Energy Crisis

Lots of stuff that I want to talk about: the fragileness of human beings, the Declaration of Independence, life's synergy, Skittles, people's lack of commitment, and more.

Sadly, I'm pretty run down right now, so all of that will get pushed off until some unforseen future date. My energy level is really low right now, and I don't have a lot of motivation to draw from at the moment.

I really dislike this time of year.

Funny heh...not funny ha ha

Three quick thoughts for today.

On WCCO this morning, I heard about a fire in a Twin Cities buildling. A tobacco shop suffered smoke damage. Funny

On ESPN today there was a news story about NASCAR drivers and teams being worried about new rules this year. These new rules allow manufacturers of hard liquors to sponsor cars. The concern they have is "What will people think when they see a fast car with an ad for hard liquor? That may contribute to drunk driving." This report was made with the reporter standing near a row of sponsors advertisements. The most visible one being Miller Lite, a beer manufacturer and longtime supporter of NASCAR. Funny.

Lastly a report was released today stating that Methamphitamine use was up among teens, a source of worry for state health officials. They did mention, however, that teen use of alcohol and marijuana had decreased. Duh, of course they have, all those kids that did those are now using meth. Funny. Or not.

Wanted: Greatness!

Yesterday here in America it was Martin Luther King Day, a day created to honor this great man. I got to watch a brief film detailing his life and accomplishments, and I'm more impressed with him than I was before.

A legendary human being.

I think the world is starting to lack in that regard. People who are powerful personalities in life, mourned when they pass on; their lives remembered for years.

Dr. King was certainly one of this dwindling number. And very deserving.

I'm having trouble thinking of others who have the same pull on people. Some world leaders qualify: for good of bad, Yasser Arafat comes to mind. But fewer and few actors, artists, scientists, writers, and others seem to belong to greatness in my opinion. Those few personalities who can change people and ideas into unstoppable force. People that can change the very landscape of the world.

I'm not entirely sure why that is.

One Word Titles

One website I find virtually essential, especially during the summer months, is http://www.nws.noaa.gov. A great resource for weather related info, storm warnings, and meteorological data.

Today, I logged on to it to see what is coming up for my area in the next few days.

Cold.

That's the weather forcast for tomorrow. Cold. And Saturday. Sunday, too. Aw heck, throw in Monday as well. Cold.

One word. Cold. No mention of wind. No predicitions of precipitation. No talk of cloud cover. Cold.

It's as if they're saying, "Screw any other info, cause none you are going outside tomorrow if you know what's good for you. Nothing else matters."

The powers that govern my life (my school board) seem to have seen the same forcast that I have. We're two hours late tomorrow.

I feel warmer already.

Slippery Road, Will Travel

I was driving between towns today, on my daily journey between school. The roads were crap, by the way. I'm pulling for two hours late tomorrow, especially if the wind picks up like it's supposed to.

As I was driving, I came across a long line of black birds across the road. As I approached, first one and then the entire flock lept up into the air. It got me thinking. You know, cause not much else was going on.

It seems, sometimes, that groups of creatures (and I include humans in this) are swayed by the first one of the group to react. It comes down to which ever member of the group is the least competent. This individual sets the rest of the group in motion.

In my bird example, I knew the birds would take off as I got closer...but how was it decided? The least courageous one of them was the deciding factor. He/she took off, and the rest of the group followed. When trying to move sheep, you can't tell the leaders which way to go. No, you try to scare/herd a few of them, and once they start moving, the rest will follow. It's kind of a mob mentality. Once someone else has done it, that must be what the rest of the group should be doing.

Well, at least that's what I came up with in the 8 miles from Raymond to Clara City.

Sports Commentary

I'm a very on again, off again sports fan. I have many reasons to dislike sports, something which I will eventually address in this very space.

As a pessimistic, loyal fan of the Minnesota Vikings, I was watching this weekend's game. I remember laughing out loud when this now infamous Randy Moss celebration dance occurred. Now perhaps not in the greatest taste, certainly much worse can and has been done on the football field. Due to this scandalous behavior, both ESPN and Fox refused to show replays of it on their football recap shows last night (although ESPN has shown it today, I don't know about Fox).

Now, allow me to comment upon this decision, if you will. Nothing was revealed during this simulated mooning. The entire scene lasts about 2-3 seconds, ending when teammates join in the celebration and put an end to Randy's antics.

Both of these networks will show just about anything sports related. Joe Theisman breaking his leg...We got the footage right here. Any of Terrell Owens' endzone celebrations...Fire them up! Also, Fox apparently lives in a glass house while blindfolded. "Who's your daddy"!? They'll air that utter crap, but are too offended by this? ABC (owned by the same company as ESPN) shows the towel dropping intro to Monday Night Football, but thinks this is too much for their viewers?
Please, all of this is disgusting behavior. Randy, grow up. Networks, there are worse things on air. I can understand not showing streakers that run onto the field during a game. But at least they're naked. That's some plausible reason not to show it.

The irony of all this is that it is a long standing tradition of the Green Bay Packers' fans to moon the opposing teams bus after a loss. I guess it's always the 2nd guy getting caught in the act.

Randy is no saint, but he frequently give touchdown footballs to disabled children after he scores. That's worth some credit in my book. Cut him some slack.

Trendy Haiku

Technology, thou
fickle mistress. Why can't you
just f'ing work right?

Never doubt the power of a good editor

Special thanks to SuspectBob for keeping me on the straight and narrow in my last column. He's got my back, in an editorial sort of sense.

One Giant Leap Where Mankind Has Been Before

Oedipus the King. Antigone. Electra. Greek Tragedies, all of them, and classics in the best sense of the word. The plots are thousands of years old, but the messages and feelings they evoke are as current as ever. Some historians of literature have claimed that our ancient Greek and Roman ancestors wrote every plot imaginable, and that we're just copying and modernizing them. Debateable, of course, but for a "primitive" society, the themes they developed are very complex and seemingly timeless.

They're all tragedies, so none of them end well for the main characters. But we, the audience, can gain wisdom and insight at their expense. Which is as the author, Sophocles, intended.

Oedipus the King has committed several terrible crimes unbeknownst to anyone, including himself. As he unravels the mystery of his history and legacy, he comes to know and understand his transgressions. The gods deliver their divine justice upon him and his loved ones, as they always intended, but he also suffers by his own hand, as well as the people of Thebes.

Antigone, Oedipus' daughter, mourns the loss of her dear brothers, and struggles against an increasingly tyranic ruler. She argues that the law and will of the gods will always supercede the will of kings and queens. She eventually pays with her life. To late the tyranic ruler realizes his errors of going against what is right; he loses his son and wife to sorrow and outrage over the death of Antigone.

Electra is overcome with sorrow by the murder of her father at the hands of her mother and her new lover. Although her mother argues that death of her father was necessary and right because of his actions, she retorts that murdering a father and husband is never right, and her mother will eventually have to face her crimes. That time comes when Electra's brother arrives back from a long journey, and he doles out retribution by killing his mother and step-father.

Excellent stories, and the lessons are applicable today as they would have been in ancient Greece. These have been greatly simplified versions, but I encourage anyone interested to investigate them further. There are some wonderful online resources for them if you are unable to find a copies of Sophocles' great plays.

Into the Geek's Den

Arrived safely back from KB a while ago. It went pretty much as I expected, although the acutal bludgeoning of my team wasn't nearly as bad as I'd predicted. We started off really well, fell back a bit, and only due to one last bad round did we miss out on going to regions. C'est La Vie.

On a sadder note, we did lose to the Christians.

Yes, the Christians.

Nearby to the school district that I work in is a private, Christian school. CMCS, to be exact. Since they are geographically nearby, the have become a natural rival. Not a huge rivalry, but a good natured one. (One of the towns in our district shares a newspaper with this other town with the Christian school, so we can't have too much dislike for them) Anyway, one of my students announced that his own personal goal was to beat the Christians.

I always joke about some of my students being terrorists, but apparently it's more true than I had known.

In the end we lost to them by 3 points. Not bad, but we should've had 'em.

On an unrelated note, I was approached by a complete stranger and asked how I liked working at the Montevideo Movie Theater. Apparently, my double life has caught up to me. I hate it when I find out I've been keeping something back from myself.

Ring in the New Year

Hey all, just wanted to write quick and say thanks to everyone for making this a great Holiday Season. It was wonderful to see everyone! Thanks to SuspectBob and "A" for the Thai food, the great 40K game, and letting me crash at his place. Great New Year's party, Das Schnoz...good time was had by all. Plus I got to re-unite Joe with Uncle Bonsai, so that's a plus. Also, great to see Jake and the Family Lighthizer. Asha sure has a big head!

All in all it was a very cool, relaxing time. Some much needed recharging of the 'ol batteries was in order. This first morning back at work (and it was an early one) wasn't so bad because of it.

Tomorrow it's off to the Junior High Knowledge Bowl Subregional, where we will be stomped, stapled, folded, mangled, and returned to sender. All before noon, most likely. Still, it's a good group of kids, so it'll be fun anyway.

The rest of the week looks good, with me having to speed read "Antigone" tomorrow night, and looking forward to getting the local crew back into the gaming swing of things on Thursday. Then, if I'm not mistaken, we've got our High School crew meeting somewhere here in Willmar this weekend, correct? If any of you guys read this soon, let me know via email or send a Tag. I need to figure out where that's all going to be this weekend.

More to come later...