Dancin'

I am sorry, but So You Think You Can Dance completely kicks Idol's ass.

The final four are actually REALLY talented and fun to watch.

AND the best dancer won. No disrespecting to the other three, but Joshua was the guy to beat...and no one could.

Father? Go Figure...

The normally solid Ann Althouse blows it big time. In criticizing here, I will give a shout out to Barack Obama, who called men to task for shirking fatherly duties.

Now I enjoy reading Ann, but knee jerk, shrill psycho feminism is unbecoming. Saying a father is critically important to raising children is like saying having two kidneys is better then just one.

But since modern feminism is deeply committed to an anti-male viewpoint and any expression of the need for a two parent household MUST imply women are worthless, Barack must be stopped.

Now I am hardly a Barack supported, but his statements here are dead on. The fact is single parent households are, statistically, more troubled environments and are a larger problem in the black community. The larger problem of what has become an anti-male society needs to be addressed, but the first step is to get men and women to be more responsible about child bearing.

This is NOT to demean the often Herculean efforts of single parent households - raising kids is tough for two parents let alone one. But I am perfectly capable of issuing a compliment without an implicit put down.

UPDATE: Ann claims she is not endorsing the feminist view. Hmmmm. I am not the only one who read it this way. She seems especially miffed at this, but she should re-read her main comment paragraph. I don't think we are "gnawing on a bone."

Lori Drew

So we have the tragic story of Megan Meier, the 13 year old girl who committed suicide after a 47 year old woman, Lori Drew, created a fictitious boy on MySpace, tricked Megan into thinking this boy liked her and then turn on her, calling her names, turning Megan's friends against her all of which caused Megan to hang herself.

Read this article.

The Feds are prosecuting her under cyber laws. But I wonder if this is manslaughter? Involuntary manslaughter is generally considered "an unintentional killing that results from recklessness or criminal negligence." The key in this case is that Megan committed suicide, so Lori Drew did not directly kill Megan. But,

I wave an unloaded gun threatening people, one of which has a heart attack.

I put poison in a toothpaste tube, which someone uses and dies.

I yell, "Fire," in a crowded movie theater.

This is clearly getting onto new ground. Road rage, blog rage, people are simply less inclined to be civil if there is some distance or anonymity. Viciousness can have consequences...especially to children. It is time we establish some guidelines. I am completely AGAINST criminalizing insults, but this was not a simple insult: it was a deliberate attempt, over a period of time, to cause (at least) emotional harm. And to be clear, it ONLY stopped because Megan killed herself.

Lori Drew's life is done, she will suffer financially and emotionally. I am concerned about the next time.

Men & Marriage

Cassandra over at Villainous Company offers some thoughts on men & marriage. (H/t Glenn.)

Overall, she makes some great points, but I still notice how no MEN are actually writing about this. So, to wit:

I am in my mid-40s, married for 16 years with three kids, two dogs and a house in the 'burbs. I waited until I was 28 to get engaged and it happened rather quickly. (When you know, you know.) Our marriage is not perfect, but I would not trade it for anything.

That said, I would never get married again.

This is not to say I regret my decision (I don't), but that absent this particular woman and the kids, I do not find the prospect of marriage to have any upside to me and I do see plenty of downside. I am not at all concerned about lacking for sex and if I want companionship, I'll get a dog. Thankfully, I can afford the maid service to keep the house in order and anything more complicated than a sandwich, I can order in or dine out. Finally, I am willing to admit that I take great pleasure in material things.

Okay, so why. Simply because (and I am generalizing here) men want the most from the least. I am lazy; I don't want to work hard. Women are hard work. ALL women. George Bernard Shaw said, "Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else." How true...

Actually, to be clear, I work hard all day. My job is stressful (though I enjoy it) and involves near constant conflict or conflict resolution. I want my home life to be tranquil. It won't be. Why? Because I would also admit that I am hard work...if you are interested in changing me into some domestic lapdog or having me conform to the "Unrealistic Marriage Template" Cassandra talks about.

I certainly agree that there are tons of really wonderful women out there. So again, this is not to say I do not enjoy the company of women, but I would want the option of walking away at the end of the night.

More to follow...

Tdub???

UPDATE: Sorry, link fixed.

UPDATE II: See this post by William Voegeli...

Little Thew

Would that be a Thewlet?

Giving Thanks

There is so much to be thankful for in this day and age, we make shit up just to bitch.

So in the spirit of our recent Top 10 jags, the Top 10 Things I am Thankful For:

1) My Health. Let's face it, I can enjoy everything else on this list because I am healthy. Sure, my blood pressure is high; my left knee is partly titanium and have various and sundry pains, but at 5' 11" and 165 lbs, I can still score well on the Army's PT.

2) My Family. Again, the kids can be a pain, the wife can get grouchy, but these are small compared to the joy they bring me. I also still have both parents, a brother and sister-in-law that I love dearly and an extended family remarkably free from tragedy.

3) My Friends. I am not a tremendously social person, but I am blessed with friendship of various depths from the "can tell anything to" to the "how 'bout them Yankees" and each is meaningful to me. My oldest friendship is 26 years old and my newest will start Monday.

4) My Work. I have professional options and get paid very well for what I do...and it does not seem to hard for me. (But it seems hard to others!) Only when the job gets stressful are we thankful for the routine of a good job.

5) Boredom. There is a reputed Chinese curse that goes, "may you live in interesting times." Real or not, a boring life is not all bad. A can go a few months without much changing and that becomes better and better each year.

6) Small Challenges. Okay, there are small challenges which I am thankful for. These are learning experiences that make me a better parent, husband, boss, etc.

7) Small Moments. When you are a teen, you blow through life like a bull in a china shop. Now, I appreciate the small moments in life. The first snow (yesterday), God's creatures, a connection with another human - each is precious, but often overlooked.

8) My Catholicism. I am getting to appreciate God as I age. Further, I am appreciating the Trinity even more. The issue of a superior being has been long settled for me. But Christ shows me how to incorporate God in my relationship with Him and my fellow man. Finally, the Holy Spirit show me how to make God personal to me. One God, three divinities, but it has taken me years to understand the importance of each.

9) My Fellow Man. Sure, some are scum, but all-in-all there are 6 billion others in this world who are looking to make their small part a better place and thereby make the whole a better place. I thank them and wish them continued success.

10) The Future. Sure, we could screw it up, but I don't think we will. The future will be a better place for my kids and their kids, then it was for my folks and me.

To Thew and Tdub and to you my dear reader, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Marrying Sam

Here is a thought provoking question: should men marry? I have my own thoughts, but will hold them for a bit to let Thew (one divorce, second success) and Tdub (?) to offer comments. To offer a taste:

"[N]o matter how decent, hardworking, and caring you may be as a father, that in the event of separation, you will more than likely not get custody of your child, you will lose up to 80% of all of your assets, you will have to pay up to five times the cost of raising a child, and most importantly you could never see your child again.”

1776

Not quite Gerard Butler as Leonidas, but funny nonetheless.

Colonel Nicholson and Progressive Liberals

It is very difficult for me to understand the logical end game of progressive liberal movement. Thinking about HillaryCare 2.0, you wonder how the state planning of health care in the US will end up any better then the state planning of agriculture in the Soviet Union. Trying to reconcile the moral hypocrisy of not allow ROTC on campus for its "discriminatory" position on gays (in quotes because it is the same policy for heterosexuals) while allowing someone who advocates the killing of gays for the sin of homosexuality to speak on campus is really hard.

In The Bridge on the River Kwai, Colonel Nicholson seeks to show his captors the superiority of the British soldier and loses sight of his true purpose - defeating a fanatical enemy. In the end, responsible for the deaths of several of the commandos who seek to blow up his masterpiece, he comes to his senses: "What have I done?!" And, as his last act, falls on the plunger and destroys the train carrying Japanese soldiers. Major Clipton looks at the scene and simply says, "Madness."

The progressive movement has flourished because it has not had to take responsibility for its actions. Like a petulant child, it shrieks about injustice without regards to facts or context. It shrieks simply because it wants its way. Once it receives the lollipop in consolation, it is content.

Maybe there is freedom in knowing that this country is not nuts enough to give you real responsibility, but is it too much for us to ask that you occasionally - occasionally - act like an adult?

Columbia Trivia

This from the Wall Street Journal ($): "Oh, and by the way, [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's] regime also executes homosexuals for the crime of being themselves. Maybe if Columbia University President Lee Bollinger were aware of the latter fact he would reconsider his invitation to the Iranian president to speak on his campus next Monday.

Mr. Bollinger, notoriously, voted in 2005 not to readmit an ROTC program to Columbia (absent from the university since 1969), ostensibly on the grounds of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gay service members. Never mind that other upper-tier schools, including Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania all have ROTC programs. Never mind, too, that in 2003 the Columbia student body voted in favor of readmission by a 2-1 margin. In Mr. Bollinger's view, 'the university has an obligation, deeply rooted in the core values of an academic institution and in First Amendment principles, to protect its students from improper discrimination and humiliation.'"

Maybe if the military had a "tell and hang'em high" policy against homosexuals, Columbia would welcome ROTC. More liberal hypocrisy. (No, hypocrisy...Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hates Bush, too! Birds of a feather; the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that. - Ed.)

UPDATE: Related via David Bernstein at Volokh: "And, come to think of it, I can't resist the contrast between the reaction to Rumsfeld at Stanford and, judging from the stories in the Columbia Spectator, the almost complete quiescence, apart from some Jewish groups, at Columbia regarding the invitation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

Memories, Like the Corners of My Mind...

Good one, Tdub.

So, I remember a time when:

My TV was black and white.
My hair was very blond.
A man first walked on the moon.
I could repair my own car...without fear.
Coffee was served only in diners and it cost a dime.
We waited for gas and worried there would be none.
Hair was long and shorts were short.
McDonald's was a special dining treat (followed by coffee milkshakes from Conti's for desert!)
I could go outside at 8 am, not come home until dinner and Mom would not be worried.
Not only were grocery stores not self service, but someone brought the groceries out to the car!

Of all the odd things I remember, the King Cole grocery store were I grew up used to have conveyor belts in the front of the store and we would watch the groceries travel out from the checkout counter to the parking lot. It was only a quarter of a mile from my house and sometimes we would walk to the store and walk home with the groceries.

Now, I just was looking at the old place on Google Earth and one thing that is funny is how close everything actually is. My old house to the Boys' Club is a third of a mile through Central High. (Across the street there was a high security prison.) The length of the deadend street I grew up on was only 330 yards. But it did not seem so short at the time.

USA Today Turns 25 This Weekend

And has an interesting 25 year perspective.

Enough of the Catfighting

Marvel Comics has put in a major effort to sell movies based on its comic books. Spiderman, Hulk, Fantastic Four, X-men, to name a few. Some have been successful, some not (Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Elektra, Punisher), but success is measured two ways. The first, obviously, is the box office receipts, but I would argue that before you get there, you must be a hit with the fanboys.

DC Comics has not been as prolific; relying on Superman and Batman and some lesser known titles (Road to Perdition, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Constantine, Stardust), but I would give the edge to DC in terms of hit-to-miss ratio.

Several new films are coming to test my fanboy theory. First off, Ironman hit theaters next year. The trailer is out and looks interesting. I would not have picked Robert Downey, Jr., but RD is a hugh fan of the comic and Tony Stark has a dark-side not unlike Downey's own. My resistance is that Downey is a bit too cheeky for me, which we see in the trailer. The plot development is similar to the comics...so we shall see. (Samuel L. Jackson is supposed to play Nick Fury!)

Thor is the next unique interesting project. Again, fanboys will not be pleased if the director screws up a great franchise.

Then there is DC Comics' Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is an icon. Her "modern" story - Paradise Island, Steve Trevor, alter ego Diana Prince, do-not-kill code - are as well known as her creation to balance a male-dominated superhero world. While Wonder Woman has often been sexualized (well, with a costume like that...), she can be a great metaphor for coming to grips with female power - think of a less dark version of Batman Begins.

And for Thew...Kate Beckinsdale has been rumored to play her.

Someone is a Bit Touchy...

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes a slam is just a slam.

You hurt my feelings...now I am going to cry to Rosie...it is the only thing that understands. *Sniff*

Traffic - don't even get me started...

It's been proven time and time again by empirical evidence; the average human, who's intelligence and common sense have been declining ever since the "me" generation focus of 10/15 years ago started, becomes akin to that of a turnip when they get behind the wheel of an automobile.

Rubber Neckers - jamming on the brakes just to see a minor accident on the OTHER SIDE of the highway.
Darwinian Failures - people who drive 55 in the left hand lane - they need to just be run over with monster truck to create a lane for those of us who drive normally.
Blue Hairs - people (and in this state there are a jillion of these idiots) who actually OBEY the 25 mph speed limit on back roads. I was behind someone who was actually doing 22 mph.
GPS challenged - people who take the same damm route day after day, month after month, yet get sufficiently lost or stupid and end up 3 lanes over from their exit at the last frikken second - so they choose 1 of 2 actions: they stop and wait for an opening, thus creating a traffic jam, or they just cut over, causing those people in the other lanes to jam on the breaks to avoid their stupidity, thus creating a traffic jam.

People behind the wheel of a car are fucking stupid. Mrs Thew continues to wonder why I road rage, but my loverly wifey-poo works from a home office, she has NO commute. Drive the miles in my shoes honey, then look at me, nod, and say "ok, I get it now".

Why do we like reality shows?
Because, like traffic gawkers, we love a train wreck. We watch Jerry Springer, Surreal Life, MTV's Real Life, etc, because we want to see people that are more fucked up than we are. We feel better by stroking our egos by watching TV programs that show people who have more problems than we do, it makes us feel more normal. We are so neurotic these days as a whole that it's become so difficult to life ourselves up we prefer to see others fall down to feel good. Pathetic, but welcome to life...

Glory Days, Well, They'll Pass You By

Saturday and Sunday were "work" days for me. I spent 16 hours taking the Mass. State "E" coaches license for soccer. Of the 16 hours, about 9 hours were on the field drilling and scrimmaging.

Argh! My aching bones.

Happily, I did hold my own against fellow participants as young as college age. We were all at 80% speed in an effort to avoid injuries...which we were 80% successful. But it was terrific fun to play again at a high level with other high level players.

My highlights...a Cryuff shot which nutmegged my opponent and scored! And a back heel shot...nutmeg...score.

Oh, yeah, and I really did learn a shitload on coaching.

Spelling Divorce S-H-O-T-G-U-N

Mary Winkler is free. Who says divorce has to be hard? Just shoot your husband in the back and claim abuse. And dressing "slutty." And watching porn. Boo - freakin' - hoo!

When asked about these accusations, Matthew said, "...." Oh, yeah. He said nothing, he was dead. She could say anything she wanted without fear of contradiction.

No fault divorce or shooting your husband in the back. Your choice, ladies.

Just brush up on the acting skills...

The Zombie Watch

Posting has been incredibly lite for both of us for the last month. For me, it was a surprise as summer is normally a slower time at work...but not necessarily this summer.

Anyway, regarding some of Thew's points:

I can't imagine a worse Baseball Commish then Selig. At least in the sense that I just don't think he gives a rat's ass about the average fan. And, as Thew has said, he does not respect the Game. Finally, though, someone has bitch-slapped some sense into him. That said, the Brew Crew has got to be one of the "feel good" stories in the MLB.

The NBA...Nothing But Assholes. When is the NCAA season starting?

My favorite soccer story is not Beckham right now, but the Asian Cup. After beating the South Koreans in PKs, the Iraqis play the Saudis, who beat Japan. Politics aside, this has got to be a tremendous boost to the people of Iraq. (The terrorists expressed their displeasure.) I think its time that the European clubs will take a flyer on a few players.

Any word on Michelle Wie?


In other sports news, Ben Rothisnvhvhnzcm is dating Missy Peregrym of Heroes and Stick It fame. Which is just an excuse to add a picture of her.

Anyway, Yankees are creeping up and the fact that the Red Sox are beating the Indians, leaders for the AL Wildcard, makes the Sox-Tribe series a win-win for the Yankees. They do have a tough stretch coming up though, which will make or break the season. 4 games against Detroit (in NY), travel for 3 against the Angels, 4 more at Detroit after which they come home and play 3 against the Red Sox. 14 straight games against division leaders.


In other sports news, I have a nasty taste in my mouth after my girls' soccer season. No, not because we lost, but we only placed one player on the 2007-08 Select (All Star) Squad. Now let me get this straight: the team mops the floor with the opposition, only has 1 or 2 close games and one ONE All-star Selection? A bitter, bitter pill. I take total blame, of course. They took the team concept to a very high level and did not cut it as individuals in the try-outs.


Well, work calls....

Luciano Watch Out...

In contrast, here is a phenomenally inspirational video. I love this guy!

And he is on to the finals. Go Paul!

Now, okay, he is not quite the "shower singer" bumpkin and has performed opera on stage, but, dude, he does sell car phones for a living!

And quite frankly, anyone who can make Amanda Holden weep twice is mensch in my book.

Who's Responsible?

Okay, I am tremendously conflicted on this. Six teenagers hit a stalled train and the four in the back seat were killed. The father of one of the victims is very upset in the video. (He lost a niece also.)

How can I be conflicted? The drivers were 15, the victims were 14. It was 3:30 am. The vehicle was stolen.

I really feel for the guy's loss (nice Father's Day, huh), but he goes off on how the grade crossing was dangerous. Well, yes. ALL grade crossing are dangerous. The train was stalled, there were no lights; it was an accident waiting to happen.

But what the hell is his 14 year old doing out at 3:30 am? What prompted her to participate in the theft of a vehicle?

This was a tragedy of parenting as well as a tragic loss of life.