Rocket Club

Hey y'all, coming at you from MN way once again here! Just wanted to share a newer group on the country scene with any of you who haven't heard about them yet. Go check out Rocket Club first chance you get. If you're not blown away then I really ain't sure what would do it for you at all.

Even though they only have the 2 singles up, search around You Tube briefly and you'll easily find a rendition of the National Anthem that should move you and a catchy little ballad (see left) that gets you feeling good on memories.

One of my personal favorite points for this group, other than I just think they are so genuinely diverse, is that MN own are all over the place in this group. Including Chris Hawkey of KFAN fame. (Well, he is up here anyway...)

And seeing as how it's June now, please get out on those lakes and have some fun!

Smoking Ban Solution

Alright, first off, let me just say that, yes, I am a smoker.

I enjoy an occaisional cigar and I smoke about half a pack a day on average. I understand that these are my choices and that not everyone agrees with them or wants to partake of my habits or the byproducts they may leave, but c'mon, can't we find some middle ground here?

Why does it have to be my way or your way. We have to be able to coexist, and I think I have an answer.

I remember reading an article a few years back now in my local newspaper about the city only having so many liqour licenses available and demand being rather high for them as we had some new resturants and the like opening up at the time. My question is, if we can have licenses for liqour, why can't we have them for the operation of a smoker friendly facility?

Doesn't it almost seem to simple? I mean, the municipalities will charge for them, thereby increasing revenue, the business owners profits, in many cases, will go up, and the facilities that like the new smoke-free era that seems to be dawning needn't do anything differently at all. It truly is simplicity itself.

So please, if you have any comments I would love to see feedbaack on this one.

The Polls are In

>>I wrote this almost immediately following the last election<<

Okay, so another election day has come and gone, no one will know the differnce in a hundred years anyway, but I don't care. I live here, in today's world, not 100 years from here. And neither do you.

I don't get it, my wife, my brother, assorted other people. They are all so put off by any discussion that may even indicate politics that I've pretty much been barred from discussing any of the subject matter with them. I guess it's like so many other things, you love it or you hate.

Whichever one you do, I hope you voted yesterday. I hope you'll vote in years to come. I hope that you find ways to get the information you find important regarding the candidates in your district and on your ballot.

We have a long way to go right now in this country. The Dems are going to tell us that we need to determine a clear exit strategy in Iraq, and fast, no matter how much Pelosi talks about Bi-Partisanship, this WILL happen. Be ready.

On the other side, the Reps keep telling us how great our economy is. And they're right. If you look at it from certain standpoints. But the best measure of our economy is what's happening to the middle class at any given time. And right now folks, we're struggling.

My only point in this post really is just to make sure that we are all informing and educating ourselves, something that I myself do not always do the greatest job off, but I hope you will do better than I have, for yourself, for your children, and for the rest of the country, because we're all in this together. And that's how it effects us all if anyone happens to ask you.

Blogger Blend Review # 2

Today we review Boca Java's New Media Mavericks. I have to say that I am much more impressed with this blend than I was with the Blogger's Boot Up Blend. This stuff is coffee in the truest sense of the work, it's a bold and rich flavor that won't kick into the ceiling but will leave you wanting more.

You taste all the traditional coffee flavor, plus an added pucnh, it's like Red Bull from your morning mug. This stuff is not only great, it's good.



And in case you haven't seen it yet, check out the Evolution of Dance.

Acceptance

Okay, so I guess that's it, I just have to sacrifice myself to the fact that I'm only going to get on this about once everymonth (probably less when the Twins get here) but that's okay. I don't think anyone is reading this anyhow.

Okay, well, let me start off with DUH! Of course people are freaking out and creating buzz about the shuttle going up. Maybe you shouldn't tell people something's wrong if you don't want that to happen, but that's the thing, they do want people to talk about it. I'm guessing risk is pretty negligible here or they probably wouldn't have put 7 Americans into orbit there, but hey, I'm just some midwestern guy in his 20's, what do I know.

What I know is this. The best way to get a child to do something is to tell them not to, I know, not a huge revelation for most of us. But did you know it works with Adults as well? All NASA has to do is leak this info that things are bad with the shuttle and we shouldn't launch it, and then suddenly everyone is struck by this spur of the moment Americanistic thought of "But we must!"

It happened with the war in Iraq, it happened with the Cold War. The suprise, I guess, is that it didn't happen in WWII, which is where I think it all really started. You see, when Pearl Harbor was attacked that fateful December Sunday in 1941 America learned that it pays to go on the offensive, to be proactive, if you will. And after that we tried very hard to be proactive, we did relatively well in this area for the next 60 years or so too. Minus the whole Kennedy thing, but hey, Reagan made it, so it's all good, and besides, there's always some idiot who wants to get his fame in an idiotic way, ever since the caveman it's been that way.

Anywho, after 60 years we got comfortable again, we were resting on our laurels, after all, we're Americans, we've worked hard since the foundation of our country and we deserved a much needed rest, right?

Enter Osama and the shit hitting the fan. Everybody was so pissed at Osama that they didn't stop and think about what throwing the entire Middle East into chaos may ensue.

Also, most people don't realize that structure, however diabolical, always helps people cope with life. Now granted, Iraqis were not in the midst of a friendly governmental structure, but there was structure.

So we took that bastard Saddam out. Great for us! And great for Iraq too, right, they're free now. Except is wasn't freedom like when we did, and hell, even our founding fathers had to get together and write the constitution to keep the country from falling to the wayside. Why did we think we could shoot a guy and just bring our boys home like nothin had ever happened?

Because we were being proactive again, but, like in Vietnam, we didn't totally think this one through. Everyone, even our senators and congressmen (there the ones who approved the war and bitch about it now) was so concerned about the terrorists we forgot to think about the citizens of a country we were about to invade. And YES, we invaded it, and NO this is not EXACTLY like Vietnam. In Vietnam guys were drafted, and then they had their tours extended. Not so today, today it's just your common everday enlisted man that's getting to sit in the desert for an extra few MONTHS at a time.

Now don't get me wrong, I support the troops, I know quite a few, and my uncle will be joining the ranks real soon here, so for all you ultra-conservatives out there, don't tell me I'm just being caloused and liberal. In fact, don't tell me jack. Just listen, for once.

We screwed up, okay, it's that simple, now we need to get this job done quickly, and get the hell out. If we're so worried about Iraq, then lets make sure we sign a treaty with them, to come to their aid. You know, I'm pretty sure that helped out a little county over in eastern Europe back in the late 30's/early 40's, you remember Poland, don't you?

I guess my point is this. We are Americans and when things get tough, we alwasy try to be even tougher, but maybe instead having the violently flaring temper that our Irish/German ancestors gave to so many of us, perhaps we should attempt to stop for just one moment and more accurately aim our punch at the heart of the problems that arise, rather than wherever the blows may lie. Let's allow ourselves to be marksmen, not machine gun junkies.

Whew...too long!!

Wow, I don't know what happened here. I've been so sidetracked by life that I forgot to blog. Is that a blessing or what.

Well, let's see, my birthday kicked ass all the way through. We found out the next week that we're having twins!! Blessing!!! I went up to the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness with 6 other guys over Memorial Day weekend, and while I know my wife missed me, I also know she's glad that I had a good time. Blessing!! A friend of mine who went with, him and I got to do some witnessing for Christ and we even watched one in our group surrender his heart to Christ.

My dad and I really connected on this trip somewhere around the way too. I don't really know how, or why, but we really did connect. It was just cool since we've always had more of an understood type of relationship than a displayed one, but he gave me a big ol' hug in front of all 4 of those other guys and he didn't even blush, and there's the coolest part, he gave me a hug, usually goes the other way.

Well, life is grand, this is probably full of typos and yadda yadda, but oh well, today I don't care, and neither should you, go find whatever's waiting on ya!

Today is a good day.

Today is my birthday; it's really nothing special. I turn 24 at 4:41 PM this afternoon. I only know that because my parents argue about it every year, and every year they're both wrong. I'm the only one who remembers, that, my birth weight, and that fact that I was born on Mother's Day of 1982 are really all the memories I have of my birth, and they are, of course, facts that I came to learn long after the event.

I woke up to my wife being very sweet. You see, even though she is pregnant, she let me sleep in and kept the puppy out of my hair for an extra half an hour this morning. As I left with puppy Siku to go on our morning walk, I noticed a note on my gloves, there were about a half dozen or so spread different places in the house and in my work folder this morning. She is a very sweet woman, very sweet indeed. Siku (our Siberian Husky puppy) even seemed to understand today was significant too, not too much fuss and howl during the walk this morning (he's in training, he does not like corrections).
I got to take a shower, and even though my Hawaiian shirt is missing a button and I was unable to wear it, I am still comfortable in what I ended up wearing, and I like it enough to keep it in the closet so that's that.

My dad called me this morning on my way to work. He is the second person to wish me a Happy Birthday. I decided I want to trade jobs with him today; he gets to go to a 3M plant and burn things in a 2,000-degree oven. He's testing fire retardants today. He loves being a building inspector more than he ever liked being a working blue collar stiff. I am happy that he called me this morning. My dad is a really cool guy.

Now I sit here at my desk, my office looking like Times Square on New Year's Eve, and I am happy. My 'crew' as I call my group of female co-workers (I am the only male among us as of yet) was kind enough to decorate my office while I was at the first OB appointment that my wife and I had for our unborn child. So while I was listening to a heartbeat that sounded like an old steam engine (It was really quite beautiful) they were throwing confetti, balloons, and crepe paper around my office. They also stole one of my 'signatures' and posted a huge list of odd/fun facts about the year and date of my birth. Useless knowledge such as this is something that is usually saved for me to acquire and spread around on a rainy or boring day, and they've used it against me! Ain't life grand?

Two of my co-workers will be unable to attend my 'office birthday lunch' later this week, and have offered to take me out for lunch today. We're going to go get Chinese food. This is special for me because my wife doesn't like it much, and therefore, we do not usually have Chinesey things in our home. (See, good day for me!)

I only know that my evening will consist of spending time with our kids and my wife. That there will be cake, Which my very loving wife made right out of the box for me. That is huge for her, and I am very, very happy with it. She even let me eat the extra frosting, am I a dork, or what? But I don't care and I don't have to today.

I say every year that it's no big deal and just another day, and you know what, it's still working, every year that I say that, I end up seeing that it is a big deal and that people really do care for me. So I'm sticking with what works, at least if I'm right, I can only be mad at myself that way, right?

Disablism: Fact or Fiction?

I've only recently become familiar with this term, in fact, until yesterday, I'd never heard it. Perhaps that says something about the predominantly white state that I live in. What bother's me further though, is that even though I'm only 23-years-old, in the past 6 years I've already made a career of working with people who have mental, cognitive, and physical disabilities. If anyone should've heard this word by now I feel like I should have at least been eavesdropping.


I do see that this is a problem, and I've always seen that it's a problem. In some ways, everyone partakes in disablism, much in the same way that most of us white folks take advantage of racism, but rarely do we notice or discuss that it's being done. In fact, it took me a sociology class focused on inequalities before I truly recognized how screwed up we is with this discrimination thing.

Many of us actively practice racism, sexism, and disablism in our everyday lives and never even notices it.

Think about it, when was the last time that you stared at a black or African-American person standing across the street while in an unfamiliar town and worried about what might happen, or thought that, based on the way they were dressed, they obviously aren't doing enough for themselves?



And in kind, have you never done a double take at a well-endowed woman in a low cut top? Or perhaps a long legged beauty in a short skirt? What about a tall dark and handsome man in a freshly pressed suit? Or that hunky football player at the mall? See, this might start an argument, but women do participate in some of these things too, although when it comes to sexism, men do seem to take the cake, don't we? Too bad.

It works the same way with disability rights, you see a person in a wheelchair and you stare, even if only for a brief moment, and you never think to actually speak to the person, you just make your glances. Trust me, they notice. That guy at McDonald's who was throwing a fit because he didn't get the super size on his value meal, he noticed that you were smirking, smiling, laughing, staring, glaring, and all unapologetically and without understanding.


The greeter at the local department store, the one who's always staring at the floor, he's just looking for you to say "hi" back to him. He doesn't need you to hear his life story, it's not a bar or a bistro, and you haven't asked, just say "hi" and take his flyer. Then he can feel the purpose in his job that you get to feel in yours.

You may still be telling yourself that I'm a nut, that this stuff just doesn't happen, but can I just simply ask why you honestly believe that in 6 years of working with this community I've never seen any of this? Or furthermore, why I'd just make it up?

If you want more info on how disablism is not only grabbing our country, but not being recognized, check out this link: http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/departments/closerlook/000947.html

Blogger Blend Review #1

So Boca Java, this neat little online coffee shop (think Gevalia, but way cooler) offered to send me some free coffee if I'd review at least one of them in my blog. I'm hoping, just out of sheer gratitude, to review all 6 blends they sent me, I mean, c'mon, they even sent me a hat and this really cool lookin' mug.

So the only one I've tried so far is call Blogger's Boot Up Blend. I have to say, this coffee is MILD. This is what you give to your 12 year old when he has his first cup. That, or your pregnant wife when all other coffee is starting to make her gag.

I have to admit, it was nice to not drown my taste buds, but at the same time, I'm a cream and sugar kinda guy, so I didn't get a whole lot out of this particular cup.

My advice, save this for when junior wakes early on Sunday morning with you and wants to be all grown-up. That, or wait til you have a cold and can't taste anything anyhow.

THE PUCK STOPPED THERE

So it's over for the season, the Wild have packed up and headed home from Dallas on Sat. with an impressive OT loss in another season finisher with Dallas, this year in Dallas.

It was a very exciting game and it didn't stay close at all until the 3rd period. But these guys were all playing their hearts our. Dallas wanted to build steam heading into the playoffs, the Wild wanted to stop them up a bit and remind them there's still next season (let's hope that MN has Mitchell back by then).

I think that both teams did what they set out too, Minnesota scoring two goals in eleven seconds to tie the game and take it into OT. And for all of us fans, MN and TX alike, we were cheated of a shootout by a lousy 37 seconds (not even), though I doubt Dallas minds that nearly as much as we do here in the Twin Cities.

Anyway, the Stars get to keep shining, and they'll remember next season is still out there when they start reviewing tape. I doubt 2 goals in 11 seconds are going to sit well with any of the Dallas coaches.
So as the song goes "I'll see you in September."

Are you freakin' kiddin' me?!

CKX buys Muhammed Ali's commercial name and likeness rights for $50,000,000, and not only does the price of the company drop on Wall Street, but they don't even get 100% of the rights.

Ali is still holding a 20% interest in himself. At least he should be able to maintain dignified commercialization that way, but how the hell does buying the Greatest of All Time rights, and naming a subsidiary company after him, encourage people to sell your stock?


I have but one question...










What's up with that?!

That which changes us...

So that's what my kid looks like, wow, that's just gross and wrong isn't it? No wonder God doesn't let 'em come out looking that way, none of them would leave the hospitals.

John Welwood said "The most powerful agent of growth and transformation is something much more basic than any technique: a change of heart. "

Let me just say to all those macho types out there, this will change your heart. My kid is only in his fifth week of developing into a human and I've already experienced changes within myself that anyone who knows me would tell you are a big deal.

Just this past weekend alone I cooked like three times, and I actually vacuumed, did the dishes and cleaned up the laundry room. And guess what? I still had time to do some manly stuff like burn myself with a soldering iron while I was trying to fix a guitar tuner. Isn't that awesome (my finger still stings, damn those things get hot).

I don't know, I'm just in a different place with my perspective, I care even more about what my wife thinks of certain plan and ideas that I have and I really want her input more than ever before. I mean, I always valued her opinion, but now it's like I need it before I can proceed.

It's great, the well wishes and everything. Everyone makes it sound so exciting.

And then there's that part of you that's worried that you won't have a clue what to do with this little person once they actually exist. I mean I know what I'll name her once she's here. But that seems to be all I know beyond the obvious functions that every human must perform.

Thankfully I have found an awesome book that was written by a guy who has my wonderful sense of humor. Through that I've been able to learn a few good things, hopefully more will come before I am finished reading.

I never thought that I would feel so completely up in the air about anything in my life, but then again "It is a bad plan that admits of no modification." Or at least, that's what Publilius Syrus said back in the first century B.C. Good thing my plan with my wife did admit modification, in case you're wondering, that means, "allow change."

change gives us branches ~Pauline R. Kezer

I am excited and nervous in a hundred different ways right now, but that's okay, I shouldn't know everything. I've never done this from start to adulthood before. In fact, I've only had limited practice in a few stages that come right in the middle of the start and adulthood. So here's hopin' I don't screw this kid up too bad, leave him with some good morals, and teach her how to get by without having to constantly scrounge and borrow. If I can do that much, I think I can feel pretty good about it, but hopefully I will do better than just that.


Till next time then...and wish me luck...

Damn Teachers

So what does everyone out there think about this? I'm curious because I've heard it spread all over the conservative airwaves this week that if Debbie LaFave were a man, or even if she were
just less attractive, then there would be no argument, she'd be in jail.

Is that true? Would it really not matter if it were a male teacher that looked like George Clooney? Would your outlook be any different is she were less attractive, or if she were older (think Madeline Albright or Hilary Clinton)???

Face it, if she were a man, she'd be in prison, end of story. It wouldn't matter if the teacher was 23 and the student was 17, if the teacher was a guy, he'd be looking through bars for a good many years. That's all there is too it.

It really sickens me that we can justify this behavior in our own country while simultaneously saying that the war in Iraq is immoral. Maybe we should think about that a little.

I guess I could understand the lackluster attitude if it had been a college professor and student, but it wasn't, and even then, a man would, at the very least, be fired for the indescretion.

Wait, I know, affairs are always the man's fault, right? Okay, but how do you explain this one then? Because you see, there is no man involved here. There is merely a 14 year-old child who was taken advantage by a 23 year-old woman who should've known better, or at the very least, shoul've been more responsible in her decision making.

"But she has mental illness" you say. Well, okay, let's put her in an institution to serve her sentence then. Isn't that what you'd do with a mentally ill person who murder or beat someone? How are Ms. LaFave's actions any less predatory than that? Please tell me...anyone?

Here is the problem. We are in a culture that just doens't give a damn. The kid should just be happy he won't die a virgin. And we she just be thankful she didn't molest any small children, cuz those are the real criminals, right?

But think about this kid having to explain all of this to the woman he hopes to someday marry. How hard is that going to be for him to share? How hard for her to hear? And in the end, will it be the deal breaker for his lifelong happiness?

My heart goes out to this kid and his family. I want to encourage them to talk about this and expose all of their true feelings about it. Do this in a controlled environment, and do it until everyone has gotten everything out. It's his only hope of not being completely screwed up for life from all of this.

And to those of you who think it's no big deal. Maybe we should send your asses to Iraq, at least then we wouldn't have to put up with your apathy anymore.

When It All Goes South

I currently have a vision that everyone be in control of themselves at all times, because if we cannot be in control of ourselves, we cannot be in control of anything.

To this pursuit I have decided to give myself to meditation and prayer throughout a greater amount of time each day. My theory is that if I can meditate on what is eating me up, or angering, me, then I will be able to identify it and pray for the resources and conviction to control my reactions and perceptions of the antecedents. This is going to make quitting smoking a royal pain, but I've only had 3 in the last two months, so I've got some confidence.



Now it's story time...

If you're like me then you had an anger problem through your teenage year's, it waned somewhere in the latter parts of your high school career, and slapped you boldly in the face some 5 years later.

Now you're confused, you could've sworn this was under control, there was nothing that set you off like that anymore. The last time you took such a foolish action you were merely 14 years old, but you're a man now. A 23 year old man. You've got a wife and kids. You have a decent job. Yes you've been fighting with your parents again, but what else is new, you haven't really stopped in the last ten years.

As you pick up the footstool you just ripped across the room, you notice the four large gouges in your closet door. Now you're really irritated, but not physically, just mentally, and you start to realize this is becoming a cycle, and that means that you really...really...Don't wanna talk about it.

But of course she's going to ask you what happened, and you lie "I don't know..." You know you'll tell her you did it, and how, but you just can't face it right now. You haven't been out of control in a long, long time. And you need to figure out how to get back in control before this happens in front of the wrong person. Thank God you've never gone out of your way to hurt anyone, save your little brother, but that's normal, and he was a pain in the ass growing up.

So you finish the dishes and admit you lied, as much out of guilt as a need to be honest with her.

Now here it comes, the "you need to get help" bit, "you've never been like this"...

But you know different, and you tell her so...

"You can't just control this on you own forever you know?" comes the reply

She's right of course, you can't control it forever, but you can control it, and if you're careful you can have at least another five years without doing anything stupid again, in fact, with some age and some wisdom maybe you can have ten or twenty. By then people will just figure you're in your mid-life crisis anyways.

Do yourself a favor. Think very seriously about everything leading up to the snap that occurred. I don't mean the last six months, or even the last six weeks, but think about at least the seven days leading up to it, what was, or wasn't, going on around you. What did you think was being communicated to you? What did you think others true emotions toward you were?



What made you so damn mad? And what caused you to react the way you did at the moment you did?

These questions all play into each other, and until you start to ask them, you're not going to find any answers. Good luck my friends!!!

Hero Death

It seems that too often in our lives we are slapped, suddenly and unexpectedly, with the death of our heroes. It only makes sense that this is always a shock to us. They're our heroes. Nothing can hurt them...until it kills them.

Recently, today in fact, I have experienced just such a loss. The loss that I'm sure a thousand other people across the US, maybe even the world, are writing, at the very least, a blurb about. The loss of Kirby Puckett.

Maybe it shouldn't be a shock, I mean, he's always been quite overweight, I heard a local sportscaster, Randy Shaver, describe him as "more of a bowling ball than a gazelle" just this morning. And anyone who watched Kirby would've had to nod their head, if not chuckle, a little anyway.

Somebody reading this will question that I just call him Kirby and not 'Mr. Puckett'. If that's you, you're not from Minnesota, when Kirby was playing here we weren't just watching baseball, we were inviting him into our living rooms, into our homes, into our hearts. He became a part of our family, along with many others during that time.

There is no man, woman, or child alive that can deny hearing his name called '...Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Puuuuuuuckett...' would send a chill down your spine, because you just knew this guy was great.

He may not have hit the most home runs, or stole the most bases, but he love us, and we loved him, and when he left, we all knew that baseball in Minnesota would not be the same for a very long time, in fact, it may never be.

I don't know why I choose now, and this to start my blog. I've thought about it before, but this time I did it. Maybe it will be a good outlet for my frustrations at work, and at home, with family and friends alike.

But today I want to share with those who are mourning with me. The ones who, as my co-workers have said this morning, aren't in need of a help line, and just want to send a card to the family to let them know they have our support.

If you never got the chance to sit in 'the dome' and hear his name called, I'm truly sorry, if you did, I'm truly sorry.

As I leave you I am listen to a rendition of a hero song with newscuts of 'Puck' and in his words," you have to do one thing for me, promise me you will not take life for granted (because you never know when it will end)."




Give here!!