Last night I saw "The Rookie". It was the first movie to make me cry since "Wit"

Well I didn't actually cry but mist up a bit. I got a bit *verklempt*.

For some reason baseball movies always do that to me...weird huh?

I made some kickin' mashed potatoes on Tuesday. Want the recipie?

Peel and boil 6 medium-sized potatoes until tender (about 30-40 minutes). Saute 1 Tbsp of garlic in 2 Tbsps of butter for approx 2-3 minutes. Then add potatoes in and mash. While you're mashing add about 1 cup of cream or milk (more if you like 'em runny). Add 1 Tbsp of salt, 1 Tsp of pepper and 2 Tbsps of sour cream and mash some more until well mixed.

Yuuuuuuummmmmm.

Here's a fascinating review of the newly published journals of young, angry, drug-addled musical genius, Kurt Cobain by no other than ex-young, angry, drug-addled musical genius Pete Townshend. It seems from his tone through the review amounts to heaping but equal amounts of disgust mixed with genuine sympathy.

Take this excerpt for example:

"What follows appear to be the scribblings of a crazed and depressed drug-addict in the midst of what those of us who have been through drug rehab describe as 'stinking thinking'. That is, the resentful, childish, petulant and selfish desire to accuse, blame and berate the world for all its wrongs, to wish to escape, or overcome and, finally, to take no responsibility for any part of the ultimate downfall. Me? An expert? Of course. Been there, done that. Back to the academy."

I have been making more of an attempt to seriously implement a time for reading into my schedule. I’ve been a lot busier at my job lately so now all the free time for reading is displaced by actual work (imagine that). Anyway with my list growing and my time shrinking, I usually save reading time for in between breaks at work (when I don’t feel like thinking) or before bedtime (when my mind tends to wander). As much as I love to read, it’s really a discipline and challenging for me to keep my thoughts on the book for any long period of time.

I’ve tried the outlining method described in “How to Read a Book” by Adler & Van Doren (which I seem to have misplaced…grrr) and that really helps, but I keep feeling that somehow I’m screwing it up. And I just can’t seem to bring myself to really mark up my hardback books (paperbacks not a problem…so shoot me I’m an elitist).

So with me unable to really go back to the resources, I’ve developed a list of things to help me to focus in my reading. It’s really an amalgamation of Adler’s book and various other resources. I’ll list it here and you tell me what you think (note: this is for a non-fiction book):

1. I start by reading the table of contents, indices and the back and side flaps of the dust jacket.
2. I then read the introduction, preface and epilogue.
3. I give a super quick scan of the chapter that I am about to read about 3 or 4 times. I gather and list all the pertinent terms that the author seems to use most frequently.
4. I then read the first and last paragraph of the chapter.
5. I then read the first and last sentence of every paragraph of the chapter.
6. I then read the chapter quickly and underline what seems to be the most important sentence in the paragraph. I also write down any bon mots in the blank back pages.
7. I then go back and read the chapter again at a normal pace.

I find that by doing this I can usually get through a chapter an hour of a 200-300 pg. book. Whaddya think?

Unpolished Thoughts on an Unpleasant Subject.

Well have you cast your vote yet?

This is the time of year when the idealist and cynic in me pick a fight with one another. No matter how much I want to believe that these guys was to serve the public good, something deep down inside me tells me that that is simply not the case. And when I hear about things like this, well it truly makes me ill.

And even though I find myself staunchly libertarian/theocrat (small to no centralized government overseen by Christians) in my politics, when it comes time to go to the booth, I can't help but to be compelled to punch the chad for Republicans. It's the dilemma of who's going to screw me over less: Repubs or Dems with a little fear of "Throwing Away my Vote to Make a Statement" kind of thing mixed in for added paranoia.

It's not like the propositions that always ask for more tax money...those are easy, I just punch "NO" and move on.

Today I was laughing with a NCA parent today as she whipped out a "Conservative Voters Guide" to give to another parent. We cracked up as I made "sheep" noises and she commented (toungue-in-cheek) about how easy it was to vote now that she had something to tell her how. Now I don't want to bag on these types of things, believe me they can be useful to help read between the lines on political doublespeak. The problem is that today you don't even know what the word "conservative" stands for anymore. The term is so nebulous and hard to pin down. Sure it may rightly oppose abortion (which is murder) but on the other hand call for an increase in taxes (which is theft...government sanctioned theft, but theft nonetheless).

The other problem is that while my friend was joking about "following the fold", how many earnest Christians will take a well-marked copy of that guide in the booth with them rather than the Scriptures? It's quite disillusioning (is that a word?) to say the least.

IDOLATRY ALERT!!

Keeping in the classic rock vein of my last post...did you know that Carlos Santana has done a lot of drugs?

Don't believe me? Check this story out.

"But the angel said he must do it.

He has spoken frequently in interviews about the celestial visitor who shepherded his career revival. At night, when his family is asleep, Santana lights a candle and waits to hear from the jolly, white-bearded angel named Metatron.

Metatron inspired his comeback."

Hmmm...jolly, white-bearded angel? Methinks the ghost of Jerry Garcia is in on this.

And isn't this what Metatron is supposed to look like?

Oh by the way the Stones show was GREAT.

We got there at about 7 PM and Sheryl Crow went on at about 7:30. She was OK, but she didn't play any songs from her first album which kinda stunk since that was the only one that I liked. So she played for about an hour then a half hour of clean-up. finally the Stones came on and they played for about two hours. They started off with a great, boot-stomping version of "Brown Sugar" and it only got better from there. They played all of their hits (since they're touring to support the greatest hits album they just put out) and the evening finished with a two song encore which capped off with "Satisfaction". I have never danced at a concert so much (well except for Boingo, but that was oh so many years ago).

I present to you the top 10 highlights in no particular order:

1. The guy sitting in front of us puking his guts out five minutes before the show started. It was suggested to me that the guy was just sick, but seriously...a guy puking at a Rolling Stones concert? I don't suppose artificial substances had anything to do with it hmmm? Hope you got your 90 bucks worth dude.
2. Mick Jagger, 90 minutes into the set still running up and down the stage singing and dancing looking nothing like a man in his early 60's.
3. A 15 minute version of "Sympathy for the Devil" that rocked complete with huge flamethrowers mounted on top of the stage.
4. The fact that many songs from "Exile" were played. "Happy", Down The Line", "Tumbling Dice" and "Sweet Virginia" just to name a few.
5. Their cover of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" as they played on the second (closer to us) stage.
6. Sheryl Crow joining Mick and the boys onstage to sing the second verse of “Country Honk”.
7. Two words: Fireworks show.
8. High fives with the audience as they walked down the catwalk to the second stage.
9. During “You Got Me Rocking” they showed the last out of the World Series, which of course made Edison Field shake with screams and applause.
10. The fact that they played for two hours. That's a long time for a bunch of old guys.

I have to admit that I was surprised at the make-up of the crowd. I was expecting to be one out of ten 20-somethings among a vast sea of middle-aged people, but that was not the case. Oh there were plenty of boomers there to be sure but Gen X really came out to represent.

Also I was dismayed at the type of alcohol consumed by my fellow concert-goers. I mean come on now really...CITRONA??? At a Stones concert??? Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves.

We got out of the concert at 11:15 PM and got out of the parking lot at about 12 AM. To say getting out was brutal would be a serious understatement.