Happy Wednesday, pals.
(Stick with it to the shake.)

Our team ... is an Awesome Team!

See, first you get the kids chanting "U.S.A." with some super-secret hidden meaning, then you get chants like this, and authorities begin to suspect it's not a spontaneous showing of love and respect for the Lord either.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Catholic school principal has organized sensitivity training for students who shouted "We love Jesus" during a basketball game against a school with Jewish students.
...
"It was obviously in reference to the Jewish population of Norfolk Academy; that's the only way you can take that," said Dennis W. Price, principal of the Virginia Beach school.

8 Still Standing...

Here are the state hockey matchups then, with the quarterfinals set for Thursday, March 1 at the Alliant Energy Center/Dane County Coliseum.

Tomah vs Homestead (11am)
Superior vs Kettle Moraine/Mukwanago (app.1:15)
Stevens Point v. Fond du Lac (5pm)
Eau Claire Memorial v. Madison West (app.7)

And here are the weekend's scores, if you were tracking how they came here:
Tomah over Wisconsin Rapids, 3-2
Homestead over Arrowhead, 5-2

Superior over New Richmond, 5-0
KM/Mukwanago over Waukesha Catholic, 4-3

Stevens Point over Mosinee, 5-4
Fond du Lac over Appleton, 5-0

Eau Claire over Hayward, 6-0
Madison West over Edgewood 3-2

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Mourning becomes Electra...

... but you should see her when the skies are blue!
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Friday Flashback:
Patti Smith on Kids are People Too, circa 1979.

She takes some questions from the audience -- which oddly appears to be all girls, perhaps owing to the later appearance of Adam Rich -- and follows up with a popular song of the time, The Rose.

No, just kidding. It's another electric classic, You Light Up My Life. Take it away Patti. And make it a great Friday, folks.

Sun in wintertime...

We will do just fine.

Surely you know the work of singer/songwriter Victor Willis? For the royalties alone, we salute him this Black History Month.

C'mon people and make a stand
C'mon protect the mother land...

HiHoSilver ... Away.

USC hockey goalie Mickey Meyer was ejected and ticketed for lewdness in Utah, during a game with BYU.

Police said Meyer rode his stick like a horse, dropped his bulky goalie pants and slapped his bare butt several times.

According to The Herald-Journal of Logan, Meyer told an Internet broadcast of the game that he had his fill of the refs.

BYU ends up winning 6-4;
prosecutors mum on bringing charges.

I was following the hockey scores, not college hoops last night but Paul tips us to this little nugget:

Oh, and did you see the beginning of the LSU-Kentucky game in Kentucky? Did you notice the ESPN cameraman who lingered just a little too long on the fan holding the "Tim Hardaway Hates LSU" sign? They held the shot for 3 long seconds, at which point the producer and the cameraman realized simultaneously that this was offensive and you got the standard "fast cutaway/fast pullaway." Way to go Kentucky. At least it's impossible for me to think any less of you than I already did.

Lol. Really, my take on that whole Hardaway flap was 1) boy, the media doesn't have much heavy-lifting stories on their plates these days, eh? 2) poor lil Penny. Surely I'm not the only fair-weather basketball follower who originally mistook the two players.

Seriously though, if this recent revelation, or fresh breath of honesty as it was billed in so many circles, is needed to remind some that it's not a QueerEye WillnGrace world afterall, wonderful. Nevermind being politically correct; it's more important to get things correct in a legal sense here to provide a workable framework for growing numbers of families.

Truth is, it really doesn't matter what people believe in their heart of hearts, or what they think. They can keep that, same as now. The Law only trumps your beliefs when they become actions that interfere with somebody else's legal rights. It's a lesson to be learned by different actors and groups throughout this country's history; nothing personal.

Enough words wasted on that one. Besides, don't we all know, if he was still playing and it wasn't just a hypothetical, Hardaway would be playing alongside that teammate, begrudgingly maybe, but of course he'd be there, just like Isaiah Washington somehow found it in himself to show up to the set. That's how change comes, and sometimes it's not pretty and strong language gets used: You keep going for "Correct" -- not politically correct-- and you keep faith that there's still enough people around and coming up to tell the difference.
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*Thanks for noting this, and sorry for your loss.
Maybe it will help them in the long run.(?)

Britain begins to give.

Compare and contrast our times and leadership success with these?
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October 29, 1941
Harrow School

Almost a year has passed since I came down here at your Head Master's kind invitation in order to cheer myself and cheer the hearts of a few of my friends by singing some of our own songs. The 10 months that have passed have seen very terrible catastrophic events in the world - ups and downs, misfortunes - but can anyone sitting here this afternoon, this October afternoon, not feel deeply thankful for what has happened in the time that has passed and for the very great improvement in the position of our country and of our home? Why, when I was here last time we were quite alone, desperately alone, and we had been so for five or six months. We were poorly armed. We are not so poorly armed today; but then we were very poorly armed. We had the unmeasured menace of the enemy and their air attack still beating upon us, and you yourselves had had experience of this attack; and I expect you are beginning to feel impatient that there has been this long lull with nothing particular turning up!

But we must learn to be equally good at what is short and sharp and what is long and tough. It is generally said that the British are often better at the last. They do not expect to move from crisis to crisis; they do not always expect that each day will bring up some noble chance of war; but when they very slowly make up their minds that the thing has to be done and the job put through and finished, then, even if it takes months - if it takes years - they do it.

Another lesson I think we may take, just throwing our minds back to our meeting here ten months ago and now, is that appearances are often very deceptive, and as Kipling well says, we must "…meet with Triumph and Disaster.* And treat those two impostors just the same."

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period - I am addressing myself to the School - surely from this period of 10 months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.

Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer.

You sang here a verse of a School Song**: you sang that extra verse written in my honour, which I was very greatly complimented by and which you have repeated today. But there is one word in it I want to alter - I wanted to do so last year, but I did not venture to. It is the line: "Not less we praise in darker days."

I have obtained the Head Master's permission to alter darker to sterner. "Not less we praise in sterner days."

Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.

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*IF-

IF YOU CAN KEEP your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream-and not make dreams your master,
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same,
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!

~Rudyard Kipling




**When Churchill visited Harrow on October 29 to hear the traditional songs again, he discovered that an additional verse had been added to one of them. It ran:

"Not less we praise in darker days
The leader of our nation,
And Churchill's name shall win acclaim
From each new generation.
For you have power in danger's hour
Our freedom to defend, Sir!
Though long the fight we know that right
Will triumph in the end, Sir!

Sweet Sixteen.

Yes, it's that time of year again. Prep hockey playoffs. Here are the sectional brackets and homepage.

Some familiar names posting wins tonight:
Superior, Stevens Point, Fond du Lac, Eau Claire Memorial, Arrowhead, Appleton, Mosinee, Mukwanago, Madison West, Tomah, Hayward, Wisconsin Rapids, New Richmond over Hudson, and 3 teams winning in OT: Edgewood edges Middleton, Homestead over Univ.School-Milwaukee, Waukesha Catholic Memorial over Stoughton.

I'm partial to Sectional #1, in the northwest part of the state. NR, Hudson, Superior. Just getting to state is always a fight; I'd like to see the winner take it all this year.

Still, check out the top 10 rankings this season (top two undefeated, followed by last year's champ) and we see it looks like there will be another highly competitive few days down here in March.

Exciting for fans!

New Life

Late last year,
I snipped and rooted this houseplant (forefront) as it was becoming too tall and scraggy, losing leaves from the bottom. I know this type roots well, with a thick quick-growing system that requires a few transplantings as it outgrows containers.

Wish I would have taken a picture in the vase, before I put the original stem back in the dirt. The roots had roots! Watching the delicate growth was interesting to me, and the base of the stem in the large plastic container was pushed into the back of my utility closet, to later reuse the dirt.

After pulling it out end of January after weeks of dormancy, I saw two sprigs of new life, similar to the one in the front shown here. With the snow covering, the cold but sunny days, and selected placement in a southeast facing room, they really took off. Maybe quarter to half an inch growth every day now on these two, just sitting in the sun and soaking up well water.

Live and learn tip to self:
I would have clipped a little higher to the shedding leaves before rooting next time, since we're still a bit straggly. But I think putting it back in with the newly revived original plant will end up filling out the lower spaces nicely as it grows. We'll see in another few months...

*bump*

Do you watch videos in the morning?

If I were to set up a poll:
Is it me, or could the blonde drop out of the tune here? Pretty tho.

Final thoughts.

What do you think of that Iranian "diplomat" kidnapped in Iraq? Do you think he is being tortured/coerced right now so we can learn more? Do you think this will be enough to "provoke" Iran? I don't. But we'll keep watching and see. These things never turn out good, do they?

Someone mentioned earlier re. that whole astronaut thing, it seems a bit like a Chandra Levy/Gary Condit news cycle we've fallen back into. Very Sept. 10th you might say. Not that I forsee attacks on us, but keep your eyes on the real balls being thrown around, eh folks? Don't you always wonder, what's coming next?

A few weeks back, I saw Our Daily Bread. Excellent footage, and if you know a bit about agriculture, you will recognize some things and enjoy watching. Filmed in Europe, I left thinking I would feel very comfortable if American "industrial food production" standards were as shown. Scrubbing down the equipment at the end, manually taking out dead stock, efficiently harvesting white asparagus, the obvious strength in the bodies of the workers... Hell, you wonder how long the sheet metal fabricators worked to figure out exactly how much "bump" a little chick can take and survive. Amazing to watch.

If you've heard the usual talk/controversy about food issues, watch the film and see what you think. Very educational, watching the work techniques.
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Climbing Iowa ice silos.

General thoughts.

Rudy Giuliani, eh?
I just don't see it from voters in my circles.*
We will see, but how far his accomplishments from those who supported him as NY mayor will take him nationally... I just don't see enough people buying this package. We shall see.

*He'll need the Catholic** vote, those Reagan "blue collar" democrats, right? It's not the social conservatives, but the moderates I'd be worried about if him. It's that they're pro-life all the way around, and most are sick of the unnecessary death globally.*** And they're humble enough to acknowledge that certain actions helped unleash it...
** I know he is a Catholic, but there are many many degrees. And I also don't think you can count on this group's support because the Democratic nominees are either Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton. Those days are gone, good riddance.
***Personally, I'd look into this feeling regarding the reported rise in teen suicides too. People get down when times are ugly and deadly. And teenagers better than most are instinctually tuned into life, I think. Sure worth considering instead of just going automatically with the theory that it's the suicide warnings on the anti-depressant pills, keeping kids away from the pills, that caused the uptick in 2004, eh? Life is a delicate and related web, it seems to me.
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On that executive order requiring "mandatory" HPV vaccines for Texas sixth-grade girls. Hmm... been a long time since anyone looked to TX as a leader in health and social policies, eh? Proponents argue this will help save lives. Parents opposing immunizing their daughters by sixth grade are allowed an "opt-out." Everyone's satisfied.

But some medical experts say lawmakers are moving too fast in their efforts to vaccinate all school-age girls. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for instance, is urging a go-slow approach, with an initial focus on raising public awareness of HPV and more monitoring of the safety of the vaccine, which had minimal side effects in clinical trials but hasn't been observed in larger-scale rollouts.

"A lot of us are worried it's a little early to be pushing a mandated HPV vaccine," said Dr. Martin Myers, director of the National Network for Immunization Information. "It's not that I'm not wildly enthusiastic about this vaccine. I am. But many of us are concerned a mandate may be premature, and it's important for people to realize that this isn't as clear-cut as with some previous vaccines."

He added, "It's not the vaccine community pushing for this."

Worth clicking to read the whole thing...
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Re: cold temperatures in the North.
Plenty of people use this weather to prove something. Best, if possible, to just steer clear of that type. If you are flexible and can plan ahead, and we know it's coming... It's all in the undergarments, actually. No photos, but trust me on this one folks. And even if you've got a thick mane of hair, which definitely helps, find a soft fuzzy cap you can stand wearing... for your ear's sake if anything. And I know your hair might well cover it, but well, hair blows.

Oh, and your average diet rules are officially off. Eat cheese. Mm... heated cheese. Goes with anything. And do what you can timing-wise to keep walking. Cows stand still. Bunched up against the wind. You are not a cow. Now matter how you may feel with the layers perhaps. (think thin quality undergarments, folks.)

That's it for the blog PSA. I give what I can, folks.
Speaking of, here's an argument for skating away...

Aww...

He sounds like such a nice kid.
Learned his lesson, and want to help others avoid the pain:

...
The Brown family men have a tradition of running around the garden barefoot during halftime of the game. This year, D.J.'s dad, David Brown, declared it too cold for such silliness. But D.J., who said he's a straight-A student at Buffalo High School, wasn't persuaded. He ran outside in his t-shirt and jeans, threw off socks and shoes, and ran around the block.
...

D.J. said he was only outside for five minutes. But when he got home, his feet started swelling and blistering. "I consider myself having a high pain threshold, and this was just so 10 out of 10," he said. "I was, like, chewing on a towel."

He was treated for second-degree frostbite on both feet at the burn center at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

"Cold weather is just as dangerous as pouring scalding water on your feet," said Dr. Leslie Smith, a burn specialist. She said the damage was so severe that D.J. is on crutches and pain medication. "He should be fine, but it's going to take a few weeks," Smith said. "It sure is a costly lesson."

...

Hell... go for broke!

President Bush bids for bigger war chest

President Bush will ask Congress today for an extra $245 billion to cover war costs, even as he faces a knife-edge vote of no confidence by the Senate on his plan for a 21,500 troop surge in Iraq.

The budget being unveiled today is expected to include a request for an additional $100 billion this year — on top of the $70 billion already allocated — and $145 billion next year for fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The proposed increase will take the total cost of Mr Bush’s wars since September 11, 2001, to almost $750 billion which — even when prices are adjusted for inflation — exceeds that spent by the US in Vietnam over a much longer period.

Before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, officials promised that war costs would be limited to $100 billion.

Yeah, but that was before we knew what we were getting into, right? And besides, we're getting so much bang for our buck...

Remember Gail Devers?
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Tom Petty classic.

And another.
(...keep a little bit uh pride...yeah...)