Richard has started a new blog that includes movie reviews and his thoughts on lots of different topics. You can find a link here.
Archive for February, 2010
Richard’s New Blog
Posted in Blogging, Family, tagged Blogging, Family on February 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Keep The Big Ten As It Is (Cont.)
Posted in sports, tagged Big Ten, Big Ten expansion, college football, sports on February 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This article quotes Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin’s athletic director, as saying that the Big Ten has hired a firm to evaluate potential expansion candidates and that 15 schools are on the list to be evaluated. Interestingly, Notre Dame and Texas apparently aren’t on that list. Fifteen schools seems like a lot; presumably the list includes a [...]
The Dreaded Slush Ball
Posted in Growing Up, Humor, weather, tagged Akron, Bath, Growing Up, Humor, Slush Balls, Snow, Snowballs, weather, Winter on February 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When I was a kid, this was an exceptionally dangerous time of year. The warmer temperatures would lead to melting snow, and the melting snow would lead to slush, and the slush would lead to the risk of the dreaded slush ball. The slush ball, of course, was like a snowball, except a thousand times [...]
Ending The Anthrax Investigation
Posted in America, crime, tagged America, Anthrax, crime, FBI, terrorism on February 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Many people have forgotten the deadly letters containing anthrax that came hard on the heels of the 9/11 attacks. At the time, the anthrax attacks made it seem that the United States was going to be the subject of unending terrorist activity, from every quarter. Eventually, though, the letters stopped and the public’s focus shifted [...]
Laptops As Educational Tools
Posted in America, Technology, tagged America, education, High School, Laptops, Technology on February 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The BBC published a weird story yesterday about a lawsuit by Pennsylvania parents against a school district. It seems the Lower Merion School District gave all 1800 high school students in the district laptops that included a security feature that allowed the school district to take photos of whomever was using the laptop. The feature [...]
Pitchers And Catchers
Posted in sports, tagged baseball, Cleveland Indians, sports, Spring Training, Tribe on February 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The temperature has crept above freezing, the sun is shining, and the massive snowfall is beginning to melt a bit. The slightly warmer weather gives us a glimpse of the spring to come. Another sign that spring is just around the corner is this: pitchers and catchers report to the Cleveland Indians’ spring training camp [...]
Way To Go, Russell!
Posted in Art, Family, tagged Art, Family, Vassar on February 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Google is a great device, and I use it to keep track of family and friends. Today I Googled Russell and found this excellent little article about his forthcoming show. I can’t tell you how cool I think it is that Russell and his three friends get their own Group Show at the Palmer Gallery [...]
Not Serious
Posted in Politics, The Economy, tagged Arizona, Budget Commission, Budget Deficit, California, economy, Florida, Making Hard Budget Choices, Michigan, Nevada, Politics, President Obama on February 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
After posting a piece this morning, immediately below, about why the “bipartisan budget commission” is a bogus idea that reflects badly on the capabilities of the President and the Congress, hours later I read this piece about how the President would announce today, in Nevada, $1.5 billion in new spending to “help spur local solutions” [...]
Fresh Or Feeble?
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged Budget Commission, Budget Deficit, Congress, National Debt, Peggy Noonan, Politics, President Obama on February 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Peggy Noonan usually offers interesting observations about politics and the national mood. Her most recent column is about President Obama’s decision to appoint a bipartisan budget commission and about the national mood on spending. In brief, she believes that the appointment of the commission may be viewed as a fresh approach that is helpful to [...]
Where Have All The Horn Bands Gone?
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged All You Need Is Love, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Music, Music videos, Penny Lane, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Tower Of Power, Us and Them on February 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The other day I was driving, listening to the radio, and heard Chicago’s Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? It’s a great song and it got me to thinking: Where have all the horn bands gone? That is, why aren’t rock bands that feature trumpets, and slide trombones, and saxophones popular any more? [...]
A Ticking Budgetary Time Bomb
Posted in America, Ohio, Politics, tagged America, Ohio, Politics, State EmployeeRetiree Plans, State Pension Funds on February 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
As if the states weren’t dealing with enough bad news already . . . . The Pew Center on the States has released a study that concludes that our 50 states are, collectively, grossly underfunding their retirement benefit programs for state employees. The study estimates that state liabilities for pension benefits and health care and [...]
Happy Birthday, Stimulus
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, economy, Politics, Unemployment on February 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
One year ago, President Obama signed the massive “stimulus” bill into law. Americans are understandably skeptical about whether the stimulus bill was worth the hundreds of billions of dollars in borrowed money that has added significantly to our national debt or whether it was, in fact, a pork-ridden bill that did a lot for Members [...]
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Posted in Penny, Reflections, tagged Penny, Poetry, Robert Frost, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening on February 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Last weekend, during the dark, pre-dawn hours, I took Penny for a walk to the wooded area behind the library. In the dimness Penny stared intently into the woods, as if looking for small animals that might be moving through the underbrush, and I found myself looking intently into the woods as well. As the [...]
Buckeye Basketball
Posted in sports, tagged Buckeye Basketball, Dallas Lauderdale, David Lighty, Evan Turner, Jon Diebler, Ohio State, sports, Thad Matta, William Buford on February 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Ohio State men’s basketball team has quietly put together a fine season. After limping out of the gate in Big Ten conference play, thanks in large part to an injury to Evan Turner, the Buckeyes have reeled off 9 conference wins in a row. Their last win was a 19-point trouncing of Illinois on [...]
Snow To The Windowsill, And The Great Wall Of Webner
Posted in Columbus, weather, tagged Columbus, house and grounds, New Albany, Shoveling Snow, Snow, Snowstorms, weather, Winter on February 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Columbus was hit with another blizzard today. As of 6 p.m., I’d say another six inches had fallen on New Albany, and more is supposed to be on the way. The firm closed early due to horrible road conditions, and traffic moved at a crawl on the drive home as snow continued to fall at [...]
