Hmmmm…just made a pot of coffee and have a History channel show on called “Nostradamus 2012″ running in the background and that kind of fits with something I read in the Washington Post this morning. In an article called “Faith Without Religion”, Martha Woodruff attempts to define what her faith is to her and how she came to hold those views; trying to get discussion going on what faith is and how other people practice theirs. What was striking to me is in the comments that were published in response to the article and points out one of problems that I’ve written about in earlier posts: that the ability to listen to new ideas that are dissimilar to our own and talk about them rationally has disappeared in today’s society.
The two poles of the discourse were represented (although the defenders of organized religions outnumbered the non-believers by nearly 10-1) and were predictable with the atheists positing that any belief in an invisible super-being was delusional and the believers predictably arguing that they have the “correct” answers and beating her over the head with citations from the Bible. What really struck me was that most of the comments were there to try to convince the writer where she was wrong, not to have a rational conversation on what they have in common. Now, I’ll admit here that I grew up in a faith that I thought had some really great principles to live by and has partially shaped who I am today, but the idea of an all-powerful, invisible, super being that controls everything is just too juvenile to me, especially with what we know of how the Bible came to be and the superstitious nature of the times when it originated. Do we still believe in the medicine of that time?
Oh, the connection between the Nostradamus show and the discussion? Well…in the show they are taking all of the obscure and murky writings of Nostradamus and devoting two hours to speculation and interpretation; taking it seriously as science when it’s just a lot of bunk. Similar to what has been done with the Bible and faith. Just my opinion…no death threats please…
Well… here we are, another Sunday, another must win Wings game. Okay, it’s not really a must win but it would be nice to win it don’t you think? I think we played pretty well last game but Jimmy Howard has to get going early, and let’s not put all of the weight on his shoulders. Getting Nik Kronwall involved with a few big hits would go a long way to energizing the whole team as would a few goals by Homer or Frantzen.
I’m still putting a buck on Hank when we go out to watch this one; at least for the first perlod (no, that’s not a typo). Three years ago FSD (or Versus) misspelled period in one of the streamers that ran along the bottom of the screen, and, when beer and shots of whiskey are involved, that misspelling seemed really funny and took on a life of it’s own. So, for a few of us, it has been PERLOD ever since…yeah, I know, but we take our fun wherever we can find it.
Well…it’s Saturday and I’ve gotten all of the things I wanted to do done…but the goals were not too ambitious so I should probably stop feeling good about it. I do have at least one musing that I need to pass on; this came from a conversation I had with a friend of mine (thanks C)…and it’s about an observation that I made a month or so ago. That was one of the first times that I walked into a bar (you can substitute a coffee shop or any other place that contain women as part of the population) and not one head turned to look at me. Not one. I’m no great shakes in the looks department but I’ve had my share of attention in my day. It made me want to jump up and down like an idiot just to see if it was a convention of blind people…no such luck since it appeared that other people were being observed. Even the completely average looking guy that walked in behind me got at least a couple of women to look at him. But he was in his 20′s so that may have made a difference, or maybe not, I don’t know. I do know that it has started to happen to some of my younger friends, too, I wonder if it is contagious? Is there a vaccine?
So, I guess my next move is to figure out how to use my newfound invisibility for the public good…like some kind of superhero….
I’ll keep you updated as this disease develops…;-)
I’ll be filling in my thoughts tomorrow…this is kind of a placeholder until then….tune in later…
HI…I’m back, I was reading the newspaper a couple of days ago and there was a story about the increase in violence that has been occurring in many of the road rage incidents that happen across Michigan. There have been shootings, stabbings, and beatings along with the mayhem of using a two ton weapon to what? Protect your manhood? Or womanhood, since these incidents are not exclusively a male phenomenon. But, the road rage incidents are not really the topic today; it is just a symptom of what I see as a lack of reasonableness that is polluting society today. It is one of the things that the great author Robert Heinlein saw as a signpost in the decline of any civilization; the lack of manners and common courtesy that the citizens show each other on a daily basis.
I know I was going somewhere with this…..well…I guess I just want to say that most times, you can choose how you react to the things that happen in life…I know I was taught that it was a value to think and to react to life and politics in a thoughtful, measured way, and the shouters were idiots that did not deserve attention. What happened??
Well…nothing really earth-shattering today, it has been a good day so far…worked out for the 5th day in a row and took a long bike ride this morning. The bike is working so well I was grinning like an idiot all through the ride and put in about 15 miles; the weather was so nice even at 10:30 that it was hard to come home. Will probably go out again for a leisure ride with no sprints to just look around and take some of the paths that are less traveled.
I know I promised that the onion will start to be peeled but it’s still rattling around in my head and I can’t make sense of how I want to present it. I probably should just make it free form and write about what pops into my head. Might be making it more work than it has to be. So, again, I promise more tomorrow.
Well…if we could wipe out the 2 minutes that the Sharks scored three goals, it would have been a good game. I think it was still a good game since we were not outplayed. Howard just looked shaky but that has been his pattern throughout he first round so that’s not really a surprise. We still need to take one in their building so Sunday should be fun…still have to go out to see it but with it being at 8, I can get some other people to go out that are real fans. The people in the bar last night were quite annoying and loud; at least the place had gone non-smoking a few days early so I didn’t have to breathe in all that smoke. Still kind of ambivalent about the new law here in Michigan but I don’t smoke so I don’t really care.
More tomorrow but it is such a nice day today that I’m just not that motivated.
Go Wings!
Here we go again…I kind of like this short 2 day rest between series; I like even better that the Sharks have been off since last Saturday and I hope they are just a little rusty. The one thing I hate is the fact that the first two games are on Versus that I would have to pay for another 250 channels on the dish to get. What the heck is wrong with the NHL. I know they make money from Versus, but to take a lower bid and have them on ESPN would give them a much larger audience. In my opinion that is, I’m just a little irritated that I have to go out to see the game since Thursday is supposed to be a rest night.
Well… I stand by my pick of the Wings in 6 and have a lot of company from the sports writers at the Free Press…and I made my prediction yesterday or the day before, I can’t remember. So I’m first….yay!
Go Wings!!
Click on sports and look down..it was yesterday…;-)
Well…Another night out that was fun but lost at pool again…felt like crap when I got up this morning but was okay by lunch and the bike ride. I was going to start the process of “peeling back the onion” today but I’m just not in the mood and there is nothing striking that is popping into my head. I think it will be somewhat like the next novel that I’m thinking of writing that has a working title of “Sledding on the Refrigerator Door and Other Stories of Life” that is going to chronicle life growing up in the poor, odd family that is mine. Don’t really know yet but the neat thing is, I get to choose.
Hmmm…it was a nice night last night with the Wings winning and I got my bike back from the shop…thank you Village bike for re-cabling it and only charging 15 bucks…took the first 10 mile run this morning and it may need just a little more adjustment but I was grinning. The Steely Dan was perfect for a cool, crisp, and extremely bright morning. Oh, you are going to hear a lot about the Dan over time…it’s my favorite group and Donald and Walter (Fagen and Becker) speak to me like no other band. Their stories of losers, love, loss, and old guys and young women (think Babylon Sisters or Hey Nineteen) resonate with me as one who considers himself at the fringes of society living a life that not many 56 year olds live. More on the old guy, young women thing later…but I have to thank G for her jumping in with both feet a few times that have caused the people around us to stare.
Well…I have to warn you that this is the space that I will be peeling back the layers of what it is to be an old guy with a young one trapped inside, and I am still not sure of how much to share but maybe I’ll just think if it would embarrass my kids, I probably won’t share it.
On that note, the plans for tonight are the same as any Wednesday…out to Ada to play pool with Tom and try to not drink too much.
Well….that was just a great game by our Wings last night…100 percent effort for the whole game for a change but I do have to say that I am concerned that they have leaned the bad habit of thinking they can just turn it on when they need it. Kudos to the Coyotes for a tough, hard fought series, and the classiness of their fans at the end of the game reminded me that, of any sport, hockey brings out the best of sportsmanship in both the players and fans. Good luck to them next year!
Don’t know how I feel about going up against the Sharks but I like the idea of a short layoff and then right back into action. Also don’t know if I believe in the notion of momentum but I think the last game did say one thing: That the Wings still have the ability to bring it for at least one game at a time…I just hope it’s not just one game at a time. Can’t wait ’til Thursday!!
Let’s go Red Wings!
Oh, forgot to put in my prediction for the next series…I will admit that I was wrong about the last one; I picked the wings in six and it went seven…going to say the same thing for this one: Wings in six!