Cheers!

My brother lives in Greensboro – only one town over from where the Irish would be playing. He said he MIGHT be able to score some tickets, if I wanted to make the trek out there to see the game. I told him to try, but apparently they are very hard to come by. Weeks went by, and I had pretty much given up hope.

Then, this past Friday evening, he sent me a mysterious text: “This is unbelievable and very last minute, but I MIGHT be able to get Notre Dame tickets. Are you still interested?” Of course I was, but didn’t want to get my hopes up. I texted him back and told him to let me know ASAP, and went to sleep not thinking much more about it.

Yesterday morning, he texted me again, saying tickets were a very real possibility. As it turns out, the Irish had chosen the high school where my brother coaches football as a practice venue, and he was on hand to assist, along with the other coaches at the school. Those helping were promised Irish gear, e.g. hats, shirts, etc., but my brother had a feeling that tickets might happen. After he got to meet and shake hands with Coach Brian Kelly, he texted me to say “See you tonight!” I couldn’t believe it! I was going to get to hang out with my brother – who is also my best friend – and watch our favorite team take the field!

I made the three hour trip to Greensboro (actually made it in about two and a half), met up with my brother, and the evening began. We visited some very cool friends of his, then had dinner, and made our way to BB&T Field in Winston-Salem. We arrived just in time to park, get over to the stadium, and get to our seats as the Irish won the coin toss and deferred. As they prepared to kick off, we yelled “Go! Irish!” and the ball sailed through the air, beginning the contest. A hard-fought three hours later, my brother and I were hoarse, freezing, and happy as the Irish claimed victory over the Demon Deacons.

We celebrated with a beer at Natty Greene’s back in Greensboro, then went on to bed in order to get up in time for Mass this morning. His church, St. Pius X, where he is the youth director, is an amazing parish, full of people obviously happy to be Catholics. I felt very comfortable there. After Mass, his priest, Monsignor Marcaccio took us to breakfast, and afterwards, I departed for my return trip to Greenville.

It was a fantastic trip, and one I’ll not forget. Thank you, Dave, for making your big brother a very happy guy. Love ya, buddy.

Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame…

But in this case, it is, and I call a double standard.  Here we have a conservative member of the press, asking a very innocent (ok, maybe it was loaded – who cares?) question of the Vice President of the United States.  The VP then puffs up his chest and gives a tough guy retort – “Don’t screw around with me” – and the liberal media is all over it like flies on feces.  First of all, the office of VP is like second string QB for the St. Louis Rams.  You’re lucky if most Americans even know your name.  Sure, you’re second in line for the presidency, but beyond that, you’re little more than a glorified ribbon cutter.  So, to treat a media question as a personal affront is immediately laughable.  Secondly, why is Mr. Mattera taking so much heat for this, up to and including the potential suspension of his media credentials?  What did he do wrong?  He wore his credentials on a badge around his neck, approached the VP in a public venue, and presented his question.  Where’s the problem?

Well, I’ll tell you where it is.  It’s in the clouded collective mind of the liberal media.  They call for blood, as does the office of the VP, because this reporter is a conservative, and for no other reason.  Where is the proof of that, you ask?  Simple.  This type of thing was done by liberal reporters to GW Bush and Dick Cheney almost on a daily basis, and said reporters were lauded as media heroes.  Mike Wallace won Emmy and Peabody awards for this type of journalism (by the way, do any of you recall the statements he made about homosexuals?).  Chris Hansen uses ambush journalism all the time on the “To Catch a Predator” series, and he targets private citizens.  Mind you, I’m glad he does, because those people need to be dealt with, but just the same, it could be seen as a media invasion of privacy.  Hell, you all even cheered when the Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at GW Bush toward the end of his presidency.  But you call for blood when a conservative reporter, visibly wearing his credentials, approaches a public figure in a public venue and asks a legitimate question?  Like I said, double standard.

Sometimes, I just don’t have a lot of hope for this country.

Diversity - this is a word we now use to describe an aspect of society that is all inclusive, regardless of race, creed, gender, etc.  I have two problems with this word.  The first is simple – “diverse” could be used to describe ten middle-aged white men, because they are all unique.  So, in one instance, it’s too simple a term.  The other problem I have with the word is a bit more in-depth.  In almost all American companies today, there are diversity regulations.  Companies must employ a certain umber of minorities, a certain number of women, etc.  This strikes me as a little backwards.  If we’re striving for true social equality, are these regulations really the best way?  I don’t think they are.  How can we, as a society, achieve true social equality if laws and regulations force us to diversify?  I think diversity regulations engender resentment, and drive us away from true acceptance of one another.  It’s certainly a tricky situation, because without those regulations, companies might not hire minorities or women.  But if I were a woman or a minority, I think I would be put off by a company that was required to hire me because of my physical attributes.  If the regulations must stay in place (and in all reality, they probably must), why not change the word to “equality?”  Wouldn’t that make it plainer that social equality is what we’re after?  Or better yet, stop talking about it at all.  Inequality only remains an issue if people keep remembering that it’s an issue.

Gender - this one won’t take as much explanation.  This word is used in lieu of “women,” “female,” etc.  Gender studies, gender history, gender in society – let’s be honest.  Aren’t all those really women’s interests?  Before feminism, we just had history.  Granted, it was slanted in favor of males, particularly white males, but can’t we just alter that trend without changing the name or creating a whole new topic?  Or, if there is a need for women’s history, etc. as a separate topic, can’t we just call it that?  Nobody takes a college course in gender studies and expects to hear anything about men.  This is an unnecessary word except on job applications.

Comment back to me if you can think of other examples, or if you’d like to further discuss mine.  This is interesting stuff to me.  Language naturally evolves, but I feel it could become simpler.  What do you think?

Cheers!

Ever since I was a little boy, whenever I’m a passenger in a car and I’m looking out the window, I imagine there’s a little man running alongside the car.  He is nondescript except that he wears a yellow hat (which makes me think he is either Paddington Bear or Tom Bombadil), and he is quite small.  The trick to his running is that he can only run on grass.  Thus, he must leap over driveways, intersections, etc.  Going over bridges is particularly difficult for him, because he must literally fly the distance of the bridge, as he cannot run on concrete and he cannot swim.  Here in Eastern NC, these flights aren’t overly complicated, but imagine being somewhere like New York or Mackinac.

The brief pause in sound of rain hitting my car when driving under an overpass has always made me extremely happy.  I don’t know why.  I love the rain, and I don’t mind driving in it, yet that one moment of silence is absolutely golden.

Whenever I walk through an automatic sliding door (e.g. at the market), I swipe my hand horizontally in front of it, pretending that my Jedi power is what operates the door mechanism.  I’m 32 years old.  People often look at me strange, and I pretend that they’re just jealous of my oneness with the Force.

No matter what is on my meal plate, I always eat one portion at a time until it is gone, before moving on to the rest.  And the main entrée MUST be eaten last.  For instance, let’s say I have a steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a croissant on my plate.  I will eat the croissant first, in its entirety.  Then I will move on to the green beans.  Once they are gone, the potatoes are next, followed by the steak (main entrée) last, only once the potatoes are gone.  Say my plate has been jarred a bit before being served to me, and a couple rogue green beans roll under my steak.  If I do not see them until I am already eating the steak, they will not get eaten.  They had their chance, and they missed out.  My dad (a Trekker like his son) tells me that somewhere in Star Trek canon, it is explained that Romulans eat their meals in this same manner.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  I invite all of you to partake in this adventure.  Observe yourselves, and find your oddities.  You’ll find that they are endearing, to yourself and to others.  And they’re fun!

Cheers!

POLITICS

1. Democrats
2. Republicans
3. Washington, DC
4. Liberal media
5. The Tea Party
6. Barack Obama
7. Harry Reid
8. Nancy Pelosi
9. Mitch McConnell
10. Michele Bachmann
11. Sarah Palin

1. The Neverending Story – When Atreyu is in the Swamp of Sadness, and his horse, Artax, becomes overwhelmed with the depression of the place.  He begins to sink, and no matter how hard Atreyu tries, he can’t pull Artax out of the swamp.
2. Schindler’s List – The very ending, when the survivors place stones on the real Oskar Schindler’s grave, and then, a silhouette of Liam Neeson is shown placing a pair of roses on the grave before the scene fades to black.
3. The Passion of the Christ – The whole movie!  But the saddest moment is when Christ stumbles under the weight of the Cross, and His mother remembers him running toward her as a little boy and stumbling.
4. Dead Poets’ Society – When Keating is fired and returns to his classroom one last time to collect his personal belongings, his students rise, each in turn, and stand on their desks, declaring “O captain, my captain.”  Keating is touched, and says “Thank you, boys.  Thank you.”
5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Spock has just saved the Enterprise, but is dying from overexposure to radiation.  Kirk spends a few final moments with his best friend, as Spock declares “I have been, and always shall be, your friend” before closing his eyes for the final time.
6. Braveheart – The final monologue.  ”In the Year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields at Bannockburn.  They fought like warrior poets.  They fought like Scotsmen…and won their freedom.”
7. The Last Samurai – As Katsumoto is dying in Algren’s arms, he sees the cherry blossoms in the air and says, “They are all perfect.”  Upon his death, the Imperial troops who killed him and his men kneel out of respect for the fallen Samurai.
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I – As Dobby the House-Elf is dying in Harry’s arms, he declares how glad he is to be with his “friend, Harry Potter.”
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Theoden, king of Rohan, stands weeping over his sons grave, and says “No parent should have to bury their child.”
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – At the Gray Havens, Sam, Merry, and Pippen realize that Frodo is leaving Middle Earth forever.  The parting scene is relentlessly heart wrenching.

1. Touched by an Angel, 5:17, “Family Business.” – Bill Cosby, guest-starring as Phil, the Angel of Reconciliation, chastises a proud car dealer for shutting out his dying prodigal son.  He tells the man that he is lucky, because too many fathers have sat at their sons’ funerals, wishing for one more minute to say the things that needed to be said.  This episode was filmed shortly after the murder of Ennis Cosby, Bill’s own son.  The emotion displayed by Cosby in the episode is real and heartbreaking.
2. Scrubs, 8:2, “My Last Words.” – Glynn Turman guest stars as a terminally ill patient who comes to Sacred Heart hospital to die.  Turk and JD have plans, but abandon them to sit all night with the dying man, comforting him and reassuring him that death will not hurt him.  His last request is a cold beer, which the doctors grant, and before he drifts off into his final rest, he remarks how great the beer tasted.  Then he closes his eyes.  The episode ends with Turk and JD on the rook of the hospital, drinking beers and toasting their now deceased friend.
3. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 4:24, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse.” – Ben Vereen guest stars as Will’s absentee father, Lou, who shows up wishing to reconnect with his son.  The two bond over the course of the episode, and Will makes plans to go on the road with his dad.  On the morning they’re supposed to leave, Will discovers that Lou is going to go without him, leaving him behind once more.  The episode ends with Will yelling to Uncle Phil about how his father was never there, but that he didn’t need him because he learned to be a man all on his own.  When his rant dies down, his final line is “Why don’t he want me, man?” as he breaks down into tears and Uncle Phil embraces him.
4. How I Met Your Mother, 6:6, “Bad News.” – Marshall and Lily visit with a fertility specialist to find out why they’re having trouble getting pregnant.  When Lily discovers that she is extremely fertile, Marshall prepares to call his dad with the good news, but hesitates, fearing that maybe his sperm count might be the problem.  He doesn’t want to call his dad with anything but good news, so he waits to find out his own results before celebrating.  His parents show up unexpectedly for a visit, and Marshall admits his concerns, to which his dad says that it doesn’t matter, that he’ll love him no matter what.  At the end of the episode, Marshall’s results come back with good news.  He meets Lily outside MacLaren’s, ready to celebrate, but as Lily exits her taxi, she tells Marshall that his father had a massive heart attack and has passed away.  She embraces him, and Marshall’s last words through his tears are “I’m not ready for this.”
5. 8 Simple Rules, 2:4&5, “Goodbye (Parts 1 & 2).” – Brilliant comedian John Ritter died, and likewise his character as the family patriarch, Paul, dies as well.  Both episodes are heartbreaking, but the saddest moment is at the end of part 2, when Cate reads Paul’s final editorial piece aloud to her children.  In the piece, Paul has written that no matter what family members say to one another, the bonds are never broken, and even when a child says “I hate you,” as were Bridget’s last words to him, he knows that his family loves him.
6. House, 4:16, “Wilson’s Heart.” – House and Amber have been in a bus accident, and Amber has sustained terminal injuries.  She is kept alive by life support, and Wilson is reluctant to let her go.  At the end, Amber is woken up so that she and Wilson can say their goodbyes.  She tells Wilson “it’s okay,” and he asks her why she isn’t angry that she’s dying.  She tells him anger isn’t the last feeling she wants to experience.  Then Wilson kisses her and turns of her life support.  She dies in his arms.
7. Archie Bunker’s Place, 2:1, “Archie Alone.” – Archie is adjusting to life with his wife, Edith, who died of a stroke.  He is unable to grieve for her until he finds a single slipper, overlooked by the people who moved her belongings out of the house, and he sits down on the bed, lamenting that Edith slipped off before he could tell her he loved her.  He then begins to cry.
8. Roseanne, 9:24, “Into That Goodnight (Part 2).” – The series finale of Roseanne, where she admits that the entire series had really been a book she was writing based on her life, where she had changed the parts she didn’t like.  In the final scene of the family around the kitchen table, her voice over reveals that the entire final season had been a figment of her imagination.  They had never won the lottery, Jackie was actually gay, and Dan had died of a heart attack the previous year.  When she mentions that part, the camera pans back to his empty chair, and you hear his voice saying her name, “Roseanne?  Rosie?  Roseanne?”
9. The Golden Girls, 6:12, “Ebbtide’s Revenge” – Dorothy’s cross-dressing brother, Phil, has died, and his widow stays with the girls, despite a long-running feud with her mother-in-law, Sophia.  The feud breaks, however, when Sophia reveals her true feelings about her son and his lifestyle.  She admits how much she loved him, and her daughter-in-law walks over to comfort her.  Sophia’s final tear-soaked words are “My baby is gone…”
10. The Wonder Years, 3:22, “Daddy’s Little Girl.” – Karen’s eighteenth birthday is approaching, and tensions are rising between her and her dad.  She tells him she wants to attend a liberal college, and then decides she’d rather spend a year backpacking across Europe.  Jack begins to realize his little girl isn’t so little anymore.  When Karen arrives home late for her family party, Jack surprises her by giving her his sea bag from his time in the Marine Corps, for college or if she decides to go some place.  She then blows out her candles, makes a wish, and leaves to go out with friends.  Jack leaves the porch light on for her.

This week has been a different story.  If last week was sponsored by Disney, this week was sponsored by Satan, at least for me.  On Tuesday, after suffering some pretty concerning pain and numbness 0n my left side and in my chest, I went to my doctor.  They took some blood samples, and sent them to the lab.  The next morning, despite my feeling much better after a good night’s sleep, my doctor’s office told me that the blood work came back with elevated cardiac enzymes, indicating a possible recent heart attack.  I spent the better part of that day scared out of my mind, and was told to visit the hospital heart center for more tests.  The second tests came back negative, which was a relief, but it threw my household into turmoil for a day.  There were quite a few tears in those several hours.

On Thursday night, my Irish folk band, Four Courts, had our first real gig at an Irish pub here in town.  The idea was to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Irish fashion.  Thirty minutes into our set, we were told that the dinner crowd didn’t seem to be into the music, and we were asked to pack it up and go on home.  It was a huge disappointment, to say the least.  I don’t care about the money, but we put a lot of time and effort into that show, and to be cut so short was heartbreaking.  The last couple of days have been filled with my trying to decide where to go from here in terms of doing music.  Do I switch gears with my current lineup and play more popular music, essentially selling out?  Do we simply disband and go our separate ways?  Or do we continue to seek gigs in a town that clearly couldn’t care less about us?  My mind is not yet made up.

Here’s hoping that next week is back to being a good week.

Cheers, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.