Bad News

At 10:45 this morning my mother called me. My dad's younger brother, Tinker, died in his sleep at the age of 57.

Waxing Eloquent ... or not

Well I was really counting on my camera phone for a couple interesting pics of this trip but it seems that I am in a "dark spot" - very weak signal for phone calls and there is added roaming charges and no support for picture or text messaging. So much for emailing myself pics from my phone & then posting them on the blog. So the post about the trip (with the pics) will have to wait until I return to "civilization" ;-)

WARNING:The rest of this post might bring you down, so if you're already bummed out, you can bail now and nobody's feelings will be hurt. (Black ball on the flag - enter at your own risk)

Reading Sophie's World has not been going nearly as quickly as I thought it would. Its not because the book is obtuse or anything (or whatever fancy word you want to use for "hard to read") because it isn't hard to read. This book is very easy to read. Its very engaging. That is precisely the problem. Its so fascinating that, even though I was quite a few chapters in to the book, I started over and started taking notes. This shouldn't have surprised me - after all, the main character is engaged in a "study" of sorts. The thing that surprised me is how well the simple questions offered to the main character got me to thinking about "life, the universe and everything" (hey, that would make a good book title ... i know, i know - i'm kidding :-)

This afternoon I was talking with two friends. About an hour before the conversation, one of them had Tragedy slap her right in the face. Since both of these friends are a few years older than me, I took advantage of the opportunity to keep my mouth shut and just listen. (don't anybody faint - i can shutup on occasion :-)

Because of the particular shock that my friend received today, the conversation quickly turned to death, dying and how we deal with it. In the course of conversation she said "...its not that I'm afraid of dying - I'm Not! It's just that I'm not ready to die yet - there are still things that I want to do."

Naturally this got me thinking. (remember, i was keeping my mouth shut) Does anybody ever say "Okay, I got the last thing on the list done. Now I'm ready to die."? I know we use the hackneyed phrase "now I can die a happy man" after we get some nice thing or accomplish a goal but I seriously don't think anybody actually means it.

My own opinion is that each person's final curtain rings down in one of two ways. Either you live your life full of expectations (ironically, these would be the folks who are said to be "living each day as if it were their last") or you just mark time. From what I know of people, I think that everybody, with One noteable exception, has gone through periods of "marking time" in their life. I know that I have. This whole line of thinking gets into Fate, etc because someone will say "Suicides decided they were done, so they left" (in my nonprofessional opinion I believe that is Grossly Incorrect, but I have heard that argument made). I can't speak much to this subject, but I know of no suicide that left earth in their right mind (I don't believe that hemlock affects that statement but I won't argue that now). All of this is because of my belief that, no matter how grim the situation appears, while there is life there is still hope and suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. But I digress...

Dying is a natural consequence of conception. We live in what I like to call a "hundred year universe". A hundred years from now you and most likely everybody that you know, will be dead. Life is for the living... (I'm still looking for that "special" bookcase but, even if I can find it, my wife probably won't let me bring it into the house :-)

Now it seems strange to me that yesterday, on a lark, my friends and I toured the local cemetery to look at the old gravestones. Of course we could not know what would happen today. Odd, isn't it, how sometimes the juxtaposition of events makes for morbidly comic moments?

more later,
B B

On the road again...

Right now I'm a few miles from home - I hope to have pictures and be able to post an update tonight or Wednesday.

Also, to better educate myself on "things philosophical" I am currently reading Sophie's World - A Novel About the History of Philosophy. Its very easy to read but despite this, it looks to be just full of useful information. By the time I finish it, I bet I'll know so much about philosophy that I'll be insufferable. (That last part is just a joke - all the philosophers that I know are really cool people :-)

The Stupidest Thing I Ever Heard

Friday I finished my week early and, as I was driving home, I was listening to the local talk radio station. Sean Hannity was on the radio and it was his annual show to raise money for a college scholarship fund for orphans of fallen soldiers. This, in my opinion, is a very admirable idea and I am glad that they have been able to raise so much money.

So I was glibly driving along, feeling all patriotic when it happened.

The Stupidest Thing I Ever Heard was broadcast on radios across the United States.

Sean Hannity was talking with one of his guests at this fund-raising concert and Hannity says "What is it with this soccer?" and starts to rant about how soccer is such a foolish game and a waste of time and its just the perfect game for "our friends the French", etc, etc. Then his guest, being completely serious, says "if we had more Americans like my dad then we wouldn't be in this mess we're in right now". So I'm thinking "which 'mess' is he talking about?" and he goes on to say "I can remember when I was a kid my dad said 'Soccer is a Communistic Plot' and, since he was the athletic director, he refused to allow soccer to be played. We need more Americans like my dad." So this guy "refused to allow soccer to be played" - yeah, thats democratic.

Holy cow. I sent an email to Sean Hannity telling him that if this were true then we're screwed because Democracy is dead except for a few hold-outs in the USA. Also, the most popular sport in Cuba is baseball - even Fidel Castro is smart enough to realize that sport does not equal politics.

It galls me to hear conservative commentators make stupid remarks because it gives ammunition to the left. If Sean Hannity doesn't like soccer, so what? Nobody is forcing him to watch it. Dear Sean Hannity, eat a bug. (But at least I'm not bitter :-)

The Annual Haircut - After

Okay, so I put down some canvas to catch the hair and then, using my chosen implements of destruction, I kneel over the canvas and shave my head and beard.

Since the whole point of this little exercise is to remember, I brought my turntable and some LP's over next to the bathroom where I was cutting my hair.



I think I missed a spot.


My friend would get a kick out of this head-shaving business I think. He died from advanced stage lung cancer and at the time he died he was completely bald from chemotherapy.

I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then...




Yeah, I definitely missed...

This has been a good day. Today, in the space of a few hours, I've laughed, I've cried and I got to spend time talking with a good friend.

Here is the aftermath with my clippers and my electric razor.

(See why I put down the canvas?)

While I was cutting my hair I played a few records that he and I both liked.

Good grief! I haven't eaten anything but a blueberry muffin all day! I'm gonna eat and go to bed.

Check out the glare on that gourd.

The Annual Haircut - Before

My best friend of 13 years died June 29, 2003 and his birthday was July 16th. While trying to find some way to grieve I cut off my hair and beard July 16, 2003. For some reason I had felt that I should be able to "grieve" then have some "closure" and then "get on with life" but now I no longer claim to know what those phrases mean. All I know is that I am here and a man that was closer to me than anyone else in the world is not here.

I am very fortunate in that I have a GREAT wife who is also a good friend to me. I have a larger circle of friends now than some people will ever have in their entire life. This afternoon I had coffee with a really good friend (he is a great listener) and then I went and got measured for a tux for Emmanuel's wedding. (The lady didn't take my hat size, so I guess we don't all get matching hats - I miss Oklahoma weddings :-)

Okay, here are a couple "before" pictures.

Yes, my hairline continues to (slowly) recede. Right now I have the same hairstyle that my paternal grandfather had when he died at age 69. If things keep going according to family history, I will get the infamous "Male Pattern Baldness" (from my maternal grandfather) about the time I turn 40. Its only hair, right?

To date, I have made three attempts to read C.S. Lewis' book A Grief Observed and have been unable to finish it. Someday I will read that book but not today.

Today, I will cut my hair. Then I will shave my beard. Then I will shave my head.

I blacked out the eyes because I just look morose in this picture.

This year June 29 came and went (on a Thursday) and I didn't even realize what day it was. This isn't because I'm "coping so well" or anything - I was just swamped at work. When I realized (on July 3) that I just been working all day on the 29th and had never given my fallen friend a thought - well that hit me pretty hard.

Here is a shot of my soon to be "neck - ed" neck. Trust me on the black box here - from this angle my nose is... well, lets just say this is not my best side.

And, no, my nose is not (quite) that wide but I took the opportunity to cover my eyes as well.

What I'm reading right now. No joke.

Today has been an interesting day so far. Before coffee I stopped in at a comic shop that I had never seen before - they've been there about a year and a half the man behind the counter told me. I picked up a few more issues of Marvel's "Civil War" - a fairly good read.

Various and sundry implements of destruction.

The pink bottle is "Hair Removal Gel Cream". In the past, I have cut my hair very short - this year I'm toying with the idea of being as bald as a cue ball.

It says "DO NOT use on face or ears" and I have to "patch test" a spot and wait 24 hours before I can use it on my head. Scary.

More later (or "less later" if you mean hair :-)

Trekkie Maze, etc

You have to love the British. Its a Maze Jim, but not as we know it

Saw a cool bumper sticker. It says "The Second Amendment Makes All The Others Possible". (thats what i'm talking about)

Recently I saw the movie Fidel . This is a really good film. It is so rare to find a film that entertains and informs while remaining true to facts. And more than that, it does not lack respect for the principal characters. It seems to me that it is much easier for a movie to parody a "bad guy" than to treat him as a real three dimensional person. I actually rented the movie thinking "lets see how ridiculous this gets" - I am pleasantly surprised to have been wrong in my expectations. Castro's metamorphosis from idealistic revolutionary to paranoid dictator is done very well. High marks to Victor Huggo Martin in his first English-language film.

not fun

Doing:
Job (too many hours)
Website Committee (i volunteered for this?!)
Renovating House (little by little)
Church Board
Sunday School Board

Not Doing:
Eating Right
Sleeping Enough
Reading Enough
Exercising
Vacation

yup, its official. i'm crazy.

ITALIA!!

So for those of you who (for whatever excuse) are not aware of what happened; ITALY WON THE WORLD CUP 2006!

It was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes of regular play and two 15 minute overtimes, so the game was decided by penalty kicks. A man who [was] arguably one of the best players in soccer knocked himself out of the game with a red card. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then check out this clip from youtube: Zidane Owned . The clip is in German but you'll get the gist of it. The main referee didn't see what happened but the rest of the world did. The guy is basically a living legend - thats why a camera was constantly on him. One of the assistant referees told the head ref what went down and - well, when the ref reaches for his back pocket somebody's goin' home.

Good call.

I got so excited about the World Cup that i started a new blog http://waitingfor2010.blogspot.com/ to track the play leading to the next Cup in 2010. Its set up to accept anonymous comments. (English or Spanish)

Now i can quit obsessing about soccer on this blog :-)

Germany 3 - 1 Portugal

It was a good game. It was played well, the officiating was unobtrusive without being lax and there were a couple of "beauty" goals. There was even a bit of comic relief. Portugal had a lot of corner kicks and on one of them they managed to have three men in front of the German goal each jump for and completely miss the ball. The ball was "textbook" where you want a corner kick to be. The funniest thing was that none of the Germans touched it either.

The one goal that Portugal scored on Germany was really nice to see and both goals that Germany scored on Portugal were poetry in motion. The other goal into the Portugese net was off the foot of a Portugese defender [ouch]

I got to see the pre-game show and the entire game then went with some friends to see the pixar movie Cars. Its pretty funny.

World Cup history

I was doing a little research on the World Cup and found http://www.worldcup-history.com/ Hey that sounds cool - then when i clicked on the link i got this:

We've been shut down due to HEAVY traffic!
We will try to get the page online again as soon as possible. bummer.

But this site is working well. Leave it to the Brits. The British have a passion for soccer that is... well, lets just say that you'll never catch me in the stands at an English soccer match :-)

And I was wrong (write it down, it doesn't happen very often) when I said that the USA is getting involved in the World Cup kinda "late in the game". It turns out that the Inaugural Cup was in 1930, and it involved 13 countries including the USA. The USA went 40 yrs without appearing. (We made it in 1950 and did not reach the World Cup again until 1990). The original "Team USA" won their group but was defeated by Argentina in the semi-finals. The first World Cup had only 3 "rounds" of play: Group, Semi-finals and the Championship game. This year's Cup has had 5 "rounds" of play: Groups (A-H, 32 teams), the "Round of 16", the Quarter Finals, the Semi Finals and the Final round with the two games which determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th places.

A quick history with the winners and the hosts. 1930:Uruguay, 1934:Italy, 1938:Italy France (starting in 1938 the title defender & the host country qualified automatically - this privilege has continued to the present) 1950:Uruguay Brazil, 1954:West Germany Switzerland (this year saw the record for number of goals scored in a World Cup game [12] with Austria over Switzerland 7-5 in the quarterfinals), 1958:Brazil Sweden (the first Cup of Pele - age 17), 1962:Brazil Chile, 1966:England (the English striker remains the only man to score 3 goals in a World Cup final), 1970:Brazil Mexico (Pele's final Cup appearance), 1974:West Germany, 1978:Argentina, 1982:Italy Spain, 1986:Argentina Mexico (Maradona & the infamous 'Hand of God' goal), 1990:West Germany Italy (arguably the worst World Cup final ever), 1994:Brazil USA, 1998:France, 2002:Brazil South Korea/Japan.

As you may have noticied, the World Cup fell victim to world politics in 1942 and 1946. Thankfully, it has continued uninterrupted since that time.

France & Italy have played against each other several times but they have never before met in a World Cup final. This year Italy defeated host Germany and France defeated title defender Brazil.

If I had my way at this point, this year's Cup would shake down as Italy 1st, France 2nd, Germany 3rd, Portugal 4th. I really don't like the lack of sportmanship that Portugal has shown this tournament. (more later)

More Fun Stuff

Brace yourselves, sports fans! Only two chances left to see a live World Cup Soccer game in 2006! Saturday July 8 at 2pm (CST) Germany and Portugal battle it out for 3rd place. Then at 1pm (CST) Sunday July 9 2006 is The Championship Game between Italy and France. I know that for some of you (okay, many of you) watching The Game would mean missing your standard Sunday afternoon nap but you're not going to get another chance to see live World Cup Soccer for another four years. Let me help you out a little bit.

Interesting (whether you're a newbie or a veteran at "fut") is the Bilingual Soccer Blog (it might take a few seconds to load). Then you can check out a link to the World Cup bracket and read an article on How to Appreciate a soccer game on TV (this wikiHow article links to several other useful soccer articles like How to Understand Soccer Strategy)

One of the things the TV article mentions is to watch the game on a Spanish language channel (plenty of those in my area) because the announcers are better, you might not understand a word but it won’t matter – you’ll know when something exciting is happening. When i was a kid my dad would watch basketball games on TV with the sound off and he would listen to the game on the radio - naturally the radio announcer was better.

This World Cup has been the cause of quite a bit of off the wall humor (i think its funny but the English DON'T :-) and quite a bit of carping. see here and here. And even i (as cynical as i am) didn't see this (political) complaint coming.

i had the day off Monday - no soccer. i'm taking off tomorrow to help my folks with a yard sale and guess what - no futbal (soccer). But i have been listening to the commentators (even when there are no games - you can still get opinions and highlights - you gotta love Spanish TV) and they are being uncharacteristically reserved in their predictions of the final outcome of this Cup. Once the "safe bets" had been eliminated, the commentary got a lot less emotional and a lot more cerebral (works for me) or maybe they're just trying to fill the time between games with factoids.

i love democracy and that is one reason that i love soccer. The whole world plays soccer (the US is getting in on this kinda late) and out of all the countries in the world, only 32 make the tournament. But this is the great thing, out of those 32 countries almost nobody would have guessed that this year the championship would be between Italy and France. Safe money would have bet on Brazil (i'm glad that i don't bet on this game - i would have lost that bet!)

The Italian defense has been "mythical" to quote the commentators. They have not allowed any team to score against them in this tournament. In fact, the only goal against Italy in this World Cup was "put in the box" by the Italians themselves in their 1-1 tie against ... Team USA.

Is that cool or what? If Italy wins this one (ihopeihopeihope) and is able to hold France scoreless (i would LOVE that) then the only goal against the 2006 World Cup champs would have come in a game against Team USA. Its kind of a sneaky way into the history books but what do you want? This is the closest chance that "USA" has of being in the same sentence as "World Cup Champion" for quite some time. Of course, we can't count our chickens before they are hatched - France has beaten Italy as recently as 2000. Saturday and Sunday should be great games.

More later.