My dad's honkin'

About 15 years ago, while riding on the back of my dad's Yamaha, we cruised past some picketers in front of a factory.
"Toot-toot!" as he blew the bike's horn.
"Why did you do that?", I loudly asked over the wind and engine.
"To give them my support"
"What were they picketing for?"
"I don't know", he said, "But anyone who is willing to stand-up for something they want and believe in could use a little support"
He continued in his very deliberate, often too methodical explanatory style, "It doesn't mean necessarily I support their cause, but I will support their right to support it"

It took me a while to digest that. Years. But it has become a part of my values today.
I find it abhorrent when demonstrations, protests or simple dialog is censured, truncated or prevented because it may not be popular. Even when a supposedly crazy evangelist is preaching on the street corner. Don't shuffle him off, let him testify.

The KKK always wants to put up a cross on our fair city's square during the winter holidays. Do I agree with the KKK? Hell no! Do I think they should have the right to display goofy crap at Christmas? Absolutely. I guess the KKK's argument is that a local Jewish federation puts a menorah up during Hanukkah, so why not us?

In college there was a "Crazy-preacher-guy" who would stand in front of the student center and, well preach. He alway drew a nice sized crowd. He was afterall entertaining. He was a little to the right. Anti-gay, anti-drug, rock-n-roll, the usual. So, I went off on him one day, admittedly mocking him, but in protest to what he was saying. It kind of stunned him. No harm done. A few minutes later the fat campus police (sorry, ad hominem) came by and told him he had to leave. I was dismayed. "He doesn't have a permit", they said. I wrote a letter to the school paper and invited some of the other groups on campus to support his next demomstration. It never happened.

A few years ago Neo-Nazis were planning a parade through downtown. It was eventually cancelled due to fears of rioting and uncontrollable protests. Maybe it was a wise choice, but I would have loved to have been on the sidelines, cussing and screaming, booing and hissing all the while supporting and protecting the right for it to happen.

I don't want to let fear of what I don't like (or you don't like) prevent me from having the opportunity to evaluate and choose.

I have no idea

It is too easy for me to sit here and make up some moderately amusing posts. I landed on this blog and it caught my attention. Beautiful pics. Poignant.
http://jedidiahsnovelties.blogspot.com/2008/09/ike.html

How smart are you?

I just overheard someone on the phone ask "Hey Joe. You're a smart guy, right?"

Now how would someone respond to that?

"Well actually I am not very smart Susie. You see I don't even know what this thing I am using to talk with is called....a snorkel? How does it work? Are you trapped inside of it? Hello Susie? My third grade teacher told me I wasn't going to amount to much but I didn't really have time to listen because I was too busy gluing pencils to onto my elbows. I can't really talk now Susie I need to go make a peanut butter and jelly shoehorn. It's going to take quite some time to find the recipe on Google because I don't know if shoehorn is a compound word or not."

In today's news

I skimmed over the local paper today. The frontpage. Three separate pictures of McCain, Obama and Bush. The quotes above the first two were in regards to the scheduled debate between the candidates. McCaine believes it must be postponened to attend to the economic crisis, Obama thinks a president should be able to multi-task.



McCain No deates 'until we have taken action to address this crisis'

Obama 'Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time'

The third quote above Dubya's picture read 'We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis'

It should have read 'No, I prefer 2% with my Frosted Flakes'

My stiff necks

About three times a year I have back spasms. Neck cramps too. Specific stiffness and tightness that throws my whole day off. It is usually caused by some type of sudden, herky-jerky motion. My freshman year of college, during the first week, an acute case of stiff-n-rigid neck was caused by a few minutes of over zealous headbanging. (It was 1994). I couldn't sleep, walk, eat, breath very well for a week. I would sit down in class next to a stranger and say "I'm sorry I smell like Ben-Gay, I have a stiff neck". Long live rock-n-roll, eh. The last nasty one I had I got when stepping out of the shower just oh-so oddly that my neck went "waahhhhhhttt!?"

This morning, was going well. I was a few minutes ahead of schedule. As I was riding the elevator alone to the second floor I suddenly did an impromptu dance routine. The doors closed and I did a double pump of my fist down toward the floor, knees slightly bent, head quickly bobbing back and forth. I may have even sung a few bars of some song. The more religious would say I was moved my the spirit. What ever it was, it was not from my frontal lobe. This was something deep, archaic. I think I felt my medulla pulsate. The entire event only lasted 10 seconds. I quickly realized something was wrong.

I moved ahead as the door opened. As I began my morning lecture the problem worsened. My breathing was truncated, my left arm would jerk back if I overextended it, simply pacing back-n-forth was taxing. After the class I swallowed 800mg of Advil and ate two donuts. This didn't immediately relieve me. I searched the local stores for a tennis ball to rub on my back, but couldn't find any. I was thing of asking if they sold massagers, but I think that is worse than telling people I stink like menthol.

So now I am simply waiting for it to go away. Practically speaking I have found that activity and movement are better for these than remaining motionless. Wait...I think the Advil is kicking in.

Richard Wright Has Died

Growing up my brother let me listen to Pink Floyd's The Wall. At one time there was a casette recording of me singing acapella "We don't need no education.....". I was only 7 or eight at the time, this was about 8 years after The Wall was released.

A few years ago I was tricked into going to a local dance club, is that what they are called, a place where overdubbed music is played to coincide with laser lights and girls dancing on the stoops. I sound old fashioned. Ok so let me get to it.

I love music. And I like to dance. But this wasn't my type of dive. I just stood there watching. Overhead on a large projection screen I saw a dated film playing. It was a band playing in the open air of an ancient arena. I soon realized it was Pink Floyd. Of course I couldn't hear any of the music or listen to any of the occasional interviews. But the way they moved, subtly, as they played the music had me entranced, I knew this had to be good.

The film was on a loop. I caught the title "Pink Floyd:Live in Pompeii". Can I recommend it....go get it and watch. There are some interesting facts about the film, research it for yourself, because I'm getting tired writing. But, damn sucka! is that a sweet, sweet music film or what!

A Dog Named Johnny

Originally posted on http://sensemaking-in-cincinnati.blogspot.com/ as a response to his post

Well my doggie left home at a quarter till three
And he didn’t leave much for Jen and Me
Just a chewed up frisbee and a dug up hole in the rear

Well I don’t blame him cause he dug and run
Be the meanest thing he ever done
He went and pooped on the neighbor’s lawn

Well he must of thought it was quiet a joke
Cause it upset some of my neighbor folk
Screaming and a cussing all over my subdivision

So I got on my blog to vent my ire
Typing and sending all over the wire
Hoping that soon I’d get a reply

Then two minutes later up on the screen
You’ll never believe what I seen
A reply to the blog that I had done post

It said “Hello there Master”
“I only got two paws, so I can’t type much faster
But that yard you got, Its just keeps me in”

So I dug that hole and I said good by
I know you’d get upset and cry
But I’m a canine, and I need to run around

And now I’m here, just down the street
The house I’m in is kinda neat
But better yet there’s a sweet Pekinese.

Now don’t you worry, and don’t you swear
I’ll still be home to shed some hair
But after a bone I’ll be running the town”

What could I do? What could I do?

So I sat there confused in a mental fog
I just been fooled by a rescued dog
And now he was telling me what to do

And I’ve thought about it then and now
How to wrangle a feisty bow-wow
But I’m gonna leave up to the bureaucrats

So I’ve cast my vote for the city’s animal cop
This township needs to make this stop
If they don’t…I’m gonna get

A cat, a hamster, a bird…anything but a damn ditch digging dog!