OBAMA WINS!

Yes, I got up at 5am and joined a line two blocks long to vote in the election yesterday.

Why? Because I wanted to repudiate the hate and fear that has consumed America for the past eight years. But more so, I voted for the possibilities. And I voted to restore the self respect of our nation.

Later That Evening

This is my first visit to Philly. I’m not sure what to think. It has the historic feel of Boston, the brashness of Chicago and the bigness of New York. Yet the city still has its own character.

The first night in town a friend took me too a hole-in-the-wall Philly cheese steak place just a few blocks from the hotel. It was fantastic. The food was good, but the joint was full of wonderful and characters. The owner was the stereotypical South Philly person. “Ya wan that wid?”

Later in the evening his older and younger brother showed up to watch the Phillies game on TV. They were each an exact replica of each other, just a different age in life. Same mannerisms, speech and tough guy attitude although in fact they were all sweethearts who wanted to make sure we were having a good time.

Greetings from Philadelphia

Thursday, Oct.23, 2008
Philadelphia, PA

Every time I go to a meeting in a large city I get an urge to blog. The last time I visited New Orleans I made a series of posts. This weekend I’m in Philadelphia, and no, I don’t have tickets to tonight’s World Series game.

I don’t think it is the extra time or being alone and certainly not being bored that makes me want to go to my blog site. I am always pressed for time, have many colleagues with whom to renew friendships, and can’t find time to do all the things I want to do.
I think it is just because I’m a cosmopolitan and love to travel. I want to share the excitement and experience I feel with every new place.

So here I am again.

A Summer Sojourn

This summer has seen glorious days, warm and full of expectation. Perfect days of sensuous sun, light winds and skin warming rains.

Traveling days. Across the country. Time beneath the water and over the reef. White sand between my toes.

Superior. Each day a new adventure. A delightful summer.

At home, Kansas City has been at its finest. A bountiful City Market. Luxuriant lawns to mow, bulging tomatoes to harvest. Wildflower fields all the colors of the rainbow. Yes, it has been an exceptional summer. I am happy I have had the opportunity to participate.

This week the new fall term has begun. If only autumn can be so kind.

As The World Turns

Now that Russia has invaded Georgia I wonder if our American President is feeling deja vu. After seven years of the United States being the bully to the world it would seem as if Russia is now stealing a page out of the Bush/Cheney handbook.

Russia is justifying its aggression with the same type of lies the Bush Administration used to invade Iraq. The wilder the lie the more difficult it is to make any sense of it.

The world looked on in total disconcertment as the USA invaded Iraq. Now the same world, this time including the USA, is totally astounded by the foolish brashness of Russia invading Georgia. The statements coming out of Moscow sound so similar to the asinine statements our country made over the past years,

The United States has backed itself in to a corner. I suppose it was only a matter of time before a power that we couldn’t bully would use our tactics to protect their own interests. Remember this is a former State of the Soviet Union. It is not a country half way around the world. And wouldn’t you know it? There is talk about the oil that must cross Georgia from the Caspian to European markets.

BTW. Did anyone receive a crisis call at 3am? Voice mail or text? Eastern or Asian time?

Ahoy! Weigh Anchor

Over three years ago I promised to lead a more adventurous life. One of my goals was to boat the length of the Lake of the Ozarks. But first I had to get the boat out of my garage.

Today, I am happy to announce the bow of "The Boat with No Name" has touched water once again. Lake Blue Springs had the pleasure to anoint.

Has anyone checked out the music on NPR All Songs Considered? I’m listening to a Tom Waits concert as I write this post. It is superb. I know, I never thought I would be into Tom Waits either. Give it up.

The Buckle of the Bible Belt

One of the pleasures of visiting southern Missouri, where I grew up, is getting to read the regional newspaper again. The Springfield News-Leader is always good for some political and religious buffoonery. The weekend entertainment directory is in the “Faith” section. The Opinion and Letters columns could serve up fresh material for Jon Stewart’s Daily Show for months.

On one recent trip I came across an article about how tenuous the relationship is between NBC News and MSNBC. It seems the opinonated personalities of MSNBC are beginning to chaff the “real news” gathers in the regular NBC News department.

After complaints that NBC was blurring the lines between MSNBC opinion and NBC News by emphasizing that the two organizations were synonymous NBC News President Steve Capus had the temerity to say that viewers are smart enough to understand the difference. That’s a bet I’ll take any day.

I lean more on the side of the Project for Excellence in Journalism director’s statement, “Getting into the game of trying to attract an audience based on your point of view rather than reporting is dangerous…”

The Root of All Evil

Did anyone see Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil last night on the Comedy Channel? Blogs were found guilty as being the root of all evil. The evidence was very damning. And I tend to agree. But since no one reads my blog I can’t be held for damages.

I got the boat started tonight. It took a little doing, but I succeeded without blowing up anything. Next on the list, sea trials…err, lake trials.

Summer "Dog Days"

Summer is already winding down and dog days are upon us. It is Missouri hot and humid.

I pulled the boat out of the garage today to get it ready for a lake, any lake. I know it is late in the season, but you can’t accuse me of procrastinating. This is the first time the boat has seen daylight in two years. I spent the day checking, oiling and greasing. But I haven’t started it yet. That I will save for tomorrow.

After Reading the Key West Citizen

I Vote To Impeach

Yes, it is late in the second term of President G.W. Bush, so why not just let him go peaceful into history? Let him and his puppet master Lord Vice President Cheney end their despicable terms and be done with them.

Why not? Why let a pack of jackals loose on the animal kingdom and not regret the carnage they do?

It is a little something called justice. Justice for us. We Americans have had to shiver in the dark as one after another freedom was taken away from us in the name of ultimate security. Security from what? The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the American Dream?

We watched as an effective President was called to impeachment because he lied about getting a blow job. We watch as an ineffective President takes us to war with an invisible enemy and lets thousands die in his name. Lets billions be squandered and sloughed to his cronies. Yet we don’t act.

No longer are we the envy of the world. We are the pariah. Every where we go we bring death. We are concerned only with our own survival. We will harm anyone to defend ourselves against the slightest imagined insult. We will aid not one, no matter how needy, that doesn’t meet our prerequisite for our own national security.

If we continue down this road of selfish nationalism, we will no longer be the leader of the free world. Rightfully so, we may be the embarrassment of the world. To squander so much, to hurt so many, in the name of so few is a disgrace.

In eight short years we have allowed ourselves to be led by the nose as pigs to slaughter of the fattened. Don’t let this continue. I don’t know if it is too late. I can only hope that the return of America to a nation of laws and freedom and peace can restore our souls and once again make us whole with the world.

Memorial Day 2008

Thoughts upon Returning to the Ozarks

It has been too long.
Too long since I have been home.
I have forgotten the beauty of topping a rise in the road and seeing a valley of green spread out before me.

Too long since I have been among family.
Grandpa and his spit cup.

Too soon.
Too soon for the poverty. Too soon for the waste of human potential.

This country attracts the best and the worst.

I have mixed feelings.

I should return to the city where I can be anonymous.

A Great Double Header

When I selected the dates for the plays at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre I just picked every third or fourth Saturday night because weekends at the first of the month always seem so busy. First Friday. Second Saturday. Everyone wants to be early.

So, I was disappointed when I realized our tickets to “The Drawer Boy” were over the Memorial Holiday Weekend. That weekend usually involves a weekend trip back home to the Ozarks. However, since we had the tickets we decided to stay in town until Sunday.

Last weekend I saw a mention in The Pitch about the restaurant La Bodega, and the wine and tapas. I have always enjoyed a good glass (or bottle) of wine and I have been curious about tapas since my daughter came back from a summer visit to Spain and was all infatuated with their culture.

We decided to double up on Saturday night for tapas at La Bodega and a play at the KCRep. Both were a resounding success.

At La Bodega we did the potato pancakes to clams and mussels. All washed down with cold sangria. As the early evening sun shown on the colorful tiles of the restaurant we might have been in Barcelona.

We ended the evening with a standing ovation for the actors of “The Drawer Boy”. I have seen a few plays in Kansas City, Chicago, Toronto and New York. This was one of the best.

In the News

Favorite Quote of the Day

“It sounds as though the telecoms believe it when the FBI says the warrant is in the mail, but not when they say the check is in the mail.”

A comment made by Michael German, former FBI agent and national security policy counsel for the ACLU responding to an FBI report that says several of the big telecommunication companies cut off the bureau’s wiretaps of suspected terrorist and criminals when the agency failed to pay its bill on time.


Celebrity Pitchman of the Day

Dr. Robert Jarvik has recently been seen all over network TV promoting Pfizer’s top selling drug Lipitor. It seems a committee of Congress investigating celebrity endorsement of drugs has sent Pfizer a letter asking for some clarification.

Some of the questions? Does Dr. J really take Lipitor as he claims in the commercials? Also it seems the good Dr. may have never actually practiced medicine and doesn’t have a license to do so. Anybody need a good artificial heart? Like new, only used just over a 100 days.

A Sand County Almanac

The New Year started off cold and snowy with temperatures in the single digits. Two days later all the snow had melted and we were enjoying sunny days in the 60’s. Now only a week later we are back to a snowy afternoon.

No matter the weather this time of year after January 1st. my thoughts begin to turn to spring. One of my favorite books to read and re-read is Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. Leopold follows the year, starting in January, in a journal type fashion as he works in his spare time to convert an old worn-out Wisconsin farm to a weekend retreat for his family. A place where he can enjoy the seasons of nature and indulge in his curiosity in ecology and biology.

Recently I inherited part of my family’s original homestead. It also is a worn out old farm. So it is with anticipation and delight that I recently dug out my battered copy of A Sand County Almanac. I’ll reread it once again, this year I hope to add to the fun as I keep a journal of my own journey back to the Ozarks and the restoration of a place that was the scene of some of my best childhood memories.

War and Peace

This is the first week of January and it is frigid cold outside. The temperature tonight is in the single digits. What snow that is left is crunchy and iced. Geese were circling overhead earlier this evening looking for open, unfrozen water in which to land on the nearby lakes.

This is the time of year to put on extra blankets at night. Burn the fireplace. Let the dog and the cats sleep with you. Stay indoors out of the biting cold wind. A time to go to bed early and read.

Several years ago a German exchange student spent a year with us. During the cold January winter she spent many evenings snuggled up in her duvet reading Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. That spring when she returned to Germany she left her copy inscribed to me daring me to read the whole book.

Recently an author on NPR was talking how everyone should have a time in their life that the take the time to read War and Peace. This cold winter I am going to do it. I started reading the week between Christmas and New Years.