Blacklidge

First video of Busch Gardens' baby rhino

The War, and How the Beat Goes On

I've been listening to the news shows that have been hashing over the Obama speech from the other night. Not all of them are left wing, some are more middle of the road, yet none of them are right wing. Why let them put their nastiness in one more head, is mostly what I figure. Now that we have 24 hour news shows on dozens of channels, I imagine a person in government or even the fringes of government could find a show to be on as often as they want to. I am not in favor of letting this war stretch out, however, I don't think cutting and running will do any of the parties any good. The days of analyzing and hand wringing have reminded me of why being a politician is such a thankless job. The Dems are not happy, the Republicans are maybe a bit happy. The thing is, the Republicans hate Obama so much that it won't help him in any way when it comes down to getting things passed in Congress and it sure won't make a single one of them vote for him. So who cares if they are happy? They have behaved so poorly since his election that they are a total embarrassment to America. At least when Bush was in office, the Dems didn't have ongoing, loud vendettas against him and he, by the way, was the biggest loser we ever had to contend with. And what in the world is Joe Lieberman doing? I think I would rather have a Republican in office in his place if it meant I'd never have to look at his face again. A traitor to his party and a self aggrandizing buffoon, at that! Well, the've had open forums on all the news shows for several days now and it is clear that nothing Obama could have done would have made very many people happy. It's odd that military folks, who may have a better chance at staying home, seem to want more troops, ratherthan less. I guess it is their way, the military way. Just like in wars before this one, we are sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place, damned if we do and damned if don't. If only Bush had never turned his quavery, watery eyes toward Iraq, we might have been a lot further ahead in Afghanistan now. If only, if only. If only Dick Cheney would shut his troll-like mouth and leave us alone. That at least, would be some relief from the worry about the war. Who took him out of his toy box and wound him up, anyway? All of this will play out, eventually, and we will still be here, (the lord willing and the global warming don't get us!), but I want to point out to the politicians: America never got over Vietnam. We never did.

Thanksgiving at the Grand Canyon

Brrr! Very cold there, especially at sunrise. Beautiful though, of course. Tons of folks there, mostly from other countries. A good time to go there, all in all.

The Night Life

I used to like to go to concerts, whenever I got a chance. As time went on, smaller venues were important to me, crowds became sort of unbearable. Not because of any mental illness, just because they usually were unbearable. When I lived in Denver, there were several places to see music, most closed up in the eighties.  Could have been due to the dire economy in Colorado at the time, I'm not sure. Of course, Red Rocks rules, as it always has and I saw lots of concerts there. There used to be a place called Rainbow Music Hall, where I saw Bruce Cockburn, a long, long time ago. Shortly after that, they changed it into a Walgreens. Yeah, Baby, that's how we treat our cultural places. Now that I am, shall we say, past it, I really would rather stay in and listen to a cd or watch someone on the telly. Here in Tucson, there are a few nice places to listen to acts,The Fox Theater, some places on campus, some larger venues. I've been to most and now, I feel confident that I can stay home if I want. Others may think that it is sort of a cop out to behave this way, but hey, everyone gets to choose their lifestyle and I choose homeward bound. If I were single and needed to get out, I probably would. It's a habit, you know, going out or staying in. I have settled into a habit of staying in and I like it! Once in awhile I can exert myself, I'm not a total freak, but it has to be a band or person that I will regret notseeing. I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn once, in Boulder. I was so sick that night, my husband had to drag me out, but I am so glad he did and that remains one of the best concerts I ever saw. And, of course, Stevie is gone. See? The pros have to outweigh the cons. You never know when an artist might die or crash or whatever, but as we all get older, you have to think about the mortality factor. More things to think about when your favorite folks swing through town. What brought this to mind is my friend in Austin, TX, complaining about the half dozen shows going on this weekend. Great shows:Charlie Musselwhite, James McMurtry, Lyle Lovett to name but a few. Made me tired just reading about it on facebook. Of course, Austin is Austin. I don't care who's in Texas, Bob Wills is still the king!

Health Care Battles

Here we go! The people who should be helping Americans, especially now, are just going to start battling away. The Republicans just don't care if we ever get health care and the Democrats are going to get so bound up in political correctness and their own inability to get together and wipe the Republicans out completely. The Republicans have no problem once they get their filthy hands on the reins of the country, they go for the throat. The Dems, historically, start in-fighting and bickering and get absolutely nothing done. I guess Obama should have realized that his team has that fatal flaw, before he even got in there.

Health care is available in almost any developed country in the world. It can be done here. Really, it can. The politicians are manipulating us and we are going to have to go without, because of the lobbyists and large companies that run our congress.  It is very sad but I know there is no way that the citizens will rise up and protest and demonstrate like we did in the sixties. Apathy rules and the politicians are banking on that.  

Jury Duty

Well, I was supposed to call about jury duty in late October but I spaced it completely out. I mean, gone, baby, gone! So, being ever friendly, Pima County sent me a nasty gram with a few threats and I called them up. They were nice and set me up for this week. I got down there this morning and went through most of the day there. I really have a couple of appointments this week that I cannot miss, so I was angling for a pass. Nowadays they aren't so easy on folks trying to get out of jury duty. That is why I was there all day. I managed to convince the first judge that I needed to not be there all week so he sent me back to the office for another try. Later, after lunch, they sent me to another judge, for an equally long trial. If either one of them had been for today or just today and tomorrow, I would have been there. Both of these trials were for the whole week. So, I managed to escape, long about 3:00. Then, of course, I felt guilty. I really had to go to one of my appointments, no rescheduling. Still, I felt like a cad as I was driving away. Ah, well, better luck next time. One thing I thought was odd, was that the plaintiff from the first trial was wandering amongst the possible jurists in the afternoon. A guy on trial for aggravated assault and attempted murder. That was a bit of a shock. I sort of made a maneuver away from him. He made me nervous.

Halloweenie!

I know that I am just taking the line of least resistance when I turn out the lights and pretend that I am not home on Halloween. I have done it for a long time. It's just that when I do it, I feel like a fraud. I usually have candy anyway, but I usually blame it on the dog. I don't want to scare her, after all. She actually did okay tonight, with the few kids who braved the door without a light. She barked a bit but was okay when I gave the candy out. When I was younger, I went to parties or out for the evening. Now, I'd rather stay home most of the time. When I had my coffee shop in Globe, Az, the whole downtown area would stay open late and give candy out from the storefronts. It was a safe and fun way to get them out to show us their costumes. I think that those years were my best Halloween years. Most of the time, we would underestimate how many kids there would be and have to send someone over to Safeway on the run, for more candy. Anyway, it is dieing down for this year. Maybe I'll go to the movies next year. Remind me, would you?

Sarah Palin's Lies

Somehow, during the last election, I got signed up with a bunch of political organizations. All left wing, of course. All of them keep sending me things, most of which I delete on arrival. I got one the other day from the Democratic Party about Sarah Palin. They wanted me (and whoever else they could get) to put bad things about that crazy bitch on our Facebook accounts. Well, now, when I was very young, my mother taught about how to deal with people like her. Ignore her. That's right, ignore her. Don't give her anymore publicity than she is already getting. I think the Democrats should get some early childhood education on how to deal with annoying people. Yes, she is annoying. Yes, we all wish she would crawl back under the rock that John McCain found her under. Giving her more face time or press will not make her go away. It will work in just the opposite way. Get a grip, Democrats! Oh, and by the way, can you get all of your people together and do something now that you have a majority? If not, well, we may not be seeing so much of you in the future.

Health Care Continues To Be A Big Deal

I wish they would just get something passed sometime soon. I worry that there won't be a public option. Really, if there isn't a public option, why even bother to go through all of this? The insurance ghouls have those politicians by the short hairs and if they pass something without having a way to control them, we will all be so very sorry. How many Americans have called or written with their insistence that a public option is necessary? We need to keep calling and keep writing, and start little crib notes on who not to vote for next time.

Why is it that our politicians are even able to take money from big groups like the insurance companies? I thought that some laws were passed to keep them out of the politician's business. If we had a system where the public paid for the elections, with a very low cap on the amount spent, none of this would be happening. Our system is so corrupt that there doesn't seem to be a way to fix it. Why do they need to spend huge fortunes on elections, every time one rolls around? We all get sick of the negative campaigns, the commercials on every channel, the bitterness that it all stirs up. Until we as Americans wake up and realize we're being robbed by this over class of government, the cycle will just repeat itself. Even though it is an off year, this one has had way too much political wrangling to suit me. At least the evil, insurance company-bought-and-paid-for-stooges aren't raising such a commotion anymore.What a blip in our history. I guess this is no more bitter than lots of other portions of our political history, it just seems worse because of the reliance on the new medias to get stuff out there, in a quicker, more nasty way. Luckily, our side has the advantage on the internet and television smarts. I suppose it will all pass soon enough, and with any hope, our lives will be a little better because of all the effort now.

Call your state's house and senate people. Tell them what you want. Do it today. Do it again tomorrow.

Finally, the Fall!

I lived in Colorado, most of my life. You can tell when the season is changing there. Any season. You can see it, feel it and know that it is coming. Not so much so here in the desert. We've been waiting for a change in the 100 degree heat for a long, long time. Well, it is finally here! We're all so excited. Yeah, 70s, 80s, 90s. Life is good!