Celebrate Good Times.

I’d call myself a cynic, and I started young. I can remember going door-to-door selling a Watergate report when I was just a kid. Until recently, contempt was all I felt for our corrupted government, which might be broken beyond repair. I thought inspiration was a thing of the past.

Then this young guy with a funny name appeared on the scene and inspired hope for change in millions of people. I can identify with Baracks life as the son of a struggling single mother and an absentee father because that is my story as well.

Barack Obama represents the life I could have had if I wasn’t so damn lazy.

When you consider what has happened to our country after 25 years of trickle-down economics and the last 8 years of Bush/Cheney and a spineless congress, it is amazing to me that anyone would consider for even a moment casting a vote for another Republican, especially one as clueless and out of touch as John McCain.

Many of the the speeches at the Democratic National Convention this year were good. So good that I know I will want to watch some of them a few times, so I decided to collect them here in one spot for my convenience. 

I missed many of the speeches and would appreciate any suggested additions to this small collection.

I think these are in order of appearance, but I could be wrong:

Barack Obama - Life Story

Dennis Kucinich

John Kerry

Caroline Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

Jesse Jackson Jr.

Michelle Obama
South Side Girl

DNC Speech

Hillary Clinton
DNC Speech

Nomination of Barack Obama

Bill Clinton

Beau Biden Introduces Joe Biden

Joe Biden

Barack Obama

On a lighter note, here is the
Daily Show version of the Barack Obama Life Story

I made a little pdf file to explain how to replace the color wheel in your Samsung tv. I would prefer to post the information on this page, but WordPress beat me down and I finally gave up.

hlr6167w_colorwheel_fix

Color wheel down!

Surfing! Surfing looks like a lot of fun for the few seconds
when you are actually surfing, but from what I have seen, surfing primarily
consists of paddling furiously to get thru the chop and out to the waves,
and then sitting around on your board waiting for a wave.

Steamer is still perfecting his duck diving…

It was Jeremys first time surfing. The sea was not kind to him that day, but he was not discouraged and vowed to try again.

Photos of the big day – http://toolcrib.gotdoofed.com/surfing052707/surfing.htm

In spite of my age and apparent common sense, I decided to buy a skateboard a few weeks ago. I rarely use my car and I ride my bicycle almost everywhere I go, but skateboarding seems much more friendly than zipping around on my bike. It is rare for me to strike up a conversation with a stranger while I am riding my bike, but I’ve talked to quite a few random people in the short time I’ve had my skateboard. Riding a skateboard gives me more time to check things out and enjoy the people around me.

The Arbor board shop is just few blocks from me and it was just a matter of time before I got one. Mine has a Koa veneer top and a cool Hawaii themed graphic on the back done in muted shades of grey and green. It is really nice and I’m getting better at riding it.

I thought today would be good day to use it and I decided on the spur of the moment to ride up to the Santa Monica Pier before it got really crowded. While I was there I couldn’t help noticing the Arlington West Memorial, which is set up immediately north of the Santa Monica pier. The sight of all those crosses in the sand is moving, even more when you see that many of the crosses bear the name of a soldier from this area, with dedications from friends and family they have left behind. From what little I know, the folks behind the memorial  are an anti-war group. I in no way endorse their organization, and I have to say that the memorial itself is fairly benign. Hopefully it encourages people to think.

On the way home, there was a lot of activity at Muscle Beach and I decided to stop and check it out. That is why I got a skateboard, right? There was some kind of body-building award ceremony on one side of the area and a stage for a military band on the other side.

Similar to how I couldn’t miss seeing the memorial set up in the sand near the Santa Monica pier, I couldn’t help but notice the military recruiting stations set up around the perimeter of whatever was going on. I don’t know for sure what was happening, but I couldn’t help thinking that those recruiters should have setup shop down by the pier, so that their prospective clients could get an idea of what might happen to them if they sign that contract.

The juxtaposition of the memorial and the recruiters ruined my mood, but I would never try to talk a stranger out of joining the military. I served in the Air Force for nearly 5 years. Military service is a good and honorable tradition and this is the age of free information.  I’m certain that anyone joining the military understands that they are supporting the war by signing on for military service, but I wonder if they understand everything else they are volunteering to support.

If they watch The Daily Show, maybe they do. If they watch network news and superfluous crap like Meet The Press, there is a good chance they still think Saddam caused 9-11 and that the war is a good and just cause well executed.

I think it is only right to be at least a little sad on this Memorial Day, when it seems certain that many more lives will be lost before a solution is found.

Happy Memorial Day. Enjoy your burger. I’m going to go spend some money.