Hot Time In Old Havana Tonight!

Hurricane Ike is ripping through Cuba right now, and Havana is expected to get the punishing winds of a Catagory 3 hurricane. Check out this video (though in Spanish) it shows the enormity of the winds and the water that the people are facing.

My prediction is that if Cuba (Havana) receives much damage, President Raul Castro will allow aid from all countries, and ask for it specifically from the United States. If this happens, this will be the catalyst for renewed relations between the two countries. But, we'll see...

Thanks!

It's amazing that in all the time I have been running this blog, the most hits I've received have been since I uploaded pictures that I took at an event. John Stone (Curbstone Critic - r.i.p.) used to have fantastic pictures on his blog, and I think it has been missed.

Thanks to everyone for checking them out, I appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

-- MR

Springfield Labor Day Parade 2008 - My Pictures

Hats off to the working men and women of the Ozarks - we ALL deserve a day to celebrate our hard-earned accomplishments. You can check out "MY PHOTOS" for all of the one's I took today. I was especially proud to see / meet fellow blogger Jim Lee - aka - BUS PLUNGE

"W." Directed by Oliver Stone

You know if it's done by Oliver Stone, it's gonna' be good! Release is scheduled for the 29th of October, 2008. Here's the trailer:

A Story That You Must Read For Yourself

Bloggers Note: An amazing story that I found ... it was forwarded - I have no idea who wrote it, but I hope it brings you as much goodness and warmth as it did me. Enjoy! --M.R.

"To All Married Couples and Singles Who Intend to Get Married"

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, "You are not a man!"

That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to a lovely girl called Dew. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, 30% shares of my company and the car. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly.

Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy.

Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully. My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset.

I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest... I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning... This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me; she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.

Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, "Dad, it's time to carry mum out." To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind... I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, "Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore."

She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. "Do you have a fever?", she said. I moved her hand off my head. "Sorry, Dew," I said, "I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart."

Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote: "I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart."

The small details of our lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, the property, the bank balance that matters. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you, but if you do, you just might save a marriage.

Relationships are made not to exploit, not to be broken.

We teach some by what we say
We teach some more by what we do
But we teach most by what we are
- Unknown

You don't get to choose how you are going to die, or when, but, you can decide how you are going to live, here and now.

Remember:

People will forget what you said...
People will forget what you did...
But people will never forget how you made them feel....

You have to learn lessons also from others mistakes because you will not get time to do all the mistakes on your own.

Random Thought...

"...there's girls, there's women, and there's ladies..." says the line from the old country song. That lyric has been stuck running around in my head about 90 miles an hour today and it has left me with the following:

Admit it or not, to some degree, we base relationships on looks. Have you ever seen someone you thought was so unattractive that you wondered who would ever go out with them or who would find them good looking? If you're completely honest with yourself, I'll bet you have seen this person at least once.

Ok...lets carry this a step further. Is there someone out there somewhere who will find our "ugly duckling" attractive and "just right" for them? Or, is this poor person destined to go through life being used...never taken out on a date, never being really appreciated, and strictly used as a "booty-call" because they are easy and will give it up because they want the attention from others?

Your thoughts?

The Death Of Radio - The "True Birth" of the 22nd Century

Seldom are we privy to "a moment in time" that completely changes EVERYTHING we've done before. We've had these moments all along throughout human history: candles and coal oil lamps replaced with the first twinge of light from a light bulb. Horse and buggy, along with trains being stopped by the turning over of the automobile engine. Primary sources of information have gone from Western Union, Pony Express, and the US Mail to Television, Radio, and the Internet.

Today, is the death of radio as we know it. For many years, it has been the most portable tool for information. Easy to carry around a radio...not easy to carry a TV. Easy to listen to a radio for the latest news, yes, I can bring my laptop, but not everyone has a WIFI zone. Today or tomorrow, we will have one of those moments that strikes radio as the most portable medium for information gathering and destroys it forever... depending on when "The Text" is released.

Yes, I said it, "The Text." It's already being touted as "The Text Heard 'Round the World" - Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's use of a text message to cell phone's everywhere, informing his supporters of his Vice Presidential choice.

Wow. 2008 changes everything - the 1st Black Presidential Candidate, and the death of radio information, via a single text message on your cell phone. Are you ready for it??

John McCain is Out of Touch with Reality

So, less than 24-hours ago, I posted about how despondent I was concerning the elections and the state of politics in general. My apathy and disgust has been huge, and I didn't know how I would be able to work myself out of it.

Then this morning...a gift from the divine. Something that couldn't be made up in fiction because the truth (or what appears to be the truth) is much more entertaining. Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain, the man who served our country so well in the military...is out of touch with the common man.

CLICK HERE to read the story from the Associated Press on how Sen. McCain...had NO CLUE how many homes he and his wife own. He and John Edwards would have been a great team...McCain shuttling between numerous houses, while Edwards could stash a few mistresses away in those unknown address, and keep looking good with his $300 hair cuts.

Sad. These are the people who govern you and I.

Singin' the Blues at Election Time

Dear friends, I am a "political animal"...please, let me explain. I can't recite to you who starred in what television show or movie, nor can I rattle off stats from my favorite football team, and since the strike all those years ago, I despise Baseball.

But politics...now that's my game! I love seeing the debates, the formulation of policy, the ranking of issues. I love watching the men and women wishing to represent us press the flesh, speak their minds, stump it wherever they can, and either savor the sweet sweet taste of success, or swallow their gut in defeat. Yes...I LOVE the game!

I am so damned depressed right now, it hurts. It's like a giant "FUNK" has settled over me, and I don't know what to do in order to shake it. I've been waiting for THIS election, for years now. How will the Republicans overcome being associated with a President whose policies have driven his approval ratings through the floor...and how the Democrats will overcome...being Democrats.

Man, WHAT a BATTLE! What a contest! What a damned flop. I don't like McCain. I don't like Obama. Just what in the hell am I supposed to do now???

NEWS FLASH...RUSSIA INVADES GEORGIA!

What I really want to know is how many people were worried about the supply of Peaches when they saw this headline!

Death Of Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Back in the days when I was a young Greenwood Lad, I had an English teacher that took some interest in my work and my reading habits (double edged sword here as it was this very English teacher that I had the MOST PROBLEMS with later on). In any case, she did wonders for me in the literature arena, including introducing me to the works of both Curt Vonnegut, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

It is with deep sadness that Alexander has passed on - a life well lived, and chronicled, throughout the pages and pages he created. Will we again see the likes of someone so dedicated to dishing out the truth despite personal hardship? Possible...but sadly, doubtful.

Solzhenitsyn lead a fascinating life. From being a decorated soldier, to time in the gulag, being stripped of his Soviet citizenship, and returning home to the motherland as a national hero, he lived it all. CLICK HERE to see the video from the BBC.

What the Hell Happened?

I'll say it up front - it's been years since I've been a fan of the "Springfield News-Leader." Back before it was swallowed up by media giant Gannett, they actually used to publish news worth reading from around the Ozarks. In my opinion, though it's gotten "prettier" over the past few years, it's mostly fluff and mindless dribble.

Now, it's smaller...or at least appears to be. I picked up today's paper for the first time in probably 2 months...and it's about the size of some of the other tabloids around town. Hmmm...I'll bet the subscription price didn't go down despite the savings a smaller layout provides. If I subscribed, I would be plenty ticked.

One gold nugget however was Sarah Overstreet's column on North & South Springfield. I agree with her, there is a distinct difference in North / South attitudes in town, and there always has been for as long as I can remember. Maybe it's the lack of police service to the area versus south side calls, maybe it's the resurgence of commerce in the area (that Wal-Mart on Kearney & Glenstone is damned cool), maybe it's the continual lack of neglect for that part of town by our city father's. Sarah is right...and about damned time someone said so.

Scott McClellan Breaks The Silence

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan is the winner of today's "News that's Not News" category. He alleges that President Bush relied on an "aggressive political propaganda campaign" to initiate the Iraq war, instead of telling the truth.

Duh!

While I've got to give kudos to Mr. McClellan for speaking his mind, he's only telling what many of us knew all along. Let's just be frank here. I knew before Bush was Inaugurated that we would be going to war in Iraq, and that was fine. Just be honest, say you're going to kick some Hussein Butt for trying to kill your father, and America would have been fine. Hell, we love to get even...and truth be told, if he had been that honest, it probably would have been one of the most POPULAR wars in history!

Now of course, you can't blame McClellan for not speaking his mind...after all, his job was to make lemonade out of lemons, not tell the President the recipe he should use to make the lemonade in the first place.

There is supposed to to be a press conference tomorrow to clear the air. Now we'll see just exactly how much pressure is exerted on the former talking head by the White House. Will he stick with his guns, or soften his tone.

We'll wait and see.

Square Deal

Springfield's Park Central Square. You have to admit, it was a great idea in theory - compete against the new Battlefield Mall by turning this into a "pedestrian shopping zone" with no through traffic allowed.

Problem is, when the city father's made this decision, they listened to NONE of the businesses they were trying to help. Everyone from lawyers, to merchants, jewelers, to 5 and dime shops that had been downtown for years told the city this was a BAD idea. Don't close the traffic, they said, and for the love of goodness, don't take away the parking to make some damned silly fountain.

No one listened.

Once again, the city fathers hold the growth and future of downtown in their hands, which is a scary enough thought in itself. Hopefully, the right thing will be done. Listen to those most directly affected, and don't muck it up this time!

Ramblings...

Blah. That's how I feel right now, just Blah. I have too much on my mind - some things more important than others of course, but they're there just the same. In no particular order:

• Damn, this weather is nice.
• I don't like any of the Presidential candidates.
• Are we going to war with Iran as well?
• Why are there people whose sole purpose in life is to make mine a living hell?
• I need to check the air in my tires.
• How much will I get from my stimulus package?
• Can I pay all of my bills this month?
• Wish I had shaved this morning.
• I have this pit in my stomach...what's up with that?
• My boss is a moron.
• My boss is a mo...ooops, already got that one.
• Need to flip that light socket sometime this week.
• I want a set of patio furniture for my deck.
• A dog would be nice too.
• How much longer before I have to get a part time job with gas and food prices going up?
• I know I've forgotten something...just can't remember what.
• The boss thing...ditto...again.
• I enjoyed that Star Wars movie last night, more than I thought I would.
  

Un-Inspired

I often gripe about apathy of one sort or another and I'm sure that members of my family and friends get tired of my occasional diatribes on the inactions of others. Well, I guess I have been struck by the apathy bug myself, since it's been since DECEMBER since I've written. But then again, I haven't exactly had emails banging down my box demanding my return...so figure that one out for yourself.

Anyways, in many ways, it's been a "blah" year and I just didn't care. My boss is an ego-maniac who blames having to go pee on someone else, we have the 3-stooges running for the highest office in the land, gas is approaching $4 a gallon, you can only buy 4-bags of rice at your local Sam's Club, and new housing has dropped for the worse in more than 16-years.

Friends, you might have found the above blog entry a little on the depressing side. For that, my sincerest apologies. However, let me show you that indeed there is still light at the end of the tunnel...when things are looking their worst, keep in the back of your mind that no matter what happens, Matt Blunt still is not running for a second-term as Governor.