Suspect Reviews

12:33:47 AM EDT

Kathleen Parker correctly notes that none of the candidates in the presidential race are ideal.  Here's something funny and true:

 

"How did we get in this mess?  All together now:  It’s Bush’s fault.

 

"President Bush created the Phenomenon Known as Barack Obama.  If you fed data describing Bush into a computer and commanded the machine to create his opposite, Obama would emerge."

 

 

(Kathleen Parker, Big Weaknesses on Both Tickets put Voters in a Decision Dilemma, September 22, 2008.) 

 

Ya gotta agree wi dat! 

 

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11:18:34 PM EDT

When I heard the weatherman give a high wind advisory for Sunday afternoon, my first thought was to look for my kites.  The bad news:  They are in storage.  The good news:  they would have been blown away in 70+ mph winds.  The flags were blowing straight out. 

 

Church’s electric was out that evening.  While waiting for them to decide whether to continue, I walked in the park.  Down by the river, I found a lot of buckeyes blown off by the wind.  There’s something primal about experiencing the overwhelming force of nature.  “What is man, that thou are mindful of him…”

 

Debris was all over the road.  I saw a man walking his dogs with a hard hat on.  Good thing—the walnuts were dropping on the pavement like bombs—CracK!  After the service I drove down the park street again, only to find it blocked by a large tree that had fallen across the road.  I guess the hard hat man was half wise. 

 

My electric was out at home.  I found out my lovely waterproof matches from the dollar store don’t light. 

 

Now there’s the wisdom of the saying, “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”  Without lightbulbs, why not go to sleep at dark, and get up at dawn? 

 

Lights were on at work but a few trees were down.  A 23 ring Oak was uprooted. 

 

After work, I saw many people in the halls of the public library sitting on the floor with their laptops, grabbing power and wifi.  By the time I found an open gas station for my tank on E, the lights at home were back on.  Even my butter survived in the powerless fridge.

 

Now it’s Thursday, and some Ohioans are still without power.  Act of God or butterfly effect? 

 

 

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10:07:59 PM EDT
Feeling Hopeful

Today I bonded with 100,000 of my neighbors in an important cultural ritual.  We sat in rows and sang praises to Alma Mater.  We gave money and ate and drank.  We chanted in unison, and rose to our feet in ecstatic joy.

And as tradition has it, we turned to the ones sitting next to us to criticize the performance of our stand-ins on the field of action. 

Our seats were on B-deck in the next to last row.  No need for all that sunscreen or my new perscription sunglasses.  We had to tell each other what was going on behind the pillars.

 

Oh, the pagentry of TBDBITL!  After all these years, they really know how to raise the hairs on my neck.  I think it's the human emotion that used to be reserved for saying, "Long Live the King!" 

Our opponent, OU was excited to be in the Horseshoe.  Their use of the four letter word was a little different from ours.  They danced around in a non-military way. 

Even in the pictures taken with my cheap 5 megapixel camera, you can see that Brutus could take that Bobcat, anyday.  Rufus just looks bewildered to be on TV. 

The OU team was ahead most of the game.  If dad was here, I can imagine his reaction.  See above for the Buckeyes about to score, finally!  It seems like our team plays down to the level of their opponents. 

OU didn't seem intimidated, and their second quarterback did a great job for them, running the ball himself many times.  The visitor section was a small field of green surrounded by a mob of scarlet, but they squeezed in a "U" everytime the stands chanted "O-H-I-O." 

Tressel's team sang Carmen Ohio at the happy ending.  Then the OU band marched on the field and danced.  Don't let me forget to mention tailgating.

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10:12:10 PM EDT
Hearing National Treasure

Journey to the West is based on a true story.  In China, we visited the Monestary of the Wild Goose in Xi'an.  This is where the real monk brought Buhdist scriptures from India before AD 900. 

His trip is the basis of the story, but the novel expands into a series of amazing adventures with more than enough magic and monsters for any fairy tale or comic book. 

It's discovered in the end that his ordeals are numbered at 80, one less than 9 times 9.  Our plucky band must endure one more adventure, and as they ride across the river on the back of a white, soft-shelled turtle, he get's mad and dunks them in the water.  Supernatural beings attack them all night with a windy storm, but they protect the scrolls.  Only the edge of one sticks to the rocks as they dry out in the sun.  That scripture is incomplete to this day. 

This trek is written in prose, with poetry interspersed when picturesque description is needed.  The adventures are exciting, the monsters are horrible, the dangers are frightening, but our heroes always win in the end. 

Sounds like a TV show... and it was made into a TV show.  You can watch scenes from it Online.  It's sort of like a witty cross between (old) Batman and Power Rangers. 

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11:54:43 AM EDT

Why do they hate us?   Buckeye fans are only responding to the reality in Ohio Stadium.

Watching, just now, our guys marching onto the turf, a thrill ran down my spine.  As they drive down the field, it all runs through my mind--the tradition, the challenges, the greatness...  They are TBDBITL! 

I think there's a football game today in Columbus. 

 

Oh, Oh, I have to stand...it's Carmen Ohio! 

Afirm thy friendship,

O-Hi-O

 

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10:54:30 AM EDT

"Here ends the Journey to the West." 

is the last line of the story I started reading in China.  I'm not really done reading it, since I started on page 1761, the beginning of Volume 4.  I guess I have to go back now and see how it all started in Volumes 1-3.  

Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (AD 1500-1582) is one of the Classics of Chinese literature.  It's one hundred chapters tell of a road trip by four companions and a horse. 

There's the Tin Man, the Scarecrow...oops, I mean, the bald monk is joined by three superheros, I mean supernatural beings with powers. 

There's Zhu Bajie the Pig who's known for his "voracious appitite, lazy body and huge belly."  He's called idiot by the others.  But he is good in a fight, using his 9 toothed rake as a weapon. 

Friar Sand is a dark bearded creature from underwater.  He used to eat humans, but he's good now...

And of course, the famous Monkey King!  He can fly on a cloud and is a crafty fighter with his golden banded iron cudgel.  This amazing weapon can grow to the bottom of the sea or shrink to be carried inside his ear.  I'd say he's like a super-power Bugs Bunny. 

All three of the monk's disciples are in trouble with heaven.  By protecting the monk as he goes to find the holy scriptures, they will atone for their past mistakes. 

Oh, and the horse is really the son of a dragon.  He's been bad too. 

 

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12:07:20 AM EDT

In today’s speeches, Clinton (Bill) said that in ’92, people said he was too young and inexperienced to be president.  He said they were wrong, because he “was on the right side of history.” 

 

What does that mean?  I’m on the right side of history. 

 

 This is the man who really taught me what can be done with words.  He’s genius with them.  His mouth releases the words into the air, and they start to become truth.  As the sounds roll from ear to ear, they gain truthiness, until his speaking has created reality. 

 

I’m on the right side of history.

 

It could mean: 

 

My name is written in books.  You can check…

 

It was my destiny. 

 

Providence/God planned for me to be president. 

 

I suspect that he thinks he’s on the winning side of the Universe, the side that will ultimately develop.  The progress of the tide of history is going the Progressive way—is going his way.  [Every day and in every way, I am growing better and better!]

 

I’m on the right side of history.

 

Or it could be a soap bubble,

a glimmering, round phrase that means nothing. 

 

Nothing at all. 

 

 

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6:01:16 PM EDT
Hearing from Beijing

A Christian halts the Olympic games for more than a thousand years (A.D. 393 to 1896.) 

 

The original Greek Olympics went every four years from about 776 B.C. until A.D. 393.   Roman Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, forbade the practice of pagan cults, and the Olympics were included.  …all those sacrifices to Zeus, I guess.

 

 

These historic games rewarded only one winner.  Sorry if you’re second. 

 

 

The prize was a leaf wreath on your head, olive leaves.  Different leaves were used in the locations of other Panhellenic games:  laurel or pine.  In Nemea, winners wore a crown of wild celery.  Mmm—crunchy! 

 

 

Boxing gloves were developed over the years…by adding metal to the knuckles. 

 

 

Athletes entered the stadium by walking past statues called the Zanes.  Each Zane was paid for with fines from a person who cheated in earlier games.  In these days of doping, maybe we should go back to this practice. 

 

 

Source:   

 

http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_658.pdf.

 

See also Christianity Today for commentary on Christians and the games.

 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2004/aug19.html

 

 

 

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4:53:30 PM EDT
Hearing volleyball

Olympic stories

 

Sonja Henie is not just a swear word on the radio show, Car Talk with Click and Clack.  In 1924, she was last place, but in 1928, 1932 and 1936, Henie won the gold for Norway.  She also became a major Hollywood star. 

 

 

In 1956, Soviet rower Vycaheslav Ivanov excessively celebrated and dropped his gold medal into the lake.  He dove in but couldn’t find it. 

 

 

1968 men’s slalom sking was interrupted by one of the men in black.  Karl Schranz was given a second chance after he stopped on the slopes.  He claimed that a figure in black crossed his path.  Oh, and he had missed one of the gates, too.  Schranz’s second time was the best, but on appeal, the gold went to Jean-Claude Killy. 

 

 

In 1972, Mark Spitz won seven gold medals.  Otherwise, you probably would have heard of Australian swimmer Shane Gould, who won three golds, a silver and a bronze—at age fifteen. 

 

 

1976 fencing judges noticed that Soviet Boris Onyschenko was scoring points without touching his opponent.  He wired his foil so he could score by pushing a button. 

 

 

The 1980 boycot of the Olympics resulted in a shortage of field hockey teams.  Zimbabwe was invited…and won the gold. 

 

 

Source:  The Olympics for Beginners by Brandon Toropov, 2008, For Beginners, Danbury, CT. 

 

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11:34:07 PM EDT
Feeling Adventurous
Hearing olympics

The state fair always features fried food.  

This year everything in my lunch was "on a stick."  I had egg on a stick (hard boiled), deep fried twinkie on a stick, and here's a picture of the most noted new product this year...

 

Deep Fried Mashed Potatoes on a stick. 

Sort of like a hush puppy, but with creamy potatoe inside.  It's good, I guess. 

 

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