I'm not sure I'm COMFORTABLE with this...
...Am I totally out in left field here? Or, do I have a valid point?

President Bush vowed long ago (yes, it IS almost "long ago") that those responsible for the horrific disaster of "9/11" would pay for their deeds. Let's see, that would have put the focus on IRAN, right? Since that's Osama's palatial home. So what did we do? We invaded IRAQ. Huh? And we all know that some terrorist activities have been channeled through the Arab Emirates. So, what did our country, through President Bush, do? Observe...

Am I totally off-base here? An Arab corporation will soon be, if not already "are", in charge of 6 vital seaports on our country's East Coast. Does it smack of racism if there are those in our country (including me) who are just really uncomfortable with this? Or, is it the fact that almost all of the terrorist actions directed at our country spring forth from THAT PART OF THE WORLD?

In my opinion, letting the Arabs control our seaports would be almost like putting Osama Bin Laden in the Oval Office! A decision like this makes me wonder if the oil-oriented Bush Family is looking out for its welfare after the Prezzident leaves office, which can't be soon enough for me. There are a whole lot of questionable political decisions that are made every day, and this is one of them. The Arabs in charge of our seaports? Huh? What? In this age of protecting the National Security, we go and do something like this? I probably sound like an anti-Arab racist here, but I am NOT. Would we give our seaports to CASTRO? PUTIN? QADDAFI? I think not. So why are we doing this? Look, I am not the most astute world citizen ever, so if you wish to enlighten me in the comments section...please do so. Because, so far, I JUST DON'T GET IT.

At least his excuse was original dept.: I read today about U.S. Olympic skater Johnny Weir, who evidently tanked, not winning a medal of any kind. I guess he had a bad performance. But the way he rationalized it was certainly different...he said that he blames his misfortune-on-ice on a "lack of inner piece" and a "malfunctioning aura." Huh? What? Uhhh, this is the Olympics, where pressure is INHERENT; in short, yer not gonna have inner peace! You just go out and do it! I kinda think it would make a lot of sense if Mr. Weir put a "d" on the end of his last name!

:.tped gniksam sdrawkcab (Backwards masking dept.): You've heard of secret messages in music, that were recorded backwards in a song. Well, evidently, "backwards masking" is seeing a resurgence these days; I guess producers are using it as a tool to sell today's music. Okay, fine and dandy. However, if you buy a CD with "backwards stuff" on it, how are you gonna hear it? You can't play a CD backwards, after all. You can't do that with a cassette, either. With a record, you can put the turntable in neutral, rotate the platter backwards, and hear "whatever" you're trying to hear. (I suppose there are programs which will play CD audio backwards, but it's so much more simple with records.) One prime example...on the original English pressings of the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" album, there was about 2 seconds of crowd noise recorded in the groove that goes around the label. That little tidbit was released on the 1980 U.S. "Beatles Rarities" album, too. Well, there are those who say that if you play that crowd noise backwards, someone says "%$&# me like a Superman"...so I played it backwards, and that's kinda what it sounds like, all right!

What's it all about...ALFIE? dept.: "Alfie" was a late '60s movie about a young woman coming of age, and that's a line from the movie's title song. Today, I saw 2-page ad in the newest Rolling Stone, with the logo of "Dolce & Gabbana" printed at the bottom. In the ad, two couples are sitting on the ground on opposite sides of a dank, dark alleyway. The guys are sitting against each wall, and the ladies are sitting in the laps of the guys. It looks like the guys' hands are wandering to "all kinds of strange places" on the ladies' physiques. The ladies are staring blankly at the camera, not caring where the "Roman hands and Russian fingers" are going. My question is, what is this ad selling? It can't be fashion; their clothes are ragged, torn, or otherwise not stylish at all. It can't be shaving cream; both guys are unshaven. It can't be an ad for a charm school, 'cos these kids look like they'd mug ya if they had a chance. So..."what's it all about, Alfie?" I seem to understand less and less these days. As the Bob Dylan song "My Back Pages" says, "I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now."

"We want a pitcher, not a belly-itcher" dept.: That's an idiotic thing us kids would say, back when I tried to play baseball in the Pee Wee league in CDA back in the 60s. My career was dismal. I don't even wanna go there. But, the Mariners have a new pitching coach! His name is Rafael (Raphael?) Chavez. Get this...he spent his entire career, his ENTIRE career, in the MINOR LEAGUES. Which makes him perfectly qualified for the Mariners, at least the way they played last year. It could be another long season. I'll be happy if the M's do .500 this year.

Guess I'd better be like the Moody Blues and "GO NOW" dept.: Looking back thru this post, I can see that I've displayed for the entire world to see, just how ignorant I am of everything. Well, if "ignorance is bliss", why aren't I happier? A question for the ages. And I'm too tired to try and answer it now. So instead, once again, I will depict a vastly more innocent time, when life was simple, when "gay" meant 'happy' and "fruit" meant 'apples, oranges' or whatever.

I don't even know if these cabins are still keeping vigil on the shores of Hayden Lake; this postcard is from the late '40s/early '50s. Can't you imagine being here on a hot summer afternoon? Actually, being near the water is just soothing; at least I find it so. Sometimes I'll pull into the parking lot between Independence Point and the CDA Rezzort, and even in the dead of winter, well, there's just "something" about being by the lake. Maybe the constant motion of the water is indicative of life itself. Or, maybe I'm nuts. Which is possible, as all five of my faithful returning readers found out long, long ago.
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Oh, by the way, before I go, I drove past the old CDA "7-11" store, which was located in a little strip-mall that burned down some time ago...and it looks like all the rubble has been cleared away, and the land has been nicely smoothed over for "whatever" is going to be there next. I can imagine that land, located at 4th and Best, will be worth a pretty penny. Location, location, location, after all!