Kutztown, Coldplay, and Politics

I will be spending the entire work in Kutztown, PA working at an FCA Camp. I’m probably going to be coaching golf which, if you didn’t know, is possibly my worst sport. But also the one that I want to get better at the most. So this could be a really good situation.

Also, if you have not listened to the new Coldplay album ambigously entitled Viva La Vida then do so. It’s extremely interesting and you’re no doubt going to hear a lot about it in the near future.

I’m amazed at just how naive people are when it comes to certain things. Music, religion, and sports all come to mind. But possibly the two most relevant are gas prices and presidents. Just two quick questions to the general populace:

• If the problem with gas prices was really just the Saudi’s (like many think), do you really think we would still have the problem?

It is just not that simple. Oil is a speculation based market. In a nutshell, that means that there are people who set prices for oil based on how valuable it is or how hard it is to get. Some of these people are Saudi. Some are Iraqi. Many are American. Just for fun, look up the Enron clause put into a recent energy bill. It essentially gives energy companies carte blanche in the area of energy (read: oil) speculation. They can set prices however they want with no government oversight.

Also, in case people didn’t notice, much of the world’s oil comes from places outside the middle east in areas such as Nigeria, Russia, South America, and the Gulf of Mexico.

• Is it really a good idea to elect a President who said himself that he has no foreign policy experience in the context of the public relations and foreign policy meltdown that has occupied the Oval Office for the past eight years?

Given that nothing major gets done domestically because it gets caught up in red tape in the Capitol building, foreign policy and the economy are the two areas where our candidates have a real, honest chance to do some good. One has publicly stated he has no experience with foreign policy and no knowledge on the economy.

I’m never going to tell someone how to vote because that is a personal decision. But I will be voting for someone with fresh, thoughtful ideas, the willingness and ability to lead, the intellectual capacity to reason, the council to succeed, and the drive to do so.

But first I need to find a candidate who fits that description.

Wyclef, Winning, and the NBA

Wyclef Jean just released the Fugee remix of his song Fast Car and it’s got Lupe Fiasco, too! I like it a lot. Definitely deserves a listen.

I saw the craziest thing today when I was driving to work: some guy driving a pickup truck had headphones on. Headphones! While he was driving! Just boggles the mind that we have people that stupid living and doing federally-approved activities in this country.

In other news, the Sox won tonight. They beat the Astros 6-1. Drew had a real nice shot at a crucial point. Dice looked good even he only went five. Then Hansen, Delcarmen, Oki, and Papelbon came in and shut the door. I realized tonight it just really isn’t fair when you can essentially end a baseball game in the fifth inning if you have a lead.

Tonight was also the second time in a row that Papelbon saved a game with a five run lead. The rule regarding saves is that there must be at most a three run lead or the tying run must be on deck. Last game, the bases were loaded and, therefore, the guy in the on-deck circle was the difference maker. But Papelbon did his job. Tonight he entered with a three run lead and two outs in the eighth. We scored two in the top of the ninth to make it a five run margin but Papelbon entered while it was still a save.

In other news, the NBA Draft proved again that drafts are interesting but obsessively over-covered. Hearing Andy Katz (or one of the other planks up there) declare that, “Derrick Rose is going. To. Chicago.” made me wonderwhat talking to him about taxes must be like. I mean, he’s supposed to love basketball.

Brooke Lopez was also in free-fall mode. Russel Westbrook made out like a bandit. And Portland is looking like a dynasty in the making.

And I’ll predict it now: Beasley will win Rookie of the Year solely because of his offensive stats and Miami’s turnaround next year while playing near-league-worst defense in the weaker conference. And he’ll get arrested at least three times before his first contract is up.

Either that or he’ll get traded to Seattle (because evidently Durant <3’s him) or Portland (just because nothing can go wrong there).

Story Time

It’s time to start telling stories about people–let the dirt out, if you will. The only rule is that there are no rules. And everyone will have a codename.

———-

As I was walking down the stairs, I was singing Jack Johnson’s “If I Had Eyes” to myself. My feet were making a little bit of noise and no danger was evident. We were packing up stuff to head to camp and as I turned the corner, Superhero was waiting. Crouched in the storage room he struck.

His weapon: a dodgeball. His method: brutality.

As his projectile attack hit my nether regions I let out the illegitimate child of a shriek and a yelp. Then, quickly regaining my composure I took the ball and threw it back at him. Softly enough, however, that I could still justify revenge.

The day ended and I had no oppurtunities. Then, at the beginning of the next day my oppurtunity came. Jazzercise 1000 and I had to stretch. And by stretch I mean dance.

And by dance I mean put our groove thing down.

And Superhero was there. I quickly reasoned that public humiliation for no apparent reason was the safest and surest way to have my way. So, as I chicken-flapped and bicycle kicked, I invited Superhero out to join us. Then I unleashed something terrible upon him: rapid-fire dance moves to the tune of Michael Sembello’s “Maniac.”

It was glorious. Freestyle Disco. The Thriller move. Tricep-a-Go-Go. The Walking, Sliding Man. The aforementioned chicken-flap-bicycle-kick combo. He was left in the dust. My cohort, the amazing Jazzercise 1000, just figured it was all in good fun. But I knew. I knew I had won. I knew when I saw the look in his eyes as dance move after dance move came that his defeat was ushering in my victory. And then it happened…

If you have never experienced a moment like this then I must say you are lucky. In one simoultaneous maneuver, Superhero shut off the music, looked and me, and said, “Well done. Good work. Those were some sweet moves.” He enjoyed it?!?

So now I head back to the drawing board. Superhero’s day is coming… and when it does, Michael Sembello will certainly be a part of it. Count on it.

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

I had the pleasure of seeing this movie last night and was surprised by it in a lot of ways. I expected more of a docu-drama-ish account of what precisely Charlie Wilson did. Instead, I found myself in the midst of an approximately 100 minute ride through the wild west that is the political world inside the Washington, D.C. beltway. Make no mistake, this movie pulls no punches. It curses, shoots up, womanizes, and barely gives you a chance to breathe. But what it does it does well.

There are many moments in the film whereby either the characters endearing quirkiness or their deftly written dialogue translate into laughter ranging from a giggle to a belly-laugh. One of my favorite moments is how we are introduced to Gust (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and what transpires as he leaves the office. Hoffman turns in, as always, a fantastic performance that works extremely well with Hanks’ portrayal of Charlie. Julia Roberts gives a convincing, if still secondary, performance playing the part of Joanne. She is obviously an eccentric woman but is made to seem human enough that she is believable.

Overall, the film accomplishes what it set out to do: tell a story of a rogue politician who came around and did something nice for the Afghan people in the midst of Soviet oppression. I can’t remember a mobie since Smokin’ Aces where I needed to catch my breath as much as a did after this one. It is a tightly edited film which sticks to its guns and certainly entertains along the way.

There’s a story about a Zen master that weaves its way nicely into this movie, subtly suggesting that the movie has more brains than it gives itself credit for. If Charlie Wilson’s War is meant to be a parable or a warning about our current military involvement, then it certainly doesn’t conceal this truth. It is entirely possible that this movie has no political motives (as unlikely as that probably is). In any case, sometimes it’s refreshing to watch a movie about politics that isn’t necessarily about our current politics.

Homeboy Doesn’t Know

I decided to give Firefox RC3 a try yesterday since, at worst, it would be replaced by the final version today. Put simply, this upgrade is phenominal. Starting at it’s most obvious, the appearence of the browser has been revised and upgrades so it is not only more platform-integrated but also more elegant. There are seperate looks for Windows Vista, XP, and Apple/Mac/Leopard/Panther/Tiger/whatever and they really look fantastic.

The performance on the browser is unbelieveable. It is noticably faster than Firefox 2 even from casual use. Additionally, it’s free… in case you didn’t know. If you are viewing this blog on anything other than Firefox you owe it to yourself to go get it. It’s faster than IE, does more than Safari, and is better than Opera. Go get it. Now.

Tonight the Celtics ball up against Kobe and Co. in the Garden. It’s Game 6 and it’s back in Boston. The complete Vegas odds aren’t up yet but the Lakers look to be favored by ten. Wow.

Either way, it should be a good game tonight. I think Pierce and KG will both step up and shut this out. Although I wouldn’t rule out one of the subs having a big night too. Jackie Mac wrote a nice piece about Doc Rivers relationship with his father. It’s certainly worth a read. In it, she mentions that it would have been nice to win the championship on Sunday (since it was Father’s Day). However, it could mean even more if they win tonight as today is when Grady Rivers would have turned 77.

Best of luck to both teams tonight and especially to Doc Rivers. He is a fantastic individual and a class act. In an age of me-first basketball, he bring a little bit of old-fashioned discipline to his players. Well done.