Republican Convention
This is a week of somewhat grim endurance, though watching the Republicans in showcase mode also has its lighter, surreally humorous side too. I've been amused at watching Bush and his surrogates wriggle around his "can't win/will win" the war on terrorism contradictions of the last 36 hours or so. And tonight's bill of Laura Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger offers significant potential for theater of the bizarre, dressed up to look oh so soothingly normal. But I can't help feel a little bit discouraged at the thought that many of my fellow citizens are seriously eating this stuff up and that it may indeed lead toward the election of a man who I still have a hard time taking seriously (in terms of respecting the guy) as president of a great and powerful nation. It's like life is playing a sick and disturbing joke on those of us who care about the well-being and the future of the human race by entrusting such powers to a man and an administration that has so completely lost track of what its priorities ought to be.
But after reading some of the early chapters of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire several months ago, I am coming to recognize that things have been this way for a long time - Big Power has a way of attracting the biggest scoundrels a society can produce, and somehow the world has found a way to survive all the braggarts, bullies and buffoons who have aspired to positions of (relative) world dominance.
So if that's what we're in for for the next four years (and probably more), perhaps there is a character- or soul-building lesson in it all for me. In any case, I have to be prepared to deal with whatever, and do what I can to affect the outcome however it lies within my abilities to do so.
Sigh........
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Tour of Duty
I just finished Doug Brinkley's biography of John Kerry, Tour of Duty, about Kerry's experiences surrounding the Vietnam War. Of course, it's been quite a hot topic in recent months, capped most recently by the controversy generated by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic) who have attempted to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Kerry's medals, service and qualifications for the presidency.
I won't bother to do a full review here, but after reading the concluding chapters, which deal with Kerry's post-war experience as an activist and aspiring politician, I can see more clearly how the ghost of Nixon continues to hover over our national discourse, and how the forces that led to his rise to power and governed his administration continue to exert their influence through Bush and his supporters. The same smear and fear tactics that we see going on today were employed against Kerry before he was even elected, back when he was just creating a name for himself as an anti-war spokesman. It's a pretty serious and entrenched problem facing our society - there are people in powerful positions who are willing to abandon all scruples in order to protect their right to use violence and aggression as means to acquiring even more power, regardless of the impact it may leave on innocent lives and communities. This is over and above all the revulsion that I feel toward the Bush administration, and it saddens me that so many people in this country are willing to buy into the status quo that this group has established. I honestly think Kerry is wanting to address this problem, but understands how difficult it would be to get elected on that platform, because so many citizens have been coopted into thinking that military might is America's distinctive and defining characteristic. Perhaps it is, but that is not how it should be - and in any case, we are already so far superior in that regard to every other nation on earth that I think we could significantly reduce our military capability, dedicate those resources to more constructive, humanitarian purposes, and lead by example rather than by intimidation and coercion, as Bush has clearly demonstrated is his preference.
Anyway, Tour of Duty is a good book, recommended reading I would say, if one is interested in getting a closer look at what makes John Kerry tick.
I just finished Doug Brinkley's biography of John Kerry, Tour of Duty, about Kerry's experiences surrounding the Vietnam War. Of course, it's been quite a hot topic in recent months, capped most recently by the controversy generated by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic) who have attempted to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Kerry's medals, service and qualifications for the presidency.
I won't bother to do a full review here, but after reading the concluding chapters, which deal with Kerry's post-war experience as an activist and aspiring politician, I can see more clearly how the ghost of Nixon continues to hover over our national discourse, and how the forces that led to his rise to power and governed his administration continue to exert their influence through Bush and his supporters. The same smear and fear tactics that we see going on today were employed against Kerry before he was even elected, back when he was just creating a name for himself as an anti-war spokesman. It's a pretty serious and entrenched problem facing our society - there are people in powerful positions who are willing to abandon all scruples in order to protect their right to use violence and aggression as means to acquiring even more power, regardless of the impact it may leave on innocent lives and communities. This is over and above all the revulsion that I feel toward the Bush administration, and it saddens me that so many people in this country are willing to buy into the status quo that this group has established. I honestly think Kerry is wanting to address this problem, but understands how difficult it would be to get elected on that platform, because so many citizens have been coopted into thinking that military might is America's distinctive and defining characteristic. Perhaps it is, but that is not how it should be - and in any case, we are already so far superior in that regard to every other nation on earth that I think we could significantly reduce our military capability, dedicate those resources to more constructive, humanitarian purposes, and lead by example rather than by intimidation and coercion, as Bush has clearly demonstrated is his preference.
Anyway, Tour of Duty is a good book, recommended reading I would say, if one is interested in getting a closer look at what makes John Kerry tick.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Saturday Morning
I've just been frittering away some time today, since my options are pretty open at the moment. I could be on a bus right now heading off to New York City to protest at the Republican National Convention, but I declined that choice, choosing to remain a homebody instead, saving myself the trouble of explaining why I would want to go hang out with a quarter million radical peaceniks to my relatives who "just wouldn't understand."
So instead I've been figuring out how to post photos to my blog, which you can see I succeeded at, by checking out the pic in my profile. Next I want to find out how to insert some links like I had with my old template. This is one of the blogger.com freebies that I'm using now, mainly because it's all black and matches my pomoxian.com website, at least slightly. I would like to learn more about creating a cooler looking blog, or at least using someone else's source code to make mine better, but I am too easily distracted by browsing and any number of other things that I can do on my computer. FOCUS, I need to FOCUS!!!
It's been awhile since I had much to say of a decidedly spiritual nature on this blog, so let me see what I can come up with at the moment. I am feeling pretty liberated these days, not so hung up with doctrinal entanglements and fine-point debates. I just feel free in Christ, at peace with who I am, what I believe and what I am not sure about and what I consider to be in the range of acceptable personal opinions and preferences when it comes to some of the issues that many Christians (and others) consider divisive or controversial. I can read the Bible humbly, let it speak to me from its foreign and ancient perspective, and not get upset if something I read there doesn't make sense or seem particularly relevant. I look on that kind of material as relics from an amazing story and experiences that led to where we are at today and will continue to shape our future in many ways. Even though a lot has changed and there is so much more to factor in to our understanding of and response to the world.
So does that make sense? I could articulate myself more precisely, but uncertain of who even reads this blog, I will leave it at that for now.
I've just been frittering away some time today, since my options are pretty open at the moment. I could be on a bus right now heading off to New York City to protest at the Republican National Convention, but I declined that choice, choosing to remain a homebody instead, saving myself the trouble of explaining why I would want to go hang out with a quarter million radical peaceniks to my relatives who "just wouldn't understand."
So instead I've been figuring out how to post photos to my blog, which you can see I succeeded at, by checking out the pic in my profile. Next I want to find out how to insert some links like I had with my old template. This is one of the blogger.com freebies that I'm using now, mainly because it's all black and matches my pomoxian.com website, at least slightly. I would like to learn more about creating a cooler looking blog, or at least using someone else's source code to make mine better, but I am too easily distracted by browsing and any number of other things that I can do on my computer. FOCUS, I need to FOCUS!!!
It's been awhile since I had much to say of a decidedly spiritual nature on this blog, so let me see what I can come up with at the moment. I am feeling pretty liberated these days, not so hung up with doctrinal entanglements and fine-point debates. I just feel free in Christ, at peace with who I am, what I believe and what I am not sure about and what I consider to be in the range of acceptable personal opinions and preferences when it comes to some of the issues that many Christians (and others) consider divisive or controversial. I can read the Bible humbly, let it speak to me from its foreign and ancient perspective, and not get upset if something I read there doesn't make sense or seem particularly relevant. I look on that kind of material as relics from an amazing story and experiences that led to where we are at today and will continue to shape our future in many ways. Even though a lot has changed and there is so much more to factor in to our understanding of and response to the world.
So does that make sense? I could articulate myself more precisely, but uncertain of who even reads this blog, I will leave it at that for now.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Birthday Loot!
As a 43 year old "man who has everything" (well, everything that I can think of within the price range of those who would buy me gifts) I've made it my habit to just ask for DVDs. So here's what I got for my birthday yesterday.
From my mom: Laurence Olivier's version of Richard III and Welles' Citizen Kane
From my grandma: Bogart and Bacall in The Big Sleep
From my children: Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein
I was pretty delighted with everyone's choices. I make fairly lengthy wishlists so that the element of surprise is maintained, so it's interesting to see what folks come up with. My kids' choices were genuinely surprising though - I hadn't put them on my lists, but I love those movies anyway and I think they wanted to avoid any duplication of what others might have bought. Plus, of course, both films are little on the vulgar side, so it's kind of wierd getting slightly naughty gifts from my kids, but then, they did get me Michael Moore's The Awful Truth for Fathers Day!
I also got the Ab Lounge 2 from Julie, which I requested because I really need to work off my gut. All those years of sitting at the desk, I'm getting sick of wearing pants that are too tight around the waste.
Also, we got our new mattress and box spring yesterday, and boy is that comfortable! We've been using the same mattress for almost 20 years now so we got our money's worth out of it, I must say. Julie and I got it when we were newlyweds living out in California. All four of our children were conceived on that mattress! But it's gone now... they took it away and after getting a great night's sleep I don't miss it a bit.
As a 43 year old "man who has everything" (well, everything that I can think of within the price range of those who would buy me gifts) I've made it my habit to just ask for DVDs. So here's what I got for my birthday yesterday.
From my mom: Laurence Olivier's version of Richard III and Welles' Citizen Kane
From my grandma: Bogart and Bacall in The Big Sleep
From my children: Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein
I was pretty delighted with everyone's choices. I make fairly lengthy wishlists so that the element of surprise is maintained, so it's interesting to see what folks come up with. My kids' choices were genuinely surprising though - I hadn't put them on my lists, but I love those movies anyway and I think they wanted to avoid any duplication of what others might have bought. Plus, of course, both films are little on the vulgar side, so it's kind of wierd getting slightly naughty gifts from my kids, but then, they did get me Michael Moore's The Awful Truth for Fathers Day!
I also got the Ab Lounge 2 from Julie, which I requested because I really need to work off my gut. All those years of sitting at the desk, I'm getting sick of wearing pants that are too tight around the waste.
Also, we got our new mattress and box spring yesterday, and boy is that comfortable! We've been using the same mattress for almost 20 years now so we got our money's worth out of it, I must say. Julie and I got it when we were newlyweds living out in California. All four of our children were conceived on that mattress! But it's gone now... they took it away and after getting a great night's sleep I don't miss it a bit.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Bob and Willie Follow-up
I never made it out to Fifth Third Park after all. I had to do some driving around of the kids and it just didn't work. But today's GR Press did a write up if you are curious...
I never made it out to Fifth Third Park after all. I had to do some driving around of the kids and it just didn't work. But today's GR Press did a write up if you are curious...
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson
The two living legends are on a tour of minor league baseball stadiums, and tonight they are in Grand Rapids! But I'm passing up the show, because it's $46 bucks a ticket, my wife doesn't like either of their vocal styles, and I just have other priorities right now as far as spending my money is concerned. Like college tuition for my daughter, dental/orthodontic expenses for two of my children, a new car, paying bills and alleviating some old debts. Maybe I'll go play some mini-golf next door to the ballpark and listen for free while Julie and my grandma go out shopping for my birthday presents! But I kinda doubt that I'll actually do that. It wouldn't be the first time I passed up a Dylan concert though. I mainly only listen to his 60's stuff anyways. As for Willie, well I think he is pretty cool too. I have 20 or so songs of his on my computer. Hmmm, maybe I will have to find a way up to the ball yard after all, the more I think of it, the more I regret not being there!
The two living legends are on a tour of minor league baseball stadiums, and tonight they are in Grand Rapids! But I'm passing up the show, because it's $46 bucks a ticket, my wife doesn't like either of their vocal styles, and I just have other priorities right now as far as spending my money is concerned. Like college tuition for my daughter, dental/orthodontic expenses for two of my children, a new car, paying bills and alleviating some old debts. Maybe I'll go play some mini-golf next door to the ballpark and listen for free while Julie and my grandma go out shopping for my birthday presents! But I kinda doubt that I'll actually do that. It wouldn't be the first time I passed up a Dylan concert though. I mainly only listen to his 60's stuff anyways. As for Willie, well I think he is pretty cool too. I have 20 or so songs of his on my computer. Hmmm, maybe I will have to find a way up to the ball yard after all, the more I think of it, the more I regret not being there!
Vote for Change
Even though I'm fortunate enough to live not only in a swing state, but also in a town (Grand Rapids) hosting one of the Vote for Change concerts (this one featuring Pearl Jam, one of my favorite of all the acts on that tour) I was not lucky enough to be among those selected to have guaranteed access to tickets. Fine, I thought when I received the email, I'll just buy some within the next week or two, no problem. But it turns out that all the notoriety of this tour ensured a quick sell-out, and Pearl Jam fans from across the country are probably making plans to attend this unique show. It didn't really dawn on me what a hot ticket this concert's turned out to be. The internet resale is going for upwards of $150 a seat! So I have to find another means to get into the show, and I'm thinking that I will be able to do that through my involvement with WMJPC which as I see it is quite clearly in sync with the general themes endorsed by the musicians participating in these shows. So I am on a mission to find out how we (the coalition) can get a table at the event, and I will plan on working it. Stay tuned to see how this turns out.
Even though I'm fortunate enough to live not only in a swing state, but also in a town (Grand Rapids) hosting one of the Vote for Change concerts (this one featuring Pearl Jam, one of my favorite of all the acts on that tour) I was not lucky enough to be among those selected to have guaranteed access to tickets. Fine, I thought when I received the email, I'll just buy some within the next week or two, no problem. But it turns out that all the notoriety of this tour ensured a quick sell-out, and Pearl Jam fans from across the country are probably making plans to attend this unique show. It didn't really dawn on me what a hot ticket this concert's turned out to be. The internet resale is going for upwards of $150 a seat! So I have to find another means to get into the show, and I'm thinking that I will be able to do that through my involvement with WMJPC which as I see it is quite clearly in sync with the general themes endorsed by the musicians participating in these shows. So I am on a mission to find out how we (the coalition) can get a table at the event, and I will plan on working it. Stay tuned to see how this turns out.
Instant updates
After several days of non-stop processing, my iTunes conversion process completed itself on Monday morning. I have over 8400 songs in my library.
Alyssa moved into her dorm at Grand Valley State University yesterday afternoon. She's in a solo room in the Calder residence hall, named after Alexander Calder the famous sculptor. She's entering her sophomore year as an art major.
My fantasy baseball team got beat bad last week and it looks like I'm destined to miss the playoffs once again, after having arguably the best team in the league at the beginning of the year.
Tomorrow is my 43rd birthday. I expect to get DVDs as gifts.
After several days of non-stop processing, my iTunes conversion process completed itself on Monday morning. I have over 8400 songs in my library.
Alyssa moved into her dorm at Grand Valley State University yesterday afternoon. She's in a solo room in the Calder residence hall, named after Alexander Calder the famous sculptor. She's entering her sophomore year as an art major.
My fantasy baseball team got beat bad last week and it looks like I'm destined to miss the playoffs once again, after having arguably the best team in the league at the beginning of the year.
Tomorrow is my 43rd birthday. I expect to get DVDs as gifts.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
iTunes
I'm in the process of converting my computer's entire music collection from .wma format to .m4a so that I can access my library on iTunes, which is an Apple product and won't play the Windows format. I have nearly 8000 songs (about 28 days worth of continual play, non-repeating music) on my PC and the conversion speed is only between 3 - 5 x as fast as normal playback, so my computer has been running constantly over the past several days and I'm still not even halfway through the process.
I like iTunes because one of my sons Curt just got an iPod and I think it's pretty cool. And I'm basically looking for as many ways to get "out" of Windows as I can, though I'm not quite ready to scrub my hard drive and abandon Windows XP altogether. But I will get there eventually, just not yet.
I tell ya, though, this conversion kind of ties up some of my computer resources. I'm only running on a 1-gig Duron processor with 256 MB of RAM (I used to have 512 MB but the stick went bad awhile back and created some major problems for me.) Well anyway I've strayed off topic, but I'll sum it up by saying that iTunes just feels cooler than Windows Media Player and is more user-friendly than WinAmp. I will be happy when I can start ripping my CDs to .mp3!
I'm in the process of converting my computer's entire music collection from .wma format to .m4a so that I can access my library on iTunes, which is an Apple product and won't play the Windows format. I have nearly 8000 songs (about 28 days worth of continual play, non-repeating music) on my PC and the conversion speed is only between 3 - 5 x as fast as normal playback, so my computer has been running constantly over the past several days and I'm still not even halfway through the process.
I like iTunes because one of my sons Curt just got an iPod and I think it's pretty cool. And I'm basically looking for as many ways to get "out" of Windows as I can, though I'm not quite ready to scrub my hard drive and abandon Windows XP altogether. But I will get there eventually, just not yet.
I tell ya, though, this conversion kind of ties up some of my computer resources. I'm only running on a 1-gig Duron processor with 256 MB of RAM (I used to have 512 MB but the stick went bad awhile back and created some major problems for me.) Well anyway I've strayed off topic, but I'll sum it up by saying that iTunes just feels cooler than Windows Media Player and is more user-friendly than WinAmp. I will be happy when I can start ripping my CDs to .mp3!
20th Anniversary!
Yesterday was our wedding anniversary, Julie and I, two swooning romantic excited young Christian kids back in 1984, a little weary and wary now in 2004 but after looking back on things a bit last night when we went out to dinner, it appears that we've made it "OK" through it all.
Our celebration took us to Sanchez Tapas Bistro for dinner and to a play, "Perfect Wedding" after that. Then out to Applebees for some spiked coffee and some nice reminiscing and conversation. A noteworthy occasion!
Yesterday was our wedding anniversary, Julie and I, two swooning romantic excited young Christian kids back in 1984, a little weary and wary now in 2004 but after looking back on things a bit last night when we went out to dinner, it appears that we've made it "OK" through it all.
Our celebration took us to Sanchez Tapas Bistro for dinner and to a play, "Perfect Wedding" after that. Then out to Applebees for some spiked coffee and some nice reminiscing and conversation. A noteworthy occasion!
Friday, August 06, 2004
The Week in Politics (Part 2)
It's been an interesting stretch for me lately with many events connected to the political process here in the United States going on. A quick recap: discovering that the Democratic Party headquarters here in Grand Rapids just located itself next door to IGE, the peace'n'justice social advocacy group that I serve as a board member - attending the John Kerry acceptance speech last Thursday in an open "house party" held at the Wealthy Theater (on the other side of IGE, sponsored by the Democrats) - attending anti-Bush demonstrations held the next day when the president came to town on a campaign stop (and speaking at one of them, the text of which is offered in this blog's previous entry) - attending the John Kerry rally held at Calder Plaza this past Monday, hearing him, his wife Teresa, Senators Stabenow and Levin and a few other noteworthy speakers at that event, as well as getting a couple of those placards that people wave for the cameras (mine say "America Can Do Better" and "Believe In America") - voting in our municipal elections the very next day, watching our city of Wyoming's operational millage go down to defeat by about 60 votes which means significant layoffs for our police and fire departments, fueling my dismay at the influence that "government is bad, taxes are evil" mentality has on many of Wyoming's conservative voters, to the point that some important services are going to be cut back - participating in some email conversation about the degree of support that non-violent/progressive activists should extend to the Kerry campaign, given his affirmative use of "war on terrorism" rhetoric - and attending the IGE picnic last night, discussing some of the future plans we have for our office space and just doing some relationship-building with a few of my colleagues in the antiwar movement. A lot of thoughts arise in me as I reflect on each of these events, perhaps I will have some more time soon to elaborate a bit further on some of them but I'm going to just leave this list on the blog for now and see what opportunities I have to write some more over the weekend that is about to get underway!
It's been an interesting stretch for me lately with many events connected to the political process here in the United States going on. A quick recap: discovering that the Democratic Party headquarters here in Grand Rapids just located itself next door to IGE, the peace'n'justice social advocacy group that I serve as a board member - attending the John Kerry acceptance speech last Thursday in an open "house party" held at the Wealthy Theater (on the other side of IGE, sponsored by the Democrats) - attending anti-Bush demonstrations held the next day when the president came to town on a campaign stop (and speaking at one of them, the text of which is offered in this blog's previous entry) - attending the John Kerry rally held at Calder Plaza this past Monday, hearing him, his wife Teresa, Senators Stabenow and Levin and a few other noteworthy speakers at that event, as well as getting a couple of those placards that people wave for the cameras (mine say "America Can Do Better" and "Believe In America") - voting in our municipal elections the very next day, watching our city of Wyoming's operational millage go down to defeat by about 60 votes which means significant layoffs for our police and fire departments, fueling my dismay at the influence that "government is bad, taxes are evil" mentality has on many of Wyoming's conservative voters, to the point that some important services are going to be cut back - participating in some email conversation about the degree of support that non-violent/progressive activists should extend to the Kerry campaign, given his affirmative use of "war on terrorism" rhetoric - and attending the IGE picnic last night, discussing some of the future plans we have for our office space and just doing some relationship-building with a few of my colleagues in the antiwar movement. A lot of thoughts arise in me as I reflect on each of these events, perhaps I will have some more time soon to elaborate a bit further on some of them but I'm going to just leave this list on the blog for now and see what opportunities I have to write some more over the weekend that is about to get underway!
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