The guys fell behind 4-0 to a U-16 team that should never get the upper hand. The U-16 team had better speed and early on our team seemed sleepy. But the advantage of experience and better puck protection paid off as the game wore on.
Watch a few plays:
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
12 in 12
With just a couple of days left in December 2008, icasualties.org is reporting 12 dead in Iraq. That's 12 in 12 - a sad note to the end of the year.
Way past time to put an end to this gruesome war.
Way past time to put an end to this gruesome war.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Back on the ice
For a game between bitter rivals things went pretty well. The refs called it tight, talked to the kids a lot and kept everything under control. It was a damn good game up until Hockey Boy decided to dive to save a shot, turned to avoid slamming his head into the boards and went in knee first.
Another trip to the x-ray store. He's fine but I know that knee is going to hurt like hell tomorrow.
Another trip to the x-ray store. He's fine but I know that knee is going to hurt like hell tomorrow.
 |
| From 12/6/08 |
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Later, Nov. 4, 2008
The polls closed and the verdict appears to be here - Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States of America. For now I'll allow myself some emotional indulgence. The pictures from Chicago are spectacular and inspiring.
This country has its moments of greatness and is certainly capable of many more on many fronts. There are no shortages of fronts for our greatness to show.
Let's have some fun tonight. Let's enjoy the moment!
There's lots of good work to look forward to tomorrow.
This country has its moments of greatness and is certainly capable of many more on many fronts. There are no shortages of fronts for our greatness to show.
Let's have some fun tonight. Let's enjoy the moment!
There's lots of good work to look forward to tomorrow.
Nov. 4, 2008 Ward 4 doors open
There were about 100 people waiting in line at 7:00 a.m. for the door to open at the polls. I was number 94.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A McCain robo call
Finally, what? Six days before the election? Finally I get a McSame robo call! I've been hearing so much about them I was getting jealous. I told every one in the house that if we got one to leave it on the recorder so I could hear it.
These calls are famous and are going to go down in history as some of the worst slime used in a presidential campaign. And I was missing out.
Okay, so the call that I picked up was from the state republican party and not approved by McSame but at least they got around to my number. Unfortunately, I answered the call and didn't get it captured on tape.
But they told me how the dems are going to take away my guns and how I'd loose my rights and oh yeah, I'm going to be taxed to death.
And for a bonus, a few minutes later the phone rings again and it's another call from McSame! This time it's a real person who wants to talk to my spouse.
That was a short conversation!
Six days to go.
These calls are famous and are going to go down in history as some of the worst slime used in a presidential campaign. And I was missing out.
Okay, so the call that I picked up was from the state republican party and not approved by McSame but at least they got around to my number. Unfortunately, I answered the call and didn't get it captured on tape.
But they told me how the dems are going to take away my guns and how I'd loose my rights and oh yeah, I'm going to be taxed to death.
And for a bonus, a few minutes later the phone rings again and it's another call from McSame! This time it's a real person who wants to talk to my spouse.
That was a short conversation!
Six days to go.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
bailout bummer
Congress went ahead and approved a $700 billion (or so) bailout of the financial industry. There is no doubt in my mind that something had to get done but I question what did get done. Nowhere in the discussion was there any mention of actually addressing the basic issues underlying the whole mess.
What ever happens, until the people of this nation are willing to face up to the fact that greed is not self-regulating we'll keep repeating this same grim pattern.
What ever happens, until the people of this nation are willing to face up to the fact that greed is not self-regulating we'll keep repeating this same grim pattern.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Somebody has to go to jail
Gawd! You could see the train coming for a mile or more and you knew there'd be a wreck. Wall Street and its republican commandos have been on a global-scale criminal spree for years. The greed and the filth got so bad it actually got away from them to the point it's about to foul their whole nest and take what little there is of yours and mine along with it.
Somebody has to go to jail. Lots of somebodies. Fines, huge fines, need to be levied. New taxes on excess, fat new taxes on excess, must be enacted. And, a vigorous new police force must be fielded to billy club any bastard getting out of line from now on.
The republican regime existed for the sole purpose of comforting and protecting and aiding the most glided, vulgar, and insane class of hyper wealthy on the planet. The sickness of this excess is so bad, so purposeful that GWB can be thrown away like the dirty laundry he is. Why? He's delivered the billions and now his job is done.
Okay, so in the last few weeks he can throw a few more billion to his billionaire buddies before he goes out the door. Still: Mission Accomplished.
Jail time. Big time jail time. Now.
Somebody has to go to jail. Lots of somebodies. Fines, huge fines, need to be levied. New taxes on excess, fat new taxes on excess, must be enacted. And, a vigorous new police force must be fielded to billy club any bastard getting out of line from now on.
The republican regime existed for the sole purpose of comforting and protecting and aiding the most glided, vulgar, and insane class of hyper wealthy on the planet. The sickness of this excess is so bad, so purposeful that GWB can be thrown away like the dirty laundry he is. Why? He's delivered the billions and now his job is done.
Okay, so in the last few weeks he can throw a few more billion to his billionaire buddies before he goes out the door. Still: Mission Accomplished.
Jail time. Big time jail time. Now.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
August
August. Deep summer.
It's a month of warm days and cool nights; a time of in between. The corn is maturing but not yet ready for harvest, third crop hay is growing, tree fruits bounce on limbs soaking in the ripening sun, dust takes over from the mud in the lanes. Even the cows cud-chew a little more deliberately in August.
School is still out and there's time to breath for a minute. Summer fair season is over. It's August and a time of in between. This would be a great time to catch up if you could only hurry. But it's August and to hurry is too hard.
Time to sit on the deck. Time for a farmer's market. Time to let the lawn go one more day. Time to savor the last summer brews. And you should get the snowblower in for repair right now but winter seems so distant to be impossible.
August.
It's a month of warm days and cool nights; a time of in between. The corn is maturing but not yet ready for harvest, third crop hay is growing, tree fruits bounce on limbs soaking in the ripening sun, dust takes over from the mud in the lanes. Even the cows cud-chew a little more deliberately in August.
School is still out and there's time to breath for a minute. Summer fair season is over. It's August and a time of in between. This would be a great time to catch up if you could only hurry. But it's August and to hurry is too hard.
Time to sit on the deck. Time for a farmer's market. Time to let the lawn go one more day. Time to savor the last summer brews. And you should get the snowblower in for repair right now but winter seems so distant to be impossible.
August.
Friday, July 11, 2008
iPhone not so much
Recently, I shifted, or I'm trying to shift, from a Palm Pilot to an iTouch - iTouch is an iPhone without the phone.
Ho hum. While the iTouch is clearly nice for some things it' s not as business-ready as I'd like it to be.
Crucial to me are: contacts, calendar, and email in that order with contacts and calendar being the most serious of the three. The iTouch has all three and they all work okay. BUT. When it comes to sync time with a PC the glitches set in.
Oh ya, I'm supposed to be all MAC, right? That's actually one of the drawbacks to the iTouch. Once you enter the iTouch world you're in MAC land and don't think you're not. Sync of all the features is done through iTunes. iTunes may or may not play nice with non-MAC applications so in my case it crashes MS Outlook everytime I do a sync.
There's probably a fix but I have only so much time in the day. On top of that, the iTouch draws its power from the USB connection to the computer. That's okay except every time you connect the device, it crashes Outlook.
On the positive side, iTouch is a great device for music and probably for video and photos. While I do produce video at work I've failed so far to load any of my video productions into the iTouch. Sure, I'm missing a step but it's hardly intuitive. I've been handling media for a long time folks, and I don't want to have to puzzle over loading a device.
In contrast, my Palm never gave me any troubles with snyc. I had contacts and calendar on Outlook and in the system my employer uses. I could do email, some web browsing and it accepted video and audio and photos without a fight.
On top of that, I could slap a keyboard on the Palm and take notes at a meeting or do serious email communications. On the iTouch I'm stuck with that screen keyboard and my two thick thumbs. Sorry, that's good for a quick text message or a very short email but it's limited.
Those are my laments about the iTouch. Tonight I went rummaging about in my bag for the iTouch to find a contact and realized I'd left it on the desk at work. But there was the trusty old Palm and it still had my contacts. When I picked it up and turned it on it was there for me like a trusted friend.
Am I geting old fashioned?
Ho hum. While the iTouch is clearly nice for some things it' s not as business-ready as I'd like it to be.
Crucial to me are: contacts, calendar, and email in that order with contacts and calendar being the most serious of the three. The iTouch has all three and they all work okay. BUT. When it comes to sync time with a PC the glitches set in.
Oh ya, I'm supposed to be all MAC, right? That's actually one of the drawbacks to the iTouch. Once you enter the iTouch world you're in MAC land and don't think you're not. Sync of all the features is done through iTunes. iTunes may or may not play nice with non-MAC applications so in my case it crashes MS Outlook everytime I do a sync.
There's probably a fix but I have only so much time in the day. On top of that, the iTouch draws its power from the USB connection to the computer. That's okay except every time you connect the device, it crashes Outlook.
On the positive side, iTouch is a great device for music and probably for video and photos. While I do produce video at work I've failed so far to load any of my video productions into the iTouch. Sure, I'm missing a step but it's hardly intuitive. I've been handling media for a long time folks, and I don't want to have to puzzle over loading a device.
In contrast, my Palm never gave me any troubles with snyc. I had contacts and calendar on Outlook and in the system my employer uses. I could do email, some web browsing and it accepted video and audio and photos without a fight.
On top of that, I could slap a keyboard on the Palm and take notes at a meeting or do serious email communications. On the iTouch I'm stuck with that screen keyboard and my two thick thumbs. Sorry, that's good for a quick text message or a very short email but it's limited.
Those are my laments about the iTouch. Tonight I went rummaging about in my bag for the iTouch to find a contact and realized I'd left it on the desk at work. But there was the trusty old Palm and it still had my contacts. When I picked it up and turned it on it was there for me like a trusted friend.
Am I geting old fashioned?
Monday, June 16, 2008
Breathless summer
The next president gets the wreck the current goon caused: A hot war in the middle of a powder keg, an economy teetering at the maw of a major crash, and an environmental catastrophe like humankind has never seen.
Granted, not everything was caused by the goon; the environment has been in a steady burn for a long time. But nothing has even been tried to stop or slow the change and for the most part the problem has accelerated.
Corn futures today crossed the $8\bushel threshold and oil went close enough to $140/brl to just say it did. Still, the cake-eating continues.
I think we'll head to the polls in November a very angry nation. Maybe that means a change, maybe not. Anger and fear are hard to predict. But if there is any way to goon this democracy up I think we'll see it.
Goons.
Granted, not everything was caused by the goon; the environment has been in a steady burn for a long time. But nothing has even been tried to stop or slow the change and for the most part the problem has accelerated.
Corn futures today crossed the $8\bushel threshold and oil went close enough to $140/brl to just say it did. Still, the cake-eating continues.
I think we'll head to the polls in November a very angry nation. Maybe that means a change, maybe not. Anger and fear are hard to predict. But if there is any way to goon this democracy up I think we'll see it.
Goons.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
WTG Kiddo!
Four years and some big effort we were finally able to have that graduation party! In a couple more years we get to have another party to celebrate that M.S.!Celebrations are such good things. And nature gave us a day to remember with a neighborhood tornado and a power outage.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Filth in the mail
The salutation on the letter read: "Dear Fellow Republican."
That was enough right there to churn my gut but the rest of the letter went straight to the gutter. The whole thing was billed as the "2008 Census of the Republican Party." It explained the Republican National Committee was too poor to do a comprehensive census so they'd picked out "representative" republicans in various voting districts.
Another GOP fuck up. It'd be a cruel irony that I'd be representative of the GOP. If that's the case the stupid GOP is in even worse shape than I'd hoped and that'd be damn good news.
Basically, the sick bastards wanted me to fill out a 26-question survey and return it with some money. For my efforts I'd help prevent the election of liberal democrats who'd, "... gut our military...pack the judiciary...expand the federal government's power...and staff every federal agency and bureaucracy with cronies..."
We wouldn't want that now would we?
I read somewhere you can tell a lot about a government by the way it responds to a disaster like a hurricane. Not, of course, that we're like Burma or anything.
But I digress - not that I'm bitter. The 26 questions were all beyond the pale. Really, should we pass a federal marriage amendment protecting marriage as a union between a man and a woman? Should we fight democrats massive tax hikes? Huh? Should we?
The republican party has become a disease on the land. Its relentless attacks on liberty seem like treason to me but I guess I'm a lonely thinker there. But seriously, isn't there any way to make these dingbats just stop?
That was enough right there to churn my gut but the rest of the letter went straight to the gutter. The whole thing was billed as the "2008 Census of the Republican Party." It explained the Republican National Committee was too poor to do a comprehensive census so they'd picked out "representative" republicans in various voting districts.
Another GOP fuck up. It'd be a cruel irony that I'd be representative of the GOP. If that's the case the stupid GOP is in even worse shape than I'd hoped and that'd be damn good news.
Basically, the sick bastards wanted me to fill out a 26-question survey and return it with some money. For my efforts I'd help prevent the election of liberal democrats who'd, "... gut our military...pack the judiciary...expand the federal government's power...and staff every federal agency and bureaucracy with cronies..."
We wouldn't want that now would we?
I read somewhere you can tell a lot about a government by the way it responds to a disaster like a hurricane. Not, of course, that we're like Burma or anything.
But I digress - not that I'm bitter. The 26 questions were all beyond the pale. Really, should we pass a federal marriage amendment protecting marriage as a union between a man and a woman? Should we fight democrats massive tax hikes? Huh? Should we?
The republican party has become a disease on the land. Its relentless attacks on liberty seem like treason to me but I guess I'm a lonely thinker there. But seriously, isn't there any way to make these dingbats just stop?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
What a country
The supermarket is a remarkable place. Organic bananas from Peru, Clementine oranges from Morocco, mango from Mexico, melons from Honduras, dates from Spain and the whole cornucopia of prepared, dried, frozen, canned and fresh foods from everywhere.
California has produced an excellent crop of navel oranges this season. Thank you California. Each one of those navels is a burst of sunshine on a dreary day here in March.
California has produced an excellent crop of navel oranges this season. Thank you California. Each one of those navels is a burst of sunshine on a dreary day here in March.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
An independent no more
Most of my life I've considered myself politically independent with strong Democratic leanings. Sometimes I've referred to myself as a "split-ticket" Democrat. If a candidate seemed to fit my perception of what I needed, that's how I'd vote regardless of party affiliation.
Forget that crap. On more than one occasion my split-ticket decisions didn't work out so well. My reasoning was always that "the party" didn't mean anything to me; I wanted representation. As I've grown older I've become more conservative in thought and deed. But I haven't stopped thinking.
So now I'm a Democrat. Period. Republican conservatism is a dead notion. Republicans killed it. All Republicans stand for is gluttony at my expense. The country needs to pull its head out of the arse of conservatism and begin investing.
My tax dollars are in exchange for services I expect to be delivered. That's the contract. In exchange for my money I expect representative, responsive government.
Without that contract with all of its citizens, this place is the Sudan with good soils. When Republicans shriek "No taxes, No taxes" over and over they're breaking the contract. Taxes are how we work together: fire, police, public transit, education, social security, Medicare...
Republicans are working to destroy all of that. At least that's what I see with my eyes.
Forget that crap. On more than one occasion my split-ticket decisions didn't work out so well. My reasoning was always that "the party" didn't mean anything to me; I wanted representation. As I've grown older I've become more conservative in thought and deed. But I haven't stopped thinking.
So now I'm a Democrat. Period. Republican conservatism is a dead notion. Republicans killed it. All Republicans stand for is gluttony at my expense. The country needs to pull its head out of the arse of conservatism and begin investing.
My tax dollars are in exchange for services I expect to be delivered. That's the contract. In exchange for my money I expect representative, responsive government.
Without that contract with all of its citizens, this place is the Sudan with good soils. When Republicans shriek "No taxes, No taxes" over and over they're breaking the contract. Taxes are how we work together: fire, police, public transit, education, social security, Medicare...
Republicans are working to destroy all of that. At least that's what I see with my eyes.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Long ago winter
That'd be a couple of kids out on a winter's day with popcicles. Young and not a thing to worry about!Monday, February 11, 2008
Republicans
If the Government is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributer cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, See, this proves that people were meant to walk.
And they do this so that they don't have to chip in on gas.
Lance Mannion
And they do this so that they don't have to chip in on gas.
Lance Mannion
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Cold, snow
Feb. 10, 2008. It was -4 degrees with a -25 wind chill. Officially, we've had 75.5 inches of snow. The record for snowfall in a season will be broken tomorrow.
Pretty to look at but it's really getting old.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter is a hero of mine. What's not to love about a smart, honest, decent human being who became the joke brunt of every lousy conservative mouthpiece who could breath in syllables? It's nice to see this kindly old gentleman stand up for himself.
Go here> Jimmy Carter
Go here> Jimmy Carter
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