Scary or Not- It's Fun

The only hit in the 60s (or ever?) with the word "electrode" in the lyrics. A Halloween standard, a graveyard smash. Here's a fun video of The Monster Mash for Oct. 31.

It Will Always Be A "Kids" Game

Game 4 is up tonight from Texas. The Rangers last night made sure that this will not be the last game of the 2010 Fall Classic. I still pick the Rangers in 7 games.

Anyway, back to the videos for this World Series Week. Here is one with Lou Gehrig's Speech and Kenny Rogers' baseball song, "I Am the Greatest." It will always be a "kid's" game no matter how much it changes.

A Ghost Player's Song

Game 3 tonight in Arlington, TX. Continuing the baseball songs for this World Series week, I came across this original song/video about Shoeless Joe Jackson of the ill-fated Black Sox scandal.

Halloween Weekend

Thanks to Xeni at BoingBoing to help us get ready for both Halloween and Thanksgiving with a real

Pumpkin Pi

Amazing and Continuing

October 29, 1988 I began an amazing journey that is still continuing. It is my "sober date." On that day I came to realize that my life was on a downward trend that had nowhere good to go.

Within a week I was in treatment and heading the other direction. Today I celebrate in humble awareness of where I have been allowed to come in these 22 years.

Somewhere around the third week in treatment one of the other patients sang at the morning worship service. I had forgotten the song, although I had known it 15 years earlier. It ran through me like a word of hope and a direction home. It was "Why Me, Lord?" by one of my favorite artists, Kris Kristofferson. It is no less powerful- and important to me today. Here is a video of Kris and the Highwaymen singing it in 1990. Join me in celebrating through its hope.

A Travel Day

Springsteen and the E Street Band reliving Glory Days on this travel day in the World Series schedule.

A 50-Year Memory: A Star Begins His Career

October 29 – In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight.

Game 2 Tonight.

Why not keep up the tradition for World Series week started two days ago. (Long tradition.) Here's another video for baseball, one of those Top 10 posted yesterday. I like this one. A lot.

Now- What If?......

Let's just say, what if...

• The American League had won the All-Star game and

• The Minnesota Twins had won the American League pennant.

Then this would have been the weather for Game One tonight:

Scattered rain and snow, mainly before 7pm. Cloudy, with a low around 29. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 20 and 29 mph, with gusts as high as 49 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. (NWS)

But neither what-if is true so the weather for tonight's Game One in San Francisco is:

Mostly sunny [at game time], with a steady temperature around 60. West wind around 5 mph.(NWS)

Still, I wish it were at Target Field.

Top 10 Baseball Songs

From the Intruders and Eddie Vedder, through Springsteen and Fogerty and Harry Caray, here's a mosaic of one person's Top 10 Baseball Songs in honor of the beginning of the World Series tonight.

Gales of October

"Bomb Cyclogenesis" Pressure record smashed! Cat 3 hurricane level

So read the headline on the Minnesota Public Radio's weather blog, Updraft, this evening. What does that mean?

Simply put, bomb cyclogenesis is the formation of an "extratropical area of low pressure in which the central barometric pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours."
--Link

What does all this mean?

.LOOK FOR VERY WINDY CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH WIND SPEEDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH AND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED BETWEEN 7 AM AND NOON ON WEDNESDAY (NOAA- National Weather Service)

What DOES all this mean?

The end of summer. I know it is already October 26th, but we have had a great string of weather. It is over. For now. Snow showers possible. High temps in the 30s (F) Wednesday.

So it goes.

Here's the link to this neat animation of the drop in barometric pressure over Minnesota. 

Down To The Final Gasp

The World Series begins tomorrow with a great lineup. Cliff lee, ace pitcher for the Texas Rangers with young ace Tim Lincecum starting for San Francisco. The Giants haven't won a WS since 1954, before they were from the West Coast. The Rangers are in it for the first time in franchise history.

Wow.

It is one last week to hang on to the boys of summer even though the expanded schedules have moved the end potentially into November. I will be in front of the TV for the games. Neither is my team, but it is still baseball.

So to celebrate the last week of "summer sports," here's the classic song from Terry Cashman, dated back to the 80s, but that's what baseball is all about- its history and legends. I think we may see some new ones this week.

Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and the Duke) @ Yahoo! Video

The Whiz Kids had won it,
Bobby Thomson had done it,
And Yogi read the comics all the while.
Rock 'n roll was being born,
Marijuana, we would scorn,
So down on the corner,
The national past-time went on trial.



We're talkin' baseball!
Kluszewski, Campanella.
Talkin' baseball!
The Man and Bobby Feller.
The Scooter, the Barber, and the Newc,
They knew 'em all from Boston to Dubuque.
Especially Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.

Well, Casey was winning,
Hank Aaron was beginning,
One Robbie going out, one coming in.
Kiner and Midget Gaedel,
The Thumper and Mel Parnell,
And Ike was the only one winning down in Washington.

We're talkin' baseball!
Kluszewski, Campanella.
Talkin' baseball!
The Man and Bobby Feller.
The Scooter, the Barber, and the Newc,
They knew 'em all from Boston to Dubuque.
Especially Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.

Now my old friend, The Bachelor,
Well, he swore he was the Oklahoma Kid.
And Cookie played hooky,
To go and see the Duke.
And me, I always loved Willie Mays,
Those were the days!

Well, now it's the 80's,
And Brett is the greatest,
And Bobby Bonds can play for everyone.
Rose is at the Vet,
And Rusty again is a Met,
And the great Alexander is pitchin' again in Washington.

I'm talkin' baseball!
Like Reggie, Quisenberry.
Talkin' baseball!
Carew and Gaylord Perry,
Seaver, Garvey, Schmidt and Vida Blue,
If Cooperstown is calling, it's no fluke.
They'll be with Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.

Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. (Say hey, say hey, say hey)
It was Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Say hey, say hey, say hey)
I'm talkin' Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Say hey, say hey, say hey)
Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. (Say hey, say hey, say hey)
Say Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. (Say hey, say hey, say hey)
--Baseball Almanac

A 50-Year Memory: Intervention

October 26 – Robert F. Kennedy calls Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, and secures his release from jail on a traffic violation in Atlanta, Georgia.

While it was a political move on the Kennedys' part, it was right on target. Eight years later Bobby would again show his grace and commitment in Indianapolis the night when King was killed.

Are We There Yet?

Election Day cannot come too soon. It is now one week from tomorrow. I don't know if I can make it. I am getting sick and tired of the rhetoric.

• Name calling.
• Secret money.
• Tea Party.
• Anger.
• Fear mongering.

And that's the good news.

Now I am not one to believe that things were better in the "good, old days" which are usually simply just "days". I know that one of the nastiest elections took place over 200 years ago between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. I know that one of the most significantly difficult and divisive was in 1860 when the Union split. American name-calling in political wrangling are as American as that old apple pie.

But that doesn't mean it's a good thing. On top of it, the 24/7/365 news cycle and the anarchy of the Internet only add to the opportunity. We head into our own political corner, surround ourselves with people who think like us, then call names and point fingers in all other directions.

We also become very "situational" in our opinions. I was watching football on Sunday and  the local political commercials were non-stop. What I found interesting was that one commercial for a GOP candidate praised the fact that the candidate wasn't a career politico. Meanwhile, two commercials earlier the GOP candidate IS a career politico. In other words, what is "good" is what "our" candidate is; what is "bad" is what "their" candidate is.

And no one is able to truly speak all the truth- just the truth that I am willing to accept.

So it goes. We will see what happens. Both sides will claim some victory in some way or another. Only time- and probably history- will be able to sort it out.

Steal It- Then Follow It

Thanks to Ben Myers at Faith and Theology for adding this bit of humor to my day yesterday:

A reliable source informs me that one of Australia's big Christian bookstore chains has serious problems with shoplifting. Can you guess what their most-stolen item is?

The WWJD bracelets.

That reminded me of the old joke we in Seminary about leaving a Bible sitting in an unlocked car. We just hoped that if it was stolen that they would read it.

Like The Old Days

Sunday night's football game:

• Lambeau
• The Old Guy driving the team down the field
• The Old Guy throwing interceptions

•  The Packers win.

The End Is Approaching

We have had one of the best Spring-Summer-Fall seasons I can remember in a long, long time.

1st Hike- April 2

It began with an early spring right around the first weekend of April. That was the first weekend that I got out to do some hiking and picture taking at Whitewater State Park (April 2). That was the first of seven spring trips to the park with lots of pictures. My plan is to put them together in a music video over the next few months in time to celebrate spring 2011.

1st Bike Ride in Rochester

Through the season I have done 17 bike/photo rides around the area, reaching past 300 miles for the first time.

It ended with a fall hike through Whitewater two weeks ago with the leaves just past the peak, but still creating beauty.


But the weather is now about to change. We have dropped to normal temps for this weekend. By Wednesday we will be below normal and the first "snow showers" have been talked about but are not in the forecast for Thursday. Yet.

So to celebrate the great 6 3/4 month season, here are some of the pictures from two weeks ago as a cap to 2010 warmth and wonder.

More From The News

It's been quite a week for wonderful news headlines. Let's start with a caring thief...

• Pa. man tells thief he's homeless, gets stuff back

Compassion can make a difference. But I'm amazed that a homeless man would have anything the thief would want in the first place.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Then we travel across the pond to one of my favorite places...

• Spain says 'Adios' to smoking in bars, cafes

Quite a change for one of the smokiest countries I have ever visited. I can't imagine what the smokers of Spain are thinking about it. It was bad enough when we did it here in Minnesota.

<><><><><><><><><><>

This one is another in the long line of stretches of the imagination and human knowledge that shows up on a regular basis these days...

• Astronomers say they've found oldest galaxy so far

I loved the last two words: so far. The numbers are so great that they might as well say it was a couple hundred gazillion light years away.

<><><><><><><><><><>

And finally...

• Swiss archaeologists find 5,000-year-old door

The only response I could think of: "Now all we need is a hole in a 5,000-year-old wall to put it on."

Ginger Ale for Josh

As the Rangers won the AL pennant on Friday evening, they poured ginger ale on each other before going to the locker room for the champagne. Why?

Their MVP, Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton has had a well-publicized battle with substance abuse over the years. He has become a star after getting clean and sober and is not ashamed of it.(Wikipedia) It is clear he knows that his sobriety has brought him to where he is today. To lose that sobriety would be to lose all else.

But one person doesn't get it, that I noticed on the web right after the victory....

If the Rangers win it all, AA should give Josh Hamilton a pass on the whole alcohol thing. He earned it.

No, AA can't do that. He earned far more than a drink- a something that will be far more important than a drink. He said it on getting the MVP- He said it's "WE." Which any recovering alcoholic or addict will know is the very first word of the First Step.

But others on the web did get it:

#
Ginger ale for Josh Hamilton! Too cool. God loves the recovering and overcoming alcoholics. I do too!! #ioncewaslost

#

patricksmith04‎: Talk about great teammates, Rangers respect Josh Hamilton's dark past of substance abuse, so they spray ginger ale rather than booze. #MLB

#

jrvassar‎: Love that the Rangers celebrate with Ginger Ale for the sake of Josh Hamilton. #IamMyBrothersKeeper

All of us need to remember that WE can do what I can't.

Congratulations, Josh, for being a remarkable and humble human being. Enjoy the ginger ale. Tastes great, doesn't it!

They're Going Crazy in Arlington

For the first time in their history it's on to the World Series.....

Yankees 1
Rangers 6

And the Yankees are going home for the winter. (May it be the end of the dynasty? I can hope, can't I, that the Yankees become just another AL team?)

But for now, it's on to the World Series for the Texas Rangers.

The [Rangers] franchise originated in 1961 as the Washington Senators, an expansion team awarded to Washington, D.C. after the city's first American League team, the original Washington Senators, relocated to Minnesota and became the Twins. After the 1971 season, the Senators were moved to Arlington, Texas and became the Rangers the following year.

The Rangers are one of three Major League franchises to have never [before] played in a World Series, along with the Seattle Mariners (established in 1977) and the Washington Nationals (established in 1969 as the Montreal Expos). The Senators/Rangers franchise is the oldest team in any of the major North American professional leagues that has never won a league championship, although the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants won their most recent respective World Series prior to the founding of the Senators/Rangers franchise. The Rangers won their first post season series in 2010 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
--Wikipedia

A Movement Catches Attention

NBC Nightly News last evening gave a report on the House Church movement. I guess that means that the House Church movement must be coming to an end. The MainStream Media (MSM) has decided to pay attention.

Traffic Jam Coming Soon

At least in Minneapolis tomorrow. It appears as if President Obama will be the first sitting president to visit the University of Minnesota campus since William Howard Taft in 1911. He will be at a campaign rally with DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton. The rally is scheduled around 1:00.

So far so good.

Oh- there's a football game on campus, too? The Golden Gophers welcome the visiting Nittany Lions of Penn State. Game time? 11:00 am. The way the Gophers have been playing (very badly) I would guess the crowd won't be a problem. In fact, the Gophers might even like to have the Democrat's (poor) odds in the mid-term elections compared to their own.

Of course with a president visiting, that means security, Secret Service, closed roads, air traffic disruption. Even on a Saturday that might not be easily and quickly cleared. It may be best to stay away for a while.

Except we have tickets for the Guthrie Theater for a 1:00 performance right across the river. Will we or won't we? I need to think about this.

Truth to Consider

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe."
--Carl Sagan

A 30-Year Memory: History in Philly

October 21 – World Series: The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals 4–2 in game 6.

I was at Game One that year- my first and only World Series game. That was the first EVER win by the Phillies, one of the ancient teams of professional baseball. They didn't win another one until two years ago. This year is beginning to look slim, too.

In Memoriam: Benoit Mandelbrot

One of the great mathematicians of the past 50 years died earlier this week. (NYT) He is best known for his ground-breaking work on "fractals."

"Fractal geometry is not just a chapter of mathematics, but one that helps Everyman to see the same world differently." -Benoit Mandelbrot

A TED talk by Mandelbrot.

A fractal is "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity.
-Wikipedia

Fractal known as the Mandelbrot set, named for Benoit Mandelbrot.

Approximate fractals are easily found in nature. These objects display self-similar structure over an extended, but finite, scale range. Examples include clouds, snow flakes, crystals, mountain ranges, lightning, river networks, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of blood vessels and pulmonary vessels. Coastlines may be loosely considered fractal in nature.

Trees and ferns are fractal in nature and can be modeled on a computer by using a recursive algorithm. This recursive nature is obvious in these examples—a branch from a tree or a frond from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature. The connection between fractals and leaves are currently being used to determine how much carbon is contained in trees.
-Wikipedia

Frost crystal shows natural "fractal"

The incredible beauty of math and nature give infinite possibilities and endless awe when one begins to work with fractals. Go to Sprott's Fractal Gallery to do some exploring. Google fractals and you may get hooked with the artistic possibilities of these math gems.

A 3-D video of fractals:


Mandelbox Zoom from hömpörgő on Vimeo.

Now We May Never Know

Just when you think you know when the world will end, they change the measurements. LiveScience posted yesterday that the whole hype about the end of the world using the Mayan calendar may be wrong. Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer, reported:

The good news is that the Mayan "Long Count" calendar may not end on Dec. 21, 2012 (and, by extension, the world may not end along with it). The bad news for prophecy believers? If the calendar doesn't end in December 2012, no one knows when it actually will — or if it has already.

Looks like end-of-the-world theorists may need to find another ancient calendar on which to pin their apocalyptic hopes.

I am beginning to have my doubts about all these End-Of-The-World seers. They keep getting it wrong. Whether it was Hal Lindsay and his Late Great Planet Earth prophecies or the Y2K hullabaloo ten years ago, they keep failing.Every time we get all psyched up (or psyched out) about what's about to happen, nothing does. We will just have to keep on living as if the world isn't going to end.

Remedial US Government Instruction Needed

Coons (Dem candidate) said private and parochial schools are free to teach creationism but that "religious doctrine doesn't belong in our public schools."

"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" O'Donnell (GOP candidate) asked him.

When Coons responded that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, O'Donnell asked: "You're telling me that's in the First Amendment?"
-Yahoo! News

However, to be fair and balanced (oops!) Coons was unable to name the five freedoms found in the first amendment: Speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion. All in all, a great deal of o ur problems on all sides may be a lack of insight, knowledge, and understanding of our basic values as a nation.

A Freedom Life

I just finished reading Peter Heller's 2004 book Hell or High Water. It's the story of a group of kayakers going someplace very few have gone before, a dangerous place, perhaps even a spiritual place. Heller tells the story from his perspective as the writer from Outside magazine. As such he is an outsider yet one who has been on enough adventures and written about them, to be able to give us quite an insight.

There are a number of intriguing story lines that Heller uses. The adventure of running the Tsangpo River in Tibet, the personalities and quirks of the kayakers, a little of the political and historical side of Tibet and China, hope, and greed. As usual he manages to weave these together until, at the end, you realize what he was trying to do.

Toward the end, he had the following paragraph that says much about him as it does of the others on the adventure with him.

I passed 100 prayer flags strung on a wire over the creek with the morning sun shining through them and thought how adventurers, the truest and the finest, were the least encumbered people I've ever known, had the least to protect. The rest of us acquire not just material things but also education, careers, advancement, everything entailing politics and caution. We acquire lovers, spouses, children, homes. We repeat the moves that have succeeded before, and eventually, security triumphs over risk. The seven paddlers didn't own anything. Most of them didn't even have a car. Most of the time, they had no steady girl to go back to. They collected nothing but stories. Maybe freedom really is nothing left to lose. You had it once in childhood, when it was okay to climb a tree, to paint a crazy picture and wipe out on your bike, to get hurt. The spirit of risk gradually takes its leave. It follows the wild cries of joy and pain down the wind, through the hedgerow, growing even fainter. What was that sound? A dog barking far off? That was our life calling to us, the one that was vigorous and undefended and curious.

I think that resonated with me as I continue to be more aware of the aging process facing me, and all of us. I could see how we all lose the spirit of risk and off in the distance there may be, if not a dog barking, perhaps a train whistle headed out over the prairie or through the mountain gorge, a symbol of that restless freedom. I don't know what happened to the other adventurers on Heller's journey, whether the paragraph above describes it for them or just his view of it. But for me, I hope that within whatever boundaries and limits I face, there will still be that element of self-interest, undefended, and above all, a curious life.

-Link to Hell or High Water website.

Sunday Thought

"Christianity is about transformation – the transformation of ourselves and the transformation of the world. It’s about loving God as known decisively in Jesus - and it’s about changing the world."
~ Marcus Borg
From The Beatitudes Society Weekly Circuit Reader

Found In The News

Several headlines caught my eye in the past week. It seemed like a good time to respond.  First was the "pastor" in Florida who had threatened to burn the Quran:

Fla. pastor wins car for canceling Quran burning

All I can say is that to give that guy a "bribe" not to do something he shouldn't be doing in the first place is ludicrous. (But I don't have any strong feelings about it.)

+ + + + + + + + +

On a far less serious note I found the perfect gift for the family reunion of the family who has everything.

Hotel eyes record with $671,000 per night plan

For that you rent the whole hotel for the night. I wonder if they still inventory the sheets?

+ + + + + + + + +

This one is almost one of those dog-bites-man headlines. It just bears mentioning.

Stabbed — during anger-management class

Next time they'll plug in the metal detector.

+ + + + + + + + +

 
And finally the competition I have been training for for years.

Spaniards compete for siesta honors

With that, I feel a nap coming on.

Post-Season 2010- They Didn't Come Back Today

The Yankees, that is. Finally. They were unable to come back and win. We didn't have to watch Mariano Rivera be great.

After Friday night's comeback win, I wanted to say that the Yankees are bad for baseball. No team should be that unbeatable. No team should be able to so dominate the game.

I know that isn't reasonable thinking. They can be beat. But the truth of the matter is if the other teams can't expect to have a chance to win, they will do the psychological equivalent of rolling over and playing dead. Maybe my opinion is colored by the domination of the Twins by the Yankees. But I could sense the air being taken out of all the non-Yankee supporters around the country last night.

Tonight we can breathe again.

The Power of Hope Shared

Joel Burns, Fort Worth, TX, city councilman spoke out the other evening at the city council meeting. He addressed his words to gay teens who may be considering ending their lives. He referred to a number of teens who have done that. He then told more about himself emphasizing the message that "it gets better."



HT to Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish

The 34th Person: More on the Chilean Miners

The events in Chile continue to reverberate around the world. LiveScience had a post yesterday titled: To Hell and Back: How 69 Days Underground Affects Spirituality. In it they cited several quotes from the miners emerging from their time in the collapsed mine:

• "I have been with God, and I've been with the devil," Mario Sepulveda told reporters, adding, "I always knew God would get us out of there."

• 44-year-old Esteban Rojas stepped out of the rescue capsule Oct. 13,[and] dropped to his knees in prayer.

• The youngest miner, 19-year-old Jimmy Sanchez, wrote in a message on Tuesday (Oct. 12) that there were really 34, not 33, people in the mine, "because God has never left us down here."

The article reviews the history of traumatic events and spirituality. The particulars for any one individual vary, but it is known that any major traumatic event can cause a significant evaluation and re-evaluation of one's faith leading to growth- or denial of faith.

It's a phenomenon called "post-traumatic growth," in which people who go through something terrible report that it made them better. Not everyone experiences post-traumatic growth (some experience the negative side of trauma, post-traumatic stress). But according to a 2005 review of research published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, religion, along with other traits like optimism and acceptance, was associated with more growth after a traumatic period.

Chileans as a whole are embracing the mine rescue as a miracle from God. Before the rescue began, Chilean president Sebastian Pinera said, "When the first miner emerges safe and sound, I hope all the bells of all the churches of Chile ring out forcefully, with joy and hope. Faith has moved mountains."
--Link at LiveScience

This is really all unanswerable in this life. Faith is not based on logic and the scientific method of proof. If it were, it wouldn't be faith. If we can see it, know it, physically connect with it, we don't need faith. Faith is, by nature, transcendent. I cannot give you any proof about the things I have ultimate faith in. But neither, at this point anyway, can you give me any proof that I am wrong. Faith has answers to questions that may be beyond answers.

This, of course, is where many people get both separated or connected more. The fundamentalist approach to faith believes that you can "prove" it by books such as the Bible. The atheist approach says since it can't be proven, it doesn't exist. Ultimately, because it is often about great issues of life and death and eternity, we get so connected to our viewpoint that all others must be wrong. If your is so different from mine, then one of ours has to be wrong. It is, sadly, a dead end to discussion, diversity, communication, and even compassion.

You don't have to agree with the Chilean miners, President Pinera, or anyone else. All I have to do is celebrate with them and leave myself open to the possibilities of faith and hope that are presented to me in their experience. Someday I may be in one of those "fox holes" of life and discover that they were closer to the truth of the universe than I am today. In that openness we allow for a God who is bigger than we are and beyond our ability to understand or expand on.

And for that, I am deeply grateful.

Ooops... but Maybe Not

A few months ago the blog Regret the Error had this great "retraction" from the gray lady herself.

An article last Sunday about the morality of dealing with looting in times of disaster incorrectly stated that a blackout in 1965, which did not bring disorder to New York, resulted instead in a baby boom nine months later. There was no baby boom. A widespread belief that there had been one originated with a New York Times article, nine months after the blackout, reporting that some New York hospitals were experiencing higher than normal numbers of births; later scientific studies, however, found no evidence of a statistically significant spike in the birth rate. Link

A 50-Year Memory: An Idea is Born

October 14 – U.S. presidential candidate John F. Kennedy first suggests the idea for the Peace Corps.

Three Thoughts on Vocation

I find it interesting that poets, speakers, and preachers all say the same thing. It's only in how they say it that makes it different. In the difference may be the way to reach more people.

My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For heaven and the future´s sakes.
by Robert Frost, from Two Tramps in Mud Time

It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.
…Leo F. Buscaglia

The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.
- Frederick Buechner

The Miner's Song

Victor Jara was a Chilean poet and singer who was killed in the overthrow of the Allende government. His poem, The Miner's Song, became a theme and rally cry for what took place in Chile these past 3+ months.  John Hockenberry had this to say in August about the words of the song:

In a way the miner’s predicament is a metaphor. The literature of Chile is full of metaphors and elaborate allegories to history and destiny so it would be natural for all Chileans to look to these miners as surrogates for their own national narrative. As the bicentennial approaches for Chile in September people tell us that the fate of the miners is a parable for Chile’s history. All Chileans understand this story of a period of darkness where people had to rely on themselves to survive only to emerge into the light joyful, but always mindful of where they came from.

Jara's words:

Voy
Vengo
Subo
Bajo
Todo para qué
Nada para mi

Minero soy
A la mina voy
A la muerte voy
Minero soy
Humano soy

The translation:

I go
I come back
I climb up
I climb down
What’s it for
Nothing for me

I am a miner
I go to the mine
I go to death
A miner am I
I am a human being

Life in the 21st Century

Here I sit in Minnesota at my computer. I have two windows open. The one I am writing this post in and a live feed from Terra, a Latin American TV channel from Chile showing what is happening at the mine as they get ready to start bringing up the 33 trapped miners.

From the day they found the miners alive and then lowered a TV camera down until today we have been kept informed. Now, at 9:17 CT the rescuer is in the pod and ready to be lowered.

Wow. There he goes. And as the President told him the luck of the world goes with him.

9:35 - The capsule and the rescuer has arrived in the mine. Smiles, cheers, hugs.

It is amazing, I say again and again. The ways we have been able to communicate and connect the world. It wasn't all that long ago that we would have not been able to see this until film or tape was transmitted or transported. Yet today we can watch it live on a computer screen.

9:50 The first miner, Florencio Ávalos, is in the capsule. His family has gone to the rescue area to greet him.

9:54 He is coming to the surface, the pulley moves, the capsule begins a slow ascent with the flag of Chile there to be seen.

Now, watching the wheel turn, the cable pulling the capsule with Florencio to the surface. The family stands expectantly after 69 days separated. Life will certainly be different for all of them. That wheel turning will be a recurring memory of this rescue.

I am grateful that the TV commentator has given a lot of quiet time just to absorb what is happening.

10:10 They have pulled the pulley mechanism up. The moment is close. The son stands with his eyes wide. Applause. He is there! Tears and hugs and cheers.

What a moment. It may be these moments of connection that someday may help us all see how interconnected we are- or can be.

10:19- El Presidente Sebastián Piñera acaba de escribir en su Twitter: "Que emocion! Que felicidad! Que orgullo de ser Chileno! Y que gratitud con Dios!"Twitter feed from the Chilean president expressing the emotion, joy and pride of the Chilean people. And gratitude to God.

10:26 The capsule starts down again. It will be many hours- more than a day- before all the men are back and then the rescuers who have gone down with the capsule. It is quite a humbling time. I know I could not do what the miners do.

*********************************************

Over at BoingBoing, Xeni Jardin had this to say, live blogging like I was:

I can't imagine what it's like for the trapped miners, but man, what must be going on in the mind of the paramedics/rescuers they're sending down into the mine? What kind of strength must someone have to enter that tiny rescue shaft to drop half a mile down towards the center of Earth?

There is much work to do, but for tonight, the hope is real and, perhaps resurrection is not too strong a word.

I Can't Stand It Any Longer

Regular readers of my wanderings may be surprised that we have just passed the fifth week of the NFL season and I haven't said anything about quarterbacks, age, etc. I have been trying to behave, but last night's game between the Vikings and Jets begs for a comment.

The Once-Again-Viking back for another round and The Old-Guy-Starting-Quarterback were united and had some good moments. But, as usual, they were overshadowed by the final score, cemented by an interception.

Make note of the fact that the Old-Guy-Starting-Quarterback set a record of 500 TD passes and 70,000 yards in his career. He also added to his records of most interceptions and most fumbles.

To all you Vikings fans: You now can understand what all the Packer fans went through for those many seasons he was in Green Bay. Perhaps the single-handed record of combined moments of thrill and agony/game.

But the Old-Guy-Starting-Quarterback should not be dissed for his ability to keep right on playing. Aaron Rodgers, the Packers Double-A Rod, may be out due to a concussion. (The SI cover curse?)

That the Old Guy could play for all these seasons without missing a game is worth praising!

Hyping The Hype About The Hype Of The Hype

The headline at Yahoo! News from Time:

Obama is in the Jaws of Political Death

Let's see. I seem to remember

• Ronald Reagan in 1982 being in the very same position. Popularity was as low as Obama's is now.

And for the reverse

• George H. W. Bush in 1990 when his popularity was off the charts and was going to be unbeatable in 1992.

But I guess they have to sell magazines and newspapers and get the TV ratings up.

Here, from The American Prospect this morning sums it up:

[S]ince World War II, the president's party has lost an average of 24 seats in midterm elections, with two exceptions in 16 elections. Indeed, the second of those exceptions was George W. Bush, who if anything, had arrogance and insularity in spades.

You don't actually need to spend your time recording the thoughts of party elites to know what will happen in a midterm year like this one. Here's why: If the president's party has a large majority, they'll lose seats. If the president is polling under 50 percent, they'll lose more seats. If the economy is poor, they'll lose even more seats. Hell, if they do absolutely nothing but the bare minimum to succeed, they will still lose seats. The simple fact is that you don't actually need to know anything about the personality of a given White House to know how the president's party will fare in midterm elections; it will lose, and the only question is "by what margin?"

In other words, Tea Party and anger aside which in many ways are not necessarily the mainstream of either party, the system is normal.

A Virtual Tour

Mental Floss Blog posted a tourism video from Mexico City last week. As they said at the time it is greatly influenced by the seminal movie, Koyaanisqatsi. Some of the comments on the Vimeo page point to the crime and other problems in Mexico City, but that shouldn't (and doesn't) take away from the overall beauty of this video- and, I am sure, the city itself.



CD. DE MÉXICO, video documental from EARRANGOIZ on Vimeo.

For the Twins: It is Over

Target Field, ALDS Game 2, 10/7/10

For the team from Target Field the season is done. It was good. Even great! But it was too short. Two sets of games too short.

“The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round.”
Gaylord Perry

Baseball reminds us, especially when we are on the losing side, that success can be fleeting. It can be taken away by a slump, a mistake, or an injury. Things change quickly and to win may also have something to do with luck and the right things coming together at the right time.

“Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.”
Ted Williams

I have been a baseball fan for over 55 years. I have been through lots and lots of losing seasons and "Wait until next year!" moments. The Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, and now the Minnesota Twins. But there will be a next year. Baseball is that way.

“Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.”
George F. Will

Kirby Puckett Statue at Target Field

Thanks, Twins,

for another summer.

See you in April.

Happy Birthday, John Prine

October 10, 1946- John Prine, an American original, is 64 today.

Faulty Logic?

Reuters reported yesterday that people over 50 (in Britain) are "grumpier."

The poll of 2,000 Britons found those over 50 laughed far less than their younger counterparts and complained far more.

The number of times one laughs/day drops from up to 300 to around 2.5 when you are over 60. Maybe the over 60s don't find life as funny any more? Or, the real reason may be in the tag paragraph to the story on Yahoo! News:

One reason for the decline in mirth might be the lack of joke-telling skills. The study found the average Briton only knows two jokes.

I for one am grateful that the people I hang around with laugh more than that.

(No wait. Maybe they're laughing at me? 

Now we need to do a survey to find out if those over 60 are more paranoid.)

Say It Ain't So, Joe

Not again!!!!

The Twins are NOT that bad,
nor are the Yankees THAT good.

This was to be The Year! I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in all my years as a baseball fan. It was such a great season. Which even this should not take away from us.


But it still hurts. Fans live with their team for six months. With the new stadium we added some outdoor excitement and fun in the sun. That's why it hurts more tonight than some of the other years. We don't think it should have happened this way. I guess destiny has to wait another year.

Twins 1
Yankees 6

If anyone can figure it out let me know.

No, let the Twins know. Before next year.

Happy Birthday, John Lennon

October 9, 1940 in Liverpool Maternity Hospital, Oxford Street, Liverpool, England, a son was born to Julia and Alfred Lennon.

Who would have - or even could have - believed that this working-class kid from a working -class town in war-beset England would change the world through music. It is hard to picture him at 70. He will always be the long-haired social and musical revolutionary.

A new movie about Lennon's life is being released this weekend, Nowhere Boy. (82% on Tomatometer) I guess it doesn't give any new musical insights, but is a well-received biopic.

It is neat- and something to be grateful for - that we now have You Tube and other such sources. The early videos (and the Beatles were pioneers in that genre, too) are available along with fan videos. They were, and still are, the source of great music. I remember first seeing this video when it came out. It may not look like much today, but it was awesome to us then.

The Game Is Still On

Scoreboard at Target Field on Thursday evening prior to Game 2.

I know. I'm a broken record. I like to think of it as maintaining hope as long as it's alive. The game's not over. The "fat lady" hasn't started to sing. Any team can beat any team in any given game. It's been too great a season to end like this.

Do I have you convinced yet?

Now It Will Get Even Tougher

Oh what a beautiful October evening in Minneapolis.

It was, believe it or not, 72 degrees at game time.

We were all excited for Game 2 of the American League Division Series. Game 1 was the same old, same old. Not tonight, guys. Not tonight.


We got a great rise with a home run. Maybe? Maybe?

Pavano was in good form. But so was Liriano at the start of Game 1. Plus, do not forget, ever, that these are the New York Yankees.


A nice CF catch with the shadow from the late afternoon sun showing the play.


But things got ugly after the game went over to the New Yorkers. Ron Gardenhire got thrown out after arguing a probable bad call from the home plate ump. You could feel the air go out of the Twins fans. We sat and felt like we were looking into that great empty hole of the end of an otherwise great season.


The relievers took over. Here's Jon Rauch trying to keep things under control....


But nobody, nobody is like Mariano Rivera, their end-game ace in the hole.


I have some reflections.

• In spite of the losses, we do seem to be looking better than we have in the past against the Yankees. They are, after all, a team of permanent All-Stars.
• BUT we are not looking as good as we are. I know this is small comfort with these two awful losses. My daughter describes it that the Twins have built their team to beat the Central Division teams, but not the next tier. I don't quite agree. We are better than that.
• We cannot keep the game momentum in our favor. We cannot keep the Yankees from figuring out the pitching by the second or third time through the line-up. I don't know why this happens. I don't think it's in the manager. It may be a flaw in their attitude or psyche when it comes to the teams like the Yankees.
• A friend who watched the game on TV commented to me this morning that what he doesn't like is the "attitude" the Yankees seem to show. They are "cocky" is how he described it. Sure. They can afford to be. For now. 
• But I still believe. There is nothing to stop the Twins from winning two in Yankee Stadium and bringing it back to Target Field next week. (Only the Yankees, perhaps.) Sure, it's a long shot but there is at least one more game. That's all they can do....

Crash Helmets for Church

I have always found this quote from Annie Dillard exciting and worth remembering.

On the whole I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.

(Annie Dillard, Teaching A Stone To Talk)

Will your church (or mine) be that dangerous to attend on Sunday? Just to be safe, maybe I'll prepare.

They Are Better Than Elvis. Really!

Listverse the other week had a list of the Top Ten Rockers Who Are Better Than Elvis. No way can I disagree. At the top, of course, is Chuck Berry. But you will also find some other amazing musicians. Here are two of my favorites:

Duane Eddy, a Guitar God before there were guitar gods:


And Bo Diddly who "double-crossed" (or out-foxed) Ed Sullivan.


But don't miss them all including the Godfather of the Power Chord- Linc Wray and Jerry Lee Lewis and all his shakin' goin' on.

What A Way To Start The Post-Season

First, there was a Cliff Lee pitching gem striking out 10 for the Rangers against Tampa Bay.

Texas 5
Tampa Bay 1

Second, Roy "Doc" Halladay, pitched into history with only the second no-hitter in the post-season in history. The other one was in 1956 when Don Larsen pitched a perfect game for the Yankees against the Dodgers on October 8 in the World Series. It was Halladay's second no-hitter this year.

Reds 0
Phillies 4

Third, it was the first ever post-season game in our own Minnesota Target Field. Twins pitcher and AL Comeback Player of the Year Francisco Liriano made his first post-season start. Cuddyer gave him a 2-run lead in the second. But then in the 6th Liriano gave up 4 runs and left the game. He had looked good until then with 7 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Bummer. It began to look like all those other games against the Yankees. The Twins have not had a comeback win in 20 post-season games. Now, it's 21.

Yankees 6
Twins 4

Later today, I will be at Target Field for game 2 against the Yankees. Maybe we can break that string.

Hmmmm. Makes Sense. I Think.

Woody Allen said it:

I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me.

Getting Ready

It kicks off tomorrow- The Post Season 2010.

But first a quick look back at Sunday. The last regular season game at the new Target Field and what a wonderfully beautiful day it was.

As usual, Kirby Puckett stood by his gate in his immortal stance, inviting and challenging us to have a great day at the park.


A class act on Sunday. Toronto Blue Jays manager, Cito Gaston was managing his last game prior to retirement. So the Twins at manager Ron Gardenhire's suggestion had a special presentation to Cito. Here(from L - R) Gardy, former Twins and Jays pitcher Jack Morris, St. Paul native and Blue Jay MVP Paul Molitor greeting Gaston. Gardy is pointing to Orlando Hudson, current Twin who also played for Gaston. They gave a check from the Twins Community Fund to Gaston's charity.



Joe Mauer. Getting ready. So cool and calm as the ball is at his glove.



Left-handed pitcher Glen Perkins pitching to home run star (54 of them this year) Jose Bautista.


No, we didn't win. No big deal, it was a great afternoon with my daughter at the old ball game. I guess I did some good parenting with a true baseball fan for a daughter- and one who enjoys going with the old guy.

Which brings me to Thursday afternoon at 5:07 central time. The Yankees are coming to town and that will be Game 2 of the AL Division Series. Yes, we have tickets.....

Right there behind home plate in section 315.


And one last post, for old time's sake. The bottom of the 8th inning always made me feel good about who my employer is as they are an advertiser right there at the ball game.

And there's more to come. It's been a great summer and now it's October!

True Strength

Management guru Seth Godin has a way of bringing it down to the basics. Here is his list that he simply titles:

Demonstrating Strength

• Apologize
• Defer to others
• Avoid shortcuts
• Tell the truth
• Offer kindness
• Seek alliances
• Volunteer to take the short straw
• Choose the long-term, sacrificing the short
• Demonstrate respect to all, not just the obviously strong
• Share credit and be public in your gratitude
• Risking the appearance of weakness takes strength.

And I assure you, this is not just for business. It is a great way to develop a healthy, caring personal life with hopeful relationships across the board.

Gimmee That (VERY) Old Time Religion

From Yahoo! News Saturday:

Britain has recognised druidry as an official religion for the first time, thousands of years after the Celtic pagan faith emerged in Europe, the country's charity commission said Saturday.

It just takes some time for these new-fangled, new-age faiths to catch on, I guess.

Well, after I posted the link elsewhere a friend posted some old Pete Seeger words to the Old-Time Religion song that I had forgot. Here they are. (Thanks, John)

‎"It was good enough for the Druids,
They drank fermented fluids,
Ran naked through the woo-ids,
It's good enough for me!" - Pete Seeger

Fast-Rising Water

About 11 days ago we had some rain move into our state that has caused some real flooding. As expected it started with the smaller streams and rivers. The next stop was the larger rivers, like the Minnesota. The people in Chaska where I used to live have a great levee that keeps the water from the mighty Minnesota from downtown. But not the athletic park. Here is a time lapse of the day and what happened last week on the 27th when the river came to play ball.



HT to MPR NewsQ Updraft Blog

Who Inhabits The Primary Position?

Thanks to The Blog That Ate Manhattan for the following....

The regular season ended yesterday. The post-season begins on Wednesday. In between is a time to reflect. Well, maybe not a serious reflection. Let's just keep the fun going.





Now, for the original. Always funny.

The Love of Anger

Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king.

The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.
-Frederick Buechner
Wishful Thinking

In treatment language, we often speak of anger as an "umbrella" emotion. It is one that often is used to cover more painful or even embarrassing emotions. We are sad- we get angry; we are afraid- we get angry; we are hurt- we get angry. That isn't to say that anger isn't appropriate sometimes- it is. But if it denies the other emotions we never get through it.

Which leads to resentment. And resentment is not a helpful thing. As I once heard it described-

resentments are like drinking poison hoping the other person dies.

That is when your own skeleton appears, having eaten away your own self-esteem and hope.

The Regular Season Ends

That's 162 regular season games. It came to an end moments ago. This year there are no Games 163.
It's the

• Reds at Phillies
• Braves at Giants
• Rangers at Rays
• Yankees at Twins.

The fun begins again on Wednesday.

A 20-Year Memory: The World Continued to Shift

October 3 – Cold War: East Germany and West Germany reunify into a single Germany.

Attention Deficit Creativity?

Jonah Lehrer at the Wired.com blog, The Frontal Cortex, gives insight into why distractability may be helpful and even supportive of creativity:

The association between creativity and open-mindedness has long been recognized, and what’s more open-minded than distractability? People with low latent inhibition are literally unable to close their mind, to keep the spotlight of attention from drifting off to the far corners of the stage. The end result is that they can’t help but consider the unexpected.
-Jonah Lehrer

It is interesting to realize that at times we make negatives out of what can be positives in some people's lives. That is not to minimize the consequences of ADD in many individuals- it can certainly get in the way. But many people, diagnosed or not, have found ways to be quite successful even with ADD. Perhaps that brief quote from Lehrer above is part of the reason why it can be done.

But of course there is also the ability to see the world in all its many facets. Sure, it may be frustrating those trying to make sense of us, but, hey, it's all...

Squirrel!

A Virtual Choir Is As Real As Any Other

This is music at its best. But like the other virtual music of Playing for Change (also awesome) this doesn't exist in one place other than in one and zeroes. Composer Eric Whitacre recorded himself directing the music and that gave directions on how to add your individual parts to it. The result is, well, indescribable, like any great musical experience.

COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY:

Eric Whitacre

PRODUCED AND MANAGED BY:

Scott Haines

Representing 12 Countries:

Austria    Argentina    Canada    Germany

Ireland    New Zealand    The Philippines

Singapore    Spain    Sweden

United Kingdom    United States of America