Excentric

I guess because I recently decided to straighten my teeth I have paid a lot of attention to the smiles of the olympic athletes. It's amazing how almost every athlete's teeth are perfectly aligned and pre-plowed snow white. Are they children of privilege or do they just have ortho-frenetic parents? Either way, I can't help but stare at their pearly smiles, even in defeat. And by defeat I don't mean being judged as a lesser athlete, but rather wiping out on the track with no other contestant within a skate, board or ski length in sight. It's beautiful that we all take a pause from our regular jabbing and sparring and shooting and bombing to watch our young athletes compete for a round piece of metal that they can hopefully cash in for endorcements for products most people could otherwise do without.
Speaking of products, my mentor and friend of yore used to ponder the concept of new and improved taste in pet food products. Who was volunteering to taste this stuff. And while Morrie is on mind, I am reminded of a call from Sedona's newest city manger who used to have copies of the Sedona Excentric mailed to him by our former police chief, Bob Irish. I told him that Irish, though quoted often, never really communicated his thoughts to the paper. Like about seventeen years back when we quoted the chief reporting a rampant increase in crime in Sedona, citing the example of a man stopping in the Basha's parking lot, leaving his driver's window down, exposing 2 season tickets to the Arizona Cardinals on the top of his dashboard. Upon returing to his vehicle, he noticed there were 4 tickets. We also advertised for free singing lessons, from Gregorian chant to Rap, taught in the privacy of your own shower. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Everybody thinks they can be on American Idol based on their shower volcalizations and their ability to sing along with their car radio blasting at window glass rattling decibels.
Hey, President Obama met with the Dahli Lama, much to the chagrin of China's leaders. What do they fear? Could it be that a whole 10% of their population would convert from Taoism to Buddhism? Let's see, 10% of 1.3 billion is around 1.3 million  people. They lose that many people in bicycle accidents delivering Peking Duck and eggrolls annually. Personally, I prefer the eggdrop soup and Cashew Chicken. My wife makes me add tofu. Maybe it's the weight of the tofu throwing off the cyclists. There is an art to leaning to keep your balance when toting tofu laden carry out.
While repairing some damages to my home caused by the December 8 winter-soon storm, I have had the privilege of working with some terrific people, like the guys from Behmers Roofing, John Di Battista and his crew of C J and Sam, and Gus the drywall guy. Local guys who care about the quality of their work at an affordable rate to working Joes.
Well I'm wondering how snowboarding became an Olympic sport, but my age is probably interfering with the processing. Jumping and spinning from a youngster looks like fun, but hardly seem worthy of being deemed an olympian. Perhaps it's not that much different than tossing a long spear or hurling a ball on a chain or bowling a granite stone down an alley with broom handlers chasing  it for top position.
We'll see what tomorrow brings. Gotta like that Ono kid, Shani Davis and the team of Mancuso and Vonn.
Meanwhile Taliban leaders are being captured, Haiti is reeling under new storms, Iran is ready to be a free nation and Europe is ready to bail out Greece. Things are good, much better than they could be and we are all sitting one the edge of a tiny planet, forced to hold each other's hold to keep one other from falling off.
What a great world!
That's all for now . . .

Excentric

With some relatives huddled in Maryland, I have been left with the feeling of helplessness in AZ, resigned to watching the news of Snowmageddon. Surprised that the attacks from politicians have been limited to vile lies about global climate change. What part of Global don't they understand? It's another reminder that the entire world revolves around them and their contributors. Keep waiting for bin laden to claim al qaeda is behind America's northeastern blizzard. Actually, a lot should get done now that hell has frozen over. So, a couple of snowstorms and all the icebergs in Antartica have reformed, all the dead polar bears have come back to life and mankind has had no negative effect on the environment; oh yeah, nature is also responsible for Toyota's auto failures. Maybe nature is the reason for job losses, bank failures, home foreclosures, and stagnant wages - wait - they're right - Human Nature! Is greed human nature or simply a sin? Speaking of greedy sinning politicians, I marveled at the lack of knowledge Newt Gingrich had on the Daily Show when he professed that the shoe bomber was an American citizen. I guess being an Islamic militant from England is closer to be an American than being an Islamic militant from Nigeria. I can see how the skin color could confuse him, after all, his is from Dixie. Dixie, where teabaggers eat their own. Just ask Ron Paul - not conservative enough for a movement he is given credit for starting. Now the southern talking heads are calling for Paul to be replaced, by a true conservative - one who agrees that government is responsible for everything wrong with America and that the politicians they put into office will do their bidding. Then, we'll have a real America, run by the few people with big enough wallets and big enough mouths to tell the majority of Americans what's good for them, as opposed to them now being told what's good for them.
Once in power, things will be set straight - no one will be gay (especially in the military), no religion will be recognized as legitimate besides Christian, no teenagers will have sex before marriage to someone of the opposite sex, there will be no Medicare or Medicaid, no food stamps, no public schools, no voting without passage of tests designed by them, no immigrants, no unions, no foreign trade, no taxes, no public infrastructure (including no highways, police, fire, emergency responders, bridges, mass transit, traffic signals or road signs, no parks, no courthouses, no government buildings, etc.) - everything will be privatized and run by the very CEOs who got bailed out and gave themselves big bonuses.
Gives new meaning to just say no, huh?
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Wow, what rhetoric. It's almost as if the person who spoke those words was just standing in front of a lecturn, using a teleprompter. Let's look at some other presidential quotes: George Washington: "Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder;" Thomas Jefferson: "One man with courage is a majority;" John Quincy Adams: "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost;" Franklin Pierce: "We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace and amity with all nations;" Theodore Roosevelt: "The only man who makes no mistake is the man who does nothing;"  Thomas Woodrow Wilson: "If you want to make enemies, try to change something;" Harry S. Truman: "We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression;" Richard Nixon: "A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself;" James Earl Carter, Jr.: "The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation;" Ronald Wilson Reagan: "America is too great for small dreams;" George Herbert Walker Bush: "I want a kinder, gentler nation;" William Jefferson Clinton: "We need a spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together. If we have no sense of community, the American dream will wither;" George Walker Bush: "Recognizing and confronting our history is important. Transcending our history is essential. We are not limited by what we have done, or what we have left undone. We are limited only by what we are willing to do."
I wonder what the teabaggers think of these quotes, both republican and democrat. It would seem each was driven at some time in their term of office by a love of country.
The very first American president talks about virtue and the highest bidder and the current Supreme Court opens American politics to the purses of multi-national corporations, unions, bankers, insurers, and the likes to offer their personal choice for high office. Remember when they used to say, "America, best government money can buy?" The joke is now on us. Fool me twice . . .
An amazing thing happened. After calling the Associated Press to complain about their "close enough" reasoning for putting events IN Sedona instead of NEAR Sedona, I came across a couple of news stories that actually stated the events took place NEAR Sedona. Is somebody actually reading what I write? I didn't expect anyone to listen, never mind react. Maybe there is hope after all. Nah, just a coincidence.
My prayers and good thoughts for those dealing with the blizzard. Keep on digging!

That's all for now . . .