Baseball Today

Sweaterman and I are going south for some spring training baseball. We'll be seeing the Kansas City Royals play the Seattle Mariners in Peoria today, and the Dodgers versus the Diamondbacks in Tucson tomorrow.

Given all the snow we've had in Flagstaff this winter, it's going to feel really nice to bask in the sunshine and watch the games. In fact, I think we should be able to write the trip off as a medical expense. Therapy for winter depression, I believe.

Posting unlikely until Sunday, I'm guessing.

Friday Boobies

How to plant an egg.

Stockholm Syndrome

I'm out to see Stockholm Syndrome tonight.
I can't get the videos to embed, but here are a couple of links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9-FDoprLho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHFXM58k5w0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMqkYSPkwbk
This is the best band that will never get famous that I've ever seen. Fearguth, I wish you were here.
(added: the third video is by far the best. "American Fork" is a song I can relate to.)

Very Sad News

One of America's most colorful activists has left us:

Former U.S. Senate candidate and longtime political activist Doris "Granny D" Haddock has died. She was 100.

Haddock gained national recognition when she walked across the country to call attention to the issue of campaign finance reform. The trip started in 1999 and ended in 2000.

"At 90 years old, I walked across the country -- 3,200 miles," she told News 9 in a January interview. "I walked every step."

Born in Laconia in a time when there was no electricity and only two cars were on the street, Haddock said that she wanted to be an actress but was asked to leave college when she got married in 1930.

"I set up a one-man show and went around to the various small villages in New England and did a stand-up show," she said. "My word, I haven't told anyone about that in years."

Reaction to news of Haddock's death came in swiftly from Granite State political figures.

"Doris 'Granny D' Haddock was eloquent, funny, powerful -- and one of a kind," said U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes. "New Hampshire lost a hero tonight, and while Granny D will be truly missed, she will never be forgotten."

http://www.wmur.com/news/22792574/detail.html#

I got to meet Granny D. during her 1999 walk, and again in 2000 at a campaign rally, and I found her to be a truly delightful person. She was quietly fiery, if such a contradiction in descriptions is possible. Always charming, she was dedicated to reforming the campaign system so that we might actually elect people who truly represent us. An idealistic crusade to be sure, but one she advocated with great courage and character.

She will truly be missed.

You're Weird, Dude

The saga of Eric Massa's (D-NY) resignation has been a very strange one. But one thing is now clear: he's a very strange man. Here's a description of his appearance with the incredibly weird Glenn Beck, where Massa out 'weirds' even Beck.
Massa flat out admits that he 'groped" and 'tickled' male staff members, and that he told a staff member, after 'about 15 gin and tonics' "I should be fracking you", although he insisted it wasn't "sexual". Three staff members made "sexual harassment" charges with the house ethics committee.
Whether "sexual" or not, that is exceedingly inappropriate behavior. No supervisor should ever 'grope' an employee, regardless of intent. That should be obvious to anybody with a normal amount of respect for others. But in Massa's hedonistic bubble it was "no big deal", although he sort of, kind of admitted that it was a "mistake."
And, '15 G-andT's'? That's serious alcoholic territory, and a sign that you're clearly unfit for office, IMHO.

Un-Post

Sorry, but I'm in a foul mood. William Kristol, Tom Delay, Liz Cheney, et. al. show up on my TV. But they're not on trial. They are instead promoted as "experts", and taken "very seriously" by somebody.
That is just wrong.
But I'm not up to writing a good post about it all.
I have a toothache.
I blame it on the republicans.