It's HOT!

Well, the Dog Days of Summer are upon us. This term has always fascinated me from the time I first heard it in the way, way back. The etymology of the term is here…and says, in part:

Popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" (from Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813).

The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rose just before or at the same time as sunrise, which is no longer true owing to precession of the equinoxes. The ancients sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that that star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather.

While I’m not into sacrificing innocent animals, I’m sure there are more than a few people in other places that would be willing to give it a shot. I feel particularly bad for those folks, and their numbers are legion, that suffer from the oppressive combo of heat and humidity. As for YrHmblScrb, well…not so much. It’s 90 degrees as I peck this out, but the heat index is “only” 89, a function of our relatively low humidity (currently 35%).

This sort of weather always makes me wonder how folks survived prior to air conditioning, particularly in places like N’Awlins…and the entire Gulf Coast, for that matter. I still have painful and vivid memories of long, hot, sleepless nights spent sweltering in the UN-air conditioned barracks at Keesler AFB (near beautiful Biloxi-By-The-Sea) in the summer of 1964.

I’m reminded of this American Standard TeeVee ad for their AC…maybe it’s TOO comfortable (and us, too).



This could be good news, if it’s true. Well, sorta. If it IS true, it’s definitely a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I’ll be able to read David Brooks again. On the other, that skank Dowd and her male counterpart, Krugman, will be unleashed upon the American public again. Maybe the NYT ought to keep TimesSelect. It’s two-to-one FOR keeping it, in my book.

Captain Ed has a similar thought:

Two years ago, the New York Times provided on-line readers with a strong disincentive to read their columnists. TimesSelect, which I called the Firewall of Sanity, charged $50 per year for people who just couldn't get enough of Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman, Bob Herbert, and Frank Rich. Now the New York Post reports that Pinch Sulzberger has finally realized that he has marginalized his own columnists in an on-line universe.

To quote another Big Dog: Heh.

Today’s “imagine the disappointment” moment:

Time of Visit: Aug 7 2007 10:01:35 am
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Sometimes I really don’t understand why folks click thru. This is an image search, Gentle Reader. And the Ladies of Deuce Four (click the search link, if you’re interested) certainly get a lot of hits…but not for reasons one would expect.

 

Today’s Pic: Apropos of nothing…Granddaughter Anastasia captured celebrating the Fourth in Birmingham, MI (a suburb of Detroit) at my great good friend Kim’s house. A good time was had by all. As always.

July, 2000.

She's Whole Again...

Just back from the Big(ger) City^TM… Well, assuming a half-hour ago counts as “just back.” I had to take the ‘Zuki over to the Suzuki store at 0800 this morning for her 3,000 mile check-up and to get that oh-so-expensive piece of plastic replaced. She looks like a sweet young thing once again, now that she’s had cosmetic surgery and a transfusion of fresh oil. I hope to keep her that way…

Lost my ‘net connection sometime last evening (after I went to bed) and it was still out when I left this morning. Thus, there was no surfing and no posting this morning. I’ve yet to make the rounds, but figured I'd put up today’s pic and a short blurb before I do. I may be back later. And I may not.

Today’s Pic: And an explanation. First the pic…a long telephoto “grip and grin” shot of granddaughter Monique receiving her diploma. This may be the only such pic in existence, although I did notice a professional photographer strategically placed during the ceremony.

You’ve been quite kind, Gentle Reader, in not pressing the point about graduation pics. The reason I haven’t posted any is simple: there aren’t any others besides this one. When I said things were hectic at SN1’s house on graduation day I was probably understating the case. There wasn’t time…or time wasn’t made…for cap ‘n’ gown pics. People got right to work.

And now you know the rest of the story…

June 1, 2007. Ogden, Utah.

All in the Family...

Today’s Pic: The first pic was purloined from SN1’s blog…Grandson Sean astride Buck’s new ride, which is really red, not orange as one might could think by looking at the pic. SN1 tells me his digital camera didn’t fall immediately to hand yesterday when it was time to take Baby’s First Picture… so the cell phone camera was deployed, necessity being a Mother, and all that. The bottom pic is more color balanced, what with being taken by Professional Photographers With Expensive Equipment.

Nice looking scoot, eh? It’s one of Rusty Kowalski’s famed Ninjas, in the budget-friendly 650cc size. It’s powered by a water-cooled, fuel injected, parallel twin and is much more ergonomically correct than full-bore sporting Ninjas. It’s received great reviews, too.

The inevitable question(s) will soon arise, since both SN1 and I just bought bikes in the 650 class: Which is faster? Which handles better? And so on… Answers just might be provided in June, as I’m planning on riding the Suzuki up to Utah for granddaughter Monique’s graduation. Buck and I just might go riding together, once or twice. There are some pretty kewl roads in his neck of the woods.

Speaking of riding…today is a LOT better, weather-wise, than yesterday. The wind came up yesterday afternoon while I was finishing up the chores, i.e., giving El Casa Móvil De Pennington and the Suzuki wash jobs. El Casa Móvil is bright and shiny and all ready for a fresh coating of bird poop. Such are the hazards of being docked under a large tree. But I digress. The ‘Zuki is all bright and shiny, too, and whispering to me through the window…”Let’s ride…Let’s RIDE…”

So…It’s off to San Jon and the only respectable twisty-turnies within two hours of here…about six relatively tight turns in a 1.75 mile stretch. I’ll ride about an hour an a half to get there, all for about three minutes of sporting riding. But I’ll do it two or three times. Up and down. Rinse. Repeat.

More about that after I return…

An Explanation and Other Stuff

So. After putting up that out-of-focus quasi-biker pic yesterday I said “I may be back later with News of the World. And I may not.” “Not” won out, as you can plainly see. There are reasons for this and, not so coincidentally, the dearth of political-oriented posts at EIP these last few. Firstly…I’ve been a bit…um…pre-occupied with the new acquisition. Second, I’ve been having great difficulty reading and digesting the news coming out of Washington, Iraq, and other points around the globe. Not because the concepts are difficult to absorb and understand, but because it’s all so danged depressing. Enter Lex (from yesterday):

In my heart of hearts, I want to believe that all of the politicians that the American people have in their wisdom elected to offices of great national prominence have the best interests of the Republic at heart. That, while they may disagree from one side of the aisle to the other on the “how” of the national enterprise, the “what” is consistent. That we might disagree upon means but not ends. That the country comes first, especially in a time of war, especially beyond our borders.

This is a dream I have.

Sometimes it’s hard to sustain.

It’s that list bit about the difficulty in sustaining the dream that’s infected me and caused me to withdraw from the fray. I read the news these days and my immediate reaction is “Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot??” followed nearly instantaneously by “What are they THINKING?” And then I shake my head slowly from side to side, literally, and move on to something less heart-rending, like hockey (less heart-rending for the moment, I might add). Because there are only so many ways one can disagree (politically) and express that disagreement, and I’ve just about used them up…all of them. And Mom always said “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” That’s me and politics, of late.

I should add that, in spite of all the doom and gloom inferred in the foregoing, I believe we’ll survive and even prosper. The news is forever bad, catastrophe is just around the corner, and the next corner, and the next, and it has always been so…will ever BE so. The country and I survived both the Cold War and Vietnam, minor miracles if one believed the apocalyptic news and dire predictions of those by-gone days. Somehow we muddled through.

But today’s crises seem different, more existential, than those of yore…as if the possibility of incineration via a tit-for-tat exchange of nuclear warheads launched from North Dakota and Kazakhstan wasn’t existential (it was), or the falling dominoes of South East Asia wouldn’t somehow relegate us to Third World status (they didn’t). Nukes in the hands of terrorists is another ball of wax entirely; Iraq as the locus of global terrorism is a distinct possibility should we fail in our efforts there, as is Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and so on…ad nauseum.

And our the Democrats answer is to withdraw? More to the point, the Democrats’ political posturing and egregious displays of Bush Derangement Syndrome, while simultaneously offering us nothing substantial (or even trivial…because there’s…well…nothing) in the way of strategy or tactics to replace what they so stridently oppose is worrisome. To the frickin’ MAX. Sometimes it’s very hard to see how we’re gonna muddle through this one, especially given the terminal ignorance, willful obstructionism, and lack of alternatives offered up by the “loyal opposition.”

But I’ve said all that before. And now I’ve said it again. I get tired of saying it. And so I’ve withdrawn from commenting on the madness. Just thought you’d wanna know.

Now…all that said…here’s some politics, in a way…

As a commenter at LGF sez: “Wow! A flying pig moment for sure.” And what’s that “When pigs fly…” comment all about? Just this: "The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media as a Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict." The title is a bit innocuous but the content is incendiary, saying outright that the media became a “fiery advocate” for Hezbollah.

Of course, the Right pointed this out all along…this blog (a minute point of light in the ‘sphere, to be sure) is filled with examples and links from that time…and I was especially critical of the Beeb’s reporting, which insulted my intelligence while simultaneously turning my stomach. No mean feat, that. All ya gotta do is read the archives from summer of last year. But now Harvard, I repeat…HARVARD… has given its imprimatur to a report that essentially vindicates what the Right has been saying all along: that the media has been cheerleading for the terrorists. Hell, it’s beyond cheerleading. According to Marvin Kalb, the media were part and parcel of Hamas’ war effort. It’s not that big a leap to further extend the thought that the media support other terrorist organizations and states, such as Syria and Iran, if you so desire. It ain’t that hard to do. And I’m not talking about al Jazeera, either. Can you spell N-Y-T? I thought you could.

Full text of the report, in pdf format, is available here. It will be interesting to see/hear what the Left is gonna say about this, if it says anything at all. I’m predicting crickets.

Hockey…The conference semi-finals began last evening, with easy-looking victories going to Anaheim and Buffalo (emphasis on the “looking;” nothing is easy in the play-offs). Both the Ducks and the Sabres are heavily favored in their series, what with being the number two seed in the West and the number one seed in the East, respectively. Detroit and San Jose begin their series tonight, as does New Jersey and Ottawa. Just for grins and giggles, here’s how the major sports guys predict the Wings will fare (hat tip to Kukla’s Corner for the links)

Canadian Press: Sharks in six.
ESPN (Buccigross): Sharks in seven.
Toronto Globe and Mail (Eric Duhatschek): Sharks in six.
Toronto Globe and Mail (Tim Wharnsby): Wings in seven.
NBC Sports (Clement): Wings in seven
NBC Sports (Hull): Wings in seven.
NBC Sports (Ferraro): Sharks in six.
The Hockey News: Two analysts…one sez Sharks in seven, the other says Wings in seven.
TSN (Canada): Maggie the Monkey (Det), Bob McKenzie (SJ), Darren Dreger (Det), Darren Pang (Det), Jeremy Roenick (SJ), and James Duthie (SJ)

I think I have enough fingers to get this right…eight say San Jose, seven say Detroit… six if you exclude Maggie the Monkey, who went 9-6 in her predictions last year (which was FAR better than YrHmblScrb did). Exclude Maggie at your peril. ALL say the series will go at least six games; ALL agree that the Wings – Sharks will be the most entertaining series in the second round.

The bad news is Detroit is suffering from injuries to two KEY players…Tomas Holmstrom and Brett Lebda. Helene St. James:

The Wings drew admirers headed into the playoffs because of their depth -- but six games in, that has dwindled. Holmstrom is nursing a cut left eyelid, and while he's officially day-to-day, that can mean anything from a Game 2 return to missing two weeks. Brett Lebda is dealing with a sore right ankle, though he should return during the series. His injury further depletes a defense that saw Niklas Kronwall suffer a fractured sacrum in his pelvis March 30, which will keep him out through mid-May. That has left Kyle Quincey to play on the third pairing.

Hard to say which is the greater loss…Lebda is sorely (no pun intended) needed on the blue line, what with San Jose’s potent offense (Thornton and Cheechoo, just to name two). The Freep’s columnists are split on the outcome of this series: Four (including Mitch Albom) say the Wings win; one (St. James) says Sharks. All predict six games or more.

Wow. This series looks to be one for the ages… Here’s hoping that (a) my heart holds up to the end and (b) it won’t be broken again. It begins this afternoon at 5:30, my time. Fat Tire, popcorn, and the aspirin are ready!

Wow, again. It’s calm outside, as I type. Perhaps the day will be right for riding. Or performing long-neglected RV maintenance, such as washing the danged thing. And the bike needs a wash, as well. The day looks like it has potential for all three of these things. Let us pray…

Today’s Pic: Grandaughter Angelina (AKA, affectionately, Goo Goo) and Argus, the longtime canine companion of The Family Sam. Argus desperately wants in the kitchen, Angelina can’t make up her mind whether to let him in, or not. He eventually made it in…

Brunswick, Maine. June, 2006.

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Today’s Pic Silliness: I’m sure A&A aren’t going to like one of these pics, now that they are “young ladies” and no longer girls. On the other hand, they both have well-developed senses of humor, which is a prerequisite of surviving life with their father. Here we are in a Seattle pub, doing our very best “Got Milk?” impressions. The milk didn’t go so well with the beer, which was brewed on the premises and was excellent in quality. I love brew pubs.

Seattle. June, 2000.

Back in a few.