If you haven't been reading the undiscovered genius known as the Irate Savant, don't say I didn't alert you to one of the best sites on the web. After a series of increasingly bizarre rants, he's gone missing. My guess; some terrible turkey fryer accident in his foresaken homeland, but we may never know for sure.
Or maybe he is just looking for some free pub to promote his site
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
London Blogging
Today, history is made......The Pursuit of Happiness goes international.
Good evening and welcome to the moment that the world........well some of the world.....ok very few people if anyone at all, has been waiting for. Live from London it's the Pursuit of Happiness.
There was a time in my life, pretty much from 1995 - 1998 that I did this route as a commute. Two weeks in Chicago, and two in London. To be perfectly accurate, it actually started out as two weeks in Zurich, two in Chicago between '94 and '95 and then morphed to London.
It was amazing how quickly I got used to it, and established a iron traveler routine. The gate personel in both locations knew me by name. I'd get on the plane, order the quick meal, down a couple glasses of wine and then fall promptly asleep. Once we landed I'd hit the ground running, go straight to the office work all day, go to dinner at night and collapse exhausted sometime around midnight. In fact, so frequent a visitor to the Zurich airport was I that last time I checked, I was in the Swiss Air "Welcome to Zurich" video..........I'm the guy in the background pushing a luggage cart.
So, after not making this run in five years I wondered if I could return to my old habits. The answer is yes. Landed at 8 this morning, made it in to the office and had dinner tonight. I sit here now blogging in a state of sleep deprived mania as CNN International reports on the incredible cold in my home town. Note to Mrs. P: its in the 40's here!
Speaking of CNN, the international version still sucks. You'd think that overtime the folks at the channel would have realized that the same bland news reporting offered by a guy with an accent doesn't make the channel anymore international than calling fried potatos "french".
So I see Howard Dean is up to his old tricks again; you know the ones where he goes off his meds and says what most Democrats are secretly thinking. Dean is a real piece of work. I say this not so much because he is such an unapologetic fool, but more because he actually convinced the party elect him as their head. As a conservative I find this to be a real tragedy. In general, I have no use for politicians and while I tend to vote Republican I have never identified myself as a member or supporter of the party.
Politicians, when you boil away all of the philisophical mumbo jumbo that they claim to support, are really nothing more than mercenaries supported by our tax dollars. To the extent that we at one time in our country had a credible liberal party - the Democrats - then shear brand differentiation required Republicans to be the conservative party. Never mind that many of the Republican politicians didn't really support conservative principles, they at least were willing to go along with them if such an alignment served their need to get re-elected.
Tragically, the Democrats went insane. How else can you explain the party's warm loving embrace of losing positions, nut job celebrity "activists", and anti-American foreign policy pronouncements. This was supposed to be the foundation of a ruling coalition? Only in bizaro world.
All of which is a long winded way to get around to my point. I say this is tragic because once the Democrats went crazy, the Republican politicians were free to revert to their real impulses and became the tax and spenders that they secretly always wanted to be. The rest of us are stuck with this sorry state until we can identify a true revolutionary to act as the catalyst for change. One wonders what would happen if Newt were to run. Say what you will about the man, while I'm sure he isn't electable, I'm equally sure that he would force some serious discussion about fiscal sanity. Then again maybe I'm just really tired.
Which brings me to old White Flag. Have the Demos realized hitching their anti-war case to Murtha may have been a really bad idea? Yes, he is a war hero who we all really, really respect for his service, but what the hell has gotten into this guy? Not only is he speaking against our troops (the army is broken), but on the Sunday shows this weekend he was contradicting himself between comercial breaks on the same show!
Really, this is quite odd. The only time I've ever seen a performance like this from politicians has been when they were trying to get out in front of some impending bad news by attempting to claim the moral high ground on an issue of the day to make themselves uncriticiseable. I have no way of know whether or not that is what is happening here, but really, something is going on.
One final thing on a completely unrelated topic. What is going on with my blogroll? I load up these guys as recommended reading and then one by one half of them have quit posting! Was it something I said?
So, I'll be updating the blogroll to get some real posters and those that aren't posting (Habitat Girl I'm talking to you) will be removed. Any recomendations for a new blogroll will be appreciated.
Over and out
Good evening and welcome to the moment that the world........well some of the world.....ok very few people if anyone at all, has been waiting for. Live from London it's the Pursuit of Happiness.
There was a time in my life, pretty much from 1995 - 1998 that I did this route as a commute. Two weeks in Chicago, and two in London. To be perfectly accurate, it actually started out as two weeks in Zurich, two in Chicago between '94 and '95 and then morphed to London.
It was amazing how quickly I got used to it, and established a iron traveler routine. The gate personel in both locations knew me by name. I'd get on the plane, order the quick meal, down a couple glasses of wine and then fall promptly asleep. Once we landed I'd hit the ground running, go straight to the office work all day, go to dinner at night and collapse exhausted sometime around midnight. In fact, so frequent a visitor to the Zurich airport was I that last time I checked, I was in the Swiss Air "Welcome to Zurich" video..........I'm the guy in the background pushing a luggage cart.
So, after not making this run in five years I wondered if I could return to my old habits. The answer is yes. Landed at 8 this morning, made it in to the office and had dinner tonight. I sit here now blogging in a state of sleep deprived mania as CNN International reports on the incredible cold in my home town. Note to Mrs. P: its in the 40's here!
Speaking of CNN, the international version still sucks. You'd think that overtime the folks at the channel would have realized that the same bland news reporting offered by a guy with an accent doesn't make the channel anymore international than calling fried potatos "french".
So I see Howard Dean is up to his old tricks again; you know the ones where he goes off his meds and says what most Democrats are secretly thinking. Dean is a real piece of work. I say this not so much because he is such an unapologetic fool, but more because he actually convinced the party elect him as their head. As a conservative I find this to be a real tragedy. In general, I have no use for politicians and while I tend to vote Republican I have never identified myself as a member or supporter of the party.
Politicians, when you boil away all of the philisophical mumbo jumbo that they claim to support, are really nothing more than mercenaries supported by our tax dollars. To the extent that we at one time in our country had a credible liberal party - the Democrats - then shear brand differentiation required Republicans to be the conservative party. Never mind that many of the Republican politicians didn't really support conservative principles, they at least were willing to go along with them if such an alignment served their need to get re-elected.
Tragically, the Democrats went insane. How else can you explain the party's warm loving embrace of losing positions, nut job celebrity "activists", and anti-American foreign policy pronouncements. This was supposed to be the foundation of a ruling coalition? Only in bizaro world.
All of which is a long winded way to get around to my point. I say this is tragic because once the Democrats went crazy, the Republican politicians were free to revert to their real impulses and became the tax and spenders that they secretly always wanted to be. The rest of us are stuck with this sorry state until we can identify a true revolutionary to act as the catalyst for change. One wonders what would happen if Newt were to run. Say what you will about the man, while I'm sure he isn't electable, I'm equally sure that he would force some serious discussion about fiscal sanity. Then again maybe I'm just really tired.
Which brings me to old White Flag. Have the Demos realized hitching their anti-war case to Murtha may have been a really bad idea? Yes, he is a war hero who we all really, really respect for his service, but what the hell has gotten into this guy? Not only is he speaking against our troops (the army is broken), but on the Sunday shows this weekend he was contradicting himself between comercial breaks on the same show!
Really, this is quite odd. The only time I've ever seen a performance like this from politicians has been when they were trying to get out in front of some impending bad news by attempting to claim the moral high ground on an issue of the day to make themselves uncriticiseable. I have no way of know whether or not that is what is happening here, but really, something is going on.
One final thing on a completely unrelated topic. What is going on with my blogroll? I load up these guys as recommended reading and then one by one half of them have quit posting! Was it something I said?
So, I'll be updating the blogroll to get some real posters and those that aren't posting (Habitat Girl I'm talking to you) will be removed. Any recomendations for a new blogroll will be appreciated.
Over and out
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Talley Ho!
Off to London for the rest of the week.........will attempt to take the Pursuit international!
Monday, December 5, 2005
Excellent News In the WOT
No, I am not referring to Howard Dean's proclimation today that we "would not win in Iraq". Although it is tempting to expect with metaphysical certitude that like George Costanza ,whatever Mr. Deans predicts, the exact opposite will occur, I won't be tempted to go anywhere near that joke.
Nope, I'm bigger than that, and ABCNews in the linked report, gives us news today that the Al Queada biggies have been talking. So lets be cheered by that. Of course, as with any comitted enemy (and lets face it these guys should be comitted) it has taken "enhanced interrogation techniques to get them to talk. All but one required waterboarding to start to give up the goods, but most didn't last for more than a minute once we began to get serious with them.
I've been amazed that we haven't been hit again since 9/11, and as the "9/11 Commission" said in their report today, it hasn't always been because of the excellent security systems that we have put in place domestically. The truth, it seems, is because these techniques have worked and have allowed us to get information and stop attacks before they start. I've long believed that the best defense is a good offense, and taking the fight to the bad guys is proving this basic principle once again.
After 9/11 I heard that an Israeli security agent said that they fight terrorism differently than us. "You guys look for weapons, we look for terrorists" he said. Perhaps we've learned something after all.
Nope, I'm bigger than that, and ABCNews in the linked report, gives us news today that the Al Queada biggies have been talking. So lets be cheered by that. Of course, as with any comitted enemy (and lets face it these guys should be comitted) it has taken "enhanced interrogation techniques to get them to talk. All but one required waterboarding to start to give up the goods, but most didn't last for more than a minute once we began to get serious with them.
I've been amazed that we haven't been hit again since 9/11, and as the "9/11 Commission" said in their report today, it hasn't always been because of the excellent security systems that we have put in place domestically. The truth, it seems, is because these techniques have worked and have allowed us to get information and stop attacks before they start. I've long believed that the best defense is a good offense, and taking the fight to the bad guys is proving this basic principle once again.
After 9/11 I heard that an Israeli security agent said that they fight terrorism differently than us. "You guys look for weapons, we look for terrorists" he said. Perhaps we've learned something after all.
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Target One
Sunday is the day, and this man is Target One. He will be stopped and The Most Storied Team In The History of The Greatest Sport will be victorious on or about 3pm CST Sunday. I'll be there on the lake front with a cheer in my heart and flask in my pocket to witness this; the latest chapter in the Bears-Packers rivalry. Afterwards, I'm sure there will be a story to pass on to future generations of Bears fans. But for now.
Target One: Get 'im boys.
I hear there are other games this week. I've left the boys at Pursuit Football Central to do most of the calculations this week. It's been a tough November, and we're just about even against the spread; a situation that brings shame to all of us accustomed to the glory of beating the experts. So, I've put the staff on bread and water until they perform better. The server farm has been cranking new algorithms around the clock, and here is what they say:
Bears 7 Packers: Do you really need to ask?
Dolphins 4 Bills: Dolphins
Steelers 3.5 Bengals: Bengals
Ravens 8 Texans: Texans
Colts 16 Titans: I never give 16 points, Titans are a no brainer here.
Jags 3 Browns: Browns. Today is the day of charter franchises
Giants 3 Cowboys: Giants
Vikes 3 Lions: Vikes
Panthers 3 Falcons: Falcons
Bucs 3.5 Saints: Saints
Cards 3 49ers: Cards
Redskins 3 Rams: Rams
Pats 10 Jets: Giving 10 with the Pats? Yes, yes I think so
Broncs 1 Chiefs: Chiefs
Chargers 11.5 Raiders: Chargers
Seahawks 4 Eagles: Eagles
UPDATE:
BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS
Bear Down, Chicago Bears
Make every play, clear the way to victory!
Bear Down, Chicago Bears
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly!
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation
With your T-formation
Bear Down, Chicago Bears
And let them know why you're wearing the crown!
You're the pride and joy of Illinois,
Chicago Bears, Bear Down!!
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Halas Stops By The Packer Locker Room
I've enjoyed recounting the Bears-Packers rivalry this week. There are so many great stories, and I got a little off track from what I intended and ended up telling more about my personal experience with the rivalry, than some of the antics that went on between the teams.
Tonight I'm in Stamford, CN traveling on business. Oprah is about to appear on Letterman, and I'm getting a little tired since my phone at home rang at 3:50 in the blessed a.m. this morning with a wrong number. Who misdials at 3:50 a.m?
So this one is going to be short. There is no doubt that the rivalry between the two teams started with Halas and Lambeau. Both were fierce competitors, and when it came to winning there was little they wouldn't do. For example, one time Halas found out the Packers were illegally using college players, and reported Lambeau to the league. The Packers were thrown out of the fledgling league and had to apply for reinstatement the following year.
The fact is Halas wasn't really outraged that the Packers were pulling a fast one on other teams at all. The Bears, and most likely, everyone else were doing the same thing. What upset Halas was that the Packers had signed up a couple players that he really wanted for the Bears, and the only way he could sign them was to get the Packers disqualified! Sure enough, by the time the Pack was back in the league the following season, Halas had converted the players in question to Chicago Bears.
Off the field Lambeau and Halas had respect for each other, and my guess is that a friendship existed between the two, although I don't know that for sure. I do know, that when Lambeau died, Halas was a pall bearer at his funeral.
When Lombardi joined the Packers to replace Lambeau, a better foe for Halas couldn't be found. Lombardi loved to win and soon was as committed to the rivalry as anyone. Packer great Willie Davis remembers Lombardi fondly; "Lombardi said you had to dislike everything about the Bears, even Halas as he stood on the goal line during warm-ups," Davis says. "Lombardi made it seem like Lambeau had never left." So it was with great relish one day that Halas decided to visit the Packer locker room minutes before the upcoming game.
Halas knocked on the door and it was answered by the equipment manager for the Packers. "I need to speak with Coach Lombardi" Halas said. When Lombardi came to the door Halas said, "Coach, I hope you have your team ready because we're going to kick your [butt]."
The rivalry lives on today. In recent years the intensity has been less than past decades, but these things go through cycles. In the 80's Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg had developed such an animosity for each other that they nearly came to blows in the middle of a game - as coaches!.
I sense that things may be heating up again. The Bears are getting better, and the Pack is having a tough year. I'll be at the game Sunday, here's hoping that we have some fun.
And that we kick the Packer's collective ass too, of course.
Tonight I'm in Stamford, CN traveling on business. Oprah is about to appear on Letterman, and I'm getting a little tired since my phone at home rang at 3:50 in the blessed a.m. this morning with a wrong number. Who misdials at 3:50 a.m?
So this one is going to be short. There is no doubt that the rivalry between the two teams started with Halas and Lambeau. Both were fierce competitors, and when it came to winning there was little they wouldn't do. For example, one time Halas found out the Packers were illegally using college players, and reported Lambeau to the league. The Packers were thrown out of the fledgling league and had to apply for reinstatement the following year.
The fact is Halas wasn't really outraged that the Packers were pulling a fast one on other teams at all. The Bears, and most likely, everyone else were doing the same thing. What upset Halas was that the Packers had signed up a couple players that he really wanted for the Bears, and the only way he could sign them was to get the Packers disqualified! Sure enough, by the time the Pack was back in the league the following season, Halas had converted the players in question to Chicago Bears.
Off the field Lambeau and Halas had respect for each other, and my guess is that a friendship existed between the two, although I don't know that for sure. I do know, that when Lambeau died, Halas was a pall bearer at his funeral.
When Lombardi joined the Packers to replace Lambeau, a better foe for Halas couldn't be found. Lombardi loved to win and soon was as committed to the rivalry as anyone. Packer great Willie Davis remembers Lombardi fondly; "Lombardi said you had to dislike everything about the Bears, even Halas as he stood on the goal line during warm-ups," Davis says. "Lombardi made it seem like Lambeau had never left." So it was with great relish one day that Halas decided to visit the Packer locker room minutes before the upcoming game.
Halas knocked on the door and it was answered by the equipment manager for the Packers. "I need to speak with Coach Lombardi" Halas said. When Lombardi came to the door Halas said, "Coach, I hope you have your team ready because we're going to kick your [butt]."
The rivalry lives on today. In recent years the intensity has been less than past decades, but these things go through cycles. In the 80's Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg had developed such an animosity for each other that they nearly came to blows in the middle of a game - as coaches!.
I sense that things may be heating up again. The Bears are getting better, and the Pack is having a tough year. I'll be at the game Sunday, here's hoping that we have some fun.
And that we kick the Packer's collective ass too, of course.
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