Flights to and from Phoenix

It never ceases to amaze me the disparities between cultures here in the United States. Flying to and from Phoenix this last weekend, Sky Harbor, Phoenix’s airport contains folks as diverse in style and attitudes as one might find in JFK or ORD. There are foreigners, East Coasties, Midwesterners, folks from the West and of course those tattooed and pierced from the “New West.” While traveling always offers great opportunities to see differences in cultures, those truly interesting components are reserved for what one can learn about her or himself at the destination.

This last Friday was my Grandma Phyllis’s birthday, the specific birthday that it was shall remain ageless, but let’s say that it was a milestone—one that required a special trip. What always amazes me, growing up in my family, are the things I learn growing further into my family. I say that, in that, growing up we continuously have an evolving perception of who our relatives are, and how they act as adults. Of course, as anyone that has grown up through these lives of ours can say, perceptions continuously evolve, and those things we learn about one another carry with them further dimension as we grow older through this life.

While I am quite sure that seems to be a rather odd, yet intuitive, stanza, methinks it’s the sort of component to life one can never truly comprehend until they have lived in this adult world for several years. What has me thinking in that direction, was seeing my Grandma this weekend, amongst my maternal family, all of the same folks whom went to Nicaragua for Christmas. The difference between this trip and Nicaragua was that it was in Phoenix, where my maternal aunts and grandparents live; therefore, it was more vacuous.1

Seeing my Grandmother there in Phoenix this weekend, I saw an incredibly vivacious woman, whom is joyful, intelligent, funny and well spirited. Grandma Phyllis looks years younger than whatever age she may be; her smile was bright and her eyes were lit up all weekend. What amazes me, among so many other things, is her involvement in the community in which she and my Grandfather live.

Not to brag on my Grandmother, or anything, but she is the chairperson of their board. No, this is not some Del Boca Vista-type organization, nothing of the sort. In short, what I am trying to say is that it is not a caddy club for ladies of the club, but a genuine Operational Organization, one which works to ensure the dining facilities are in good order, the security and the grounds are keeping the residents safe.

It’s noteworthy in that it dearly impresses me. Not that my Grandmother happens to be heading this board, no. Rather, the style and grace with which she speaks professionally about her involvement, particularly in casual conversations.

While I’ve managed to delve rather far into her work with her community’s Board, I should note the other component that did so much to impress me with her this weekend. My aunts, mom, grandma and I played a round of golf. Indeed I was playing with the ladies. As I arrived a day later than my folks, and it was surprise, my Granddad didn’t have the opportunity to book me with the “Bandits,” his golf team.

In that, I went joyously with the ladies, and we played a great round of golf. Again, playing golf, I couldn’t help but marvel at the terrific genes my Grandmother is bestowing on me, as her Grandson. Grandma looked terrific on the course, playing as youthfully as those of my mom’s generation or me.

Obviously, I could continue to go on about my Grandmother, but you’ve endured enough of my gushing on that. If you’ve made it this far, please humor me by reading about my complaints towards those here in the American West. Call me old fashioned, but I loathe ink and these odd spacers folks throw in their ears. Come on folks, hoop earrings are relatively obnoxious, even if one relegates them to something comical. I am lost on one throwing something like that in their ears. Certainly, if they are a Maori Tribeswoman or man, I could see it, but for middle class kids marching through the airport?

I think Phoenix Sky Harbor has to run right up there with John Wayne, PDX, SEATAC, or PDX for inordinate amounts of “sleeve” tattoos and/or spacer-ear hoops. No, I don’t have ink. I am not absolute against it. To a point, I get the “Tramp Stamp.”2 Those are not visible during the wearing of short-sleeves or during a job-interview. Sincerely, though, I have hard time understanding “sleeves.” One now sees them in places like Davenport, Iowa or Boise, Idaho, but there they are not so common, as what one sees in Phoenix.

Phoenix, outside of Scottsdale and Sun City, may be the USA’s capitol of “New West” absurdity. I use the word “absurd,” in that absurd body art applications, particularly the aesthetics for which folks are going seem as transient as the “Bad Boy Club” tattoos one saw in the mid-Nineties in my high school. The challenges for these faddish or transient designs are that they are permanent.

Sincerely, these tattoos so many out here, in what I’ve aptly referred to, in my own way, as the “New West,” don’t seem to have any overarching themes or points. I somewhat understand an eighteen-year-old enlisted in the Marines, tattooing him or herself with a “Semper Fi,” but come on a jelly fish or stingray? Can anyone envisage old men with their wives on the Lawn Bowling courts of Sun City in the year 2050?

I don’t get Phoenix. Is it elitism to find aesthetics disdainful? For me, it’s not a shriek or back-away, because I am afraid of ink or body art, no. Rather, it is a problem

1: As always, I have a tendency to use “bigger words.” By stating vacuous, I mean that Phoenix is a vacuum, in that it is in the States, and is the home to my Mom’s family. Therefore, it does not offer the instability of all of us traveling in Nicaragua. As such, it provided opportunity for more clinical observations.

2: “Tramp Stamp” - This is the tattoo on the small of a woman’s back, one which was probably obtained during a Spring Break to somewhere in Florida, California, or Mexico. That or it floated north from said “Spring Break Destinations,” into the near-the-mall-tattoo-parlors throughout the US.

Vanity

I once dated a woman, and she wrote professionally. That point is not an important one, except that she was not especially good at writing. The reason I even bring it up, is that she once used the definition of “Perfection,” to start out an article about something. Yeah, agreed, it was something along the lines of eight-grade lit class, or something. I only bring it up, in that I wanted to define "vanity." With Hillary’s continued pursuit of the Democratic Nomination, one cannot help but note that her continuation of this, thinking she is the “best candidate,” is predicated largely on amour propre.

As that was the case, the vanity required to continue fighting what in one’s mind is a battle they must fight, requires a great deal of self-diluting vanity. I assume it’s the same sort of vanity that Presidents Bush and Cheney enwrap themselves about the war in Iraq. One makes a decision, and executes on that decision, with all their might. In so doing, they are fraught with self-belief so much so, they are now past a mental point-of-no-return.

For Hillary, one cannot think anything beyond that she is, right now, telling herself that, “I am the best person for this country. Things will change, and all of a sudden there will be a demand for me to be the nominee.” It doesn’t help that someone as self-indulgent, Bill Clinton, is her partner in this. The two of them feed off one another, both in the past, to the present, which is why neither of them have the wherewithal to resign from the campaign.

Certainly, it is their right to continue on this Bataan Death March, and if they do, that will be fine; however, they must know, the Clinton legacy is suffering terribly. It is quite transparent the self-indulgence and calculation, the more they are present (note: Hillary’s interview yesterday with USA Today—referencing her strength with “white” “hard-working people”). Undoubtedly, this is the way the Clinton’s speak amongst themselves, but the more fatigued and longer they are in the public face, the more transparent that will be to others. It’s not becoming, nor does it help the DNC, which is, in turn, why the Clinton Legacy will suffer in our recent memories following this election. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. Alas, we will have quite the President out of this race in 2008.

Crombie Dudes

Okay, I was wrong. Said Abercrombie trio were all having issues hear, and one works for Abercrombie. It would be easier to delete than write this, but I'll concede, my initial conclusions were incorrect. If one goes to cnn.com http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/04/25/intv.tshirt.guys.cnn they will see what it was.

Product Placement

While I have not spent money at Abercrombie and Fitch for roughly ten years, I will continue to not do so, when I prevent my future children from being into it. Abercrombie planted three young men in obnoxious shirts behind Obama during his speech in Indiana last night. These three morons stood not far behind him, most likely out of being paid by Abercrombie to get there early and purposely stand behind him. Did anyone see this?

Here’s the deal Abercrombie, if you are going to plant folks at Rush Limbaugh’s campaign rally, make it look more genuine. That idiot with the buzz-cut head couldn’t have appeared more apathetic, almost as though he was just there to punch a timecard. I appreciate Abercrombie working to stay with the young, but our young voters have more sense than this. Quite simply, with the shear amount of irony and conspiracy that pervade popular culture today, the owners on the PR-side for Abercrombie mistook putting these three idiots behind Obama as something no one would catch. Keith Oberman called it immediately after as well, which was pretty hilarious. In short, Abercrombie, if you are going to do that in the future, please be more competent.

Apparently, I am not the only one that caught this!
http://www.shoppingblog.com/cgi-bin/sblog.pl?sblog=422083

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2008/04/22/obama-speech-sponsored-by-abercrombie-fitch.aspx

A Few Things

Apologies, if you come here often, for which I am most flattered; odds are good it’s probably been more than a while since you have seen a new post. I am delinquent as one could be for this. As far as things stand, let’s see, the quick and dirty on Matty:

1. Work is going well, and I am comfortably busy. I am quite happy for that.

2. As far as running is concerned, I ran “The Race to Robie Creek” this last weekend, on 19-April. I earned a respectable time, but like everyone ever racing, not nearly as fast as I was hoping. 2:20 for a half-marathon with more than 3000 ft in elevation change, two-thirds of which were uphill. I am registered for the Salmon Marathon on 13-September.

3. Romantic life, that’s pretty much non-existent at the moment, and I am comfortable with that. Most dates I have been on thus far have run contrary to my inter-personal experiences preceding Boise. Everyone has been very nice and lovely; however, they have all been exceptions rather than classical dates.

4. Boise—I love this city, but the challenge is the cultural difference. Get this; I am from “Back East,” right? I know… I used the word “lackadaisical” in conversation on Saturday, and a cuter girl that was sitting among friends and me, she said, “What does that word mean?” Apparently my word choice can be perceived as haute, arrogant, or ostentatious. This is something I am sure none of you have ever thought, no? :D

5. As for the campaign, let’s see here, what is up with Hillary continuing down this direction of “potentially having pledged delegates change their minds,” is she kidding me? Both she and her husband have disgraced his legacy with their continued fight for this nomination. Hearing Terry McAuliffe on MSNBC this morning made me loathe for much of the DNC establishment. Hearing Hillary or her supporters continue to speak on how she might be able to pull this off is almost as abrasive as continuing to receive emails from friends and loved ones about “how great conservatism is.”

6. To all those who call themselves “conservative,” please know this, every position one claims to hold, “being for small government,” “being for individual liberty,” “being against poor fiscal judgment,” “being for strong national defense,” we are in the worst shape we have ever been in for all those tenets! “Conservative,” is a word the Republican Party incorporated, and has lost completely with George Bush’s Presidency and the congress preceding this one.

What’s amazing as the “movement” has worked people into the idea they are being rebellious by “standing up for something this country stands on,” in contrast to some of the off-shooting counter-culture from the 1960’s. That was why we elected a whiney rich kid, who has compromised this country more than any president prior. This year, we hear the “movement” beckoning Ronald Reagan’s memory, mostly because he is the only recent Republican, not alive to be called to defend himself and not Nixon. Let’s be realistic. McCain wants to continue this War in Iraq, and is maintaining the same irresponsible fiscal policy, putting our economy, our schools and our standing in the world at risk.

Whatever happened to “Fiscal Conservatism?” One doesn’t hear about that any more.

Have We Ever Been in a Worse Strategic Position, Wow - the GOP is Awful

Obviously, if you are reading this, odds are you know that I support Obama. I have from the beginning, and I continue to do so. Right now, in thinking of this solely from a Political-Economic perspective, these are components that we seldom see covered in the discussion of this year’s Presidential campaign. Obviously, components relative to Iraq and the Economy are too substantial to appropriately cover in a quick draft, but if reduced down to some smaller parcels, we can work our way into some conclusions.

From an Iraq-perspective, we fostered this war predicated on the idea that Sadaam was working to develop weapons of mass destruction, was supporting terrorists, and may have had something to do with 9-11. We took a position with the UN, where we made our case; we proceeded near-unilaterally into this preemptive war against the will of the world community; found no WMDs; we now occupy a war-torn country with internal strife and civil war.

One could construct the path to 9-11, from direct involvement in the Gulf States:
1. Residual occupation of Saudi Arabia following Desert Storm

2. Continued support of totalitarian governments, giving rise and fomenting terrorist activity

3. Continued presence in the Gulf States, due to demand for petroleum
o Demand for petroleum, due to over-subsidization fostering excessive demand for petroleum

4. Action taken against the US in 9-11, undoubtedly horrible
o Action taken in Afghanistan with the support of the world community

5. Not completing work in Afghanistan capturing or killing Bin Laden

6. Progressing into Iraq
o Iraq under false pretenses
o Continued demand for petroleum
o Continued occupation, due to the “break it, you buy it.”
o US strategy in occupying Iraq elongates time in Iraq
o Guantanamo Abu Gharib

7. During a war, we cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, and expanded our national debt, thereby weakening the dollar

8. Dollar is weak against foreign currencies; commodities (including oil) are now at an all time high; we are maintaining a presence in a country in which we are further fomenting hate for America (see points 1-3)

I know W went to B-School, but seriously, from a strategy-perspective, this will be taught for the next few millennia in Strategy classes as an example of what bad strategy can do. The work we have done with this administration is absurdly compromising our world position.

We need a back-out plan, and McCain isn’t proposing anything contrary to the positions of the Bush Administration, for no good reason. His position on taxes, keeping them status quo is absurd.
During past wars, e.g. WWII, we had War Bonds. For the Iraq War, as Americans, we’ve been encouraged to go out and spend. The average household has immense debt, and we are suffering a massive housing crisis. With all of that, there has been no communication for us to constrain our spending. Rather, many were sent a check from the Government, spending money it’s no taking in through appropriate taxation...

Why would one vote for the party that delivered us the worst Political-Economic position in maybe our history? Moreover, why would one vote for someone not offering a reconciliation of these policies against a world in which we’ve compromised our position?

Hacks

Sometimes it can be challenging moving to a new city by oneself. I signed up for it, and I have few regrets. Of course, were it not for exceptions, there would be no real reason to communicate, so I have this thought on my mind. It’s ever present, largely due to my lifestyle and my days’ events. I have a confession, if you haven’t seen it thus far, from reading this Blog; I am a bit of a news junkie.

Being a news junkie, and having that combined with an election year as absurdly long as this one seems, only adds to the frequency of my MSNBC/CNN viewing. In watching MSNBC I have my favorites, e.g. Keith Oberman, but the challenge with MSNBC is NBC’s absurd production of shows like, “To Catch a Predator” or that show about prisons. That isn’t journalism it is tabloid porn, which is annoying as it stands. For lack of a better way of putting it, it is news production Hack-ism.

Of course, provided the number of Hacks in the Production Offices of NBC, one can only change their channel to, for instance, CNN. CNN isn’t nearly as good of a news source as it once was. CNN is full of jacks as well, most notably this Glen Beck character. Beck is a Wannabe large syndication AM Radio “conservative,” who takes contrarian positions to antagonize positions of conventionally agreed upon change activists. Whatever, Beck’s positions are what one would find tuning into Rush, or someone of the like. Were Beck talented he would be Brooks of the New York Times or Gigot of the Wall Street Journal, alas he isn’t. I could go on and rant about Coulter, but why bother?

Of course, we only have ourselves to blame: Truth in the Market.