Nobody 679

Sunday, December 31, 2006
Nobody # 679

Nobody Asked Me But:

A Noiseless Patient Spider
by Walt Whitman.

A noiseless, patient spider,
I mark'd, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark'd how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them--ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,--seeking the spheres, to
connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form'd--till the ductile anchor
hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.

May you all and all of yours throw many threads this year and may they all catch on somewhere good.<<<

THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

With apologies to the Beatles, this is a great name for our post-Christmas trip to Tucson. The magic was the way in which a mediocre movie (“Night at The Museum”) was turned into one filled with fun and enjoyment simply by attending it with my daughter and grandchildren. The mystery was the strange noises, which kept emanating from the back of our car – several gurgles followed later by Stones music. It took us a few minutes to realize that it was from Ryan’s cell phone that he had accidentally left in the back seat. We pulled off the highway and, after a couple of failures from cell phone challenged moi, finally got through. When I teased R about his surprise gift to his grandparents, he, ever quick on the trigger, came back with “Merry Christmas.”

The trip was great, if rushed, since we had to get back for Thursday’s PAC-10 opener. So we spent Tuesday and Thursday driving, but Tuesday night we had our usual in-room pizza and presents – both enjoyed by all. Then Wednesday, Barb had her annual Arizona shopping day while we went to see “Night” – and, of course, to a B&N for new books.

We again stayed at the Arizona Inn, which, to me, is an oasis of peace.

It was strange not having Greg and Ben there, but they are happy in their new Reno home, and I am sure that next year we will find a way to all be together.<<<

ORONTO, Ontario (AP) – “A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields has snapped free from Canada's Arctic, scientists said.” I wonder: Over the long haul, will Bush be remembered more for the disaster of Iraq or the potential catastrophe of Kyoto?<<<

My quote of the week, from Thomas Friedman, is on the same subject - December summers in Washington D.C.: “I’m half expecting the cherry blossoms to come out for Christmas. In fact, my wife was rummaging through her closet the other day and emerged to tell me she needed a whole new wardrobe — ‘a global warming wardrobe,’ clothes that are summer weight but winter colors.”<<<

Cartoon of year (left)

Philosophical question of the week: Do optimists live longer than pessimists, or do they just think they will?<<<

Year-end news item: “Medi-Cal pays for over 100,000 births by undocumented women.” Comment: I would think that a quick physiological examination would be enough to “document” that they were women, and if that wasn’t enough, the birth event itself should be proof positive.<<<

AP - 1, SI – 0: The Associated Press chose Tiger Woods as their Athlete of the year while Sports Illustrated selected Dwayne Wade. Wade is an excellent player who had a great play-off and also seems to be a genuinely nice person, but Tiger dominated the world of golf as nobody has since – well, since he did 4 years ago.

No person has been as dominant in sports as Tiger since Michael ruled the basketball world – and even he needed the help of teammates.<<<

Did you know that the typical American, in 2006, spent $100.60 for every $100 of take home pay?<<<

To prove what a good year I have had, this very small down was one of my year’s low points. About two weeks ago, on my Sunday morning trip to Starbucks, they dropped and broke my stainless cup. It was a long time favorite, for its shape, and because the lid hollowed out leaving room for extra whipped cream. So sad!<<<

Happiest political event of 2006 - The mid-term elections.<<<

JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE – 2006 Justice – O. J.’s book going down in flames and Judith Regan going down with it.

Injustice – Green onions, which had to suffer the indignity of being falsely blamed for the year’s second E. coli outbreak.<<< Television 2006 - What I watched:

1. “Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip” 2. “The Unit” 3. “Bones” 4. “Ugly Betty” 5. “Deadwood” 6. “The Sopranos” 7. “Prime Suspect”

What I also should have watched – “The Wire.”

What I missed most – “Everwood.”<<<

SOME WORST (WITHOUT THE LIVER) OF 06

Worst sports prediction: “Tiger will be mortal in 2007.” – MSNBC Sports<<<

Worst decision in sports (and movie) history: - Rocky, at 60, gets back into the ring.<<<

Worst phrase that didn’t originate in 06 but ran continuously throughout the year from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: “Stay the Course.”

Biggest Racist, Sexist, Bigot Award or, as we in the business call it: BRSBA:

The nominees are Mel Gibson and Michael Richards. And the winner is…………………….

For his body of work – Mel Gibson.<<<

Did you know that within our 1,000-person embassy in Iraq, only 33 speak Arabic and of those 33, only 6 are fluent in the language?<<<

Those of you who are not basketball fans can stop here. For the rest of you, I will spoil your surprise by telling you in advance how the PAC-10 is going to end up after 17 more conference games. (18 for the two Oregon schools.)

Please accept my mea culpa, because I am writing this one game into the schedule. If this gives me an unfair advantage, I apologize.

1. UCLA The wings are very good at everything except ball-handling and creating their own shots, and the middle is weak offensively, but the Bruins have DDTH – defense, desire, toughness and Howland. That will be enough to get them first place.

2. ARIZONA The Cats can score from all 5 positions, which makes them very tough to defend and are still great at attacking the basket, which gets them to the foul line very often, but can they defend? I think not as evidenced by their attempt to mask this weakness by playing a zone. They are the most athletically talented team in the conference, but the Bruins will out-tough them in a close race. 3.

WASHINGTON Washington’s offense presents big problems with their inside-outside game, especially with 2 talented bigs, making it tough to double-down, and some good 3-point shooting, but, as SC exposed Thursday, the Huskies don’t much like to play defense.

(The middle: 4, 5 and 6 can be closely lumped together in a “you pick them” group.)

4. USC Until the past week and a half, I thought the Trojans were second division material, but I (grudgingly) make them my pick to win the riddle of the middle. Young, Pruitt, Stewart and 21 year-old freshmen Taj Gibson are talented and have played their last few games with increased discipline. But I am not sure that this will continue. A couple of losses and the Trojans may well fall far enough to be my biggest mistake.

5. WASHINGTON STATE All those writers who picked the Cougars to finish last are going to feel really foolish. This is a very good team who will upset at least one of the conference’s top 3, win most of their home games and a few on the road and get into the NCAA Tournament.

6. OREGON Oregon is a group of talented individuals (the best that Nike money can buy) in search of a coach.

(Contrary to much speculation, from spots 7-10 the PAC is pretty weak.)

7. CALIFORNIA This team was already on their way to being also-rans and then were hit by injuries to their two best bigs. They still have a couple of dangerous players but that’s not enough to get them above #7.

8. STANFORD So far, the Lopez twins haven’t had the impact that was expected. If they get better the Cardinal could climb as high as #7

9. OREGON STATE (8-5) Jay John seems like a decent coach, but he has had little success recruiting talent. For this he must share the blame with Corvallis. Actually he gets major blame because Pullman is a much worse place with better talent.

10. ARIZONA STATE (6-5) Given time, Herb Sendek should improve this program. But, wait, didn’t we say that about Evans too.