Blog de RoverDaddy

Java Hut (Yee Haw!) *

2006-04-23T22:17:00.000-04:00

It's time to push the envelope, leverage core competencies, think outside the box...

Last night I talked my friend into a trip to Worcester to a local coffee house called The Java Hut Cafe. The evening's scheduled entertainment was the Jay Tyer Jazz Ensemble, and at least I know I like Jazz. Neither of us had ever been there before, so this was an off-the-cuff, no idea what we're getting into kind of jaunt, but in fact the scene we met was very much what I envisioned.

It turns out that Java Hut is on Webster Square, very close to Clark University, so it's primarily a college scene.

The number of sterotypes/cliches was just amazing. Thirty or forty years ago I'm sure a smoky haze (of uncertain origin) would have filled the room.

Of course here in 2006 it's a WiFi hotspot, so several students were sitting at tables with their laptops blazing away (it looked like one guy near us was intently studing art). Hey, why actually talk to your pal across the table when you can post something witty on their Myspace page?

One member of the laptop crowd fit right in with his black turtleneck, soul patch, and red streak dyed through the shock of black hair atop his head.

The long wall of the cafe (opposite the bar) was festooned with various paintings and other forms of the afore mentioned Art, most abstract but some leaning more toward impressionist. Presumably they were for sale but I didn't get close enough to see prices. My favorite of the bunch was the largest piece (something like 4 ft. by 5 ft.) which was entitled "Man devouring himself over the image of his woman". We agreed that we could see some figures in the painting (with effort), but he actually said there were three. Who knows? Probably not even the artist :)

The venue was socially conscious and quite eco-friendly. Collection jars from a number of worthwhile social service charities sat on the bar. One whiteboard proudly announced the availability of Chemical Free Decaf. The chili my friend got was vegetarian of course (actually their menu included plenty of meaty dishes for the unwashed carnivores among us). My friend blew our cover as 'professors of comparative studies' by trying to order a Coke, forcing our waitress/barista to explain that they don't carry mainstream soft drinks, but he could have a Stewart's. He opted for Snapple.

Speaking of our waitress, she was a delightful, competent blonde, handling even us older folk with good humor. Oh, I forgot to mention the dreadlocks sprouting from a knit tan wrap of sorts on top of her head.

Several signs behind the bar were enthusiastically hand-decorated. My favorite of these was for what must be a signature beverage, something like a "Psycho Jolt" (not really), made with 8 shots of espresso, and measuring "32 horrifying ounces" in total. The sign included an appropriate legal disclaimer.

The rear of the cafe sported two rest rooms, not labeled in anyway, inviting their use by patrons of either gender (seems very sensible to me). In between the two, a decrepit old cigarette machine acted as a display shelf for free local 'scene' papers. Actually, the whole machine was "repurposed" as a poetry vending machine, but I think it was really for show, since one area of the machine read "Not responsible for anybody losing quarters in this machine".

Really, although most of the patrons were college age, there was a wide range of people represented. Behind us near the back, four or five teenagers were planted on an old couch (since there is no alcohol at all everybody is welcome). The couches had us expecting Phoebe or Rachel to drop in at any minute (sadly no). The two of us were probably somewhere at the other end of the bell curve (age wise). Actually, a couple members of the band may have been older than us.

The music itself was really great, although the band seemed to go on break quite early (and we left before they started up again). One oddity that is probably common to Jazz Ensembles, was that the vocalist seemed to have very little to do, contributing here and there to the audio experience, but otherwise enhancing the performance simply by listening intently and swaying to the beat.

If my snide descriptions sound like I had a bad time, you're wrong. It was really great fun. I'm thinking of going again someday, even despite the fact that we had to wonder how many people there thought we were a gay couple. Besides Jazz and other musical genres, Java Hut hosts open mike poetry nights. If they don't have bongos I'll be very disappointed.

* My friends who have heard the Waitiki album Charred Mammal Flesh should recognize the reference to Mr. Ho's Yummy Hut Yee Haw, one of the more spirited tracks on that awesome album. Like Java Hut, Yummy Hut is a real place (in Somerville, MA) Can you say Road Trip?

Embarassment averted

2006-04-20T06:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I was trying to tell my friends about all the celebrities who share my birthday. I remembered Dudley Moore but forgot Tim Curry, really didn't want to think about Hayden Christensen, but also included Charlize Theron. Unfortunately, Charlize's birthday is not April 19! I was confusing her with Ashley Judd, as I am sometimes wont to do, even though they probably have little in common besides being two breathtakingly beautiful actresses. Imagine the embarassing faux pas if I rang up Charlize and tried to impress her with a 'hey we have something in common' line. Whew.

The best holiday of the year

2006-04-19T20:59:00.000-04:00

Even though the holiday has been moved to the third Monday of April since 1969, real patriots know that Patriot's Day is properly celebrated on April 19, no matter what day of the week it may fall upon. I am especially partial to this holiday because it happens to be my birthday. It was wonderful growing up in Massachusetts because I never had school on my birthday, since the week is always Spring vacation.

This year I celebrated in style. I took the day off and went with my friends to Six Flags New England, the largest (well, practically the only) amusement park in Massachusetts. This was my first time there, even though it has been around for many many years, formerly known as Riverside. The most exciting part of the day, was finally, after all these years, taking my first ride on a modern, high-tech computer designed, tubular steel, loop-de-loop - corkscrewing - lose your lunch if you're not careful roller coaster, Batman: The Dark Knight. I can officially say, "That was totally wicked!" Due to excessive lines and a 'cautious' desire to tread lightly into the world of modern coasters, that was the only one I hit on this trip. However, this coaster will definitely be on my 'must ride' list the next time I return.

Amazingly enough, the very same day I went to Six Flags in the morning, I took my kids in the afternoon to one of those small traveling carnivals that makes the rounds from town to town (of course Spring vacation is a hot week for these!) I don't recall the name of this particular amusement company but it's not really important. Suffice it to say, they filled a local baseball field with rickety old rides (hey the kids love them), a few concessions, and the obligatory line of hard-sell games of skill. The real shocker, is that in just one hour, between the rides, games, and just a couple sno-kones, I spent almost as much money there as I spent for a Season Pass to Six Flags. Hey, carnies, I'm sorry but I really hate you. Well, don't take it personally, it's not you, it's your job. Next time, just stay out of my face :)

26.2 miles give or take 23 or so

2006-04-17T23:26:00.000-04:00

Today at 12 noon I was someplace I never expected to be: at the side of the road just a few hundred yards from the starting line of the Boston Marathon, watching and cheering as the 'elite' runners lead a horde of thousands on the grueling trek from Hopkinton to downtown Boston. My department manager invited me along as he transported some of our co-workers who were planning to run the race. One of the three was an official runner with a number and an RFID tag to track his progress: the other two were 'bandits' just jumping into the crowd to make the run for themselves.

We stayed at the side of the road long enough to see practically all the runners. They set off in two groups of almost 12,000 each. Since our 'official' runner had a very high number (nearly 20,000), we had to wait through most of the pack for his turn to sprint by our viewing spot. In the meantime we saw just about every kind of person, group, costume etc. imaginable as thousands and thousands of excited people ran by (plenty of energy at this point just yards past the starting line).

We had a much easier job of getting to the starting line than most spectators. With the help of some local employees who know the lay of the land, we were able to take back roads (back road as in dirt, not pavement) to bypass one of the roadblocks on a main route to the start. Then, reaching a second roadblock, we had another ace in the hole: the name and address of another employee living in a small neighborhood just beyond the roadblock. Under the pretext of 'just visiting' this person, we talked our way past the 2nd roadblock and entered that neighborhood, only to circle through it and drive as close to the starting line as possible. We estimated that our parking spot was only about 1.5 miles from the start. So that gives my total distance for the day at about 3 miles, just a bit shorter than the distance taken by the marathon runners.

Oh yes, our friends (official runners and otherwise) all completed the course in the ballpark of 3 hours, 35 minutes. Hooray for people in better shape than I!

Stay tuned for even more chewy back-dated posting goodness, as I continue to relate the trivialities of my life whenever I finally manage the time to sit down and actually write something. Up next, the real Patriot's Day and why the traveling carnival that comes to town is not your friend.

How I Spent Tax Day

2006-04-15T22:40:00.000-04:00

Ok, so this April 15 isn't really Tax Day because it's a Saturday. In fact, as often happens, Tax Day falls one day later in Massachusetts than the rest of the country this year, because the next regular business day, April 17, is also a state holiday (Patriot's Day). I may have more to say about that later.

This morning I walked with my friend and his kids in a 5K walkathon for the Blackstone Valley Youth Leadership Academy. The group raised money for several local charities researched and selected by the students themselves. Now, considering that 5K is just a bit over three miles, and I've developed a routine of walking about that distance each and every day for the past six weeks, it wasn't much of a stretch for me. Of course I felt obligated to impart such nuggets of wisdom as "Oh you have it so easy! Back in my day we had 20 mile walkathons, in blinding snow, up hill all the way!" Isn't that what uncles are for?

The walkathon started at Blackstone Gorge, and crossed the state line into Woonsocket, Rhode Island. I've never been to downtown Woonsocket before. It's a stereotypical New England mill town where the whole structure of the downtown area is dictated by the twists and turns of the river that powered the old mills. The streets are narrow and windy and numerous bridges join neighborhoods over the ever-present river.

To add a dash of education to the day's events, the walkathon organizers arranged several stops along the way. The most interesting of these was the Stadium Theatre, a National Historic Register site being restored to 'vintage 1926' conditions by a group of dedicated, enthusiastic people. They have accomplished quite a bit already with a lot of money and a lot of hard work, and there's still more to go. It's a really beautiful building, and they're working hard to restore it as much as possible to it's original state, subject to modern regulations for fire safety, handicapped access, etc. Next week, April 20 and 21, the theatre is hosting the 2006 Miss Rhode Island Pageant. Sounds like old mill towns still have some life in them yet.

Make a wish!

2006-04-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Palm Sunday, I attended mass at a church I've never been to before, St. Patrick's Church in Whitinsville, MA. I had a few churches to choose from in the immediate area, but it turned out that this one must have been the right one for me at the time. The service was really moving. On Palm Sunday the Catholic mass always includes a lengthy reading from one of the Gospels recounting Christ's Passion. Sometimes this is a deadly boring affair as you stand there, missal in hand, for what seems like forever, following along with the story and reading out the 'Crowd' parts in that deadpan delivery I think all Catholics master by 5th grade.

This time, however, the priest asked us to sit down, close the books and just watch and listen. As the priest and a couple lectors read the story, a troupe of about 15 people acted out the scenes of the Passion as a series of short pantomime vignettes. The man playing Jesus was dressed in all white. Everybody else was dressed in black. Most of the other roles were played by young women except for things like Judas, Pilate and the Pharisees. The only major prop was an enormous red drape, that was used in different scenes to represent things like Christ being dragged around by the soldiers, the cross, and the tomb. As I related in my last entry regarding Jesus Christ Superstar, the Passion story means a lot to me and this particular experience of it was really wonderful.

Ok, so what's with the title of this entry, "Make a wish"? Well, that's because I was reminded of something in a completely different direction as I sat through mass on Sunday. Some of the friends I made a while ago in a Catholic young adult group would often say, that any time you visit a new church for the first time, you get to make a wish! Not exactly Roman Catholic dogma, but it's a nice thought. Especially right now when I can think of a few things to fervently wish (and pray) for.

Could we start again please?

2006-04-07T23:53:00.000-04:00

Mood: Reflective
What I'm Listening To: Jesus Christ Superstar - Soundtrack

This morning I revived an annual personal tradition relating to the time before and during Holy Week. As my own special way to reflect on the meaning of this time and Christ's profound sacrifice for all of us, I watch or listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Jesus Christ Superstar. This year I don't have the video handy but I'm listening to the soundtrack on my commute.

Despite the elements of fiction and creative license, this account of the Passion of Christ has enormous meaning for me. It started many years ago in high school. My favorite teacher throughout my high school years was Father Richard Wolf, S.J. (Society of Jesus - the Jesuits). Father Wolf, who's nickname was Father Fox for reasons that were never really clear to me, was one of the religious ed. teachers at Bishop Connolly High School during my days there. However, he had a sort of tradition of his own. Every year during Holy Week, he would put away the text books and lecture notes for all of his classes, and sign out a cart from the A.V. department. For four days in a row, the 40 minute period in his classroom was devoted to listening to the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar, off a well-worn LP, through a cheap old phonograph with ratty speakers. This was just a little bit too early for VHS copies of older movies to be readily available, so we had to settle for the vinyl. Fr. Wolf would prep us with a discussion of the characters from the musical and they way they were portrayed (as opposed to the biblical presentation), and we also had handouts: a hand-written libretto of the musical copied over in the distinctive blue print of an old-fashioned mimeograph machine.

Why is this musical so powerful for me? It's the character studies, not just Jesus, but also Judas, Mary Magdeline and Pilate who are fleshed out in a fascinating fashion. Whether or not the interpretations of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber really jive with the Gospel truth, it is a captivating story. And in fact, I don't think they really stray too far from the things I believe when they represent Jesus. The humanity of Christ is exposed by the story, and it is real and personal. I am especially moved by Christ's 'righteous anger' when he destroys the money changers' tables at the Temple, and His despair when realizing the destiny the Father has laid out for Him. I could go on for pages describing what the musical means to me, but it seems my words right now are not really up to the task. I'll just say that listening to the soundtrack each year at this time is as meaningful to me as attending Holy Week services.

Unfortunately, two of the numbers from the movie version are missing from the soundtrack: "Then We Are Decided" and the title of my entry, "Could We Start Again Please?".

Father Wolf died of complications from cancer just a few years after I left high school. So, when I return to the musical year after year, I think of this as a remembrance of him as well.

April Fool a few days late.

2006-04-05T22:31:00.000-04:00

Wow, after a short hiatus of only 130 days, I am starting up my blog again. April 2006 has brought some seismic changes to my current state of affairs. Although I'm not sure when and if I'll be comfortable detailing those changes here, I feel compelled to take another stab at blogging, as a way to focus on the present, and to stay connected with friends near and far.

Today was not a particularly profound, life changing sort of day, but the fact that it snowed this afternoon gave me reason to laugh. Mother Nature in New England has a mischevious sense of humor. Spring should have sprung days ago, but instead we get cold gray clouds and flurries falling in earnest, even though all the snow is destined to melt away almost as fast as it falls. Not so pleasant, but not nearly so bad as the April Fool's storm of 1997, which left my house without power for almost a week.

Petrificus Totalus

2005-11-26T23:52:00.000-05:00

I just finished Half-Blood Prince. No, I'm not telling. I just hope J.K. is writing as fast as she can, because I need to know how this all ends.

We interrupt this blog...

2005-11-22T20:15:00.000-05:00

What a surprise, I stopped blogging. Well, these past few weeks I have been feeling distinctly non-witty. I didn't even rush to announce the latest installment of Tiki Bar TV, which by the way is real hoot, if not quite in the same style as their previous efforts. Lala's opening dance is worth the price of admission all by itself.

I did manage to post one more design on my threadbare online store, but I've got several other ideas gathering dust. Work's been busy, and this week has brought a number of issues to sop up my spare time.

Well, in the middle of all that, I became motivated to chew up even more time by finally reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, just in time for the theatrical release of Goblet of Fire. This last development finally gave me something to write about. Back when the latest chapter in the Harry Potter saga was nearing release, the Big Deal was the revelation from J.K. Rowling that a major character would die in the book. Of course, nearly half the world population immediately began trying to penetrate the secret. Speculation ran rampant. Numerous theories were posted and reposted all over the Internet. Rowling's garbage man was forced to hire an armed escort.

Well, before I start reading the book, I want to make my own prediction (believe it or not I've managed to avoid the spoilers all this time). I think it has to be Dumbledore to die during Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts. So far, Rowling has done an excellent job at character development. For Harry to really become the hero of the series and come into his own as an adult, he has to stand on his own as well. Rowling has frequently employed different characters as a deus-ex-machina to save Harry from sure defeat, but Dumbledore is the granddaddy of them all. For Potter's ultimate victory over He Who Must Not Be Named to be the great conclusion to the series it should be, it has to be all Harry.

Now don't ask me whether Snape will prove to be good or evil in the end. I still haven't sussed that out at all.

Lead feet and short memories

2005-11-12T09:09:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a difference two months makes. While some pundits predicted the price of gasoline would hit $4 or $5 a gallon, before it ever fell to $2.50, some stations have dropped the price as low as $2.15 in my area. It's gotten so low I've had to pull some of the bumper stickers from my poorly stocked online store, since they just didn't make sense anymore.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that along with this drop in gas prices, I've noticed the driving habits of my fellow commuters start to trend back into Ludicrous Speed territory. The number of cars flying by at 80 mph, 85 mph or even higher has increased quite a bit in the past month. So has the number of impatient jerks who change lanes three times in a minute just to get around everyone else (which BTW is enough to get you pulled over in Massachusetts based on regulations put in place to fight road rage).

Also, due to the vagaries of the petroleum industry, the price of diesel has remained comparatively outrageous ($2.60 to $2.90 around here).

I'll play pundit myself, and predict that a year from now, if the price of gas remains below $2.50, we'll be talking about car makers saddled with enormous inventories of small, efficient cars that nobody wants.

Coming up next, the Hummer H-Zero(tm), twice as large as the original Hummer, because the H3 is for wusses.

Call to be De-wired

2005-11-11T06:34:00.000-05:00

I heartily recommend the series of 'anti-technology' articles by Tony Long, being published on Wired News. So far there have been three installments: Dark Underbelly of Technology, You Know What? Just Shut Up and Eat, Sleep, Work, Consume, Die.

I don't go along with everything Tony says. After all, this is the Wired News copy editor who declared in 2000 that "e-mail" must be hyphenated (I notice they've dropped this convention since then), and in 2004 declared that "internet" no longer deserved a capital letter since it's just another medium like radio or television (then why is it still the internet: why don't we talk about things 'on internet' just as they are 'on television'?)

Tony's new series seeks to shine light on the ways technology affects our lives for the worse instead of for the better. Not exactly preaching to the choir on Wired News. In fact, the negative replies to his commentary range from the disagreeable to the histronic. Since I agree with most of what he's saying, I just have to wonder how much of the corporate kool-aid these people have been drinking. Some want to remind everyone that the world was much worse before technology came along (Well duh! Anyone who thinks they would be happier living 100 or 500 years ago is looking at the 'good old days' with rose-colored glasses). But the main point of this series is not that technology is T3H 3V1L, but that our society's fixations with productivity, consumerism, career, instant gratification etc. are.

Check it out, and make sure to read the feedback. It's worth it.

Welcome to the machine

2005-11-08T05:30:00.000-05:00

If you thought breeding humans to be biological power sources, as in The Matrix, was a ludicrious concept, well, you're right, it made no sense at all, even if it made for great drama.

However, imagine you have an idea for a new product or service, but for the business model to work, you need to process terabytes of data in some sophisticated manner that no computer algorithm can manage. For example, categorizing music files by genre, or determining whether a short story is a comedy or romance, or analyzing photos for content (say, does this picture show a teddy bear or Carrot Top?)

The old school way to solve this problem would be to scale back your business, or wait for computers to get faster, or hope that some genius at Carnegie Mellon comes up with the next breakthrough in AI. The Web 2.0 way is to get the Internet hordes to do the job for you.

Wikipedia, del.icio.us and technorati are all examples where 'the power of the computer internet' is really the people that contribute to it. These sites are incredibly useful, but they're too haphazard and democratic for a business to exploit as a computing machine. The community at large decides what is worth talking about and what is not.

The more direct approach is to pay people to process your data, as Amazon.com is doing now. I first learned about this development at Slashdot. Amazon's new beta project, dubbed Amazon's Mechanical Turk, is a system that offers micropayments (a few cents) to people willing to carry out simple tasks (simple for humans that is). It's named after an 18th century hoax, where a Hungarian named Wolfgang von Kempelen demonstrated a clockwork cabinet that could play chess. His 'invention' enraptured audiences across Europe, but the secret was a real live chess master hidden within the cabinet.

I let Amazon's system pick my brain for a short while last week. What I found fascinating is that most of the jobs (they call them HITs for Human Intelligence Tasks) were posted by Amazon to support their A9 mapping service. Amazon has dispatched vans throughout major U.S. cities, photographing everything in sight, correlating the photos with their location via GPS. To take the service to the next level, they want to correlate the photos to specific businesses along the route. That's where the Mechanical Turk comes in. A typical HIT presents the human (user isn't quite the correct term here) with four or five pictures taken in close proximity, and asks the human to identify which picture is, for example, best representative of the Starbuck's at that address.

Sounds like it could be fun and easy, but I quickly grew bored with the game. Many of the HITs ask you to identify a business that would have no visible street presence anyway, such as a consulting firm. The chances that you can successfully answer those are slim. Amazon will have to be lucky to pair the HIT with a person who already knows about that particular business and location.

The subtitle of Amazon's Mechanical Turk is Artificial artificial intelligence. Nice to know your place in the world.

Theo-bromide

2005-11-03T06:10:00.000-05:00

Well, the Red Sox have failed to lock up Theo Epstein and now he's flying away. There are all sorts of angles on this. The 'shoulda-coulda-woulda' angle. The 'what did we do wrong angle'. The 'who's to blame angle'. The 'how will life go on' angle. I'm sure Red Sox Nation will survive, and no, this is not the start of another curse. But let's take this story in another direction. All the background you need is in Bob Ryan's article in this morning's Boston Globe.

Here's my question. Why is it assumed that there must have been some way for management to keep Theo? Why is Bob looking for a deeper answer than 'he couldn't put his heart and soul into it' anymore?

We live in a such a consumer-driven culture that the value of a man is often measured by what he buys or what he earns. Our careers become our purpose. What about the person behind the career. Does he count? Yeah, in this particular case we're all captivated by Theo's incredible accomplishments for the Sox and the potential for more. But he doesn't owe us any more (not even an explanation).

Obviously there are as many answers to the work/life balance as there are people. Just yesterday I was involved in a discussion comparing people who make mega-bucks with the average Joe. What motivates someone making 25 or 50 million a year to keep on going, when us grunts would gladly take a 4 or 5 million dollar nest egg and never set foot in a job again? Certainly, different people have different motivations, and many would say I don't have that 5 million dollar nest egg exactly because I'm not the guy who would maintain a multi-million dollar career.

Maybe, just maybe, Theo is leaving for the simple reason that he doesn't want to do this anymore. I have no idea. What burns me is how quick we are to assume otherwise. What does it say about the rest of us that we can't fathom a person who places anything else above career or money? A celebrity leaves the limelight to take care of her kids. A CEO retires in his 50's to travel the world or take up painting. Why does this shock us?

Don't forget, Nobody lies on their deathbed wishing they spent more time at the office.

Peaceful coexistence.

2005-11-01T22:01:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to publish this bit of a 'disclaimer' for a while now. As I become more attached to my RoverDaddy moniker, I want to make sure nobody feels the need to lay claim to it. If you google 'RoverDaddy' today you get about 346 hits, nearly all of which do refer to me. Google also asks you if you meant 'Rover Daddy' (with the space).

It turns out there's one commercial item called 'Rover Daddy'. An office furniture company named Versteel makes a line of products called 'Rovers', and one of those is a 'Rover Daddy'.

Amazingly, that's just about the only collision I've found anywhere on the Internet. The only other case is a defunct eBay account named RoverDaddy which forced me to use a different name.

So for the record, RoverDaddy.com is not affiliated with Versteel, maker of the Rover Daddy. As far as I'm concerned Versteel makes excellent products, and I'd buy some if I had an office to outfit :) Meanwhile, I'm sticking to RoverDaddy in the 'smashed together' configuration.

I want to go to Maahs.

2005-10-30T20:29:00.000-05:00

Hey, Mars is bright and beautiful in the Eastern sky tonight, despite the light pollution from Walmart and the searchlights from Applebee's. (Why searchlights? We can only guess it's to draw in the crowds heading for tonight's Pats-Bills game.)

Just for fun I went to Heavens-Above and printed out a sky map for our location: Now I'm going to run back outside and see what I can see. At least it's not snowing like it was yesterday.

By the way, Heavens-Above is a really cool free site with lots of astronomy data, particularly about a phenonemon called Iridium Flares. If you visit, use my link above, or make sure you include the hyphen in the URL. It's very important. Heavens Above without the hyphen used to take you to a site devoted to other heavenly bodies than the ones you'll find in the night sky. Right now it seems to return just a list of astrology sites. You can never be too careful though.

Tyranny of the minority

2005-10-28T22:58:00.000-04:00

Yes, it does happen (of course it does). Political correctness strikes again. This article from the Boston Globe reports that the Underwood Elementary School in Newton has canceled their Halloween celebration. Why? Because a 'handful of parents' indicated they would keep their children from school that day, because the celebrations offended their religious beliefs.

Here are some choice quotes from principal David Castelline:

Not everyone is going to agree with the decision, and I really understand that, but I felt the goal was really important to make it a respectful and open and welcoming place for all members of our community.

When I hear that kids won't come to school because of what we're doing on Halloween, I have a problem with that.

So, being respectful now means caving in to any small concern, even from just a few individuals? Would the school disavow Thanksgiving at the objection of some Native American families? Or refuse to acknowledge Veteran's Day because some student is the grandchild of a Japanese war veteran?

What world does Castelline live in, where it is possible to please everybody and avoid stepping on anyone's beliefs? What's wrong with a few kids staying out of school one day? Would they have been harmed as much as the rest of the community was by this decision? The most charitable thing I can say about this is that Halloween is certainly not an essential part of a child's education, so it's not like a vital part of their school experience has been lost. However, the community has lost one more opportunity to share traditions that are simply part of America. If it's not your tradition, fine. Make it a teaching moment: explain to you child why you disapprove (and don't send them in dressed up as Harry Potter).

Castelline's comment that 'not everyone is going to agree' may be the understatement of the year. An unscientific poll by one local TV station placed the disapproval level at about 89 percent.

Interestingly, this situation appears to be the opposite of the one conjectured by Bruce Tinsley. Although I have no inside information, my guess is that the parents objected not because Halloween is Christian, but because it is not. I don't find the response of the principal as a liberal vs. conservative issue either. To me, it's just one more example of the breakdown of Common Sense in America.

Here's my bottom line: the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee 'the right to not be offended'.

Say it IS so

2005-10-27T06:01:00.000-04:00

Who said the Sox couldn't sweep the Series two years in a row ;) Ok, so the color wasn't right this year. Congratulations to the 2005 MLB World Champions, the Chicago White Sox. Sweeping the Astros in an exciting 1-0 finale (anybody feel sad for Roger?), 88 years of waiting are over. The ghosts of the Black Sox can rest in peace.

As a Boston fan, it's always easy to root for the AL in the Series, even if Boston isn't there. Well, almost always. Obviously, we switch allegiances to the NL whenever the Yankees are going for the title. In this case it was a no brainer. The White Sox clearly deserved the victory with their incredible end-of-season and post-season run. All I can say is "Don't do it again."

About the only time I'd root for the NL against a non-Yankee AL team, is if the Chicago Cubs make the Series when Boston doesn't. It's about time for the Cubbies to get theirs. Can we exorcise another curse in 2006? Nah. My wife noted an interesting fact. Before last year, the last Red Sox championship was in 1918. The last White Sox championship was 1917. If we follow the pattern, the 1916 winner will take the Series next year. Which team is so destined to take it all in 2006? The Boston Red Sox!

2000 names, 2000 faces

2005-10-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

The news is out today that the U.S. has lost 2000 men and women in Iraq. Such an awful milestone. I was listening to NPR's On Point on my commute home. Tom Ashbrook was interviewing a parent who lost a daughter in Iraq and has two others in the service. The man refused to let Ashbrook bait him into saying whether or not the war is justified. He emphasized the simple fact: we are there. If we simply abandon Iraq now the destruction will be horrific. Even if you believe we should get out, the process must be considered and deliberate.

In contrast to this parent, capable of such thoughtful words even in his grief, are people who say we must stay in Iraq to honor the sacrifice of those who have died. To me, that very statement is an insult to the men and women who made those sacrifices. It is exactly the worst reason to continue the fight. Such logic offers no chance to ever reconsider or retreat. When we've lost 3000, wouldn't the need to stay the course be even stronger? What about 5000, 10000, or 100000?

I find this way of thinking reminiscent of the blind rage that causes ethnic conflicts to last for generations without cease. They've killed ours, so we must fight back. Of course, they are thinking exactly the same thing. I am not saying this is what we are doing in Iraq. I am saying that the trap we may fall into is just as disastrous.

In memoriam

2005-10-25T21:50:00.000-04:00

If my father were still alive he'd celebrating his 91st birthday today. By the start of the Great Depression he was already well into his teenage years. This year I'm reminded of just how different his experience growing up, in a very large, and not particularly wealthy family, must have been from mine. We weren't rich either, but at least I got the advantages of late 20th century living conditions, and I wasn't expected to abandon schooling for work, to bring in some more money for the family, as I suspect he was. What would he have done if he had my opportunities?

Shut the duck up!

2005-10-24T21:36:00.000-04:00

First, a disclaimer: I'm a liberal democrat (gee, one of those in Massachusetts, what a surprise!) That doesn't mean I blindly accept every position of the Democratic party, and it doesn't mean I reflexively oppose every Republican or conservative policy. The polarized state of U.S. politics is incredibly frustrating and counter-productive (although, anything that prevents Congress from inflicting more damage on the rest of us may be a good thing).

Nevertheless, even if I were a conservative, I think I'd still be ticked off by the pointless waste of comics-page space known as Mallard Fillmore, by Bruce Tinsley. It's apparently supposed to be a political comic strip, but I find it neither political nor funny. For quite a long time now, all it seems to be is a series of ad-hominem attacks on liberals. According to Bruce/Mallard, liberals are stupid, hypocritical, indecisive, coddling, unthinking, and so on and so on.

Well, isn't that special? Why doesn't he use this platform to tell us what's right about the conservative agenda, or to explain what he finds objectionable about the liberal agenda? Just how useful is basically repeating "hey you're an idiot" week after week?

That said, Tinsley inadvertently gave me quite a chuckle with today's strip, commenting on political correctness and Halloween. As of this writing you can find it here. In case it's gone, here's the inspired text:

It's that time of year again... when public schools across the USA have Halloween dress-up days, but ban politically incorrect costumes...
Of course, if most school administrators knew that Halloween began as a Christian holy day, they wouldn't be celebrating it in the first place.

I'm quite surprised that Tinsley doesn't know that Halloween's origins actually come from an ancient Celtic festival. It was known as Samhain, it existed before the time of Christ, and it was later co-opted by Roman conquerors to include their own harvest rituals. There are plenty of online resources to learn more about this, including this article at AmericanCatholic.org. The idea that Halloween 'originated' as a Christian holy day is incredibly outdated. In any case, the whole argument of the strip is foolish, considering that public school systems across the country manage to acknowledge Christmas without imploding in a swirl of politically correct angst.

The tiki made me do it.

2005-10-23T21:28:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my block. I mean blog. After messing that up three times in a row I figured there was a reason, so I left it that way.

I'm damn new to the blogosphere, and officially way too old to be cool. Fortunately my kids are too young for me to embarrass them yet. I'd like to say I'm wading into this because of my love of all things tech and the excitement of life in the 21st century, but that would be a load of carp. My inspiration was the vlog phenonenon of the moment known as Tiki Bar TV and the video goddess fondly known as Lala. Hey, let somebody else have noble intentions.

Hopefully, I won't spend much time pontificating. Now that approximately 6,154,674,010 human beings are spewing forth on the 'Net thanks to blogging, the typical opinion out there is worth far less than 2 cents.

I have a web site (please visit): http://www.roverdaddy.com. It's supposed to be a news parody web site ala The Borowitz Report, and a minor source of income if I can con anybody into buying a bumper sticker, T-shirt, etc. Unfortunately, I manage to come up with a clever idea about as often as George Bush admits a mistake, so the site is a lot more barren than I'd like. This blog will give me a chance to inflict my ideas on the world even when I can't come up with the next brainstorm for the site.

Well, enough with the intro. If I knew where this is going to take me, I'd probably stop now. So on with it then...