An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit.
- American Proverb -
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Saturday Stuff
Our friend, Andy Rogovin, was just inducted into the Cape Cod Athletic Club Hall of Fame. Our family has several ties to Andy. He was Kenny's track and cross country coach at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, and taught Kenny and every other kid he coached, sportsmanship, hard work, dedication, and everything any young man needs to succeed in the world. And he led by example. Simultaneously, he was the D-Y boys track and field coach, the town of Dennis Recreation Director, and the Chairman of the Dennis Board of Selectmen. He also started the Dennis Road Race 31 years ago, which we are now involved with, and was the top runner on Cape Cod for many years. He's still a very good runner and he returns to run in our race whenever possible. He left Dennis to attend the Northeastern University Law School, and is currently a partner in a Boston law firm.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Flanders Fields
Flanders Fields is a graveyard in Flanders, Belgium where many of the dead soldiers from World War I are buried. This poem, call the most popular poem of the World War I years, was written on May 3, 1915 by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian Army doctor, after the death of one his men the day before. The Poem was first published on December 8, 1915 in Punch magazine.
In Flanders Fields
*
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard among the guns below
*
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
*
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thought For The Day
May I never miss a sunset or a rainbow because I'm looking down.
- Sara Jane Parker -
- Sara Jane Parker -
Election 2008
Well, things certainly are getting interesting. It's hard to believe Grampy McCain could beat Romney, but it's beginning to look that way. It would seem that a contest between McCain and either Obama or Clinton will be the Future vs. The Past. Especially McCain vs. Obama. If you're a Democrat its almost too good to be true. That's why I'm not sure its going to happen. I don't think Romney is out of it yet. I keep waiting for the Republicans to come to their senses. Over the years McCain has always been the "maverick" in the Republican party. He voted against tax cuts and other Republican issues, and now he's asking those same people for their support. It's going to be a hard sell. Even Romney has switched his position on certain issues. He was pro-choice when that's what it took to be elected Governor of Massachusetts, and now he's pro-life when he needs to appear more conservative to appeal to Republicans. The true conservatives don't know which way to turn. What a long strange trip it's been. Where's Jerry Garcia when we really need him? And where else except Boston would hold a Super Bowl parade on Super Tuesday voting day?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
OFFICIAL College Basketball Rankings
Men's Division I
1. Memphis - Interesting game tonight @ Houston
2. Kansas - Big test: Jayhawks @ K. State tonight.
3. UCLA - 2 nice wins last week, host the Sun Devils tomorrow.
4. Michigan State - Final 4 material? Fightin Illini tonight.
5. North Carolina - Dropped after Maryland loss. BC Thur., ho-hum
6. Georgetown - Big win @ West Va., should cruise for a while.
7. Butler - Now they're on the road for 3 games.
8. Wisconsin - Lost to Purdue, hosts Indiana Thursday.
9. Indiana - Bad loss to UConn, make or break @ Wisconsin
10. Texas - Hook 'em Horns, @ A&M tonight.
11. Tennessee - Hate the coach, like the team. Miss St & Fla. next
12. Washington State - I still can't figure them out.
13. Xavier - Hot team. Big wins vs. Dayton & UMass.
14. Florida - @ Ark., @ Tenn. this week.
15. Texas A&M - Nice club, hosts the Horns tonight.
16. Baylor - Beat A&M in 5 OT's, @ Texas on Sat.
17. Marquette - Struggling, Cinci & Louisville this week.
18. Connecticut - Maybe Jim Calhoun's best coaching job.
19. Drake - Only loss to St. Mary's, leads Missouri Valley Conf.
20. Kansas State - Led by Frosh. Micheal Beasley, Kansas tonight.
21. Purdue - Just because I like them, some quality wins
22. Vanderbilt - Lost 3 0f the last 4, needs a good week.
23. Pittsburgh - Win 1, lose 1, Vill. & UConn this week, ouch!
24. Saint Mary's - Are they for real? Gonzaga next Tuesday.
25. Texas-Arlington - Movin' Mavs could be tourney bound!
Men's Division II
1. Bentley
2. Grand Valley State
3. Rollins
4. Cal. State, San Bernadino
5. Saint Anselm
Men's Division III
1. Rochester
2. Brandies
3. Amherst
4. Mary Hardin-Baylor
5. Framingham State.
Women's Division I
1. Connecticut
2. Tennessee
3. Baylor
4. North Carolina
5. Maryland
1. Memphis - Interesting game tonight @ Houston
2. Kansas - Big test: Jayhawks @ K. State tonight.
3. UCLA - 2 nice wins last week, host the Sun Devils tomorrow.
4. Michigan State - Final 4 material? Fightin Illini tonight.
5. North Carolina - Dropped after Maryland loss. BC Thur., ho-hum
6. Georgetown - Big win @ West Va., should cruise for a while.
7. Butler - Now they're on the road for 3 games.
8. Wisconsin - Lost to Purdue, hosts Indiana Thursday.
9. Indiana - Bad loss to UConn, make or break @ Wisconsin
10. Texas - Hook 'em Horns, @ A&M tonight.
11. Tennessee - Hate the coach, like the team. Miss St & Fla. next
12. Washington State - I still can't figure them out.
13. Xavier - Hot team. Big wins vs. Dayton & UMass.
14. Florida - @ Ark., @ Tenn. this week.
15. Texas A&M - Nice club, hosts the Horns tonight.
16. Baylor - Beat A&M in 5 OT's, @ Texas on Sat.
17. Marquette - Struggling, Cinci & Louisville this week.
18. Connecticut - Maybe Jim Calhoun's best coaching job.
19. Drake - Only loss to St. Mary's, leads Missouri Valley Conf.
20. Kansas State - Led by Frosh. Micheal Beasley, Kansas tonight.
21. Purdue - Just because I like them, some quality wins
22. Vanderbilt - Lost 3 0f the last 4, needs a good week.
23. Pittsburgh - Win 1, lose 1, Vill. & UConn this week, ouch!
24. Saint Mary's - Are they for real? Gonzaga next Tuesday.
25. Texas-Arlington - Movin' Mavs could be tourney bound!
Men's Division II
1. Bentley
2. Grand Valley State
3. Rollins
4. Cal. State, San Bernadino
5. Saint Anselm
Men's Division III
1. Rochester
2. Brandies
3. Amherst
4. Mary Hardin-Baylor
5. Framingham State.
Women's Division I
1. Connecticut
2. Tennessee
3. Baylor
4. North Carolina
5. Maryland
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Caroline Kennedy
This column was in the Op-Ed section of the New York Times on Sunday, one day before Caroline and Senator Ted Kennedy formally endorsed Barack Obama for President.
January 27, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
A President Like My Father
By CAROLINE KENNEDY
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.
My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.
We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.
Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.
I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
January 27, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
A President Like My Father
By CAROLINE KENNEDY
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.
My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.
We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.
Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.
I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thought For The Day
A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if ones life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
- Louis L'Amour -
- Louis L'Amour -
Solar vs. Nuclear
Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!
- William McDonough -
- William McDonough -
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thought For The Day
There art two cardinal sins from which all others spring: Impatience and Laziness.
- Franz Kafka -
- Franz Kafka -
The Arrow and the Song
I shot an arrow in the air,
It fell to earth, I know not where:
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth I know not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak,
I found the arrow still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -
It fell to earth, I know not where:
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth I know not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak,
I found the arrow still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -
Sunday Stuff
We had a great day at Saint Anselm College yesterday. The games were good, but not always the outcome we wanted. The basketball teams played Assumption, and the men's hockey team played Williams. The women's basketball team was probably the least likely to win before the day started, but they played great and led from begining to end. The men's basketball team had a chance to win; they were ahead by 4 with 1:30 to play, but they couldn't hold on. We only watched the second period of the men's hockey game. Saint A. dominated and led 3-0 after two periods. Imagine our surprise when we heard they lost 4-3 in overtime. Oh well, at least we saw the best S.I.D. in the business in action.
It looks like the Cape's luck has run out. We're getting a snow storm today, 5-6 inches and some strong winds. There's a possibility that we'll lose power. We'll just settle in and ride it out.
It looks like the Cape's luck has run out. We're getting a snow storm today, 5-6 inches and some strong winds. There's a possibility that we'll lose power. We'll just settle in and ride it out.
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