Nolesrock's Blog

Blue Marlin Tag Frames Creator, Jon Cudzik

2012-02-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

My latest submission to the Sand Paper appears on page 20 of today's edition...

(click on image for large print version)

7-Year-Old Blog: A Retrospective, Part 1

2012-01-20T15:11:00.001-05:00

My blog will be seven years old in April of this year! As a way to celebrate my commitment to writing, I'm taking a few months to look back over the seven years of intermittent blogging. I haven't always submitted my best work to the Great Blogosphere of the Ethernet, so I hope the gods will forgive, but at least I've been a loyal subject and beat the six-month average lifespan of most blogs. Maybe the blog is a dying art in the world of tweets and status updates, but it is more of a long-form tweet for me. Note, I don't even have a Twitter account. Enough with the prefacing, and onto the looking back! First, have a look back at the last six months, which is laden with posts about my freelance work at the Island Sand Paper here on Fort Myers Beach.

I am grateful for the chance to earn a little dough doing the thing I love--writing--and also for the chance to display some of my photography in newsprint. I wish to say thank you to Missy and Bob Layfield and Keri Hendry for the chance to work in journalism. Now to the writing samples...Enjoy! (NOTE: When you click the links, this blog post still shows at the top spot, so SCROLL DOWN!)

Holy Vettes, Batman!!!

2012-01-20T15:03:00.000-05:00

Here is my latest offering from the Island Sand Paper, a Fort Myers Beach weekly. Page 12 features my article about the Corvette Cruise-in at Parrot Key Caribbean Grill...

sorry my scanner couldn't handle this one very well...be sure to click on the image above for a full-sized view, easier to read!

Salty Dog and CRAB articles

2012-01-13T08:05:00.001-05:00

I have TWO articles in this week's Island Sand Paper. Check them out, below, but don't strain your eyes. You can click on either image to get the large print version...Enjoy!

(when the jpeg loads in your browser, be sure to click on it for full-sized viewing)

Blog Birthday in April

2012-01-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe, but in April this blog will be seven years old.

I know I haven't been a consistent blogger. As you'll notice in the timeline on the lower right, there are missing months where I did not blog at all. No apologies. Life just gets in the way of writing sometimes.

But this has always been a great place for me to vent, to get creative, to share personal feelings, failures and accomplishments. All told, I'm pretty proud that I've stuck with it this long, since the average shelf life of most blogs is less than six months.

Over the next few months, leading up to that anniversary, I plan to do some looking back and share some of my favorite blog posts. This space serves as sort of a road map of my spiritual journey the last seven years. The road I began travelling back in 2004-05, down the path of rediscovery and emerging spirituality, led me far away from my Catholic and Pentacostal roots. Well, maybe not THAT far away, but certainly in a new direction.

For anyone who has followed my ramblings, thanks. I appreciate your interest and longevity. For anyone who has just stumbled upon this blog, welcome. Pull up a chair and click through some of the posts from 2005-2011. You might chuckle, maybe you'll even stop to ponder, but whatever you do, leave a comment. Blogs are not for stalkers. They're for conversation. You don't have to be a blogger yourself to leave a comment. Anyone can do so, even anonymously.

Thanks, again, for taking a minute to read. Ciao!

Gulf Coast Living is for me!

2012-01-07T13:35:00.003-05:00

In 2006, I was ready to leave Tallahassee for a home in either the panhandle beaches or Indiana...talk about your polar opposites. I decided that with the cost of real estate on the coast and the lack of a support network there it would be best to move north. So we set out in December with a contract for the sale of our house pending and moved to Fishers, Indiana. It turned out to be one of the snowiest, coldest Decembers central Indiana had seen in a long time.

We endured four of those blustery winters before packing up and heading back south. Fortunately for us, Aunt Sarah had a vacant condo ready to take us in, so we found our way 1,100 miles from Fishers to Fort Myers Beach. It was a long, two-day trip with our two girls, two dogs and everything we could cram into a small Volvo sedan. We made it to Manatee Beach near Anna Maria Island by sunset the second day. It was a glorious sunset to welcome us back to the Gulf Coast!

Our original intent was to settle in the Bradenton area, just inland from Manatee Beach. We actually hunted for jobs and houses up there until school began in early August. By then, we were falling head-over-heels in love with Fort Myers Beach and it's small town charm. We quickly shifted our focus to finding a reasonably-priced rental on the island and jobs that would help us afford it. Best decision we've made in a LONG time...and only about 5 years overdue.

I was just looking over this blog, and it was May 15, 2006, when I stated that " I will live at the beach one day." What a crazy prophecy that came true this last year!

All of the descriptions of Destin and Panama City in that May 2006 blog are perfectly applicable to where I live now, except I think the white gulf sands down this way are finer and softer to the touch. I call our beaches "baby powder" because that's what it feels like under your feet in the coolness of a December morning. It's not the scratchy, golden, Atlantic Coast sand that feels like sandpaper between your cheeks. I think the baby powder sand is how a beach just to our south got its name--Barefoot Beach...but watch out for shells. This is a great place to find them, and when you walk closer to the shoreline, you'll crunch them under your barefeet.

The reasons I am so partial to the Gulf are the calm, warm waters and the absolutely glorious sunsets. The only other place I could ever see myself is in the Florida Keys. I think that once I get bored with the sunsets here, I'll make that move further south. Then, one day, you'll read my blog about how that self-fulfilling prophecy came true.

To say that I have adapted to island life is an understatement. I think that I was predestined to live here. My blood pressure has always been on the lower end of normal and I seem to move fluidly to the rhythm of island life. It's a slower pace that I intend to maintain for another 40+ years.

Hoboken Frank, the other...

2012-01-06T08:24:00.001-05:00

click on images for larger, original versions

Hopes for 2012

2011-12-30T00:12:00.000-05:00

Here's what I'm hoping for in 2012...

A Kardashian-free news feed. I mean, the Jersey Shore cast had their 15 minutes of fame, like most other flash-in-the-pan, 15-more-minutes-than-they-deserved fads, so why has the Kardashian clan clung to notoriety like they're British royalty or something (another thing I don't get by the way)?!?! Didn't we fight a revolution to get away from the British monarchy? Now, we apparently can't get enough of their every bowel movement, nor of the Kardashians...which leads me to ask, is there a difference?

An Obama-free America. Send the douchebag back to Hawaii or Indonesia, or wherever he's really from and give us a REAL leader! 'Nuff said (and this was a non-partisan rant, btw)!

A war-free zone for the whole year. We spent enough of our precious resources in countries that hate us to the nth degree, so let's focus on the homefront for awhile. Oh, and world peace would be nice, too.

An Occupy movement with a purpose, please. Are you starting another Tweet revolution in America, or are you just getting lots of like-minded people together for lattes? I'm confused. Was there a point?

The end of all reality shows. Really. Enough, already. I don't want to see any more rednecks on a channel labeled "Arts and Entertainment." Jessco, 'The Dancin' Outlaw,' was entertaining...in 1990! Mud People, People who hunt wild pigs, gators, their mama's tooth, etc...not so much!

Did I miss anything?

Flipper's On The Bay Expands Offerings

2011-12-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

Cat Crusader Article from Dec 9th Island Sand Paper

2011-12-10T08:50:00.001-05:00

If you can help Jo Ann out by donating food, money or time, please call her directly at (239) 463-6118. Thank you!

Waxing philosophical this morning

2011-12-06T07:18:00.000-05:00

Funny the rabbit trails your mind will go down early in the morning after a half-cup of coffee. As I sit at my computer doing genealogy, of all things, I stumble upon a gravesite for one of my ancestors that gets me waxing philosophical, theological, even.

She was buried in an Oregon memorial park in the "Garden of Atonement."

Interesting concept that atoning for one's sins.

As I was taught, growing up in the Catholic Church, we were all born with the "mark of Adam," the stain of "original sin" upon us. That means, each and everyone of us, fresh from our mother's womb, drawing our first breath of air, was utterly doomed to failure...and eternal damnation, by the way.

What kind of bogus poker hand is that to be dealt?

The Catholics are to blame for this nonsense, you know. Now, most of the Christian worldview has been shaped by this idea that we are all born with a fatal, spiritual flaw. Innocent babies, my ass! We are wired with a penchant for evil.

This might cause one to call, "Foul!" Throw the penalty flag. Question everything he/she knows about God.

Where's the justice in that? The love? The forgiveness, even?

Ah, forgiveness...that's the rub. The "mark of Adam" with which we are ALL cursed spurred the Creator to action. He devised a master plan in which He would become the scapegoat (ala, the ram in the thicket from the story of Abraham and Isaac). Brilliant or psychotic? You decide.

The Supreme Being, Creator of all that is, devised a way out of our mortal conundrum, but it, in effect, involved His own death, a sort of deicide (it's a word, look it up).

The next thing I was taught, after learning of my one-way-ticket-do-not-pass-go entrance into Hades, is that Jesus, the one displayed in gory fashion upon a crucifix in every classroom and church I attended until middle school, was, in fact, God. He came to (drumroll please) ATONE for my sins and make everything right in my hereafter world. WHEW! That was a close call.

That was the best He could come up with...committing suicide for the fatal flaw that I was born with. Dare I say, created with? He couldn't conceive of ANY OTHER WAY but to spill His own blood?

So, to recap, I was created with or born into this world with a mortal flaw for which I was unable to help myself. The Draconian punishment for it--be I baby or old man--was eternal damnation in a lake of fire. And the ONLY way to get out of that dire, eternal consequence was for God to come down and kill Himself (i.e. His Son). And I am to believe that this Guy created galaxies yet unknown?

Puzzling.

Local Adopt-A-Troop Benefit

2011-12-02T11:40:00.001-05:00

After a few weeks absence from the Island Sand Paper, I have a new article in today's edition all about the Nov 17th benefit for Adopt-A-Troop Foundation...

A Hero Remembered

2011-11-14T08:26:00.000-05:00

Grave of Clifford O. Carlton
1924-1991
(Garden Sanctuary Cemetery, Seminole, FL)

On the heels of Veteran's Day Weekend, I thought it appropriate to honor the memory of one of my ancestors. His name is Clifford O. Carlton, of Evansville, who served heroically in the U.S. Air Force/Army during World War II.

I was researching Clifford's family, as I am a 4th cousin,* and ran across these newsclippings in the Browning Genealogy database (http://browning.evcpl.lib.in.us/):

4 Jan 1945 -- "Pfc Clifford O. Carlton was wounded in action in Germany on Dec 16 [1944]. An infantryman, he also has served in England and France since arriving overseas in August, 1944...A former Reitz High School student..."

24 Sep 1945 -- "Pfc Clifford Carlton, brother of Mrs. Heal, is now home on sick leave from Fletcher General Hospital, Cambridge [Ohio]. He is recovering from left leg wounds suffered last Dec. 16 in battle east of Cologne. In the Army since April 3, 1943, he trained at Ft. McClellan, Ala., Ft. Benning, Ga., Ft. Mackall, NC., and Camp Forrest, Tenn. When injured in a parachute accident, he was transferred to the infantry. Going overseas in July, 1944, he served with the 8th Division. His decorations include the Purple Heart, good conduct and American Defense ribbons, a three-star-studded ETO ribbon and combat infantry badge."

Clifford and his wife, Jane, retired to Madeira Beach, Florida. He died 25 Feb 1991 at Bay Vines Veterans Hospital in St. Petersburg. He was laid to rest at Garden Sanctuary Cemetery in nearby Seminole, FL.

* Clifford and I are 4th cousins, 2 times removed, because his second great-grandfather, Bracket Mills, was a brother to my fourth great-grandfather, Duston Mills, of Gibson County, Indiana.

Painting the Beach (Island Sand Paper)

2011-11-04T10:12:00.001-05:00

My latest submission to the Island Sand Paper about an art celebration called Paint the Beach, Nov. 14-20, on Fort Myers Beach, which ran on the front page and pg. 19...

2011-10-28T07:32:00.001-05:00

FLOWSTIVAL Benefit Celebration takes place the weekend of November 18-20 in Bonita Springs, Florida. Join us for a weekend of camping, rhythm and flow arts! Or as Dino likes to say, "Feel the rhythm; release the fear!" Online prices the next two weeks will save you money, so don't delay in getting your 3-day passes. Hope to see you there.

America's global spending spree backed by politicians on both sides

2011-10-24T06:56:00.000-05:00

Secretary Clinton is at it again. You know, I don't mind when the liberal agenda wants to spend money on struggling families at home, but when they want to spend millions helping foreign countries halfway around the globe? Yeah, I have a problem with that.

Now Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is jumping on the bandwagon. He defends irresponsible spending in the name of 'national security.' Isn't that standby excuse wearing thin, yet. Ever since 9-11, our GOP leaders love to cover anything they do under the umbrella of 'the war on terror' and 'national security.'

I don't pretend to be a foreign policy expert and I'm sure the politicos in Washington claim to know better than I, but I CAN balance a checkbook. And I know that when I'm hundreds of dollars in the hole, I don't have money to go out and pick up the tab for me and my buddies.

Our nation's debt is outta control. We don't have money to be the 'bank of the world.' Let struggling countries find ways to make it on their own. It will be good for them in the long run....at least that's what my dad always told me when I asked to borrow cash.

Living History at Matanzas Pass Preserve

2011-10-21T12:50:00.001-05:00

The Island Sand Paper ran my story today about the upcoming Visions of the Past event on pages 1 and 19...

I took the two photos with my digital camera. I think they translated pretty well on newsprint.

Dan Wheldon, gone.

2011-10-16T20:23:00.001-05:00

The Indy Racing League was dealt a devastating blow today when one of its leading drivers was killed in a 15-car accident at the Las Vegas Indy 300.

Above is a picture I took in May 2008 while at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a day of practice. That could be Dan's wife, Susie, to his left. I'm not sure. Today, she was widowed at around 3:00 p.m., leaving her to raise two young sons without their father.

From what I know, Dan was a great driver, great competitor and a nice guy. He had won at Indy, won the IRL championship and won the hearts of many Indy car fans, especially the feminine variety. He was a good looking guy.

Today, his life was cut short at the age of 33 after his car hurled into the air, then barrel-rolled into the barrier fence before careening back to the pavement ablaze. His wrecked car was covered with a golden-colored tarp before being removed from the track at Vegas. During that same time, he was being airlifted to the local hospital where he would later be pronounced dead.

I feel so badly for his widow and their two children. My heart goes out to them.

I understand the dangers of racing at speeds above 220 mph. The Indy cars are like jets on racing tires. Unfortunately, too many times they go airborne. I witnessed it firsthand at the 2010 Indy 500 where on the last lap of the race a guy went airborne into the fence between turns three and four. I was sitting at the entrance of the short chute where the crash began that year.

I remember another deadly accident in the 80's that occured at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Another driver, Gordon Smiley, was killed by a horrific accident that ended with him airborn and into the fence. Safety and race car design has come such a long way, but today we are reminded just how dangerous this sport still is.

Again, I am saddened by the Wheldon family's loss. I can only hope that this incident leads to further advances and improvements in driver safety.

Rest in peace, Dan.

A day at the beach for Beach Elementary 4th Graders

2011-09-23T16:35:00.002-05:00

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR FULL-SIZE IMAGE

Noles ready to knock-off #1

2011-09-15T10:12:00.000-05:00

http://colts-noles.blogspot.com/2011/09/countdown-to-fsu-ou-has-begun.html

My COLTS-NOLES blog is all decked out in garnet and gold for this weekend's game.

GO NOLES!!!

Never Forget

2011-09-10T05:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I blogged about The Falling Man and my recollections of 9/11. Today, I stumbled across a blog written about the massive outpouring of support after the attack. As Senator Rob Portman was recalling his wife's trip back to Ohio and the Search and Rescue Team she passed on their way to Ground Zero, I remembered the many volunteers who went to New York from Florida in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Yesterday, I told my story of watching the horror unfold on television and how I was working for the government in Tallahassee. Well, fast forward just a couple of months and I had been rehired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management to serve as their spokesperson. I had the privilege of speaking with many a volunteer who had just returned from the devastation at Ground Zero. Some of them had served in the Salvation Army tent kitchens, ensuring that volunteers and first responders had a hot meal after long, laborious hours of combing the wreckage.

While I don't recall offhand the total number of volunteers we sent from Florida, I do know that Search and Rescue was another group of willing volunteers. The urban S&R teams would painstakingly navigate twisted steel and dig through feet of ash and rubble just to search for survivors and recover barely recognizable remains with the help of specially-trained canines. Those volunteers were just as much heroes as the first responders who gave all to save their neighbor.

I remember wishing I could go with one of the Florida teams, if just to serve a few meals or hand out bottled water. I had so much respect for my colleagues in Tallahassee who dropped everything and went for weeks on end to serve in New York City. Alas, I had a four-month-old baby at home and a wife who couldn't sleep. There was no way I was leaving them for 6-8 weeks.

Still, the memories of the days, weeks and months after 9/11 are vivid for me. I'll admit that I had grown complacent, choosing not to reflect on the horrible images that had bombarded me through television and online news outlets in 2001. But since yesterday, I cannot get them out of my head, so I designed the collage at the top of this blog post. It reminds of the phrase that was our nation's mantra in the waning months of that year. Let us never forget.

Nine-eleven

2011-09-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago, you could have typed three numbers and immediately everyone would've known what that represented. Nine, one-one. The three-digit emergency telephone number that links U.S. residents with first responders in times of crisis or imminent danger. Sadly, today that is no longer the case. For when you type nine, one-one, it evokes sadness and tragic memories of a fateful day in history.

I've been reluctanct to recall those memories. And in the days leading up to the tenth anniversary/memorial of "nine-eleven," bombarded with reminders on television and the web, I've been reticent to share any feelings associated with those memories. Today, I finally broke.

As I watched the end of Live with Regis and Kelly, they had a prolonged moment of silence. Then, I stumbled upon a documentary titled "9/11 The Falling Man" on The Western Confucian blog. I knew that I needed to speak and let those feelings flow freely.

The Nine-eleven disaster did not effect me directly. I knew no one in the tower. I'd never even been to Manhattan and seen the World Trade Center in person, only on TV. I was 1,100 miles removed from Ground Zero. Yet, I have vivid memories of that day.

Working in the Pepper Building, part of a sprawling network of government buildings in downtown Tallahassee, I overheard my coworkers watching live coverage of the terrorist attack on MSNBC. The first tower had been struck. People were gathering around the computer monitor on the other side of the cubicle I was in. I needed to get to a television, so I took a coffee break and drove to the nearby Governor's Square Mall. I found TVs blaring live coverage in the food court of the mall. I was stunned; flabbergasted, even.

Watching the news with horror, I called my wife who was on maternity leave with our two-month old (to the day) daughter. They were watching something other than the news, oblivious to the terrorism that had just been perpetrated on American soil. Until that day, the most shocking attack of this kind we had seen on television, was the 1996 Olympic bombing in Atlanta or the Murrow Federal Building bombing in Tulsa. My wife was bewildered as she turned to CNN.

I received a call on my cellphone that our office had been evacuated as a safety precaution. In fact, the entire state government came grinding to a halt. The Capitol Building and adjacent offices in Tallahassee were cleared because of the fear that the President's brother, Governor Jeb Bush, would be a likely target. I was relieved that I didn't have to go back to work. I could hardly remove my glare from the televisions at the mall. Truth be told, I could hardly believe my eyes!

It was around 9:30 that morning and the news cameras had already shown the second tower being hit by a hijacked airliner and now the tower was falling. The iconic World Trade Center in New York was crumbling before my eyes. There were people leaping from busted out windows in the other tower. The scene was absolutely surreal.

I don't remember how long I stayed at the mall that morning or what time I returned home, but I must have been glued to the cable news networks for hours that day. It seemed as if pandemonium had struck the heart of Manhattan's financial district. It had, indeed.

The interviews with victims' spouses in the first 24-minutes of The Falling Man film will bring you to tears. But the positive spin one husband gives was inconceivably imaginative considering his great tragedy. His wife, stuck high in the south tower before it fell, was found on the sidewalk in front of the building across from the tower. She obviously had jumped. He tried to imagine the split-second thought going through her head as she made that fateful leap from high above lower Manhattan. He describes the liberating, breathtaking sense of flight and how she was finally able to breathe, free of the smoke, ash and burning embers of the unstable trade tower. I was amazed that he could even find an image so positive from such a horrific act.

USA Today reports the gruesome story about those who jumped, but whose deaths are still labeled "homicides" by the New York Coroner's Office. Not all who "were forced out by smoke and flames" made it to the streets below. "On the south side, firefighters reported 30 to 40 bodies on the roof of the 22-floor Marriott Hotel, adjacent to the north tower." One eyewitness from the south tower saw a lady fall just outside his window. He recalls, "She wasn't screaming. It was slow motion." He saw her hit the ground. How horrified he must have been.

Gruesome though it may be, that sight saved hundreds of lives. "Many south tower survivors say the sight of people jumping created an urgency that caused them to leave immediately and ignore announcements that it was safe to return to their desks."

USA Today estimates that upwards of 200 people jumped, mainly from the north tower which was hit first but stood 46 minutes longer than the south tower. "The Falling Man" has been identified by family and co-workers as Jonathan Briley, a worker at the Windows on the World restaurant. No positive i.d. was ever made, however. Information and pictures about the late Mr. Briley can be found on Michelle Malkin's blog in a post titled, "The Falling Man Revisited".

The film asserts that we, as Americans, have attempted to erase those gruesome images by refusing to look at them. But I, for one, can never erase them from my memory. They were the visible casualties from a man-made disaster that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. And while I did not know any of them personally, the images of those who jumped from certain death TO certain death certainly touched me deeply.

Because of that fateful day ten years ago, no one can ever say, type or think 9-1-1 without having to pause that split second and think, is that "nine-eleven" or "nine, one-one?" That three-digit code will forever link our country with the heroic first responders who come to our rescue in times of personal crisis and who came to Ground Zero at that time of national crisis. May all who died rest in peace. May all who live, "Never forget."

First Game Rust?

2011-09-03T20:46:00.001-05:00

Let me say right from the start that I'm VERY happy with a shut-out win to start the 2011 season. BUT, the Seminoles didn't quite play up to all the hype or the Top 5 ranking. Shannon J. Owens nails it in the Orlando Sentinel column, "The Seminoles played footsie with the Warhawks when they should have been cutting off their toes."

Courtesy Seminoles.com

The team with national championship aspirations wasn't playing like a contender today. Their first quarter performance was lackluster and uninspired. You'd never know they had a Heisman-caliber quarterback or lightning-fast receivers. As Owens points out quite graphically, they lacked the killer instinct of the Seminole teams of old.

While other top teams were steamrolling their first opponents of twenty-eleven, the Seminoles were settling for punts and field goals. And say what you will about ULM, but they were scheduled to be a cupcake of a home opener. The shutout was nice, but it should have been by 50 points with all the firepower in Jimbo's arsenal.

I don't know if it was the playcalling or the execution, but I was having flashbacks during the the first quarter of the "good ol'" Bowden days...and I'm talking about the infamous Bowden playcaller, Jeff, not Bobby. Some of the vanilla plays early in the game definitely had a hint of Jeffy. Very conservative (as if the Warhawks were just supposed to play dead and grant the Noles 10 yards on every play).

Granted, the Warhawks did put up a fight, but their offense couldn't muster 200 total yards. They laid a golden goose egg on the final scoreboard.

What do we take away from this so-so home opener? Well, a win for one. I am very happy the Seminoles go into Week 2 with a 1-0 record. I was glad to see some flashes of brilliance from EJ Manuel at quarterback. His long, touchdown pass before the half was beautifully thrown and right on the mark! But we're used to seeing those kinds of plays on the first first-and-ten of the game, especially against cupcakes like ULM. So, there's room for improvement. Better playcalling and better execution are a MUST if FSU wants to be taken seriously this season.

Let's go Seminoles!!!

First Feature Article Published!

2011-09-02T06:37:00.001-05:00

Well, I am officially a freelance writer in Fort Myers Beach!

A huge, DUH!!!

2011-08-12T06:48:00.000-05:00

I just read where Hilary Clinton wants to send aid to famine-ravished Somalia for food distribution. Why is that not such a stellar idea? Well, for one, Somalia is run by one of the most corrupt governments in the world. One local expert says, "Corruption has marred every aspect of Somali society."

So the same state that sponsors terrorists and allows pirates to run its shores like a rogue coast guard should be rewarded with our tax dollars. Brilliant, Ms. Clinton! With our nation facing economic crisis and a downgraded credit rating, we need to be throwing good money after bad and help line the pockets of corrupt, terrorist regimes???

Not that I don't feel bad for all the pain and suffering for innocent Somalians, but you cannot trust corrupt leaders to do the right thing because they don't even care about the suffering as much as we do! They'd step on their own children to get what they want. How much of the millions in aid sent to Haiti even reached those devastated by the earthquake? I'm sorry, but the Red Cross and other relief agencies are only allowed to do as much work in foreign countries as the officials will allow. They control the logistics, the runways, the infrastructure, and all the money and relief efforts in the world won't overcome their ineptitude, lack of empathy or greed.

But, yeah, okay, let's send them money we don't have so they can thwart the relief for their dying citizens and fund a terrorist cell in Muslim-controlled east Africa. Yep, great idea!

My Manatee Article was Published!

2011-08-01T14:54:00.005-05:00

I wrote a guest commentary on manatee safety for a local island paper. Here it is in print:

"They're fast food employees."

2011-05-05T06:27:00.002-05:00

The news is reporting that 62,000 new McEmployees are going to work under the golden arches this week. I speculate that of those numbers, about half are non-English speaking, another quarter are teens or college-aged workers and the rest are a mix of out-of-work professionals and those whose sights aren’t set that high.

This morning, my wife returned home from work after early morning visits to two 24-hour, fast food drive-thrus. It was 5 AM and all she wanted was coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Apparently, that was too much to ask.

First, she ordered a McBreakfast with coffee, but was refused service because the geniuses there decided to clean all the coffee makers—both regular brewers and McCafe machine—at the same time. None of the bright McEmployees thought to have one brewed pot on a warmer elsewhere, or to maybe do one machine at a time. Short of that, they could’ve picked a better time than the beginning of the breakfast rush, like say 2 AM. Even the bars haven’t let out by then.

Secondly, she decided to hit the drive-thru at the next door Steak-N-Shake. Upon her attempt to order the same breakfast, she was told they don’t serve breakfast until 6 AM. They were happy to make her a burger topped with an egg, but NOT a breakfast sandwich with any other meat! Oh wait, you can also order a bacon burger, so there IS breakfast meat in the restaurant.

Sooo, they are open 24 hours, but breakfast starts promptly at 6. Okay. Where’s the logic in that? Do the chickens only wake up and begin producing the eggs at 6 AM in Steak-N-Shake’s storeroom? Apparently not. Eggs are available for burgers ONLY! No egg is to touch that hot grill for ANY OTHER sandwich!

The moral of this story?

Kids, do yourself a favor, and shoot a little higher. When I was a teen looking for employment, I was afforded the opportunity to get a McJob or to make pizzas at a national pizza chain. I chose the latter. But you can do better. Go wait tables, dig a ditch or intern at a professional office somewhere. Even ditch diggers get better direction and management from their supers.

When my wife came home and explained her adventures in drive-thru ordering, I simply replied, “Honey. They’re fast food employees.”

Random Spirituality

2011-04-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

Just in time for Easter…my first blog on anything spiritual in quite awhile. I’ve been ruminating on what it means to “lift God up from the Earth.” It would seem that it means different things to different readers of the Gospel. I am referring, of course, to the words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John, twelfth chapter, 32nd verse, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

In the evangelical circles where I once circulated, this one verse served as their singular mission statement. Lift God up so that everyone will be saved. Of course, they didn’t believe in universal salvation. I mean, what would we do with an empty hell? List it in the real estate section on Craigslist?

No, my contemporaries in the church didn’t believe that we could lead every soul to Christ, they just believed that we should try. And the Christ-given formula was simple.

Lift God up from the Earth.

But what does that mean, exactly? What did Jesus mean when and if he said these words? The footnote in Today’s New International Version, © 2005, says that lifted up means “exalted.” Well, there’s a favorite catchphrase in evangelical Christianity, “Exalt the Lord!” I used to sing that chorus in church. So was that the secret formula? Go public with my praise and lift God up with my voice? Would that “draw all people” to God? Some of my contemporaries thought so.

There was another sample in my circle who believed it meant that and more. They believed that Jesus was giving them the charge to wear their Christianity on their sleeve. You’ve seen them on street corners, in the public square, toting signs, holding political rallies, etc. They believed that the more public with your faith, the better. How else would God be lifted up? In my personal experience, these kinds of displays only served the opposite purpose of turning people off to the message of redemption. It may sound like a harsh criticism, but I’m only pointing the finger at myself. I lived this way for awhile in my younger adult years.

Now that I’ve been fully detoxed from years of “churchification,” I feel that I have a better perspective. I still believe that faith should be lived out publicly, but not in any of the ways I’ve described heretofore.

I sincerely believe that Jesus was promoting a better way to live that had nothing to do with church services, praise choruses or political rallies. He just went about daily life doing what he does, helping others. He usually didn’t make a big spectacle of it, though some of his ministry did become a spectacle, of sorts. In fact, after some of his great miracles, he actually requested discreetness. Jesus wasn’t about drawing attention to himself. He was about helping people live better lives.

I do not see how forcing one’s religion or personal beliefs down someone else’s throat serves that same purpose. It draws no one closer to God. Likewise, I don’t see how public displays—whether at outdoor church services or pro-life marches—exalt the Almighty and draw people in.

I think it is simple, random acts of love and kindness that go the furthest to accomplish the mission of John 12:32. The little things we do to help others that make life better in small increments are, in my opinion, what lifts up the ideal of Christ and knowingly or unknowingly draw them toward that ideal.

Consider that as you enjoy Easter Sunday and determine to make the world a better place one random act at a time. Peace be with you.

"Look, Ma! No hands!"

2011-03-24T03:44:00.004-05:00

Fear is something I learned early in life--fear of the dark, fear of storms, fear of getting hurt, etc., etc. I wouldn't even ride the new bike I got for my sixth birthday for fear of falling down and skinning my knees or elbows...or worse. Not sure if God gives us fear as a safeguard, but I had an unhealthy dose.

Well, yesterday as I was circling the nature trail behind my 6-year-old, I was amazed at how well she rides a bike for her age. No fear. Actually, I was the one worried about her taking a sharp curve on the leaf-covered trail and losing it. I don't think that ever crossed her mind, at all. As she pedalled fast and leaned into the serpentine bends of the trail, I swelled with a little pride.

What struck me was the fact that my two daughters fear very little. Did God use the baby dropper to administer their fear level? Or had my wife and I done a good enough job of parenting to ensure that they don't fear the world or the everyday scrapes and bruises that are just a part of growing up?

Either way, I am thankful that my daughters don't fear the things I did as a kid. Seriously, I didn't even ride a bike until I was 10! I was that fearful. My hope is that my daughters will always grab life by the horns and go for it; that fear will never creep in and lord over them the way it has me at times in my life (not just as a kid).

It seemed like an odd thought to have while enjoying a bike ride on a warm, sunny afternoon, but I've ruminated on it now for several hours and I am very thankful. I guess God knew what he was doing when he gave me the two most wonderful girls in the whole world. Guess I shouldn't fear their growing up and moving out. Just another fact of life...and mine has been enriched so much in the last 10 years.

Coach Caldwell

2011-01-09T16:29:00.004-05:00

If you suffered through the Colts game last night, then stayed up for WTHR’s post-game coverage, then you heard the blue jersey-clad fan call out the head coach on camera. It was well said, and WAY overdue! Just who is this soft-spoken, even-keeled nobody at the helm of the NFL’s most jeckyl-and-hyde team?

I’ve been complaining to my family about him for two years. He led a dismal Wake Forest Demon Deacon's team into a few games at my alma mater, Florida State. It was typically a Demon Deacon bloodbath. They were the doormats of the ACC, after all, and FSU was at its Bowden Dynasty finest. But don’t let the brilliance of the Bowden era at FSU diminish the complete dullness of the Caldwell era at Wake Forest. I saw how pathetic they were, firsthand! And Jim Caldwell’s expressionless face on the Wake Forest sideline matched the equally vanilla play on the field by his team. It was uninspired football.

The official Colts/NFL website states, “Caldwell spent 1993-2000 as head coach at Wake Forest. In 1999, Caldwell led the school to its first winning season and bowl game since 1992.” Granted, that bowl game pitted a 6-5 Demon Deacons team against a very average Arizona State team, also 6-5.

Here is Jim Caldwell’s record as the Wake Forest head coach, by year:

1993 Record, 2-9
1994 Record, 3-8
1995 Record, 1-10
1996 Record, 3-8
1997 Record, 5-6
1998 Record, 3-8
1999 Record, 6-5
2000 Record, 2-9

Let me do the math for you—that adds up to a total of 25 wins in 8 seasons as head coach, an average of 3 wins per season. THREE WINS! WOOT!!!

So Tony Dungy helps him get to the next level, hiring him while still at Tampa Bay. The Feb. 2001 headline from the official Buccaneers/NFL website reads, “Tony Dungy dips into the college ranks once again to flesh out his coaching staff with Jim Caldwell, Joe Barry and Mike Tomlin.” Now, I’m not knocking Dungy for pushing diversity on the NFL (Lord knows they needed it!), but what exactly did Caldwell bring to the table? A losing record as a college head coach?

And now we have the politically-correct Mr. Irsay to thank for promoting from within, someone who is even MORE mild mannered than Dungy. Thank you, Tony, and thank you, Mr. Irsay. I hope Coach Caldwell enjoys the extended off-season, and the unearned accolades for an over-achieving, MASH unit (aka the 2010 Indianapolis Colts).

Bowl Mania

2011-01-01T14:03:00.002-05:00

Are you kidding me, NCAA???

Just when the crescendo of public dissent was reaching its peak, you go and ADD bowl games?? I know that's your idea of an answer to the call for a playoff to crown a legitimate national champion, but it's a huge step in the WRONG direction. We don't need more MEANINGLESS games! I mean, seriously! The Pinstripe Bowl? The Car Parts Bowl? The TicketCity Bowl? Where do you come up with these ridiculous names and sponsors? What's next, the Extenze Bowl hosted by Jimmy Johnson???

Am I the only one tuning out these lackluster, mismatched, over-commercialized bowls? Are there really football fans out there SO hard-up that they'll watch a pair of teams barely over .500 kick a bevy of field goals? COUNT ME OUT!!!

I watched my alma mater in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, and I'll probably watch the BCS National Championship, but the Throw-Mama-From-The-Train Bowl and the Overhyped-Pair-of-7-and-5-Nobody-Team-Bowls...NO THANK YOU!!!

Get real and give the people what they want, you greedy, money-grubbing bastards!!! (Imagine the voice of Jim Mora) PLAY-OFFS!

PRINCE TOWN DVD HAS ARRIVED!

2010-12-17T05:29:00.005-05:00

Prince Town the DVD is now available! My very first documentary project is in the bag and I couldn't be happier. With over 80-minutes of footage, this DVD features color footage from the '30s, front porch interviews, coverage of the 1965 state basketball championship from WRAY and the IHSAA archives and much more! For those who have ever called Princeton, Indiana, home...this is a must-own DVD!

I spent a good part of the fall down in Princeton, pouring over hours and hours of archival footage, shooting new footage from atop the county courthouse and assimilating it all into this video documentary, based on the research of my Uncle Greg Wright (author of Prince Town and More of Prince Town). Produced in 16:9 widescreen, even the home movies from the 40's and 50's look great. There is the 1955 Fair Centennial Parade, construction of the new Gibson County Bank (1964), pictures and video of the square at Christmastime, footage of the 1992 Heinz plant fire and an extensive look back at the Great Tornado of 1925. Anyone who is interested in a copy of Prince Town the DVD can contact me directly.

Noles Bowl

2010-12-11T17:12:00.003-05:00

It's practically an annual tradition, FSU's football team going to a bowl game, but after a few meager seasons in the twilight of Bobby Bowden's career, I no longer take the invitations for granted. Last Sunday, the Noles, now under the leadership of Jimbo Fisher, were invited to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl where they will face South Carolina, led by former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier...a familiar nemesis to be certain.

It looks to be a great game pitting the 19th and 23rd ranked teams in the nation, each runners-up in their conference championship. Spurrier always brings a high-flying offense to the field, and Fisher will place a Charlie Ward-like quarterback at the helm. I'm talking, of course, about the red-shirt sophomore E.J. Manuel who is a dual threat. He went toe-to-toe with Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor in the ACC Championship Game and held his own against the ACC's Player of the Year, posting almost 300 yards of passing offense and 33 points on the board. Not too shabby for a guy that's only started a few games. But he's no stranger to the bright lights of the college bowl season, as he started in last year's Gator Bowl for the Noles and was named game MVP. I'm hopeful he'll be as impressive in this year's Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

During the news conference last Sunday, Jimbo Fisher was successful in convincing the Chick-Fil-A mascot to do the tomahawk chop (see pic below).

In a word...WECKL!

2010-12-10T06:44:00.006-05:00

No matter how hard I look, I cannot find anyone more precise, yet more fluid on the drumkit than Dave Weckl. I LOVE this guy's drumming!

Had I discovered Weckl earlier in life, I would be able to say he is the undisputed number one in my book. As it is, I grew up idolizing Neil Peart, so Dave is like number 1-B...but I think even Neil would bow to Weckl's percussive prowess. In fact, he basically does on the Burning for Buddy Tribute DVD. Still, Neil is tops. And if I had to categorize my faves, I'd put him at the top of my rock drummers list and Dave at the top of jazz/fusion drummers. For more on my favorite drummers, see this blog post from April 2009.

Hope you enjoy the short clip, above, of Dave showing off his chops!

2010-12-05T06:49:00.003-05:00

This is 8 minutes of pure percussive mayhem!!!

I first took notice of this drummer while listening to Army of Anyone's debut (and only) release. On the hit single "Goodbye," Luzier breaks into a mini-solo during the last minute of the song. His fills mezmerized me. To this day, I cannot duplicate a couple of them.

Anyway, on the above video he starts out with the mini-solo from "Goodbye," then breaks into flurry of pedal and stick fills that will blow your mind! After which, he shows off his chops by playing the rims of his toms, leading back into another flurry of fills...I couldn't tell you what notes, exactly--maybe 64ths?--as he is going too freaking fast. I think he is my new fave!

5 Things I've Learned About the Colts This Season

2010-11-29T08:43:00.005-05:00

1. Peyton Manning is NOT Superman.

His kryptonite in college came in the form of the Florida defense. In the NFL, Belichick and Turner are his two-headed evil nemesis...call them the Luthor twins.

2. The defense will NEVER be able to stop the run.

3. Ryan Diem is ALWAYS good for about 10 yards in false start penalties.

4. Jim Irsay has crippled his franchise by continuing to make emotional, rather than heady, decisions...

...like promoting an enigmatic, uninspiring coach from within; sticking
with Sanders through a litany of season-ending injuries; and promising the moon
to Manning in the early twilight of his career.

5. The roster is NOT very deep.

-----------------------------

But as they say in Monty Python's "The Life of Brian," always look on the bri-i-ight si-ide of life...

My collegiate and high school alma maters played superbly over the weekend!

The Seminoles trounced the hated, archrival Gators and will play for another ACC Championship.

Chatard's football team won it's 10th state championship...way to go Trojans!!!

PRINCE TOWN DVD

2010-11-12T00:29:00.002-05:00

Here is a sample of the documentary film that I am helping my uncle to produce. It features historical images from his book, Prince Town, rare video footage shot as early as 1938 and interviews he conducted with past residents. The finished product will be a captivating peek into Princeton's past.

I hope you enjoy the six-minute preview.

Morris Birkbeck's "Notes on a journey in America," 1818

2010-11-02T15:53:00.003-05:00

An English gentleman set out from the British Isles to begin his “voluntary exile” in the first half of the year 1817. Journaling along the way, he chronicles his adventures from his voyage to his final destination, though the last page of the book finds him still in Princeton, Indiana.

I found this book through another book I was researching, Early Indiana trails and Surveys (1919), by George R. Wilson. In Wilson’s book, he notes, “For a good pioneer description of Princeton and southwestern Indiana, as of 1817,” see Morris Birkbeck’s Notes on a Journey in America. I’ve become a frequent visitor of the American Libraries’ site, Archive.org, which has volumes of historical books in various digital formats. It was there that I found an online version of Birkbeck’s 1818 work. And it has been a fascinating read, thus far.

The earliest accounts of pioneer life in southwestern Indiana I had discovered previously were written from second- and third-hand accounts after the Civil War. This book is the first eyewitness account I’ve read, and it confirms, in large part, the descriptions of pioneer life from the accounts, like that of Col. William Cockrum, penned decades later.

I have quite enjoyed the perspective of this English gent who praises the qualities of Vincennes’ French residents and looks down in disgust at the filth of many cabin-dwelling pioneers in the countryside. He describes the attitude of the latter as “yawning lassitude.” From what I gather, he considers Princeton somewhere in the middle.

From the outset of the book, Birkbeck explains his reason for the “narrower limits” of his American exploration through only Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. “I can forego the well-earned comforts of an English home, [but] it must not be to degrade myself and corrupt my children by the practice of slave-keeping.” The “curse” of slavery—“the bane of society”—he says, has taken “fast hold” of Kentucky and every state south, so he sets a northward course for the untamed wilderness of the Wabash Valley.

He lands at Norfolk, Virgina, 3 May 1817 with the hopes of reaching the Illinois Territory by winter (Note: it would not be entered as a state within the Union until December the following year). Upon reaching Pittsburgh, he foregoes the most common means of travel—down the Ohio River upon a flatboat—for the land-bearing route across Ohio. He finds that horses are rather inexpensive here, since most eastern travelers dismount in favor of the river highway to ports south, namely New Orleans. After purchasing a couple of horses, the Birkbeck party set out for Cincinnati on 4 Jun 1817.

It is not clear the precise date that Birbeck’s traveling party reaches Indiana, as there is a gap in his journal from 23 June – 6 July. By the former, he is writing from Cincinnati and by the latter from Madison, Indiana, about 90 miles downriver. Upon reaching Madison, he writes in his journal,

Indiana is evidently newer than the state of Ohio; and if I mistake not, the character of the settlers is different, and superior to that of the first settlers in Ohio, who were generally very indigent people : those who are now fixing themselves in Indiana, bring with them habits of comfort, and the means of procuring the conveniences of life: I observe this in the construction of their cabins, and the neatness surrounding them, and especially in their well-stocked gardens, so frequent here, and so rare in the state of Ohio, where their earlier and longer settlement would have afforded them better opportunities of making this great provision for domestic comfort. (p.85)

Birkbeck finds from his own personal experience that the stereotypes held in England of the inhabitants of Indiana are quite false. He does not encounter “lawless, semi-barbarous, vagabonds, dangerous to live among.” On the contrary, he finds Hoosiers to be both “kind and gentle to each other, and to strangers.” He also finds across the rolling hills between Cincinnati and Madison several cleared settlements that seem to “multiply daily” interspersed among miles of uncleared timber. His first impression of Indiana and its people is very favorable. He writes that Madison is but five years old at the time of his arrival, which is off by three years, as the town was incorporated in 1809. Still, we get a glimpse into our pioneer past and see the southern portion of our state as it was in its infancy.

Making great headway through the State of Indiana, he comes within a day’s journey of Vincennes by 12 July, stopping at a spot 16 miles east of there, called Hawkins’ Tavern. He speaks of another tavern just 20 miles east of there which sits on the White River, called Stolt’s Tavern. I’m guessing this would have been in the area of present-day Loogootee, Indiana. Most of the land between these two stops, he says, is “unentered, and remains open to the public at two dollars per acre.”

The final destination of the Birkbeck party was eastern Illinois, but for some reason, upon reaching Vincennes, they head south, reaching Princeton by 18 July. For whatever reason he chose the budding town, Morris Birkbeck opines, “Prince Town affords a situation for a temporary abode, more encouraging than any place we have before visited in this neighborhood.” He rents a log home in town with a bountiful garden for nine months at a cost of 20 pounds. This would become his headquarters for the remainder of the book. From here, he would venture out on several explorations of southwestern Indiana and across the Wabash into Illinois Territory.

On one such exploration, he journals from Harmony, Indiana, on 25 July, that he has traveled from there 18 miles south to the banks of the Ohio River, lodging for the night in Mt. Vernon. He speaks of the vast amount of valuable land rich in sand, but it is no match for the prairie land he seeks in Illinois. He calls Mt. Vernon “a very new town,” which by name it was. Settled in 1805, it would be known for the next 11 years as McFadden’s Bluff, renamed in 1816 after President Washington’s home. Upon return from Mt. Vernon to Harmony the next day, Birkbeck finally crosses the Wabash into Illinois and explores the region called the Big Prairie between the Wabash and Little Wabash rivers.

At the beginning of August, 1817, Morris Birkbeck finds his way to the land office in Shawnee Town, Illinois, where he purchases 1,440 acres of prairie and marsh land near the Little Wabash. He describes at great length the land and inhabitants of the Big Prairie with which I will not bore you here. He does return to Harmony, Indiana, a forty mile trek from Shawnee Town, on Sunday night, 3 August. There, he finds the streets empty as everyone is at church. In fact, he has to call the innkeeper out of church to fetch his horses. He comments on the neatness and peaceful appearance of the Harmonites as they pour out of the church, all 700 of them, though he laments their religious superstitions.

By 4 August, he is back in Princeton and pens his next several entries from there, commenting on everything from wild game to the climate. It is for these brief glimpses into the life and times of the Hoosier pioneer that this book is well worth the reader’s investment.

Back to mediocrity

2010-10-30T05:46:00.003-05:00

Well, that was fun while it lasted. After three weeks in the Top 20, the Seminoles are back to mediocrity, losing this week to North Carolina State. Not that the Wolfpack isn't a team to be reckoned with, especially at home, but Seminole Nation has come to expect a lot more since joining the basketball conference (aka ACC).

Let me couch my complaining in historical terms. Those of us who attended FSU in the glory days, and cheered the team onto two national championships, are not content to watch the team barely eek out a winning season, or lose at home to the Wake Forest's of the college football world (that 30-0 game was an all-time low for the team, the program and the legendary coach). After all, we're not a lowly Big Ten school (or Notre Dame).

I was there for the building of Bowden's Dynasty. I watched the erector-set stadium of the early Bowden Era morph like a Transformer into the castle it is today. I saw them dedicate the larger-than-life bronze statue of Bobby. I cheered the 'Noles to victory under the Superdome in 1999.

Then the end came.

The end of an era. The end of a dynasty. The downward spiral of the program from greatness to mediocrity. So you think I'd be used to the idea of underachievement by the Noles. After all, this has been the decade of lowered expectations. Still, every year, by some great miracle from on high, I believe that things will be different. With the passing of the torch from Bobby Bowden to Jimbo Fisher, my hopes were revived. Then, with the hype that preceeded the 2010 College Football Season, I actually allowed myself to dream once again. But those dreams were short lived. They came crashing down the second week of the season, when FSU got drubbed by Oklahoma, only to be revived once again by six straight wins, the fifth of which came against hated rival Miami.

It was mid-season. The Noles were 6-1. They had vanquished the Ibis, and sat atop all Florida schools as the lone Top 20 team, ranked #16 in the AP Poll. I was beginning to believe once again that FSU was on the mend, that the program had turned the corner (which it actually has, I'm just being dramatic). So going into this weeks game, in hostile territory, mind you, I had the Seminole flag waving in the wind on the front of the house. I turned on the big screen TV and settled in to watch the annual NC State-FSU shootout. Senior Quarterback for the Noles, Christian Ponder, seemed to overcome some early game jitters and miscues and had the offense poised to strike the death-blow with under a minute remaining. Then, he drops back to pass, fakes to the fullback....and FUMBLES the DADGUM ball!!!

Game over.

Not only does the Wolfpack win, they virtually eliminate FSU's chance at the first ACC title in five years. Goodbye BCS bid. Goodbye Top 20 ranking. It was nice while it lasted. I guess I'll wait to see what the Noles can put together next year, but I'm not too hopeful. They lose a veteran offensive line and their QB. It'll be a couple years before the highly touted 2010 recruiting class is able to make a big difference. So, again, I wait. Slowly acclimating to the new dynasty of mediocrity, I wait. :/

Noles Improving, Set Sites on Boston College

2010-10-11T22:47:00.006-05:00

After dominating in-state rival Miami, the Seminoles are 5-1 and ranked #16 in the Associated Press Poll. Their next victim, Boston College, has to play in front of a sold-out Doak Campbell crowd in the midday, Florida sun. If the noise and the heat doesn't get 'em, the swarming Seminole defense will!

Yes, it is still early in the season, but this Seminole is already dreaming about the postseason possibilities. A loss to Oklahoma early in the season served as a wake-up call. And now that the defense is getting comfortable in new coordinator Mark Stoops' scheme, they are tearing up the opposition. As the bleacher report aptly noted,

The Seminole defense laid gruesome hits on the Canes all night. It seemed every time a receiver came across the middle or a running back tried to gain any yardage between the tackles, a Seminole or two were there to crush Miami’s skill position players. The physical beating took its toll. UM players needed extra breathers on the sideline throughout the contest, especially in the second half.

FSU Tops Florida in Poll
After the mighty Gators fell to LSU, at home no less, they dropped to #22 in the national poll. Miami fell out of the Top 25, thanks to the drubbing they took from the 'Noles. That leaves FSU as the highest ranked, and only Top 20, team from the Sunshine State. Of course, everyone in Seminole nation has the last game of the season circled every year as THE ONE to win. Fortunately, the Gators have to travel to Tallahassee this year to face the surging 'Noles.

But first things first, the Seminoles have to take care of the Eagles this Saturday, and continue building on the momentum. Since spotting Oklahoma 47 points earlier this season, the 'Nole defense has only given up a total of 47 points to their other 5 opponents, an average of just slightly more than a touchdown per game. Not too shabby. Maybe they can hold BC to a field goal...and then block it! :)

Well, this Seminole is happy to revel in the moment, and dream of a BCS bowl bid.

GO NOLES!!! >>>--------,,,->

My Dunning Discovery

2010-09-24T19:10:00.012-05:00

Next weekend would've been my great-grandfather's 126th birthday, so to celebrate we'll make our annual excursion to the tiny hamlet of Francisco, Indiana, to visit with several generations of David Dunning's descendants. Though he passed in 1977, at the ripe old age of 93, we continue the tradition started by his family decades ago. We still meet at his farm on Wheeling Road that holds so much in the way of memories, including how he fed and raised nine kids there. Only two of his children will be able to share in the festivities October 2-3, my Uncle Les (88) and Aunt Ginny (85). Yes, they are great-aunt and uncle, but we've always called them by the moniker Mom used to address them growing up.

It is fitting that my latest genealogical discovery involves Les and Ginny's grandparents, my 2nd great-grandparents, Albert Charles "AC" and Sophronia (Morrison) Dunning. Since they died in 1932 and 35, respectively, all I had were bits and pieces of family stories and folklore. I only found some old pictures of them while going through my late grandmother's things a couple of years ago. Here is one of the family taken about 1884.

That's my Great-Grandpa David sitting in his father's lap. The two older boys, George and Robert Charles, died when they were 25 and 13, respectively, so I never knew them either. Aunt Bessie is seated in Sophronia's lap.

Needless to say, I had no clue where they lived other than the old census records that gave their residence as White River Township in Gibson County, Indiana. Well, lo and behold, the 1881 Atlas of Gibson and Pike Counties shows the location of the old family home in the White River bottoms. I had studied that map several times at the library and online before I discovered the AC Dunning farm about midway between Patoka and Hazleton and west of the highway about 2 miles. It was sitting right there under my nose!

So on my last visit to the area (just last week), I was able to get access to the old property in the river bottoms from the current owner. Unfortunately, the Dunning home is gone, bulldozed by the current owner five years ago. But I walked where my ancestors once lived, along an old creek and down a steep, sandy, one-lane road eroded into the side of a hill. Driving down that narrow lane was like stepping back in time. I could imagine the horse-drawn carriage or wagon bumping down the sandy slope, through a corn field, around an old barn and to their two-story, white, wood-framed farmhouse. They raised their children in that home, along with some chickens and livestock. The current landowner says he knocked down an outhouse and chicken coup in addition to the old house. He walked the property with me, pointing out the location of everything. In fact, if you look on Google Earth, you can still see the footprint of the house.

I look forward to seeing the family this weekend and hearing more old stories of David Dunning and his parents who survived floods and the hard life of late 19th-century farming. I can't wait to ask Uncle Les and Aunt Ginny if they have any memories of the old home in the river bottoms. All I have is a picture taken beside the house in the teens or 1920's. AC and Sophronia are elderly, their children all grown, at least David and his three surviving sisters (three brothers died, the two mentioned above and one as an infant). As I said, it was a hard way to live back in the late 1800's in rural, southwestern Indiana.

We'll gather at the spot where my great-grandfather celebrated his 93rd birthday nearly 34 years ago. He is buried at Fairview Cemetery just one mile west of his home (pictured above about 1993). I remember attending his funeral as a 9-year-old boy. It was a tragic year for me, as I lost my Grandma and Grandpa Doyle in March '77. Still, the reunion brings back great childhood memories, not just of Grandpa Dunning, but of the whole family gathering to tell stories, play games and, yes, eat our fair share of down-home goodness! We'll be doing it again in a matter of days, and I cannot wait!

One Mermaid's Spirtual Journey

2010-09-12T10:30:00.002-05:00

My aunt Sarah started blogging last year. Today, in remembrance of 9/11, she posted a great blog @ One Mermaid's Spiritual Journey: "Peace and Love" is the only way. I hope you'll take a minute to read her thoughtful and spiritual insights.

James Hussey Letter dated 12 Sep 1862

2010-09-01T15:37:00.004-05:00

I've been building my family tree online for the better part of 8 years, but only recently purchased access to the vault of records on Ancestry.com. Today, I made one of the coolest finds to date. First, let me give you a bit of family history...

Back when Indiana Territory was a vast wilderness of tall timber, unspoiled watersheds and every kind of wild beast, my pioneer ancestors came from all points south and east to settle this veritable, backwoods paradise. Of the New England-born pioneers, was the family of Richard and Aphia (Mills) Hussey.

According to Gibson County newspaper man and historian Gil R. Stormont, the couple and their 4 children left Maine and travelled overland through the Genessee Valley (NY) to Washington
County, Ohio. Richard Louis Hussey (1789-1851) was a cabinet maker there for four years. Aphia bore him two more children before they left in late 1821 for Gibson County, Indiana, locating 5 miles east of Princeton, near Francisco. There, Richard cleared a farm and opened a blacksmith shop. He is my 5th great-uncle on Mom's side.

The last of the four children to be born in New England was James Madison Hussey (1817-1862). He would have made the long overland trip as an infant, knowing only thick woodlands of southwestern Indiana as home. After many years service to his father, clearing and cultivating a farm, James owned and operated a flour and a saw mill on the Patoka River in nearby Kirksville (now Wheeling), Indiana. That was before he heard the call of duty to put down the rebellion. James enlisted in the Union Army on August 2, 1862, and served as First Lieutenant in Company B, 65th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers.

It wasn't long before 1st Lt. Hussey contracted a serious illness and found himself bedridden at Camp Comeback in Henderson, Kentucky, southward across the Ohio River from Evansville. It is at this juncture we come to the present moment and my great find. Thanks to another Ancestry member, some of J. M. Hussey's correspondence has been saved in digital format for antiquity. Below is a scanned image of the opening of one of his last letters to his wife, Sarah, dated (on my birthday, no less) September 12, 1862. (Click on the image for a more readable, full-size version.)

By early November of that same year, James Madison Hussey was dead. He never recovered from his illness, as historian James T. Tartt recalls, James died of pneumonia in a Henderson, Kentucky, hospital. He received a military burial on the family farm back in Indiana. Now owned by the McConnell family, Lawrence Cemetery sits at the corner of a field just off Fairview Road near Francisco.

Who's the Illegal Immigrant?

2010-07-29T11:32:00.002-05:00

Dateline, Arizona, July 29. State officials are appealing a ruling by a Clinton-appointed federal judge that limits Arizona law enforcement’s ability to carry out the new immigration law. Basically, they can’t arrest day laborers for illegally soliciting work in this country or ask law-breakers to prove they belong here.

Let me for one moment straddle the fence on this one. I believe it is a state’s right to protect its own border. If Arizonans feel that illegal immigrants are a strain on their economy, a burden on law enforcement and degrading to their community, then they have a democratic right to keep the illegals out. On the other hand, I don’t believe this is anyone else’s fight. If you’re not a resident, full- or part-time, of the State of Arizona, what do you care about illegal immigrants?

I live in the State of Indiana. I don’t see a flood of illegal Mexicans flooding into my state because of lax border patrols in Arizona. This issue doesn’t really affect me directly. But you wouldn’t know that to hear some of my neighbors explain it. They believe the immigration problem is systemic. What happens in Arizona affects the rest of us in some negative way, whether it’s higher health care, higher taxes, crime, etc…or so they say.

What would they have said 100-200 years ago when the flood of European immigrants was taking this country by storm?

Lest we forget, this land isn’t really “our land,” after all.

After murderous raids on the Native Americans, stealing their land and reaping the harvest, our immigrant ancestors engaged in a bloody, civil uprising against their British masters, so they wouldn’t have to share the spoils with their forbearers. Interesting. This was followed by a bloody, civil war also fueled by greed and self-serving interests. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Now these newcomers want to come in and encroach upon our stolen property and our blood-stained wealth. HOW DARE THEY!

Let us remember that we were all once immigrants to this great land, some by legal means and others not. Either way, we inherited a land that wasn’t legally ours to begin with. Keep this in mind while you glare down your nose from atop your high horse at all those “illegals.”

Pancakes & Smoky Links

2010-07-15T08:51:00.008-05:00

There was a Sunday morning tradition at Grandma Wright’s house. After attending worship service at the Methodist Church on West Emmerson, she would make a stack of pancakes on the stovetop griddle and boil Smoky Links in water (or “boral” them, as she would say in her southern Indiana twang). That is a fond childhood memory for me, and I don’t recall one Sunday that she didn’t keep up this tradition.

Alice Kathryn Dunning, my maternal grandmother, was my dearest grandparent. She was born on the farm in Francisco, Indiana, in July 1920. She came from humble beginnings, helping to raise chickens and her siblings on her father’s farm on Wheeling Road. The sixth of nine children born to David and Ruth (McEllhiney) Dunning, she was only 17 when her mother left home. Taking on more responsibility at the farm, Kate learned to be self-sufficient and hard-working. These are traits that I remember well.

Married in 1937, the same year of her parents’ divorce, Grandma started a family of her own with Richard Larson, a second generation Swedish-American. They lived in a modest home just south of Highway 64 in Francisco and had three children, my mother being the youngest and only daughter. Richard was a hardworking, entrepreneurial type who needed nothing more than his hands and a working truck. They enjoyed life as a lower-middle class family in a small farming town until Grandpa Larson’s injury kept him from manual labor. This caused him to sink into a depression he couldn’t shake. As a result, he was hospitalized in Evansville and eventually granted my grandmother a divorce in 1961.

Grandma met a World War II Veteran and jeweler around that same time. Kathryn Larson and Robert Edgar Wright married October 1962 and within a year-and-a-half had a son, Gregory. He is the one pictured holding me as an infant.

Grandma Wright, as I always knew her, held a job at Hurst Corporation and made a decent living. Grandpa’s jewelry business was located on Main Street in Vincennes, and between the two of them, they made a very good living. Their house was situated atop the hill in Tower Heights just two doors south of Gibson General Hospital, where I was born in ’68. I can remember many summers and holidays at Grandma’s house on Third Avenue. When I was an adolescent, my parents would let me spend a week at her house. Those are some of my fondest childhood memories. Having an uncle around, just four years my senior, ensured that I would have plenty to do while I was there, whether playing his drums, taping his album collection, playing ball in the backyard or riding his moped all over Princeton’s north side.

While at Grandma’s house, I also enjoyed running errands with her—out to Grandpa Dunning’s farm to pick vegetables, down to the Red & White or 3-D on Broadway, over to the veterinarian to meet Aunt Elsie for lunch or to the beauty parlor for her bi-monthly hair appointment. A rather funny memory is Grandma’s rain bonnet. She would protect her hairdo from the elements with a plastic rain bonnet; you know the kind only grandmother’s wear in public. Well, she would fuss over me getting wet and insisted that I wear one, as well. I always refused, but the mental image still gives me a chuckle.

Grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer after my family had moved hundreds of miles away to Florida. I didn’t get to see much of her after 1986, much to my disappointment. I was living in Tallahassee when she finally died in February 1990. That is one of the saddest days that I can remember. I was able to return for her funeral at Colvin and her burial with family at Fairview Cemetery, near Francisco. My Uncle David, her oldest son, now lives across the street from where she rests.

Grandma was such a great cook and I recall the many pies, cobblers, cookies, biscuits and pieces of fried chicken she would lovingly make…but my favorite meal was Sunday breakfast. As I sat at the kitchen table this morning, enjoying hot pancakes smothered in peanut butter and syrup (a family tradition) and Smoky Links, I remembered Grandma Wright. The smell, the taste, the week of the year, all brought back vivid memories.

She would have turned 90 on Tuesday. And though she died much too soon, I have many reminders of her, not the least of which is my daughter who bears her name and nearly shares the same birthday, just two days shy. I really do miss Grandma Wright, may she rest in peace.

Indiana's Love Affair with the Tomato

2010-07-08T21:14:00.002-05:00

I'm no fan of the tomato. Never have been one to take a bite out of the "love apple" or cut thick, hearty slices for a dagwood sandwich. Even chunky salsa used to make turn up my nose with a quick, "No thanks."

Only in recent years have I acquired a taste for homemade salsa, or been able to stomach the squishy guts of a raw tomato atop my hamburger. Still, tomatoes were always there...always staring at me from the kitchen table or grandmother's garden. Heck, even today I have several friends in the city who are growing plump, juicy tomatoes in their backyard gardens!

I was raised upon the foundational belief that nowhere is there to be found a better, juicier, sweeter tomato than in southwestern Indiana, home to generations of my horticulture-loving family. Yes, the sandy deposits of the Wabash and White rivers help to grow the best tomatoes in these continental United States...or so I've been brainwash...er...told.

Well, now I can better understand the root of this Hoosier love affair. Just look what I found in an old New York publication called "The Cultivator, Vol. IV" page 303:

IGNORE THIS POST

2010-06-30T13:34:00.013-05:00

just working on a new genealogy site and needed a place to store a few photos...

94th Indianapolis 500 - IndyStar.com

2010-05-31T09:33:00.002-05:00

I went to the Indianapolis 500 yesterday and witnessed the greatest spectacle in racing! It truly was. Watching Tony Kanaan work his way up to 2nd from 33rd (dead last) only to run short of fuel and lose several spots. He and teammate Marco Andretti had a good battle going on in 2nd and 3rd positions for a few laps. But the story of the day was Dario Franchitti (or as we call him, Mr. Ashley Judd)! The dude was driving in an absolute groove, and his car was completely dialed in. Congrats to him on his second Indy 500 victory.

We had hoped to see some non-injurious crashes from our third turn vantage point, but the drivers saved the worst for last. Just as he was leaving turn 3, mike conway ran up over Ryan Hunter-Reay's front left tire, sending Conway's blue and yellow car airborne like a summersaulting speed boat. We saw it happen just to our right in the short chute between 3 and 4. The carnage was terrible. I made it down far enough to see the rear quarter sitting by the wall. I was afraid that Conway, who's cockpit saved his life (a cockpit and nose cone were all that was left intact), was seriously injured. Thankfully, he wasn't. The IndyStar got some FANTASTIC pictures of the accident and the other action on the track!

2010 Indy 500 crashes - More The Indianapolis Star Galleries

Black Pop Culture History: The Jeffersons

2010-02-12T09:18:00.008-05:00

When The Jeffersons hit the airwaves in 1975, I was a 6-year-old living in a white middle class neighborhood, attending a parochial school that had barely a handful of black students. The local country club where most of my friends spent their summers did not allow people of color. We belonged to the Jordan Y for that very reason. The most black kids I had been around was in a pee-wee football league at Riverside Park. To me, the Indianapolis park at 30th and Riverside Drive was “inner city.” Needless to say, I was pretty far removed from the African-American experience.

My parents didn’t let us watch All in the Family, so I doubt I saw the spin-off about an African-American couple “moving on up to the Eastside” when it first aired in '75. I do remember watching it a few years later, but didn’t think anything of its mostly black cast. By that time, other shows like Good Times and Sanford and Sons had also hit the airwaves, so I was reasonably accustomed to seeing “sitcoms of color,” shall we say. (Yeah, just try to get the Sanford and Sons theme music out of your head now, LOL!!!)

You may ask, “Why highlight a 70’s television series in honor of Black History Month?” Well, The Jeffersons is the longest-running series with a predominantly African-American cast in the history of American television. It received eight Golden Globe and eleven Emmy nominations, including six consecutive Lead Actress Emmy nominations (1979-1985) for Mrs. Jefferson actress Isabel Sanford. She won in 1981 and became only the second black female to do so. Gail Fisher was the first in 1970, winning an Emmy for her role on the hit series Mannix (annotated, Wikipedia).

By the the time Mrs. Jefferson won her Emmy Award, my family had moved to the Northeast side near Arlington High School. The popular CBS sitcom more closely reflected the neighbors I grew up amongst, including many middle to upper-middle class black families. Maybe that too lessened the shows impact on me as an adolescent. Still, you didn’t see many of those families represented on prime time television. And you certainly never saw mixed marriages. By the way, none of my neighbors had housekeepers, at least not to my knowledge, so maybe we were just a solid middle-class neighborhood. Either way, it was a much different neighborhood and more culturally diverse than Broad Ripple. My paper route took me close to the feared Jamestown Apartments at 46th and Arlington. I no longer attended parochial school, but a more integrated public school, IPS No. 106 (aka Robert Lee Frost School). In hindsight, I am glad my parents made that move when I was just nine years old.

The Jeffersons is significant not just for it’s record run on television, nor for it’s sizeable audience (finishing just behind Dallas and 60 Minutes in the Neilsen ratings for 1981-82 season), but for paving the way for other popular shows, like The Cosby Show and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It’s cultural impact did not go unnoticed by Bret Fetzer, who wrote on the Super 70’s website, “The black and white mix of the cast allowed for a sharply satirical take on race relations, which managed to have a genuine sense of hope while never glossing over the complexity of racial tension…” The show broke a number of television taboos, depicting an interracial marriage in the Jefferson’s neighbors, Tom and Helen Willis, and an African-American transgendered character, as the Racialicious blog points out. These were no small matters in the late 70’s. In fact, the former led to a research paper shared in 1976 at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Speech Communication Association in San Antonio, Texas.

Sure, the characters occassionally represented negative ethnic stereotypes, but they weren’t down-and-out, living on the lower East side. George Jefferson was a self-made man, whose dry cleaning business had flourished. These were not your typical urban themes of the other popular “sitcoms of color,” like those mentioned above. The Jeffersons had their own live-in maid, who provided much of the comedy, in my opinion. I used to love watching her disrespect her employer and put him in his place. The show is still as funny today as it was back then.

So hats off to Isabel Sanford, Sherman Hemsley, the cast and crew of The Jeffersons for making history and an indelible mark on the American television landscape!

Superbowl Hangover

2010-02-08T12:31:00.001-05:00

Well, it’s not the sort of hangover I expected.

The Indianapolis Colts let go of the rope. They didn’t build on the two big playoff victories at home. They let a very winnable game slip away in the second half. And with the momentum swinging wildly in favor of the Saints, the team seemed to lose the will to win. Maybe that is unfair. I’ll bet Jeff Saturday would argue that point with me all day long, but on television it just seemed like the 2006 World Champions weren’t that interested in bringing home another ring and another championship banner to Indy.

That said, there were some bright spots in last night’s Superbowl XLIV. We’ll start with game balls to…

The O-line
Since I mentioned him by name already, let me tip my hat to Mr. Saturday and his beefy O-line colleagues! They played a whale of a game, opening gaping holes for the backs and protecting our prized possession. Even when the game was out of hand after the Saints forced their first turnover, the O-line did a good job in handling the blitzes and different defensive fronts. Good job O-line!

Joseph Addai
I thought Joe Addai and the running backs had a great night, giving us a much more balanced attack than I had expected. The backs combined for nearly 100 yards on a stingy Saints defense. Addai led them all with 77 of his own, thanks to the production and domination of the Colts O-line. He helped to keep the Saints defense honest. Otherwise, there may have been more than one “pick six.”

Dwight Freeney
To a guy who managed the white-hot media spotlight all week long, didn’t practice, and still “brought it!” I say KUDOS! Did you see how he manhandled the Saints lineman on his lone sack of Drew Brees? Almost lifted the guy off his feet and rocketed past him, slinging Brees to the turf. He must have been about 70% and still created havoc. He never ceases to amaze me!

Dallas Clark
SOLID! Seven receptions for 86 yards led all Colt receivers. Peyton’s go-to guy was as reliable as my father-in-law’s 300k mile Mazda pickup. His first catch of the game was picture-perfect, thanks to Peyton throwing a perfect dart against perfect coverage. Dallas created matchup issues for the Saints for the better part of the game…and the Saint linebackers are pretty good in coverage (i.e. see Vilma vs. Colley).

Game balls now virtually delivered, let me hit the weak spots on the team…

Matt Stover
We needed Mr. Money, Adam Vinateri last night, plain and simple. The oldest man to ever compete in the Superbowl showed the age of his legs on that 51-yard wide left attempt. Not that one kick would’ve won the game. By no means! But we could not afford to leave points on the field against the Saints, and 51 is not record length by any stretch of the imagination. DOH!

Peyton Manning
What were you doing in the second half last night? You started the game with a perfect pass. You managed the clock, the offense and the Saints D with ease until that 2-minute drive to end the half. Then you missed Reggie down the sideline by a mile. You threw an interception that cost you the game, granted it may have been as much an 80% Reggie Wayne problem as it was your poor read. Then, that near interception in the endzone? You didn’t even give Garcon a CHANCE to catch it! Had you just given up at that point? Did you have money on the Saints??? VERY un-MVP like of you, PM!

Maybe two weeks to prepare was TOO much. Maybe Peyton over-thought, over-analyzed and wore himself out mentally. I don’t know.

Clint Session
It’s hard to single one guy out on our bi-polar defense, but I was MOST disappointed with Clint. He’s our headhunter now that Sanders is out. He’s consistently brought it game in and game out…until the biggest game of his career. I’ll give him props for teaming up with tackle-leading Gary Brackett on the goal-line stance, but where was he the other 80+ plays? A real letdown from him, Robert Mathis and the Colts defense. I didn’t expect much from the banged up secondary, but there was little pressure from the front seven.

Okay, now I feel better.

Black Hoosier History: Lyles Station

2010-02-03T15:43:00.006-05:00

Indiana’s attitude toward slavery wavered generally between acceptance and neutrality, but as a whole, it was never a “slave state.” In fact, several black communities thrived in the Hoosier State during 19th Century, one of which was located just a couple miles west of where I was born. See the partial map of Indiana, below, to locate the thriving black communities of the 19th Century.

Lyles Station is a historic gem in southwest Indiana and a growing tourist attraction in Gibson County. Founded by freed Tennessee slaves, the area once boasted a thriving agricultural community that supported a general store, grain elevator, post office, train depot and a church. The Lyles brothers settled in the rich, fertile soil of the Wabash and Patoka river bottoms, just west of Princeton.

The Lyles Station community boasted several notable residents, including the first African-American postmaster, and sent great men to serve in battle, in Indianapolis’ first black high school and in the White House. No small feat for a rural black community of about 50 families.

The story of this community and others like it is quite fascinating. They dotted the early Indiana forests. Wilma Gibbs of the Indiana Historical Society has done much work to document their existence and keep this important piece of Hoosier history alive.

I call attention to Lyles Station to commemorate and honor Black History Month, not because I want to seem politically correct and culturally sensitive, rather to show my great pride in the neighbors who co-existed peacefully and productively alongside my ancestors in Gibson County. I have no direct anecdotal evidence, but they must surely have interacted on some level.

Disaster in Haiti is sadly both natural AND man made

2010-01-18T23:58:00.004-05:00

Maybe the fact that I worked in emergency management for a number of years, and agonized over the government ineptitude during Katrina, has heightened my awareness of just how good the comprehensive emergency management plan (CEMP) was in Florida. If Florida’s plan were in place for international disaster response, I think you’d see a totally different scenario unfolding in Haiti.

As it is, we see more of the same government ineptitude wrapped in bureaucratic red tape stifling the relief and recovery efforts in the devastated island nation. Why, after nearly a week, are we still seeing reporters on cable news ask where the help is? Did our government learn nothing from their missteps in Katrina?

I see aid and supplies piling up on an airport tarmac. I hear of assessment teams and logistical problems. I hear a litany of excuses why international aid organizations cannot mobilize and set up distribution points. What I don’t see or hear are any lessons learned from past disasters being applied in this chaotic situation.

The problem with a natural disaster of this magnitude, essentially disabling a national government, is that you cannot operate under standard operating procedures (SOP) or canned executive orders (EO). When there are no first responders on the ground, functioning hospitals or national guard/security, it is time to throw those government manuals out the window and improvise on the fly.

Case in point, if a private citizen receiving a call for help can drive a truck across the border to the Dominican Republic, load up with supplies and transport them back to an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, then why can’t relief organizations or the military transport those same supplies a few miles from the airport to a downtown square? It boggles the mind. And the only possible answers are a lack of government leadership, poor command and control structure and too much red tape.

I’m actually in agreement with Anderson Cooper of CNN who essentially said tonight screw assessment and logistics, just get the aid to the people who so desperately need it! Assessment is something you do in the first three days of a typical disaster, so that needs can be identified and prioritized. The situation in Haiti is anything but typical. Thousands of lives hang in the balance, and so many will be lost needlessly, not because of a natural disaster, but because of a bureaucratic one. That’s unacceptable!

I thought the head of USAID was telling the national media last week that he was in charge. If that is the case, then he needs to take charge and borrow a page out of Florida’s CEMP. Otherwise, I would expect his future departure to resemble that of FEMA’s Director after Katrina. This is a larger scale disaster in both a natural and a bureaucratic sense, in my opinion.

Mickey Andrews Tribute

2010-01-05T12:18:00.019-05:00

With all the fanfare surrounding Bobby Bowden’s bittersweet exit from the college football landscape, I’d be remiss not to recognize his long-time defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews. The 2010 Gator Bowl was also Andrews’ last game as a Florida State coach. And no defensive coordinator made a bigger impact on the game than Mickey.

His lightning-quick, ball-hawking, gang-tackling defenses are stuff of legend. Mickey didn’t care how big a player was, as long as he played fast, smart and explosive. Experts have attributed the dominating speed of Mickey Andrews-style defense to the rise in the spread offense in college football. Just ask Steve Spurrier, who in 1996 had to put Heisman-winner Danny Wuerrfel in the shotgun just to give him a fraction of a second to complete any passes. Sports Illustrated columnist Andy Staples says, “Spurrier, at the height of his offensive genius, had to radically renovate his offense because of Andrews.” And Mickey’s defenses were the main reason FSU held an 8-5-1 advantage over Spurrier’s mighty Gators.

Andrews was the master of halftime adjustments. You could spot just about any FSU opponent a sizeable lead or statistical advantage in the first half because you KNEW that Mickey’s defense would completely and totally shut them down after halftime. It happened more times than I can remember. Take the infamous "Choke at Doak" game vs. the Gators. The FSU defense shut the high-flying Gator offense down in the fourth quarter, allowing no points and just 40 yards of offense, and paving the way for one of the greatest comebacks in college football history. Or what of the classic goal line stands? Take the 1993 Kickoff Classic, for instance. In the 42-0 drubbing of overmatched Kansas, the Seminole defense held a goal line stance thwarting 11 Jayhawk attempts to score from inside the 10-yardline in one series.

Mickey's impact was felt beyond the college level. NFL talent scouts always knew that Andrews’ players were well-prepared to make the leap to that next level. The Associated Press reports, “Since 1985, NFL teams have picked 73 defensive players developed by Andrews at Florida State. That list includes Peter Boulware, Derrick Brooks, Terrell Buckley, LeRoy Butler, Sam Cowart and Marvin Jones, who like Sanders all went on to star in the NFL.” Eighteen of those players were first-rounders, and half went in the first ten picks.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Mickey Andrews, “the longest tenured and most successful assistant coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference,” coordinated defenses for 26 seasons at Florida State. He was named the nation's top assistant coach in 2000 by the All-American Football Foundation, the national defensive coordinator of the year in 1998 by the American Football Coach's Magazine and the national assistant coach of the year by Athlon's Magazine in 1991_[1]. And during the ‘Noles two National Championship campaigns in ’93 and ’99, Andrews deserves as much credit as anyone for architecting near perfect seasons. Some of his best recruits will one day reside in the NFL Hall of Fame.

FAVORITE ALL-TIME LINEBACKERS

Two of my all-time favorite linebackers, groomed under Mickey Andrews’ tutelage, are Derrick Brooks and his predecessor Marvin “Shade Tree” Jones. About Jones, Sports Illustrated says, “Few college linebackers were more dominant than 'Shade Tree,' a three-time All-America who won the Butkus and Lombardi awards in 1992.” He was followed by the legendary #10 who dominated and intimidated opponents beginning his freshman year. Early in the 1993 Season, Derrick Brooks had already scored three touchdowns from his middle linebacker position, to which Sports Illustrated commented on September 27th of that year, “Brooks has outscored his team's four opponents 18-14. By himself.” Without a doubt, these two brute forces will go down in history as some of Mickey’s best and toughest defenders.

FSU or DBU?
And who can forget the legendary defensive backs churned out by FSU? Mickey Andrews was their position coach for much of his 26-year tenure. He prepped stars like Deion Sanders, Terrell Buckley and Antonio Cromartie for the NFL, all of them first round picks. Let’s not forget Superbowl MVP Dexter Jackson, either. Some might go so far to say that FSU was Defensive Backs U for a number of years. With a portfolio of future NFL hall-of-famers like that, who can argue?

Of all the coaches who’ve come and gone at Florida State, I’ll miss Mickey’s sunflower seed-spittin’, butt-chewin’, sideline antics the most. His defenses’ were legendary, game changing. Mike Stoops has some incredibly large shoes to fill. I hope he’s worthy of the honor.

-------

LINKS:
Seminoles.com page
http://www.seminoles.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/andrews_mickey00.html

Orlando Sentinel Remembers Mickey Andrews
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_fsu/2009/11/remembering-mickey-andrews.html

Salute to Bobby Bowden

2009-12-28T23:04:00.007-05:00

I would have loved to see Florida State Seminoles Coach Bobby Bowden go out on top, say after the 1999 National Championship, but hindsight is 20/20. Bowden coaches his last game this Friday in the Gator Bowl. It will be his 33rd bowl appearance as a head coach, 31 of those as the coach of Florida State, including an unbroken string of 29 bowls dating back to 1982. WOW!

Is there anyone who doubts his place among the game's greatest coaches of all time? I won't go into all the Top 25 finishes or the gaudy stats, but the man is a coaching legend. And I was just lucky enough to jump on the bandwagon when I was 23 years old.

Eighteen years later and I can hardly believe I'm about to watch him lead the Seminoles onto the football field for the last time. I was there for many a game, including the "Choke at Doak" when the Noles mounted the best comeback in college football history and the 1999 Sugar Bowl with my mouth wired shut from jaw surgery. The latter was one of the best games I've ever attended with Bowden and Peter Warrick lifting the Waterford crystal football over their heads at the end.

For the moment I will forget the Jeff Bowden/Chris Rix years when the program nosedived, potentially soiling Bowden's dynasty. I prefer to focus on the positive, and there is plenty in Bowden's portfolio. Even through the lean years, Coach was developing talent and giving players a shot to compete at the next level, just ask NFL starters like Darnell Dockett or Chris Hope. He's always served as mentor and "father figure" to his players, some who came from rather bleak circumstances. Winning or losing, Bowden is always a standup guy.

His folksy speech and down-home mannerisms have endeared him to countless football fans and to mothers whose couches he graced on many a recruiting trip. Of all the things that will be missed most at FSU by his departure, certainly recruiting acumen will be top of the list. He would swoop in with his southern charm and steal top recruits right out from under the universities of Florida and Miami. Bowden's recruiting classes were perennially among the nation's best. There were many years that FSU dominated the top rounds of the NFL draft, sending future all-pros and hall-of-famers like Deion Sanders, Warrick Dunn, Anquan Boldin and Derrick Brooks to the pros. And every one of them have Bobby Bowden to thank for preparing them as men and as athletes. (See Top 10 Florida State recruits of the Bobby Bowden era for more.)

There is so much more I could say about the man, the legend, who was so much more to Tallahassee than just a football coach. His presence on the FSU sidelines will be missed, but it is time to move forward as we celebrate the past.

I am just thankful for his grit and longevity. I appreciate the class that he brought to the job of head coach. I am very proud to count myself among the myriad of Bobby Bowden fans. Thank you, Coach Bowden, for so many great years, for the excitement, the trick plays, the amazing athletes (Marvin Jones was one of my all-time faves), the National Championships and the mark you made, not only on FSU or college football, but on the game as a whole.

Now, as FSU transitions to the post-Bowden era, LET'S GO NOLES!!!!

Black Friday is a black mark on an otherwise festive holiday season

2009-11-27T18:35:00.003-05:00

reality time. watching the news tonight reminded me how much i despise what christmas has become in the western world (specifically america!)...the crowds, the spectacle, the spending...it's enough to make me naseous...how in the world did christmas turn into "black friday"???

maybe the above video by "the advent conspiracy" will stir a couple of people from their spending stupor!

/end annual rant

Decker Township (Knox Co) Connections

2009-11-18T07:31:00.003-05:00

The excerpt above is from The History of Knox and Daviess counties, Indiana (The Goodspeed Publishing Co, 1886). I found it while researching my ancestry in Knox and Gibson counties. I am descended from the early pioneers of southern Knox and northern Gibson. Three of the families mentioned, above--Decker, Anthis and Jacobus--all have links to my family tree. However, I don't have much information on these families other than what has been captured in this 1886 publication.

The old land plat maps in the IUPUI Digital Collection show adjoining farms along the White River in Decker Township that belonged to my family--the Morrisons--and to the Decker and Anthis families.

Ond of my connections to the Anthis family traces all the way back to Jacob Anthis who settled in Knox County from Tennessee, possibly before the turn of the 19th century. His great-grandaughter, Clarissa A. Field, married my second great-uncle Fletcher A. Morrison in 1880. Clarissa was a member of the Field family, who were also Gibson County pioneers. There is an extensive website of the Field family at www.luciefield.net.

If you know a Decker, Anthis or Jacobus from Indiana, won't you put them in touch with me?

Dwight Freeney: "Deal with it."

2009-10-30T06:53:00.004-05:00

"The most intimidating player" in the words of New England Patriot's QB Tom Brady is our very own Dwight Freeney. Now whether you agree with that assessment or not, you have to admit the Colts' DE is lightning fast, quick to the QB and an impressive, ballhawking pass rusher. He has sacked the quarterback in seven consecutive games dating back to last season, bringing his career total to 77.5, according the IndyStar.

In today's "Colts Weekend" section of the IndyStar, Phil Richards states emphatically, "Mayhem is [Freeney's] mission. Deal with it." Well said, Mr. Richards. And deal with it the Patriots, Chargers and Broncos must or the Colts are going to blaze their way to another Superbowl championship. I, for one, think Freeney needs another ring on his meaty paw.

While Freeney has been a constant on an oft-maligned defense, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the improvements the Colts have made on that side of the ball. Thanks to a new scheme, new attitude and better coaching, the Colts have improved from one of the worst defenses in the NFL to one of the toughest. The team is currently 2nd in scoring defense, allowing opponents only 12.8 points per game. They've improved their run defense, sitting near the middle of the pack instead of dead last, and their pass defense ranks 6th.

None of that can be attributed to Safety Bob Sanders, seeing as how he only returned to play last Sunday. Nothing against Sanders, I just believe the change in coaching philosophy has helped more than anything else. Kudos to Larry Coyer and his defensive coaching staff!

Freeney is #5 among the sackmasters of the NFL this season, 3 sacks behind league leader Elvis Dumervil of Denver, and he's ready for more. Freeney says, "I eat, sleep, drink getting after the quarterback. I dream about them and have flashbacks in the middle of eating breakfast." Here's to hoping he gets after Alex Smith of the 49ers this Sunday.

Make me a Top 50 blog!

2009-10-21T19:00:00.004-05:00

My Holocaust blog Never Again! has been nominated for the Top 50 Indiana Blogs.

I urge you to go now and vote for my blog before the competition is over! Hurry! All you have to do is either click the image above, or go to http://top50indianablogs.com/?p=409 and click on "Vote" in the little white box. Thanks for supporting me!

Echoes From Auschwitz

2009-10-15T07:13:00.008-05:00

Before the door to the cramped, foul-smelling cattle car was opened, Eva remembers her father saying his morning prayers. She also recalls her anger. “As I watched my father and the other people in our car praying to God, a strange feeling of anger swept over me. It was an anger that I had experienced…when we had been called ‘Dirty Jews’…[and] that day when the Hungarian gendarmes were taking us away to the ghetto and no one spoke up or tried to help us, not even my friend Luci.” The feeling of anger was soon replaced by anxiety and despair as Eva and her twin sister were separated from their family, never to see them again. Read more...

Eva & Miriam Mozes in Rumania

Eva Kor IDs herself in famous liberation picture

Related blog posts:
My Return to the Holocaust
Meet My New Hero!

Colts Assessment - Week 4

2009-10-05T13:22:00.010-05:00

After dismantling Seattle 34-17 in Week 4, the Colts are leading the NFL in a couple of offensive categories. And while the defense is middle of the pack (#13 overall), they are holding their own. I have to say that I am happy with the improvement on defense under new coordinator Larry Coyer (formerly of Denver). I only expect them to improve as they learn his system and after they welcome Bob Sanders to the active roster. Here's where Indy ranks 4th or better as of now:

Rank	Category
#1	Passing Yards/Game (330.2)*
#1	Total Offense, including Yards/Game (414.2) Yards/Play (7.1)
#3	Offensive Touchdowns (13) and Points/Game (26.5)
#3	Team Sacks (12)**
#3	Scoring Defense, TDs Allowed (6)
#4	Scoring Defense, PPG Allowed (15.5)

* Peyton leads with 1336 yds & Reggie Wayne is second in receiving with 399 yds
** Freeney & Mathis tied for 3rd with five (5) each.
(Source: NFL.com)

GO COLTS!!!

Did anyone else notice that the NFL had gone pink, yesterday? (And no, I don't mean Pink, the artist who sang the intro to NBC's Sunday Night Football last season.)

My one-month-old already up and running

2009-09-30T05:20:00.005-05:00

My Holocaust blog turns one month old today!

Some of the most popular blog posts, so far:

	Title	Views
1.	Jews Murdered Between 1 Sept 1939 and 8 May 1945	42
2.	American Students Gripped by Holocaust Horror	29
3.	The Auschwitz Album	26
4.	“World War II Erupts!” Looking back 70 years	25
5.	Holocaust Encroaches Kovno, Lithuania	21
6.	Hitler’s War Against International Jewry	19
7.	Destination Lodz, the Lizmannstadt Ghetto	17

Please stop by and leave a comment or two, so that I know you've visited. To date, we have nearly 1,300 visits. Not a bad start.

Inked in church pews and pulpits

2009-09-27T05:30:00.006-05:00

Leviticus 19:28 (NIV), "'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.’” The Contemporary English Version says, “I forbid you to shave any part of your head or beard or to cut and tattoo yourself as a way of worshiping the dead.” But the last part probably relates more to the shaving, as noted here.

Dial The Truth Ministries says:

"Could [Leviticus] be any more clear?
Simple. . . Straightforward. . .Settled. . .God Said It. . .
I Believe It. . . That Settles It. . .Right. . .?
Not hardly. . . The clear statement from the word of God does not settle anything for this generation of disobedient, carnal, worldy, tolerant, non-judgmental, Christians."

This site goes onto label Satan as the “master tattooist." I mean, just look at it! Doesn't that look evil???

On the other side of the coin, one reformed theologian writes, “If these actions do not have evil associations in our own time, there would seem to be no reason to forbid them.”

A blogger at All Things Ink says, “Historical context is paramount. When Leviticus was written, tattooing was largely a pagan practice, done to mark slaves or to show devotion to a pharaoh. Since tattooing has evolved the rule may be outdated.” Here’s a word from the Jewish community about the history of their belief.

Considering both sides from a Judeo-Christian perspective, what are we to do with the tattooed??? Should we kick them out of the Church? Should we limit their participation in worship services? How do we respond to the clear message of that one Old Testament Scripture?

Heaven help us if our denomination were to come out and endorse “those who are inked.” What if they allowed “the inked” to be ordained and practice as full-fledged members of the clergy? Would we be able to bear it? Would they have to cover all body art in order to officiate services or partake in the sacraments?

You know, some hardliners, like Dial-God-up-on-the-phone-we’ve-got-a-direct-line Ministries, would question their Christianity. If their denomination were to give credence to “satanic” body art, they would probably have to denounce such action with great public fanfare and accordingly leave the denom. At a minimum, they would certainly quit funding it with their offerings.

The reformers, on the other end of the spectrum, might see such a decree as a welcome sign of change, acceptance and openness. They might embrace the inked into their churches, love them as Christ and welcome the value they bring to the communion table. They might not even have a problem sitting under the leadership and counsel of such a person. And they certainly wouldn’t pull their support, financial or otherwise.

Two sides of one coin, or in this case, one Scripture. Two very different responses. Which one do you think sounds more like the Spirit and letter of Christianity?

Redemption and the possibility of a perfect football weekend

2009-09-21T09:36:00.007-05:00

After humiliation by an arch-rival and near humiliation by a nobody team last week, this week was football redemption! I'm speaking about Chatard's redemption after a 31-7 defeat at the hands of arch-rival Cathedral, and Florida State's redemption after nearly choking at Doak against underdog Jacksonville State. If you didn't see the highlights, the Seminoles went into Provo, Utah, and put a hurting on then #7 BYU in front of a sold-out crowd, 54-28. It was like the Seminoles of old reborn and scoring from both sides of the ball. It was a sorely needed win against a top-10 ranked opponent.

Chatard, my high school alma mater, drubbed a team from Anderson 42-13 on Friday. The Trojans were no doubt still feeling the sting of embarassment from the previous Saturday. The offense stuggled to put a single drive together against top-ranked Cathedral, scoring only once as time was about to expire. This week, they scored early and often. Way to go Trojans!

Now, if only the Colts can win tonight at Dolphins' Stadium in front of a national TV audience, it will be a football weekend trifecta! I have no doubt about the Colts' ability to score. Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne for at least one 50-yard bomb and a touchdown is nearly a foregone conclusion. What waits to be seen is if the defense can play as hard for four quarters like they did in Week 1 against Jacksonville. I remain hopeful. The new defensive coordinator stands head and shoulders above his predecessor Meeks. He's aggressive. Just when you think you've stopped the bookends-with-burners Freeney and Mathis, he'll unleash the linebackers on an all-out blitz! Love that kind of defensive playcalling....missed it the last several years.

I'd be even happier if my Samsung TV weren't on the fritz. I may just have to watch tonight's game at a bar. If the Colts make this my perfect football weekend, you'll hear me hollaring and honking my horn all the way through Fishers.

Truly moving video at Never Again!

2009-09-15T09:58:00.003-05:00

I posted a truly moving video to my Holocaust blog this morning. It was so good, in fact, that I decided to post a link here, too.

If you haven't visited Never Again! my online Holocaust memorial, here are some of the most recent posts:

American Students Gripped by Holocaust Horror
Destination Lodz, the Lizmannstadt Ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland
September 11 means something else to Transylvanian Jews
Mass Graves Identified by Ukranian Eyewitnesses (which was also covered on this blog as a tribute to Father Desbois)
The Auschwitz Album

Since launching the memorial blog concurrent with the 70th anniversary of WWII, there have been over 600 hits. I invite you to stop by and leave a comment. Thanks.

Businesses doing 25 on the Info Superhighway!

2009-09-11T12:33:00.002-05:00

Many in today’s business world don’t get the fact that net life equals real life. Now, my objectivity might be a little skewed because I was underappreciated (read: inexplicably laid off) in my last job as Internet Manager. That noted, I am quickly realizing that the distrust of this “newfangled” technology reaches far beyond the American auto industry (God rest it’s beleaguered, yet bailed out soul!). My gripe comes on the heels of a recent run-in with customer service ineptitude online.

This time it was GMAC, but I only use them as one example of the pervasive attitude amongst many businesses. It is the attitude that believes online transactions are a marked privilege that they, the business in question, bestow upon their indebted patrons. GMAC disabled our online account, preventing us from making our monthly installment, albeit a couple weeks late, via the Internet (of the aforementioned newfangledness). Instead of making it more convenient for us to pay, they are, in effect, punishing us for being late. This begs the question, “Do you really want my money, or would you rather wait another week for it?”

Internet bill payment options provide just as much convenience for the creditor as for the indebted. It’s not like they invented the Internet (*ahem* Al Gore) just to reward us for patronage. No, like us, they reap the cornucopia of daily benefits offered in this age of information. The free-flow of information along the international superhighway is what powers business today. For any business to put up roadblocks is just asinine!

And, trust me, it’s not just GMAC barracading avenues for accounts receivable. It is businesses all over the country, including Household Bank. I’ll spare you the boring details, but you get the picture, I’m sure (imagine me on the superhighway flustered by flashing lights atop orange-striped barrels). Trust me, it gets worse...

Social networks are the newest media to become exploited by business enterprise. And, once again, the stooges have tripped onto the roadway, blocking traffic, confounding customers and causing ill-will. Take Marsh Supermarkets for example. They “stubbed their toe” on Facebook and have yet to make good on promises to their loyal fans. I was among the masses duped by their offer, then offended at their accusations. I did not pass go or collect my $10 in groceries! Thank you very little.

The same week as Marsh’s Facebook fiasco, I was duped by another social marketing snafu. This time, Wendy’s, dangling the carrot (sorry, couldn't pass up a Wendy's=Carrot Top reference) of free frosty goodness, lured me onto their site for a gimmicky contest and a coupon. Nevermind that the coupon included a security code, a barcode and was printed from the corporate website, I was refused a free Frosty at my local Wendy’s. And to think that I actually became a fan and posted their promo on my fb page…the nerve!!!

All this to belabor my original point that businesses, especially here in the good ol’ corn and rust belts, need to get out of the IBM Selectric age and join us on this side of the millennium! (pssst...it's almost 2010!) The Internet is here for better or worse, richer or poorer…you get my drift. So instead of treating the public like a mail-order bride, how about a little love and respect??? You’re not doing us any favors by allowing us to pay you what we owe. You’re the beneficiaries of online transactions as much, if not more, than we are. And furthermore, don’t dabble in online media until you know WTF you’re doing. Hire a wet-behind-the-ears marketing team that actually uses tools like Facebook and Twitter, then parse their ideas through some marketing vets who can see past the ends of their noses. Surely you can figure out how to spread a little goodwill and achieve effective public relations through a free medium. No more pile-ups on the information expressway!

There...I feel better. Maybe I should have parlayed my online management skills into a consulting gig. Maybe I still will. What do you think?

Champion for Holocaust Truth

2009-09-09T08:15:00.007-05:00

FATHER PATRICK DESBOIS

This French priest has devoted his life to exposing the truth about the Jewish Holocaust in the Ukraine where more than a million Jews were executed in mass graves.

During WWII, Nazi death squads known as Einsatzgruppen operated behind the front lines of the German advance through western territories of the USSR, including the Ukraine. They butchered men, women and children as part of the Third Reich's "Final Solution to the Jewish Problem."

Many of the unmarked graves in the Ukraine--estimated at 1,200--were previously undocumented. That is until Father Desbois and his research team set out to interview hundreds of eye-witnesses.

He has been praised by many in the Jewish community as a champion of truth for his endless search of mass graves. I blogged about him today on my Holocaust memorial blog, Never Again! There you'll find links to news articles, as well as his 2008 book The Holocaust by Bullets.

Seminole Saturday...er...Monday Night!

2009-09-06T05:26:00.025-05:00

I lived in Tallahassee during the peak of Bobby Bowden's career at Florida State University. I count myself very lucky to have witnessed, either in person or on live tv, some of the historic Seminole victories over teams like Nebraska ('93 title game), Notre Dame, Ohio State, Virginia Tech ('99 title game), Auburn, Miami... But the game that "did it" for me was the 1991 Michigan game that silenced more than 106,000 maize-and-blue-clad fans in the Big House (Michigan's 4th largest home crowd).

You see, I had grown up in Indiana my whole life until 1986. I thought that Notre Dame was the standard in college football. I didn't even know who Bobby Bowden was before moving south. Even after arriving in Tallahassee the summer of '86, I proudly wore my navy and gold and scoffed at those who thought FSU was the new standard. To be honest, I really wasn't that much of a college football fan. That didn't last long.

For those of you who've never lived in the south, especially in a small college town, let me frame it in terms my Hoosier friends would understand. Think small town Indiana basketball on a wintry Friday night. That was how football crazed Tallahassee was in the late 80's when I arrived. So a healthy dose of Seminole Saturday Nights--the golden helmets sparkling under the lights, the flaming spear thrust into the turf by Chief Osceola accompanied by an eruption of adulation, causing the big replica spear to light up in the south end zone--was enough to make me shed my Irish garb FOREVER!

I still remember that Saturday, September 28, 1991. My friend Ronnie Byrom, once a lineman for Bowden's team, had invited me over to his fraternity to watch the historic FSU-Michigan match-up. By the end of that game, I had become a true believer. Apparently, so had the nation. Never again would I settle for the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football I had grown up with in the midwest. I wanted to see high-arcing, 50-yard bombs to Lawrence Dawsey! I needed a weekly dose of wiley Bowden trickery, like a drugatic needs his fix!

Needless to say, after attending the university and working there for a number of years, I became a die-hard FSU fanatic. Yes, my blood runs garnet and gold. I proudly hang my Seminole flag on the porch every weekend in the fall. I am ready for this "dadgum" season to start! What about you? Are you ready for some football???

70 Years Ago Today, WWII and my family

2009-08-31T19:39:00.008-05:00

Above are pictures of my grandfathers Doyle and Wright from the 1940s. They served the United States valiantly, as did all the brave men and women of "America's Greatest Generation." Today, on the 70th anniversary of World War II, I honor their memory and that of every soldier who served to secure liberty and promote the ideals of democratic society.

In addition to my grandfathers, several great uncles also served the U.S. Military in both theatres of the war. Fortunately, they all made it home to Indiana and rejoined their families. One of them, my Uncle Les Dunning, is a decorated veteran and still lives today in Dayton, Ohio.

Thousands of families were not so lucky. None were as unfortunate as our Jewish brothers and sisters across the globe, especially in Europe. Think for a moment of the many generations of families that were cut off due to the fanatical, genocidal policies of Hitler, Himmler and the Third Reich. I was watching a documentary recently in which the son of a Holocaust survivor was mourning the loss of his grandparents. He wasn't fortunate enough to ever know them.

And while my father's father (pictured above left) died before my ninth birthday, I at least got the chance to spend time with him and love him in the flesh. He and his brother returned to father children. My mother's uncles all returned to start or rejoin families. I still see some of those first cousins, once and twice removed, at family reunions. This year, as I reflect on what happened two generations ago, I will cherish those members of my family even more, knowing now just how fortunate I really am.

See WWII anniversary news articles here.

70th Anniversary of World War II

2009-08-31T09:46:00.003-05:00

Since the United States didn't officially enter WWII until after Pearl Harbor in late 1941, most of our newspapers won't bother to commemorate the official start of the war. Nonetheless, many European media outlets are talking about Hitlers invasion of Poland, September 1, 1939. Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary, so here are some interesting articles and blogs for your consideration...

ARTICLES

Lodz, Poland remembers murdered Jews

Europe Commemorates WWII

AP story describes start of war

Poland's Jews commemorate WWII

Yad Vashem marks 70th Anniv. of WWII

Detroit's Polish-Americans remember WWII

NY Times Op-Ed "When Thief Stole From Thief"

Polish survivor of WWII in Maryland

Poland Remembers WWII

BLOGS

Sand drawing reflections of WWII --VERY COOL!

Pro-Jewish blog in France

What started the war?

Islamic holy day celebrated @ Jewish Synagogue

2009-08-22T06:11:00.006-05:00

Buried at the bottom of Saturday's IndyStar.com headlines was a compelling story about faith, friendship and goodwill that read "Muslims to feast at synagogue." Many may have missed the significance in that one line and scrolled past. I, however, could not...not after my recent blog about Jewish persecution during WWII.

The article tells of an Indianapolis rabbi who opened his synagogue to a Turkish-American Muslim for a celebration of Ramadan, an Islamic holy day. Think of that for a moment. In today's socio-political climate where tensions between Arabs and Jews run redhot, these men in downtown Indy have not only found some common ground, they are fasting and feasting together!

Joining them in the celebration are two protestant congregations, as well, which made me very happy as a protestant Christian, myself. I don't often see my co-religionists reach across denominational boundaries, let alone religious and cultural ones. To me, this speaks to the "good news" of Jesus, who like these men, loved to sit across the table from those who were not like him and practice the fine art of fellowship. He was not afraid to befriend a so-called enemy or invite a hated member of society to his table. He knows firsthand the benefit of putting aside one's own wellbeing for the benefit of another.

And while these men are not laying down their lives one for the other, I'm not so sure they wouldn't. At least they've made a bold statement about religious reconciliation. And in this day and age of jihad and self-righteous rhetoric, it is a welcomed and appreciated gesture.

Never Again - The Jewish Holocaust

2009-08-18T12:53:00.006-05:00

One can scarcely believe that something as atrocious as the WWII Holocaust ever occurred, but even more inconceivable are the claims of so many that it never really happened; that it was merely pro-Jewish propaganda funded, produced and distributed by Hollywood moguls. The purpose of this blog entry is to perpetuate the truth of the mass murder and near extinction of European Jewry, so that we can reverberate the oft-repeated refrain, “NEVER AGAIN!”

I have no doubt that the Jewish Holocaust happened, yet even still I cannot fathom—nor begin to wrap my mind around—the brutality and terrorism exhibited by the Third Reich during WWII. As evidence, I point to the many testimonies I’ve read and witnessed either firsthand or as documented on film. I have touched a living Auschwitz survivor and listened as she recounted her harrowing story.

Personal Stories
I have been thoroughly gripped by these accounts for the last year or so and was recently reminded when I read of the homeless Holocaust survivor who died in New York. Suffice to say that I am moved deeply by every story that I hear. Stories of survivors like Eva Kor, my new hero, and Szmulek Rosental (aka Steve Ross) cause me to reevaluate my own priorities and my appreciation for life and personal liberty.

I’ve blogged before about Eva, but I only learned Mr. Rosental’s story while watching Bearing Witness: American Soldiers and the Holocaust. This short documentary meant to be used as a tool to educate young people is very well done and provides thought-provoking questions in the accompanying discussion guide. It is one of the best documentaries on the subject I have seen, considering it is time-condensed for teaching purposes. I think this video paired with a presentation by Eva would be ideal for a seventh grade class (anyone know any junior high teachers or admins?). It’s important that we educate the next generation to ensure that truly and forevermore, “Never again!” Watch a clip of the intro to this video documentary, below:

Why We Watched?
Educated as I have become on the subject, I have yet to figure out how the Nazi death camps were kept secret for so long, why well-meaning Europeans kept silent or why the Allies turned a blind eye when they had ample evidence. The former I can understand because of all the Nazi propaganda, the terror they spread and the fear of individuals speaking out. The latter, namely willful ignorance on the part of the United States, I have been unable to come to terms with even after reading a lengthy book on the subject, titled Why We Watched .

I find myself intrigued, fascinated, repulsed and feeling a bit guilty, but I cannot let the memory of what happened die with those who survived and those helped put an end to the Holocaust.
-----
Streaming Video of Bearing Witness:
http://www.communicationsforlearning.com/showcase_bearing.html

Legendary Les Paul dead at 94

2009-08-13T12:41:00.007-05:00

The music world today lost one of its key innovators from the modern era. Les Paul, legendary guitarist and musician, died in New York at the age of 94. Paul was a "brilliant jazz guitarist whose exposure on coast-to-coast radio programs guaranteed a wide audience of susceptible young musicians.”[1] It has been said that his solid body guitar (like those pictured above) "made the sound of rock and roll possible.”[2] And while I'm not a guitarist, I can appreciate the contributions he made to the genres of music I love the most, namely blues, rock and jazz.

Many of my favorite guitarists sport various Les Paul models, including Neal Schon of Journey (pictured, left). Your favorite rock, blues or jazz god certainly has one in his collection. Paul's significant influence in the music biz over the last 80 years cannot be overstated, but you can find links below to support that claim.[3]

I am just thankful that he used his God-given talent to make a mark on the world, to inspire and influence thousands of artists and to leave a lasting musical legacy.

A few other bloggers have begun to buzz about today's sad news, leaving a tribute to the greatness that was Les Paul:

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2009/08/les_paul_rip.html
(this blog includes several video clips)
http://www.markmcguigan.com/2009/08/13/les-paul-1915-2009/
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/08/les-paul-was-born-in-wah-kiss-ah.html

If you're so inclined, you can sample an audio clip of The Les Paul Show, Episode 1, from AllMusic.com. Whatever you do, please leave a comment here or on my Facebook page to share your Les Paul memories.

REST IN PEACE, MR. PAUL

Les Paul

June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009

Links:

1. AllMusic.com (written by by Richard S. Ginell) - http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifqxqr5ldhe~T1

2. Wikipedia link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul

3. Official Les Paul Website - http://www.lespaulonline.com/

Tony Dungy always a class act!

2009-07-29T05:31:00.004-05:00

You may or may not be a huge fan of Tony Dungy, but you've got to respect a guy that practices what he preaches. Even if you don't buy his Mister Nice Guy persona or subscribe to his religious creed, you have to give it to him on this one -- the guy believes in forgiveness and second chances. And Dungy doesn't just believe these things because they are basic tenets of Christianity, he lives them out.

In a world of hypocrisy and self-centeredness, a man of integrity, conviction and compassion definitely stands out. That's why I've always admired Coach Dungy on and off the field. The guy is a class act.

Since stepping down as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, he's stayed busy promoting his books, his Christian ideals, supporting numerous charities (Mentors for Life, All-Pro Dads, Big Brother/Big Sister...just to name a few), being a more devoted father (to six children, no less) and just serving the general good of society. In his latest move, he's come out in full support of ex-con, ex-QB Michael Vick, of whom you may or may not also be a fan. You can consider me in the latter category on this one. But not only has Dungy paid lip service, no, once again he's backed it up with his actions. He has become a mentor and friend to the beleaguered athlete and killler of dogs (sorry, had to!). Even if you don't support Michael Vick, you have to recognize Dungy's actions for what they are.

He's just a good guy through and through. He's the kind of father figure you'd want on your side. The kindly "uncle" you'd call to bail you out of jail, to give a word of advice, or to help you when you're down and out. And the thing is, he'd gladly do it.

I said it before and I'll say it again, Tony Dungy is one class act!

(Read the full story on IndyStar.com:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090728/SPORTS03/907280315/1058/SPORTS03/Dungy+in+Vick+s+corner)

Parenthood's a pleasure, but parenting's tough

2009-07-26T01:54:00.002-05:00

If life were easy, I’d have fewer wrinkles, less gray and constant cravings for comfort food would wane. As it is, I’m overweight and graying with new worry lines appearing daily…and my kids haven’t even hit tweener status, yet!

Parenting is the hardest job I’ve ever tackled. It comes with no standard operating procedure manual and yet numerous, new challenges arise everyday. It is a constant high-wire balancing act. I find myself having to be firm, but flexible; reflexive, yet relaxed; the teacher, yet teachable; an able provider, yet always present. I have to draw secure boundaries while trying to encourage independence. And give tough answers softened by tenderness.

Because I was raised by baby-boomer parents whose childhood boundaries were more restrictive, I look for ways to expand boundaries a safe distance for my children. But it is hard to escape the patterns you learn growing up, and it is merely human to react in anger when those boundaries are pushed and tested. To discipline in love and have maximum effect; to find ways to redirect their energy and alter behavior is the most difficult part of the whole job.

I find that I am least effective when I am on a schedule. If I put myself first and the things I want to accomplish in a given moment, then I am less flexible, relaxed and understanding. My patience flies right out the window with the first misstep of my children in those moments. And with one angry word, a glare, a grumble under my breath, I feel as if I’ve undone a multitude of good. Instead of fostering confidence and promoting peace, I sometimes find myself shattering both with a single act and it happens before I even realize I'm doing it. It is worst with my youngest. I guess I’m spoiled now that my children are getting old enough to do things for themselves and assert more of their independence. When my 5-year-old falters, I often lose patience with her quicker than I did even one year ago and it bothers me.

At the heart of the issue, I find that I’m rather selfish. I have very high expectations for my children and a rather short fuse. That is another part of the great balancing act—juggling my desires and theirs, judging which wants I will afford them each day. In the hurriedness of life, I often become a miserly old curmudgeon and bypass perfect opportunities to show them how highly I value them. I want to become more liberal with my praise and learn to bite my tongue when curses want to tumble out instead.

Last night as I was trying to put my thoughts to bed and get some rest, I said a quiet prayer. I asked God for more patience and to help me bring more balance to this position. I know that I have a great job. And while it is the toughest challenge I have and will ever face, I can surely say it is the most pleasurable and rewarding.

My Top 5 Modern Drummers

2009-04-17T07:41:00.008-05:00

Inspired by the "Pick Your Top 5" craze on Facebook, I decided to create a list of my own without adding the FB application. I limited myself to my favorite modern drummers, four of which have heavily influenced my own drumming style. So here goes...

DAVE WECKL
"Maestro of magnificence!" That pretty much encapsulates my feelings of this hall of fame jazz drummer. I first heard Dave Weckl in the late 80's while searching the FSU Library for recordings of Will Lee, bassist for Dave Letterman's band. Both Lee and Weckl were session musicians for Chuck Loeb's debut album Magic Fingers released in 1989. I was blown away by his rhythmic prowess, the speed and flurry of his drum fills and how he totally stole the show on this cd. I became an instant fan and began listening to everything I could that featured his percussive talents, recordings by Chick Corea, GRP All-Stars and his solo work.

I had to break down and purchase one of his instructional videos, titled "Back to Basics." It was the best video purchase I've EVER made! Nevermind the excellent instruction in stick and foot control, the drum solos are mindbending and worth every dime I spent!

Weckl is as fast as any death metal drummer, as fluid as the best R&B stickmen and as bold as any drummer I've witnessed. He was influenced by some of jazz's best ever, Buddy Rich tops among those, and it shows. I consider Dave Weckl the best modern jazz drummer in the world, and apparently I'm not alone. Modern Drummer magazine has named Weckl one of their Top 25 of all time.

NEIL PEART
Not too many fans of rock music would argue if I proclaimed Neil Peart best rock drummer of all time. Maybe you could make a case for John Bonham or some of the other drummers on this list, but even they haven't laid some of their exquisite percussive skills on vinyl like Jedi master Peart!

My uncle played Rush's "2112 Overature" and "Temples of Syrinx" for me in his basement back in the mid-70's. I thought it was the most groundbreaking, hard rock I'd ever heard, not to mention Peart's over-the-top drum fills. I would go on to explore all of Rush's discography, both Peart and Rutsy versions, before naming them my favorite all-time rock band. Neil Peart is the primary reason for that.

Never has a rock drummer had such an influence on his band, partly because Neil serves as Rush's main lyricist as well as their drummer/percussionist. I had to add the latter title thanks to Peart's work on some of Rush's early work which included tympany (kettle) drums, bells, chimes, and gongs...among other things.

When I first heard his drum solo on Exit...Stage Left, I was blown away by his precision rolls, round-the-kit drum fills, use of cowbell and overall drumming mastery. The guy knows how to work every tom, even a thunderous 20" floor tom, into a measure-busting drum fill. He never subscribes to the simple timekeeper roll, even though his timekeeping is impeccable. And Rush changes time signatures A LOT! so that's no easy task. People flock to see Rush in concert for the intricate drum fills that adorn every one of their songs.

CARTER BEAUFORD
A more recent favorite, Carter Beauford provides the percussive base for DMB (Dave Matthews Band). His batter's gloved, match grip style is his trademark. He usually steals the show, which is saying a lot at a DMB concert, since every musician on stage is top caliber.

I became a fan after a friend turned me onto DMB in the late 90's. Since then, I've gobbled up all the video of his playing that I could get my hands on. The guy is phenomenal and never ceases to surprise me. Just when you think he's laying back in the groove, he'll mezmerize you with a flurry of bass drum kicks accompanied by splash cymbal rolls. You've got to pay close attention or you'll miss something incredibly awesome!

Beyond his grooverific percussive style, his excellent pedal work and his high-octain approach to drumming, Beauford actually seems to be enjoying himself more than anyone on stage. Maybe he's just gloating, I don't know, but he's always got a big smile on his face....whenever he's not making a "drummer face," that is.

STEVE SMITH
Number four on my list could share the spotlight with Weckl, only because he's had the biggest influence on my drumming. Yes, even more so than Peart. That's because he and the next drummer were the first ones I really tried to emulate on my uncle's drumset.

Watch the video of Smith's solo while touring with Journey in 1981 and you'll understand part of my fascination. For a rock-n-roll drummer, you cannot do any better than Steve Smith. But what I was surprised to find out is what a world-renown drummer he really is, putting on clinics for Sonor drums, playing studio sessions and even jamming with Buddy Rich's big band. The guy has SERIOUS chops that are not bound by musical genre!

Anyway, my first exposure was Journey's Evolution album and I spent countless hours following his blues beat on "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'." Then my uncle brought home Journey's live album Captured. From the opening number with Smith's pulsating bass drum and furious drum fill intro through the drum solo (similar to the one linked on YouTube) to the one new song that capped the album, I was in complete and utter awe of his drumming. You get a glimpse at his genre-spanning prowess on that one album, from the bluesy shuffle of "Walks Like a Lady" to the ear-thumping of "Dixie Highway," "Line of Fire" or "La Do Da"...take your pick.

I could go on and on about Steve Smith. As I said, he's one of my main drumming influences, but I'll leave it up to you. Go online and check out some of his work on the album highlighted above, on YouTube or on the Burning for Buddy sessions.

JEFF PORCARO
If you read the Steve Smith section, above, you already know that Porcaro was a heavy influence on my early drumming style. If Jeff were still alive today, he'd undoubtedly be among the world's best drummers. But Jeff left the world MUCH too soon, and the drumming world still misses his smooth-as-silk shuffle.

Known primarily as the talented drummer for the jazz-fusion-infused rock group Toto, Jeff was previously a much sought after session drummer who played for the likes of Boz Scaggs, Seals & Croft and Steely Dan. He was trained under his father's tuteledge and Joe Porcaro was a great jazz drummer in his day.

The effortless way Jeff played the shuffle beat, demonstrated below on his one and only instructional video, was his trademark. It took me YEARS to learn it and I still struggle with it at times, especially all the ghost notes on the snare drum! Jeff always made it look easy...a surefire mark of a great drummer.

For me, 1992 will always be a dark year because of Jeff's untimely passing. Who knows what he might have achieved by now. Countless albums from the 70's and 80's bear his unmistakeable signature, but I grew up on his work with Toto. "Hold the Line" was one of the first songs I learned to play on the drums.

There is a blog dedicated to everything Jeff Porcaro. And this concludes my dedication to the Top 5 Modern Drummers in my estimation. Tell me what you think by leaving a comment below.

Musical Memories Part Two: Prog Rock to Metal

2009-04-13T18:41:00.011-05:00

If it wasn’t apparent in part one of this series, I idolized my uncle Greg. Beyond his musical influences—his record collection, his drumset, his monster stereo system—he had cool cars, pretty girlfriends, basketball skills, pornography, alcohol…What more could a pubescent teenager ask for? He fueled my rock-n-roll fantasies.

I can remember cruising the town square in Princeton, windows down in Greg’s “Smoky and the Bandit” Firebird TransAm, Boston 8-Track blaring through the night sky. It was like having an older brother away at college who’d take me out partying and let me do all the things I wanted to do. It was sex, drugs and rock-n-roll…well, sort of. Substitute pornography for actual sex and liquor for drugs and, well, you get the picture.

We used to wear out the 8-Track player in his TransAm. Boston’s debut album, Styx The Grand Illusion, the Cars’ debut album and various mix tapes were our cruising music. When he traded up for a white TransAm, we added Billy Squier, Sammy Hagar, Loverboy and more Journey and Foreigner to the soundtrack of our teens. Only this time, the 8-Track player had given way to the cassette.

I had another musical mentor, but he was a grade school and high school classmate who lived down the street from me. Steve Mascari had two older siblings. He cut his teeth on his brother and sister’s massive record collection. Steve was also a budding musician who usually had instruments in his basement on Winston Drive. He broadened my musical horizons, introducing me to the music of The Who, The Police, Yes, Genesis and a Canadian trio who was just beginning to get heavy rotation on FM radio. No doubt, there will be an entire entry devoted to my favorite band of all time, Rush. Steve and I met in fifth grade at Saint Matthews. It was the only year I attended that school, but he and I became musical buds. From then on, most of my relationships were dependent upon a mutual love of all things rock. Steve’s influences ran more along the prog-rock vein of the 1970’s. His siblings had the older Styx albums, The Who, Rush, Genesis, Kansas, Yes and the like. I learned to appreciate concept albums, epic songs that could take up an entire side or an entire album, multiple time signature changes, keyboard solos (well, sort of) and sophisticated drum solos. My jaw nearly dropped when I first heard Neil Peart’s solo on the live version of YYZ (Exit…Stage Left)…yes at Steve’s house.

My musical tastes were expanding. I even learned that headbanging would play a part in my future, thanks to Steve’s parents and their introduction of cable TV to my world. In the early 80’s, we could spend mindless hours watching MTV on American Cablevision in the Mascari basement. After granting access to the extensive album collection at their house, the Mascari’s now offered MTV, Little Caesar’s pizza and rides to high school. Yes, those were the good ol’ days.

Prior to my exposure to MTV, the only hard rock/metal I had been exposed to was music by AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne. That reminds me of another darker influence on my life…the high school youth group at Central Baptist Church in Broad Ripple (now Trinity at Westfield and Central). The rabble-rousers there, most of whom were a few years older than me, listened to REO Speedwagon’s Hi-InFidelity, AC/DC’s Back In Black and whatever else would set their parent’s ears ablaze. I befriended one of the few kids my age and Owen introduced me to Ozzy’s Blizzard of Oz album. I was shocked, thrilled and mesmerized by that music. He hung with some hippie wannabe’s who also listened to Hendrix and Black Sabbath. That was my earliest exposure to the darker, heavier side of rock-n-roll, but we’ll explore that some more in part three of this continuing saga.

For now, I’ll leave you with this musical memory. Some of my first actual purchases of rock music came compliments of the Columbia House Record Club. Yes, I licked stamps and taped my penny to the reply card! In return, I received by mail my first three cassette tapes—Genesis Abacab, The Police Synchronicity, and Triumph Allied Forces. After that came many trips to Peaches in Broad Ripple and Karma Records. I don’t know how many albums and mix tapes I amassed during high school, but my job at Little Caesars hardly covered my expensive hobby. And there were concerts, too, but we’ll visit all those memories next time. Until then, keep bangin’ your head and…Rock on!

Musical Memories Part One: The Music That Shaped Me

2009-04-10T21:51:00.008-05:00

Recorded music was always a standard at our house and my parents were children of the 50’s and 60’s, so that music was usually Rock ‘n Roll. My parents were fans of three- and four-part harmony, so the Beach Boys and the Beatles were king (no offense Elvis)! Mom also loved the harmonious vocals of the Mamas and Papas, the Carpenters and the smooth crooner Johnny Mathis, to name a few. Those were the records I cut my teeth on, so to speak.

Thankfully, my parents never got into disco, and there is a stretch of the mid-to-late 70’s where we listened to mostly Christian artists, Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, The Archers and The Imperials…but I digress.

My early childhood was spent listening to Meet the Beatles, Rubber Soul, Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. In fact, my neighborhood pal Mike Moffet cut a guitar out of a cardboard box and would jam along to Sgt. Peppers ad nauseum. I often accompanied on air drums, yet even I at 8-years-old was better than Ringo.

As I got older and learned of the “secret death of Paul McCartney,” Mike Myers and I would scour dad’s Beatles collection for “clues,” even attempting to play certain records backwards to find “hidden messages.”

My parents bought me a record player for my 6th birthday. It was my favorite present. The bike they bought me sat unused for many years, but that record player was nearly worn out by my 8th birthday. Some of my first 45” singles included Heart’s “Magic Man,” Boston’s “More Than A Feeling,” Manfred Mann's "Blinded By The Light" and Starlight Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight.” The latter is the funniest considering my age and naiveté about anything sexual.

As disco was dying a slow, painful death during my junior high years, I was heavily influenced by an uncle, only four years my senior, who had begun amassing a collection of rock albums by Led Zeppelin, Journey, Foreigner, Toto and Styx. These were the musical influences that shaped me through my adolescence. Ah, the good ol’ days!

Toto, Foreigner and Journey were the bands that provided a soundtrack to my early attempts at drumming. Yes, the uncle who helped shape my musical tastes at decibels unsafe for veteran baggage handlers also had a drumset in his basement. I tried like hell to keep up with drum gods Jeff Porcaro and Steve Smith, but “Hot Blooded” was more my speed in those days.

Steve Smith was the drummer for Journey at the height of their career in the early 80’s. And just when I was getting familiar with FM standards “Wheel In The Sky,” “Anyway You Want It” and “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’,” Journey released a live album that blew me away. It was right about that time I was allowed to go to my first rock concert at IU’s Assembly Hall. You guessed it, Journey was the headliner. They were on tour with a new keyboard player who sported a crimson red baby grand on loan from IU’s School of Music, no doubt. They were playing new songs from their Escape album, like “Stone In Love” and “Don’t Stop Believin’.” It was a dreamlike experience for a novice rocker and prepubescent 8th grader to be sure.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say a bit more about the influence of Keith Green in my musical past. His piano-driven pop/rock was my introduction to “Jesus music” and really was very good. Well, his first two albums produced by Bill Maxwell, who is also an accomplished drummer and added his chops to those albums, were very good. Then, Keith got kinda full of himself and took over and the albums went downhill. That, and his career was cut short by a tragic plane crash in Texas. Still, his first album For Those Who Have Ears To Hear molded my softer side and helped give me an appreciation for piano as a percussive force in rock music.

My next entry on this topic will delve more into my evolving musical tastes through high school and my passion for darker music that aligned well with my testosterone-driven teenage angst. Until then, keep your feet on the ground…just kidding. Rock on!

Basketball Fever on Quarterback Lane

2009-03-19T02:01:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's March Madness at the Doyle household as our beloved Florida State Seminoles take to the hardwood to dance the sacred dance. It has been a long time coming. Thank you, Leonard Hamilton!

Not since the days of Charlie Ward, Bob Sura and a freakish looking point guard named Cassell have I been this optimistic about FSU Basketball in the postseason. And I am not surprised by the five seed, considering the Noles strength of schedule and their 2nd place finish in basketball's premier conference.

Here are the main reasons why I believe you'll see the Garnet & Gold (and maybe black...LOVE the new black uni's!!!!) in the Sweet Sixteen.

The Seminoles play in the basketball-rich, tobacco-stained Atlantic Coast Conference...that's the ACC for those of you acronym junkies. On their way to facing Duke in the conference championship, they went 10-6 and knocked off the (then) #1 team in the country, North Carolina. In addition, they played 10 tournament teams, beating six of them at least once...and oh, by the way, one of those was Carolina...did I mention that already? They faced #1-seeded Pittsburgh and fought valiantly, losing by only 8 points. Could this be their Sweet 16 dancing partner? I think it could.

If turnovers and poor clock management don't kill their momentum, I foresee the Seminoles sweeping past Wisconsin tomorrow night, stifling Xavier with hands-in-your-face defense and finding Pitt waiting for them on March 26th. We'll see. For now, I'm just happy they finally made it back to the Big Dance. Now, I'm gonna kick back, eat some fried food, drink some Corona and become one with my recliner.

GO NOLES!!!

MEET MY NEW HERO! (updated 9/15/09)

2009-02-01T06:51:00.006-05:00

“Never again,” Eva Kor says with a bulldogged determination. “We will overcome prejudice through education, education, education.” And when Eva speaks, people usually listen. I heard her speak these words about prejudice and the Holocaust as one of the lucky participants at her 75th birthday celebration yesterday.

Eva knows about prejudice and persecution. She was a Transylvania-born twin of Jewish descent who became a victim of Nazi experiments at age ten under the cruel hand of Dr. Josef Mengele. She spent nearly ten months in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the deadliest of World War II’s death camps, and has an amazing story of survival and triumph.

At the 50th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz (January 27, 1995), Eva publicly declared her forgiveness of Dr. Mengele and the Nazi’s for what they did to her and her family. She was accompanied by former Nazi Dr. Hans Munch, a man she was able to personally forgive for the role he played at the death camp.

“Forgiveness is really nothing more than an act of self-healing and self-empowerment. I call it a miracle medicine. It is free, it works and has no side effects” (excerpt from TheForgivenessProject.com)

As I’ve been studying the Holocaust over the past few months, I’ve found it hard to wrap my mind around the atrocities of Hitler’s regime. I’ve found it even more difficult to forgive my own country for standing idly by while these atrocities were committed. It’s not like our government didn’t know. They willingly chose ignorance and inaction.

After meeting Eva in the flesh, how can I not forgive? Her message is almost as big as her personality, and very moving.

Hitler saw Jews as an infestation of sewer rats and treated them as such in his propaganda and his death camps. Eva grew up under his tyranny but would not succomb to it. She’s outlasted and overcome the hate and incarnate evil he represents. She was named a 2008 Hero of Forgiveness by The Forgiveness Alliance, but more than that, Eva Moses Kor is my new hero.

Links of interest:

Never Again! online Holocaust memorial
http://holokauston.wordpress.com/
(Eva's mentioned here.)

CANDLES Holocaust Museum Site
http://www.candlesholocaustmuseum.org/

Victims of Mengele Site
http://www.auschwitz.dk/mengele/id19.htm

19 Stars of Indiana Book
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=93168

My return to The Holocaust

2009-01-29T12:06:00.003-05:00

Well before last year's slate of Holocaust-themed movies released just in time for the holidays (you know, mass murder on an epic scale is such cheery, holiday fare...WTF?), I visited the Indianapolis Children's Musuem's The Power of Children: Making A Difference. The section about Anne Frank really moved me. Something about seeing all of the artifacts from Nazi-controlled Europe, like personal diaries, Antisemitic propoganda posters, etc., really gave The Holocaust a new sense of realism and humanity to me, almost like I could touch and feel the evidence for the first time.

Up until then, the worst astrocity of the 20th century had been relegated to some old, black-and-white newsreel footage. And as disturbing as I found many scenes in Schindler's List, it still didn't bring home the reality like seeing the actual relics. I think this launched me on a quest to explore The Holocaust like never before. While I didn't make a trip abroad or even visit a national museum stateside, I did embark on a personal journey back into the 1930's and 40's. I tried to put myself in war-torn, depression-ravaged Europe.

First, I checked-out Schindler's List at my local library, making a mental note to do this at least once a year to keep the horrible reality alive in my mind. Then, I asked my wife to buy The Boy In Striped Pajamas as a Christmas gift (again, nothing quite says "Happy Holidays" like a Holocaust-themed novel). After seeing the movie trailer in November, I thought it best to read the book at home, first. That way, I could release the full-scale of my emotions in the privacy of my own living room and avoid making a fool of myself at the local theater. But I was a bit disappointed in the book. It was the most shallow treatment of The Holocaust I had ever witnessed with an ending I had figured out about 20 pages too soon. I didn't even cry at the anti-climactic end of the story.

It did, however, arouse even further curiosity about the death camps, namely Auschwitz. I went to my library everyday for weeks, gobbling up everything I could on Auschwitz and the Holocaust. I found myself becoming very frustrated with the lack of empathy and effort on the part of the Allied nations to DO SOMETHING about the blatant genocide taking place right under their noses! So I found a book titled Why We Watched and scoured it for answers. It left me just as empty, frustrated and guilt-ridden as I did watching Schindler's for the first time.

One of the highlights of my library checking spree was a little known documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele. It introduced me to Auschwitz and Mengele twin survivor, Eva Kor. And guess what? She lives RIGHT HERE in Indiana! I am going to meet her this Saturday at her Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute where she will be celebrating her 75th birthday! Eva has done her part to "forgive" her Nazi torturers and is part of the larger Forgiveness Project. I can't wait to meet and talk to her!

All this to say, I am still very saddened by the fact that my country did so little to directly help Eva and her coreligionists in Europe during Nazi oppression. It troubles me that author/professor Theodore Hamerow has concluded that rampant Anti-semitism both here and abroad shackeled Allied hands. If that is true, then shame on us...and shame on the rest of the free world!

I will be discussing Hamerow's book in more detail in my next blog...this could turn into a series on The Holocaust. Just so you know, I have much more to say on this topic (Holocaust deniers beware).

BCS--a lot of BS if you ask me!

2009-01-12T10:13:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm a bonafide BCS-basher. For my non-sports-watching friends, that's the Bowl Championship Series wrongly condoned by the NCAA...er...the National Collegiate Athletics Association. Sheesh, would one Sportscenter a week kill ya???

I've been on the playoff bandwagon ever since the ill-conceived BCS was launched back in the 90's. I say, what's good for the basketball court is good for the gridiron. What would we call March Madness if college basketball had a corrupt system to determine the national champion? March Moolah?

College football needs a playoff system and it needs one NOW! This is actually an Obama policy I can stand behind. In fact, I'm thinking of writing my representatives on the matter.

I know it's just a game, people, but tell that to Utah. Tell that to the money-grubbing university presidents, the boosters, the conference execs and the TV networks. There are millions of dollars, dare I say BILLIONS, at stake here! So, really, it's more than just the game of football. It is college scholarships, capital improvements for campuses, research funding and so much more for higher education.

And on a point of principle, it's about fairness.

How fair is it that a dominant Utah team wins out, going undefeated and doesn't even get a nod for the national championship? Oh sorry, they received ONE vote for it in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. Are you kidding me???

Think of all the great March Madness moments over the years, where you've cheered on a Gonzaga or Western Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen. Cinderella stories like their's are what make the month of March, and college basketball in general, so fun to watch. Why wouldn't the TV networks want that for the month of January in college football? I know I do.

And I also want what's fair. Excluding the majority of Division I schools from the BCS is ridiculously unfair! It is what forced schools like my alma mater (FSU) to join a stupid conference (the ACC) back in the 90's. I liked our independence just fine, thank you! Notre Dame is the only independent included in the BCS' supercomputer formula.

Why the heck are computers figuring who's best in college football anyway? I've never seen a PC OR a Mac score a collegiate touchdown! Have you?

We need a playoff in college football worse than Brittany needs a lifecoach or the Jonas' Brothers need a haircut (or some real talent)! We need college presidents who are supposed to be the forebearer's of morality and higher education to do what's right and fair. Quit being such greedy, elitist bast***s and open the competition (and the hugenormous booty to boot) to everyone in Division I!

I agree with Rick Reilly of ESPN.com. Utah IS the national champion. No two ways about it!

Why is Teerlinck not our D-coord???

2009-01-04T07:11:00.003-05:00

Ever watched a Colts game and wonder who the obese coach sitting on the bench is? He's John Teerlinck, the Colts' Defensive Line Coach. Talk about underrated. He's a big part of the reason Indianapolis is sending TWO defensive linemen--Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis--to Honolulu for the NFL's Pro-Bowl. He came to Indy from the Denver Broncos, and yes, he has a Superbowl ring with both franchises. Now tell me, why is he not our Defensive Coordinator, again?

I've said it once and I'll say it again, Ron Meeks is a pathetic excuse for an NFL coach. He couldn't coordinate the defense for the Fishers Junior League Colts who play in my neighborhood! The guy is a proven loser, yet Dungy has stuck with him and the media has largely written him a hall pass to skip any scrutiny during press conferences. Shall I scream it from atop the Soldiers and Sailors Monument? RON MEEKS IS NOT WORTH HIS WEIGHT IN SALT (or whatever currency with which Irsay is paying him)! I've been saying this for the past four years and only my dad seems to be listening.

Just watch Meeks on the sidelines. He looks completely lost. And even if he DOES know where the first down marker is, he has no idea how to stop the opposing offense from reaching it. Just look at how many third-and-longs our defense has given up during his tenure. If you have a short-term memory, just think last night's loss in San Diego (which DOES NOT mean whale's v'jay-jay).

Dungy or no Dungy next year, the Indianapolis Colts CANNOT suffer another year with Meeks at the defensive helm. Heck, Blue (pictured at left) could call a better defensive game than Ron Meeks! Please, Jim Irsay, give Blue a chance...er...John Teerlinck. The guy may look like a huge lump of lifeless clay on the sideline, but I'll bet he can run cerebral circles around (cue Baby Huey voice-over) duh...Ron Meeks.

Shoot, even the guy's name wouldn't strike fear in the heart of a small child. Not like Monty Kiffin or Dick LeBeau.

Okay, maybe those names are soft, too, but there defenses aren't! And they don't let ANYBODY run all over their defensive backs, especially not 5'6" dwarves named Sproles. And they wouldn't tolerate a "defensive player of the year" who only played 40% of the time (clearing throat, "SANDERS!").

Come on, Indianapolis! Am I the only one who sees it? We've had a smallish, underacheiving defense since before the Superbowl, and a linebacking corps that is CONSISTENTLY out of position to stop the run. We've got a secondary that couldn't wrap up and stop the Keebler elves, let alone Maurice Jones-Drew, Darrin Sproles or the guy on Houston's practice squad. The bend but don't break philosophy has never set well with me, and will never win us another championship. Is it personnel? I don't think so. It's the entire defensive philosophy, and we have one guy to hold accountable...Ron Meeks.

There, I feel much better now. What channel is broadcasting college basketball today?

Love--Life's Most Precious Gift

2008-11-21T04:54:00.003-05:00

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. – The Bible (New Living Translation)

As I contemplate the meaning of the holiday season that is before us, I am reminded that life’s greatest and most precious gift is love. My two beautiful girls—aged 7 and 4—are a daily reminder of that gift. They love their daddy with the kind of zeal and affection that I can only describe as god-like.

It is unconditional.

Love that would set aside one’s own personal wellbeing for the benefit of another is the greatest of all. That is the gift we celebrate every year at this time. It compels us toward selfless acts of charity and benevolence. Love drives us to seek out special reminders that tell our loved ones we care in the form of gifts, cards and visits. It is divine oil that eternally fuels our faith and hope.

As jaded and cynical as I have become over 40 years and three months on planet Earth, I cling to hope. And this time of year usually rekindles that hope because I am reminded of the reason we are alive—to love one another. I am thankful that this year the message of hope is still alive.

I know that the message of hope is alive when I see:

a local church feeding hungry kids

adult stem cell research improve a woman’s life

Christians around the world conspire to take back Christmas

people’s lives transformed on television every week

our community rally around a cancer survivor

good Samaritans put their own lives at risk to save others

These are but a few shining examples of how hope is alive and well in Indiana and around the world. My hope this holiday season is that your life would be transformed by love, life’s most precious gift.

Happy Holiday!

Christmas CD Sale!!!

2008-11-17T10:29:00.008-05:00

I've been diligently working on some classic Christmas CDs to enjoy this holiday season. I love the classics by Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole (to name a few), and I was browsing Half.com by genre. That's when I found that someone has marked all of their Christmas CDs down to 75-cents! Yes, 75-cents! That comes to less than $4 per CD when you add in shipping.

If you're a thrifty music shopper like me, and you don't believe in paying 99-cents to download MP3's, go to Half.com and pick out your favorite holiday music. You can click on the link to the right and search by artist, title, etc. or click the link above and browse their 9,000+ Christmas titles. Did I mention that most of the CDs are 75-cents???

Happy Holiday!

Domestic Adoption Worked for Us

2008-11-10T04:21:00.003-05:00

Most of us know at least one person who has travelled to Asia to adopt a child. Many believe this is the quickest and best way to adopt and well worth the tens of thousands they invest. I've heard some heartwarming stories of those who have brought back precious children from overseas adoptions. But domestic adoption is just as viable an option, and often times a lot less costly.

There are hundreds of thousands of kids in the U.S. foster care system eligible for adoption (see February 2008 article in USA Today). And domestic adoptions aren't as expensive as some people believe them to be. Case-in-point: My wife and I adopted two girls while living in Florida, both of whom were born at local hospitals. The adoptions happened quickly with little expense and very few hurdles. The key for us was getting the word out.

If you are considering a domestic adoption, word-of-mouth can be just as important as hiring an attorney or contacting an agency. We were notified about both of our girls from friends and acquaintances who knew we were desperate to adopt. The key was getting word out through our network of family and friends. And in both cases, we used private practice attorneys whose fees were nominal. We spent less than $20,000 for both adoptions combined!

I cannot fully express the joy of having two adopted children. My girls are the best part of my day, even on bad behavior days. And I would encourage anyone who is considering adoption to look first locally. Spread the word through all the people you know at work, church, clubs, etc. You'll be surprised how many people will encourage you, support you by getting the word out and may even know of available babies/children.

November is National Adoption Month and there are plenty of online resources for those looking to adopt. There are support groups all over the country and on the web, too. I'd be happy to serve as a resource, so feel free to give my blog address to anyone who's considering adoption here or abroad.

Let's tackle our foster care issue together and see to it that American children find permanent, stable homes.

Taking Back Christmas

2008-11-06T22:02:00.003-05:00

The Doyles are taking Christmas back from the commercial holiday it has become. When my girls got old enough to understand, we explained the Nativity and how the maggi came bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. We told them to expect three gifts from us each Christmas in hopes that their focus would be on giving and not receiving. To further that effort, we've planned family activities focused on helping others. This year, we're spending two weekends in December with nursing home residents.

Last year after joining the growing Facebook community, I came upon a group calling itself The Advent Conspiracy. It goes along perfectly with what we've implemented in our home. Watch the short promo video below to see what they are about.

You can see a bit longer, more personal video on their site, here.

It really is staggering the amount we, as Americans, spend on Christmas gifts. And all this is in the name of a Christ-child whose very birth was the hallmark of sacrifice (i.e. the Almighty taking on the lowly status of mere mortal)?? Talk about an outward focus.

It's sad that I'm even posting this on November 6th, but the American retail machine is already in full Christmas swing, hocking everything from talking Jesus dolls to day spa gift certificates for your pet. Think about what you're going to spend this Christmas season. What's on your "Black Friday" shopping list?

Consider giving some of that money, time or energy away this year. You'll feel much better if you do. And if you have a Facebook page, consider joining the conspiracy.

Are we really that gullible, America?

2008-10-30T11:53:00.003-05:00

I don't usually weigh in on politics, but I'm surprised to see Obama's policies finally getting a reality check from a mainstream media outlet, not owned by Rupert Murdoch. I was wondering when someone would get around to looking "behind the curtain" of spin to discover what Obama's really saying.

After all, he's a government-can-fix-everything sorta Democrat who likes throwing good money--our money--after bad. He's going to fix Washington from the Oval Office and make it run more efficiently by cutting ineffective programs. Do you know how many huge federal agencies he'd have to cut in order to pay for his health care system alone?

The straight skinny is that you can't have hugenormous government AND huge tax breaks. Are people really gullible enough to believe that 95% of us can pay less into the government and get more in return? REALLY?

Unless Obama's plan is to eliminate the Dept. of Defense, Dept. of Treasury and the Postal Service, there's no way he's going to fund his trillion-dollar budget. There's a new term being bantied about on the Internet to describe this fantasy. It's called OBAMANOMICS.

It is about time the American public gets over it's fascination of the rock star, Obama, and digs a little deeper to see what he's really about. At least the media is finally pulling its collective head out of its backside on this one, although it could be a little too little too late.

Indy Walk to Cure Diabetes

2008-09-30T19:43:00.003-05:00

The Doyles are walking to cure diabetes on October 18th in Indianapolis. We need everyone to get behind this effort to find a cure for diabetes. The two-mile walk at Military Park will be a few steps for our family, but could mean huge leaps for mankind in the fight against diabetes.

Get beside us or behind us by going to the Team Doyle page:

http://walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&confirmid=87203756.

You can join the team and take the two-mile walk on Oct. 18, or you can donate $10 toward our family goal of $350. Just follow the link above and join us in this worthy cause.

Thank you.

P.S. You can help spread the word by including a link on your blog or web page.

Help for Houston Area

2008-09-19T04:11:00.005-05:00

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, it's good to see businesses and community organizations stepping up to help people in need. You don't appreciate a hot shower anymore than when you've been without power and hot water for nearly a week. And how would you contact relatives without working phones and no way to power a laptop or recharge your cell? Well, thanks to AT&T, Little Caesars, the YMCA and area businesses, Texans displaced by Ike are finding ways to recharge more than just their cell phones. See how in the Houston Chronicle.

You may live hundreds of miles from the Texas coastline and wonder, "How can I help?" There are many, many ways. Of course, you can always pray for victims, relief workers and their families, but you can also put your faith into action. The Christian Emergency Network is calling for the following supplies and volunteers:

Many, many forklifts – the spider kind that move easily across rough terrain (forklifts cut down on manpower time unloading supply trucks, moving trees, etc. by hand)
Computers for temporary Internet Cafes – for victims and relief workers
Refrigeration trucks and drivers
Hot food facilities (victims and relief workers long for hot food)
Shower facilities (for relief workers in the work zones)
Doctors & nurses
Giftcards to nationwide stores (Target, Wal Mart, etc.)
Gas cards
Generators
Bulk donations of: ice, water, non-perishable food, diapers, baby formula, ensure
Trucking hauls (can anyone donate trucks with drivers for several days at a time?)
Cash donations online to Somebody Cares (the easiest and quickest way for SCA to meet needs as they come across them)

Contact: Jodie@somebodycares.org (contact her for details regarding anything you can supply…even beyond this list)

As always, the American Red Cross will accept donations to help in their relief efforts. One of the best donations you can make is not monetary, though, it's your blood. If you're interested in helping save someone's life, you can find out more here. You can also volunteer to serve as a phone operator at your local Red Cross call center. I know the one here in Indianapolis is taking calls from the storm-ravaged areas of the Gulf Coast. You can volunteer in Indy for a 4-hour shift by calling 317-684-4309.

Sitting idly by and doing nothing is not an option.

You have time you can donate. You have blood. You have compassion. Put those things to good use and help your far-away neighbors in need. Follow the example of the businesses and organizations in Houston and do what's right.

Savoring Childhood for My Girls

2008-09-11T20:07:00.005-05:00

Philip Gulley, a contributor to Indianapolis Monthly, penned a superb article titled "Poor Sport" in the September 2008 issue. It attacks with razor wit and sage insight youth sports organizations and the adult participants who support them.

The underlying message is that too many parents, in the name of sports almighty, are sacrificing the childhood of their offspring. Isn't society forcing children to grow up at warp speed already?

I am not against organized sports altogether, but as Gulley points out, much is to be gained by letting children form their own "leagues" in back yards and community parks. Much more is to be lost by shuttling them all over the country to compete for vain prizes and glory.

Kids need time and space to grow. They don't need adults micromanaging every minute of free time, pushing them to compete or serving as their "agents."

I remember countless kickball and wiffle ball games in my parent's yard where trees, bushes, buckets, frisbees and sometimes, stumps served as the bases. I can remember being picked last to play 3-on-3 blacktop basketball in the neighbor's driveway. Hey, I'm short, white and slow...but that didn't stop Larry!

The point is, I live in Fishers, youth sports capitol of the Midwest (maybe not it's official title, but one I'm happy to designate). And I could have my 7-year-old daughter in a myriad of after-school activities, including competitive soccer, swimming, diving or gymnastics. She's asked about participating in most of these, but I've made her pick ONE. She's naturally prone to water. I think her biological mother must have been a mermaid. So, I've enrolled her in swim lessons at the local high school. No, not the travelling swim team, just the plain old, swim lesson twice a week for three weeks. From there, we'll see where it goes.

Maybe she'll show a real knack for the breast stroke, and compete one day in AAU, but I'm not pushing it. At this age, I think it's best to let them try a few things first, and then choose. And if they choose not to compete, there's still the neighborhood kickball league.

I'm doing my best to let her and her 4-year-old sister enjoy their childhood. I see enough of their competitive side in day-to-day sibling rivalry. I don't need a bunch spectators and over-zealous parents to enjoy that sport.

Rush Encore

2008-07-24T22:45:00.014-05:00

Wow, what a once-in-a-lifetime experience! I was privileged to see Rush twice on their North American tour, this time compliments of my good friend Joe Copple. Joe and I went to high school together and camped out for Rush tickets at Market Square Arena in 1986. Three of the four Rush concerts I've seen were with Joe. I blogged about the experience last summer here.

And while this was the pretty much the same show, it was the last stop on their Snakes and Arrows tour--a concert that had to be rescheduled from June. And let me just say that Verizon Wireless Music Center is one of the best venues around. The show was complimented by perfect weather! Oh, and did I mention that the tickets were free?!?!?! Thank you Joe!

We sat in the same section about 10 rows further back from the stage. The Canadian trio put on one helluva show! The end of their second set was an unbelievable trip into their storied past covering Spirit of Radio, 2112 (Overture and Temples of Syrinx) and Tom Sawyer. Then, during the extended encore they played YYZ, one of my favorite all-time Rush instrumentals.

Other songs of note were Passage to Bangkok, Witch Hunt and Natural Science, songs you don't typically hear at a modern-day Rush concert. Of course they sprinkled in plenty of tunes from the current album, including Working Them Angels and Far Cry. It was an excellent show.

The thing I can't understand is how this phenomenal, four decade band has been excluded from the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame. It defies logic. With 24 gold and 14 platinum records (RIAA searchable Database Recording Industry of America July 29, 2007) and more than 30 years of recording and touring the globe, I'm dumfounded why Alex, Geddy and Neil are not fixtures in the Cleveland museum. Please take a moment to sign the petition to get these legendary musicians (each a virtuoso on his own instrument) into the hall. If you need any further motivation, please watch this video:

Neil Peart has always been one of my absolute favorite rock drummers and a big reason why I took up drumming at an early age. Even if you don't care for the progressive rock stylings of Rush, you have to admire their individual talents and their longevity...rivaled only by the Rolling Stones.

I only hope I get to see them again before they call it quits. Rush ROCKS!!!

Thanks again to Joe Copple for the complimentary tickets!

Roots

2008-07-21T08:42:00.005-05:00

Genealogic research performed by uncles on both sides of my family has piqued my interest in our families’ history. They’ve dug diligently to trace our European ancestry as far back as the 17th century. You can view much of our lineage if you click the Geni link to the right.

My interest in history swings much broader than just my own family tree, however. I’ve recently begun investigating the history of Lyles Station and that settlement’s connection to the Underground Railroad (UGRR) in Indiana. My aim is to establish a solid link between the African-American community in Gibson County and the white abolitionists who aided them, like the Stormont family, and thereby obtain an Indiana Freedom Trails marker as a monument to their efforts.

I guess a combination of these interests caused me to checkout the 30th Anniversary DVD of Roots at the local library. That, and my wife was not allowed to watch it as a child, so this was her first viewing.

I was surprised how little of it I remembered even though it made an indelible impression on me when I first saw it on television in 1977. And while it only gives small glimpses into the UGRR, it continues to stir my curiosity about the secret pathways north and the courage of those who dared to travel it and also those who risked all to aid the escapees.

It stands to reason that free African-Americans in the “lower north,” particularly the settlements in southern Indiana, would have been a first stop along the pathways to freedom. Some escaped slaves would have surely settled there while many others would have continued north to Michigan and Canada.

The problem in documenting all this is that most of the 19th century American history you find in libraries was written by white men. They weren’t particularly interested in elevating the heroes of the African-American community. Their self-serving portraits of abolitionist activity paint an almost white portrait of the UGRR, as if no escape from slavery would have been possible without the aid of anti-slavery whites. While this may be true in part, it is not the whole truth.

Have you ever considered what it would have been like to be a slave on the run and scared for your life? Who would you trust? It certainly wouldn’t be a white man. So my work is definitely cut out for me. This will not be an easy project to document with concrete evidence. Just like my uncles, I will have to dig to uncover the important role the free African-Americans of Lyles Station played in helping others to freedom.

Family Ties--Doyle Cabin Reunion

2008-07-07T11:41:00.008-05:00

I've blogged before about the Doyle cabin on Greenbriar Lake in Sullivan County (IN). It has always played a pivotal role in keeping me connected with my dad's family and with our Doyle heritage because we've gathered there annually since I was a kid. Since moving back to Indiana in 2006, I've been able to participate in two consecutive reunions, now. Its always great to reconnect with cousins, aunts and uncles you only see once every few years and to hear the family stories told under the shade of 60-year-0ld oak, pine and sycamore trees. If only those trees could talk!

My dad's younger brother, Al Doyle, has chronicled much of our family's history, recently telling us the story of Noble "Kid Chissell" Chisman who was my grandmother's first cousin. Kid Chissell, as the story goes, was a good friend of Bob Hope's and a witness to Marilyn Monroe's secret wedding which only lasted about three days. His filmography is quite extensive, beginning in the late 30's and spanning three decades. Uncle Al recalls his mother pointing out her cousin on their old black-and-white TV whenever Chisman would make a guest appearance on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Its funny that prior to this year, I never remember hearing the first thing about this famous cousin, or that his mother's nickname was "Toad." I'm just glad that that family name died with grandmother's generation.

It was just as fascinating to hear that a recent barrier was broken in our genealogy from the late 1700's in Pennsylvania. There was very little information about a William Doyle who lived in western Pennsylvania, until my brother and uncle unearthed some clues pointing to a John Doyle who emigrated from Ireland in the mid-1700's and was William's father. Also of great interest is the fact that one of our relatives on grandmother's side fought in the Revolutionary War, and another served as a translator for the French-speaking Indians in the lower Wabash River Valley. Grandma (Louise) Doyle's family were Dutch (Thuis) and French (LaPorte) immigrants who settled in the Vincennes area.

Grandpa (James H.) Doyle's family migrated, as many Irish working-class citizens did, from Pennsylvania westward through Ohio and Indiana. My great-grandfather, Albert Abraham Doyle, was a resident of Indianapolis and did carpentry work on the beautiful Scottish Rite Cathedral. Grandpa Doyle was born and raised here, attending Cathedral High School when it was a Catholic all-boys school in downtown Indy (current site of the diocese headquarters, I believe). After moving to southwest Indiana, he worked for Public Service utilities and built the log cabin on an abandoned strip mine.

The cabin holds many fond memories for me and is a favorite destination for my girls. That's Makenna on the tire swing, pictured at right. You can see the front (SW) corner of the cabin and the old utility poles my grandpa used in constructing the 60-year-old lakeside retreat. I am thankful that we'll have stories to pass onto my daughters, neices and nephews about this family heirloom and about those who came before us. I appreciate my Uncle Al's work and that of Sean Kern and Ryan Doyle to document our family history and thereby ensuring that the stories can be told for generations.

The Stick Up Our Ass

2008-06-27T06:38:00.004-05:00

I know that I joined this discussion about 4 years too late, but apparently my fellow Hoosiers have a real problem with the word ASS being displayed in public.

Really, people? There aren't enough REAL problems in the world, that we have to create petty ones?

For my puritanical brethren, may I remind ye that the King James Version references the ass more than 70 times, starting in Genesis 22. Don't believe me? Type "ass" in the search field of a site like Bible Gateway. There are 76 mentions, to be exact. Seventy-six! And even the Messiah himself used the word on occasion! HOLY MOLY! Well, I guess we should be holier than Jesus by abstaining from such vulgar speech, now shouldn't we?

The word ass in the Bible refers to a donkey. It's in the dictionary. The word ass on the offending coffee shop sign ALSO referred to a donkey. Regardless, we Hoosiers DID NOT want our children reading and repeating this immoral, offensive, vulgar word...King James, Moses, Samuel et. al. be damned! (Oops, sorry...guess I should have rated this post PG-13).

My problem is that I really wanted some more Bad Ass Mocha, but I don't want to pay to have it shipped here. I first tasted it in Florida while on vacation in Reddington Shores last year and it was PHENOMENAL! Plus, everyone needs a break from Starbucks now and then...and I'm not a big fan of Dunkin' Donuts. When I Googled "bad ass coffee indianapolis" I was excited to find a location near me at the Fashion Mall on Keystone. Then, I tried to call their number. Disconnected. No longer in service.

So thank you to my fellow Hoosiers who succeeded in running off this fine establishment because of your puritanical views on the English language. You are INDEED holier than thou!

Some people might tell me to pull the plank out of my own ass before I try to remove the speck from my brother's...and by ass, of course, they would mean my donkey.

Lyles Station: Jewel of American History

2008-06-20T08:00:00.009-05:00

I am opposed to the whole system of slavery, in all its heinous forms, and conscientiously believe it to be a sin against God and a crime against man to chatelize a human being, and reduce God's image to the level of a brute, to be bought and sold in the market as cattle or swine.

- Levi Coffin, Letter to the editor of the Cincinnati Commercial dated May 12, 1860

A few miles from the town of my birth--Princeton, Gibson County, Indiana--lies an almost hidden jewel from our Hoosier past and a priceless piece of American history from the 1800's. It is the unincorporated area of Lyles Station.

Originally known as the "negro colony" west of Princeton, it was comprised of three settlements by free African-Americans, Southerners and former slaves--Sand Hill, Lyles and Roundtree. Sand Hill was on the main road, now State Highway 64, about halfway between the Wabash River and the county seat of Princeton. Lyles was north about a mile, and Roundtree was further north and east on the banks of the Patoka River.

Though I spent many a summer visiting family in the area just to the east of Lyles Station, I had no clue that it even existed. I don't remember my grandparents, aunts or uncles ever speaking of the "colored folks" from the river bottoms west of town. Nonetheless, a thriving agricultural community existed there until the floods of March 1913. In fact, the train that ran just downhill and around my grandparent's home and the hospital where I was born, used to stop at Lyles Station on it's way to Illinois through the 1950's. Still, I had no idea there was a veritable treasure trove of American history just a few miles down the tracks. That is until I learned about it online just a few years ago, thanks to the tireless efforts of Stanley and Mary Madison (Pictured above right, Wayman Chapel AME Church, the oldest building in Lyles Station dating back to 1887).

This week was my first visit to the area called Lyles Station (see picture above). The Madisons and the Lyles Station Historic Preservation Corporation were celebrating Juneteenth and I was able to take my family down for the festivities. Before the trip, I was already committed to volunteering my time to help in any way I could. But afterwards, my resolve to help out is even more concrete. My first goal is to register the site as an official stop along the famed Underground Railroad (UGRR) with Indiana Freedom Trails, Inc.

The western route of the UGRR through Indiana is well-documented. The Wabash River valley through southwestern Indiana provided a means of escape for runaway slaves who were brave enough to cross the Ohio River near Mount Vernon (Posey County) and Evansville (Vanderburgh County) or traverse the meandering Wabash up to East Mount Carmel, then head northwards to Vincennes. Free African-American settlements in Gibson County would provide a common-sense resting place for fugitive slaves escaping north. There are oral traditions that say Thomas Cole, a Sand Hill/Lyles resident, owned many barns with hideouts in the lofts that provided cover by day for many a fugitive. Within walking distance of the Cole residence and uphill towards the banks of the Patoka River sat the home of noted station master David Stormont. Other UGRR stops existed in nearby Princeton, Francisco and Oakland City. Some of these are also well-documented, but the area of Lyles Station is yet listed as an integral part of the railroad.

As my research continues, I'll post more about this exciting project and enlist some of you to help. In the meantime, please visit http://www.lylesstation.org/ to learn more about this jewel of American history.

Micheal Treinen Update

2008-04-18T13:45:00.002-05:00

See this IndyStar article--Micheal Treinen Awaits Transplant

That's GREAT news! Thanks to those of you who supported financially and prayerfully this Indiana teenager suffering from AML (leukemia).

What I've Been Up To

2008-04-04T04:03:00.004-05:00

Just over a month ago I launched my new site, IndyRetreats.org, with links to Indiana's renewal retreat communities--Cursillo, Discipleship Walk, Great Banquet, Kairos, Tres Dias, Via de Cristo and Walk to Emmaus. Here's my original blog about it, including my Tres Dias story.

It's been a busy month, keeping the site current, getting the word out about it and searching for fresh and relevant content. I even started a Wordpress blog, indyretreats.wordpress.com, and recently gave an account of all that's happened in 30 short days. The feedback so far has been great!

In addition, I've been working on a new website for my wife's graphic design business, DoyleDesignOnline.com. That project is ongoing. Additionally, I've agreed to help my neighborhood association's Safety Committee put together a tornado and severe weather safety brochure. That will be designed and printed by our company, Doyle Design, and distributed shortly. It will be augmented with plenty of content-rich links on my neighborhood blog, as well.

I haven't been this busy in a long time and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I hope you'll take a moment to visit some of my other projects/blogs and provide feedback. I'm always open to new ideas, suggestions and constructive criticism. If you don't wish to leave a comment here publicly, then shoot me an e-mail. Peace.

UPDATEDHelp Michael Treinen Fight AML

2008-04-01T14:36:00.005-05:00

***UPDATED***

Great News for Michael!!!
I just received a call from ICHIA- the high risk insurance that has been expedited due to the overwhelming attention Michael's situation has been given. Although the coverage is not 100%- with the money raised through all of your efforts - combined with the insurance- we can confirm payment with Seattle- TODAY!!!!!!!!!

I can't even begin to thank each and everyone of you for helping us get to where we are today. It could not have happened without the efforts of not only your $$$ but your time and making contacts for Michael!

We love all of you!
The Treinens

----ORIGINAL MESSAGE-----

Hello Friends,

We are parents who are pleading for your help. Our son Michael is 19 years old and last May was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Many of you already know Michael's story but let me give you a few highlights. As of May of 2007 Michael was a typical goofy 18 year old from a typical family in Noblesville, IN who was ready to graduate from high school. Michael loves hockey and lacrosse. We, as most of you, thought that nothing would change our lives in such a drastic way. Boy, were we wrong. Michael had some swollen lymph nodes and when they were checked we were told the devasting news of cancer. We put on our "big girl pants" and were ready to fight this thing. In December, Michael went into remission but by January was back in the fight. This time we are in the fight of our lives.

Fast forward to now, Michael has been receiving treatment at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis . His next step is a bone marrow transplant. Michael needs to have the transplant in order to survive. From our research the best place for treatment is Children's Hospital in Seattle, Washington . Now here is the catch. Michael is at his life-time limit for insurance. In order for Seattle to schedule the transplant we need send them a check for $500,000. We are no longer the typical American family and like most of you- do not have $500,000 to send them.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! We are asking three things from you:

1. Your prayers that we get our miracle and Michael survives his fight with AML and is able to return to the life of a typical nineteen year old.

2. Please send a donation of $20.00 to the:
Michael Treinen Medical Trust Fund
c/o Mr. Sid Loomis
Harris Bank
107 W Logan Street
Noblesville, IN 46060

3. Please pass this e-mail to at least twenty (20) of your friends and relatives and ask them to send this email to at least 20 people. Please feel free to share a personal connection with Michael and our family.

This a time-sensitive grass roots campaign to raise the $500,000 that Michael needs. Time however is not our friend. We need this money to be received by Thursday, April 3rd. We have to get treatment started as soon as possible!

I know that many of you do not know us. I can assure that a year ago we would never have believed that we would be asking not only our friends and family, but complete strangers to help us pay to save our son's life. Believe me when I tell you this is the last thing we want to be doing. But, you do what you have to do.

Please help us and send a check to the bank...today! Also, please send this email out to everyone you know. I know we can do this with your help. If you want to know more about Michael, you can go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaeltreinen (Caring Bridge Site).

God bless and thank you,

Tom and Kelly Treinen

If Jesus IS Alive...

2008-03-25T19:09:00.006-05:00

...how would you know it?

This is a question I've been pondering since all of Christendom just celebrated the high holy day of Easter. As you look at the Church, do you find evidence of life? Is the radiant life of a risen Christ emanating from within?

It is often hard to answer that question in the affirmative. And when you look back at the history of Christianity with all the atrocities committed in Christ's name, it is rather difficult to find evidence that the Church believes at all in the resurrection of Jesus.

Growing up Catholic, I was surrounded by gory images of a beaten, thorn-crowned, crucified and speared-through Messiah. Those images of death and torture seem to signify the morbid mindset of many of today's Christians. Their pre-occupation with death and judgment leads them away from the life-affirming and life-changing message of Easter.

If that wasn't true, wouldn't we see more evidence of Christ-likeness in the Church?

The question of "Who Killed Jesus?," rekindled in large part by Mel Gibson's film a few years ago, matters little in my opinion. Whether you fall into the John Crossan camp, believing “that the Romans, not the Jews, killed Jesus as a revolutionary agitator inimical to their continued governance of Judea”, you side with the Anti-Semites who solely blame the Jews (you'd be in a growing minority btw), or you believe both are culpable, the pressing issue is whether you fixate on Christ's death or His resurrection.

For me, the resurrection is just as much about my attitude every day, as it is about a promise of life after death. And if, like me, you believe in the abundant life proclaimed in Scripture, then it should effect the state of daily affairs in your life. It should be evident in the way you approach challenges, the way you interact with others, the way in which you conduct yourself and the way you spend your time, energy and resources.

A religion fixated on death will produce more of the same, but a living faith rooted in the life of Christ will produce abundantly more. So, as I reflect on the Easter story, I am once again encouraged to live out my faith actively. And for me that means doing more, spending my time, energy and resources more wisely, loving more and having a more positive attitude.

If Jesus is really alive, then how is it effecting your life here on planet Earth?

My Weekend Retreat

2008-03-05T22:25:00.008-05:00

Last weekend, I had a nice little getaway to our cabin in the woods, just me and Zach, our Aussie. I had planned to go down for a work weekend with my brother, but he couldn't go due to other obligations. It was okay, really, because it gave me some much needed quiet time...time to do some manual labor...time to reflect.

Our cabin is situated on an old strip mine in eastern Sullivan County, now known as Greenbriar Lake. I had to pass through Clay City: Mayberry of the Midwest to get there on Indiana's back roads. Tracy and I get a kick out of that slogan for this sleepy little town, so I stopped and took this picture just to make her laugh.

It worked. :)

The Doyle cabin, built with my grandfather's hands and a load of discarded telephone poles, is rustic, at best. Plumbing draws spring-fed lake water into the shower and kitchen sink. An outhouse provides the only other "facilities." I went down, in part, because my uncle is in the process of installing a new two-sided outhouse with a real septic system. He left a large pile of debris from an old shed and some downed trees that needed disposal by match. There was also a pile of concrete that needed breaking and disposal by tossing lakeward.

When I arrived Saturday morning, it was a frosty 30 degrees or so. There was a thin layer of ice over a majority of the lake where some Canadian geese had sought refuge. I was able to snap a couple of quick pictures, first thing. There's a small sample to the left.

After Zach and I had unpacked, opened/airated the cabin and settled in, we got right to work. It was an exhausting day of log-splitting, concrete throwing, debris burning and general back-aching chores, but it was long overdue. I needed a good physical work-out like that. And it gave Zach a chance to explore and get a good work-0ut, too (mostly chasing a neighbors cat, the geese and some squirrels).

We cooked that evening over open flame and enjoyed a clear, starry sky that night. We awoke to a warm, spring-like day and morning clouds soon gave way to sunny skies by 10:30. I had already rekindled two fires, begun packing, cleaning up and preparing for the 2-hour drive home by then. I also had time to snap a few more pictures, including this one of Zach and I on the pier just after sunrise.

The drive home, though I was quite sore from the day-and-a-half workout, was very nice, thanks mostly to the 6o-degree weather and some good tunes. I was home in time Sunday to play with my daughters for awhile before taking them to dinner and putting them to bed. And while I hate being away from them on "stay-home days" this was a much needed retreat for me...one that I'll cherish for some time.