Saturday, May 24, 2008

Serfs on a Surfboard

So, I’ve begun to hear rumblings of anarchy from the serfs and other peasants, in general. And, the reason for the rumblings hit them where it counts. Gas prices in our area inch ever closer to $4.00 per gallon. The real estate tax assessed values are surpassing the market values of the properties in the area, but the real estate taxes aren’t going down. Cutbacks everywhere. Grocery prices have gone up considerably. There is uncertainty in the local job markets. Higher prices, in general, affect the seasonal tourist trade in the Brainerd Lakes Area. There are many businesses and families that rely upon the summer tourists for their yearly livelihood.

Fishing opener weekend was slow. There appear to be more people in the area for Memorial Day weekend, but not as busy as some years. Our local grocery store is usually so busy the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, the lines are three to four people deep virtually all afternoon and early evening. Not so yesterday when I stopped in for some milk.

Jeff and I have been really lucky as far as surfs go. We have gotten raises and bonuses to offset some of the higher prices, and, in general, are pretty smart with what we have. However, most serfs that I overhear haven’t gotten raises, and they haven’t for a few years in a row. Their incomes are not keeping up with the price escalations and the home equity deflations.

One of our friends (also a surf) said that he heard that, in the not so distant future, gasoline will top $12 per gallon. (There are many reasons why I disagree with what he heard, but that is best left to another blog.) If that happens, the feudal system may once again become a reality. An agrarian lifestyle may become a necessity. The U.S. dollar would be so weakened that one could use it for toilet paper, because toilet paper would likely be more valuable.

We attended the college graduation for a friend’s son on Thursday evening. The commencement speaker said that the coming wave of economic challenge could be handled by the graduates in one of two ways. They could either do nothing and be overcome by the wave, or they could grab a surfboard. Maybe not the best analogy in the world, but it was effective considering the speaker’s time constraints.

Serfs on a surfboard. (The picture in my mind makes me giggle.)

Meanwhile, today I’m going to wash my car and wax my car, and waterproof my tent in preparation for the Up Nort’ Shingding in a few weeks. We will likely give Scott Wikstrom a call. He is up at his mom and dad’s lake home (they aren't surfs). I’m going to put the economy far from my mind, at least for this weekend! Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Facebook

My friends Lin and Carolyn got me to sign up for the social networking site Facebook, pretty cool!

Roaming through the potential friends section, I am finding people I know, people I work with, people I went to school with, people from my home town, and a ton of other people I am probably supposed to know. It is kind of fun and definitely worth checking out...

Right now, Lin is my only "friend." I am such a loser!

I also just read that Facebook is about to add some new features, including access to YouTube and Pandora (which I talked about in a previous post).

Friday, May 16, 2008

My Newest Addiction

If most of your music likes are centered around big name, top label stuff, you might not find much use for this site. For me, it fills a gap that general cd shops and mainstream download sites like iTunes don't carry:

http://www.emusic.com/

My last downloads included stuff from Cracker, Lifter Puller, The Pixies, and The Silos. I did the 30 download a month plan for $9.99. It is a use it or lose it deal, so you want to stay up on it. There are other plans, too: 50 for $14.99, and 75 for $19.99. Pretty tough to beat. Just don't expect to find any Bob Dylan, Dire Straits or Electric Light Orchestra.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

1, 2, 3 Strikes Your Out at the Old Ball Game

So, I watched a television show on HBO called, “When It Was A Game”. It was, basically, a collection of 8mm and 16mm film of baseball taken by players and fans from 1934 and 1957, back when it was a game. Maybe some of you have seen it. If not, it is a really good watch if you are of that ilk.

I’m a pretty avid sports fan and enjoy a good baseball game as much as the next guy. My 89-year-old dad is one of the biggest Minnesota Twins fans in the house. We never missed a game on the radio, even when we went fishing at The Bog. We would take along an old transistor. Those are some of the best memories I have of time my dad spent with me. I remember clearly a collection of old black and white signed glossies he used to have of the original Twins team. I was enamored with them. I have no idea whatever happened to them. My mom probably threw them out. It would be nice to see them again.

Anyway, this documentary got me thinking about the many differences between today’s professional sports personalities and those of the by-gone era. What struck me the most was in the day, a player or coach’s personal life was, for the most part, separated from his professional life. There was no TMZ to stalk them and “a guy was a guy”. A little womanizing or hard drinking was almost expected of them, and it was left alone, generally because of a professional courtesy between the sports stars and the media. I’m not saying that living that sort of lifestyle was right; I’m just saying.

The sports stars were looked at as heroes; virtually untouchable; people that a kid could aspire to become. And, that was okay, because a kid would aspire to emulate what was good about the sports star at the time. We didn't hear much about the bad. Even though they were ahead of my day, I still get a starry-eyed exuberance when I think of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, or Lou Gehrig, and what they represented to the game.

I found myself smiling a lot as I watched the documentary, but, at times, I felt a great amount of sadness. Today, we hear of every personal inadequacy and falter of our sports personalities. I don’t really think that today’s players live a worse personal life than their predecessors. I just think that an entire business has been created for people who want to hear about the gossip of a sports star’s missteps. We love to build up and tear down. Why is that? Are there really any sports idols anymore? Will people 80 years from now watch the “old films” of this era and feel the same exuberance that I felt watching the show?

I kind of miss the mystique.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Moments

I haven't written for awhile. I have alot of things I have been thinking about writing, just don't seem to get around to it. I actually wrote this post last Saturday, but decided it was too self-centered and sentimental to post. Then I got an email from my friend Bert saying that she was filling out a Mother's Day card and was thinking about our friend Joan and me. We both have lost our mothers:

The great thing about blogging is that you don’t have to consider your audience when writing. You can occasionally write about universally interesting subjects like politics, racism, books and the like. On the other hand, blogging also has a very personal, almost diary-like characteristic to it.

So today, I feel a bit more introspective and self indulgent. Please bare with me.

Several months ago, I spent ten days in Montana with my mother during her final days. I received a phone call from my friend Joan. As time has gone by, we haven’t stayed in real close contact, but she has always had this thing about being there when I needed her, so I wasn’t at all surprised to hear her voice on the other end.

Joan told me about the time she spent with her mother during her final days. She explained how her family had spent that time waiting, crying, laughing, playing games, etc. She explained the importance of these “moments”. We spend the majority of our lives dealing with things that are pretty much trivial, while all but ignoring these small moments together that really matter.

I got it, but I didn’t really understand at the time just how profound of an impact that conversation would have on me.

It wasn’t the first time Joan had presented this lesson to me, though. When I was all of twenty years old, I broke up with a girl. Now ending a relationship is never easy, and although I was just a kid, this one was particularly tough.

At the time, Joan had just started dating a guy and was very interested in him. When she heard about my situation, she came over, called her new boyfriend and told him she needed to break their date that night. She made me Swedish meatballs. I remember the recipe called for a certain amount of black pepper, but she misread the teaspoon measurement and used a tablespoon instead. They were very spicy meatballs. It is funny how you can remember moments like that, but in the end, they are the moments that really matter.

I used to spend a lot of time on things like following the stock market, being concerned about my net worth, or trying to figure out what nice car I would be driving next. They are all still things I keep an eye on, but since that conversation with Joan several months ago, I am so much more aware of moments. The careers we have, the things we own, and the people we spend way too much time trying to impress are all just filler, things to keep us occupied while we wait for more of these real moments to present themselves.

My mother once told me that the thing that really makes me different is the incredible group of friends that I have been fortunate to have. They are a special group. In many ways, they define who I am. Thanks Joan. I am so incredibly grateful you are one of them. (...and you, too, Berta.)

..and I promise not to be too sappy again for awhile. Maybe I will do my next post on the cover story of the Enquirer I saw while in the check out line at the grocery store. According to them, apparently Hillary is having a secret lesbian affair...

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

What the Heck is a Duck Fart?

So, I’m not much for reality television. Most reality television appears to be as far away from reality as I sometimes feel I am from civilization. You won’t find me watching Survivor, American Idol, Big Brother, or Who’s Wants to Marry My Dad (can you even believe it?).

Then, four years ago, a show appeared on the Discovery Channel that I’m somewhat mad about – Deadliest Catch. I’m sure that most bloggers have heard about it, if not watched an episode. It is based on the annual crabbing season up in the Bering Strait of Alaska.

Anyway, at the beginning of the current season, it showed all of the participating boat captains toasting each other for luck with a shot called the “Duck Fart”. Any drink named for a sound that everyone laughs at piqued my interest.

I did some on-line research and found that the shot is actually made by layering in a glass (in this order) ¾ oz. Kahlua, ¾ oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream, and ¾ oz. Crown Royal. When I drink hard liquor, I prefer whisky, and, the whisky that I prefer is Crown Royal. So, when I read that there was Crown Royal in the drink, my interest was piqued even more.

When I was in Vegas, our group ended up drinking a few Duck Farts (son of a . . . ), and the consensus of the group was that they really are pretty good. Although, the bartender shook the ingredients instead of layering them, I guess they would get shaken up in our stomachs, right?

Duck Farts originated in Alaska approximately 20 years ago, born from experimentation at the Peanut Farm, a bar in Anchorage, Alaska, and is pretty popular at the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau (Is this the same Red Dog Saloon referenced by Johnny Horton in North to Alaska?). Apparently, this shot is synonymous with Alaska. Here is a really good on-line article about the drink, if anyone is interested.

http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7321378p-7233339c.html

I do advise trying one, if so motivated. Jeff doesn’t like whisky, but said that the Duck Fart tasted great. However, don’t let the great taste fool you into drinking too many of them. You could find yourself with your butt sticking up in the air with your head in the water, if you know what I mean!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Here? In Minnesota?

So, when I was in Vegas, I read a book on a horrific event that occurred in Duluth, Minnesota on June 15, 1920; an event of which I was unaware until just recently. It was the lynching of three young black men who were accused of the rape of a young white woman.

The Duluth jail was broken into by a large mob of people, three of the six men accused were dragged into the street, savagely beaten, and hung from a lamppost in downtown Duluth. As was the custom of the day, a postcard was made from the photo of the savage scene.

The men were cut down and buried in unmarked graves in Duluth. One of the three had identifiable family; the other two have no record of their past, family, or lineage. The graves have since been located, and modest headstones have been placed to mark their final resting place.

The punishments for the leaders of the mob were light. Completely insufficient, in my opinion. However, one needs to remember that at that point in history, it was rare for a white person to be punished in any manner for the death of a black person.

I consider myself somewhat of a history buff, so I was taken aback that I hadn’t heard of this terrible tragedy before recently. This happened in Alabama, not Minnesota, right? However, apparently I’m not alone. It was an event that many would have preferred swept under the carpet forever. Fortunately, there were people who didn’t let that happen.

There is now a memorial across the street from the location of the lynching in downtown Duluth. I’m looking forward to visiting it at some point in the future.

There are so many issues that this event raises that it would be impossible to discuss them in a blog setting. Mob mentality. Racism. Fear of the unknown or different.

The one thing that really sticks with me is the loss of a life and legacy. As of today, no family for any of the three men can be found. They were young, single men, working with a traveling circus. Fortunately, their undignified death and burial has educated many people about the multi-faceted human character - the proverbial 'good' that comes from 'bad'.

If you are interested, here are a couple of websites.

http://www.claytonjacksonmcghie.org/index.php

http://collections.mnhs.org/duluthlynchings/

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