I Don't Get This...

Here in the United States, there is a tradition of playing the National Anthem (The Star Spangled Banner) at the beginning of sports events. This is especially true when the events are on television. However, I've never truly understood why this is done at all.

Now I do understand that citizens (for the most part) are proud of the USA and that they live here. I'm (mostly) proud of my country. I'm a veteran (USAF 1980-1984). I just don't see the reason for this at a sporting event. It's like mindless chest-beating for no good reason. To me it makes no sense to play the National Anthem before an event in which all participants are from the USA. I mean, I know that I live in the US.

I've never noticed God Save the Queen being played before a match at Wimbledon. I've not seen that happen before a Manchester United football (soccer) match either. Do they play Japan's National Anthem before Sumo matches? I don't know, but I did see that happen the one time I watched a TV broadcast at one.

I think events like the Olympics, Soccer World Cup, & Formula 1 Auto Racing have the better method. Have the participants come out to introductions, and save the National Anthem for afterwards, for the winners.

The only time we should hear the National Anthem at a sport event is for the winner of that event period...

...but then, that's my opinion. ;o)

Feels like home....

As some who know are already aware, I'm originally from Alabama. I was born in Huntsville in 1962. I lived there with my family until August of 1974 when we all moved to a small town called, Vina. We moved there because Vina was where my father had been born, and both he and my mother thought it would be a better place to raise children than Huntsville. Now, I didn't & still don't agree that Vina is better than Huntsvulle for raising children. As proof, I offer all the adults who've lived their entire lives in both places and are good people. It's not so much about the place as it is the parents (imho), but that's not the point of this post.

To this day, I still feel that Huntsville, Alabama is my home town. Regardless of the fact that I've not resided there since 1974. Upon graduating high school and later after leaving the military, I tried to get a job in Huntsville in order to move back. It was never successful. I do have a fondness for Vina, but I always felt like the new guy there. Even now when I go back to visit my family & friends, I'm warmly received by all of them, but I don't feel like I'm home.

In 1998 I got a job in Columbus, GA, so I moved to Phenix City, AL. It's on the Alabama side of the Chattahoochee River, just opposite Columbus, GA. I lived there for eight years, and made many great friends. However, Phenix City/Columbus never really felt like home either. I was comfortable there but didn't feel at home.

During that period of living in Phenix City, I took a vacation with my Mother to Seattle, WA. Mom was born & lived there until she was around 9. Then, her family moved to Auburn, WA, which is about 20 miles away from Seattle. At the time it was pretty rural (like Vina), and I think that's why she likes living in Vina. When I got to Seattle for the first time it was awesome. I found a 2nd place that felt like home to me. It was weird; though I'd never been here before, Seattle really felt comfortable. It felt almost like I'd always been here. I like to think that I was genetically programmed for Seattle thanks to Mom. On our second day here Mom asked what I thought about it. Remember I said, "This is awesome. If I can find a job here, I'd move here in a heartbeat."

Fast forward five years to 2006. I did get a job in Seattle, and I did move here. It's felt like home from day one. The climate, though cooler & wetter than Alabama, suits me way more than the high summer heat & humidity of Alabama. When you add in all the great stuff Seattle has, it's a no-brainer. Seattle is my home. I don't see myself ever living in Alabama again. I might've been born a Southerner, but I'll die a Pacific Northwesterner. ;o)

Chicken & Egg Debate Solved....

There's a new commercial going around that uses the old "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" debate as it's basis. Oddly, I've just seen the commercial again, and I'm not able to remember what the commercial was actually about. However, I do remember that John Goodman voices the chicken with Steve Bucsemi voicing the egg. Anyway, I've figured out the answer to this old conundrum (or at least I think I have).

I'll start by explaining the logic of my choice, and I'll end with the answer.

Okay, if we take the question of which was first, it's kind of easy to break down using today's scientific reasoning.

Think about the first chicken. The first bird that we would now call a chicken was more than likely a mutation of an earlier version. This is kind of like Cromagnon Man being the newer version of Neaderthal Man. They were very similar, but not the same by any stretch.

So the first "chicken" had non-chicken parents. Keep that in mind. Now these non-chicken parents; how did they reproduce? I'm guessing that since they were still birds they probably laid eggs. Even if the parents were some sort of dinosaur, they would still lay eggs.

Therefore, the first chicken came from..... an egg. It wasn't a chicken egg per se, but an egg nonetheless. So the answer to the great debate is.... The EGG came first!

Now, prove me wrong! ;o)

Rapture My Ass...

Well, today is May 21, 2011. This date is alleged, by one guy and his followers, to be the start date of the "rapture". The Rapture is a belief held by many fundamentalist Christians, that people who believe Jesus is the messiah, will be lifted bodily to Heaven. After this event, there allegedly going to be a period of tribulation period. After the tribulation, the end of the world will occur.

As for me, I'm an atheist, so this is a bunch of pure BS. However, there are many pius Christians that don't believe in the Rapture. So I have some company on this.

The part about this prediction that really bothers me, is that this same guy predicted this before; he predicted the same thing would happen in 1994. Yet we are all still here. Idiocy!!!!

The worst part it all is the people that continue to put any status to this guy's predictions. I'm fine with a person being religious, but I'm not fine when they stop using their common sense like that. I'm sure that if there were a God, he gave you your intelligence to use, not to blindly trust some soothsayer.

I'm Tired of the, so called, "Tea Party"...

When it comes to politics, I'm very liberal. It's no surprise that I have little use for hard-line conservatives like people who consider themselves members of the "Tea Party." I will also admit that I have no use for extreme liberals either. Extremism does no person any good that I've seen. My political beliefs are that the government should do things that help the citizens (like provide police, fire protection, good roads, and health care), but should allow people to make their own choices when the choices only effect the person making them. When a person tries to do something that will harm or infringe on another's rights, that shouldn't be allowed (imho).

When it comes to the Tea Party, this is my beef. Very few make statements of policy (like Sarah Palin), and even if those statements are totally untrue (death panels, Obama wasn't born in the US) the hoi poloi of the party just parrot it back as if it were true. The most recent example has been reported by Salon.com in the article linked here (http://www.salon.com/news/haley_barbour/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/02/17/barbour_birth_nation).

I'm fine if someone disagrees with me politically. However, I'm only fine with it if it's based on fact. I'm don't agree with ANYONE (liberal or conservative) spouting half-truths & outright lies and trying to portray that as the truth. (steps off soap box) :)