Talk About the Life

           

Ready to Go Mom

St. Andrews Pilgrimage

Not quite on par with Santiago de Compostela (a secret dream of mine to do one day), but still would be pretty neat, as my buddy John pointed out.  Only imagine if the Church of St. Andrews were still intact how amazing it would be.

A MEDIEVAL pilgrimage route to major historic religious site is to be resurrected – and organisers hope it will grow to rival a similar event in Spain.
The Way of St Andrews will allow travellers to a route taken by 11^th and 12^th century Christian devotees who flocked to the Fife town, once home to the largest church in Scotland.
Those behind the trail hope the 62 mile trip, starting from St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, could prove as popular as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.
link to article

Julia

I couldn't've written a better parody myself, but this Julia thing from the President's re-election site is quite a joke.  There's a number of good riffs on it, including this one from Iowahawk.  I really enjoyed Ross Douthat's column on Julia:

"What’s more, she seems to have no meaningful relationships apart from her bond with the Obama White House: no friends or siblings or extended family, no husband (“Julia decides to have a child,” is all the slide show says), a son who disappears once school starts and parents who only matter because Obamacare grants her the privilege of staying on their health care plan until she’s 26. This lends the whole production a curiously patriarchal quality, with Obama as a beneficent Daddy Warbucks and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan co-starring as the wicked uncles threatening to steal Julia’s inheritance.

"At the same time, the slide show’s vision of the individual’s relationship to the state seems designed to vindicate every conservative critique of the Obama-era Democratic Party. The liberalism of “the Life of Julia” doesn’t envision government spending the way an older liberalism did — as a backstop for otherwise self-sufficient working families, providing insurance against job loss, decrepitude and catastrophic illness. It offers a more sweeping vision of government’s place in society, in which the individual depends on the state at every stage of life, and no decision — personal, educational, entrepreneurial, sexual — can be contemplated without the promise that it will be somehow subsidized by Washington."

The scary thing is, there are A LOT of Americans out there who want this, who want Uncle Obama as Uncle Sugar giving them their candy and basically leading a life of comfortable slavery.  Not really that funny after all.

MM's First Round

A couple Sundays ago, in preparation for my family's annual golf tournament, I took MM over to Encanto to hit some golf balls and putts.  We ended up at the Short Nine.  I didn't plan to actually play the course but it was clear when we pulled up and I thought why not.  It would be MM's first round of golf. 

I rented a cart so she could make it the whole way.  She was most interested in washing the balls and setting the ball up on the tee than in hitting or putting.  She had a lot of fun riding in the cart.  The holes with stars were ones where she helped Daddy extra.  It was a special day, one maybe she'll remember.  I have vivid memories of playing with just my dad (including him driving over my foot with the cart once).

ASU Spring Game

Saturday 4/21 Coach, Zach, my dad, and I drove out to Tempe for the Sun Devils' spring game.  I was anxious to see the team, new coach, and new system in place after reading about it in the paper.

The verdict:  the team isn't great on either side of the ball but not terrible either.  The offense showed some flashes but had its share of problems, while the D was solid at points but also gave up some plays.  The running backs looked quite strong, and that was without Cameron Marshall, who's recovering from surgery.  I liked QB Mike Bercovici from last year, when he was the back-up.  Although he might not fit in Coach Graham's offense as much (which features running a QB), I think he's the right guy.  He possesses the intangibles and appears to be a leader.  A lot of folks are pulling for Michael Eubank, and he does have a lot of talent, but it's still raw.  Berco has a quick release and is very accurate.  He can move on bootlegs and should be serviceable enough on a few of the running plays.

Kicker Alex Garoutte remains a little too wobbly for my tastes, including on kick-offs.  The snapping and punt coverage was also weak.  Our own returns from punts and kick-offs was pretty good, but special teams might hurt us this year.

On the field after the game, when fans can mingle with the players, I was sure to tell all the guys I saw to beat UofA.  The team looks better disciplined and seems to be in better shape, so I'm hopeful on those counts.  It's going to be a bumpy year with so many new faces, but I feel good going into it.  I'm thinking 7-5.  GO DEVILS!

Pats Run 2012

Did the Pat's Run once again this year (my bib at left), and was pleased at the improved organization.  With a sold-out crowd of 28,000, it could've gotten out of hand, but the organizers and volunteers did a pretty good job of keeping people in the right place, in particular the starting corrals.  This year Featha came down to run.  I ran about my usual, just over 30 minutes.  One year I'll break the 30 min. mark.  Coach drove us out and seemed to have a good time.

We mingled with some of the Sun Devil football players aftward, including one of our favorites, former cornerback and now starting safety Alden "Terrence Trent" Darby.