Brain Chatter and Calm

There is no TV, no music, no extraneous noise in the house right now.  I can hear the whirr of the ceiling fan, and the windows are open, so an occasional street noise floats in.  Sometimes, the quiet is so blessed, so heaven sent. I was sitting outside, but it was cool, and I decided to move in.  It would be pleasant outside, if I had to be there. I am just a cold woosey.

I am grateful for so many things:  I have good family and friends. I have a job I enjoy. I have a house in which to live, and transportation. I can pick my food choices, for the most part, without worry. I can pay my taxes.

I have plenty of activities which I enjoy: knitting, reading, being involved in NASW http://www.naswtx.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=25, and being on the board of Catholic Family Service, Inc http://www.cfslubbock.org/ .  I am a dues paying member of the Heritage Fiber Guild http://www.heritagefiberguild.org/ and the Llano Estacado Audubon Society http://www.leas.bizland.com/, although my involvement in both are minimal.   I take classes through the Osher Life Long Learning Institute at Texas Tech University http://www.depts.ttu.edu/outreach/   I try to attend the monthly meeting of the Barnes and Noble Mystery Book Club http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2364?subtype=detailList&month=&day=ANY&sat=10.

I enjoy following the sporting events at Texas Tech University http://www.texastech.com/, specifically the Lady Raiders Basketball team, and I follow the football team. I had tried to follow softball, but that did not work for me.  Maybe, with the new coach, I should try again.

I am still and always will be a Red Sox fan http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos&tcid=mm_nyy_sitelist and a Yankee fan http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nyy&tcid=mm_mlb_sitelist.  I rarely watch the NBA games, simply because I am only a Celtics fan http://www.nba.com/celtics/ f and their games are rarely shown in this TV market. I have been a long time NASCAR fan http://www.nascar.com/.  This is an endearing and enduring gift from Lisenby, for which I am so thankful.

I am sure there is more that life could offer. Yet, I am so blessed with everything I have.  Thank you to my family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances for your contribution to my life.

Poetic Justice

When the football coaching controversy erupted in Lubbock, Tx, after Mike Leach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Leach  was fired, Ruffin McNeil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffin_McNeill was included in the list of possible head coaches for Texas Tech.  This was not unreasonable.  Ruffin McNeil took over the Texas Tech defensive coaching  position when the previous coach's performance was horrendous. Ruffin McNeil coached Texas Tech for the Alamo Bowl http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/gameflash/2010/01/02/42229_recap.html  Ruffin
McNeil is well liked by players, other coaches, and the general public, and made a difference with the Texas Tech defense.

When Mike Leach was fired, Ruffin McNeil was appointed interim coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders when they went to the Alamo Bowl.

When he was offered a head coaching position for the East Caroline Pirates http://www.ecupirates.com/ so many people in Lubbock were thrilled that he was offered a head coaching position, although the sentiment was that if Tommy Tuberville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Tuberville wanted him, he would still be a wonderful defensive coach at Texas Tech...(But it made no political sense for him to stay..) And, before Tommy Tuberville was hired as head coach to for Texas Tech football, there was a large contingency of Texas Tech fans who wanted Ruffin McNeil to be the head coach.

During the Texas Tech vs. SMU telecast, ESPN is reporting on the results of the East Carolina Pirates vs. Tulsa.  What poetic justice this is, to let Lubbock know how Ruffin McNeil is doing...

Spectator Sports Heaven

It is the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and it is a beautiful day...
I was able to go out kayaking and birdwatching this morning, and came home feeling energized:  I cooked lunch, and will be working off and on with the computer, and sitting outside, watching TV sports.  What a schedule:

Baseball: Red Sox vs. Chicago at Fenway at 1230 http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/scoreboard/index.jsp ... Football: Texas Tech http://www.texastech.com/sports/m-footbl/text-m-footbl-body.html vs. SMU at Lubbock at 1430, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing at Atlanta at 1830 tonight http://www.nascar.com/.  I can watch sports all day!  I will, but will also do other chores: cook dinner, laundry, read.  Unfortunately, the Red Sox game did not end before the Tech game began, but I can easily flip back and forth between both games.

Because the Yankees are contending for post season play, I believe I will see lots of baseball in the next few weeks. 

I will add, for a Bible Belt community, it might be seen as odd endorsing a non-religious, commercial event. Well, lots of sporting events occur on Sunday, in Lubbock. But for TV rights involving football, Bible Belt Christians can grants LOTS of dispensations.

Remember the Titans

I am watching the 2000 movie Remember the Titans, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210945/  and was interested in how close to truth the movie is.  I found an interesting comparison http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020808.html on an ESPN sight.  There were some interesting comments. 

I think one of the things the sight says is that the prejudice and integration problems were not that bad.  I remember 1970, and by then much of the rioting was over, but I was in the North.  I have to believe the tension in the South was still pretty bad, because when I came to Texas in 1977, the tension was still pretty bad. 

Another comment in the ESPN comparison indicated that there is an awareness now that people would not want to admit to the prejudice that existed in 1971. I think that is probably true.  And makes sense.  We do not want to admit how bad it was, but in a sense we have to remember, so we do not ever go back to how bad it was. 

Super Bowl Ads

Note:

I started this post shortly after the Superbowl, and found it the other day. I am upset with myself I never finished nor posted it....till now....., July 10, 2007

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Of course, one of the big draws of the Superbowl, especially for those of us who are casual football fans, or whose favorite team did not reach the game, is the new advertisements that are released for the Superbowl. This year, although as usual, I did not watch closely, I noticed a disturbing trend in the ads. I thought they were distasteful, exploitative, violent. Monday morning, there was a column in the New York Times about the nature and tenor of the ads. The column suggests that the ads reflect the war, and comments about the Coca Cola Hilltop ad, that wanted to "teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony," which was a response to war. But, the message was not anti-war this time; I think the author, Stuart Eliot, is saying that the violence in the ads was a way of condoning the war, or at least the violence was a reflection of the turbulence and violence in our society.. He writes that the ads are not patriotic, but they may reflect the toll of war. I am not so sure I agree with him...

I do not think we can blame the violence and disrespect in the ads on the war. I think we can blame the violence and disrespect of the military on the same thing on which we can blame the violence and disrespect of the advertising community. the lack of good moral values and good moral leadership.

I am not a fan of any Bush administration. But during the administration of George H. Bush, (Bush 1, as the news media likes to refer to him) I believe Operation Desert Storm had a goal and a plan. I believe the leadership had an understanding of respect for human life, and respected the values of the citizens of the countries involved. (I think of how much was made of "educating" the troops about the Arab culture, the taboos of women in public, the taboos against alcohol, for example, in Desert Storm. It would appear, this time around, the local culture was snubbed and violated, not respected.) War is violent, and violent deeds were done. But I think the atrocities were minimal. And, the war did not demolish the structure and fiber of a country, leaving chaos behind...

Not so this time, under the leadership of George W. Bush. There is no moral compass, no moral leadership. The war actions, from the beginning, have been fraught with atrocious and criminal behaviors

Which brings me back to the nature and tenor of the Superbowl ads. We accept violence when we become desensitized to it, when we do not speak out against it. Making violence funny makes it less meaningful, and less dangerous, more acceptable.

I remember a Star Trek that found a society that was waging a very long war. People were taught that when their time was up, they just turned themselves in. The pain and anguish of war was eliminated. Captain Kirk made them return to the pain and anguish of war, because THAT is the true motivation to stop war.

Okay, so were these ads a message about violence, and the need to stop it? No, these ads made violence and disrespect cute, fun. These were not anti-war messages, but, in my mind, they were condone violence messages. They made me uncomfortable, to think that main stream America thinks violence is funny...

Maybe I see too much hate and violence, self mutilation and self loathing to think violence is funny. I know that many of the patients I deal with every day in a prison grew up in a world of violence, chaos, lack of social order. So, for them, established authority is not to be trusted. Taking matters into their own hands is the only rule they trust. Violence is taking matters into one's own hands, instead of following the rules of society.

I work hard, everyday, to convince convicted felons that following the rules because they are the rules, is an important way of taking self control and feeling good about fitting into society: Not worrying about the consequences of doing something wrong; not worrying about getting caught, not always having to be vigilant for the authorities. Doing right because it is the right thing to do. I just do not see violence as the right thing to do.

I still do not see violence as the right thing to do, months after the Superbowl.. I do not recall the specific advertisements, but I know many of them did not stay with us, for which, I am thankful... Maybe we are a smarter public than advertisers and spin doctors give us credit for being.