quote of the day

We have the bailout money -- we're spending it on war.

--Chalmers Johnson

what i'm reading now

This book was recommended by my blogger friend Mary Lee Fowler, author of the book Full Fathom Five and the blog of the same name. This may be the best book I've read all year (not counting Mary Lee's). Here is a blurb from the back cover: "When his girlfriend takes a job in Thailand, Mischa Berlinski goes along for the ride, planning to enjoy himself and work as little as possible. But one evening a fellow expatriate tips him off to a story: a charismatic American anthropologist, Martiya van der Leun, has been found dead -- a suicide-- in the Thai prison where she was serving a life sentence for murder. Curious at first, Mischa is soon immersed in the details of her story. This brilliant, haunting novel expands into a mystery set among the Thai hill tribes, whose way of life became a battleground for the missionaries and the scientists living among them.

Field Work by Mischa Berlinski

quote of the day

There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.

– Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (1805-1859)

quote of the day

If middle class Americans do not feel threatened by the slow encroachment of the police state or the Patriot Act, it is because they live comfortable enough and exercise their liberties very lightly, never testing the boundaries. You never know you are in prison unless you try the door

---Joe Bageant, Deer Hunting with Jesus

what i'm reading now

This book by progressive web columnist Joe Bageant is a description of how the American working class votes to keep in power the people who are undermining their interests. It's interesting and provocative, and although the language is sometimes crude, it describes the historical and cultural forces that have worked to create red neck America.

Friday night I took my grand son, Hunter to a Monster Truck rally. We had a great time. I think I enjoyed it as much as he did.

Believe it or not this huge hummer is full of kids. Look in the second window from the left. You can see the very top of hunters head.



Hunter exits the big hummer.

The race course included the hazards of these junk cars.

Hunter eats an ice cream cone as he inspects the big trucks

Monster Patrol


In addition to the monster trucks they had the tough truck racing. These are regular trucks with beefed up suspension and roll bars that raced around a course of earthen ramps and berms. It made me want to go home, strip my S-10 and come back and join the fray.



Ozz Monster

Each monster truck competed in the wheelie event, jumping over these wrecked cars.

Alter Ego and Monster Patrol line up toe to toe to get set for the drag race over the wrecked cars.

quote of the day

I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.

– Stephen Grellet, French Quaker missionary (1773-1855)

what i'm reading now

I enjoyed All Over But the Shoutin' so much that I immediately searched for other books by Rick Bragg. Ava's Man is the tale of Bragg's grand father and it is told with such southern flavor that you can taste the catfish and cornbread as you read. Charlie Bundrum is a man who grew up in the woods of Georgia and Alabama, never learned to read, and augmented his meager income by distilling moonshine while consuming a good portion of each batch. He was a man prone to violence in defense of his honor and his family, yet he was gentle to his children and kind to the defenseless people in his community. He was a man who was loved.

parade

Labor Day weekend coincides with the Cherokee National Holdiday festivities. I took the grand kids to Tahlequah for the parade. We ate breakfast accross the street at the Boomerang Cafe and then while Dorothy worked an information booth the kids and I watched the parade.