tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504234455586036532024-02-07T19:35:24.960-05:00Miscellaneous Marickovich...A Horribly Random Occurance in an Otherwise Beautifully Ordered UniverseWassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.comBlogger280125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-84954921962787561252019-06-23T15:41:00.002-04:002019-06-23T15:47:06.449-04:00We're going to War! Wait, no we're not! Wait, yes we are! Wait, no we're...On this week's episode of "The Celebrity Apprentice: Washington", Mr. Trump ordered missile and air strikes on Iran, but then after commercial break decided to call it off at the last minute.<br />
<br />
Plenty of people have had lots to say about it. There is a general sigh of relief that we don't find ourselves at war with Iran (yet); there are questions about what really motivated the President's decisions; there are questions about why Trump didn't know from the get go if maybe 150 people would be killed; there is worry about who is driving the foreign policy bus. There is also the intriguing idea, floated by some (including General Petreus), that it is what Trump had intended to do all along, a sort of mock execution where at the last minute the gun is pulled back and Trump yells out "never, ever, EVER, come into my casino again! You got that? NEVER!" Which would send a message that we could reach out to Iran anytime we want to and that they are on a very short leash.<br />
<br />
Trump may have made the right decision in this case: a strike on Iran, which would have almost certainly caused casualties, is not a good response to losing a drone in disputed air space.<br />
<br />
The problem of course it is a decision he shouldn't have had to make at all. Here we see the consequences of withdrawing from the nuclear deal, which has to be the worst foreign policy decision the administration has made.<br />
<br />
The best we can hope for is that Iran buckles under the pressure and sits down to make a new agreement. But in my opinion its hard to see that happening and I wondering if we will get anything really better than what Obama was able to achieve after years of diplomacy conducted by professionals who hadn't professed a desire to change the regime (at least openly--- Hillary Clinton's monthly kaffeeklatches don't count! What happens at kaffeeklatch, stays at kaffeeklatch) . Trump will be lucky to get the previous terms.<br />
<br />
Of course, if he does, he will declare victory by solving a crisis of his own making.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-28588826211739000782019-01-05T19:54:00.001-05:002019-01-05T19:57:51.251-05:00Movies You May Not Like: The FavouriteFor some reason New Years Day in Hampton Roads is always gray, damp, and unseasonably warm. It sucks.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So its a perfect day to go to the movies, and it has become something of a tradition for me to pack myself off to the theater to start the new year. This year, I saw <i>The Favourite</i>, because it was a movie that my wife did not really want to see and it would allow me to get back home by 1:00 in the afternoon, just in time for the customary Upper Malakvian New Years lunch of salted Cod, salted Potatoes, salted beans, salt, and Schlivovitz -- who wouldn't want to miss that!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>The Favourite</i> was very well done, engrossing, and kind of unsettling, in a way, mostly due to how the movie ends. Part farce, part political drama, it is (loosely - very, very loosely) based on actual events, where the favored advisor to Queen Anne, the Duchess of Marlborough, is slowly supplanted by Abigail Masham (nee Hill). It imagines them in a sort of love triangle, which is, apparently, actually possible but not substantiated. I think its been shortlisted for some awards and for good reason - Emma Stone and Olivia Coleman give fantastic performances; Coleman's Queen Anne in particular being fascinating. The costuming and sets are incredible, it is well shot, the soundtrack is haunting. I would recommend it, though I found the movie a bit depressing, in that it is another one of those movies that has no real hero, no positive influence, and the ending is abrupt and stark and really sticks with you. I think the last good movie in which I saw something of the heroic was Dunkirk, and that was going on a year and a half ago. These are dystopian times. And I am sure there is more that I can say about the movie's sexual dynamics and the #MeToo movement and all of that stuff, the cultural moment we find ourselves in and how the movie reflects on some of that. But my friends, I simply don't have the cultural acumen to do it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcLYYsA-hU8QKJZobnodgvhQZqZTfrGhI55XgcFTlR0EDupmNW1QBS-LbBano1wlnOOZ9Mzh5uHptWRatEH8RjzNt80TSteSN02ghsnGqpOOE0SZJNDmLBEzvMVdDwhsRuMolwXrtnFT8/s1600/the-favourite-olivia-colman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcLYYsA-hU8QKJZobnodgvhQZqZTfrGhI55XgcFTlR0EDupmNW1QBS-LbBano1wlnOOZ9Mzh5uHptWRatEH8RjzNt80TSteSN02ghsnGqpOOE0SZJNDmLBEzvMVdDwhsRuMolwXrtnFT8/s400/the-favourite-olivia-colman.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olivia Coleman as Queen Anne in <i>The Favourite</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But I do have some historical acumen, and that might come in handy if you decide the movie.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's the thing: aside from the fact that it was set in the 1600s or 1700s, I had little idea what it was going to be about. I knew there was a Queen, and some sort of power struggle, and that it was supposed to be good, and because I do whatever the New York Times tells me to do I should go see it; but that was about it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To my joy, I found that I was in the one situation in my life where my smattering of British history was actually useful, as I could draw on some useless trivia to give me a firmer footing in a film that otherwise may have been rather confusing from the start. Maybe the film-makers would rather you didn't have any background at all - but I found it to be useful. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It isn't much, but this is what I brought to the table: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So at the beginning of the movie there is reference to a war that is ongoing and draining the British purse, and this war comes to dominate a lot of the political machinations the characters go through as they struggle over the decision to fund it by taxation or sue for Peace from an advantageous position.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, I know that I recently said "No More War Movies" in 2019, but fortunately the combat is kept far away and my new year's resolution is intact. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyways, in this scene at the beginning of the movie, Queen Anne speaks of a great victory and, thinking the war is over, is prepared to give the Duchess of Marlborough a palace. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The war in question: The War of the Spanish Succession, fought in the early 1700s over who would be king of Spain (I suppose). The Bourbons in France had a claim, and the British, Dutch, and others were determined to stop them. Much of the war was actually fought in what is today Belgium (I think). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The victory is probably the Battle of Blenheim, a massive victory by the British and their coalition over the French in 1704 that changed the course of the struggle. The leader of the British forces was John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, husband to (and here is where the connection comes in) Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough and aide to Queen Anne. And yes, John Churchill is the ancestor of THAT Churchill, old huffen und puffen, trinken und sleepen Winston Churchill himself, with those stupid paintings of his. You know who was a great painter? Who could paint one room, in one afternoon, two coats? I'll give you two guesses. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jl_rufmxYbA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jl_rufmxYbA?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The palace proposed at the beginning of the movie was built in honor of the Battle of Blenheim, and is actually called Blenheim Palace. I think in the movie they refer to its name one time. We also see the Duke of Marlborough (who second to Wellington is probably Britain's greatest military leader of all time) occasionally but he is a minor character.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And that is really it. The war would drag on until 1714. Of the political intrigue in Queen Anne's Court I had little notion. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As I write all this, it makes me think that maybe it was a conscious choice of director Yorgos Lanthimos to divorce the action on screen from the details of the actual back story, placing the action in a sort of alternative reality where the rumors behind the relationship between the three protagonists is allowed to flourish with all of its Sapphic fire. If the movie hewed more to a more likely reality it may have only left a sort of tension between the three that may or may not have been sexual in nature, though again the actual relationship between these three women is, based on what I know, difficult to be sure of. They may has simply been every effusive in their letters to each other, or they might have been true bed fellows. The only ones who really know, probably, are Queen Anne, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Abigail Masham. And maybe their dogs and those rabbits the Queen liked to keep in her bed chamber. All long gone. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The ending of the movie is what makes it so dissonant, but I will leave that to the brave. <i>The Favourite</i>; run time two hours; rated R for some fruity language, some sex acts, and the odd nipple here and there. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-86868658226816045922018-12-31T19:42:00.000-05:002018-12-31T19:51:23.635-05:00In Which I go Very Public with My New Year's ResolutionsA new year is upon us! And what better way to start the new year then by laying bare my deepest ambitions for the entire world to see!<br />
<br />
I did a decent job with my 2018 New Year's Resolution, keeping 2 out of 4. I maintained a presence at the gym -- even if it at times that was by having a past version of myself haunting the One Life Fitness in Newport News. Did you feel that chill go down your spine as you walked towards the rowing machine? That was the ghost of my better intentioned, more motivated self circa May, before I got deep into Summer, baseball games, and Nachos.<br />
<br />
I also managed to complete the reading of 23 books this year! That was an increase on last year's 20. It does not include the many books I started, got anywhere from 10% - 60% through, and gave up on.<br />
<br />
So not bad! I did not write as much as I would have liked too -- far from it. And I also did not progress as much with my German as I would have liked either.<br />
<br />
So here, with 5 hours left to go before the end of the year, are next year's resolutions:<br />
<br />
<b>1. No war movies in 2019 (with some caveats) </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I have watched too many war movies, and I am not sure why I do it - they are on the whole depressing. It was the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I so I watched, this year, some excellent movies commemorating the war (2017 <i>Journey's End</i> is one I would highly recommend). But I've decided, at last, I can take no more. They don't do me a lot of good.<br />
<br />
So, no war movies in 2019.<br />
<br />
You must understand, this cuts a rather wide swath through today's cinema. Yes, the classic war movie is one in which a young man or woman finds themselves in an army or a flying corps and has their innocence dashed by the brutality of conflict and must grope their way through the experience of warfare - the most complex human experience on earth, I'd reckon - as their friends die around them, over which they must lay the matrix of the many reasons that have brought them to the war in the first place, be they good, bad, or senseless. And/or the veteran comes home from the war and tries to readjust to civilian live, maybe the second most complex human experience on earth. The classics are ones like <i>Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Jarhead (the first one), Glory, The Patriot, Bridge on the River Kwai, Dunkirk, </i>the list goes on and on and on.<br />
<br />
But you have to add Superhero movies to the list as well. Or at least most of them. Batman fights crime, sure. But Transformers? Those are war movies. Wonder Woman, admirable though it may have been, was definetly a war movie. Star Wars (GASP!!!) are -- well, as the name suggests, war movies. Even those damn <i>Alice in Wonderland </i>movies that Johnny Depp plays the mad hatter in are war movies. Forrest Gump? War movie.<br />
<br />
So there will be a lot of stuff I can't see. There are two caveats:<br />
<br />
<u>Caveat a:</u> If a war movie comes that is hailed as truly being transcendental, something that is just going to be amazing and needs to be seen in theater, I'm willing to relent and go to it.<i> Dunkirk</i> was such a film. Something on that level.<br />
<br />
<u>Caveat b:</u> If a decent movie on Napoleon, or the Napoleonic Wars, comes out, or if the BBC/HBO can put together a half decent mini-series of the subject, I will see that too.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Keep up at the gym</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I <i>did </i> stick with the gym this year, though you might have gathered I did not go as often as I probably should have. Often enough to make it monetarily worthwhile - the price of membership was not wasted - but not often enough to really look or feel much different.<br />
<br />
So a little more gym going in 2019. <br />
<br />
<b>3. Read (complete) 25 books in 2019</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Pretty self explanatory. This two more books than I managed to complete in 2018, so it may be difficult.<br />
<br />
<b>4. Improve on my German</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This is an odd one, it may seem. I have no German ancestry and have little need to know German for my profession. Yet my inability to speak a foreign language has always gnawed at me. German is my best shot, because I took it in high school, took some more lessons through a friend at St Mark, and have kept at it through various means. It is probably better than it has ever been, but there is so much more room to improve! Plus, the SAWE Conference in 2020 is in Hamburg, and I am going even if I have to swim for it.<br />
<br />
I did improve in 2018, but would like to continue doing so in 2019.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Write more in 2019</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Probably the most important. I had the goal last year of writing 50 poems and 3 other things. I did not even come close...I wrote maybe 20 poems an a few blog posts. I really, really, want to do more in the new year.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Present an Open Hand Rather than a Closed Fist</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I don't really think of myself as a closed fist, but we could all be more open, more understanding, and kinder, and sometimes I can certainly be hard-hearted. So it is my hope that I can cultivate some more compassionate virtues the new year.<br />
<br />
That is it. A pretty long list but with a few tweaks I think I can get there. Number 6, actually, may be the hardest.<br />
<br />
Well, 2018, you were a hell of a year. Trump was Trump, the planet is dying, and many of my friends have had a rough time of it, and the Hokies nearly blew up their bowl streak. Sometimes it is hard enough to gin up the energy to push the boulder up the hill everyday, much less do it joyfully.<br />
<br />
Here's hoping for a better 2019!<br />
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-43083946855859997682018-12-19T22:54:00.000-05:002018-12-19T23:20:34.280-05:00In Which the Link Between a Luscious Nude and a Factory for War Machines is Pointed Out. So here is a question for you: What could possibly be the link between this:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJ1BbiXOaukoABmDdMSQXuDOnx-V1OqhpmWG8Y4dlWGjoEC1GRoTs5Z9EttxvWZgvK-vyxknGFTmNnkuajBzrb2fscJUAn5iC1hwpGPJ0eS34D4evioIZxWGnEtNwDCtHM1PkhYfTcZ78/s1600/Alexandre_Cabanel_-_The_Birth_of_Venus_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="1600" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJ1BbiXOaukoABmDdMSQXuDOnx-V1OqhpmWG8Y4dlWGjoEC1GRoTs5Z9EttxvWZgvK-vyxknGFTmNnkuajBzrb2fscJUAn5iC1hwpGPJ0eS34D4evioIZxWGnEtNwDCtHM1PkhYfTcZ78/s640/Alexandre_Cabanel_-_The_Birth_of_Venus_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabanel's <i>Birth of Venus</i>, sometimes referred to simply as "The painting of the woman with the boobs and the water".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And this?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fROAiszT7C0gj2EvD26mRLCFKePJ7ajeU7NmW5UEQBhnhYzxeXiOJy6JyG6xuJzh1Pufi0leWTr66KeFQWqp8dhiZrCzdpGih0p9c0p60yVvzYPHDhSk4DYahImvSPRR9JnYZ8HaJFvd/s1600/nns_aerial_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="1024" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fROAiszT7C0gj2EvD26mRLCFKePJ7ajeU7NmW5UEQBhnhYzxeXiOJy6JyG6xuJzh1Pufi0leWTr66KeFQWqp8dhiZrCzdpGih0p9c0p60yVvzYPHDhSk4DYahImvSPRR9JnYZ8HaJFvd/s640/nns_aerial_new.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newport News Shipbuilding, sometimes referred to as the place where they build the things that launch the things that deliver things that make other things go boom in the name of Freedom. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The answer is this:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_W_qeXeBFBpwkomVmdL0lfRTQYLvUqN8EDx1wjQHzoEkHg3OK5vmG3HcWQ3pWU3S1My99ZE0YmikPg-WgISsqhlVE8motY0a80drRvEYfbYcPiccL0sDTxdBBM2QCgRaDDQ9l9q_ooP4/s1600/Mrs+Collis+P+Huntington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1227" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_W_qeXeBFBpwkomVmdL0lfRTQYLvUqN8EDx1wjQHzoEkHg3OK5vmG3HcWQ3pWU3S1My99ZE0YmikPg-WgISsqhlVE8motY0a80drRvEYfbYcPiccL0sDTxdBBM2QCgRaDDQ9l9q_ooP4/s400/Mrs+Collis+P+Huntington.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An unlikely link between the two, though if you are smart you can probably guess what is going on here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So what is all this then?<br />
<br />
The first picture is <i>The Birth of Venus,</i> by Alexandre Cabanel, a huge hit at the Paris Salon of 1863. Napoleon III, upon seeing the painting, purchased it immediately; probably not because of its artistic value but rather because in addition to some highly polished brushwork and a rather realistic depiction of an ocean wave it features - rather prominently - a very naked woman. Perfect for adorning the study of the man who has everything and is worried that his adventures in Mexico are beginning to flounder. <br />
<br />
All joking aside, though, the painting really was very much adored. It was just within the bounds of propriety of the time, where painting nudes was okay if it fell into the historic/mythological schools of French painting, featuring seamless brush strokes, accurate depictions, and a purpose of either imparting a moral lesson, exemplifying beauty, or telling a story from France's glorious past. We might look at this Cabanel and see it as something not much better than soft core pornography, laden with all the chauvenistic baggage that western culture has loaded on to itself. But for the Parisian of 1863 it checked the boxes. The most scandalous aspect of the painting, the thing that was up for debate at the time, was the look that Cabanel's Venus is giving as she peeks out from under her arm. Is she actually in repose, or do her eyes suggest a sort of post-coital contended grogginess? The critics in Paris battled it out, could not agree on any kind of consensus, and the mild whiff of controversy only added to the overall warm reception to Cabanel's work.<br />
<br />
I'm getting a bit off track here, but it should be noted that the adoration of Cabanel's nude was in direct contrast to the derision hefted almost joyfully against Manet's <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, </i>exhibited at the 1863 Salon des Refuses (a special sort of extra Salon held featuring paintings rejected by the Paris Salon jury of 1863, after there were objections that the jury was too harsh). One of the problems with the painting, as the Parisians saw it, was that the men were wearing contemporary clothes and were in a contemporary setting. In 1863 this just wasn't normally done. Pictures of everyday life took a back seat to stunning histories or mythological settings, usually featuring men wearing nothing but plummed trojan helmets and women in various stages of undress, modesty sometimes preserved by the fortuitous fold of a toga.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
Manet was one of the first to paint the modern people of Paris with all their glory and grit going about their everyday lives, doing things like going to horse races, listening to music, drinking absinthe, and having lunch with naked women in the city parks, because that is apparently what normal French people do. Anyhow, the idea that painting contemporary people going about their ordinary lives could actually be meaningful required the artistic mores of the day to undergo a pretty significant adjustment.<br />
<br />
Secondly, the painting depicts the woman as a likely prostitute; the everyday clothing of the men, the casual discarding of her clothes, and the frog placed towards the right side of the painting all suggest that this woman was being paid to be there, and though prostitution was rife in Paris in the 1860s it was not kosher to depict the workers who plied their trade.<br />
<br />
Third and final: critics found the woman in Manet's painting to be ugly, and painted without technique or depth, the uniform pallor of her skin akin to a photograph. People didn't like that. Though somewhat risque, Cabanel's Venus by comparison was seen as a charming painting of a beautiful naked goddess as opposed to a rather brash work depicting a scene of questionable morality that did nothing to further the study of the beautiful. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG284lLAxo8xbDoUkXsXWnDOCX3OXr5lfscxajCtErWQlDa_NAvi_8IkiPLnQjJ2xnRSXf1ZlsMt-Yy5MdTSdIDE9O1_HF415H296shLWm9VW28aJQu5fDzyM5V2iY5OjeoWt9RGHx3coI/s1600/Edouard_Manet_-_Luncheon_on_the_Grass_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1243" data-original-width="1600" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG284lLAxo8xbDoUkXsXWnDOCX3OXr5lfscxajCtErWQlDa_NAvi_8IkiPLnQjJ2xnRSXf1ZlsMt-Yy5MdTSdIDE9O1_HF415H296shLWm9VW28aJQu5fDzyM5V2iY5OjeoWt9RGHx3coI/s640/Edouard_Manet_-_Luncheon_on_the_Grass_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manet's controversial <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Le déjeuner sur l'herbe. </i> I have no idea what the bather in the background is there for. Don't ask. <i> </i></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So now to Newport News Shipbuilding. The Shipyard was founded in 1886 as the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company by Collis P. Huntington. Long before that, he made a ridiculous amount of money building railroads (he was heavily involved in building the transcontinental railroad), and was known for being fairly unethical, which in the world of 19th century business and politics is really saying something. Still, he is known for saying the words that are inscribed onto every shipbuilder's heart: "We shall build good ships here; at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always good ships". Later, when he found out the rum runner he was building for Johnny K. Chesterton & Sons was going to be behind schedule because the paint had failed due to the high levels of humidty present during the summer in Hampton Roads (something he clearly did not think hard enough about), he uttered the immortal shipyard motto: "It is what it is."<br />
<br />
When his first wife died of cancer in 1883 he married Arabella Yarrington Worsham, a Richmond courtesan who somehow struck up a liason with Collis P. Huntington after the Civil War, perhaps thanks to Huntington's love of cards and gambling and her presence at a popular Richmond faro house doing...stuff? Not sure, really. The details are vague. But she became his mistress at the age of 19 and was moved to New York City with her entire family where she and Collis carried on for 14 years until finally getting married in 1884.<br />
<br />
Even before their marriage, Arabella was one of the richest women in America. And when you are filthy rich, with all the power and status that that entails, you need a painting of yourself, a portrait, that shows to everyone else how fucking filthy rich you are, yes?<br />
<br />
And here is where we come full circle back to Cabanel. In addition to being a very gifted painter of T&A, he was a renowned portrait painter. Portrait painting was the bread and butter of the many less successful artists of the time and Cabanel was so wealthy and famous he really didn't need the money - but he apparently enjoyed it, and many of his portraits of fully clothed and very wealthy men and women (even one of Napoleon III himself in 1865) would receive acclaim in Paris Salons well beyond that of 1863. He gained international fame and during the Gilded Age was the best known French painter in America, aside from maybe Messionier; many Americans - especially women - desperately wanted to have Cabanel paint them. It was a fairly meaningless status symbol, the tricked out SUV of the day. <br />
<br />
Cabanel never came to America, so in 1881 or 1882 Araballa Worsham arranged through an agent to sit for Cabanel and she made the trip over to his Paris studio to sit - or rather stand - for her portrait, which is the third picture shown above, entitled "<i>Mrs. Collis P. Huntington", </i>completed in 1882. I would note it is unusual, in that most Cabanel portraits of the time were 3/4 length, but here we have Bella Huntington in full length glory, perhaps showing the stature she commanded at the time. It is also noted that the title of the painting seems like a reverse anachronism, as Arabella was not married to Huntington at the time; though perhaps in 1882, with his first wife (Elizabeth Stoddard)* dying and Arabella well established in society, she may as well have been. <br />
<br />
So there you have it. The future wife of the founder of Newport News Shipbuilding had her portrait painted by the very same man that wowed all the men of Paris with a painting that they could study with great intent in the name of the artistic beauty that it inherently stood for, examining some parts perhaps more closely than others.<br />
<br />
It is amazing, sometimes, how such things are connected to each other.<br />
<br />
The portrait was donated to a museum in California by her son Archer Huntington, who incidentally founded the Mariner's Museum. But that, to use one of the cheapest endings of all time, is another story.<br />
<br />
If you want to learn more, I recommend the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00480O9LO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank">"The Judgment of Paris" by Ross King</a> and a couple of articles online; one about <a href="https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/beyond-the-boudoir/Content?oid=1653029" target="_blank">Arabelle Huntington</a> and the other about <a href="http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/spring05/300--alexandre-cabanels-portraits-of-the-american-aristocracy-of-the-early-gilded-age" target="_blank">Cabanel and his portrait painting</a>. A lot of the facts I allude to, but perhaps don't quite set correctly, come from these sources.<br />
<br />
<span font-family:="" font-size:="" inherit="" style="font-size: x-small;" x-small="">NOTE:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span font-family:="" font-size:="" inherit="" xx-small=""><br /></span>
<span font-family:="" font-size:="" inherit="" x-small="">*Aside from the fact that she was Huntington's childhood sweetheart, little is known of Elizabeth Stoddard. She apparently lived a rather quiet life in her New York City mansion as her husband criss-crossed the country. It is possible that Elizabeth knew of and accepted Arabella, as documentation shows that Arabella and her mother helped during Elizaebth's illness. One wonders what kind of woman she was, and what kind of life she lead. </span></span>Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-40715966487825221712018-12-06T20:00:00.001-05:002018-12-06T20:00:52.096-05:00In which the Guardian's Johnathan Wilson Wins 2018 Simile of the YearOne of the small joys of the Premier League season, so far, has been the delicious schadenfreude of watching the Shakespearean Tragedy of Mourinho at Manchester United play itself out. <br />
<br />
Barring a miraculous return to form, Mourinho is certainly out at the end of this season. But he is not going quietly, he is raging against the dying of the light, persevering in playing a particular brand of negative football week in and week out. His players aren't happy, the fans are not happy, and I doubt he is happy either, as United find themselves in eighth place with a goal differential of one. <br />
<br />
I watched the lastest twist in the story on Wednesday night, when Man U hosted Arsenal. It ended in a slightly disappointing 2-2 draw (disappointing, at least, if you were waiting for Mourinho to finally get sacked. If he had lost 5-0 or something, he probably would have...). It was a chippy game, and all the goals were....well, kind of crap, in that none of them probably should have happened.<br />
<br />
But it was compelling enough, and I was eager this morning to read some additional analysis from the Guardian sport's desk. I was reading <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/dec/06/manchester-united-jose-mourinho-fan-fury-mediocrity" target="_blank">Johnathan Wilson's take on the game</a> when I came across this: <br />
<br />
<i><a class="u-underline" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/dec/05/manchester-united-arsenal-premier-league-match-report" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: 0.0625rem solid rgb(220, 220, 220); color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none !important; touch-action: manipulation; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out 0s;" title="">A 2-2 draw</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> against a team who are now 20 games unbeaten is no disgrace, of course, not even when that team are Arsenal, who haven’t won in the league at Old Trafford since 2006, who on Wednesday night still seemed to be drained by the emotional frenzy of </span><a class="u-underline" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/dec/02/arsenal-tottenham-hotspur-premier-league-match-report" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom: 0.0625rem solid rgb(220, 220, 220); color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none !important; touch-action: manipulation; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out 0s;" title="">Sunday’s north London derby</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">, who lost players every four or five minutes to injury and who at times regarded the ball in their box with all the decisiveness of a group of nervous Victorian maidens spying a butterfly on their first jaunt out with a raffish lepidopterist. </span> </i><br />
<br />
To which I said: What the fuck? I mean, I am known for conjuring some crazy shit out of nowhere, some of my work emails are epic; but what Wilson wrote is just really, really, out there. Where in the world did that come from? What was going through his mind when he came up with that one? <br />
<br />
I was not entirely sure what lepidopterist was. Turns out it is someone who collects and studies butterflies or moths. <br />
<br />
So it was with raffish. Rakish is a word I am familiar with, but raffish was a bit beyond me. It turns out that they are almost the same thing, as Google saith, it is means some one who is "unconventional and slightly disreputable, especially in an attractive manner". Rakish is a synonym of raffish, bohemian, unconventional. It looks as though use of the word hit its peak around 1950, which might explain why it was so unfamiliar to me. <br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
So yes, that is one for the refrigerator door. But the beauty of it is that it really is a perfect simile, because it describes the Arsenal defense on Wednesday night so well. I mean....I want to try to improve on it somehow, to try and to explain it deeper. But I can't. It's perfect. Absolutely perfect. Well written and a perfect description. It just about took my breath away. <br />
<br />
So, I am happy and honored to award Johnathan Wilson, of The Guardian, the 2018 Nicholas Marickovich Simile of the Year Award. I extend to him my warmest congratulations, like a fan fiction devotee giving their favorite author a pair of mittens that they knitted themselves with Merino wool in the coffee shop, out of love. <br />
<br />
I know, I know. But I have never won the Nicholas Marickovich Simile of the Year Award. Johnathan Wilson has. So again, well done Johnathan! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-30693795082138693382018-09-27T21:42:00.001-04:002018-09-27T21:42:07.680-04:00In Which Brett Kavanaugh Gives Beer Drinkers a Bad Name<br />
<br />
<br />
Well America, that was a tough, emotional day.<br />
<br />
I did not watch the hearing, but caught up with it through the day by reading the Guardian's minute by minute coverage. I find if you can't watch something, be it the Chelsea v. Liverpool match or a politically motivated witch hunt, I find its minute by minute coverage second to none. And yes, I read all the coverage, both of Blasey's testimony and Kavanaugh's.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhI3-zLIlsdZPM4JmAJA_DKnLtpktUX15uWjh2zM5obFFAP-XgkpLd97xnI1csSdhYfyY8OeZKTkQwTcZW-lPkEXjSxshZ0CauVuICTj1aosaG2JNoEZjBMmPg-KZ394f5fQiPefn2Ve53/s1600/brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford-hearing-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1600" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhI3-zLIlsdZPM4JmAJA_DKnLtpktUX15uWjh2zM5obFFAP-XgkpLd97xnI1csSdhYfyY8OeZKTkQwTcZW-lPkEXjSxshZ0CauVuICTj1aosaG2JNoEZjBMmPg-KZ394f5fQiPefn2Ve53/s400/brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford-hearing-20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"BEER! NOW!" - the Hon. Brett Kavanaugh</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
First, I will say this: I believe Dr. Ford. I feel her account to be very credible, and I know too many victims of assault to just openly dismiss a credible accusation. We will never truly know what happened - Christine Blasey Ford knows the truth and and the "Honorable" Brett Kavanaugh knows the truth. The rest of us will never really, truly know, and I doubt you'd ever get a charge to stick in court so far after the fact.<br />
<br />
That leaves us in murky territory. If Kavanaugh had been accused of pulling the Great Clockmand Diamond Heist, but never was found guilty in a court of law, he’d still be innocent and would be eligible for the Court, at least in my eyes. You might even respect him a bit for having the audacity to pull something like that off. But with assault it’s different, because the victims rarely get their day in court, rarely come forward for a number of reasons, and even if they <i>do</i> are often not believed. While Kavanaugh may have forcefully denounced Blasey Ford’s accusations as a political charade, much to the delight of Trump who seems to equate anger and fight with credibility, I find it difficult to trust him. Senator Mike Lee extended his "most profound sympathies" to Kavanaugh, but I find mine are much more solidly with the accuser unless her claims can be credibly disproved.<br />
<br />
I would think the way forward would be to pause the nomination and investigate the claims against him. I, for one, would certainly like to be assured that we are not about to send someone with a history of assault to the Supreme Court where he will make rulings for decades to come. Further, if this is all a sham, if it's all an elaborate Left Wing Conspiracy to keep Kavanaugh off the court, I would kind of like to know, because that <i>would </i>be a horrible thing indeed. An FBI investigation is the only way to get to the bottom of any of that, to get as close to the truth as we can. <br />
<br />
And yes, of course there is a political aspect to this. I would not be surprised if the Democracts <i>did </i>leak the letter at the last minute to try and stall the process; they are justly angry over what happened with the Merrit Garland nomination and want to stick it to the Republicans as they try to consolidate power in the Courts. I can't blame them for that. But I don't think that automatically makes Ford's claims null and void. Far from it. It means that they must be handled with greater urgency, nothing more.<br />
<br />
And they must be handled with respect. Try as they might, the angry Republican men of the Judiciary Committee have not done that. When Kavanaugh came out swinging, they smelled blood, got whipped into a frenzy, and had no problem extending their support to Kavanaugh, denouncing the whole process, and effectively dismissing the accusations. Yet they cowardly refused to say anything, really, to Dr. Ford during her testimony. I understand the political calculation in all of that, that it would look bad for these men to be questioning Ford on such sensitive matters. But what you saw was cowardice writ large, plain and simple. In their efforts to be respectful, they ended up dehumanizing her by treating her differently and acting through an intermediary. <br />
<br />
Likely, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to confirm him on party lines, and then it goes to the full Senate. Based on today's performance, even if he IS actually innocent, I do not want this angry, condescending, blowhard to get onto the Court. I didn't want him anyway, of course, as his politics and mine are, shall we say, "not aligned". But I was willing to shrug it off, say "those are the breaks", and try to get on with my life as best I can.<br />
<br />
But now? <br />
<br />
All I can do is open a whiskey (no beer for me tonight, thank you), drink to the good health of Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan, and Sotomayor, and wonder what in the world we have become. <br />
<br />
Some of the Republicans said this was worse than the Anita Hill hearings, and they are right; it shows how little things have changed and how much further we, as a nation, have left to get when it comes to understanding rape, assault, and harassment.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-62851636629286433912018-08-23T18:39:00.000-04:002018-08-23T20:04:56.712-04:00I’m not a Political Scientist or Anything...But I think Donald Trump may be in Trouble Here.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYP1p1fWEHvpVZFC-FA_3zvA-mSXdmPLFD_4NCnlbDMvfCDPueSK-QRsQeSC-gQirEJchSVBhvIywvDLBUj7G7jMyGQhyMUE3gBaCgpGYU4JkAn8E_06wJ07KHI4mU-pz_3-Abk3tY4i2/s1600/180521124904-01-donald-trump-0517-super-tease.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1100" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYP1p1fWEHvpVZFC-FA_3zvA-mSXdmPLFD_4NCnlbDMvfCDPueSK-QRsQeSC-gQirEJchSVBhvIywvDLBUj7G7jMyGQhyMUE3gBaCgpGYU4JkAn8E_06wJ07KHI4mU-pz_3-Abk3tY4i2/s400/180521124904-01-donald-trump-0517-super-tease.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uh oh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So finally, finally, Trump has been implicated, under oath, of breaking the law. Cohen has stated in no uncertain terms that he was directed, by "The Candidate", to violate campaign finance law and pay hush money to a playboy model and a porn star with the purposes of influencing the election.<br />
<br />
And it's all, I find, rather anti-climatic for me.<br />
<br />
It just feels disappointing in a way, doesn't it? We are 1 year, 215 days, 5 hours, and maybe 30 minutes or so into this shambolic administration (at least, according to -- and I shit you not -- <a href="http://howlonghastrumpbeenpresident.com/">howlonghastrumpbeenpresident.com</a>). Almost the entire time there has been so much smoke that says collusion and conspiracy, and if it's true, if he actually did it, wouldn't it kind of be amazing? Not by any means good, and not as impressive as eating a whole wheel of cheese, maybe, but still...diabolical. And in 20 years we'd be like "wow, he really did pull it off, didn't he? He was terrible, you may as well have elected my cat president, if my cat was a TV-watching diet coke guzzling womanizer who's mind was stuck in the mid 1980's. But all the same he and his little team of waspish cronies pulled it off and nearly brought us to our knees". <br />
<br />
I mean, here's Trump, the man who must win at all costs, selling his soul to the Devil (or maybe rather refinancing the mortgage on it for the third time) to emerge trumpumphrant in an election. And here are the Russians, who are so ingenious in their own sort of brutal way, butt fumbling into solid gold - a chance to finally bring the west crumbling to its foundation by engineering the election of a Reality TV Star. The two parties meet, shake hands, get the measure of each other, and hatch a cockamamie scheme to steal the 2016 election that even the A Team would be proud of: intricate, precise, meticulously engineered, with a chance maybe to blow something up; and in the middle of it all is Trump, playing the buffoon populist to the crowd so no one can see him for the suave political operator he actually is, deftly pulling levers behind the scenes with an unlit cigar clenched between his teeth.<br />
<br />
But no. Instead, Trump's reckoning may finally come down simply trying to cover up some sordid extramarital affairs. It's an old, old, stupid story of pasty, doughy, entitled rich men. And it's not at all surprising either. Of course Trump cheated on his wife, of course he cavorted with McDoughal and Clifford Ltd. He's Donald Trump! Did you expect anything less??? And when those two women saw their chance to cash in (and, please, I think we should give them their money; if I was offered $130,000 dollars just to eat dinner with the man I would think twice about it, and that price is going way, way up if even one stitch of clothing comes off...) they took it, and Trump did what he always does and tried to buy their silence.<br />
<br />
And in the normal world of Donald Trump this is perfectly legal, and he's probably done it plenty of times. But in the world of Donald Trump the candidate it is not, as the rules preclude this kind of thing. He has been implicated in breaking the law, and then in trying to cover it up he has been possibly obstructing justice.<br />
<br />
Will Trump be impeached? I am not so sure. Yes, it is the only way, at this point, to hold him accountable for his actions, and by all means he should be. But impeachment is a political act, and while the House of Representatives may have the votes to kick off the Articles of Impeachment, I am not sure 2/3 of the Senate will actually vote to remove the man while he remains so popular among Republicans. Of course that assumes that Trump, in a fit of anger, doesn't do anything really stupid, like fire the AG or DAG, or pardon Manafort, or try to shut down the Mueller investigation or start burning books or something like that.<br />
<br />
Still, the walls are closing in. This is not, I believe, the only crime Trump has ever committed, and it certainly shows that he has no ethic at all outside of his own self promotion. It may be time to make a deal with the master of all deal makers.<br />
<br />
So I'm happy to report that I am working out a plan that might get Trump out of a jam and the nation out of a real mess, so that we can all come together to start putting out the dumpster fire that has engulfed our Once Happy Republic.<br />
<br />
Because if Trump can be the president (It's still kind of hard to believe we did that, guys) then I can be a political scientist/expert negotiator/savior of the country.<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-63587110875122644582018-08-10T21:55:00.002-04:002018-08-10T21:55:39.507-04:00...I'm Back! Don't call it a comeback! It's a blog back! It's the real thing! It's happening! <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So after a long hiatus I desired to fire up the old blog again, for a number of reasons, but chief among them is the notion that if the world is going to burn down around me, I may as well grab a fiddle and get up on the roof.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is so much to catch up on, so much has happened, and I'm not in blog shape. My fingers are stiff from not typing, I'm sluggish, I'm slow, and my wit is dull. It's going to take a lot of chicken chasing to get back into fighting trim - though I have never been very quick on my feet in an argument; in a rhetorical knife fight I usually reach down into my pocket and pull out a kazoo, which of course is not going to cut it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So to kind of kick things off, I'm not adverse to cutting corners and using a <a href="http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/imagination.prompt.html" target="_blank">prompt</a>. No cheating, first click totally random, the prompt is....</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #87328b; font-family: arial; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;">What are the values you cherish even though they run counter to societal values?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #87328b; font-family: arial; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
Come on! You've got to be kidding me. That is like some kind of prompt for a college essay, or a question that your therapist might ask you. It is not a prompt for an old, unsuccessful, out of practice blogger trying to kick some dust of his writing boots. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But I try to be an honorable man so...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You know? I really respect people who have a love of cheese, but not for those cheeses that are easy to love, like your chedders, your mozzerellas. I'm talking about people that really love those stinky, funky, fusty cheeses; your Stiltons, your Stinking Bishops, your <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Époisses de Bourgogne, the ones that I simply cannot appreciate, the ones that really remind you that are basically eating something that came out of a cow's udder that has been allowed to go bad in a very, very precise way. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So that is not really a value of my own. The respect I feel for these brave individuals is a value, I suppose, but that is hardly counter cultural. But the point of a writing prompt is not necessarily to answer the prompt but merely to see where the muse, the spirit, the chicken, leads. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, it has led to cheese. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
And there, we will have to simply let it be. The worst thing you ever write, are those things left unwritten. I think this blog post challenges that maxim, but I think you get the idea. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Until later, </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Nick</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-87620905563843025052017-06-12T19:19:00.001-04:002017-06-12T19:19:33.916-04:00My Virginia Tech Football MemoryVirginia Tech football celebrates its 125th year this year, and the various alumni groups and Hokie Sports sites are asking us to share our memories. Here is my submission to the so called "Bracket of Memories":<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34FzsgaGgEHyWv-a7kPmg_RCWhrJcWiszBKAprTkaulnn3Zsv38nyZLkesMYw4b1XYDP_iZGwurRY5C4A0dpfiY4dm9GPtOb2FYVxVKn7X1OVO5gyOcVKXNCh5626q8rxhCCShSyDmOW8/s1600/bracket+of+memories.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34FzsgaGgEHyWv-a7kPmg_RCWhrJcWiszBKAprTkaulnn3Zsv38nyZLkesMYw4b1XYDP_iZGwurRY5C4A0dpfiY4dm9GPtOb2FYVxVKn7X1OVO5gyOcVKXNCh5626q8rxhCCShSyDmOW8/s400/bracket+of+memories.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
"I will never forget the night that Virginia Tech played against West Virginia on November 20, 2002.<br />
<br />
For one, it was a fucking Wednesday. Wednesday! Why? I never really understood that one. Wednesday was a bad night for me. That was the night that my ultra heavy metal band, DeathSpoon, played at The Underground Underground, a sort of concrete bunker<i> underneath</i> the Underground Pub. But in all honesty, the band wasn't doing so well, and I was just a bass player. Bass players are a dime a dozen after all (it isn't that hard to just go bommma bom bom bom bom bom bommma! Da bomma bom bom bom bom bom bomma bomma!) and if they really needed one they could just pick one up from the six or seven bass players who kind of camped out in front of the Mish Mish, just waiting for a van to pull up and offer them some work. Painting, strange bass player sex stuff, even sometimes bass playing, just whatever those guys could get. Just enough to keep the dream of being a real life bass player alive. In any case, I could read the reading on the wall. DeathSpoon would at least go on without me, and perhaps cease to be altogether. <br />
<br />
So though it was school night, and I probably had an exam soon to come, and my impending expulsion from the band weighed heavily on mine heart, I decided that a Wednesday night in Lane Stadium (any night in Lane Stadium, really), was worth the cost. So off I went. <br />
<br />
I don't remember much of the game. Just that at the half, the Hokies were winning. I am not sure why I decided to leave at half time, aside from maybe the delicious notion that leaving at the half showed my complete contempt for the other team, a real Edward the Longshanks kind of move, retiring with the battle still raging but clearly well in hand. I also think someone in the stands may have thrown up on my shoes, thereby dampening my enthusiasm for the contest. <br />
<br />
So I walked back home, which at that time was a townhouse on North Main. It was a long walk, and no doubt a thoughtful one. I suffered with depression on and off through college (as I still do), to the point where at times the only thing I was capable of doing was sitting in bed eating a bag of Krispy Kruellers and reading "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt". Doing anything else was just too hard. I don't think I was there yet on this particular day, but I am sure something was on my mind. I do remember looking in the window of a restaurant, a puddle of light on a dark November night, and seeing a few patrons sitting around a table, some of the few people in Blacksburg who were NOT at the football game. I admired their cool disdain, their lack of concern that not one or two miles distance the mighty Hokies, THEIR mighty Hokies, were engaged in combat against the Barbarians from the Northern Coal Districts. I wished for a moment that I had their confidence and comportment (be it ever so smug), and imagined they were interesting artsy people who wore black turtlenecks and read dead French philosophers. For a brief moment I almost decided to walk in and introduce myself, asking them to take me in like a band of jaded soldiers takes in a stray dog, for the sheer pathos of the thing, the idea that anything could be alive in a world so cold. But the moment passed, and I walked on. <br />
<br />
In any case, by the time I got home the third quarter was well underway and Tech was losing. I was upset, but not really all that surprised. We ended up losing that game 18-21. Won't forget that anytime soon.<br />
<br />
So yeah. Happy 125, Virginia Tech Football! Wishing you many, many more."Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-1737565778720873502017-04-23T17:50:00.000-04:002017-04-23T17:50:06.885-04:00Vice President Pence Visits the Schiffkraftwerk!Oh wow!<br />
<br />
I know, I haven't written in a month. Over a month. I've been so busy, and so tired, and I've been trying orchestrate a coup within the Peninsula Engineers Council (it failed, but by God did we get close. So close we could almost taste it). <br />
<br />
But I'm back! And there is only thing that could bring me back out of a long slumber....sponsorship. So while you're reading this, why don't you kick back with a Commander Sterling's Chocolate Pudding Blast! Commander Sterling's: We're all going to the same place anyway, so why not enjoy yourself?<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLHx5CmPDSAOXp5iZuvUgm9u3q8Kh0Pz13bPDvLsvnOky3t0Wr533HR5KG0wTBNfPeYESbyNZNs-T__1RB7OfxhleVQGLcNTqrSPvlpf36MLRv-ZfvvM3qDJSFhvH9FsMGC9ylOk23Rt2/s1600/Roger+Sterling.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLHx5CmPDSAOXp5iZuvUgm9u3q8Kh0Pz13bPDvLsvnOky3t0Wr533HR5KG0wTBNfPeYESbyNZNs-T__1RB7OfxhleVQGLcNTqrSPvlpf36MLRv-ZfvvM3qDJSFhvH9FsMGC9ylOk23Rt2/s400/Roger+Sterling.png" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Commander Sterling's offers you a vast array of products <br />to make your life both more enjoyable and shorter,<br /> including "Commander Sterling's Vodka Cremes"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But also is the news that Vice President Pence will be visiting the Shipyard this weekend to be keynote speaker at the INDIANA (SSN 789) Christening. This is a big deal...normally the most high powered person to attend a submarine christening is the Chief of Naval Operations or his deputies, the head of Naval Reactors, and maybe a few Senators. Powerful people, yes indeed. But not nearly as powerful as the Vice President of the United States. <br />
Wait. Strike that. Reverse it. No one <i>potentially </i>as powerful as the Vice President of the United States. I would argue that a high ranking Senator would beat out a Vice President, as a rook on a chess board is worth more than a bishop. But then Vice President Pence, like a stretched spring or a boulder hovering above Wiley E. Coyote's head, is full of potential, just one too many buckets of KFC away from the most powerful position in the land, if not the world. <br />
<br />
Of course, Vice President <i>looked </i>pretty powerful when he was in the DMZ last week, staring down North Korean guards in his totally sweet bomber jacket. And, as Pence cannot actually land on the deck of a Submarine (at least this one, as it is currently inside the yard's building outfitting facility) much of speculation around this visit concerns that bomber jacket....i.e. will he wear it? <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqRW0_dLxZytM_au72o-n_B_su3SaElQsB-Tas_a7l3K6QmnO7qtFoVrUFXXCLnoyg0GF9JQXgL50SPmol18y0E9MxtfLjVIYA6zM_SrnQQhUDpbb5igYl5qqsPtmV6hh_NkPVBRS3T1L/s1600/Pence+Bomber+Jacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqRW0_dLxZytM_au72o-n_B_su3SaElQsB-Tas_a7l3K6QmnO7qtFoVrUFXXCLnoyg0GF9JQXgL50SPmol18y0E9MxtfLjVIYA6zM_SrnQQhUDpbb5igYl5qqsPtmV6hh_NkPVBRS3T1L/s640/Pence+Bomber+Jacket.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I know I'd be dissuaded from launching an ICMB with a look like that.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Probably not. Typically at a Christening Cermemony if you are going to speak or be up on the VIP stage you really wear your best. Not black or white tie, of course (who does <i>that </i>anymore), but The Navy Personnel on hand will be in their dress uniforms in full regalia, men wear their suits and ties and women wear dresses or....pantsuits. Are we really still going with pantsuits? We haven't come up with anything better? Or at we at the point in our society where a suit is just a suit?<br />
<br />
Anyway. A bomber jacket would be a little out of place. The toughness aspect of the thing would be welcome, but it really isn't in line with convention. Pence is a pretty conventional guy, and I'd expect him to follow the rules. <br />
<br />
But then this is an administration that doesn't really care much about the rules. When Trump visited the USS Gerald R. Ford he didn't take his hat off inside the Carrier as he toured the mess decks, which is typically done. He was in a place where hats, generally, are not worn; but there he was with a big old USA hat...in red no less. Generally the Damage Control Department wears red hats so that you know...well, you know that something is going down if one of those guys goes running by. So not only was he wearing a hat in a place he shouldn't have been wearing one, but he was wearing a color that generally should not be worn onboard ship unless you have a particular reason for doing so. <br />
<br />
And then of course just last week wunderkinder Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock toured the white house. Pictures surfaced of The Nuge and The Kid in the white house, leering in front of a portrait of Hilary Clinton along with The Chick, <i>with their hats on</i>. They were not ball caps, sure, but they were still hats. And then another picture, of the trio inside the oval office with Trump, and those two paragons of patriotism <i>still have their hats on!! </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Now listen. Wearing a hat indoors is bad enough. I was always taught that inside of a building, any building, if you are wearing a hat you take it off. Pure and simple. I have lost a lot of hats this way, incidentally, as in college a few times I took off a ball cap, put it under my desk, and then forgot to put it back on my head again when I left. Truly. It wasn't screwed on, so I forgot it. I'd realize maybe an hour later that I didn't have it, and when I returned to the scene of the crime it was usually gone.<br />
<br />
But that is the price one pays for decency. I know a lot of people don't follow that rule anymore, just as most people don't follow any rule anymore unless they feel like it...but I would think, the White House, where the likes of Lincoln and Roosevelt have sat and made monumental decisions that affected our country, one would at least have enough respect to remove one's hat, hat hair be damned. <br />
<br />
All that is to say, simply, that if the basic rules of hat etiquette are out the window, than anything is possible viz a viz Mike Pence and the bomber jacket. Of course, one problem is that in April it can get rather hot in Hampton Roads, and I wonder what these guys are going to do when it gets warm and they still want to look tough? I mean, you may be as tough as balls, but if it's 90 degrees and 80% humidity, you probably aren't going to wear a bomber jacket. If I have a guess, they'll go with a Motorcycle Gang style cut, leaving the arms bare and cool but still telling all your enemies that you mean business. Plus, there is the added bonus of having plenty of room for patches. The overall effect: Don't fuck with these guys, or we'll pop some cruise missiles in your keister.<br />
<br />
As the current forecast high is 85 degrees in Hampton Roads on Saturday, I'll put a box of donuts on Mike Pence showing up in this bad-ass Commander in Chief cut.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZdSgBi6LAPda0rKpgGT77RZu-MUO5PSLXmrXwrqgLeus289QcP7Kc1_DmJbUy2AqcYDgfF95-2K-59azZJDUwcwNQZHv9H9d7AityQIDtXxtsCuBL-DZXIC0DFV9u9I1LneY9HSOHBSe/s1600/CIC+Cut.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZdSgBi6LAPda0rKpgGT77RZu-MUO5PSLXmrXwrqgLeus289QcP7Kc1_DmJbUy2AqcYDgfF95-2K-59azZJDUwcwNQZHv9H9d7AityQIDtXxtsCuBL-DZXIC0DFV9u9I1LneY9HSOHBSe/s640/CIC+Cut.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-1720698851780397152017-03-04T18:55:00.002-05:002017-03-04T18:55:47.969-05:00President Trump visits der Schiffkraftwerk! Part II<div style="text-align: center;">
INTRODUCTION</div>
<br />
Thursday, March 2nd, dawned clear, cool, and windy. There was a...palpable? Sure, I'll go with it...palpable feel of excitement in Newport News. I mean, you could actually reach out and just squeeze the excitement. It was supple, full, and smooth, like the breasts of a ca. 1980's Playboy Playmate, hair held up with enough hair spray to puncture a small hole in the ozone layer above the little cornfed American town in Iowa where she grew up, emblematic of the time when Trump was King of Atlantic City and a rapscallion robber barron of Real Estate.<br />
<br />
But my goodness how the times do change. That is what someone pointed out to me on Thursday as I walked towards a meeting on the waterfront. <br />
<br />
"What do you mean?" I asked.<br />
<br />
The shipbuilder I was talking to nodded over towards the CVN 72, berthed in the James River, currently in the closing stages of its RCOH. Every morning the ship puts music on its loudspeakers while the crew carryout their cleaning stages, shop vac and broom replacing Captain Aubrey's Holystones. "When I was in the Navy, no one spoke Spanish," he said. "Now the CVN72 is playing whole songs in Spanish". I listened a little closer and he was right. "You see," he said again, sheer happiness spreading across his face "times do change." <br />
<br />
"Yes," I answered. "Sometimes for the better."<br />
<br />
In this day and age it seems that every act can be interpreted as a political act. I don't know how the CVN72 picks their music (it isn't always Spanish...one morning it was Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper", with extra cowbell), and I'm not suggesting it was a dig at Trump. It very likely was little more than a coincidence. But I found it, nevertheless, an interesting counterpoint to the day, and to the man due to arrive that afternoon.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
REPORT</div>
<br />
And so he did. A few minutes before 13:00 there was the massive "fwhomp-fwhomp-fhwomp" that signaled the arrival of millions of rivets flying in formation, three V-22 Ospreys and two Marine Ones, some carrying Trump and his entourage, the others empty, presenting a befuddling shell game to any intrepid would-be-terrorist. ISIS scientists are wise to it, and apparently have been playing endless versions of a five shell two pebble game of "find the pea", trying to get down into the American psyche and find any discernible patterns. Luckily, nothing to show for it so far. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuv1SwTTwIwRoSSRUyRh-bz3D69Vbr1k1Z0po9ax_h7CTWQ_PF49W1cCxHHXU0NXK9JwoHt_LKo7dxpffPs8eCdLemnqS_0F2HbG3VuoH9b7hktkFHHr7MfQKun0GNaNNiS8rOlaXYnbqs/s1600/Hats+off+in+the+Wardroom%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuv1SwTTwIwRoSSRUyRh-bz3D69Vbr1k1Z0po9ax_h7CTWQ_PF49W1cCxHHXU0NXK9JwoHt_LKo7dxpffPs8eCdLemnqS_0F2HbG3VuoH9b7hktkFHHr7MfQKun0GNaNNiS8rOlaXYnbqs/s320/Hats+off+in+the+Wardroom%2521.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hats off in the Wardroom!! What, is he cold or something? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Those of us not at the event all ran to the windows of our buildings like school children to see the huge craft (and the Ospreys truly are gigantic). The lucky few (about 2500 shipyard workers) at the event all let up a boisterous cheer. They had been there since around 10:00, milling about in the ship's hangar bay, squeezed in between Sailors and Press. They had been subjected to long replays of Foghat's "Slow Ride" until an astute officer on the CVN78, professional as always, pointed out that to continue to do so who would constitute a most grievous violation of the Geneva Conventions. So they switched to Zeppelin, which went down a lot smoother. The fact that both bands were British was not lost on the few Tories in the audience, still desperately clinging to the dream that America would realize the error of its ways after nearly 250 years of Independence, and come crawling back.<br />
<br />
That slim sliver of hope was dashed when Trump, after touring the ship with the CO and other dignitaries, was lowered into the Hangar Bay on one of the Ford's massive aircraft elevators to the strains of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". People everywhere felt a collective shiver in their spine, a great disturbance in the Force, as the muses of taste and tact once again screamed aloud in terror, and were suddenly silenced. That song certainly has legs. You'd think over the last 37 years we would have come up with something better. But no.<br />
<br />
Trump arrived wearing a recently obtained aviators jacket that made his hands look a little small and a CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford hat pulled low over the eyes, which he had wisely substituted for the red USA hat he was seen wearing after getting off Marine One (and also onboard ship in round table discussion). To some he looked tough. To me, he looked more like a baseball manager.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2702rR5uVja74cf88orvONDwR-OD8RQfb1R-3tnZ2FfP0x9ZmJSayt0g4ZpngtHLkoawtp-4XemFWfJVG3hABpWBUx144FMxSHcFVkUwIqT0jwfMENn8RebqdkY_zdpiEW8Xsvv6YJZi/s1600/Suicide+Squeeze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2702rR5uVja74cf88orvONDwR-OD8RQfb1R-3tnZ2FfP0x9ZmJSayt0g4ZpngtHLkoawtp-4XemFWfJVG3hABpWBUx144FMxSHcFVkUwIqT0jwfMENn8RebqdkY_zdpiEW8Xsvv6YJZi/s640/Suicide+Squeeze.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trump Calls for a Squeeze Play. Bold Leadership from a Bold Man. Photo by the New York Times</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
He stepped up the podium and gave....well, it was a speech. He stood up, he looked sort of Presidential, gave a second grader's cliffnotes report on the Battle of Midway, and he managed not to say anything too stupid. An atypical politician giving a typical speech, as the Pod Save America guys said of his Grand Address to Congress on Tuesday. There is a reason that Trump's secret service call sign, apparently, is "The Dancing Bear."<br />
<br />
We were all very impressed. He did say that he wanted to build more ships, and more planes, and more boats, and that it was all going to come "very soon." <br />
<br />
Oh Trump, you silly, silly man. One does not simple open the tap and get more ships. Though the additional money proposed would certainly help. Sequestration hasn't really caused a lot of job loss in the Shipbuilding industry, at least at NNS, but it has certainly made the work there more difficult, and made the workers more frustrated. There is not enough money to do the things that the Navy is wanting to do. It just isn't there. So I don't necessarily oppose additional spending for naval assets. I do think that the idea of stripping down other programs (among them the state department and foreign aid, those things put in place to help avoid having to go to war in the first place) seems, to me, to be incredibly short sighted.<br />
<br />
Anyways, after 16 minutes of speechifying it was all over. He got back on the elevator, was raised up (thankfully) to the flight deck, and then he and his merry men fwhomp fwhomp fwomphed away.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
ANALYSIS and CONCLUSION</div>
<br />
The intent of the speech was to highlight the $54 billion increase in defense spending Trump had asked for in his address to congress. It think it was also an optics thing. On the heels of the Tuesday speech, in which the bear managed to dance for over an hour, this should have been an easy win. Nobody appropriates military hardware for his own grandeur while simultaneously <a href="https://news.vice.com/story/the-yemen-raid-is-looking-more-and-more-like-a-complete-disaster" target="_blank">distancing himself from responsibility of sending our military into the fight</a> better than our President, at which the buck stops here, or there, or maybe over there. Maybe one day he will get it. Right now he doesn't. A bust of Churchill in his office, indeed!<br />
<br />
But the Ford speech was overcome by other events. March 2nd was also the day that Jeff Sessions became fully embroiled in questions concerning his contacts with the Russian Ambassador to the point where ultimately he had to recuse himself from any further investigations over Russia, which now seem likely to continue. As of this morning Trump tweeted that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower after the election and before the inauguration, without offering any proof of those allegations. It's hard to know what to make of <i>THAT, </i>exactly. I can conceive of various intelligence agencies doing so as part of the their own investigations, but to put that on Obama's head directly (who seemed and seems to me very, very careful to stay out of the the current fray) is bad, and only gives credence to those saying that Obama is trying to somehow have a soft coup and take over the government. It's amazing to me how the spectre of Obama and..just the naked fear and hate so many people have of him continues to haunt our country - and maybe even our leadership. Let it go my friends. Just let it go. <br />
<br />
Oh, and he also took a moment to mourn the death of The Apprentice, which is being cancelled. Christ. So much for looking, acting, and being Presidential. Maybe the Bear can't dance after all.<br />
<br />
Trump may still well get his money to rebuild the military. But I would say that, aside from the people at Newport News Shipbuilding, this speech has already been well forgotten, a mere blip in yet another rough news cycle for a troubled administration.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, Trump will not be judged on these sorts of silly events, but rather on what he actually does. So far, in the grand scheme of things, he's done very little. I fear that if he doesn't pull it together, his administration will be a full stop failure. While it would raise the prospects of him getting voted out in four years (which so far I would support), there gets to be a point where failed leadership will hurt us all.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
POST SCRIPT</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Though it won't hurt my prospects for the musical I am working on, simply called "TRUMP! The Musical". In the Second Act, Trump goes aboard the Ford and he sits down to the round table discussion, a group of sailors sing an extended aside:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SAILOR ONE: Look at that big shot over there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SAILOR TWO: Yeah, look at him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SAILOR ONE: I mean, doesn't he know that you got to...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Music begins, sort of a peppy kind of pop rock high school musical thing</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
SAILOR ONE (<i>singing</i>):</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You got to take your</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hat off in the Wardroom!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You got to take your</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hat off for chow!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You got to take your</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hat off in the Wardroom, yeah</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
SAILOR TWO (<i>joining in</i>):</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You know it's so rude</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And he's being so crude </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Yeah, you got to take your</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
SAILOR ONE, SAILOR TWO, and CHORUS:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hat off! Hat off!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Yeaaaahhhhh you got to take your</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hat off! Hat offfffffff......</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
You got to take it off!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
It's a work in progress. For now, I'd call it a sort of tragi-comedy. Or is it a comi-tragedy. Not sure.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-65546234957425361462017-02-28T20:52:00.000-05:002017-02-28T20:52:03.408-05:00President Trump Visits der Schiffkraftwerk! Part ISo yesterday we found out, via company email, that the Shipyard is going to be hosting President Donald Trump on Thursday. As of blog time not too much is known about the visit other than he will be on the as yet to put to sea USS Gerald R. Ford and he expected to say...something. Probably.<br />
<br />
"Will he bringing donuts with him?" was my first question to upper management. I still maintain that no amount of donuts would get me to vote for Donald Trump...at least for now, based on the first 40 some odd days of his administration. But it would still be pretty cool if he was out there at 5:30 AM, handing out donuts and shaking hands. I know I would appreciate that. Unfortunately, based on what I know of the man, he stays up late watching cable news to see how he himself is viewed by pundits and people, and it would probably be difficult to get him up quite so early in the morning. So much the better. "Trump Triumph's over Adversity; Awakens early to Deliver Donuts" would be a great headline. And it would be a great story to tell your grand kids someday, about what life was like before the war. <br />
<br />
But more important for Trump, no doubt, is the optics of the whole thing. How do you make someone who has heretofore served almost no cause other than himself look impressive while humbly serving at the behest of the peoples? How do you convey to everyone that this man is the real dope shit? How do you convince everyone that he is Big League? Simply strolling out onto the flight deck or a hangar bay might have worked for George H.W. Bush, because as a veteran of World War II and a long time public servant he already had the necessary gravitas. But for Trump it simply will not do. Gravitas must be upgraded into solid gold plated magnificence. <br />
<br />
So I imagine, in a great flash of brilliance, he looked around at his aides over lunch and said "Wait a minute now. It's an aircraft carrier, right?"<br />
<br />
"Well....yes sir, it is, technically."<br />
<br />
"Why don't we put an aircraft on it?"<br />
<br />
So hence we have Option 1, shown in Figure 1 below. In this option, Trump lands on the flight deck of Gerald R. Ford aboard Marine One, perhaps flanked by a couple of V-22's or maybe even some Harriers, which would just be wicked awesome. Consider your most greenest, pacifistic, cupcakey liberal alive who would just as soon take our carriers and turn them into giant floating carbon neutral hemp co-ops; I'll wager if you put them in the vicinity of a Harrier doing a vertical take off or landing, that even they would have to utter "Oh my God that is just....it's just so fucking cool!" <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJuW3gKT5wWLKMStXxfEwaJ97lnnfosOWUPaeaoCClz3_gTgMMmN9E7jSDQS2Oi_b2lHNSqtjTPEhuD4ojUcm0lbQdGV8vd4NoElOhZwVwvdqPPU5Bl-orM0wZdtjKQXUwcZ3w2118bBt2/s1600/Option+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJuW3gKT5wWLKMStXxfEwaJ97lnnfosOWUPaeaoCClz3_gTgMMmN9E7jSDQS2Oi_b2lHNSqtjTPEhuD4ojUcm0lbQdGV8vd4NoElOhZwVwvdqPPU5Bl-orM0wZdtjKQXUwcZ3w2118bBt2/s640/Option+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 1: Trump Arrives on Marine One, with Musical Accompaniment. Harriers and/or V-22s not shown.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And of course some kind of music would be playing. Maybe the theme from Air Force One or the opening music for "Glory" with the choir and the drums and such, while the people picked for the event stand on the flight deck with their flags and an honor guard waits at attention. It would all be quite grand and stirring, reflecting on the magnificence of Trump, his administration, his incredible election victory, and his beautiful (and sizable, he might add) hands.<br />
<br />
The irony in this is that Marines, piloting Marine One, Harriers and/or V-22 Ospreys, would be the first to land aircraft aboard a Ford Class Carrier, something that I am sure the Marine Corps will never let Naval Aviation ever, ever forget. <br />
<br />
But there are some aides that remember the last time a sitting President landed on an Aircraft Carrier, and how that President's latest and greatest feat of arms devolved into a god awful shitty mess shortly thereafter. <br />
So we have Option 2, as shown in Figure 2, in which Trump actually jumps out of Air Force One and parachutes onto the flight deck with a huge American Flag flying as various fireworks are zinging and banging through the air and the 1MC plays some variation of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQd7g565e2I" target="_blank">"Rock Flag and Eagle"</a> by Charlie Kelly. Maybe with the Flying Elvises, maybe not; their loyalty to the present administration remains uncertain. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDyY7El4G6X3eL0uWKKu9TXE4sVEzGSH6h2E7BNqUSnYK9j6MdKjv0dxkgp7dsMZ5GdamNEJDpYM-yTg8V-Wph58OzfEiu184YjKt2HjS_yxICYB_JDIKKWHNZttJJ7Xm3J1oi4BfidoG/s1600/Option+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDyY7El4G6X3eL0uWKKu9TXE4sVEzGSH6h2E7BNqUSnYK9j6MdKjv0dxkgp7dsMZ5GdamNEJDpYM-yTg8V-Wph58OzfEiu184YjKt2HjS_yxICYB_JDIKKWHNZttJJ7Xm3J1oi4BfidoG/s640/Option+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 2: Trump Arrives via Parachute and Musical Accompaniment. Flying Elvises Not Pictured</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If you question the wisdom of letting a 70 year old man jump out of a perfectly good airplane, let me remind you that Trump is in the most magnificent, most excellent health, perhaps the best health of any President ever. Lincoln? Constipated. Horribly, horribly constipated. Trump? You can set your watch by him, like a grand old clock. He may be 70, but he feels like he's 39 (not 40 mind you, but 39, as John Oliver noted in a recent issue of Rolling Stone). So no worries. Trump's got this. Just like he's got the Country. <br />
<br />
But even parachuting out of a plane just may not be enough to really show us Trump's vision of our nation in the world. So we at last come to Option 3, in which the mighty ship is raised out of the James River by Trump's incredible mind power, kind of like Yoda only better, and placed on a Hyuge Transporter, and wheeled at the end of a Triumphant Trump Triumph parade, with a statute of ol' "Fire on the Uproll" Trump on the bow, in full naval regalia (including the hat!), saber drawn, leading us into war and onwards to eternal victory.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyu2quIuW2ji6Ytg8uld_8_dcDF0I2jOqZRUXa4L_3JrR7hRCkzU6RPwkcYv1VDDVEEzAz_lEDhGcZGH4EbuzAHyqD49VvFNDEp8MIDXAHq0ryQF2GccMdZCPDcN_n6PcV2ylQCIreQHTl/s1600/Option+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyu2quIuW2ji6Ytg8uld_8_dcDF0I2jOqZRUXa4L_3JrR7hRCkzU6RPwkcYv1VDDVEEzAz_lEDhGcZGH4EbuzAHyqD49VvFNDEp8MIDXAHq0ryQF2GccMdZCPDcN_n6PcV2ylQCIreQHTl/s640/Option+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 3: Trump Triumphant!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Against whom? That, my friends, is the question, though I think I remember Bannon saying the South China Sea is awfully nice this time of year.<br />
<br />
I'm sure excited. As for me, my money is on Option 2. Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-65287691530359191982017-02-22T22:49:00.000-05:002017-02-22T22:54:27.136-05:00In Which Nick Answers 40 Stupid Questions About HimselfThere is always some sort of "answer questions about yourself" thing going around on facebook, because your friends obviously don't know enough about you as it is. Leave no stone un-turned! Let everything come to the light!<br />
<br />
I usually don't go for them, but I saw one today and I figured what the heck? I've been looking for something to write about lately that isn't books or Trump, so why not myself? It worked for Montaigne. <br />
<br />
So, without further ado....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpIfP6FhsYz2kus5OV957KH0kNpSvnMCVpHkFjcx2tlGN6ZUoUlXtILC1plTSzQAuTBUZ4DvomKN6oJuol0CWXpB5TJFZVHozfiNbAS8lku8aPHqvKR9VlDsKW41LCA3OdHDimptxX_h0/s1600/Unclothed_woman_behind_question_mark_sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpIfP6FhsYz2kus5OV957KH0kNpSvnMCVpHkFjcx2tlGN6ZUoUlXtILC1plTSzQAuTBUZ4DvomKN6oJuol0CWXpB5TJFZVHozfiNbAS8lku8aPHqvKR9VlDsKW41LCA3OdHDimptxX_h0/s400/Unclothed_woman_behind_question_mark_sign.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>1. Do you like Blue Cheese? </b>Only if it's Blue Cheese dressing, and then only if its being dipped into by a buffalo wing. So I guess the answer is....no, not really.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>2. Do you smoke? </b>About once a year I will have a cigar, provided I have forgotten they taste like shit. About half way through I will begin to regret my decision, and wonder how I could have been fooled yet again into thinking that smoking a cigar would actually be a pleasurable experience. So....no, not really.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Do you own a gun? </b>Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Knock at my door at 2AM and see. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>4. What flavor Kool-Aid? </b>Grape. I used to drink grape kool-aid all the time on the Appalachian Trail, double strength, enough to make YOU want to run through walls and say "Awwwww Yeah!" or whatever that dude said.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Do you get nervous before a Doctor's Appointment? </b>Not usually, unless there are needles involved, or we are going to talk about depression and suicidal thoughts (which is never easy), or my ears are about to be irrigated, or I have to get any blood drawn, or if the visit involves dropping my pants in anyway. <br />
<br />
So....yes.<br />
<br />
<b>6. What do you think of hot dogs? </b>You should never put ketchup on a hot dog if you are over the age of 12.<br />
<br />
<b>7. What is your favorite movie? </b>Well, I would normally say <i>Master and Commander</i>, because I find it is a movie I can watch many times and not really get tired of. I like the feel of it, and the look of it, and the general plot. Though the more I watch it the more I find little things that about it that annoy me, like how the actors are trying to fake playing the cello and violin and just a couple of hitches in the acting that I think are awkward and hokey and silly. <br />
<br />
Now, if I was judging things on purely cinematic merit, I would have to say <i>Braveheart</i>, which is probably the greatest movie ever made in a technical sense. But I've soured on Mel Gibson...<br />
<br />
Tom Hanks is always good. <i>Saving Private Ryan</i> is an excellent movie, though very hard to watch. <i>Forrest Gump, </i>now, my Dad thinks that is the greatest movie ever made and it's hard to disagree. But that's HIS favorite movie and I don't really want to have a favorite movie that someone else has...it should be more unique. <br />
<br />
So I am going to go with <i>One Crazy Summer</i>, where a bunch of kids fight to keep developers from building on top of their grandma's house or something like that. Or is that <i>Happy Gilmore</i>? <br />
<br />
Hmmm...<br />
<br />
Let me get back to you on that one.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>8. What do you prefer to drink the morning?</b> Scotch. Or Coffee. But never at the same time.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>9. Can you do a push up? </b>I can do like 13 of them bitch, all in a row. 24 if I let me knees touch the ground.<br />
<br />
<b>10. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? </b>I am rather partial of my wedding ring. I got it because the pattern reminds me of the texturing in Van Gogh's paintings of Cypress Trees that he did while he was in a mental institution near Paris.<br />
<br />
What that has to do with marriage I don't know.<br />
<br />
<b>11. Do you have a hobby? </b>You're looking at it bucko.<br />
<br />
<b>12. Do you have ADHD?</b> This would be a good time to insert a joke about how I am writing my answer but am then distracted by something shiny or a squirrel or something like that. But I won't give you the satisfaction.<br />
<br />
Though interestingly, did you know that Germans have a really tough time with the word squirrel? It's a fact!<br />
<br />
What were we talking about? Oh right, I....dammit!<br />
<br />
<b>13. Do you wear glasses? </b> Mmmm hmmm.<br />
<br />
<b>14. Who was your childhood idol? </b> Roberto Clemente, outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3000 regular season hits. Died trying to save others. <br />
<br />
15. For some reason there is no question 15, at least on the facebook feed I am looking at. So I am not sure how to handle this one. Let's move on to the next.<br />
<br />
<b>16. Three drinks you usually drink? </b> Coffee. La Croix Coconut Water. Gypsy tears.<br />
<br />
<b>17. Current Worries?</b> I think, when I am sitting still, I can slowly feel my teeth shifting around in my head.<br />
<br />
<b>18. Things I hate?</b> I fucking hate Mannheim Steamroller and Trans Siberian Orchestra. And it's because of their Christmas Music. <br />
<br />
Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas music is the kind of thing you would listen to if you were celebrating Christmas by attacking the Death Star or assaulting Sevastopol (which the British did, actually, during the Crimean War, thinking the fact that the soldiers were fighting on Christmas would give them a little boost in morale). But that to me isn't Christmas. <br />
<br />
Mannheim Steamroller because I think their music is cheesy but when you see them in a parade or something they are obviously grooving on it pretty hard. The fact that anyone could get down to that sort of thing, could actually listen to it and say "woah man, that's far out. You know who wrote this? I did. Isn't it cool?" makes me lose faith in humanity for a short time. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3y3B8RxS5KaRIufQLxbommt6NxWLSHhQ4qlI_EypMqg-1cTKwKDD30kYy1RIbaTxzmlO2lXKxvrKaxVvnYfItnXbo4tszje9R71T32PYAAn9OjB601zHZVoja5TfXC4wi9QWTuWgYW7Y/s1600/Manheim+Steam+Roller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3y3B8RxS5KaRIufQLxbommt6NxWLSHhQ4qlI_EypMqg-1cTKwKDD30kYy1RIbaTxzmlO2lXKxvrKaxVvnYfItnXbo4tszje9R71T32PYAAn9OjB601zHZVoja5TfXC4wi9QWTuWgYW7Y/s640/Manheim+Steam+Roller.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mannheim Steamroller. You'd think, considering their great success, that they would be able to afford better shoes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>19. Favorite Place to Be?</b> You kidding? Whether it's coming in at 2 AM to launch a new submarine, standing out on the shop floor waiting for something to arrive so that something can be fixed so that maybe something will happen today, or sitting hunched over a keyboard staring into the depths of a thrice rolled over spreadsheet while I take a sip from a another cup of coffee that closely resembles bunker fuel, there is no where I would rather be than working at Newport News Shipbuilding, where we build the most kick-ass ships the world has ever seen and we have a wonderful time doing it! <br />
<br />
Why yes, I did recently apply for a promotion. Why do you ask?<br />
<br />
<b>20. How did you ring in the New Year? </b> I was asleep. I didn't even try to stay awake. My wife and I called game over at 10:30. <br />
<br />
<b>21. Where would you like to go?</b> I've always wanted to go visit the landing sites for the Invasion of Normandy.<br />
<br />
<b>22. Name three people who will do this?</b> Well, I know Donald Trump likes to talk about himself so I imagine he will do one, if he can sit still long enough to focus and keep his eye off the telly. I think Don Draper from Mad Men would maybe do one but then crumple the paper in the trash before posting it. And my neighbor Suvatjana, who comes from Upper Malakvia and doesn't speak English so good.<br />
<br />
<b>23. Do you own slippers? </b> Fuck no. But in spite of the emphatic negative, I think I kind of wish I did. At least in the winter.<br />
<br />
<b>24. What color is your shirt?</b> It's dark blue with white lettering. Many of my shirts, actually, are dark blue with white lettering.<br />
<br />
<b>25. Do you like sleeping in satin sheets?</b> Yes, but only in the nude. Otherwise what's the point?<br />
<br />
<b>26. Can you whistle? </b> I can whistle extremely well. Annoyingly well. Most Marickovich men, actually, can. I've got good range, and excellent pitch. Not very loud -- I won't be able to call a dog or get your attention from across a grassy knoll, or even cat call a beautiful woman over the clatter of Smitty's jackhammer (but who does THAT anymore). But if you want someone to whistle the main melody lines of Bach's 3rd Keyboard Concerto in D major, with a bit of counterpoint to boot, well, I am your man. <br />
<br />
<b>27. Where are you now?</b> Home. What kind of a question is that?<br />
<br />
<b>28. Would you be a pirate?</b> Depends. If you are talking modern day Somali type pirates, then the answer is no. If you are talking more of the Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow variety, I'd be willing to think about it if you threw in an official pirate hat.<br />
<br />
<b>29. What is your favorite color?</b> Blue....no, wait.....AAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!<br />
<br />
<b>30. What is something you are afraid of? </b> Cows. They are big, stupid, lumbering beasts that step on your toes and shit on your lunch without thinking twice, and they just stare at you with those big black eyes, eyes like a dolls eyes, and chew their cud, completely unafraid of you. And you just wonder....what are they thinking? Do they know that one day I am likely to be eating one of them? Are they wondering perhaps if the tables could be turned, maybe how best to serve a fillet of Marickovich - medium rare perhaps, with a side of garlic mashed potatoes, washed down with a nice beer served at a bar by a strapping bull with a trendy nose ring through his nose? I wonder....<br />
<br />
<b>31. Favorite Foods? </b> One of my favorite things to do is take a tortilla and wrap it around some cheese and just stick in the microwave for about 45 seconds till the cheese is all melty. Almost any cheese will do, except for blue cheese which I think we deduced earlier I in fact do not like.<br />
<br />
Other than that, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter. Not at the same time of course. <br />
<br />
Although....<br />
<br />
<b>32. What's in your pocket?</b> My wallet, $5, and a knife. Everything you need to have an interesting night out.<br />
<br />
<b>33. Last thing that made you laugh?</b> Probably a joke my co-worker told me. But I can't remember what it was about. <br />
<br />
<b>34. What is your favorite Animal?</b> Boom.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTxTUuA4r2LGIwG7ukb2QY_vwO9ZU_JimhK5UQRWbw9PpGaSmAw7NZg-F3uDXSerhYpArtATr5ODJywNsriSTN_EoQ0JG_8mU1nk5atockny0M5U2IVdpJQsdmx3LZOH6EEO_qY6j4RLj/s1600/Animal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTxTUuA4r2LGIwG7ukb2QY_vwO9ZU_JimhK5UQRWbw9PpGaSmAw7NZg-F3uDXSerhYpArtATr5ODJywNsriSTN_EoQ0JG_8mU1nk5atockny0M5U2IVdpJQsdmx3LZOH6EEO_qY6j4RLj/s320/Animal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>35. What is your worst injury? </b> I rolled over my pinkie finger once playing soccer, and pretty much broke it. Didn't seek medical attention, just got a mountain man with beaver blood on his work boots to reset it after drinking a big slug of Canadian Jack Whisky. It turned black but I just put a little bit of Dr. Carruther's Wonder Elixir on it and after a few months the swelling went down. Oddly, it's never been the same since.<br />
<br />
<b>36. How many TV's in your house? </b>In reality only one. Though every screen is a TV these days. So if you count the smart phones, the computers, the tablets, and the TV itself....6. Not enough really for a man cave (especially as not all of those screens are mine), but its a start.<br />
<br />
<b>37. Worst Pain?</b> See that? See that? Marie Ann Moffett....she broke my heart!<br />
<br />
<b>38. Do you like to dance? </b> Only if I am at a wedding, because everyone will remember the bride and groom and no one will remember that awkward man strutting around with his limbs all akimbo and his hips gyrating in a disturbing manner, like he was some kind of wounded bird. The open bar, if there is one, usually helps. Otherwise, I really don't like to dance at all, much to my wife's chagrin, who is a wonderful dancer. <br />
<br />
<b>39. Are your parents living? </b>Yes, and they are well, thank you. Though they will probably not be happy with the amount of curse words I put in this one. But as they used to say in the back parlors of 18th century Paris...<br />
<br />
<b>40. Favorite Book?</b> I got a lot out of <i>The Brothers Karamazov, </i>which I think is probably the best book ever written. Though for sheer readability I would go with Krakauer's <i>Into Thin Air</i> or Harbach's <i>The Art of Fielding. </i>Also would put <i>The Crimson Petal and the White </i>by Faber on the list. These are books I could read over and over again, which is something I don't normally do. <br />
<br />
But if there was a best history book category the prize would go to Fred Andersen's book about the Seven Years War, <i>Crucible of War</i>, which was masterful from start to finish. Even the footnotes were worth reading.Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-27167414313110098402017-02-04T17:07:00.000-05:002017-02-04T17:07:05.581-05:00Books You May Not Like -- Steel Boat, Iron Hearts, by Hans Goebeler, with an assist by John Vanzo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSeq__3WpI8Fa4h5CrKqQZobNR-nFA0jcwfYeayC_nSRQFdceKSYlJ-pgT9qZ5-yUzc5Wg4mArZCXtxMABcmG7_QD-vqsphDBlrgMp-eLlI_EvAdJgO3tqJ3n6Kcg_wmV6Jc3ON0zSpn9/s1600/Steel+Boat+Iron+Hearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSeq__3WpI8Fa4h5CrKqQZobNR-nFA0jcwfYeayC_nSRQFdceKSYlJ-pgT9qZ5-yUzc5Wg4mArZCXtxMABcmG7_QD-vqsphDBlrgMp-eLlI_EvAdJgO3tqJ3n6Kcg_wmV6Jc3ON0zSpn9/s400/Steel+Boat+Iron+Hearts.jpg" width="270" /></a>This is the story of one man's (Hans Goebeler's) experiences in the Kriegsmarine as a U-boat crew member, specifically aboard the U-505. The U-505 has some distinction, not necessarily for it's combat record but rather because it was captured by a US Hunter Killer Group (a naval squadron made up of carrier based aircraft and destroyers, created to run U-boats to the ground and sink them or take them a prize) and is currently at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It is one of the few boats to actually survive the war...and Hans Goebeler was one of only 8,000 (out of about 38,000) German submariners to survive the Battle of the Atlantic.<br />
<br />
So Hans joins the Kriegsmarine in 1941 and manages to get into the submarine force by virtue of his skill, demeanor, and the fact that he was pretty short for a stormtrooper. It's a pretty unflinching look at life inside a World War II Submarine. <br />
<br />
I mean, imagine it...you and, oh, 55 of your closest friends are stuck inside a steel tube that is 200 feet long and (here is the kicker) about 14 feet wide, for about 3 months or so...maybe less if the shipyard workers of Lorient sabotaged the boat - which they did often. You have no air conditioning, and you and all of your buds have to survive on the 64 gallons of water a day produced by the distillery units...enough water to cook and to drink, serve whatever mechanical needs are necessary, but not enough for anyone to shower. Ever. <br />
<br />
You like eggs? I hope so. You have to eat dozens of them before they go bad as all the food sort of starts to rot in the warm waters off the coast of Africa. For the rest of your life, you will hate them; your love of eggs is the first casualty of the war, for you.<br />
<br />
You play a deadly game of cat and mouse, your goal: to sink Allied merchant shipping. But while you are hunting you are also hunted...allied ships ping you with acoustic sonar and try to sink you with depth charges, but even more frightening is Allied air power, looking for boats having to recharge batteries on the surface (U-505 was not equipped with a snorkel), which gets harder to avoid as the war goes on. <br />
<br />
And so you patrol the seas, hopefully sink some merchant shipping, and pull back into Lorient with three months of stink and facial hair on you, victory pennants flying, your only thoughts of the companionship you will find in the red light district...<br />
<br />
U-505 was not a lucky ship. It had a couple moderately successful cruises, but its first skipper was relieved after sinking a sailing ship belonging to the President of Columbia (inducing them to declare War on Germany, which I am sure did the Allied cause a lot of good), and the second skipper never won the hearts of his men because he was a douche. He wasn't very good at submarining either, and in over a year at the healm only sunk one or two ships. But by 1943 the war was going against the Germans. The U-boat fleet was subjected to incredible sabotage (I think almost through all of 1943 the U-505 only got out on an actual patrol once, where it was heavily damaged in the Carribean and yet still made it back to port...perhaps the most heavily damaged U-boat to ever make it back, a testament to the professionalism of the crew). At last the skipper committed suicide on board, the only submarine skipper to do so while on duty. <br />
<br />
And so it goes on. Finally the boat is captured by the US in June 4, 1944, the first enemy boat to be captured by the US Navy since the war of 1812. The crew spends the rest of the war in America, at a prisoner of war camp I think in Louisana. Because the US doesn't want the Germans knowing the boat was captured, the men's families are not notified that they are still alive (a violation of the Geneva Convention!! or at least so says Hans). But finally the war ends and they are allowed to write home again. Hans and his crew were transfered to Scotland, where they broke rocks as penance until 1947, when at last they were allowed to return to Germany. All were required to disavow the Government, but Hans, loyal to the end, jumps of the train and sneaks in to the country, loyalty intact. <br />
<br />
And that is sort of the striking thing about this book. Hans is completely unapologetic for serving in the Kriegsmarine during the war, and makes a point often of saying so. I am not sure he really needs to be apologetic -- though most American readers will probably want to know how he reconciles his pride in serving in the U-boat fleet with the fact that he was fighting for Nazi Germany and what it stood for. The answer is he doesn't, at least in the book. I am not sure he mentions the plight of the Jews at all...he rather points out the devastation of the Allied air raids in Lorient and Germany, as well as the struggle against Communism which to him was paramount and got underway when he joined up in 1941. As to his opinions on the many dark sides of the Nazi regime, well, we never are privy to those. <br />
<br />
And if you also don't like a lot of "wink wink nudge nudge" here's what we did on the Rue Pastorale, you probably won't like this book. Hans recounts his many adventures ashore with something a bit of "these were the best days of our lives" lavisious glee...though he never goes into the details (though there is one rather hilarious story that actually takes place on the boat when this guy, he...). He had a very good time. But I don't begrudge him that -- if you or I were young and single and had to spend two months or more in a steel tube with rotting food and shit in buckets, pulling boring duties punctuated with sheer terror, I imagine we might well behave the same. I actually am sure I almost certainly would have. After a while though, it does kind of get old. It's like "yes, Hans, we get it, we get it. You fucked a lot of women, and you drank a metric tonne of booze." It's like the opening scene from Das Boot replayed many, many times over. But hey, that's the way it was.<br />
<br />
Before you write off Hans as a Nazi playboy, you should also know that he and his shipmates served with honor and devotion, or at least as much honor as one could under the circumstances, as most naval men always have. They made it a practice to cripple a ship and then make sure most of the enemy sailors aboard had gotten off before sinking it, after which they rendered what aid to survivors they could. Not much, but a bit of food and water before slipping away. He also moved to America after he retired from work in Germany, to Chicago to be with his beloved boat, and was instrumental in getting veterans of the U-505 and the men from the US Navy who captured the German sub together, where none showed any will will towards the other, even though its not unlikely that the men sitting across the table from Hans killed some of his friends on other boats. The kind of binding up, that sort of coming together, is a lesson to us all, I'd say, as is Hans pride in his service.<br />
<br />
So yes. If you are interested in what it was like to be on a World War II submarine, this is a rather good book. It's a quick read, a straightforward account, and it gives a different perspective on the war in total. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-2694878424030024932017-01-20T18:25:00.000-05:002017-01-20T18:33:16.942-05:00Mike Pence was the Commander in Chief for 53 Sweet SecondsI know we are all talking today about Trump, and the speech, and what he did or did not say or do. And I will too, in a moment. <br />
<br />
But first -- did anyone else notice that Pence was the De-facto President for 53 seconds? <br />
<br />
Pence was sworn in around 11:56 AM, after which the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang a patriotic tune and there were some handshakes and hugs up on the stage. As 11:59 approached I started watching the clock very closely, because as of 12 noon the Obama Administration was no more; there was a new sheriff in town and his name is Donald JOHN Trump. Never knew what that J stood for. Julius, I think, would have a more fitting, Imperial ring about it.<br />
<br />
But not so fast!!! As of noon Trump had yet to be sworn in. As he had not yet taken the oath of office, he could not be the President. He started the oath slightly after 12 and was officially sworn in as of 12:00:53. So for 53 seconds we really didn't have a president. But we did have Vice President Pence.<br />
<br />
I'm not up on my Constitutional Law (though I guess we all should be, as Americans, right?), so I am not sure if the absence of a President makes Pence the President or just vests him the powers thereof; but either way I am sure that for 53 seconds there Pence was, in effect, the most powerful man in the world. <br />
<br />
That's one for the refrigerator door, I'd say.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dx2c1pv_-kc-t8tf-RFhVcfGi-MSzo3O6PNUmW3M7_SdaIJV4hUKtCFMmvM3Xn9faqx-p7ZmiWwfdD63D3thr4P1aviiNDujyRpTlFS7SOFQoKUu0A0eDMksoOHpMHQA7K1yi1QWmmx8/s1600/Pence+VP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dx2c1pv_-kc-t8tf-RFhVcfGi-MSzo3O6PNUmW3M7_SdaIJV4hUKtCFMmvM3Xn9faqx-p7ZmiWwfdD63D3thr4P1aviiNDujyRpTlFS7SOFQoKUu0A0eDMksoOHpMHQA7K1yi1QWmmx8/s400/Pence+VP.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On His Way to 53 Seconds of Glory</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So obviously I did watch the inauguration. I clocked out for a moment at work and put on CNN (I haven't watched or even been to the CNN website since the election, as part of a one man CNN boycott, because I think they only serve to fan the flames of our discontent with headlines like "Senator Eviscerates President on Health Care Policy" and "Cruz Slams Trump on Barbecue, says KC Style is Best". It's too much. A lot of this mess is their fault), and I watched Trump take the oath and give his speech. I have....a couple comments. <br />
<br />
First, the Invocation. I know as a nominal Christian I shouldn't be bothered that all three prayers (THREE) were Christian in nature, one explicitly evoking the name of Jesus Christ several times. But as a person who believes in a pretty strict separation of Church and State I was, of course, unhappy. Yet even as a Christian I was sort of bothered by it too. A life lived in Christ is among many things a life lived in humility before God. Wedding Jesus to the State, asking him to bless us so that we might be strong and wealthy and powerful (so that we might be Rome, who crucified Him) seems the opposite of humility. <br />
<br />
Second, the speech: An eloquent speech it was not...I imagine he was proud of the simile comparing boarded up factories to tombstones - I wonder how long it took for him to come up with that one as he lounged around Maro Largo over the Holidays. <br />
<br />
But the speech, to me (and I don't say this lightly), had just a whiff of Fascism about it. I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe it was the repeated extolling of nationalism, this idea that a renewed pride in our nation and a new spirit of Patriotism will unite us. <br />
<br />
America has never been an end in itself. It <i>means</i> something. It has always striven towards Liberty. It has done so imperfectly, without doubt, but it has always reached for something better than itself. Now it just seems Trump wants us to be united not by our values but by a love of America in and of itself...but love of country takes many different shades and people love this land for very different reasons (or they don't love it for various reasons). Which makes me think that the only way to unite in love of country is to put the State on a pedestal, to make the State the most important thing and subsume all values to its Glory. That, ladies and gentlemen, is fascism -- or at least its what fascism means to me.<br />
<br />
Not saying that Trump is a fascist (though he does sort of look the part of a strongman). And that is perhaps not what he meant to convey. In fact I am sure it is not what he meant to convey. But there is something about this speech that I found deeply unsettling. Only time will tell if those misgivings are rooted in any sort of reality. <br />
<br />
Just remember folks: Trump eats Doritos, just like you and me. We are in good hands. Good hands covered in nacho cheese flavoring. Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-76181632191735566442017-01-01T23:15:00.001-05:002017-01-01T23:15:56.114-05:00In Which a Clumsily Rendered CGI Nick Discusses Rouge One :: MODERATE SPOILERS!In what has become a New Years Day tradition, I drove into Hampton and plunked my sweet ass down into the theater to watch a movie. Don't quite do it every year, but I try my best. Why? Because without the cement of tradition, our lives would be as shaky as...<br />
<br />
This year's choice was Rouge One, which remains the number one movie in America two weeks in a row <i>and,</i> despite some less than great reviews from the critics, it has been, I think, well received by my friends. I saw the end credits roll about three hours ago, I've since had some nachos and a coffee (which is not a great combination, in all honesty), and I think I am ready to share some thoughts. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPtQeAC5n0DfGyqLO-6poT-DMhyphenhyphen-t_ryuqcuFLscEEB4mObtzZK-BAlicUGMEqFuKvygjL1-Do1fDvJ75BGQEBgcvIv3Jz_c70f1aHCutvLY59hByEWGp_MN5qQSPBTIkakh6Elm5t4Hy/s1600/rogueone_onesheeta_1000_309ed8f6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPtQeAC5n0DfGyqLO-6poT-DMhyphenhyphen-t_ryuqcuFLscEEB4mObtzZK-BAlicUGMEqFuKvygjL1-Do1fDvJ75BGQEBgcvIv3Jz_c70f1aHCutvLY59hByEWGp_MN5qQSPBTIkakh6Elm5t4Hy/s640/rogueone_onesheeta_1000_309ed8f6.jpeg" width="432" /></a></div>
<b>The Venue</b>: I chose my local IMAX 3D multiplex. I made the mistake of wearing my thick framed poets glasses and the 3D glasses juuuuuuuust barely fit over them. That's a lot of hardware to wear on one's face for two hours, but those are the sacrifices one must make for art. <br />
<br />
The sound system was just....spine shatteringly loud. And that bring me to....<br />
<br />
<b>The Previews</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I noticed the sound system was spine shatteringly loud because each and every single preview began with a load, deep "BOOM" that made every atom in my body vibrate at a low resonance, threatening to tear the very fabric of my body into pieces. This was true even of the previews for movies that probably didn't really need a BOOM to herald their future existence, like some silly movie where Alec Baldwin voices a baby who talks and....I dunno, wants to take over the world or trade stocks or something. <br />
<br />
The only preview that really made my blood quicken was for "Dunkirk", naturally. I'm going to see that when it comes out.<br />
<br />
At last, time for<br />
<br />
<b>The Show</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
It begins in a time long ago in a Galaxy far, far away. And I'm waiting for the iconic accent of the orchestra and the blaring of the horns and that big old beautiful Star Wars logo scroll across the screen in full, voluptuous IMAX 3D BUT....<br />
<br />
That doesn't happen. The movie just starts. And I was very confused. <br />
<br />
But not for long. I got back with it. The plot is a pretty good one, and I will summarize it with a simple question or two: Have you ever wondered how it was that the biggest, most deadliest weapon in the Galaxy could be taken down by a bunch of snub nosed fighters flying down a trench and shooting a pair of photon torpedoes? Have you ever wondered WHY exactly those snub nosed fighters had to fly ALL the way down that trench?<br />
<br />
This movie doesn't provide a convincing answer to the second question. But it does provide an answer to the first. One of the scientists who built the Death Star did so under durress, and he built the exhaust port flaw into its design as an act of sabotage. If he can smuggle the plans out to the Rebellion, they will have the means to launch an attack that will destroy it. He sends out a feeler message with a willing Imperial cargo pilot, and the Rebel Alliance finds his daughter Jyn, whom he has been separated from for....years. 16 years? Maybe? Hard to say. <br />
<br />
The Rebels rescue her from an imperial work camp...how they figure out where she actually is and the story behind the mission to get her, I guess, will be another opportunity for another prequel. She is able to in turn reunite with Forrest Whitaker, sees a hologram of her father brought to him by the cargo pilot, and learns that the structural plans that detail the flaw are on some tropical like planet that kind of looks like Guam, though with not as many Japanese people or seedy strip clubs. <br />
<br />
A big ass battle ensues and the Rebels get the plans. For a moment it seems the Rebels are going to flake out, but Jyn gives an impassioned speech that manages to convince just enough people to take a chance that the plans are on this planet, and they go in with a plan that make the Expendables look like the fucking Duke of Wellington himself (i.e. there was no plan...less than no plan, actually, if that's possible. Like a negative plan). But Rebellions are based on Hope, so....<br />
<br />
Yeah. They get it done. <br />
<br />
<b>A Specific List of my Beefs</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Here is the fun part, where I get to point out each and every thing that I found wrong with this movie. Take a deep breath.....<br />
<br />
<u><i>The Guv</i>:</u> <br />
<br />
Governor (or Grand Moff) Tarkin, who features in Episode IV as played by Peter Cushing, makes a reappearance in this film. Unfortunately, Peter Cushing died in 1994. Rather than exhume his corpse or try to reconstitute his ashes, the whiz kids at Lucasfilm decided to CGI him back into the movie. <br />
<br />
The effect is....not great, though it is an impressive effort. For some reason we can CGI Transformers and Damn Dirty Apes and even squid people like the one that shares an Imperial cell with Jyn at the start of the film, but we can't CGI a human and make them look really real. I'm not saying it was a crappy job - I'm just saying that even at its best (and it is pretty amazing), CGI still has its limits. You CGI a human next to another human and have the two act with each other for more than three seconds, and the CGI guy, no matter how well done, starts to look like Abe Lincoln out of the Hall of Presidents. They do a better job with a young Carrie Fisher at the end, but she is on for such a short duration that it works.<br />
<br />
Oh - if anyone sees the movie again, check to see if the Grand Moff ever gets his feet shown in this movie. According to Wikipedia, of all things, Peter Cushing convinced George Lucas to let him act in slippers because the Nazi riding boots that all Imperials wear didn't fit well and hurt his feet (I only just found this out today, but a quick Google search assures me that I am one of the last to know). So you never see his feet in "A New Hope". It would be cool to see if they honored that in Rouge One.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbFInLrsYt4hDFOFBnaomQlyKKeDO4FJVH7OO8Pxcj1V_1zDvXURC6xaOFXEdc6wYEglL-uRO8tZUVyJWslYzNdjOVuEaBhZci6S9iNHxkR_V1iNX5ayVrOd-6YIS7A_RS0tQa0jZDbff/s1600/mofftarkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbFInLrsYt4hDFOFBnaomQlyKKeDO4FJVH7OO8Pxcj1V_1zDvXURC6xaOFXEdc6wYEglL-uRO8tZUVyJWslYzNdjOVuEaBhZci6S9iNHxkR_V1iNX5ayVrOd-6YIS7A_RS0tQa0jZDbff/s320/mofftarkin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<i><u>Those Damn Stoopid Storm Troopers</u>: </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I think all the tacticians in the Empire must have gone to Trump University for their courses in military science. "Hey, you know what....we just sent that squad of storm troopers head long into that Rebel held defensive position, but it didn't work. Like, everyone of them is dead or seriously injured. What do we do guys?........Yeah Smitty, I agree. Let's send another squad in just like before. They'll never think we'd never try it for the fourth time." <br />
<br />
Seriously, it's become a cliche, a joke. In Episode IV and V Storm Troopers at least struck fear and maybe a little perverse admiration into the hearts of the 10 - 14 year old boys they were supposed to impress. You might remember that in Episode IV they take the Princesses ship, and in Episode V they successfully assault the rebel base at Hoth. I think the Battle of Endor is where they start to lose some of their luster, start to look really, really bad at what they do. But hey - it happens. The Russians were beaten in Afghanistan, we were defeated in Vietnam; every super power has a bad day at the office.<br />
<br />
But now? I think the guys that made this movie were actually making fun of how bad the troopers were. It was like watching that scene in Indiana Jones where that swordsman does all that sword play to intimidate Indy and Indy just shoots the guy with a revolver, but not once but a thousand times, over and over again. A bloody robot, a single robot, killed like whole Battalion while Jyn and Captain Cassian are getting the plans in the archives. If there are to be more of these movies, we have to have the Storm Troopers perform better, because they are lousy villains at the moment. You would never expect them to win in any engagement now. I think a movie from their point of view might actually be worthwhile.<br />
<br />
<i><u>And Speaking of Captain Cassian Andor</u></i><br />
<i><u><br /></u></i>
I kept waiting for him to say "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my faddah. Prepare to die."<br />
<br />
Was I the only one who noticed that he was the only person in an Imperial uniform with facial hair? Like none of them, NONE of them, have facial hair in any of the movies. No beards, no mustaches....not even really a decent set of sideburns. Captain Cassian looked awfully suspicious walking around in an Imperial Officers digs with a 2 week beard on his face. You think that would tip people off that something isn't right, that this guy might be an imposter. But....well, see above.<br />
<br />
<i><u>Vader makes a Pun?</u></i><br />
<i><u><br /></u></i>
So Vader is choking the head Death Star Scientist who clearly wants to command his creation. Vader (still voiced by James Earl Jones) quips, says something like "Be sure that you are not choked by your ambitions" before releasing him. <br />
<br />
What what? Vader, with a sense of humor? And a bad one at that? Unforgivable. The rebels are the ones who deliver the silly little one liners in any Star Wars film; it makes them kooky and fun. Loveable. Servants of the Empire do not tell jokes. I'm sorry. They just don't. It makes them easier to hate.<br />
<br />
<i><u>The Score</u></i><br />
<i><u><br /></u></i>
It ain't John Williams. It's like John Williams, its similar, there are familiar motifs and themes sort of modulated and such in the back ground. But it rarely ever goes full blown Star Wars (except maybe during the last battle), and it just lacks that certain something....<br />
<br />
<b>The Verdict</b><br />
<br />
Which sort of brings me to my conclusion. This was a solid movie, an enjoyable film (I give it a B-, but I am hard to impress). I like the fact that the Rebel Alliance is portrayed with a little bit of shade to it, filled with characters who have killed for what they believe in and carry that with them in the dark places of their hearts. The obligatory protocol droid in this movie was actually my favorite of any of them - way funnier than C3PO and a bright spot of comic relief throughout a movie that needed it. <br />
<br />
And the battle at the end...THIS is the space battle you have been waiting for, Star Wars fans. Absolutely incredible. Just as good if not better than the climatic battle in Return of the Jedi (though I did notice the absence of Wedge Antilles, even though I thought I heard his name). Its not as iconic as the one in Episode IV (it is actually rather derivative of it), but it was still awesome to see, and something that hasn't been a part of the more recent movies.<br />
<br />
But somehow, in someway, it seems like Star Wars lite, like it was a really good copy of a Star Wars movie but it wasn't quite as good as the real thing. A knock-off German beer brewed in New Jersey. Louisville Slugers from Louisville, Colorado. Replica Glocks. Implants. <br />
<br />
And that I think is my worry for the franchise; that like the Marvel movies these films will just become more and more ubiquitous and eventually they will all be mediocre and the same.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-6794396335729206852016-12-30T22:14:00.000-05:002016-12-30T22:14:01.996-05:002016 in Review, and New Year's Resolutions2016. What a year, eh?<br />
<br />
I've been sitting here trying to sum up the year, and it's honestly hard to do. I am not going to sit here and call it the worst year ever, or call it a Dumpster Fire of a year. I don't even know if this year will actually ascend to become one of those Years of Wonder, the ones that history majors can recite off in their sleep (to whit: 1066, 1492, 1516, 1776, 1815, 1863, 1914, 1939, 1944, 1969, 1989, 2001). It was a year were Globalization and Liberal Democracy were beset with setbacks, where the British voted for Brexit and we (and I still can't really believe we did this) voted for Donald Trump to be....to be the President of the United States. Phew. It's hard to even to write it. <br />
<br />
And there was a Syria, and the Siege of Aleppo which was Tweeted in real time, and all we could really do was wring our hands in anguish, if we cared to do anything at all. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Death stalked the Earth like a giant, stalking thing, reaping the lives of our favorite celebrities at the rate of 0.4 celebrities per day, which is worth like 10 normal people and some 100 Syrians, apparently. I usually don't get too misty eyed over the deaths of singers and actors and the like, especially when they are advanced in years, though the passing of Ellie Wiesel gave me pause (I actually had the privilege of seeing him speak at VT), and the recent loss of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds is a sad story, proof that you can still indeed die of a broken heart. But honestly, good people, I can't spend everyday next year mourning the passing of yet another movie star or singer, no matter how endearing and beautiful and incredible they may have been; I can't do that anymore than I can summon outrage at Donald Trump over almost everything he says no matter how much he deserves it. It's just too exhausting.<br />
<br />
So a bad year for the world. <br />
<br />
But oddly enough....it was a good year for me. <br />
<br />
Work is going well. I got a few poems in a regional journal. Kids are healthy. Wife has found a bit of joy with Jamberry and Trim Healthy Momma. I finished my masters degree (pending some administrative stuff). The new anti-depressants seem to be still doing their job, two months in, and that is a blessing.<br />
<br />
I also read a whole mess of books. I met my goal of reading 20 books, and as I am an engineer by training I felt compelled to do run some numbers. Here are the salient facts:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>20 Books, a total of 8759 pages</li>
<li>Marickovich's Top Pick of 2016: "At the Existentialist Cafe" by Sarah Bakewell</li>
<li>Marickovich's Honorable Mention 2016: "Napoleon: A Life" by Andrew Roberts</li>
<li>4 books by Female authors, 16 by Male authors</li>
<li>All books written by White people</li>
<li>13 books were written by English Authors. 7 books were by American Authors. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The most striking thing is that 13 books that I read were written by English authors. Note that that is not British authors, they were all rather English. Not a Scot or Welshman in the bunch. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And, perhaps more damningly, not a dark skinned person either. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So that gets to my New Year's Resolutions. Last year I picked the squishy and vauge Oprah like mantra of "Live into your best self". Well, this year, I am going to make it simpler. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First, I am going to try and read 20 books again. It won't be easy, because I have some real heavy hitters sitting on the shelf that I want to get to this year (Montaigne, Rebecca West,), but I think its a worthy goal. But next year, when I put my books into a spread sheet, I want to see a but more diversity. More women, different races, maybe a few more nationalities. Heck, maybe even a Scotsman (though lets not push it). It's not merely for the sake of political correctness, for the sake of seeking diversity in its own right. Rather, it is because if this year has taught me anything it is how essential it is to hear other voices and other experiences, lest we get stuck in our own silos. It's hard to get out of your particular niche in society and see things from a different point of view. Art (and in particular novels and poetry) is the bridge on which we experience other voices and gain a broader perspective.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Second, I really want to start doing more Yoga. I don't seek oneness with the self or anything like that. I merely want to make sure that in 20 years when I get out of a chair after a meeting at work I can do so without all my joints cracking like a kid popping bubble wrap, and without my back and limbs being stuck like the blades in a poorly maintained pocket knife (a third resolution is to write with a little more imagery, experiment with similes, in case you haven't guessed). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well. Adios 2016. Hello 2017. I'm not sure hanging a new calendar on the wall is going to change things much for the world at large. As the white water rafting guide said to us when he missed his line on Sweet's Falls: "I'm sorry Fellas...this is gonna hurt". </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-32540433186961048782016-11-28T19:45:00.001-05:002016-11-28T19:45:41.542-05:00Books You May Not Like: The Pickwick Papers, by Charles DickensIn the midst of The Election, in need of escape, I picked up the Pickwick Papers. <br />
<br />
I have owned a copy of this venerable text for ten years, and have dipped my toe tentatively into the first few pages more than a few times. But always I ended up putting it back, as it seemed there more important things to do, things of more value to read. <br />
<br />
But at last in August of 2016, with The Election in full swing and fresh on the heels of Mermaids in Paradise by Kydia Millet, which while funny also has a distinct and very modern sort of "waiting for the end of the world" kind of vibe, I decided I needed to go into a world where there the stress of the modern day really isn't...well, it just wasn't. <br />
<br />
So to the Pickwick Papers at last. The premise, in a nut shell, is that the noble Pickwick, who seems to be a man of moderate wealth such that he really doesn't have to worry about money too much (though he does rather hate to part with a pound), has founded a club which encourages the exploration of one's own back yard. So Pickwick, with his friends Winkle (the sportsman), Tupman (the romantic), and Snodgrass (the Poet), set off to explore the environs of southern England, eating and drinking copious amounts of alcohol and food along the way. <br />
<br />
Hilarity ensues?<br />
<br />
Yes, I'd say so, in the beginning of the book. The ineptitude of these men in their opening adventures is a joyous sort of bumbling that only the English seem to be able to manage so well. Tupman gets challeneged to a duel over mistaken identity, Winkle is horrible at all sports he applies his energies to, and Snodgross The Poet is always writing in a notebook but, oddly, none of his work seems to survive. At all turns they are stymied by the conman Mr. Jingle, who seems a rather harmless villain in this day and age, a sort of Max Bialystock kind of guy who charms wealthy single women and then bolts town, creating scandal, which is settled for a fee (i.e. I will leave you guys alone if you give me Twenty Pounds).<br />
<br />
Pickwick is joined by his faithful servant Sam, and Pickwick earns his undying loyalty, and there more adventures and some stories within a story and...<br />
<br />
And then it all sort of falls apart for me. The book coalesces around a loose plot and a few subplots, all of which involve marriage. Pickwick is sued, unfairly, for falsely proposing marriage to his landlady (he did nothing of the sort) in bad faith, loses the case, and is sent to a debtors prison. He manages to settle and then has to tie up the marriage of Winkle to a Arabella Allen, which is a fine match but has considerable resistance from numerous quarters that only Pickwick, with his noble bearing, can overcome. Snodgrass and Tupman all but disappear for the final third of the book, we see them on the final pages where there is a nice sort of epilogue that traces the story of the various characters at least for the next few years. <br />
<br />
I suppose one should forgive Dickens for any structural flaws. It was written in pieces, in installments, and if some aspects of the book sort of die in place I suppose that is understandable. <br />
<br />
But Dickens....Dickens is just very difficult for me to read, a torrent or words. You would think Dickens would be right up my ally, being British and from the 19th century, a country and period of time I am fascinated with....but to read Dickens is to wade through a torrent of words that often don't signify.<br />
<br />
So this book was very, very easy to put down. I started in August, finished in November, but in between I read a number of books that I felt were more interesting. I am happy that I had the perseverance to finish, but I am also glad to put it back on the shelf, likely to go to Goodwill, where perhaps it will enlighten a more joyous and patient soul.<br />
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-50884067403525695282016-11-10T22:32:00.000-05:002016-11-10T22:32:47.985-05:00I am Feelng....Kind of Impressed.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKQH7E0PxU_squgnLqOrAVjiE62tN5hP_GaraDibDt0Y_22WqDQseg6YaoeMMYCpgEVIPEiExH9fT2QdMcIp58aGClLbi8eue7ObX6JtIP3WxYcooWXUoHYZ2hpHgFkDMvu7-F8_M9hpU/s1600/Trump+has+won.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKQH7E0PxU_squgnLqOrAVjiE62tN5hP_GaraDibDt0Y_22WqDQseg6YaoeMMYCpgEVIPEiExH9fT2QdMcIp58aGClLbi8eue7ObX6JtIP3WxYcooWXUoHYZ2hpHgFkDMvu7-F8_M9hpU/s640/Trump+has+won.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We may as well get used to it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hi America! <br />
<br />
Or should I say....<i>Heil Amerika</i>?<br />
<br />
I know, I know. It's not fair to compare Hitler to Donald Trump. I mean, for one, Hitler was a way better public speaker. Mesmerizing, so I'm told. <br />
<br />
Second, he was a <i>much</i> better painter. One room? One afternoon? Two coats? Extraordinary! <br />
<br />
I've had a couple days to accept the fact that Trump is President Elect. The day after the election I was despondent. When I think of all the issues I care about - climate change, a thoughtful foreign policy, honoring our international commitments, equality, common sense gun policy, plain and simple compassion - Trump doesn't really fit my vision of what I want in a President. When I think of the Trump we've gotten to know over the past 16 months - Trump the boor, Trump the ignorant, Trump the Twitter Troll - he doesn't fit my vision of what a President should be. But apparently there are about 60 million people who beg to differ.<br />
<br />
So here we are, two days later, and the US hasn't sunk into the sea (yet). Much like Ron Burgundy felt when he realized that his dog Baxter had eaten a whole wheel of cheese, I find that I am not really mad; I'm actually kind of impressed. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJu7dIZtpJBCOa4qzjnuQwoQgBWTZGsJPwOWA8qyG05TAn_KyJE1_1swhwjhzZrQQC0S2fid3N_qeD43EKMbGd1d3NW45XQrscBsSa5s407-0VjGx4J94ozj5hA8XfQ05UADjqzCjNdE1p/s1600/Perry+For+Hillary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJu7dIZtpJBCOa4qzjnuQwoQgBWTZGsJPwOWA8qyG05TAn_KyJE1_1swhwjhzZrQQC0S2fid3N_qeD43EKMbGd1d3NW45XQrscBsSa5s407-0VjGx4J94ozj5hA8XfQ05UADjqzCjNdE1p/s320/Perry+For+Hillary.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Come on People!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Look: Hillary Clinton had almost every newspaper backing her. She had Obama, who is still pretty popular for a second term president, campaigning for her relentlessly, staking his legacy on her election. She had Obama's eloquent wife Michelle stumping for her. She had Bill stalking around the country, explaining away on the virtues of veganism, elder statesman extraordinaire. She had the folksy Tim Kaine and his crazy as shit eyebrows. She had Beyonce, Jay Z, Lebron James, and Katy Perry all in her corner. KATY PERRY for Chrisssakes! Katy. Perry. <br />
<br />
Who did Donald Trump have? Just himself, his own self belief and over inflated ego. And a bunch of angry, angry people, and a few people who wanted to make sure the Republicans put a stamp on the future of the Supreme Court. Yeah, okay, he had John Voight. I'll take Katy Perry any day. <br />
<br />
But Trump won. Despite all that, despite all the chips against him, despite the fact that he stood alone against the Machine, he won! It's an incredible, stunning political feat. A Dewey Defeats Truman of the Digital Age, as the New York Times put it. <br />
<br />
And hey, you know, so far so good. Trump is saying all the right things, trying to be a unifier not a divider, pointing upwards to a thousand points of light that are shining down on our city on a hill. Rather amazing, considering that only a few short weeks ago we were all apparently in a living hell, running down the streets doing zig zags to avoid ISIS snipers and gang land cross fires while roving Government zombie death squads decided who lived and died at the behest of a corrupt political class that was hell bent on taking our guns away while Mexicans put their taco trucks on every corner and after a lunch of Tortillas and beans set out to take our jobs away, sell drugs to our kids, and rape our women. <br />
<br />
Perhaps at last we see the fabled Trump Pivot after all this time? Or maybe he was just saying those things to stoke up the base and get elected, power the end in itself, just as two faced as the stinking swamp of corruption he is intent on draining. Or maybe this is just a part of pageantry of power, of the peaceful transition from one administration to the next, as the Democrats live up to their vows to hold that sacrosanct above all other things and Trump exudes the easy magnanimity of victory, saving his vitriol and sweeping agenda for another day.<br />
<br />
We haven't sunk into the sea (yet). But when I consider Trump getting his first classified intelligence briefings, how he's likely to pull us out of the Paris Climate agreements, and the people surrounding him, the Rudy Giulianies and the Newts who are likely to play key roles in the Trump administration, I feel my knees buckle a little bit. And I haven't forgotten about the alt right. It's amazing that on Inauguration Day our first African American President will pass off the baton to one of his most relentless attackers, who made a name for himself pandering to the conspiracy theorists about his origins and allegiances, and who won the endorsement of the KKK. Disavowed, of course, but still won. <br />
<br />
Of course, we've all been promised that we will be winning so much now that we are going to be tired of winning. Go to, Donald Trump. For the sake of our country I wish you the greatest success. I for one am trying to keep an open mind and give you your hard won chance to lead our Nation. But remember that in four years, if you're still up for it, We the People will get the chance to either re-elect you or send you packing. You're going to have a little performance review, and at the end you may just get to hear those words you made immortal and probably slapped with a trademark: You're Fired. <br />
<br />
Good luck building that wall. See you next election cycle. <br />
<br />
<br />Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-19931838099523958652016-10-19T22:48:00.000-04:002016-10-19T23:00:36.567-04:00Clinton v. Trump III: Slugfest in Sin CityWell, here we are again. Clinton, Trump, national stage. Clinton needs to look Presidential. Trump, on the other hand needs to:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iVauxi3qnP0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iVauxi3qnP0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Or maybe not. He may want to keep it tamped down. But we'll see.<br />
<br />
Clinton going with the white pant suit. I was thinking she might.<br />
<br />
It feels like we are actually going to have a substantive debate here....which is incredible. It feels....boring here, 12 minutes in. Which is so strange. I guess that means I am one of those horrible people who has come to conflate politics with entertainment. Shame on me. <br />
<br />
Guns. Hillary and Trump support the 2nd amendment. Trump will give us all a free gun if he gets elected, with a free cowboy hat.<br />
<br />
Abortion. Trump sort of tries to play the politician by not answering the question about overturning Roe v. Wade directly. He gives all the ick of being against abortion without any of the faith - why does he actually believe what he believes here? What is behind the ethics? Or is he just saying stuff to get elected? Clinton makes a very, very, thoughtful defense of Roe v. Wade. I am amazed that we are still having this discussion, after so many, many years.<br />
<br />
Immigration. Trump says disaster for the first time (1). He manages again, to blame Clinton and Obama for all America's ills. Ah! The wall! We are going to build a wall, stop the drugs, get the hombres out. Trump goes for the water as Clinton answers. I wonder how well he has hydrated. Clinton is painting a very, very, bleak picture of Trump's policy. How hard it would be, how bad it would be. It's like Nazi Germany man. She's winning here, I think, on Trump's number one issue. "He Choked" she says. He is not a politician. I am, the person with the ovaries. Vote for me. Trump: NAFTA is a disaster (2). Trump also has rolled out a new term -- "Big League". What the heck is that. Disaster two more times (4). And if Obama has deported so many people, why should we vote for Trump? <br />
<br />
Now Clinton gets hit up with the Wikileaks open boarders thing. She schluffs it off as an energy thing, and has tried to pin it on the Russia, Trump connection. I honestly don't care much about the Wikileaks stuff - Clinton is a politician, I'm not surprised at what she has said in these emails or what her people have done. Heaven forbid that a politician should actually be a politician. But it plays badly for her. It will be interesting to see if Trump brings this up.<br />
<br />
Putin: Trump is sort of talking shit about Russia. Russia has played a bad hand well - I would love to see Trump do any better. Trump goes for the water again. He really should have had more water last night. Clinton has not had any water that I can see.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3eJuH3Iv2-UppVNGPbQ6K8Xz-Svv1sqMKw8p7VMmdezMMinJUaKJlW8JwyN2vv7xc8IwTqUbdvcdN4oRaMMDwzO43C9pchBbyiGSaej9VSQWd-melAl-nHrcO5Vtrw0LI3dXri5bM8g3/s1600/clinton-trump-split-ohio-2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3eJuH3Iv2-UppVNGPbQ6K8Xz-Svv1sqMKw8p7VMmdezMMinJUaKJlW8JwyN2vv7xc8IwTqUbdvcdN4oRaMMDwzO43C9pchBbyiGSaej9VSQWd-melAl-nHrcO5Vtrw0LI3dXri5bM8g3/s640/clinton-trump-split-ohio-2016.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puppets, all.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Economics (jobs! They took our jobs!): While I support the left, mostly, in economic terms, to a point, I am not sure that the president really has much impact on jobs and the economy. I don't agree with the minimum wage being raised (I think the states should handle it), but I like everything else that Clinton says, I just don't know how she will actually do all of this stuff (free tuition?? Come on.). But she gives a very detailed sort of policy plan. Trump says her plan is a disaster (5). Trump has gone back to getting money from the people we are defending...We are going to have free trade but somehow not going to have free trade because we can get great deals, because Trump is going to be a great wheeler and dealer. I just hope he does better with our country than he did with those casinos. Did I mention that NAFTA is a Disaster (6)?<br />
<br />
Clinton leans back to her experience. I gotta say - having been in government during the great recession actually makes me think that she has more credence here. Macro economics is not the same as running a casino into the ground. <br />
<br />
Trump: If China and India are growing at 7%, and 8%, why can't we? The ignorance of this man knows no bounds. Wallace asked a very pointed question, and he has not answered it at all. Trump does say that hey, he told the truth (once), and it was fact checked. Good for you, Mr. Trump. Clinton comes out against TPP....it will be interesting to see if she signs it into law when (yes, when) she is President. <br />
<br />
Fitness for president. And here we go with the sexual misconduct allegations. If his loose grip on policy disqualifies him from being a president, then I think these allegations (which I believe) certainly do. But he does pivot to the news that comes out today about paid agitators at Trump rallies. I don't think that Clinton was actually behind them, but man, it sure is damning. But Clinton can throw Trump's words about women back into his own face. Even if the allegations are not true, his response towards them, his belittling of the women who made them, has really hurt him. Clinton looks very good here. Going high. High high high. <br />
<br />
Speaking of which, 2016 has made me a believer in legalizing marijuana. Hopefully it will make us all chill out. We'd probably be way better off for it.<br />
<br />
The Foundation: Hoof. A cringeworthy moment for Clinton on her foundation. She is dodging the question. It is her Achilles heel, and this is the one place where Trump is actually winning, I would say. It is a good foundation, I would say, but it certainly looks like a conflict of interest. Oh, if it was anyone but Trump, Clinton would probably not win this election. But now Trump is under attack for his own foundation, and the tax returns. The mud is flying thick here.<br />
<br />
The rigged election now....will Trump accept defeat? Eh.....maybe not. This election is never going to end. Trump is talking about fucking voter fraud on a grand, grand, grand scale. There is simply no evidence for that. Clinton, I think, comes out very strongly against Trump. She really dresses Trump down. He looks like a chided 8 year old boy who has been caught stolen a stick of gum. Fire from the lady.<br />
<br />
Hoof. Foreign hotspots now. Mosul! The fight has begun. What happens the day after that? A good question? Hold it...that's a bad question. If Mosul gets retaken there wouldn't necessarily be a vacuum. The Kurds would probably hang on to it. Clinton will not put us there again as an occupying force...which I think is a good answer. It still allows us to put troops in to assist. Smart. She goes on to give a good answer. <br />
<br />
Trump now. What will you do next after Mosul? Will you put in troops. Ugh. He won't answer the question. Not at all. Hillary gave a great answer. This is a losuy, stupid, rambling answer from Trump. And now he is talking about how bad the offensive is. The sneak attack again. I think it is idiotic that Trump would invoke McArhtur and Patton. Trump is not the equal of either of those men, particularly from a military standpoint. If he was, then he should have joined the goddamned Army. <br />
<br />
<i>TRUUUMMMPPPP! Why did you put your weapon together so quickly Trump?!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Because hey, you know, you told me to. And I'm great. I'm a great soldier.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Jesus H. Christ Trump! If you were not such a goddamned waste of a enlisted soldier I would recommend you for OCS Trump! You are going to be a General someday Trump!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I know. I'm great.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Now, disassemble your weapon and continue!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Trump on Aleppo now. He won't even let the moderator ask the question. Trump: Aleppo is a disaster (8). Trump is saying Assad is smart...which he is, but he is also ruthless. But even I could argue that if he had won, fast and early, things may have been better, much as we don't like him.<br />
<br />
Clinton on the no-fly zone: I think we could get it to work through cooperation. But she doesn't say that we will shoot down a Russian or Syrian jet. <br />
<br />
I am interested to see if they will shake hands after this. If I was Hillary Clinton, I would not. <br />
<br />
Clinton did say "radicalization". She's 33.33% there. If she could just say "radical Islamic terrorism" ISIS would magically just *poof*.<br />
<br />
I think that even Chris Wallace is getting tired of Trump. <br />
<br />
The debt: Trump says that, somehow, magically, we are going to get 4% growth or more and that will keep the debt down. We are going to make an economic machine by stealing underpants and then turn a profit on that. There is a middle part in there somewhere, but don't worry about that. Clinton on the debt: Eh, I will not talk about it, but use the opportunity to attack Trump and his beliefs on America. Oh, wait, she tacks back to the debt, and says that all of her stuff is debt neutral. Because she will tax the rich. At least she is honest about <i>that</i>, eh everyone? <br />
<br />
Entitlements now. We have not talked about that at all during this long, long campaign. Neither person has a plan to really take care of this. Save up, everyone. Would Trump make the grand bargain? No. Because we are going to steal underpants and turn profits. Obamacare is a disaster (9). It's a tired attack line. Would Clinton do the grand bargain? I dunno, but Trump has called Clinton a "nasty woman". Clinton will not cut benefits, which I think, sadly, is not realistic. But no politician would say that. Ever. Save your money people. You are going to need it. I wish I had some more money to save. <br />
<br />
I better start writing that great American novel. <br />
<br />
One minute for a closing statement. <br />
<br />
Clinton: I am reaching out to everyone. We need everyone. We will be better together than we are apart. She has not been caught flat footed here. Could she have somehow known this question was coming? We'll find out from Trump tomorrow. But it is a good, strong, stock answer from a consummate politician.<br />
<br />
Trump: Attacks Clinton first. Trump will make America great again. Law and Order. Justice. Inner cities are a disaster (10). You will be shot going to the store. It's an angry answer from an idiot. Don't go in for four more years of Obama. That is what you will get. <br />
<br />
But Chris Wallace ends on a high note. It's up to you America. Go vote. I hope we put Trump to the metaphorical sword.<br />
<br />
No handshake between the two contenders. Good for you Clinton. Trump does not deserve it. Not at all. Clinton comes out immediately and shakes the hand of Wallace. Trump sort of scowls behind his lectern. <br />
<br />
Clinton wins, I'd say. She almost never faltered. She was always thoughtful, very prepared. She was powerful. She ducked and dogded when she has to, and survived what could have been some tough questions. Trump was...Trump. At his grumpy frumpy Trumpiness. If Trump did have some good moments, he did himself in with his refusal to accept a metaphorical defeat and literally insulting Clinton on the stage. To all his supporters, who have legitimate and real grievances with the way that they have been treated over the past years, this is a disaster (11). <br />
<br />
Good night everybody. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-60767254755795484952016-10-16T22:17:00.000-04:002016-10-16T22:17:53.497-04:00Two PoemsHere are a couple of my poems from the last open mike night. I don't normally share these just anywhere - either because I think they are not good enough or I want to save them in the hopes that one day they might get published somewhere (I got two being published later this year in a regional journal....might get some sandwich money out that!). <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These went over well but are very much in the moment, with a political reference in the one and a reference to Billy Collins and Sharon Olds who both have new (or at least newish) books out right now. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, preamble complete, the poems:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Summer 2016</span></div>
<div>
All Summer I scurry from</div>
<div>
One air conditioned way station </div>
<div>
To the next; from house to car</div>
<div>
To store and back again. </div>
<div>
Across the sea, people risk their lives</div>
<div>
In small, crowded boats</div>
<div>
Under a hot Mediterranean sun,</div>
<div>
Thousands of Mayflowers setting sail</div>
<div>
For a better life.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All summer we talk of</div>
<div>
Building a wall</div>
<div>
To make us great again.</div>
<div>
We better build it high enough</div>
<div>
So we can't peer over the top</div>
<div>
To see those people on the boats,</div>
<div>
Yearning to be free,</div>
<div>
Lest we look greatness in the eye</div>
<div>
And feel ashamed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">A Toast to Some Old Poets</span></div>
<div>
A toast to Sharon Olds,</div>
<div>
Gifted with the brashness </div>
<div>
To write about anything,</div>
<div>
And to Billy Collins, who has</div>
<div>
The wisdom and grace </div>
<div>
To often write about nothing,</div>
<div>
Reminding all middle class</div>
<div>
White suburbanites that</div>
<div>
As demographic drift</div>
<div>
Signals only slow decline</div>
<div>
Of old norms, dusty ideals;</div>
<div>
As new artists challenge</div>
<div>
Deep rooted prejudices</div>
<div>
Of a society built in the quicksands</div>
<div>
Of supremacy and inequality;</div>
<div>
That there are still things </div>
<div>
To write about, be it the </div>
<div>
Well mapped contours of your own body</div>
<div>
And the tired glory of human sexuality,</div>
<div>
Or the thoughts that sift through </div>
<div>
Your mind while standing</div>
<div>
In the kitchen on a fall morning,</div>
<div>
Listening to the dog snoring,</div>
<div>
Lost in his own happy dreams.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The very stuff of our lived experiences,</div>
<div>
So accessible it seems you can just</div>
<div>
Reach out and grab it, spin words into </div>
<div>
Gold on a blank page.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ah, but you will never write it so well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-86301105332443985872016-10-09T23:02:00.000-04:002016-10-10T05:32:06.474-04:00Clinton v. Trump II: This Time It's PersonalUgh. It's an ugly ol' debate this. Merciless. I think Trump is actually doing kind of well, better than he did in the first debate (a low bar, admitedly), aside from sort of walking around in the background like an ogre, shoulders slouched, arms unnaturally hanging at his side like a pair of salamis. I also have a horrible feeling that I have read more, and thought more, about our wars in the middle east than Donald Trump has and about our history in general. You never want to have the feeling that you know more about something than your president does, or that you read more books than your president does. I don't know if it's true, maybe it's not, but his answer on Syria made me think of someone who has barely even thought about foreign policy at all. His answer about propping up Assad is maybe not a bad one, if you believe in <i>Realpolitik</i>, but we could never support Assad with a clear conscious in our current day and age. But all the other stuff that comes out of his mouth. A sneak attack, you say? By the dark of the moon? Zounds. <br />
<br />
I'm also dismayed that there has been no questions all about Global Warming, as the water slowly starts to lap around my ankles. Well, one, sort of, at the end, but framed in a way that supports energy companies. <br />
<br />
Okay. So here is my question: we all talk about debate prep and how important it is. But we don't know exactly how these things work. I mean yes, the mock debates, the policy books, yeah yeah yeah.<br />
<br />
But how do you hydrate for this?<br />
<br />
It's a good question, I think. If you don't hydrate enough, your mouth will be dry and you will pull a Rubio. Hydrate too much and you may be asking for a potty break, which would be extremely unbecoming for a future commander in chief. The extra water would perhaps make you sweat under the lights as well.<br />
<br />
Trump and Clinton would handle it differently, of course. I see Hillary sitting there the night before with a gallon jug of water, taking it seriously, as she does everything. Two jugs of water, maybe, even. And then she just kind of coasts on that by sipping water throughout the day, counting on the adrenaline of political combat to keep her bladder as tight as that ol' Scotsman Pennypincher McGee.<br />
<br />
Trump...I think he is more of a coffee guy. I don't know if he actually is, but he seems to have something of a Joe DiMaggio about him, who would drink coffee between innings (between innings! With a cigarette!). And I apologize to DiMaggio's descendants, if maybe they take offense to that, but you know Trump's from New York, and DiMaggio played for the Yankees, you know, bada bing bada boom, eh? Anyways, fueled on coffee he drinks just enough water to kind of lubricate the vocal chords. It is effective. The coffee keeps you awake, and the water at the end would not be enough to induce an awkward moment. Of course that would mean that he is actually dehydrated, and that can really make you feel awful...no wonder he is so angry.<br />
<br />
I am sure Trump would say "I am always very hydrated, I drink a lot of water, a lot of water, I am very, very, good at hydration. Hillary Clinton has been a disaster at hydration. She talks about taking in all the proper electrolytes, talks and talks, but she does nothing. She's been a disaster as a Senator, when it comes to hydration. When I am president, we will be the most hydrated nation in the entire world, I guarantee it. She's a disaster."<br />
<br />
Well....we'll see where all of this goes. Can we move the vote up to tomorrow, so we can just get it over with? <br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-69127075260675728842016-09-26T22:47:00.002-04:002016-09-26T22:47:26.379-04:00Clinton v. Trump I: The Harangue at Hofstra.Welcome to Hofstra University and the first of three debates between Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump! It's the first of three debates, and both contenders are looking to take the first game of the series. First blood! <br />
<br />
The stakes are....well, there will be a lot of people watching, that's for sure. I know for me there is literally nothing that Trump can do that will make me vote for him, but if he can at least appear sane for 90 minutes, well, job done, I guess. The stakes are higher for Clinton: she somehow has to convince people of her superiority to Trump without appearing superior. Like, she has to put him to the sword, but she can't go all Hermione Granger on Trump's ass, because no one likes Hermione. It's like asking Lionel Messi to score a hat trick, but not to do it too beautifully. Three ugly goals. It's a tough ask.<br />
<br />
Tonight we will be scoring according to a secret set of criteria that I am not telling anyone about, lest I tip off my enemies. Points will be posted to Ravenclaw House when Clinton scores; likewise when Trump scores points will go Gryffindor.<br />
<br />
Gryffindor you say? Yes! You might think he would go to Slytherin. Yes, he could have been great at Slytherin....but he was so bold and so beautiful, so courageous, that he went to Gryffindor. Yeah, admittedly, he's a Gryffindor gone to seed. But he's still a Gryffindor. <br />
<br />
So the rules are established, the stage is set, it's all to do for Clinton, and here we go....<br />
<br />
8:30 seconds to go: I've selected the You Tube feed from CNN, which I am not happy about. I really think that CNN has made this election worse, with their panels and never ending discussion of this long, long election. Maybe there is something better.<br />
<br />
There we go. Good old NBC. Much less talk. We seen to be in some sort of pre-game ceremony here. I know many people around the country are pre-gaming as well. <br />
<br />
My kindle has only 75% battery. I hope that it makes it through the debate. I have about 50% battery myself. <br />
<br />
The families are being seated. Here comes Lester Holt. It's a full house here at Hofstra. Last chance for the restrooms, last chance for a quick beer. Lester Holt clears his throat. The atmosphere is tense. Very tense. It seems as thought Lester Holt is taking a phone call, and the person on the other end is breaking up. Is it Trump calling to cancel? Or is it his wife wishing him luck? <br />
<br />
Somewhere in the distance, a dog barks....the candidates come out on to the stage and....<br />
<br />
...And there was a long debate, and I wrote during it, stream of consciousness. But I lost interest, and I thought that Donald Trump was an idiot.<br />
<br />
It was not as interesting as we would have hoped - until the end, when it got quite raucous. I thought Clinton put him to the sword. To the sword! I scored it like <i><b>Ravenclaw - 9, Gryffindor - 2</b>. </i>Trump seemed rather dickish, and immature, and non-presidential, and did not show one iota of the acumen necessary to be President. Hillary did land a few low blows, perhaps went a few places that she should not have gone. Trump elected to not really answer a number of questions, notably on the birther issue. He may be a "great" businessman, but otherwise I don't think he has a clue. I think he will find it very hard to govern if he wins. Clinton was cool, incredulous, and I think she just ran rough-shod over him, and she was organized. Trump was all over the place, and got less orgnaized as he went on. I think his plan to defeat ISIS somehow involves these guys below.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBJHIdlcgXz03IhFCxPeAlunIF7_nTqWCZetp41LEJ9i4GpSMPiNWQRcDlAOe-uGC_1udp1guw8AJ-IJJuxCe4Io2XJtaQAeKavOU7phZ9IF7K3Ti-j1raal7DASll4UOMICB2sVsINYQ/s1600/The+A+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBJHIdlcgXz03IhFCxPeAlunIF7_nTqWCZetp41LEJ9i4GpSMPiNWQRcDlAOe-uGC_1udp1guw8AJ-IJJuxCe4Io2XJtaQAeKavOU7phZ9IF7K3Ti-j1raal7DASll4UOMICB2sVsINYQ/s400/The+A+team.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Yeah. Those guys could do it. I think that's probably what Trump's plan is, in a nutshell. One does not simply defeat ISIS. <br />
<br />
And that's it for me, for this election. For me it's over. I don't want to hear another word, from Mr. Trump. I hope he loses big in November, because if he wins the presidency we will be in big, big trouble. But even worse, I will have to listen to him talk for at least 4 years. That seems to me a fate worse than....well, not death, but its still bad. <br />
<br />
This was a waste of life. Next up: the War in Washington. But I wonder what else could possibly be said?<br />
<br />
<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i> Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-33960559398880868602016-09-24T20:43:00.001-04:002016-09-24T20:43:44.634-04:00In which Nick reads "The First World War", by John Keegan, for the Second TimeAs this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Somme and the Battle of Verdun, I figured the least I could do was read a book about World War I this summer. <br />
<br />
So I selected John Keegan's summary history of the conflict, aptly titled "The First World War". I had actually read it once before, about 11 years ago during my senior in college. I remember it being something of a slog, which was strange because other Keegan books I had read had been on point. <br />
<br />
But the devil you know, right? So rather than spend money on a different summary history I decided to spend money on a digital copy of a book that I had already read once before. Funny old world, eh?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9CWGlG9hNnWym6fTDWN8NSmXw5h27FmO0z7UUM31mkrM3_BhTcn2PQysx32NDCrj6aRyH_aCntQrLUYPlxWpYFsl_bzy10cdrEdNWwxPkh2R8wKfVTB4petaIkRXVGVYZarlnitMT064/s1600/51Prvbg17NL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9CWGlG9hNnWym6fTDWN8NSmXw5h27FmO0z7UUM31mkrM3_BhTcn2PQysx32NDCrj6aRyH_aCntQrLUYPlxWpYFsl_bzy10cdrEdNWwxPkh2R8wKfVTB4petaIkRXVGVYZarlnitMT064/s320/51Prvbg17NL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
Maybe it is because I am more mature, but this time I found the book to be much more compelling. Keegan does an able job of summarizing the start of the war and the opening battles. I think something we often forget is that the first two months of the war were very fluid and dynamic, with some as room yet for heroism and initiative. <br />
<br />
As things settle into stalemate and the fruitless trench warfare that most of us think of as we think of WWI, Keegan struggles to give the war some perspective, some meaning, though even he admits for a military historian charting the course of the war is very depressing indeed. <br />
<br />
It actually makes the most sense if you look at it from the German perspective, which Keegan does well. After the Schlieffen Plan fails (Keegan argues that even the architects of the plan knew it could never really work) the Germans basically realize that their best bet is to hold out on the Western Front and try to win against their weaker Russian enemies to the east. If they can once again fight a one front war they might be able to amass enough men in the west to defeat a weakened France and a resolute Britain, before their country itself is exhausted. With the exception of the aberration of Verdun, it is a plan the Germans stick to as the years go by, and it might have worked if...<br />
<br />
You guessed it, those pesky Americans! <i>Over Thereeeeee....Over Thereeeee.....USA! USA! USA! USA!</i> Get me a Twinkie and buy me some steak, the Americans save those sorry French asses for the first time. Sort of. <br />
<br />
In 1918 the Germans have won the war in the east and are transferring men into the west for some massive offensives using new tactics (that presaged the Blitzkrieg of the second world war)...and they work to an extent. But here they meet the Americans, an army of a million dough-boys who fight with an utter disregard for casualties because they have not spent years in the trenches watching their friends die in a landscape that resembles the inner circle of hell. Most important they (and their British and French allies, who still fight tenaciously in defense) inflict casualties on the Germans that they simply cannot replace, particularly with regards to their non-commissioned officers, and as 1918 wears on their war effort simply implodes. They simply cannot match the sudden influx of Americans. It wasn't particularly their fighting skills (though Keegan gives props to the Marines at Belleau Wood), but more so the fact that they were there, and there were a lot of them, and there were more coming, and everybody knew this. <br />
<br />
Keegan also does an excellent job of explaining why the war turned out the way it did, with neither side really able to make a breakthrough. It seems that technology had advanced to the point where the battlefield was hopelessly lethal but had not advanced far enough to coordinate those different lethal technologies. <br />
<br />
Look - today, if you come under fire, chances are you know where you are and you have communications back to someone who also knows where you are. That person can dial in artillery and air strikes to obliterate thine enemy into tiny bits. I'm sure it's not that simple, but you get the idea. Communications are incredibly advanced, and allow for leadership (in theory) to coordinate efforts in the battle space and deliver lethality where it is needed most. <br />
<br />
Not so in WWI. You may be fighting with the most advanced weaponry yet devised, but you are relying on telephones for comms with wires that often don't survive the initial bombardments that open any battle of the war. Now you are relying on runners, which chances are will not make it to their destination. Your infantry are in some place far away where you cannot see them, they have advanced but are now under counterattack. They have no comms and cannot call in pinpoint artillery to engage the enemy. They are alone, and they are at a disadvantage as the enemy gathers for the counter strike. <br />
<br />
This a You Tube video that I think shows the problem very well. It's a little long, but I think it's worth it. Leave it to the British to make a World War I documentary somewhat cheeky and fun. I guessed they earned that right, at least.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T_KyTdENMew/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T_KyTdENMew?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Along the same lines, Keegan also argues that the generals were not quite as heartless and clueless as we thought. Some of them did learn and adapt, if not overcome. New techniques were tried to break the deadlock, and as the wore won the British in particular found that it was possible, through careful planning and a combination of mines, bombardment, tanks, and infantry supporting each other in assault, to make an initial attack with relatively (relatively being the key word) minor casualties, all things considered. But such gains could never be consolidated, as the German counter attack (which was their tactic of choice for much of the war) would inevitably stall any offensive. It's not a universal truth, and the late example of the waste at Passchendale sort of suggests otherwise, but its still true that commanders on both sides were able to make small improvements that did show some promise. But the communication breakthrough that was really needed was never realized. <br />
<br />
So - if you were wanting to come to grips with the conflict, I can think of no better way. On the first reading, a decent book. On the second reading, an excellent one. Do yourself a favor and get a good book for maps or find some online...the military historian's penchant for Corps designations is alive and well.<br />
<br />
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250423445558603653.post-51579923606157662312016-09-22T20:36:00.001-04:002016-09-22T20:37:57.659-04:00The Relevance of PoetryIf you want to gain a little perspective, then I'd highly recommend you find a local open mike poetry night. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The group I am a part of (more or less) had it's 8th anniversary open mike a week and a half ago, and it was....pretty incredible. So many different voices: perspectives from blacks, whites, latinos, believers, non-believers, liberals, conservatives. There is nothing really quite like it, where you have people who are so willing to share their experience so openly, and you have people who more importantly are willing to quietly, respectfully listen.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Listening breeds understanding, understanding empathy, and empathy? Peace. Nothing could be more relevant today.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here are a couple of excellent poets that were good enough to share with the group. First is Dayana Lee, the current young poet Laureate of Hampton Roads, an award winning international poet. The other is her mentor and coach, Nathan Richardson. Check it out, support your local poets, and gain a different perspective. I don't think you will be sorry. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2Khrf2dggqI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Khrf2dggqI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vixVtIhhYWo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vixVtIhhYWo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Wassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03846648934939020723noreply@blogger.com0