This past weekend my son Jack was treated to a weekend that he will hopefully remember forever. My parents took us all out to Pennsylvania Dutch country where we spent the day at the amusement park Dutch Wonderland on Saturday, then on Sunday went to “A Day Out With Thomas”. To relate this is my own terms, it was like my cousin’s wedding weekend in Milwaukee where I toured Lakefront Brewery, saw My Morning Jacket at the Riverside Theater, then saw the 2008 Phillies clinch their playoff series against the Brewers. To be honest, it was like a wild bachelor party weekend, but for a three year old. All taking place in beautiful, slow paced, rural Lancaster County – home to the Amish, smorgasbords, and discount shopping outlets. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, Marty digs by Marty O'Connor
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Some unseen and unforeseen harmonic convergence has put the state of Georgia into a prominent position in national politics she has not occupied since the Carter years. The insurgent Cain is a homeboy well known to other crackers. Media conceit that he has “come from nowhere” is somewhat insulting. The Fair Tax is a baroque scheme, probably preferable to our current tax system, that has been a local hobbyhorse for a decade. Only now are Cain and its other champions bringing it to the country at large. Our new immigration laws which are typical of those sweeping through state legislatures have drawn international litigation and news scrutiny. Our media market, a piffle compared to the coastal giants has never the less birthed some prominent voices like Hannity (sorry, America) and the croaking Libertarian Neal Boortz who are now heard and (thankfully, less often) seen on ubiquitous airwaves. But our most famous export has been a clinker. That is a garden gnome cast in the fires of Kennesaw Mountain by what hand we know not. Of course this is that fellow with the Smeagol smile whose mother called Newt. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Ken Watson
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“And I wasn’t looking for heaven or Hell

Just someone to listen to stories I tell.” 

~ Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket)

My wife meditates and she does Yoga. I think it is pretty interesting stuff, but I haven’t tried either activity for myself. She is always telling me how good it feels to meditate and to have meditated. I believe it. But I think I already do that, with music. I wonder if artists of every kind aren’t doing their own kind of meditation, after all. [Read more →]

Tags: artistic unknowns by Chris Matarazzo, religion & philosophy by Chris Matarazzo
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Vancouver is a beautiful city. I was only there once, and it was a very brief stay, but it made an impression.  My first moment seeing it was on a bus from Whistler, where I had been skiing. As we first came within view of the city, I was amazed at just how gorgeous it was. Beyond that, everyone there seemed so friendly. I have never spent much time in Canada, but I certainly have the idea that it is a generally peaceful place filled with nice, decent people. When it comes to sports fans, though, it appears that Vancouver is right up (or down) there with many other cities, as far as having a bunch of crazed lunatics rooting for its teams. The Vancouver Canucks lost game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. The scene on the streets of the city that night was horrifying, with rioting, fires, looting, and general lawlessness. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
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10. “To prove I’m a good Democrat, I wanted to demonstrate that I lean a bit to the left.”

9. “I just love showing off Little Anthony and the Imperials.”

8. “I was confused by the term ‘junk e-mail’.”

7. “I wanted to show how hard it is to be a senator.”

6. “I was auditioning for a Calvin Klein ad.”

5. “As a forward thinker, I wanted to point the way.”

4. “I just wanted to answer the age-old question: Boxers or briefs?”

3. “When I originally said that I had been hacked, I was referring to my circumcision.”

2. “I am very proud of the staff I have under me.”

1. “For those who were confused about how to pronounce my last name, I wanted to send them a visual reminder.”

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, politics & government by Bob Sullivan
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When my father’s favorite sister leaves, I get Dad all to myself again. Since early in the summer, my aunt and I have knocked heads on the proper way to care for a dying man, so as soon as she is out of the house, I feel an enormous weight lifting. I feel more relaxed. I plan to make up for all the arguments from earlier in the summer. Then, I wanted to confront my father with his various failings as a Dad—from his various absences to his overbearing presence—but I’ve come to realize that it’s too late for this. He hasn’t eaten in weeks and can hardly take any fluid at all; he doesn’t have energy for intense conversations. If anything, a dying man feels he’s owed an apology from the rotten world, not like he is the one to apologize to selfish offspring or anyone else. So now, I am committed to rising above the fray and playing the role of the dutiful son until the end.    [Read more →]

Tags: creative writing, family & parenting by Alex Kudera
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NOTE: I’ve never been been one for blogging while on family vacations, not wishing to publicize how far I was from home, and how empty said-home was. So my ‘cruise posts’ over the week ahead – mockumenting the adventures of a West Texas desert-dweller in the middle of the biggest dang lake he ever saw – will be appearing one week after-the-fact.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 -The port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is slowly slipping from view, and we are now getting a chance to explore what will be our home over the week ahead. Plenty of topics for discussion among our new-found friends and acquaintances aboard the good ship Carnival-Freedom … “Where you from?” … “Is this your first cruise?” … “Do you get seasick?” … and, “Who’s going to win the NBA title?” Carnival Cruise Lines offered what I though was a splendid way to show our support, and I was sure to show my support for the Dallas Mavericks, early and often. [Read more →]

Tags: sports, travel & foreign lands by Jeff McDonald
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He’s Vlad the Dad.

Here are some of his best shots, via the Web.

[Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, politics & government by Michael Cade
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As Registered Genii go, you can’t get much more Registered or much more Genius than Nick Kristof. While his blood is not as blue as one could hope, his resume’ is otherwise impeccable comprising all the right schools and all the right gigs that have culminated with his perch at the highest level in respected media: a New York Times columnist. If after the suspiciously re-scheduled Rapture you need further proof that we are in the final days certainly this gentleman’s most recent column is a paradox of biblical proportions. [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, trusted media & news by Ken Watson
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I was probably 9 or 10 years old? I was already working on our family’s vegetable farm full-time in the summer, and my cousins and I were making boxes (this process involves this big, stapler machine — at least for the ones that hold the heavier produce). Anyway, as we were working, we noticed that a baby bird had hopped  under the packing shed. This thing was little — barely could open its eyes — and we were worried that it would get hit by one of the forklifts. So, we found a small box, filled it with those cloth-like paper towels that come in a box (rag-in-a-box, I think it’s called?), and then maneuvered the baby bird into the little refuge we created for it. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, getting older by Sara W. Moreno
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