Goody Goods

This just brings me back to my childhood.

In the late 60s, I would have been about 10, next brother was 8, next brother 7, and little sister 5. Baby Brother was still on the to do list. We watched all the goofy shows like this, Gilligan's Island, Saturday morning cartoons. Typical suburban yahoos. What is so different is the freedom we had.

My mother would throw us out of the house. It's a nice day outside. Go play. Off we would go. All day. No mom breathing down your neck. We would ride our bikes to the neighborhood 7-11. Yes, even the 5 year old. We played in the wash in our backyard. In the winter when it rained, a small creek would flow down the middle of it. We did some of the stupidest things imaginable. We ran up and down the fences in our backyards. We rode in cars standing between our parents. On long trips in the station wagon, my parents would lay the seats down and make a bed for all of us to sleep. We would drive through the desert at night. I loved it. You could watch the stars. We played with toys that would make some of these goody good moms palpitate. We fell out of trees. We rode little mini-bikes with loud sewing machine sounding engines. We played in the street. Played hide and seek at night. Blew up army men with firecrackers. We went trick or treating ALONE. No parents. (Which is partly the reason being the oldest that I am a bit bossy. I couldn't let the stupidity get too out of hand. It was my ass that got paddled if trouble got too out of hand.)

My sister and I took her boys one day to see a real Thomas the Tank Engine at a railroad museum. We got to ride in train in an open car. It was a beautiful day with tons of little boys hyperventilating with all the machinery and guy stuff everywhere. It was so cool. We sat in a car with 2 docents who were conducting tours and we had a chance to have a nice long talk with them. They were early 30s, maybe older. They were totally getting into talking about the things they did as boys. Blow up things with chemistry sets. Practically set the house on fire with the wood burning tool with the tiny little cord. They were totally enjoying their stories. They both had boys, about 8 or 9, as I remember. When I commented that their sons must have a blast doing all those things, too, they looked at me like I was nuts. What? No way. Their kids were not going to be allowed to do those things. It was dangerous.

Here were two men who you could tell were totally competent about taking things apart, putting things together, figuring things out, fixing things because they were allowed to do that as young boys and men, but they were not allowing their boys to do those same things. Change oil. Mow the lawn. Fix the dryer. Build something. Drill. Saw. Anything. Maybe even cook.

I love running into young people who can do things. I know a huge mistake I made with my girls was not making sure they had jobs to do. As part of a family, everyone needs to pitch in. We all had chores growing up. Man, the whining we did when we had to do them must have driven my mom nuts, but you did them. I knew how to keep a house when I moved out. Although to this day, I hate to vacuum. My mom had a canister vacuum with a long ass hose attached to it. No upright vacuum that leaves those pretty vacuum tracks that now I make sure that no one messes up for a few hours because they make a room look so clean. No, I had to get on my hands and knees with the little itty bitty attachment and do all the carpeting in the house. I can still picture that olive colored textured carpet. It was a bitch to get to look clean. I would rather clean the harvest gold formica counter top.

I need to ask my mom one day how she did not have fits when we would be gone all day and she would have no idea where we were. Does she realize how many times we were in the storm sewers riding our bikes? Sheesh. Those damn mutant turtles used to harass the hell out of us.

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

This is slightly mad. A talking cake from outer space and Hugh Laurie from House, M.D.



I cannot wrap my head around this second video. I mean, this is Gregory House. Cranky, misanthropic, entirely too sexy doc from House, M.D. He does say that a smile a day will keep the doctor away. You may never see my pearly whites again.

D-Day Prayer

FDR giving a prayer for the soldiers fighting on June 6, 1944.

Turkish Star Wars

Could it get any cheesier? Almost as much fun as the Italian Spiderman.

"Some of the Most Shocking Footage I Have Ever Filmed"

Filmed by Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana in Jerusalem

"Based on our interviews these people were from high socio economic backgrounds and had developed thoughts about current Israeli politics. The question is why more journalists are not covering this story. All you have to do is walk the streets of Jerusalem and you will find dozens of people that harbor the same beliefs. As a resident of Jerusalem, I can say that the people represented in this video are not members of a fringe group or simply drunk college kids. These people reflect the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city. These people and their families are the core of the opposition to meaningful peace between Israel and her neighbors. This is what Obama is up against." - Joseph Dana



Words have meaning. Inconceivable. I don't think that "most shocking" means what he thinks it means. The language of the drunk kids is foul, but I imagine if you went to Berkeley and interviewed some drunk students after asking them about, let's say, Bush, well, I imagine the language would be colorful and shocking. Or perhaps the new Black Panthers. It is kind of shocking that he says this is the "core" of the opposition to meaningful peace in Israel? Really? Is he serious? The core? I am sure the president of Iran will be glad to know he is not the problem.

Goddess of Democracy

June 4, 1989. Tiananmen Square. China.

Students at a Fine Arts school created the Goddess of Democracy.

"At this grim moment, what we need most is to remain calm and united in a single purpose. We need a powerful cementing force to strengthen our resolve: That is the Goddess of Democracy. Democracy…You are the symbol of every student in the Square, of the hearts of millions of people. …Today, here in the People’s Square, the people’s Goddess stands tall and announces to the whole world: A consciousness of democracy has awakened among the Chinese people! The new era has begun! …The statue of the Goddess of Democracy is made of plaster, and of course cannot stand here forever. But as the symbol of the people’s hearts, she is divine and inviolate. Let those who would sully her beware: the people will not permit this! …On the day when real democracy and freedom come to China, we must erect another Goddess of Democracy here in the Square, monumental, towering, and permanent. We have strong faith that that day will come at last. We have still another hope: Chinese people, arise! Erect the statue of the Goddess of Democracy in your millions of hearts! Long live the people! Long live freedom! Long live democracy!"

Minzhu Han (1990). Cries For Democracy: Writings and Speeches from the 1989 Chinese Democracy Movement. Oxford, England: Princeton University Press

Let us not forget.

Yugoslavian Recidivist Knuckleheads

Do you remember Night Court? I loved this show. And I had no idea Brent Spiner, aka Data from Star Trek-The Next Generation was in it until I found this video. I have been on a Star Trek bender watching season one. I just started the episode "Datalore" where they go to Data's home world and find his "brother." I love how they make fun of things like money and the need people felt in the old 21st century for such a silly thing. They are so beyond money, so advanced.

The show always seemed to emphasize what was good in human nature--curiousity, change, exploring, striving to get ahead and learn, most of all learning. What is out there? What does it mean? I loved the exploration part of the show. Kind of like going on a long drive just wandering around. Taking a road just because you have never been on it and it seems interesting. Sometimes it is scary and sometimes you find something you did not imagine.

When they would encounter beings more advanced then they were, those beings always seemed to see something to admire in humanity. Even with all our flaws. Oh, the fun they had showing us our flaws and how we would outgrow them. I loved the fundamental optimism of the show.

I still do not understand how people are not excited about learning. I have a post brewing on Wolfram Alpha, a "computational knowledge engine." It is not a search engine like Google. From the little I have played with it, I would call it more of an answer engine. It is such a fun site and Dr. Stephen Wolfram (yes, that is his name!) gives some great answers to why he started this project. But even my brother the geek and his equally geeky friend, Lop, did not know what it was. (I mean they both have servers in their homes. It's like a computer wonderland.) They are the kind of people though who will discover the site and manage to manipulate it such a way that will blow me away.

But for all my love of things geek, and things that bleep and touch screens to play with, I like silly sitcoms like this one. Ah, gee. Now I want to watch Designing Women. Time for a Julia Sugarbaker rant.