Just Thinking

I swear either Michael Caine or Morgan Freeman are like in every other movie I see.

When I go from one place that doesn't have TV to another place that does, it makes me realize just how debilitating television is.

I find the whole thing about Homecoming floats really stupid. Does anybody really care if high school kids decorate the back of a truck to display in front of half-interested football fans at halftime? I'm not even sure the kids building the floats care.

And I hate Homecoming floats even more when the school extends the halftime break just for the festivities.

It cracks me up when soccer coaches scream at officials to blow their whistle. So when they do, instead of allowing for a play-on opportunity, the coaches gripe at that. Well, which do you want?

Apparently "All men are created equal" excludes innocent Muslims and patriotic gay people. I wonder if that was Thomas Jefferson's intent?

Taking a long hard look at the steps that you've traveled in your life gives one a pretty good perspective on how to get where one is going.

New York Jets wide receiver was pulled over for drunk driving last week. His team professed disappointment in his actions. So much so that they let him play on Sunday in a crucial game against Miami. I'm glad the Jets believe in holding people accountable and standing up for what is right - unless an important football game gets in the way.

For people whose job it is to pronounce people's names (news anchors, public address announcers) is it really that hard to find out how to say somebody's name before one proceeds to butcher it?

Now that Roger Clemens has been indicted for "misremebering" when he testified before Congress, what happens to the panel members that fawned all over him and kissed his ass that day?

Kevin Scott, an independent candidate for governor in Maine, says that his extensive list of driving infractions, around 35, shows that he's human. It also shows he is undisciplined, out of control and not much of a leader of men. And we don't need people like that running for governor - especially when we already have Paul LePage fulfilling that niche.

Tony Dungy has called out Rex Ryan for his profanity on the HBO show Hardknocks. But it is Dungy who ends up being painted as too pious while the foul-mouthed buffoonery of Ryan is laughed off. Profanity has become so common place in this society that people would rather curse up a storm than act and speak with a little more class and intelligence, even in front of their kids. I think that's pretty @$%^^& sad and really $$%%% up.

I think it is funny that I keep hearing these ads for Roger Waters' appearance at the Garden in Boston and every time, I can hear them playing the song Comfortably Numb over the ad. Of course, it was David Gilmour that sang that song for Pink Floyd and not Roger Waters.

The final combat troops have pulled out of Iraq after cleaning up George W. Bush's mess for seven years. With the government there in turmoil, I'd be tempted to suggest we send them the Cowboy Warmonger himself but that would just be cruel and unusual punishment for innocent people. I don't think we should wish him on anybody - unless it was before a tribunal for war crimes.

Speaking of which, it amazes me that the people that are jumping on the anti-Obama bandwagon were the same ones that stood by quietly while W wreaked havoc on this country and the world around us. So, obviously, they're not upset about the actions of the president, just his affiliation or maybe his race. It's just sad. Stand up for what is wrong because it is wrong. Don't defend it or ignore it just because of party affiliation.

I just wish people would work harder at finding solutions than they do in assigning blame.

More Randomness

While I was on vacation, I didn't watch TV for three weeks and didn't miss it one bit.

While on vacation I got an email from a softball coach griping about how the Miss Maine Softball award was chosen. I think this coach's complaints would have a little more credibility if he wasn't sore about his daughter not winning the award. And, had this guy been so concerned about the selection process, don't you think he'd do or say something before a well-deserving player was picked over his daughter?

Did you see the guy that ducked away from the foul ball just in time to let it hit his girlfriend? I thought the fact that the nitwit was wearing his hat on sideways like he was stylin' would have been enough for the girl to dump his sorry punk ass already. But apparently an act of cowardice at the sight of a foul ball did the trick.

Car dealers/peddlers just make me feel icky.

Speaking of which, are there any bigger morons in the world of commercials than car salesmen?

Just for those keeping track, during my vacation I saw: deer, an eagle, seals porpoises, osprey, various ducks and sea birds and a mountain lion.

Just for those keeping track, during my vacation I read six books, including two that I wrote, and wrote a good chunk of my next novel. I even managed to have future chapters evolve in my head that are now just waiting to come out.

I discovered that just because the beer is imported and cost nine or ten dollars doesn't necessarily make it all that good.

It just melts a guys heart when a little girl tells him that she loves him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. Of course, it's not so bad when her mother does the same thing.

Wonders why it is so hard for people to return a phone call or respond to an email out of courtesy.

This whole Corey Pavin-Jim Gray thing has gone from amusing to annoying. Golfer claims he's misquoted, reporter confronts golfer, golfer claims reporter poked him and said "You're going down". If things got any more out of control, they just might have broken into a full-fledged slap fight.

By the way, I have never, ever, misquoted somebody.

And, Jim Gray, you should ask LeBron James to buy you a digital recorder. They're great for recording interviews and covering your ass.

Speaking of James, he's making a list and checking it twice of all the people that have hurt poor little LeBron's feelings. And, I assume, he's going to have a prime time special on ESPN and read them all.

I really get tired of people emailing me propaganda that basically states that people in this country should only be allowed to speak English. Let those of you not the product of immigrants throw that first stone. I think all those gripers should just be miraculously plucked from their daily lives and transported to some foreign country where they don't speak the language. We'll see how sympathetic they are then. Como esta usted?

I saw the brawl between the Cardinals and Reds, if you can call it a brawl. Baseball players really need to learn how to fight. They spend more time pushing, shoving and flailing than actually fighting. At least somebody managed to kick somebody - even if it did make him look more like a rockette than an athlete.

I swear it can't be too hard to be a weatherman.

I missed my chance to go to Oz when a tornado ripped through my hometown and I wasn't there.

I wish I could file a protection order against people that annoy me.

I wonder if the police scanner was as amusing to listen to 20 years ago.

I love how the littlest of things can spark a wonderful memory from your childhood.

Last I knew this country was founded on a search for religious freedom and escaping from religious persecution. So, it is rather interesting that the my-country-right-or-wrong crowd, the flag-waving religious zealots are the ones barking the loudest about the Muslim mosque in New York. Granted, I understand the controversy strikes a chord and is a sensitive issue, but the place is supposedly being built on private property and not on the "Hallowed Ground" of Ground Zero as many of the radical protesters indicate. Their opposition often borders on racism and seems more about politics than honoring the people and sight of the 9/11 attacks.

And Sarah Palin, just shut it will you? If the country cared what you had to say, you'd have been elected.

I get great amusement watching the local TV news when they offer up any old talking head to do the sports news. Between the butchering of names and knowing little about the sports they're reporting on, they're trying to fake it while oblivious to the fact that the sports audience will spot a fraud in a second.