Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Like a Death In the Family...

...when I read today that mystery novelist Robert B. Parker had died almost 10 days ago. I discovered Parker in the late-1980s -- after his books were adapted into the Spenser For Hire television series with Robert Urich and Avery Brooks, but before even half of what eventually became an almost 40-book series was realized. In the process, fictional Paradise police chief Jesse Stone -- of Tom Selleck, TV-movie fame -- and Helen Hunt-inspired, cop's-daughter Sunny Randall also became near-annual regulars. And, have you seen the movie Appaloosa?!

Using paragraphs often less than a line long, Parker wove intricate descriptions around morally-wound (and -wounded) leading men (and a woman or two), retailing quick, precise, allusive, and amusing dialog within a fast-paced plot which often seemed to move faster than its characters, who caught up with it at the end and set things right. There was never any doubt about the outcome of a Parker novel (the good guys win!), but the story was about the journey and the participants, so who cared?

The maddening thing about Parker was that his crisp dialog could make a 325-page book into a 3-hour read -- thoroughly delightful, but unsatisfying in the realization that it would be another year until the next title in the series. So, the advent of the Stone and Randall characters, and the throw-in Westerns, added the subliminal promise that the wait between publications would be lessened, as it was. I read Sandford, Connelly, maybe Patterson, and sometimes Baldacci or others, to pass the time till the next Parker issue.

He reputedly wrote five pages a day, five days a week, 50 weeks of the year. You do the math -- that's 3-4 books annually. In fact, reports are that two more Spenser novels reside with the publisher for future release, as does another western, and a Jesse Stone novel slated for next month. Needless to say, they will become first-edition reads here, but the unrealized handful of rarer texts may blaze beyond my pecuniary circumstances with his death -- an early magazine serialization which became a self-published, limited booklet featuring an early Spenser character, and a hard-to-find early novel with which he shared a byline with his beloved, 50+-year bride, Joan. Otherwise, I own every Parker title, and have a scattershot, correlative collection of signed copies and Advance Read proofs. While I have all of Connelly's Harry Bosch titles, and Sandford's complete Prey series, for no other author than Parker have I made a concerted effort to document the entire compendium. But, even with failure to net the missing pieces, I can't imagine parting with any of the books themselves.

Much more likely, I will start back at the beginning, and read them all again (not for the first time!). Which makes me believe that, while yesterday and today Robert B. Parker was a work-a-day, popular fictionalist, tomorrow he will become a piece of the American literary culture: the novelist who bridged Marlowe's film noir stories with today's modern culture and society -- without losing the beneficial assets of either one.

Robert Parker died at his writing desk, suddenly and without anticipation; which means that Spenser, Stone, Virgil and Everett, Hawk, and others will live forever. If you've not met them yet, be thankful that the meeting will be so long and entertaining.






Saturday, January 23, 2010

Aw, Shiittt!!! (Pardon My French!)...

...but, according to President Obama, we are so, damned mad about George W. Bush's presidency, that we're electing Republicans in Massachusetts!..

...you see: "...The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office.

People are angry, and they're frustrated. Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years..."

As ever, Mark Steyn has the takedown: "...Presumably, the president isn’t stupid enough actually to believe what he said. But it’s dispiriting to discover he’s stupid enough to think we’re stupid enough to believe it..."

The horrifiying thought in all this is that, a la Bill Clinton, it is happening early enough in the Obama presidency that he might still have a chance at re-election -- IF he recognizes his own weakness and responds appropriately to it.

Granted, a BIG IF...





Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Devil or the Witch?

Are You Surprised John Edwards Dropped His Denial and Admitted to Fathering a Child with Rielle Hunter?

Well, I DID figure he'd wait until his wife, Elizabeth, died from her cancer. I'm assuming, thus, she must be doing better than expected, health-wise (and good for her, on that count!)

That said, Elizabeth -- from whom it's reported the former VP and presidential candidate has separated -- doesn't seem to be that much of a prize, either:

Book reveals secrets about Edwards campaign

This, folks, is what's wrong with the American political process: the sensible folks make their millions in business, and we're left with the hucksters playing us for suckers! It almost makes you want to support President Obama's effort to limit executive pay! Without the 'Golden Parachute', they may as well run for office and make their millions on graft, like Dodd and Murtha!

Yeah, right! Like THAT'S why he proposed it!


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Mid-Life Something (Boredom, Perhaps?..)

Well, the whiskey has petered out. Now, mind you, I still enjoy it (there is some mixed in cola sitting next to me as I type), but there really isn't anything hard-to-find around here anymore because, well, I already bought it during my last obsessionary period. While I continue to cherish the friends I've made while enthusing over the bibulous lubricant, the hunt has ended because the herd is depleted.

Plus, I'm almost a year already in-house! There is no longer the goosebump-raising thrill when I turn into MY driveway.

Soooooo, I'm bored. What's the next 'thing'? Well, I bought a motorcycle last weekend. Like me, it's an 'oldie-but-goodie': a 1982 Honda 900C Custom. 'Thing' is, I haven't been on one for almost (okay, maybe "more than") 40 years. My last motorized, 2-wheel jaunt, best as I remember, was on my brother's 50cc Benelli down the farm path while growing up -- c. 1968! This one is capable of, well, more than 145mph! (Being from the immediate, post-Carter era, however, the speedometer only goes up to 85, thankfully! lol)

Frankly, it's a great bike, and I paid cash! No monthly payment, no high-cost insurance indemnifying a lienholder. And, I'm registered for a Motorcyle Safety Foundation course (which will substitute for state written and driving-course exam) next month. Despite the fact that the machine scares me right now, I WILL master it! And, then, I will have a ball! 

If only I can ever get it home from the dealer...?



He's No Lincoln

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Abraham Lincoln, (attributed), 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

It strikes me that the Obama Administration is pretty much invested in "all of the people all of the time". It's a losing investment.




Monday, January 18, 2010

Just Thinking...

(Sorry about the off-the-ether time, folks! I've been scratching for cash and paying it to buy a motorcycle. It's a mid-life crisis, you know.)

In 2004, a little-known state senator, who had accomplished little as a legislator, running for a U.S. Senate seat he was expected (and did) win handily, electrified a national convention with a keynote speech -- and was elected president four years later.

Newly-minted Sen. Scott Brown HAS accomplished something -- defeated a state-wide, generations-long political juggernaut (almost reminds one of Sarah Palin, huh?) and made Massachusetts a two-party state again -- and won a place in the U.S. Senate. Ironic, isn't it, that he may spell out the term limit of his other-party precursor.

Meanwhile, President Obama and the Obaminations promise not to let Brown's election deter them from their appointed destiny of lurching the American economy and society leftward -- even against most Americans' will! Kinda gives you an idea of how dangerous Jimmy Carter might have been had he KNOWN he was only getting a single term, doesn't it?


Sunday, January 10, 2010

Lost NFL Weekend

I was an NFL 'beat writer' for four years. What does that mean? Well, it means from 1997 (in Memphis) to 2001 preseason, I covered for my local, daily newspaper every Tennessee Titans home game except one (Christmas season in '97 vs. Steelers -- I went to Vegas), and from playoffs 1999 (Music City Miracle thru Super Bowl) through preseason 2001, I reported every game, home AND away (except a Monday night in D.C.). For whatever it's worth, there are fewer full-time NFL writers than NFL players. Not paid as well, though. I left the business when asked to accept lower status and less pay for my then-significant, but part-time work.

Additionally, I've been a Titans season ticket holder before, during, and after all that. My name, literally, is emblazoned on an LP Field wall as an original PSL holder.

All of which is to say, beyond spending 25 years being paid to write about sports, I have a vested interest in the NFL. Which is why this weekend was so odd: in three playoff games so far, I wanted 5 of the 6 teams to lose. With only tonight's Arizona-Green Bay yet to start, I've spent less than an hour watching pro football during its supposed elite post-season.

Although I'm no particular fan of the Cincinnati Bengals -- beyond being an admirer of their all-time, all-NFL founder, Paul Brown (for whom, interesting, another division team is named) -- I really wanted to see them beat the Jets, whom I loathe. Not sure why, really, except that I though Eric Mangini got too much credit there, despite getting fired, just like I think Bill Belichek gets too much credit in Foxboro (and nationally -- read that, 'from Peter King', when he's not canonizing Brett Favre!) for being astute enough to hire hyper-competent coordinating assistants. And, I don't like Rex Ryan, as often is the case with the offspring of colorful characters. Father Buddy Ryan was eccentric and irascible. Son Rex, rubbing off the same routine, is tiresome. Additionally, he used to be with the Ravens.

I don't like Baltimore because they were whiny and chippy during the Brian Billick years spent in the same division I covered with the Titans. Those two teams really didn't like each other, but often had to -- and did, usually originating in Baltimore -- invent reasons for it. Ray Lewis is going to the Hall of Fame instead of jail, where he belongs. Billick will forever be recognized as a Super Bowl-winning coach despite the Ravens never being as good as the team's talent beyond that single year.

Re New England, see above re Belichek, the cheater (I mean, really -- does ANYONE believe he didn't know his operative was filming the other team, and that it was against the rules?). Once you're proven to be a liar and a cheat, the rest of your accomplishments come into question. I didn't make that rule, by the way -- it's called the 'Judeo-Christian ethic'.

As for Dallas and Philly -- do I really have to explain why either of these teams rub me the wrong way? For Dallas, let's just remind them that the owner doesn't REALLY matter to anyone except himself, okay? And the Eagles? Well, aside of Rush being largely correct about McNabb -- and being drummed out of league ownership for it even though a racial epithet-spewing celebrity pop singer (http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/280525) is part-owner of the Dolphins -- how do we gloss over the fact that being a successful NFL coach apparently is more important (and we're OKAY with that!) to Andy Reid than being a dad, whose sons (plural!) are imprisoned for being violent drug users and dealers? I'd even grant that Reid seems like a really nice guy. Lousy fathers often are -- it frequently goes hand-in-hand. Doesn't make his priorities stand out in the pantheon of right-thinking, though.

Looking ahead to the Arizona-Green Bay matchup later, I have a definite preference, but no animosity toward either team. I'm a huge fan of Kurt Warner, despite his having ruined my sport-writing apogee by beating my Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. He's every bit as good -- as both a player and a person -- as his reputation says. His opponents can vouch for the former; his teammates frequently vouch for the latter. Warner is a Hall-of-Famer whether or not he is ever enshrined in Canton!



Saturday, January 9, 2010

"Speaking Stupid All the Time"

That's how Power Line's Scott Johnson puts Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's inept articulation.

And, is anyone else tired of the non-apology apology (who would question the sincerity: he only waited to get he got called out a year-and-half later?) which basically regrets that we listeners are too stupid to understand the superior thinking so eloquently misstated? I mean, really -- isn't a more apt description of Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinking stupid all the time?!

I've hinted before that I'm embarrassed that the two chambers of our national legislature are headed by individuals who'd fit right in with mid-level county commissioners back home.



Thursday, January 7, 2010

What Do People Expect?

I suppose this NY Times treatise about men who regret becoming homeowners is supposed to garner sympathy and some sort of androgynous bonding, but it simply struck me that these men bought a house with unrealistic expectations or just to check off a life-experience box:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/garden/07men.html?ref=garden

Anyway, I bought my first house after 35 years of adulthood last year, too. It's a 'rambler' -- it has waaayy more room, both inside and outside, than I need living by myself. And, it's tying up much of the money which was either savings or discretionary, spendable cash just a year ago. I'm having a hard time affording a motorcycle-buying,  mid-life crisis, for Heaven's sake!

All that said, I don't regret being here for a minute. I've missed having space, trees, wildlife, and my own dirt since leaving the farm on which I grew up two months out of college. I've adopted seemingly ALL of the erstwhile neighborhood stray cats -- there are five of 'em (only one moved in with me) asleep around the house as I write this -- and we're not the least bit crowded. I spent an hour this morning in the crawl space under the house insulating water pipes against the cold -- and feel good about it!

In short, I think the premise of this story is all wrong, although it's certainly PC: the problem with these homeowners wasn't that they are young, professional men, it's that they are too unfocused, too unrooted, or too self-centered to value anything that doesn't put money in their pockets, or social viability into their schedules. And, it's true they probably don't need to be homeowners. But it isn't because the American Dream has lost its luster or value, but rather because some Americans can't see beyond the scope of their own horizons, and find stewardship of anything that will last longer than they do stultifying.


The First Duty of a President

It remains to be seen if President Obama has yet internalized this fact, but it is increasingly obvious to the rest of us that the primary thing Americans demand from their chief executive is that he protect the country. And, if he fails to do it, no combination of other 'achievements' will make up for it.

The fact that Obama, despite his previous campaign rhetoric, has left in place many of the Bush-era intelligence and security protocols hints that he gets it. The treatment of the Christmas-Day, would-be undie bomber as a character in "Grand Theft Airliner" doesn't.


Monday, January 4, 2010

It's Global Warming, Of Course...

...but, otherwise, it would be ironic that today's prediction of the worst U.S. winter in 25 years harkens back to a time when we were just snapping out of climatists' expectation of a new Ice Age (personally, I remember January 1985 pretty well, since there was some question whether or not sextons could open a grave in which to bury my recently-deceased father).

And, if we still held in high esteem Judeo-Christian values, how ironic and sinful it would seem that folks are dying from the cold http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-cold-deaths,0,5066667.story in places whose former senator and vice president is getting filthy rich promoting the idea that what's happening to them just isn't possible!

Meanwhile, I'm trying to corral the former stray cat turned household pet inside tonight where it's warm, worrying only that my heating bill will top $200 this month -- while folks in parts of the world worry that they'll run out of the fuel of which I'm in ample supply, and where some in parts of my state die from the cold perturbing my cats!

Sometimes, irony sucks!..



Apropos of Nothing and Everything...

...but it has now been more than 37 years since U.S. astronauts 'Gene' Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the moon during Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last time humans have visited an extra-terrestrial place.
Thirty-seven years.
It is beyond comprehensible to me that -- in obvious contradiction to the advances of technology and science in the interim -- that we are in sight of the end of a manned U.S. presence in space. Soon we will be unable to send an American into earth orbit, let alone back to the moon. Which, in utter humility, I posit shows EXACTLY the value -- when ill-used -- of knowledge and technology. Nothing! A big, fat NOTHING!!!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

An NFL Reflex

I don't think I've alluded to it since my initial 'blog post, but I spent 25 years, full-time and part-time, as a newspaper journalist/sportswriter/photographer. Concurrently (in part), I also have been a charter, season-ticket holder of the Tennessee Titans since their advent in this state as the Oilers in 1997, and was one of their 'beat writers' for four years. Thus, I have some experience that, while not integral, does make me conversant with the league and team, and their players.
That said, here's what I expect from the 2009 final weekend (albeit, played in 2010), and beyond:
  • Titans running back Chris Johnson, who likely will be the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, WILL break the record for yards from scrimmage (rushing and receiving), but is 50:50 to gain the 128 running yards needed to achieve the 1,000-yard plateau (he would be just the sixth back to do it) in Seattle Sunday (the Seahawks' rush defense is pretty good!); his odds are no better than 1:5 of gaining the 234 he'll need to eclipse Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing mark.
  • The New York Jets will benefit from two 'bye' weeks -- competing against 'resting' Indianapolis and Cincinnati -- to gain an AFC wild-card berth, and will become the tangible evidence that charging full NFL ticket prices for both pre-season and post-clinching football games is a leading factor in lengthening the NFL schedule. If the fans are going to pay 'meaningful' (to them) prices, the games better damn well be meaningful, too!
  • The Detroit Lions will become the most-improved team in the history of the league, winning two games after a winless season in 2008. That's a .125 winning percentage, against one of .000 last year. Thus, the Lions are infinitely better than they were. But, wait till next year!

'Happy' New Year! (sigh)...

...Yeah, that's the definition of a day late and a dollar short, isn't it? Really, I wish I could do better.
There are a bunch of factors in my personal dread of the coming year:
  • personally, one year ago, I was debt-free and putting aside a full one-third of my income monthly as savings and/or discretionary spending! Today, after buying a house last March -- and taking on the accompanying mortgage -- trading in my car for a newer model in August, and acceding to a couple of low-limit credit cards amidst all that, I have more debt than ever (though more assets, too!). Don't get me wrong, I love my house and feel lucky to be here. It's the best place I've ever lived besides the farm I grew up on. But, my financial options are tied in knots...
  • I'm as un-enamored with our current federal administration as I expected to be when Barack Obama was elected president. He is everything I thought him to be: inexperienced, and arrogant about it (meaning he doesn't realize how out-of-his-league he is)!; left-wing to the border of Socialism; personally aloof, which along with his arrogance, almost makes you want him to fail until you realize it's MY COUNTRY, too, he'd be failing!; his failings are coming into view early, giving him plenty of time to recover before seeking re-election (Americans have such short, optimistic memories!) -- and 8 years of this sort of government may be fatally irreversible.
  • I truly don't know what to do about money, which I fear will soon be almost worthless with the inevitable hyper-inflation that so many protest today won't really happen. Well, yes, it will! We've been pumping up the money supply since at least 1994, at a rate far out-stripping employment and productivity. I don't blame it on Obama, specifically -- it began with George H.W. Bush's 'no new taxes' dishonesty, and has continued through three presidencies since! -- but the current lack of realism about budgets and deficits is beyond scary. So, I don't know whether to hold cash in the safe, buy canned goods and non-perishables, lay in more ammo, or just spend it all and man the barricades! I DO have a long-tenured, public-employment job (teaching), so I may be able to ride out the high unemployment -- which will allow me to pay back my mortgage with worthless dollars! Alas, you might also find my starving, dessicated body on the living room floor.
  • We've spent eight years and thousands of American lives opposing an implacable, Islamist foe to Western democracy, and are now led by political entities who think if you play nice and fair with it, it will respond in kind. If we wind up suffering terrorist victims in large numbers at home or in allied lands, how will we stand the guilt and regret that it would have been better to spend those lives gaining ground on some foreign battlefield toward irradicating the threat for future generations?
All in all, I expect 2010 to be a regrettable year. If I am wrong -- and I hope almost beyond hope that I am! -- I pray that I am around at its end to make amends. That is, I'm afraid, my best wish for you and yours, too.