As I sat on the pull-out bleachers in a general purpose building on a remote corner of Fort Riley, I wasn’t quite prepared for the emotion that was about to strike.
Certainly I was expecting some emotion. It was an emotional event. My brother-in-law Nick was returning with his command unit from a 15-month deployment in Iraq.
About 80 soldiers stood at attention while the ranking officer gave a short speech welcoming them home and thanking them for their service.
To his credit he only spoke for about a minute. And then, after 15 months in the desert and 30 hours on military and civilian airplanes, the soldiers embraced their families and friends.
It was very moving. I have to admit that even a crusty old cynic like me had moist eyes.
The joy was palpable. It a very genuine, understated flavor of joy mixed with a dash of relief that the soldiers were finally home.
But though it was understated, it was no less intense. Grown men had tears in their eyes and they hugged their comrades in arms goodbye and their families hello.
Buying Nick and a couple of his comrades lunch and throwing them a reception the next day was nice. But I'm sure it was nothing to them compared to just being home.
tagged: Iraq, war, deploy, family, homecoming, soldier, Fort Riley
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Friday Feast
Hey, how about I do the Friday Feast this week?
Appetizer
Make up a word and give us its definition.
Multiple Sarkasm: A term I use for the media gush-fest that happened when the French elected Nicolas Sarkozy.
Soup
What is currently your favorite song?
Was, is and always will be Jimmy Buffett's Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw.
Salad
What’s at the top of your Christmas wish list this year?
I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time.
Main Course
Name a scent that reminds you of someone special in your life.
My grandmother always kept whole cloves in her purse and she would give them to us as mints. My guess it it's something she picked up as a young girl during The Depression when only the rich and powerful had access to TicTacs. Still, I can't smell cloves without thinking of my grandmother.
Dessert
Who is someone on television that you feel probably shouldn’t be, and why?
Omigod! The possibilities are endless! How about everyone on teevee between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Or how about a "contestent" on every Deal or No Dancing with America's Top Survivor Idol. But in keeping with theme, I'll just go with Larry Moore, for obvious reasons.
Here are alternative Friday Feast menus you might enjoy:
Appetizer
Make up a word and give us its definition.Multiple Sarkasm: A term I use for the media gush-fest that happened when the French elected Nicolas Sarkozy.
Soup
What is currently your favorite song?
Was, is and always will be Jimmy Buffett's Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw.
Salad
What’s at the top of your Christmas wish list this year?
I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time.
Main Course
Name a scent that reminds you of someone special in your life.
My grandmother always kept whole cloves in her purse and she would give them to us as mints. My guess it it's something she picked up as a young girl during The Depression when only the rich and powerful had access to TicTacs. Still, I can't smell cloves without thinking of my grandmother.
Dessert
Who is someone on television that you feel probably shouldn’t be, and why?
Omigod! The possibilities are endless! How about everyone on teevee between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Or how about a "contestent" on every Deal or No Dancing with America's Top Survivor Idol. But in keeping with theme, I'll just go with Larry Moore, for obvious reasons.Here are alternative Friday Feast menus you might enjoy:
- Bea's Weblog
- Logtar's Blog
- Chimpotle
- ...and that's all I found. Leave a comment if you know of others.
Friday Blogthing: Christmas noeledge
I know more about Christmas than you'll ever forget!
tagged: Friday, test, Christmas, holidays, history, knowledge, meme, blog
| You Know a Lot About Christmas |
 You got 8/10 correct You know tons about the history and traditions surrounding Christmas. When you celebrate the holidays, you never forget their true meaning - or all the little fun details. Random Christmas fact: Theodore Roosevelt banned Christmas trees in the White House. |
tagged: Friday, test, Christmas, holidays, history, knowledge, meme, blog
Thursday, December 13, 2007
It's a Mangino-ful life
The geniuses at JibJab have created one of the coolest web widgets ...EVAR!
To prove this, check out the video I made using their Sendables widget. You might recognize a few local celebrities, such as KU Coach Mark Mangino in the lead role, KMBC news zombie Larry Moore, King Leonidas from 300 fame and Your's Truly (sans cigarette).
Enjoy. If you make your own version, be sure to leave a comment to let me know so I can check it out.
PS- I think this is so cool that I didn't strip out the advertising code. Diggity!
tagged: video, Jib Jab, Larry Moore, Mark Mangino, Gabe Kaplan, holiday, It's a Wonderful Life
To prove this, check out the video I made using their Sendables widget. You might recognize a few local celebrities, such as KU Coach Mark Mangino in the lead role, KMBC news zombie Larry Moore, King Leonidas from 300 fame and Your's Truly (sans cigarette).
Enjoy. If you make your own version, be sure to leave a comment to let me know so I can check it out.
Don't send a lame Starring You!
eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!
eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!
PS- I think this is so cool that I didn't strip out the advertising code. Diggity!
tagged: video, Jib Jab, Larry Moore, Mark Mangino, Gabe Kaplan, holiday, It's a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Probably because of their small sausages
According to a poll of 10,000 women travelers, German men make the worst lovers.
The survey results showed that women thought the Germans were too selfish in bed. But I have a different theory.
At any rate, good old red-blodded Amurcans came in as the fourth-worst lovers, so take that you damn dirty Dutch!
tagged: lovers, survey, German, American, Dutch, sex
The survey results showed that women thought the Germans were too selfish in bed. But I have a different theory.
At any rate, good old red-blodded Amurcans came in as the fourth-worst lovers, so take that you damn dirty Dutch!
tagged: lovers, survey, German, American, Dutch, sex
Eat the rich
The other day, Dan linked to a relatively non-incoherent rambling on The Daily Koz website.
You can (try to) read it if you want, but to save you some misery I'll just say that the author sprawls on for about 400 column-inches with the same old claptrap about how Republicans suck and liberals rule, yada yada blah blah blah.
Dan keys in on this interesting tidbit:
But the rant stuck in my mind all week. And this morning while on my daily constitutional of kicking babies after taking my gold-crapping pills, I had an epiphany. Perhaps, like a blind squirrel, this mental defective had indeed stumbled onto a nut of truth.
And the more I considered it, the more I came to think he's right.
I mean, who the hell do these rich people think they are earning money and spending it for stuff they want?
What right do the rich have to keep the money they've earned? Hell, if it weren't for the government giving rich people all of their money, they wouldn't be rich in the first place.
When you think about it, the rich people's money is really the government's money, so hell yeah the government should take it back!
What country do these rich people think they're living in? If we, the people, don't take their money and give it to poor people, how do they expect poor people to survive?
While these living heart donors are busy callously running their businesses, earning their MBAs and paying attention to the education of their children, the poor are stuck in an endless cycle of not running businesses, not earning MBAs and not paying attention the educations of their kids.
Think about it rich people! We're talking about the poor here. If we don't use your money to take care of them, how are they going to reap the benefits of cable television and pay-in-advance cell phones?
Are you so dense and out of touch to think that they can take care of themselves? These are the poor we're talking about here. Oh sure, it would be nice if everyone had a high school diploma, but since when did we become a nation that discriminates based on education?
What we need is to end poverty in our country, and the cold truth is it's going to take your money to do it. And don't give me these out-dated chestnuts about giving a man a fish verses teaching a man to fish. Just pay for the kids' breakfast and let the educational system (which is working just fine, thank you very much) take care of teaching.
So come on rich people. Pull your heads out of your gold glitter-lined asses and vote for democrats!
tagged: rich, Republican, Democrat, politics, tax, education, poor, Daily Kos
You can (try to) read it if you want, but to save you some misery I'll just say that the author sprawls on for about 400 column-inches with the same old claptrap about how Republicans suck and liberals rule, yada yada blah blah blah.
Dan keys in on this interesting tidbit:
"Note that we should not pretend that "a program will take your money." Or "the government will take your money." This is a democracy, and we are the government. I will take your money. I will. Some of that money you worked hard for and want to keep."At first I just dismissed this as more deranged gibberish from someone suffering from liberal delusions.
But the rant stuck in my mind all week. And this morning while on my daily constitutional of kicking babies after taking my gold-crapping pills, I had an epiphany. Perhaps, like a blind squirrel, this mental defective had indeed stumbled onto a nut of truth.
And the more I considered it, the more I came to think he's right.
I mean, who the hell do these rich people think they are earning money and spending it for stuff they want?
What right do the rich have to keep the money they've earned? Hell, if it weren't for the government giving rich people all of their money, they wouldn't be rich in the first place.
When you think about it, the rich people's money is really the government's money, so hell yeah the government should take it back!
What country do these rich people think they're living in? If we, the people, don't take their money and give it to poor people, how do they expect poor people to survive?
While these living heart donors are busy callously running their businesses, earning their MBAs and paying attention to the education of their children, the poor are stuck in an endless cycle of not running businesses, not earning MBAs and not paying attention the educations of their kids.
Think about it rich people! We're talking about the poor here. If we don't use your money to take care of them, how are they going to reap the benefits of cable television and pay-in-advance cell phones?
Are you so dense and out of touch to think that they can take care of themselves? These are the poor we're talking about here. Oh sure, it would be nice if everyone had a high school diploma, but since when did we become a nation that discriminates based on education?
What we need is to end poverty in our country, and the cold truth is it's going to take your money to do it. And don't give me these out-dated chestnuts about giving a man a fish verses teaching a man to fish. Just pay for the kids' breakfast and let the educational system (which is working just fine, thank you very much) take care of teaching.
So come on rich people. Pull your heads out of your gold glitter-lined asses and vote for democrats!
tagged: rich, Republican, Democrat, politics, tax, education, poor, Daily Kos
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Restaurant Review: LongHorn Steakhouse
We probably wouldn't ever have gone to LongHorn Steakhouse if we hadn't had our siding replaced last spring.
You see, we had a local home improvement company install the siding back in April/May. The project had a few significant bumps in it, the worst of which was a torrential rainstorm which struck before the contractors had re-installed gutters -- thus leading to a flooded basement and a pissed off me.
Though I was pissed, I couldn't really fault the contractors for the rain. But I could fault them for no gutters. And when, after the project was "finished" pieces of siding began to fall off our house, it was cause for me calling our rep and stating very firmly how unsatisfied I was and informing him that we hadn't yet paid the remainder of the $15,000 they were charging us.
Well after a few follow-up visits and a couple more phone calls, they got everything fixed up. To his credit, our rep made sure we were satisfied before requesting final payment. Part of that make-good, was a $50 gift cart at LongHorn Steakhouse.
So Sunday evening my supermodel wife and I finally were able to arrange for a baby sitter and scheduled a quick dinner date with each other.
My expectation of the chain restaurant wasn't high. I was basically expecting a western version of Applebee's, and that's about what we got.
My wife ordered the 7 oz filet, and I had the 7 oz filet with lobster tail. The filet didn't disappoint. It was maybe even worth the $18 price on the menu. Of course this is a steak house (granted, a chain steak house) so you would expect the steaks to be good.
Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for the lobster. It was just okay, edible. I expected better, even 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean. Then again, my frame of reference is filet mignon and lobster at The Palms in New York. But still, it should have been better.
Luckily, the service was friendly and prompt. We had no trouble getting a table for two, although it was a Sunday night so that's no surprise.
In the final analysis, you could do worse than LongHorn Steakhouse. But you could probably do better.
Especially for $15,000.
tagged: food, steak, lobster, Long Horn Steakhouse, Applebee's, restaurant, review
You see, we had a local home improvement company install the siding back in April/May. The project had a few significant bumps in it, the worst of which was a torrential rainstorm which struck before the contractors had re-installed gutters -- thus leading to a flooded basement and a pissed off me.
Though I was pissed, I couldn't really fault the contractors for the rain. But I could fault them for no gutters. And when, after the project was "finished" pieces of siding began to fall off our house, it was cause for me calling our rep and stating very firmly how unsatisfied I was and informing him that we hadn't yet paid the remainder of the $15,000 they were charging us.
Well after a few follow-up visits and a couple more phone calls, they got everything fixed up. To his credit, our rep made sure we were satisfied before requesting final payment. Part of that make-good, was a $50 gift cart at LongHorn Steakhouse.
So Sunday evening my supermodel wife and I finally were able to arrange for a baby sitter and scheduled a quick dinner date with each other.
My expectation of the chain restaurant wasn't high. I was basically expecting a western version of Applebee's, and that's about what we got.
My wife ordered the 7 oz filet, and I had the 7 oz filet with lobster tail. The filet didn't disappoint. It was maybe even worth the $18 price on the menu. Of course this is a steak house (granted, a chain steak house) so you would expect the steaks to be good.
Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for the lobster. It was just okay, edible. I expected better, even 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean. Then again, my frame of reference is filet mignon and lobster at The Palms in New York. But still, it should have been better.
Luckily, the service was friendly and prompt. We had no trouble getting a table for two, although it was a Sunday night so that's no surprise.
In the final analysis, you could do worse than LongHorn Steakhouse. But you could probably do better.
Especially for $15,000.
tagged: food, steak, lobster, Long Horn Steakhouse, Applebee's, restaurant, review
YouTube Tuesday: Presidential debates
The so-called "YouTube debates" sponsored by CNN lately have been even more useless and immature than a conventional debate.
But come on, did anyone expect people dressed as snow men and Uncle Sam cartoons to actually advance the national discussion? If the mass of debaters had any balls they'd all walk out on this kind of "debate" in the future.
In fact, the most useful online debate format I've found so far is the one below. In this clip, candidates make the most important statements to date.
Check it out...
tagged: movie, YouTube, video, election, debate, president, humor
But come on, did anyone expect people dressed as snow men and Uncle Sam cartoons to actually advance the national discussion? If the mass of debaters had any balls they'd all walk out on this kind of "debate" in the future.
In fact, the most useful online debate format I've found so far is the one below. In this clip, candidates make the most important statements to date.
Check it out...
tagged: movie, YouTube, video, election, debate, president, humor
Monday, December 10, 2007
In your Facebook!
NOTE: This morning out of the goodness of my heart, I'm publishing a guest post from Awesome® blogger The D. This is just something I choose to do because I'm a helluva guy and I sometimes like to help the mortals by giving them a forum to discuss whatever is on their mind. This guest post has nothing whatsoever to do with an ill-considered wager a few months ago.
In our first installment of the ongoing battle between Facebook and Mspace.com, for the title of “Best social network”, Facebook won hands down. But in the rematch Myspace.com comes out swinging and it looks bad for the heavily favored Facebook.
For the past month I have been following the news stories and press releases about Facebook. Apparently, Facebook has a software program called Beacon that gathers your purchases from about 44 different web sites. Then it puts that information on your home page so that your friends can see your purchases.
HELLO! Can we all say privacy issues!
This article has a good example of what Beacon does:
One thing that article does not point out is that you don't have to be logged into Facebook for this action to happen. You don't even have to be a member of the network according to this article.
Here are a few articles that should shed even more light on the subject.
So after two rounds of Facebook vs. My Space we are currently all tied up at one apiece. Stay tuned for the third and final round.
tagged: Facebook, MySpace, beacon, marital aid, MoveOn, social networking, privacy
In our first installment of the ongoing battle between Facebook and Mspace.com, for the title of “Best social network”, Facebook won hands down. But in the rematch Myspace.com comes out swinging and it looks bad for the heavily favored Facebook.
For the past month I have been following the news stories and press releases about Facebook. Apparently, Facebook has a software program called Beacon that gathers your purchases from about 44 different web sites. Then it puts that information on your home page so that your friends can see your purchases.
HELLO! Can we all say privacy issues!
This article has a good example of what Beacon does:
"Let's say you buy a book from a particular book shop online, who happens to be an advertiser teamed up with Facebook. Facebook watches your action and puts it up in your news feed section announcing to your friends that you have bought “x” book from “abc” bookshop owner."Or, let’s drop the whole book idea and let’s say you buy a "marital aid". Do you want that information published to all of your friends on Facebook? I think not!
One thing that article does not point out is that you don't have to be logged into Facebook for this action to happen. You don't even have to be a member of the network according to this article.
Here are a few articles that should shed even more light on the subject.
- This one talks about the HORRIBLE PR that Facebook has been using too extinguish the issue.
- This one talks about opting out of the program. The issue with the whole opting out thing is that you're just opting out of having your purchases put up in your news feed section on Facebook, your friends won't see your purchases, but your information is still collected by the program, and then given to the business partners of Facebook.
- MoveOn.org had a HUGE problem with this aspect of the whole controversy.
- If you want to sign the petition to stop Facebook from collecting your data go here
- If you don't want Beacon to even collect your data go here or here and follow those instructions. (I'm not condoning these instructions and I don't know if they will work or not. Furthermore, I can't guarantee that they won’t bust your machine.)
So after two rounds of Facebook vs. My Space we are currently all tied up at one apiece. Stay tuned for the third and final round.
tagged: Facebook, MySpace, beacon, marital aid, MoveOn, social networking, privacy
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