Back on Ice

Well, we tried.  After a really good, solid month of blogging back in July, we've fallen off the bus again.  And as this season/school year begins it doesn't look like it's going to get any easier to post regularly.  So back into stasis Cheshire Prospects will go.  If I find anything really good or worth posting about, I will so you all will know that the blog still has a heartbeat but sorry for getting back into it and then dropping off cold turkey again.  And thanks as always for your readership.

Saying and Meaning

TPM highlights a great study about the characteristics of the Tea Party Movement and, of course, showing how ridiculously hypocritical it's supporters views are.  But of course, it was done by academics so it can't be trusted.

Putting things in perspective

Via Dean Elmore (I know, right?  He's the man!), a little web tool to understand the scale of existence.

"Well I gaht her numbah"

Via Alex Whalen, those "wicked smaht guys ahcross tha rivah" at MIT might have just cured viral infections.  Yeah, not just one - ALL OF THEM.

Gwah

Yeah, so not going to blog tonight - going to try to sort through/load the pictures from this past weekend onto my computer without it blowing up my computer. And I have a good post I feel coming on, it just needs some more time to simmer.

In the meanwhile, you can read about The Great Jewish Hope (and I'm throwing a copyright on that right now).

San Frantic

Sorry for the hiatus all. Between moving this week and traveling to the City (and surrounding areas) by the Bay this weekend, the bloggy schedule has been all screwed up. We'll try to get back at it tomorrow with some reflections.

As promised

The man is on point:

The Daily Show - Daily Show: Dealageddon! - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Compromise - Tea Party No-Win
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Long day

We're not going to get in a legit post tonight - between moving couches, moving beds, moving moving stuff, swimming, seeing a friendly face, and finally doing laundry while watching Shark Week, I'm spent.

Just know Jon Stewart was on point about the debt crisis endgame tonight, and you'll probably be able to watch the clip here tomorrow.

Life Decisions

I like to think I usually make pretty good decisions.  I tend to be very logical, and try and remove my emotions from it and think level-headedly.  I usually kinda pride myself on it.  And this usually is exasperated by money being involved.  Bonus multipliers for that the more money that's involved.

I had no intention of buying a car today.  Heck, I really just went out to get a new mattress.  But I was over in the neighborhood and stopped at the nearest by car dealership, intending on looking at a totally different car.  But then, I kinda just wanted to check something else out.  And then I drove it.  And then I was there for the rest of the afternoon haggling and trying to convince myself that I could really do this.

So when I came home with this today, after getting what I felt to be a really good deal, well all I can say is:

Giddyup, Pony.

Doesn't matter if you think you're a blue or red...

..You're all yellow in my mind.

Back to Econ... I know, I'm tired of writing about it too.  But two things I noticed from TPM.

First, this notion from Dems that the President should just invoke the 14th Amendment, which would essentially allow him to raise the debt ceiling without any need from Congress.  Does this solve the debt ceiling problem?  For now, yes.  Is it the way this should be done?  NO! NO NO NO NO NO!  You cowardly, yellow, spineless politicians - LISTEN UP!  DO YOUR JOB!  You were elected to lead!  Leading requires you to have to be accountable from time to time - AND NOW IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES!  Could it damage your chances of getting re-elected?  Yes.  But guess what?  In three days the United States might default on it's credit, sending the economy into another tailspin.  I don't know if you've noticed, BUT EVERYONE IS HURTING OUT HERE!  You can either do the right thing, hopefully minimize the damage you all have caused in this idiotic tango you all have been playing at the past few weeks, and be held accountable - or you can keep being the writhing, whiny little wastes of oxygen that you are, screw the pooch on this, and then STILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!  You wanted the job - DO YOUR JOB!

I'm sorry.  But that needed to be said.  In caps at times, too.

Secondly, Josh Marshall makes a really great point about how incredibly redundant and moronic it is that we are having this crisis at all.  Maybe someone should LEAD a movement in one of the DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE BODIES OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT to get rid of it.

And, now that that's all out, bedtime.  Hopefully when I wake up, someone will have an idea of who is leading this great, broke nation of ours - and with any luck it might just be the people who we chose to do it.

Drink and be merry

So, the Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) is awesome.  Like really, really awesome.  Just a review of what we sampled tonight (since anything more than that is going to be way way more that what we can handle in the condition we're in):

WINNING (THE BEST OF THE FESTIVAL)
Summer Solstice Cervesa Crema (Summer Cream Ale, 5%) - Anderson Valley Brewing of Booneville, California
Idiot Sauvin (New Zealand Style IPA, 7%) - Elysian Brewing Co. of Seattle, Washington
Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild (Strong Belgian Pale Ale, 8.7%) - Lagunitas Brewing Co. of Petaluma, California
Dark Star (Cascadian Dark Ale, 8%) - McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse of Hillsboro, Oregon
Bruce/Lee Porter (Robust Porter, 8.1%) - Prodigal Son Brewery & Pub of Pendleton, Oregon

DEFINITELY WORTH WAITING IN LINE FOR
Jackalope Imperial Pumpkin Porter (Pumpkin Porter, 7.5%) - Beer Valley Brewing of Ontario, Oregon
Donner Party Porter (American Style Imperial Porter, 8.5%) - FiftyFifty Brewing Co. of Truckee, California
Altered State (German Style Sticke Beer, 6.7%) - Hollister Brewing Co. of Goleta, California
Evelyn's Imperial Sunshine (Imperial IPA, 7.5%) - Hopworks Urban Brewery of Portland, Oregon
Hell (Munich Helles, 4.8%) - Surly Brewing of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

EHHHH...INTERESTING?
Hop Rod Rye (Rye IPA, 8%) - Bear Republic Brewing Co. of Cloverdale, California
Oranje World (Saison, 6.2%) - Black Diamond Brewing Co. of Concord, California
Girl Beer (Fruit/Session, 6%) - Boneyard Beer of Bend, Oregon
Wu C.R.E.A.M. (Cream Ale, 4,8%) - Coalition Brewing Co. of Portland, Oregon
Berried Alive! (Belgian Boysenberry Ale, 5.5%) - Old Market Pub & Brewery of Portland, Oregon

AVOID
Black & Red (Rasberry Mint Imperial Stout, 10.3%) -  Dogfish Head Craft Brewery of Milton, Delaware
Zombie Flanders (Flander Red Ale, 6.6%) - Rock Bottom Brewery of Portland, Oregon

Granted, these are not all the beers that were available.  There were 84 beers out to be tasted (ignoring the selection in the "Buzz Tent"), meaning really I only got to sample a mere fifth of what was offered there tonight.  So if you are ever this way during the last weekend of July, be sure to hit it up.  It's totally worth it.

The Rich Get Richer.

Oh don't worry - despite what the title of this post might say, this isn't going to be another one about the economy, or debt crisis, or really even money.  Well maybe money.  But not my, nor the federal government's (or lack there of).

No, this post is going to be a little post about my New England Patriots, and them somehow signing not only one of the biggest, dominating (though disgruntled) players in the game in Albert Haynesworth, but also getting one of the loudest mouths best receivers in the game in Chad Ochocinco.  In the same day. THE SAME DAY!

First, Haysworth.  He's had a troubled past - most recently on the Washington Redskins for showing up to camp incredibly out of shape despite being one of the highest paid players in the game.  And them Mike Shanahan called him on it, and barely let him play.  And I'm not saying that moving to the Patriots will change that, but you need to look at the history of what Bill Belichick and his coaching staff have done with players who aren't a good fit elsewhere/and a squeaky wheel/are considered not worth the effort or washed up.  Somehow, Belichick gets them to believe in the system and themselves, and the player becomes a solid contributor (Fred Taylor/Junior Seau) to an all out dominant force (Corey Dillon/Rodney Harrison/Randy Moss).  Haysworth will not be relied upon to be out on the field all of the time (which is what Washington was banking on him for), Belichick is too smart for that.  They'll use him situationally, a few times a series with lots of rest for the big fella so he can go in and be a playmaker, a dominant force.  Maybe it'll work.

And then there is Ochocinco.  Now, I don't really like Chad Ochocinco - the character.  But I can respect Chad Ochocinco - the football player.  And apparently he and Bill Belichick have a good relationship for having never been coach/player together.  So that makes me feel like this is gonna work, that Belichick will give Chad enough leash to "be him," and in return Ochocinco is going to take it to a level of focus that we might not really recognize him from the Bungels Bengals.  I think Chad is tired of being a sideshow attraction - I think he wants to BE THE attraction.  I think he wants a ring.  I think he want to not have to deal with a primadonna quarterback who can't live up to his potential - he wants to be operating on defenses with the surgeon that is Tom Brady.  So I think this is going to work.  And I think this is going to be fun.

And so Foxborough is again the Island of Misfit Toys.  And we have The Man Who Saved Football, BB and the Lost Boys.  Thank whatever deity you want, but thank them for this football season because it's going to be fun.

Well, on my end at least.

No econ homework tonight

Instead I'm just gonna plug for Alex Whalen, the only PhDJ.  Turn up your speakers and let your mind run for an hour.

All the Talent is in the Private Sector

In light of the last two posts here, I can't help but share this Quote of the Day over at The Daily Dish:

"I hope we gave a little lesson to the people in Washington because the debt ceiling is a lot easier to fix than this was," - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, on the NFL lockout deal.

Boehner's Cards

In the past few weeks on negotiations on this debt ceiling/spending/taxes thing, I clearly remember the President telling Eric Cantor and Speaker Boehner "not to call my bluff" on this deal.  The President wants something long term that actually addresses the problems of tax code loopholes (NOT tax increases to most Americans but rather just those who are making tons of money by cheating the system), and that addresses federal spending in areas that are the causes of our increased debt (Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, Defense).  To accomplish this, the President actually has gone against the wants of his party and constituents by offering up other sorts of entitlement programs to the GOP to show that, "Yes, I am serious about this - I'm willing to put my neck out on this to reach a compromise, now throw in your chips too."  But he said clearly: "Don't call my bluff."

Well, the House Republicans had to go and call because they think they're all friggin' cowboys and good guys don't budge on principle (even if that principle has very, very steep consequences).  And well, it looks like Boehner was holding ace-high, and not a whole lot besides that.  Saying he even had ace-high is generous, because honestly, when you get called out by the CBO for proposing something that the President has already said he won't sign and the Senate is unlikely to pass anyways, you really are holding a whole lot of crap.  Considering that he decided to step away from negotiations with President Obama when they were relatively close to a deal, and then deliver this flop (and even more pathetically, how the House Republican caucus tried to rally around it), well someone has pie on his face, and I think Speaker Boehner is tasting cream when he licks his lips.

So I guess what the endgame comes to is this:  Are the people we chose to represent us in office going to fail us and allow the nation to default on it's credit?  As The Atlantic points out, the President and his party have offered many, many concessions to negotiate a compromise and throw ourselves a rope as we head off the brink.  Even the Senate Republicans would be happy with the deal he crafted.  But the fools in the People's Chamber are the ones who want to play this deadly hand of cards with a weak hand and better options.

It makes me so mad to see these cowards controlling our country in this pivotal moment when there are so many good people who are trying to do the right thing and not play games with this.  Why did I think getting back into blogging with my family history of high blood pressure was a good idea when you could see this coming down the road?  Sigh.

The Man Who Saved Football

Robert Kraft, who despite all of the turmoil and unimaginable pain he has gone through in the past few months culminating in the loss of his wife Myra to cancer last week, selflessly worked to mediate a deal so that football players and coaches and owner and fans could have a pro football season this year.

Mr. Kraft, I am of course biased towards you because you are the owner of the team I have rooted for since I was little.  But we all owe you a great debt for your work, and our deepest condolences on the loss of your amazing wife.

Watch the video in the article, it's pretty moving.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

This afternoon was pretty eventful/entertaining/exhausting.  And just like in the Clint Eastwood classic, I ran into people who, if life could freeze frame and throw up giant words next to them, would have been contenders for the title. So let's get to it:

THE GOOD

Trek in the Park was pretty awesome.  The cast and everyone involved in the project deserve way more acclaim than the many accolades they are getting in local papers.  They took on Mirror, Mirror, which may be may favorite TOS episode (geek cred +1 for me, and +1 for you if you know what I'm talking about), and just did a really great job with it: played up the "theatre-in-the-round" part, made adjustments to accommodate the hundreds of people that showed up (though they need to get a better location, it has seriously outgrown Woodlawn Park), humor was inserted at just the right moments to remind everyone not to take it too seriously.  It was a really great experience all around.  Super, super kudos to them, and I can't wait for next year.

THE BAD

Salespeople are snakes.  Car salespeople are snakes in motor oil.  My experience today made me want to continue playing Peter Pan and keep riding my bike and never have to grow up and get a car.  I know it's their job to push cars, but seriously - after you ask me what it'll take for me to go home with one of your cars today and I tell you I'm not going home with one of their cars today, CUT THE EFF OUT!  We can be civil, hell I'll go out of my way to be cordial.  But I'm not your friend, I'm not your buddy ("Who you callin' buddy, pal?").  You can't keep changing numbers and deals on me every three minutes and think I'm gonna keep up (I'm a visual learner, damn it!).  You can't try and ice me twice and think I'm gonna fall for it - I watch football, basketball, and baseball (hell, we talked about baseball sitting there!), you aren't gonna get me on it, especially when I just watch you walk away twice and go and just flirt with the secretary for two minutes then come back and think I'm shaken.  If I want your car, I'll buy it when I damn well please.  Back off thugs.

THE UGLY

I went to a bar the other night (me, myself, and I "sharing a drink they call loneliness/but it's better than drinking aloooooone.  La lala diddy da"), and the bartender happened to be from Boston and the east coast originally.  She told me the thing that's going to take a while to get used to is the hippies and hipsters.  I've dealt with hipsters before, and hippies I can ignore, how bad can they be in this town?  Turns out - pretty bad.  Trek in the Park was LOADED with them.  Sure, you had some straight geeked out people (talking to you, guy in the DS9-style tunic.  Geek cred +1), but there were just a lot of people who I don't really know as to why they were there.  You can't do a crossword and be watching the play.  You can't be sleeping and watching the play.  Why are you wearing a kilt made of black jean material?  You know, you don't have to cut every full-length (arms or legs) article of clothing to be somewhere around three-quarter length and look like you pulled it from Axel Rose's wardrobe in 1990.  And I didn't think I could get more upset over sunglasses than those bug-looking ones wanna-be chic girls wear, but you need to cut it out with the wanna-be Ray-Bans and aviators, especially with your floral print wifebeaters, hipsters.  I just don't get it.  The fact I had a fitted baseball cap on made me feel really awkward in your sea of fluorescent hair streaking and trucker hats and cyclist caps is just not something that should happen.  So this could be an interesting part of living here.  We might need a reoccurring segment - Hipster Watch.

Oooo Weee Oooo Weee Ooooo . . . Waah Waah Waaaaaah

Tick Tick

Via Harrison, this and this should make us all feel a lot better.

Oh did I say better?  I meant hopeless; like fetal-position-in-the-corner-oh-sweet-baby-Jesus-what-are-we-gonna-do hopeless.

Screw it, I'm going to walk in the park.

UPDATE: Via Andrew Sullivan - a website for visual learners like me.

Now for real, the park.

On a lighter note

Via Andrew Sullivan:

Rated R for Really Really Right.

You want to know why I'm glad I didn't end up in government or politics?  Because of having to deal with people like the Congressional Republicans, who don't seem to realize the game they are playing with the US/world economy. What shallow, narcissistic, short-sighted individuals. And we all thought these Wall Street power brokers should have been more careful and not gambled with other peoples' money, but then you have these cavaliers who care only about getting themselves re-elected for being able to say "I stood on principle" - while the world burned around you, you twits! But I guess it's our own fault, America - these are the people we chose to let represent us. Way to care:



I love Obama at the end of this, by the way. The man is about ready to say, "You know what? You want me out? I'm gonna take my retirement four years early and hit up that sweet touring circuit to pad my daughters' inheritance. Like Palin, I'M OUT! Have fun getting kicked out of office in 2012, douchebags! I'm moving back (wink wink) to Kenya!"

Make sure everyone around you sees what is going on. Don't let these thugs pull the wool over your eyes when you next go to the voting booth. I made a mistake of not feeling like my vote mattered in 2010, that I didn't deserve to have a say - it did, I did. Remember this.

Workin' for the Weekend

This weekend?  Work.  Next weekend!  Work and move.  THE WEEKEND AFTER NEXT!

The Social Network Sacrifice

Couple good reads for today, and their kinda connected (actually, they're literally connected since I found one linking off of the other):

First via Alex Whalen, there's this New York Magazine column by Paul Ford about how Facebook and social media are removing the process of narrative, of us as people being able to tell a story as beginning, middle, end.

The second was a link I found off of the above, a New York Times op-ed by author Jonathan Frazen based off of his commencement address to Kenyon College this past spring.  His piece speaks to the fear that we as a people are losing the ability to truly love and care about things because of technology and social media like Facebook - how "liking" has become a pathetic replacement for the act of truly loving something... or someone.

As someone trying to control their dosage of "The Book," both pieces hit a cord with me, especially Frazen's.  The freedom to choose is what drives not only the market but society, and it's obvious that social media is the next revolutionary phase of how we as people communicate with one another as I've said before.  But in the same way as there need to be regulators to protect us in the "Wild West" that is capitalism and choice, there should be some sort of regulator for what we are giving into this new medium that grabs us at the most intimate, individual level.  In the same way people deserve to be informed by a reliable source of what they choose to do in the free market, they too should be made aware (or at least have to stop and think) of what they are give in to this incredible new machine, what they sacrifice on the alter of social connectivity.

Two of my friends both messaged me tonight about the new Amazing Spider-Man trailer (which I refuse to link to on principle - I am not impressed - go Google it if you really care to see it).  One sent me a text, the other left me a message on my wall.  And rather than just use the same mediums to share my thoughts with them, I decided to call.  And with both I talked for much longer than I could have honestly shared via either texting or on Facebook.  I know I felt much better talking to them, it made me nostalgic for when we lived much closer together and could banter in person on almost a nightly basis.  It reminded me of how much I valued our time, and our friendship.  And that's exactly what I feel Frazen is talking about; we are losing our ability to tightly hang on to what we in our heart-of-hearts cherish.

So the next time someone sends you a text or wall post or any sort of message what is limited by the number of characters you can at one time, blow off the return message and dial their number.  I think you'll find, like I did tonight, that the little bit of an investment it is of your time will reap you a reward that you cannot get wrapped in flat blue and white masthead.

About friggin time

Thanks, adults in the room.  Now do your job, Congress.

Break the walls DOOOOOOWN

I know - pro wrestling is fake.  Or at least the storylines and drama are, though I still think some of the people who get in the squared circle are some of the fittest, most athletic, toughest people out there.  It at least get my respect for that (like cheerleading).  But despite all that, yeah it's fake.

But then I see this on Grantland about how this guy, CM Punk, has pretty much in the course of a month has made everyone second guess what the hell is going on in there.  The guy broke the fourth wall, then talked about it in GQ.  Then won the championship.  Then walked out with the belt and no contract for the next day.  The next night, while the company is in Wisconsin shooting a live event, he's in his hometown Chicago watching the Cubbies, belt in tow.  Now obviously there is still some sort of staged story line going on, but Punk legit doesn't have a contract and legit is the champion.  It's surreal.

Well as surreal as it gets being a staged sport.  But when you recycle storylines on a yearly basis, something new is better than nothing, right?

Oh jeez, here we go again

Another year of me fanboying to no end:

Pacific Time

I just had my first experience with what few from where I'm from can comprehend.  My brother spoke of it, merely as a whisper, for to speak of it any more loudly would cause it to catch upon the wind and disappear.  A mythical event, which portrays the best of sports fandom.  I speak, of course, about watching the late game go sixteen innings, five hours and forty-four minutes, and have it only be eleven o'clock.  That is magical.

By the way, The Tres is still, if not more, amazing than the last time I wrote about it.  I love you, ESPN, in all of your self-aggrandizing glory. 

Keepin' It Real

Via Alex Whalen (I know, it's two in a row from him but the man pulls good stuff), anyone who calls the sitting President of the United States an "idealist" should take a look at this.  The man is a pragmatic realist.  I didn't vote for him because of HOPE or CHANGE - I voted for him because of his CLARITY OF VISION.  I didn't vote for him because of what HE PROMISED - I voted for him because of what HE IS.

I also love that he said this to a group of college students - the dude is still a professor at heart:

The Next Communication Revolution

Via Alex Whalen, from whom I pretty much got interested in and learned everything about communications policy and history - this article by Bill Wyman for Slate looks at the gathering storm clouds for the visual (TV, movies) entertainment industry and compares them to what technology has done to the music industry.  They can see it coming, and you know they're gonna make the same mistakes again and again.

In Alex's class I learned that whenever there is an innovation in how information is shared, it takes the private sector and the government time to catch up and be able to truly regulate it. And usually by the time they do, there's already another new piece of tech that they don't have a handle upon that is reshaping how people communicate.

Welcome to the next generation of the digital age, Hollywood.

You better hurry up, North Dakota

Off of yesterday's piece on North Dakota failing to constitutionally meet the requirements for United Statehood, we get this off the wire from CNN this morning.

Now, normally I'd be totally for splitting southern and northern California into two states.  Just ask any Californian - San Franciscans hate being in the same state as Los Angelinos, and vice versa.  They have very different cultures, very different vibes.  Not to mention the state is huge - it could spare being split up.

That is, I was until I actually saw this "conservative" Riverside County supervisor's plan:

It would be composed of 13 largely Republican counties, most of which are inland along the Nevada and Arizona state lines. The plan would exclude Los Angeles County, but would include Orange and San Diego Counties, both on the coast.

So really this is just jerrymandering, which is then backed up by his reasoning for the drastic measure of seccession:

Stone has a long list of grievances against the state and its legislators: high taxes and fees, inability to reform welfare programs, high unemployment and excessive regulations...Stone, a pharmacist and owner of an innovative compounding pharmacy, said he drew the lines for a new state by picking 13 counties that were contiguous and fiscally conservative or moderate.

The first part there is actually my favorite part, the "state officials have done all these bad things to us."  YOU VOTED THEM THERE!  It's partly your responsibility you are in this mess!  It is such a typical pseudo-conservative answer today, that now that we are in this mess for reasons we are partly accountable to the only way to solve our problem is to cut everything off completely.  Makes perfect sense!  And because taking we won't be part of California anymore, we won't have all the fiscal problems they have.  Because its the state legislators and elected officials who have done this to Riverside:

Riverside County is among the hardest hit communities by the recession and mortgage meltdown, leaving many communities pockmarked with vacant homes, Stone said.
"We are the foreclosure capital of the world," Stone asserted. "We have some areas of the county that have 25% unemployment. The average in Riverside County is about 15%."

You would think that would be the responsibility of the person supervising the county, no?  Please someone vote this guy out of office.

Every once in a while

Time seems to cover some really, REALLY interesting stories.

First, via Steve the Whaler, you can get a preview of America's new 50th state.  Aren't there fifty states already, you may ask?  Not so.

And secondly, this is just too satirical not to be covered.  Oh Europeans.

The Wild Blue Imagination

Working camp this past week, I've come to appreciate many things but the most of which is the pure, unrefined awesome-sauce you taste when you get little kids to have fun just to have fun.  I'm pretty sure, once upon a time, we old people used to call this "playing."  But the little dudes and girls really have it mastered, which is kinda funny to think about really - usually time and experience allow you to master something, but the inexperienced youth of our society are the ones who really know how to do it up right.  I can't think of any other species or example of where this really ever happens.  Kinda cool.

Anyways, what got me on this tear is a link I found on The (Daily?) Dish (part of blogging again requires one to actually do some deep reading again).  It's for Imaginawesome, an art project by artist/software engineer Garrett Miller in which he takes the submitted artwork of kids and gives it an experienced artist's touch.  The product is something like what you get to the right, but the even cooler by-product is what you get below:

Zuck's Own Medicine

Via Elysse, from Slashdot:

Mark Zuckerberg has decided to leave Google's new social network because he 'doesn't want to be tracked.'  In other news, the Internet's irony meter has just exploded.

Mean Girls v. Godzilla

College campuses frequently play host during the summer months to a variety of camps and conferences.  I happen to be helping out at one right now (http://www.starsandstripestrack.com/ DING! cheap plug).  But not all camps, nor their participants are created equal.

I have nothing against cheerleaders, except when they end up taking themselves too seriously.  I'm sure if there was any true circulation of this blog, I would receive tons of hate mail for saying that.  I'm sorry but you can't be a sport if the purpose of your activity exists entirely because of sports.  I will absolutely agree that cheerleading can require a great amount of skill, and people can put in a lot of work, and it can be very dangerous.  But so is knife throwing.  And that's not a sport.

So this past weekend the campus played host to a youth cheerleading camp.  There are few things in this world more painfully annoying than middle school girls with attitudes, superiority complexes, overly accommodating and supportive parents, and very loud, shrill voices at all times.  But then they were gone.  Balance had been restored to the Force.

As I walk home from work across campus tonight, I notice these big packs of  kids running around all over the place.  Most are wearing some form of pajamas, or what should be pajamas and not actual clothes.  Another is wearing what looks like a very colorful bathrobe.  Another wearing a panda bear on her head, and a Hello Kitty hair clip.  And there are tons of them.  Like the group (or maybe it was their street gang) that were clogging the stairway I was hoping to pass through.  We had an interesting conversation, in my passing - I couldn't tell if I was being made fun of, or if the guy who was trying to speak to me was the object of the group's laughter.  Maybe it was their laughter ringing with me all the way back to my room, or the tehehe's of the groups of girls giggling to themselves seemingly everywhere.

Japanese high schoolers, on campus for the next week.

I really need to find an apartment soon.

I Hate Economics

You know, at some point maybe the politicians in this country will realize that it's not the "liberal communist media/academic elite" nor the "right-wing, loony, gun toting, banjo playing fascists" who are leading the country down a hole it can't dig out of, but rather each's unbudging idealism.  Both claim to believe in the principles and ideals espoused by the Founding Fathers of our land - THEN START FRIGGIN' ACTING LIKE IT!  You know why we have a country and a constitution?  Because they compromised.  And at some point everyone with hands in this deficit mess is going to have to start playing and stop passing the check to the next guy.

My leftist comrades, I'm sorry but we need to curtail spending.  Yes, I know the Right was who started spending uncontrollably in the past decade.  Yes, I know you haven't gotten to really even tried governing like liberals (thanks for that point, Bill Maher).  Tough.  Times dictate measures.  You need to stop spending so much, because this deficit is ridiculous and needs to be addressed.

Oh and don't think you're getting out of this easy either, you wolf-in-sheeps-clothes conservatives.  The lefties are right (see the play on words there?) - you got us into this mess, with your wars and tax cuts for the rich and tax loopholes for corporations.  Yeah, the Dems legislation to repair the jobs and economy of our country didn't work as well as they wanted.  Yeah, maybe it was a crappy time to do the whole healthcare reform thing, but at least they were trying to address problems in our country.  So guess how we're going to get some of that money back?  Taxes.  Time to pay the piper, you ninnies.  You helped run up the check, so it's time for you to bite the bullet and start admitting that 1) we need revenue and not just spending cuts to reduce the debt, and 2) there are some problems that the federal government does have to address, like the NATIONAL DEBT.  Not Obama's debt, not Bush's debt.  The one all of us racked up.  Put your patriotism where your mouth is - it doesn't taste so good, does it?

I'm gonna close with two things:  First, I'm pretty sure Bill Simmons (yeah, the sports guy, of all people) made the incredibly astute observation (though I'm having trouble finding it, I think it's in this piece though) that the NFL lockout, the NBA lockout, and this whole deficit thing have a couple key traits in common - particularly the stubbornness of the parties involved to see how much they are messing everyone over, and the refusal of all parties to admit that they are part of the problem.

Lastly, I want to thank Steph for bringing to my attention this quote from Warren Buffet:

I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.

(Photo Credit: http://debtceilingcat.tumblr.com/)

West Side Story

Cheshire Prospects has a new home, ladies and gentlemen - Portland, Oregon.  Straight from the heartland of running, cross country, and track & field.  Stumptown.  Timberland.  The Rose City.

Speaking of roses, let's call a rose a rose - I've done a pretty pathetic job at keeping this site up to date.  Heck, I even missed our two year anniversary.  If this site were my wife, I'd be on the couch.

So that ends today.  I propose a challenge for myself (which wouldn't have been much of a challenge back in the day, but we ain't back in the day are we Cupcake?) and am going to blog everyday for the next month.  Maybe they won't be as insightful or entertaining as they once were (thanks, damaged computer), but they'll be there.  I'm going to try and provide as much insight into this new west coast easy feelin' as I can.  Game on.

In the tradition of our namesake, let's have a little quote:

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

To new adventures, and the stories to be told from them.

Well, that sums it up about right

Via Alex Whalen:

I've been asleep since ten last night, so it kinda feels like I just woke up in an alternate universe.

Sound of the Day

Via Alyssa:

Video of the Day

Via Casey, and for all of them out there that are "making" it:

Finally something about March Madness...in April



Butler Blue II is my homeboy.

 So this has probably been my favorite NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ever (I know, I said the same thing last year), for a wide number of reasons - My team was in it and played a great game against one of my other favorite teams.  My bracket was totally busted very early.  Lots of upsets.  Lots of parity.  A mid-major in the final (again).  A cinderella team that nearly every sports talking head said did not even DESERVE TO BE IN THE TOURNAMENT making it to the Final Four.  Young coaches with actual student-athletes, rather than your usual athletes posing as students until they qualify for the draft.  Every game being broadcast.  What a great three weekends of sport.

And then there's this guy - a DIII white-boy guard with A FIFTY INCH VERTICAL winning a dunk contest.  No cars, no choirs, no gimmicks.

Slow it down

So you know its gotta be a slow news day in the football world when this is the article you send to print.

Speaking of slow news, sorry about the gap in posting here at Cheshire Prospects - it's been a wild, busy few months.  We'll try to pick it up again soon.  At the very latest some of us could be unemployed again in a few months, which will clear up a lot of time in the schedule.

Primed for Madness

Via D-Will, I just go so excited to realize that March Madness is nearly upon us!  Guess who'd going to be a sleeper in my tournament bracket thanks to their pep band?

Video of the Day

Via Marchany:

Video of the Day

Supposedly this is a Super Bowl ad premiering tomorrow night, but since it's out now let's share the love:

We Three Speeches

I'm not gonna go deep here on the three political speeches given tonight, so if you're looking for that glance over to the right side of the page and click one of the political blogs.  They'll be better than me.

Let's start with the headliner - President Obama's State of the Union Address.  Pretty positive, really liked where his head is at.  Despite what the right or the left want you to believe about him, I voted the man into office two years ago because I thought he was a centrist.  And that dude showed up tonight, hitting up both what comes next and why it needs to some next.  The vision is to create a new America based investment in practical innovation leading to growth and structuring infrastructure and government institutions, but at the same time addressing our weaknesses including the debt and spending.  Now can he pull that off?  I don't know - tough to control spending when you don't hold the purse as Maddow is reminding me over my shoulder as I type this.  But it was a really good, really centrist speech that broadly addressed how we need to go forward, and the boy had his game face on.

Before I move on, just one more thing: he had some great liners in this one:  "Be a teacher.  Your country needs you."  Gays in the military right into allowing ROTC/recruiters on college campuses - that was a Paul Pierce drive into a fadeaway jumper right there.  Reforming the tax code.  Reforming the structure of government - DAMN.  He's dreaming big.

The official Republican Response by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan was, well, sobering.  I don't want to call him a buzzkill, but he did a good job reiterating that the debt is going to be a big monkey to get off our backs, and it's gonna be on there for awhile.  And while I like the new Obama "future," Paul Ryan made sure to hammer home that the debt is a serious issue we're going to have a tough ride getting to that future.  So in context, reasonable rebuttal.  Only trick is, by itself it's got some serious issues.  I still didn't hear any substantive ideas beyond "repeal health care," which isn't enough and was very limited in scope.  And then there was the apocalyptic economic fairy tale Ryan fed to America's children as they were getting tucked in - good to see that the GOP isn't tried of riding that fearmongering pony yet (you would think the poor horse would have seen greener pastures by now).  Seriously, chill out dude.

And then there was the other response.  Apparently CNN was the only network to carry Rep. Michelle Bachmann's Tea Party response (thanks again, Rachel), and I just happened to watch it on there live.  And you know, really all it did was reinforce my belief that the Tea Party isn't really a political party at all - it's a fad.  So we're gonna talk just about the debt and spending, I got that over the past year of your noisemaking.  At least the GOP and Rep. Ryan addressed that both parties in many Congresses and presidencies over many decades have caused out debt via our growing spending problems, but like so many who have jumped on the Tea Party bandwagon in the past year or so (including Bachmann), they have a problem being selective whith their histories.  Bachmann made that case that all of the peachy awsomeness and fiscal responsibility that occured during the G.W. Bush presidency was thrown to the wind when Obama came to office, and thats why we have this huge debt to dig out of now.  Man.  I just hate people with revisionist histories.  Especially if they're crazy.  Like Michelle Bachmann.

So yeah.  Go read up more from the reliable blogs on the right.  Or turn on the TV to the cable news networks and listen to the talking heads because they're always right.  Always.

A Love Letter to the New York Jets

Dear members of the New York Jets organization and all of her fans,

I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you.  I mean really, take a minute and pat yourselves on the backs.  Hell, take a week.  Or a few months (you've got a lot of time now, since your 2010-11 campaign is over).  I mean, you've taken all season patting yourselves on the backs already, so what's a little more time spent doing it really?  You all need to soak this in.

I had some semblance of respect towards you going into this season, I really did.  I didn't watch Hard Knocks on HBO this past summer where you all hyped yourselves up to no end, so I just thought of you as another good AFC East team.  Really, I had a much greater disliking of the Miami Dolphins than I did you, though I certainly respected your organizations equally.  In this age of pro-football parity, I like being in a division that represents all of the good that can come from it.  Three playoff contenders guaranteed, like the AL East in baseball, without any of the crap parity (see this year's AFC and NFC Wests).  It makes for a great football season.

But as the season drew on, I began to see you for what you were.  You're just a lot of noise.  The premiere defender holding out because of ego, and then you caving into his demands.  Then another player getting a DUI.  Then the foot porn thing.  Then being a-holes for a week leading up to the game of the season everyone was waiting for, creating the media-hyped "war of words," though clearly it was one directional and all of us having to suffer through it.  Sure you backed it up that game, and you beat my Patriots fair and square.  Good job.

But you're so classless in doing so.  And then all of these bandwagon Jets fans coming out of the woodwork to root for you.  People I've never seen talking shit before talking SO MUCH shit.  And you know why?  Because of your noise, because you act like it's okay to be douchebags, that it's okay to have no class.  Then you have real turds like this guy (I can't believe he's actually a professional writer) writing about how everyone should root for you because you're loudmouth showoffs that aren't good guys.  America needs more of you, he said, that you were role models for kids today.  What a joke.



And then you get beat today by the Steelers.  And nearly everyone outside of those people in New York who jumped on your bandwagon because 1) the Giants were out of it already and 2) pitchers and catchers don't report for the Yanks for another three weeks, were hoping you would because you guys are assholes.  You need to realize something, okay?  It takes a whole lot of douchebaggery on your part to be playing a team with a player who has repeatedly admitted to taking cheap shots at other players and another who was indited for rape, and for you TO STILL BE CONSIDERED THE ASSHOLES.

But now it's all over.  And I want you to really take the time to reflect on your season.  About the AFC East title you didn't win.  And the AFC Championship you just lost.  And the Super Bowl you've been saying for the past 5 months that you were going to be in that will be played in two weeks without you.  You earned yourself a spot right next to my Patriots as just another team who didn't make it to The Show.  And you've gotten exactly what you deserved this season.

Oh yeah baby, "1X"



Nothing.

Well, maybe some amateur foot fetish porn to remember the season by on YouTube.  But for almost all of you, I'm pretty sure that's still nothing.

At least you can go to sleep knowing you made sure someone out there in the world didn't get the nothing you did out of this season.

See you next time, jerks.

"One man can make a difference..."

Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., 1915 - 2011



"One man can make a difference, and every man should try." ~ Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis

From The Atlantic, the biographer of the late Sargent Shriver eulogizes a man who may have quietly contributed more to the shaping of and accessibility to the American Dream than many in the last half century.

Steve Stossel's book can be purchased here.

West Wing Bait

Via Sullivan, Skip Oliva highlights some crazy (awesome) constitutional paradoxes.

I should have been a constitutional lawyer.

Priorities?

Is it bad that I'm as upset about Inception losing as I am about the Patriots?

How to Dream of the Stars

Last year I went down to Washington, D.C for a dew days with my folks, and one afternoon my father and I went to the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian.  They had an exhibit there where you could walk through and there were full color, wall sized photographs of images NASA had captured via various telescopes and exploratory probes.  I was standing in front of one photograph in particular, and image one of the Mars rovers had captured of the Martian landscape, and it was as if you were standing on or celestial neighbor.  I turned to my dad and said, "If NASA wants more funding and for people to care about the space program again, they need to do more like this."  I was overwhelmed and inspired.

Via Alex Whalen, a YouTube video someone put together that attempts to capture the same spirit:

Arizona

I'll let Jon Stewart comment on this more eloquently than I can here, and ask you all to meditate upon this quote as I have:

"Be kind; for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Reverand John Watson