fidlmath

Diana the Spider Wrangler

Would you believe?

In case you've had your head buried in the sand for the past week or so, here is a video of a Catholic Priest preaching in Obama's church [until today, when he resigned] - and if I'd just seen this much of it, I would have thought it was an SNL sendup of Hillary.  I can't believe this man had the chutzpah/balls to do this - and in a church. And the people behind him - part of an SNL audience?  Surely not a congregation. Also, I just found this column by Michael Moore which pretty much sums up the sentiments of a lot of people I know - that it doesn't make any difference who becomes president as long as it's not a Republican - can't take any more of Shrub and his crowd.

posted by: mafidl at May 31, 2008 23:34 | link | comments |

A Rant

For the past week a group [the "Force"] in my condo complex [that has 783 units, ranging from 1 and 2 story units to units in multistory buildings] has been circulating emails which were getting ever more hysterical, and I was becoming enrolled in the ensuing panic.  There is a lot to be worried about, partially due to our current national economic crisis, but also due to mismanagement by the officers of our current condo  board [members of the "Evil Empire"].  Ever since they were elected, claiming theft, mismanagement, etc by previous boards, they have caused more problems, not that we didn't have a sufficiency of them to begin with.  The previous several boards [several of whom belong to the Force and are the minority of the current board] had been gradually trying to get everything under control.  Given that the residents reject reserves every year [have done so since the complex was built in the early '70's] this was not an easy task.  Mind you, these board members are volunteers and spend hours, if not days, each week working on straightening everything out  [from re-roofing units damaged by hurricanes to county mandated complete re-doing of lighting and all wiring involved in that to replacing damaged or worn siding to ...] as well as the more mundane necessities of lawn maintenance, tree trimming prior to Hurricane Season, paying water and cable bills, etc. The past several boards were doing a great, very demanding job.  However, each year there are community members, one group in particular [the Evil Empire], who are convinced that the previous board was stealing and doing nothing.  Partly this has been from understandable panic at the rising costs - including monthly association dues which are no over $400 and an assessment, ending in, I believe, July of somewhat over $400/mo - which the majority of the unit owners have, naturally grudgingly, managed to pay.  There is a very active, vocal, persuasive individual [the Emperor?] who, though removed from a previous board, insists on causing problems and enrolling this group to run with some promises on the order of lowering the monthly dues and canceling the assessment.  As a result, some of their followers apparently decided that they no longer needed to pay either of those.  We already had a bunch of  delinquent homeowners, some because of understandable economic difficulties, others just plain ornery.  So back to the emails.  There were ever escalating threats of possible receivership and the horrors that would ensue.  The Force has worked since the new board was elected to recall 3 or 4 of the current board members, who are the officers   At a meeting last night, which was called by the Board for reasons that proved unworkable - not enuf or the right kind of info being available - there were, finally a few very good points made [when the yelling died down] by several members of the "audience" as the president of the Board referred to them.  One in particular, A, is extremely articulate - even eloquent - and emphasized that much of the current hysteria was due to the lack of communication from the Board to the "audience"[should be owners].  Her point did not seem to be understood by the officers - or at least by the president.  Another articulate owner requested that the officers step down - not resign - so that the bank, with whom we have a large loan that some believe is at risk, would see that we are attempting to correct problems.  After the official meeting ended there was one item of good news - that a $10,000 fine imposed by the County was rescinded once we again filed for a permit to do the lighting.  Why this wasn't stated at the beginning of the meeting?  The Board officers are probably feeling paranoid - and not without reason.  What is the comment:  Just because you think someone is out to get you doesn't necessarily mean you're paranoid?  Anyhow, the upshot of it is that the recall effort will continue, although there are some in the Force who think that is an endeavor bound to fail, because those of us who actually care about the community are in the loop with the emails and actually attending meetings - the rest have made up their "minds" or don't want to hear about it.  Wish us luck, please.

posted by: mafidl at May 29, 2008 10:49 | link | comments (3) |

Widor Toccata

Thanks to Freely Released I have located this which has inspired me for years.  When I was in College and passed our Chapel, where concerts, and other events were held occasionally, I would often hear an organ student practicing - sometimes this piece.  It was always wonderful to hear it - requiring skill, virtuosity - managing not only both hands and several keyboards, but the foot pedals.  What a marvelous sound! And for contrast, here's Rick Wakeman playing a solo in a Yes [my favorite rock group] concert:

posted by: mafidl at May 29, 2008 09:58 | link | comments |

News of the weird?

NN heard this item on the radio where today is reruns, so it could be old - therefore, not properly news - but turns out to date from this February.  Anyhow, getting to the point, it seems that 2 Englishmen who had been drinking at a local pub for awhile in a town near the ocean, decided they didn't want to take a cab as they usually did after a long session of drinking.  So they walked down to the waterside, which had been adopted as territory by a dolphin, and decided to ride the dolphin home.  They evidently thought the dolphin knew where they lived and ... The upshot of it was that the police caught and arrested them, although the dolphin seemed not to mind.  And here I thought this sort of thing only happened in Ireland. Heheheh.
In my local paper, the Miami Herald, this morning there is a column about eloquence in speech.  The columnist's issue is that, although Hillary is often very articulate [eloquent?] and various politicians and political leaders through the years have also been, or not, possibly to their detriment, Barack Obama, who is very eloquent, winds up being criticized for it, as if it were a defect.  Well, it was not put exactly that way, but I'll link it here so you can read it, too.  I believe, without reservation, that one of the reasons that I was inspired to support Barack Obama was, and continues to be, his inspirational speaking.

posted by: mafidl at May 26, 2008 11:02 | link | comments (2) |

WHY?

From friend, R:

>       Subject: FW: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
>
>         BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a 
	  CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!
>
>         JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because
>         he recognized the need to engage in
>         cooperation and dialogue
>         with all the chickens on the other side of the
>         road.
>
>         HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I
>         personally helped that
>         little chicken to cross the road. This
>         experience makes me
>         uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day
>         One! -- that
>         every chicken in this country gets the chance
>         it deserves to
>         cross the road. But then, this really isn't
>         about me.......
>
>         DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that
>         this chicken won't
>         realize that he must first deal with the
>         problem on 'THIS' side
>         of the road before it goes after the problem
>         on the 'OTHER SIDE'
>         of the road. What we need to do is hel p him
>         realize how stupid
>         he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT'
>         problems before
>         adding 'NEW' problems.
>
>         OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is
>         having problems,
>         which is why he wants to cross this road so
>         bad. So instead of
>         having the chicken learn from his mistakes and
>         take falls, which
>         is a part of life, I'm going to give this
>         chicken a car so that
>         he can just drive across the road and not live
>         his life like the
>         rest of the chickens.
>
>         GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the
>         chicken crossed the
>         road. We just want to know if the chicken is
>         on our side of the
>         road, or not. The chicken is either against
>         us, or for us. There
>         is no middle ground here.
>
>         COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen,
>         you can clearly see
>         the satellite image of the chicken crossing
>         the road...
>
>         ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to
>         believe there is a
>         chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to
>         hav e access to the
>         other side of the road.
>
>         JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the
>         chicken cross the road,
>         I am now against it! It was the wrong road to
>         cross, and I was
>         misled about the chicken's intentions. I am
>         not for it now, and
>         will remain against it.
>
>         NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road
>         because he's GUILTY!
>         You can see it in his eyes and the way he
>         walks.
>
>         PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent,
>         hardworking American.
>
>         MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me
>         which way that
>         chicken was going. I had a standing order at
>         the Farmer's Market
>         to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a
>         certain level. No
>         little bird gave me any insider information.
>
>         DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did
>         he cross it with a
>         toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but
>         why it crossed I've
>         not been told.
>
>         ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain . Alone.
>
>         JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay!
>         Can't you people see
>         the plain truth?' That's why they call it the
>         'other side.' Yes,
>         my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you
>         eat that chicken,
>         you will become gay too. I say we boycott all
>         chickens until we
>         sort out this abomination that the liberal
>         media white washes
>         with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the
>         other side. That
>         chicken should not be crossing the road. It's
>         as plain and as
>         simple as that.
>
>         GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the
>         chicken crossed the
>         road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the
>         road, and that
>         was good enough.
>
>         BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a
>         few moments, we
>         will be listening to the chicken tell, for the
>         first time, the
>         heart warming story of how it experienced a
>         serious case of
>         molting, and went on to accomplish its life
>         long dream of
>         crossing the road.
>
>         ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to
>         cross the road.
>
>         JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the
>         world crossing
>         roads together, in peace.
>
>         BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2007,
>         which will not
>         only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your
>         important
>         documents, and balance your check book.
>         Internet Explorer is an
>         integral part of the Chicken. This new
>         platform is much more
>         stable and will never cra.#@&&^(C%
>         .... Reboot.
>
>         ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross
>         the road, or did
>         the road move beneath the chicken?
>
>         BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with
>         THAT chicken. What
>         is your definition of chicken?
>
>         AL GORE: I invented the chicken!
>
>         COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?
>
>         DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
>
>         AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?
>         We need some black chickens.

posted by: mafidl at May 25, 2008 21:08 | link | comments (6) |
politics, humor

YAHOO!!

MARS!!! AND THE FLORIDA MARLINS JUST WON BOTH GAMES OF THEIR DOUBLE HEADER TODAY - NECESSITATED BY YESTERDAY'S GAME BEING RAINED OUT.  SO, THEY'RE NOW 2 1/2 GAMES AHEAD.  IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF I HADN'T BEEN OUT TO DINNER AND BEEN ABLE TO SEE THE SECOND GAME, WHICH WASN'T SCHEDULED TO BE ON TV, BUT THE OFF-DUTY CREW WENT TO THE FIELD AND TELEVISED IT.  I DID SEE THE LAST OF THE 9TH INNING. WHOOPPEEEEE!

posted by: mafidl at May 25, 2008 20:48 | link | comments |

Check this out

posted by: mafidl at May 25, 2008 00:42 | link | comments (3) |

This 'n That

I was just listening to Air America Radio on my way home. I haven't listened to it very often lately - it has seemed to be a bit too out there.  Anyhow Randy was talking to a caller from Kentucky.  I didn't realize the following:  Kentucky is #1 in poverty and in smoking; #2 in obesity and #48 in education.  The caller was stating how he and his wife had campaigned for Barack Obama, making a lot of calls, many of which were dropped as soon as he mentioned that he was calling to talk about Obama.  They were discussing the fact that there is a correlation between education [lack thereof] and the willingness to discuss/debate/think about political leanings - and the vulnerability to persuasion/brain washing. 
On another note, my kitties were clearly asking or at any rate thinking about "what's for dinner?" - NN's favorite question and earlier, Milo was in his favorite postion:

posted by: mafidl at May 21, 2008 17:14 | link | comments (6) |
politics, kitties

I thought I'd heard everything

Check this out!

posted by: mafidl at May 21, 2008 11:22 | link | comments (1) |

Warning, I've been reading again

This morning it was the Miami Herald.  Included an article by Leonard Pitts [though his name wasn't given by the online version] referring to an encounter on last week's Hardball between Chris Matthews, Kevin James and a couple of others - James comparing Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlain - and then not being able to actually state what Chamberlain did that he was outraged about.  If you don't have time to read the article or look at the video, which I'm including below, suffice it to say that there's nothing wrong with Obama's idea of talking with our enemies.  OK, video below. 



Then I was talking with friend R about an article that a friend of his had referred him to, and I'd neglected to read the link he'd forwarded to me.  Whether you're a fan of conspiracy theories or not, I think you might find it fascinating - and as with good conspiracy theory, quite plausible.  Also check out a comment from  a reader on Amazon.Com by Robert D. Steele "When in doubt, keep an open mind".

posted by: mafidl at May 21, 2008 10:38 | link | comments (2) |

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