Summer Reading

	I was sitting in my wife's grandmother's house in Indiana wondering what to read next. I had just finished the amazing Catch 22 by Joseph Heller but I was already looking forward to the next read. I had read Catch 22 in an actual book format but now that I was out of town I didn't have any other books with me. But I had my Kindle. On my trusty Kindle were dozens of classic works that I had downloaded for free but never read. These classic titles are free because their copyright has expired and many of them were on my elusive list of "books I must read before I die in order to be considered well read."   Moby Dick by Herman Melville has been on that list for some time. Believe it or not I never had gotten around to reading The White Whale. Somehow it never showed up on any of my high school or college syllabi. But it was on my Kindle so I gave it a go. After all, Moby Dick is considered one of the great American novels.   Immediately I was entranced. The narrative sparked my interest from the first page. The writing was poetical and ethereal. The storyline was hypnotizing, a real page turner (or Kindle click). The metaphors were evident but not simplistic. The allegory powerful but not cliché. The descriptions of Ahab's monomania are some of the best detailing of neurotic obsession ever put on paper.   However.   I was forgiving the first time Melville left the linear narrative in order to go on a lengthy discussion on the different species of whales. I was skeptical when he left the narrative again for a long tangent about how different tools, sails and ropes are used on a whaling vessel. I became weary when Melville elaborated on the different paintings of whales and how these paintings are almost completely inaccurate. I was chagrined when I realized that the narrative was taking less and less space and the book was becoming more of a historical treatise about 19th century whaling. Soon I got bogged down.   I read through these tangents not wanting to miss something essential. I didn't want to miss an important metaphorical literary device. Soon I found myself skimming through these tedious passages. They ruined the book in my opinion. These tangents take away from a fantastic narrative and don't really add much heft to the reader's understanding of the context. Most of these meanderings could have been included in the narrative and severely edited without harming any part of the literary experience.   For example, Patrick O'Brian writes about 18th/19th century British naval experiences and never explains what a jib or mizzen sail is. You learn to either figure out the terminology or bypass them for the narrative. O'Brian's narratives are exceptional and never shut down in order to explain what a monkey rope is used for.   I also became weary of the pervasive racism in Moby Dick. I ignored it at first as a cultural relic and an unfortunate world view of the time period. In fact, to leave the racism out may have made the book less realistic. But it kept pounding away at me. Pounding away. And it wasn't written as any type of indictment of racism. It was simply the author's and the character's world view. As historically accurate as it may have been I just got tired of hearing other races so utterly demeaned all the time.   I realize that the modern reader should not necessarily force their modern conceptions of the world on to novels centuries old. But I find whaling barbaric and cruel as most 21st century readers probably do. Moby Dick is not merely a description of events on a whaling ship or a story about a particular journey while whaling. This book is a full on propaganda tract about the wonders and greatness of the whaling enterprise.   Maybe I missed Melville's tone. Maybe I missed the subtext. Maybe he was damning whaling and racism the entire time. Taking an author at face value can be dangerous. But I'm not so sure that I have missed Melville's point. I understand the story of monomania. But the constant going down unnecessary rabbit holes, glorification of a disgusting enterprise and the pervasive racism really took it's toll on my experience.

World of Soccer

Got tix for this weekend's match between FC Dallas and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Looking forward to seeing US International Landon Donovan even though we'll be rooting against him once the clock starts. To get in the right frame of mind we made a visit to the legendary World of Soccer just to look at all the jerseys. Dallas 'Till I Die!

Pinterestmadness

My wife re-did our laundry room inspired by Pinterest. She makes recipes inspired from Pinterest. She organically cleans carpet stains and kills weeds inspired by Pinterest. Yesterday she said she would like to get married again so she could plan it all on Pinterest. 

Just because

Found another Royals shirt at the Old Navy in east Dallas. There was only one left so I decided to dress a mannequin with it. Just because. Oh, and the Royals have the best record in baseball since the All-Star Game.

Drive Ins

It's August 1st and I've been on an unplanned blog sabbatical. Honestly I've just been too busy. I was away from home for 30 out of 36 days due to work, vacation and family reunions. Then I got busy with home projects like refurbishing a patio and painting a storage building among other things. 

It's already August. Unreal. We celebrated the last night of July at the Galaxy Drive In Theatre.  Beautiful night under the stars in the back of the truck watching movies. 

A find

A rare find: A Kansas City Royals shirt at an Old Navy in Dallas. And only one left in my size. Must have been shipped to the wrong region by accident. Of course I snatched it up. Bonus: it was on sale! 30% off! Ten bucks!

Baseball

Well the Royals lost. No surprise there. But a beautiful day at the Ballpark nonetheless. Concert afterwards followed by Taco Cabana. The best part? Knowing the next day is summer and we can sleep in. 

KC v TEX

Tomorrow we go see The Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers decide the series in Arlington. 

Last Day of School

The Temple of Doom is closed for the summer

Band of the Week - The Walkmen

The Walkmen have been around since 2000. They are a straight up New York City rock and roll band. They don't put on airs. They don't glam things up. They play guitar driven songs with interesting lyrics. This song, Heartbreaker, is one of my favorite songs of the past ten years...comes off their newest release Heaven.

Trekkin'

My local PBS affiliate a few weeks ago finally brought back one of my favorite shows...Globetrekker. I started watching this show in the early aughts and have been hooked ever since. Produced by Pilot Guides in the UK the show features young backpackers trekking around the world. The difference between this show and most other travel shows is that the hosts get off the beaten path. Although they hit some famous tourist spots they do their best to interact with the locals.

Their travels seem more authentic. I'm not a fan of rigidly scheduled tours. I enjoy the process of discovery. I also don't like rushing around to check off things on some list. My goal is to enjoy the experience and allow the process of discovery to develop somewhat organically. Globetrekker does a great job of portraying that type of travel experience.

The show will sometimes disappear for months and even a year at a time on my local television schedule depending on the caprices of the PBS programmer. So it's always a nice surprise to see it back on the air.

Band of the Week - Local Natives

Having XM Sirius Satellite Radio has been great. Admittedly I spend most of my time bouncing between two stations: AltNation and XMU. Both stations play indie music. Listening to these channels has exposed me to some great bands. Some I had heard of but never given a serious listen. A few of the bands that have caught my attention and I really dig are: Japandroids, Tame Impala, Grouplove, Alt J, The Lumineers, The Walkmen, Best Coast, Dirty Projectors, Milo Greene and more.

But the band I'm digging this week is Local Natives. Yes, all you early adopting hipsters, I know they're not a brand new deal. They've been around a couple of years now and I had heard a few of their songs on KXT in Dallas. But Relevant Magazine gave them a big spread in a recent issue and both Alt Nation and XMU give them serious playtime. They recently released a new album, their sophomore effort, called Hummingbird.

Very syncopated rhythms and intricate vocal harmonies. Sometimes their music is hypnotic. Other times it rocks pretty hard.

Just Keep Quiet

The night of the Oklahoma tornadoes noted pastor John Piper sent out this tweet:

The tweet was met immediately with negative responses and Piper took the tweet down. The 140 character limit often makes it difficult to express complex thoughts. Not quite sure what Piper was trying to communicate that night. Here was his follow up tweet:

My hope and prayer for Oklahoma is that the raw realism of Job’s losses will point us all to his God “compassionate and merciful.” Jam.5:11

Okay, so whatever Piper meant to say he missed an important lesson from the book of Job about dealing with tragedy.

We often breeze right past Job 2:13. Job's friends come into the story and see Job in great misery and distress. What they did next was an admirable display of friendship and understanding in the midst of tragedy:

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. Job 2:13 ESV

A whole week! They sat on the ground and didn't say a word for a week. They just sat there and let their presence be felt.

Unfortunately they couldn't keep their silence up. As soon as they open up their big mouths they quickly show what kind of lousy friends they are. They offer advice. They offer explanations. They offer guidance. They offer condemnation. And they are completely off-base in just about everything they say. God later excoriates them for their asinine speeches.

They were doing so well...until they started talking. This is a great lesson for us. In times of tragedy it's often best to simply keep our mouths shut and simply offer our support. Be there for those suffering and show God's love through our actions. In the midst of tragedy most aren't interested in theological explanations or questions of why.

When my wife was having emergency surgery and was near death our pastor came and sat next to me in the hospital waiting room. He didn't say anything for a long time. He just put his hand on my shoulder and sat silently. A little later he prayed with me and offered to get me anything I needed. But for the most part he sat there silently. His quiet presence was a great comfort to me.

A little later a layperson came who fancied themselves an unofficial pastor came and sat next to me. They yapped the entire time about God's goodness and quoted scripture and so on and on. They meant well but I found their words distasteful at the time. I was thinking: I am a follower of Christ, I know the scriptures, I know the theology but right now my wife is near death and I wish you would just shut up.

At that time in my life I didn't need a theological discourse. I just needed someone to sit with me in the hospital waiting room.

The two pastoral approaches were striking. They reminded me of Job's friends who did so well while sitting quietly but went completely wheels off when they started talking. If you don't know what to say don't say anything. In fact, even if you think you know what to say...don't say anything. You say a lot more with your presence and your actions.

home

My heart and prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones on May 20th.

I haven't lived in Oklahoma in sixteen years. But I was born there and spent a total of eleven years of my life there. That doesn't include the numerous visits to the state each year visiting my Grandparents and relatives. There will always be a part of me that considers Oklahoma home. It breaks my heart to see the suffering and devastation caused by this storm. God bless you all.

Summer Movies!

Summer movie season has begun! Here are three quick mini-reviews:

Iron Man 3: Good movie. Nice way to wrap up the trilogy...if this is truly the end of the series. Hopefully Robert Downey, Jr. will be back for Avengers 2. IM3 is full of surprises and lots of action. Still not as good as the first Iron Man...but very good nonetheless.

The Great Gatsby: A near masterpiece. Not sure what the negative critics are harping about. Virtually every line comes directly from the book. Only one or two minor scenes are left out. The visuals are stunning. This movie captures the feel of the book perfectly. I'm not sure how it could have been done better. My only gripe is Tobey Maguire. I don't like him in any movie. He was okay in Gatsby but he's such a doofus it's hard to take him seriously...which may be why he made an okay Nick Carraway. I wish they had included his story with Jordan Baker from the book. Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton who played Tom Buchanan were  perfect. Absolutely perfect. Great movie.

Star Trek: Into Darkness: Another great movie. I know some nerds out there wish it wasn't so action packed. I know some wish it was more cerebral. But this movie is great fun. The characters are explored with more detail. The casting is perfect. The way they played with the Trek mythology was brilliant. I'm very glad I didn't read any spoilers coming into this movie. The villain is one of the all time greats in the series if not in any series.

Whew! More to come I'm sure.

Fred White, Rest in Peace

I was sad to hear about the passing of Fred White this week. White was the long-time radio broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals. Fred White and his broadcast partner Denny Matthews were part of the soundtrack of my childhood. Long before the ubiquity of cable, satellite and online streaming, radio broadcasts were often the only way to keep up with the Royals. I would listen to the broadcasts in the car with my Dad or on a cheap little transistor radio in my bedroom in the summer evenings of Kansas City.

Fred White's voice was evocative of the sounds of summer: locusts and the leaves gently rustling in the summer breeze as I lay on my bed looking out the window at the backyard every summer evening while listening to Royals games. White and Denny Matthews didn't spend a lot of time in conversation with one another. Often they traded off innings while the other worked the television broadcast. As a result they were often criticized for the long gaps of silence during the game. But I enjoyed those moments where all you could hear was the crowd. White and Matthews didn't believe in filling in space with nonsensical talking. That approach would probably not be well received in today's ADD world.

Fred White had a reputation of being a great guy who was always willing to help people out. He was an indelible part of my childhood. May he rest in peace.

What to Do When You Grow Up...

A lot of students spend years fretting about what they should do when they "grow up." How does one find their calling in life. Relevant Magazine posted ten ideas I think are pretty useful. Here are just a few...you can find the rest on Relevant's website HERE.


- Fill in the blank to the phrase "If I had a million dollars I would..."
- When are you happiest?

- What bugs you? (enough to spur you to positive action)

- What do personality and strengths inventories say about you?

- What do your friends think you should do?

- What would you like someone to notice about you?

- What kind of jobs match up with what you learned about yourself?

For Beginners

A few days ago I blogged about M Ward without providing any music. Well, here is his track For Beginners from the album Hold Time. One of my favorites.

Trudat Einstein

Vining

So Vine is the latest social media trend hit the digital multiverse. Released in January the app, created by Twitter, allows users to create six second looping videos. These videos allow for quick edits and short bursts of creativity although most of the vids I've seen feature shots of people's meals.

Students are quickly jumping into the trend. I saw some that showed videos of students in teacher's classrooms while the teacher was in the hallway. So I made my first Vine video as a warning not to make Vines in The Temple of Doom.

Click HERE for my first Vine clip or direct your browser to this link:

https://vine.co/v/bxuKru3gUuU/embed

M Ward

Perhaps my greatest musical discovery of the past year has been M Ward. I stumbled on Ward three years ago via his side project with Zooey Dechanel, She & Him. As much as I liked She & Him it took me a long time to give Ward's solo albums a listen. I regret waiting so long.

Ward's been releasing albums since the early aughts. I finally gave his solo work a listen when he released his most recent effort A Wasteland Companion. The music blew me away and I immediately took to YouTube and iTunes to give his earlier works a spin (figuratively, in these days of digital music).

Listen, She & Him are amazing and I can't wait for their newest release coming out in the next few days. But M Ward has been a true revelation. Some classify him as folk but his work is much more far-ranging that the designation implies. If I could pick someone to sound like on guitar it would be Ward. His vocals are understated but full of power. His subtleties are welcome in an age of bombast and simple-mindedness.

I have listened to all his records now several times and am just shocked that it took me almost ten years to find his music. I've always thought I was plugged into good music but man I sure whiffed on this one. He's been on Letterman, Conan, etc and I missed every performance.

I like all his stuff but if I had to choose a starting point I would go with his 2006 effort Hold Time. Every time I hear this record I want to stop what I'm doing and pick up a guitar and play. His music inspires me to greater levels of creativity. That is about the best compliment I can give a musician.

He'll be coming to DFW on tour soon with She & Him. Unfortunately I'll be out of pocket and won't be able to attend. Truly bad timing. I'm sure I'll see him around the bend sometime. He likes to play Austin quite a bit. He's worth the trip down I-35.

The Sched

So these are the two courses I'll be taking at SMU this next fall (2013) in my graduate program. The Euro class is the second part of a History of Europe course. I took part one last fall and enjoyed the class immensely. Went right along with what I teach yet went so much deeper (as expected). The course added new dimensions to my understanding and really adds to my teaching. Dr. Mears is a legend and he is hinting this may be his last year before retirement. I'm lucky to have had at least two courses with him.

The Creating the Novel course is my attempt to finally produce a novel. Writing a novel has been a dream of mine since college. This course will hopefully serve as a motivation and a guide to actually getting the thing done. This will be my third class with Dr. Swaim and every time I leave his classroom I leave inspired. He is amazing and an encouragement to my amateur endeavors.

The Intellectual and Cultural History of Europe: Romanticism to the Present


Explores major trends in the development of European literature, philosophy, art, and music in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Primary attention is devoted to the role of arts and ideas in the shaping of our contemporary world. Part II of a two-part series; Part I is not a prerequisite.

Instructor: John Mears


Creating the Novel


This seminar focuses on learning the craft of writing a novel. Workshops will focus on writing exercises and analysis of novels (relative to structure, characterization, theme, plotline and its development). The primary intentions for this seminar involve writing in the direction of the completion of a novel. Work will involve the writing of some 45-60 pages as a ground beginning to a novel. Significant reading and writing will be essential to successful achievement in this seminar. This course may be applied to the following curricular field concentrations: Humanities and Creative Writing.

Instructor: Gary Swaim

Please No

There is seriously something wrong with this country if we even come close to electing this man to the White House.

Yes, that's right, Ted "The New Joseph McCarthy" Cruz is considering a run for the presidency.

Post-May Day

Happy May Day!

Yeah...if you don't give them what they want.

Visca Catalunya!

Red Storm Rising

I feel good about the Kansas City Chiefs. I think Andy Reid is a great coach. I think they've got a great GM in Dorsey. Despite their awful year last year I think the Chiefs are poised for a quick turnaround. I'm a homer and I may be naive, but I believe last year was an anomaly. They had a terrible season yet still sent five guys to the ProBowl. Five Guys! The talent is there. Romeo Crennel is a good guy and a great defensive coach but he's in over his head as a head coach.

Now they've got a proven coach. They've traded for a very good quarterback. Even with a rough start to his career Alex Smith has been great the past few years. KC has an elite running back in Jamaal Charles. They have an elite WR in Bowe. They have a very good defense and their line is developing. I think the Chiefs will make a remarkable turnaround and contend for the West Division Title. They just have to get past Peyton Manning.

But still. This draft was depressing. Maybe it will turn out great. But you know it's a weak draft when the top two picks are offensive tackles. I'm just glad the Chiefs passed on the aggie. Eric Fisher looks like a monster on the line. He looks like the best guy in this draft. But to think that if Kansas City had picked first last year they would have had their choice of Andrew Luck or RGIII. It's depressing to think about.

Even more depressing was the ESPN 30 for 30 special that reminded everyone about the QB class of 1983. Oh, you know the one, the one where Kansas City picked QB Todd Blackledge seventh while Dan Marino went 27th. TWENTY-SEVENTH!

Well the future looks bright nonetheless in Kansas City. Hopefully Alex Smith will be decent. Hopefully he'll shake off the ghosts of Len Dawson. Since I've been a Chiefs fan the best QB Kansas City has had was Joe Montana...and he was only around for two years. After him, I'm not so sure. DeBerg? Grbac? Trent Green? Bono? Bill Kenney? Chiefs fans deserve some silver linings!

Secrets to Success

Well success can be hard to achieve. And there's a lot of books on how to achieve it. But the reality is that if you do the four things on my chalkboard...you'll be on your way.

Fab Five

Yeah A&M you may have Johnny Football on campus (although we're not so sure since he's taking all his classes online this semester). Tech, yeah you have Kliff Kingbury. Baylor? Kind of quiet since RGIII left town for the NFL. UT? Mack Brown? That's the best you got?

Well today, my school has all five living Presidents of the United States on campus. At the same time.

Hey Mr. Obama/Bush/Clinton/Bush/Carter...my tuition paid for your parking spot.

SMU > than all other Texas schools

Pony Up!

Soccertalk

Updates on my three favorite soccer teams:

The Forney Dynamo: played a cold one last night as DFW once again broke records for low temps in April. But the U6 lads showed strength and courage and played on. Scores are not kept at this level and there are no goal keepers but the scoring seemed fairly even. A 6'8 friend of mine who was a fellow grad student at SMU has a son on the other team. His boy is six inches taller than JDW and last year they banged heads on a nasty collison sending both boys to the sidelines. No such crash last night. Just two more games this season.

FC Barcelona: An end of an era may be at hand. LaBlauGrana was outclassed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League Tournament. 4-0. Worst Barca loss in 16 years. But Barca still dominates La Liga and will easily win the Spanish Championship. They'll still be a force as long as they have Messi running around. But the days where they were the favorite in every single match may be in the past.

FC Dallas: Biggest surprise of all. The Stripes are off to their best start in franchise history. They have lost only once and have only allowed seven goals in seven games. They lead both the conference and league standings.

Just thought you wanna know.

photo: me working my other gig as the voice of Kaufman High School Soccer.

Earth Day 2013

Imagine if someone gave you a great house to live in. The house had everything you could ever want. It had a great yard and beautiful furniture. Let's say you were given the house for free as long as you took care of it.

Now lets say you went around destroying all the furniture and neglecting the yard. You allow mold to rot the walls. You allow the fence to fall over and the roof to collapse. After a few years the house is a wreck.

That would be an utter insult to the people who gave you the house.

That's the type of insult you give God everytime you disregard His creation. God gave us this earth. It's His creation. When you litter or refuse to acknowledge your destructive ways you insult God.

Like all creative endeavors, the Earth bears the traces of the creator's personality. Christians should be on the vanguard of creation care. Sure, you may not care for secular hippies and their "mother earth" mentality. You don't take care of the environment for them. You take care of God's earth because the earth is His creation which he freely gave to us. You also disrespect your children and grandchildren and so on because they will be the ones left to clean up your mess. By the way, when this "house" is wrecked there is no other house to move into. This is it and it's more than enough.

Are you truly pro-life?

If you are pro-life then I urge you to read this article by author Donald Miller. The article is excellent and long overdue. One of the statements that resonates with me is Miller's contention that if your church is not consistently discussing adoption then your church is not truly "wholistically pro-life."

I am so sick of self-righteous prigs pontificating about pro-life issues without any word about adoption or the support of adoption agencies or agencies that provide support for women in difficult situations involving unwanted pregancies. The Church should be on the frontlines in supporting adoption initiatives not only because it reflects the compassion of Jesus Christ but also because adoption mirrors the spiritual adoption we experience once we are saved by the grace of God.

Personally I am a believer in a total pro-life ethic. I'm against capital punishment for the same reason I'm against abortion, guns and war. You cannot convince me that Christ would ever support anything that would end the life of one His creations.

If the link above does not work, direct your brower to:  http://storylineblog.com/2013/04/22/talking-points-for-the-pro-life-movement/

West

Yesterday evening around 8 pm I heard thunder. I remarked to my wife that I thought the thunderstorms weren't supposed to roll through until much later. We were expecting them around 3 am.

It wasn't thunder that we heard. It was a horrifying explosion in the tiny community of West, Texas. The pictures on the news leave me speechless. The loss of brave firefighters and first responders. The destruction of nearby neighborhoods and schools. Speechless.

I, like many Dallasites, have stopped in West many times on our way to Austin. The town is famous for the Czech Stop and amazing kolaches. It's a lovely little community.

My heart breaks for those who have lost loved ones. The destruction is staggering.

Been a very strange week. The DA murderers have been captured. A teacher friend of mine was running his second Boston Marathon along with his wife on Monday. They had passed the finish line two hours before the explosion and had actually made it Logan Airport when the bombs exploded. I was relieved when I got word they were okay. The loss of innocents in Boston is so incredibly tragic.

Tough and surreal week. God bless West, Boston and Kaufman.

Strange Days

Weird stuff has been happening in the quiet County of Kaufman the past two months.

On January 31st an Assistant District Attorney, Mark Hasse was murdered in broad daylight across the street from the county courthouse. Schools were put in lockdown for the day. Many in Kaufman were shocked at this brazen attack on our judicial system. National news media swarmed the area. Texas Rangers, FBI, US Marshalls, Sheriffs and a host of agencies descended on Kaufman to find who was responsible.

Two months later on March 31st, the night before Easter Sunday, our District Attorney and wife were shot and killed in their home near Forney. I, like everyone else in the area, was stunned. Our homes seemed more vunerable than ever. These type of events are what you read about in Mexico in the cartel wars, not in sleepy Kaufman County. I couldn't sleep that night.

This was an assassination pure and simple. Regardless of the killer's motives, anytime someone murders an elected official they are committing an act of revolution against the will of the people. Once again law enforcement poured into the area. People were and are afraid. Most spoke about the tragic events in hushed tones as if expecting further retribution from the unknown assailants.

The media immediately focused on the Aryan Brotherhood. I found this ridiculous at the time because I've lived in Kaufman County for 16 years. I know a lot of people. No one I know had ever heard of any Aryan Brotherhood operations in the county. Sure, there may have been a lone member out there in rural areas. But they usually keep low profiles. We have our serious issues in Kaufman County but I resented the untrue and unfair depiction of Kaufman County as a "hotbed for Aryan Brotherhood" as stated in The Daily Beast.

So now everything has gotten weirder. Arrests have been made of a former Justice of the Peace and his wife in connection to the murders. Details are still forthcoming but it seems Law Enforcement has evidence of terroristic threats made by the former JP. Not sure what the wife's connection is yet. Everything is still hazy and I'm sure a clearer story will emerge in the next few days.

Apparently this all stems from a case that happened two years ago when the JP was convicted and removed from office for stealing computer monitors from the county courthouse. It was a strange case then and seems even stranger now. The DA and the ADA prosecuted the case vigorously. From the stories being told it seems that losing his job, law license and healthcare was enough to trigger a murderous response from the former Justice of the Peace.

Strange days in Kaufman County. Seeing CNN and local media trucks is surreal. Seeing a small of law enforcement officers everywhere is both comforting and unsettling for communities used to peace and tranquility. Hopefully they got the right guy and that Kaufman County is safe again.

UPDATE: The wife has confessed. She has confessed that her husband killed all three victims and she also was involved. Story gets weirder by the minute. Stay tuned.

Pics

More pics uploaded today at...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcarltonwhite/

Sorry, the blogger iPhone app doesn't support hypertext linking yet.

Bluebonnets

That time of year. Allergy season. So you take your kid and sit him in wildflowers by the side of the road. Texas.

Flickr Update

Blogging this using my new iPhone 5. Our phones died last week so we decided to finally get smartphones. So if this post looks weird you'll understand. It would be nice to blog on the go. Anyway...I updated Flickr after months...check out the scene at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcarltonwhite/ Because apparently I can't insert links into text on this platform.

trintas

In one hour I will no longer be in my thirties.

Just thought you should know.

filiwhat?

Okay, so here's the thing...I actually kind of share Rand Paul's concerns about drones. However, he's no hero for taking thirteen hours to ask a question. His filibuster was a political stunt. He was simply trying to put himself out there in the public arena and make a name for himself. None of my poor deluded libertarian friends believed me when I told them he's just another blowhard politician just grandstanding for attention. (Kinda like Ron Paul still accepting social security checks despite the good doctor saying they're illegal and unconstitutional.)

And then of course two days after his filabuster Rand announces he's considering a presidential run in 2016. SHOCKING!

His filabuster was meant to do the following...

1.) Get him name recognition to the public at large on a slow news day.
2.) Position himself as the leader of the Tea Party/Libertarian wing of the G.O.P..
3.) Make Obama look bad which always plays well with the wingnuts.
4.) Stir up paranoia about government overreach which always does well with the Tea Party nuts.

You see, drones are scary. Even the name sounds scary. Say it out loud...drones. Death robots raining fire from the sky. However, technically drones are just another weapon. The same legal principles apply to drones that apply to tanks or fighter jets or even CIA assassins. Drones are just extremely effective and limit American loss of life in top secret operations.

But if you question their morality then you have to question the whole national security apparatus. What's really the difference between a CIA hitman pulling the trigger and a drone operated by a man in a room pushing the button?

And Rand Paul even admitted he never had any intention of not voting for Brennan's confirmation. He just wanted to bring attention to an important question.

Whatevs!

He wanted to bring attention to himself. He already knew the answer to the question.

I'm not big fan of Holder but he totally pwned (google it if you don't know what it means) Paul. Paul took 13 hours to ask a question. Holder took one sentence to answer.

Here's how it went down.

Rand Paul: "Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?" blah blah blah blah (repeat for 13 hours)

Eric Holder: "The answer to that question is no."

Rand Paul: "I'm quite happy with the answer."

Next Day: In an interview with Politico Rand Paul says he is "seriously" considering a 2016 presidential run.

2016!!! Dude! By then it will be too late. Obama will have turned 'Merica into a socialistcommunistfascistislamicblackpanther regime run by drones programmed to mimic Van Jones's brain pattern! Dude!

It's the 21st Century the Last Time I Checked

Interesting to see Benedict XVI resign. Didn't think he'd have it in him. He's obviously setting precedent. Word is that he didn't like JP2 hanging around so long when he was obviously incapacitated.

I have mixed feelings about Ratzinger as Pope. I always felt he bore a striking resemblence to my paternal grandfather. He also never quibbled on what he believed.

However, Ratzinger was also directly complicit in covering up child rape as a bishop. As a bishop he transferred known child rapists to other parishes to cover their misdeeds. As Pope he forbade Church officials from cooperating with law enforcement in cases of sexual abuse. He strongly enforced a code of silence on the matter. No other church, without the protection of national sovereignty the Vatican provides, would get away with such obstructionist behavior.

I also believe that papal succession also highlights a glaring problem within the Catholic church: the subjugation of women. Women have no authority within the Catholic Church. No woman can ever serve as priest. No woman will ever be considered for the papacy. It's the 21st century and the Catholic Church should be embarassed by such misogynist ideology.

I often wonder what will happen first: women allowed to preach in Baptist churches or women allowed into the priesthood in the Catholic Church. Most likely the Baptists will bend first. The Catholic Church is almost 2,000 years old and is pretty entrenched. Rome doesn't like change. Ironically that rigidness may have helped them survive for so long. They are also extremely hiarchical. Systemically the Southern Baptist Convention is more democratic.

But I wouldn't expect change from either church. There are fundamentalists deep in the woods of America who have more in common with Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan than they care to admit.

And don't bother sending me your Biblical proof-texts about the role of women in church. Does your church require women to have their heads covered in church? Does your church forbade women from speaking in church? Then don't use those same texts to tell me women don't have the right to preach or lead congregations.

2012 Reading

So here is the list of books I read in 2012. The list actually starts at the bottom. I ended the year with Player One by Douglas Coupland. You can see some definite trends here. I read three books each by Dave Eggers and Douglas Coupland. Both are among my favorite contemporary authors. Coupland's JPOD was actually a signed edition I stumbled upon in Half Price Books that was unmarked as such. I have subsequently found both a signed Eggers and Coupland book at Half Price that were marked up in price. Lots of C.S. Lewis. The reason? I'm reading The Chronicles of Narnia aloud with my son for his bedtime reading. After Narnia we are going to read The Hobbit together (which you can see I read last year in anticipation of the movie release). Then we'll explore reading The Lord of the Rings Trilogy if it isn't too complex for a Kindergartner.   There's only two history books on the list. Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne was this year's selection for the Texas UIL Social Studies Competition. As our school's UIL Social Studies coach I read the book and actually enjoyed it despite not usually being into American history. It was an excellent and riveting book about Texas and the Commanche. The list does not include the hundreds of pages of historical articles, essays, literature reviews and other assignments I read for my graduate classes at SMU. Those readings usually took precedence over my leisure reading.   Nonetheless, sixteen books in one year is not something to be ashamed of. I also read The Believer magazine, a cultural and literature review which is quite lengthy. I need to add some Patrick O'Brian back to the list. His Master and Commander books are fantastic and It's been over a year since I was in the series. I need to start the eighth in the twenty volume series sometime this year. I also plan on checking out Nelson Algren for the first time. I'm sure Coupland will make an appearance and I will probably re-read a David Mitchell book as well.   So anyway, here's the list...I would recommend them all. I was not disappointed with any of these books. Player One by Douglas Coupland A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien A Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis JPOD by Douglas Coupland (signed edition!) Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrboe by C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis The Western Intellectual Tradition by Jacob Bronowski and Bruce Mazlish Life After God by Douglas Coupland Empire of the Summer Moon: Rise and Fall of the Comanches by S.C. Gwynne The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers What is the What by Dave Eggers

2016

So it's way way way way way too early to begin speculating about the 2016 Presidential race. But I'm going to speculate anyway. I've have been way off in the past (see my prediction that the 2012 GOP primary would be a two man race between Mitt and Rick Perry). But just in case I stand one little chance of being able to point back to this blog and say "I told you so" here goes. You can also point back to this post and mock me if things go completely a different direction. I'm sure there will be all kinds of mystery or semi-mystery players who pop up in the next four years and make a serious run.

But as of now, here are my thoughts...

In the 2016 GOP primary race it will come down to Marco Rubio and Chris Christie. Christie will win and graciously ask Rubio to be his running mate thus producing the Christie/Rubio 2016 ticket.

The Democratic primary will come down to one person and one person only...Hillary Clinton. Hillary will name Cory Booker as running mate. Clinton/Booker 2016 for the Dems.

Of course this is all contingent all millions of unforseen variables. Some of these guys may win or lose state elections before then. Hillary may just retire to a life of lucrative speech-making. Someone might make a surprising comeback (i.e. Rick Santorum). Bobby Jindal might jump in. You never know. But here's my early prediction.

Christie/Rubio vs. Clinton/Booker 2016.

That would be an awesome campaign.

photo: Christie and Booker getting along before they go at it in 2016. Wouldn't it be awesome if these dudes put party affliation aside and ran as Modern Whigs?

Take Five

In 1994 me and the three other members of the Earl Enterline Quartet piled into a 1969 Cadillac and headed to Tulsa to the Greenwood Jazz Festival to have our minds blown by Dave Brubeck. We were not disappointed. We finagled our way to the front of the crowd. OU basketball legend and jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale (now deceased due to cancer) opened up the evening with a very impressive set. Then came the mad professor and his quartet.

Even in their seventies Brubeck and crew were stunning. One of the most memorable musical nights of my life.

Dave Brubeck died this morning one day shy of his 92nd birthday. He was one of the towering greats of jazz. A humanist, intellectual and game changer who played in African-American clubs in the south when that just wasn't done.

Rest in peace and Take Five, Mr. Brubeck.

Guns, Football and Domestic Abuse

 

As a longtime Kansas City Chiefs fan I was stunned by last week's murder/suicide. Belcher was a murderer who selfishly orphaned his three month old baby daughter. I have really nothing to add to the discussion.

The best piece I've seen on this tragedy is Jason Whitlock's column. Whitlock was once a columnist at the KC Star who I read every week even when I disagreed with him. This article is right on the mark and should be required reading by every American regarding our gun culture and our idolization of football. Bob Costas referred to it repeatedly in his halftime remarks at last Sunday night's game. Please take a look at it...

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/jovan-belcher-kansas-city-chiefs-murder-suicide-tragedy-girlfriend-self-leave-orphan-daughter-why-still-playing-sunday-120112

Bowling

Wow. Except for the National Title game and the Fiesta Bowl, this year's slate of BCS games are terrible.

The National Title game is a dream match-up for the network execs. Two blueblood programs like Notre Dame and Alabama will bring plenty of eyeballs to the television sets. The fact that the Fighting Irish have been out of the picture for two decades brings even more drama to the proceedings.

The Fiesta Bowl pairs two teams, Kansas State and Oregon, that were tantalizingly close to playing in the title game themselves. Both teams feature high octane offenses that will light up the scoreboard. The Wildcats have Collin Klein, a Heisman candidate, that will put up the points.

The rest of the BCS games are duds.

The Orange Bowl has the worst of the lot. Due to short-sighted rules to appease the small schools, Northern Illinois will be playing Florida State. Of course the Seminoles will pack the place due to the in-state proximity and their tradition of being a good traveling fanbase. But NIU? A tiny little school in DeKalb? How many fans do they have in the first place and how many of those will trek down to Miami? Plus FSU can't win. If they lose they look like chokers. If they win it was an expected victory. And they'll have to win big to appease the critics. And who will watch this game? Who cares?

The Sugar Bowl features Florida and Louisville. The Gators should be playing OU in a title rematch from a few years ago. But the Sooners lost out because of the new rule that vaulted NIU to the BCS. Louisville is a small school that doesn't travel well. Plus, they were in a four way tie for their league title...a league which they just announced they're ditching for the ACC. Again, this is not a match made for TV. Makes for a better basketball game.

The Rose Bowl has Stanford and Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a league champion at 7-5 because Ohio State is on probation and somehow the Badgers hung 70 points on Nebraska. Stanford deserves a better opponent in the Granddaddy of the bowls.

The biggest non-BCS bowl? Definitely the Cotton Bowl. They get two 10-2 teams in Oklahoma and Texas A&M. OU is the Co-Big 12 Champion. A&M beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa. A&M has Johnny Football (possibly Johnny Heisman) in Manziel. The Sooners have the all time OU leader in wins and passing yards in Landry Jones. A&M is coached by former Stoops assistant Kevin Sumlin. You got two old Big 12 rivals playing in Dallas which is in close proximity to both schools. This game has to be one of the best match-ups of the bowl season.

Finally, SMU is going bowling in Hawai. Doesn't matter who you play in the Hawaii Bowl. You're in Hawaii. Go Ponies!

Skyfall

I'm a big 007 junkie. Love the series even though the movies are often completely ridiculous. It's all about the escapism for me.

Skyfall is pretty good. I found it lagging a bit at times. Javier Bardiem plays one of the best villians in the series. Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Connery if not better in some ways.

Glad Q and Moneypenny are back. I'm also glad M's office is moving back to the traditional wood paneled office with the padded door. Although the 1965 Aston Martin DB5 has made a few cameos in recent Bond flicks (Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale) it actually got a centerpiece moment which was very well done.

The whole thing felt very retro yet with a modern tinge that freshened everything up.

2012 Election Post-Mortem

I don't believe in jumping to hasty conclusions. I do not believe the 2012 election signifies the end of the Republican Party or that we have entered a watershed moment in American demography. I don't believe American attitudes have shifted that dramatically. As we move forward we'll see if patterns continue to develop and trends emerge. I'm sure they are evolving.   However, the truth is elections come down to the candidates themselves. Mitt Romney did not lose because of a supposedly liberal media. He did not lose because of voter suppression conspiracies. He did not lose because of a hurricane or Chris Christie. He did not, as the Wall Street Journal absurdly claimed this week, because of a lack of funds. He lost because he was a weak candidate who could not even fire up his own base.   He lost because evangelicals weren't enthusiastic about a man who was once a bishop in a religion that denies the divinity of Jesus Christ. He lost because he changed his positions on just about every issue you could imagine to win votes from the right. These issues included core convictions that people simply don't change at the drop of the hat including abortion, capital punishment, gay rights and healthcare. The guy invents Romneycare (as Santorum labeled it) and then runs away from it as fast as he could.   People didn't trust the guy. He was rich by the mysterious means of venture capitalism which very few of us really understand. He refused to release his tax returns. When he released one it showed he had paid a rate 14% lower than mine...a teacher. He had bank accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland. He had no problem completely reversing himself in the middle of the primary debates. He offered Rick Perry that $10,000 bet (who does that?) and of course saw 47% of Americans as freeloading welfare leechers. In the first debate he completely denied his own budget plan which he had been touting for ten months. Then he said Jeep was moving their operations to China which the Republican CEO of Chrysler completely repudiated.   The only response Repubicans have is that Obama is worse.   And that's the problem. The Republicans have been so focused on being against Obama that they haven't been able to be for anyone. Look at the loons they had running in the primary. Santorum, Gingrich, Cain, Bachmann and Perry? Seriously? That's the best you got? Each one got their time in the sun because the Republicans wanted ABR (anybody but Romney). Then each of these loons fell on their own swords and Romney was the best alternative in a sorry lot.   I may not agree with all their positions but John Huntsman, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels and Marco Rubio would all have had a better chance of beating Obama than any of those nutjobs. Think about that. Obama against any one of those guys. I'm thinking unless any of those guys had had real skeletons come out of the closet they would have mopped up against Obama. Just speculation of course.   So the essential question is what is it about the Republican Party as currently constituted that discourages their most qualified leaders to run for their party's presidential nomination? Romney would have had a chance had he not had to move his positions so far to the right to appeal to the tea party wing. His move to the right came off as disingenious and he never could shed that label of being a flip-flopper.   Obama should have lost this election. The Republicans had an open door to the White House. Demographics and party issues are interesting and perhaps important but the real reason the GOP lost is because they put up a weak candidate.   The Democrats went through the same thing back in the 1980's with Mondale and Dukakis and then Kerry in '00s. These elections weren't about seismic shifts in American attitudes. It was about a weak candidate getting beat by the stronger candidate. Only the Gore loss is a bit of an anamoly since he was the VP during an economically successful (although morally bankrupt) administration. The Democrats can always blame Nader for that one. Plus, Bush was a much stronger candidate than Romney ever hoped to be.   If I was a Republican that would give me hope. I would stop making excuses and talking about how evil Obama is. I would start looking for a candidate that can win a national election. America is a centrist nation. We don't like people on the fringes either right or left. We can handle center-right or center-left. But you gotta get a candidate out there who can people can actually get behind.

Buddy Holly

For old times sake. The best music video ever. Circa 1995. =w=

Romney/Ryan Tax Plan

The Romney/Ryan Campaign have finally released their budget plan. You can find the details HERE.

Binders

Shaky Pedastals

 

 

I have really wanted to believe Lance Armstrong. Despite years of allegations I always gave him the benefit of the doubt although admittedly there was always a nagging little voice in the back of mind warning that something didn't seem right about Lance.

I shrugged off the French journalists as jealous xenophobes. I blew off the American journalists as attention hungry muckrakers. I dismissed his former teammates as bitter.

But the evidence continued to pile up. Even his best friends gave up the goods. Lance himself gave up trying to defend himself. But then it got even worse. Reams of evidence has been released that show that Lance not only used PEDs he was active in pushing them on others. It has been revealed that he was the mastermind of a wide spread and sophisticated doping operation.

Nike (NIKE!) has ditched him. Lance has even been forced to step aside from his own cancer fighting charity LIVESTRONG.

And it's all terribly sad. This guy misled millions of fans. He was the inspiration for so many cancer fighters and athletes. And now it turns out that he was a cheat. He was a dealer. He was a criminal. All while playing the sanctimonious cancer survivor card. And there's even a possibility that he got his cancer as a side effect from doping. That's mere speculation but testicular cancer is indeed a well known possible side effect of the type of PEDs he's been accused of taking.

Dwell on that one for a minute. The one thing that gave him moral credibility, the one thing that kept a lot of people off his back, the one thing that served as a huge inspiration to others...surviving cancer...may have been caused by him cheating and breaking the law. It's in the realm of possibility that he may have never gotten cancer had he not taken PEDs.

Sickening.

I watched all seven of Lance's Tour de France victories. I rooted him on. I wore the yellow bracelet. I argued in his favor through years of allegations. Turns out he wasn't worth it.

Of course this happens when you place your faith in human beings.