Veterans Days

Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans who stop by and read me. Thank you for your service, it means the world to me. And a special message to my favorite veteran:

Happy Veterans Day, Dad.

I miss you.

Happy Birthday, Marines

Sorry I haven't posted earlier in the day. I had a busy one -- out enjoying that freedom you purchase for me, often with your very lives.

But don't think the day went unnoyiced, nor your sacrifices unappreciated. Those of us who live inside the walls on which you stand your watch are grateful, and we're keeping the hearth warm for you.

Come back to us safely. But if you cannot, know you will come home to an honored rest.

Batting .500

Ouch.

Stanford, no matter how badly they're doing, nor how good the Ducks are, has a knack for spoiling things for Oregon. Back in 2001, they handed the Ducks their only loss and knocked them out of the BCS championship game. Today they ended Oregon's winning streak,, and made it very possible for Oregon to gewt knocked out of the Rose Bowl. The Ducks hung tought, but just couldn't catch up after an early Stanford buildup.

On the other hand, I'm absolutely THRILLED with this week in high school football. My alma mater, Douglas High School, trounced their oldest rival, South Umpqua, 33-0, ending the season undefeated, and with outright ownership of the Far West League. They now get a first round bye before being the home team in the 2nd round of the OSAA division 4A state playoffs. Go Trojans!

A Prayer for Fort Hood

Been at work all day so this is my first chance to post about the shootings at Fort Hood.

My heart breaks for the soldiers, families, and civilian workers involved in this tragic, horrible incident. It is one thing to go in harms way, to stand on the Thin Red Line between our homeland and those who woudl destroy her. It is another thing entirely to be ambushed while on her soil, on your own base, in the one place you should be safest and most succored.

My prayers are with you tonight. May God our Father in His infinite love and grace grant you comfort and guidance. May you rest in eternall bliss, far from the strife which you so willingly faced so that we may avoid it. Tears are not enough to express my sorrow for what has happened to you, but they are the only meager token I can offer.

Who's Gonna Pay Attention...

A Tip of the Toque to LMC at The Llama Butchers for this post, which got me on an old '80's music kick -- You remember the '80's, when hair was big, ballads were bigger, and the "M" in MTV actually meant "Music"? Yea, those '80's. Good times, good times.

So anyway, the whole '80's video wallowing I did made me reminisce on my amazing love life during the '80's. And by amazing, I mean amazingly dismal. I didn't have much luck with girls in my teens, or in my early 20's, for that matter. I had a few (count 'em on one hand) girlfriends, but they all dumped me after a very short amount of time. Most of my romantic activities during that era consisted of crushes on girls who thought I was a "great guy" but "more like a brother". Yeah, ladies, I'm looking at you.

This led to me being VERY much a connoisseur of the breakup/unrequited love subgenre of pop songs of the 80's, a time ripe with them, since the style of the time lent itself to sap and mauflin to begin with.

So I decided to compile a list of my top ten lost/never had love songs og the '80's. OK, Top 12 -- Twice two or more songs by the Same Artist get listed. On one occasion they share a spot, on another they each get their own ranking. Some of them I managed to pull right off the top of my head, some I had to research to be reminded, but in the end, these are the ones *I* came up with, with some commentary -- enjoy:

UPDATE:
I got a couple comments this morning, and another song I really liked back then was mentioned. Also this morning a forehead-slapper "How could I have forgotten that?" song came to mind, so I've decided to update the list, with some honorable mentions:

Honorable Mentions:

Falling from #9 (spot the reference), Against All Odds - Phil Collins
I never saw the movie, but it was a great song.

Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
An interesting refutation of the old "Better to have loved and lost" adage, and probably the rockingest song on the list. Great guitar and keyboard riffs in this song. Thanks, Robbo, for the reminder.

in the top 10:

10. All Out of Love - Air Supply
For me this song screams "Slow dancing with my homecoming mercy date who now has the heels of her palms against my shoulders and elbows lockled to make sure I don't try to dance too close".


9. . Careless Whisper - George Michael
The ultimate song about losing someone because you deserved to.

8. With or Without You - U2
A great song, an awesome video, one of the last ones where Bono still looks lean and hungry, which adds to the feel of the song. Too bad it was also in the period where he was standing on the precipice of Hubris.

7. Total Eclipse of the Heart/It's A heartache/Making Love (Out of Nothing at All) - Bonnie Tyler
Gee, Bonnie, got a theme going? But seriously, they all still get to me.

6. If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
It took me a long time to forgive John Hughes for not letting Ducky win Andie in the end -- mostly because I identified so much with Ducky. There were a lot of characters in Hughes movies who made me think, "My Gosh, that's ME! -- Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Brian in The Breakfast Club, The Geek in Sixteen Candles...

(and coming in high after having originally been overlooked):
5. Don't Answer Me - Alan Parsons Project
Really creative video, very poetic lyrics, altogether a great song.

4. Drive - The Cars
The "You're gonna miss me" song.

3. Boys of Summer - Don Henley
This is the "I Miss you and I'm not ready to give you up" song.

2. Heart of the Matter - Don Henley
Same artist, different album, this one is almost a bookend to "Boys of Summer", and is about moving on.

1. I'm Still Standing -- Elton John
This was the song I sang or listened to whenever I was trying to tell myself I was better off without "her", whomever she may have been.

WHO'S the Best Team in the PAC-10?

There was a slight change of venue for tonight's game between the University of Oregon Ducks and the University of Southern California Trojans. The game was scheduled to be played at Oregon's Autzen Stadium, but instead, the Ducks decided to hold it in the woodshed. You read that right -- Oregon 47, USC 20. As one announcer, whoj had been hyoing USC all night finally admitted in the fourth quarter, Orgon didn't just beat USC, they pounded them. The Ducks were the 300-lb. inmate named Len and the Trojans were his cellmate "Muffin".

Maybe now people will start paying attention to the entirety of Oregon's season instead of just their first game.

Quote of the Day

After the Republican landslide in the off-year elections of 1994, everyone said that the Republicans didn't know how to govern because they had been in the opposition for so long. Now you're trying to tell us they don't know how to put up an oppostition because they've been in power for so long. The real truth is that the Republicans don't know what to do when they're unfaithful to their conservative ideals. However, when they're true to those ideals, they know exactly what to do and how to do it. Just witness the Reagan administration.

- Aitch, in the comments section of my previous post.

Pawlenty: Me Too! Me Too!

A Tip of the Toque to Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades HQ.

Oh, goody! Pawlenty endorses Hoffman, now Hoffman has a chance! Pawlenty will attract moderates who were undecided! Our savior!

Bull.

Pawlenty did this because, frankly, he can't afford not to. Palin forced his hand. He wants to run in 2012, and whether it's as a candidate or a kingmaker, the 'cuda's established herself as a force to be reckoned with.

If she plays kingmaker, he needs to curry her favor by appearing to have all the proper Conservative cred.

If she runs, he can't let her take too much of a lead so soon, can't seem to have been "scooped" by her. If Hoffman wins, it's a feather in Palin's cap, and Pawlenty is trying to put an asterisk by Palin's assist -- "Yeah, she endorsed him, but who didn't? Who's to say it was her endorsement and not mine that put him over the top?" But I don't think the people he's trying to impress (conservatives) are going to be fooled.

As for the NRCC, who is endorsing a liberal RINO, screw 'em. We don't need a RINO to win over moderates -- we need a principled conservative who understands where to give a little and where to stand firm on principles.

When he was still alive, my father loved to watch football, rooted for his favorite teams passionately. But nothing pissed him off worse than when a team would sit on a lead. He especially hated the "Prevent Defense" -- he called it the "Prevent Winning Defense" He drilled it into me -- you don't play to not lose, you play to win.

The GOP is playing to not lose -- it's bending over backwards (and often just plain bending over) to avoid alienating anyone who might have at any point in the past, or might be considering anytime in the future, voting for anyone in ANY race who happens to have an "R" next to their name. Meanwhile, we're failing to stand up for the very things that once defined us as conservatives, and we're STILL not winning, because now the party is alienating the people it once felt it could safely rely on.

Back in Time

Friday I got to go down to Roseburg and attend my high school alma mater's homecoming game. I left early in the day and made a pilgrimage of it. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them developed, and talk a little more about the places I stopped.

And yes, we won, Douglas defeated Brookings-Harbor 40-28, and it wasn't even really THAT close -- BH's last touchdown came with less than a minute to go. Way to go, Trojans! They're 8-0 now and ranked in state -- #3 before the game, we'll see where they sit when the polls come out.

Ain't It the Truth

Musical Geography Trivia Question

If she finally quit living on dreams, where did she take off her ring?
(1 point each for the building, city, location, and place in the building)

Missing Child

UPDATE: According to sources, the child was recovered safe in Eugene area. The Suspect is still outstanding.


SUSPECT:MendozaPaulino, Juan DOB 09/29/1981H/M, 5-10, 170, Blk Hair, Bro eyesTattoo of "Juan XVIII" on left arm.

VICTIM:Mendoza-Peebles, Shaeleigh DOB 06/30/2008LSW: Pajamas with white top and pink/brown pants.

At about 5:15 am this morning, Juan MendozaPaulino took his 18 month old biological daughter from her mother's residence in violation of a restraining order. The suspect has threatened in the past to kidnap this child and take her to Mexico. At this time, there are no associated vehicles for the suspect. He is associated with 2264 2nd Street in Springfield. This apparently is the residence of his aunt. A teletype has been sent to all western states and border patrol.

CONTACT:
Detective Jeff Roth
Eugene PoliceViolent Crimes Unit
541-682-5569

Not at the END of My Rope, but Developing Rope Burns

So I had my interview today. Eh. I was interviewed by both the director of food services and the exectuive chef. They seemed to like me, but the chef was unimpressed by the short order nature of the restaurants where I've worked, my lack of "Real" reataurant (his words) experience. Furthermore, my time in SO and institutional showed when I proved too rusty to answer a simple culinary question -- what are the 5 mother sauces, and how do you make a Sauce Mornay? I felt like a freaking IDIOT.

I'm getting damned discouraged, and I'm on the brink of looking again for some other career. Maybe I just wasn't meant to do something I enjoy. I mean, SOMEBODY has to be a drone.

Out of my Hole

It's been what, a month or so since I blogged? A lot has been going on, and I jut haven't had the mental energy to blog. Heck, I'm barely keeping up with reading my own favorite blogs that regularly.

I moved out a little over a month ago, and am living ina rented room. It's... well, it's different as an adult in his forties from living like this as a twentysomething.

It's a daily financial struggle, because I'm underemplyed, but things are looking up. I have an interview tomorrow with a very large, very well-funded local institution. It would also be only part time, but even if I can't make it fit around my current schedule, the increase in pay and the fact that they offer some benefits at as little as twenty hours.

I see The Lad 4-5 days a week, and up until recently had him for most of the day two of those days. I'm now being scheduled to work Saturdays, so Buddy day has been moved to Fridayand truncated -- I have him from 9:30 AM until I drop him off at the babysitter on my way to work at 5.

Trust me, I've been following politics recently, just haven't commented on them here. It's been interesting to say the least. SO much to address, I think I'll save it for individual posts.

Haven't been doing a lot of serious cooking outside of work these days -- bachelor syndrome, it's too much trouble to go to to cook for just one person. Although I did come up with an excellent "Doctored Ramen" recipe.

I've spent some time on Facebook, reconnecting with old friends from high schol AND college, and even one or two from jr. high and earlier. I've been humbled by the level of friendship people still extend to me after so man years of disonnectedness. The compassion and encouragement they offer me in both the situation with my marriage and my job hunt has been overwhelming. I was shy in high school, and never extended myself to my classmates in a substantial way, and I'm learning now just how much friendship I missed out on because of that.

In a smaller way, I'm also still amazed at the real genuine warmth shown to me by my blog readers, who surprisingly enough still show up to read and comment when I finally do post. Your graciousness is not unappreciated, and hopefully will soon be rewarded.

Quote of the Week

“It’s a good basic axiom that if you take a quart of ice-cream and a quart of dog feces and mix ’em together the result will taste more like the latter than the former. That’s the problem with the U.N.”

- Mark Steyn

(A Tip of the Toque to Robbo at TPSAYE)

Remember

This post was originally posted on 9/11/06. I am adding more to it today.

Three years ago, on the 5th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I joined the 2,996 Project, an effort to memorialize all of the victims of that horrible day. When I joined, I was given the name of a victim, and agreed to remember her on my Blog. The person I was assigned was:

Ann M. McHugh

Age: 35
From: New York, NY
Killed at the World Trade Center

At the time, with my first year in Culinary School looming, that was all I had time or energy to post. As I read other posts contributed as part of the project, I was struck by the amount of care and research done by many people on behalf of their 9/11 victim. So I've decided to start looking deeper into the life of Ms. McHugh, and share with my readers, as time goes by, what I can find out about her.

So far, this is what I've found:

Ann Marie McHugh came to the United States from [Ireland]. She was born in 1966 and died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. She worked in the World Trade Center for Euro Brokers Inc. Her body was not found.

Also, a commenter back in 2006 shared this:

I'm not sure if I'm intruding by doing this, but she was more from Ireland than New York, and her sister's old blog is here, and her new blog is here.The old blog links directly to an old post you should probably read.

The old Blog link he posted was to a specific post, and the link is broken, but here's the link to that old blog's main page.

Quote of the Day

"Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, 'Serenity'

R.I.P Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy has died of brain cancer. He was 77. Whatever you thyought of his life, his career, his politics, or his controversies, it's over now. From here on out it's between him and his Maker. My prayers are with those who loved him.

If you hear the Mariachi static on your radio and the tubes they glow in the dark, where are you?

Musical Geography Trivia Question

I was sick and tired of everything when I called you last night from where?