The parable of the six yard punt

The soul of the prideful man is like the Oregon State punter in last night's MAACO Las Vegas Bowl who struggled to kick the ball despite his best efforts due to a gusty wind.   He sat on the sideline in the first quarter and watched as the fearful wind tangled the Allstate kick-catching banner in the goalposts and brusquely disabled ESPN's celebrated skycam.  Later in the 1st quarter, he stood on the sidelines as his BYU counterpart attempted to launch a punt into the oncoming wind only to see the ball start to boomerang back towards its origin before it even reached the apex of its abbreviated flight.  Granted a second chance by a silly OSU penalty, the Cougar punter wisely tuned his second effort to a lower trajectory and managed a 35 yard punt w/ a good 20 yard bounce.  The teams switched ends for the 2nd quarter and it came to pass that the Beavers offense stalled and it was their turn to punt.  The OSU punter took the snap and boomed a beautiful arching drive high into the Nevada night.  Sadly, this punt also reversed course due to the arid gusts and ended a mere six yards from the original line of scrimmage. 

This greatly saddened Dolberry because he had picked Oregon State in his annual bowl contest against tbKMD and APD and this set the Cougars up in very favorable field position.  Moreover, it struck Dolberry that the six yard punt was sort of a metaphor for life ... sometimes we can give our best effort and outside forces conspire to turn it into a laughingstock.

Later in the same quarter, the OSU punter was called into action again with his team pinned back near their own end zone.  Again, he drew his kicking leg back and forcefully advected the pigskin some 40 yards up into the air but only six yards further down the field.  This second six yard punt greatly enraged Dolberry because BYU was pulling away and I am already way behind in the bowl contest (w/ only ~ 78 bowls left to catchup).  There's metaphor and there's moronicy and the Beaver punter had crossed the line.

- - -

Two Greek roots you never want to hear back to back ... "orth-" meaning straight and "odont-" meaning tooth.  The alliance of these two roots have conspired to set Dolberry back roughly $4.5 grand.  A Merry Christmas for the orthodontist indeed.

- - -

The NY Times manages to aggravate Dolberry to my boiling point (roughly 137 deg F, same as bromine) every few weeks or so.  Maureen Dowd's pointless and ungrounded attack on John McCain's character was the most recent entry.  The piece-de-resistance is where she tsk-tsks him for "cutting the Times off completely" and treating the media w/ "the same outsize scorn that he once reserved for his Viet Cong captors".  In true turn the other cheek fashion, Dolberry won't hazard any wild opinions on Dowd's potential character flaws, but I do think it's sort of a natural reaction to be disinclined to deal much w/ an organization that wrote a total hit piece hinting at marital infidelity (one for which they later had to settle to avoid a libel suit).  Guess its self-congratulating analyses like these that sell papers or generate web clicks ... "McCain's a frothing old man ... ha I knew it".  Anyway, the NYT has been removed from my bookmark list in protest.  That'll show 'em.
- - -

My favorite Christmas songs right now ... countdown:

5.  Happy is a Yuppie Word (Switchfoot):  Not technically a Christmas song, but the lyrics are never more appropriate than this time of year.  "Blessed is the man who's lost it all.  I want more than simple cash can buy."

4.  The Night Santa Went Crazy (Weird Al Yankovic):  Santa goes postal as a "yuletide Rambo".

3.  Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Weezer):  Standard Weezer guitar sound paired w/ best Xmas hymn.

2.  I Celebrate the Day (Relient K):  A modern classic.

1.  C'mon Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance (Sufjan Stevens):  The biblical Christmas story gets gradually drowned out by the modern Christmas meaning in competing overlapping melodies.

Glad to be home

Ended up getting home pretty easily.  The all-nighter at O'Hare wasn't too bad.  Got home.  Crashed for 3 hours.  Then slept for 9 last night and feel fine now.  In the end, I could have stuck w/ original arrangements as that flight ended up being right on time as Raleigh stayed pretty much at 33F w/ rain the whole event.

Today was getting blitzed at HeroClix and delivering AngelTree presents and then pizza delivery.  Good day all around. 

The Moving Walkway is now ending ... please look down

Random thoughts:

It takes 2:01 to traverse one of the people movers to ORD's Concourse C while standing still.  In that time you can hear the expression "the moving walkway is now ending ... please look down" 28 times.

Interestingly (or not), Barbaro won the 2006 Kentucky Derby in 2:01.

Tiger Woods' mother-in-law is named Barbaro (or something like that).  Interestingly (debatable), the Accenture ads w/ Tiger are all still up in the airports even though they've dropped him.  You've probably seen them.  They show Tiger looking over a small cliff at a golf ball he's clearly hit out of bounds w/ the tagline ... "It's what you do next that counts."  Real prescience on the part of that ad maker and unusual wisdom as well for marketing.  Some travelling wag had sophmorically stuck a sticky "who" over the "what" in the SFO version.

Re: the SFO airport, as I finished up going through security there tonight, Dolberry noticed his fly was open.  I wonder if the TSA gets that a lot ... take off your shoes ... remove your belt ... unzip your fly.  Doing my part for homeland security.

Food update: ate a 50's style diner for lunch today. Hamburger was fine but bun was still frozen in the middle. Was that standard in the 50's?

None of my Facebook friends are online to chat right now (3:14a).  Losers!  Only 4.5 more hours to kill.  Think I may go hang out at the 24hr McDonalds and see if I can make any new friends there.  Plan to finish the book I'm reading.  Interestingly (stop it), "experts" had notified the dam owners that their dam was likely to fail, but were harshly rebuffed as not knowing what they were talking about by those w/ vested interest in the lake and its associated lodge.  Many in Johnstown and other affected communities were aware of the risk, but had no power to do anything about it.  Over 2,000 people lost their lives needlessly in that case for something that was easily preventable but was sadly ... inconvienent.  (oh no you di'int!)

San Fran (day 4)

Heading home early in an attempt to beat the big (maybe) winter storm to affect the mid-Atlantic tomorrow night.  My original plans called for a return around midnight, right in the period of heaviest wintry mix.  My new plans call for a return in the mid-morning, hopefully before the snow starts.  And as an added bonus, I get to spend the night at O'Hare.  Been there.  Blogged that.  It's supposed to snow in Chicago as well, but later on Friday and I think they're more used to snow.  Was afraid RDU would stop accepting flights & I'd be spending the weekend in Dallas.  Ugh.  (Did see the new stadium from the air on the way out here.  Looked cool.)

Anyway, I'd put the odds of me getting home tomorrow at 50-50.

Good presentations today, including one from the now famous Michael Mann (originator of so-called "trick" in hockey stick temperature plot).  Best part ... his resigned bemusement at the e-mail controversy being dubbed "Climategate" given that the original "gate" (Watergate) was all about the theft and this one has been all about what was taken ... w/ no attention paid to the theft itself. 

San Fran (day 3)

Another full day of talks, but afterwards headed down to Fisherman's Wharf.  About a 35 minute walk, but an extremely pleasant one.  San Francisco is a beautiful city (and certainly eclectic).  Looking back up at the city from Pier 39 is a spectacular sight.  Not sure I really saw any sea lions.  I did see their silouettes, if that counts.  Definitely heard them.  The Golden Gate Bridge was silhouetted too, but the Christmas lighted boats were very cool.  Good seafood tonight plus the Boudin sourdough (thx Sonia!) and a Ghirardelli's chocolate to close it all out.  The two mile walk uphill probably burned off 20% of it.

Last time I was at FW, it was w/ tbKMD in 1993.  Seemed very familiar once there.  Just wish I had my favorite hand to hold on this trip.

San Fran (day 2)

Today was ~ 9 hours of talks/posters on climate change and other elements of atmospheric chemistry.  One speaker noted, as he spoke to a crowd of over one thousand, that these are the golden days of atmospheric science.  He said the community should be flattered that so many non-scientists are interested enough in what's being discovered to try to distort it to suit their own interests.  That's a glass half full attitude right there!  The DCV aims to be completely non-political, so I'll stop here on this subject other than to say that some of the presentations today were quite scary ... maybe not for Dolberry's generation ... but likely for APD's generation (guess every generation has its own challenges) & that if anyone ever wants to talk thru the subject w/ me ... I'm open to sharing what I know.

Other than that ... went to Chinatown post-conference.  Ate here.  Wasn't super awesome and there was a bug flying around the food, but felt that made it more authentic somehow.  Went in some of the knick-knacky stores ... and got a few stocking stuffer type things.  I think I'll go down to the water tomorrow.

My brilliant idea for the day ... undoubtedly influenced by the steady drumbeat of warming consequences ... is that the U.S. should buy out Canada (at least the English part).  I guess we don't have much money lying around now, but maybe we could put it on layaway.

San Fran (day 1)

Made it out here no problem.  Staying near Union Square.  Lots of fancy shopping.  An 8-story Macy's, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada.  (I didn't see the devil ... as far as I know.)  Lots of homeless as well.  Pretty much every corner.  Even a homeless dog on one corner.  Sad. 

I was out looking for dinner myself.  No restaurants in the shopping district, apparently.  Guess if you're going to shell out serious dollars to buy some fancy piece of clothing, you don't want to eat your way out of it.  Ended up getting a hot dog and pretzel from a street vendor.  Was only so-so.

My one thought for the day ... and I doubt it's a novel one ... but I was proud of it ... is that the question should never be "What do you want to be when you grow up?" but instead "What do you want your life to be about when you grow up?"

Review of all the things I ate today

Chronologically:

1.  Powdered white donuts:  Very good.  Not stale.  Freshness is key w/ these little delicacies.  3 stars.

2.  Two slices of bacon:  Excellent. Thick slabs.  Not over or undercooked.  3.5 stars.

3.  Chicken tikka masala:  Wasn't especially excited about Indiana food for lunch but everyone else seemed to want it.  I guess this dish is from the Bloomington region.  Was pretty good.  3.5 stars.

4. Aloo gobhi: Interesting mix of cauliflower and potatoes.  Kinda spicy.  From Evansville part of Indiana apparently.  2.5 stars.

5. Naan: Fancy Indiana bread.  Fair.  3 stars.

6. Few Cheez-Its:  I didn't need to eat these.  3.5 stars.

7.  A few Goldfish sbuck away from Rowan when he wasn't looking.  2.5 stars.

8.  Few almonds:  Didn't need these at all.  2 stars.

9.  Salmon dip on Triscuits.  Interesting.  Better than sauerkraut balls.  3 stars.

10.  CSA salad:  This salad had something to do w/ the Confederate States of America but I never heard what that was.  Pretty good, though there were a lot of weird non-lettuce vegetables.  2.5 stars.

11. Veggie Manicotti:  Fine.  Could have used some meat.  2.5 stars.

12.  Mom's Lasagna:  Spectacular!  4 stars.

13.  Dinner rolls:  No wonder they were so expensive Owl!  Very good.  3 stars.

14.  Brownies:  Very very good.  3.5 stars.

15.  Chocolate chocolate chip cookies:  Excellent.  3 stars.

I'm going to try to eat 20 things tomorrow!

Too Bright to See ... Too Loud to Hear ... Too Old to Appreciate? No.

Every once in a while, it's good to get out of the routine and put yourself in an unfamiliar environment.  So, last night Dolberry headed over the Lincoln Theatre to catch an Underoath/August Burns Red/Emery triple bill w/ some friends from church.  Dolberry was not the oldest person there, but I was probably in the top 10.  Average age at the show was probably ~20.

As part of their end-of-the-decade recap, NPR's music blog listed 10 musical genres from this soon-to-be-past decade and the key artists of each.  Underoath was listed as the key artist in the "screamo" category.  Most songs include a 50/50 (20/80?) mix of normally sung lyrics and those shouted out in a growl/scream mix.  As an old geezer, I think less is more when it comes to screaming in a song.  My favorite scream in any rock song is over 40 years old and punctuates the searing beginning to the Beatles "Revolution".  I think the singularity of the scream is what makes the song.  In Dolberry's opinion, screaming in a song is sort of like using an exclamation point or all caps in text.  Last! NIGHT'S! CONCERT! was SOME!THING!! LIKE!!! TH!S!!!

That said, I do really enjoy 2.5 Underoath songs and they did two of them.  (During the show, I discovered another one that was good for most of it, so I'm bumping the tally up to 3.25 songs that Dolberry likes.)  Not coincidentally, these two songs probably contain the lowest ratio of lyrical action to total aural content.  Strangely, the lyrics are quite intelligent (for rock music) and all three bands had singers who appeared to sing just fine when the situation called for it.

Anyway, they don't need my advice.  The show was sold out (~ 1000 capacity?) and one of Underoath's albums debuted at #2 in Billboard a few years back.  For DCV readers, I'll link a video from the show on the sidebar.  (Facebook readers are on their own.)  If you look closely, I think you can see Dolberry in the circle pit.  I'm the one w/ multiple bright purple 33 dB reducing earplugs crammed into my ears.  (You can get two in your ear canal ... for 66 dB reduction ... if you force them.)

Whether it was Stockholm syndrome or a growing appreciation of screamo, I was enjoying the whole deal by the end.  Of course, I immensely enjoyed the company and conversations.  And while I'd spent most of the day somewhat anxious about the whole scene, can't underestimate how polite/respectful the entire crowd was while having considerable fun.  To quote some other old geezers ... the kids are alright.

(Unfortunately, the night was not w/o mishap.  Never again w/ the Taco Bell at 11:15.  Never! AGAIN!!.)

APD did great in Apex Turkey Trot!

APD and the rest of tbKMD's running crew ran in the Apex Turkey Trot.  Nice weather and the whole team did a great job.  Alex came in 2nd in his age group, under 12, in a blazing time of 22:51.  Almost 7 full minutes faster than his first 5K last spring.  He was only nine seconds behind the age group winner.  The whole tbKMD team was way faster than their effort, so Coach was happy.  Some pics follow ...

(near beginning, Alex in yellow Sweden soccer jersey)

(looking good up the last hill, caught two people on the hill)

(going up to get his trophy from the Turkey)

(slightly closer view of trophy)

Live Blog: Browns on MNF (part 2)

11:03:  Castle was good.  Browns were not in my absence.  Good night.

"Live" Blog: Browns on MNF (part 1)

Haven't done a live blog in a while.  Probably for good reason.  But since the Browns probably won't be on Monday Night Football for another decade or so, am running it out here tonight.

8:32p: I like the fact that they referred to the Ravens as the "old Browns".  Baltimore fans should not be allowed to forget that they poached another fandom's team after complaining for over a decade about the Colts being stolen from them. 

8:35: You wouldn't think they could talk this much about a meaningless football game between a lousy team and a mediocre team, but they can. 

8:40: Finally kickoff.

8:40:01 First injury timeout.  Football is a ridiculous sport.  How many of these guys are still walking when they're Dolberry's age? Kinda sad.

8:43: Iron Man is Sherlock Holmes.  Might watch that.

8:46: Browns almost wasted a three and out w/ a senseless running into kicker penalty.  You'd presume that, even independent of any actual coaching, sometime in his life the Browns dude would've seen a football game where an announcer noted that you can't blithely run into the punter after he's punted it.  (Luckily, it was 3rd and 7, so the Ratbirds declined.)

8:53:  5 plays in 13 minutes of clock time?  And people say baseball is boring?!?  I still say instant replay is not worth the trouble.  Unless you enjoy more commercials.  And if it's at the expense of a Browns game, maybe I would.

8:54:  I like Brady Quinn.  Not sure why Mangenius played Anderson for the last five games.  Well actually, I am sure ... to avoid triggering Quinn's incentive clauses for games played.  Anyway, here's Anderson's stats for his games.  66 for 154 for 681 yds (less than 140 yds passing a game) and 9 interceptions to go w/ 2 touchdowns.  Kinda a lousy way to treat Quinn, but on the other hand it's not like he deserves a 10 million dollar bonus to throw nothing but screen passes.

8:58:  Cable keeps going in and out.  Typical.  Reminds me of a Billikens preseason game that was advertised to be streamed live for free.  Dolberry logged in about 10 minutes prior to game time.  The feed was from a camera pointed toward center court.  Saw the anthem.  Kinda saw the opening introductions.  Kept figuring someone would actually man the camera at some point.  Nope.  Game starts and all you can see is the players when they run past center court on their way to one of the baskets.  Hilarious!  I was literally laughing out loud.  Only the Billikens.  The camera operator did show up before the first TV timeout, but it kinda took away from the sophmoric charm of the first few minutes.  Turned it off shortly thereafter.

9:01:  5 minutes of football time took 21 minutes of real time.  At this pace the game will last well past midnight.  I'm only watching until Castle comes on.  tbKMD has me hooked on that show.  Funny.

9:05:  I love that Muse song "Uprising".  Makes me look forward to those "V" commercials. 

9:06:  26 minutes to play 6.  Thankfully, BAL is out of timeouts.  Flacco must be paid by the hour.

9:07:  Jon Gruden ... "Both teams appear to be out of sync."  Can't vouch for the Ratbirds, but this is how the Browns always look.

9:09:  Sidenote:  UK 72, Miami OH 70.  UK is just at the very beginning of their championship run.  First of six or seven championships, more than likely.  Looks like John Wall the Raleigh star who played at four different high schools here in four years (when not being arrested for breaking and entering or paying back $800 for interactions with professional agents) hit the game winner.

9:10: Mangenius sure was fired up about that missed Ratbird field goal.  Still 0-0.

9:21:  OK, I just had to ask APD if it was still 0-0.  It is.  Was reading about various John Wall infractions.  Lot of reading material.

9:24:  I like Mohammed Massaquoi's name and his bright orange gloves.  Think he'll be good eventually.

9:28:  Great quick release pass by Quinn to some guy on the sidelines.  Nobody's going to stop that play.  Nor would they want to ... given the guy was 20-30 feet out of bounds.

9:30:  Total first downs: 8; Total punts: 5.  I want this hour of my life refunded.

9:32:  Most overused sports cliche?  "What he brings to the table is [insert random quality]!"

9:34:  Punts are gaining on first downs ... 8 to 6.  You know what punts bring to the table?  Height.

9:35: Who had 9:35 in the pool for first cite of that old NFL announcing bromide: "These two teams simply don't like each other"?  Wouldn't you just once like to hear ... "These two teams are the best of friends.  In fact, these two teams vacationed together in Aruba w/ their wives last offseason."

9:38: Brady Quinn, age 4 wearing a Bernie Kosar jersey.  That's why I like him.  Dolberry doesn't care if people make fun of him for having a BQ figurine in his work office.  Sticks and stones, people.  Sticks and stones.

9:39: Jon Gruden was a childhood Browns fan as well.  Leroy Kelly was his favorite player.  I like him too now.  Jaworski just said, having gone to school in Youngstown, that "Cleveland was a great football town."  "Was" being the key word.  The NFL just piddled that away when they let Modell chase the money in 1995.  It's just not the same anymore.

9:40: Dang! A first down.  At least it was a Browns first down ...

9:42: Punts rally again!  10 to 7 now.

9:44: Does Sandra Bullock film a movie every week?

9:45: 15 minutes to Castle.  Did you know both leading actors are from Canada.  Well now you do.

9:46:  If the Browns can get a safety here, I think they could win this game, 2-0.  Hasn't happened since 1938.

9:49: Mangenius is the best nickname ever.  Thanks J-E-T-S fans.

9:52: Two minute warning ... still no score.  Ratbirds are almost in missed field goal range, though.

9:56: Hey, this is looking to be the first scoreless half of the NFL season!  Nice.  Right on the heels of this weekend's Louisville-Syracuse 0-0 first half.  In other sports, Birmingham City played Liverpool to a 2-2- draw earlier today.

9:59:  Well while the NFL regales all of America with a review of where a punt was downed, we're switching channels.  Will come back at 11.  Maybe.

Hello Hurricane: an album review

A syllogism:

Reviews of all kinds are essentially pointless.
The DCV is well-known to embrace all-things-pointless.*
Therefore, the DCV should do a review of Switchfoot's new album "Hello Hurricane".

* - Speaking of pointless, big shout out to my favorite fall teams: the Browns (31st of 32 in NFL scoring) and the Hurricanes (30th of 30 in NHL scoring).  You know what they say: "sometimes the best offense is to just shut it down and play for the #1 draft pick". 

Dolberry has been listening to the album on Switchfoot's myspace page for over a week now, then bought it on Lala yesterday morning (where Dolberry is the #1 Switchfoot listener), then went out (in the cold windy rain) and bought a physical copy of it at Best Buy today.  So, the neutrality of the forthcoming review could certainly be disputed.

APD was at school for an informal baseball practice.  (They have a collapsible cage/net that covers the length of the activities building, allowing for indoor batting practice.)  Dolberry cranked the album from the parking lot.  It was really cool because the wind was blowing hard and the rain from former Hurricane Ida was coming down in sheets.**  The hurricane imagery in the lyrics was easily appreciated from my dry perch in the car.

** - I've been wanting to blog or facebook all day about our rainy weather, but Dolberry felt he couldn't because I made fun of Louisvillians for posting en masse that day it rained a lot in Louisville.  I can't stand it any longer though.  It rained a ton here today!  Over 3 inches in the last 24 hours!!  It has rained for 28 straight hours!!! It was way better than Louisville's rain!!!!  Awesome!

The album opens w/ the soaring "Needle and Haystack Life" which highlights the improbability ("once in a lifetime") of us all being alive and here on earth and merges quickly into the hard-rocking "Mess of Me", a blistering challenge of man's tendency to look for pharmaceutical solutions to problems that are essentially self-inflicted ("the sickness is myself").  "The Sound", featured in that ubiquitous Blackberry Storm commercial is another solid rocker surrounded by two softer really beautiful songs "Your Love is a Song" and "Enough to Let Me Go".  My favorite song on the album is the title track "Hello Hurricane", a melodic and defiant reminder that the storms of life can only slow us down if we let them.  "Bullet Soul" lauds activists everywhere ("you can't stand by forever", "don't let 'em blow it apart") and the album closes with a lullaby "Red Eyes".  The only two songs that don't grab me much are "Always" and "Sing it Out", probably the two slowest on the disc.

Bottom line: Great album.  Go buy it.  Or download it.  Or stream it. 
Rating: 31 stars (of 32).

Who's the Bloggiest?

It has come to the DCV's attention that I've been outblogged by the Owl in the Pine Tree thus far in 2009.  As many of you know, Dolberry can be rather competitive at times.  (Rarely, really.)  But I am going to win this one.  Watch out Owl, you're going to see some serious blogging over the next 7 weeks.

Long time fans of ESPN's college basketball Gametracker will note a Billikenesque drought in Dolberry's output since February.  But I have called a time out and think we can hits some threes here down the stretch. 

Game on, Owl.

My entry into the family shamrock contest

I call this first pose "Tiananmen".

The second pose is called "Guantanamo".

Please ship my prize as expeditiously as possible.  Thanks.

Doing things the hard way ...

Sorry for the long blog layoff.  Will ease back into the DCV journalling exercise w/ that lightest of all blogging activities: the weekend recap.  Don't want to pull any muscles right out of the gate ...

Friday:  Started the day at a conference on weather and technology.  A few interesting talks, including one on how you could use Twitter for weather observations to emphasize the qualitative aspects of weather (e.g., "nice") over the quantitative aspects ("75 F, 58% humidity, mostly sunny).  As an experiment, here were the Twitter obs for yesterday's City of Oaks half-marathon which will be described later in this post.

(Folks, that is called building suspense ... a lot of bloggers would not have tried that after one month off ... but I did ... and Imma not gonna lie to you ... I felt a twinge in my neck... but I'm going to proceed ... more carefully from here on)

• @tantina: "terrible"
• @llorenzin: "nasty"
• @ edgemultisport: "rough"

The quantitative description was steady rain, 49 F, 15 mph NE wind.  Having spent a solid two hours in the aforementioned weather, Dolberry feels qualified to declare both sets of descriptions as accurate, but can see where some would get value out of the former.

Left the weather/technology conference in time for my favorite part of the whole year ... parent-teacher conferences.  One of these years I expect some rogue teacher will surprise us w/ the judgment that APD is someone other than an amazing young man.  But this year was not that year.

Saturday: Super nice day down here in NC on Saturday.  Dawned dreary and foggy, but the warm southerly winds scoured out the clouds and the chill and yielded a supremely beautiful, Indian summer, Halloween.  Got a lot of quality yard work done, then decided around 5:00p it was time to go get a pumpkin.  Whoa.  Not a great selection of pumpkins two hours before trick-or-treaters arrive.  Ended up getting two "pie pumpkins" at Krogers.  While pie pumpkins share the same color and basic look as a regular pumpkin, they are actually more similar to bowling balls in all other respects.  Here's a list of the tools, I used to carve the alleged "pumpkins".

• Ripsaw
• Hammer
• Phillips-head screwdriver
• Two penny nails

They came out looking good, though spartan.  Carving a jack o' lantern is not supposed to be a cardio workout, last I checked.  The usual 11 trick-or-treaters came by which was nice.

Sunday:  Thankfully it was "turn back your clocks an hour night" because we had to get up at 5:30a to head tbKMD off to the starting line for the City of Oaks half-marathon.  APD and Dolberry were proudly on road crew duty.  A sharp cold front had gone through only hours before which ushered in the nasterrible conditions.  We got to cheer tbKMD just before the 1 mile marker where we picked up her wind breaker she'd kept on waiting for the race to start and the 7 mile marker.  She was looking great.  After she passed, we waited in the same spot to see her at the 10 mile mark (they turned around and came back the other way on Hillsborough St.).  APD asked if he could go sit in the car w/ the heat on to warm up and get out of the cold squally downpour.  We were parked at an Applebee's where you could easily see the race from the lot.  I obliged but stayed outside to cheer on the other runners (one guy from my softball team was about to come by).  A few minutes later, APD came out to say he was warm now but that I'd need to get the keys out of the ignition because he didn't know how.  Of course, I couldn't do that because the keys were now locked in the running car.  (He was worried about the car's safety so locked it on his way out.)  This led to what I would guess was one of the most unusual exhortations in 1/2 marathon history when tbKMD came by a few minutes later.

"Hey Babe. Looking great!  Um, try to stay warm at the finish line because we're locked out of the car.  Keep it up!"

I had visions of us being stuck there for hours while tbKMD shivered miserably three miles away at the finish line, without warm clothes, a cell phone, or any way of knowing where her ride home was.  But we were able to walk to a nearby gas station, call the cops, have them Slim Jim it open, and get to the finish line only about 15 minutes after she finished.  And while she was shivering in her tanktop and shorts, she wasn't yet hypothermic, so that was good.  (BTW: she finished in under 1:50 which is awesome.  13th out of 200 or so in her age group.)  The great thing about being a goofball is that tbKMD always thinks Dolberry is joking when he screws something up royally ... so luckily she didn't spend her last 3 miles worrying about her predicament ... figuring I was just joshing.  Both the BP operator and the Raleigh police officer were super nice, so the whole event was just a reassertion at how great people can be.

Hope everyone else's weekend was as equally fantabulous.

Yeah ... this will probably come out wrong

This post is not a rebel post ... this post is "Yeah ... this will probably come out wrong"

Fully appreciating the incongruity of feeling the need to "defend" a band that is drawing sixty to eighty thousand people a night to their shows, Dolberry would like to vent a little in general about the harsh reactions that U2 (and Bono, in particular) draws in some corners.  You, happy reader, are actually doing me a service here.  By venting in advance, I'll be able to avoid direct confrontation w/ any critics at the show tomorrow or afterwards.  I'll think to myself ... "Sir or Madam, you were seriously pwn3d on the DCV!" and walk away smugly.  That is how the passive-aggressive Dolberry rolls.  (Is there any other point to having a blog that only 6 people read?)

To be clear, I don't have a problem w/ people that don't like U2's music.  There's something mystical about the combination of poetry and rhythm that affects different people differently.  Dolberry personally cannot appreciate the aural value of scores of bands, singers, songs that others do.  (I'm looking at you again here ABBA.)  There are some frequently cited complaints about U2 that I think are illogical and seek to counter here.

1.  "U2 is too political.  Shut up and sing, Bono.":  OK, this one bothers me the most.  Excellent article here from Jim Wallis about his DC experience w/ U2 360.  In that link and elsewhere (comments in the WaPo review of the concert) there are accounts of people at the show yelling at Bono to shut up as he expounds (for less than 60-90 seconds, mind you) about poverty in Africa, political prisoners in Burma, protecting the environment, or praising Nancy Pelosi and George Bush for their efforts to improve the state of our world.  In my opinion, U2's politics are not particularly political.  Is anyone really FOR impoverished and starving Africans?  Is anyone really FOR maintaining multi-generational Protestant-Catholic grievances and the terrorism that follows?  Is anyone really AGAINST promoting freedom in Burma ... are there really big supporters for the Burmaese military junta here in the States?  If so, why?  Unfortunately, I think politics has gotten so partisan, spin-centered, and just flat-out screwed up that people reflexively turn away from things like this that simply sound political ...

2.  "Bono is a raving messianic megalomaniac.":  What part of "rock star" are you having a hard time following?  Your "egotistical madman" is my "charismatic leader".  Semantics, I guess.

3.  "U2 is going to hell ":  Someone at APD's school expressed alarmed concern to him yesterday that he was attending a U2 concert ... warning against "false prophets" and those that "use God's words for their personal gain".  Look as a professing Christian, I don't know if I'm Christian "enough" ... let alone judge other in the faith.  (Based on my own "righteous" anger I felt inside when I heard that an adult unloaded all this on a 12 year old yesterday ... I clearly have progress to make on emulating Jesus' example.)  My own personal opinion, based on Matthew 25, is that God favors the imperfect among us who do something about injustice, hunger, poverty, and truly loving our neighbors rather than the imperfect among us who are considered "righteous".  If one can show one's faith by one's deeds, I see a vibrant one in U2.

4.  "U2 are hypocrites.":  Typically this refrain goes "How can U2 lecture me on the environment when their tour emits 4 gazillion tons of CO2?  How can U2 lecutre me on poverty when they own a castle in France and a hilltop mansion along the Big Sur?"  News flash: nearly everyone is a hypocrite.  Don't we all have ideals that we may not always live up to?  Most of us are fortunate enough not to have these inconsistencies displayed on a worldwide screen.  Dolberry is certainly a hypocrite.  I claim to care about the poor and the hungry and the hopeless, but I own a big TV and a Playstation and I live in a comfort that numbs me from doing anything substantial about the plight of others.  I claim to care about the environment but for 2-3 years I drove around w/ a "smoker" (the Tercel) because I was too lazy/cheap to maintain it properly.  I plead guilty to these and scores of others where I say one thing ... but do another.  Be honest critics ... you too are hypocrites.  So, what is the resolution to this universal tendency toward hypocrisy ... well it can't be to stop trying to do the right thing ... to stop promoting the right thing.  We are an imperfect people but we still need leaders everywhere (also imperfect) to step up and show us the way to a better world. 

Bottom line: you don't have to like U2 ... some of us do ... Dolberry in particular ... if you don't like U2 for one of the four reasons above ... keep it to yourself when around Dolberry.  Thanks!  :-)

Am I bugging you?  I don't mean to bug you.

My guess at U2's set list in Raleigh

1. Breathe
2. Magnificent
3. Get on Your Boots
4. Beautiful Day
5. Elevation
6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
7. No Line on the Horizon
8. My Blue Room
9. Unknown Caller
10. New Years Day (or Until the End of the World)
11. Stay
12. The Unforgettable Fire
13. City of Blinding Lights
14. Vertigo
15. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
16. Sunday Bloody Sunday
17. MLK
18. Walk On
19. One
20. Where the Streets Have No Name
21. Ultraviolet
22. With Or Without You
23. Moment of Surrender


I'd love it if "The Fly" made an appearance.  Gonna be awesome.  Super excited for APD to see it.

DCV Countdown: My Top 40 U2 songs of all time

40. Electrical Storm
39. Seconds
38. Bullet the Blue Sky
37. The Electric Co.
36. Elevation
35. Mothers of the Disappeared
34. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
33. Staring at the Sun
32. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
31. One Tree Hill
30. October
29. 40
28. Out of Control
27. In God's Country
26. Like a Song
25. Zoo Station
24. Stand Up Comedy
23. Two Hearts Beat as One
22. City of Blinding Lights
21. All I Want Is You
20. Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own
19. Gloria
18. A Sort of Homecoming
17. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
16. One
15. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
14. Bad
13. Magnificent
12. I Will Follow
11. Walk On
10. Vertigo
9. Beautiful Day
8. With or Without You
7. New Year's Day
6. The Unforgettable Fire
5. Pride (In the Name of Love)
4. The Fly
3. Sunday Bloody Sunday
2. Until the End of the World
1. Where the Streets Have No Name

Quick recap of September

Sorry, I haven't been blogging.  Sometimes I just get in a rut where nothing seems interesting enough to blog about.  Not much of an excuse given that most of the stuff I do blog about isn't that interesting either.  (If you want to read something interesting and actually thought-provoking, go to my G'ma's blog at: http://owlspinetree.blogspot.com/).

Anyway, here's a quick recap of the Life of Dolberry over the last several weeks.

My birthday was really nice.  I'm pretty old now (43).  Hard to get too worked up about prime number birthdays, so that's good.  tbKMD & APD got me a great book, Joe Posnanski's: The Machine.  You may remember Joe Posnanski from such great links as the one in the DCV banner.  He's a great writer and this book was a great read.  Of course, being about the 1975 Reds I'd have probably liked it if it'd been written by one of the Bronte sisters.  Posnanski does the near-impossible at the end of the book ... make you feel sorry for Pete Rose.  He does this w/o glossing over who Rose is either.  Great book.

Our softball team has been taking a pounding this season.  We're 2-7 and in last place.  And I'm not playing very well.  Still have 7 games left, so there's still time to turn it around.  Conversely, APD's baseball team is doing very well.  They're 6-2 in 2nd place.  Don't think he's ever been on a winning team before, in like 7 seasons of baseball, so am happy for him.  He's played some real good defense this year at SS, 1B ... and pitched a few innings along the way.  Hits like his dad though, unfortunately. 

The main thing I'm looking forward to in life is the big U2 show this Saturday in Raleigh.  Going to be awesome.  6 days away.  There'll be a U2 theme to the blog this week.  Apologize in advance.

A few good Bono quotes to get it started:

Rock music to me is rebel music. But rebelling against what? What are we rebelling against now? If I am honest I'm rebelling against my own indifference. I am rebelling against the idea that the world is the way the world is and there's not a damned thing I can do about it.

We must allow God to encourage us with His angels, but we must never forget the work is always going to be hard. 

This is not a burden.  This is an adventure.  Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done.  We can be the generation that ends extreme poverty.

But we've got to follow through on our ideals or we betray something at the heart of who we are.