Note to Bill Clinton

Okay, so you still think there is a vast right wing conspiracy? Now, did it keep you from being elected twice to the Presidency? Did it keep the Democrats from retaking the House and Senate in 2006? Did it keep Obama from gaining the White House in 2008? If there's a conspiracy, it sure ain't doing very good at whoever they are conspiring against.

Wait a minute, are you still not coming to terms with the fact Obama beat your wife in the primaries last year and you don't have direct access again to the West Wing?

Birthday Weekend

The birthdays for myself and Dorene are just 3 days apart, so we usually combine celebrations. Not this year, however, since Dorene reached the milestone of 40.

I got her a room at the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewana for her and two of her friends last Friday, which was her actual birthday. They came back late on Saturday after doing the shopping thing in Shipshewana. She had told me a while ago that this is what she would like to do on her 40th when I was suggesting how it should be celebrated (she had actually forgotten she said this, so she was surprised when I told her what she's be doing). Meanwhile, I stayed at home with the kids and had a lot of fun just hanging out with them.

For my 45th birthday tonight, I came home and Dorene, the kids, and the dog were all gathered around the big rock in front of our house. Made for a nice picture but I didn't have my camera with me. But that was a nice thing to come home to. For dinner, I got some wonderful lasagna cooked by Dorene and Cameron (not exactly sure what he did, but he was very proud of it). Anna made my favorite cake, which is yellow with chocolate frosting. Allie just sat in her high chair and didn't contribute.

For my present, I got a Cadbury candy bar, which is one of my favorites. However, tucked in the wrapper were tickets to see the Cardinals v. Lions at Ford Field in December. Okay, this is a really good candy bar now. She said she tried to get tickets to the Cardinals v. Bears, but they were much more expensive. Go figure, it costs more to see the Lions than the Bears? The game is in late December, so by then Ford Field could be really empty unless the Lions make a serious run at it this year (after 0-16 last year, probably not). For the Cardinals, hopefully they can get it together, but either way I look forward to seeing Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald in action.

Next up: Allie turns one on October 8.

Catching up with Alex Cross

Recently finished "Cross Country," the latest novel by James Patterson to feature detective Alex Cross. One thing about a Patterson novel is if you say, "Wait just a minute, I need to finish this chapter," you are actually overestimating the time it'll take to finish. Patterson is known for his rather short chapters.

I've always very much enjoyed all of the Alex Cross series, but this one probably ranks near the bottom. It starts off well enough, with Cross on the trail of a typically ruthless serial killer. But then he sends Cross off to Africa, and everything kind of bogs down. Not much really happens, and I guess Patterson wanted to show his humanitarian side by describing the plight of the Nigerians. In addition, Cross seems to get beat up a lot, which is unusual for this character (note to Hollywood: Morgan Freeman was the wrong choice to portray this guy).

So, not too thrilled with this book. Will have to wait for the next one, which won't take long, because Patterson really cranks these out. He's also written a number of other books with other authors. I've read several of these. One I won't read is "The Quickie," if for no other reason so I don't get caught coming out of the library with a book called, "The Quickie."

The "New" Jay Leno

I watched the rebooted Jay Leno show last night. It actually was okay, only I'm not sure what exactly was new about it. It seemed to be pretty much the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." He had guests, some pre-recorded bits, pretty much what he did before. Came out shook hands with the crowd as always, joked with Kevin Eubanks, had some pre-recorded bits. Nothing all that new. Maybe a little bit less formal than the Tonight Show, but basically the same.

However, with Conan's ratings not doing so hot, maybe the same old show is what people want. I've never "got" Conan. His style of standing up there and making jokes of how unfunny he is was much better mastered by Letterman and (especially) Johnny Carson. Conan just doesn't do it for me and after his premiere, I've yet to watch it again.

Leno seemed to be enjoying himself and I think his show will probably do just fine (although the interview with Seinfeld was kinda boring). As for Kanye West, I thought he was basically a jerk for what he did in stealing Taylor Swift's moment so his teary confession last night didn't move me a bit. In fact, some of my student workers were talking about him yesterday, and were saying how it's getting harder to listen to his music because of all his antics.

Maybe Wilson is On to Something

Of course the most memorable part of Obama's speech last night was Rep. Joe Wilson shouting out, "You Lie!" in the midst of it. As expected, this was called "outrageous," "unheard of, " "outside the boundaries of civility," and the list goes on. Wilson apologized, saying his emotions got the better part of him.

But you know, maybe he's onto something here. You ever watch the Prime Minister questions that takes place in Britain? Occasionally I've come across this on C-SPAN. I believe it takes place on a weekly basis, where the House of Commons gets to directly ask questions of the Prime Minister, and anything goes. There is nothing scripted here, so the Prime Minister has to be ready for anything, and it's not always pleasant. Lots of grumbling goes on during the responses he gives. Yet, the country goes on. I've never heard of House of Commons representative coming to blows, so they must have mastered the art of how to appear uncivil but asking questions they feel need to be asked.

We often complain about so-called Presidential press conferences and how scripted they are. Or, how the President doesn't really have to answer to anyone and avoids any kind of direct question that isn't fed to him in advance (this goes for any President).

So, what if we adopted the British model? Have a time each week where the Congress could ask the President anything they want and have him respond on the spot? For Bush, this would have been a nightmare. For Obama, he'd need an IMAX size teleprompter to be ready for all the possible questions.

Going to the Circus

Last night the famous Carson & Barnes Circus came to the town of North Liberty, Indiana. Okay, THEY say it's famous and been around 70+ years, but I'd never heard of it. This was actually a fundraiser for the small Christian school that our kids attend and the big top (which was pretty good size) was set up in the grass by the North Liberty Church of Christ.

Growing up, I vaguely remember a 3rd grade field trip in Arizona to see a circus. But other than that, never went to one nor remember ever caring to go to one. Although, I guess I also did go to Circus Circus, but that was in Las Vegas and not exactly the same thing (the trapeze artists for the circus last night, we were told, came from Circus Circus).

The kids absolutely loved the circus, and even baby Allie sat there kind of awestruck. They had the usual assortment of circus acts. You had your jugglers, your acrobats, trapeze artists, and of course the animal acts culminating in the elephants doing their thing ,which Anna really thought was cool. There were also clowns, but I wasn't scared of them like Kramer (that's a "Seinfeld" reference).

Dorene and I were not into it all that much, but it wasn't for us, it was for the kids and they indeed had a blast. We sort of analyzed what the circus life must be like. One thing I noticed was that every single act began with the announcement, "From South America, please welcome . . . " In other words, these were probably all undocumented workers making minimum wage (if they were lucky). I believe just about every act was from South America, except for the dog act from the Ukraine.

The ringmaster was straight out of some old movie. A large fellow with a booming voice. During intermission, he came out with a yellow python that you could get your picture taken with. Anna likes snakes, but not that much. Also during intermission, they do all they could to milk more money out of the parents. They set up pony rides and elephant rides right there in the middle. How could you say no? Thus, Cameron got his elephant ride and spent his other $$ on a light saber, to go with his ever growing collection.

40 Years in Prison . . .Justice Served?

Susan Atkins is 61, has terminal brain cancer, and is paralyzed over 85% percent of her body. However, she was just denied parole from her life sentence in prison. Has she paid for her crime? The victim's sister doesn't think so, and she says Atkins staying in prison for life is the least that can be done.

I guess both sides have a point. No, Atkins isn't exactly a threat to society anymore, so what harm would it do to release her? Hasn't she served enough?

But, on the other side, you have the sister of Sharon Tate, victim of one of the most horrific murder scenes in recent memory. Susan Atkins was part of the infamous Manson Family that went on a murderous spree in 1969. I can see why she wouldn't want Atkins out, paralyzed or not.

Athough, I guess one could argue that Debra Tate should "move on" with her life and take solace that the family members have stayed in jail for as long as they have (they let Squeaky Fromme out recently, but she wasn't involved in the murders). It seems almost an unhealthy obsession 40 years later to be arguing for more prison time.

But then again, I read the excellent book about the case, "Helter Skelter," and remember Atkins describing how she held down the very pregnant Sharon Tate as she pleaded for her life and that of her unborn baby, but to no avail as she was stabbed multiple times.

We'll leave this one to the parole board.

Back in Class

Today was my first day teaching class for the fall semester. I teach a class called "Threshold Seminar" which is designed for under-prepared, incoming freshman. Have a nice diverse group of students, including 4 older students (we call them "non-traditional" students in higher education) who tend to be more vocal than the pups right out of high school.

Had some brief introductions and reviewed the syllabus (that's higher education talk for course outline) then jumped right in on case studies of potential problems that students may have beginning college. Had great discussion, kinda surprising on Day 1 for everyone to chime in, but they did. This bodes well for the rest of the semester. I also have a student mentor working with me the whole class, which really helps because that tends to ease the anxieties of incoming students when they have a fellow student in such a role.

Looking forward to class on Thursday, but not necessarily looking forward to having to grade homework all the time.