Love and War in the Mind of the Young Male

Pick # 31 Seattle Seahawks, #32 NY Giants

2006-04-29T16:59:00.000-04:00

Kelly Jennings is probably the perfect player for them. He might be one of the better cover corners all around, he's pretty much, to me, the safest of the corners, becasue he has all sorts of ability and showed he could be very productive. He'll be put in a situation without a great deal of pressure as well, even though he will be expected to play well.

Mathias Kiwanuka is in a good position here, because he has the time to wait behind Strahan and obviously, with Umenyiora there he'll have someone opposite him to keep the pressure off.

I'll be back later with an overall look at what happened today, but right now I need a bit of a break.

Pick #29 J-E-T-S, #30 Indianapolis Colts

2006-04-29T16:46:00.000-04:00

I'm not in love with this pick, primarily because they could go with Trey Teague for the next few years and go with a superior runner or even Winston Justice.

The Colts had a very obvious need to try and replace James. Addai has a lot of great skills and will be a very good fit to go with the turf and the system they run.

the Seahawks have a need at Corner, and a lot of guys, like Jimmy Williams and Ashton Yobouty are still there for them. I really like Max Jean-Gilles as a replacement for Hutch. The best way to keep the running game going as it has been would be to try and approximate Hutchinson. With Joseph gone, Gilles might do that, but its also true that they really do need a corner, or perhaps a safety to replace Marquand Manuel, though Ken Hamlin is supposed to be back.

Pick #28 Jacksonville Jaguars

2006-04-29T16:40:00.000-04:00

I really love this pick, because it gives them an intermediate threat and has great hands. Between Matt Jones, Lewis, and Reggie Williams, they have a lot of very big, very nice targets for the future, and they are a team that could take advantage of the Colts losing James to take over the division, at leat this year.

The Jets are now up again. Part of me thinks they should give themselves the bookends with Justice, and basically go from poor to great along the line right now. However, with Curtis Martin getting older, its very possible they could go for Joseph Addai or Lendale White or a defensive player.

Pick # 27 Carolina Panthers

2006-04-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

This pick actually surprises me. I really don't understand, especially given that they took Eric Shelton high last year, and they really haven't given him much of a shot. Stephen Davis is gone, so when they do this, they can't be expressing a great deal of faith in Deshaun Foster. This seems like too much of a luxury, especially when they could bring in a good tight end who would help change the offense.

Jacksonville could take Justice here, or again tight end. Another potential player could be Demeco Ryans, the linebacker from Alabama, which might address the loss of Akin Ayodele.

Pick # 26 Buffalo Bills

2006-04-29T16:29:00.000-04:00

I'm not surprised the Bears traded out of the first round pick, their was some thought they would. This means that they didn't trade down when they could get more for Whitner and traded up to get John McCargo, someone they could have gotten later. I really do not understand what the Bills are doing, though perhaps this pick could fit well in their offense. I'm surprised they haven't moved to improve their offensive line or receivers.

Carolina now has the opportunity to grab a great tight end, or perhaps a defensive player. Someone they might not have gotten.

Pick #25 Pittsburgh Steelers

2006-04-29T16:22:00.000-04:00

They have their guy, someone wh can take over for Randle-El right now. I think he's more of a second receiver, rather than Sinorice Moss, who I thought of primarily as a slot-guy only. I really am not a big fan of Moss, because he never really did anything in college. Holmes is also someone who could grow along with Roethlisberger.

The Bears have to be happy that they have the opprtunity to pick a quality wide-out, someone who could legitmately go opposite Mushin Muhammad. They might also go tight end, and both Lewis and Pope are there. I could also see them taking either a corner or Winston Justice. Although, if they could get the opposing receivers to carry lap-tops onto the field, that'd probably be enough to draw the ire of Ricky Manning

Pick #24 Cincinnati Bengals

2006-04-29T16:09:00.000-04:00

Johnathon Joseph is someone who could well be the heir to Tory James in the secondary. They need someone who will cover, more though, because the two guys they have gamble a bit too much. They get a lot of picks, but they might also be burned more than anyone. If you saw the Colts game ast year, you definetly saw that.

The Giants could use a receiver, as Amani Toomer is getting older, and Plaxico Burress is a prototype big receiver, but they could use a faster wideout, if only to inject more youth. They could again go DB, they've lost a couple in free agency. The addressed their need at LB with LaVar Arrington.

Pick #23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2006-04-29T15:55:00.000-04:00

Davin Joseph is the first guard selected, and played offensive tackle in college. So he's someone who provides depth. Frankly, if I'm Cadillac, I'll take anyone who blocked for A.D. and be happy. You've got some good interior players in the NFC South, guys like Kris Jenkins, Rod Coleman, and Maake Kemoeatu, so a quality guard is a must. I would have been happy for him, or another guard to fall to the Lions in the second round.

Cincinnati presumably needs defense, though because they signed Sam Adams they might not need to go inside. This could be a spot for Gabe Watson, to be the first Michigan player off of the board. There is also a huge need in the secondary. But it also wouldn't shock me to see them go with a tight end, either Marcedes Lewis or Leonard Pope, to open up the middle of the field.

Pick # 22 San Fransisco 49ers

2006-04-29T15:45:00.000-04:00

Manny Lawson finally goes, and unlike Julian Peterson, they have someone who naturally fits the 3-4 as an edge rusher. I think San Fransisco will get graded fairly high after the draft, because they got real playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Tampa is an interesting case. Again, I could see Justice going here, and there might be a need for a corner to eventually replace Ronde Barber, or a linebacker to take over for Derrick Brooks. They have a lot of younger players and not a great many needs. This is a good position to be in.

Pick #21 New England Patriots

2006-04-29T15:40:00.000-04:00

Laurence Maroney has home run potential every single time he touches the ball. Now they have someone who would be there for the next few years, and try to fill the other slots later on. I think we'll hear a lot of bitching about this pick, but frankly, they needed to address offense at some point.

The 49ers are up again. One would think they'd go defense, though potentially they could go wideout, or could go for Justice.

Pick #20 Kansas City Chiefs

2006-04-29T15:29:00.000-04:00

Tamba Hli is a good player. He is someone who can be very effective across from Jared Allen. He's a great person, and I remember how he was incredibly dominant against Florida State, and he seems like someone who could be very effective to go with Herman Edwards.

New England has an interesting problem. There is a need for the hybrid linebacker, Manny Lawson, to replace Willie McGinest. On ther other hand, they have an aging Corey Dillon who will need to be replaced soon. Also, with David Givens gone, there is a need for a wideout, and now both are available. Its funny, many of the national broadcasters seem to project an offensive player to them, but nearly every local beat writer sees them taking a linebacker or a corner. Let's see who wins out.

Pick #19 San Diego Chargers

2006-04-29T15:13:00.000-04:00

Antonio Cromartie is the big gamble. He could be incredibly good, in terms of his physical tools, but he has' played and he was hurt last year. Watching the highlights of him, frankly is scary. Perhaps they could use him as a nickel guy for a year, to get some experience and to teach technique, or use him on the second receiver. Of those teams in the division, only the Raiders have an above average second receiver, so they might be able to afford the risk early on.

The Chiefs aren't going to go Justice , but they have to consider a wideout. Eddie Kennison isn't terribly good, but they need someone to be the second guy for many years to come. However, there is a big-time need for a corner as well.

Pick # 18 Dallas Cowboys

2006-04-29T15:03:00.000-04:00

This draft, actually, seems to be movingpretty quck, which means as we get to the playoff teams it will slow to a crawl.

I love Nick Saban's jacket.

Bobby Carpenter is a good fit, and as I said, he'll probably play inside, though he could be on the outside as well, as a kind of more conventional linebacker. I'm kind of surprised Justice has dropped like this.

San Diego has gotten lucky. They can go with a very real need, either by taking one of the receivers, or by taking Justice. They might try one of the corners, but those positions seem to be the biggest needs, either to protect Rivers or give him more weapons.

Pick # 17 Minnesota Vikings

2006-04-29T14:54:00.000-04:00

Greenway is a local kid, played at Iowa, from South Dakota. Greenway is a great playmakerwho will play well on the turf. They need som character guys, and while Greenway isn't the hitter Hawk is, he may be smarter, and might pick up the system better. Last year the Vikings had a lot of expectations. This year, with the number of moves they've made, not least of which is no longer having the unfrozen caveman coach, they could be a favorite

Dallas could go anywhere. Bill Parcells coached Bobby Carpenter's father, and might go for the kind of player he knows, though Carpenter would likely play inside. He could go with Winston Justice, to play the right side. He could also go for a corner, or someone who could play safety, such as Jimmy Williams.

Pick # 16 Miami Dolphins

2006-04-29T14:44:00.000-04:00

The team on the rise. Jason Allen was hurt, but in many ways is the prototype safety. I don't know, however, if this is the pick, combined with the other moves they've made, that gives them great value and also pushes them ahead of the Patriots I certainly do not think it will be this year.

I'm shocked no receiver has gone yet.

The Vikings have an interesting proposition here. Winston Justice would give them bookedn tackles to go along with Bryant McKinnie, and now with Hutch at guard and the return of Matt Birk, they could have an exceptional line. And you have to think that Andy Reid's draft mentality would have seeped into Brad Childress, at least somewhat. The Vikings could also go for one of the hybrid safety/corners who could eventually replace Darren Sharper. They could also go Greenway.

Pick # 15 St. Louis Rams

2006-04-29T14:33:00.000-04:00

Tye Hill is a good fit, I think, because they needed a cornerback. He is undersized, but with a lot of undersized receivers, and playing on artificial turf, they can take advantage of that speed.

Miami has an interesting choice here. Manny Lawson would be perfect for their conversion to a 3-4, becasue he's that perfect hybrid player. On the other hand, Winston Justice would look really good as an offensive lineman for the next ten years, although a man arrested for solicitation might have some issues on South Beach. There are also a lot of corners coming up, and Sam Madison was released.

Pick # E-A-G-L-E-S

2006-04-29T14:27:00.000-04:00

Bunkley goes where he'll play, and probably play well. What I worry about is that he really only played for one year, and there is still a T.O. sized hole at wide receiver. The Eagles also show why you sometimes get lucky. Buffalo could have gotten Whitner later, yet they didn't have to give anyone up to get their guy.

The Rams will probably go with Greenway here, especially considering that the best tackle is gone. They don't need Winston Justice, because they took Alex Barron last year.

When exactly did Matt Leinart become the One?

Pick #13 Cleveland Browns

2006-04-29T14:13:00.000-04:00

Kameiron Wimbley is perfect here, and the Patriots are broken hearted. He'll probably either start right away on one side with McGinest on the other, or play situationally. He's someone who seems to have been desired, unlike some past Browns picks. Now hopefully he won't hurt himself on the way the Cleveland, though he probably will be.

The Eagles get lucky, because they were talking about moving up to take Bunkley, and now he's fallen into their laps. Justice could be a pick, but they took Shawn Andrews to eventaully replace John Runyan, and Justice is really the type who could play right away. I would go defense, because that, more than anything, dropped off the face of the planet. They had real problems stopping the run, so a defensive tackle would fit in well.

Pick #12 Baltimore Ravens

2006-04-29T14:02:00.000-04:00

So I never thought that would happen. Ngata is the guy, certainly that Baltimore wanted, and if you're Cleveland you get anything, its worth it, especially if you aren't going to get that person anyway. Ngata is perfect for the Ravens, and now the Browns can get one of those DE-LB types who they can groom behind Willie McGinest, plus osmeone else late. They could also take Winston Justice here, as well.

Pick #11 Denver Broncos

2006-04-29T13:48:00.000-04:00

The Broncos move up to take Cutler. What sort of puzzles me is that many of the same questions about Jake Plummer you can have about Cutler. He makes a lot of questionable throws. Still, he's got a year, at least, with Jake Plummer ahead of him so he'll have time to learn the system and get better. That being said, I don't think Cutler is the god that everyone is making him out to be.

The Browns need defensive help badly. They added a lot on offense, particularly on the line. The question now is, do they go with either Wimbley or Greenway, or go with Ngata as they prototype nose tackle. Now they have Ted Washington, who really is the prototype in that system. Either way, they will improve themselves.

Pick #10 Arizona Cardinals

2006-04-29T13:39:00.000-04:00

Leinart is perfect here. Here they have the very good receivers, simiaalr to what they have at USC. Here's the great glamour QB of the past decade in the ultimate questionable environment, where they haven't hada quarterback, frankly ever. Here they have someone in their, rather than someone hanging on.

The Rams could well take the other quarteback, Jay Cutler here. They also could use defense. They lost Ryan Pickett, they lost several linebackers, so they could go Chad Greenway or they could go Bunkley or even Ngata. They could also use help on the corner.

Pick #9 Detroit Lions

2006-04-29T13:33:00.000-04:00

Ok. I can breathe. Sims could be Derrick Brooks, but he could well be a concussion case. There is a lot of speed though, and with Teddy Lehman likely to move to the middle, they will have an incredibly fast linebacking corps.

Matt Leinart actually is a perfect pick for the Cardinals. He's a glamour pick as they move into the new stadium that might well be perfect.

Pick #8 Buffalo Bills

2006-04-29T13:24:00.000-04:00

Wow. Donte Whitner going way, way high. I know you need the John Lynch type, but this is a little high for this. The Bills had other, more pressing needs.

Holy God am I scared. I am begging Matt Millen to not take Matt Leinart. There are other needs on defense, and there are other needs on offense. I'd take Winston Justice here if they went offense. Otherwise, I think they take Bunkley, Sims or Jimmy Williams. Or I throw up all over myself, and they take Leinart. They could also trade down here, especially if they could get one of the guys they like later.

#7 Oakland Raiders

2006-04-29T13:16:00.000-04:00

And I hate the Raiders. The Lions could really have used him. Now, well, I am very very scared that Matt Millen will let the opportunity get the best of him. People are talking Ernie Sims for the Lions. By the way, don't move Huff to CB. If you do, there's the possibility he won't be exceptional, for the safety position, he will be.

The Bills are up now. My guess says that tis will not be Ngata, though it could be. They signed Larry Triplett to be the quicker lineman in the Tampa-2. They could also go for someone like Bunkley, or maybe one of the corners. I doubt they would take QB, though they might also move down to take a wideout.

Pick #6 San Francisco 49ers

2006-04-29T13:08:00.000-04:00

Many times this fall, some of the Boston stations showed a lot of ACC games. Many of those games featured the Turtle. Vernon Davis was the entire offense. The people who talk about the lack of blockng, frankly, if you're leaving him into block, especialy on the pass, you are an idiot.

The Raiders, my guess are weighing heavily what they want. Leinart would be great, if only because he'd be an incredible poster boy. On the other hand, you have Michael Huff, Bunkley, a lot of players they could use right now, and either work on Walter or pick someone later, like say Brady Quinn. Offense wasn't the problem there last year, defense was, they couldn't stop anyone.

Pick #5 Green Bay Packers

2006-04-29T12:58:00.000-04:00

He is a bad, bad man. The guy this really helps, seriously, is Aaron Rodgers. I believe that this is Favre's last year. AJ Hawk can be the kind of player who becomes the face of the organization, taking the pressure off of Rodgers. He'll change the defensive culture there.

The Niners should be on the stage now, going to pick up the Duke. The offense was horrific last year, and while Eric Johnson was hurt, Vernon Davis provides the ability to stretch the field and be an intermediate threat, in short the perfect safety valve Alex Smith didn't have last year.

Pick #4- J-E-T-S

2006-04-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

Eric Mangini and Mike Tannenaum have real onions. I'm also surprised by the number of people cheering this. I really believed they'd burn down Radio City if they didn't take Matt Leinart. The New York fans really ar smarter than people give them credit for. They can now go get a corner or linebacker later, or even someone like DeAngelo Williams to take over for Curtis Martin.

The Packers should have taken Hawk already. I hate him, but he's an incredible player. They need help at linebacker, who, by the way, tend to be the safest defensive picks. With him and Barnett, they'll have a great combo for years to come, as well as someone who I know will be great in Green Bay. He's the safest pick, by far here, even though I love the Duke.

Pick #3 Tennessee Titans

2006-04-29T12:39:00.000-04:00

It will take time. But despite all the flaws, the issues with the delivery and the need to learn to read defenses, Young is an incredible leader. And I still have nightmares about the Rose Bowl against Michigan. He's much more of a pocket guy then Michael Vick was coming out, and he has very good measurables as well as the intangibles.

The Jets are now up, and the very real debate has to be Matt Leinart, who is the ultimate New York pick. On the other hand, you have D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who besides having the greatest name ever, will be steady and solid, and horrifically booed. They are going to need a running back at some point. Don't discount Ramsey either, frankly he was destroyed under Spurrier and completely demoralized. Then Gibbs never really gave him a shot, benching him after five minutes.

The Jets aren't as far off as people might think, after all, some predicted him to be the AFC East champions. The two first round picks give them flexibility.

Pick #2- New Orleans Saints

2006-04-29T12:23:00.000-04:00

I listened to Tony Kornheiser's last radio show yesterday. One of the folks he spoke to was James Carville, who was speaking at Loyola in New Orleans. One of the interesting things they both said is that he city is a long way away, and that while sports can help, it ultimately is a pretty small part. Really, more than anything else, you need homes being built, an infrastructure. If Reggie Bush comes in, it would help the Saints to be competitive, but there's still very real problems there.

Amazing reaction shots of the Jets fans, then the Saints fans. Any boos, obviously are for the Jets management team. I feel bad for whoever they pick, because it could get nasty.

The Titans are up now. One of the interesting sub-plots has been this debate between the coaches and management. Perhaps the stupidest thing I've seen all week is that the Titans would bring in Kerry Collins to groom Vince Young for two years, which is pretty much the dumbest idea ever. After all, he wasn't too keen on the idea two years ago. This ultimately is a pick that defines the franchise for the next decade. I don't buy the talk that Leinart is a product of the system, especially when one considers the man who designed that system is sitting as the offensive coordinator. Vince Young could be Jesus 2. Lets see.

Pick 1 - Houston Texans

2006-04-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

What I find incredible is that everyone seems to be talking about the Texans taking a running back later today, either at the end of the first or early second. So anyone saying that they shouldn't take Reggie Bush because they already had Domanick Davis, well that seems right out. They still need an offensive lineman, unless they see something really good in Chester Pitts at left tackle. I don't know what sort of system they're going to run, whether it'll be a version of the Broncos system, because of Gary Kubiak, or something like what the Packers did, because of Mike Sherman. They brought in Mike Flanagan, which leads me to think it'll be the Packers.

The question now, is what the Saints do. I'm sure that there will be a lot of trade offers, many I'm sure that they will listen too closely. However, Bush could make their offense great, and more versatile. Of course the Jets fan will want him, meaning we're going to have great theater, either way. I love the shot of about 500 people at the Saints practice facility all chanting for bush.

The storm

2006-04-29T08:27:00.000-04:00

So today's finally the day...the draft, one of my favorite days of the year. Funny though, that last night, the whole thing changed. I was watching Boogie Nights when Coughlin called. He told me that the Texans had signed Mario Williams, and then my jaw dropped, and my dag on top ten was messed up.

I could never have imagined anyone doing anything so unbelievably stupid. Bush is probably the best college player I've seen since Barry Sanders, Mario Williams is a guy who seems to come along every other year. The real loser of the pick though is not Bush, its Williams. Understand, to make the pick justifiable, assuming Bush is what I, and I think anyone with eyes believes he will be , Williams HAS to be Bruce Smith or Reggie White. He has to be a guy who'll be a first ballot hall of famer, otherwise the move will be Sam Bowie, the kind of thing that's on "Top five reasons you can't blame" in five or six years. Williams is a nice player with a lot of physical gifts, but I really don't believe you build a championship defense around a defensive end now. The Texans seem to be citing the Colts as the inspiration for the pick, saying they need someone to rush the passer. The problem with that, frankly, is that its idiotic. The three teams who have had success against the Colts in the last year and a half, the Patriots , Chargers and Steelers, all play the 3-4, they confuse Manning, the football robot, with bringing people from areas he doesn't expect. The 4-3 is more straight forward, more easy to plan for. I tend to believe that defensive ends are overrated in importance. A defense probably plays about 800 snaps a year, and probably 55% of those will be passes. If you have 15-20 sacks, a great year, then you've made that a difference in a play about 5 or 6% of those plays. championship defenses are built up the middle, or with great linebackers and secondary players. The Patriots have the best defensive line in the league, but its best player, Richard Seymour, isn't a great defensive end in the traditional sense. Dwight Freeney, Jevon Kearse, all of those great ends are wonderful, but none were taken #1 overall, and none were taken ahead of Michael Jordan in cleats.

The Saints actually don't need to take Bush now, at least if they deal it. They won't be remembered for doing that, at least not nationally. That being said, Deuce McAllister tore an ACL, usually an injury that takes more than a year to fully come back from. Bush will get the chance to be productive right away, and I'm sure Sean Payton and Drew Brees will figure a way to use him.

Still, the league office has to be salivating at the possibility of Bush, the most spectacular college player in a generation, playing in New York. So if you see some weird deal today that involves the Jets getting the 2nd pick for something a little less than they should, well we'll see about that. If they gave up their two first rounders, they could still take Eric Winston or Tamba Hali in the second. Eric Mangini, while he was Belichick's defensive coordinator, also is going to value versatility, which Bush gives you on offense

The calm....

2006-04-28T22:16:00.000-04:00

Its been a long time. I felt I needed to post something before tomorrow, where I'll be blogging all day.
The last few months have been an experience. I got to see what ultimately was my last show at Albion, I spent a far too brief time in Los Angeles visiting with the Southards and Miss Colleen Kelly, had some very stressful weeks and some far less stressful ones, and bought myself new pants. That last one is out of place, I know, but its not something I've done a great deal of, as I hate clothes shopping.

The last few months have also given me time to think. One of my duties at the paper is that I put up the Granite's website, meaning that I enter every photo, caption and story into the system. When I do so it gives me the chance, not surprisingly, to look at pretty much everything in the paper. This includes, and I have a point here, I'm not just doing this to be morbid, the obituaries. One of the things you see a lot in newspapers, including the Granite, is that each obituary has a sub-head, one that gives a few words that might summarize someone's accomplishment or give small snippets of their interests (something like, "World War II veteran", "long time teacher", or even "avid golfer and hunter.") Thankfully, for me, I don't have the job of coming up with said snippet, and of course, when you see something like "avid golfer" you're a bit taken aback, after all, this person might have had children, grandchildren or held an important job, golf probably was .000004% of their life. I sometimes think about what mine would say, or perhaps less morbidly, what it might say in 60 or 70 years. This place is not, ultimately where I want to end up, or stay forever, certainly. Then I think about where I might want to go, and while I know I have a lot of options, its also something I'm anxious about. I'd like to try different areas of the country, especially out west, but I also want to try something familiar, perhaps the Washington area, or somewhere close to home.

I think the reason these feelings are stirring is that its been a year for me here. Honestly, things are in many ways very much the same, and in many ways totally different. I could never have pictured myself as the type of person to go to the gym six days a week, but I have. I never imagined I'd be they type who made it a point to eat vegetables everyday. I'd also never imagined myself getting into some of the issues I've reported on as much. I could go for half an hour on New Durham's school withdrawal or the political situation in Barnstead. That being said, I also feel like there's other things I'd like to experience, and issues I'd like to learn and write about.

At last...

2006-01-15T19:10:00.000-05:00

So it’s been a while, though, its weird, but I had the same kind of lull I've been experiencing last year, in almost the exact same time frame. Maybe it’s just a winter thing, I don't know.

I want to concentrate on some of the personal events of the last few weeks, then I'll write about some of the sports and political developments later this week. Really, my short break from work and life in New Hampshire, and the following week was defined by three events. First, the time I spent with my family beginning on the 23rd. It was good to see everyone, though it was a bit odd because we did a number of things we wouldn't usually do, like going to Jen's parent’s house Christmas Eve and then having them for dinner Christmas Day. We also had to make nice adjustment on the fly Christmas Day, as our power went out as we were preparing dinner. Luckily, with the new grill, we were able to boil the water for the crab-legs and also grill the filets, so were were able to salvage the meal.

The next day, we headed down to Euclid, a day that brought another turkey dinner, as well as one of the single worst movie experiences of my life- King Kong, which was a good movie, but featured several jackasses talking on phones and yelling loudly at the screen, like total jerks.

The second major event took place the next day, after we got back from Euclid. At that point I collected some things, then headed out to Albion for the Fellowship gathering. I met Amy at around 3:30 (at Haven House, the site of one of the most uncomfortable 90 minutes of my life) and together, and by together I mean I helped a little bit, then watched a movie, prepared for people showing up around 7 p.m. As good as it was to see Amy and talk to her before anyone got there, I have to say that I was also a bit nervous as to how many would be there. Then around 7, and continuing for the next hour we saw cars drive up behind Haven House, and I saw all those faces and saw all those people I hadn't seen in months, or years in some cases, made everything, the trip, the time, the effort in helping to put it together, worth it. Seeing Susan and Adam, Colleen, Andy and everyone, it was just a wonderful experience, one that I'll remember for a long time.

The third, and to me the most important thing, came literally the day after I got back. Since Thursday's are usually easy days, I came back early, after a few minutes, I went on AIM. Soon, I saw something I hadn't seen in a while. I saw Alison's screen-name. After some initial shock I spoke with her, then spoke with her about everything that's gone on the past few months. I don't feel right writing it here, but suffice it to say, it’s been n incredible journey. Part of me had felt guilty about "losing" Alison for so long. After seeing her in May of 04, then calling her a few weeks later, I hadn't heard from her at all, and ended up losing track of her. When Amy and myself got ready to put together our invite list, neither of us knew where to find her. Know we do. In many ways, it was the best Christmas present I've gotten in a long time, both because of the good news, and for peace of mind.

Let it snow, again, damn it

2005-12-16T19:31:00.000-05:00

The last few weeks, and really, the last two Fridays, have been like a second introduction two New England. Today, and last Friday, well, I woke up and everything was white, and I don't mean just the people. Last week, we got about a foot of snow, and I had to dig my car out, twice- once getting it out of my space, the second, technically to dig myself a spot on the other side, which I suppose is technically digging myself in. Last week, though, it was just a lot of snow, this week, it was snow mixed with sleet, so while I cleaned my car of snow at several points during the day, all that resulted was me having to clear off ice from each of my windows later in the day, which really became weird when you consider I was really only doing that in order to move my car so the driveway could be plowed, ah the circular nature of life.

The other thing about last weekend, well, I locked myself out of my own apartment last Saturday. I was planning on heading to the gym, and had my water bottle and shoes with me, when I realized that my keys were still in the house. Unfortunately, I had also locked the door, and my second set of keys and my cell phone were in the apartment. Now this happened at two. My landlords weren't in, so I did what anyone would do. I went to the gym (realize, I'm wearing shorts, I was going to the gym and its been insanely cold here, I've left several meetings the last few weeks with negative temps on the car's thermometer), and so when I finished working out, I walked back, hoping the Eaton's had come back. Well, they hadn't. So I went to see if I could use someone's phone, and went to a small bookstore. Well, they let me call the locksmith, who wasn't in. Then I tried again, a couple of hours later, still nothing. I ended up staying at the bookstore for about four and a half hours waiting to see if the locksmith would call. Luckily I ended up staying at my friend Sarah's for the night, then calling the locksmith in the morning. Well, I connected, and it took him all of about three seconds to open the door. So, all in all, I felt like an ass.

I'll catch up on some sports and news stuff over the course, of the week, just wanted to let you all know I'm still alive.

Giving thanks, and a mea culpa

2005-11-26T23:07:00.000-05:00

I realize that I have been severely deficient in the upkeep of this blog the last few weeks. Its been a situation it seems, most nights, that I'll come from work or the gym with the intention of writing something, then sitting down and having nothing flow out immediately, getting distracted, then finally not actually writing anything for whatever reason. I'm hoping that the Thanksgiving break might help recharge things, so here we go. As I've said, things have been busy and interesting up here the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, I had the kind of weird privilege of going down to Alton Central School and reading to kids as part of their "Celebrity reading day." Seriously. I was considered a celebrity. I think this probably says more about where I live than anything else. Anyway, I read through a couple of children's book's (I read to two third grade classes) as the two books I brought from my personal library, Moby Dick and Walden probably wouldn't have been too entertaining (though I did read part of Chapter one of Moby Dick to the first class, who kept asking me to keep going, though I assume that was because they didn't want to actually learn stuff in their other courses.

Thanksgiving as interesting, mainly because I had to make the long drive(s) myself. Even last year, I drove from Chicago to home, then to Euclid with the family (though I should say, the trip from Chicago, which usually took four and a half to five hours took eight because of snow and slow traffic). This year, I left Wednesday morning, then drove about 13 hours to Cleveland. The drive was actually quite simple, there were only about two or three turns the whole trip, as it was almost entirely on I-90, including the Mass. and New York thruways. The ride back took less time, but again, took the same route.

While I was down in Euclid, I saw two movies, about which I wanted to share some quick thoughts. First, Thanksgiving night, I saw Rent with Robert, Annie and Kenny and their kids, along with some of the drama students they know. I enjoyed it, though it wasn't as good as Chicago as an adaptation. I think more of my problems with it were related to the source material, the play itself. I've seen a lot of online reviews, especially from a lot of regular folks who hated, hated, the show, and pretty much hated the movie too. The thing I can see, even having never seen it onstage, is that Rent is, if anything, a product of two time periods- the AIDS epidemic years of the late 80's, where indeed, it cut a wide swath through whole communities, and then the mid-90's as a theatre piece. It is, more than anything, totally different from anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber or Les Mis, less biting and cynical than Sondheim, and more accessible for many because of the style of music. It will always have a home at colleges once it leaves Broadway, but I don't know if it will ultimately be remembered as one of those musicals that fundamentally changes things. It will probably be thought of, along with Hair, as it's own category.

The second one I saw was GoF, which I found, more than anything, to be incredibly dark. Having not read the books, I track the progress of the kids through the movies, and I was surprised just how dark and intense the movie was. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but I was just a little surprised. I have to say, too, that its great to see the development of each of the actors grow up before our eyes.

Viva La Raza, RIP

2005-11-13T23:33:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of things that I like to talk about, other things not. One of those things is that I, a college educated male, who holds a post-graduate degree, watches professional wrestling.

The way I reconcile this is that I don't watch it the way most other people do. I watch to see certain guys who are incredibly good, the guys who are incredibly good at what they do, in all respects. I watch because I want to see how a 60-year old man can make people in a live crowd believe he can defeat a man a 20 or 30 years younger, to watch how brilliantly an Olympic champion amateur has become an all-time great in a totally different endeavor. The great ones are just as much performers as any great theatre practitioner, because anyone watching knows that everything is just as scripted but makes you want to watch anyway.

Eddie Guerrero was one of those who made you want to watch him perform, because of the joy he obviously brought to his profession. Its a profession he was born into, one he was raised in, one his brothers and his nephew, who's actually only three years younger, were born into. He wrestled in Mexico and in Japan, he wrestled in the Bingo Hall known as the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, and then the dysfunctional enterprise called WCW. He became the first luchadore to hold a major American world title.

But what made Eddie Guerrero a great story, and what makes his death all the more tragic, is the personal demons he overcame. Guerrero wasn't a big man; he was 5'8", 220, according to coroner’s reports. He wasn't a steroid user. He was a recovering alcoholic, and like many wrestlers he fought battles against painkillers. Its that addiction that's felled an increasing number of wrestlers, from Bobby Duncum Jr., Davey Boy Smith and Curt Hennig, along with many others in recent years. It’s also a reality that despite the fact that it isn't a sport, no athletes perform the same daily travel schedule as wrestlers. No athletes are on the road more, and there's no off-season for wrestlers. It’s that addiction that Eddie Guerrero fought, and survived. He'd been sober for years, but as any recovering addict will tell you, you fight four-year's worth of one-day battles to stay sober.

What makes King Lear so tragic, the reason the real version wasn't performed for 300 years and replaced by the Tate version, is that for all of the mistakes he makes, the wrongs he commits, there seems to be a future. Goneril and Regan are gone, Albany, Edgar and Kent are triumphant, and all seems right. What seems most unfair is that its then that the hammer falls, that Lear is stripped of first that which he values and loves most, and then his life. Its we as the audience, and through the remaining characters onstage, that are left with the hole in the world. That's ultimately what makes Eddie Guerrero's death so tragic: He conquered his demons, only to be taken in the prime of his life, leaving a wife and two children. Now it’s his friends and family, and his fans, that go on wondering why.

Eddie Guerrero triumphed in an industry stacked against him. In a business that favors big, hulking monsters that are great on the mic, he was short and average sized, and spoke with an accent. Champions, the men who carried the business were supposed to be white and clean cut. Eddie was proudly Mexican-American, growing up in El Paso and just across the border, had a thin moustache and wore a mullet for a large portion of his career. At one point he, and a few other wrestlers like him, would have been shunted to the side, either labeled "vanilla midgets" (Kevin Nash's phrase for him, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko) or given license to only play a stereotype, which he often had to do. Still, he rose to the top of his profession, he was as adaptable as anyone was, and he could play the good guy and the bad guy with equal brilliance. He made anyone who watched him appreciate that they were watching the consummate performer and professional. He was substance in a business almost all about style. What's sad is that people like him often have to leave so soon.

Wahoo Country

2005-11-09T18:02:00.000-05:00

I wanted to briefly talk about the elections yesterday, especially in Virginia. Earlier this fall, I heard on Kornheiser about one of the ads run by the Republican nominee, Jerry Kilgore. It showed the father of a murder victim, who talked about how upset he was that Tim Kaine opposed the death penalty. Tony mentioned how powerful the ad was, and I'm sure it was. Personal testimony like that is always effective, and of course, we're talking about the South, where there is a history of support for the death penalty.

What really makes this interesting for me, though, is that Kaine is Catholic, and essentially makes the same argument that every Catholic politician has made since Roe, the "I'm personally opposed to abortion but I will uphold the law," argument. Kaine also extended that to the death penalty, saying that while he objected to it morally, he would still carry out the laws of Virginia. While I find the last part somewhat disturbing, because I also don't believe in the death penalty, but I understand the sentiment. In response to the Kilgore ad, Kaine made his position clear. What's amazing, here, and I say this as a Democratic voter who's seen such attempts derail a Cuomo presidential run and repeatedly fail at nearly every other attempt. I guess, that in Virginia, people are wising up. That and the fact that George Bush can't deliver a state quite literally in his own backyard (and if you consider the land that used to belong to the District and was ceded to Va. it quite literally is).

I wasn't surprised about Jon Corzine winning, though that race got really dirty. It was gratifying to see the Dover, PA school board voted out, though that was counterbalanced by Kansas changing the definition of science and taking reason out of science classes, replacing it with faith. Nice work. Rock, Chalk, You Stink.

New York State of Mind, or Currency of Love

2005-11-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

So, as a treat to myself, and to see Beth perform her cabaret act that she does with Audra White, I visited New York this weekend. Really, the treat for me, ultimately is going to the city. The weird thing was, the last time I went to the city was the same afternoon that Mary called and offered me the job , so, leaving work from that job early to take the same route was interesting. The ride had gone very well, I'd called John Sellers the day before, part of a sort of quick and haphazard attempt to put together the trip during what had been a pretty busy week. When I got to the city, well, things slowed down, a lot. Consider , that it was still very light out by the time I got into New York and around 6:30, about two-and a-half hours later, that I got to John's apartment, suddenly worrying that I wouldn't arrive in time. Beth said to be at the theatre at 8:30, I needed to shower and change, and I had been figuring on about an hour for the trip from Park Slope to the Upper West Side.
Luckily, however, I walked up the subway steps on to Central Park West and 72nd at around 8:20, then looked around for the Triad. I asked several doormen, the doormen of the buildings who's average rent is about 50 times my yearly salary, for directions. I ended up just sorting feeling around for it, then, bang, before Amsterdam, I find the building. There was a show going on, so I still had a while, then I saw Beth and Audra before they went in and wished them luck, but it still was about a half-hour, as the show in the space before their show ran long and they needed to do sound check.

The show itself...well, its best to say that Beth and Audra were fabulous. The other acts...well, in place like New York, you get a lot of really talented people doing a lot of really good stuff, really innovative. Then you have some marginally or completely untalented people who have convinced themselves, or been convinced by other people, that they are in fact talented. There were some really talented people, aside from Beth and Audra, one guy who did a comedy/musical act playing the bass, an a couple of very funny comics, but there were some others, like the host (who was on Square Pegs, that's his claim to fame. A show that was on the air for about two years and then vanished is his claim to fame. He actually did a "So anyone here from out of town," reset for God's sake) and the ventriloquist (its one thing to move your lips slightly, after all how are you supposed to create a sound, but seriously, there has to be some sort of attempt at minimizing their movement. And try to spend more than five minutes on the dummy next time). Still the worst, the absolute worst was this woman who performed last. She was a singer, who performed what had to be the most amateurish (she didn't have live backup, it was on a tape) written songs ever (one was about how great life would be if love were how we measured wealth, the other I heard was written during a breakthrough in therapy, there was no way I was staying for the last song). Obviously, she had to have performed some sort of coital favor for someone to get on the bill, because, wow, she was awful. If they had brought up a homeless person from the street, at least the chances are 50/50 they might well be better.

After the show, I grabbed some food with Audra, Beth and some of their friends and talked, then I headed back to Park Slope. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong stop, and ended up having to go North to go South. I ended up getting back at 3, tired and ready for sleep.

My favorite thing about New York is the fact that even when alone, you feel a part of the city, because its that vibrant. I spent a good part of Saturday just walking around the city, which I always enjoy. Still, because it was Marathon weekend, I needed to get out on Saturday, as I'd still be in New York otherwise. Still, it was wonderful to talk to Sellers and Beth and just be in my favorite city, no matter how many untalented people there are there. After all, they're still living the dream.

Moving on

2005-10-28T22:24:00.000-04:00

Finally, after several weeks and seemingly all sorts of twists and turns, the Miers nomination is officially dead. Obviously, given the increasing conservative disgust with the nomination, chances are that some sort of move was going to be made. Now will likely come the hardcore conservative, probably one rougher than Roberts, and one conservatives who want to jump Scalia and Thomas' bones will love. That's scary, because, until April or May, when the decisions from the court's term come out, we have no sense of the judicial philosophy of Roberts as chief, we don't know how the make-up of the court will change, especially with regards to social issues. Miers will forever be the one people think about when they think of disastrous nominations, as she never even got to the hearings, torpedoed not by her own insane ideas (as Robert Bork was) but by the base of her president's party and her own supreme underqualification.

Fitzgerald also came down with the first of his indictments. This time, it was Scooter Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, who resigned as soon as the indictment came down. Hopefully, more will be on the way soon, specifically, one for Karl Rove. While Libby wasn't indicted for outing Plame, there are so many issues here in the indictments, so many questions that need to be answered about what Dick Cheney's role was, and, ultimately, what kind of coverup there was. This isn't over.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the death of the midwife of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks. More than anyone else, Rosa Parks represented the beginning of the movement, with her one act of defiance. Its been said by many that she was simply tired when she refused to give up her seat. She said on many occasions, however that while it had been a long day of work, what she was actually tired of was her second class treatment by the government of Montgomery, Alabama and the United States. By standing up, by commiting even a small act of defiance, we saw the avalanche of history begin to run down the hill, and change the nation, for the better, forever.

Well then, Steve Perry's happy

2005-10-26T18:27:00.000-04:00

Obviously I want to talk about the World Series. I was surprised, I guess, by how subdued the celebrations seemed to be, both by the White Sox and then the shots in Chicago. I guess, though it was to be expected. As many have said, White Sox fans, unlike their North-Side rivals, and well, New England Red Sox fans, tend to be very low-key about the fact that they've lost. You don't hear about the misery they've suffered the past 88 years. This is in part, I think, because very few Sox fans really buy into anything readily. What makes Cubs fans hurt so much about '69, '84 and '03, and Red Sox so very neurotic about Buckner, Boone and Bucky Dent, is that they bought into their team winning. Thus last year, when the Red Sox won, it was winning for an entire region, for generations of New Englanders and displaced New Englanders around the country. Its why Cubs fans walked around in a daze for weeks after the Bartman game. White Sox fans, I think, rather than being disappointed sort of just take this in and say "F--- you Cubs," it seems more of a pleasant surprise than anything.

Nationally, I think, because there isn't the romance tied to the White Sox and their futility, people have been underwhelmed. They only went to two World Series since 1917, and one, well, they threw. Maybe now Shoeless Joe, Buck Weaver and the rest of the Black Sox can rest easy, and Charlie Comiskey can continue to burn in miser hell. It should be said though, that this was one of the great runs ever, in terms of how they just rant through everyone, even though all of the World Series games were close.

Just a couple of observations about the series: Tim McCarver talked about how Brad Lidge had the taste of the Pujols homerun out of his mouth. The second he did, Scott Podsednik hits it out, someone who had exactly 0 home runs during the regular reason (though he had one in the playoffs) wow.

I stayed up, as long as I could Tuesday night, after all its my busy night. I stayed up to see the White Sox score, then I just sort of surrendered. Frankly, it was a very ugly game, even though it was close and long. The walks, the inability of either team to hit, especially the Astros, actually got embarrassing at one point. Still, it doesn't excuse Phil Garner throwing his team under the bus Terry Murray-style after the game.

The guy I'm happiest for is Jermaine Dye, the MVP. Besides now being a great bit of trivia (the highest World Series Batting Average), he's come full circle. In Oakland, he seemed to underachieve, dating back to the time he broke a leg via a foul ball in a division Series.

Well, I'll get back to other things later this week, see you then.

Game 1

2005-10-22T23:42:00.000-04:00

I haven't talked a lot about the baseball playoffs, suffice it to say that I think a lot of it speaks for itself. The fact that the White Sox are there, for me, is surprising. When I got to Chicago, the Cubs made their run. I thought, along with much of Chicago that if 2003 wasn't the Cubs year then they certainly would make it soon. The White Sox weren't even a factor. Even after the Cubs blew it in Game 6 and Game 7, the odds, because of Prior, Wood and Zambrano seemed to be in their favor. Last year, both teams faded late (the Cubs still have never, in their history been to the playoffs in consecutive years). I was still there when they sent Carlos Lee to Milwaukee for Podsednik, when everyone expressed some shock, because here you were essentially giving away a big RBI man, after they'd lost Magglio Ordonez, for a guy who stole a lot of bases but didn't have the best On Base percentage for a lead-off man. Obviously its worked out (it worked well for the Brewers too). Still, I'm interested in knowing how Chicago on the whole, is embracing this, given that it is essentially a Cubs town. That being said, here are some observations from Game 1:

The way the White Sox started was a great indication that they had a game plan against Clemens. The at-bat Jermaine Dye had, working Clemens until he got the ball he could drive to the opposite field, was a thing of beauty. The way they attacked in the second inning, even before Clemens was hurt, showed they weren't going to be intimidated, despite the fact that their coaches and GM had twice as many at bats against him as the roster does.

Every playoffs seems to produce an AJ Pierzynski, someone who just happens to get rolling and ends up in the middle of everything. (By the way, my take on the umpires missing the two calls, first the Josh Paul third strike, then the catchers interference is this: get over it. The umpire made the call, that's it. He should have been more decisive, as decisive is sometimes preferable to correct on a close play, but he made his call and stuck, and then his colleague did the same.) Personally, I felt bad for him the way he got pushed out of San Francisco, but you can see how he could grate on people. He's the type of guy, like Claude Lemieux, Bill Laimbeer or Bill Romanowski that you just want on your side, because otherwise, you hate their living guts.

More than any other player these last two rounds, including Paul Konerko, the White Sox have been carried by Joe Crede, who's becoming a star before our eyes. My only concerns- the fact that he has a large zit near his mouth, or at least, he did during the Angels series, and his weird facial hair. He looks like, well, the brother of William Ligue, or just like someone who took the drive in from Calumet City or Chesterton (sort of white trashy). Still his isn't as bad as Aaron Rowand, who's pencil thin goatee makes him look like he's in the adult entertainment industry.

If these two teams will do anything, they will put on a great display of how to best play the game. Take Carl Everett's baserunning. He made sure to see where Lamb was going before breaking for home, and then he went, a lot of other players might not have taken the base on a ball hit that weakly.

Cotts and Jenks were incredible. It shows you, really, that for all the talk of control, of beating the hitter with great stuff, the great equalizer always will be a fastball no one can catch up to. Jenks may have served notice to the American League during the Bagwell at-bat, and in the ninth, that he's not a man to be messed with in the coming years.

One other observation from Saturday- the opening sketch of SNL (which was good, but they used the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones can sing just a bit too much) featured Darrell Hammond doing the most dead on Brit Hume I have ever seen. I was amazed. Just when I thought he couldn't top Matthews, but he did.

Oh yeah, one other thing. It's great to win two in a row, finally. This Michigan team, say what you will about it, has guts. To win the way they did last week, and then to go into the Jim Shilander House of Horrors known as Kinnick Stadium and beat a good Iowa team, that takes a lot of heart and determination. Hopefully the trip to Evanston this week will go well too.

And for you State fans, try and remove the purple tire tracks from your back, its kind of embarassing.

The Vikings...Definitely not purifying themselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka

2005-10-19T15:13:00.000-04:00

The big story in football the last two weeks has been the Vikings ill-fated trip on Al and Alma's cruises on Lake Minnetonka. To me, the issue isn't them having a sex cruise, its the trying to force the horrified waitstaff and barstaff of "the bad boat," into, well, some compromising situations. The Cowboys used to have "The White House" a kind of safe house where they could do any number of drugs or have any number of women, and be in a relatively controlled situation. Maybe the Vikings thought they had a a controlled situation, what with the strippers and prostitutes brought in from other states, which by the way, violates the Mann Act. Obviously they didn't, and now the whole Vikings organization has an issue. The year has been disappointing enough (the defense, which was supposed to come around, has not, and the offense's struggles without Randy Moss has truly been surprising), now this. Mike Tice had better be looking for a better price on his Super Bowl tickets this year, he'll likely need it. By the way, what does this say about Minnesota's strippers and prostitutes, that the Vikings would have to risk violating federal law to bring them in? For Shame.

And I'm spent...

2005-10-15T23:42:00.000-04:00

It's rare, frankly to have a day like today, where every game you see is great. Early today I was able to see most of both the Axe game and BC and Wake. Now for those of you who don't know, meaning, you don't go to BC, Wake had beaten BC the last two years, in dramatic fashion. This time, they got up big early, and BC clawed back, only to see Wake go up again. BC then came back to win late. Meanwhile, in the axe game, Laurence Maroney performed brilliantly, but so did Bryan Calhoun and Wisconsin, and they won on the blocked kick late. My only question about that play, for the punter, is this. Way not punt the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety? Minnesota would still lead, but it also puts the pressure on the Badger offense and kicker to make a late field goal.

The next batch of games...well, was some of the best football I've ever seen. Michigan/Penn State probably ended the way it should have. Penn State had been living dangerously all year (witness the last second win over Northwestern) and Michigan had lost late (Wisconsin, Minnesota). Mario Manningham, frankly, deserves the #1 jersey now, though I'm sure it won't be given til after the season. He's stepped into the role Breaston was supposed to fill, which also seems to be helping Steve Breaston play better, now that he's in a more familiar and comfortable role. Henne played better in the second half than he had in previous games, and it showed in the final drive, though he nearly killed me by not going into the end zone.

Notre Dame-USC? Well, its hard to say a lot about a game that basically speaks for itself. You had two great, and I do mean great, coaches matching wits, and their charges going at it in one of the great games I've ever seen. The cliche of the heavyweight fight is about the only thing I can come up with to describe it, with that final, desperate quarterback sneak, USC hit that last powerful jab for the knockout with 10 seconds left in the 12th. The two people made by this game, though, are Brady Quinn, who actually looked better than Matt Leinart until the final drive, and Reggie Bush, who, frankly, should by all rights have clinched the Heisman.

Like a dessert after a big main course, I watched a lot of Virginia-FSU. Now UVa was having what was essentially a big anniversary party of their win over FSU in Charlottesville 10 years ago, which gave the Noles their first ACC loss. Well, they hadn't beaten them since. Still the effort by their defense, and the effort of their pixie QB Marques Haggans, surprised me, and they led big at the half, only to see FSU rally, then finally to put the Noles down. All and all, one of the great sports days ever.

I'm tired, I'm footballed out, I'll blog more next week.

Yeah, Yeah...

2005-10-14T23:39:00.000-04:00

So I think I owe everyone an explanation as to why I haven't been blogging a lot lately. Mainly, its just been a matter of being busy, and point of fact, being out of the state for the last two weekends. Last week, I had another crazy plane adventure, to go home for my friend Keith's wedding. I woke up at 9, when my flight was at 10:30. My alarm, which had been set for 7 a.m. had not gone off. I literally raced out, stopping just to throw things in an overnight bag and grab an apple. I made it fairly quickly to the airport, but still late. I then made arrangements for another flight, to leave at five, but I'd have to be put on standby. I took a shuttle to a movie theatre, only to find that no movie was playing for another 4 or 5 hours, and then went to a nearby Barnes and Noble. After a few hours, I headed back to the airport, where I actually ended up with a ticket to Chicago at 5. After wasting a few hours, I was headed to Midway, not sure of how long I'd be there, as the flight back to Metro was oversold, not just full. Well, I got to Midway just as the White Sox were knocking Mike Timlin around, then about 15 minutes later, I heard cheers going around the airport from a bunch of crazy Southsiders. Anyway, I waited until 9, already with a contingency plan in hand (stay at John's and leave in the morning), but I guess that the offer of $200, a flight in the morning and lodging for the night tempted enough people that I got on.

Saturday was disappointing (not the wedding). Obviously the Michigan game sort of ruined my day. The wedding started really late, it turns out that the bridal party didn't get picked up until after the wedding was supposed to start, and so the reception was also late (we got dinner after 10) and we ended up leaving early, as my parents and myself needed to head out to New Hampshire in the morning. We did, and the trip was really quite long, and once we got closer to NH, kind of harrowing, driving in the dark in Vermont, when its raining, isn't something I'd recommend. But we had a lot of fun during the week, highlighted by a trip up Mount Washington Thursday. It was great to see my parents, but its also been a busy week, and so I am still tired, and feel the need to catchup on everything, not just blogging. With that, I leave you til tomorrow...

Two Ladies...

2005-10-05T23:28:00.000-04:00

So obviously, the big news of the week has to be the appointment of Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court, and the surprising conservative response to it. I had no problem with the nomination of Roberts on an intellectual standpoint. He obviously has more then met the qualifications, intellectually, to sit on the bench and to be chief. But here, we have someone who is stunningly underqualified. Not only has she no experience as a judge, but no experience as a constitutional scholar either. That's scary, especially for someone who will likely face all kinds of questions from Conservative groups wanting to take us back to pre-Griswold v. Connecticut days. It seems fairly clear that George Bush picked her because he knew her, that was it.

Usually, in situations like this, you would have conservative groups rallying to the flag, trying to protect Miers from questions about her competence, trying to deflect criticism. Well, we obviously haven't seen much of that. What we've seen is an incredibly palpable sense of betrayal, the sense that Conservatives have waited decades for this nomination, one that could swing the court, and potentially bring back illegal abortion, overturn Miranda, Griswold and affirmative action. Conservatives have spent billions in treasure and decades of work in getting producing legal scholars beholden to their point of view, now, rather than going for one of those, Bush grabs someone out of Texas, someone he personally knows, which seems to be her only qualification (and spare me the comparisons to William O. Douglas, who played cards with FDR before he got nominated. Douglas was beyond brilliant, he was one of the foremost legal minds of this century, and one of the last great liberal voices on the court.). I guess if I had waited all that time, I too, might feel betrayed.

One quick word on the Britney Spears news this week. Its incredible to me the fall Britney has taken in the public eye. I recall that after her third album was released, Britney appeared at a Michael Jackson concert on CBS, taking over the role of the object of MJ's affection in "The Way You Make Me Feel." CBS promoted the appearance as that of "the hottest female star in the world," and they were probably right, at the time. But then came the breakup with Justin, and it all fell apart. No one, I think has ever won a breakup in Hollywood the way Justin Timberlake did. Not only did he get sympathy from people, but he got the ultimate revenge in the "Cry Me a River" video, one that's stuck with Spears ever since. Justin went from the "boyfriend of..." to the main attraction, Spears went from America's Sweetheart to Little Girl Lost. Justin recovered from the Superbowl incident, and dates Cameron Diaz. Britney got married, got that annulled, dated (or slept with) Colin Farrell, Fred Durst (maybe) and other not so fabulous characters. The kiss with Madonna, if it did anything, lowered her in the eyes of people, they didn't expect her to do it, and they felt that she shouldn't have, which I think turned so many people on her. Now, she's married to probably the scuzziest man on the planet, one who not only seems a significant step down from her level, but from the level of the guy she married first. K-Fed just seems to be the least well thought of guy on the planet, and the way the two of them dress when they go out, as if they'd just gotten up from a nap in the double-wide, doesn't help things either...neither does K-Fed walking around with that "undeserved sense of accomplishment" (thank you Family Guy).

The weekend from crazy

2005-10-04T15:22:00.001-04:00

So last thursday, I prepared myself to head out to Manchester Airport. I had everything , in terms of my luggage, and most everything else was prepared. Then I had to find my wallet. This took a while. By about quarter after two, I was fairly frantic, and it began raining hard outside. I sprinted back and forth between my apartment and my car, getting totally soaked in the process. Then, half an hour, and about 3 panic attacks later, I found it, sitting under a small phonebook. I rushed out, only to get stuck behind a trailer for much of my time on 28. Luckily I had been told of a new way to the airport, one that had me using more of the freeway, and less of the two lane highway. I made it in time.

On the way to Chicago, I was kind of surprised how, the closer the plane got, the more real anticipation I felt. As it was still light out, I saw many of the sights of my time in Chicago, the Borman, the Skyway, the Dan Ryan, and the skyline. I was ready to go out and enjoy them, except that it seems that Southwest misplaced one of my pieces of luggage. I filed a report, then headed to John's, where I got to ride the El again and met up with Chelsey. We ended up going back to her apartment, so she could get clothes for work the next day. We also found time to stop at Chili-Mac's 5 way, which was as good as I remembered it being. Chelsey and I also were able to talk about her new situation (new job, new apartment, now living in the same town as John) and how she was dealing with it. We headed back to John's, but everyone seemed exhausted and we pretty much went right to sleep.

The next morning, I headed out rather early to go and visit Chicago magazine. I was able to briefly see Cassie, my former supervisor, but she had an inteview to do and only could speak briefly. Still, it was good to see her, and good to see that little had changed there. I then caught the South Shore Line into Indiana, where Robert picked me up.

After we got home, I headed back to Albion, obstensively to see the play and to take Audrey and Karen to dinner. I have to say, I felt such a sense of relief, such a sense of joy, to see the both of them. I nearly lost them, at least in my mind, on July 7, and then I saw them at the KC, they seemed a lot more real. I went with them, along with Amy and Jordan, out to Olive Garden. We were there a little longer than I thought, so we missed the play, but I ended up having a lot of fun hanging out with everyone that night.

Saturday, well, was probably the best day. Why? Because Michigan won, and I got to see it. The other two Michigan games on TV this year, they lost, and I felt crushed, this time, I felt raised up on high somehow. It was probably the most excited I'd been in a while about a Michigan game, especially given all of the people saying Michigan was going to lose 5 games, or even a losing record, after the Wisconsin game. Oh yeah, I also went out to Albion, and I actually got to see the show, which I thought was fabulous, as well as eat at Lopez with Heather Schweitzer and her mom, which also gave me a brief visit with my nephew, Mr. Nick Mourning. After the show, myself, John and Chelsey, and Kopec and Sadler headed to Relli's, where there were still a lot of alumni there, including Pat Hopple and Dory Lerew.

Sunday I had lunch with my family, and then my grandmother took me to the airport. Then I got my boarding pass, and waited, and waited. Then we got word of storms in Chicago that forced a delay. Then we waited, and waited some more. Finally I got word that I missed my connection in the waiting and then had some confusion about what I'd do. The earliest flight from Metro wouldn't get me here until about 6 p.m. So I ended up flying to Chicago, without knowing when I'd be leaving in the morning. I did, however, get to stay with Miss Stephanie Mann on my return trip to the Second City, and had a great time talking with her. I ended up with an early morning flight, and got here in time to accomplish things yesterday.

Thanks for listening, I'll blog some thoughts about the playoffs and some other odds and ends tomorrow.

Power...

2005-09-28T21:49:00.000-04:00

So today has been all about the DeLay indictment. Many commentators are questioning the quality of this particular indictment, and perhaps they'll be proven correct. Maybe they won't be, that's the importance of having this in the open. The more important thing, to me, is this palpable sense of corruption of the Republican power class in Washington. When the Republicans took power after the 1994 elections, after literally decades of what they saw as corrupt Democratic control (and point of fact, some of it was, Dan Rostenkowski went to prison because of some of his actions), they talked about having a South African style "Truth Commission" to expose the problems of the rule of one party. Now, it seems, in some sort of great Orwellian irony, that the pigs are now indistinguishable from the people. The Republicans themselves are using the same tricks that Democrats used on them. Except, it only took ten years for that corruption, that huge pork-barrel spending to sink in, rather than 40. There are indictments for Repulican officials and affiliated operatives across the country (including the governor of Ohio). Its funny, but one of the things Democrats are often accused of, fairly often times, is being far softer than Republicans in terms of the way they play the game of politics. Maybe they might be playing a bit too rough.

The pennant races have been the main focus here in New England this week, obviously, but I did want to touch on Michigan for a minute. Obviously, this is not the same team without Mike Hart, and Chad Heene and Steve Breaston have not performed so far this year. What will be important, when Michigan plays State on Saturday, wil be controlling the ball, to keep Stanton off the field. I do think Michigan will end up winning, and even if they don't I still believe they can right the ship, and salvage the season. Still, I would say things will change either during this season, or after it, if only because they may have to.

Back to the pennant race- I find it surprising that so many people seem to be discounting the Angels, and the Angels already clinching the AL West, in the rush to cover the Wild Card, AL East and AL Central. They now, unlike the other teams, have the chance to set their rotation, and, hello, they probably have the best pitching (if you include the bullpen) of anyone in the AL, along with the Indians. The Angels will be in the ALCS, that's my bet. The Indians just lost, but they still have a great shot. The series in Boston this weekend will certainly be something to see, unless the Red Sox can't figure out a way to beat the Jays, who certainly seem to have their number.

I'm heading out to Chicago tomorrow, where I'll be staying the night at John's, then heading home (and Albion). I'll probably try and blog tomorrow some the old 773.

And we're back

2005-09-23T16:20:00.000-04:00

So after some computer issues have kept me away from blogging, I am now back. It was really very weird to be without my computer, for much of the time since I got the virus infection, it was either sitting in my car or was at the computer repair shop next door to the Granite. I guess I hadn't realized how much the droning of the machine had become a part of the white noise of my daily life, so it was very weird to be without it. I have also come to use IM as my main form of communication with friends, so it was odd to be slightly out of the loop again. Now everything is back to normal, which is quite nice.

I've noticed, the last few weeks, that I've been undergoing a kind of mid-year crisis. This coming week will the 26th issue of the Baysider, meaning that I will have been up here just shy of 6 months (I believe it'll be the first week of October). Things are less busy around town, now that the summer people are mostly gone, and I think I've been so looking forward to going back to Albion, to see the play and the London ladies (Ms. Green and Ms. Coleman)that part of me checked out. I think this will come back when winter comes, as things are starting to get interesting around the towns again. But I may also start to at least look at what other places are hiring, more to get an idea of what kinds of areas are looking or might be good fits than actually looking for a new job. But after all that, I still enjoy it up here, and I'm looking forward to the challenges of the next few months.

I think there are a lot of Republicans now who have to be questioning exactly what their party stands for. No Democratic president probably could ever have spent more money than this President has, and any semblance of fiscal conservatism has gone the way of Nelson Rockefeller. The Republican Party now seems to be the party of William Jennings Bryan - free-spending and personally intrusive in all forms in terms of individual rights. You saw the other day where Bush said the cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast would be "whatever it costs" and then said he wouldn't raise txes. With the additional damage Rita will bring, and the toll it will likely take on gas prices, its going to bring more damage to the economy. Its as if the very loose connection to reality has now been fully severed. We are now paying for a war in Iraq, a Marshall program for the Gulf Coast, and literally hundreds of pork barrell programs across the country, like $200 million bridges in Alaska to uninhabited islands. It will be interesting to see, as we move closer to 2008, and especially if the President's political fortunes continue to fall, whether we see candidates running away from him, or whether we see George Allen, Bill Frist or Sam Brownback try to go after the Bush mantle, whatever that will come to mean

Hey...

2005-09-12T23:39:00.000-04:00

One of my former bosses at the Prospect, the one who gave me the assignment to write my web piece, Chris Mooney, was just on the Daily Show, promoting his book. He wasn't great, but seriously, how cool is it to have someone you know on TV's coolest show?

Most of this weekend was about football. Obviously, I was extraordinarily disappointed by what happened in Ann Arbor Saturday. Usually, I am not one to lay losses at the feet of one guy, especially in college. I got in many arguments with my dad about John Navarre and whether he deserved any blame for Michigan losses when he was Quarterback. Well, I'm breaking from that this week. Three times in the red zone, Chad Henne made big mistakes that cost Michigan points. First, he missed an open Jason Avant in the end zone in the third quarter, throwing a pick to Tom Zbikowski at the one, trying to go to Tyler Ecker. Next, in the fourth, he didn't give his receiver, again Avant, an opportunity to catch the ball on a fouth and goal play. Third, he fumbled the exchange on the goal line, when he literally could have fallen forward and scored. Hopefully, with Eastern coming up, the confidence will return in time for the trip to Camp Randall. The defense was better than I thought it would be against ND, and the game plan itself wasn't particularly conservative. It has to go on Henne, and he realizes this, because he failed to execute.

The Texas-Ohio State game was great, but I really feel like Senator Tressel cost his team the game with how he used his two quarterbacks. I've never seen a two-qb system work, I've only seen it needlessly force some people into confidence problems. To me, the only way to make such a system work would be to run two completely different offensive systems, to change total offensive packages for each guy, like have one run the triple option and the other a spread. But the way Tressel used his guys was particularly odd, as there seemed to be no rhyme or reason why one came in at one point and then why the other came in.

The fantasy team did not have its best week. We had a lot of disappointing performances, either because the team played poorly- Nate Burleson, or were coached by a guy who might well be the most stubbornly stupid coach in the NFL- Stephen Jackson. We also had some weird things, like the Bills throwing to a tackle on the goal line rather than giving to McGahee, or Chad Johnson going out for two series with leg cramps. We have a few guys on thin ice, like Matt Stover, but we'll see if next week will be better.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Lions, and surprised at how poorly the Packers played. I think John will write about how bad Ahmad Carroll is, but he was not really, you know, good. When he wasn't getting beat, he was commiting a penalty. The Packers also beat themselves in other areas, as they don't get the lowest scoring output of the Favre era without screwing up. I don't know exactly how they are going to survive without Walker and the problems on the offensive line, who were dominated inside by Wilkinson and Rogers, but this could be a long year for Brett Favre. The defense was a pleasant surprise for the Packers, but then Jim Bates is a great coordinator. The Lions played conservativley, too much so in certain spots, but still played well. They need a win against the Bears now to set the tone going into the bye in week 3.

One quick Monday observation. When Hubie Brown came into the booth to talk wih Michaels and Madden, it got me thinking that Hubie, assuming he knows anything about football, would probably do well in Madden's job. But what if you switched others? Who wouldn't want to hear Madden talk about David Eckstein's hustle for forty-five minutes in a playoff game, or Tim McCarver getting needlessly self-righteous while doing an NBA game? Sounds like a plan.

Qualifiction

2005-09-09T23:55:00.000-04:00

So today, Michael Brown, the former commissioner of an Arabian Horse Association and who worked in disaster relief efforts for about two minutes, has been relieved of his duties heading up the Katrina relief efforts. As much as conservatives are telling everyone to "not play the blame game (while of course doing all they can to lay blame on the feet of the local and state government)," its also obvious that Brown has been made the scapegoat. It's also obvious, at least at this point, that there are certain jobs in the federal government that really should not be political appointments. Brown was essentially given the job by his former college roommate, who was also Bush's first campaign manager. This is me putiing this out there: If Adam Plunk, Dontz, Roman Rezhnikov, Julian Ignaczak or either of the guys from DC ever get some important job in government, I'm also expecting some job I am ridiculously under-qualified for, especially one that might well put me in charge of an agency where people's lives are on the line and I'm not adequately prepared to handle it.

The Roberts nomination surprised me. When I learned that Rehnquist had died, I figured, with some horror, that Antonin Scalia would have been made chief justice. Instead, its John Roberts. Its not totally unbelievable that someone who wasn't on the court be named chief. Earl Warren, I think, did a pretty good job when he became chief. Rehnquist's legacy, well I don't know what it is. I think most people will see him as the man who ushered in a conservative majority, but I think that had a lot more to do with politics then Rehnquist's own brilliance. He was never Scalia, who, while hateable, is also brilliant. I think though, that the Rehnquist court never had a "Brown v. Board of Education" or "Roe v. Wade," a society changing decision. We had "Bush v. Gore," and "Lawrence v. Texas," but I think the former will be seen as a political decision, and Rehnquist was in the minority on the latter. he funny thing is, this week, the episode of the West Wing where Bartlett nominates both a brilliant liberal and a brilliant conservative to the court to have it out, came on. It made me think how important the court is in articulating different philosophies, and how difficult it is to believe that we aren't going to be getting more of those brilliant people on the court. I don't think Roberts will be one of those people, and I don't expect the next one, the one who will now replace O'Connor, to be one either.

Pitt's only touchdown came on the opening kickoff. They lost to Ohio. I'm just saying.

About Last Night

2005-09-08T10:01:00.000-04:00

I wanted to comment on the absolutely fabulous tennis match I saw last night. There were so many fabulous storylines in the Blake/Agassi match, but the tennis, for the first time in what seemed like years, actually matched the hype in a big match. That Agassi could come back from 2 sets down, and then that Blake could rally in the fifth, and then Agassi coming back, it was amazing.The crowd was so into it (even at 1 a.m.), and it was wonderful to see the crowd go back and forth (you obviously heard that both had big cheering sections at Arthur Ashe). My only complaint was that there was too much play from the baseline, neither guy really came to the net very often. But that's me being very picky.

I've been very surprised, with the increase in the popularity of golf, we haven't seen the same sort of surge in popularity in tennis. Obviously, the women's game is healthy, but that's primarily because of the personalities, and well, the attractiveness of the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova. But the men's game, in many ways, hasn't been as exciting in many years. I realize the problem, that the dominant player, perhaps the best player of all time, Roger Federer, isn't American and relatively unknown. By relatively, I mean that he could walk into most sports bars wth a shirt reading "I'm Roger Federer, the tennis player" and people still wouldn't know who he was. But tennis is far, and I mean, worlds more athletic than golf, and it allows you to express yourself more athletically. You see more of a tennis players personality on the court than a golfer on the course. Its also far less expensive to play (all it really takes is a racket, which still won't cost you as much as a driver), and tennis courts can be more easily found in cities than golf courses. Maybe its just the yuppie-ization of America that leads people to embrace golf over its country club sibling.

I'll post more about Katrina and Rehnquist/Roberts later today or tomorrow (headed to Adam's tonight to watch the Patriots game and *shrug* the OC).

Week one thoughts

2005-09-05T23:34:00.000-04:00

And mercifully, it ends. This weekend, I've spent much of my time watching the first weekend of college football. I can honestly say that the worst game I saw all weekend was the one that was just on, Florida State/Miami. After what I just saw from Florida State's QB's, though mostly Drew Weatherford, I am even more firm in my belief that they will lose to BC on the 17th, mainly because BC will oline up and hit them in th emouth more than Miami did, and I have no bloody clue how FSU will move the ball against Toal and Kiwanuka.

Obviously two big stories emerged over the weekend. One was the loss of Oklahoma. Now I'm always skeptical about teams "reloading" especially when they lose a lot at one position at one time. Its not just Jason White, the biggest choking dog in NCAA history (he essentially stunk in the three biggest games of his career: two national championship games and one Big XII title game), I thought the loss of three of their top receivers at once would hurt more than anyone realized. Obviously it did, as they couldn't move the ball at all. Even Adrian Peterson can only do so much against a nine man front.

Notre Dame was incredibly impressive. They didn't just beat Pitt, they essentially dissected them. Weis will always put them in the right position to win offensively. I think the trick is going to be finding the right defensive personnel. He doesn't need all world recruits on offense, all he needs are people who fit into the system he runs and a smart quarterback.

Michigan did not look great, or the best I can tell, they didn't look great. It was one of the weirdest experiences ever not being able to listen to or watch the Michigan game for really the first time ever. I had "Watch the game" on one of the gamecasts which tells you what the last play was. Thankfully I'll get the next game for sure. The defense looked not terribly good, but I also believe that they can improve as the competition gets better and the intensity gets hyped up. The offense looked incredibly good, as they did in 2000. Hopefully the defense is better than that though. My heart couldn't take going through that again.

I'd like to put in a word about the greatness of Jerry Rice. No one, and I mean no one has ever been a better receiver, and no one ever kept themselves in such phenomenal condition (just ask any teammate who ever joined him on "the hill," a horrific torture device of a workout where Rice led the poor unsuspecting soul up and town a torturous climb. I don't have a problem with him wanting to hang on either. Even if his skills were diminished, only he has the right to make the decision to leave. He never was an embarrassment, he played in incredibly well in Oakland, as he neared an age where his peers might have been retired for years. Most of the time, whenever I saw him on TV, you could really only say "wow," becasue he did everything so absolutely perfectly, with such precise execution.

Nothing, except to say...

2005-09-02T22:44:00.000-04:00

While listening to the radio today on the way home from Barnstead, I heard something interesting. Rachel Maddow, who was substituting for Al Franken on his show was talking about the media coverage of the Katrina disaster. She pointed out something that I should have noticed earlier; that the correspondents for the networks covering the events in New Orleans are being radicalized before our eyes. Last night, Anderson Cooper of CNN went after Mary Landrieu after she thanked the government officials supervising the events in New Orleans. Though he himself was in Mississippi, he had seen his own share of awful things, lie a dead woman floating in the water, her body being consumed by rats as she floated. Today, while flipping through various channels, I saw Shepard Smith, that's Shepard Smith of the Fox News Channel, lambasting the government's efforts to save some of the people he saw essentially dying on the highways and bridges he was broadcasting from. We've seen terrible images, the likes of which we never see here in the United States. Maddow kept saying how there seemed to be a national question of how could this have happened, and an outrage that this could happen in the United States. Frankly, I've been asking myself the same thing.

This is probably the worst humanitarian catastrophe in America since the Dust Bowl, and the worst natural disaster since the San Francisco earthquake in 1903. The staggering incompetence shown in dealing with this has been incredible. It took days for food to reach people, days of them sitting, and some dying, in front or inside of shelters. We've seen the very epitome of desperation, people begging total strangers, through cameras, for any kind of help. Andrew Sullivan made the point that if conservatives are supposed to believe in anything, its law and order. Funding emergency services, and the armed forces are supposed to be what conservatives do. What has happened this week is gives the lie to that. Or, at the very least, gives the lie to the idea the George Bush is competent. Anyone can believe what they will about politics, about what government is for. We can all agree on one thing, government is supposed to be there for things like this, to protect the citizens of their own country from harm, to save them from disaster. There have been dozens of disasters in other countries, deadly earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, which were essentially ignored by people here. The governments of those countries often couldn't help their citizens because their nations lacked basic necessities like adequate roads or equipment. We have adequate roads and adequate equipment. The reason no one though a disaster like this could happen, that Americans would need to be bussed from one city to another as refugees, is that it shouldn't have happened. It was unfathomable.

I thought President Bush was having a bad summer before, given the case Cindy Sheehan was making against the war, a war with no end in sight, one that doesn't seem to have accomplished very much in Iraq. Now, the image of his presidency, which once was the man in the jacket throwing out the pitch at Yankee Stadium or the man standing in the rubble of the towers with firemen, has changed. Its now the image of the man who, when his country needed leadership, seemed unable to leave his vacation home. The man who looked outside his billion dollar plane to see the damage caused by nature, and the toll it was taking on the forgotten of society. The man who today, in trying, one can only suppose, to give comfort to those who have lost everything, said he couldn't wait to sit on the front porch of Trent Lott's new house (The same Trent Lott who lost his job as majority leader because he seemingly endorsed the platform of a segregationist). While tens of thousands of the poorest Americans, who have lost everything and are taking what they can to survive he said he couldn't wait to sit on the porch of the new mansion for one of America's most powerful, and richest, men. In the four years since 9/11, we've been told we were preparing for a disaster, that we were ready for anything that might come to hurt us. Obviously, that wasn't the case. We seemingly haven't learned anything about disaster response since that Tuesday. It seems to have only gotten worse.

There isn't much else to say. I'm sad, I'm tired, and I'm angry. One of America's greatest cities, the one that gave birth to jazz, the one Andrew Jackson and a band of Kentucky and Tennessee woodsmen defended in 1815, the one that gives us Mardi Gras, and the one that millions of Americans call home or who have families to call it home is under water or in a state of anarchy. Please, lets just hope things will get better this weekend.

Good Morning America, How are ya?

2005-09-01T20:50:00.000-04:00

Obviously, the damage done to the city of New Orleans, and the corresponding meltdown have been the news. Hopefully, if some good comes from this tragedy, it will be greater awareness about the problems facing the underclass. The people in New Orleans, the ones who were unable to evacuate, were there for a reason. They didn't have the money to leave. The problems facing the underclass are the great under-reported story that is always unwritten. But the horrible problems with the response, and now, the stories about funding for the levies being diverted are becoming embarassing, and they are taking away from where the attention should be focused, getting the people still there out and then repairing what's left under the water.

And by the way...yes, a conservative group has said that New Orleans got the Sodom and Gomorrah treatment, that God destroyed the city for its wicked ways.

Just in case there is any question about what a schmuck Sean Hannity is, here is proof of his schmuckiness. Last week, a soldier from Indianapolis was being buried. As has been there custom at military funerals around the country, Reverend Fred Phelps and his church/members of his crazy-ass family, the same people who protested at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, picketed the funeral, essentially saying that the death of the troops was a result of America's tolerance of homosexuality. While the people who attended the funeral essentially ignored the protests, the local media did not. This was what Hannity said on his show: "The protesters were headquartered in Kansas. They traveled across the country to demonstrate against a soldier." And you know something? I guess this is just another example of how the anti-war left supports our brave troops. 'Cause isn't that what they always say? They're disrupting the funeral, tormenting a grieving family. Can you believe I even have to bring this story to the airwaves? And creating an incredible spectacle in the middle of an occasion to honor a guy who died serving his country? But of course, they're supporting our troops. They're not supporting them; they're targeting our troops!"

Now here's the really significant problem I have. Hannity had to know he was lying through his teeth, I simply refuse to believe that anyone with a nationally syndicated radio show, even if they are conservative and pushing an agena, wouldn't know who Phelps is, and what he was doing. There have been other stories about these protests in the past. This means that Hannity deliberately misrepresented facts to promote a political agenda, which I suppose he might well do anyway. But here, it such an obvious lie, and there are enough people who probably took this as fact and believe that anti-war protestors are the worst kinds of people. Which they aren't. Sean Hannity and Fred Phelps are.

Not Arrogance, but Excellence

2005-08-31T22:28:00.000-04:00

So this weekend brings me the first really great problem with being away from home. This weekend is the start of the college football season, the one I've been waiting for since USC (the real one, the one in LA) leave its tire marks on top of the group of people who appeared at the Orange Bowl in Oklahoma Sooner uniforms. Unfortunately, because New England is, well, different from the Midwest with regards to college football, I've gone from being surrounded by discussions of Notre Dame and Chad Henne to discussions of how Jerry Remy's announcing effects the Red Sox. This means that this Saturday, the real opening day of college football, instead of seeing Michigan at 3:30, its BC and BYU. Now don't get me wrong, I respect BC, in fact I think they'll wing the Atlantic Division of the ACC over FSU, and it'll be good to see BYU wearing their old uniforms again, rather than the bibs, but come on. And, to make things worse, XM, which is supposed to carry Big Ten football games, doesn't have any Michigan broadcasts (or Ohio State), which makes me think that there's a problem getting the rights. Now, beccause they are Michigan, I'll probably still be able to watch quite a few games (ND and OSU come to mind, plus the ESPN games) but what concerns me will be my ability to watch games like Iowa or State, where I might end up having to watch a lame ACC game instead of Michigan. I may just resort to calling in to TKA and asking to listen to the feed from WJR. This is the height of poo.

A couple of weeks ago, myself and the Adams agreed to join a Salmon Press Fantasy Football League. While I originally was not totally into it, as the draft approached last Sunday , we, as a group started having stategy sessions, and got a draft plan together. Seriously, we took a lot of time and planned everything out. Sunday, we made our way to Meredith, witnessed an accident directly behind us, and then made our way to the draft. We did pretty well, considering that this was our first real draft, and our startaegy sessions/gameplan seemed to pay off. Here's our team- Our league requires 3 QB, 4 RB, 4 WR, 2 TE, 2 defenses/special teams and 2 kickers

QB
Peyton Manning
Carson Palmer
Kyle Boller

RB
Stephen Jackson
Willis McGahee
Carnell Williams
Thomas Jones

WR
Chad Johnson
Nate Burleson (sorry John)
Michael Clayton
Darrell Jackson

TE
Dallas Clark
Randy McMichael

Defense-Special Teams
Chicago
Denver

Kickers
Matt Stover
Shayne Graham

One last football related thing. Yeah, I watched the game Monday. It was bad, really bad. One thing I'm noticing, and frankly, we should have seen it when he was hired, but Steve Marriuci is one of the primary things holding the Lions back. Among the many teams that run some version of the West Coast Offense, the Lions' is by far the most conservative. Teams like the Packers and Broncos run rush heavy versions of the WCO (or the Cincinatti System, as it should be called, since that's where Walsh developed it for Ken Anderson) but also go downfiel often. The Vikings and Cardinals both run a version using three wide recievers. Even the Rams and Chiefs' offeses carry elements of the West Coast Offense. With the three wide receivers, the Lions should have an exciting, vertical style of offense. But they continue to dink and dunk. They run 4 yard patterns when they need five yards, or they give to the fullback on fourth and one. Marriuci, for one reason or another wants to stick to perhaps the most outdated version of the offense, without fully utilizing the potential of his receivers or his quarterback. if the Lions aren't in three-wide sets at least 35% of the time this year, and they lose, it shouldn't be on Joey. It should be on Mooch for taking bullets out of his own gun.

To Hell with the Moon Man

2005-08-29T23:11:00.000-04:00

I didn't watch a lot of the VMA's last night. When I did, I happened to see a couple of commercials MTV was running for itself, one of which was them trying to refute the charge that they don't play music. They do, in fact, play music. They are right about that. Unfortunately it’s often late at night or in the early morning, or at any other time where the majority of their audience won't be watching. The problem with MTV, and I know I'm not alone in saying this, is MTV, like ESPN often does, has lost its original mission. Some of the original stars of MTV included Rick Ocasek and other not so attractive people. Today, even if one looks at the shows MTV puts out, the not incredibly attractive people are shunted to the side.
What we're seeing now is that shows like Laguna Beach, Room Raiders, and other shows essentially celebrate the importance of wealth, of the rest of u watching spoiled children acting like spoiled children, and having it passed off as some kind of hard earned or superior maturity. It’s not.

Last season, when Trey Parker and Matt Stone explicitly went after Paris Hilton, they had Mr. Slave tell us that parents essentially need to teach their children that people like Paris are not to be admired, but to be despised. What MTV is essentially telling a generation of American young people is to be as vapid as possible, and that when they are, they will be that much more superior to those who aren't. The only time we see nerds, geeks or other not incredibly attractive people, its them being changed, essentially being told to stop being themselves and be a part of the faceless mass worshipping the beautiful vapid people. We see this in the Real World as well. In the beginning, it was a fascinating character study of people being placed in an unfamiliar situation, with unfamiliar people, and asked to live their lives. They were real people essentially continuing their own lives, not people plucked from an A&F catalog to make out in a hot tub. While MTV embraces the idea of being the channel of youth culture, the one that sets trends in the teeny-bopper set, they might have done so too much, to the point where it is obviously no longer about good music, but about selling MTV as a product. Those original VJ's, the one's who attended Live-Aid and were as swept up in the emotion of the day as anyone, those that brought us Headbanger's Ball and Yo! MTV Raps, shows that were actually about expanding the audiences of metal and hip-hop, that themselves are considered defining moments in the history of those genres, they at least seemed to give a damn about music, to actually care about what they were playing. They had opinions, and if something socked, or was much too poppy to be considered anything but selling out, they would let you know. Those people are gone, and the ethic that spawned them seems to have been killed in some meeting room at Viacom. Now, its nameless, pathetic hipsters and a few of the old guard who've compromised themselves so much they're barely recognizable. That's not what made us want our MTV.

It's odd, but MTV was really one of the first networks on cable to put out their own shows. Now each and every one of their reality shows, and their scripted ones, is found wanting when compared to the shows on channels like F/X, Bravo, SciFi, and, perhaps worst of all, by VH1. Each, in their own way, has taken on the limits MTV used to pride itself on pushing. Nip/Tuck , The Shield and Rescue Me are all incredible shows, but each push limits and also show real pathos and heart. SciFi might have the best show on TV. Bravo's reality shows, no matter what criticisms you want to make of them, at least show real people. Do you think Wendy Pepper or Austin Scarlett would have been on Project Runway if MTV did it? Of course not. It would have been some neophyte graduate of the Fashion Institute who looked good in low-riders. VH1, despite their obsession with lists and celebrity news, at least shows us what real people look like on a show like Celebrity Fit Club. And to be quite frank, Gary Busey is a far more real person than the cast of Laguna Beach combined. Hell, if you want a realistic picture of high school, go find The N and take in a few episodes of Degrassi.

When I was in high school, I always imagined there'd there would be some sort of show made about our class; that we were just small enough to be manageable, and just large enough to provide good characters. Now, I realize that while our problems were often petty and immature, we would never have made good TV. We probably wouldn't have been thought of as pretty enough and those who didn't drive Escalades home wouldn't count.

Back, Back again

2005-08-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

So I have a new, or at least semi-new, computer now. My parents came Monday, along with my grandmother, and brought the desktop my brother had formerly used at school, but no longer needed. Frankly, its worlds faster than what I had, so anything would have been an improvement, but it still does some taking used to. My parents, my grandmother and my aunt Claudia have been here all week and leave Saturday morning. Its been really good to see them, especially since I usually don't have a ton of time at home when I'm there. Still, I've had to work all week still, so yesterday and Tuesday I didn't get to see them very much those days, but we're going to dinner tonight, and will have much of the day tomorrow before they leave.

Good to see that its been a relatively uneventful return to school for the Albion folks, as well as Robert at Valpo. Now, I did see that the long distance cables went out in Albion, so there was a brief loss of long distance phone coverage, but there was something similar that happened up here a few weeks ago, when a truck took one out of the low hanging cables. Just a note to a few of my Albion friends, if you're going to go to the Barbara Bush lecture tonight with the idea to create a scene to protest the war, or ask a very smart alecky question, don't. If you want to protest, b respectful and do it quietly. Like it or not, Barbara Bush is still a beloved Grandmotherly figure, and it will almost certainly be covered by local media. We really don't want to create a controversy that will ultimately embarass the college, or our student body. I don't really like that she's coming either, but it might be best to just grin and bear it tonight.

I'll post stories from the last couple of weeks, as well as more thoughts tomorrow. Break a leg tonight John Paul.

So yeah...

2005-08-19T16:21:00.000-04:00

So most of this week, my computer has either been disabled, or simply turned off. The reason? While surfing on Monday, I seem to have downloaded some spyware and a virus (the New Poly Win32 virus), which has made using this computer very difficult, so this might be a truncated post. My parents, along with my grandmother and my aunt Claudia will be coming next week, and will bring with them Robert's desktop, which he doesn't need at Valpo. So I'll likely be switching computers sometime Monday or Tuesday, at which point I'll be totally up to speed with emails and IM's.

Its been an interesting week, but I want to focus on just a few issues, two from sports, and one news story.

First, golf. I watched most of the final round of the PGA Sunday, mostly in part to Phil Mickelson being involved. Like many people, I tend to prefer Phil to Tiger, for the same reason people root for John Daly, Phil is more human, more approachable than Tiger. I began rooting for Phil in 1999, when I heard a Detroit radio host criticize him for saying he would leave the US Open if his wife, Amy, went into labor. When I heard that, I immediately saw Phil as someone who actually had his priorities in the proper order, and therefore, as someone to root for. The fact that he survived being labeled, "Best Player never to win a Major," for so long, also made him human. It really shouldn't surprise anyone that he drew such crowds of vocal support Sunday and Monday, in many ways, he's closer to the rest of us than someone like Tiger.

Part of the worship of Tiger, and the subsequent derision directed at Phil for so long can be explained by the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. Joe Mantegna's character, the father, is a sportswriter, and wants his son to have more of a "killer instinct" to have more of an all-consuming drive to win at allcosts, the same qualities he admires in the athletes he covers. Josh's mother, Joan Allen, loves that her son is sensitive to other people, and is, in many ways, a saint. She doesn't really want her son to become some cold, unfeeling chess machine. In the end, it's Mantegna's character who learns that his son, the person, is much better off being the kinder, more sensitive person, than the killer. What people admire about many athletes, like a killer instinct, like their single-mindedness, can often make them wretched to deal with outside of those arenas they are used to. They might not know how to relate to people, how to be anything but the athlete or coach. What I love about Phil is that its obvious his family is the most important thing in his life, that he'd rather be a great father than a great golfer.

The Randy Moss issue, frankly, is incredibly stupid. Personally, I'm not shocked he admitted to smoking marijuana, and frankly, neither shopuld anyone else. He hasn't been a part of the substance abuse policy, and it hasn't seemed to effect his performance on the field, so frankly, I don't see the real issue people have with him. The issue might well be why the NFL only tests once a season for illegal drugs, essentially allowing someone to smoke 11 months out of the year, except before camp.

I admire Cindy Sheehan. I can understand why, for example, she seems to have been somewhat radicalized, especially with regards to Israel. She has been, by far, the most effective messenger of the anti-war movement, one who has an incredibly powerful story. Has it helped that it is August, traditionally the slowest news month? Of course. It's helped that there is very little activity in Washington, nothing to distract the news cycle from Sheehan's protests. The President has mostly appeared cold and unfeeling, as someone more interested in working out and tooling around his Crawford mansion (a ranch is a working farm, with animals. The Bush "ranch" is not a working farm, after all, he's only there about two months a year."), then dealing with Cindy Sheehan. The Republicans can't attack her directly, though theirr proxies on radio and on Fox are doing so. It will be interesting to see what happens when Bush goes back to Washington, but right now, things at Camp Casey certainly seem to be interesting.

That escalated quickly, I mean that really got out of hand fast.

2005-08-14T21:05:00.000-04:00

I wanted to use today to talk about just a few things that have been in the air for the last couple of weeks.
The Native American mascot issue: I have always been of one mind about this. Frankly, the offensiveness of something should be judged the offended party, not the offenders. I believe the outrage over the issue that we've heard, frankly, just comes from white people afraid of having these vestiges of their unfettered dominance over the culture swept away. I understand that in some cases, like the Seminoles or Utes, the schools might have the support of the tribes. If they do, they should probably be allowed to keep those names. But frankly there are teams that need to look at their mascots. Illiniwek, for one, is offensive to many whites (including myself), as well as many Native Americans.

This one is for John, but it’s a question I've been wondering about for a while. Why is it, that with Mad TV being on for more than a decade that we've never seen anyone go from SNL to Mad TV (like a featured player, or well, there's no other way to say it, someone who got fired) or someone going the other direction. It would seem that Mad TV would look for the cache of stealing an SNL person, or that SNL would really benefit from stealing someone like Nicole Sullivan (when she was still on the show, or the guy who played Stewart.) The one guy I think the move would help the most is Frank Caliendo, because it would allow Darrell Hammond to finally leave SNL, and give Caliendo, who is seriously talented, a wider forum. The only difference between the shows seems to be that Mad TV is taped. Would the SNL people really be that nervous about hiring people because of that? I don't know.

Rush Limbaugh has offered to mediate the Donovan McNabb-Terrell Owens situation. Yes, Rush Limbaugh. The guy who got fired because he made remarks saying people wanted McNabb to be successful because he was black. Yes. This seems a good idea.

Ok, I just wanted to post this, from Dr. Dobson's website. Its from a doctor who tries to give families advice on how to prevent their children from being gay: "Meanwhile, the boy's father has to do his part. He needs to mirror and affirm his son's maleness. He can play rough-and-tumble games with his son, in ways that are decidedly different from the games he would play with a little girl. He can help his son learn to throw and catch a ball. He can teach him to pound a square wooden peg into a square hole in a pegboard. He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger."

Now, for a totally different (and not totally, freaky, crazy weird) piece of information- The Bears just signed Jeff Blake. Blake really seems to have never gotten over losing his job in New Orleans to Aaron Brooks. I don't know how seriously he can compete for the job of starter, nor how effective he would be when he got there. He always had the "Mad Bomber" reputation in Cincinnati, but I don't know if you can take the Bengal out of him, just like it takes time to "de-Clipperize" NBA players.

One more thing. I believe I'm not alone in saying that "American Dad" lacks something compared to "Family Guy". One reason, I think, is that there aren't the fun and random pop-culture references and random occurrences. It's all about how funny Stan is because of his job. His identity is all about his job. Peter Griffin really doesn't seem to work all that often, so his character seems more rounded and not as job-centered. The funniest moment, for me, on "American Dad" is the weird 2 or 3 minute interlude with the two electrical workers who find the golden, jewel-encrusted, you know, fecal matter, in part because it was so totally random.

Stories, and sorry, Chicago

2005-08-12T22:37:00.000-04:00

So I went to watch the Red Sox play the Pale Hose at Adam and Shannon's and I then came home. I went to check on the Lions score (and they lost, but Joey played well), and see that Rex Grossman was carted off the field with a broken ankle. I have to admit that I laughed a bit. While viewing the Bears off-season from afar, it was obvious the one thing they couldn't afford to have happen was to have Grossman go out. Now comes an interesting question. Do they stay with Chad Hutchinson, who isn't great, and go with Kyle Orton as the future guy? I think they should go out and sign Vinny Testaverde, who at the very least is a legitimate quarterback, and could compete with Hutchinson, and could be a legitimate QB to start the season with, one that would give them a shot. It's too bad for Grossman, who I like, because, he keeps getting hurt. Its not like he's failed, he just hasn't been on the field. The question will be why was he out in the second quarter of a preseason game, where you’re almost asking for something bad to happen? Still, I guess this was the great failure of the Bears this winter coming back to bite them. Now Chicago will trudge down Michigan Ave. and consume Billy Goat burgers, and Mr. Beef Italian beef sandwiches, along with plenty of Old Style, to drown the pain. I guess it could be worse.

Here's this week's stories:

Truck accident causes phone outage; What happens next?
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — An accident involving a tractor-trailer knocked out phone service to Alton, Barnstead, New Durham and other communities for more than two hours Monday, Aug. 8.
According to Alton Fire Chief Alan Johnson, the truck was traveling on Rte. 140 at around 10:30 a.m., and was either riding too high, or simply connected with low hanging telephone wires in the area, causing the outage. The broken cable also caused an accident, as a trailing motorcyclist was struck by the wire. Johnson reported that the truck had been stopped later that day.
What concerned Johnson, and other officials in the area, most, was that along with local and long-distance services, 911 service was also lost in these communities. The problem, Johnson said, came was because of the lack of a default number provided by the telephone company used by the towns. "If you lose the main lines in other towns, the calls will go to a default number. If you dialed 911 right now (during the down-time), it would tell you the switch was out of service." Johnson said the only service in Alton came through the dispatch center.
All told, the outage lasted more approximately two and one half hours. But very soon, according to Johnson, there might be a move to change the situation. "This is an issue that I see – there’s currently no default number for the town of Alton."
Barnstead Police Chief Ken Borgia echoed the remarks made by Johnson. "This is an issue that is going to be discussed with the selectmen. Hopefully we can get this resolved before any future incident." According to Borgia, Barnstead Fire Chief George Krause was also concerned about this, and had in fact looked at the problem in the past.

Board hears opinions on driveway ordinance
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — Residents spoke up at Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, worried about the possible ramifications of proposed restrictions on driveways in the area.
The Board had looked at these restrictions in response to Fire Department concerns about the length and steepness of many new driveways. The department questions whether or not the town’s vehicles would be able to reach these homes in an emergency.
Fire Chief Alan Johnson appeared at the meeting, along with photographs he had taken of areas which concerned him (see photo, page A5). "We’re having issues with some of the larger roads," said Johnson.
He identified the area around the Alton Shores development as a problem and said that delivery trucks had had a difficult time there as well.
Johnson also pointed to the number of calls the Department had received, more than 100 in July, as evidence as to why the board should at least look at the possibility of setting up restrictions. The initial draft of such rules being looked at by the board included a provision that a homeowner could receive a waiver on the restrictions if they signed an indemnification to the town.
Public input began with Fire Department member Ned Consentino, who wondered what would happen in the future with the indemnifications after a house was sold.
Earl Bagley told the board he believed a certain pitch, or steepness, of a driveway could not be maintained by a homeowner, and that "somewhere down the line, you need to say how long a private road (can be)."
Landowner Van Hertel said that he was "very strongly opposed to the ordinance." Hertel believed that the proposed restrictions unfairly burdened owners of existing lots, and felt that if the town were to put in an ordinance, it should be for new lots only. Hertel was also concerned about the restrictions on the slope of the driveways allowed in the area, citing the hilly nature of much of the land in Alton.
Residents spoke up about another side to widening roads: the greater likelihood that someone may speed. Some questioned whether or not the fire department really needed to be concerned about this. Scott Williams, a member of the department, said, "We’ve never not been able to get into a driveway." Board chairman Alan Sherwood said the board was primarily looking for a compromise, and that the board would take into account the input from the meeting in working with the fire chief to set up another draft.
Other Business
The board announced that there would be an open house Saturday at the Town Hall, from 9 to 11 a.m. in conjunction with Old Home Days.
The board granted approval of waivers for an improved septic design at the Half-Moon Cottage Colony. The new system would be taking the place of an old, outdated one.
The board also announced a return to a more traditional schedule in September. The selectmen agreed to meet on the first Tuesday of the month (after Labor Day), Sept. 6, and then meet on the third Monday, Sept. 19.
Resident Greg Fuller brought up potential safety hazards, especially for children, at the Swap Shop at the town dump.
Finally, the board voted to accept the offer of Health Trust Service to take over the billing responsibilities for retired town employees. Currently, town employees needed to take time to work on sending mailings out.

Planning Board approves Goodrich application
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
BARNSTEAD — After a lengthy series of questions, the Barnstead Planning Board approved waivers for the current plans for Clarke Goodrich’s subdivision along Narrow Road, and ultimately accepted and approved the plan at their August 4 meeting.
Much of the controversy about the plan stemmed from its location, as it sits between to parcels of town owned conservation land. Members of the planning board are trying to come together with Goodrich on a plan for what might happen to the land if Goodrich sold or passed along the property.
Secretary David Allen and others urged a solution, which might give the town some right of first refusal on portions of the subdivision if it was to be sold or passed along. Goodrich initially was hesitant, stating, "I can’t predict the future about this land. I have no intention of developing beyond the subdivision…let future boards look at what might happen in the future." Eventually, however, Goodrich said that the area behind the lots was considered "unbuildable," with hilly areas and wetlands, and Goodrich and his representative said they would look into the possibility of placing such a note, giving the town right of first refusal on that portion of the property, on the plans.
The other main point of contention was the maintenance of the road being put into the area. Goodrich said that the residents of the subdivision would keep up the road. There was some concern among board members about whether the road would continue to remain private in perpetuity, however.
Goodrich said he "would intend on owning the road, to keep it from being a hassle to the town." Member David Kerr, however, worried that the current plans, which called for the area to be used as vacation homes, might not change and that the area might well become permanent dwellings. The board did, however, ultimately accept the environmental waiver as well, and Kerr again voiced his worries about future road ownership and traffic when he voted "no" on the conditional approval of the application.
North Barnstead Road
Much of the public attending the meeting were there to address the board about the property owned by John and Frank Capone and Anthony Alba. The abutters are concerned about a sub-division, which would create six new lots on a 10-lot subdivision (there are already four buildings in place). Current problems with drainage along the back of the property, abutters feared, would be exacerbated by the new buildings. Board members pointed out, however, that the applicants were not responsible for correcting the current problem, only to minimize the impact of their own property. However, the board did urge the applicants to have someone look at the drainage issues raised by the abutters.
The most controversial moments of the night came in the discussion of whether or not the board would waive the fiscal impact study for this subdivision. Board members were concerned that the newly built properties, which would be permanent, needed to be looked at in terms of how much money the new buildings would cost the town in education and maintenance.
The applicants said they did not understand the need for such a study, especially since the previous applicant (Goodrich) had been given such a waiver, and was putting in more new lots. Alba said that the houses would be bringing revenue into the city and asked, "What will be the burden to the town?" Ultimately, however, the board voted to require the impact study, as well as to require a look at the environmental and drainage issues involved at the site.

Barbershoppers bring ‘Harmony’ to Alton
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — After a five year hiatus, fans of harmony and barbershop music can again find a home for a weekend in Alton, as barbershoppers return to the town for the "Harmony on the Lake Festival," Aug. 19 and 20. This is hosted by the Alton Centennial Rotary Club and the Nashua chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.
For more than 50 years, barbershop quartets made their way to Alton, with the help of Alton residents Lester and Aida Downing. After their deaths, says Event Doug Dore, chairman of the Alton Centennial Rotary Club, "it was getting very hard (for the Downing descendents) to get help the last few years. There was no one on this end to help these things."
This year, the Rotary Club has revived the tradition, working with selectmen (to put an event in Alton Bay), with Prospect Mountain High School (to hold a large concert in the school’s auditorium), and the American Legion (to provide an "after-glow" event for the singers).
The high school is the change most exciting the singers, according to Dore, "A lot of the barber-shoppers said the old school wasn’t air-conditioned, and the concerts were on hot August nights. The auditorium at the high school has air-conditioning."
The festival kicks off Friday at noon in Alton Bay’s Railroad Square Park at the town boat docks, and will culminate Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. with a concert in the auditorium of Prospect Mountain High School (Route 28, south of the Alton Traffic Circle).
There will be several free informal workshops on Saturday. Everyone is invited to show his or her talents by joining in songs in harmony or participating in a one-hour "learn to sing" lesson. Quartets will entertain those who prefer to relax on the Winnipesaukee Belle, an old Mississippi river paddle wheeler, which will depart from the Alton Bay town dock at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
There will also be a silent auction, vendor stands, information on local community organizations, barbershop history, and a variety of food booths, including a spectacular southern BBQ, in the area around the docks.
The biggest event will be the Barbershop Harmony Show, held at PMHS Saturday evening, Aug. 20, at 7:30 p.m. This show features barbershop choruses and quartets from around New England singing a variety of songs that celebrate the "golden age" of American songwriting.
Highlighting the program is "The Granite Statesmen" Barbershop chorus, which features 50 performing members in an all-male chorus. The Granite Statesmen’s president, Roger Menard, said the "barbershoppers are excited" about returning to Alton.
"There (are) a lot of happy memories, and a lot of excitement about returning." Menard also pointed with excitement at many of the other events on the schedule.
Dore said he was also hoping to take quartets out on the Bay on his pontoon boat "to sing to the boats." Dore says that in the future, the Rotary Club is looking to expand the festival to include other areas of Lake Winnipesaukee as well, perhaps taking various quartets to the other ports on the lake via pontoon boats.
Menard described barbershop as "a unique and traditional American art form." In bringing it back to Alton, he says, residents will again have the opportunity to "learn, listen, sing and eat." A full schedule of events at the festival can be found at www.granitestatesmen.org, and tickets for the Saturday event can be purchased at the Profile Bank in Alton.

Local crafters show at annual fair
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEWBURY — Artisans from towns across the Lakes Region, and across various mediums, are among the more than three hundred participating artists participating in the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Annual Fair at Mount Sunapee Resort.
The event, which runs until Aug. 14, features "about 200 booths," according to Carol Fusaro, a public relations representative for the group. "More than 5,000 people were there Saturday (Aug. 6, the opening day of the fair)." Tents house demonstrations by artists from various mediums, as well as musical groups and the booths themselves.
Jennifer Kalled, of Wolfeboro, says she has been exhibiting since the late 70s. Kalled has been working in jewelry for the last 27 years, and works "primarily in 22 and 18-carat gold, with precious and colored stones." Kalled is also quick to point to her use of drusy quartz, which comes from the inside of geodes. Kalled’s booth was also a family operation, her daughter, Alie, assisted her mother by modeling jewelry and answering customers’ questions.
Teresa Taylor, of Barnstead, who runs Salty Dog Pottery and is an exhibitor at the event, and has been for 29 years, says that the event "gets bigger every year." Taylor primarily works in clay, creating what she describes as "functional and decorative pottery." She said she builds most of her pieces by hand, or by using a potter’s wheel. Taylor also says that her use of a salt-fired kiln makes her unique among her peers, "most potters don’t use that type of kiln."
Wolfeboro etching artist David Olson was among the group of artists who were the first to exhibit at the resort in the early 70s. "It was really fun. It was a very small community. We had tents on Lake Sunapee, and our kids would slide down (the ski hills). Olson and his wife, Susan Dean Olson, a teacher at Kingswood Regional High School, remembered listening to radios with various other craftspeople the night Richard Nixon resigned from office. Olson’s work primarily consists of his hand colored etchings of New England scenes, which he creates by using special equipment to put the design on a zinc or copper plate, then printing and hand coloring the design.
Alton has two of the more unique artists at the event. Nancy Stillwagon, creates what she calls "quaints (quilted paintings)," by painting or drawing on linen fabric, and then "quilting the focal points to create depth and softness." Stillwagon has been exhibiting at the event for more than 20 years, and has been working on her unique art form since she was 17.
Sandra White, of Alton, is the only artist working in paper at the event. Her art form, quilling, is the creation of images using tiny, rolled, pieces of paper. White says that she has been exhibiting at the Sunapee event for 19 years, and that her art form, one dating back to the middle ages, is still unique. "I haven’t run into anyone else in 30 years doing quilling."
Mirror Lake photographer Mark Klein, who specializes in "Rural images" of New England, is also an exhibitor.
Awards for Excellence presented at the preview party included the E.L. Grodin Best Collaborative Design Award, which went to Sarah Burns of New Durham and Dustin Coates, of Etna.

"I will smash your face into a car windshield, and then take your mother Dorothy Mantooth out for a nice seafood dinner and never call her back."

2005-08-11T23:50:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the Lions first pre-season game. Last week, when they held a public practice at Ford Field, Joey Harrington was booed lustily by some of the fans. To be frank, I've never understood the large segment of Lions of Lions fans who so vehemently dislike Joey Harrington. There seems to be so much resentment, whether it’s about him playing the piano and the sometimes subtle and often not so subtle questions about his sexuality. The calls for Mike McMahon, I always felt were silly, because, let's be frank, all McMahon could really ever do is run around like a crazy person, he couldn't actually hit anyone throwing the ball to save his life. Harrington has struggled, but last year was, by far, his best year, and with the improved supporting cast, you would think there would be more support. Still, there seem to be a large number of fans hoping and praying Jeff Garcia is in by week four, essentially hoping Harrington fails. I am really hoping, frankly, for a Drew Brees type year from Harrington, just to shut those people up.

While at the gym today, I watched the PTI interview with Terrell Owens. Frankly, for a long time, I could understand and even sympathize somewhat, with Owens, because contracts aren't guaranteed in the NFL. But today with the PTI interview, and the petulance he exhibited really made no one happy (one other thing. The one thing that disappoints me about PTI is the fact that they rarely seem to really push athletes to answer questions. Today it was Wilbon and Ryan, but I've noticed Tony do it, along with others. Part of it, I think, comes from the way athletes deflect those questions, but still, I would have liked to have seen T.O. and Rosenhaus pushed a bit harder.) The Old School NFL Live type guys really seem to detest him at this point, as I'm sure many of the writers do. Also, Owens needs to realize that he can only live off of the Super Bowl for so long, especially since his team lost. Had they won, he would be a hero, but they lost, so he merely became an interesting footnote. There doesn’t seem to be any logical takers for Owens (though how about this, Mushin Muhammed and Thomas Jones to the Eagles, T.O. to the Bears?), so he won't be dealt. He won't be released. We probably have another Keyshawn situation on our hands. Last week in SI, Peter King made mention of the fact that this NFL season seemed to one of the most anticipated ever, and he's probably right. But the fact that the Owens saga has so dominated the headlines would have me worried if I was in the NFL offices. And isn't it funny, that with a lot of great stories in baseball, the summer has really only had three huge sports stories (Raffy, Owens, and LB)? And one more thing, when Owens talked about how he was a grown man, did anyone else want him to finish the sentence by saying "I'm the man who discovered the wheel, and built the Eiffel Tower out of metal...and brawn?"

R.I.P. Peter Jennings

2005-08-08T20:20:00.000-04:00

A very sincere Rest in Peace for Peter Jennings. I, like much of America, grew up with the big 3 (Jennings, Rather, Brokaw) delivering the news every night. Personally, I always preferred Jennings. He seemed the most thoughtful, the logical heir to Cronkite, more than the other two. The odd thing now, is that after more than 20 years of having these three on forever, almost not being able to imagine life without either of them, they are now all gone- Brokaw last December, Rather earlier this year, and now Jennings. It will take time to get used to these new faces.

The other odd thing about Jennings is, frankly, how close he was to losing his job in the early 80's. There was a TNT movie a few years ago that showed Roone Arledge, the man who created Monday Night Football, was put in charge of ABC news. At one point, the movie makes clear, he seriously thought about replacing Jennings with Jim McKay and Howard Cosell, which would have been one of the biggest gambles ever. The funny thing, is the that Jennings made his bones at ABC working the Olympics in 1972 in Munich, when the hostages were taken. The lasting image of those games has to be McKay suddenly having to deliver the worst possible news to the home audience, that the Israeli athletes were dead, "They're gone, they're all gone."

I must say this, in looking at the coverage on cable of Jenning's death tonight, puts into perspective why Bill O'Reilly sucks. While Keith Olbermann began his show with a 15-minute long tribute which summarized Jenning's career, O'Reilly began with his usual self-aggrandizing spiel, not about Jennings, in fact he didn't mention Jennings death until the bottom of the hour. As usual, Fox, and O'Reilly, served as the Pravda of the Republican Party, not as any sort of journalisticly credible institution.

Today was media day at Michigan. Being me, I check fairly often for Michigan news in the national media, and I check in the Free Press, the Ann Arbor News, the Detroit News and WTKA. There is, not surprisingly, a large contingent of Michigan fans that feel Michigan was overrated at #4, and who seem to be quick to fear the worst about the defense. One person I saw even speculated that if the the defense didn't get markedly better, they would be headed to San Antonio rather than New Years Day (or this year, January 2). Personally, I think that they forget that Michigan is going to be far more talented than most of the Big Ten teams they play, and that the mobile quarterbacks Michigan has so much trouble with include only Drew Stanton and Troy Smith (along with the scrambling Drew Tate). They get OSU at home, and beat Iowa handily last year. MSU could well be a problem, but they also have time to get the defense together before they play.

One thing I have to say, that I prefer about New Hampshire to the other paces I've lived, is that it's a lot more fun to drive here. Back home, its flatter and straighter. In Chicago, it was more about survival, about making it wherever you were going without getting hit or in another accident, or confused. In Maryland and Virginia, again, it was more about getting places without getting in an accident. Even on the long trips I've taken, its mostly straight. Here, there's lots of very nice hills and curves, and while you have to go slower, it is more fun to take those curves than going 75 on 94.

The last thing I wanted to mention is this, as something that can only happen in theatre. Rosie O'Donnell, an openly lesbian woman, will be taking over for Andrea Martin, later this year in the role of Golde, the wife of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye will be played by Harvey Firestein, perhaps the most famous openly gay actor working in theatre. So you have Rosie and Harvey playing husband and wife in a play about the painful changes experienced in society as it evolves. Huh.

One quick message, to the hard working young lady in Madison: Tutti noi avere fede.

Stories, and a salute

2005-08-04T16:53:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to post about this for a couple of days, but hadn't gotten to it until now. Barry Alvarez announced that this will be his last year last week. I believe that the hiring of Alvarez is one of the two most important hires of the last twenty years in the Big Ten (along with Joe Tiller at Purdue). For so many years, it was just Michigan and Ohio State, and you'd sometimes have an occasional "one year wonder" team, like Iowa in 85, who had a bunch of seniors and could beat one of the aforementioned teams (or caught OSU at a time when they were down a bit). Alvarez made Wisconsin, which was the worst program among the Big Ten's public schools when he got there in to a potential contender every single year. With the introduction of Penn State, the league could have become incredibly top heavy, instead, Alvarez helped to lead the Big Ten's middle class into a new golden age. Now, if Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern, State, or Iowa win the conference, its not a surprise. The amazing thing about Alvarez, too, is that, unlike Joe Tiller, who brought the spread to the Big Ten, played real smashmouth football. Basically, he just went ahead and punched the other team in the mouth with his giant offensive line and big running backs. The fact that he beat the big boys (except Michigan, he never beat Michigan with any consistentcy) playing that kind of style shows that success could still come from running the ball. He also did it without ever having a really great quarterback either, which to me, is all the more impressive. While the Badgers have slipped, as Iowa, Northwestern and Minnesota have improved, they were the one's who set the bar. Bret Bielema has a heck of a task ahead of him.

By the way, its really great to see this, finally.

Here's this week's stories:

Valley Dam Road residents bring selectmen to the scene
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
BARNSTEAD — Selectmen were given explicit examples by residents of Valley Dam Road in Barnstead of some of the things that have been going on there at their July 26 meeting. Tuesday evening, Aug. 2, the selectmen went to see some of the "damage" for themselves.
Homeowners showed selectmen where they found beer cans, diapers and even a used condom on the road near the dam. Selectmen Frank Sullivan, Gordon Preston and Mike Akstin then had a spirited discussion with the residents about what the best solutions to some of the problems experienced by the residents were.
The July 26 meeting included testimony by residents of drinking, fires being started, nudity and sexual activity at the area near the dam.
Residents did say that the parties had lessened over the weekend, but did say that with the weather expected to heat up, there may be more activity later this week.
One of the more frequently raised questions was that of liability. Resident Dottie Sowards addressed the issue of liability for the town if something were to happen at the dam. Sullivan said that he believed the town had "limited liability if the town acts properly." Residents also asked why there were regulations on who can swim in other areas of the town but not at this particular area. They cited YMCA groups from other towns that had come in and used the area for swimming in the recent past as an example.
The selectmen did agree to try and set up certain rules for the area. The three selectmen believed that putting a trash barrel in the area, secured, so that it couldn’t be thrown into the river, might help alleviate some of the litter problems.
The selectmen also believed the area to be a class five road, meaning that the town could come clean up the area if things got particularly bad, and in fact, would empty out the trash barrel once a week, according to Selectmen Gordon Preston.
The selectmen also said that they would look into possibly instituting some sort of curfew, or time restriction, for when the swimming area would be used. Preston added that the town might put up signs reading "Swim at your own risk," in the area, in order to inform people of the potential hazard of swimming to close to the dam.
Sullivan said, "I don’t want to restrict people from using it (the area) properly." He agreed with residents that the selectmen would back them in efforts to get state and local ordinances, especially with regards to public intoxication, minor possession, and other acts enforced. The selectmen agreed that the police should be the main enforcers and that the residents of the area could report suspicious activity to the police.

Cooperation or court for New Durham resident
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — The town of New Durham will be taking resident Erven Duncan to court later this month, unless a meeting with town officials brings another solution, according to Police Chief Shawn Bernier.
Duncan, who owns property along Rte. 11, has vehicles and tires along with other articles, along his driveway, and has been ordered by the town to clean up the debris.
After initially cooperating with town official’s requests, Duncan has changed his mind, according to Bernier, "All of a sudden it’s defiance." A reporter for The Baysider tried to meet with Duncan at his property, but was turned away by Duncan, who had initially agreed to be interviewed.
The reporter did confirm that vehicles and tires, along with assorted other debris, was visible along Duncan’s driveway, and at the entrance to Duncan’s property.
Duncan had been scheduled to meet with the selectmen at their last meeting, but refused to show up, according to Bernier, who was at the July 20 meeting. At that point, the selectmen said they would meet with Duncan at his driveway, per Duncan’s request, after Chairman Ron Gehl returned from vacation. Selectman Dwight Jones said, "I really don’t want to make a comment until we talk to him and see what’s going on." At the July meeting, Gehl said the board "may be looking into an ordinance to deal with trash. Bringing it into compliance is what the town is interested in."
Bernier said that Duncan had been cooperative in anticipation of a July court date on the matter. After that date was pushed back, Bernier says, Duncan changed his mind, and no longer wanted to cooperate with the town. "Its up to Mr. Duncan as to whether or not he wants to meet (with the Board), to resolve this," said Bernier.
Bernier also said that Duncan has options. "He can apply for a junkyard permit," similar to others in the town, "but he doesn’t consider what he has to be junk under the statute." But at the July 20 meeting, there was some question as to whether Duncan’s property met the standards for a junkyard, however. Bernier said at the time that Duncan’s property did not meet the 1,000-foot standard currently in place for junkyards.
The trial is currently scheduled to begin Aug. 17, according to Bernier. A similar situation in Wolfeboro resulted in jail time for town resident Charlie Teryek. The procedures followed by Wolfeboro officials were cited by Bernier at the meeting as a possible model for how to deal with Duncan and future problems.

Barnstead based co-op now one of state’s largest
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
BARNSTEAD — Barnstead resident Dan Barraford’s time has often been spent two ways in the last six years. Between his family’s publishing company and energy co-op Barraford, has very little time to waste.
It seems that that effort is paying off, however. This spring, Barraford took over the management of Energy Alliance, a co-op operated by Wayne Mock of Tamworth, which was primarily based in the North Country.
"We started 15 years ago," says Mock, "last year, we had over 1,530 accounts." However, Mock had been spending more time in Florida recently. "I retired, and I was spending less time here. I couldn’t devote the time and ‘energy’ needed to the co-op."
Barraford said that earlier this spring, Mock called him to let him know that he would no longer be running Energy Alliance, and he offered Barraford the chance to take it over. "It seemed the logical thing to do," said Mock, "it was the perfect fit for him to take it over."
Barraford says that with the addition of the Energy Alliance customers, as well as additional ones for his own Our Town Energy, the organization is now one of the largest co-ops in the state. Still, there have been some problems integrating the two companies. "There was really no time to do anything but run with it," according to Barraford.
The differences between the two companies, though they are similar, have made the transition a little harder for the Barrafords. "They have a totally different structure," says Barraford, who cited a difference in paperwork and filing systems as reasons for why the companies are currently being kept separate. "We had four (phone) lines going (filled with Energy Alliance customers who had questions) and have only three people here," says Barraford.
Barraford began Our Town Energy in 1999, he says, to help seniors in the area get cheaper prices on heating oil. "There were 75 members, that first year," Barraford said, who added that the rolls of Our Town Energy have swelled to more than 3,000 this year. That, combined with new and old Energy Alliance customers brings the total to almost 6,000 customers represented by Barraford. He says that such numbers will allow for more access to goods and services from companies that would not have previously been open to Our Town Energy.
As for the marriage of the two companies, Barraford says that next year, Energy Alliance will be more fully integrated. He said the Energy Alliance filing and tracking system "was not quite up to date as far as computers." "It will be much easier next year. This is a new page for us, we’ve crossed a threshold of some sort."

Alton planners take a look at expanding marina
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — The July 19 meeting of the Alton Planning Board featured a lengthy discussion of the proposed expansion of Gillan Marine. The proposed expansion would include an increase in the size of the current sales facility, as well as replace a 2,000 square foot building on the premises with a two-story, 11,600 square foot structure.
Board members, who had taken a look at the area following their June meeting, said that one concern was about how much the proposed paving would effect the grassy areas around the business.
Several members of the board suggested that builders try to implement "green engineering" principles, such as putting in porous concrete. Board member Tom Varney stressed the need to approach the plan in "an environmentally sensitive and protective way." Members also said that the plan needed to have appropriate stamps and an engineering review to assess the environmental impact of such paving. There was some disagreement between the board and representatives for Gillan Marine about how much space could be paved.
Other board concerns involved the aesthetics and the drainage of the new, larger building being placed on the premises.
Gillan’s representatives said that a system for protection of the wetlands in the area would be built and maintained by the owners, to avoid sedimentation running in from Rte. 11.
Board member ex officio Alan Sherwood addressed potential traffic problems on Rte. 11, related to the new building and the increase in the number of boats.
In addition, abutters worried about the possible environmental changes and the divisions of the proposed new site.
The board voted to require an engineering review of the drainage design for the proposed site, and also agreed to continue the discussion at its next meeting, Aug. 16.
Soil becomes issue for subdivision
The board also approved plans for a subdivision on Stockbridge Corner Rd. – but not before getting into a spirited discussion regarding the soil information for the property.
A representative for the applicant, Benjamin Finnegan, said that the standard soil map for the property was the one completed in 1968. The board said that the information on that map was likely well out of date, and that the information needed to be updated. The board made an update of the soil information one of the conditions for approval of the application.
Cell Tower issues
The board used two nights to cover various cell tower issues. A tower being proposed by Midwest Towers, LLC, had their application accepted, contingent upon a site plan review being attended by representatives of US Cellular.
Discussion of another tower, a Nextel tower, proposed for Old Wolfeboro Rd, was a continued to the August meeting, though the board did agree to enter into a contract for an engineering review of the site.

New Durham Planners approve subdivision
Land Use Ordinance hearing penciled in
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — At a fairly straightforward meeting Aug. 2, the New Durham Planning Board voted to approve a three-lot subdivision and to continue other discussions until their next regular meeting, Sept. 6.
The subdivision, located on Brackett Road on property owned by the George family, had been looked at by the board on a site walk after their last meeting. Additionally, Bruce Pohopek, who surveyed the land for the Georges, added several technical requirements to the plan that board members had asked them to include at their last meeting.
Pohopek said that the lots were all "over 150 percent of their required lot size," for their soil type. He also mentioned that he was planning on meeting with the Conservation Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment later this month to discuss their concerns about the property. Board member Mike Clarke said that the applicant "has met all the criteria we asked him to meet," and urged the plan be approved. The board unanimously agreed.
Excavation
The board agreed to continue discussion over the renewal of an excavation permit for a lot on North Shore Rd., after an abutter, John Crickett, brought his concerns to the board. The operation has been going on for the last 12 years, and comes to the board every two years for approval, according to Paul Gelinas, representative for the excavator.
Gun Shop
The board, with the help of Dwight Jones, the Selectmen’s representative, who also happens to own a gun shop in Wolfeboro, agreed to continue a hearing for an occupation permit of Raymond Gamble.
Gamble, who is building a home in New Durham, has owned a gun shop in Newton for the last 25 years. He came to the board to talk about obtaining a renewal for his license to sell firearms by the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Department of Justice) at his new address.
The board encouraged Gamble to apply for a continuance on his license until his house was complete, which Gamble said would be sometime in September. At that point, Gamble said, he hoped to open a small gun shop out of his home.
Other Business
The planners went through proposed revisions to regulations involving site plans and subdivisions, and sent the amended regulations to the Town Council for review. The board also announced that the public hearing on the proposed land use ordinance would be held in the library on Aug. 16, pending the availability of the library’s space.

Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes

2005-08-03T18:08:00.000-04:00

The Palmeiro story continues to fascinate. While I was at Courtney's in DC, I watched the testimony on C-SPAN, and the endless replays on ESPN and other networks. I believed Palmeiro then. To be quite frank, I didn't think that the testimony needed to happen. I saw what was going on as only political grandstanding, and frankly I would consider further efforts on the part of Congress to lecture Major League Baseball or the NBA on how to police themselves. Either make a law stating that the leagues have to abide by the World Anti-Doping Agency Regs, or don't do anything at all. Now, frankly I don't know what credibility Palmeiro still has, especially given how vociferously he refuted Canseco's charges in front of Congress, and the lameness of the excuse, if indeed he is lying, and especially given the way he's been portrayed before this, after 3,000th hit, as the sort of forgotten superstar of this era. What pisses me off more than anything, however, are two things. One, the number of commentators now saying that Jose Canseco is a credible source. There's nothing that says any of what Canseco said was true in the book, that Palmeiro, in fact, was lying to Congress in March. Jose Canseco is still the worst kind of person, with the worst kind of credibility imaginable, meaning, none. Second, because Palmeiro had an early slump, its no seemingly taken as gospel that steroids fueled his revival, which is the worst kind of bull. Baseball is a game of streaks and slumps, it doesn't mean everyone is taking 'roids. And there's no reason, that I can see, to look into perjury charges against Palmeiro.

The NBA trade is really quite weird to me. I think that Jerry Sloan just wanted to beat up on Greg Ostertag for a while before he leaves. I question if this trade makes the Heat truly better, too. Williams and Walker both need the ball, and frankly, in that offense, they shouldn't be getting it. I just see Antoine Walker ending up just camping out at the tree-point line taking ill-advised shots after Shaq passes to him out of the double. I see Jimmy Buffet being hit in the face several times by errant White Chocolate passes. I still believe the Pistons will make a big move for depth, they'll be fine. Its more important to make the right move, than just a move.

The thing about the new NHL, is that when they drop the puck October 5, not only will the game be different (with the lack of the red line) it will be the odd sight of all of these stars in new uniforms. Chris Pronger an Oiler, Peter Forsberg a Flyer (as is Derien Hatcher), and Darren McCarty will be a Flame. But, I suppose this will be something that's to be expected. Hopefully, by November these changes will have sunk in, but its also good to see that some things, like Steve Yzerman as a Wing, won't be changing.

Weekend of Wonder

2005-08-01T20:35:00.000-04:00

So, it was, suffice it to say, an interesting weekend. Starting last Thursday, things have, been, well, just a bit off.

Last Thursday, I had a rather, I guess, troubling confrontation with a potential story subject. We had agreed to meet at his home that day, except that well, he didn't remember it that way. I had joked with the Adams about feeling like I possibly might be staring down the barrel of a twelve gauge. I felt like I nearly was. So I turned around and went to the gym.

The next day, I trekked up to Meredith to see someone about my benefits. There are certain times, really, where you'd like to be someplace for a while. It takes me about 45-50 minutes to get to Meredith, to the home office. I was there, maybe, for ten. So it took me forever to get back. I went to the office to do the Real Report, so far everything is fine. I go to New Durham to take a picture. Everything still fine. I go to the airport...Not fine. I got stuck behind some farm equipment, slowed things up a bit. So I arrived at the airport a bit later than I expected. So late, in fact. That they didn't seat me on the plane. They put me on a later one, to Minneapolis. I really don't like going past the place I intended on going, I really do. I had a layover of about 2 hours. Then I boarded the flight to Detroit, from Minneapolis. It was late, like midnight, when I got in, and I was tired.

The next day, I wanted to go out to Albion to see Andy, before he leaves for his City Year, in San Jose, something I greatly admire him for, by the way. On the way out, in my dad's new car, that he just got from Tennessee, I had nice conversations with Andy and my folks. Then, just outside of Jackson, the car begins to rumble. Yes...one of the tires was punctured, and I had to change it, on the highway.

Anyway, I still got to see Andy, Steph, and Nick for lunch in Albion, which, despite a lack of fundamental Lopez-ness, was still good. I also hung out with them at Goodrich for a bit, before taking off for home, to see Robert in Into the Woods. I enjoyed it, though there was more students than last year, and fewer alumni, though Ms. K-M herself was in the show. I liked it a lot, and it was great, after the show, to talk to Jon Ophoff, Paul Van Slambrouk, Miss K-M and Rachel Gessert (who I hadn't seen since before I graduated high school), and who just came back from spending five years in Rome. She's going to be going to New York soon, for photography, and hopefully I'll see her when I go down there again.

Sunday, I saw the Shilander's as they came up to see the show, then went home to get ready for my flight. My grandmother drove me, and we listened to Sinatra and talked on the way in to the airport. When we arrived at the Terminal, I collected my things...Except my keys. So my grandmother drove back to the airport, though thankfully she hadn't gone far. So I got my keys back and got to the terminal, and the flight was delayed.

Eventually, I did get back to Manchester, and made the ride home. Unfortunately, beginning Friday, my TV had been on the fritz, so today, I bought a new one.

So that was the weekend. Tomorrow, I'll post more about the play, on Raffy, and some other stuff, but I just wanted to let you know about the weird.

Story time

2005-07-28T23:51:00.000-04:00

So yesterday, I went and joined the gym in town. For most of the day today, not surprisingly, I couldn't move my arms. Hopefully though, I'll use the financial investment to spur me to go as much as I can.

I also had my three month review today with Mary. Everything went really well, and she suggested a bunch of things to work on, so I will. Yup.

Here's the stories for the week:

New Durham Selectmen approve new roof
By Jim Shilander
STAFF WRITER
NEW DURHAM — While the New Durham Selectmen began the process of deciding who would soon join the now two-person board, the July 20 meeting also marked an important day for the New Durham Fire Department.
After receiving a new quote from a Wolfeboro roofing company, Fire Chief John Nicastro asked the board to give their approval to fix the current fire station’s roof. With the current roof not up to code, changes are necessary to avoid potential harm in the winter, Nicastro said. The new quote also covered an additional portion of the roof, which houses the kitchen area and other offices. Nicastro was concerned that if a new "slippery" roof was put on the main building, one should also be put on the additional structure as well.
While the quote went above the original $34,000 warrant article for the repair of the roof, Nicastro said that savings elsewhere in the department would be more than enough to make up the difference, which was less than $4,000. The board, after some debate about whether to include the kitchen structure in the plan, approved the roof for the entire building. Nicastro told the board that repairs would begin in September, according to the roofing company A&B Metals.
Town receives funds
The board accepted more than $10,000 in "assistance funds" related to January weather emergencies. The money, which was given to the town by the New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management/FEMA was distributed by the board into the highway department, which had incurred much of the financial burden of the event. Of the more than $10,800, nearly 75 percent of the funds would go to the purchase of salt for the upcoming season. Highway Department official Mike Clarke said that with recent increases in salt prices, the money would be put to good use.
Douglas Scruton Scholarship Update
A rather tense exchange between members of the board and a lawyer representing resident Cathy Orlowicz also took place at the meeting. Thomas Bickford, the attorney, said that Orlowicz "had been distraught" over what happened at the previous meeting, when there had been some question to the legalities related to the fundraising for the Douglas S. Scruton Memorial Scholarship (See story, A1). "There was absolutely no intention of wrongdoing," said Bickford. Chairman Ron Gehl said the board "wanted to investigate the ability of the board to accept the funds," only. "I want to make it very clear that we are in full support of Cathy Orlowicz (in her attempts to set up the scholarship)." Selectmen Dwight Jones said that he "had heard from others," about some potential problems, which caused him to seek a legal opinion on the matter. Orlowicz said that she had turned the trust over to the New Durham Police Relief Association.
Rte.11 "junkyard"
An update on legal proceedings with resident Erven Duncan (regarding his alleged junkyard) was provided. Police Chief Shawn Bernier said that Duncan refused his invitation to attend the meeting. Duncan has a large pile-up of objects in his yard. Currently, his lot does not meet the 1,000-foot setback required for a junkyard. Gehl said that the Board may consider an ordinance regulating the issue, if it remains unresolved. Gehl also said that he would be willing to meet with Duncan in early August, to discuss the matter further.
New Candidates
The Board also heard from the four candidates who submitted letters of interest to fill the seat on the Board vacated by the resignation of Dean Stimpson (see story, A2). Gehl said that he hoped to have a new member appointed at the Aug. 10 meeting.
The board made appointments for several site walks related to applications for development in the Copple Crown Village District. The board also acknowledged the contributions of New Durham Police Officer Reginald Meattey to the department, which included a letter from Bernier acknowledging some of Meattey’s important contributions in the past year.

By Adam Drapcho and Jim Shilander
STAFF WRITERS
NEW DURHAM — The Douglas S. Scruton Scholarship may finally have a home after weeks of twists and turns led to a controversy in New Durham. Cathy Orlowicz, who decided in May to work to put the scholarship together, has turned the trust over to the New Durham Police Relief Association, the non-profit arm of the police department.
There had been some controversy surrounding the issue after a newspaper report brought some questions to the minds of some in the community as to whether or not the proper fund-raising channels were being followed.
This came to a head at the July 6 Board of Selectmen meeting, where several attendees were confused about the legality of: whether or not the selectmen could accept the funds, and some questioned the legality of raising money in the name of the town before approval. They also questioned the appropriateness of Orlowicz allowing potential contributions be mailed to her home before the town accepted the scholarship.
The events of the July 6 meeting prompted an investigation into the legality of the issue by Selectman Dwight Jones, who asked Attorney Paul Sanderson, of the New Hampshire Local Government Center, to look into what the selectmen’s role in the process would be.
Orlowicz and her attorney, Thomas Bickford, appeared at the July 20 meeting to defend Orlowicz’s actions and to clear up what they saw as misconceptions.
According to Bickford and Orlowicz, they spoke with Terry Knowles, who is an official at the attorney general’s office and a former colleague of town administrator Bill Herman, about what would be needed to set up the trust before giving it to the town, in May, and then again following the July 6 meeting. Knowles said that their first conversation was essentially to set the ground rules for how to set up the scholarship, "The trustees need something in writing as to how the funds will be distributed," says Knowles. Bickford said that his job "was to draft the trust/scholarship." "My side of the nuts and bolts was to make sure that the language of the scholarship would not cause any problems with the Attorney General’s office."
At the July 20 meeting, Bickford and Orlowicz both expressed their belief that the whole issue had been "a misunderstanding," and Bickford said, "we both have tried to make sure the letter of the law is followed."
Knowles says, "what quite often happens is trustees can accept funds pending the acceptance of the trust by the town," as long as the trustees did nothing with the funds other than collect them. "Its not unusual for a donation to simply come in under the name of the town."
Sanderson’s opinion, which was given to The Baysider by Jones (with Sanderson’s permission), mostly lays out the regulation regarding how the selectmen should find out whether they have the authority to accept the scholarship.
But one section did say "That until the town has accepted the responsibility, the solicitation of funds should not mention the town…if there are checks made out to the Trustees of the Trust Funds, but there is no accepted trust fund at the town, the checks should probably be returned to the donors." Knowles disagreed with Sanderson’s take, however, saying that the funds could be collected "and if it’s [the trust] rejected [by the town] it can be returned to the donors."
Orlowicz and Bickford say that, in order to settle the situation, she has returned all donations which were mailed to her address in the name of the Trustees to the donors. Orlowicz said that she, "explained the situation, and told them I was going to take a different course of action." Orlowicz says that the New Durham Police Relief Association is already a non-profit organization and their mailings have "always been handled in that manner." At the July 20 meeting, Selectman Ron Gehl said that he "strongly encouraged people to contribute," to the scholarship fund.

New Durham Selectmen candidates bring different perspectives
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — After the resignation of Dean Stimpson, the New Durham Board of Selectmen, which must appoint someone to fill the now vacant seat until the election next March, opened the process to the town.
Applicants sent letters of interest to the board stating why they wanted to be the new Selectman, and laying out their qualifications, before the July 18 deadline.
Four candidates appeared at the July 20 board meeting to make their case: Brian Chasse, Linscott "Skip" Fadden, Cathy Orlowicz and Peter Rhoades. The Baysider spoke to each over the last week:
Brian Chasse
Chasse has been a resident of New Durham for four years. He owns his own business. He is also an alternate member of the Planning Board. Last spring, he finished second, behind new chairman, Ron Gehl, for a spot on the BOS. Now, he believes he has a strong case to be appointed.
"I came in a strong second place," says Chasse, who sees his showing in the election as proof that he would be a good fit on the board. At the July 20 meeting, Chasse presented selectmen with a petition signed by more than 100 residents, including Stimpson, the fire chief and the police chief. Chasse says, "(Those who are) on the petition should speak loudly that the people of New Durham want me on the board." Chasse says that he hopes to get more citizens involved if he is appointed. "Citizens don’t get enough information. They are extremely busy. As a town, we need to get more involvement in every board."
Linscott "Skip" Fadden
Fadden has served for five years on the Governor Wentworth Regional School Board, including time on several committees of that board. He is also a member of the Fire Station Committee. Fadden stressed a desire for greater openness at town hall as one of the reasons he applied. "We’ve seen a reluctance to provide materials at Town Hall," says Fadden, whose letter to the board states that he believes "that information that the community is entitled to by law should be easily retrievable, cheerfully rendered and timely provided to the citizen making the request."
Fadden also believes that there should be a return to tradition at meetings. As a former member of the military, Fadden says he believes in "tried and true traditions setting the tone for meetings."
"I would push to increase dignity in town government," says Fadden, who added that he would like to see meetings open with the Pledge of Allegiance. "A meeting that opens with respect has a better chance of ending with it," says Fadden.
Cathy Orlowicz
Orlowicz has served in many positions for the town of New Durham in the last 14 years. Currently, she serves as the town historian associate and as an alternate on the Planning Board. She has also been a member of the Budget Committee, a Cemetery Trustee and a Trustee for the Trust Funds. Orlowicz is also president of the Historical Society, is Chairperson of the Old Home Day Committee, and was race director for the Merrymeeting 5K road race.
"I would like to let people know that I have a lot of knowledge, skill and background, that could be useful to the board," says Orlowicz. "I don’t have an agenda and would like to help with control of the tax rate and the town’s growth." Orlowicz emphasized her oral and written communication skills in her letter and presentation to the board, as well as her willingness to get multiple perspectives within the town as a part of her decisions on issues before the board.
Peter Rhoades
Though a relative newcomer to New Durham politics, Rhoades has lived in New Durham for 15 years. While he has attended past Board meetings, he told the board at the July 20 meeting that he only recently decided to actively seek office, as he was also recently named as a representative to the VNA Board. Rhoades cites his business experience running a Hubbington’s outlet in Barrington, as well as his freshness in the town’s political scene as his best attributes. "A fresh voice could be very positive to New Durham," says Rhoades, "I’ll make unbiased decisions. There’s a lot of feeling in the town that there are decisions made based on who knows whom. The core of the town is changing, but the same people are often involved." While Rhoades readily admits to "not knowing all of "the players" well, he sees this as an asset. "The advantage of not being involved in any clique is that I can focus on the facts in making decisions," says Rhoades.

Dam parties reported rowdy and unsafe
By Jim Shilander
STAFF WRITER
BARNSTEAD —Village Dam Road residents appeared before the Barnstead Board of Selectmen regarding what they see as serious danger.
According to the residents, there are often wild parties going on in the area lasting well into the night, which often include underage drinking, dangerous activities around the dam, and lewd acts being performed.
Several residents said that they often had to pick up beer cases, seen numerous used condoms along area roads and near the dam, and also saw smoldering fires the day after one of these large gatherings, which the residents said were happening more and more in the summer months.
The residents also reported that when they confronted the mostly underage partiers, they had been belligerent toward. One resident, Dottie Sowards, said that she had seen one such partier "stark naked in the road," one night as she returned from work.
The Selectmen agreed to look into the incidents, but, because the area near the dam is a public swimming area, said that they could not limit access entirely.
They agreed to meet with the residents near the site before their next meeting, Aug. 2. Chairman Jack O’Neil went so far as to call the officer on duty to tell him to check in on the area that night, and said that he would inform the department of the problem, and ask that the area be patrolled more frequently until a course of action was decided upon by the selectmen.
The selectmen also approved the expenditure of donated funds for the town’s food pantry. O’Neil, who also oversees the pantry, said that donations had been down this year thus far, but that he hoped that additional donations would help keep the pantry stocked during the holidays.
Town Medical officer Tom Normandin also informed the board that he had been looking into incidents on Parade Road and Tamworth Trail, which might potentially cause a health risk. Normandin said that a Parade Road chicken farm was causing a dispute between neighbors there, and that a septic system on Tamworth Trail had failed, which might potentially cause damage to an area pond. O’Neil said that he had visited the area, and found an obvious odor in the air. The board agreed to draft a letter to the property owner asking him to pump the septic system until it was repaired.
The board also approved an "in-law mobile home" to be placed on the property of Paul Card, contingent on Card putting forth an approved septic design to handle the additional load, and on the removal of the home once Card’s parents no longer need it.

Alton Board makes quick work of July 25 meeting
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — The Alton Board of Selectmen made quick work of the July 25 public agenda, going through a dozen issues in just over 45 minutes.
The meeting opened with the board approving the receipt of funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for town expenditures incurred during a January 2005 snowfall. The amount, just over $14,500 would be given to the highway department to reimburse their budget. Town Administrator E. Russell Bailey said he also anticipated receiving more than $4,000 in state funds for the same incident.
False alarms serious
The board also approved revisions to the town’s 70-year-old false alarm ordinance. Under the new rules, security false alarms, answered by police, and false fire alarms would carry different fine structures.
A first incident would not result in fees to the owner of the system. However, fines would be levied for each additional incident. For security false alarms, a second incident would carry a $50 fine, a third, $100, and a fourth, $250. For false fire alarms the second incident would carry a $250 fine, a third $500, and a fourth, $750. The board also adopted rules tying enforcement of these rules to the judicial system.
Board Members Cris Blackstone and Alan Sherwood also cleared up some confusion about recent planning board meetings. Blackstone wanted to remind townspeople that she is Sherwood’s alternate on the planning board, and that they were not both sitting on the board at once. Selectman Pete Shibley also informed the board that activity related to the B&M Railroad Park was proceeding.
Haz waste program progressing
Alan Sherwood also announced that the participation of Alton in a hazardous waste material disposal program was up 60 percent.
Driveway regulations
The board also announced that they would be holding a public hearing at their next meeting regarding proposed new driveway regulations. Several Board members suggested that they anticipated getting a great deal of input on the issue, and that they may well wait to make a decision to consider the input from the meeting. Blackstone urged the board to proceed, "the sooner we can get to this, the more input we can receive (from other boards." Shibley noted, however, that he wanted to see some language in the regulation that would keep landowners from holding the town libel if they construct a long or dangerous driveway and police or fire departments had difficulty responding in an emergency situation. "It needs some really good teeth to it."
Blackstone added that landowners must remember that the "town itself is also the steward of the equipment an those who operate that equipment."
Okays for this and that
In addition, the board authorized the donation of the town’s old rescue vehicle to the Red Cross, as well as granted a Vendors permit to TAP Industries to sell camping and general merchandise near the Pavilion on Aug. 12. The Board also wanted to let people know about the town hall Open House, which will be attended by the various town departments on Aug. 13, from 9 to 11 a.m. Sherwood urged citizens to attend to "learn about town hall, and offer constructive criticism."
The Board also approved a request by the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center to allow parking on the publicly owned land between their sign and the Clam Shell, and also, in case of overflow, in the town parking lot, overnights between Aug. 3 and 8. The Conference Center will be hosting attendees of a Gunstock music festival, and the parking would be allowed between 10 p.m. and 9 a.m. The board stipulated, however that only after the unpaved area was full would people be allowed in the paved area, and that no over night camping or campers should be set up on the town’s property. The board also scheduled a public hearing on the subject of Kent Locke Circle for their next meeting, Aug. 8.

Turner names new daylily for wife
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — New Durham horticulturalist Les Turner has been hybridizing daylilies for years, and now does so for profit at his business on Old Rte. 11, Merrymeeting Daylilies, in New Durham. But some of his newer creations are special, not just because of the beauty of the flowers, but the significance of their names.
Les Turner’s newest creation is "Merrymeeting Mom," a pink and white blend named for his wife, Nathalie. The flower also features gold edging, and a ring around its center called a "halo."
Nathalie, who has worked as an art teacher in various schools since 1959, including in Farmington for 16 years, loves the new flower. "They’re just so beautiful," she says, "even more beautiful than orchids."
Nathalie also says that her teaching played an incredibly important part of her life, especially the area’s children. "They’re such great kids," said Turner.
Les’ hybrids have often included names of other members of his family: Merrymeeting Cathy (for the Turners’ eldest daughter) and Merrymeeting Kara (which Les says is named for two of the couple’s older grandchildren) will be joined soon by Merrymeeting Sophie, which will be a blend of white and pink, according to Turner, who named it after the couple’s newest granddaughter.
Les’ hybridization program includes working in two different states. While in Florida, for the winter, he plants the seeds for the flowers, which take two years to grow, and then transports them to New Hampshire. Les says he also uses his time in Florida to meet with hybridization specialists and perform other duties.
Les Turner will be offering a free daylily for any three-time visitor to his gardens on Old Rte. 11.
Turner also says he will be initiating a donation program for non-profit organizations. Turner says that if a member of an organization wishes to purchase a daylily, he will donate money to their organization.

Mirror Lake faces the future on water quality
By Jim Shilander
STAFF WRITER
MIRROR LAKE — While many of their members were still without power from the severe storms the night before, the July 23 morning meeting of the Mirror Lake Protective Association still dealt with the issues facing the lake, and those who own property around it.
The gathering was welcomed by President Bob Nussbaum, and then discussed how members of the community could help monitor conditions in the lake.
Resident Al McKersie, who had been one of the primary testers of the water, explained how he and other volunteers had gone about testing the lake for such things as clarity and alkalinity.
McKersie also relayed that a report based on the test results had been prepared at UNH (for the testing in 2004) indicated that while there was "high water transparency," a "low algae count," and a "low phosphorous count," Mirror Lake was considered "transitional" – slowly moving from pristine to eutrophic.
Dusty Davies also updated association members on the current status of the property near Libby Park. With the town of Wolfeboro petitioning in court to be withdrawn as a trustee, the beneficiaries of the Libby parcel (including those who bought the property from the original beneficiaries) now must decide what to do with the land, especially since the town of Tuftonboro has begun to levy taxes on it. The beneficiaries were to meet after the meeting to decide on what action to take.

What would Winni speed mean for Mirror Lake
Jared Teupsch, the Environmental Policy Director, addressed his concern, as did several members of the crowd, that a speed limit on Lake Winnipesaukee might well push power boaters to neighboring, non-limited lakes, which might include Mirror Lake.
He also said that several New Hampshire lakes had had exotic plant species found on propellers, and that those on Mirror Lake also needed to be watchful. Teupsch also said that potential runoff from the Wolfeboro water treatment plant was "not an issue" to worry about, according to DES. He also suggested that, in order to prevent future leeching of septic systems into the lake, homes near the lake could form a "water district," where they would hook into a sewer system, as opposed to having separate septic systems. Teupsch also explained some of the various rules involving boat ramps, especially those built before current regulations were put in.
Tuftonboro Selectman Bill Stockman also attended the meeting, and informed the association of some recent run-in’s between the town and the DES, including questions about construction on 19 Mile Bay, as well as answering questions regarding the status of the Libby Trust.
Also discussed…
Association members pointed out that young children might be swimming in the water too close to boat launches at one of the lake’s two ramps. There was also concern about cars and trucks driving in the shallow boat launch area.
The association also voted to increase its annual dues, from $15 to $25 for a yearly membership, and from $25 to $50 for sustaining members. The need, Davies said, came from concerns about the association needing to be proactive in case of future legal questions or milfoil infestation

Trying...

2005-07-25T23:40:00.000-04:00

There are certain days, where frankly, its hard to do anything. Today was one of those days. I just had a very difficult time getting started on stories today, though I eventually was able to get something done. The weird thing is, a year ago, this kind of day might have been a week. At OCC, unless I had a specific task that needed doing, chances are I was just sort of zoned out. And unless I had class, I really had no reason to snap out of it. And in college, even if you're zoned out, there's classes you can still attend, and hell, maybe still learn something in, if you are even kind of paying attention. Now I do need to snap out of these funky feelings, as I get paid to write these articles. Eventually, the feeling left me today, but I guess it's part of growing up to get these sorts of days to a minimum.

Its also funny how doing some things skews your views. Today, I attended an Alton Board of Selectmen meeting. Now, because Adam usually covers these meetings, and because Alton is a bigger town, I have had less experience with this board then the others. But somehow, they managed to finish their meeting tonight, which had a fairly extensive agenda, in about 45 minutes. So I got a very nice break, in terms of having more of an evening than I expected.

I want to say something about the return of the NHL. Because of my upbringing, because my grandfather was a union man, I tend to side with the player's in labor disputes. But they got crushed in this deal. Now, this may turn out to be better for the game in the long run, though. Sidney Crosby is coming into the game, perhaps to save hockey in Pittsburgh. And now, the owners don't have the excuse that they'll be poor. This also might just guarantee that the smaller Canadian teams, Edmonton, Ottawa and Calgary, stay in Canada. It will take a while for hockey to get back to where it was, but frankly, this whole idea of it being irrelevant is more a product of conventional wisdom than fact. If hockey were being played, it would be a factor in people's minds, because it wasn't hockey was mocked. It'll be important again, and now, with NBC getting both the Olympics and the league, there will be lots of great stories to catch the imagination of people.

Miracle of Evolution

2005-07-23T21:46:00.000-04:00

As a part of my Amazon bounty that I received for my birthday, I received the 30th Anniversary edition of a little film called JAWS. Now, the first time I saw the movie, I couldn't;t have been more than 5 or 6. We bought the movie from a local electronic store that was going out of business and was selling all of their Betamax tapes. Now, as a young child, I really didn't understand a lot of the things that were going on (something I'm sure my parents were counting on when they let me watch the movie). Now, viewing it, with my wealth of experience (cough), I feel better in understanding a bit more about the film.

There are probably a lot of people who might consider Jaws to be fluff, mainly because of the number of sequels and the way the movie has been parodied. I don't. Everytime I see it, I feel like I'm uncovering another layer, or that I have some new thought about what the actions of certain characters. Is also amazing when you realize that so much of what makes the movie great is the fact that the people who designed the shark were idiots and didn't think that they'd be putting it in salt water.

The first thing that changed when I see it as an adult (cough) is the opening title scene. There's not as much as there seemed to be, but the John Williams music still makes things terrifying. Then, of course, when you now understand just Chrissie Watkins and Tom Cassidy are running out to do, or would end up doing, is he didn't pass out, and she didn't, you know, die.

Now that I'm in New England, I understand a bit more about some of Amity's issues. First, since I'm in a summer town, and see how important "summer dollars" are, Mayor Vaughn is a lot more believable. In a lot of ways, Amity and Wolfeboro are exactly alike. Except one is an island, in the ocean, in Massachusetts and has several people killed by a shark. The character that I really hate now is Ben Meadows. He's the editor of the newspaper in the town. One of the things that Mary has emphasized to us is that while we cover the towns we cover, we aren't there to necessarily make friends either. We cover it as news in the stories we cover. We aren't the town's PR agency. In Amity, that's what the paper is. Ben Meadows is essentially the mayor's flunky. He argues with Brody, trying to tell him that a shark couldn't have killed Chrissy, that no such shark had ever been in those waters. Worst of all, in a town of Amity's size, he says that he is going to bury the story about Alex Kitner being eaten by a shark in front of dozens of onlookers which caused a panic on the beach, in the back pages of the paper.

Popular culture history tells us that the first time we see the shark is when Brody is chumming. This isn't true. When the shark goes into the estuary, it attacks the scoutmaster, and the attack puts the Brody's son into shock. When the scoutmaster's rowboat overturns, we see the shark going for his leg, then we see blood, then we see the leg falling to the ground (though my guess is that it's the other leg, that the shark wasn't going for. By the way, the forgotten heroine of the film is the hippie-chick artist who's painting on the other side of the estuary. After the fake shark attack perpetrated by the two teenage boys, all of the shark spotters are busy. She's the one who prevents Michael Brody and his friends from being lunch, by warning everyone where the shark is.

Obviously, of all of the human characters, Quint is the most fascinating (maybe because Robert Shaw was blitzed out of his gourd for most of the shoot). Everyone remembers the nails on the chalkboard, the first time we see him. When we hear that first monologue, we know this is a force of nature. After the estuary attack, you can watch Brody and Hooper basically shrink in his presence. You see that tension between Hooper and Quint, the fisherman and the intellectual, between experience and intelligence.

I've come to believe that what Quint is is essentially a man suffering from survivor's remorse. Everything that he went through, all the friends he saw taken when the Indianapolis went down, and he said he was most frightened when he was waiting for the plane to pick him up. He makes a point of saying that the Indianapolis never made a distress call, then he destroys the radio later on, before Brody can make such a call. If he's not trying to prove his own manhood, I don't know what he's doing.

The performance I enjoy most, though, is Richard Dreyfuss. Roy Scheider is a great everyman. But I find Matt Hooper to be incredibly entertaining and fun. Especially the "I think that you are going to ignore this particular problem, until it swims up behind you and bites you in the ass," scene. For obvious reasons.

This endeth the lesson.

Oh, one more thing, Jude Law, nice work. Very nicely done with the whole pissing off Siena Miller thing

Story time- again

2005-07-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when I don't post them on time, but here you go, this week's efforts:

Worst-selling author talks about his book, miserable sales
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
Dr. Daniel Kamen of Buffalo Grove, Ill. has what some might consider an unusual job. He also has what some might consider a pretty unenviable title.
Kamen is the author of four books. Three, (‘The Well Adjusted Horse," "The Well Adjusted Dog," and "The Well Adjusted Cat") are essentially his guides as a practicing animal chiropractor. The fourth, and the one that earned him his rather unenviable title, is called "Sam Donaldson’s Toupee…and other Material Off the Top of My Head." Kamen’s book, which is essentially 340 pages of the Doctor’s thoughts on various subjects and experiences, is the worst selling book in the history of Amazon.com.
Kamen says that his book has sold, one, just one copy on the Internet bookstore. "One day I received a check for $6.30 from Amazon for the sale off the book, but at least I sold one book to qualify." Kamen says that he has sold several of the books while at seminars he conducts on horse chiropractics, but that much of the first printing of the book (250 copies) were given away to friends or sent to members of the media. "I’ve sent books to all the networks including ABC (Donaldson’s former employer), The Late Show with David Letterman, Jay Leno, Imus in the Morning, Howard Stern, just anybody, trying to get some publicity. It’s just a miserable seller right now."
Kamen also said he sent copies to Donaldson (who currently hosts a show on ABC Radio) as well, hoping to get a reaction, any reaction, that might generate some publicity for the book. "I kind of hoped he would sue me," says Kamen.
The title of the book comes from what Kamen sees as an interesting question about Donaldson. "It struck me that a guy with that fame and resources could look like that? Its just such an obvious toupee, why would he hold himself up to ridicule like that?" The Donaldson chapters though, are only a small part of the book, which consists of more than 100 chapters of Kamen simply writing about whatever he wanted to write about, regardless of time or where he was, "Its really just a bunch of random things that happen," says the author.
In addition to sending the book out to media members, Kamen has also tried to find other ways to generate publicity for his tome. His web site is running a "Worst Toupee in the USA Contest." But, Kamen says, some of the rules of the contest are perhaps limiting the number of entries. "It has to be a photo of your own toupee," Kamen says, "and the money (the $2,000 first prize) will go to the person with the toupee." Second prize in the contest is a rug shampooer "a pretty good one," according to Kamen. Third place winners will receive "Mr. Potato Head" dolls. Currently, there are no entrants. "I had one guy who submitted (a photo) and then told me to forget it."
According to Kamen, much of the book was written while traveling to and from the seminars he attends (about 40 to 45 per year). He describes the book as something he had wanted to work on. "Everyone else would like to write a book about the things that have happened to them. I wrote it, really, just the way I thought." He does say, that despite the books poor sales, "I do take pride in it. When people try to overwrite, they’ll lose me immediately. It’s like looking at a very busy oil painting and not knowing what’s going on. I just want to see a picture."
Kamen does say that his kids "are kind of embarrassed by the book," which might be the result of some of the more colorful chapters that might detail Kamen’s bathroom habits or encounters with some "unique" individuals.
Past books have also gotten Kamen into weird situations. His book on cats, which he says has not sold as well as his other to chiropractic books, accidentally featured his home phone number, as a result of a mistake by his Brookline, Mass. publisher. "A woman called me with her cat in her lap, and I heard this blood curdling scream of the cat (as the woman tried to adjust its back), it sounded like she was trying to kill her cat.
Kamen didn’t initially study to be an animal chiropractor, certainly not write books that might cause harm, in the wrong hands, to the domesticated feline.
He became a licensed chiropractor, for humans, in June of 1981. He opened his own practice in September of that year. However, a call he received the next month, from one of his first clients changed his career path. "A human patient of mine wanted me to adjust a thoroughbred race horse she had at Arlington Park Raceway (a racetrack outside of Chicago)." After adjusting the equine, Kamen had a new career.

Tent and teepee raised on Route 28 lead to Locke Farm
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
BARNSTEAD — If you’ve traveled through Barnstead recently, along Rte. 28, you probably have noticed the tent and teepee set up along the road. Many have wondered exactly what these are there for. The answer is surprisingly simple.
Terry Locke and her husband Nathan own Locke farm, which sits on North Barnstead Rd. The Lockes set up the tents as a farm stand along Rte. 28, Terry Locke says, "because it’s incredible how many people don’t know we’re here." The farm, which was purchased by the Locke family in 1921, is in the midst of its 85th growing season this year. The stand is there to help sell the early fruits of this year’s crops, including flowers, tomatoes, summer squash, peas, broccoli, cucumber and peppers, according to Locke, "We’ve been farming for five months already."
Locke says that the intersection of North Barnstead and Rte. 28 is "very dangerous," and because of that, few people realize that the farm is operating, and selling its goods. "We’re exceeding our goal (for sales) just by being down there," Locke says of the stand, which features a teepee and a large tent. "Two of my regular customers are stopping by (per day) to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ but we’re getting eight to ten new customers a day (at the farm.)"
The structures are there for both decorative and practical purposes, according to Locke. The purpose of the tent, she says, "was to cool off the area for the seller," and the teepee structure was placed there for the same purpose, as well as to attract attention to the farm. Locke says that often, while planting or working, she and other members of her family will find farming tools and other implements, which she has had verified as being used by Native Americans. Thus, she planned to use a "Native American theme" to the farm.
While she understands that the display might be a little different from other stands along Rte. 28, Locke says, "People should pay attention to the road, not the stand. The whole idea was for a non-taxable structure (along the road), because it is non-permanent."
Locke also points out that the structure uses no electricity, and in fact uses no nails at all. Putting up the tent and teepee required neither, she said, "I had the trees, and I had the material." She hopes to replace them with a simple sign pointing to Locke Farm, once more people are familiar with the location.
The farm itself is a hub of activity, with a diverse selection of food and flowers being grown.
"We grow things big here," says Locke, "Last year, we had a watermelon which weighed 25 pounds." Several different means of growth are used by the Lockes, including natural stakings and hydroponics, along with close control over the feed the plants receive.
The Locke’s are also trying to find other ways to raise their funds. While digging through a chest, Terry Locke discovered a violin, which she believes to be an original Strativarius. She has had discussions with auction houses and other outlets, and is also looking to authenticate the violin.
For the last few years, Locke has also been growing a flag-like area she calls "Stars and Stripes," composed of a variety of items. "I tried it with flowers, but I never could get enough," says Locke. This year, she is attempting the feat with various lettuces, along with kale, collards, and other greens.
While Locke did say she received a complaint from a member of the Lakota tribe about the Native American figure and teepee she had displayed, she says she is trying to do what she can to save the farm.
No complaints about the structure had been made to Town Hall, according to Selectman Gordon Preston (who also lives on North Barnstead Rd.) and town office personnel.

Recess just got better- Barnstead Elementary has new playground
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
BARNSTEAD — Parents, teachers, students and community volunteers all joined together July 15 and 16 at Barnstead Elementary School for a common goal, to build a new playground at the school.
Parent Lisa Goodwin, who chaired the Playground Committee of the PTA, and helped coordinate the volunteer activities, described the old playground as "old, tired and worn." The PTA had looked at various options to replace the 19-year-old playground and settled on a model featuring mostly steel and plastic offered by Dr. Play of Salem.
While the old playground had been cleared (with the exceptions of a swing set, basketball hoop, jungle gym and slide) prior to the arrival of the new equipment, it took more than one day to totally put together the new playground.
Volunteers spent last Friday unwrapping and doing "pre-assembly work" and prepared for a long day the next day. Speaking on July 15, Goodwin said that volunteers would be at the school the next day "From eight o’clock until whenever we finish.
The group, however, was finished and enjoying lunch by 1 p.m Sunday, hot sun and all.
The assembly of all of the pieces took far less time than she, and many other volunteers, had anticipated.
The playground features new variations on some classic playground staples, such as a slide, which allows three students to ride at once. Modern equipment includes climbing wall stations, at all heights, throughout the playground.
Russ Packard of Dr. Play, who supervised the assembly, said that the Barnstead volunteers were "the best crew we’ve ever had." He also said that the new structure would "last decades," because of its materials. The only thing students had to wait for now, Dr. Play’s Packard said, was for the concrete to dry. (Concrete holds much of the structures in place)
While Goodwin and her volunteers sipped lemonade and gathered for a group picture as they neared the finishing touches on the playground, children ran around the new structures. Goodwin’s goal to replace the old playground with this new one certainly seemed to be realized in the faces of the children. "Everything is brand new," she said.

Area schools get both good and bad news in new funding bill.
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
The recently passed changes to state education funding delivered both good and bad news throughout the area.
Donna Clairmont, the Business Manager of SAU 51, which contains schools in Barnstead and Pittsfield, says that Barnstead managed to both gain and lose from the new bill. While the district had initially feared losing as much as $600,000 in funding, Clairmont says that next year, the district will have an increase in funding of around $200,000. However, this is less than what the increase would have been under the previous system, which the school board used in figuring the budget for the next year.
The district would have received $2,487,337 under the old law; the new law will provide the district $2,298,450, according to Clairmont. "It’s a mistake to say we’ll be receiving more, compared to last year – they are, but less than anticipated. (The district has) suffered a loss." She said this would become a burden on the Barnstead taxpayer.
Other area town received better news. Alton will no longer be a donor town after this year, says Russell Bailey, the Town Administrator. "Alton will send money (to the state) in the fall, but the following year would lose donor status."
Jack Robertson, of the Governor Wentworth Regional School District, said the district "as a whole, does better than under the old plan." Robertson indicated the positive impact would come to $1,961,205. One of the great positives for the district, said Robertson, was that both Wolfeboro and Tuftonboro would be losing their status as donor towns. Of the towns in the district, said Roberton, only two, Brookfield and New Durham, lose funding.
New Durham Town Administrator William Herman says, "There is nothing the town can do," about the decrease in funds, which come to $84,274, according to Robertson, "It’s a school district issue." "The SAU budget is the driver, they’ll just need to shift the budget," says Herman, who says that under the old plan, New Durham’s funding would have increased.
While there are efforts in the state, especially among southern tier cities like Londonderry, to fight the new rules in court, it is unclear at this time whether any of the districts in the area would be joining those towns in the legal battle. Certainly none of the districts benefiting from the new rules will be doing so, and it might be difficult for some of the smaller districts that might be losing money to afford the cost of any additional legal fight.

State Special Ed team gives BES a thumbs up

By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
BARNSTEAD — A state team looking at Barnstead’s special education efforts gave the School Board very positive feedback. While Interim Principal Michael Tocci was unable to deliver the report, Anna Williams, director of pupil services, said that the team was pleased overall. She said, however, that there were additional efforts that could be made to aid students. The primary concern of the team was giving pre-kindergarten special education students more opportunity to interact with their peers.
Top of the lot for kindergarten
Williams also told the board that a finalist for the vacant kindergarten teaching position is going to be interviewed by Superintendent Owen Conway shortly. Williams said that she had "never seen so many applications to this district" – 60 were received for this kindergarten spot.
Another position, middle school, language arts, had also received much more response than had typically been found in the past.
Asbestos in the wing
Business manager Donna Clairmont said that while asbestos had been discovered in one of the school wings, an asbestos abatement would be required to fix the problem.
She said that the Space Needs Committee should first look at their goals, and perhaps add asbestos removal to the list, before any abatement.
AC and other equipment
The board authorized $4,800 for a portable air conditioner to meet the special environmental needs of a student currently attending summer school. The board also accepted a bid for additional kitchen equipment, including a new freezer, refrigerator, range and icemaker. The cost of the new equipment, including installation and other costs, still came under the $25,000 warrant article by more than $1,000.
The building’s engineer was authorized to deal directly with the company that recently worked on the school’s boiler, to see what costs might be incurred with the installation of new heating equipment in the C-wing of the school. The boiler was classified by the engineer as "old, undersized, or simply not working." In authorizing this, the board hoped to have potential work on the system be done before the start of "the heating season."
In other news
Williams said that the school would be relocating the alternative program to the video lab, as well as announcing that new staff orientation would be held in August.
She also delivered good financial news, saying that several students were being brought back to the district from out of district placement, or from foster care liabilities. This leaves the district with only three out of district placements, as well as two students attending alternative schools outside the district.
The board approved new language allowing certain support staff to receive dental insurance, as well as a wider range of choices of health plans, and they approved language encouraging students to get daily physical activity.
The board’s next meeting will be taking place Aug. 19. Among the topics will be board goals, information on state standards as well as potential approval of the contracts for new teachers.

Local talent fuels Rochester Opera House’s opening
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
New Durham and Wakefield provide much of the talent in the opening play of the Rochester Opera House’s summer season.
"The Foreigner," by Larry Shue, is directed by New Durham resident Cathy Allyn, stars David Durham, also of New Durham, and Tounger Robbins of Wakefield. Anthony Ejarque, the producer of the play also has area ties, according to Allyn. "He owns a cabin on Merrymeeting Lake. He also got his start at Dot’s Lunch, where the new Johnson’s restaurant is."
Allyn describes the play as "a comedy with something to say about prejudice." The action of the play involves a man staying at a resort who must assume the identity of a foreigner in order to continue his stay. He must invent customs and other affectations in order to keep the ruse up along the way.
Durham has been a true veteran of stages throughout the area, including the Merry Meeting Merrymakers, the Hackmatack Playhouse and the Mill Pond theatre. He also performs in Murder Mysteries at the Governor’s Inn. Robbins, however, is a young actor with big dreams.
Since getting his start as "Rocky" in a seventh grade production of "Damn Yankees" in Wakefield, Robbins has spent much of his time acting, participating in summer theatre productions throughout New England. While he is just about to enter his senior year of high school at Spaulding High in Rochester, Robbins hopes to continue acting on much bigger stages.
"After I graduate next year, I’ll be moving to Los Angeles (to make it as an actor)." He describes his part in "The Foreigner," Ellard Simms, one of younger characters in the play, as "quite the character. A little slow, but he’s fun. A good kid."
The play opens July 20 and runs until July 30. Shows are Wednesdays through Saturdays. The Wednesday show begins at 7 p.m., all other nights begin at 8.pm. Allyn says that she considers the Opera House to be "the least expensive of all summer theatre in the area," adding that newly installed air conditioning makes the experience much more pleasurable.

It's On

2005-07-19T22:36:00.000-04:00

So, we finally have the nominee. To me, John Roberts seems to be much more like Anthony Kennedy than Antonin Scalia. Say what you will about Kennedy, he is more conservative than O'Connor was, but he also is loathe to overturn Supreme Court precedent, like, for example, Roe. Do I think that this is a good nomination, no I do not. But he's not Bork either, he doesn't have that kind of history with regards to insane political views and statements. What we might have is a surprise down the line, but I doubt it. I think that we likely will see a confirmation, but it might get really interesting if we get some incredibly unexpected happening, like, oh yeah, Anita Hill.

Not surprisingly, the AL East is kind of an obsession here. With their win tonight, along with the Yankees losing in Texas, the Red Sox now are atop the division again. Every game from now on, every move, like the ones the Sox made tonight, getting Adam Hydzu, designating Alan Embree and training for Tony Graffanino. Really, it shouldn't be this way, at least until the end of August, after the waiver deadline, because by then we know what needs to be done in the stretch by each team. Both teams will make moves, because this is what they do, and now the Orioles will have to respond with something, just to show that they are trying to be competitive.

I am actually pleased right now with where the Tigers are now, two games under. Considering they haven't had Magglio Ordonez for the majority of the year, along with big chunks without Carlos Guillen, and virtually no production from first base when Carlos Pena was there. With Bonderman pitching very well, and the knowledge Justin Verlander will be up in September, the hope for the future is no very real.

Here would be my picks, right now for the MVP and Cy Young races: Now understand, I tend to take the hockey view of MVP, meaning "Player Most Valuable to His Team" as opposed to simply the best player.

AL MVP:
Under my criteria, I could say Javy Lopez of the Orioles, since they went in the tank for a while after he went out, but I'm going to say Miguel Tejada. He's the best leader in the sport, and along with Vlad Guererro, he's more than capable of single-handedly carrying his team. And he's had too. Lopez was hurt, Sammy Sosa is not Sammy anymore, and Raffy is near the end of his career. By the way, Rafael Palmeiro going for 3,000 and 500 plus HR's is automatic Hall of Fame. I don't care for the argument that people like Skip Bayless make, that he would be in "The Hall of Very Good" and not the Hall of Fame. Is he the flashiest guy in the world, no he isn't , but the numbers have to speak for themselves in this case. And I hate it when writers make the argument that "so and so only finished in the top ___ of the MVP voting this many times," and then not put out the fact its the writers who vote for the MVP, and also put people in the Hall. If a guy, like Palmeiro, flies under the radar, he'll always fly under the radar with them, don't hold that against him. When Palmeiro came out of Mississippi State, he was overshadowed by Will Clark. When he went to Texas and his first contract was up, after being overshadowed by Pudge and Igor Gonzalez and Canseco, the Rangers thought they would upgrade by bringing in, you guessed it, Will Clark. Palmeiro signed with the Orioles, where he was over shadowed by Cal, despite being a better player than Cal for nearly all of their time together on the team. Then it was back to Texas, to be overshadowed by A-Rod, now Baltimore again, and Tejada. Just because he's played with the greats and those who attract media attention, doesn't detract from his own greatness.

AL Cy Young: Mark Beuhrle - No one dictates a game to his pace like Beuhrle, and no one is as efficient. Plus, I'm not totally buying Jon Garland yet.

NL MVP: To me, this is easy, for the reason of the hockey criteria. Derek Lee has carried the Cubs on his back and kept them with in sight of the playoffs. There isn't the kind of production coming from the rest of the lineup they thought they'd get, so whatever they do get is based on Lee. Albert Pujols, as great as he is, plays on a team with an All-Star player at every single position.

NL Cy Young- This is where I make Kaiman happy. Last year, when Randy Johnson pitched brilliantly but didn't win a ton, showed that record is important, so take out Roger Clemens. I sense we're going to get another second-half fade from Dontrelle Willis. As much as I love the Nationals, they only give the Cy Young to closers who are just dominating, and Chad Cordero doesn't have the track record other such closers do. So the award goes to Chris Carpenter, who's been the anchor of the Cardinal staff which needed time to give Mark Mulder his bearings. Carpenter has been absolutely brilliant, while totally flying under the radar.

Stories

2005-07-18T22:20:00.000-04:00

So today was an interesting one at work. Last week, Mary gave me a story from the AP, about an author in Buffalo Grove (and yes, John, that's Illinois) who had writtn a book which was the worst selling book in the history of Amazon (he has sold one, that's O-N-E copy of said book). Well, I interviewed him today, but I'll save that for when the story comes out to talk about it more. I have some thoughts on baseball and other things, but this is going to be a long post, so I'll save them for tomorrow. The stories from two weeks ago are the final five, the one's before them are from last week (John, you might recognize the events of the first story):

Board begins process of replacing Stimpson
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — While the New Durham Board of Selectmen was down to only two members following the resignation of Chairman Dean Stimpson, the board continued the business that was scheduled for the week as well as clarified the process to replace Stimpson.
Selectman Ron Gehl said at the meeting that he wished to have "an open process, open to every registered voter in the town." Currently the board is looking for letters of intent addressed to the board from candidates, including information to inform the board about their experience. Selectman Dwight Jones said that currently "the law says the selectmen must appoint (a replacement)," and that the position has to be open to all citizens, and not just turned over to the second place finisher in the last election. Those involved in the last election could be a part of the process as well, however. The application process will be closed July 18.
Citing a heavy summer workload, Jones, the longest serving of the current selectmen, said that he would be unable to fulfill the duties of chairman at the present time. Those duties then fell to Gehl, who said, "against my better judgment, I accept." Gehl was given the post for a six-month period ending in December. The board then offered tributes and words about Stimpson, Gehl saying the board "will miss his experience and perspective."
Jones said later that he had talked to Stimpson about his situation earlier. "He had been thinking about it. I asked him to stay on. If he needs the rest, he needs the rest."
Other business
The board agreed to look at the access to the solid waste facility after concerns were raised that the gates might need to be widened to accommodate more traffic. Road Agent Mark Fuller and the board agreed to look at the area and find possible solutions.
Three applications for building permits in the Copple Crown Village District were reviewed; this is an area that has seen a large number of such applications recently. The board conditionally approved one of the applications; the applicant, Peter Cempellin, would be required to make improvements to the drainage in the area. The board also decided to look further at the two other applications, and did not give approval yet.
The board was also presented with a report from Ed Niester, who had solicited bids for roof repairs to the fire station as part of the Fire Station Task Force. Niester reported that the current surface of the roof and the current trust system would need extensive repairs to meet new code requirements.
"The current trust system is in danger of twisting," he said. He did say however, that if significant improvements were made to the roof system, the fire station roof could be brought up to code and be fit for other uses after the department moves into the new station in the coming years.
Niester described the replacement of the roof’s surface as "critical," citing the need for a slick surface, which would keep snow from settling on the roof. Bids had been solicited from roofing firms in the area, and three responded.
Fire Chief John Nicastro said that the roof repair was a part of this year’s budget. The board agreed to look at the bids and act on recommendations quickly, in order to start work this year.
The board also agreed to a new policy regarding the taping of town meetings. The regulation, which was on its fourth draft, required certain town meetings to be taped for broadcast on Wolfeboro Community TV, and also allowed for every posted meeting to be taped for broadcast. A controversial provision allowed for community groups to use the equipment to tape their events as well.
Town resident (and Planning Board alternate) Cathy Orlowicz was concerned that the camera might be damaged at such an event and that the town might need to replace the camera, and also that the town’s equipment might be being used in improper ways. The board adopted the policy, with the provision that it be looked at again, particularly the Community Use section, in six months.
PD ahead of gas prediction
Police Chief Shawn Bernier reported that the town’s officers were currently ahead of projected gas consumption rates. He also reported that the K-9 unit performed well at a competition for dogs across the east coast (see story page A2, photograph, A1), and there had been an attack in the town by a rabid fox on a friend of a town resident (see story page A1).
License dog or forfeit
The chief also encouraged town residents to come to the town offices to have their dogs licensed, as over 100 civil forfeiture notices had been sent out with officers for unlicensed dogs.
Yard junk could cause dam problem
Fuller and Bernier also reported there were serious problems with residents having junk in their yards on Main St. and Rte. 11. Fuller said the problem on Main St. was so bad that in posed problems for service of the towns dam by the Highway Department. Solutions for both areas are currently being looked at by the Police, with varying degrees of cooperation by the homeowners involved, said Bernier.

Rabid fox attacks in New Durham
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — Jean Malay says that her husband Bill’s niece was simply trying to play with her 10-week-old puppy on July 2, when she sat down in the family’s hammock.
Soon after sitting down, however, the young woman’s ankle was attacked by a fox, which had come darting out of the woods. As she yelled in pain, Bill Malay and his son, as well as the woman’s husband, came running out of the house to see what was wrong. "She had the fox by neck," said Malay, "she was trying to get it off." Malay said that the two men were eventually able to get the fox off of the woman, but only after it had left deep lacerations from the bite (the young puppy was unharmed).
As the woman’s husband took her to the hospital, Bill Malay and his son tended to the fox, said Jean Malay. "They put it in a box in the boat house and covered it up," she says. "I called 911 to get someone to get the fox." The New Durham Police responded, said Malay, "and they called animal control."
The fox was placed in one of the kennels next to the New Durham Police station on Saturday night, according to Malay. She said she was told that animal control would be coming soon to pick up the animal and have it tested for rabies.
No one came to pick up the fox until Tuesday, however.
Sgt. Jim Juneau of the Fish and Game Department said that this was the result of closures of offices for the long holiday weekend. When officers arrived to pick up the fox Tuesday, July 5, it had died.
Juneau says that despite the animal’s death, it could be given an "expedited testing process" to check if it was rabid. The testing proved positive for rabies.
Jean Malay says she received the news the fox was rabid on Wednesday, which prompted other members of the family to get their own rabies shots (the niece had her shots given at the hospital right away).
Jean Milay said that "everyone is okay," now. The victim is now back in Maryland and resting. Jean Malay did say, however, that she was keeping a closer eye on her cat.
Malay said that the fox had porcupine quills in its mouth when the attacked occurred, as well as having quills in its face, and had apparently been sprayed by a skunk. Juneau agreed with the Malays that these were signs that the fox might have been rabid. "For wild animals, that’s generally atypical. It (that contact with such other animals) typically would be a sign that this is a rabid animal."
Juneau said that the fox attack marked the seventh confirmed case of rabies in an animal so far this year. At this time last year, there were 10 confirmed cases.
He said, however, that such a number only reflects cases where the animal had been tested after coming into contact with humans or domesticated animals. Juneau said that so far, a skunk, a bat, the fox and several raccoons had tested positive for rabies all around the state.
Juneau recommends that if anyone had reason to believe that their domesticated animal had been in contact with a wild one, they should take precautions, especially to protect their eyes and skin. "People need to protect themselves first," in such situations, Juneau says.

Maple Street, driveway or parkway?
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
BARNSTEAD — Tuesday’s public hearing on a Maple St. parking ordinance drew the most heated discussion of the night at the selectmen’s meeting. Should there be parking allowed on either side of much of Maple Street?
John and Deb Milano, who will soon be opening their Whistle Stop Café near the end of the street, said that the very few spots available near their restaurant might limit their business.
Other residents of Maple St. spoke up both for and against the proposed ordinance. Jean Terry remarked that very often, fire trucks cannot get through the street and that she often has to back up on the road given how narrow it gets. Longtime Maple St. resident Arthur Gross (who said he has been living on the street since the 40’s) asked the selectmen for an explanation as to why the effort to put forth the ordinance was being made now, especially since there were few problems in years past.
Selectman Jack O’Neil said that town residents had brought the issue before the Planning Board and BOS. He also said that there was a general concern about the ability for emergency vehicles to operate in the area. He added that the street as a whole would not be affected, since the area around Barnstead Elementary School and St. Paul’s Church has a wider road area.
O’Neil said that he believed the risk of an accident or fatality was too great to risk the current parking situation, especially with the added business on the street.
After several other proposals were suggested, including making the road a one way street, and having the ordinance only be in effect Mondays through Fridays, the board agreed to a suggestion by member Frank Sullivan. His idea was to study the effect of the Whistle Stop Café on traffic in the area for the next 60 days, and then take another look at what might be needed in the area.
Cruiser news
Police Chief Ken Borgia defended his previous statements regarding the purchase of the town’s new police cruiser. He said that he had told the board and also the town meeting, that the warrant article allowing the department only $26,000 would not totally outfit the vehicle with everything.
He felt that at a previous meeting, the board had not defended his actions enough. "I take offense when there’s a comment made that I promised the town a fully marked cruiser," Borgia said.
Currently, the cruiser still needs paint, decals, a cage, and a light bar to be totally outfitted, and that would take additional money. The selectmen agreed that in future warrant articles; more detailed language was needed to clear up similar confusion. O’Neil said that the last one was subject to more interpretation, which helped to cause the misunderstanding.
Other department heads attended the board meeting as well. O’Neil said that the department meeting was taking place in order to better foster communication between departments and the selectmen. He took special care to point out that the board was not trying to micro-manage the departments by having them meet.
Leaking cistern
Assistant Fire Chief Shawn Mulcahy informed the board that a cistern that had been put in earlier this year had been leaking, and that currently, the installers and contractor were trying to figure out who would have to remove the current one and replace it. "This one wouldn’t last five or 10 years," said Mulcahy, "we want it to last for 50." Mulcahy said that even as the cistern was being put in, many in the department believed it to be a "shoddy job."
Missing milfoil signs
Resident Brian White also informed the selectmen that several signs telling boaters to check for milfoil were missing, and that Milfoil on the Suncook River would be looked at this coming weekend.

New Durham’s K-9 is one of the top dogs in New England
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — New Durham Police Chief Shawn Bernier says that "K-9 Louie," the department’s German Shepherd (and he was actually brought over from Germany), was named for a colleague in the Portsmouth Police Dept. with whom he’s trained dogs for 13 years. It seems that with this dog, however, 13 is not an unlucky number at all.
At a recent regional competition held for police dogs throughout New England at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, Louie finished third in the novice division, for dogs competing for the first time.
The event, which was sponsored by the United States Police Canine Association, was a judged event. Dogs competed in six categories including Obedience, Agility, Article searches (looking for items such as a shotgun shell in a field, according to Bernier) suspect search (which involves finding a person hidden in one of several boxes), and two separate apprehension categories, one with and one without gunfire involved. Louie won two of the individual categories, placing first in his group in the suspect search, as well as winning the combined search category award after finishing second in the article search.
He also placed second in the agility competition. Louie, it would seem, also plays well with others, as he placed first in the team competition, in which he and dogs from Dover, Barrington and Portsmouth competed as a group. With his high showing, Louie earned a spot at the national competition, which will be held later this year in Indiana.
While Louie has been a part of Bernier’s life for about a year (thanks to a grant from the Working Dog Foundation, which brought this K-9 champ to the US), he’s not the first dog he has trained for work in New Durham.
Previous dogs included two Rottweilers, Tank and Bear. However, with his new duties as chief, Bernier says, "This will be my last dog, some one else in the department will be taking over that role." (See photograph on A-1)

New salon brings spa treatment to New Durham
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — Samantha Cassell has been in the business of cutting and styling hair for several years. Yet for much of that time, Cassell has been commuting to other positions from her New Durham home, her last position was at a salon in Dover.
Recently, Cassell’s husband Mike suggested that she go into business for herself. "If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today," says Cassell. "Here" is her new salon on Depot Road (off Route 11), Samantha Styles, which features styling (including cuts, coloring, perms, and highlighting), pedicures, waxing, and other services. Cassell is looking into massage services, too, for the future. The salon is one of only a handful in New Durham.
Cassell says that one of the keys to making her new venture a success is the location of the salon. "The key is the traffic in the area," she says, "it’s right near the general store, the town hall and the post office."
She hopes that the area will be open to her new venture, and she says that early returns have been good so far, "We were booked all day Friday (July 8, the opening day of the salon) and Saturday." The salon is open Tuesdays through Sundays. Cassell made special note to remind people about the Sunday hours, emphasizing that while many other businesses in the area are closed Sunday, she remains open.
Cassell has a simple philosophy when it comes to styling a client. In fact, it’s for the shop is literally written on her sign, "A place all about you." She believes that when it comes to an appointment, "My time is dedicated to them when they’re in my chair."

Teens head to the Allagash for a wild adventure
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
WOLFEBORO — This year, the Appalachian Mountain Teen Project in Wolfeboro will return to an old stomping ground for one of their longest events of the year. With the help of two staff members, teens from Laconia, Alton, Wakefield, Gilford and Wolfeboro will be making the nine-hour trip into Northern Maine, to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway area. There, the students will be camping out, and paddling through the area’s lakes, rivers and streams, for the next eight-and-a-half-days.
Jamie Hannon of the AMTP, who will co-lead the trip with Kristen Reilly, said, "The organization "hasn’t gone up (to the area) for several years, but it was once a regular trip." Hannon, who has personally done the trip several times, said that this is "one of the most remote river trips in New England," and is known for its scenic beauty, wildlife, and its lack of crowds.
Still, the focus of the trip is not just for teens to see the sights in area, but to create "a really great opportunity for a group of teenagers to bond, to face challenges and feel success with those challenges," Hannon said.
The group will head out this Sunday morning, July 17, and will return the July 26. "For all of them (the teen participants), this will be their longest camping trip ever, for several, it will be their first," says Hannon. While up in Maine, the teens will be doing all of their own cooking, cleaning, and will even be chopping their own firewood. They will also be taking in the wildlife of the area, including moose, eagles and lynx, as well as doing their own fishing.
Hannon says that community sponsors have been vital in putting together the trip, "other wise it might not be possible for a group of kids to come."
The Appalachian Mountain Teen Project has also been sponsoring other events in the area, including a fishing and canoe series, hiking days in the Ossipee Mountains, and will be putting together rock climbing trips in August.

New Restaurant opens in New Durham
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — Those traveling down Route 11 might notice the signage for the restaurant located along the highway has changed. But that certainly isn’t everything that’s changed about the restaurant.
The site, formerly occupied by the New Durham Railway Station restaurant, and has been completely redone, according to Johnson’s Seafood and Steak co-owner Ken West.
"We completely gutted the restaurant, everything has been replaced, including the siding and the septic tank. Everything down to the studs," said West.
Town Code Enforcement Officer Dave Lindberg echoed that sentiment, saying that all that was left of the previous set up was "four walls and a floor." Lindberg added that many of the changes were necessary, including the new wiring, to bring the building up to code.
West says that he and his business partner, Jeff Fenerty, have been working in the restaurant business for more than 50 years, combined.
West and his wife, who live in Eliot, Maine, are expecting their first child later this year. West said that the opening of a new restaurant and expecting his first child actually are similar in a lot of ways, "but the child is much more important."
The newly redone dining room features a kind of rustic feel, but also seats 160 patrons, more than the Railway Station. The tables and benches in the dining area are all new as well. West says that the new restaurant has been "busier than expected," since it opened last Monday, with a menu featuring items like steak tips, scallops and lobster rolls, along with Richardson’s ice cream. West says that the dining room is the majority of the business, but there are also outdoor picnic tables and a take-out menu.
West said that he and Fenerty found the construction process as a whole to be the most difficult part of the project. "We’re not developers," he said.
West added that the town of New Durham had been very receptive and helpful as the business got up and ready.
He paid particular compliment to Lindberg, whom West said was very helpful in explaining what needed to be done on the property.

Orlowicz says scholarship is above board
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — At the July 6 Selectmen’s meeting, some confusion regarding the Douglas Scruton Memorial Scholarship was discussed. Planning Board alternate Cathy Orlowicz would like to clear up any confusion regarding this scholarship, specifically that "There are no illegal activities."
There did seem to be some disagreement among board members and residents about the Scruton scholarship’s status. The issue involved whether or not checks had been made out to the town for the scholarship and the scholarship’s status.
Police Chief Shawn Bernier was at the meeting and said he felt that "The perception at the Selectmen’s meeting was that she (Orlowicz) was doing something illegal. Nothing illegal is going on." Bernier added that he had looked at everything Orlowicz had done up to that point, and found nothing illegal going on either.
Orlowicz says that she is "not sure what was said at the meeting," regarding the issue, as she has yet to be able to view the recording of the meeting. She did say, however, that she had gone through an extensive process to set up the scholarship up to this point. "I talked to the attorney general’s office, lawyers, bankers and the IRS," says Orlowicz, who says that none of the checks she knew of were made out to the town.
Selectman Ron Gehl said that there had been a misunderstanding, and that there had been confusion related to an article written in another newspaper that seemed to give the impression that a trust fund had been set up.
Gehl says that "it was certainly not the intent," if the impression was given that illegal things were taking place. "It was just a question about whether we were following proper procedure."
Orlowicz says that if there were not this perception of illegality, she would have been presented the scholarship to the town to hand over to the town trustees to manage. Orlowicz says that this is currently the situation with similar scholarships, including the Richard Bickford scholarship.
Orlowicz says that the situation is different now. "This has to be handled differently now that there is perception of illegal activity."
She added that she was working with lawyers to find the best way to proceed. "Its unfortunate, one phone call would have made a big difference," says Orlowicz.
Orlowicz added that while the funding issues are still being decided, she would be continuing her training for the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., which was the focus of her fund-raising activities. "People are excited that this is a scholarship that will benefit students of New Durham only," Orlowicz says, adding that Scruton was well known in the community for his commitment to the children of New Durham.
Scruton, New Durham’s former police chief, died suddenly last July, at 56. He was honored earlier this year when the Police Department named its new building for him, as well as dedicating a bench. At this memorial service, Orlowicz announced that she was going to try and put together a scholarship in his honor.

Hannaford breaking ground soon, soon
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON— While initial, and perhaps optimistic, plans were made for the groundbreaking of the Alton Hannaford’s supermarket last month, it was not to be. A more realistic timetable has been put in place, however, that may allow such a ceremony to take place later this month.
Alton Town Planner Kathy Menici, who inherited the project from her predecessor after much of the work on the plans had been done, said that the developers "are still setting everything."
She added that the project, which will be the largest commercial building project in Alton’s history, has faced some unique challenges, but also has been subject to similar pitfalls that apply to smaller projects as well.
"Coordinating all of that (the pieces needed for the project), to the point where they can begin construction is a huge task." Menici added that in her years in involvement with construction, she has never "seen a project actually start when they hope to."
The June groundbreaking had been the initial goal of developer Bob Bahre’s team, but issues involving turnaround with state agencies and those involving wetlands in the area have been among those delaying the project.
Menici, however, said that she will be having a pre-construction meeting with the developers next week. She expects actual construction to begin three to five weeks after this meeting. Representatives of both the developer and Hannaford’s were contacted for this article, but did not respond by press time.
Menici speculated that designing the project to reduce impact on the wetlands in the area was a challenge for the development team, as was having to deal with state agencies.
She said that for now, until the traffic pattern can be studied, a yellow signal light will be installed when the store opens its location near the traffic circle, and that there might be a "possibility down the road for a signalized intersection."
"With a project of this magnitude, its not unusual for a late start," Menici also said. The development groups put forward their best effort, she explained, but have to rely on state agencies.

Playing and growing in Alton
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — While many parents often have a hard time figuring out what to do with their school age children during the summer, those with young children also face the same problems. Older siblings still might not be old enough to keep watch over their brothers and sisters all summer, and those that are may have a summer job. Also, many new parents and those new to the area face additional stresses of having to create a new family dynamic. Fortunately, for those in Alton, there is a program that allows parents to interact with their children and other parents to help alleviate some of those stresses, and begin to build social interaction skills in children.
The Play, Learn and Grow program was begun in Alton last year, according to Laura MacStravic and Tami Carpentiere, who help run the drop-in-program located at the Alton Bay Community Center. The two said that a similar program located in Laconia, "Giggles and Grins," helped to provide the inspiration for the program in Alton, which began in March of 2004.
"The parents who started the Alton playgroup had been members (of the one in Laconia)," according to Carpentiere. MacStravic says that she originally was a part of the program, along with her son Liam, and when the founders’ children became to old for the program, signed on to help lead it.
She says that the program helped to ease her transition into Alton, as she and her family had only recently moved in prior to her involvement. "I know so many more people, because of this program," she says, adding, "It is definitely a good place for parents to talk."
The program is intended for children from infants to age 5. MacStravic says that many of the activities are intended for toddlers and very young children, and that "six year olds kind of get bored with the activities planned for toddlers," especially, she says, once the older children start school.
The program does require that caretakers or parents of the children involved be present to allow them to be part of the playgroup. "We provide the toys and space," says MacStravic, "the parents provide the interaction." Still, the program is free for those who attend the Tuesday and Thursday activities.
The group is sponsored by several county and regional groups, and the Alton Parks and Recreation Department provides the space for free. "The town has been pretty helpful," says MacStravic.
Carpentiere says that the program is in Alton to help "social interaction and to help parents who need help with their parenting skills." With that in mind, parents can help organize events, such as CPR classes, through the group’s online message board (altonsplaygroup.proboards31.com).
Additional information on the program can be obtained at the Alton Parks and Recreation office. The Play, Learn and Grow program runs from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Fireworks as aah-some as always
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — Thousands gathered on the water and on land to watch the annual Alton Fireworks display July 2. Hundreds of boats floated for hours in Alton Bay in anticipation of the fireworks display, which was launched from two barges anchored in the Bay. Thousands sat or stood along the commercial areas of town, and bridges and other areas were filled with people looking to view the show.
The show featured blasts of red, white and blue, along with green and multicolored fireworks. Patriotic songs played from the town’s gazebo, and the mood was set as a celebration of the 229th anniversary of the nation’s independence.
With all of these people in the Bay at once, there were some logistical issues. Nearly every available parking space in the area, and along Route 28A was used, and some "spots" had to be improvised by creative attendees. Also, there was some consternation expressed by the crowds as the fireworks display was delayed for the final setting of the sun and twilight. While scheduled to begin at 9:20 pm, the first fireworks did not start going up for another 25 minutes, and the show did not start in earnest for another five.
Still, most seemed to be very pleased with the display. A large ovation followed both of the climactic displays from each barge, and ten or fifteen minutes later, those who attended were still loudly shouting "fantastic" and "bravo."
Steve Stock, of Barnstead, who attends the Alton fireworks annually, said that the Alton fireworks "are one of the best in the area." Comments from those who attended were that this year’s was no different, and was worth the extra time and traffic.

New Durham Planners continue look at Master Plan sections
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
NEW DURHAM — While the New Durham Planning Board’s discussion of the most recent revisions to sections of the town’s Master Plan dominated much of the July 5 meeting, other business was conducted as well.
The board accepted the application of Paul and Mary George for a three-lot subdivision of their property on Brackett Rd. The board did make their acceptance contingent on the addition of materials to the current plans they had received, including markers for utility poles, test pits and soil data, but received assurances from Paul George and his agent, that those changes would be forthcoming. Vice Chairman Don Voltz said that the lot itself was "comfortably oversized" and was thus likely to fulfill all requirements with regards to setbacks.
George also agreed to allow the town to widen Brackett Rd. along his property, where it currently narrows. A site walk was scheduled for July 18 at 8 a.m. and the public hearing on the application continued to the Aug. 2 meeting of the board.
The planners also were scheduled to meet with local horticulturist Les Turner about the subdivision of his lot on Old Rte. 11, but issues involving the design, as well as the fact that one of the abutters had not received notice of the public hearing, caused the board to continue the application as well.
Much as the Master Plan discussion focused on the cosmetic changes the board had discussed in recent weeks. Issues of grammar and language were the primary concern.
Local resident Jim Taylor suggested a line that would mandate town officials adhere to town rules also suggest ways for citizens to become involved, as well as giving resources to officials charged with enforcing town regulations and statutes. The discussion on the matter will continue at the July 19 Planning Board workshop meeting, where they will also discuss the Open Space Subdivision ordinance.

Planners keep on trucking, applications studied
By Jim Shilander
Staff Writer
ALTON — While the June 21 Alton Planning Board meeting ended, there was still work to be done. So the board reconvened June 28 to look at some of the outstanding appointments from the week before.
A close look was taken at the application of Midwest Towers LLC, which was proposing the construction of cellular antennae on Prospect Mountain Rd. Gillan Marine, which is proposing to expand a boat sales facility and to build a new 11,600 sq. foot building on the property located on Route 11, was also under the board’s microscope June 28.
The tower application’s acceptance was not granted at this meeting. Board member Tom Varney talked about the current antenna owned by US Cellular, and whether or not there might be a violation with the new towers installed there. Town Planner Kathy Menici said that no site plan had been put in for the newest antennas, though a representative of the company did meet with her to say that they will work with the town to straighten things out.
The non-compliance of the US Cellular tower, however, may affect the acceptance and ultimately, the approval, of the application of Midwest Towers’ project. Menici said at the meeting that the owners of the tower were the ones who informed the town of the violation, not US Cellular.
She also said that the company has not been cooperating with the owners. The board passed a motion to continue the discussion of the Midwest Tower application. This motion also included allowing Menici to contact the tower owner to urge him to contact US Cellular in writing and to let the code enforcement officer know that the site was in violation.
Gillan Marine
There was some discussion about the ability of Gillan Marine’s proposed site to comply with town regulations. Menici reported that areas that were supposed to be used for parking were know display areas, and that areas that were supposed to have grass were paved over.
Ernest Gillan said at the meeting that the code enforcement officer had told him to go ahead with plans to pave the parking lot, and that he did not need a permit for such actions. Menici reported that the code officer disagreed with that version of events.
The board agreed to continue the discussion of acceptance of the application at their July 19 meeting, and that the board as a whole would conduct a compliance inspection of the site July 7.

Cacao

2005-07-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

Last night, Adam and Shannon invited me to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night in Meredith. I have yo say, I disagree with something a lot of critics have been saying. Most have been saying that Johnny Depp played Wonka like Michael Jackson, or at least, as some sort of pedophile. If anything, I felt like he hated children, really, which seems very similar to a lot of characters who work in professions involving children in movies. I enjoyed it a lot, I really did, because it was so totally different from the musical version. The use of Deep Roy to play all of the Oompa Loompas, and then the inventive songs he (they?) sang, and then the amazingly colorful set work, it realy was a joy to watch. I usually don't enjoy remakes, but this was more of a reimagining of the book, not the first movie, so it worked for me.

I wanted to add something to my post from Monday. As I go for my nightly walks and I think about thing, one thought keeps creeping into my head: "Wow, I can't believe I'm here." To be quite frank, at this time last year I was still to wrapped up in myself to see straight. My focus was on finding an internship, getting thru classes, trying to find a way to spend the least amount I could on the CTA during the week. A few months later, it was working on my project and trying to work through the two very different jobs at Chicago magazine and TKA. I never thought I'd be someplace like this. Oh, I recognized the possibility that I'd be somewhere new of course, but I think the reality never quite set in. Now, of course it has. That's the funny thing about life, as John Lennon correctly observed in "Beautiful Boy", its "what happens when you're too busy making other plans."

I'll post my stories from the last couple weeks on Monday, and I'll post about more stuff tomorrow, just needed to get a few things off my mind tonight.

How do you measure a year?

2005-07-11T21:08:00.000-04:00

So, I'm now 24, and the last week or so has really made me go ahead and take a hard look at the past year, and the memories I've made and the fun I've had the last few years.

Last week, I think that John and I were much more like "us" than we've been in a while. Really, for the first time since the dramatic parts of senior year, because by then I was dating Karen, then we both were busy in Chicago, then came the breakup, and again our relationship changed again. I think now, with the distance of time and space, we might actually be able to get back to what we had before, except without seeing each other every day.

Its funny really, but if you look back over this blog, and as I think back to where I was at this point last year, it really is amazing how busy I've been, and the things I've been able to do, especially considering where I was emotionally at this point last year. In the last calendar year, I have lived in 5 states (Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, New Hampshire) and the District of Columbia. I have gone from basically doing not much at OCC, to interning or helping out at Chicago Mag and TKA, and now here I am writing stories every week, doing the job I wanted to do, the job I trained to do. Its really a rush. While I still think that last year (2004) as a whole was among the worst ever, I think that looking back on it, there were a lot more positives in the second half of the year than I thought (with the prominent exception of the election).

This past week I also received The Eminem Show from Amazon, which brought back many fine memories of trips to Jackson and Battle Creek with Laura and Susan. There have just been a ton of these memories flooding in this past week. Frankly, I'm glad of it. Sometimes its great to think about everyone you know, and the impact they've all had on your lives. Especially given what happened Thursday and how close I came to losing Karen and Audrey.

London Calling

2005-07-07T14:50:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning knowing something was wrong. I didn't know what. I went to my computer, not wanting to wake John up on the futon. John arrived Sunday, and its been great having him here, though I've had to work the last couple of days, now we have time to visit more. But I looked around online, and then saw what happened in London. I woke John up, to tell him that there were explosions in London. Karen and Audrey are in London. As far as I knew, they both take the tube everyday.

I remember what it was like turning the TV on on Tuesday Sept. 11 2001. But it didn't personally affect me as much as what happened today. Paul Rahn was in New York at the time, but he wasn't working in the WTC. I had no clue where Audrey and Karen worked. I had no idea when they traveled, when they were on the tube. And I was afraid for them, I really was. I thought, for a moment that maybe I'd lost them both, without having a chance to see them again. I can't lie and say that it hasn't been weighing on my mind all day. Luckily, when I restarted my IM at around 11 this morning, Karen's name popped up and I confirmed she was ok. It seems that she was on the tube when it happened, but not near the area at the time, though she did see blood at one of the stations. Audrey was at work and unaffected. And I breathed a sigh of relief. John and I had tried to call Karen's flat, I tried to call Audrey's number, Audrey's mother, and finally, tried to call Albion, to see if they had been checked on the two of them. They had not. It turns out, I only got there whereabouts by luck.

Terrorism really never effected me this way before. Not personally like this. When it happened in New York, I only had a tenuous connection to the city. Here, I had very personal connections, even if its been a long time since I've seen Audrey. I'd never had anything hit me like this. Thank God that both of them are safe, and condolences to those who have lost loved ones. To Ms. Coleman and Ms. Green- Thank you for staying safe and for being with us. Expect some very big hugs when I see you both.

The Office

2005-07-03T22:01:00.000-04:00

Just like I did a while ago, when I showed pictures of some of the sights of my life here, here's photos of my co-workers:

This is Adam Drapcho. He's my colleague on The Baysider. He lives in town with his girlfriend Shannon, and they're both really great.
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2005-07-03T21:58:00.000-04:00

Here's Peter Adam Coughlin. He works mainly on the Granite. He's been in the office for about a month, and he and Drapcho helped give me the nickname "Bones" as a sort of tag team effort.
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Trying to Get Healthy

2005-07-03T16:14:00.001-04:00

So, in an attempt to get healthy, I'm trying to change my diet a bit. So in an attempt to find a way to get lots of good things into my diet, I've taken to doing the truly American thing - blending them all together, rather than making the effort to have all of them individually. I start my mornings now with a nice fruity breakfast, which you see here, and then have a much less delicous drink later in the day, one with lots of veggies that really don't lead to a pleasing color, though they are healthy.

Here's the start of the fruit drink. The classic...orange juice. I have yet to work up to egg yolks.
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2005-07-03T16:14:00.000-04:00

I only use half an apple, a whole one, that's just crazy.
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2005-07-03T16:13:00.000-04:00

Here's banana slices in the orange juice. I use a whole banana, because I like the texture and taste they provide. Plus, it make the mosquitoes happy to have the potassium levels higher.
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2005-07-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the strawberries I add. Notice that some of these are slightly misshapen.
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2005-07-03T16:07:00.000-04:00

Here's everything together
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2005-07-03T16:06:00.000-04:00

Here's the fruit drink, which tastes pretty good actually, and it looks like something that might occur in nature, as opposed to the drink I make with vegetables.
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2005-07-03T16:02:00.000-04:00

The veggie drink starts tomato juice, and then I add some additional vegetables and herbs. Here's the large amount of spinach I put in the drink.
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2005-07-03T16:01:00.000-04:00

Here's some of the carrots, with the menace of the chopping knife above them.
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2005-07-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

Here's the parsley
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2005-07-03T15:59:00.000-04:00

So these are all the vegetables in the blender
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2005-07-03T15:58:00.000-04:00

And this is what you come up with. Whatever color this actually is.
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3 men, 2 years

2005-07-03T10:22:00.000-04:00

This is a subject I've wanted to get to for a while, if only because I know its going to be fascinating. My theory, and this has been one of those things I talked about a lot at TKA, if only because it was relevant there.

This past NFL draft (and likely, next year's as well), was considered to be very poor for quarterbacks. Both Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers were thought to have significant warts to their games. For Rodgers, it was the lack of success of Jeff Tedford QB's. For Smith, it was questions about the offense he played in and his arm strength. Next year, you're going to see perhaps the most heralded college QB since Peyton Manning, only Matt Leinart has actually won something. You'll also have Omar Jacobs from Bowling Green very likely to come out, and he's among the best dual threats of the last few years, in terms of running and throwing, plus he's from the MAC, which has done well to replace QBs.

But its the QB draft in two years that will be incredibly fascinating for me. While there are a ton of great juniors, including Tyler Palko of Pitt and the new Fran Tarkenton, Drew Tate, of Iowa, to me, the top of the draft is likely to be headed by three men, each with their own argument for why they might be the best- Vincent Young, Chris Leak and Brady Quinn.

Young showed during the Rose Bowl that he is a freakish sort of athlete. While not quite as fast as Michael Vick, he is three or four inches taller, and still quite fast. The NFL has been all about the accomplishments and promise of McNabb, Vick, Culpepper and McNair in the last few years, enough that the classic dropback statue is now passe, and every quarterback needs at least some mobility in their favor. The problem I see though, is that Young's arm strength is certainly not to level of those others, or at the very least, we haven't seen it. Will the NFL forgive this, or will their be some team see him as a freakishly good wideout and not a QB?

The second man in this triumvirate is Chris Leak. During his freshmen year, Kirk Herbstreit constantly pimped Leak, essentially saying that if he were any skill position player, he would want to go to to Florida and play with Leak. Basically no one since Peyton Manning is seen as this sort of student of the game as much as Leak is. The problem has been that the team, and perhaps Leak himself, has underachieved under Ron Zook. Now, with Urban Meyer and his system, which takes better advantage of the athletes Florida has, and Leak's own althletic ability. Leak has a great arm and can make every throw, and is the ultimate student of the game. He has operated in sophisticated systems. He's done everything you can do to be considered a great NFL quarterback. Except he's only 6 feet tall, maybe 6'1". The NFL still doesn't seem to want to find a home for guys that short. Will they pass up the Derek Jeter of college football because of what might be thought of as a cosmetic problem?

The last to discus is Brady Quinn. As mush as the media seem to be reveling in Notre Dame being brought back to earth, the position of Quarterback at Notre Dame is still the most pressure packed position in the sport. It still carries the weight of those players who came before him, Johnny Lujack, Angelo Bertelli, Paul Hornung, John Huarte, Joe Montana and all the rest. That weight is what makes it one of the most trying positions in all of sports. Quinn has been ok the last few years, remember that the Irish made a bowl game last year, though they were crushed in the process. Now with Charlie Weis coaching him, Quinn will have the tools, in terms of a dynamic offense, to make plays and to grow. If Quinn grows up as a QB the next two years, the NFL will have to take a serious look at him, especially given Weis' track record with Tom Brady. Quinn seems to have the tools, lets see if Weis can teach him to harness them.

While all three of these QB's will likely be among the top picks, as well as others like Sam Keller and Palko, at least one will be a spectacular bust. I can already see Jaws and Merril Hoge criticizing Young's mechanics, Leak's height and Quinn's accomplishments. Maybe they'll be right. Maybe Young is the next Hines Ward, maybe Quinn the next Rick Mirer and Leak the next Shane Mathews. We'll see. But that's the fun of all this, and it'll be an incredible pleasure to watch these three (and Chad Henne, who hopefully stays a bit past this draft) grow and mature. Its why I love college football, and why the NFL draft is the event it is. You get to see where your favorites, who you've watched grow up, advance themselves.

The Picture Page

2005-07-02T12:34:00.000-04:00

Here are the pictures from the wedding last week: Good stuff, most of it

This is a shot Ms. Wagemaker requested. It seems its hard for them to get a nice picture.
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2005-07-02T12:30:00.001-04:00

John and Michael Joseph
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2005-07-02T12:30:00.000-04:00

Huff and D-Rob
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2005-07-02T12:29:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, the inheritors of the Southard-Dudley Memorial Trophy for most adorable couple ever, Chelsea Sadler and Mike Kopec
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2005-07-02T12:27:00.000-04:00

Richard and Katie...Just make up your own caption. I don't even know
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2005-07-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

Back at the church, Bobby and Huff seem more than ready to fulfill their duties as best man and groomsman
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2005-07-02T12:25:00.000-04:00

Here, John looks more than a bit psychotic as Chelsey begs him not to look psychotic
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2005-07-02T12:23:00.000-04:00

Here's Jill and Justin, the new holders of the title of cutest Euphonics couple
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2005-07-02T12:22:00.000-04:00

Here's Andy, laughing about something.
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2005-07-02T12:21:00.000-04:00

Here's John, contemplating whatever it is John is contemplating. He's probably thinking of doing some harm to Alex Carroll

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2005-07-02T12:17:00.000-04:00

Here's the bridegroom himself, looking classy
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Hunker Down

2005-07-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

Well, its finally come. Its been 11 years since Stephen Breyer was confirmed, eleven years without a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Now, the court's first woman has retired, setting the stage for the biggest pitch battle of the summer.

I've told this story often, but it bears repeating today. I road on the Metro in Washington DC with Sandra Day O'Connor once. It was fairly innocuous, I just sort of glanced at the woman next to me and then realized it was Sandra Day O'Connor. This illustrates lots of things. One, the difference between Washington and other places, because here I am getting getting fan-boyish about a Supreme Court Justice, Second, the kind-of down to earth person O'Connor is, that here she is riding the Metro (with a senior discount fare card), and third, how anonymous the members of the Supreme Court are to much of America. Probably 90% of Americans couldn't give you even the names of the nine justices, let alone tell you what they look like or recognize them.

This is going to be the story of the summer. If Rehnquist follows soon, you'll have the kind of political bloodbath that we haven't seen in a long time. A lot of people will talk in the next few days how this will be Bush's opportunity to reach back to the center, and they'd be right. He has to believe he'll be able to put up a more conservative justice to replace Rehnquist, if he went with a moderate now, he'd be seen as showing restraint, the kind he hasn't shown in a long time. The White House has been on the defensive since the State of the Union. Social Security was a non-starter, they continue to get bad news in Iraq, there's the controversy about Gitmo, and the party has suffered defeat in the court of public opinion in the Schaivo case. They got some tort and bankruptcy "reform" so far, that's all. But my guess is that he'll appoint a red-meat conservative that'll tear apart Washington for weeks. There are a lot of things that conservatives dislike his father for, and one of them is the appointment of David Souter, who seemed a conservative and then became a liberal once on the court. For a man who desperately has wanted to avoid the mistakes his father made, this will be the test. If the right will only except someone who'll overturn Roe v. Wade, Lawrence v. Texas and environmental reforms, well, we're in for a fight. Democrats should demand a moderate, someone who will swing but will also respect precedent in cases like those above. I really think you would need a judge to go to over turn Roe v. Wade (meaning a third justice would have to go) because Kennedy is loathe to overturn cases like that, and I would expect he would join Breyer, Souter, Ginsburg and Stevens in protecting a woman's right to choose.

Just as I was about to write about Natalie Holloway, this happens, but I'll mention it anyway. Its all over cable news, but especially Fox. It has all the ingredients- young and pretty white (emphasis on the white) girl disappears and shady business follows. Realize that no one has ever been charged in the murder of Jon-Benet Ramsey or Chandra Levy, sometimes in these difficult crimes, it takes a long time to find the body. Yet Fox is essentially trying to persuade people that the government of Aruba is somehow complicit in her disappearance. While I have nothing but sympathy for her family, they have to understand something. Sometimes justice isn't swift. If she's dead, and at this point, with no ransom demand, its a pretty good assumption she is, it will take time to find a body, let alone find suspects. If she was a tourist and only natives seem to be suspects, you have to find motive you have to do due diligence. Fox "correspondents" like Greta Van Susteren, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity seem to be trying to do to Aruba what William Randolph Hearst did to Spain and Cuba a century ago.

On a far lighter and totally not serious note, I am really starting to see some of the negatives in some of the "Sports Kids Moms and Dads" gang. Craig, as you see in this week's episode, seems to be at a loss for what to do sometimes when Trenton is playing, especially when his daughter needs attention (By the way, their opening scene was the two of them drafting a letter of interest to Lloyd Carr to let him know Trenton would like to play for Michigan, in 10 years. I think Lloyd should encourage Trenton to come to the football camp to test himself against other kids, and tell Craig to stay home when he does). Kim and Bryce are just as insane as ever, though I also get the feeling that Bryce cares a lot more about the peripheral stuff related to skating than the actual skating itself, and also wants to see how far up the wall this drives his mother. TJ and Lindsey continue there battle over boys and academics, TJ having reason to fear from personal experience, and Lindsey showing the problem with having great talent as a teenager (She's incredibly easily distracted). Sharon is still incredibly insane, trying to push Sarah to do everything perfectly and rarely, if ever, giving encouragement. But the most interesting dynamic if the one between Karen and Karli, the equestrian rider. Originally, I saw Karli as really whiny, but now, I see it as the opposite. Karen essentially tried to sell her daughter's horse behind her back, then showed up an hour late to pick up her kids from the train station. Karli works at the stables to board Disco, and also works at a Mexican restaurant most nights. Karli's grades don't seem to be a priority, and while she can't stop whining about the sacrifices she has to make, Karen still goes to yoga three or four days a week, which she says she needs. I am now fully on the side of the kids in this family because their mother is just incredibly selfish.