Roast of Rahm Emanuel

It doesn't get better than this...

I know I need to update the blog--and I will--but Christen and I were discussing music from our high school and college years, and Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler were at the top of the list. Here is a video of John Popper (Blues Traveler) playing with the Dave Matthews Band...AWESOME!!

(More updates--that don't include videos--will be coming soon)

Joey and Rory

This is the couple from the Overstock.com commercials. There names are Joey and Rory. They are splendiferous!! After the previous post, this should be a refreshing change of pace! :-)

Holy Cow!

I don't even know what to say. The only words that come to mind are, "Sweet fancy Moses!!!!" (see previous entry)

Sweet Fancy Moses

We were watching a rerun of Seinfeld last night entitled "The Little Kicks." It's the one where Elaine dances. After seeing her "full body dry heave" for the first time, George says one of the funniest lines ever uttered on television: "Sweet fancy Moses!"

Ninja Lessons

These lessons are free. They are meant to enhance your self-defense maneuvers. If your goal is to become as lethal as Chuck Norris, this video will get you there. Remember, "Don't go ninja'in nobody, don't need ninja'in."

A special thanks to Kung Fu Craig Johnson for introducing me to this outstanding ninja instructional video.

Winter Wonderland

It started snowing yesterday (12/19/08) around lunchtime and has not stopped. Boston got 8"-12" and it's beautiful outside...and still snowing! :-)

Here are a few pics of our street:

Next, we walked to the Boston Common:

We wanted sleds to join in the fun!

And, due to an overwhelming number of requests to see us wallowing in the snow, SNOW ANGELS!!

Lastly, a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson entitled:

Winter-Time

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed, 

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head; 

Blinks but an hour or two; and then, 

A blood-red orange, sets again. 

Before the stars have left the skies, 

At morning in the dark I rise; 

And shivering in my nakedness, 

By the cold candle, bathe and dress. 

Close by the jolly fire I sit 

To warm my frozen bones a bit; 

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore 

The colder countries round the door. 

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap 

Me in my comforter and cap; 

The cold wind burns my face, and blows 

Its frosty pepper up my nose. 

Black are my steps on silver sod; 

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad; 

And tree and house, and hill and lake, 

Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Blah, Blah, Blago!!!

Everyone in the news has been covering Governor Blagojevich. It seems all news stations mimick the others. I'm beginning to wonder if it matters which new broadcast you watch. It just reinforces my belief that we need to turn off the television and read more!

So, I guess the politicians in Illinois are crooked. Chicago: home of Al Capone and Mayor Richard M. Daley...and now, Rod Blagojevich. It's really no surprise. Blago is the sixth Illinois governor to be arrested or indicted. Blago's predecessor, George Ryan, was charged with a 18 felony counts. I'm not positive, but it may be a prerequisite to prove corruptness before you can run for office.

Lastly, this game of crooked politics is new to me. I come from the great State of Louisiana where our politicians' are as pure as the driven snow. They have the highest ethics and standards. Weh have a long history of proudly standing behind--and continuously re-electing--upright and honest politicians like Huey Long, Edwin Edwards, and William Jefferson. Illinois could learn a lot from us...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I apologize for lack of postings in recent weeks. I know how much you've missed my me. In an effort to make a smooth transition back into blogging, I'm going to keep this short, sweet, and unpolitical.

Last Sunday we had our first snow of the winter. As you can see, the flakes were large and fluffy...or as Forest Gump would say, "Big ol' fat [snow]."

The ground is not frozen yet, so none of it stuck, but we enjoyed seeing it fall. My favorite part of the snow here in Boston is: I DON'T HAVE TO SHOVEL IT!! Also, I enjoy the quiet and stillness of snowfall.

My erudite friend, Dr. William Numa, explained the quietness comes from the texture of the snow absorbing and dampening the sound. Therefore, since no vibrations are entering your ear, your Cochlea doesn't vibrate, thus, the cilia aren't moving, so no signals are being sent to your brain through the auditory nerve...or something like that, I mean, the guy went to school to be a doctor so he knows all that stuff. I went to school to learn how to help his patients sue him for all he's worth by proving he did not learn as much as he should have in his school. :-)

I'll close with a poem by James Russell Lowell entitled:

The First Snowfall

The snow had begun in the gloaming,

And busily all the night

Had been heaping field and highway

With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock

Wore ermine too dear for an earl,

And the poorest twig on the elm-tree

Was ridged inch deep with pearl.

From sheds new-roofed with Carrara

Came Chanticleer’s muffled crow,

The stiff rails softened to swan’s-down,

And still fluttered down the snow.

I stood and watched by the window

The noiseless work of the sky,

And the sudden flurries of snow-birds,

Like brown leaves whirling by.

I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn

Where a little headstone stood;

How the flakes were folding it gently,

As did robins the babes in the wood.

Up spoke our own little Mabel,

Saying, “Father, who makes it snow?”

And I told of the good All-father

Who cares for us here below.

Again I looked at the snow-fall,

And thought of the leaden sky

That arched o’er our first great sorrow,

When that mound was heaped so high.

I remembered the gradual patience

That fell from that cloud like snow,

Flake by flake, healing and hiding

The scar that renewed our woe.

And again to the child I whispered,

“The snow that husheth all,

Darling, the merciful Father

Alone can make it fall!”

Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her;

And she, kissing back, could not know

That my kiss was given to her sister,

Folded close under deepening snow.

I don't want to get off on a rant here, but...

Sunday blog entries are usually entitled "Weekend Update," but we didn't do much this weekend, so I'm going to climb up on my soapbox and pontificate:

My entire life I've heard Democrats are pro big government, while Republicans are pro small government; Democrats are ever trying to expand government and Republicans are trying to give government back to the people. Regardless of your party, it is still a government of the people, by the people, and for the people...right?

That question has been on my mind a lot lately. I feel like Alice falling through the rabbit hole or Neo after he took the red pill (an overused analogy, but applicable just the same). In his eight year tenure as President, George W. Bush has expanded the government from legislation like the Patriot Act of 2001 (bye, bye right to privacy) to the $750 million Bailout (hello taxes). With the Bailout, at least there is a silver lining: Americans and the government will rethink the way we view debt and money management. However, now government wants to bailout the auto industry, a plan David Brooks calls: A Bailout to Nowhere. Did the auto industry not get enough money from the $750 million? The fear--at least on Fox News--is that Obama is going to usher in a "Socialist" agenda; however, Bush (a Republican) continues to cultivate the government's power! I'm so confused, perplexed, and disoriented.

I feel like the cowboy in the "Cowboy and Lesbian" joke (I know it's politically incorrect...whatever that means):

An old cowboy sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. As he sat sipping his drink, a young woman sat down next to him. She turned to the cowboy and asked, "Are you a real cowboy?"

He replied, "Well, I've spent my whole life breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences, bailing hay, cleaning my barn, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy."

She said, "I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about women. When I shower, I think about women. When I watch TV, I think about women. I even think about women when I eat. It seems that everything makes me think of women."

The two sat sipping in silence.

A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy and asked, "Are you a real cowboy?" He replied, "I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian."

I could go on and on how some of my favorite Presidents, like Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, have been Republicans; however, their ideas seem to align more with moderate Democrats than today's Republicans. Again, I don't know what to make of it.

It seems if the Republicans want to regain any power in government, they need to rethink their game plan. The GOP is divided into two very distinct camps: The Traditionalists and the Reformers. And there seems to be an ever-widening canyon between them. I mean, seriously, does anyone actually believe Sarah Palin can run the country? Some do. Maybe it's because she's such an avid reader with an insatiable thirst for "all" the newspapers and magazines available. She draws on a "vast variety of sources" in forming her world views...she can't name any of them, but she reads them all. If she read The Economist this week, she would see her party being referred to as a "Ship of Fools."

It seems in every race the Republicans try to "match" the Democrats. If the Democrats have a black man running for a Senate seat (i.e., Obama in the IL Senate in 2004), the Republicans answer with their "black candidate" and run Alan Keyes. The result? Obama slaughtered him!

Next, the Democrats have Hilary Clinton running in the Primaries, so what do the Republicans do? Answer with Sarah Palin. She fits the criteria: she's a woman, she's in politics, and she has extensive foreign policy experience because she can see Russia from her backyard (by her reasoning the Governors of all States near Canada and Mexico have "enhanced" foreign policy experience). But hey, she's hot! Maybe in 2012 the Republicans will give the nod to Palin for President and Miss Teen South Carolina (2007) for Vice-President.

I know hindsight is 20/20, but if McCain wanted a Republican Governor for his VP, he should have picked Gov. Bobby Jindal of the great State of Louisiana!! Jindal is a rising star, and the Economist thinks he has a bright future: "None of the Republicans in Congress looks electable nationally, so the party will probably be looking for a governor....Some Republicans, however, think the best way to change the party’s battered image would be to pick Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Like Mr Obama, he is young, thoughtful and articulate. Unlike Mr Obama, he has also run a state. And what better way to squash the charge that Republicans represent only whites than to nominate an Indian-American?"

Lastly, I'm neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I am a registered Independent. Frankly, I think we need a revamping of the political party system. I'd like to revive Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party [insert "Palin field-dressing a moose" joke here]. I'd like to see a political intelligence emancipation in America. We need to stop imbibing and regurgitating what we see on Fox news or CNN or Slate and start reading from a myriad of sources and thinking for ourselves. Read, think, discuss. Repeat.

I am now stepping off my soapbox. Thank you for reading.