Howdy from Talladega!

 Consumption, Family, Leisure, Memories, Sports  2 Responses »
Apr 252010
 

Just kidding.

I haven’t been in 25 years or so, but I’m still sure I’ve done it enough to last me the rest of my life.

Last week I read a good article about the decline of NASCAR. Mind, it’s still big, but it’s popped a bit.  For one thing, the economy has hit the fan base hard.  (A seat at Bristol starts at $93?  Seriously?)  For another, it’s awfully sterile anymore.  (Don’t get me started on the restrictor plate races.)

I’m watching a little more Sprint Cup this year than usual.  Probably that the IndyCar season started with four consecutive road course and street races is a factor.  I’m starving for an oval race.  I’m going to watch the Winston 500, or whatever it’s called now, today, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

But part of me still really misses the way it used to be.  I grew up just half an hour from Talladega, and Dad took me several times.  Reminisced about that before.  You know, it might as well be spec racing now (which is easily the thing I like least about the current IndyCar league as well).  But the cars really did used to be modified stock cars.  I miss these days:

That’s a great old photo by Ted Van Pelt, with David Pearson’s Wood Brothers Mercury Montego in the foreground.  Over his roof is one of Richard Petty’s Dodges—a Challenger, in this case.  That’s a Gran Torino, as in Ford, in front, but I don’t know whose.  I’m going to guess this is 1974 or thereabouts, so just a few years before I was old enough to be paying real attention, but it felt like this to me through the early ’80s.

Broadcast time approaches.  Boogity boogity boogity…

 Posted by at 11:54 am

A solution “to a crisis we did not create, and which the federal government has refused to address.”

 Annoyances, Current Events, Liberty, Politics  4 Responses »
Apr 242010
 

So says Arizona governor Jan Brewer about the illegal immigration bill she just signed into law.

My favorite part of the early fallout is that Mexico is warning that the new law “could affect cross-border relations.”  Now just what the hell does that mean?  Exactly what carrots are our neighbors to the south currently giving us?  Mercy, I certainly hope they aren’t threatening to withhold the drug gang war spilling over the border.

You know, a 40-foot wall—25 above ground, 15 below, construction to commence immediately—eventually makes the whole thing a moot point.  But I’m some sort of hateful racist or something, daring to suggest that the United States adequately defend her borders.  Believing that the United States should protect the interests of the United States is becoming a radical notion.

How much more surreal can it get?

 Posted by at 4:09 pm

Less tolerant

 Annoyances, Current Events, Language, Liberty, Politics  2 Responses »
Apr 232010
 

I blogged about tolerance once.  I don’t much care for the word when it’s used to describe the desired end state of how one person feels about another.  I prefer acceptance for that.

You know, though, I’ve been considering that I’m less polemically tolerant than I once was.  I’ve been a big “respect all views” guy for a long time, but there are some things for which I am beginning to lose patience.

  • I am less tolerant of the view that liberal mobs, screaming and burning the targets of their derision in effigy, are a sign of a healthy and vibrant democracy, while peaceful, respectful, well-behaved gatherings of conservative and libertarian citizens concerned about government spending are powder kegs awaiting the slightest spark to set off another Oklahoma City bombing.
  • I am less tolerant of the belief that (insert mainstream media news outlet here) is a bastion of objectivity and journalistic integrity, possessing as its only agenda the sober and passionless transmission of information to its audience, while Fox News is a screeching right-wing hate machine.
  • I am less tolerant of people for whom capacity to believe what the president says becomes limitless when he is a liberal Democrat, and nonexistent when he is a Republican.
  • See previous bullet; substitute “respect for the office of the presidency” for “capacity to believe what the president says.”
  • I am less tolerant of people either too ignorant or too stupid to know what the Constitution says, as well as attempts to radicalize questions of constitutionality when raised in objection.

“People who believe fairy tales should have to live at home with their parents…we cannot release them into the world and they certainly should not vote!” – Frances Taylor

If I recall correctly, this was my friend Frances responding to someone who believed that Obamacare would provide new insurance coverage to 35 million people while reducing federal deficits.  Was she kidding?  Mostly.  Maybe.  I don’t know.  Maybe not.  Probably not much.

Folks, I’m going to have to ask you to get smarter.  You know who you are.  Thanking you very kindly in advance.

 Posted by at 12:11 pm

Thursday miscellanea #84

 Menagerie  6 Responses »
Apr 222010
 
  • The boys and I had a good time at the festivities this morning.  The military dog demonstration was neat, as was walking through the CH-47F.  (How cool is it that they flew that bad boy in here solely for our amusement…on Earth Day?  Heh.  Whomp whomp, baby.)
  • Speaking of, my net buddy Scott Roberts has some great tips for your Earth Day observances today.  Check them out on his Twitter feed.
  • Several Alabama football coaches just got sizable raises, and Coach Saban just got some bonus bumps too.  This is appalling; just appalling.  How terrible!  What kind of message are we sending?  I sound really sincere, don’t I?
  • Last night on my laptop, both IE and Firefox began crashing immediately upon starting them.  Google led me to this page, which blames a bad registry key associated with Adobe Flash, and advises deleting it.  Sure enough, it worked.  How cool is the Web?
  • Lea’s favorite Rolling Stones song is “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll.”  Her favorite Fleetwood Mac song is “Gold Dust Woman.”  My answers are “Gimme Shelter” and “Oh Well,” respectively (but I like both of her choices, too).
  • Know what I’m hard on?  The top to the cooking spray.  I break at least half of them that ever come through the house.  What’s up with that?  Is it that when I need it, I’m usually grilling, and therefore usually drinking, and therefore perhaps more prone to clumsiness?
  • Blogroll addition:  Web Pages That Suck.  It’s an instructive site, but it has enough attitude to be fun too.
 Posted by at 1:02 pm

It’s just a Wednesday

 Current Events, Family, Menagerie  2 Responses »
Apr 212010
 

Wow, I kind of went to that place where I have a drink or two and mess around on Facebook and shit before I ever did a blog post.  I usually try to post first.  Sorry about that.  Feel free to short your next payment accordingly.

I don’t have much on my mind tonight:

  • I’m taking the boys to work tomorrow, and they’re excited.  I am too.  It’ll be a good time.
  • I just taught the older boy the hilarities of singing “Flick a Booger on Me” to the tune of “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”  (In the name of love.)
  • I’m cooking Mondays and Wednesdays right now in exchange for not being the parent who takes one boy or the other to spring soccer practice, though given that Nathan’s coach’s wife is hotter than a strontium fire, that might not be the deal I think it is.
  • We had pretty good spaghetti tonight, though Lea still detected the 50% ground turkey in the mix.  I’m dropping to 25% next time.
  • Some jackass in a gray Lexus ES350 cut me off tonight on my evening commute.  I hope I see you again, because I’ll publish your tag number if I do.

Love to you.

 Posted by at 9:14 pm
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