Nobody Daily – 6/30/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

(J&J are watching THE CANDIDATE on television)

The Candidate: “The states should be allowed to execute whomever they want.”

The Candidate: “Free trade is bad except when it’s good.”

The Candidate: “Wiretapping’s not all that bad. Neither are guns.”

JH: “Wow! McCain’s on a roll today.”

JT: “That’s not McCain, that’s Obama.”

Nobody Daily – 6/28/08

SATURDAY POTPOURRI

Nobody Asked Me But:

I am not a big fan of cartoon movies but put me on the list of those who are going to see “WALL-E.”

Here is a bit from John Anderson’s review of in the Washington Post. “The idea that a company in the business of mainstream entertainment would make something as creative, substantial and cautionary as ‘WALL-E’ has to raise your hopes for humanity.”

On the subject of reviews, here are five critics that you can trust to give you a balanced review – neither too tough nor too easy:

David Ansen – Newsweek
Richard Corliss – Time Magazine
Manohla Dargis – New York Times (started her career at the LA Times)
Stephen Hunter – Washington Post – won a Pulitzer recently for his work
Richard Schickel – Time Magazine – the best of the best, a film historian as well as a critic

And, the absolute worst, which is a high distinction in a field overcrowded with hacks:

Rex Reed

Before we leave the subject of movies, here are the top three on my all-time worst list:

“Tommy”
“Hannibal”
“Shanghai Gesture”

Let’s see. I’m filthy rich and running for public office. My opponent wants the limits on his fund raising so he can more fairly compete with me. The Supreme Court conservatives ruled this week that to do so would violate the First Amendment by limiting my free speech. Go figure??

This strip is called POLITICS - I launch it with an exclusive interview with John McCain.

Interviewer: “Senator McCain, did you tell a conservative group in Ohio yesterday that you are against abortion?”

Senator McCain: “Yes!”

I: “Gay marriage?”

M: “Yes!”

I: “So, when you call yourself a moderate, what exactly does that mean?”

M: “It means I am being moderately truthful.”

Nobody Daily – 6/27/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Happy Birthday granddaughter!

I’ll give $1,000 to make my Los Angeles safer. I’ll write the check today.

I wrote the above as the lead for a piece in the Los Angeles Daily News 17 years ago and, as was brought home at a neighborhood meeting that I attended Wednesday evening, little if anything has changed. Those attending expressed concerns about local increases in burglary, robbery, drugs, loitering and graffiti. The police officer urged us to be vigilant and to call and report any suspicious activity. But she could not promise a rapid response unless a crime was being committed. “We are just spread too thin,” she said.

And they are. Los Angeles has 25 police officers per 10,000 residents. New York and Chicago have 40 per 10,000. That is a huge difference, made even more so, by the way our city is so spread out.

Several people were frustrated and upset by the officer’s answer. And on one hand they had a right to be. The primary function of government is to ensure the safety of its citizens. On the other hand, unless they are willing to vote an increase in their taxes, they should stifle their complaints. Security, like most everything else of value, cannot be bought on the cheap.

As I was writing this, a news bulletin reported that the Supreme Court had just ruled in favor of the right to own guns – but not the absolute right thank goodness. While I still strongly believe that we would be better off without that right, I can see why some people look to guns as a way of protecting themselves. However, more cops are a much better way to safety than more guns.

THE SHRINK

Shrink: "Robert, you seem agitated today."
Robert: "Home or highway, I don’t feel safe anymore."

Shrink: "What can you do about that?"
Robert: "Cops! I demand more cops!"

Shrink: "That’s a good idea."

Shrink: "But you know that it is going to mean higher taxes to pay for them."
Robert: "Volunteer cops! I demand more volunteer cops!"

Nobody Daily – 6/26/08

PAT BUCHANAN

Nobody Asked Me But:

This is another one of my cartoon strips without pictures. What this makes me is original/creative/gutsy/funny/dumb. You choose!

Jim AND Jim

JT: “Pat Buchanan has a new book out.”

JH: “Yeah, I saw it. He claims that Hitler was unappreciated and misunderstood.”

JT: “Tough to misunderstand gas chambers and ovens.”

JT: “All Buchanan’s new book proves is that I was right.

JT: He’s a shape shifter.”

JH: “What do you mean?”

JT: “Every time he opens his mouth he makes an ass out of himself!”

JH: “You’re exaggerating.”

JT: “Not really, check it out.”

JT: “According to Buchanan,

JT: Hitler wanted to make nice with England,

JT: And divide up the world between them.”

JH: “What about the United States?”

JT: “Let’s just say that Buchanan dreams of the day,

JT: When he will stop being Irish Pat

JT: And start being Mine Furher.”

“Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War” Patrick J. Buchanan, Random House Price: $29.95

Nobody Daily – 6/25/08

G. W. BUSH AND E. HOWARD HUNT

Nobody Asked Me But:

“Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was ‘addicted to oil,’ and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: (drill up the coastline and) ‘Get more addicted to oil.’” Thomas Friedman

THE SHRINK: A cartoon strip without pictures.

The S. - Your life seems filled with danger.
CIA Guy – I laugh at danger!

The S. – You could be killed at any minute.
CIA Guy – I laugh at death!

The S. So what do you want from me?
CIA Guy – Help me to stop laughing!

The past few days I have been doing a (very) late spring cleaning of my computer and I discovered a 2004 interview in Slate Magazine with “Mr. Watergate,” E. Howard Hunt – THAT I SAVED AND NEVER READ. I am sure that none of you have had that experience.

Anyway, I read it and once again I wondered: Are honesty and morality in foreign policy simply foolish dreams – even in America? In the interview, Hunt talked about his CIA role in sparking a mid-1950s coup in Guatemala that deposed democratically elected President Jacobo Arbenz. Then, in the 60s, he claims to have played a significant part in the Bay of Pigs fiasco and later set Che up to be killed in Bolivia. And we all know what happened in the 1972 after Hunt had left the CIA – but that’s another story.

Perhaps the best summary of the attitude of Hunt and his CIA superiors can be seen in his answer below:

Slate: Some 200,000 civilians were killed in the civil war (Guatemala) following the coup, which lasted for the next 40 years. Were all those deaths unforeseen?

Hunt: Deaths? What deaths?

Nobody Daily – 6/24/08

LET GO OF IT ALL

Nobody Asked Me But:

“Let go of it all and see where it takes you.” James Kavanaugh

Many years ago, at a party, I found myself talking with a close friend and a friend of hers just in from Washington D.C. Both women were hugely ambitious and seemingly just a little uneasy with it. I, on the other hand, had just read the Kavanaugh poem below and was under its spell. I talked with them about “letting go of it all,” the plans and ambitions, the security and conquests, the high mountains and deep holes. I talked to them about finding oneself in laughter and peace - and in ultimate truth of the moment. I talked to them as if I had bought into Kavanaugh’s dream, because I had.

I think that they bought it too, but only for the moment. I am sure that as they returned to the demands of the party and, in the days after, to the demands of success, the moment faded. I know it did and does for me. But I hope they remembered our conversation, as I do, and found, as I have, a few moments in the days and years since when they could let it all go and be at one with themselves and with the world.


LET GO OF IT ALL

By James KAVANOUGH

Let go of it all and see where it takes you.
Let the money slide away and the tense young men
who talk of security and conquests.
Let the cars whiz by, the square jaws and too bright eyes.
stumble and fall and lie prone upon the earth
until you taste the dirt again and make friends with the fog.
Toss your plans aboard the first wind heading north
and your ambitions on a breeze heading south.
Let it all descend upon you like lava and sunshine
and let the clouds guide you as they will.
There is no mountain high enough to climb with
final satisfaction,
no hole deep enough to dig, no ocean vast enough to cross.
There is only laughter and peace and the present moment,
your breath in unison with the throbbing earth,
your flight as aimless and transient as the birds.
Let it all go and wash you like the rain,
Let it all go and buffet you like the wind,
Let it all go and see where it takes you
until you are one with the earth and all its
inhabitants.

Nobody Daily – 6/23/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Sunday my wife and I walked into Du-par’s and picked up a menu from the pile lying there. This is a little of what we saw:

SOUPS
Split Pea .15

SANDWICHES
American cheese .15
Swiss cheese .20
Bacon and tomato .30

Hamburger sandwich (lettuce,
pickle, special dressing on a
toasted bun) .20
Cheeseburger .25

SALADS
Chef’s salad bowl .35
Cottage cheese .20
Pineapple and cottage cheese .30

(All orders of salad served with
English walnut bread and butter)

OUR SPECIALTIES
Chicken pie .35
Hamburger steak (potatoes and
toasted roll) .50

BREAKFAST
Hotcakes (with bacon or
sausage) .40
Ham and two fresh eggs,
potatoes and toast .55
Bacon or sausage and two
fresh eggs, potatoes and toast .50
Buttered toast and jelly .10

DU-PAR’S FAMOUS PIES
Fresh green apple .15
Fresh boysenberry .15
Old fashioned lemon .15
Northwestern wild blackberry .20

(Ala mode or whipped cream .05)

Gill’s old fashioned ice cream .10

BEVERAGES
Manning’s delicious hot coffee .05
Manning’s blue label tea .10
Pot of Postum .10
Orange juice .10
Iced Coca Cola or root beer .10

We tried to quickly get seated before they changed their mind, but then we read the small print.

1938 menu for Du-par’s Farmhouse at the Farmer’s Market (Gladstone 7773)

Nobody Daily – 6/21/08

SATURDAY POTPOURRI

Nobody Asked Me But:

I recently picked my all-time Laker team, and since the Celtics bombed the purple and gold it is only fair to choose Boston’s all-timers.

And my all-time Celtic team:

PG – Bob Cousy
SG – John Havlicek
C – Bill Russell
SF – Larry Bird
PF – Kevin McHale

First off the bench

Robert Parish
Sam Jones

Robert Crais, who has a new Elvis Cole book coming out next week, has an interesting take on the novel as art. He says that the art and the novel are incomplete until the reader reads it.

Our daily bread is sometimes not so simple, especially if you are like me, are standing in total confusion at Trader Joe’s I just wanted a loaf of plain wheat but before me was Leviticus, 3:19 bread, barley bread, cheddar cheese bread, Swiss cheese bread, cottage cheese bread, wheat bread made without wheat, flourless bread, super flour bread, sea salt bread, sea pepper bread vitamin enriched bread and vitamin deficient bread – to name a few.

Finally I just closed my eyes and grabbed a loaf. I suppose I ended up with flat bread, because it sure tasted flat in our tuna sandwichs.

British historian Simon Schama said it, and I won’t say he is wrong – America’s moral rhetoric is too often a cover for self-interest.

In gasoline-subsidized Egypt, gas is about $1.30 per gallon. That’s cheaper than Blythe. I guess I know where to go for my Sunday fill-up.

Nobody Daily – 6/20/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

OF CHICKENS AND FRUSTRATION

FRUSTRATION FIRST

When I was a boy I loved Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses.” I memorized many of them. Here is one of my favorites, which I have always thought misnamed. Stevenson called it “Bed In Summer.” I prefer “A Child’s Frustration,” or just “Frustration.”

IN winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

And now for the chickens, or more specifically answers to one of the great philosophical questions of all time – why does a chicken cross the road?

PAT BUCHANAN: “To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.”

HILLARY CLINTON: “When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.”

BILL CLINTON: “I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?”

GRANDPA Jim: “In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.”

DICK CHENEY: “Where's my gun?”

Nobody Daily – 6/19/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival
Harrogate, England July 17-20

If you are a fan of crime fiction, would this not be a great book festival? The name is so delightful, so --- British.

Returning to my topic of three days ago, education, here are my thoughts on the three attributes of a great and successful teacher. He or she:

1. Is deeply caring about kids,
2. Has passion for what he or she is doing.
3. Has expertise in her or his subject(s).

ON THE LAKERS – YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW

Actually it was the day before yesterday when they were crushed by the Boston Celtics. What happened? They were out-defended, out-shot and, most importantly, out-toughed. Once more the more aggressive team won. The Celtics wanted it more.

However, we should not lose sight of the fact that the Lakers had a near-great year. They are young and, if Andrew Bynam returns whole, the future is theirs. This is not to say they should stand pat. It is time to move the wonderfully talented, woefully inconsistent Lamar Odom. A package of Odom, Luke Walton and Vladimer Radmanovic for an aggressive, highly-skilled, great shooting small forward would help them take the next step. That and:

A COMMITMENT TO PLAYING EXCELLENT DEFENSE!

Nobody Daily – 6/18/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

I am not into hero worship, but I am into respect for those I deem worthy. Among sports figures, I find fewer and fewer worthy. One who earns it from me is Tiger Woods. He does not thump his chest after every great, or even good, shot. He does not proclaim his greatness verbally. At some point he must have listened to my mother and grandmother, because he allows his actions to speak louder than his words. His victory Monday in the U. S. Open over the field, over Rocco and over a bad knee was one for the ages.

Here is a great Tiger story (I am sorry, but I do not remember the source):

"The coverage of him often centers upon this question: How did this creature come about? The articles inevitably mention his precocity (at age 3, he shot a 48 on the front nine of a regulation course) and provide examples of his athletic prowess: Once Woods tried out four drivers that Nike was experimenting with and told the lab guys that he preferred the heavier one. The researchers thought the clubs were the same weight, but they measured and Woods was right. The club he’d selected was heavier by the equivalent of two cotton balls."

Nobody Daily – 6/17/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Yesterday was gay wedding day in Los Angeles, and a paraphrase of the traditional ceremony seems to me to be most appropriate:

Whom love has joined together let no initiative measure put asunder.

David Brooks had a very interesting column in The NY Times on June 13 in which he defined the two schools of thought on what is best to do about the problems of public education. Here they are with my comments following.

The status quo camp:

1. Poverty and broad social factors drive high dropout rates and other bad outcomes.
2. Schools alone can’t combat that, so more money should go to health care programs, anti-poverty initiatives and after-school and pre-K programs.
3. When it comes to improving schools, we need to spend more on what we’re already (feebly) trying to do: smaller class sizes, better instruction, better teacher training.

The reformist camp:

1. The greatest need is for rigorous accountability and changing the fundamental structure of school systems.
2. Today’s school systems aren’t broken, the reformers argue. They were designed to meet the needs of teachers and adults first, and that’s exactly what they are doing. It’s time, though, to put the interests of students first.
3. Change the structure of the system, not just spend more on the same old things.
4. Tough decisions have to be made about who belongs in the classroom and who doesn’t.
5. Parents have to be given more control over education through public charter schools.
6. Teacher contracts and state policies that keep ineffective teachers in the classroom need to be revised.
7. Accountability has to be rigorous and relentless.

I think that the truth is somewhere in between:

1. Spend more money. Quality does not come at bargain prices.
2. Break the power of teacher unions, district administrators and the politicians who have opinions about education, but no expertise.
3. Get rid of bad teachers and administrators, keep the good ones and reward the excellent ones.
4. Emphasize accountability but not solely or even mainly evaluated by standardized tests for this is the way to destroy creativity.

Nobody Daily – 6/16/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Senator John McCain on the Supreme Court’s recent Guantanamo decision: “These are unlawful combatants.” Ah, Senator, don’t you mean ACCUSED unlawful combatants? Or in your twisted system of justice are they guilty until proven innocent?

McCain then went on to say: “I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”

Is this grandiose statement by the Senator hyperbole or stupidity? It is certainly the first, but my vote goes for the second.

Today, like McCain, many people want to deny Constitutional rights to the suspected terrorists. Who will it be tomorrow? Jews? Catholics? Muslims? Gays? Immigrants? Women? Me? You?

Nobody Daily – 6/14/08

SATURDAY POTPOURRI

Nobody Asked Me But:

Last night was an incredible experience. There, on stage, were arguably the greatest coach (John Wooden) and the greatest sports announcer (Vin Scully) in history, and I was there watching and listening. 177 years of wisdom and experience (Wooden - 97 and Scully - 80) for me to soak up. Coach, at first seemed a little frail, but once they fixed his microphone and, especially once he got to do his favorite thing – teach, (a 12-year-old boy recovering from cancer how to put on his socks - no wrinkles, and tennis shoes - tighten each section of lace and double tie) he was his old self. Vinny was so good that he gave lie to my concern that because he makes an occasional mistake broadcasting the Dodger games he must be showing his age. T. J. Simmers asked great questions as they talked and laughed about life and love. It was wonderful!

Sad but Swampland true - "On the night of the Pennsylvania primary, Bill was eagerly checking to see who had swayed more voters — him or Hillary."

There have been over 100 people sentenced to death row who were later found to be innocent. Can we morally tolerate that?

In his blog, Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal, who has been mentioned as a potential veep for McCain, talks about witnessing the exorcism of a female friend he identifies only as Susan. Perhaps Mc Cain will choose him and use him to exorcise all national memory of our current president.

From a Times review of “The Incredible Hulk.” “But let’s not get carried away: “The Adequate Hulk” would have been a more suitable title.”

Here is my scoreboard on Boumediene v. Bush, No. 06-1195 – the Guantanamo case:

Justice 5, injustice 4

Fifth amendment 5, imperial; presidency 4

Morality 5, immorality 4

A quote from the majority in the above case - “Liberty and security can be reconciled.”

When it is all said and done about my Lakers, there is no more to be said. They are done!

Post Script: What a great moment – Scully, recalling his barbershop quartet youth, led us all in singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.”

Nobody Daily – 6/12

WHAT BARRACK FACES

Nobody Asked Me But:

I think that I first heard this story, and yes, it may be apocryphal, from Bill Cosby at Whisky A Go Go many years ago.

A black astronaut lands on Mars. He was greeted by a creature with 20 legs, 10 arms covered with tentacles and a huge eye that covered 70% of his body. The astronaut, not being able to figure out which hand to shake, simply extended his arm. The Martian ignored it and said, “You’re not marrying my daughter either!”

If you could peer into the heart of the too-many racists that still live in the United States you would find the same ugliness and fear. Obama won’t convert them, but he can win despite them. And he will not be the only victor.

Any setback for the haters is a win for America.

Nobody Daily – 6/12/08

TWO SUBJECTS

Nobody Asked Me But:

It’s my trash, damn it! So why is it that the trash God has ruled that once I place my trash container in the street, next to the curb, it becomes public property. And I mean public. Any Tom, Dick or Harriet is free to poke amongst my refuge for a piece of garbage or bank account number.

I don’t really begrudge the bite for the hungry, and I carefully destroy personal information, but it is the principle of the thing. Once the city picks it up, I cheerfully relinquish ownership, but as long as it sits in front of our house, it’s my trash, damn it!

Our soon-to-be ex-president gave an interesting interview last week to the London Times. For the first time, he seemed to express some small regret for the way he handled the decision to go to war with Iraq. “I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric.”

It doesn’t take much imagination to hear his hidden message. “I should not have listened so closely to Dick Cheney.”

Nobody Daily – 6/11/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run Monday night. That places him at number 6 in career home runs. And there could have been so many more. Had he not suffered numerous injuries, most caused by his “take no prisoners,” “leave-it-all-on-the- field” style of play, he would have left both Babe and the Bonds far in his wake.

A look at statistics will prove my point. Griffey, in his career, has averaged 40 home runs a season. That figure includes the injury years when his output was significantly less. If you do nothing more than credit him with his 40 home run average and he would be at 800 now, and he would almost certainly have exceeded his average several times during those years when he was forced to be a part time player. The injuries were who he was, but it is a shame that they cost him so much.

In my opinion, Griffey Jr., when he was younger and whole, was the best player in baseball since the “Say Hey Kid” roamed center field first at the Polo Grounds and later at Candlestick.

Nobody Daily – 6/10/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

MOVIE COMEDIES

To be fair movie comedies must be divided into two categories – straight and romantic. I measure straight comedies by laugh-out-louds, while romantic comedies make me laugh sometimes, smile a lot and usually have a moment or two when my heart warms and I glow all over.

An example from each category: I have seen “Young Frankenstein” a dozen or more times so I know what the laugh lines are and when they are coming, and still I laugh. I have seen “Sleepless In Seattle” almost as many times and every time that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan finally get together on top of the Empire State Building I feel warm fuzzies.

So here are my favorites in each category:

COMEDIES

1. “Young Frankenstein”

2. “Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb”

3. “Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein”

4. “M*A*S*H*”

5. “Bananas”

Runners up – in no particular order: “A Night At The Opera,” “What’s Up Doc?,” “The Captain’s Paradise,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”

ROMANTIC COMEDIES

1. “It Happened One Night”

2. The Woody Allen trilogy – “Anne Hall,” “Manhattan,” “Hannah And Her Sisters”

3. “Adam’s Rib”

4. “Sleepless In Seattle”

5. “Lost In Translation”

Runners up – in no particular order: “When Harry Met Sally,” “As Good As It Gets,” “My Favorite Wife.”

Nobody Daily – 6/7/0

Nobody Asked Me But:

WE CAN TRULY PROGRESS TOWARDS BEING CIVILIZED WHEN:

Brain directs brawn.

Children are persons to love, not objects to be exploited.

Someone who produces Hillary shaped nutcrackers goes broke.

Men stop being afraid of women.

White men stop being afraid of black men.

Courtesy once more becomes the coin of the realm.

Violence is more of a taboo than is sex.

People are secure enough in their free speech that they don’t have to be vulgar in public.

We become better listeners.

Nobody Daily – 6/7/08

SATURDAY POTPOURRI

Nobody Asked Me But:

Yes, I think Paul Pierce was faking it Thursday.

Memo to Barack Obama: When you become president next January be sure to keep Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in his current position. He is pretty impressive – for a Republican.

TO TELL THE TRUTH – will the real John McCain please step forward?

Is it:

This one – “In an interview about his views on the limits of executive power with The Boston Globe six months ago, Mr. McCain strongly suggested that if he became the next commander in chief, he would consider himself obligated to obey a statute restricting what he did in national security matters.”

Or

This one – Earlier this past week a key McCain advisor, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said his candidate believed that the Constitution gave Mr. Bush the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and e-mail without warrants, despite a 1978 federal statute that required court oversight of surveillance.

Israel and the Palestinians - according to Zohan’s mother: "They've been fighting for 2,000 years, it can't be much longer."

FYI - For every 100,000 people in the U.S., 737 are in prison. The only other major country with more than 350 is Russia with 613.

Now tell me there are not several screws loose in our laws, our system of justice and our society.

I wrote the following 12 years ago in my third Nobody. I still strongly believe it to be true.

There still needs to be some kind of limit placed on the right of defense lawyers to introduce implausible theories for the sole purpose of confusing jurors and, thereby, introducing a "reasonable" doubt. Yes, they need to give their client the best possible defense, but they, too, should be sworn to seek justice!!!

Nobody Daily – 6/6/08

“Americans are gun-crazed, violent rednecks…” Stephen Hunter, in his Washington Post review today of “Zohan.”

Nobody Asked Me But:

“Naughty bits?”

Those planning to ride in the first Tucson World Naked Bike Ride have been warned that if they expose their “naughty bits” - genitals, or anus (men and women) nipple or areola (women) they will be subject to arrest. And isn’t that like my former home – keep your powder dry and your body covered?

Seriously. Republican legislatures want to allow teachers, students and you and I on the street to carry as long as we are clothed. But I suppose that it makes sense in a perverted sort of way. How can you tote a concealed weapon while wearing only your birthday suit?

And isn’t the whole thing characteristic of our Puritan heritage? Violence, YES! Sex, NO!

Nobody Daily – 6/5/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

My definition of excellence for a book is that it holds my interest while making me think and feel. Richard Russo’s “Bridge Of Sighs” qualifies on all three accounts.

The novel’s two main characters are word pictures of contrasting ways to live. One is almost always good and kind. The other is on occasion a bastard. One takes risks and follows impulses. The other has no desire to do so. One challenges the real world. The other builds a fantasy world where love and kindness always triumph, or at least should.

I liked both of these men, but I liked the risk-taker far more. That’s why the book made me feel uneasy. I used to be a risk-taker – and a pretty nice guy too. But as my years pile up, I have mostly settled on being, and please forgive my lack of modesty here, the nice guy.

Don’t misunderstand. I like my life. I like who I am. But I would like both better if I took a few more chances. It is not easy, especially as one gets older and the list of risk possibilities gets shorter. But it is possible. I can still wrap one arm around all that I hold dear and with the other reach for some star upon which I have wished.

So this is why “Bridge Of Sighs” was an excellent book. It reminded me of who I am – and who I want to be.

Nobody Daily – 6/4/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

“A gaffe is an accidental disclosure of a political truth.” Michael Kinsley

VOTING FOR VEEP

Here are my reasons for being Hillary ambivalent.

Positives:

I would be thrilled to see the U. S. voters break both barriers, color and sex, simultaneously.

I think H could be a great VP.

Negatives:

She could be a headache for Obama if she tried to overshadow him, which, given her intense ambition, is a strong possibility, perhaps even a probability.

She also would bring “Bill baggage,” another problem that Barack doesn't need.

My anger about her campaign choices runs deep. Stupid lies and white pandering should not be rewarded.

Bottom line:

Of course I will vote for an Obama/Clinton ticket, but I hope he chooses someone else.

Nobody Daily – 6/3/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Recipe for success:

Take one bite of Coldstone sweet cream with raspberries mixed in.
Take a second along with a sip of Starbucks black.
Repeat the formula until your ice cream cup is empty.
Cry.

More food news

I bought the book “Hamburger America” a couple of days ago mostly because the great pictures made me hungry. In case you are interested, California leads all states with nine recommended hamburger stops. Texas was runner-up with eight. Of course, Apple Pan was on the list. The book would be a farce without it. Also there was Pie ”N Burger in Pasadena, which brings up a bit of controversy. My wife and I agree that it belongs, BUT she rates it as equal with Apple Pan. Following Coach Wooden’s advice to disagree without being disagreeable, I just sadly shake my head.

And talk about food fate.

Three weeks ago, while returning from Carmel, we stopped at La Super Rica for a Mexican feast. Another couple from Florida was eating there for the first time. They asked us what we liked and during the conversation mentioned a hamburger spot they discovered and loved in Ocean Beach called HODAD’S. Sure enough, it is listed in “Hamburger America.” I guess we will have to make a San Diego trip soon.

Nobody Daily – 6/2/08

Nobody Asked Me But:

Ted Kennedy is being operated on as I write. History throws us so many curve balls. Who would have thought that the man who was once considered to be the pigmy among the Kennedy boys would become a giant in the Senate? Senator Kennedy is a rarity in today’s savage political landscape, a passionate partisan who can still work closely with Republicans when the need dictates.

Kennedy had his devils, but when he dies, hopefully far down the road, he will be seen as an American angel - in his home state, in his nation and on both sides of the aisle.