Productivity Killer

Hulu, DAMN YOU!!!!!!



Bruce Campbell rocks...

Setimental Old Fuck

Sitting here a goopy mess of tears.

Just read the eulogy Bruce gave Danny.

And watched the video tribute that's been leading of the concerts since his passing.


Going to hug my boys and kiss my wife now.

Life Goes On

GG's been released. They're working on getting some home care (the social worker will call today). She's in good spirits. Her breathing is normalized (getting the fluid out of her lungs has done that). As she's 90, with slight (but increasing) Alzheimer's, there's a DNR and so (because of all of the above) no plan for heroic measures or surgery. The doctor who spoke to Grandma B yesterday said things will only get worse, and if we wanted to have family visit, now would be the time.

Of course, this is pretty much what we heard a couple of years back. So it's a little hard to tell everyone to come out. There's the real possibility that she will outlive many of us. Plus, she won't remember the visit, or possibly even recognize the visitor. And a visit after the fact would help Lisa's mom more.

Of course, I understand the need for others to say their last good-byes... know that from Ma's passing.

So Lisa's in a tough spot.

Mixed News

Good: GG is looking better and may be released tomorrow.

Bad: Kyle aggravated his shoulder injury from yesterday (while going up to throw an outlet pass, he was struck in the arm, bending his arm back and hyper-extending his shoulder). We iced him at halftime of the morning game, where he played well, gave him motrin after, then iced him from the end of the first game to about an hour before the second. By halftime of the first game, we could tell the shoulder was keeping him from playing his best (his slow reaction raising his right arm allowed two shots that normally would have been blocked to go in [and even some of the shots to his left were not as easily blocked as he could not use his right hand to propel him up]. He winced after every outlet pass and every sprint to loose balls. In the fourth quarter, however, he had two sprints for loose balls, which given his weakened arm led to in- and under-the-water tussles during which his arm was struck and/or pulled (once dunking him). Then after a long outlet pass, right on the money, he could no longer take it, and had to be pulled from the game and helped from the pool. He's on the couch with ice and more anti-inflamatories. I'm so very proud of his effort in the pool... but I'm thinking next weekend's first non-Titan tournament is now in jeopardy.

Good: UCLA women won the MPSF water polo championship, besting our hated rivals, $UC, 8-7, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Finals at Stanford in two weeks. The Bruins are now 30-0 for the season, and ranked #1 in the nation.

Bad: Josh Shipp declared for the draft... but he hasn't hired an agent. Damn.

I hear 15K showed up to the Spring Game last night. I hope they had fun.

Good Rockin' Tonight

Have you heard the news?

There's good rockin' tonight...

[thanks for the heads-up, Jim]

Here's hoping the Spring Scrimmage at the Rose Bowl was great.

Lisa's spending the night with GG in the hospital, like the great grand-daughter she is... there's no need for GG to become disoriented in these new digs.

I dropped off some stuff with Lisa. GG looks ok, not great. When she dozes, her breathing is shallow and uneasy... reminded me of Ma in the last days... thankfully there's no death rattle, and GG's coherent and talking. I think she's going to be all right.

And the hits keep coming

Lisa's at St. John's Hospital with her mom and GG. GG had trouble breathing this morning. The paramedics didn't like her pulse rate (104) or her oxygen level (93) or the sound of fluid in her lungs, so they took her to the ER.

GG's in good spirits, almost (but not quite) flirting with the paras. That's a good sign... if she wasn't bawdy (or a "spry one" as one para put it), I'd really be worried. They still haven't seen a doc, though. Hopefully, this is just a reaction to the new meds she started on Tuesday, and nothing worse.

We'll see. Kyle's got a water polo tournament game this afternoon, and we had planned to leave from there to see the UCLA Football spring scrimmage game. But right now, I'm thinking that we will probably pass on the game and just spend a relaxing evening at home with family. (there's two more H2O polo games tomorrow beginning at 11am... so maybe this is the wisest choice anyway...)

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

Update 4:30

Still at ER. They will be admitting GG for observation and a heart sonogram. There's fluid in her lungs but they're not saying it's pneumonia. Her bladder's not voiding correctly. But the main concern is her previously diagnosed congestive heart failure. The doctors say that it's not urgent, but they're also asking if we want surgery (which means it could get urgent)... at GG's age (89) the answer to that query is no (there's more possible problems than solutions with that). According to Lisa, GG's spirits are still good, though she's pissed off that she's in the hospital. I take this a good news... there's no quit in her.

Kyle's team lost a tough game, 9-8 against VCD, the team that he'll be playing with next weekend in San Diego. It was nice to hear them tell him that they can't wait for him to be their goalie. It takes a little of the sting from today's loss (which takes us out of the running for the league championship... which means that this team will be the first Titan D1 squad not to take hope the championship in about 5 seasons. That's disappointing. Kyle's injured his shoulder... he's icing and taking motrin... and hopes to be ready for tomorrow's two games... win the first and they have a chance at third place (though, if they slaughter the other team, and the other team can knock off VCD in a low-scoring squeaker in round-robin play... there's still a slim chance that we could play for first... but that chance is so slim, I don't even raise Kyle's hopes by telling him).

With Lisa still at the hospital, Kyle nursing his wounds, and none of us feeling exactly filled with joy, we're bypassing the football spring game tonight at the Rose Bowl... sigh. It's a drag, but probably for the best.

Yes, It Can (get worse, that is)

[udpated: 3:29]

AWWWWW FUUUUUCKKKKKKK

just minutes after I said that I didn't have anything from the legit press on this... this from Brian Dohn's UCLA blog:

An MRI revealed UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowan damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and his status for the 2008 season is in jeopardy.
Sources said the likely scenario is Cowan needs surgery to repair the torn ligament in his left knee. If surgery is needed, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said Cowan would miss the 2008 season.
...
Meanwhile, x-rays showed Cowan’s backup, Ben Olson, fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot and will be out six to eight weeks. Whether surgery is needed to place in a screw in Olson’s foot will be determined later on.
“Ben will consult with his folks, and make that decision,’’ Neuheisel said. “I’m told that he is leaning toward having the surgery.’’
Either way, Olson should be back in plenty of time for August training camp.
If Cowan missed the season, which could possibly end his UCLA career, Olson would step into the starting role. He outperformed junior college transfer Kevin Craft and red-shirt freshman Chris Forcier in spring practice.
The only quarterback other than Cowan and Olson to throw a pass at UCLA is fifth-stringer Osaar Rasshan, but he was pushed back on the depth chart this spring.
Craft, Forcier and Rasshan will be the quarterbacks for Saturday’s spring game at the Rose Bowl.

And now this from ESPN...

OH, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

This is very bad. Come on, Craft and Forcier, strap it on, suck it up, and lead us to victory!

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

Just got a call from a buddy. According to him:

Pat Cowan: torn ACL, out for the year
Ben Olson: broken bone in foot, out for 6-8 weeks

I've yet to find online confirmation, so I'm hoping this is all just rumor.

But, DAMN, this is fucked. Craft and Forcier... boys, it's time to step up (and let Chow work his magic).

Can It Get Any Worse?

Of course, it can, but still, this is pretty bad...

Now both quarterbacks are injured. Damn, given the experience of the last three years... are these boys made of glass, or what? Is it time for transfer (and the #1 junior college quarterback in the nation) Craft and Forcier to push their way to the front of the pack? Someone needs to step the fuck up. This could be moderately ugly at the spring game at the Rose Bowl tomorrow night.

Politically, it's getting really dirty. There's even some whispers that Obama should drop out of the race; the rationale is the sickest kind of political cynicism. Though there's some sick kind of hope in Slate's "Kausfiles" (though this, too, reeks of that same old-school political cynicism):

You have to look at this through the eyes of Dem super delegates. Take Joe Biden as an example. When Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, Joe was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Two years later, after HRC's hare-brained health care zeppelin crashed to earth and Bill had earned the enmity of roughly everyone, Joe Biden was in the minority. ...[snip]

What Joe sees is a repeat of 1994 if Hillary is the nominee and wins the election in 2008. He gets to be treated like dirt by the Clinton Administration for 2 years and then he gets to be in the minority for God knows how long. So the truth about the super Ds is that they would rather lose with Barack than win with HRC, because they KNOW that if they lose with Barack, their pal John McCain is president and they get the royal treatment for two years..AND they pick up yet more seats in 2010, thus insuring they remain Chairman of whatever committee it is that they chair.

This is the dirty little secret of the Super Ds!

This is the kind of politics for which Obama was supposed to be the antidote... this kind of politics is like a cancer. Obama's candidacy is neither chemo nor radiation therapy. I'm not sure the patient can be saved...

I've seen the dead patient, and he is us.

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

On to brighter subjects:

Finally got around to watching last week's BSG the other night. Damn, another great episode. If last year's parallels to the Iraq war weren't strong enough (humans as insurgents, Cylons as occupiers, with suicide bombers, propped-up governments and the like), then this year brings with it secretive government, talk of "ethnic cleansing" within the Cylon population, and noted "terrorists" possibly becoming the freedom fighters the humans need to stay humane. Like I said DAMN GOOD EPISODE.

Good, too, was the first episode of the second season of Slings and Arrows, fresh from Netflix. This year's play is the Scottish Play (though the episode was really more of a welcome coda to last season)... very good indeed.

Yeah, now I feel better... better still are Kyle's season-ending water polo tournament and the UCLA women's water polo team heading off to defend its MPSF title and qualify for next week's NCAA championships.

Do You HULU?

OK, so I've jumped on the Hulu bandwagon. It's a site where you can watch old movies and tv shows (and some not so old ones as well). I've got it playing on my desktop, as I code on my laptop.

Not to date myself or anything, but I've been watching the first season of WKRP in Cincinnati ... I used to love that show as a teenager (I think the whole receptionist/intern thing is the closest my teenage years had to a Ginger/Mary Ann thing... and yes, Mary Ann and Bailey the intern [despite my love of cleavage]). Man, still pretty funny. From the Thanksgiving episode, "Turkeys Away":



All right, so the fashion are way dated (and the haircuts!), and the laugh track is a bit too much... still funny (at least to me). The aftermath...



and the explanation...



Cool stuff, that Hulu... check it out.

Math

I'm not too sure about Hillary's math.

Beyond the fact that she's running a campaign that was severely in debt (at least before the cash transfusion following Pennsylvania's primary), she's now claiming to be ahead in popular votes.

Huh?

Here are the numbers and the tortured algebra that is Clintonian math:

Currently, in all the primaries (and this is crucial, primaries ONLY... Clintons throw out caucuses... because these "boutique" caucuses bring out the "latte-sipping crowd," not real, working Democrats... and oh, yeah, she's getting her ASS handed to her in the caucuses [Bill claims the caucuses are "killing" them], Clinton is behind Obama, 13,916,781 to 14,417,134 --

er, wait, that can't be right. Oh, yeah, we need to add Florida (which the DNC stripped the delegates of for holding their primary too early... and the candidates agreed to not campaign there and that the primary results wouldn't count)... which then brings Clinton's lead to... wait, she's still down 14,787,767 to 14,993,348 --

that can't be right, either. That's right, we need to add Michigan (in which all of the major candidates pulled themselves off the ballot, save for Clinton, because Michigan, too, was stripped of its delegates by the DNC for holding their primary too early), yeah, THAT should do it.

And it does: Clinton leads 15,116,076 to 14,993,348.

But again, we need to pause for a minute... Michigan? OBAMA WASN'T EVEN ON THE BALLOT. So the argument could be made, then, if Obama wasn't on the ballot but he's the only one left in the race, he should get the "uncommitted" votes [238,168] then, right? If you do that, then Obama's back in the lead, 15,231,516 to 15,116,076.

This won't do if you're Clintonian; you're probably not going to want to give him ALL the uncommitted votes. But how to divvy up those votes... how about this? We take all the primaries until now (and primaries ONLY... remember, this is CLINTONIAN logic, AND we include Florida [heh heh]), and we take the percentage of the popular vote won by Obama (47... and that's rounding DOWN), and we allow that percentage to be used on all of the NON-Hillary votes cast in Michigan (Kucinich, Dodd, Gravel and "Uncommitted"), Obama only gets 125,061 votes in Michigan, and Hillary still leads--

uh, no she's behind 15,116,076 to 15,118,409... DAMN, that doesn't work. How about this? Instead of giving Obama 47% of all non-Hill votes, we only give him 47% of the uncommitted?

OK, now Hillary's the winner 15,116,076 to 15,105,287.

And all is right with the world.

THIS is what we have to go through to get Hillary on top?

Fucking HIL-arious.

btw, if your count the caucuses and discount Florida and Michigan Obama leads 14,751,218 to 14,140,643.

Not Disastrous, but....

So Clinton took Pennsylvania last night. That much was expected. I had expected a ten to eleven point margin. It was ten.

So why does this make me uneasy? I said I predicted 10-11... didn't say I would like it.

So the campaign will drag on. And the longer it drags on, the uglier it gets. The uglier it gets (and trust me, with Clinton's failing funds [more on that] and no-way-to-catch-him delegate count, the frustration will mount and the Clinton campaign will do everything in its power to tear down Obama... since he will arrive at the convention with more popular votes, more pledged delegates [hell, maybe even more SUPAH-delegates], the only way Clinton can take the nomination is to show to the aforementioned SUPAH-delegates and regular delegates [who can change their vote after the first ballot] is that Obama is so damaged as be un-electable [despite Hill's "yes yes yes" the other night])... where was I? (oh yeah) and the uglier it gets, the more divided the party, the more disenchanted all those new voters will be, the more cynical the remaining electorate will be, and in sweeps McCain to bring chaos to the masses.

So while I'd rather have McCain than Clinton [if only because if elected, let's say she serves two terms... at the end of that second term there will have been either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House for the LAST THIRTY-SIX FREAKING YEARS (GHWBush: VP 1981-88, Pres 89-92; BClinton: 93-2000; GWBush: 01-08; HClinton: 09-16)... and that feels just a little too long, a little too established, a little too inbred for me... sorry], I'd still rather have a leader who can inspire than one who can manage.

So this morning: not too good on the political front.

Sports front: not so good either. Man, I hope this "tweaked knee" thing isn't too bad... we NEED Cowan on the field. There was a tangible "spark" whenever he goes into the game for "Southpaw Jesus" (though local, THAT dude has just never panned out).

Ah, well... what can you do? I can listen to Pokey (Lisa's classroom guinea pig who's staying here until his mites clear up) screaming out in pain... he had shots a week and a half ago, and the pain was supposed to get worse before better... we thought we had gotten past the worst (he was relatively quiet yesterday), but this morning, he's screaming out in pain again. Of course, things COULD be worse (that's so wrong).

So on that cheery note, au revoir for now, kiddies.

On the Value of Sport

[this may be the closest I get to a "this I believe"]

Sport teaches many things, not the least of which are the value and power of hard work, practice and teamwork.

To succeed in any aspect of life, one must work hard. Nothing is handed to you in life, just as nothing is handed to you on the field of play. Is an opposing linebacker going to let the running back run though for a touchdown unabated? Is an opposing point guard going to hold his dribble at the top of the key to wait for the defender to set up? The answer is no. So to succeed in sport, one must work hard to prepare one's self to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves when they present themselves.

Do some athletes get by on talent they are born with? Absolutely. But they will never achieve greatness. Not without hard work. Lisa has asked me about the purpose of making kids run sprints or swim laps when they're bone tired and they break. This serves many purposes, including getting the athlete ready to push as hard at the end of the contest as at the beginning. It also binds the team by giving them a shared experience (albeit a painful one).

This conditioning must happen at practices (for in the contest itself, conditioning is useless or, worse, disastrous). The purpose of practice then is to hone the skills necessary to succeed. Practice doesn't make perfect, John Wooden has stated, it makes "better". Think about your everyday job. Think of the task you are known for. Did you do it as well the first time as you do today? Of course not. Its repeated accomplishment has created for you a more efficient avenue through which to preform the act. The same is true--especially true--in athletics. Players are nothing if not muscle memory machines. The constant repetition allows the body to get used to doing a certain task so well and easily that it becomes "second nature"... and thus something that the athlete doesn't have to think about: it just happens "naturally," giving him a huge advantage over his opponent who is thinking about each move he is about to make.

Can an athlete be naturally gifted? Absolutely. But he cannot achieve greatness without hard work (in the person of himself) and practice (with the help of a coach).

The greatest concept sport teaches, however, is teamwork. Can you do it all alone? No. No one can. Can a single player win a team competition? No. Nor can he lose it. A water polo goalie can make a hundred saves, but if his teammates don't make shots, the team cannot win. Conversely, the goalie misses the final shot, it goes in and his team loses... Is it his fault? Is the loss his alone? Not at all. Can a single mistake or error in the final 3 seconds of play be more important than the 19:57 that came before it? No. If the offense had take more shots, making just one of them, the loss would be erased. The team wins or the team loses. Not the player. And the sooner teams realize this, the sooner they learn to help out each other, to allow no teammate to be "left behind."

Can a team have a star, a "go-to guy"? Sure, but without the support of his teammates, that player will only be able to amass personal statistics, not a championship or the respect of those teammates.

Sport can teach us so many things, if we only have coaches smart and caring enough to show the player the connection between what his happening on the field and what sport teaches.

Coach Wooden's formula for success was a simple one:

C + F + U = success

Conditioning plus fundamentals plus unity... hard work, practice, teamwork.

He never mentioned winning to his teams, only the success of bettering the team's performance, a performance made possible by hard work, practice, and teamwork. Work hard, practice your skills, and work as a team... and the athlete's growth is assured and the winning will take care of itself.

[soapbox rant over]

Quick Hits

Kyle's game was pretty bad on Saturday. First loss of the season, 8-11... and it really wasn't that close. The other team lit Kyle up, hitting the corners; his team didn't help by giving up 5 man-down situations (and they scored on all five). The only good thing that might come out of it is that the team might be humbled and hungry going into the tournament. And that's a good thing. [I'll have more to say about the concept of sport later...]

On Sunday, there was a new news article about the aftermath of a local school shooting back in February (way too local... it happened at Kyle's school). It's a pretty ticklish subject around here, with people divided over whether to try the shooter as a juvenile or an adult, whether to ask for the death penalty, etc. When all this hit, I was in a lull of blogging, so I'll need to hit that one as well (as well as discussing what I thought I might write on a more fictional level... much like that devil detective lead).

I've finished uploading my Journal of a Short-Timer... I'm reading over an entry a day and adding comments... you can, too.

Work is waiting... so that's it for now...

ok, maybe not... I'm looking over at the survey at right... wow, McCain's kicking Obama's ass... ('especially since Lisa and I both vote for Obama)... hmm, is it that this is a military town? or that there's a legitimate fear of Obama (as he's new and "untested")? or that Hillary and Obama have been beating the shit out of one another and thus letting McCain look VERY attractive for the time being? Interesting... Pennsylvania's tomorrow night, and Obama has already predicted victory... for Hillary... yep, this will all get very interesting...

Weekend

After the sadness of yesterday (I was bummed most of the day... spent much of last night listening/watching old Bruce stuff), this morning didn't get much better (though certainly not nearly as bad as yesterday):

Luc Richard has announced that he's entering the draft.

Damn. Hopefully, since he hasn't hired an agent, we'll see the prince back in Bruin blue next season. If not, he's given us some GREAT years.

On the lighter side, here's a fake Hillary for President ad from Slate.com



Pretty damn funny ('specially that Celine Dion tag at the end).

On other matters lighter than death, Thursday night Lisa and I finished the first season of Slings and Arrows... most satisfying. Highly recommended. The two disc season two set are the next on our Netflix queue.

You Realize You Want To Let Go

If you can't wait to listen to The Wild and the Innocent, here's another great Dan performance.

PLAY IT LOUD!

Phantom

This morning I woke up earlier than usual... so I was a little more bleary-eyed than usual when I read this in my inbox:

RIP, Phatom Dan...

A sad day on E Street...

So glad the last time I saw Bruce I got to see and hear "Kitty's Back" - a virtuoso performance by Federici...

He will be missed. Can't believe one of the original E Streets has left us...

Jim C.

At first I didn't get it... that first line, I couldn't make sense of it, and then it started to dawn on me, and then it came down like a ton of bricks.

Dan Federici, long-time organist and accordionist for Springsteen's E Street Band, passed away from melanoma yesterday afternoon.

The Fall '07 leg of the Magic concert tour was the last one on which "Phantom Dan" was a regular (he left the tour before it went to Europe so Dan could focus on his battle with the cancer). Lisa, I and the boys were there too to hear "Kitty's Back." Now in retrospect all things seemed to point to this: the lack of "Kitty's Back" for this last concert. The "pray for Dan" sign handed up to the stage and its display to the audience at that concert.

The fans in Indy a couple of weeks back got to see his last performance:


Just two nights ago, Bruce debuted in Texas a song I would have loved to see performed live: "Terry's Song."

It's a song that I've listened to many times since discovering it. It's a hidden track on Magic (snuck in after "Devil's Arcade"). It had to be hidden because it was recorded after the rest of the album had been put to bed. But it couldn't wait for another record... it's a memorial to another lost friend, Terry Magovern, written and performed for his funeral. It's a song, given my mom's death so many months ago, and the continuing depression (or at least addition to Wellbutrin)... well let's just say it's a song that brings comfort.

With the performance in Houston, you can't tell me that Bruce wasn't readying himself for this day.

But you can't ready yourself. I don't know... maybe you can. Dan had been battling for the last three years. They must have known. And yet he looks so good in that clip above.

Maybe I can't ready MYself. Have I become the King of Denial in matters mori?

I thank Jim C for alerting me... it was better than hearing it through the news.

Raise a glass tonight, play The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, and tell someone you care about but rarely talk to that you do.

Kev, my friend, this is for you... "when they built you, brother, they broke the mold..."

Nightmare Reality

Love gone (but without an agent); Westbrook gone (also without an agent). Mbah Moute and Collison... the word's still out on (but Collison's probably a goner). Toss on top of that, Afred Aboya may go to grad school next year and forgo his senior season... and oohhh, I hope that great recruiting class can come through.

As for last night's debate. No one's calling Obama the winner. He took a beating (as in like a dead horse) on matters like Wright, Ayers (still not completely clear on that one), and the FREAKING flag lapel pin. And since he was being hammered not only by Clinton but also George Stephanopoulos (hmmmm, a William Jefferson Clinton campaign advisor from '92), and Obama WOULD NOT TAKE SHOTS at Hillary on the matter of the Bosnia "misremembering"... well, many are saying he looked tired and weak.

Tired maybe. Weak only to the pundits, who in the 24/7 news cycle have to say SOMETHING. Something else, I think, will resonate with voters: the desire to get away from "old school" politics (thus the lack of counter punching or all-out attacks).

Maybe that's just an apologist's view...

Dreams and Nightmares

Had a dream last night. It was like a movie, only a book. Maybe it was about a book. Don't have the title but here's the opening:

OK, so let's get the obvious out of the way.

My name is Jonathan Shade and I am the devil.

Of course, mythology gets some things right and some things wrong. Eternal? Pretty much. Cloved hooves? Sorry, no; size ten (wides if you got 'em). Give people what they desire in exchange for their soul? I'll do that every now and then, but I prefer to say I give folks what they need, but let's not argue it. At least not now. Evil? That's where I've got to draw the line.

But am I a punishment for sin?

You bet your sorry ass, kid.

Not a bad hook. But that's all I got. That and the idea that Shade is a hard-boiled film noir detective in a putrid underbelly of a major city... the type of guy that would have fit perfectly in the monochrome drawings of Frank Miller.

But that's all I've got. What I don't "got" is time... so if you do (and you're so inclined), take it and run with it. Just give me a little acknowledgment (and maybe 1% of the profit), and don't tell anyone I never gave you anything.

So that's the dream.

The nightmare?

Well, beyond appearing that we may lose Love, Collison AND Westbrook to the NBA draft (confirmation to come later), it seems the seniors on my beloved Bruin football squad went brain-dead and "over the wall" and ditched practice as a part of some lame-ass tradition.

Now the tradition began OK, as a kind of self-bestowed reward after beating SC and before heading to Japan for the season finale back in 1980. But somehow it mutated into some Spring tradition.

Uh, boys, Spring is when we have the LEAST amount of time to fuck around. It's when depth charts begin, when talent can be evaluated, when skills are learned (rather than honed later in the year). After a victory against your hated rivals? Yeah, then is a good time to go over the wall. But not now. Especially not this year.

The tradition had been banned by, of all people, the strict disciplinarian Toledo, only to be reinstated by Dorrell (who tried to minimize its damage by managing and planning the day himself--uh, note to leaders: when you manage a "ditch day" ... it's not a "ditch day" it's a day off).

Slick Rick (who participated and instigated this "tradition" under Donahue) will need to get the reins in on this one... ban it except for the weeks between the last game and the bowl game. And if the team doesn't make it to a bowl? Then they really don't deserve it, now do they?

Hopefully, this nightmare is done.

[Wasn't around last night to hear the Clinton-Obama debate (we were at Rio Mesa for their Open House and the incoming freshman IB meeting... we're incredibly excited... I'll probably write more about that later today), so I'll need to stream the debate and listen to it before I respond (though what I've read thus far has been mixed to say the least)]

Obama, Wright, and Patriotism

Isn't THIS interesting?

Also, Lisa's been bugging me to do a "This I Believe" NPR essay. I've avoided it as much as possible, as I find much of the essays interesting, but (kinda, I gotta admit) self-centered (or self-serving... and I'm doing about as much egoistical [and I mean that in the "old-school" denotation... look it up] composition as the world can take by writing these blogs).

But this one hit so close to home, I have to include it here...

Boss Endorses Obama

fresh off BruceSpringsteen.net;

LIke most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams of My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President.

Land of Hopes and Dreams, baby, Land of Hopes and Dreams!


A different view...

Hubbard Act (NOW)

OK, political soapbox time.

Remember Saving Private Ryan? Imagine if Private Ryan had returned home, only to find that the GI Bill didn't apply to him, since he didn't finish the war in combat.

How pissed would you be--not as Private Ryan, but as a private CITIZEN?

I'm pretty damned pissed because this IS happening.

First, I read this in my local paper:

• Sole survivor denied benefits after 2 brothers killed in Iraq

Then I did a little searching:

• Jason Hubbard to Testify before Congress
• Congress fixing 'sole survivor' issue for vets

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, my friends, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

How in the name of everything AMERICAN could the Army be treating our soldiers this way? After what they've done for us, in the name of our country, and for the cause of democracy, THEY GET THIS SORT OF TREATMENT? These guys are surviving wounds that would have made them KIAs in Vietnam, and are returning home wounded and devastated. They're committing suicide at a higher rate than the general public and more than ever before in military history. Some are fighting a war that even they don't believe in. And they return home to THIS?

This laughable, scraped-off-the-bottom-of-the-barrel, illegitimate administration of "dubya" should be ashamed of itself.

But there looks to be hope:

• Reps. Costa and Nunes Along With Senators Feinstein and Chambliss To Introduce Hubbard Act Tomorrow, April 16th
  

Call/write/email your Representative and Senators... and call on them to support the Hubbard Act. Here's how:

• House
• Senate
  

If this administration is so far gone to do anything about this, let the legislative branch do its job (hopefully that gutless fuck won't gut the act with another one of his damned signing statements).

More to the point, I hope whoever takes over for that imbecile will DO WHAT'S RIGHT.

Outrageous Fortune

OK, so I'm loving Battlestar (it's still one of the best shows around ... this final season is starting slow... but that's all right... there are still some great moments to be found).

But... since The Wire is gone, Deadwood never had a chance to be gone, and Friday Night Lights is in limbo (it's supposed to be coming back next season), it was time to find a new obsession. And we found it:

Slings and Arrows.



It's a Canadian series from a couple years back (2003-06) about a fictional Canadian Shakespearean theater company. OK, sounds like it's up my alley (theater and Shakespeare). But there's more: the tone swings from twisted comedy (the artistic director is killed by a ham truck), to pathos (the main character is flirting with--if not bedding--madness), to cynical (its discussion of corporate sponsorship is biting), to self-deprecating (the actors are seen as vain and childish at times), to loving (the actors are trying their best and the play is ALL).

Its view of Shakespeare is spot-on; it gets me excited about Shakespeare, and the language, again.

And it doesn't hurt to have Rachel McAdams as the young understudy in season one (and from what I gather, Sarah Polley in season three [we're also getting glimpses of her in HBO's John Adams as well... ok, tangent time: she also wrote and directed an excellent film last year, Away From Her, that dealt with aging and Alzheimer's, a subject close to us because of Lisa's grandmother, GG]).

So I'm a fan, and last night, Lisa and I watched the penultimate episode of the first season. If it hadn't been 11pm, we would have watched the last episode.

While I key this in, I'm listening to an NPR interview with two of the stars (the insane artistic director and his leading lady) from last year... as it turns out they're married in real life (which would explain their chemistry). Of course, in the midst of the interview, it spoils a question that was left hanging at the end of last night's ep, but it won't spoil the pleasure of tonight's viewing.

Not Cool, man, not cool....

Just got back from getting my hair cut.

Jenna, the stylist our family has been going to for years, said that when she finally saw Brett Michael's hair beneath the headband in the finale of Rock of Love 2, she realized why he's been hiding the top of his head. "It's not human hair" up there, she says. She said that it looks "Hair Club for Men"-ish. As she put it... very sad for the lead singer of an 80's hair band to be in that situation.

Very sad, indeed.

Not sad, though, was feeding my crush, waiting for my haircut... Marie Claire magazine. Yeah, baby. And hilarious, too. Karen Felcher, indeed. heh heh

BTW, my crush is shared by Anonymous (check the comment on that entry), Jim C--a fellow Bruin, an ex of Lisa's from two decades past, a Bruce fan, and now a close friend of the family.

So when I got home, I figured I'd share with Lisa Jim's comment (as he was one of the "smartasses" I referenced in the first entry back, who had been requesting updates). But when I woke her Mac Book up from sleep, she pounced on it and its web browser like I was about to find porn (like that would bother me, my inner Brett Michaels says aloud).

And what was she hiding?

She was submitting my name for What Not To Wear...

Aw, man, that just ain't cool.

Just because your husband and an old boyfriend harbor a secret crush toward the wittily hot Miss Fey, is no reason to throw me under the bus in regards to my sartorial (lack of) splendor. [As I type, "] The muffler's fine, thank you very much... [" I am wearing blue athletic shorts and my "Dominate Or Drown" water polo t-shirt (designed by me and available at CafePress... buy one now!).]

Elitist; or: Doesn't "Elite" mean "good"?... If you don't actually think you're better than us, then what the FUCK are you doing?

Skip forward to about 7:10... 'bout sums it up.

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

Back on the Wellbutrin, full strength... can you tell from the number of entries today?

Crush

OK, under "full disclosure," exhibit A:

the crush

I know. It's probably just me. But I find her sexy. Even without her glasses (though I find those HOT... jeez, I sound like Brett Michael... sorry... but at least she's closer to my age, Poison-boy).

[uh, full disclosure again: after wikipedia'ing... Brett (at 45) is just 8 days older than I am... Ambre his latest "rock of love" is 37, my crush is just about to turn 38... so I guess I was wrong... damn]

Politcal F-up and Fallout

OK, so it's been four days since the rearing of the Obama "bitter" remarks: "...they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

This is, on the surface, a horrible mis-speaking by a guy that is usually VERY well-spoken. "Bitter" is bad enough, but that "cling to" line is pretty hurtful... the connotation is one of desperation, it's negative and by context and proximity, it also gives the impression of the speaker thinking that those things being "clung" to are also negative. And while the last three are almost universally seen to be negative (anger at strangers, xenophobia, and anti-trade feelings), those first two--guns and religion--well, guys, those can't be seen as pure negatives [guns, you MIGHT make a case for... but--chances are--NOT in rural areas of the country where hunting is still a way of putting food on the table, showing one's prowess, getting together with others of the community, and linking to past generations within the culture]. So like I said, a really bad choice of words. By Obama?

So whiskey tango foxtrot, man?

Well, let's see what else he said...

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

OK, so the "bitter" is taken care of, pretty much explained away with the context of the three sentences that precede it.

He went on to say:

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you’ll find is, is that people of every background — there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you’ll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I’d be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you’re doing what you’re doing.

Now, after the "bitter" line, it seems to be that he's already known that he's mis-spoken. The sudden verbal faltering (the "um" and the "you know") show that's he's been taken out of speaking mode and into listening to that which just came out of his mouth... uh oh... damn, wish I hadn't said that... damage control engaged. And he launches into to being able to find Obama supporters even in those communities. And he ends by acknowledging that the main thing to do here is to "show up and [do] what you’re doing."

Now at first blush, that "you" seems to be a rhetorical one, one that actually means "me"... that Obama shows up and shows everyone who he is and what he's doing. The full sentence has three "you"s... and the first one is most certainly Obama (HE's the one who needs to show up). But when taken altogether, the phrase takes on a deeper meaning... the "you" really is the supporters. They need to show up, they need to show their enthusiasm and to show the others (em"bitter"ed and otherwise) what he can do for them.

It's a little disappointing that he has moved from "we" (as in "Yes, WE can") to me and "you"... and even more disappointing that he didn't absolutely JUMP on the chance to continue the remarks to hit the main theme of his campaign (at least through early March): that there is HOPE in CHANGE, the change he, and we, can bring.

The mistake wasn't his mis-speaking, it was the lost opportunity to take the fuckup (which he obviously recognized) and turn it into something awe-inspiring. It hasn't been the only lost opportunity lately.

Of course, much of the possible damage has been mitigated by the ham-handed response of the Clinton campaign. Her response, recounting her own trigger-pulling memories, was laughable at best, ridiculous at worst (and Obama exploited it):


Of course, there's so much to laugh at in his response (not the least of which is his use of her "shame" tirade of Ohio, but with a smile and not the rancor and screeching). But the opening is what mattered: This may blow over for the Democratic primary campaign... but don't think we have heard the last of it... if Obama's the candidate in November (which I still hope for), McCain is going to beat this horse until it's dead, buried, reincarnated, and dead again.

[oh, and for Obama's final wish to see a picture of Hillary in the duck blind... don't have that, but maybe this one will do, taken from her boilermaker, I'm-no-elitist, bar visit (courtesy of the Wonkette)...]

Sport Inequity

At this very moment, on ESPN2 (not even "the ocho"), Women's College BOWLING is being televised.

whiskey tango foxtrot

And yet water polo, men's or women's, is NOWHERE to be found on the tube. Ridiculous.

And it's not just because my beloved Bruins are undefeated this year going into their conference tournament, not that they are ranked #1 in the nation, not that they are the odds-on favorite to win their FOURTH CONSECUTIVE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP (and the Lady Bruins won UCLA its 100th NCAA Championship last May... yeah, and I was there, baby... that 100 championships is the largest number of any university, and of course made us "First to 100" and is the reason behind the gold "C" in UCLA on our basketball jerseys [C being the Roman numeral for 100, natch]). No, I'm not complaining for those reasons.

Here's why...

Water polo is a wild and exciting sport. More brutal than football (players don't wear pads), faster than basketball (fouls don't stop play as much as pause it), more strategic than baseball (as the decisions have to be made much more quickly), and more intense than hockey (what they consider to be a brawl is just good set-play in polo).

And bowling? Well, any activity in which you get BETTER after a few beers is not really a SPORT, now is it?

Hope

Don't usually watch 60 Minutes... just doesn't fit in the schedule (though I love it when do... so why don't I DVR the damn thing? don't know... too lazy, I guess), but last light caught it with Pa.

I was blown away by the work done by a ex-radio exec, retired in Florida, named Kanzius who's come up with an idea that cure cancer:


By the end of the segment, I was misty-eyed. This could have helped Ma. And if it works, it could truly be incredible...

Monday Monday

Yesterday spent much of the very hot day in bed. With Lisa.

Not nearly as much fun as that sounds. We were both down, sick. Lisa with a cold and me with residue of not getting to bed until 2:30 Saturday.

Ended up watching SNL (which SUCKED, save for Gnarls Barkley), then some of Cruel Intentions and and something else on HBO. Yeah, real memorable.

Feeling better today, though a little upset stomach (need to go downstairs and have breakfast, I guess).

Yesterday, I watched part of King Kong with Jack and Pa. Boy, does Peter Jackson need an editor or what? Just because you CAN create a long action sequence doesn't mean you SHOULD. And I had that feeling MANY times watching it.

Lisa and I finally watched Friday's BSG. Another solid episode (though not too much really happened until late in the show... but still good).

We also finished off the season of our guilty pleasure, Rock of Love 2. Ewwww. So Ambre won over the skanky Daisy. We can only hope that there is not ROL3... because we don't think we can take another season in reality skankdom... it's such a guilty pleasure.

Can't wait to watch last night's penultimate John Adams... will need to write about that one later...

---

btw: did NOT take the last Wellbutrin Saturday night... I was so exhausted I finally fell asleep (though not very restfully)... took the last one last night... and again not so restful... will call the doc early this morning to make sure that the prescription gets filled before tonight...

Involuntary Drug Experiment

Late Saturday night.

Can't sleep in the heat. Heat might be the culprit, but I don't think so.

Yesterday, I called in a refill of my Wellbutrin, my anti-depressant meds... I was down to three Friday morning, so I called it in after taking my one pill in the morning. Since the last refill, we've upped the prescription from two to three a day (one in the morning, two at night). Refills usually are ready the same afternoon, so I called it in, thinking all was good. The automated pharmacist told me that I wasn't approved for a refill until next Saturday, and asked if I wanted the human pharmacist to call the doctor for confirmation.

Fuck, yes.

Of course, my doc doesn't work on Fridays.

And of course, weekends.

And Friday night, I was down to two. So I took only one, instead of the usual night-time two.

And this morning I skipped it, thinking night-time is more important, given my doc's earlier statements that the third pill should be taken as a two-fer before bed, as it should help with my restless nights.

Fearful of trying to go without any pills tomorrow, I skipped tonight's as well.

And now I can't sleep. My mind is racing, and quite frankly I feel jittery. But it could be the heat (I've never been good in the heat)... I feel sweaty, clammy, my stomach is a little upset, and my chest is a little tight.

I may have to call the doc's answering service tomorrow and have them contact the doctor and have him call it in personally tomorrow. Or maybe I can go to the pharmacist tomorrow (he knows me by face) and see if he can front me a half-dozen pills before Monday. Yeah, maybe I can do that.

If I thought an orgasm would help, I'd go porn-surfing and have at it. But I don't think that'll work. Sorry, I know. TMI.

Maybe I'll organize my downloads of movie/tv sound clips (for use in water polo highlight vids). Or I could watch SNL... though not much of an Ashton Kutcher fan. Whatever. Or watch BSG, since Lisa was too tired to watch it tonight (we're playing catch-up with John Adams on HBO... and a freaking awesome show that is).

Kyle's team escaped with a victory today (9-8). He had a pretty lousy game, but his team showed a lot of heart, fight back from a 3 goal deficit at the half. If Kyle saved the same last week with his 13 saves, then the offense saved his bacon today.

Shit, I'm rambling now.

Maybe I continue cutting and pasting my old Journal of a Short-Timer into Blogger until I get too tired or faced with the verification text thingee.

I hate this feeling. I feel weak and scared.

I need my fucking drugs.

That's scary. I had intended when I got out of bed to write much of the above, but not that last line. That just came out.

That scares me... I'll need to take that last pill tonight, I think.

Randomness

Getting warm.

Looks like it's a bad week for Clinton: Penn, and now Bill's super-silly comment about Hilary's 11pm Bosnia gaff. Puh-lease. Used to be a big fan of my name-sake. Now not so much.

Bob Casey, a super-d and campaign talking head for Obama, missed a great opportunity last night on Hardball with Chris Matthews: When asked why Obama and his campaign haven't pounced on the seeming hypocrisy of Clinton's trade views and the combined work done for a Columbian trade group by Penn and Bill, Casey just changed the subject. What he should have said was "Oh, Chris. That's the 'old politics' way of running a campaign. Senator Obama is trying to move all of us beyond that..." THEN change the subject.

My buddy, Kevin, has started his own blog. It's called "From Small Things"... another Springsteen reference. Cool randomness from a very bright mind. I especially like the Jack Handy reference of the "Soldering Iron of Justice"... I'm waiting for Kevin, who's a fantastic artist, to illustrate that concept. [yeah, my friend, I'm throwing down the gauntlet!]

Pa's doing better. The car's totaled, however; so we need to start thinking about how we're going to do this. My initial thought is to take the insurance money, sell the Cabrio, and buy a sedan together. But we'll see.

Kyle's got water polo practice tonight with the Premier team (as opposed to his youth league team). I'll need to write more about polo soon. But for now, I just hope he's got something left in the tank for tonight's practice and tomorrow's game (after all the energy spent @ Disneyland)... certainly would be nice to have him have another game like last week's:



[as webmaster of his youth team's site, I get to create highlight YouTube videos from game films taken by Dean... yeah, get to... it's fun... so sue me...]

Politics

These are mine:



More as the election season continues.

[but not now... feel like I want to throw up]

See What I Mean

Early Thursday morning, nauseous as all hell. Been that way for nearly 13 hours now. With massive acid reflux.

And I know the cause.

I am fat.

Doc knows it, too. He's told me to lose weight.

But I can't stop eating (and poorly, too).

[or is there another reason... I started to post my Journal of a Short-Timer up as a blog, cutting and pasting from my saved soft copy into Blogger. Re-reading it, I can see the stress in the writing itself... I'm kinda thankful Blogger will only take so many entries in a day before it make the poster provide those text verifications... since that slows down the cut/paste process, I've given it up for a day (until the verifications disappear)... should be up within a week. Could this be the cause of my upset stomach (which started around the time I pulled out the old text)? naw, I'm fat.]

Anyway....

On to better topics:

Found a YouTube video of Springsteen and Morello's "Ghost of Tom Joad" performance from my night (Tuesday)...



Pretty freakin cool, huh?

The Things I Think But Do Not Say

Dad's doing better. He made it through the 14 hours I was away at Springsteen (see below). He's feeling better today. No vomit. Less torso pain. This is good.

Lisa, Diana and the kids are at the Happiest Place on Earth. So glad I'm not there... I'm more a Six Flags kind of guy.

But as I mentioned in the Springsteen show entry, "Wild Billy's Circus Story"

an interesting observation just before the show... which made me think that the dark opening was PERFECT for me last night

When talking to the Hemet teachers in the pit before the show, we talked about teaching, and the subject came around to my career.

I taught for 10 years (been out of the classroom for ... jeez... 12 years now), teaching high school English and drama from 1986-1996. I was a pretty good teacher, so I've been told. I took a year off to "recharge my batteries" then never went back. Miss the kids something awful (I was able to present a lesson on Shakespeare to Kyle's class last spring, and I loved it)... just don't miss all the administrative stuff. And the administrivia just began to build and build.

I had told my mentor and high school English teacher, Terry Taylor, in the interview at which she hired me at my first teaching gig (she was then Assistant Principal), "when I don't love it anymore, I'll get out... I don't want the kids to see it."

Taylor had battled cancer before my hiring. Then she transfered crosstown to become principal at my alma mater. And I followed her back home. She instituted a great many reforms and innovative programs. She was a visionary. And then she died, and it took the school district all of six months to dismantle every program she instituted.

It took the wind out of my sails. And after a year and a half of misery, I decided I needed to take a year off to get my head straight before going back to my calling.

But it didn't call again.

As I recounted the Reader's Digest version of that last night to the Hemet teachers, Lisa said, "Well, there was probably some grieving going on there, too." I looked at her, and it struck me like a bolt from Zeus. "Yeah," I sighed. "Yeah," she said, "We do know now how you handle that." And I thought but did not say, "Yeah, I don't handle death all that well."

Understatement.

Looking back, maybe the misery I felt during that year after Terry died, maybe leaving the classroom, maybe never returning, was all part of my grieving her death. That lasted YEARS. She was my mentor. She wasn't even my blood.

It made me think of how long this process will be for Ma. And it was with that sense of doom, gloom, fear, loathing, and desperation, that the concert began.

And two and a half hours later, I felt lighter, demons exorcised. For now.

But for how long?

[in that penultimate miserable year, I wrote a long-form piece called Journal of a Short-Timer... kind of a blog before blogs... I may need to post that someday...]

Wild Billy's Circus Story

Drove down to Anaheim yesterday afternoon, trailing Lisa, Diana and the kids by about an hour and a half. Picked up Lisa and headed to the arena. Got there about 4:30 and picked up our wristbands for the front-of-the-pit general admission lottery. Didn't get it (we were 640 and 641, and the picked number was 111... and only 300 got into the pit). But we were still on the floor. And despite a drunk (really obnoxious), the crowd was cool... we met a woman from the Valley, some teachers form Hemet and a nice girl and her boyfriend of OC... many of whom had been the previous night's show.

And what a show it was, with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine coming out and joining the Bruce for a full-band premiere of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" a song Bruce had only done acoustically. And according to those we talked to and Backstreets (who called it a cross between Rage's version and the full E-Street band version of "Youngstown"), it might have very well been the highlight of the entire Magic tour:


A pretty kick-ass piece of guitar work by Morello there at the end.

Kyle would have been bummed (he's finally into music BIG TIME and loves Rage), and many were hoping for a return engagement by Mr. Morello. But since setlists and special guests especially aren't usually repeated, we didn't hold out much hope.

But being on the floor was a different experience, the excitement even standing in line was palpable... and inside the arena, it was incredible. These were FANS--not bandwagoners who sit up in the high seats to say they've seen "the Boss"--the true "tramps" who see multiple shows and can recount stories from tours and DECADES past. It just felt special.

So when Bruce hit the stage and opened with "Thunder (FREAKING) Road"... well, it was special indeed. But it also felt different. While October's show was loose and joyous. Bruce looked determined, almost distracted and pissed-off. And it made "Thunder Road" very interesting. "It's a town full of losers, // And we're pulling out of here to win" is usually a romantic notion of a hopeful future, but tonight it was a bellow of false bravado after gut-wrenching desperation. And it felt different, but really RIGHT.

And on the show went... after a few songs, "Murder Incorporated" rocked HARD, a few songs later the tour premiere of "Atlantic City" rocked HARDER and even more desperate than "Thunder Road" (if that's possible)... and later "Reason to Believe" took its "struck my sorta funny" line seriously with Bruce almost bitterly spitting out "people find some reason to believe."

Now according to the written setlist, "Because the Night" was supposed to follow. That song can seem as desperate as the show had been up until this point. But maybe sensing this, Bruce called for an audible: "Prove it All Night." And desperation and anger turned into all-out joyous release. And you could feel it in him, and the crowd. Incredible. And so when he followed with "Because the Night"... well, now that song's "Because the night belongs to lovers // Because the night belongs to US" became an affirmation of why we go to Springsteen shows: a hard-fought (and while maybe not YET hard-won) respite in the war of our daily lives.

And the joy continued through the next few songs, culminating in an almost triumphant "The Promised Land." And here the show took it's only wrong note (at least for me): "Brilliant Disguise." OK, full disclosure: not the biggest fan of the song. Was it well done? Absolutely. Did it fit? Maybe (tonally given what came next). But it just seemed to kill the momentum. At the end of the song, a roadie came out with a HUGE guitar effects box foot-pedal set. I turned and looked at the woman next to me who had been to Monday's show. "Did they bring out effects pedals last night before 'Ghost'--" But the look in her eyes cut me short. She was practically jumping up and down with excitement, even clapping her hands like a kid while nodding her head.

And it happened. Tom Morello came out and BLEW US AWAY. It was a great version of the song, not as pissed off as Rage's, but powerful nonetheless. And that solo? OMYFREAKINGGOD. By this point in the show, I tried not to look at the video monitors because they were causing a major crick in my neck... but I had to. His fingertips were flying all over the fretboard, and the sounds he produced were wild guitar one second, turntable scratching the next, prehistoric animal noises the next. Unbelievable. I even took a picture with my cell (really crappy)and sent it to Kyle. I've always thought the Rage version was better than Bruce's. But now, with a full band... I think it's close, real close.
[mygod, I've become an old, sentimental fuck: just reading this over, and listening to the YouTube clip above, and I'm crying...]

Then Bruce deviated from the set list again, skipping "The Rising." Maybe it was for pacing, or maybe he wanted to keep that righteous ANGER going with "Last to Die." While I missed "The Rising" looking at the setlist, the show didn't miss it. "Long Walk Home" tempered the anger with some hope (and if not hope, then at least resolve). And then he hit with the usual set closer, "Badlands" (no link necessary... just look at the bottom of the page).

A couple of tours back, I was ready to retire the old warhorse. But in this last tour, it really STOPPED being a set piece, and once again became the heartfelt "keep pushing till it's understood" anthem that it is. Again, almost triumphant. So I was ready for the band to go backstage and wait for the encore. But no: "OUT IN THE STREETS." One of my favorites off The River. And pure joy, with Steve awesome on the harmony vocal. THAT'S a great set ender!

Encore was great: "Meeting Across the River" (a real highlight of the show, which is saying something, given what Morello had done) led into "Jungleland." Pure nostalgia. And maybe that's why I'm less than enthusiastic about it. It was still great, but not as powerful (and maybe because for the first time I saw Clarence as mortal, and getting old, not able to sustain that beautiful solo near the end). But any lack of enthusiasm was offset by the remaining high-energy trifecta: "Born to Run," "Dancing in the Dark" (so much better now as a fast-paced guitar song, and not the over-synthed Born in the USA version), and the concert closer "American Land"... with Morello again on stage helping out with acoustic guitar and background vocals. He seemed to be in heaven, laughing, grinning from ear to ear, sharing a mic stand with Steve. He looked like I can only imagine I would look if given that opportunity.

A simply incredible show.

Of course, this morning, looking at the setlist, I see that "Dancing" was a last minute audible over "Kitty's Back." Damn, that would have been cool. And it would have given us a song from The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (hey, man, Monday had "Rosalita").

More to follow (an interesting observation just before the show... which made me think that the dark opening was PERFECT for me last night), but that 'bout sums it up, kids.

[the only downer was the drive home: the 5 was shut down, so I needed to take the 91 across town, and it make the drive all that much longer... thank goodness, I might get a chance to nap today]

Casing the Promised Land

So dad's feeling better (though he did throw up again yesterday and had another of his claustrophobic panic attacks last night).

Today, while listening to my updated YouTube playlist (with some Lone Justice and Robert Randolph... check it out at the bottom of the page), I push through some coding work for the Army (adding some sort columns for a list interface).

Last night, I got video footage from Dean for more water polo highlights; I did some preliminary editing late last night, and I'll do final edits in the next few days... after tonight, of course.

In a couple of hours, I'll head down to Anaheim, where Lisa, Diana and the kids are already on their way. I'll pick up Lisa and head down to the Honda Center to get our wristbands, then at 5:15 a random number will be drawn and if we're lucky, we'll be allowed into the front area around 5:30... sure, it's a 2.5 (hell, who are we kidding? 3 at least) hour wait until the show, but it's a chance to be UP CLOSE.

With any luck we'll see something like this:


He'll be 30 years older, but so are we...

Then I'll drive back late tonight, so dad will be left here alone for the shortest amount of time possible (I think he's trying to get me to stay overnight by going for a walk this morning and running some errands as I key this in).

Two Songs

One great...

The other not so much (but funnier than shit).

More Worries

[sometimes I wonder why I'm writing... the pessimistic side of me thinks that bad things happen when I write consistently]

The MRI at the ER showed two things of moderate concern: an abdominal aortic embolism (which weirdly is called a AAA [even though that last one is an E]) and a cyst on his kidney. Neither is a point of real concern, according to the ER doc: the AAA is 3.2 cm... we only need to worry when it's 5cm; and the renal cyst... well, everyone can get those. So we were comforted.

Yesterday (Sunday) was full of pain. Today, Pa's pain is better, so he finally got around to reading the discharge papers, which said that he should see his primary care physician. So off we went (I drove him since there was no way I was going to let him drive... a decision he would later thank me for, since as he put it: "I just tire so fast"). The PCP is not so moderately concerned: while the AAA may have been growing for the last 10 years, he thinks it's also a possibility that the impact of the accident may have jarred something loose and caused the AAA. And so he gave dad a prescription to see the Vascular Surgeon again. Appointment made.

If that wasn't enough stress for the morning, Lisa's mom had to put their cat Maisy down (she had been in slow then rapid decline due to cancer). Not fun. Lisa's grandmother (GG we call her) was pretty upset... of course, we all know that her memory (due to Alzheimer's) will probably not remember the cat's death. So Lisa's mom will just need to calmly field cat questions from her own mother for the foreseeable future.

And if THAT wasn't enough:

no, I'm not making this up... all of this before 10am today

Lisa got a call from a former student of hers (when she taught middle school). The kid seemed a little out of sorts, a little troubled. And no wonder why: Kid's on his SECOND tour in Iraq (and has been there for the last four months). He seemed to want to say something to Lisa, but could not get it out in the 20 minutes on the phone. She thought he might have been crying at the end. She's not a little worried... he had told her that when he spoke to his own mom that she related to him that our son Jack had been named after him. [Lisa doesn't quite remember the conversation, is sure that we didn't name him after a student (it's yet another Springsteen reference... as is Kyle's name), but knows that since this kid WAS such a good kid that it didn't put his name out of the running (there would be no Michaels or Daniels or Chrises or Brians... since we both had trouble [not troubled] students by those names)] But it was too strange at least. He gave her his email, and she promptly used it.

We hope he's OK.

And so I'm back at the computer ready to work... though easily distracted by things. Thinks like this... only my FAVORITE BASKETBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME, and a reason why I'm a Bruin. I went to Goodrich's basketball camp between my 7th and 8th grade years... it was my first time away from home on my own.

Anything to keep my mind off the obvious.

Worries Increase

I type this into the laptop, in the Community Memorial E.R. waiting room on Saturday night. Dad started to have rib pain last night, about six hours after the accident. It grew worse over night, but only when he coughed. By this afternoon, he was having pain just from walking. The pain got worse (despite Kyle's kick-ass performance in the cage during the Titans' water polo game [13 saves--including a penalty shot and a man-down goal--plus two steals and two assists in a closer-than-foreseen 9-6 victory] and not made any better by the Bruin loss in the Final Four).

After the Bruin game, I convinced dad to let me take him to Urgent Care. When he relented, I knew it was bad. At the Urgent Care, we were seen almost immediately, and the doc sent us to CMH for an MRI on his stomach... he fears it may be a lacerated liver... this could be bad. And so we wait.

More to come...

8:05... now in the ER exam area. Pain is worse. He looks worse.
8:45... off to chest xray.
9:30... off to MRI
9:40... met Dr. Johnson. He thinks it's just post traumatic pain. He expects it to subside in the next day or two... until then Vicodin. But he wants to see the results of the MRI first.
10:30...released with a shot of morphine and a prescription for Darvocet

Now, this morning: Dad is in a lot of pain still (to be expected)...

Bruins Blues... (or Bruins lose)

OK, so THAT didn't go well.

Memphis came out and took it to my beloved Bruins tonight. They played an unbelievable game. They got the bounces and the buckets, and they dictated the pace and the tempo. When the score was in the 20's by the midpoint of the first half, I had a hunch it was over (even as we were down only by one). By the second half, as the lead grew, it was obvious that our legs were weary: our shots were off, our fouls were growing more clawing. Their backcourt defense completely emasculated Collison, and prevented the ball to go into Love in the post. All of which led a 15 point loss. Got to hand it to Memphis... they kick our ass (and I didn't even have them reaching the Final Four.

If there is any comfort, maybe it is that we were still a Final Four team (for the third straight year), with only one senior (Mata-Real). And with the dismal performances by Collison, Love and Shipp in the largest stage of their careers, there's a good chance they'll all return.

Even if they don't, it was a great run this year. Third straight Pac-10 title, third straight Final Four. Too bad we're not like other schools and hang banners for that sort of stuff.

Prove it All Night

Every night.

Last night's BSG was pretty frakking cool. When [SPOILER ALERT (highlight to reveal)] Tigh shot Adama in the OPENING minutes, I was so stunned I couldn't even hit "pause" on the DVR. Wow. Simply incredible. Sure, the talking scene between Adama and Lee was a little too talky, but it still resonated. And the cliffhanger left both me and Lisa saying, "What, it's already over?" THAT's what an episode should feel like.

Very cool.

And tonight? Well,

(with thanks to the brethren of Bruins Nation)



I'm hoping that this isn't the last we see of K-Love. My not-so-secret desire is that Monday won't be the last either... but given he's pretty much a lottery pick, I'm not counting on it (of course, there's rumblings out there in the blogosphere that he's not physically equipped for the Association... if he could believe that and come back for a sophomore year... that would pretty much insure dominance in the Pac next year [what with the Lopez twins leaving the Tree (and WTF were their parents thinking... did they want their kids getting their asses kicked everyday at school?), and Anderson leaving Berkeley... leaving only Gibson at SUC and Brockman @ UW as competition in the paint]... but like I said, I'm not counting on it).

If for no other reason, I want Love to stay so Kyle can see more of his outlet passes -- you know, like this one:


-- so Kyle can continue to model his water polo goalie outlets passes after the "laser Loves."

As for today's title...



Prove it all night (tonight, Bruins, TONIGHT), every night, indeed.

You don't think I can't wait for Tuesday night or anything, do you?

Can't Wait for Tonight

Holy Frak!

BSG tonight.

To get you ready:

Casual Worries

Dad was in a car accident today. Dad says he's okay... but I know he was a little shaken up by it all. The body shop guy thinks the car may be totaled:


So, of course, now I'm worried about him. I've been noticing his memory slipping quite a bit more often lately (of course, I'm not exactly my old razor-sharp intellect, either, for the last year). And for the last two years or so, he's been driving like an old guy.

Am I worrying too much?

I hope so, but of course the bad thing about worries is that once they start, they're pretty damned hard to stop.

Know what I mean?