Saturday, November 30, 2013

There are Bad people in the world

My Dear Friend and Partner,

Greetings to you my Dear Beloved, my name is Gina Hope Rinehart, a great
citizen of Australia,born in Perth, Western Australia,I am sending you
this email and I believe you must have been getting something similar but
still seems this is the only best way of communication apart from
telephone conversation, but we cannot because there are Bad people in the
world and will not recognize the good ones, so I advice you to settle
down and read this mail comprehensively and you will know I am for real,i
have a mission for you worth ($200,000,000.00) Two Hundred Million
Dollars which I intend to use for CHARITY.Please reply if interested by
clicking the reply button.

God Bless You.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Post holiday trip to the vault

An old one I wrote in City Center. From December of 1999.

A Shopper's Paradise

Thin girls in City Center
skinny, bony limbs
shoved into flared jeans
that were hideous two decades ago

Mothers carrying chic bags
with trendy business names
on the sides
Clothing, gadgets
Toys for boys, girls

Presents for husband, wife
spouse, mistress, nieces, nephews
An undetermined nature
of a personal relation

Happiness through credit
Pulling plastic like blind ones
We overdraw, overdraft
Bouncing many debtors

We can no longer shop in a quiet
gospel of commerce
aided by loud aggressive sentiment
Attention shoppers
Cinnabon!

Lights and loudness
Crowds and cynical cheer
in the lines are those fighting
for the one, remaining
furby

Merriment in the mall
Piped in goodness
Calling, begging
Please purchase a plenty
or you'll no longer be
loved

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The day before we do not travel far

My son is not happy when his mother is not there to pick him up off the bus. That means he's staying with me, and stepmom, and he does not like it one bit.

Maybe it's the food, the lack of entertainment options, but he does some good protesting for up to an hour until it's time for dinner and then he's fine.

Until it's time to sleep. Monday he decided to not go to bed until about 12:30AM. He then woke up incredibly listless at 7AM to get ready for school. It was trying. For everyone.

Today there was no school so I was prepared to stay up with him until he conked out, which he did at 10:30PM. I expected him to wake up at some point during the night, but he did not. Ended up waking him up at 7:30. He ate all his breakfast while I showered and has been quite chill today.

He's been watching videos with me, singing along to KT Tunstall. He's also taken notice of my wife's shoes and has been walking around the house with them. He's left them in the back room a couple of times already.

So it's been a good day, and I got a few chores in for the buildup to tomorrow's holiday.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

If you can read this, you are being tagged

Working on various projects, including the Arts Festival, is taking up some creative time. Wish I was not so distracted and unfocused. A piece of paper flew off the table earlier, written on it are the names of two schools to research. My son will most likely be attending one of them next year. He'll be in sixth grade and in middle school.

Time flies.

I do not read comic books. The published works of DC Comics and Marvel and their filmed editions have no real meaning in my life other than small entertainment.

I have never watched an episode of the Wire and still, somehow, have managed to hold down a full time job.

I avoid doing anything in binge format, although I've watched a few episodes of The Kids in the Hall in a row since finding it on Netflix.

There is not enough Life to watch or click on everything that I'm told is important, or life changing or worth my time.

My own things are going. I do not telegraph everything I do months in advance. I got stuff going on even while I'm looking through who died this month on Wikipedia. You do not want me to post about how my physical health has been the past 48 hours. My TMI has filters that respect the audience. Even if I knew no one would read it, I would not post any details.

I'm in the last few months of 1962 in this fantastic book on The Beatles. I was mistaken in thinking the Bob Spitz book would be the end of a close to definitive biography of the band, but Mark Lewishon's research and scholarship is amazing. I hope to write more about this volume when I finish it.

I like Peter Capaldi as an actor and welcome his interpretation of Doctor Who. Is that a high crime?

I'm disappointed in the new Arcade Fire record, is this reason for me to get spammed?

As I write this, The American Music Awards are on. I have no idea who these people are that my friends are tweeting about. Nor am I particularly concerned enough to change the channel to find out. Life goes forward. No need to hack.

I do not take my pop culture personally when it goes against me, but find something else to take up my time. Maybe even do something that is important and life changing, but I usually watch a soccer documentary about a great player from Hungary on youtube through my television instead. A friend tweeted a link about the Hungarian soccer team in the fifties and I was intrigued, so I found the documentary on youtube. It did not change my life, but it was worth my time.

I hold grudges. Tom Glavine for giving up seven runs in 1 1/3 innings in a game the Mets needed to win. Kevin Dyson for catching that ball. I will go to my death knowing it was a forward lateral. At least one ex-wife hates me enough to block me on Facebook. I did not like Lou Reed after seeing him live.

You do not want to see me with facial hair. I tried it years ago. It looked like crap. I am not making myself look like crap for a month of manufactured awareness of a horrible disease.

And do not be that guy by correcting me about the Glavine stat if I'm wrong. I have not looked it up. I'm just a guy on my couch, watching New England get their ass beat on Sunday night football. It's in the second quarter, the game can change. The game can always change. I'm a Bills fan, I know this. I'm a Mets fan, I know this. I support Everton, I am used to mediocrity. I would never tell anyone that the Bills/Blue Jackets/Everton/Mets/Celtic are important, life changing or worth your time.

It's become much, much easier to scroll past than comment.

Buster Keaton though, you should consider.

Anyway, Arcade Fire's next record might be good, so can Mumford and Sons'.

What happened to the hope in all the vitriol?

I am imperfect though, taking in some schadenfreude while the Patriots are losing badly, at home.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Returning to old form

Next week the woman who hired me is retiring after 48 years with the library. Yesterday was the official University celebration of her service. Along with a few others, I was asked if I wanted to say something during the event. I happily accepted the invitation.

The 11th floor of the library was reserved for the event, which is a rather impressive space. A lot of people showed up, which showed the level of respect her colleagues have for her. I was scheduled next to last to speak. One gentleman spoke that after he was hired 24 years ago he found out he only got the job because someone turned it down. The same happened to me!

I babbled for a few moments then pulled out the poem I wrote for the occasion. She loved it. The crowd loved it. Sometimes when you read, and it's going well, you can feel as well as hear the room's reaction - this was one of those moments.

It was an honor to be a part of her celebration. Her experience and knowledge is unparalleled. Her patience and kindness will be greatly missed.

At Writers' Block last night I read a poem I have not read for awhile. A poem with some good energy and, as another newer poet to the night who had not heard the poem before put it, had some "rage."

"I love it when you have rage," He said. "It's righteous."

Been wondering what happened to the poet who wrote that poem four years ago, where he's been, and what I have to do to bring him back.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Such flow, amazing flow



He's not for everyone, but this year Joseph Arthur has been quite prolific. He's released The Ballad of Boogie Christ Parts 1&2, and both are worthy, although I prefer part one.

Talented man.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Rapid growth

Bought my son a pair of boots in early September, they were side three. Yesterday I could barely put them on him. He's moved up to a size four. Already.

His doctors were impressed with his weight gain during his last visit. Two months ago, we was still under fifty pounds, now he's up to fifty seven. So there is good progress. I asked to see the weight chart they loved showing me when he was off the bottom of it, he's on it now, very low percentile but there.

Enough of that though. Enjoy this video of otters.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Time to apply yourself

Poets, the application for the 2014 Columbus Arts Festival is now live!



You can apply here through January 24th.

Looking forward to another exciting and engaging weekend of work from everything. I'm excited!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Taking matters into one's own hands

One thing that I have really noticed from my visits to Glasgow is that the people there root out pretense, and will rip the crap out of it when given the opportunity.

That is one reason that I am always given a reason to smile whenever I've gone by the Wellington Statue in front of the Museum of Modern Art.



The statue has been in the city since 1844, but the traffic cone placement is said to have started in the early 1980's, if not sooner. It's become a rather iconic image of the city and it gives the world a glimpse of the city's humor. It's not a negative image, and far from a depressing one.

Yesterday, the city council tried to obtain funds to make a larger plinth for the statue, that would have made it more difficult to place the cone on the head. The city claims that it costs 100 pounds to take the cones off the head, and that it happens about 100 times a year.

My question why is even do that?

By making it more difficult to put the cone on, you're really encouraging those who put it there. Not the smartest move by the council.

Social media went all a-twitter, the Wellington Cone set up his own account, there were petitions started and #savethecone hashtags spouted up. It reminded me of the Hurricane Bawbag event a couple of years back. Another D.I.Y. and viral protest was happening.



By the end of the day Tuesday, the people had spoken, and they city council plans to withdraw their request to have the plinth raised.

Monday, November 11, 2013

The Boys of Winter

I was a bit young to remember the New York Jets Super Bowl win in early 1969. Joe Namath was always some player who was hurt all the time.

When I was eight, I saw this play live on television.



It was one of those moments you get hooked on a game, reeled into something by a miracle play. It was hard back then to follow a team from afar back in the era when there was only football on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights. There was no ESPN, no football networks. You watched what you could and read anything you could find from the newspapers.

The 1970's Pittsburgh Steelers were a team and franchise that I have great respect for. I do not know if there has been any team in my lifetime that equally embraced its fans while in their embrace. Maybe the Brooklyn Dodgers, perhaps the great teams of the Montreal Canadiens has such a profound effect on the city in which they played. The Green Bay Packers are a entity onto their own.

In his book, Their Life's Work, Gary Pomerantz documents the rise of the Steeler Dynasty though the lives of the players, and reports the impact it had on their lives today.

There's a lot of craziness to the game, and Pomerantz gives us a lengthy glimpse at the men who played hurt and risked their lives for the game they loved - and a couple of the endings are painful to read, even when you know the outcome and history. The book was published just before the death of L.C. Greenwood, leaving Joe Greene the last survivor of the famed Steel Curtain defensive line.

It's also about a family, The Rooneys, who have owned the team from its inception in the 1930's and went though some incredibly bad years on the field until it changed some of its scouting procedures and drafted some incredible players.

In 1974 the team drafted Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster. All four of these players are in the Hall of Fame. In 1964, the Cowboys had a draft in which three players made the hall. No other teams have come close.

Pomerantz has interviews with the great players, such as Pittsburgh icon Franco Harris the backups, like Steve Furness and the character of Frenchy Fuqua - who still will not exactly say what really happened during the Immaculate Reception. He wanted to tell Dan Rooney after it happened, but he told Fuqua to keep it to himself.



There were a couple of things I wanted Pomerantz to get into more: Gerela's Gorillas and more about Broadcaster Myron Cope and The Terrible Towel. Overall, this is a book that will does for football non-fiction what Roger Kahn's masterpiece The Boys of Summer did for the Brooklyn Dodgers. It's a must read for anyone with a casual interest in the history of the game during a time when the players were not isolated from their fan base. I think the ball hit Tatum first.

Friday, November 8, 2013

All too familiar territory

The Columbus Blue Jackets are in the midst of a five game losing streak, have lost their third straight game to a backup goaltender, have not held a lead in 14 periods and sit three points from the bottom of the league.

This is not 2004, or 2008, or 2012, but now and once again.

Once more the guys that should be playing defense are not, the guys that should be scoring are not and the fans are not coming to see this nonsense. We've seen it before.

I doubt the injuries of Matt Calvert and Boone Jenner are why this team is sucking so badly so early in the season. I doubt Nathan Horton's presence would add a win or two to this season. I do not know what's going on in the locker room, but that Coach Richards has not named a full time captain speaks volumes about the lack of accountability among the team.

Remember when there was a voice in the locker room that held his teammates accountable?



Yes. Vinnie Prospal, but he's gone now and not coming back. GM Jarmo Kekalainen put the match to that bridge. So what does the brick by brick braintrust of Davidson and Kekalainen do now that their project is off the rails in early November? How do you shake up a team that needs a dose of finding itself?

Hoping they have Peter Laviolette's phone number real close.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

A Listicle: Five foods my son will eat

1) Hormel Compleats Macaroni and Cheese



For years it seemed my son was the only kid on the planet who did not like macaroni and cheese. "Every kid loves macaroni and cheese." We heard this from doctors, therapists and specialists. They did not know my kid. Finally, we started him with ten percent in his food and built it up. He tolerated it or did not notice until we went fifty percent with it and found out that he went to eat it first. It's become a go to food that we use as a base for new foods to introduce to him.

2) Sweet Peas



It really has not been much of a chore to get my son to eat his peas. They seem to be his favorite vegetable. He loves them so much we've been using a fork (in my case, a muddler) to gently crush the peas instead of blending them down. He chows down on them like they were guacamole and there has been little to no resistance of him eating them. Again, like the macaroni and cheese, we're using peas as a base to introduce new foods.

3) Apricots



Finding my son a fruit to enjoy has been difficult. Bananas are right out. He has revolted quite strongly against them. He's ok with pears, but he does not seem to really want them around, same thing with applesauce - he will eat them, but you have to really prompt him to get him to do so. For some reason he seems to like apricots the most. It's tough to blend them. Too much and they turn into soup, too little and you get pieces of them in his dish with he does not like. So apricots it is. This weekend we introduced peaches, in with the apricots and he was cool with it.

4) Yoplait Thick and Creamy Vanilla Yogurt



My son is not concerned with brand names, but he noticed the labels on his yogurt. You can't sneak banana/strawberry past him, he will notice and reject it outright. Once in a while we can sneak a peach past him, but this is rare. He knows the Yoplait label, and can either recognize the vanilla image or perhaps the word vanilla itself. We can get him to eat other brands of vanilla yogurt and have had success with the Trader Joe brand. But they're far away, and Yoplait is easier to find, unless you go to the Brewery District Kroger, who can't keep a lot of items in stock.

5) Pudding



My son digs pudding, and has for some time. We tried sneaking new food in with his pudding, but that was a (banana) disaster. He'll eat a lot of different brands, and has his preferred flavors. He does not like tapioca, probably because of the texture and will not eat lemon, which is ok. But butterscotch, vanilla, chocolate fudge and more - he's all over them. I do not buy Jello anymore after them went from six packs to four packs and jacked up the price so Swiss Miss it is, and he always goes for the chocolate/vanilla swirl.

There's been good progress since he started at the feeding clinic in July. He's put on some weight as well and now weighs more than he ever has. There's still a long way to go, especially in regards to chewing food but to no longer buy baby food when your kid is eleven years old is, I have to say, a relief. Now, about those diapers.

Friday, November 1, 2013

But I do not remember you. Pastor Graham though, I can trust him

Dear Friend ,

How are you today?

Hope all is well with you and your family. You may not understand why this mail came to you.But if you do not remember me, you might have receive an email from me in the past regarding a business proposal which we never concluded.

I am using this opportunity to inform you that this multi-million-dollar business has been concluded with the assistance of another partner from India who financed the transaction to a logical conclusion.

I thank you for your great effort to our unfinished transfer of fund into your account due to one reason or the other best known to you. But I want to inform you that I have successfully transferred the fund out of my bank to my new partner's account in Paraguay that was capable of assisting me in this great venture. Due to your effort, sincerity, courage and trust worthiness you shown during the course of the transaction. I want to compensate you and show my gratitude to you with the sum of US$900.000.00. I have left a certified international ATM CARD worth of USD$900,000.00 cashable anywhere in the world.

My dear friend I will like you to contact my secretary his name is Pastor Graham Tyers his direct email address (pastorgraham0@yahoo.com) for collection of your ATM CARD. I authorized him to release the ATM CARD to you whenever you ask him for it. At the moment,I'm very busy here because of the investment projects with my family, which I and the new partner are having at hand. Please I will like you to accept this token with good faith as this is from the bottom of my heart.

You are required to furnish him with the below information to enable him deliver the ATM CARD to you without any delay.

Feel free to contact
Pastor Graham Tyers.
Email pastorgraham0@yahoo.com

Hoping to hear from you.

Thanks and God bless you and your family.

Dr.Jim Edward