I love this Colbert poster. Classic! It’s too bad that NBC has flubbed their coverage of the Winter Olympics. Any genuine sports fan will tell you that sporting events are made to be seen live and not pre-recorded. Give me a break! We’re in the same time zone for crying out loud and I’m forced to watch events that happened hours ago. Does the World Cup do this? Hell no. Do the fans out there care? Nope. In 2002, I remember getting up at some ungodly hour to watch Mexico play Italy. It was well worth it even if I woke up at 4 in the morning.
A common argument that I hear when discussing immigration is that immigrants should stay in their home country and create change there, (whether that needed change is due to a dictatorship, narco-violence, human rights violations, etc.) instead of looking for change here. I always come up with some counter argument essentially glossing over this interesting point that is made. Why do immigrants not create change in their home countries? I guess it’s the same reason why people don’t create positive change in their own country. One looks at cities like Detroit and quickly dismisses it as a has-been city and the butt of jokes. Why haven’t former Michiganders created a better Detroit instead of simply abandoning it? In the valley, we suffer from enormous brain drain. A significant number of our brightest people go to school elsewhere and never return. Why not come back to the valley and make it a better place? I guess the bottom line is that people go where opportunity exists. Why be an agent of a change that is going to quite possibly take a lifetime when one can simply move somewhere else. Is this right or wrong? I have mixed feelings. I stayed in the valley not because I was fearful of leaving. I stayed in the valley because this is my home. This is where I grew up. If my parents had never left Detroit I would probably still live in Detroit. Regardless of the reason, any individual should have the right to move where opportunity exists. Although I wish that there was change that would swiftly move Mexico in the right direction, at this point in history, that seems to be in a far off future. Until then I am happy where I am at now.
In the above pictures you can see a photograph of my former elementary school in Detroit, as well as a picture of an alley that led to my house…the same alley that would fill with snow…the same alley where we played with our Star Wars action figures.
» Unknown Caller – No Line On The Horizon U2
» 21st Century Breakdown – 21st Century Breakdown Green Day
» Wilco (The Song) – Wilco (The Album) Wilco
» If You Ever Go to Houston – Together Through Life Bob Dylan
» The Wrestler – Working On A Dream Bruce Springsteen
» Beyond Here Lies Nothin – Together Through Life Bob Dylan
» No Line On The Horizon – No Line On The Horizon U2
» Hearing Damage – The Twilight Saga: New Moon Thom Yorke
» Constellations (with Eddie Vedder) – En Concert Jack Johnson
We’ve really become fans of the Ginkgo tree to the point that we have have planted two at our house. If it wasn’t for the size of our lot and the many other trees that I have already planted, perhaps another would be in order. The thought of planting a companion Ginkgo to the one shown above has crossed my mind. My hypothesis on my tree obsession is that once you get to the age of 30 your perspective on life automatically changes. Things that were insignificant to you as a youth are now the complete opposite. The beautiful colors of fall finally catch your eye. The golden leaves of the Ginkgo are a yearly occurrence that last just a few weeks and then the leaves fall until the upcoming spring, but in the time what a sight to behold.
Although the Detroit Tigers lost today and it feels as though my heart was stomped on, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Tigers were expected to be cellar dwellers before the start of the ‘09 baseball season. They played extremely well this year and were just a few outs from making the playoffs. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess. There is always next year. Spring training is just around the corner.
When your team has a two game lead in the AL Central with three games to go until the end of the season and they lose you can’t help but ask yourself what did I do for this to happen. Maybe I should’ve prayed a little bit more. Was I sitting on the correct side of the sofa? Was it because I wasn’t wearing my Tigers hat? Perhaps I should have been nicer to my coworkers? Is it karma? All true sports fans ask themselves this I am sure. I cannot be the only that lives through this sports misery. The Tigers still have a one game lead with two more to go against the White Sox. They win the next two games and they win the AL Central. If the Tigers lose their next two games and the Twins lose their next two games, the Tigers win the AL Central. If the Tigers get swept and the Twins sweep, I will be miserable until the Spring.
» Is homework really such a bad thing? Is it possible for students to be successful if they don’t do homework. I’ve never been one to assign tons and tons of homework but how much can it hurt to practice just a bit at home. Why do some parents refuse to be accountable for the learning of their children? It’s their child. Why does everything fall on someone else and never on them. It’s outrageous at times how parents behave.
» Who came up with the idiotic idea of teaching a math lesson a day? Pacing calendars are necessary but a lesson a day? You can’t expect learning to take place like that.
» Is school accountability wrong? Why do we get clumped together as a whole in regards to test scores? Why not do this by grade level. I think that would be a more effective. Why do I get test scores three months after the kids took the test. Can’t I get a sneak peek? Last year I think I got a teacher report card. This year I recieved nothing. Did the budget cuts affect this?
» Is it evil if I start “teaching to the test” while at the same time making education fun? Is that a good compromise? More science experiments! Chess! Podcasts! Webcasts!
» As a parent it must be tough to accept that not all your kids have the same abilities but at what point do you accept that reality? Not every sibling is exactly the same and each one has various strengths. Why not accept it?
» Finally, why is it that I don’t see more crazy kids having fun outside? This past Sunday afternoon we were driving back into town and we some kids banging away on a drum. We slowed down to see what was up and we got a much needed laugh. The kids are future musicians!
Somewhere on the tele I heard a talking head describe how much Americans loved baseball. In what other sport do people know who holds the home run record (Hank Aaron in my opinion but it is more than fair to say that Josh Gibson probably hit more HR’s than the Aaron and Babe Ruth in the Negro Leagues), stolen base record (Ricky Henderson), and who won the ‘84 World Series (the Detroit Tigers). Ask who the sack leader in football is and no one knows nor cares beyond that immediate season. Baseball fans know their sport. Perhaps some study the sport too much (sabermetrics). Another thing is that regardless of whether your team stinks or not you are loyal to your team and to its players. As a kid my favorite ball player was Alan Trammell, shortstop for the Tigers. My family lived down the street from old Tiger Stadium and the chances that I got to go to the games with my dad were heaven. Like Arjona says about your parents: “te heredan sus complejos, Iglesia y hasta equipo de futbol.” I don’t mind at all inheriting the Tigers as a team, bundled with all the issues up i my head. There’s meaning when you follow your hometown team and not because of the uniform or some other lame reason.
Baseball is democracy in action: In it all men are “free and equal,” regardless of race, nationality or creed. Every man is given the rightful opportunity to rise to the top on his own merits…It is the fullest expression of freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly in our national life.
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