New York Yankees Vs. Baltimore Orioles 4/23/11

Since 2007 we have routinely met my family in Baltimore as it is a good meeting point between upstate NY and NC.  We usually schedule this trip around when the Yankees are in town and as I have written in other blogs, Camden Yards is quickly becomming Yankee Stadium South.  As this is the baseball season after we got married, we decided to invite my wife's family as well.  As my wife has just completed her Masters it was good reason to celebrate and have some fun.  We spent time walking around the inner harbor, eating some great meals--Miss Shirley's--and of course the game.  We had great seats to begin with but then my father in-law knew someone who must have been real important with the Baltimore Orioles because we were the front 2 rows dead center behind homeplate-we were on YES and the Orioles channel looking like kids at Wonka's factory.  We could hear the players talking to each other, hear the umps' arguements, and most importantly watched one of the biggest slugfests I have ever seen.  Russell Martin hit 2 bombs, Jorge had one, Arod had a Grand Slam, and even Brett Gardner hit a bomb.  The coolest thing was seeing how much the ball moves when CC pitches-incredible, truely a night I will never forget.  I mean we had better seats than Arod's ex wife and kids!!!

Wilson, NC Tornado 4/16/11

This past Saturday our town among several others in NC were blasted by some of the worst tornados to ever come through this state.  24 people were killed in a matter of hours as over 60 reported tornados hit North Carolina.  My wife and I were safe and sound watching the storms but as there are tornado warnings quite frequently, we did not think much of this warning.  We ended up losing our power for about 4 hours while we wondered what was going on.  The last tornado that hit here in 2008 was about 3 or 4 miles to our north and it could be heard coming for a long time.  This tornado was huge and about 2-3 miles to the south of our home and it could not be heard.  I have never been witness to anything of this magnitude as NC is in a state of emergency.  Above are a couple of incredible videos that people shot.  As technology gets better and better it is amazing to see just how powerful these things can be.  Winds were reported at 165 miles per hour.  A link to some local photos is here: http://wilsontimes.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=35277579&event=1228436&CategoryID=65496 It amazes me how powerful and devestating nature can be.  24 people died in an instant.  Anything can happen at any time, dont wait for tommorrow to do what you could do today, because you just never know.  Life is fragile.

Opposing Viewpoints

No matter which side of the legal or illegal drug argument that you may stand on, this is a very interesting interview with some very telling facts.  Drug culture is in almost every part of American life, from the way we shop, to the way we eat, to the way we want to feel and want to be alot of our culture is about using something to feel different.  At some point admitting defeat on the War on Drugs may be the smartest move for harm reduction, treatment, and economics.  Either way something to think about.

Opposites

Lately I am noticing things in terms of opposites.  Opposites or polar extremes like north and south or good and evil.  They are everywhere I seem to go and getting more and more prevalant everyday, day and night the sun and the moon.  What I see more and more is the poor and the rich, the white and the black, the smart and the stupid, the hard way and the easy way.  With the threat of a government shutdown last week, there were a lot of really worried people, mostly poor people who are surviving on almost nothing already.  While rich people who dont have any real idea of what problems are going on in America play petty political tactitcal games in order to seek re-election, real people in America are starving.  The middle class is slowly disappearing and the poor are getting larger and larger, sooner or late these opposites will fight as what always happens with opposites.  White people who oppressed black people for hundreds of years were eventually attacked by black people who were seen as opposites but actually arent at all for those actions of oppression.  In politics today smart people are fighting alot of dumb people.  Sarah Palin doesnt know basic geography and Donald Trump has bankrupted his own name a few times and these are leaders in the race for presidency.  Rich people, which is everyone in congress and the senate, are making decisions for the poor.  I want to see a reality TV show that drops these politicians off in these poor neighborhoods and watch as they try to survive because they wont, not the way things are now.  Sooner or later these opposing forces will clash and it wont be on the steps of congress, it will be in your backyard.  Us and them and when it comes to us and them, them are doing down.  What is unfortunate, as has been throughout human history, is that it is alwyas about opposites of us and them, it should all be us.  We are all human and are no different from anybody else in that matter.  Some of us just happen to be born white, black , asian, or latino or in the US or Somolia, Darfur, or Cambodia these lucky chances make me no different so why would I ever choose to hurt people in those situations and not help them.  What kind of a person would I be?  Some of the stuff going on is just pure evil.  I like finding the similarities of people.  In reality noone knows how to solve the debt crisis, the environment, poverty, drugs, but we at least need to admit that and work together and solve these big issues.  Arguing over taxes and dumb selfish things doesnt help the future of our children or the current situation that children in this country live in.  There are kids who dont eat in this country and kids without families.  As the late Tupac Shakur said why is there a war on drugs when there should be a war on poverty.  There will always be drugs were there is poverty because poverty is misery and drug use and money is a easy, quick, and sometimes one of the only ways out of that situation...its about survival and we dont want extra money taken out of our paychecks for some people to be able to eat, for some people to be able to learn.  Many states are cutting education programs almost entirely.  In Detroit they have cut teachers so much that there are some schools with 60 kids per teacher...no chance.  Some cities are cutting police forces down to nothing--crime wins.  Eventually this stuff comes to a head as it did in the depression, world war II, vietnam and the civil rights movement.  Hungry people will fight back.  The news says things are getting better but I see with my own two eyes how tyhings are getting worse.  The American dream was on its way out when Hunter S Thompson was writing his books and now its slipping even further and further away.  I believe that I am human.  I am not perfect and have my flaws and ultimately am  not that different from an animal and definitely not that different from any other human.  I have my basic needs and wants but I feel that as a human I am in some way responsible for other people suffering because I am not and can do something about it.  The next time you think you are so different, put yourself in someone elses shoes.  What the fuck would you do.

MLB Picks 2011

Little late but here they are:

AL East

Boston Red Sox*
New York Yankees*
Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central

Chicago White Sox*
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Cleveland Indians

AL West

Texas Rangers*
Oakland A's
LA Angels
Seattle Mariners

NL East

Philadelphia Phillies*
Atlanta Braves*
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals
New York Mets

NL Central

Cincinnatti Reds*
Milwaukee Brewers
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Houston Astros
Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

Colorado Rockies*
San Fransisco Giants
San Diego Padres
LA Dodgers
Arizona Diamondbacks

AL Wild Card

Boston Red Sox Vs. Chicago White Sox
NY Yankees Vs. Texas Rangers

NL Wild Card

Philadelphia Phillies Vs. Cincinnatti Reds
Atlanta Braves Vs. Colorado Rockies

AL Championship

Texas Rangers Vs. Boston Red Sox

NL Championship

Philadelphia Phillies Vs. Atlanta Braves

World Series

Boston Red Sox Vs. Atlanta Braves

Winner

Boston Red Sox