Bow Ties & Eagles

"I'm a Christian, I've made mistakes myself, I believe fervently in second chances," Carlson said on the show. "But Michael Vick killed dogs, and he did [it] in a heartless and cruel way. And I think, personally, he should've been executed for that. He wasn't, but the idea that the president of the United States would be getting behind someone who murdered dogs?" - Tucker Carlson, Fox News

Now, I'm not even going to get into the hypocritical nature of the first sentence with respect to what follows.  First and foremost what Vick did was awful, disgusting, and well, just grab a Thesaurus and keep the list going, but.... in a time were celebrities get what is essentially a free pass (how many times has Lohan gone to "rehab" when you or I would be in jail", Vick went to prison.  Fort Leavenworth prison.  He did real time in a real jail.  He was not in jail for 4 hours and released because of "crowding" he was in prison for 2 years.  To put this in some additional context... Donte Stallworth a WR in the NFL drove drunk in Florida, and killed a pedestrian and his sentence was 30 days in jail of which is plea agreement said he need only serve 24 days.  I'm not going to get into the debate about which crime is worse or if a human life is worth more than an animals I mean God knows I love my dogs and often times treat them like my kids, the example is merely to provide some context of two recent and high profile NFL crimes.

I think Vick is a good story, and I truly hope that he remains on the right path and truly fixes his life.  Right or wrong Vick doesn't appear to have many skills outside of his God given football talents.  So the NFL, in my opinion, did the right thing.  I think keeping him out of the NFL would have exponentially increased the possibility of him turning back to a life of criminal or at a minimum morally questionable activity.  A lot of people say that prison is to keep those who are to dangerous for society away from society and to rehabilitate those who need a nudge back onto the right path.  If that is true people need to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop on Vick.  You don't have to support him.  But one really should realize that he served his time and is trying now to pick up the pieces.

The thing that probably bugs me the most about Tucker Carlson is I would bet Mr Carlson his bow ties against my video games that before Obama was involved in this equation he had absolutely no opinion whatsoever on Vick.  Or at a minimum his opinion was inline with most sports fans; his resurgence on the field this year has been amazing to watch, what he did 2-3 years ago was appalling, and hopefully he truly has turned the corner in his life for the better.  Or something along those lines.  But with Obama involved, well, that changed everything and the ante needed to be raised.  What he said was said for shock value and meant to further stir the pot of  discontent for the current administration.  Carlson later retracted, saying in the heat of the moment he over spoke, or whatever nonsense word he used to describe it.  I think he knew exactly what he was doing the shock value of the statement got him in the news for a few days and served as an arrow in the quiver to, I dunno draw the conclusion that the President hates puppies, who knows.   He should, if he hasn't already, apologize to Vick.  Because from where I sit Vick is at least making an effort to improve, unlike some celebrities.

Lunch Time Posts

Hopefully this'll start a trend of more posting, trying to do one or two over my lunch.  I suppose we shall see.

Twain Censored?

Recently Mark Twain's works have come under fire for his use of the work "nigger."  Now as a white male, even typing that word is a bit uncomfortable for me, so I can at least see a bit of the understanding for "why" the word would raise eyebrows.  However, editing it out of these works is irresponsible and greatly reduces the messages and themes of the books.

  

For starters for those unaware I was an English major for awhile in college and even after the change to Finance I stuck with it and got a minor; one class I took was African American Literature.  Now does taking an African American Lit class make me an expert?  Absolutely not, but I have read a lot of works written by and about African Americans, many of which were about slavery, post slavery, or the civil rights movement.  So while this does not in any way make me an expert by any stretch, I think I have a fair bit of context with which to draw and frame these works, and ultimately the use of the word.

Basically, the use of the word "nigger" and its appropriateness comes down to context.  And the central question of: Is the use of the word ever ok?  In this case Twain is wrote a work based in a historical time period where this word was widely used.  And it was used in the manner in which he wrote it.  While works of literature can be interpreted many ways and only the author truly knows how he/she meant for something to be read, I offer my interpretation and "justification" if you will for the use of the word.  Twain use the word was meant to set up the great divide between the African American slaves and the white men.  Not only were these men slaves to the white men, they were further degraded by being called not by name alone but by "Nigger ", such as Twain's character "Nigger Jim".  Now this right off establishes the great chasm between the  races and spotlights the extreme racism of the time.  Flash forward to the end where along the way it is apparent to me that the best friend and the most decent human is in fact Jim.  The irony being that the individual who was thought to be, frankly in the minds of the white people of the time a "lessor" person, ended up showing more compassion and humanity than any other character.  This realization to me drives home the idiocy of the racism that was common place at the time.  By changing the use of "nigger" to "slave" the initial racist tones and ultimate divide between the characters is watered down.  Jim was a slave, so by calling him "Slave Jim" they are only scratching the surface of the initial improbability of the impending relationship between the two characters.  This watering down effect ultimately, in my mind, lessens the impact of the friendship that grows between the characters.  And frankly cheapens the works as a whole.

On the other hand, some believe that Twain was a racist and his prolific use of the word and exaggerated characteristics of the Jim character were solely meant to be racist.  As you see above, I disagree, but that should be for reader to decide.  By editing this word out in my mind someone, somewhere is deciding for me that Twain meant for them to be racist and therefore the word must be removed, and if removed it will have little impact.  I feel the impact loss is huge.  In my mind there are many other places and mediums where this word is used in a far more damaging way, I hope they reconsider and leave these works alone and let readers interpret for themselves the message Twain was trying to deliver.

A panelist on CNN actually said something I agree with with respect to the teaching of these works in school.  The word shouldn't be removed just so it is more politically correct, if a teacher is not prepared to have a serious racial and cultural discussion with students then they should not be teaching the book.  Face it getting a student to re-read a book they've already read that only has approx. 219 words changed later in life is tough, hell it's a struggle to get them to actually read it the first time.

Ok need to stop before a I go any further, kind of got on a Lit paper type rant there, in fact I could probably write a 5-10 page lit paper on this topic very very easily.

A New Year

So it's a new year and with a new year comes resolutions.  And I resolve to be a better poster.  As with most resolutions there will likely be bouts of failure as shiny objects and new video games take my attentions elsewhere.  However, my resolve will be to post more regularly.

Finished Product

Not sure if I ever actually posted a finished pic or not... but here are the cornhole boards.  

No Excuses

No real "reason" for the break in posting... chalk it up to laziness I suppose.

NCAA

I'm not going to spend a ton of space on this but...  there has got to be some changes in the NCAA.  Really two main things have just happened that prove, in my mind, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the NCAA is one of the most corrupt organizations in America that is so focused on money that they will throw common sense, logic, fair play out the window.

• Cam Newton.  NCAA ruled he is eligible because it was his dad, not him, that was asking for the cash.  While unfortunate that a parent would exploit their son like that, the NCAA has set a dangerous precedent.  Oh... so it was mom and dad that was trying to get paid?  Well by all means, go ahead and play.  Basically this now means that every shady parent of a blue chip recruit will be walking around like a bellhop, extending an expecting hand.  Now I'm not so down on humanity that I think this scenario is the "norm" which is exactly why I think the NCAA missed a golden opportunity to say, "Enough is enough" there is no grey area here.  If you accept, or in this case, attempt to accept money or other compensation as a collegiate athlete there are consequences.  One has to really really wonder if there were other motivations here, with the SEC title game and a BCS title game looming... those games would not be near as exciting with a Cam Newton-less Auburn.
• Second also involves NCAA and football and the BCS, now I could rant on my hatred of this absurd process for DAYS, but I'll say this.  IF the projections are correct and Boise State (11-1) their loss being to a #17 Nevada ends up playing in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against a 6-6 unranked Clemson who got WORKED by Wake Forest, Maryland, and... Presbyterian?  This is an insult of epic proportions, and if it comes to pass I may boycott college football in 2011.  I'm not even joking, as a fan I'm tired of this mess.  I really think running up the score is poor form, but I honestly hope that IF given the opportunity Boise State hang as many points as possible on Clemson if that happens to be 100 so be it.  

Dinosaurs

Harry Potter Part I

So after a much longer than anticipated the wife and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I.  To start, I will never go to another movie theater in KC again.  The AMC Mainstreet 6 is phenomenal.  A bar in lobby, comfortable seating, and best of all, you can order tickets online and pick your exact seat.  Phenomenal.   Anyway, back to the movie.  Movie was great, every bit as good as I hoped it would be.  As I've commented before, books to movies are always going to have holes, gaps, and changes - it's a given.  That being said I feel like they did a pretty solid job taking this one from page to screen.  I think part of it is because they have 5 hours to make it work versus the standard 2.5 hour run time. 

I will say my favorite part, which is an odd favorite part, was the story of the three brothers and the deathly halllows.  I thought the way they handled this very important story was pretty awesome.  The only truly bad thing is that we have to wait so long for what is sure to be an amazing finale to this series.

Video of the Week

Preview is finally here and it looks awesome.