More Halloween

I like Halloween and I like televisions.  I'm also a sucker for combining the two: the Halloween episodes from some of my favorite television shows.

 

First Up: The Neighbor's.  I think I've said it before, but I don't think this show will make it through the new year, but I think if people give it a chance, it may grow on them.  Aliens living in the United States, all together in a single gated community, befriending a family who just moved from New Jersey. What's not to like.

 

 

Nerd Alert!: It probably comes as no surprise to most people that I love The Big Bang Theory. Maybe it's the comic book, Star Wars, Star Trek, science aspect of it, or maybe it's that it's well written, acted and still topical. Maybe it's all of it, but it's a good show.

 

 

 

Parks and Rec: This show keeps getting better every year.

 

 

Ok, now that I have gotten that out of the way. Tonight is the start of the big weekend, so wish me luck. After my daughter's musical program tonight, it's straight home to get the house in order.  Everything is pretty much up for the Halloween party, but there are some last minute spider web's to put up, and some finishing touches in the garage to do.  Most of the night will be spent on food prep though.  I'll let everyone know how the party goes, but I thought I would share with everyone tomorrow evening's menu:

 

Witches Brew Punch

Bizarre Brain Patte

Fresh Flayed Flesh and Ectoplasm Crusts

Roasted Alien Fingers

Bat Wings

Booger Dip

Deviled Egg Eyeballs



 

 

 

 

 



HALLOWEEN!!

Other then football and family, it was a pretty slow weekend. This weekend will be different though because it will be as busy as busy gets. Thursday I have a bachelor party for a fraternity brother of mine, Friday we are having our annual Halloween party at our house, and then on Saturday, we will be attending the wedding for the same said fraternity brother.  The best thing about the wedding this weekend? It's Halloween themed! Complete with ditch the suit and ties and don the Halloween costume for the wedding and reception! Score!!

The family reunion went real well and without a hitch.  I think everyone who came had a real good time and I know my mother was pleased with the number of people in attendance.  She did a real good job and I think it was so successful that the "Cart/Ralston" reunion might now be a yearly event.

Football also went real well last week after a rough start. I only went 1-2 in my CFB picks, but I went 3-0 in my NFL picks to go 4-2 for the weekend and a big plus in the money department.  Additionally, KSU looked great in whooping that WVa ass, and they moved up to number 3 in the BCS polls.  They still have some tough games on the horizon, but it's one game at a time.  My KC Chiefs were on their bye week this last weekend, which means they finally didn't lose a game.  Even on the bye, they are so bad, I thought it was still possible that they might lose without even playing. Oh well, here's looking at finally drafting a quarter back in this year's draft. Barkley, Jones, Smith, Klein?  How would it look if the HBCK (honey badger Colin Klien) himself, Optimus Klein were to dawn a Chiefs jersey next year. He's big, slow, but can play like a mother. Ben Rothlisburger has two rings, why not Klein?

I love Halloween.  Always have.  I can remember as a little kid decorating my room or the basement as a haunted house and making my family or friends go through it.  It wasn't ever scary and it never lasted long, but it was just the process of getting everything out, decorating everything, trying to scare people.. . I loved it all. Every year, I always spent hours trying to decide on just the right costume. Scary, funny, over the top: I've done it all. My love of Halloween hasn't changed, even 20 years later. In fact, my infatuation with Halloween has probably only gotten worse.  The number of tubs we have filled with Halloween stuff in them now rivals the number of tubs we have for Christmas, which is a lot.  We even have our own traditions around our house much like everyone else: the wife is in charge of decorating for Christmas (except I still do the exterior lights) and I decorate for Halloween (inside and outside). We both go to the extreme, but I think going over the top is what the burb's is all about.  Outdo your neighbor. Be the best. he who has the most lights wins.

Every year we have a Halloween party at our house and invite all of our friends and family over.  We try and create a theme around it (last year it was Heroes and Villain's), and I always take up until the last minute to decide what my costume will be. I go all out every year for Halloween. decorations inside and out. Masks, costumes, wall hangings, scary sounds and spooky lights. We have tombstones and graveyards, window hangings, and shrunken heads. I'm the Clark W. Griswold of Halloween on my block, and I'll be damned if I'll get beat in any year of competition. The food spread is even more grandiose then the decorations. Everything is Halloween related so little smokies become alien fingers, deviled eggs are eyeballs, and everything, like hell, is hot. Hot salsa, hell dips, inferno bat wings, and devil fire mummy balls.

Yeah, it's all over the top, but for me, it's still one of the few times each year that I can revert back to being a kid. Even with our own kids now just a wee bit older, it's become a shared experience for all of us.  The kids love Halloween. They love decorating for Halloween and planning for the party.  This will be the first year where we will be having a kid friendly party, and we'll lose some of our kid less regulars who don't want to be around all these parents and their little witches and warlocks, but now we can spend it together. Plus the wife hates it.  The sluttier the costumes get each year, the less she likes Halloween.  She's not big on dressing up to begin with. Like I said, she's Christmas and I'm more Halloween, but she still works with it. I'll post pre and posat party picks from this year's party.  We get to combine the Halloween costumes and wedding costumes this year, so at least we get to wear everything more then once and get our monies worth out of it. It should still be a great time and how can it not when your kids go from this:

 

To this: Man they grow up fast. Must be something in the water.

 

 

 

 

Football Friday and Family Reunions

So last week's re-cap of games: In CFB I went 2-0 in my main picks (ISU and S. Caro) and 3-2 in my throw out picks (wins for Bama, Florida, and Ohio State. Losses for OSU and W. Va) In last weeks NFL picks I only went 1-2 but i think we can get back to work this week. So, without further adieu. . .

CFB

ISU+14.5: Why spoil a good thing.  Iowa State has a good team, and if Oklahoma State can't put Kansas away, I'm not sure how they are giving 14.5 to ISU, even if they are at home. Take the roadie.

Colorado+40.5: CU stinks. USC is good. Over 40 is a lot of points.  This game will probably go like most of CU's games this year where they will score 1 or 2 cheap td's somewhere.

KSU+3: I think in order for this to happen, KSU is going to have to show up again.  They will have to do this all year.  Most pundits are on WVa which is where I like them to be. Go Cats.

Others: Rutgers, Stanford, Boise, FSU, San Diego State

NFL

New Orleans-2.5: This is the most dangerous 1-5 team there is and like Green Bay, I don't see them letting up, and I see them feasting on inferior teams, which despite what Tampa Bay did to KC, is.

Green Bay-5: Yeah they are on the road, and yes, St. Louis plays good D at home, but Green Bay has to find its rhythm and if last week is any indication, GB is mad and St. Louis is in for it.

NYJ+10.5: The teams are similar, the Jets showed they can keep up, NE can't keep leads, and in the NFL this is a lot of points. 3rd road team to take this week.

So, after football, what else do we have on this weekend's agenda? Oh yeah, a lot. Tonight is my 4 year old daughter's Halloween party at school.  My oldest has gymnastics, but then I have to get her over to the Halloween party because God forbid she not get to do something that her sister does. Tomorrow I have the day off, but we have a "family reunion" planned for the day. That should last most of the day, and hopefully I get a work out in at some point, and then a good buddy is in town so I am going to try and meet up with him later Saturday night. Sunday, with the Chiefs off, is shooting day out at the gun range, then maybe another workout, or maybe spend some time with my relatives who are in town for the reunion. The reunion.

My parents two sides of the their families couldn't be more different, but oddly still the same when you get down to the heart of it.  Both are extremely different from my wife's families, so anything we do that's "family" related always makes the wife smile because while it's new to us, it's usually old hat to her.  My dad comes from a large family, who have been in the area for quite some time. Our background is Lebanese, but when people ask where our families from, I always tell them Oklahoma, because that's pretty much where they migrated from after coming over from the old country in the early 1900's. As we get older, we seem to see less of each other, and have grown further apart.  I guess it's only natural that as grandparents or great grandparents move on, the family settles in more with the new grandparents.  Whereas my father's mother was the matriarch of the family, that role is now headed by my father but we don't see the uncles, aunts, and cousins as much anymore.  We have a large reunion on my father's side every summer, and it gets bigger and bigger each year, but I see a lot of those relatives in passing as most of us all live in Wichita. The wife's families have 3-4 reunions every year, and it's always the same people, regardless of which last name is getting together, because as German Catholics from Smalltown, Kansas, everyone is related.  To me, its just an excuse to get together, eat, drink, and share stories, and I guess that's what it's really about anyway.

My mother's side of the family is a little different, and it's why this reunion tomorrow might be a little strange. My mother can trace her families roots back to the beginning of our nations history. After the Civil War ended, the Ralston's migrated from Pennsylvania, and my grandfather's family settled in Kansas and specifically the Augusta/Andover/Rose Hill area. Time passes, their farmers, ranchers, cowboys, yada, yada, yada. As things go, it gets down to my grandfather and his brother.  The only two living children of my great grandfather and great grandmother (I still had one of my great grandmother's until I was 20) ended up with small families, but a whole lotta land. My mother is only 1 of three and her older brother passed away over 20 years ago, leaving just my mother and her sister who has lived in Tennessee for the last 20 years. On the other side, my Grandfather's brother also only had two children, and they subsequently only had 1 or 2 children each as well.  Let's just say that there aren't a whole lot of the Ralston's left in the area and after changes in name through marriage, there really aren't many left.

Since the passing of my grandparents, and his brother, I think nostalgia has started to set in. My grandfather and his brother spoke very few words to each other the last 20 years of their lives due to a family feud after my great grandmother died divided the family. It divided land, blood, and it made people choose sides.  Unfortunately, you always choose your families side, and because of that, my mother and aunt have had very little contact with their first cousins because of it.  Well, they say that time heals all wounds, and maybe our family is no exception.  As they have gotten older, my mother, her sister, and their cousins have become increasingly curious about their families history. How they came to where they are; where people have been and where people went. Between the two sets of Ralston's, there are farm houses, home stead's, burial sites, river's, ponds, and beautiful Kansas land.  In the last several months, I think they have all gotten together and decided that maybe it's time to mend the family fences that have been weathered over time.  This Saturday will mark the first time that this set of Ralston's will have gathered together in over 20 years.  I'm not really sure what to expect or what's going to happen, but I'm excited to go, and excited to see and meet family that I don't really know.

I Waited to Write This, I Should Have Waited to Run

Every Twitter post, every Facebook message: running, running, running.  What is the fascination with running?  Why is it that as we get older, we think we should automatically become healthier, as if we weren't before, and that running is somehow the answer? When do we realize that as adults, that competitive team sports like soccer, baseball, and basketball are either below us now, or to difficult to do anymore and that our only alternative to the sports we once loved but can only watch are now solo sports like golf, fishing, and running?  I just don't get it. I go to the gym on a fairly frequent basis and besides the young muscle heads on the weights, everyone else is running. Elliptical's, treadmills, stair step's, the track, aerobics. . . .it's all running to me, no matter what you call it. So this brings me to this year's Prairie Fire Marathon. I'm sure you've seen the posts, and I'm sure you've read countless articles about it, but I'd thought I'd throw my two cents in as well.  Since I was made to run it, I might as well get to talk about it.

Let me first say that I did not run the marathon.  I didn't even run the half marathon.  I ran the mayor's 5k. Since the wife has me on this "plan" to run with her in Vegas in December, this race lined up with my "training" schedule she has me on. I've stated before, on several occasions, that I hate running.  This race was no different. I'm only doing it to stay in shape, keep some of the weight off that I lost in the last few months, and get a nice trip out of season to Vegas out of it.  The wife on the other hand seems to love it.  Eats the shit right up.  Likes running, training, racing, buying the shoes and jelly beans, the whole ordeal. And good for her.  If she's found something she likes, then so be it.  And I support her. I'm, there when she finishes every time, tell her good job and that I'm proud of her, and makes sure she can get the time she needs to train.  Me? I got my full running cross country in high school. My body just doesn't want to do it. 1 mile. 2 miles. 6 miles. It hasn't gotten any easier, and I haven't found a set of songs to make a play list out of to make the time I do it any more enjoyable. I do it, get it done, and then I'm over it. Ran 4 miles this morning. Didn't like it, but I did it.

This race though?  These people are nuts. Only in suburbia Kansas or suburbia anywhere do you find stuff like this.  And it's every week. These people are fanatical. It was my first experience with a large scale race, but I'm told their all pretty much the same. thousands of people. In every different color of spandex imaginable. thousand dollar shoes, and no shoes at all.  It's 50 degree's outside for the race and their barefoot in a speedo?  What are these people thinking? They have watch timers, special glasses and and fanny packs. Hand packs to hold drinks. Waist packs to hold multiple drinks. Jelly beans and goo for energy. And energy? You'd think our body's can't make their own. There's bars, drinks, gum, candy, lotions, gels. It doesn't stop.  Energy is everywhere and in every form at these events. The events themselves, ridiculous. Paying anywhere from $20 to $100 bucks a pop to run a race. On a city street. Yeah, there's free drinks and eats afterwards, and if I finish I get a t-shirt, but do i need that stuff. Give me $60 bucks and i"ll buy you a shirt and put up a finish line.

So I run my race. It was short and easy.  I didn't like it.  I didn't improve any time or have any goal.  I ran slowly by myself because I didn't see anyone else I knew running the 5k that would want to run slowly with me, but I got it done. No big deal.  I then spend the next 3 hours waiting on the wife. I get to people watch.  My number two favorite thing to do in my down time after you know what.  these races; great place to people watch. The crying, the laughing, moaning, groaning, screams. It's every where. Guys and gals giving it their all for any variety of cancer, AID's, SID's, ALS, Parkinson's; whatever this week's race is for. Discarded clothes every where. Matted grass, mud, and rock across the landscape of pavement. But it is a spectacle I can't stop watching.

It's the people who make these events enjoyable.  It's the looks on their faces. It's the gratitude people give you when you finish, regardless of what place you finished in or what race you ran. It's genuine. It's honest. People who have overcome cancer. Beat the disease. Lost the weight. Ran for a loved one lost. The sense of pride they get when they finished, for what they accomplished. the happiness on their faces when they hear strangers cheering them on for finishing something they just started. It's the fulfillment of that goal.  That's why people do it.  That's what I need to find. I don't have it yet.  Simply running to say I ran isn't going to do it for me.  It's not running towards anything or for anything.  It's just running, and that's why it doesn't get any better or any easier.  I'm not sure how you find those things or get those things inside you to create that burn or desire to topple the challenge, but I don't it yet.  Might not ever have it. Maybe I should have waited until I did before I wrote this. . . .

It's Friday Night and I'm...Home

Let's get the football picks out of the quickly as I think the dogs will cover big time this week.

NCCAA Football:

ISU+6.5: I love Kansas state as much as the next guy but this game is in Ames and ISU has been within a td the last 4 years. Happy with a KSU blowout but I'll take ISU and the points.

South Carolina+2.5: any team that can do that to Georgia gets my vote. LSU has not been impressive. Again, take the points.

Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State: those are all decent size lines but should all cover. Take them all, hit at least 3, and go home happy.

NFL:

NYG+6.5: I love San Francisco, but never count the Giants out. The line is just to big.

Indy+3.5: I think luck is the real deal and they look awfully good against green bay. Plus the jets just got done playing a heart breaker.

Minnesota+1.5: I'm not sure I buy Mindy, but I don't buy Washington, never had. If Minnesota is for real, they win this game.

Good luck everyone and remember to get that book.
Once again, I'm sitting here on a Friday night and it dawns on me how old I am. Not necessarily in age, I'm only 35, but in the game of life, I'm no spring chicken. Started drinking, partying, and having a real good time at a very young age, and now that I'm married with children, the old Al Bundy has set in. For me, I was never satisfied staying at home on a weekend night. Heck, I never sat at home on any night, let alone a Friday night. It's not even the kids or the wife that keep me at home anymore, it's my friends. Weak sauce guys. The wife and I always make time for each other, but I think more importantly for a strong marriage you have to make sure that you make time to stand out as individuals. Typically I get Tuesday nights to play cards or do whatever, and she gets Wednesday nights.  The weekends are always just kind of a toss up. The older I get though, the less there seems to be going on?

Is it because there is actually less going on where I live now then before? That can't be possible. There are more bars, bistro's, clubs, and dives then ever before. I think that not only have the burbs grabbed me, but it's grabbed all of my friends as well, and they have all decided to not fight the fight, but to simply give up? Where's the toughness? Where's the machismo? Where's the guys who would rather drop dead from exhaustion then to ever stay home? Most of the time I get one of two responses:  one, "I'm tired": two, "dude, there's nothing to do, so I think I'll just stay in". I literally had a conversation the other day that went like this:

Me: let's go out.

Lazy friend: I'd like to go out but what do you want to do?

Me: I don't care but let's do something different. Tired of sitting at a bar telling the same stories.

Lazy friend: so. . . .

Me: we could go see a band, we could go bowling, we could go eat, we could see a movie and eat, we could go to an art show, we could go to a thunder game, shocker game, wing nuts game, a gastropub, a play, hit golf balls. . . .

Lazy friend: that all sounds stupid, I'd go to "insert name of bar we always go to" or I can just stay home.

Me: aaaaaarrrrggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

My point tonight: take advantage of what you have around you. The town may be small but it's not dead. It's not new York city but there are things to do. Fun things to do. Different things to do. Go out and explore. Try new things. Eat at new places. Experiences what your city has to offer before you miss out on something. Don't get stuck at home on the weekends just because you don't want to try new things. Tomorrow, tomorrow a buddy of ours from college is in town and we're going out. get off work at 5:30, go work out and shower, meet the guys at 7pm at Twin peaks for some grub, beer's, and then watch the UFC fights. After the fights, who knows, maybe we'll find a rocket ship to Mars. At least we're out and about, and not at home on a Friday night. .  .like i am now. Hope she's having fun because I know I will. : )

5th Floor Views of Justice

So the last time I was at the county courthouse it was to serve on a jury.  That was about 10 years ago. Now I'm back again, and not much has changed. Let me first say that I'm glad I'm here.  My wallet was stolen after my car was broken into last May, and after talking to a detective who was assigned my case, and after shutting my credit Nd all my cards down, I was pretty sure nothing was going to happen. My driver's license, social security card, birth certificate, and everything else of real importance was all replaced. Even so, there's that feeling in the pit of your stomach that stays with you.  That feeling that you have been violated, that someone else has a piece of you that you'll never be able to get back.

Anyway, I get a call a month later from a different detective telling me they arrested a guy who had some of my stuff on him. He wanted to know if I knew the person or had given this information to the person. Of course I said no, and said nothing would probably come out of it but he would let me know if it did. I gave him the original case number from the break in and told him to let me know if there was anything else he needed to give me a call. A month or so after that, in August, I get a call from a different detective, this time out of Maize, who said they had busted a guy for writing checks in my name. I give him the first case number and detective and the second detectives information. He said he would be in touch, and then that's the last I had heard of anything.

Another month of so passes and I start getting subpoena's to appear in court for something I assume is related to my car break in. After calling in several times only to have the case date being pushed back, I was informed yesterday that today would be the day. I show up on time, early in fact, and arrive at the doorstep of the courthouse. Hello Walmart law. The line to get into the courthouse looks like I'm arriving at McCarann airport in Vegas to come home to Wichita. It's at least 60 people deep and it's a who's who of Wichita's finest: like they combined a Walmart with the state fair and added a splash of the downtown club scene from a Saturday night. It was a who's who. We should all be used to lines and searches but it's the same ol, same ol. Knives, arguments, refusing to take off belts or shoes. For Pete's sake, act like you've been there before.

I get through the line, get up to my area, and check in. I thought I would be the only one involved, but besides our break for lunch, I've been in the same room on the 5th floor for the last 8 hours. The "criminal masterminds" who stole my stuff, also stole the identities and information from several other people. Between all of the breaks, and the testimony of the police officers involved in at least 5 different incidents, we haven't even gotten to any of us who's identities were even stolen; and this is just the prelim's. Sounds like at least one of the guys has had enough and is going to take a deal, so that's a different process that has to be done before we can get back to our cases. I've know lot's of lawyers and I've known a lot of them who hated what they did, but this assistant d.a. Seems to like his job. He's apologized several times for keeping us here all day [he's said this is the longest prelim he's ever had], but man, we are still here. . . 8 hours and counting, and I have yet to step into the courtroom. I'll keep you updated on the outcome, but this guys done his duty, and identity theft be damned, I'm ready to go.

TGIF. . .But I Work Saturdays. . . At Least There's Baseball. . .Kind of

We're going to get to the baseball playoffs which start this afternoon, but right off the bat, since it's sports Fridays, let start with the obvious picks for the weekend:

CFB

1) KSU-24: I've seen KU play in person and they are wretched with a capitol yuck. If this games under 30 I'd really be surprised.  Time for Snyder to show Weiss how the big boys do it.

2) West Virgina+7: Anyone watch the Baylor/WVa game last week?  I'm not sure their defense is any good, but I know they can score on anyone at any given time.  Texas better be ready. Plus, WVA was the preseason Big 12 pick, so I'm not sure why the line is so high even when it's in Texas.

3)La Tech-24, UL Monroe-3, N. Illinois-3: I know what you're saying, you've never heard of these teams before. I get it. But let me tell you something, these teams can flat out play.  I've followed and been with them all year so there's no reason to let up now.  They are covering machines and should do so again this Saturday.

NFL

1) Baltimore Ravens-5: Like I said last week, until my chiefs can show that they are an NFL team and not a D1 team, I will continue to bet against them.

2) Pittsburgh Steelers-3: They are at home, Philly has all kinds of problems and Pitt is coming off the buy.  They are as healthy as they can be at this point and Philly is on the down slide.

3) Chicago-4.5: Carolina is horrid. Cutler loves to twist the knife and with Forte back, things should really come together for the Bears this weekend.

So let's get to the meat of this Friday's blog. MLB baseball. Let me first say that I love baseball. Played it all my life. Wasn't great at it, but I tried.  Usually when you are not athletically great at something, but you still love it, you tend to follow it more after you quite trying. I follow baseball about as closely as I follow any major sport which means I'm just left of nerdom, but still way right of most Americans. Baseball, being America's past time, has had it's ups and downs over the years. Strikes, tied all star games, a canceled world series.  Let's just say it hit a rough patch.  And I understand that the NFL has supplemented the MLB as America's go to sport, but my love for the game hasn't changed. Whether it's live or on tv, I can sit there and watch an entire game.  With attendance and ratings up across the board for baseball in the last few year's, I think America is with me: baseball has made a comeback. The playoffs though. . . I just don't get it.

Call me old school, and by old school, I mean I'm over thirty, but the expansion of the playoffs makes no sense. Prior to 1994 there were two leagues and two divisions in each league.  American and National Leagues, an East and West Division in each.  With expansion of baseball and the addition of the Rays, Rockies, and Marlins, they added a new Central division to each league, re-shuffled the teams and now there were 3 divisions in each league.  Since no one can just sit out a round of playoffs, a new "wild card" was added. This alone caused panic and uproar throughout the lives of geeks everywhere.  Suffice it to say, based on the number of teams that have won the World Series as wild cards, and I think even that has worked out as well. 8 teams, then 4, then 2 in the World Series.  It makes sense numerically and everything is fine.

A second wild card?  Does that even make sense? 5 teams to the playoff's in each league. A 1 game  series between the two wild card teams to decide who is the wild card team?  We're getting a little carried away with it right?  I understand the concept behind it.  Play til the end.  Try and win your division instead of coasting in as the lone wild card.  Who are we kidding though right?  It's about money. wild card t-shirts. 1 more home game. more television time.  You can make all the excuses you want about the integrity of the game but expansion, whether its the number of teams you have or the number of games you play; whether its in the NFL, MLB, of NBA; it's always about revenue. If that weren't true, there would be contraction.  We would get rid of several teams who aren't supported by their market and make all of the other teams around them stronger. We don't though.  We change formats, rules, and regulations so that it makes it look like things will be better.  And maybe they will be.  I for one will tune in to both games today to watch the drama unfold. I hope the Braves and Orioles win their games and move on to the next round. I assume after a number of year's that this new 2 team wild card format will seem just as normal as 3 separate divisions do now. Where it will lead though is easy to see. Just like in the NBA where half of the teams make the playoff, i bet within 10 years we'll have 6 or 8 teams from each league in the playoffs.  What ever it takes to keep this game new, fresh and relevant to today's fan. Or in other words, whatever brings in the most money. 

Tom Selleck for President

This will be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, all rolled into one.  I have resisted making any comments about politics or choosing a political side on other sites like Twitter and Facebook, and I will do my best to continue to not make political comments here; at least so far as trashing any politician for whatever their political or social stance they have, that I may not agree with. As a former political science major, history teacher and debate coach, I have always loved politics. As a person who ran for every high school and college office there was, I have always taken the political process very seriously.  I enjoy politics. I especially love American politics. The history of it.  The romantic nature of it. Founding fathers. The Constitution. I eat that shit up.

I imagine that the world of American politics is really like The West Wing. I still get chills when I watch re-runs and President Bartlett played by Martin Sheen, slips his hands in his pants pockets before announcing something extraordinary to the nation. I get goosebumps while watching Independence Day and President Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, give an amazing speech about sacking up and kicking some alien ass. Morgan Freeman is President Beck in Deep Impact, and despite the fact that the entire world is getting ready to be destroyed, he re-assures us that we'll be OK, and we believe him. Harrison Ford is President James Marshall, and terrorist be damned, no one messes with his air force one.

But now. . . where are we in the world? Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton. Regardless of their politics, these men seemed larger then life. I don't want to get into the issues, because let's face it, in today's world, there's simply to many issues to even list them in the order of importance. I wouldn't even begin to to try and tell you that I had the faintest idea of how to solve our nations problems at this point, but what I can tell you is that I don't think the men and women we've elected know the answers either. Elected officials used to care. Or at lest we all perceived that they cared. I don't know if we were better or worse of 10, 20, 50, or 100 years ago, but I do know that Americans perceived that things were getting better. We made progress as a nation. We strived to be the best. We became a better country. Great strides were made in education, science, and civil rights. We were envied or despised, the world over, because we were the best, and everyone knew it. Who got us there? Our elected officials. Our statesmen and representatives.

The difference to me, is that those builders of our country, these powerful men and women of our past, were not politicians by nature.  They were farmers, actors, and doctors.  They were placed into politics, urged into running for office, by the people around them because of their previous successes in business, medicine, and education. They were the pillars of their communities first, their states second, and then lastly their country.  Now? Now it seems that people simply start as politicians. As if its a chosen profession like salesmen or mechanic. It's a course in college that anyone can take. I'm not saying that all politicians are the same. Romney was a successful businessmen. Obama a civil rights lawyer. But by and large, Americans don't relate to their elected officials anymore and have become disenfranchised with politics altogether.

I could go on and on but it basically boils down to this: I want Robert Redford from The Candidate to run for office and then I want Michael Douglas from The American President to run the country. I want the fairy tale. I want truth. I want change. I want to see it, know, and believe in it. I want Tom Selleck, Magnum PI himself, Jesse Stone, and Commisioner Frank Reagan all wrapped into one to care, run, and win. It has happened yet, and doesn't look like it will but at least we have President Bartlett and re-runs to fall back on.