Back!

Don’t look back
A new day is breakin’
It’s been too long since I felt this way
I don’t mind where I get taken
The road is callin’
Today is the day

I can see
It took so long to realize
I’m much too strong
Not to comprimise
Now I see what I am is holding me down
I’ll turn it around
I finally see the dawn arrivin’
I see beyond the road I’m drivin’
Far away and left behind
It’s a new horizon and I’m awakin’ now
Oh I see myself in a brand new way

The sun is shinin’
The clouds are breakin’
’can see I can’t lose now, there’s no game to play
I can tell
There’s no more time left to criticize
I’ve seen what I could not recognize
Everthing in my life was leading me on
But I can be strong
I finally see the dawn arrivin’
I see beyond the road I’m drivin’
Far away and left behind

Boston, 1978

Sales Calls Suck

"Hey Mr.____________, it's __________ from (insert company name here). How are you today? Gosh, the last time we talked was (insert years/months) ago. So, how do you like your (insert season here)? Hot or cold, huh? Just no in between was there. Boy, you know I though that weather was really (insert personal opinion here). Just never enough time to do what you want, you know? Anyway, I was just checking to see if there might be any jobs that we can support you on?"

Sincerely,

Every sales call you've ever received from a potential vendor

The End of the Bush Era

Special thanks to Randy, for throwing this up on his blog. A must read from the Washington Post editorial section a few days ago:


End of the Bush Era
By E. J. Dionne Jr.Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Page A27

The Bush Era is over. The sooner politicians in both parties realize that, the better for them -- and the country.

Recent months, and especially the past two weeks, have brought home to a steadily growing majority of Americans the truth that President Bush's government doesn't work. His policies are failing, his approach to leadership is detached and self-indulgent, his way of politics has produced a divided, angry and dysfunctional public square. We dare not go on like this.

The Bush Era did not begin when he took office, or even with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It began on Sept. 14, 2001, when Bush declared at the World Trade Center site: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Bush was, indeed, skilled in identifying enemies and rallying a nation already disposed to action. He failed to realize after Sept. 11 that it was not we who were lucky to have him as a leader, but he who was lucky to be president of a great country that understood the importance of standing together in the face of a grave foreign threat. Very nearly all of us rallied behind him.

If Bush had understood that his central task was to forge national unity, as he seemed to shortly after Sept. 11, the country would never have become so polarized. Instead, Bush put patriotism to the service of narrowly ideological policies and an extreme partisanship. He pushed for more tax cuts for his wealthiest supporters and shamelessly used relatively modest details in the bill creating a Department of Homeland Security as partisan cudgels in the 2002 elections.

He invoked our national anger over terrorism to win support for a war in Iraq. But he failed to pay heed to those who warned that the United States would need many more troops and careful planning to see the job through. The president assumed things would turn out fine, on the basis of wildly optimistic assumptions. Careful policymaking and thinking through potential flaws in your approach are not his administration's strong suits.

And so the Bush Era ended definitively on Sept. 2, the day Bush first toured the Gulf Coast States after Hurricane Katrina. There was no magic moment with a bullhorn. The utter failure of federal relief efforts had by then penetrated the country's consciousness. Yesterday's resignation of FEMA Director Michael Brown put an exclamation point on the failure.

The source of Bush's political success was his claim that he could protect Americans. Leadership, strength and security were Bush's calling cards. Over the past two weeks, they were lost in the surging waters of New Orleans.

But the first intimations of the end of the Bush Era came months ago. The president's post-election fixation on privatizing part of Social Security showed how out of touch he was. The more Bush discussed this boutique idea cooked up in conservative think tanks and Wall Street imaginations, the less the public liked it. The situation in Iraq deteriorated. The glorious economy Bush kept touting turned out not to be glorious for many Americans. The Census Bureau's annual economic report, released in the midst of the Gulf disaster, found that an additional 4.1 million Americans had slipped into poverty between 2001 and 2004.

The breaking of the Bush spell opens the way for leaders of both parties to declare their independence from the recent past. It gives forces outside the White House the opportunity to shape a more appropriate national agenda -- for competence and innovation in rebuilding the Katrina region and for new approaches to the problems created over the past 4 1/2 years.

The federal budget, already a mess before Katrina, is now a laughable document. Those who call for yet more tax cuts risk sounding like robots droning automated talking points programmed inside them long ago. Katrina has forced the issue of deep poverty back onto the national agenda after a long absence. Finding a way forward in -- and eventually out of -- Iraq will require creativity from those not implicated in the administration's mistakes. And if ever the phrase "reinventing government" had relevance, it is now that we have observed the performance of a government that allows political hacks to push aside the professionals.

And what of Bush, who has more than three years left in his term? Paradoxically, his best hope lies in recognizing that the Bush Era, as he and we have known it, really is gone. He can decide to help us in the transition to what comes next. Or he can cling stubbornly to his past and thereby doom himself to frustrating irrelevance.

So Long Great One...and I Don't Mean Wayne

If you’re a long-time hockey fan like I am, the past 18-months have felt like you were given a B.C. two-hander in the chops from Bob Probert.

First, you had the nearly-career-ending injury to Steve Yzerman, the 20-year captain of the Detroit Red Wings. The sight of Yzerman flailing his arms in the air and writhing on the ice like a goldfish out water was hardly the way anyone envisioned – much less wanted too – see The Captain’s career come to an end. Not much later, hockey snobs cringed as a team from south of the Mason Dixon line hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup. Thankfully, the Cup has been returned to Canada sans any NASCAR or Calvin-urinating-on-a-Ford/Chevy-logo stickers.

Then, the coupe de resistance – the strike. If the fans had the same initiative as the children in the film KidCo, well, let’s just say we’d all have a big pile of manure to haul around for quite some time.

We can argue all we want whether the strike was worth it and whether or not the game will be better, but there’s no question the personnel losses stemming from the strike will give the game a whole new look.

A sad side effect of the 15 months off has been the retirement of many of the stars of the 80s and 90s who made the game so exciting.

The list goes on. Damphousse, MacInnis, Stevens, and today…the other great one, Mark Messier.

I can still fervently recall the rivalry that developed between the Wings and Oilers in the mid-to-late 80s. Detroit had finally become respectable again under the guidance of Steve Yzerman and the fabulous Frenchman, Juacques Demers. But just like the seasons changing, every year you could count on the Wings losing to the Oilers during the regular season and the playoffs.

The Oilers were one of the most prolific teams of all time with numerous hall of famers, including the greatest scorer of all time in Wayne Gretzky. Fittingly, he was called The Great One. People loved to watch Gretzky, but the player I always feared and loved was the guy who could do it all. The hockey-player’s player, Mark Messier.

He could block a shot, get up, deck you at center ice, rush to the other end and score. And even more importantly, he could win. For those of us too young to remember the days of Gordie Howe, Messier was the closest thing we could have had. Like Howe, Messier could beat you more ways than any other player on the ice.

The Oilers were the dynasty of the mid-80s in the NHL, taking home 4 Stanley Cups, and they probably would have had five if they hadn’t scored on themselves in a key game vs. the Calgary Flames in 1986. There was #99, Gretzky, the leading scorer riding shotgun. In the back seat you had Grant Fuhr, Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey. But the guy who was really behind the wheel, driving that team and leading them in the locker room was none other than Messier.

On August 8, 1988, a chunk of Canada died when The Great One was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings by owner Peter Pocklington. The move greatly enhanced Wayne’s persona in the U.S., helped bring hockey into the mainstream and popularize the sport on the west coast (for a brief time). While Wayne was going on to become close friends with convicted felons (Bruce McNall) and hanging out with the sunset strip crowd of California, Messier got to work on doing what he did best – winning championships.

In the year 2 A.W. (After Wayne), Messier lead the Gretzky-less and Fuhr-less Oilers to the Stanley Cup, winning the Hart Trophy (MVP) in the process, thus stepping up out of Wayne’s shadow for good and proving to the world what a leader he really is.

Two years later, after his run in Edmonton was at a close, he headed to the Bronx and joined the NY Rangers, declaring to the team and its fans that he’d deliver to them their first Stanley Cup in over 50 years. And he kept his word. Behind Messier and his hat-trick against New Jersey in a must win game 6 of the conference finals, the Rangers went on to win games 7 against the Devils, and then won a heart-pounding game 7 against Vancouver in the finals, giving N.Y.C. the cup, enshrining Messier’s place in New Yorkers’ hearts forever.

For the first time, it was Messier who deservedly lapped up the spotlight in the bright lights and big city of New York while his former partner in L.A. had a nice tan, a great bank account, and zero post-Oiler cups to his name.

For the next 9 years, Messier continued to play on with his rough and tumble style. Knocking you down when he had too, scoring when he needed too. And sure he never won any more Stanley Cups, but he retires today the second leading scorer in league history, behind only Wayne Gretzky.

I find that only fitting. As a person who respected and admired what Wayne was able to do from an offensive standpoint, I never viewed him as the be-all, end-all hockey player. To me, a true hockey star has to be willing to sacrifice himself for his team. He has to be able to have offensive ability, but at the same time, not be afraid to knock a guy on his butt when it has to be done. He has to have a mean streak. In short, he must be multi-dimensional. Gretzky was never these things. Like Howe, Messier was all of that and more.

Wayne got most of the glory, especially after his move to la-la land. And in the end, he’s the one remembered as The Great One. But if the choice were up to me, I’d rather have had the guy who was willing to do it all. Number 11.

Fly-by-night hockey fans always have, and always will say Gretzky is the greatest. After all, we’ve all been told by the media for the last 20 years that Gretzky is the greatest ever and to argue with that is ludicrous. Even ESPN.com put out a survey yesterday asking where Messier ranks on all time players and the highest number you can choose for him is #2, as if picking him #1 would be some form of hockey blasphemy.

I’ll always have a special place in my heart for #11 and in my book, he’s better than Gretzky and right behind Gordie Howe. He was the consummate hockey player for true hockey fans.

And if for some reason you can’t tell the difference between Messier and Gretzky, look for the guy who’s right arm hangs a little lower…because it has two more Stanley Cup rings weighing it down.

The Price of Gas

Projections pointing to $4 a gallon for the next 6 months:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/31/news/gas_prices/index.htm?cnn=yes

Average prices in 2005 dollars since 1927:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2005/fcvt_fotw364.shtml

Looks like we've all been spoiled since 1987. I wonder why our auto companies didn't see through this and continue to develop and market for the future rather than the "give me now" mentality over the past 18 years?

Last, some lyrics from our pals at Bloc Party:

The Price of Gas
I've been driving, a mid sized car,
I never hurt anyone
Is that a fact?
The price of gas keeps on rising
Nothing comes for free
Make like a stone, make like a plant
I can tell you, how this ends

We're going to win this
With spades and truncheons, guns and trowels
That is how the war will be won
Just swat the fly
Taking care of cars and bodies
Nothing ever comes for me
The ghosts are here,
red white and blue

I can tell you how this ends
We're going to win this

2005 in music, so far...

I'm a bit overwhelmed with all of the fantastic albums I've picked up recently, so I thought I'd share my favorites from this year. Feel free to throw more reccommendations my way, one can never hear enough good music:

Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock and Roll
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinemas
The Fiery Furnaces - EP
Coldplay - X&Y
Broken Social Scene's single, "Shoreline" (album due in a few months)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self titled)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, And It's Morning
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Boards of Canada (re-release) - Music Has the Right to Children
Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Sufjan Stevens - Come On Feel the Illinoise
M. Ward - Transistor Radio
Belle and Sebastian - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
Grey DeLisle's cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody"
The first four tracks to the Doves - Some Cities (Snowden is the ice-capper)
Beck - Guero
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Bloc Party's yet to be released single, "Two More Years"
M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us

Seriously, for this self-proclaimed aging hipster, this year has been flat-out insane. Go to a record store (or iTunes) and buy as many of these as you can. I promise you won't be disappointed.

What....do you want on your tombstone?

A clever marketing tagline for a frozen pizza...or a question now being asked to the families whose son/daughter died in Iraq and Afghanistan? For the record, if anyone in my fantasy football league dies, I'll give their spouses the option of picking any of our annual slogans on their tombstone...at no cost!!!

What a f-ing disgrace. Worst. Admistration. Ever.

Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans
ARLINGTON, Va. - Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.

Families of fallen soldiers and Marines are being told they have the option to have the government-furnished headstones engraved with "Operation Enduring Freedom" or "Operation Iraqi Freedom" at no extra charge, whether they are buried in Arlington or elsewhere. A mock-up shown to many families includes the operation names.

The vast majority of military gravestones from other eras are inscribed with just the basic, required information: name, rank, military branch, date of death and, if applicable, the war and foreign country in which the person served.

Families are supposed to have final approval over what goes on the tombstones. That hasn't always happened. Nadia and Robert McCaffrey, whose son Patrick was killed in Iraq in June 2004, said "Operation Iraqi Freedom" ended up on his government-supplied headstone in Oceanside, Calif., without family approval.

"I was a little taken aback," Robert McCaffrey said, describing his reaction when he first saw the operation name on Patrick's tombstone. "They certainly didn't ask my wife; they didn't ask me." He said Patrick's widow told him she had not been asked either. "In one way, I feel it's taking advantage to a small degree," McCaffrey said. "Patrick did not want to be there, that is a definite fact."

The owner of the company that has been making gravestones for Arlington and other national cemeteries for nearly two decades is uncomfortable, too. "It just seems a little brazen that that's put on stones," said Jeff Martell, owner of Granite Industries of Vermont. "It seems like it might be connected to politics."