Quinn's Writing, India's Teeth

Quinn can write a Q - Mari-Rose was working on it with her.

India has lost one lower tooth and the one next to it is quite loose. The first one is already starting to come in.

Hum.

Poem for Parents

This is a great poem from today's Writer's Almanac. Perfect for parents.

Song Title of the Day

"Self Loathing Rules" by Shout Out Out Out Out

Song Title of the Day

"Supernatural Car Lover" by Robert Pollard. It's a good song, too.

Funny Headline of the Day

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer comes this story:

"Truce holding, say MILF, Army"

I'm not sure what the disagreement is, but that's pretty impressive, to keep a whole army busy like that.

Had a Weird Dream Last Night

I dreamed I was in Chicago when there an earthquake. I happened to be in an elevator with a couple of other people whom I didn't know when it happened. The elevator stopped and we were stuck for a while but got out by sending the elevator down to the sub-basement.

Somehow I ended up in St. Louis, which was a real mess. The arch was twisted, and panels were missing from it. Some buildings had partially or totally collapsed. Some people were stuck in the partially collapsed buildings because they couldn't get out.

After a while, the dream changed and I ended up being in a kind of survival situation where there was no city, nothing around but nature. Sort of a post-apocalyptic, Hobbesian state-of-nature kind of thing. A group of us (none of whom I think I knew) were traveling around with only a few provisions and our own wits to stay alive. It felt like there was always somebody out to get us.

All things considered, it was a very weird dream.

"How To Live"

Today's poem from the Writer's Almanac is "How to Live" by Charles Harper Webb. Despite its apparent pretension, the poem actually gives pretty good advice, sort of like Kurt Vonnegut's famous (and apparently apocryphal) commencement speech in 1997.

I wanted to highlight a couple of lines from the poem, but I couldn't find one or two to choose. It kind of has to hang together.

Anya's Morning Quip

This morning as I was getting ready for work, I had Little Feat's "Tripe-Faced Boogie" going through my head. I turned to Anya, who was in the bedroom with me, and quoting the song lyrics, said,

"I'm going to boogie my scruples away!"

Without missing a beat, Anya quipped,

"Spray deodorant all over yourself."

Song Title of the Day

"His Lyrics are Disastrous" by Jakobinarina.

Oops - I Forgot to Send a Card!

Did you know the Earth just celebrated a birthday?

According to the dogma of the Church of England in the 18th-19th centuries, God created the Earth at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, October 23, 4004 B.C. So our beloved planet just celebrated its 6,010th birthday.

Happy Belated Birthday, Earth!

Quote of the Day

From Daniel Boone, whose birthday is today:

"I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks."

The Months Without Baseball

Can it be only 4 days since the Cardinals won it all? Can it be that I'm still shaking my head, not understanding how it can be true? Can it be that one wicked Wainwright slider ended seven months of hopes and dreams, just like that? Can it be that October is already past, leaving us to stare into a leafless, lifeless November and beyond - nothing but months of snow on the basepaths, frost in the dugout, and ice on the diamond?

Can it be that there are still three-and-a-half months until spring training? Can it be that I miss baseball already?

At the end of this season, of all seasons, can something still be missing? This season of losing streaks, of injuries, of strke threes, of swept-by-the-Cubbies? This season of Weaver, of Marquis, of Wilson, of Miles and Miles and Miles?

This season of Spiezio, of Albert the Great, of Soooooup, of Carp (just Carp), of Eck the Pest, of did-you-really-just-do-that-P-dub?, of Yadi, Yadi, Yadi?

Can something still be missing, even after this?

Yes. For this was the season in which the child in us defeated the adult in us. This was the season in which the "we can do it" beat the "we know better." This was the season in which hope beat cynicism, the season in which love beat knowledge.

This was the season to savor. This was the season of the "why not," the season of the "maybe more."

But there is no more. Not for a while. Nothing to savor now but hot stove discussions and speculations gone mad. Suppan? Weaver? Spiezio? Belliard?

All of it nothing but fantasy gone amok. All of it nothing but the displacement of childhood dreams, the substitution of X-L-S for 6-4-3. All of it just numbers, numbers, numbers.

All of it mattering not at all in comparison to the specific physics of a ball that climbs and climbs and climbs and falls and falls and falls and finally fades into the cradle of a child's hands in a late summer twilight, to the "hurray" of the crowd.

Not mattering at all, even a little bit, until the whiff of early spring grass brings the next hit-and-run, the next suicide squeeze, the next double up the gap, the next "Oh, Tony, what-are-ya-thinkin?"

Until the next swing-and-a-miss.

For in the end, that's what we live for. The next swing-and-a-miss. Not the last one, no matter how sweet the slider, or how significant the stakes, or how ungainly the Inge.

It's the next one that keeps us waiting, and watching, and dreaming of summer days to come, of autumns full of baseballs loaded with dirt and grit and spit and gumption.

The next one. It's a long way away, a winter-spring-summer-fall. A long, long way away.

So fly into the winter, Redbirds.

We'll see you in the spring.

Anya's Language

Anya is developing a language, called "Erconinas." These spellings are mine, phonetic only:

Kop = Statue of Liberty
Moskegranz = mouse
Elbrunans = elephant

My recall may be imperfect, but I'm sure Anya can correct me.

Update: Anya's language has changed. It is now a singing language. Every word is sung rather than spoken. Last night she told me the word for "angel." It took her about 1 minute to sing it. I imagine that if you wrote it out, the word would be about 100 syllables long.

Bowie and The King

Trivia: David Bowie wrote "Golden Years" to be performed by Elvis. I can hear it.

"Gooolden years,
Oh-ooo-woooh, wopwopwop..."

Cookie Boys, Scarves and Carpenters

The girls have been cute this week.

A couple of days ago, Quinn approached me while I was sitting at the dinner table and loudly declared, "You are my cookie boy!"

Then Saturday night, while I was watching Game 1 of the World Series with both India and Anya on my lap, Anya turns to India and says (pertinent to nothing, as far as I could tell): "You're Chris Carpenter!" Whereupon India replies, "YOU'RE Chris Carpenter!" This went on for about 5 minutes, each of them telling the other, in increasingly insistent tones, that they were Chris Carpenter. I didn't even know they knew who Chris Carpenter was. He wasn't pitching, he wasn't on the TV. They just picked it up, I guess. It was pretty funny.

Then yesterday India decided to create a coat out of scarves. She brought out every scarf in the house and tied them around herself. She looked like some kind of odd muppet. It looked warm, too.

My Brand

I have decided that for the duration of the Cardinals' trip through the playoffs, I am going to drink only Budweiser while watching the games.

Budweiser has good mojo for the Cardinals.

They're just one win away from the World Series. Come on, guys!

Song Title of the Day, Oct. 11, 2006

"Without MSG I Am Nothing," by Mclusky.

Musky

A few days ago Mari-Rose and the girls were down by Sugar Creek, and at the edge of the water they found a tiny baby muskrat which had apparently been abandoned. It was only about two inches long and couldn't have weighed more than an ounce. It was still alive, so they brought it home, wrapped it in a washrag and kept it alive for a day by feeding it milk from the pet store.

Of course, we couldn't keep a muskrat forever, so Mari-Rose found out that the University of Illinois Veterinary School will take in lost little animals like "Musky." She took Musky over there, and he lived for a while, but ultimately didn't make it.

Rest in peace, Musky.

Elmore Leonard

From today's Writer's Almanac, a quick good line from Elmore Leonard:

"I leave out the parts that people skip."

Redeem This!

From the Writer's Almanac of Oct. 7, I learned this:

Oct. 7 is the birthday of R.L. Stine, the creator of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series of horror novels for young people, he's one of the best-selling children's book authors of all time. He has written more than 200 books, and he's sold more than 100 million copies.

By the early 1990s, Stine's books were selling about a million copies per month. To keep up with demand, he had to write 20 pages a day, finishing a book every two weeks.

In response to critics who have said that his books aren't good for children, R.L. Stine said, "I believe that kids as well as adults are entitled to books of no socially redeeming value."

A book every two weeks. That is just stunning.

I Suppose We Should Be Happy

Has it really been a week since I posted anything? Sheesh. A few items:

Science teachers in Michigan will be able to teach evolution. I guess this is what we call a victory these days - science teachers actually get to teach their subject matter?

But here is a genuine reason to be happy today: WOXY came back on the air today. It is good, good music. For example: Already this afternoon they have played new stuff by Michael Franti, Lily Allen, Guillemots and the Decemberists, as well as some live music by Wilco. Ahh! (They are back on the air thanks to an arrangement with LaLa.com, which I don't really understand. But apparently LaLa is a good source of music, too.)

Mystifying

While doing research at work yesterday, I came across the following quote from an article in Joint Force Quarterly, a military journal, dated October 2004:

Indeed, it is notable that the current Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, has registered his reluctance to commit military assets to aid civilian authorities without a clear exit strategy.

Now, I can understand the logic of this. You don't want the military to be indefinitely committed to doing cleanup work after disasters. But the thing I can't figure - and I mean this honestly - is, did the same standard apply in Iraq? After three-and-a-half years, I still can't figure out what Rumsfeld's exit strategy in Iraq was, or is, or will be.

Depressing But Not Surprising

Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults think that humans and dinosaurs cohabited the planet at some point in the past.

I am continually amazed by the gulf between how knowledgeable some people are and how ignorant others are.

Back from the Dead

So last night Albert Pujols saved the Cardinals. If he hadn't hit that 2-out, 3-run home run in the bottom of the eighth, the Birds would probably be dead. But he did hit the homer, so they live on. The guy is in a class by himself.

Then this morning, I'm greeted with the news that WOXY is coming back. Great news.

The Empress

I learned something on PBS last night which amazed me. The show was a biopic about Marie Antoinette, and it said that her mother, Maria Teresa, was the long-time empress of Austria. Which isn't a big deal, except for the fact that Maria Teresa had sixteen children while she was empress. Apparently she would even read reports and policy papers while she was in labor.

Marie Antoinette was the second-youngest. She got married off to Louis XVI to create an alliance between Austria and France. And apparently she never actually said the "cake" thing.

Way to Go, Opportunity!

For the past 18 months, the rover Opportunity has been trundling across the plains of Mars, in an attempt to reach the Victoria Crater.

Tomorrow, it will finally arrive. It's going to peek over the edge of the crater, which is about 200 feet deep.

A note on the article: I like the way the scientists refer to Opportunity and Spirit as females. The only reason I didn't here is that I don't feel I know them personally. :)

Hard to Believe

The World Wide Web is only 15 years old. The BBC did a nice brief history of the web.

I'm amazed by how fast the development has happened, and how much of this history I can remember. I remember hearing about Internet services as far back as 1992 and 1993. (CompuServe, anyone?)

I also got online relatively early: 1997. Makes me feel cool, even though I'm not.

Today Is Music Day

September 23 is the birthday of:

• Bruce Springsteen
• John Coltrane
• Ray Charles
  

How Do I Look?

Got a chuckle out of this. Some photographer for Getty Images has been taking classes in "How to Make a Politician Look Good."

Good Fishies!

Pretty cool story: A number of cities are using bluegill to detect contaminants in their municipal water supplies. Apparently they're pretty sensitive to nasties in the water.

Good fishies!

Remember!

Talk like a pirate today!

Arrrrrrrr!!!

WOXY, You Will Be Missed

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, one of the best radio stations anywhere, WOXY in Cincinnati, is going off the air on Sept. 15. I found these folks just a few months ago but quickly became a regular listener.

Why will I miss them? They play stuff no one else does. This afternoon they went back-to-back-to-back with:

1. Guillemots, "Go Away"
2. The Jam, "That's Entertainment"
3. The Walkmen, "The Rat"

It ain't every radio station in the world would play that particular set of songs in that particular order.

Update: And then about an hour later, they went B2B with:

1. Badly Drawn Boy, "Born in the UK"
   
2. The Police, "Born in the 50s."

Okay, yes, it's hokey. But cut them slack - it's their last day on air. And when was the last time you heard that Police song on the radio?

Fantasy Beats Reality

My friend Bill sent me an e-mail this morning, which was a response to a chain joke about "how the Internet was created." Bill took issue with the long-standing dig against Al Gore that he claimed to "invent the Internet." Bill said he wanted to "lay this to rest once and for all."

Bill brought with him a preponderance of evidence - a wealth of well-documented facts that demonstrate that, while Gore did not invent the Internet, he also never claimed to have invented the Internet, and he did sponsor legislation that speeded the the Internet's development. So, yes, Al should get some credit, even though he probably tried to give himself more credit than he deserves. (Isn't it shocking that a politician would try to do this?)

But Bill's argument, no matter how well researched or documented, doesn't even begin to lay the issue to rest. I'd say it hardly even matters, because it ignores one simple truth (an inconvenient one, if you will):

When given the choice between believing a simple fantasy and a complicated truth, most people will believe the fantasy every time.

Or, as Mark Twain more famously said, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."

Just refer to my previous post for further evidence of this. Why in the world are people going to accept the truth about Al Gore and the Internet - a truth that is older, more arcane, and technologically complicated - if they won't understand the comparatively much simpler truth about who's responsible for 9/11?

In both cases, fantasy overwhelmingly trumps truth. It always was so, and I'm afraid always will be.

Still, I hold out a slim, if fading, hope that people will someday realize the ultimate truth: that everything on Earth is controlled by a massive supercomputer run by aliens on a small planet near Betelgeuse.

We're Incompetent!

I've read some interesting numbers in the wake of the 9/11 anniversary.

Recent polling indicates that 46% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein had a part in 9/11. This is down from 70% in 2003...but still.

At the same time, 16% of Americans believe that the World Trade Center towers were demolished by preset explosive charges. In other words, that the U.S. government destroyed the buildings and almost 3,000 people inside.

Put the two together, and you've got 62% of Americans who don't have even a basic comprehension of who's responsible for 9/11.

We're incompetent!

It's Not Happening...It's Not Happening

Call me crazy. I tend to think that this whole "global warming" thing is more than just a scare tactic for liberals to try to win elections.

There's you know, some science behind it. Just a bit.

But not much in Australia, apparently. Al Gore is in Aussieland promoting the release of "An Inconvenient Truth" there, and according to Australian officials, Al's just doing a traveling medicine show! Check this out:

Australia's Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane dismissed the documentary's dire predictions about the consequences of global warming as entertainment.

"Al Gore's here to sell tickets to a movie and no one can begrudge him that. It's just entertainment," Macfarlane told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Monday.

PS: Please note the obscure "Erik the Viking" reference in the title of this post.

Haunting and Amazing

Just heard one of the most amazing songs I've heard in a while: Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," sung and played as a duet between Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer.

I've always loved that song anyway, but it is a great and haunting rendition. It had to be one of the last recordings ever for both Cash and Strummer.

It sort of hit me like Warren Zevon's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," which he recorded when everyone knew he was dying.

Life can end too fast.

Decemberists

The new Decemberists album, "The Crane Wife," will be in stores Oct. 30.

Love that band. Very clever lyrics and lots of references to seafaring. Arrrrr!

The Land of Obvion

Your quote for the day:

"The way to win the struggle is to win it."

That's U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., referring to the war.

This Blows My Mind

Did you know that in 1965, Braniff Airlines ran a campaign called "Air Strip" which called for its stewardesses to do a fake striptease in the aisle?

Yep, they did. NPR mentioned it in a story yesterday. For full effect, be sure to click the image of Braniff's promo poster on the NPR page.

The mind boggles to imagine such a thing today, but in the days when airplanes were mostly full of businessmen downing drinks, it was - umm - acceptable?

Bad News

WOXY is going off the air Sept. 15. Apparently you can't make enough money as an Internet-only radio station. Even as a very very good one.

Dylan Again

Just took a quick look at the review of Dylan's new album in Slate:

Modern Times is a better album than Time Out of Mind and even than the majestic Love and Theft, which by my lights makes it Dylan's finest since Blood on the Tracks (1975).

Wow.

Thought for the Day

From today's Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of journalist John Gunther, born in Chicago, Illinois (1901). He said, "[The United States] is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea."

I wonder what it was.

Catching Up

Been out a few days. Was in STL over the weekend.

Saw the Cardinals Sunday. They still stink, generally, but they beat the Cubs with a walk-off grand slam. I'd never seen one of those before. So, hey.

They went 4-0 with me in the ballpark this year. I think I should have season tickets.

Other miscellaneous things:

If you're interested in hearing some interesting people talk, you can hardly do better than the TED conference. Here are this year's presentations.

Last week at the library, we got the best kids' picture book I've read in a while: David Macauley's "Shortcut." He also wrote one called "Black and White" which must be one of the most innovative kids' books ever. It's a trip. "Shortcut" is kind of a simpler riff on the same idea as "Black and White."

Happy Birthday, R2D2

Today is the birthday of Kenny Baker, who stuffed himself into a tin can to play R2D2 in the original Star Wars movies. He's 72.

Which means we are all getting old.

2010 Mindset List

The new "mindset list" is out. This is the list that tries to reflect the frame of reference for this year's college freshman. This year's highlights, IMHO:

* The Soviet Union has never existed...
* They have known only two presidents.
* Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.
* Public school officials have always had the right to censor school newspapers.
* The U.S. has always been studying global warming to confirm its existence.
* Richard M. Daley has always been the Mayor of Chicago.
* Non-denominational mega-churches have always been the fastest growing religious organizations in the U.S.

And my personal favorite:

* They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams.

I remember when I was in high school, some teacher told us that we shouldn't take drugs like Paul McCartney. I had heard Paul McCartney's stuff - mostly the solo stuff with Wings - but I don't think the guy realized that the Beatles broke up the year I was born.

They're Watching

I promise I will very rarely comment on anything political on this blog, because - well - you know the old saying about not discussing religion and politics. Whenever I've done it, it has gotten me into trouble. Or at least made me feel dirty. So I don't like to do it much. But I had a thought today about the state of the world that seemed relatively revealing to me. See if this makes sense.

I think we can probably all agree that the defining issue of our times is terrorism. Yet we have a couple of very different views on what to do about it.

From George W and Cheney we get the "take the fight to the enemy" approach. And of course, they're in charge so that's what we've been doing. From others whom we can safely say are "to the left" of W and Cheney, we hear that this approach is madness and counterproductive.

Today I came to a realization that both sides are essentially saying the same thing: "They're watching."

If you listen to Cheney especially, he's always saying that we have to keep our resolve, we can't give in, we have to show them that we will stand up and fight. In this view, the reason that terrorists have attacked us is that they perceive that we are a weak nation that won't defend itself. Cheney's argument is that they got away with attacking our embassies, the USS Cole, etc., and we didn't do much in response. So they have felt that they can attack us again. Or at least they used to. Then we "took the fight to the enemy" and they haven't attacked us since. This is the argument for staying in Iraq, come what may. If we leave, then it will embolden them to attack us again.

In short, "they're watching." And who's "they"? Why, the terrorists of course. This view is justified if you believe that the primary external audience that we are trying to send a message to is terrorists.

"The left" is horrified by this. By invading Iraq, they argue, we have made things worse. There are now more people who have taken up arms against us than there were before. There are people in Europe who were not violent before but now are violent, and it's because we have taken this aggressive stance. We are now getting attacked again and again in Iraq because we invaded their country and have not ensured its security, even three years later. In short, we are making things worse, not better.

And why? Because "they're watching." In this view, "they" is not the terrorists. In this view, the audience that we must influence by our actions is not the terrorists. It is the vast Muslim population. We don't want to make these people any more mad at us than they already are. We don't want to turn the moderates into extremists and the extremists into violent terrorists.

So...they're watching. It just depends on who you think is watching.

Finally: A New Dylan Album

Bob Dylan is finally coming out with a new album, Modern Times, slated for release Aug. 29.

It has been almost 5 years since his last album, "Love and Theft," which was brilliant. That one was released on Sept. 11, 2001, of all days.

New Member of Our Household

We celebrated a new birth yesterday.

A couple of weeks ago, India brought home a monarch butterfly caterpillar, which she and a friend had found at school. We got to keep it because these caterpillars love milkweed, and we have a lot of that growing on our backyard fence.

We put it in India's bugcatcher, and few days afterwards, it made a chrysalis. Then, yesterday, voila! We had a brand new butterfly. It hung from the top of the bugcatcher a while and dried its wings. When it started flapping around, we released the lid and applauded when it flew away.

So if you see a monarch butterfly, it may have been ours. (They travel widely, y'know.)

Perspective

Today I made a trip to the WGLT Recycled Music Sale with India. When we went, I was in a bad mood.

But at the sale, India was attracted to a cassette single in the "World Music" box. The cassette case had a colorful sleeve which looked like a lot of fun. She asked if we could buy it. I took a look at it, gave it about 3 seconds of thought, realized that "what the hell" was the best response, and bought it. It was only 50 cents. What the hell, indeed.

And I must say that we had a boatload of fun listening to it in the truck on the way home. I think that this was the first time in the 16-year history of the truck that this song has been heard within its doors. It was worth the wait.

You might be asking - what work of sonic genius were we listening to?

Why, naturally..."Macarena."

Which just goes to show that a little perspective goes a long way.

A Fine Poem

From today's Writer's Almanac, here is a fine poem.

Those germs, viruses, and parasites are smarter than we give them credit for.

Toyota Wants to Give Us Music

Toyota's making this new car, the Yaris, that they want to brand as all-hip-and-whatnot.

As part of their marketing campaign, they've set up a webpage where you can download a dozen songs for free. The best stuff here, IMHO, is:

1. Midlake, "Roscoe" (Great song)
2. Clogs, "Lantern Medley..."
3. Brookville, "Golden"
4. IOs, "Neveright"
   

Thanks, Toyota!

Song Title of the Day

"Dress Sexy at My Funeral" by Smog.

The lyrics are written from the point of view of a guy who wants his wife to, well, dress sexy at his funeral.

Umm...hey, Mari-Rose?

How to Create a Mad Poet

From today's Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of Charles Bukowski, (1920). His family moved to Los Angeles when he was two years old. His father was a milkman, and so frustrated with his own life that he became very abusive. He once beat Bukowski with a two-by-four because the son hadn't mowed the lawn correctly.

Reading: The Giver

Yesterday I finished reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. Technically it's a kids' book - the Normal Public Library is having a promotion where adults read kids' books along with their kids. I think you can win prizes or something.

I picked up The Giver, which won a major prize. It's a good quick read. The basic story follows a 12-year-old kid who lives in a futuristic community where people have given up almost all their freedoms in exchange for a world with no pain, hunger, etc.

The kid, of course, has problems in this world.

Just one thing bothers me about it. I don't think that we'll ever see anything like this kind of world. The idea seems to be that eventually humans will give up their aspirations in exchange for a peaceful world with no troubles.

And I don't think that's the way things are working out. If I were to predict the future, based on the way things are going, it would be much more of an every-man-for-himself affair. A world where life is, you know:

Solitary. Poor. Nasty. Brutish. Short.

I think we're far too self-interested to give up our own desires for a common good, especially to the degree that it happens in the book. (Trust me - the people in this community give up just about everything interesting.)

Honestly, I'm not sure which would be worse.

Question for the Day

Here's your moral dilemma for the day.

You have been allowed to murder someone. Anyone you choose. Anywhere you choose. Transportation will be provided. What's more, you will not be punished for this in any way. You will not be arrested or sent to jail. You will be able to go on living your life as normal. You have also been assured that it will not cost you a chance to go to heaven, if you believe in heaven.

Do you do it?

In Stores Aug. 15

1. Hong Kong Phooey, The Complete Series
   
2. Magilla Gorilla, The Complete Series

Also, the Guillemots' album, Through the Windowpane, gets its US release. Another one to put on the long, long to-buy list.

Update: D'oh! The Guillemots' album has been released in the UK. It doesn't get a US release date till January.

Yo La Tengo

Typing late at night, and "Everyday" by Yo La Tengo just showed up on shuffle play. They're the kind of band that obviously made a decision very early on that they would play the kind of music they wanted to play and wouldn't cater to anyone.

For that reason, I find all their songs interesting, even the songs I don't like so well.

Another reason to like them: Their new album is called I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass.