Off Broadway, KDHX, Marshall Crenshaw, Bottle Rockets and Dale Watson

Sooooo...I am falling in love with Off Broadway and with KDHX all over again. Last things first but KDHX in my adultery.... or in my adulthood has become such a mature, yet still such a fun station. We have no idea how lucky we are in a market like St. Louis to have a good NPR station and a good independant music station. There is NOTHING play listed about KDHX and if you know their programming schedule the chance to hear eclectic music in a genre that you like is awesome. They have always promoted live music in town but have gathered the people and economic resources so it seems like they are always promoting great music coming to town. Here is site for their schedule of weekly shows:

http://kdhx.org/radio/881-kdhx-schedule-shows-and-playlists

On to more important matters. Off Broadway was formerly a nightmarish venue. It had a lot of character. It had cold beer. It had good shows. But it was dirty, beaten up, looked like a big version of my old dorm room only the wagon wheel was a chandelier rather then a coffee table. That was not the problem though, the problem was that the shows would be doors at 8 and show at nine. More often then not the show would not start till 9:30 and then they would book three acts (two local) which meant that the headliner often did not start till 11:00 and sometimes would not be done till 12:30 or 1:00. That just became too late for and aging man like myself. They have a very accsesable web site which i link to from the Diner review home page but it is good to keep an eye on. I cannot complement the place enough and for the first time in a long time it seems like we have a somewhat worthy successor to the niche that Mississippi Nights formerly held. It can be a little “close” sometime but that does not change the...awesomeness of having great bands playing at a reasonable time, close enough so that the guitarist can spit on you... should he have a mind to.

I have seen two shows there already this year. the first was the Marshall Crenshaw show where he was backed by the Bottle Rockets. I got a little confused by the billing not understanding that the Rockets would be his back up band and then still not expecting an opening set from them. You can say what you want about Bryan Henneman but he has become a local treasure and he really knows how to put on a show. There is none of the shoe staring mopiness of a Jay Farrar show and of course though Tweedy is great... he did leave us... the bastard. So Henneman comes out and the place is packed. Easily 20% of the folks were out just to see a Bottle Rockets show and he did a great job... just the hits folks...just the hits. The bottom line is that he puts on a great show, works the audience and delivers... every time. Then Crenshaw came out. Marshall Crenshaw was the next big thing for a solid 5 years. he was a critics darling who wrote some excellent songs, had a distinctive sound and great pop sensabilities. But... he could never quite crack it. He got to play Buddy Holly and continued to put out quality, crafted pop but he never made it, as making it was defined in the day. His debut album in 1982, the epynomous Marshall Crenshaw is a pop gem. Buy it. But he is old. With the Bottle Rockets and Henneman all wearing what looked to be J Crew style pork pie hats they looked like a group of middle aged men very uncomfortable with their baldness. Still, Crenshaw worked through his beautiful jangly songs and it was just a lot of fun. As I said the place was absolutely packed and it was a lot of fun. it remined me again about how fun a show was and I saw local music head R. Brightman who informed me Dale Watson would be playing the next week... and I needed to see him.

I had no idea who Dale Watson was. But Brightman has an ear for the twang and he seems to have a lot of the Bakersfield penchant that has grabbed me for a while so... I trust him. he has also gotten me into a couple of house concerts and that is something for which i owe him no small debt. So... on a Sunday night after the first football playoff game and during the second one I headed out to the show solo. There were not quite as many people there and he had a nice big bus in front of the place but he came out and... he was site. He has a pretty regular gig at the revered Continental Club in Austin and I would judge his age at somewhere north of 50. I have never seen hair like his in my life. There was a good crowd there and he came out with a very tight band and a sweet lap steel player. Beatle Bob was there doing his thing (he made the Marshall Crenshaw show as well and he rocked us through a set made up of his own classic country relating to liquor, death and sadness. It was a well received show that had people two stepping the night away on the dance floor in front of the stage.

St. Louis is not grateful enough for it’s music scene. Off Broadway and KDHX are partnering to put on some great shows. Pay attention. In the words of Neil Young, “Live Music Is Better! Bumper Stickers Should Be Issued!” Amen.

Movie Night At Home

There is something about being home alone. Whether you are Tom Cruise in “Risky Business”, Mc Cauley Caulkin in “Home Alone” or one of over 234,000 young girls who have succumbed in various horror movies over the years... there is just something about it. For me at 49 it was a matter of my wife being in Florida visiting her folks, my daughter being on a youth gathering with the church and my son Jon (recently moved back home) being back at college visiting his girlfriend. My other son Pat is safely in Kirksville and not likely to turn up. Jon was supposed to have been home and among other things were supposed to consider shopping for rings for his intended.

In my younger days this would have been an excuse for a weekend of poor choices. But no more. Now I worked, played a little poker, worked, had lunch with a friend, worked, went to a movie and rented a movie on line. I enjoy watching movies alone. I even enjoy it more at home when I keep the computer off my lap and concentrate on... the movie. Going to the movies is always problematic. I enjoy going to movies with Sandy, especially when we can have a coktail at the theatre but I enjoy action and heavy themes which often center on a lot of very graphic violence. I do not mean shoot em up violence but abusive violence, one and one. often a man and a women but just as often two men, or two women. She has no stomach or heart for it. Likely this is one of the things I love about her but I do not like it as far as movies go.

So “True Grit” was supposed to be awesome, so off i ran to the 4:30 show at the dying “Crestwood Court” AMC Cinema. There is nothing creepier then a dead shopping mall. It all seems like a movie set from a zombie movie it is all so unnatural. Going in there to see a film is an adventure in itself. So it is a Coen Brothers film and these guys really seem to know what they are doing. They make movies lovingly in a cinematic way that is just frankly lacking. I remember the first movie with John Wayne and yes, I had even read the book and this movie was an awesome replication of the book. The language usage and the dialogue are really awesome and the scenes that they film as they ride around Indian territory are really impressive. It is a story of female empowerment and a 14 year old girl and Jeff Bridges who in playing Rooster Cogburn is actually seeming to play....Tom Waits. It is definitly one of the best movies of the year.

Then I came home. I baked a chicken breast in an iron skillet with a little wine, butter paprika and butter and chipotle chile and...butter. It was really good and while it was cooking I got on U-Verse and rented “Winters Bone”. Everyone told me that this was the must see movie and I certainly understand why. it is a bleak movie in an ozark landscape that features another girl, this one 17 and it is just a tense, dark movie that does not go anywhere and tells a huge, huge story. The general feeling I got out of it was how hard life is for some people in ways I can never understand. This girl is trying to take care of her family and find her missing meth cooker dad who has a court appearance and if he does not show, they lose the house he posted for his bond. She never leaves her county and it still takes her to darker and darker places. In the end... it ends happily...I guess. But you should see this movie but you need to be able to tune out a little bit during some of the more troubling scenes.

Then I went to bed. It was good day.

GET ANGRY

Sooooo.... I am ANGRY! And you should be ANGRY too. Then we can be ANGRY together! There is so much to be angry about. Mexicans taking our jobs! BIG Government! High Taxes! Limited business opportunities! Unemployment! Under employment! The government take over of healthcare (OBAMACARE!)! The United Nations! RICH LIBERALS! The conspiracy to trample on the Constitution! PROGRESSIVES.....FOR GODS SAKE PROGRESSIVES! MAIN STREAM MEDIA! Blame Stream Media! Lame Stream Media! The attempt to muzzle FOX News!! Creeping Socialism! The decline of American Values! People who question “American Exceptionalism”! There is just so much to be angry about and seeming so few exclamation marks. But EVERYTHING needs to be in bold type and end with an exclamation point because we are ANGRY!

Why would we not be angry? We live in the strongest, freest country on earth. A country so embarrassingly blessed with natural resources, clean water, tillable land, coal, oil, gas, timber and a temperate climate that it is as close to paradise as any geographical place on earth. But lets forget about that! Everything is bad! And it has to be changed and it can only be changed if we get ANGRY! If we forget that besides being blessed to be Americans, alive at this great time in history, that we also are blessed by a just and loving God who sent his only son as salvation from our sends. LETS FORGET THAT AND BE ANGRY!

And lets feed our anger by listening to angry people who think as we think, or perhaps are even more angry then we are so that we can feel like we are really not THAT angry. And lets blame people. Lets blame the past administration. Lets blame the current administration. lets blame, politicians, liberals, conservatives, Tea Party people, Progressives, Jews, Christians, Muslims, the damned Sufi Muslims, blacks, whites, yellow, brown, tan and magenta. Lets blame them because OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED! And it is all their fault!

None of it is my fault! I am angry at all these people who have made everything so bad. by being angry i am going to get something done about it. By getting together with other people who are angry we will elect people who are different. People who are accountable. People who will not do whatever they need to do to make sure they stay in power and perpetuate their own families well being. People who are going to be “different”. People who are... not people. Until we elect someone who is not a person, we will not be happy.

We will continue to be angry about the tax code. We will realize that there ca be no free market with this bastardized amalgam of social engineering that seeks to reward behavior government wants to encourage. And we will do NOTHING about it in our anger because we still want the breaks which are good for us! We just want the other guys tax breaks taken away. They make us angry! We must scream about the sanctity of capitalism while insisting that the government subsidize ever Wal-Mart with a TIF and every wind farm with subsidies and price fixing.

It never ends, the things to be angry about. The things that divide us. The things that diminish us as a people. The things that make us smaller. Pettier. Hateful. Bitter. Alone, even in a mob. So we live in the greatest, most blessed Democracy the world has ever known with a higher standard of living than our much applauded founding fathers could have ever dreamed of and we scream about watering the tree of freedom with human blood. Because we are ANGRY!

And as Christians we can draw a lot of examples of this righteous anger from Christ. JUST READ YOUR BIBLE! Jesus was always walking around being angry about the government. Being angry at those damn, scummy Samaritan immigrants who were taking good Jewish Jobs. Angry with Ceasar for taxing the hell out of them. Angry with the politicians of the time for executing him. Angry with people who were exposing “social justice” and leaving a corner of their fields for the poor to get some grain! COMMUNISTS Christ would scream and berate them! At least he never got angry at the rich and powerful. They were blessed and they are guaranteed a spot at his right hand in heaven. That is what the Bible says. Right?

So be angry. Be a Christian and be angry. Follow Christs example and be angry and be a victim and complain. Complain from the left. Complain from he right. Stand up, sit down, fight, fight fight.

Woops...Looks Like We Shot Another One

We are all poorer for what happened yesterday. You cannot blame anyone for the senseless shooting of Congressman Gifford resulting in the deaths of 6 and injury of 13 others by one, damaged young man. Two things to think about:

1. A culture of anger encourages anger and feelings of helplessness which can lead to violence. Somehow we have confused having a “voice” in government with having the right to always have our way. With demagogues on talk radio and cable 24 hours a day getting ratings through inciting feeling of anger and disenfranchisement in people, can we expect reasoned discourse? You can be angry about big government but should we not be encouraged to feel blessed to live in this country. Lucky? Blessed? Maybe even, God forbid, thankful? How about for those of us who try and be Christians...grace filled?

2. We, the safest, most peaceful country on earth have enshrined gun ownership and being armed as the most important right we have as citizens. Only one question... why? I am only 49 years old but once I got past middle school I cannot think of the last time I have felt physically threatened. Nor do I have the feeling that the government is encroaching on me in a way that requires me to arm myself. Ever. Even when W. was expanding Presidential power exponentially with a “unified executive” theory I did not feel the need to lock and load.

So, another politician shot when trying to spend time with their constituents. How long till they all have to ride around in Pope mobiles and standing behind bullet proof screens when speaking to
us. The best answer is that we all need to go through screening before speaking to a politician but once again that would not be needed but for our infantile, fanatic, fetish regarding hand guns and the RIGHT to carry a concealed weapon (where is that in the constitution exactly?). I really am fine with everyone having a rifle, or even a shot gun. I have the chance to see you coming. When you walk up to someone and reach into your pocket for your Glock, you are not exercising a right. You are a terrorist. Aren’t we in a declared “war” against those people?

Perhaps the President should declare a day of prayer. A day for all Americans to take a significant amount of time to sit down and pray to God for Peace and reconciliation. Civil discourse. Thoughtful discourse. It could happen here but we have to start by demanding it. And by tuning out the haters. They have nothing to add to the conversation but fear and anger and that is when any group of people do stupid things.

Now a few days later it is clear. This guy is mentally ill. You cannot blame it on rhetoric or politics or anything else. Still I would like to see our country pull back from from our sick fascination with hand guns. Let everyone have shot guns and rifles (I would still shy away from machine guns), we can see those coming but handguns, they are for killing people.

The Epiphany Letter...like a Christmas Letter...But Later

I know not everyone is on the official, unedited Becker Christmas Card list. I don't know why. Here it is:


Dear Friends and Family,

If you were wondering where the annual Becker Christmas letter was, in keeping with a tradition we began last year, and in hopes of extending your holiday “cheer” and lessening our holiday stress, we have once again opted for an Epiphany letter.

So – for a Becker year in review…..

Sandy turned 50.  I must admit that the family did not consider this to be quite the noteworthy event that she did. Based on the other women that she is related to, it is likely that she has another 50 in her.  Let’s call it half time.  Our primary celebration, in a long line of seemingly unending celebrations, was a family cruise.  Among other things, we swam with the stingrays in the Caymans and zip lined in the jungles of Belize.  She continues in public accounting, loving what she does and thankful for the flexibility her bosses are willing to give her, allowing her to spend much of her summer in Michigan.

Jonathon graduated this year from Valparaiso University.  He spent the next 5 months (until late October when camp closed for the winter) up in Michigan working as program director at Camp Arcadia. He has joined one of his fraternity brothers from Valparaiso in a company called Boom. Reactive. They specialize in social media, videography and web production. You can check it out at boomreactive.com. You can also get a glimpse into the creative mind of Jon Becker by checking out the latest locavore trend at bathtubtuna.com. He has now moved back into our house. After a period of more than four year, where he was not ever at home for more than two weeks, let’s just say that he is “readjusting”.  He continues to be madly in love with one Lydia Schaftenaar of Holland, Michigan.  Jon's family could not be more pleased.  Lydia is finishing her senior year at Valparaiso and we all hope to see a lot more of her in the future.

Patrick is a Junior at Truman State University.  He continues to study psychology in what appears to be a Becker trend of cultivating unemployability.  School seems to agree with him and his studies are going very well.  Pat is focusing his non-studying hours on hanging out with friends, children’s television, the internet and general uselessness. He moved into an apartment this year and seems to have adjusted well. Who would have thought? He continues in his relationship with Kyle McComas – despite rumors that Kyle is no longer an accounting major - something Sandy cannot quite come to terms with. Pat turned 21 on Christmas day. It appears we may have started a new Becker family Christmas tradition of going to bars on Christmas night. Seems rather fitting for us.  

Laura, a senior at Lutheran South, is biding her time until graduation and trying not to make any serious mistakes.  She believes that she will turn 21 this year, when, in fact, she will only be turning 18.  She had an awesome summer up in Arcadia this past year, and is looking forward to doing the same next summer. Additionally, she will be going on a two week trip to Europe with a group from Lutheran South. Despite living what appears to us to be a charmed life, much time is still spent grumbling because her parents will not pay to send her to Mexico for spring break.  Life is hard.  She has elected to attend Valparaiso University and received a nice scholarship to go there. The family (including her brothers) is very proud.

Mike has changed jobs – yet again - and is now Of Counsel (whatever that means) at the law firm of Waltrip & Schmidt.  This has been another “string of transitions” year for Mike. He continues to thrash around with what he wants to do in the next chapter of his life, but for now, this seems like a good fit. 2010 was a year of travel, including, Hot Springs, Arkansas (horse races), Northern Wisconsin (wedding), Michigan (vacations with family and friends, Teen counseling, wedding), Austin (Austin City Limits), Cancun (wedding), Philadelphia (visit to see our nephew at Penn), the Caribbean (cruise), Instanbul, Turkey (work) and other points of call too dramatic to recount.  The end of the year finds him in good health and spirits.

All in all it has been a great year to be a Becker.  We are much blessed by one another, by our Lord and by our friends who provide an almost unending stream of love and support.  Everyone in our family would like you to know that if you receive this letter you are very special to our family and we consider you a great blessing in our lives. 

God's richest Blessings to you and your in 2011.

The Beckers
Mike, Sandy, Jon, Pat and Laura

Confessions Of An Addict And Thief

Sooooo.... I steal iced tea. Somewhere over ten years and more like twenty years ago... I became addicted to iced tea. Not fancy green tea. Not fruity tea and certainly not the now ubiquitous...sweet tea. Just regular old Lipton or lacking that Luzianne or any solid orange pekoe and black tea mix. American tea...from China. Starbucks even broadened me a little bit to go pure black with their Tazo tea and although I went black... I still go back and forth. It is a nice change of pace.

I don’t know when I started to steal tea. For years I brewed my own in the office but then the delis and places in the lobby of my building started to offer it so I bought it... and I bought it... often buying two or three 32oz glasses a day to feed my habit. As three went to four and finally I was drinking tea all day long. I drink over a gallon of the stuff every day. I was spending 4-5 dollars a day on tea.

It started to piss me off. I was able to cut a deal with one vendor for free refills and that was fine but then I moved law firms (again) and the tea vendor did not move with me. i went back to brewing my own but there are so many hassles with refrigeration and having the proper ice (clear ice only). My ice obsession (fetish) is also troubling. I believe cloudy ice tastes funny and melts faster. I have absolutlely no facts to back this up. I am reasonably certain that I am wrong but I remain certain that I DON’T like it.

For the last two or three years I have struck a faustian bargain with the St. Louis Bread Company People. It is not a bargain which they have taken an active part negotiating. Fortunately i am comfortable with that. And lets be clear for my out of town readers, it is THE ST. LOUIS BREAD COMPANY! I know Panera bought them. I know they use the same logo. I know they are owned by some large conglomerate...but it was ours, ours OURS! But I digress.

I steal from the Bread Co. because I like their tea, and they make it easy for me, and I give them a reasonable amount of business. For a while I had a habit of meeting clients out in various Bread Companys refering to them as “my Des Peres Office” or “my Chesterfield Office”. I really do like the Bread Company... they do an awesome job with quality control, cleanliness and really friendly, competent people. They also toast a mean bagel. At first I started to buy a new iced tea every day and then I would consider it a bottomless cup. Now I have moved on to buying one iced tea a week and then refilling throughout the week. Soon I am afraid I will be using the same cup week after week as the plastic clouds and deteriorates.

I guess this is a cry for help. My tea habit appears to be out of control. I am breaking the law by stealing from the Bread Co. to support my habit and sooner or later I can see local police leading me off in cuffs after having compiled a YouTube video of me stealing iced tea over 20,000 times... over and over and over. This could severely derail my clear path to that Supreme Court nomination that everyone is considering me for.

2010 Book List

This is my new answer to keeping track of what I am reading, have read or have tried to read this year. Note's where appropriate.

1. Jonathan Lethem: "Chronic City". See Diner Review, review at the link below. This is just a really good book. Everything he does knocks me out. A myth or creepy fairytale of NYC.

http://stldinerreview.blogspot.com/search?q=chronic+city

2. Jonathan Sanford: "Wicked Prey" Sanford is a guilty pleasure. In this one the bad guys arrive in Minnesota to the republican convention to steal money from the bag men. Carnage ensues. Lots of dead people. You have to like the genre of bloody serial killings. Who doesn't?

3. Jim Henderson: "Evangelism Without Additives". Not for everyone. A different approach to explaining Jesus to people.

4. John Fante: "Ask The Dust". Somehow I missed this guy. A really good easy read. I will need to read all of his stuff but after reading Bukowski who clearly was "influenced" or perhaps just copied the style it might get boring. Still... very good stuff.

Is it creepy that the first 4 books of the year I heave read were written by guys whose first names starts with J? Maybe.

5. Joe Abercrombie: "The Blade Itself" Another J. Author recommended by the Kowert it is Genre Sword and Sorcery fiction that I have not read in a long time. It takes a while to get going but is a good read and of course... there is a triligy.

6. Stieg Larsen: "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". Buzz book and movie. Really well written. Dark. At times extremely gruesome vut very well written. If you are squeamish, miss the movie.

7. Eoin Colfer: "And Another Thing..." An attempt to continue the fabulous "Hitch hiker's Guide To The Universe" series. Douglass Adams...dead. This guy, takes us no where. Miss it.

8. Stieg Larson: "The Girl Who Played With Fire". More of the same but still a great weird story about a great weird girl. I am finally getting that this is all about abuse of women in society.... every society... and every form of abuse.

9. Dave Eggers: "Zeitoun": had no interest in reading this. got it because I was a member of Mc Sweeney's book club. For a hundred bucks a year they send you a book a month. this is a true story (Like "What Is The What") that he tells of a Syrian business owner who stays in New Orleans after Katrina and his experiences. REALLY GOOD BOOK. Depressing, thought provoking and makes you consider how easily society breaks down and how much we take our "rights" for granted.

10. Stieg Larson: "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest". I don't know. I had to read it and finish the series. So this guy delivers these three books and croaks? Wow. Really good page turners. Tired of the series now.

11. Brett Easton Ellis: "Imperial bedrooms". A continuation of his self involved "Less Than Zero". I don't know. I am a really big fan of self involved nihlism but how much can he hit this same note over and over again and expect me to consider him relevant? This is not an essential read.

12. Harper Lee: "To Kill A Mockingbird". This is imply and easily the best thing I have read all year. not even close. I read it in high school and clearly did not read it well. I did not remember any of it and it was all awesome, all the time. Simply told, beautifully written and almost a "Sermon On The Mount" tour de force regarding how you are suppose to live your life. Read this book again or read it for the first time but read it. America needs this book now when we are talking about ground zero mosques and anchor babies we need another refresher on how we are supposed to act as Americans...as people.

13. Kurt Vonnegutt: Slaughterhouse 5. This was part of my new plan to re-read a lot of the books I have read and loved and somehow not internalized. I really miss Kurt Vonnegutt. I miss reading him as a teen ager and I miss my mom worrying about what i was reading and what is was doing to me. Of course she was right. So it goes.

14. Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential: This would now be the best book I have read this year. I had never read Bourdane before and this was a brilliant, funny, real book. I am looking forward to getting all of his stuff now. I feel like I was given a gift. Go read him now.

15. Frank Herbert: "Dune" I forgot what a great book this one was too. Each chapter starts with something of the false history or the deep sayings from Muad Dib, or the Orange Catholic Bible or other recollections of "The Princess Irulian". It is well written and I have to love the universe that Herbert constructed. He makes good so good and evil so evil through almost all of the book and you sense a satisfying morality play... and then then you realize that it is all more complicated... it is always more complicated. i did not appreciate nearly enough the first time I read it 30 or so years ago.

16. Jonathan Franzen: "Freedom". This book was over hyped from the start but his last book "The Corrections" was so awesome I had to go again. This one was just as well written, just as funny. In the end it was more preachy then I remember "The Corrections". Franzen though never married is a biting commentator on the institution and on families and ultimately on people. Do not have babies. Over population is evil. Money is evil, government is evil. Liberals are misguided and evil.

17. Gary Shtengart: "Super Sad True Love Story". This book beat me. it was supposed to be clever and funny and deep and well written. I could not get 100 pages into it. Perhaps I start again next year.

18. James Hannaham: "God Says No". OK, I got this book from Mc Sweeneys and I thought it would be interesting. A black guy at a small Christian Seminary in the south realizes he is gay and..wrestles with it. It just exhausted me. Perhaps it is well written but...

19. Thomas Pynchon: "Inherent Vice". I have never been able to get through a Pynchon book. This book was recommended to me as a detective story and was his effort at Bukowski. I was able to get through it. I wish that I would not have.

20. Keith Richards: "Life". Not a bad way to end the year. I hated the first hundred pages and could not care less about how he grew up. I mean it is kind of cool that he was friends with Mick from the time they were kids. The book starts to get awesome when he talks about music, songs, how they were made, how they worked, when they were written and who they were written with and how they were played. So many awesome songs form two guys. Unbelievable really. It was really an awesome read.

We will see what 2011 Brings

A New Year!

Sooooo, it is a New Year and for a variety of reasons 2011 seems already like so much better and brighter a year. It seems like a long time that I have entered a new year with so much optimism. The economy seems to be getting slightly better even though we appear to have not really dealt with all of the problems that brought us here. I am frightened about what the government will or will not do this year but am choosing to believe that they will find a way to be brave, make hard decisions and request and lead the American people in a new direction. Perhaps that is silly.

We just finished what we think is our last New Years Eve party with Camp Arcadia staff. We had a nice run. I think 5 out of the last 6 years we have had Arcadia staff or campers spending New Years at our house and perhaps a few days before or after. We are tired but it was once again a good but exhausting time. The good news is, no one died. The bad news is that our house was somewhat trashed, we shepherded over some 20 year olds drinking, some people were smoking cigarettes on our back porch and smokers always make me sad. But once again, even not knowing all the people in our house I was heartened by what a nice group of people we know and what nice families they must come from. Once again, hope for the future.

My TCU Horned Frogs (my alma mater) went undefeated and untied and will have to settle for 2nd or 3rd in the final standings. It was really fun seeing them hold up so well against a really good Wisconsin team. I was worried they would be proven to be pretenders but they are so well coached and recruit so well that they appear to be building a nice program that so far has avoided even a hint of scandal. Their dominance of everyone who they played and their relative class in winning was heartening. Taking so much pleasure in the play of a team I last saw play 28 years ago seems a little pathetic but I take my victories where I find them. I do not think that is unusual. I wore my TCU hat all day yesterday and cheered loudly for them. I had friends out at the came and I think it was a huge victory for a school with 8000 undergrads. We will see how they do in two years in their new contrived conference of the Big East. I do not know whether their quarterback Andy Dalton is a pro but he seemed like a very nice young man. I do not remember another red headed pro quarterback. Perhaps too nice. I am predicting that their receiver Jeremy Kerley will have a nice pro career.

I am currently watching my Rams trying to play their way into the playoffs and right now, at the end of the first quarter it looks grim and we look a little out classed but what a season they have had with their rookie quarterback. It once again gives hope for 2011.

The practice of law looks a lot more interesting this year then it has for a long time. We will see if that lasts.

More then anything else I have the support of wonderful friends and family and no matter how 2011 works out I know that I am blessed. That is a little sappy for me, but what the hell. It is a new year. God's Blessings on all of you, let's make this an awesome year. Tomorrow, the Christmas letter (or more properly Epiphany Letter gets republished. It will give you something to look forward to.