Troubadors Corner

Just a place for my thoughts

Friday, August 03, 2007

Air Raid!

I probably shot down a thousand airplanes that day. I crawled through mud, and dirt, and straw, and of course horse manure. I rode a broom everywhere I went, and had to know the correct knots to tie my "horse" to a railing or tree or something when we went in to eat.

We had to have demonstrated our ability to ride, or at least not fall off or panic when the horse decided to be contrary. We helped saddle. We helped feed and clean the stalls. We helped the counselors with program. We worked our butts off.

Finally, on awards night, we got called down to the pool apron and received our patch and got to sing the Cavalier Anthem.

As a camper, this was one of the best nights of my life. I wish I could find that patch.


Blood on the saddle
Blood on the ground
Great big puddles of blood all around

Pity the cowboy
Bloody and Red
the old cow pony
done stomped on his head.


Did they do this in the girls camp?

Have a great weekend

Bob

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

E mail of the day

We all have our disagreements with President Bush.

Immigration, U.S. Attorney firings, Iraq, Darfur, etc. are all hot topics these days.

The following speech was written yesterday by an ordinary maniac. While satirical in nature, all satire must have a basis in fact to be effective.

The speech George W. Bush SHOULD give:

Normally, I start these things out by saying "My Fellow Americans."

Not doing it this time.

If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore.

I do know something terrible has happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer.

I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit.

Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: there's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people.I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

Let's start local.

You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media.

Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that's despite record numbers of homeowners including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners.

And while we're mentioning minorities, I'll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton Administration.

I've mentioned all those things before, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets.

Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this "blood for oil" thing. If I was trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell.

And don't give me this 'Bush Lied-People Died' crap either. If I was the liar you morons take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be 'discovered.' Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named 'Clinton' established that policy. Bet you didn't know that, did you?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy.

Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to outspend and out-tech them.

That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you. And the bastards are all over the globe.

You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11.

But you're not.

That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that.

When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor'.

Instead, you've grown impatient.

You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.

Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dammit, you might just as well Fedex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over the Internet. It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times. CNN or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter.

Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching.

I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from.

But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

So I quit. I' m going back to Crawford.

I've got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient.

No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again.

Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President.

You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there're just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

So that's it.

God bless what's left of America. Some of you know what I mean.The rest of you, Fuck off.


Can't say that I would blame him if he did.....


Troubador

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

What might be

The director of Fine Arts for the school district I work for has asked me to go with him to the School Board meeting tonight. He has told me that he will be making a report to the Board about all of the winter and spring Fine Arts activities and would like to talk about Winter percussion and introduce me.

Part of me thinks that this is no more than what he said it is. Another part of me hopes that this is really my first step towards being named Director of Percussion Studies.

You gotta have dreams

Troubador

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Putting things into perspective....

We have a young man working for us who is just married and has an infant son. His home life in the past has been, shall we say, volatile. He has had his share of run ins with the law, but seems to be really getting his life in order. I have high hopes for him, that he will keep to the straight and narrow, and let his talent come through and be what God meant him to be.

Today, he came in to work and told my father that he and his wife got into an argument. He said that he told his wife that he was not going to argue with her and walked out of the house. He wound up walking all the way across town to his mothers house.

When he cooled off, he called his wife to tell her where he was. She told him that she needed money for the baby to buy diapers etc. Since she had the car, she came to him, and he gave her $100. When he went back home, he walked into a disaster.

She had literally wrecked the apartment. She broke every piece of china. Every mirror. She pulled a 30” TV off the stand and broke it. She broke all of his CDs. She broke all of his tapes. When there was nothing left in the apartment to break, she took a hammer to his car. Then she took his child and went two states away.

He is devastated. I don’t have the foggiest idea what I can do to help him.

She will probably get away with it.

Troubador

Monday, April 23, 2007

The start of a new era maybe?

I received a gentle nudge from my friend Bekah that I hadn’t posted in a long time, so I am going to ease my way back into the blogging world a little at a time.

I am not sure why I haven’t had much to say lately. Its not like there is nothing going on for me to write about, I have been busier than at any time in my life, but the question I have is, would it interest anyone to read about.

I was talking with a group of friends this weekend while we ate dinner at a sports bar. The TVs were constantly flashing clips from the Alec Baldwin fiasco. Naturally the conversation turned toward him. A lot of people had not heard what he actually said, and how he said it. I made the statement that I felt that anyone who talked to his daughter that way deserved whatever he had coming to him. The person who was sitting across the table from me actually started defending Alec Baldwin, telling me that I had not walked a mile in his shoes, and didn’t know what might have caused this.

I couldn’t care less about what caused it, no adult should get away with calling their daughter a pig. It’s a good thing we did not all have a chance to drink more alcohol because I think things would have come to blows shortly, as heated as the conversation got.

But since I have a blog, and get the last word, it is my sincere hope that Baldwin gets off no easier than Imus did, since Imus did no real harm to anyone and Baldwin did, but I wouldn’t mind it if he was castrated in the process so that he cannot breed and subject another child to his abuse somewhere down the line.

Peace

Troubador

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Getting Old

In 5 days I will be 41 years old. So far, I really haven’t felt like there was any looming mid life crisis coming- I haven’t bought the sports car, I haven’t run off with two 20 year old cheer leaders or anything. But I have noticed that there are things that cannot, or don’t want to do anymore.

Maybe it’s a testosterone thing- supposedly that drops off in guys my age, but I find myself to be far more cautious than I used to be. I say less and I take fewer risks, even in games I play. I think I am more thoughtful, and perhaps wiser.

Over the past couple of weeks, in an effort to cut overhead, I have been working in the field, so that my hours can become billable. I got sent to the top of a scaffold today, to take some construction photos. This scaffold was 40’ tall. Very solid and well built.

I was white knuckled by the time I got to the top. Breathing heavily and sweating. This has never happened before. I guess I am getting old. I had serious thoughts about telling my Dad (the boss) that I had made my last trip to the top of that scaffold. I didn’t, but I sure thought about it.

Anyway, I will probably get sent back up tomorrow, so say a prayer for me.

Peace,
Troubador

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Thought provoking E mail of the day

Jim wrote:

And to add another thought. A few years ago, Nancy and I were in Lucern Switzerland . A guide on one of our city tours was asked, "What is the crime rate here?" She responded with, "There is no crime rate here. Every citizen is required to take a gun course, and own a firearm. So the criminals, knowing that each person owns a firearm and knows how to use it, will not try break-ins at someone's home or business".


Gun Control Whether you agree or not, it's an interesting lesson in history.
Something to think about...
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In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
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China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.
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It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars.
The first year results are now in:
* Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent
* Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent
* Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
* In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. (Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!)

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY.

Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns.

The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the American evening news or hear our president, governors or other politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans.....before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens'.

Without them, we are 'subjects'.