April | 2011 | bharrington's Xanga Site

Month: April 2011

The Daily News
1   Wow. Really???

2   I got home exhausted from the thousand natural shocks only to watch the Giants get spanked by the Dodgers.

3   Granted, I got home early, exhausted from an exhausting week last week.

4   Here's what I observed: Once again the Giants had a bunch of hoopla pregame.

5    It was wonderful hoopla, in that it had both teams bring good people forward to inform the fans that it is just a game. The tribute was to Bryan Stow, the fan who went to LA to root for his team, and who was subsequently attacked in a violent confrontation in the parking lot with a couple of knucklehead Dodger fans.

6    Clearly the attack had nothing to do with baseball. The Dodger fans were just a couple of idiots who had no idea that it is just a game.

7   Anyway, any normal person gets what happened. It's just a sad statement. The game went on as scheduled, and the Dodgers simply were the better team.

8   During the Giants' Post Game Live, Greg Papa said that it should no longer be "Beat LA", but "Outscore LA".

Wow. Really???

9   Puh-leeze. No wonder that guy annoys my Dad.

10 With all due respect, the occurrence of the other night was clearly an anomaly involving screwballs, and should have little to do with the rivalry.

11   In all my years in baseball, I never had to deal with people THAT screwed up.

12   I have seen my share of crazies, don't get me wrong.

13   But there are crazies in all walks of life.

14    The reality is that nobody knows what might happen on any given day.

15    But really?

16    Re-naming a fan chant?

17    Oh, come now.

18    Let the fans enjoy being fans.

19    The Giants just didn't see Kershaw last night. That kid held runners, fooled the Giants with his curve, and made monkeys out of our heroes.

20    I hated the guy, but I had utmost respect for him.

21    And I want to see him go down. Not really, because I respect him as a talent.

22    And I don't want to see one of our fans do attempted murder on their fans, or their players, or even the umpires.

23   Screwballs.

24   They're everywhere, not just in baseball.

25    We can't change our lives because of them.

26    Period.

27 Moving on, Part the First: The biggest and most dangerous screwballs are on the freeways. Yesterday I was again almost sideswiped by a guy who decided not to signal nor look before changing lanes.

28   This is a recurring theme. It happens every single day. I drive defensively. I try to stay within the speed limit. I keep my eyes moving and aim high in steering. And I STILL experience near-misses with knuckleheads.

29    That's one reason I go backroads to and from work these days. Too many morons.

30    They are way more dangerous than baseball fans.

31    Well, I have a LOT to do the next two days. We have the WASC committee coming into my classroom and taking notes. From what I can tell, mine will be one of the few classes they will visit in order to give our school accreditation or not.

32   No pressure.

33   So I'm going to pull in the reins of the DN this morning so I could gather a little rest and remain refreshed and ready. The visit is Wednesday, switched from Thursday, which has made an enormous difference in how I approach the lesson.

34    Wednesdays at the school are minimum days, with the afternoons reserved for meetings.

35   But this shortens the class time to forty minutes, and that's a tough period of time to pull off group work and all that the committee want.

36   Wednesdays are good lecture days, but lousy group/fun days because of the shorter periods. The committee wants to see group/fun days where students interact and teach one another. In order for that to be successful, you actually need a longer period.

37    So it is going to be interesting. I will be out of my normal game, and perhaps trying to rush things, but that's what I plan on doing, because that's what they want to see.

38   The good news is that for two years I've been doing lessons the way they originally asked, and it has improved my teaching considerably. WASC is there to improve the school. I saw it improve YB, and I'm watching it improve EV. I bring that attitude to it.

39    So I'm ready.

40    I think.

41    Wish me luck.

42     It's tomorrow.

43     No pressure.

44     Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington
- 10:25 am
- Comments Off
A Virtual Musical!!!

The Daily News

1 So I went to one of my fave places yesterday.

2  Everybody had something to do 'cept me, a rare thing, and a gorgeous thing.

3   It was then that opportunity knocked.

4   I spent the morning yard-sailing, which is always a rare treat. Found a lady who started all sorts of flowers and plants from seed, and was selling them for two dollars a pot. They all looked organically stronger than nearly anything I could see in the stores, so I bought me a bunch of beautiful flowers and herbs.

5   And I had time.

6    For once in my life, I had time.

7    I just cruised the town, despite my gas boycott. Didn't go far, didn't really care where I was going. I just went.

8    I wound up at this curious place buried behind north 680 right off Calaveras Blvd in Milpitas.

9   I KNOW, I KNOW, sounds boring, but it really wasn't.

10  It's called Fiesta Plaza, and it is a dive. It's just about two scissors' steps east of Cal-Skate, so you should immediately get the pic.

11 Fiesta Plaza is a bit of a run-down shopping center featuring a liquor store, a weedy parking lot, and bent poles.

12  It's claim to fame is a beat-up old Savers thrift store, which I decided to visit simply because I was in a yard-sailin' mood.

13  It was my personal quest for a rusty holy grail. Could I find a picture frame worthy of reconstruction? Could I find a small refridge for my classroom? Perhaps an antique vase?

14   I parked way away from the front, because I had already purchased a bunch of flowers and herbs, and I didn't want anyone to run off with them. Plus, the T000000NDRA doesn't like the trend of parking lots having 90 degree parking places.

15   Who thought of THAT anyway?

16   I have to think body shops were somehow in on that trend.

17   <sigh> The conspiracy of idiocy continues, and is relentless.

18   The dog just farted. Yeesh.

19    Where was I? Holy stinking God.

20    Oh yeah.

21    Savers, ironically.

22    Well! Little did I know that the Savers off Calaveras has fixed itself up. The new manager had everything displayed better, had a coupon greeter meet me at the door with some sort of sales handout, and had music blaring from some old schoo stay-reo blasting back-to-back versions of Lionel Ritchie's All Night Long.

23   Despite all that, I still went in.

24   Turns out the second "back" was a karaoke cover with excessive reverb. This middle-aged Filipino lady was bringin' it. I thought I was in some sort of surreal musical.

25   I looked at low-budget stay-reos and awaited the entire store going into some sort of high-end musical number.

26   They had these strange little shopping carts that looked like large shopping baskets that transformed into lowrider shopping carts. I kid you not. I thought it was brilliant. Each had two handles; one that was a shopping basket handle, the other that lifted up to belt level, converting the thing into a shopping cart.

27   They were brand new, and red.

28   And the gal singing was bringing it, in a distant, mystical sort of way. It was hilarious. I wanted to start dancing. I pictured Gene Kelley with these props going into a dance.

29   "I'm SHOPPIN' in the store, just shoppin' in the store.." Only instead of an offshoot of Singin' in the Rain, I pictured all the stuff in the store lifting and floating around to this odd cover of a Lionel Ritchie song.

30   I have to get out more.

31   AnywayZ...

32   I cruised all the low-budget stuff, but the store had a scent of newness you don't see too often in a thrift store, especially Savers, which traditionally was the lowest of the low-budget.

33   Drama people LOVE thrift stores btw, because anything can be turned into beauty on a dime. When the horns came in, I almost began a soft shoe.

34   I eventually moved over to the tie racks, and lo!

35   They had a rare collection of decent ties for $2.99 each.

36   At Macy's, ties are now thirty to sixty dollars, I swear to you.

37   I checked them for unraveling, for wrinkles, for tears, etc. I found around seven or eight that were perfect for...uh...revamping.

38   Nah, I actually figure that nobody notices ties on men too much, unless they are super rich bastards or politicians, and who likes them anyway?

39   I have always publicly maintained that at my point in life, I don't want to look good, I just want to avoid looking bad. Any tie, if done right, will prevent that, no matter how slight.

40   The music played, and I bought a bunch of ridiculous stuff that I could stain, paint, and dry clean. The artist in me went wild! I looked at coats, hats, furniture, paintings, and electronics. You can make treasures out of trash, and that was my mish, and my wish!

41   The manager kept going on the karaoke mic announcing discounts and fun for anyone who would sing!

42    I swear to you I was in the most low-budget musical EVER!

43    I finally got to the counter and the clerk was a dead-ringer for Smokey Robinson.

44    He wore this porkpie hat, had a devil smile, and a super-deep voice.

45    And dude had GAME. I had my Giants' world series hat on, and he said in this amazingly bassy voice, "I like thems Giants. You sing?"

46    I was taken aback.

47    "You sing man? You LOOK like you sing!"

48     I mumbled, "Uh...a little, yeah."

49     "What kinda stuff you sing?" He put two awesome ties into a bag.

50     "Well, all sorts of things."

51     "You like Engelbert Humperdinck? You like 'My Way'?"

52     Jesu Christi.

53     I said, "I do a little Sinatra."

54     "Why don't you go to the mic and sing?"

55

56   "Nah, it's coo man. I just want to get out and enjoy the sun."

57   "You shore? You look like a singa, man."

58    "Maybe next week dude," I replied, and almost believed myself.

59    "Okay, we'll see you then." I sort of gathered my purchases and threw a parting shot like, "Uh, yeah, sure, see you then dude." And I left.

60    So looks like I finally got a gig.

61    I walked out feeling a bit like Lana Turner.

62    I got home and when Helene arrived I had the ties laid out on a table.

63    She had been shopping at the Loft in Burlingame with my daughter Nicole, and they came home with all this cool, elegant stuff. I pointed to my ties and said, "I got these at Macy's!" She looked amazed, because let's face it: I'm not a Macy's sort of guy.

64   She said, "YOU went to MACY'S?" And then she looked and said, "You didn't go to Macy's!"

65   Foiled!

66   AnywayZ...

67   I'm pretty sure I have a gig next week at like noon at Saver's, so if you're not doing anything, bring a posse. It'll knock your socks off. You can just imagine.

68   That's about it for a Monday. I caint take no more.

69    You guys fly low. This entire DN was boushit from the start to the finish.

70   Hope you had a bit of a chuck.

71    Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington
- 10:40 am
- Comments Off
Excuse me for asking, but what the HELL is a government shutdown???

The Daily News

1 Everybody talks about the weather, but...

2 Ah, thank the heavens for the weather.

3 A couple of days ago I was in one of those deals where you sit at a table with people you don't even know, so it was <high pitched> AWD-ward.

4   Some elderly dude who has game said, "So...what about that rain?"

5   Instant bonding.

6   Yeesh.

7   I often praise the Lawd for the weather.

8   If you are ever in a party sitch with strangers, just bring up the weather, and your conversation will have broken the ice.

9   It might be a cheap icebreak, but it will work every time.

10 My whole deal is that it is worth breaking the ice, because some of my best talks with strangers began with the weather.

11   Moving on, Part the First: It's actually not moving on, in a way. Yesterday morning, as I rolled along the Expressway, I looked to the east hills.

12   Okay, so I might have been hallucinating, but I thought that I saw a funnel cloud shaping its swirl directly in my path.

13   I had the radio blaring, but heard nothing about tornado warnings in the local area.

14   And yet...

15   This thing kept swirling and looking menacing.

16   As the clouds formed and the hills became darker, I saw that it was just a cloud mass.

17   The radio blasted, and no news of tornadoes, but it still was strange.

18   I have seen documentaries of tornadoes, and this swirling mass looked a LOT like one.

19    I wondered if we would be warned to evacuate or what, but the radio just talked about a bunch of other stuff.

20   I almost took a pic, but I know the highway patrol is all over cell phone use this month.

21   Anyway, no tornado. But honestly. I thought I was in Kansas. And as a guy with no brain, I almost yelled out my window, "It's a twista!"

22 Thank goodness we're all safe.

23   Well sort of...

24   Moving on, Part the First: Speaking of Tornadoes: Can somebody kindly tell me what a government "shutdown" is?

25   Because really?

26   In my lifetime I've never heard a sitting President talk like that.

27   How many people will be put out of work?

28   What services will stop abruptly?

29   What of people who depend on the government for daily living?

30   As a kid, I was told that the government was We the People.

31   Well, I don't want to shut down.

32   Confused. It is the business of politicians to lie and to confuse.

33   Don't worry; I won't go there today. I rant about twice a year, and then realize I don't have much to say about this stuff anyway.

34   But we do have some say. I read some optimistic stuff in Family of Secrets yesterday. It was about how scared George HW Bush got when the film JFK came out in 1991.

35   I didn't know that the film forced a bunch of secret docs be sent to the National Archives for public scrutiny. Public outrage following the film prompted Congress to pass the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. This act forced every federal agency to send all documents remotely associated with the assassination to the National Archives to be made available to the American public.

36   Amid those documents was a smoking gun that showed Bush was in Dallas the night before Kennedy was killed, despite his inability to remember where he was. His story switched several times, but this letter, as well as a follow-up by his wife Barbara, placed him there.

37   Hmmm. If you were CIA at the time, which Bush has denied but which is clearly evident to anyone who has picked up any serious investigation into that, AND you ran around with guys like Allen Dulles and George De Morenschildt (who was the CIA "handler" of alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald AND a good friend of George HW Bush!), AND you were in Dallas on November 22, 1963, AND you were running for political office...

38 You would remember where you were the day JFK was shot. Period.

39   Chilling.

40   And Bush rose to become the head of the CIA despite his claim of not having any background prior to his 1976 appointment by President Gerald Ford, who was not only on the Warren Commission, but who, along with Arlen Specter, came up with the "single-bullet theory", a preposterous theory that made it look like one lone nut killed JFK. Hmmm. Scary.

41 Ford had been hand-picked by his predecessor, Richard Nixon, when Nixon was scandalized by the break-in of the Watergate Hotel, a scandal that had "ex" CIA operatives crawling all through it like dark spiders.

42   I won't go on, but Bush eventually became Vice-President during Ronald Reagan's Presidency (I won't go into the "October Surprise" that kept hostages in Iran until after the election, making then candidate Jimmy Carter look weak), and eventually President.

43   Who couldn't remember where he or she was on November 22,1963, if they were old enough to think? Well, to this day George Herbert Walker Bush can't remember that he was in Dallas on November 21,1963. The very next day, someone, or some group blew JFK's head to smithereens. In Dallas. But George Herbert Walker Bush can't remember where he was. Talk about a government shutdown...as I said, chilling.

44   Moving on, Part the Second: I absolutely can't believe that tonight is the home Opener for the Giants. I'm pretty excited about it, even though it flies the entire other way from what was in the first part of today's DN.

45   I was born a Giants' fan. I had nothing to say about it.

46   I used to talk Giants with my grandfather. It was always my favorite thing to do with him. My grandparents lived in the Excelsior District in San Francisco, a quaint little neighborhood with well-kept stucco houses and backyard gardens.

47   I loved going up there. When my maternal grandmother passed away, my grandfather came to live with us. My job was to cheer him up, and the best way to cheer him up was to talk Giants.

48   I also worked in the Giants' organization for years, and in perhaps the best job a young guy could have: being a seat vendor, where I could make great money, get excellent exercise, AND watch the games simultaneously.

49   So to say that last year's World Series triumph meant a lot to me would be a grave understatement.

50   Ironically, I'm helping a group of students tonight. They're putting on a fundraiser for leukemia victims, and to offer support, both financially and spiritually. It's a fundraiser featuring several local bands. I'm really a marginal player, but I will probably help keep things organized.

51   But I'm at the school today from 8 a.m. to probably nine or ten at night. I won't be able to see the game.

52    Those are the little things you do though. I can record all the shenanigans and watch it later without commercials. Besides, the season has already gotten underway.

53    I just wanted to watch all the hoopla.

54    It's funny. Spell check just corrected me on "hoopla". It also corrected me on "teh" (the), "twista", "De Morenschildt" which it corrected. I had left out the "c" and it righted it, and it also corrected "Specter", which I had spelled with an "or" and it corrected both those names. Huh?

55    That's a tad weird if you ask me.

56    Moving on, Part the Thoid: Okay, it's almost 5 a.m. as I finish this up, so I think I'm going to bow out here. Long day ending a long week.

57    And spell check just corrected "thoid". It's wrong. That's how it is spelled. Beotch. Somehow it got De Morenschild and Specter right, but corrected "beotch" to "botch". Made my day.

58    Have a great weekend.

59    Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington
- 10:35 am
- Comments Off
The Daily News

1   I'm blown away by last night's American Idol.

2   I refuse to go into all the details because the entire evening blew me away.

3   There was only one chap who grated on my nerves, yet the judges loved him anyway.

4   I won't go there because I was already reeling from the Giants' victory over San Diego, and somewhere in there I had to relax and have a bit of lemonade.

5    So forgive my journalistic integrity, but after the game I was already spent.

6    But this year's Idol is truly worth the investment of time.

7    As for me, I'm glad I'm just a hack, because the only obligation I have as a reporter is to report that Idol seems to be happening and that it is a party, and if you're not on board, then you need to get your ears checked.

8   Wonderful music, and wonderful show, despite all. It's been known to get on my nerves in the past, but last night just seemed great. I was in a pretty Zen state after a long week of testing and minor stressing of grades.

9 Let's just leave it at that. Fun night, relaxing times finally.

10 Moving on, Part the First: So yesterday I again rolled through the backroads and again down to see if my homeless dude was at his usual corner, and...

11 Dude had the day off.

12 He must have been exhausted.

13 I totally related.

14 Well, I decided to go home and try to enjoy the Giants. It hadn't been easy, let me tellya.

15 I loved everything, from Lincecum's striking out of thirteen Padres to Huff's goofiness on the bases.

16 And Brian Wilson's dubious return, which to me must have been a jolt to the system of the defending World Series' champs. He left with a look in his eyes like a guy wincing from a back tweak. It was a brief sec, but if you've ever had back trouble, then you might have caught it. The team, of course, would deny it.

22   His return may have been a guy who was a bit too anxious to get back to it.

23   I've done that. Pulled muscles, back tweaks, things like that, and you get a little overly anxious to get back into the game. Sometimes you wind up making matters worse.

24   If the Giants taught all of us anything last year, it is the importance of having patience at the plate.

25   It works in so many ways. Patience. Maybe because Wilson is a pitcher, he feels he doesn't need to learn that lesson. He knows how to have patience at the mound, but the lesson about waiting for your pitch might be lost on him.

26   I adopted patience at the plate as a sort of mantra this year.

27   Earlier this year I began eating a lot healthier, and realized that I could cut what I eat in half and still feel fine, and not starved.

28   That's a different sort of plate, but it works anyway.

29   Patience.

30   Not always easy. I have a kid in my class who can't wait to get to the next thing. If my lesson falls a couple of minutes short, I tell my class that they could "discuss today's lesson quietly among yourselves."

31   This guy hears that and immediately grabs his backpack, unzips it, throws all his books in, puts on his baseball cap, and jumps over to the door.

32   The rest of the students simply chat, enjoy each other, slowly get their books together and get to the door about a minute later, where this lad is pacing back and forth, like a lion at feeding time. It's hilarious, because it isn't just before the period is over.

33   He'll clear his desk before a test in one second. The reason it is hilarious is because we all have those moments of eagerness, but this guy takes it to the next level.

34   I try to teach him patience, but it just rolls off his head.

35    Good kid though. Just doesn't get that sort of suave game that others just sort of "get". He doesn't always exhibit "the social skeelz" to well.

36    They really ought to teach cool to kids. You know, how to attain a little game. Some kids just can't figure it out.

37    Some adults can't either.

38    A lot of it is pausing before doing things. Some things are just socially awkward, and kids growing up learn most of those lessons reasonably early. Being graceful, having manners, being polite, listening, things like that.

39   Not all kids pick up on the clues, and nobody is ever going to tell them.

40   Patience at the plate, dude. Don't go to Hometown Buffet, stack your plate way up high, knock people over for a table, and then pummel your food with a full-force winds and a pitchfork.

41    Let everyone else go, and then wander over, grab a few things, and sit down next to the guy who is doing that. Get your second plate when that guy is on his fourth.

42    Ah, life's little lessons.

43    Well, it's running late, so I believe I'll grab my hat and gracefully climb in the T000000NDRA. There are lots of minds out there that still need lots of guidance and learning.

44   So I am one of them. These students still have a lot to teach me.

45   You have a good one.

46    Patience at the plate.

47    Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington
- 10:38 am
- Comments Off
Giants fan Bryan Stow
The Daily News

1   Lost in much of yesterday's news was the beating of Giants' fan Bryan Stow at the Dodgers' Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium.

2   Stow is any fan of any sport. He went to L.A. to enjoy the first game that his defending champion Giants would play to defend their title, as well as to support them on the first day of their new season.

3   The Giants lost, 2-1, and after the game several Dodger fans taunted Stow. In the parking lot they hit Stow from behind. After he fell and slammed his head into the pavement, they kicked him for well over 15 seconds, continuing even after he had lost consciousness.

4   On Sunday, Stow, a paramedic, lay in critical condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

5   Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper took time out of their busy schedules to visit with Stow, an avid Giants' fan. The local award-winning broadcast team said that it was one of the most touching things they had ever been through.

6   A groundswell of support immediately began, and thoughts and letters poured in to Stow, a resident of Santa Cruz and father of two.

7   Pizza-by-the Slice gave 30 per cent of their profits to Stow's family yesterday, and the Giants donated $10,000 to the ultimate fan.

8   Here are some places you can go to help Bryan and his family:

Donations to offset his medical costs can go to Commonwealth Central Credit Union, account No. 118881, P.O. Box 641690, San Jose CA 95164-1690.

Online resource

Colleagues have set up a website for the public to follow Bryan Stow's progress: support4stow.blogspot.com.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/03/BA5H1IP8ID.DTL#ixzz1IiIspe2w

**Donations for Bryan Stow's medical bills are now being accepted at banks and online. Any bank listed at www.cuswirl.com also will accept donations under account No. 118881.

CommonWealth Central Credit Union: Account No. 118881
PayPal: stowdonations@gmail.com

To Donate Online - go to www.sfpcu.org to place your donation. Please indicate The Bryan Stow Fund. Account # 1377733

To Donate By Mail: Checks should be made out to "The Bryan Stow Fund"
Mail your donation to:
SF Police Credit Union
c/o San Mateo Branch
1495 S. El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA 94402

9   There will be a BBQ/Fundraiser for Bryan Stow today from noon to 8 p.m. at the American Medical Response, 1670 Las Plumas Ave. in San Jose. If you have the time and the heart, I have to guess his family would appreciate any support.

10   Here is a press release by the San Francisco Giants:

The San Francisco Giants today announced that it will dedicate its first home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in honor of Bryan Stow. Bryan was attacked and suffered critical injuries following the season opener in Los Angeles last week.

The Giants will collect donations at AT&T Park on Monday, April 11 to benefit a fund established to support Bryan and his family. Additionally, on Opening Day, Friday, April 8 the team will pay tribute to him during its pre-game ceremonies.

"Bryan is a father, paramedic and lifelong Giants fan who has dedicated himself to caring for others. Now he needs our support as he fights for his life following this brutal and unconscionable act of violence," said Bill Neukom, Giants Managing General Partner and CEO.

The Giants will partner with Bryan's employer, American Medical Response, to collect donations at the gates and throughout the ballpark for The Bryan Stow Fund. Approximately, 100 of his fellow paramedics will volunteer for this effort. The Giants will make an initial $10,000 contribution to The Bryan Stow Fund and encourage all fans to give what they can. The Giants Community Fund will also hold a silent auction during Monday's game with all proceeds benefiting the The Bryan Stow Fund.

The Bryan Stow Fund has been established through the San Francisco Police Credit Union, specifically serving members of the EMS community.

11 Such a sad story. It's interesting that there are world events to which we all respond, but sometimes a story of one person hits home.

12   And this story has little to do with Giants vs. Dodgers. It has to do with idiocy and how the world has somehow gotten so immune to reality that some idiot would take a simple game seriously enough that he thought it would be a good idea to peacock another human being into a coma, and possible death.

13   Even if it were reversed, and it was a Dodger fan who was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I would have written this same DN.

14   I won't comment further, because the act alone shows where we are as a society in 2011.

15   And so I won't. Help make what I would love to say here talk by giving a contribution to this poor family.

16   Meanwhile we should all learn from it.

17   How sad. How truly sad.

18   As a person who has worked in the sports business for years and years, I've seen plenty of near misses, and always wondered about people who let their obsessions and personal angers enter into other areas of life.

19   Meanwhile, send some support to that family. This touched me, as it did many of us.

20   Support sanity, not insanity.

21   Moving on, Part the First: A delicate attempt at moving from the grim back to some semblance of normalcy: I re-visted that homeless guy yesterday on a visit to Mi Pueblo for some much-needed carne asada.

22   Honestly, I didn't really beeline there to goof on the guy; I was actually quite starved from having STAR testing. You see, some students want to stay in the classroom during lunch, which I naturally allowed.

23   The only challenge with my doing that is that I am chained to the classroom, because we can't leave any of the tests unsupervised. Result: no lunch.

24   Even though I locked the tests up, I knew that the entire STAR test could be considered tainted if I left the room.

25   So after hours of testing, I was unable to get any food in me until at least 2 p.m.

26   Once a person is unable to reach any sort of food, he or she becomes obsessed with food.

27    You know it; I know it.

28    So the end of the day, while shorter in terms of human time, was an eternity in Einsteinian time.

29   And my focus?

30   Admittedly, not on the success of my students, but rather on attaining an authentic taco.

31   We're not talking Taco Bell here, which for years touted itself as "authentic" Mexican food.

32   We're talking down-home, REAL tacos made from meat that has been seasoned and cooked slowly all day. We're talking Eastside, man.

33 At around noon I knew I was headed for Mi Pueblo, which has all sorts of wonderful smells and temptations.

34 I also had this thing about returning to that homeless guy and seeing if he changed his schtick.

35   I once again cruised the back streets and east hills of Sannozay, all lush and green from the recent rains, and felt the breezy Disneyesque fun of flying through the hills in the T000000NDRA. It's a ride through my thoughts, and it works better than the best appetizer on the planet. It seemed all of the houses were cooking the same thing at the same time, because I could smell the sweet smell of Mexican food mingling with hints of springtime jasmine. God's cocktail hour.

36   I drove along, finally hitting the immortal Story road from above, turned left, ambling down from the hills back to civilization, where I saw the Starbuck's, and the homeless guy.

37   I pulled the T000000NDRA into the parking lot, and glanced over, just to goof on the guy.

38   Evidently the "Shitty Advice" sign he held the day before had been put back into his bag of tricks, and he now sported an amazing Cat-in-the-Hat hat that stood straight up, complete with red and white stripes.

39   I wanted to get out and talk with him, but I was WAY too focused on getting some truly authentic carne asada, so that is truly a pleasure deferred.

40   But I must say, this guy is an artist, and a poet. He leaves people alone, and seems to bring charm to the fine art of asking for a little help.

41   I know the reality he must really be going through, but the idealist in me thought for a second, "Hey. This guy probably makes enough off his schtick that he might very well have a place, and a wife, and doesn't have to play by the rules."

42   The realist in me thought that it must be awfully tough to be out there these days trying to make stuff happen.

43   Anyway, I fully intend to approach the guy, because he's giving it his all. And in many ways, he seems almost more peaceful than me. He just might be. He just might.

44   I'm almost afraid to go over and give the guy help because I do see him as someone who stands out, and who isn't afraid to throw a little humor into people's lives.

45   I'll lay low, but he is an interesting cat.

46   I finally did buy a huge bag of carne asada, screamed home, and enjoyed the afternoon doing tacos and kicking it with my daughter Caitlin, proving that God's real.

47   Moving on, Part the Second: Dude.

48   Have we really hit Wednesday already?

49   Grades are due today at 4 p.m. and for the first time in my entire existence I am organized and ready.

50   I don't know what to do with myself.

51 Uh...maybe make time for me, and for my family? We gots a weddin' coming up!

52   Sounds nice.

53    Well, I did stay up last night 'til almost eleven, but at around ten I again pulled out the carne asada I bought at Mi Pueblo and made a coupla small tacos that pulled my entire existence into full focus.

53   Easy, cheap, and one of the best meals of the year, I must say.

54   So I'm actually on the verge of going to sleep for the night. I was able to nap when I got home yesterday afternoon.

55   I believe I'm about to nap right nowwwwwwwwwzzzzzz...<reaching out to the keyboard for one last messagezzzzzz...>

56   <yawns before conking> Have a great day... ; ) <----------sideways winky guy.

57   Peaceout.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington
- 10:36 am
- Comments Off
Pacific Division Champs!!!

And...an immediate pictorial of why America (and subsequently the world) is in the toilet...See below.

First, buy, own, and read this book:

And now, meet Prescott Bush, the puppeteer:

His son George:

His son Dubya:

=


The Daily News

1   Let's start with the good news: SHARKS!!!! They'll open at home!!!

2   Nice to have a game where you just kick the other team's kutootie.

3   Especially an L.A. team!!!

4    <All apologies, So Cal folks, nothing personal. I was raised a Bay Area sports guy, and trained to enjoy these sorts of things. If it makes you feel any better, I DIDN'T enjoy the Dodgers spanking my Giants the past few days!>

5   The Sharks still have their work cut out, but whew!

6    Nice.

7    Moving on, Part the First: Ah, another four days of bubble tests for my students.

8    Amount of days this week students will take bubble tests: 4.

9    Amount of days they will receive regular classes: 1. The remaining time after the tests will equal one weekday of actual education.

10 Oh, it's off a little because the bubble tests are just in the morning, they'll receive around five-and-a half hours total of actual schooling this week.

11 Necessary evil. STAR testing officially begins at 8:15 this morning.

12 Grueling.

13 I'm thinking of bringing them some treats, like say, Little Debbies and Scotch.

14 Poor guys.

15 Ah, vell.

16 Moving on, Part the Second: Yesterday I again took the backroads home, and drifted down Story Road to Capitol Exressway. I pulled into the little shopping center that has a Starbuck's and Mi Pueblo in it.

17    I was ready to go into Starbuck's, but I noticed a homeless guy parked outside of the place. He appears to be there every day. I noticed also that he doesn't walk up to you, which bothers me, as I've stated previously. So for that non-gesture I already like the guy. Normally I don't like being approached by strangers of any sort.

18    It's just me. I don't like being solicited by total strangers, or anybody for that matter. Too many weirdos and kooks out there.

19 This guy looked a little like Aubrey Huff in a construction worker's helmet.

20   After Sunday's game, it well might have been.

21    M' bad. Huff is actually better than he played. He has better statistics with the glove than people might think.

22    Anyway, this guy sat quietly the last few times.

23    As I pulled into the parking lot yesterday, I looked over and saw that he had a small white sign on his lap.

24    The sign said this: "Shitty Advice."

25    Haha, just perfect. The guy had a sort of clean hippy, aw-shucks look about him.

26    I didn't give the guy any money, but today I might give him a buck for the entertainment.

27    Helene asked me if I asked him what advice he gave me. I said, "Don't talk to strangers!"

28    Nah, I didn't talk to the guy. But I might.

29    For all I know the guy might be a prophet.

30    Might just be.

31    Moving on, Part the Third: So...Obama is about to become the first billion-dollar candidate for President.

32    Uh...what do you call 41 and 43, George HW Bush and his son, Dubya?

33    Insidious family, by the way.

34    I finally came upon a well-researched book on the scary Bush dynasty. The book was filled with copious footnotes, and frightened me. It frightened me because it wasn't some kooky conspiracy book. It was filled with cold, hard facts.

35    If you dare wish to know what has REALLY been going on in America for the past hundred years, you might pick that one up. It's called Family of Secrets, the author, the quite venerable and lucid Russ Baker.

36   Gore Vidal called the book "One of the most important books of the past ten years."

37   It's fascinating, and includes TONS of new information, some of the most important of which is the Bushs family's associations with hundreds of names that popped up in the JFK assassination, names like Earl Warren, Allen and John Foster Dulles (old family ties going WAY back), George de Mohrenchildt (Lee Harvey Oswald's "handler"), the Bouviers (Jackie Kennedy's family), and Jack Crichton, to name but a few.

38   George Herbert Walker Bush was in Dallas the night before JFK was shot, and clearly lied about it.

39   It isn't all about the JFK stuff though; it's about the power elite who have controlled our oil, our money, our thought, our newspapers, our judges, our politicians, and our wars.

40   I'm just around 40 pages in, but it is certainly the single most amazing non-fiction book I've read since Jim Garrison's immortal On the Trail of the Assassins.

41    It's also a little scary because most journalists with any brains know that these things go on, but they also know that to report them is moving into extremely dangerous circumstances, circumstances that could result in job loss, or even worse, death threats, and perhaps even death. These people are that insidious.

42   It is a monumental piece, lots of names to keep track of, but it brings that history right down to the current state, and why perhaps Obama hasn't been able to do a lot of things he set out to do.

43   Interestingly, it gives us a better picture of Richard Nixon, who began to balk at the CIA and large corporations trying to control everything, as did Truman, Eisenhower, the Kennedy's, Carter, Clinton, and now Obama. The Cheney's and the Rumsfeld's and other Bush cronies seem to remain, while the White House changes puppets every few years.

44   I'll back off a bit here because this stuff, while clearly happening, can only be digested in small amounts. And you might check for poison while you chew.

45   It is well researched, and discusses how all of those politicos, tycoons, and spies have always worked together, the spies originally coming out of corporate spooking. They network, and have before networking became fashionable.

46   Fascinating piece. It's called Family of Secrets by Russ Baker.

47   Baker originally set out to write a simple book with one question in mind: How did George W. Bush rise up to become President of the United States? How'd it happen?

48   In the conclusion of this essential work, Baker states: "Were it not for W. and his self-dramatizing swagger, his blustery excesses, and his cavalier indifference to the havoc he wrought, I might not have asked myself how such a man came to be president in the first place."

49   What I like about it is it isn't an Infowars "conspiracy theory" book. Rather, it is an astonishingly well-researched piece of American journalism at its finest. Each piece is meticulously researched and chronologically placed, and anything remotely controversial has a source. Baker spent five years researching this.

50   I trust you have a look. I'll provide links soon, but it's getting pretty late as I compose.

51   Until then.

52    Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington

More to come...
- 10:37 am
- Comments Off
Are Ya KIDDIN' Me Here???

The Daily News

1   Lovin' the weather!

2   Also lovin' that Caitlin is home 'til Wednesday. We barbecued our lives off yesterday, and came away with some awesome chicken and burgers.

3   Good times, good times.

4    Great weekend. Amazingly, grades are due on Wednesday and I still managed to have a little fun.

5    Good weather, good friends, and good families can do that.

6    But Giants? Really? You lost three outta four to THOSE bums?

7    Shameful. Makes your Amish antics look pretty silly.

8    Ah, vell. It's early. It's just that the Dodgers really don't bring that much. Huff Daddy looked like Huff and Puff Daddy, and Buster Posey didn't even show up.

9    I guess it had to happen at some point.

10  Won't last. Pitching is too awesome. And both those guys are better than they played. The murder scene painted by Pat Burrell pre-game almost presaged the later play. Antics only work when you're walking the walk. Come on guys, let's bring it this week. Put your hubris on the shelf and do it on the field. Walk the walk. You looked eerily like misfits and castoffs yesterday. That's fun when you bring it, but torture...ah, nevuhmind. There's a reason you're champs, and it will begin to show quite soon.

11  Besides, it's way too early in the season really to care. I want to see both the Giants and A's thrive this year. One guy called KNBR yesterday and said they ought to take down the light standards at Oakland and play all day games. Amen.

12 Moving on, Part the First: I almost collapsed in Target yesterday when I saw what I thought was an autobiograpy of Snookie. It was actually worse. It was a novel written by her, which I will never read. Are you serious?

13 America has gone from stupid to unutterably imbecilic.

14  Snookie. Seriously. Brought to you by vanishing edge panties.

15  Non-book.

16  It's called A Shore Thing.

17  Get it? Shore? How clever. She must have pulled that pun out of her buns. They really do want us to turn stupid so we don't thing about things.

18 Whoevuh they is. Are. Whatevz..

19  I guess if you peruse the Target book area, you're not likely to run into too many deep books.

20   Yeesh. Snookie. I swear to you. Eyelashes, makeup and stale pillows. Yuck.

21   Moving on, Part the Second: Got to pay my respects to the immortal Tony Ponticelli on Saturday, even though I thought all day that it was Sunday.

22   Lovely ceremony, lots of love from a beautiful family.

23   Real love.

24   Real love.

25    I'll leave it at that.

26    Oh.

27    And golf.

28    Moving on, Part the Thoid: Ah, I just thought once again of my favorite Haiku.

29    Caitlin and I were talking about bongo poets in dive bars last night, laughing our asses off goofing on their spaciness.

30    It was then I remembered by favorite Haiku.

31    It goes like this:

I don't like haikus.

I don't understand haikus.

Refrigerator.

32 Haha.

33  I've brought that one to the masses a few times over the years, but I always am refreshed that there still exists at least a modicum of intelligence out there.

34  Well, I'm pretty done with the hair/makeup shows. There was some show on last night that had all these fake blond chicks presumably from Orange County. I couldn't tell one Barbie from the next. Not one had anything to say.

35   One girl just said, "Who doesn't like Botox? I mean really." And every single girl had that little Valley drawal: "I love my frands. We had sehooo mech fahn!" <thud>

36   Really?

37   I keep wishing there were a door of perception I could walk through and disappear sometimes. Just sort of float on air with a lollipop or something and disappear for little stints of time.

38   Welp, I think I'll drag my rugged good looks and toxxed forehead to bed, because when I wake up, I'll look like Prince Charming. I just hope my eyelashes stay flitting and fluttering.

39   I can't deal.

40   Seriously.

41   Get with what's real.

42    Thank goodness that many DN readers actually read things a little deeper than A Shore Thing.

43   Like this drivel and folderol.

44   The nice thing about Snookie is that she makes me feel that I should get a Pulitzer.

45   AnywayZ, that's my diatribe.

46   You have a GREAT Monday.

47   It IS Monday, right?

48   Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com
- 10:31 am
- Comments Off