Reflecting on things historical on this Day of Independence, I might have tended to invoke Boston’s Tea Party, (and it’s burgeoning present-day offspring), as being the most famous, (infamous?), but, Mr. Carroll’s, albeit fictitious, Mad Hatter version is still, by far, the epitome of the traditional consumption of brewed beverages,…
Watching a World Cup game or two started me thinking that there are any number of uncomfortable sports metaphors in the world’s most popular game: avid, frenzied fans on the edge of their seats, waiting expectantly, minute after endless minute, hoping for a sudden flash of the ball crossing into…
The phone rings, the Earth shakes, tires screech, a levee breaks A gun fires, the wind blows, hearts break, and so it goes “…and in the end The love you take Is equal to the love you make.”
I’ve always been fascinated by magic and magicians, not the flashy, Vegasy, David Copperfield kind, but the close-up, mind-bending, how-in-the hell-did-he-do-that? kind. I’m sure that part of the intrigue is my penchant for puzzle-solving, although when it comes to magic, not solving the puzzle is, somehow, the greater reward. I’ve…
Getting the attention of the masses has been historically difficult. But, when special opportunities have presented themselves, (Moses down from Sinai, Jesus on the Mount, Hitler in Berlin, Rev. King on the Mall), the potential for mobilizing good or evil has resulted in a very high success rate. Tragedy, especially…
The State of Texas, in its infinitely unique shit-kicker wisdom, has opted to drive its youth back to the Middle Ages, or it would drive them if it believed there actually were Middle Ages and if it had any idea when those Ages occurred. (Does anyone else marvel at a…
We have strategies for war, natural disaster, (sort of), and man-made folly. We have financial strategies and metaphorically, everything is some kind of sports strategy. There are daily corporate strategy meetings and well-honed strategies in games like bridge and chess and, yeah, Stratego®. But, we have no real peace strategy,…
I was having dinner with friends in Paris a couple of nights ago, (do I really need to write any more after that?), and as the topics of conversation bounced seamlessly between ‘World Peace’, ‘Lost Luggage’, ‘Leaking Oil’, ‘Mac v. PC’ and many, many others, the varied levels of impassioned…
It’s not like we, (I’m referring to the collective USA ‘we’), don’t have the tools and opportunity to be much, much more than we are. So, why are we squandering the greatest opportunity in the history of the world? I guess the answer lies in the murky realm of the…
I began my blog almost two year’s ago with a very positive piece about my nephew and since then, even trying on many pairs of rose-colored glasses, my commentary has erupted, (see Eyjafjallajokull reference, April 18, 2010, They Shoot Arizonans…Don’t They?), mostly from the dark side. Lest you think that I…