New Knoxville Theatre Blog

Joe Burlein has started a new Knoxville Theatre blog called Thank you, five minutes and will be offering his views and reviews of the Knoxville Theatre scene, with room for others to make their opinions known.

Joe was recently in Hewdig and the Angry Inch with the Actor's Co-op and I worked with him in Company at the Oak Ridge Playhouse a few years back. He's a good guy and a talented actor - go check him out.

Just when you see a show I'm doing...be kind ;)

That's Odd..

Certain Blogger sites seem to be DOA this morning, while some like mine are still up and running. Must be something with an external filesheet call on certain templates...

QQD - Quick Question of the Day

If you could go back and live one year of your life over again, what year would it be? Why?

Mission: IOA

For pure Universal foolishness and theme park fun, visit The Beast and view his and his brother Rex's (my college roommate)'s film-noir-but-still-in-color masterpiece:

MISSION: IOA

Filmed on location at Universal's Islands of Adventures in Orlando, FL.

It's a riot!

(Put this one on Youtube, guys!)

The Morning After

Whew. I'm glad that's over. Getting through a funeral is tough, but enduring a mass, nationwide funeral once every year is getting to be tedious.

I wish more had been made in the media of the lives of those that were taken, and not the deaths. Instead of so many solemn wreath-laying ceremonies, maybe play a cut from one of Rebecca Lee Koborie's albums? I don't know, maybe somewhere they did but I didn't see it.

I just think it's better the celebrate life instead of mourning death. That's one thing I appreciate about most Methodist funerals I've been to, especially one lately for a young mother of two high school and college age boys I went to recently. She had finally succumbed to a long battle with cancer and while the service was serious and melancholy, it had a warm glow of love and remembrance that celebrated the good things she did during her life. How she was a wonderful wife and mother and teacher, and friend to those who loved her. And all the positive contributions and influences she had on the people around her. That's what helps me heal, and I hope the 2996 Project has helped some people heal as well.

Incidentally, Dale, the creator of the 2996 Project apparently has contracted the flu, and is unemployed and has no health insurance at the moment. His wife had to take over the duties of running the site as well as their kids, dogs, cats, goldfish, etc, so any support you might want to throw their way would be appreciated.

Meanwhile I'm left a bit disappointed at one aspect of the project. I still hope a family member or friend of Rebecca Koborie will eventually contact me. It's almost the feeling of hosting an open house and nobody coming, so you've prepared a big spread but left waiting for guests that never arrive. I'm not talking about the other participants in the project, those who posted tributes and also visited other sites, or the folks who just visited to pay tribute. I'm hoping to connect with someone who knew her directly. But it still hasn't happened. Maybe it will - if anyone wants to get in touch with me, I'm at lasthome@gmail.com.

God Bless.

"A Requiem for Rebecca" - Sept 11

Today is September 11.

I've struggled deciding what to post about Rebecca Lee Koborie on the actual day. I've spent the last several days posting tidbits, remembrances, tributes and anecdotes of her life that have been left in various places online.

One thing that comes up time and time again was Rebecca's obvious love of music and performing. That's something that easily and quickly resonated with me as I have been in love with music my whole life. I continue to be involved a great deal in many different musical expressions, including church music, a band, musical theatre, even just singing with my kids in the car. This evening I discussed with some friends that sometimes I feel I love music so much that I lose sight of God in the notes and words and rhythms. They correctly pointed out to me that in many cases, God is the notes and words and rhythms. His voice reverberates in the songs of a choir, the sound of a marching band, an orchestra, a string quartet, a cabaret band, a soloist, a duet, a pianist, a cellist, a drummer, a harpist. Sometimes most eloquently in the sweet, pure voice of a child singing "Jesus Loves Me."

In Les Miserable the final line of the show is "To love another person is to see the face of God"...I've always firmly believed that to hear music is to hear the voice of God.

Therefore I quickly discovered the fact that Rebecca was randomly assigned to me not by chance, but by some sort of design. Her deep involvement with music allowed her to be one of those lucky folks that convey the voice of God to her brothers and sisters in music.

On September 11, 2001 that particular instrument was stilled.

I never met her, never heard her sing. According to one person she was a mezzo-soprano, which to me is one of the loveliest tones a female vocalist can possess. I also never heard her play the piano, which unlike any other instrument can invoke emotional reactions that audiences never realized they had. I will never hear her play, either.

I thought for a while that this final post would be a rumination on the loss of a musical artist to the world, how her voice would never again inspire, create, emote, or cherish. I thought I could best pay tribute to her by remembering her song.

But then I thought some more, and a deeper meaning came to me.

If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don't have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.

I Corinthians 13:1

What Paul meant was that one can sing, one can play an instrument, one can create beautiful music - but if there is no love in your heart, the music is hollow and empty.

I have no idea if Rebecca was religious, but I feel certain she would've agreed with this passage. And I feel strongly that while it's a tragedy a great musical talent was lost five years ago, something more important was lost. And the comments on the tribute sites, while almost always mentioning music, consistently mentioned something else. She was a good friend.

She was also a daughter. And a sister. And an aunt.

All the people I've read who offered stories of Rebecca remember her for her kindness, her friendship, her love. If she didn't have these traits, and if these traits didn't come through in her music, few people would've remembered her. She cared about her friends and her family as much or more than she cared about music. The music was simply a way to express her love of life and those around her.

God's voice spoke through her, and used the music to help her express her love and caring.

So while the world lost a wonderful musician that I will never hear, more importantly the world lost what might've one day been a good friend. She lived in New Jersey and worked in New York so it's doubtful we would have ever met, but now that chance is gone forever. And along with the many, many people's whose lives she touched and continues to touch to this day, there are hundreds and maybe thousands of people she will never touch because her life was taken from her too soon.

I miss her. And I never met her. But I'll think about her from time to time when I hear a piano.

I titled this post "Requiem for Rebecca". But it's not a dirge, not a song of sadness. It's not largo or grave. This requiem is full of joy, it's andante, allegro, or cantabile because the lives she touched will always remember her and rejoice because of it. Even if they never knew her.


If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

Self Portrait Challenge - September (Week 2)

This month's Self Portrait Challenge is "with someone...". A couple days ago I posted a long meme about blogging, and one of the topics touched on was the people you meet while blogging.

I'm fortunate to have met some great people while blogging, as well as getting back in touch with folks I haven't seen in a while. So this week's Self Portrait Challenge entry is "with...blogger buddies".

Here's me and Tish after lunch at the Mellow Mushroom on the strip this past Friday.



Then here's me and Big Orange Michael at the UT game yesterday:



And finally here's me and Becky from last year when we she came to Tennessee for a visit:



I may have another couple of "With...blogger buddies" to post soon...

UPDATE: Yep, and here's me and Teresa (Hatamaran):

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 10

Today is September 10.

More about the life of Rebecca Lee Koborie...

• Rebecca sang at the funeral of the mother of Monica Lazor
  
  
• Rebecca inspired an actor she performed with at a converted steamboat called the Showboat Majestic. He was more committed to pursue acting because of her inspiration.
  
  
• Rebecca was remembered in poetry by fellow performer Dave Cremonese:
  

  A soaring voice
  The sound of piano beneath
  I sat at that piano
  As I played, I watched
  And listened to you soar
  As you showered all below
  With the gift of a beautiful voice
  Your spirit, your love
  And every time I sit at the piano
  I feel a bit of that love
  That I felt so long ago
  It's been so long, yet
  I'll never forget you
  God Bless and Keep you
  And all that you left behind
  We miss you

  
  
  
• Rebecca "calmed the rough waves" working at Citibank with Marilyn Monte of Orlando, FL.
  
  
• Rebecca touched the life of Paulette Vandenbrande deeply.
  
  
• Rebecca's life was remembered in the planting of a Blue Spruce by John Lehmus and
  Sue Wallingford of Kennebunk
  

(Stories compiled from tributes submitted at Legacy.com)



If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 9

Today is September 9th.

A continuing look at leaves from the book of Rebecca Lee Koborie:

• Rebecca was a friend and neighbor to Rebecca Vazquez in Guttenburg, NJ. She hung out at the pool and was friend to neighbor Rebecca's daughter.
  
  
• Rebecca was the aunt to a woman named Rachel, who was consoled by her good firend Amy Hackett of Bangor, Maine. Rebecca and Rachel were very close and Rebecca visited them in Maine very often.
  
  
• Rebecca was a friend of San Diegan Diane Rohrbach's sister Linda, who thought she was a very special person.
  
  
• Rebecca performed piano at Casa Dante's restaurant in Jersey City and so impressed one of the patrons, Cary Saccente of West New York, NJ that he left a tip and picked up her business card to remember to return and hear her again. He was never able to hear her again.
  
  
• Rebecca performed with Bob Timmons of New York at the Ocean City Dinner Theatre in Ocean City, MD. He remembers her kindness and amazing talent.
  
  She had a mezzo-soprano voice that he still remembers clearly to this day.
  
  
• Rebecca performed for two years at the Commander Cabaret with Dawn Ovando of Salisbury, MD in the late 70's. Two years later she invited Dawn to visit NYC and they saw Dawn's first Broadway show, "Grease". This experience inspired Dawn to continue a performing career.
  
  

(Stories compiled from tributes submitted at Legacy.com)



If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

All About Blog

Fellow Self Portrait Challenger Sarah-Jean tagged me on this very interesting meme about blogging. Thanks, SJ!


1) Are you happy/satisfied with your blog’s content and look?

Look: One of the reasons I haven't switched to WordPress is because I like the ability to completely control the design of my page. Actually, I'm pretty satisfied with it, although I've been tired of the ever-changing background and highlight color scheme. I never cease to get snide comments from CERTAIN people when it happens to pop up bright pink.

I like changing out the banner with the seasons. Has anyone noticed that? I'll put the fall one back up (I've gone around the horn!) probably next month, since everyone knows autumn doesn't arrive for real in East Tennessee till mid-October at the earliest.

I'd like to design the page to reflect the cover of this book since the name of the blog is taken from it and its companions, but I haven't been able to really work the blog format into the idea. Maybe I'll buckle down and make the big change when the movie comes out.

Content: For someone with a lot of ideas swirling around in his (muddled) head, I don't seem to be able to put them into the keyboard as well or as often as I'd like. I'm passionate about certain issues, many of those pertaining to children and art, but I think political blogs have ruined to a certain degree the burgeoning art of creative blogging (more about that later). I don't have the writing skills to be a Lileks and make the occasional trip to Target a Pulitzer Prize-winning essay on Americana, nor do I exude poetry from my pores (example: see previous five words) and keep a reading audience spellbound.

Interestingly, I seem to blog more when my mind is relatively untroubled. If you see my posts get few and far between, you know I have something on my mind. If I spew forth with great frequency, things are better. Feel free to check my posting history for my cyber-rhythm.

I hope my content overall is found to people's liking - obviously if you're reading this, you have some interest in my life. I try to touch on theatre, nostalgia, parenting and kids, a few current events, the occasional amusing anecdote, and once in a while I come up with someone so crass I have to run it by my censor first. Thanks, MKS! No, that post will never see the light of day...


2) Does your family know about your blog?

Yes, my wife and my parents all read my site. I think my brother in Austin knows about it, but I don't think he's ever commented. It does make me think twice sometimes about the things I write about, although usually the most I have to filter is my language :) Which isn't that bad in the first place, really, so, no worries mom.


3) Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog? Do you consider it a private thing?

There aren't many offline friends that know about my blog, and those who do I've told I trust to keep it to themselves. I like to have SOME freedom in the things I write about, since the things that happen in my life often inspire commentary and if there was always a possibility someone I knew read about themselves (however anonymously I put it) and was offended, I'd feel badly about it.

I do avoid talking about work very much, since that kind of thing can really come back and bite you. Nope, don't type about work much at all.

There are a number of offline friends that are also bloggers, so of course we know about each other (Michael, Lane, Teresa, Tish, and "The Beast")


4) Did blogging cause positive changes in your thoughts?

I'm not sure they were all necessary positive, but blogging has certainly opened my mind to a lot of things, especially political and cultural worlds I never knew existed.

I find myself, through blogs, paying more attention to local and national events, forming opinions where before I might've not noticed them. I watch local government and marvel at the duplicity and elitism of it all. I've become more attuned to the mindset of different things our country does, both overseas and at home, and how the citizens react to them. I've gained insight into the many ways couples relate to each other and how they raise their kids. And I've enjoyed seeing new posts from the bloggers that I frequent, and have had fun getting to know people I never would've met otherwise.

I think that's a positive!


5) Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or do you love to go and discover more by yourself?

There are three or four separate categories of blogs I visit: 1) Rocky Top Brigade bloggers, the loose Tennessee coalition that has been in existence for several years, 2) Local Knoxville bloggers that I have met through various sources, 3) Commenters who come to my site via someone else or a search engine - I typically visit the site of anyone who comments and try to at least give their blog a few days of return visits. If I enjoy what I read, I'll keep coming back. And the latest set, 4) Self Portrait Challenge bloggers - I've made a few new friends via this feature and have added several sites to my daily reads.

So there are several ways I find new sites. I don't always comment (though I try) but I'm there.


6) What does a visitor counter mean to you? Do you like having one on your blog?

I find myself looking at and analyzing my StatTracker all the time. I just recently added Google Analytics to the site as well, and the numbers are a bit different.

I'd love to see tons of visits every day, but I usually only average about 80 or so. I don't think my content is edgy, controversial, or eloquent enough to garner a lot of interest, but those who do come because we're friends or you enjoy the things I have to say (i.e. you who are reading this now) I humbly thank you :)


7) Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

I don't think I've tried that but I really for bloggers to have a photo of themselves on their site somewhere, so I can place a face with a writing style. It just makes it a lot easier to imagine the words percolating through a brain if I can picture the facial expressions and body language.


8) Admit it. Do you think there is any real benefit in blogging?

I think it means different things for different people. I don't think you should blog if you have nothing really to say except to parrot what other people are saying. You shouldn't try to be controversial for controversy's sake. And don't be a flamer disguised as a "free thinking" site. You're not fooling anybody.

As I said above, blogging helps folks make contact with others they might not normally meet in real life - although that's true of almost any online community. But blogging opens people up, lets them talk about themselves and their lives in a manner they might not with even their best friends. Opinions, thoughts, fears, emotions, prejudices, whatever...they can be posted on a blog and an instant family of readers has access to comment and offer feedback and support.

Our world has an epidemic of loneliness and an increasing amount of separation from each other, even as our communication technology connects every square millimiter of the globe. Anything to bring people together and create real communication is of great benefit.


9) Do you think that blogger’s society is isolated from the real world or interaction with events?

I do think political bloggers think a lot more highly of themselves and of their impact on the rest of the world than is warranted. I also think bloggers who primarily post about current events, politics, and other "serious" material tend to look down on those who mainly blog about their own lives and their own worlds. I'm not sure where that comes from, I think mainly because they tend to see themselves as crusaders and mavericks ready to take on the establishment, which to some is a very noble calling and deserving of respect and admiration.

Whatever.

Anyway, I do however believe that blogging is becoming more a part of society in general, but it's still a niche and not an overwhelming amount of people understand what it is or what it does.



10) Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it’s a normal thing?

I've had one major criticism incident while blogging - long time readers may remember the "concealed weapon carry" incident. I won't go into it here (feel free to explore the link) but suffice to say a stray comment on another site ignited a bit of a firestorm and spilled over to my site. I felt the need to respond and the furor died down soon after. It bothered me for a good while, because while blogs offer the freedom to speak your mind, you also have to accept the possibility (and in some cases the inevitabilty) of being attacked for your views. Healthy debate is great, unjust name-calling and criticizing is not.

While it's normal, it's not healthy and has little place in the online community. Well, outside of those certain dark places where no good and no light can ever come. You know, like University of Florida football...


11) Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them?

Fear them? Ha. I laugh in the face of danger. Ha ha ha ha ha...

Actually, I covered this a bit above. I don't avoid political blogs per se, but I do avoid those that profess particular allegience to a political party (any of them) because the kind of blind obedience to a party and platform is one of the biggest problems facing the country today. So I don't support or patronize those sites.


12) Were you shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

What? Who got arrested? I missed it...

Ok, Doug, what did you hack into?


13) What do you think will happen to your blog after you die?

It will be bronzed and put on a shelf in the Smithsonian Institution between Max Klinger's dress and Kermit the Frog.

14) What song do you like to hear? What song would you like to link to on your blog?

Wow, these questions kind of got totally random, didn't they?

Um, any song's of - especially if they're by the Atomic Horns (coming soon to a Knoxville area venue near you!).


15) The next “victims”?

Hmm.. Since I got this from an SPC participant, I'll pass along the favor...

1. Nikki
2. Georgia
3. Deb R
4. And what the heck, Tish.

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 7

Today is September 7th.

Here's the quilt I mentioned in the post for September 5:



I love how music played such a central role in her life. I wonder what her favorite artist was, her favorite style, who was her favorite composer...

(thanks to Kim Monins from www.unitedinmemory.net)


If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 6

More accolades and remembrances:

A dedication to a dear friend of mine.
Dear Rebecca,
I knew you for three years thats why when i found out about you it brought me to tears. You were a brief friend that i met through the doctors office. The last time i saw you i was actually drawing your blood the thursaday right before that tragedy occured on Tuesday September 11,2001. May God Bless you and keep you in his GLORY.
Love For Ever And For Always
Rachel Cepeda

I didnt know who you were but I wanted to send my prayers to your family and all the other familys who lost a love one. I joined the army sept 14th 2001 and I am sorry I could not do more but I tried, again we all will keep you in our memories forever
PFC Scott MacDougal

(My thanks to SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 VICTIMS)


If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 5

www.unitedinmemory.net put together an interesting project - creating quilts.

The United in Memory 9/11 Victims Memorial Quilt™, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to keep alive the memories of the victims of September 11, 2001 through the United in Memory 9/11 Victims Memorial Quilt™.

This organization is committed to honoring the victims and comforting the world by making the quilt available for public viewing throughout the nation and around the world.

This organization also strives to honor with courage and compassion the thousands of surviving families, those who risked their lives to save others, and those who supported the United States of America in its darkest hours. May their lives serve as a healing balm to our wounded spirits and as eternal beacons, reaffirming our respect for life and freedom and inspiring an end to hatred, bigotry, ignorance, and intolerance.

The quilt will be exhibited in Staten Island, NY Sept. 9-11 and in Radnor, PA Sept. 15-17.

Here's a link to the quilt for Rebecca Lee Koborie.

I'm going to try and get permission to post a photo of the quilt on the site, but please click on the link and take a look - it's quite beautiful.


If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

Good on ya, mate

I'm totally bummed.

Stingray kills 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin

Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.

Steve Irwin was always a favorite in our house, and his exploits will be greatly missed. Daredevil or not, he loved animals and loved nature and showed more respect to both in one day than some people show in a lifetime.

Fair dinkum, cobber.

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 3

Today is the 3rd of September.

Rebecca Lee Koborie Music Scholarship Fund

The Koborie family has established the Shenango Valley Community Foundation in memory of Rebecca to further education in the field of music and the Rebecca Lee Koborie Music Memorial Foundation. Donations may be sent to 39 Chestnut Street, Sharon, PA 16146.

More information about the fund here and here. Apply for the scholarship here.


If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 2

Today is the 2nd of September.

Rebecca was my neighbor, living in the same building where I live. Rebecca was a very talented singer and musician. She had a beautiful voice. For a while she sang and played the piano at the Italian restaurant in the Galaxy mall. She had a warm personality, with always a smile on her face and had a outgoing personality.

*** Posted by Mimi on 2006-06-04 ***

I am in the 10th grade and I'm doing a project for my Drama class. When I came arcoss Rebecca's name and read about her some I knew she was a good person so I decided to do my project on her out of the other 3000 people in the book i had. She seems like a very nice person and should not have had happen to her what did.

*** Posted by Amber Whiting on 2005-08-23 ***

Hearing Rebecca was a musician was especially meaningful for me, and I would like to have been able to hear her play and sing. I would imagine she made a lot of people happy.

Source: http://www.9-11heroes.us/v/Rebecca_Lee_Koborie.php


If you knew Rebecca, or had some connection and would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com. I'd especially love to hear from family members and friends who can tell me more about her musical interests and history with music.

Oh Please, Don't Let It Be Like Last Year

IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!

Score Prediction
Tennessee: 20
California: 17

Self Portrait Challenge - September (Week 1)

This month the challenge is "with someone". I've got some good ideas for this month, including "with" other bloggers, my family, and who knows who else. But for the first one I'm going to go back in time.

In 1972 I was 5 years old, and two of my absolute favorite things to do in the world were watch H.R. Pufnstuf and Lidsville on Saturday mornings, and to go to Six Flags over Georgia in Atlanta every summer with my family.

For a few years, those worlds collided. Sid & Marty Krofft, creators of H.R. Pufnstuf and Lidsville had a Puppet Theatre in Six Flags, and joy of joys, the characters from the shows would occasionally walk around the park.

Here I am with my hero, the Mayor of Living Island himself, H.R. Pufnstuf.



That's me in the red shirt and white hat. Also seen "horning" in on the action is Ms. Party Hat from Lidsville.

I also got pretty chummy with The Colonel from Lidsville as well.



Apparently I had one pose for all pictures. I remember good ole' Colonel scaring the good old' bejeebus out of me, so I stood as far from him as I could but still stay in the shot.

You know, watching those guys on TV is great. Seeing them in person, they just look like misshapen mutants...

Anyway.

I'm happy my parents kept the old photos, and transferred them to CD so I can enjoy them forever.

Since I'm in a charitable, nostalgic mood, here's a picture I found just for my former roommate Gary and and his brother Phillip:



Magic World in Pigeon Forge, circa 1976. Eat your hearts out, guys...I was there first.

Note: In searching the CD's for these particular pictures, I found a bunch of 1982 World's Fair pictures. I'll be posting them on my 25th Anniversary Site soon.

Red Skelton at the World's Fair

Read my post recalling a performance of Red Skelton at the 1982 Worlds Fair on my World's Fair 25th site.

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie - Sept 1.

Today is the 1st of September. On the 11th of September 2001, Rebecca Lee Koborie was murdered in downtown New York. Each days counting down to 9/11/06 I'm going to introduce you to Rebecca, tell you a little about her life, dreams, career, friends, family and talents.

I won't tell you about her death, because that we already know. We've spent almost five years trying to ensure it doesn't happen again. This is the last moment I'll say anything about the tragedy.

But that's not what the 2996 project is about. It's about celebrating life, and rejoicing over the time Rebecca spent on the Earth. To me it's about meeting a person who's been gone for five years, through the thoughts and words of the people that knew her. It's about understanding the precious nature of the people we sometimes take for granted. It's about understanding the diversity in us all, and how we come together to make a nation that's stronger than it's individual parts. It's about all of us, and how one person made a difference in the lives of others.

I'd like to humbly ask permission from each of the websites I will be pulling information from about Rebecca and the lives the touched. I will do my best to attribute photos and info to the various sites I pull content from. I can't ask each person individually, but I can assure her friends and family that I will pay tribute to her with utmost respect and dignity. If anyone that knew her would like to contact me with personal stories or anecdotes, please email me at lasthome@gmail.com - I've set up a special Gmail account for that correspondence.

Rebecca Lee Koborie was 48 years old and lived in Guttenberg, N.J.

She was an executive secretary at Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. in the World Trade Center.

She left behind a father, mother, two brothers and a sister.

Top Photo and information
Bottom Photo and information

Friday's Feast

Friday, September 01, 2006 - Feast One Hundred & Nine

Appetizer - What are some lyrics you have misheard (such as, instead of "Gettin' Jiggy With It" you heard "Kick a chicken with it")?

I can't think of any misheard lyrics at the moment, but for years and years I thought the song "Afternoon Delight" was about a couple getting together on a picnic blanket on the hillside watching fireworks on a nice afternoon. It never occured to me to ask why they'd be watching fireworks in the middle of the day.

"Oh, that's what an afternoon delight is...


Soup - What is the worst movie you have ever seen?

Repeat - Oh boy.. well, for years the worst movie I'd ever seen was "The Stuff" with Michael Moriarty. I don't remember much about it, but it came out during the time I worked as an usher at a movie theatre, and several of us would stay late to watch movies. I watched more movies during those 2-1/2 years or so than I have since. The reason I remember that one being bad was a) Michael Moriarty's horrible, horrible dead-pan performance. I can't stand to watch him in anything now - I turn the channel if I happen across an old Law and Order rerun... and 2) every of my coworkers panned it as well, and we made fun of it the rest of the year.

Of more modern movies...there was the late-night Target caper "Career Opportunities" - yes, you know the one with Jennifer Connely riding the mechanical kid's horse after hours...in the department store...with the tight, tight tank top shirt.....(sorry, mind wandered there for a second). I went to see it with Laura at the theatre and actually paid full price for it. We were expecting something a little more..cerebral. I was actually uncomfortable watching the horse-riding scene, with my wife sitting next to me, because it's so blatantly sensual I almost felt I needed to wash my hands afterwards. Anyway, the movie itself was written by John Hughes in a desperate attempt to find another Home Alone success. Bzzzzzt.


Salad - Using the letters from your favorite number, write a sentence. Example: Tomorrow has really easy experiences.

Fire is very exciting.


Main Course - What was the most interesting news story you have heard this week?

If by "interesting" you mean "idiotic" it's the decision to demote Pluto from the rank of planets. I devoted some considerable attention to this one.

I think it's fine that scientists want to nail down the definition of a planet. I think it's fine to debate what the scientific vs. cultural definition of a planet. But we've all grown up with 9 planets in the solar system. If you want to add more, add more. But don't take away a constant mininum that's been part of our lives since the first science class.


Dessert - Which word(s) would you choose to describe your wardrobe?

Brown. I have a very brown wardrobe. My pants are mostly all different shades of khaki, and a number of my shirts are different shades of tan or brown. I basically mix and match the opposite shades on different days. I have a few color shirts I wear from time to time, though.

Whoops....

Blogger has seemingly eaten and partially digested my template, so until I can replenish it from a backup at my office, please be patient with an older backup from two years ago.

UDPATE: The previous template has been uploaded from a version saved at the end of July, but I've lost my 9/11 tribute banner :(. I'll have to hunt for another version...

UPDATE II: 9/11 banner restored! I love Google caching ;)

The Next Self Portrait Challenge

I can't quite get a straight answer on whether we're supposed to do a fifth-week version of the August "Enclosed Spaces" Self Portrait Challenge so I'm just going to hold off and wait till the end of the week with the first September challenge.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight

This is the best movie news I've seen since they announced the making of "The Phantom Menace"



Autumn 2007 will finally see the long-awaited premiere of a full-length Dragonlance animated motion picture. Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first in the original Dragonlance trilogy written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and based on their series of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventures, will feature Keifer Sutherland as the voice of the wizard Raistlin Majere , Lucy Lawless as the Plainsmen princess Goldmoon and Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum as Tanis Half-Elven.

A number of other accomplished animated series voice actors will fill out the cast, including Jason Marsden (Adult Kovu in "The Lion King II" as Tasslehoff Burrfoot) and a number of other actors who seem to rotate around from animated series such as Batman, Kim Possible, Harvey Birdman, Jimmy Neutron, Fairly OddParents and Justice League to numerous video games and other voice media.

This is the fantasy series that should've gotten the super-multi-million dollar Peter Jackson trilogy treatment, and not that second-rate Tolkien stuff. Dragonlance has well-drawn characters with life-spanning problems and obstacles, growth and sacrifice - plus a world that's warm, rich and far more interesting than Middle Earth ever hoped to be. Characters such as Bilbo, Gandalf, Aragorn and especially Sauron come off as 2-dimensional next to Tanis, Tas, Raistlin, Camaron, Sturm and Takhisis.

Come next fall, you'll see too.

Until then, the Inn of the Last Home, favorite watering hole of the fabled Heroes of the Lance, will keep you warm and comfortable....

Official Dragonlance Movie Site

Friday's Feast

Friday, August 25, 2006 - Feast One Hundred & Eight

Note: I'm getting a little over the repeats. At least two of these questions have been asked before, in the not too distant past. But I'm game, hey.

Appetizer - If you could have a free subscription to any magazine, which one would you like to have?

(Repeat #1) Time Magazine. Whatever your political bias, I've always found Time to be pretty fair and thorough. Plus it's weekly.


Soup - Describe your living room (furnishings, colors, etc.).

(Repeat #2) We have a green couch and matching big fluffy chair that's actually big enough for me to curl my long legs up in (almost). There's also a big matching ottoman. We have a new square coffee table that hides two rolling footstools/benches that the kids use. There's also another gold upholstered chair that used to belong to Laura's grandmother. We have a newish entertainment center against the wall and end tables next to the couch and big chair. There's a fireplace, rugs on the floor, a couple of floor lamps and currently my keyboard lives in the corner.


Salad - What does the shape of a circle make you think of?

A planet. All nine of them. (gee, you can't tell where my loyalties lie, can you?)


Main Course - Name 3 things in your life that you consider to be absolute necessities.

Family, church and fun.


Dessert - What was the last really funny movie you watched?

"Duck Amuck", the classic Daffy Duck cartoon by Chuck Jones.

Interplanet Janet is Very Angry

Don't make Interplanet Janet angry.


You wouldn't like her when she's angry.


Scientists, you've made her angry. Be very afraid.

BREAKING NEWS - Sun no longer designated a "star"

Leading scientists met today to finalize definitions of "stars" and have determined that Sol, the central celestial body in our solar system, is too small, puny and yellow to actually be considered a true "star". Comparisons to red and blue giants such as Rigel and Betelgeuse hastened this decision. Opposition from astronomers and astro-physicists was light, due to the fact that there just wasn't enough of it. Light, that is.

Our Sun will now officialy be known by the designation of "turnip".


Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

New Life for an old Icon?

Check out my post regarding new plans to revitalize the Sunsphere at my World's Fair 25th Anniversary blog.

Who Knew Doomsday Would Be So....

....quiet?

August Self-Portrait Challenge #4

Enclosed Spaces

One of the most enclosed feelings one can have is when something is wrapped around your head.

Here is what I go through every night:



I'm wearing here my CPAP (Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure) unit, used for treating severe sleep apnea. Which I have, in spades. Pressured air is generated through the unit on the little table to the right, then forced through a hose and into the breather under my nose. A constant stream of air is pushed into my lungs during the night, keeping me from snoring and giving me a steady amount of oxygen in the bloodstream. I'm not claustrophobic so it doesn't bother me in that way, although most mornings my nose if very sore when I wake up, as if I had a bad cold and had been sneezing all night. The soreness does go away fairly quickly, though.

Unfortunately I don't always wear it all the through the night. If I wake up in between two of my sleep cycles, it's sometimes very difficult to get back to sleep. I often end up tearing off the mask and accompanying chinstrap, flinging them to the floor and turning off the air unit - sometimes between 4:30 and 6:30am.

Those early morning hours when I do wake up and cannot get back to sleep, I look like this:



For more information:

My Sleep Study (Feb 2005) - Part 1 and Part 2

Sleep Study Followup

It's Kind of Like Camp...

The drain in our shower isn't working right - well, to be more precise it's leaking through the ceiling in the kitchen below. Which can put a bit of a damper on food preparation.

As such, PlumberMan comes tomorrow (for the third time) to again try and fix the problem. Until then, we have to use the shower in the kids' bathroom down the hall in the mornings.

So there I walk, in my towel, down to the showers. All that's lacking is watching for bears and scorpions and I'm back at camp...

Friday's Feast

Friday, August 18, 2006 - Feast One Hundred & Seven

Appetizer - What color is your car?

It's kind of a sea-foam green. I like it.


Soup - If you could wake up tomorrow with full training in another occupation and a job in that field, what would it be?

Sometimes meme cross, don't they? This is similar to a question I answered the other day. Well, I'd love to instantly have the skills to manage an amusement park. If not actuall business management, to be the creative director.


Salad - How many times in your life have you had the flu (or something similar)?

Very few times, outside of childhood that I can recall. Other than a span of time when the kids were small that stomach bugs spread regularly through the house, I've been fairly illness-free.


Main Course - What is something that has happened to you this week that you didn't expect?

I didn't expect some specific work difficulties I encountered this week. Nothing major, just some communication problems regarding getting someone access to certain areas of the network they need to do their job.


Dessert - How old were you when you had your first kiss?

Old enough to be embarrassed about it.

Wanna Live to See Sixth Grade?

This afternoon

Brainyboy v10.5: Dad, you mispelled something in your blog.

Me: (huh? wuzzut?) I mispelled something where??

Brainyboy: It says, "Were you in any clubs or organizations? I was in Key Club and Beta Club, although I 'enver'--". You spelled it e-n-v-e-r instead of n-e-v-e-r.

Me: (muttered curses and veiled threats to make sure his second day of fifth grade tomorrow may be his last...)



What's he doing reading this blog???

FourForAll

Tagged by Logtar

Four jobs I wish I had the capabilities of:

1) Professional Theatrical Director - I have the capability of this, but I guess not to the level to actually be good at it and paid for it.
2) Space Shuttle Pilot
3) Songwriter or Author
4) Head guy at Wannadoo City

Four names I wish I had other than my own:

1. Josh
2. Will
3. Patrick
4. George Lucas

Four of my favourite actresses:

1. Jodie Foster
2. Helen Hunt
3. Annette O'Toole
4. Susan Sarandon


Four songs I could listen to over and over again:

1. The Long and Winding Road (The Beatles)
2. Circle of Life (from The Lion King)
3. When You Wish Upon a Star (from Pinocchio)
4. Fins (Jimmy Buffett)


Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Any Star Trek
2. 24
3. The West Wing
4. Lost


Four places I would like to go to on vacation:

1. Anywhere in the Caribbean, especially St. John, St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Martinique or St. Maartin
2. Ireland or Scotland. At the warmest possible time of year ;)
3. Alaskan cruise
4. Tour the Mayan ruins in the Yucutan


Four of my favourite cuisines:

1. Italian
2. Mexican
3. Japanese
4. Breakfast


Four places I wish I was right now:

1. Walt Disney World, or any park in Orlando
2. Busch Gardens in Williamsburg
3. Sitting in the audience at a rehearsal directing a show
4. In an office with a window.

Because You're Breaking the Law

Activist defies deportation, takes refuge in church

Elvira Arellano, who became a national spokeswoman for families facing deportation, had been ordered to report to the Department of Homeland Security by 9 a.m. Tuesday. Instead Arellano took refuge in a West Side church.

I saw a report about her on CNN today. They interviewed Bishop Minerva Carcaño, of the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. Bishop Carcano took up the cause of Ms. Arellano, while stating that UMC was taking a doctrinal stand against the immigration policies of the United States.

This is a categorically false statement, as the UMC does not defy established legal immigration procedures. Bishop Carcaño has decided arbitrarily to establish doctrine fo the UMC. I hope something is done about her position through the UMC heirarchy.

Meanwhile, Ms. Arrelano pleads her case in the papers...

She appeared at the pulpit of Adalberto United Methodist Church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, vowing before dozens of supporters that she would not return to Mexico "like a coward." She said she would stay in the church indefinitely with her 7-year-old son, a U.S. citizen.

Actually, you are showing your cowardice in front of your son anyway, because you're breaking the law.

This morning, Arellano appeared in front of the church and said she doesn't want to leave her son. She said she is not a terrorist and only wants to protect his rights.

But you have no real rights in this case because you are in the country illegaly and you're breaking the law.

"She is an active and engaged member of our community. She is a great mother. She is the type of person we want—and need—in our community," Gutierrez wrote.

Except that she is breaking the law.

Her supporters invoked the notion that lawbreakers can be protected in a house of worship, a tradition that dates to the ancient Greeks.

This tradition was used to protect enemies of the state who feared for their lives from the state. The church was used as a humanitarian sanctuary until more peaceful resolutions could be worked out (if at all). In Europe, the Catholic Church was almost or as respected and feared as the government and many officials didn't dare violate the sanctity of its walls for fear of incurring the wrath of the Pope. That particulat political dynamic between church and state doesn't really exist anymore - especially in America - so invoking it as a proud traditional practice sounds almost foolish in this way. Almost like someone claiming squatters rights or extolling the virtues of droit de seigneur...

"If Homeland Security chooses to send agents to a holy place, I would know that God wants me to serve as an example of the hatred and hypocrisy of the current administration," Arellano said.

And, of course, eventually you get to the money quote, where the "hyprocrisy of the current administration", which naively seems to play well these days with 50% of the nation, will rally anyone who espouses that belief to their cause. Regardless of whether it's immigration, abortion, taxes, weather, or war, blaming the government is a typical ploy of those who haven't a real leg to stand on.

Legal experts agree that a church offers no formal protection, but they say it could put the government in an awkward position.

"Just because you are in a church doesn't mean you are less deportable in a legal sense," said Joel Fetzer, associate professor of political science at Pepperdine University. "But in a political sense, it looks very bad to be hauling people out of churches as the camera rolls."

And of course the government has to start worrying about PR when arresting people who've broken the law. Not just clearly and blatantly broken the law but actively resisted such arrest and rallied others to aid and abet their flight. I agree it doesn't look great to arrest someone in a church, but legally it cannot nor should not offer such protection.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and other members of the state's congressional delegation urged homeland security officials to let Arellano remain in Chicago to care for her son, Saul, born in the U.S., who has ADHD and other health problems. She was granted three stays of deportation starting in 2003.

But some of those sympathetic to her cause, including Durbin, suggested that another stay of deportation would be harder to justify because her son's condition has improved. Immigration officials say that without a U.S. senator's request, they cannot grant such a stay.

If she were in the middle of normal naturalization proceedings, and due to the fact she was raising a young child I would normally be in favor of some leniency. But she'd already been deported once and entered illegally again. The health of the son is no longer a burning issue. She has publicly flaunted the laws of the country and cannot be afforded any more mercy - because she's breaking the law.

Arellano's supporters say that if agents do try to make an arrest at the church, they want it to be a chaotic scene, much like the 2000 raid in which federal agents seized 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to return him to his father in Cuba.

In which case all involved should be arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. Because (say it with me) they're breaking the law.

As her backers offered hugs and kind words, Arellano said she is prepared to pay the consequences of defying the U.S. government.

"If I have to spend 10 or 20 years in jail, I don't care," Arellano insisted. "Because I am going to fight."

Finally we see where her priorities truly lie - herself, and only herself. If she cared about her son as she claims to, she would not allow him to grow up with a mother behind bars. She would not allow him to grow up seeing his mother become a martyr and political symbol for nonexistent government persecution. She would not allow him to see her set an example of selfishness and criminality.

She would not allow him to see her break the law.

There is no moral, legal or ethical stance for the vast majority of illegal immigrants in this country to take. Regardless of their integration into the workforce, regardless of our tradition of open-arms immigration, regardless of the economic status of the homes they leave behind... There is a process for becoming a naturalized citizen or legal resident of the United States and those who openly decide to ignore that process - however long it may take - are breaking the law of the United States and must pay the penalties prescribed by such laws.

School Daze!

I found this meme at Blogaritaville:

How many schools did you go to?
1) Smithwood Elementary School
2) Gresham Junior High School
3) Knoxville Central High School
4) University of Tennessee (all of these in Knoxville)

Teacher's nightmare or teacher's pet?
Teacher's pet, absolutely. I enjoyed going to school and didn't give anyone any trouble.

Did you have a label in school? (nerd, jock,etc)
My label would've been "artsy" if such a label existed because as time went on my life increasingly revolved around the Holy Triumverite: Band, Chorus and Drama.

What’s the biggest rule you broke in school?
I don't recall ever really breaking a rule bad enough to get me in trouble... I do remember really sticking my tongue out at my second grade teacher because I got mad at her. I don't remember anything after that....

Were you in any clubs or organizations?
I was in Key Club and Beta Club, although I enver quite figured out what they did except service projects. Maybe that was the point. And of course the aforementioned music and drama groups.

Did you have any nicknames in school?
No, my parents deliberately chose the name "Barry" so it couldn't be shortened or altered into a nickname.

Three subjects you enjoyed?
1. American History/Government (High School)
2. Greek and Roman Mythology (College)
3. Astronomy (College)

Three teachers who inspired you?
1. Mrs Steed (5th Grade)
2. Mr. Roberts (7th grade Science)
3. Ms. Scarbro (8th grade American History)
4. BONUS! Mr. Secrist (11th grade American History)

Would you go back and do it over?
I would if I could only give my past self some advice - don't fall in "love" so hard, and even when you do, do something about it! Don't sit and pine from afar, don't be afraid to walk up to her and tell her how you feel.

Any major fashion faux paus? Bonus for pics!!
I wore parachute pants in high school occasionally (it was the early 80's, after all...)

I don't have any parachute pants photos, but here's me on the day of my graduation from UT (circa August, 1989):

August Self-Portrait Challenge #3

Well, I'm moving up in the world.

However I seem to be having some...maturity issues.

I finally got out of the doghouse, so progress is being made... My wife, however, feels I still have a little too much childishness in me as you will see. While I did get a new toy a couple weeks ago, well, it seems all I want to do is play with the box.


Help me. Help me, please....





Take the Self Portrait Challenge!

Everything Update

1) Skie health - he's fine. Tests came back more or less negative on toxoplasmosis, so he had just some kind of viral infection. He's still biting the crap out of my foot on a nightly basis as I sit here typing.

2) Me health - lots better. Still sneezing. I'm going to go mow in a few minutes so maybe I'll still get heatsroke!

3) Me sanity - not as far gone as I may have let on in my previous post. I can exaggerate the seriousness of some situations, so maybe I did in this one. Maybe I just wanted commiseration, who knows. Anyway I feel better about it now, even though the circumstances haven't changed. I just need to learn to deal with it instead of letting it get to me. Good advice in any situation, really.

Kick Me? I Wish

You know sometimes you walk through your day and swear you have a "Kick Me" sign on your back?

I could only hope for a "Kick Me" sign. A "Kick Me" sign would be merciful and kind. Mine says, "Pummel Me with a Tire Iron Across the Neck Just Before Smacking the Back of my Knees and Throw Me to the Ground in a Crumpled Heap".

I think I picked the wrong day to give up chips. Sorry, guys, I can't participate in the "What Makes Me Happy" meme this month.

Taking it Easy

I'm home sick from work today, getting a chance to blog from here. I'm going to take it easy and get over whatever sinus thing that's got me.

I never really mentioned the problem we had with Skie the kitten over the weekend. He got really lethargic and sleepy Sunday and Monday and just wouldn't move much. He would eat fine if placed in front of his bowl and otherwise looked and sounded healthy, just like he was totally depressed or wiped out. Took him to the vet Tuesday to find out he had a virus - they're thinking it was taxoplasmosis, which is a respitory disease humans can get, too, which is especially dangerous to pregnant women and is carried by cats. So he's gotten antibiotics and perked right back up yesterday... we'll know the blood test results tomorrow.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Self-Portrait Challenge photos - they're a blast to take.

There's not much blog-worthy these days without dipping into current events, which I don't want to do.

Suffice to say this person is leaving my office tomorrow for good and I'm pretty bummed. I've worked fairly closely with her since I started my job (and have known her for several years before that) and I'll miss her a lot.

August Self-Portrait Challenge #2

Well, last week's "Enclosed Spaces" Self-Portrait Challenge landed me in a bit of trouble.

Seems my wife was less-than-enthusiastic with the threat of exposing my, um, tender mercies to the internet audience. Sometimes an artist is unappreciated in his own family. Scandalous, I know.

Anyway, I have had to play the penitent husband and accept my punishment like a man.

Or, as it were, like a dog.

Friday's Feast

(Note: I used to get email notifications of when the FF was posted, but it's been very spotty lately. Has anyone else who does the FF had this problem?)

Friday, August 04, 2006 - Feast One Hundred & Five

Appetizer - Name an actor or actress you think is totally underappreciated.

Alan Alda, for one. And that's not just because I'm currently reading his autobiography, nor ir it because Hawkeye Pierce is my favorite fictional character.

Ok, maybe that is why. But still.

Another actor I love to watch but I don't feel has received his due is Jeff Bridges. "What?" you say..."He's a famous movie star!" Well, yes, but even for all the great movies Bridges has done, he still has never quite made it to the top of the heap, nor is he really known for that one memorable role that he deserves. Maybe someday.

As for actresses, Jodie Foster has always been my favorite. Like Bridges, she has had great success but in this case due to her own personal life and creative quirks never quite broke into that top group deserving the greatest praise. I think once her career is over she will join Tom Hanks as the undisputed best actors of their generation.


Soup - Impress us by using a big word in a sentence.

"His choice of words in the poem was very ostentatious, but was still quite onomotopoetic due to the conflagration of tones and pronunciation."

Oh, you just said one?


Salad - What is something inanimate that you've given a name to (such as a pet rock)?

For a while I had a car I called "The Phoenix" for reasons to complicated to go into.


Main Course - What color would best represent your personality and why?

Green, easily. Cool and calm, yet full of the vibrancy of life


Dessert - Fill in the blanks: ____________ is so ____________.

My self-confidence is so easily cracked these days.

80's Video Blast of the Week

In 1989 Billy Joel released his eleventh studio album, Storm Front. From this album came one of his most famous and influential songs, "We Didn't Start the Fire".

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song by Billy Joel which chronicles 120 well-known events, people, things, and places widely noted during his lifetime, from 1949 to 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front. Joel explained that he wrote this song due to his interest in history; he commented that he would have wanted to be a history teacher had he not become a rock and roll singer. Unlike most of Joel's songs, here, the lyrics were written before the melody, owing to the song's somewhat unusual style. Nevertheless, the song was a huge commercial success and provided Billy Joel with his third Billboard #1 hit.

Voter Turnout - Too Little Expectations?

Yesterday’s turnout for Knox County election was approximately 52,000 or so, which is between 20-25% of the ~244,000 registered voters in this county. R. Neal says that while it’s high for Knox County, it’s still low for an election with as much as stake as this one had.

What’s interesting to me is that, as I said yesterday at 7:30 there was a line out the door of the gym to vote and it took me 40 minutes to finally get all the way through. And all 9 voting machines were in heavy use. There was no way they could’ve expanded their resources to cover more voters. What if turnout had been 40%? 60%? God help us, 80%? What would the polling places have done then? They couldn’t order out for more machines…. the wait time would’ve been interminable.

Just because historical precedent suggests 20-25% turnout, that doesn’t mean a much higher percentage shouldn’t be prepared for.

UPDATE: Another point that occurs to me - who's to say that long lines or rumors of long lines don't deter voters from stopping in? How many potential voters drove by a polling place or through the parking lot yesterday, saw the line and decided not to waste his/her time and drive on? And how many at home or in their car talked to someone by cell phone who as standing in line and, warned at the long wait, stayed away?

It would be to everyone's advantage to make sure that lines are short at all times, not just non-peak times, and that there is something there to at least engage the minds of those standing in line so it doesn't seem so bloody long. At Cedar Bluff Middle I chatted a bit with two ladies who were standing in front of me but that was it. There was nothing to watch, nothing to read, nothing to catch my attention while waiting.

Would it be such a subversion of the polling process to have workers walking up and down the lines, chatting, makind conversation, maybe fetching drinks of water or soda for the souls in line? As long as the political chatter and opinion was kept out of it, that might help.

The shorter the lines and more efficient the voting process, the more people will agree it's not a waste of good, valuable time and come out.

Whither Frist?

With the possible successors to Sen. Bill Frist’s Senate seat narrowed to two, Tish waxes melodic about the good doctor’s legacy and virtues:

I say all this just to prepare you for a few thoughts I’d like to share - thoughts on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. I have an incredible admiration for this man. In fact, I blogged about him once before. His accomplishments in the medical field and in politics make him one of the most influential men in recent history - at least in my book.

She goes on to list a number of these accomplishments, all of which are indeed noteworthy. I commented on my evaluation of Senator Frist and his legacy, and repeat it here for discussion.

Everything I’ve seen of him since after he was elected tells me he’s become a career politician all the way and replaced medicine as his passion and career.

I know he’s not running for Senate, but 1) he’s filling a campaign promise and b) he’s setting up for a presidential run. I believe he’s angling everything that’s going on in his professional career for political gain.

The fact that he rose so fast from a Freshman Senator that nobody’d ever heard of (but with a “hook”, that he was an MD) to gaining popularity by using his medical skills while in office, to suddenly rising to Senate Majority Leader? The ascension was too sudden to be simply a testement to his leadership and integrity - there had to be way too much politickin’, and that’s not good for anyone, especially his constituents in Tennessee.

When a person decides to become a physician he needs to dedicate his life to medicine and healing others. Frist did so for a while, then saw a better deal in politics and for all intents and purposes turned his back on being a physician. To so easily from such a noble calling to a way of life that wallows in dishoner strikes me as very suspect.

Now, if he’s actually retired from public life and returns to the private sector as a regular doc or even an administrator, I’ll glady admit I was wrong. I hope I am. But I think we’ll forget Senator Frist was ever Dr. Frist as he attempts to become President Frist.

What I'd Like To Read...

...is a website where voters could post, anonymously, why they voted for one candidate or another. Or why they didn't vote for one candidate or another.

The News Sentinel's Jack McElroy says:

Well, if there's one lesson to be learned by this year's county commission races, it's that -- despite what they might say -- voters sure love incumbents.

As of this writing at 10:25 p.m., it looks like only Commissioner David Collins will not be re-elected.

Obviously it's unethical to ask someone out of the blue to explain or defend their voting choice, and (probably) no one would post their decisions publicly, but if it could be done safely and anonymously I would love to hear the reasons why they voted for County Commissioner Jones, who was term-limited but running for reelection anyway. Why did they decide that was in the best interests of everyone to vote the way they did?

With the safety of anonymity (and hopefully a trust that trolls won't simply pretend they voted or didn't vote for someone) I think it would be enlightening.

The Vote? Consider it Rocked

Well, I went and voted today. We vote at Cedar Bluff Middle School in the 42nd precinct, which is N. Cedar Bluff in the 5th district. At 7:30 this evening the line was out the door of the gym into the lobby of the school, and I didn't get out of there till about 8:15.

Even though all 9 voting booths were in operation, voting was slow because of 1) an historically long ballot, and b) brand new-fangled voting machines. The new machines are like big PDA's on steroids, but incredibly easy to use - at least to me. In fairness, I'd tried it out with the online Flash simulator a couple weeks ago and was fairly familar with it...but apparently it really slowed a lot of folks down. I had finished voting before some other folks who had entered their booths before me.

Course, I deal with these types of interfaces all the time so even if I hadn't tried it out beforehand I probably would've taken about the same time.

Voting results may take a while to tabulate, but we all know the winners anyway so...why wait up? Sheriff Tim'll still be sheriffin', Harold and Bob'll be running against each other in the fall and 235 judges across the state that no one's ever heard of will be reaffirmed and no one will notice.

Rock the Vote!

CodeMonkeys of the World...

Your sigil is here:



Again, thanks to Jonathan Coulton.

"A Keyboard? How Quaint..."

My latest investment toward my musical career:



Casio WK-3700

Casio's newest portables utilize the high performance Zpi sound source to deliver the most realistic piano, organ, and synth sounds, plus a huge library of built-in tones, rhythms, and DSP settings. These powerful instruments feature an on-board sequencer and a mixer, for unmatched creative possibilities, plus powerful built-in speakers to take your performance to the next level. These keyboards are ideal for home/project studio use, open-mic performance, education/classroom applications, or simply for pure musical enjoyment.

I finally took the plunge and purchased a keyboard of my own. Now I don't have to beg, borrow or steal for preforming musicals or playing in my band. It's got a ton of sounds and great piano/Hammond organ patches. Plus I plan to start composing and recording some of my own stuff, maybe doing some musical podcasts if I can find the time.

"The Atomic Horns" will hopefully begin performing around the Knoxville and Oak Ridge area soon, so locals keep an eye out. I'll be the guy with the new keyboard ;) We play a mix of rock, country, beach, funk, soul, and everything in between - something for everyone. I handle about 1/3 of the lead vocals, as three of us alternate songs between us. So far I'm covering the Elvis songs, Jimmy Buffett, swing, country and some classics from the 70's.



"She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts..."