Aye Wonder

Photo Hunter #23 – Walking

May 2, 2009 – 4:35 am

I wasn’t expecting to post today but I woke up at 4 AM and thought; what else is there to do at this time of the morning? When I remembered that Saturdays are Photo Hunter day, I went over to TNchick’s site to check out today’s theme. As soon as I saw that today’s theme is walking, I knew right away which photo I was using.

This photo was choreographed in the sense that we asked our 4 caddies at Golf House Club in Elie, Scotland to walk ahead of us and flip us off for the photo opp of the century. After a little coaxing, this was the result. Thanks to Steve Walsh for having the vision for this shot!

Mike |

Photo, Photo Hunt, Photo Hunter, Photo of the Week, Photography |

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Post Marathon, Aye Wonder Tuesday

April 21, 2009 – 5:34 pm

Is it Tuesday already? Goodness. If you live in Boston, you no doubt know that the Marathon was in town yesterday. That’s upwards of 26,000 official runners and their friends and families coming into town. That means it’s time to party. I’ve long said that Boston is a drinking city with a sports problem and yesterday proved it once again. The cash registers never stop ringing for bars and restaurants at or near key viewing points of the race. Nothing comes close to Marathon Monday with the possible exception of New Year’s Eve. It makes for a very long Tuesday. Trust me.

While Marathon Monday’s Tuesday hangover prevented me from writing earlier, I am here with the regularly scheduled Aye Wonder posting. Some of my random thoughts may be muddled (like one of the drinks I had yesterday) but I trust you will make sense of them. So here goes.

☞When he pitched in Boston, I loved him but when he left I saw Roger Clemens for what he is. Now, the world will get another look at him through the soon to be published book entitled American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime. Sports Illustrated is publishing an excerpt from the book that will undoubtedly raise further talk of Clemens’ lies to a Congressional committee. I wouldn’t want be him.

Can you help me? I can’t inject in my booty.

Those were the fateful words that began the friendship between legendary pitcher Roger Clemens and the trainer who would ultimately betray him, Brian McNamee.

☞I want to say I don’t believe in torture but something inside of me asks this question: If the balance of the country’s stability and safety can be upheld by getting information from one person, would I torture to get that info? I would have a difficult time saying no, I think. I know it is inhumane but a terrorist attack of innocent people is more inhumane. Is this a simple case of two wrongs don’t make a right?

☞Geez Norm. Haven’t you had enough appeals by now? Apparently Norm Coleman doesn’t think so because he is now appealing a lower court ruling from last week that awarded the Minnesota senate seat to Al Franken. Minnesota has been underrepresented now for 4 months because of Coleman. I would be willing to bet that if the election were held again, Coleman would lose in a landslide because all throughout the process, he has put his own interests ahead of the interests of the Minnesotans. People generally don’t like that.

☞I had a great laugh when I read this story. It reminded me of the time that there was a bank robbery in a Massachusetts north shore community and police were waiting for the criminal when he got home to Charlestown. Apparently, the genius thug was wearing his Charlestown High School football jacket when he perpetrated the robbery in full view of the bank’s surveillance cameras.

☞A week ago, I never heard of Shawn Lee. Now, I can’t stop listening to his new album, Shawn Lee Presents Soul in the Hole. It’s amazing to me that Lee recorded this album in this decade. It has such an authentic 70’s soul sound with some electronics thrown in. Have a listen to the same titled opening song and see if you agree. WOW.

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☞If you live in Boston or plan to visit, make certain the new Lansdowne Pub is on your dance card. It is a brand new Irish Pub with a 67 foot long bar. They will be serving traditional food and lots and lots of beers including 2 Guinness taps. The fixtures are stunning and they will have live bands starting this Friday night. Endway does a residency there for 5 weeks. Here’s the poster. (of course, it’s a self-serving post!)

☞In my effort to keep it real here, I found this video about waterboarding. The journalist bets he can endure 15 seconds of waterboarding. Its not difficult to watch but it is enlightening.

☞And lastly today’s Aye Wonder quote is from Michael Levin, philosophy professor at City University of New York. He writes in favor of torture here.

There are situations in which torture is not merely permissible but morally mandatory.

Aye wonder about this.

And I am certain you do too.

Mike |

Aye Wonder Tuesday |

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Photo Hunter #22 – Purple

April 18, 2009 – 3:56 am

I haven’t participated in a Photo Hunt since November 29th but since I committed to write every day again, it’s back! Today’s theme is purple. Earlier this week, I wtote about my High School and purple is the school’s color. Initially, I was determined to find a photo representing the old days back at Latin School. Unfortunately, no luck. I haven’t digitized many photos from back then. (another new task) I do have what I think is an excellent replacement.

The photo below is of Endway when they performed at the Paradise in Boston on Feb. 17 of this year. In this shot, the band is bathed in soft purple ellipsoidal spotlights. If you are unfamiliar with Endway’s music, you can hear them on MySpace.

Mike |

Photo, Photo Hunt, Photo Hunter, Photography |

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Truth in Advertising

April 17, 2009 – 1:15 pm

Fast food restaurants deserve their reputation. Are they convenient? Yes. Do they serve up slop? Yes, again. These photographs show the food as advertised and then again as served in their restaurants. Big diff, as the kids say.

This is the advertised McDonald’s skillet burrito

And this, the purchased one.

This is the advertised Arby’s Beef ‘n’ Cheddar

And one served at the restaurant

Here’s the advertised version of KFC’s famous bowl

And this one, the dog’s dinner:

If you have an appetite (pun intended ) to see more of these you can visit here.

Mike |

Don't Miss This, Food |

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Woe is Me

April 16, 2009 – 11:31 am

Woe, Woe is MeI really miss Scotland. I do. My cynical friends from England will read this and think I’ve gone off my meds. But England and Scotland have been wedded for just over 300 years and have predictably grown apart (like the US north and south appear to be doing now!). Truth be told, it’s Scotland that is the self sufficient county. They have great cattle, game, fish, poultry, vegetables, ale, whisky and most importantly, oil. Like England, it is a beautiful country but Scotland has a much more diverse topography. The Highlands are breathtaking as are the Inner and Outer Hebrides, an archipelago of islands off of Scotland’s northwest coast. Visit once and Scotland will get into your bloodstream faster than a dram of Glenmorangie. It’s an amazing place and a place that I haven’t visited in 20 months, the longest dry spell since I visited there for the first time 30+ years ago. Go behind the tab for more…

Why I miss ScotlandSometime ago I wrote a post about the 10 Reasons I Love Scotland. You can read part one, here and part two, here. Today, I’d like to tell you, a year and half removed from the country, what I miss the most about Scotland; why after all this time is it a place I think about every single day.

I have considered this scrupulously. I know what I love about Scotland but the reasons can’t entirely be why the country is so under my skin. No, my rapturous love for Scotland is all about the way of life. One of the things about living in America that we take for granted is that everything is so incredibly convenient. We have huge fridges that store a week’s worth of food. We live in a world where the town center is no longer important; the mall is important or the Super Stop & Shop. In Scotland (and England) the town center is the cog of life. I must admit that when I was younger, the town center was even more important there than it is now. But for better or worse (I say worse), the US way of doing things is rubbing off in the UK. I think there’s something really great about walking to the butcher, the fish monger, the produce store, the cheese and bottle shops to pick up the evening’s meal. You see your neighbors, stop for a pint, share a laugh with your pastor or make golf plans along the way. The town center has a pulse, its own life. I positively LOVE that. In St Andrews, where my home is, I can walk everywhere. If I wanted to go out for dinner, I could walk to 25 restaurants and an equal amount of pubs. If I wanted to see a movie, I could walk to the local cinema where three current movies are on offer. I wouldn’t have to jump in the car and drive to the multiplex where there are 15 films vying for my attention. OK, so I don’t have as much of a choice but is that a terrible thing? I could wait until next week when all three movies change. Even though I live today in the middle of a large city, I long for a simpler life. But I don’t want to live in isolation. A small town, where I can walk to everything, suits me. I can walk to golf, the beach, the botanical gardens, the theater or the cafe. Is that available anywhere in the US? Maybe in a resort town but then you are faced with isolation in winter. Scotland has everything I want.

Yet, I am still here.

Here’s a quick joke for you:

What’s one thing you will never hear in Scotland?

Oh that car? That’s the bagpiper’s Porsche.

Mike |

Mind the Gap, Scotland |

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Public Declamation

April 15, 2009 – 10:51 am

One of the time honored traditions of Boston Latin School, where I went to High School, is public declamation. I wrote about this once before here. Three times a years, pupils in the 7th-10th grade had to recite a poem or prose, committed to memory, in front of their English class. If the teacher thought it was one of the best, you had the opportunity to compete in the school wide assembly. In retrospect, it was a great way to learn public speaking. In many ways, picking the right poem/prose was like selecting the right song on American Idol. If performed badly in front of the class, or worse yet – in front of the entire school, you were done. Toast. Finis. As a result, I always selected my recitations with great care. First I Look at the Purse, the Smokey Robinson/Robert Rodgers tune, was one of my favorites and best received. I also loved Rudyard Kipling’s work, which clearly is a far cry from Smokey. Kipling’s Gunga Din was great fun to recite because of the cockney dialect that you could use in its delivery. But one of Kipling’s poems has stayed with me even now. It’s called If and it was written in 1895. If is all about leadership and it is as poignant now as it probably has ever been. It’s worth revisiting.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

Mike |

This Time It's Personal |

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Aye Wonder Tuesday – The Beginning of a Streak?

April 14, 2009 – 10:32 am

A post Passover/Easter greeting to all of you. I seem to be writing with slightly more frequency. Will it continue? Time will tell but I am guessing – yes! I must start by saying that the plethora of bad news is brutal on the psyche. There is no escaping the economic news that is top of minds and newspapers. Crime seems to be up or at least it feels that way. We are getting “fee-ed” to death because local state and city governments budgets are out of balance. North Korea is restarting their nuclear arms plant. Somali Pirates have taken over the North African seas. It all makes a news lover and follower want to never pick up the paper or tune into CNN. When I am uniformed, I feel empty. News constantly fills my brain and perhaps it is the root of my sleep problems. So today here at Aye Wonder, there will be nothing but good news and entertaining thoughts. Your regularly scheduled, miserable post will be back next week. Same Bat time. Same Bat channel.

☞ I want to start by putting you all in a good mood. I always say that British advertisements are the best. They always are chockablock with humour. In the UK, it seems you can’t sell anything unless it is funny. This ad from Wilkinson Sword takes the cake. It is filled with hillarious sexual innuendo and double-entendres. Sounds like a good start, n’est pas?

☞Mark Fidrych died yesterday. He was a baseball player that played at the major league level for a brief but memorable period in the 70s before suffering a career-ending injury. There is nothing happy about Mark Fidrych’s death but I will tell you this: anyone who ever saw him pitch will tell you that not only was his craft superior, he approached the game like he was 8 years old. He talked to the baseball, he groomed the pitcher’s mound on his hand and knees and he ran out to his teammates when they made great plays. His curly hair stuck out of his hat like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. You couldn’t wait to see him pitch again. When the newsreel comes on this weekend, watch Big Bird as he was called. It will make you feel young, happy and sad. RIP Mark Fidrych.

☞I have always wanted to go to Cuba. I hear that the food is wonderful, the music invigorating and the culture a throwback to the 50-60s. Yesterday, President Obama made a long overdue policy change that will relax travel restrictions to Cuba. I won’t be the first person in line but I cannot wait to visit. We debated going once while we were in Turks & Caicos but thought the better of messing with the State Department. Cuba will change with a tourism influx so make your plans if you ever wanted to go.

☞I like to share some of the music that I listen to with you. Usually, it is new music but sometimes I like sharing things you haven’t heard in awhile but are likely to be familiar with. Today, you get both! I was listening to an old soundtrack from the 80’s and was reminded what a magnificent frontman and writer Joe Strummer was. This track from the movie Sid & Nancy is called the Dum Dum Club. It got some limited play when it came out but it definitely stands the test of time. See if you agree. The second song is called Easy Beat by Dr. Dog. Dr. Dog is a Philly outfit that immediately sounds familiar but at the same time brand spanking new. Their vocal harmonies are easily reminiscent of the Beatles or the Beach Boys. Easy Beat starts off with a Dick Dale Misirlou surf riff that immediately makes you think that you know the song. You don’t of course, as it goes careening on a different path. I like this band a lot. Check them out.

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☞Guess what? It’s getting close to lunchtime and I am thinking about sandwiches again. Not that I am going to have one, mind you. But since I fancy myself a sandwich artisan, I wonder how you think this sounds? We had a pork roast for dinner on Sunday and I got to thinking about a great sandwich I had ages ago with pulled pork and eggplant. It really is delicious. But what could be better? How about this: pulled pork and melted Fontina cheese with a slight drizzle of maple syrup on a richly cut sourdough bread? Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Thank you very much.

☞I think it is highly likely that Eliot Spitzer will run again for public office, perhaps even the New York Attorney General job. Spitzer, by no means above the law, seems like too good a public servant to call it a day. I really believe that the same people he was investigating are the ones that dropped a dime on his prostitution issues. I hope New Yorkers can forgive (no one ever forgets). David Patterson is a good example of inept public servitude. Spitzer looks like the second coming by comparison.

☞Can you see how difficult it is to come up with good news? I mean, I don’t want to resort to talking about Bo, the new Obama dog.

☞Good News: The Yankees have started the season with 3 wins and 4 losses. Bad News: The Red Sox are 2-5. Are the Sox auditioning for a part on Life on Mars?

☞Now, this is truly great news for us males over 50: a drug, that at the moment goes by the unmarketable name of MDV3100, could halt prostrate cancer if taken daily. It could be ready in as little as 3 years. This is a major breakthrough in the fight against cancer. Lets hope this is the real deal. Read the story here.

☞As I wrap up today’s Aye Wonder, I remember that I failed to give you last week’s quote of the week. I will not forget today. This week I have an old Welsh proverb for you that while the language is dated, the sentiment is not. Just remember this, the press views good news as no news at all. Hang in there.