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Sweet Papa Crimbo

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    Politics 2015

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

     TTP, Iran nuke deal, Cuba, keystone, China hacking, NSA data mining, ISIS, the Proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran (not to mention the troubles festering in Eastern Europe)....

    Debate and discussion over these issues are being drowned by the noise from the buffoon (Trumps) and a silly debate over the Confederate Battle Flag.

     

    Whether you lean left or right, you must see that the national attention is being constantly diverted. We are in trouble.

    Baseball Season 2015

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    It's time for me to make a sports apology...a mea culpa, if you will.

    At the end of April, I was convinced the Rangers were snakebit and were on their way to another disastrous year of crappy baseball. They have a pretty good starting rotation...ON THE DISABLED LIST: Darvish, Harrison, Holland, Perez and Tepesch. A team could contend with that rotation.
    What a difference a month makes. Where Choo wasn't hitting his weight and Fielder was a .350 singles hitter, they are now what we expected: an On Base machine and a Masher. Moreland is hitting like it was expected the Minor league player of the year in 2010. Plus, we are seeing the beginning of the legend of Joey Gallo (yeah, he strikes out a bunch, but when Adrian is done...we have a good answer for the cleanup spot AND third base). Odor struggles in his second big league year? No problem, The Rangers bring up the minor league defensive player of the year who is proceeding to hit .330 and win a permanent stay (that would be one Hanser Alberto).
    After watching Nicke Martinez show that he learned how to pitch after a rough last year, and wathcing rookie Chi Chi Gonzalez throw a complete game shutout in his second start and start his career with 15 straing scorelss innings, and watching a retread Wandy Rodriguez throw a gem today I am convinced that the best may YET be to come.

    In the next month, they will get Holland back; Perez and Harrison should be ready around the All-Star break. The Rangers may be approaching the ultimate Nirvana for a Baseball team: TOO MANY QUALITY STARTING PITCHERS.
    Looks like instead of an uninspiring Summer, it may be really fun!

    Most important band/artist in your life, checking in every 5 years

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    5 (1965) --- The Beatles

    10 (1970) --- The Beatles/Bobby Sherman (I had a 16 year old sister...)

    15 (1975) --- The Beatles/Bruce Springsteen

    20 (1980) --- Bruce Springsteen

    25 (1985) --- Bruce Springsteen/REM/U2

    30 (1990) --- Bruce? (I had just had a kid and I really didn't have much time for music)

    35 (1995) --- Bruce/U2/Pearl Jam...and then I discovered Wilco

    40 (2000) --- Bruce/Wilco

    45 (2005) --- Wilco

    50 (2010) --- Wilco

    55 (last Friday) --- Wilco/My Morning Jacket

    Wilco — 4/22/15, Dallas, TX (McFarlin Auditorium)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    That looks like a great setlist. They even threw in a bathroom break in the middle (Impossible Germany). I might have to try to find a recording of this one. Sorry I missed it. But I live too far out to hit a late, midweek concert.

     

    I really struggled as to whether or not to go to this one

    I'm old.  

    I'm tired.

    My concert buddy is in College (my wife won't go to shows with me anymore and my daughter has to be at work at 7am).

    McFarlin is a bit of a beast with respect to tickets and parking.

    I probably made a mistake...but I'm not falling asleep at work today . It won't be the last time I make a mistake.

    Last week may have been my worst ever

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    Sorry this is so lengthy, but I need to get this off my mind.

     

    Last week was one of the most trying of my life.

     

    Early Friday morning (the 13th) my daughter's best friend died in a car crash. This young woman had been a fixture at our house and had even lived with us for a time. Needless to say, we were crushed. My daughter was distraught, and there was absolutely no comfort that we could offer.

    She surrounded herself with friends and the family.

     

    Then...Sunday morning at 7:30, my wife got a call from her mother that her father had passed away. He had been suffering (key word suffering) from dementia, and had been in hospice care for a couple of months. As he was Muslim, the traditional Muslim practice was followed. We all gathered at the Mosque for the 'service' the next afternoon.

     

    Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with some of the basic strictures of Islam, let me expound a bit. Muslims are prohibited by their faith from attending funeral services of a non-Muslim. My father in law did not come to my mother's funeral for this reason. My brothers in law, son and nephews were a bit nervous about the proceedings and I tried to do a search about proper etiquette. Luckily, although Muslims are prohibited from attending, non-Muslims are allowed (though not welcomed with open arms.

     

    My Brother in law (wife's brother...son on the deceased) had been estranged from the family for several years (bad personal choices...in-laws had enough of it), so there was no Male member of the family who attended to some of the more intimate aspects of the preparation (i.e. washing of the body).

     

    The women must have their heads covered and are fully segregated from the men. My wife has some very angry opinions about being treated as property. They were ushered into a conference room where they could see the 'service' through a one way window.

     

    All muslims are encouraged to attend every funeral whether they know the deceased or not. Most of the men in attendance did not know Al.

     

    The bodies are not embalmed. They are covered in a shroud with cotton inserted into the mouth, nostrils and ears. The body is displayed in a bier. The congregation gathers and says prayers for the deceased starting after the body is presented. Some of the more devout pray. Others sit and visit.

     

    The male relatives were ushered in and we viewed the body. The un-embalmed body looks really dead. I know this may sound silly, but it is much more obvious that there is no spark in the body.

     

    The 'service' consists of a series of prayers. It seemed like one prayer was said four times and followed by a longer prayer. After reading more about this, I am still not sure.

     

    After the prayers the body is carried by the members to the graveyard. The body in the bier is passed from shoulder to shoulder and  involves quite a bit of jostling. The next time you see a funeral procession on the TV news, understand that the jostling can get pretty hectic...the more emotional the funeral, the more agitated the jostling. We, the male relatives followed the group and the women followed at a distance.

     

    At the gravesite, the body is lowered into grave. In the State of Texas, I presume a concrete liner is required, as there was one in the grave. From what I was told, the women are normally not allowed to attend the actual burial, but my wife, her sisters and Mother were allowed to attend...although a good 50 feet from the actual grave. The burial was in East Texas, and there was an issue with ground water, a sump pump and a backhoe which I won't expound on.

     

    The body is lowered into the grave and congregation members throw dirt onto the body before the lid to the liner is placed. The members then shovel or throw dirt onto the liner. A Backhoe finishes filling the grave. Then the imam says a final prayer.

     

    At no time during this service were we instructed where to stand or what we should do. We all stood in respectful silence at a distance from the Congregation. It is though we were being tolerated...not welcomed.

     

    After the service, several men of the congregation who knew Al came over an expressed their condolences. Those who didn't know Al almost to a man thanked US for coming to the service. Realize what I'm saying here: Strangers thanked family members for attending the funeral of a loved one. We were not of the faith, not of the community and not included.

     

    I'm not trying to indicate that this service was wrong or incorrect. It was just so totally foreign to my western experience. No consolation was offered to the family and we were decidedly not included.

     

    My daughter's friend had died in a one car accident. The driver was 2x the legal limit. Her body was thrown 100 feet from the can and she apparently died on impact.

     

    My daughter was beside herself. Her friend had been making some bad choices and my daughter says she had a death wish. She had suffered from scleroderma and this led to her having certain issues with behavior.

     

    My daughter was very close to the parents and she took the lead in funeral preparations. This helped her cope and it allowed her to feel like she was being helpful and not helpless. She arranged for a church to host the service, helped with the arrangements for the body (as the body was involved in a criminal case, it was not released to the family until Thursday).

     

    As could be expected, the embalmer was not able to make the body presentable. My daughter came home after viewing the body Friday in tears. The family opted for a closed casket at the ceremony.

     

    My daughter's friend was well known in her field and her death and funeral service went viral. A local news station did an interview with my daughter about the victim, although my daughter was worried they were fishing for information on the driver ( who was charged wit intoxication manslaughter).

     

    During all this, my best friend's father died.

     

    Additionally, while visiting my father after my father in laws funeral, he announced that he had a malignancy on his kidney. At the age of 87, he's decided to 'let it ride'.

     

    To continue the carpet bombing, I somehow tore a ligament in my elbow Wednesday.

     

    No matter what comes this week, I know it will be better than last week.

     

    No need to  respond. I just had to catalogue the events of one really, really bad week.

     

     

    What To Call A Wilco Fan?

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    Hmm I also like Springsteen & The ESB ( whom's fan base has no nickname )

     

     

    Ever heard of the term "Brucetramp"?

    Maybe not 'official', but is pretty universal.

    How about something along the lines of "Wilco Fan"?

     

    We don't really need some meta, self referential, self reverential term to express our fandom, do we?

    Hot Stove Season---2014 Baseball Season Redux

    in Tongue-Tied Lightning

    Posted

    Probably the largest contract in North American sports history that is now in a locked thread?

     

    If that suprised you...you have a low threshold.

    Joe Maddon managing the Cubs was a surprise to me.

     

    I guess extremely high $$ contracts don't surprise me anymore ---- I thought owners would have learned their lessons over the past 10 years or so - since many of these large $$ contracts haven't quite panned out.

     

    Hard to believe that the Rays managed to totally disembowel their franchise with two front office moves.

    Best Albums of 2014 (so far)

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    I don't always remember what was released this year...but here's a reasonable attempt. (I bought a load of stuff...but mostly older stuff)

     

    Gary Clark Jr         Live

    The War on Drugs    Lost in the Dream

    Tweedy      Sukierae

    Drive-By Truckers     English Oceans

    U2     Songs of Innocence

    Queen     Live at the Rainbow ‘74

    The Fauntleroys    Below the Pink Pony

    Bob Dylan and the Band   The Basement Tapes Complete

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