All posts by James DeVol

Sports

Thank You Red Wings

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Well…this is a post I didn’t want to write…our Wings lost to the Sharks last night and are out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I don’t know how I feel about this right now…as you can tell, it’s late in the day and I couldn’t bring myself to write anything until now.

One of the things that makes this a sad day is the all too real possibility that we have seen Nick Lidstrom play his last game for the Wings. It’s hard to let go of one of your favorite players, but even harder to let go of such a great person as Nick; the only other time I felt this way was when Stevie Y retired…I’m glad I got to see his last game and that I stayed up to watch all of Nick’s.

I know we’ll have a revamped team with many of our favorites gone next year; that’s something I’ll touch on tomorrow.

Thanks again, Red Wings!

Politics

News and how we get it..

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This is just a placeholder for now. I want to talk about how people get their news and what I think we’re missing by limiting our exposure to opposing ideas.

Back later for more…well, I’m back and to elaborate on the title…and try to make sense to both you and me. This post was in response to the news of the week that the news magazine “Newsweek” has been put up for sale with a future that looks like what has happened to other icons of the American news scene; it’s eventual closure. This has made me somewhat nostalgic for the news environment that I grew up in…that included Life, Look, and other magazines where we could get an unbiased, in-depth type of news that exists in few places today. But, I think I’m using nostalgia not as a wistfulness for what was, but more to point out the differences in the news and it’s reporting from my youth and what it is today; a partisan tool that is used for distraction or political gain.

I think I was really fortunate to grow up in my time, where you could trust the media to report the facts but that has handicapped me somewhat for today…I still trust some outlets to report facts and I am well-read and intelligent enough to be able to see those that don’t. As I talk to my youngster friends and others, I see a large problem that has arisen from this polarization of media and government in general…the public been taught over the past 20 years not to trust anyone; and that their analysis of the news etc. no matter how puerile or shallow , has the same value as someone who is an expert in the field. In this environment, opinion has taken on the same weight as fact, and facts seem to be changeable related to how many times you repeat falsehoods.

As more and more of the truth-tellers in the media fail and disappear since the appetite for truth has been replaced by polemic, the opportunity for a person to get to the truth is drowned out by the loudest, most well-funded voices. Geez….

Sports

Let’s Go Red Wings!!!

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Well….game time is almost here and I am getting excited…this should be fun if Howard can keep us in it for about the first 10 minutes or so…or if Frantzen can do the same thing he did last game. Have never seen a performance like that but I did see his hat trick against Colorado two years ago live and only 7 rows from the glass with G. Man, you could feel the wind from the players coming down the ice and the speed just seems so much faster in person; it was also cool to have them slam the glass and have it rattle like crazy.

So…on that note LET’S GO RED WINGS!!!!!!

My Life

May 8th

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Well…wanted to get a post out before I dive into cleaning up this mess…have been working hard on slowing down and making my life a little more languid. Don’t know why I still feel the need to get all the tasks of life done as fast as possible; I guess it’s that I still am struggling with the fact that the journey is the thing, not the destination. So, I’m going to make the effort with today’s cleaning, cooking, and writing to enjoy the process and shift down a gear..after all, where do I have to be?

I do have my Red Wings gear on already and I am excited to see which team comes out at 10….my prediction of a 4-2 series win for us is out the window but as long as we’re are playing, I’ll still have hope….let’s stretch this out until at least Monday!!

Go Wings!!!

My Life

Music and Me….more onion skin…

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If there is anything that anyone knows about me is how important music has been to me all of my life and that fact makes it inevitable that I would want to share how that came to be…but the problem is that I really don’t know why intellectually; it’s like seeing a painting that immediately evokes a response but to try to explain it to anyone else then pollutes their reaction to it. Or, it invokes an argument on the meaning where there is no need for one since art can and should mean different things to different people. Does that make sense? I guess music has helped me to understand that we are not alone in the world for one thing; it is a shorthand that connects us to shared thoughts and feelings and even at times has helped me realize that there are emotions to be felt that had never been a part of me.

I’ll get specific in a later post….

My Life

Let’s clarify…

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I don’t want you to think that an earlier post was a screed against the wealthy since it wasn’t. But I also want to make clear that people that have a lot of money don’t impress me; it’s what they DO with the money that can impress me. People like Peter Cook, Bob Israels, and the DeVos’s and VanAndels who have used their wealth to make Grand Rapids and Michigan a better place to live.

Still don’t like the idea of having rich people’s names on everything around here, though.

My Life

May 7th

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I hope you remembered that when you see a date in the title, it’s going to be about my life and thoughts…just thought I’d remind you so you don’t get your expectations too high…or have any at all since this is just a guy talking.

That was a fun time last night out at LC with G but I don’t know how long we can sustain the bar tabs that are approaching a hundred bucks. Yep, and just for two people. But we did get a coupon for two free steak dinners for knowing the answer to the question: “What is the make and model of the car from the movie Christine?” I knew it was a Plymouth Fury and was the only one…gave the answer to the bartenders since G and I weren’t playing trivia but were watching the Wings game. Don’t know how good they will be but, in this part of Michigan, free is better than good for most people.

Taking the day off from riding since it’s raining like crazy and I think 22 days in a row is enough…the legs were starting to feel dead and it was making the rides not a lot of fun..

I’m starting to feel better since it’s close to noon and I’m going to watch the Wings game again since I couldn’t hear it last night and I want to hear Ken and Mickey. More later…

Politics

Delusional Trust Fund Babies

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Well…have to comment on the recent speech by Eric Prince (founder of Blackwater) in Holland and the coverage that the comments have been given in the Grand Rapids Press. Let’s be clear, Prince is the founder of a mercenary organization that is still under investigation for the murder of Iraqi citizens and has damaged the U.S.’s reputation in the world with it’s cowboy antics and lawless behavior. It’s sins were so egregious that Prince changed the name to XE services to try to hide in plain sight, knowing that the activities of his organization had irreparably damaged the name Blackwater.

But now to the comments that were quoted in the Press that ranged from “he’s a wonderful man” to “this country would be a better place if there were more people like Mr. Prince”. More people that were born on third base in life and was taught that he hit a triple? More people that used his daddy’s money and connections to feed at the public trough? More people that have lived the life of privilege and feel that the rules don’t apply to him? He went so far as to impose a condition for his speaking that there would be no press at the luncheon; he did relent to allow press but still would not allow any audio or video recording of his speech.

Mr. Prince is just another of the class of GW Bush and others who, without his family connections or money, would have ended up managing a McDonalds somewhere and no one would be listening to them. I’m tired of these types that have never had to work a day in their lives telling me what is best for me or the middle class. Geez…

Sports

Supernova Red Wings

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Well..that was a good game last night…had a ton of fun out with G and feel kind of crappy this morning. But, in my opinion, what we saw was more like a supernova burning off the last of its fuel than a sustainable move to higher energy and performance. I love the guys but to expect them to do that again is probably what I said to T last night…”an irrational hope”. But, I’ve never been accused of being that rational….

Go Wings! Looking forward to Saturday…..

My Life

May 6th

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Well…that’s enough outrage for the day, huh? But I couldn’t help myself…the targets were just so easy that I had to take the shot. Started to get over the headaches from yesterday and the imminent depression seems to be lifting..I know partially due to lunch with T. yesterday; thanks again. One weird thing that happened yesterday was another attack by the geese that infest the trails that I ride every day. Have a big fricking bruise on my arm from it…I wonder how they taste?

Well… it is do or die tonight for the Wings and I am kind of apprehensive…will probably watch with G or a small group…think the festiveness has gone out of watching but I’m still rooting for them.

More onion skin for tomorrow…I promise.