Mental Illness and March Madness

That is not fair. Perhaps it is not mental illness but being up at 5:00 on a Saturday can really feel mentally ill. Of course I need to go to work. I woke up, thinking about it no particular order, making tamales, the NCAA Tournament and of course..work. Also making putting together a good playlist to make it through the day and perhaps going to Soulard Market and buying a chicken with a head on it to bake... and basketball.

“You got to get behind the mule, in the morning and plow”. Thats what Tom Waits said. Can he possibly be wrong. So Kukla is missing in action. I think the prom was last night and his wife is out of town and without her guiding his day to actions he seems to lose all motivation. All we can do is pray for him and pray for the hope that he gets it together quick enough to get the game up and running prior to tomorrow and, that is right, say it... SELECTION SUNDAY!

It is not really a high holiday but it really feels like one. Spring is in the air, I am not going to Vegas, I do not hate my job and basketball is in the air. The good news is that Notre Dame lost last night to Louisville. To my Notre Dame friends...I am so sorry that God let that happen. Ooops... no I am not. On the other hand the hated...hated Ohio State Buckeyes llok like they will go into the tournament with a number 1 seed. This obviously is an abomination primarily because I will have to speak and read Face Book postings and Tweets from OSU fans and they will be....insufferable. It also looks like the entire Big East is going to the tournament. This is only good because the TCU Horned Frogs will soon be part of that conference (doormat) and it should... all be good. My home town SLU Billikens will be watching and waiting for next year. My much loved Valparaiso Crusaders will not be going and I will find no pleasure in watching last years Cinderellas of the Horizon League Butle Bull Dogs get punted in the first round. Diaper Darlings no more.

So... I expect De Penaloza to get a strong Maritz group together. Kukla to work his usual magic, I will cull Kube Kontestants from my 17 ex law firms, Gates will draw in random people from kentucky and the West Coast, kommitted, konservatives from Omaha will be weighing in and good time will be had by all. 200 people playing would be good. 500 would be better. ZSo much better.

So brace yourself for a weekend of basketball... and get those KUBE Brakkets in and...God Bless us everyone.

Michigan v. Notre Dame And Other Morality Plays

I find this time of year delightful inso many ways. On the cusp of fall. Football, everywhere, professional and of course college. Naturally my well documented aversion to Notre Dame comes into my play with a withering, unjustified and smug dislike of this storied program I have beaten that dog to death so I will leave it alone. Michigan on the other hand has been on incredible hard times. A great program of which less and less has been expected and every year they have disappointed recently. So naturally I wanted to be sitting in a bar watching this game and instead I was working and working but am now sitting at home and watching the fourth quarter. Michigan dominated once the first series (with an ND score and losing their quarterback for a while) but are now in jeopardy of having the Irish march down for a last second score. Go BLue! On the road and in the home of touchdown Jesus and all those... those people...who come to South Bend expecting miracles and more because... they are entitled.
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I have been watching the bullshit for the last two weeks about this idiot at a tiny church in Florida announcing he was going to burn Koran's or Quoran's or Qoran's, depending on your belief in correct spelling and political correctness. I cannot fault the preacher. He is clearly mentally ill with a strong (but not too strong based on the size of his church) instinct for self promotion. it is a shame and a pity that this man got any press at all much less the full Katy Perry 15 minutes for this despicable display. If they burned Bibles in Iran I would hope that no American press would cover those crazy people either. But for a 24 hour news cycle and the desire to create controversy none of us ever would have heard of this idiot and his hateful, little, offensive church that has the audacity to call itself Christian. God will have mercy on his soul but i would have to pray a lot more to show this guy any grace. Which brings me to point 3.

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The Glenn beck Rally was annoying. Tomorrow the tea party gets together in St. Louis. "tea party Patriots". I guess the rest of us are not patriots. "Real Americans" according to Sarah Palin which i think also means that since i disagree with them makes me a...'Fake American"? I DON'T FEEL LIKE A FAKE AMERICAN. Listening to Glen Beck (and I do) I am realizing that one of the things I find so offensive is this culture of victimhood he cultivates among the middle class. YOU are victims! THEY are taking things away from you! YOU MUST FIGHT BACK! What kind of bullshit is that? What has been taken away from whom? A lot has been hogged by the top 1% with the assistance of their government stooges and complacent people who believe that their interests are the same as these oligarchs. But what is really bothering me is that Tea party people I see almost to a man (or woman) self identify as Christians even while they follow the rantings of their Mormon profit Glen Beck.

Where is the Christ in the much vaunted "Christian" values? Why is the ten commandments so much more important, as well as all other old testament law regarding women, homosexuality, marriage etc....all so important, quotable and indictable but Jesus own words and examples are forgotten. the Tea Party and conservative Republicans are all about government getting out of the way...so they can gather as much wealth as possible for the benefit of themselves and their families (see the much hated DEATH TAX) where we keep kids from inheriting things they did not work for from their parents. Where it is in Christian values and Christ's example to gather up wealth while on this planet. I know you can interpret "render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's" but when we are talking about money and taxes how else can you read it but that these are not things of the kingdom that we are to be concerned about. I am not going to quote the Bible any more then that because I question people who do it for their own purposes. Go to Matthew Chapter 5. read the next four chapters of the Bible where Christ gives us a short course on how to live your life. read it in context and read the whole thing. See how your conservative Christian values stack up against the real thing.

Alas, with 3:45 left Notre dame just scored on a 95 yard play. Michigan missed two field goal tries. All might be lost soon. My poor, poor Wolverines.

Now the Wolverines have Marched down to the 2....TOUCHDOWN! What a game! What a life? perhaps there is hope for our country after all. I am not sure how this result relates to anything but allow me my ramble.

The Trip....Day VIII: An American In Paris

Day VIII
Well today was rainy and cloudy and cooler and... probably one of the best days on the whole trip, which is saying a lot. We got up and Sandy had messed around on the internet the night before and found a place that was about a twenty minute walk from the Hotel called “Breakfast In America”. It was perfect and charming complete with booths, a counter, a complete diner breakfast menu and.... ICED TEA! In France! With lots of ice! It was awesome. Our waitress was a sweet English girl who sounded like she was from Chicago. She was evidently used to dealing with grateful tourists. When we entered there was a group of French kids...early twenties... who had clearly been out all night. they were watching baseball playoffs while eating. We ordered, had a perfect little breakfast (other then the hashbrowns which were really the dreaded potatos Obrien. By the time we were done the place had fellied up with a nice eclectic mix of people. It was a great start to the day.

Next we took a train to the Musse’ D Or’. I like art but have no appreciation for it and as I might have said before the religious art leaves me a little cold. This place however was full of the impressionists and most importantly some Van Goghs. It was awesome and a pleasure just to wander around. We spent a LOT more time there then at the Louvre. Some of the art there was of the kind that just moved me.

On the way back we hit the Cathedral of Notre Dame. there was no hunchback (very disappointing) but we inadvertantly went in while worship services were going on. This was a little odd and disjointed as tourists walked around the edges of the Cathedral while about 500 people worshiped and took communion. What a beautiful place. Unbelievable stained glass and architecture. Going to church there would have been nice. I like Catholics, good liturgical worship.

As a special accomodation to me we hopped on the Metro and went up to Père Lachaise Cemetery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Père_Lachaise_Cemetery. There are Metro stations on two sides of it both which have floral shops next to them so that people can buy flowers for the graves.. It is also the final resting place of the late Jom Morrison. I have always liked the Doors hits but must admit to not owning a single Doors CD though you have to have respect for the body of work and the fact that we did not have to watch him grow old like so many 60’s rockers. How much better is a dead Jim Morrison then a live David Crosby? A lot is the answer. Morrison’s grave is in dierepair and was fenced off. I sat down on a grave next to it and we got yelled at so we went off to oscar Wilde’s grave. Anyone who was imrisoned, reviled, exiled and loved by the French cannot be all bad. He has a really pretty grave.

We went back to the Hotel and napped.

We got up and walked around the Latin Quarter which as I said seems a little like a good boardwalk or Dayton strip. It was a trip just people watching and walking around in the light rain. Paris is beautiful and we ended up getting some more pizza and drinking another bottle of wine and life was good.

After dinner we went to La Cave de la Huchette based on my desire to go watch jazz in Paris. We went in, paid a cover and walked downstairs into what truly was a cave. it appears that a lot of the basements in the latin quarter are carved out of the rock. The room was almost empty and we came in and sat and I went upstairs and got some...BUDWEISER! I had not seen a bottle of Bud in Europe up until that time. Eventually the place filled up and a lady began singing American standards like “Stormy Weather”. The band was tight but what was so much fun was the couples dancing and having an awesome time and between the beers, the music and the dancing it was a delightful evening. In fact it was a perfect day. But the trip was rapidly coming to a close.