedding was over. It was an exciting, emotional, blur of an event. I have to say is that the wedding went exceptionally well. Everyone seemed happy, there was great food (although neither Rebecca nor I got to eat much of it), and no drama. For that, I have to thank Rebecca, who had to deal with the vast majority of the planning and stress involved in getting the whole thing done, and her family, especially her sisters for also being so helpful. It was great!
Decisions. Choices. Life is full of them. Sometimes times you make the right choice, and sometimes you choose wrong. Then there is the time when a choice comes along that feels so good and so right that you would have to be stark raving mad to ignore it. The decision to marry Rebecca was one of those good and right choices. I love her with all my heart and know that she loves me in return and hot damn it feels good!
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