Southside Gang Sign?

I kind of like this from t's bro (http://e4114.blogspot.com/), and will steal it for a new Southside gang sign. (go to the bottom of the page)

Insanely long rant in response to t's rant

This blog is in response to t’s blog at the supernicety.com.

First of all, I wouldn’t be afraid of a Ballerina’s punch, but I wouldn’t go near her kicks.

It’s 2008, I’m 30, I’m still short, but I still don’t get blocked in sucky recreation leagues, so I’m not old yet either.

There is a saying that you should never discuss politics or religion because you never know who you will offend, but here I go into politics anyway…

For those of you who don’t know, I would be considered a definite liberal in KY, which makes me pretty centrist here in Philly. Most of my comments mostly address t’s comments and my opinions largely on the Democratic primary. I wrote this without looking at the results of “Super Tuesday”

I concur that the way the system is set up now is really messed up and seems to be made to largely whittle the crowd down as soon as possible, as determined by people in states that are definitely not representative of the nation as a whole. But at the same time I wonder what can be done? A national primary doesn’t seem too feasible to help the smaller candidates due to inability to raise requisite funds (let’s leave the debate of public financing for another day). The idea of setting a national plan, maybe rotating states every election won’t work anyway, because the DNC and GOP set the national plan this year, but states ignored it and voted their own elections. Iowa threatened to move theirs to 2007 to keep its “first in the nation” status. How does that benefit the nation, when the big items on the agenda have already changed from December to late January? Let alone that Iowa, while they may be very thoughtful voters who take the process very seriously, isn’t the most representative state for the nation as a whole (is there such a state, I would say no).

On a side note, I think it’s funny how every state was trying to move the Feb 5 or earlier so that their votes “would matter” might soon find out the proportionally awarded delegates in the democratic race will largely keep the races open for the later states. Suddenly March 4 with Ohio and Texas becomes more important, imagine if Michigan and Florida were still in play. Imagine the advertising dollars and attention they would get.

Anyway, back to possibly better methods, perhaps a more Parliamentary approach you see in Europe. I’m not an expert on world governments, but my understanding on how this could work for the nomination would be made (assuming elections were on the same day) by forming coalitions between candidates until a majority is obtained, and they can negotiate policy concessions/cabinet positions, whatever. I’m babbling now, but I think you get the point. The problem is this kind of goes against the winner take all, capitalistic approach most of our presidents have, and it will cause candidates to change the platforms they were elected on (not necessarily a bad thing though). Will this only be for the primary (I would say yes)? What about independents? Can we do this with multiple parties like they do in other countries (get out of the 2 party system)? I don’t see it ever happening.

As far as the elite leading us, I think the best we can hope for is a benevolent monarchy J (for those of you who don’t know, that’s an inside joke that someone seriously told some friends of mine would be a good government).

I think that it has always been the case, and part of remarkable experiment that is the US, a person can go from where Obama started to Harvard Law (which should not be a strike against anyone, but should not be criterion, as we’ve Harvard MBA isn’t linked to the ability to lead) to possibly President. Do we want the average American to be President? I would argue no, but I would also say that the ability to run is increasingly being restricted to those with great personal wealth or connections to that wealth. And that is a problem.

Election coverage does suck, and the best detailed descriptions that I’ve read on the differences between Obama, Clinton, and Edwards has been by NY Times Columnist Paul Krugman, who unabashedly wants universal health coverage and has shelled Obama for offering anything less. I personally agree that Obama’s plan is the least comprehensive, but that also makes it more realistic. Edward’s plan was the one that intrigued me the most as it allowed people to buy into Medicare and could possibly lead to a public health care. You can argue whether this is desired, but I think it is a debate that I would love to have (if done properly, which it wouldn’t) since we essentially do have universal health care. It just kicks in when the problems are way too far progressed to be treated cheaply (ER care for indigent patients, etc). Why not have a system that has universal health care which includes regular visits to keep problems from growing into larger more expensive health care bills?

I wish we could have real national discussions on privatization, health care, and Blackwater. You can (kind of) by listening to NPR and PBS, but you and the 10 other people that watched it isn’t quite a national discussion. Unfortunately, we now have 24 hour “news” coverage that thinks the covering the news means having two people of opposite views scream at each other in 8 minute segments, distorting facts, or just lying. Or, having some popular blowhard (I’ll go O’Reilly and Olbermann on this one, even though I’m more likely to agree with KO) rant about whatever they want, once again distorting facts, selectively quoting, etc… Somewhere, someone needs to stop reporters and say “Hey when somebody says something that’s not true, you’ve got to fact check it and beat them over the head with it.” Is it really acceptable that the Bush administration is secretive? Whose government is it? Supposedly it is ours, but according to Bush and his Executive Privilege, it’s his, and to hell with the rest of us. Okay, when this is about national secrets in war, I think the case can be made (though not in the unilateral way in which it is claimed); but when we’re talking about an energy bill that heavily favors industry or using government agencies to get your party elected (sorry Jennings), it’s unacceptable. And that has to come from the press, the congress, the courts, and mostly the people.

Finally as far as the hope message of Obama. I think that the way the media is set up now, it unfortunately favors the inspirational and the vague. Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and (God bless the poor man) Al Gore were brilliant with the details, and they all get ripped for it. They’re boring, they’re stiff, they’re robotic. They continue to have things that should be strengths turned into weaknesses for them. I don’t know if Obama’s strengths just happen to match up to what plays well in the media, or if that’s what he decides to show, in order to not get hit with the above critiques. I suspect from his debate performances that in the former, I don’t think that he’s a details man. Unfortunately, that is something I think he shares with Bush, I would just think that he would surround himself with better people than Cheney and the neocons. That and he is capable of understanding the details when it comes down to it (can’t say the same for Bush). Preferably we’d have someone with Obama’s ability to inspire and Al Gore’s vision (how having the foresight to make the internet was it is today became a weakness I will never understand, it’s also why he can’t have mature discussions in this country) and either Clinton’s detail comprehension.

In the end, I don’t think I can stand 4 more years of two opposing sides screaming at each other. I like to believe (or hope) that Obama can breach that gap, which I see less in the interactions I have with friends of opposing political opinions (which I have plenty, and would love to hear their opinions on some of what I said). I’m almost certain Hillary cannot, if through no fault of her own other than what her husband represents to the other side of the aisle (and that fact that she has such attention to detail that she would fight for the minutia that could make every little piece of legislation a war). I also desire to move beyond the politics of the Vietnam war, I’m sick of fighting wars from the 60’s over and over. I desire a candidate that can finally move us past that.

I’ve ranted enough now…

Ode to Southside (while taking a swipe at Lexington)

So, some of you may remember t's old tshirt that he thought up and had his brother make for him. The slogan was "Lexington (really large text) It's just a suburb (small text)" and the shirt's only graphic was a straight line with a single blue monolith in the middle, representing the horizon and Lexington's silhouette with its only "large" 5th/3rd building. This was during the hype before the Louisville-Jefferson County merger, when Lexington (which already had combine city/county) claimed they would be larger than Louisville in a few years. I had in my mind a series of shirts to follow, and due to a recent discovery of the www.whylouisville.com, I thought I might submit some design ideas. So here is one of the ideas I've had for a while, though I'm not sold on the slogan (maybe add a question mark after Lexington), I like the basic theme and the graphic.

Here is a sample of what the shirts might look like. The SSL is a rough draft of my Southside Louisville logo. I considered similar shirts for different regions including "Lexington? I'd rather be in J-town" with a gaslight graphic... I'm openly soliciting opinions

UPDATE: Response from whylouisville.com

"we get enough grief about our Keep Lexington Lame shirt!

Dont want to over do it so we'll pass"

Denied!

...Quick trip to NYC

So j and I just got back from Manhattan this afternoon. We went for the Louisville-Seton Hall game (I don't want to talk about it), and stayed with j's best friend since high school. I love going to NYC, and since we've been staying with friends, we've been able to actually see how people our age and (roughly) education level live. It's cramped because space really is as expensive as you've heard, but it's also great because there are so many restaurants, corner stores, and public transportation. I actually would love to live in there for a year, just for the experience, but I just don't know that it will ever happen. Ever since I heard the stories of my oldest brother taking both of his sons (age 1 and 3 at the time) on the subways with him, I've had reoccurring visions of me riding the subway with my own kid in a stroller, j and I hanging out in Central Park, and going to games at Yankee stadium (still hope to do this year before they close it next year). I'm not a Yankees fan, but you can't beat the history. Anyway, just thought I would share...

Advantages to living in Philadelphia... (pt 1)

So I often find myself kind of frustrated with Philadelphia; being that it's far from family and friends, many of the people are jerks, near constant Eagles coverage on the radio, generally dirty, etc... So I've been trying to focus on some of the things that I do like about the city so that I realize that it really isn't that bad. So I'm going to start a series in which I list things that I actually like about Philly (and hopefully help me when I've been a lazy blogger).

Advantage No. 1 to living in Philly: It's close to nearly everything on the East Coast. We're centrally located between NYC, Baltimore/DC, not too far from Boston, an hour a later from Atlantic City/beach, and so on and so forth... Since UL joined the Big East 3 years ago we've been able to go to a lot of their away games (we just went to Rutgers today, we're going to Seton Hall next weekend). So it may seem a little tongue-in-cheek to say that my favorite thing about Philly is that it so much closer to better places; but it's true, you can't really beat the location.

Commenting

Okay, apparently I used the defaults on my site to make it where you had to register in order to comment, which was never my intention. It should be set up now that you just need to do a word verification. Let me know if it is still a pain, I don't post that way on my own site so I never knew.

RIP Grandma Brey

I’ve made an unexpected return to Louisville due to the passing of my paternal grandmother, who was my last surviving grandparent. While she had lost some of her original spunk after a bout with lung cancer, she was still a free spirit that would tell it like it is and had the single trait that binds all of us Brey’s; she laughed quick and loud. When my grandfather died 20 years ago, I spent a lot of time with her, and was really close with her. She even ironed my shirts in high school, and you could always tell when I had done it myself. Here are some things that will always make me think of my Grandma:1. Hubba Bubba and Star Crunch: Grandma always had Hubba Bubba bubble gum whenever we visited. I chewed so much, that I had something like 4 cavities in my baby teeth. To the point that my Mom restricted me to sugarfree gum (except of course when Grandma would sneak me some Hubba Bubba). Star Crunch was a weird Little Debbie snack consisting of chocolate and rice crispies and maybe caramel. I have never actually bought a box, but would always have one when I was at Grandma’s house.
2. Old Milwaukee: It’s funny to hear other friends talk about their grandparents in high school, and I always had stories about how my grandma had closed a bar with my aunt. When we visited her at home, she was rarely without her Old Milwaukee. 3. Bingo: When I was in high school, one of the ways that I made money was by working at my high school’s weekly Bingo. My Grandma would go, get some Bingo sheets, her beer, her cigarettes, and play Bingo and Pulltabs all night. When she won, it was a great night for me. All I had to do is inhale second hand smoke for 3 hours every other week and keep the tables clean.

4. Angelo’s Pizza: This longtime establishment on Berry Blvd (next to the Foxy Lady) was the place where we’d get takeout pizza when we went to Grandma’s house. This was in the days before pizza boxes, so they would place the pizzas on pieces of cardboard and mushroom a piece of paper sheeting over it, so not to touch it, but it would make it impossible to stack pizzas. They also had a sitdown, 2player Galaga game and a standup Ms Pacman to play while you waited or for the occasional time that we dined at the restaurant.
5. Fisher Price Stack and Rock Baseball: Now I’m not aware of anyone else playing this game, but my brothers and I ended up using the donuts and an old wooden stick-bat for playing baseball in the back yard. I guess the mound was too close to home plate, because I now think that would be really hard with the wicked curves you could throw with those things. There was also a tree in her back yard that was perfect for climbing.

6. Boston Terriers: In the picture above, she is with her Boston terrier, Boomer. And it was the most hyper and ornery thing you’ve ever met in your life, but she just loved that dog. She once was asked about the intelligence of the grandchildren and said “Well Eric’s the smartest, then there’s Boomer, and then there’s the rest.” Eric will never let us forget it.

So that’s about all I’m going to write on my Grandmother at this time. She was a great person, and she loved and was loved dearly.

ADDENDUM: Everyone started passing around pictures and I found this one and thought it was hysterical. It’s my Grandma and Grandpa, and it just goes to show the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…