Angela's Ashes

I was at Borders the other day, and I happened on the memoir by Frank McCourt called Angela's Ashes. I had heard of McCourt, but I had never read any of his writings (he recently passed away). Anyway, this was an excellent book, and I wanted to recommend it to anyone that is looking for a good read for the end of summer.

The narrative of his childhood in Brooklyn and Limerick, Ireland is funny, heartbreaking and thought provoking. While my childhood had little in common with the Frankie who grew up in abject poverty, I found myself relating to how he described his interactions with "grown-ups."

Also, I have now entered the exclusive club of Tates who have seen Wicked. Leilani and I saw it in San Francisco, and we both thought it was great. "Not as good as Phantom, but great" were Loni's words. I thought pretty much the same. The Orpheum theatre is where we saw it, and it is in that pretty rough neighborhood of San Fran that borders the Tenderloin District. The theatre itself is a nice venue, but I think it would be fun to see it on Broadway in the future.

Some of Those Thoughts I Was Supposed to be Writing About...

I've read back through my blog and too many posts have been of a political nature. My sister-in-law and step-mom keep blogs that include posts about life and events with the family, and I'm always grateful for the updates. So here is my update:

I recently returned from Washington D.C., and it was a great trip. I spent the first night with the Beynon clan out in Fairfax, VA and it was good times! Zach and Darbee are up to three kids now, and each one is growing so fast. Darbee told me that hanging out with her energetic bunch is a good form of birth control. I told her that between her beautiful kids and my adorable nieces, I think that I've got a look at how much of a blessing kids can be. Anyway, we went to the White House and hung out at one of the local sandwich shops on day one.

The next day Leilani arrived and we headed to some dive hotel near DuPont Circle that the Army had set her up with called the Ritz-Carlton. Don't worry folks, we paid the government rate; so a big shout out to all you tax payers out there:) Leilani was there in part for business, so I took half of one day to marvel at some of the sights. I then took the amazingly clean and efficient metro out to the Pentagon and met Loni for lunch. A brief update on Loni's life: She has recently become the Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General for Army Intelligence Command. I know, that's a lot to fit on a business card. I'm really proud of her, and you should see her in action at work. She's also recently found out that she will be moving to Ft. Belvoir, VA and I'm jealous that she gets to go to such a beautiful state.

Some highlights from the rest of the trip. We went to the Kennedy Center to watch a performance by the National Symphony. It is a beautiful building, but I have to say that Abravenal Hall in SLC is every bit as nice on the inside as the KC's performance auditorium. The musicians were incredibly talented, but I have to confess that I nodded off in the middle of one of Mendelssohn's pieces. A humorous part of any symphony performance is watching the guys in the percussion section. They stand up, hit a drum a couple times, then call it a night. I'm sure those guys wish they could be in a recording for the Star Trek soundtrack, they know how to use a drum in space movies. Later that night we had an amazing dinner at the restaurant inside the Ritz.
One of the best parts of the trip was going to the National Mall at night. Loni and I walked past the Vietnam Memorial on our way to the Lincoln Memorial, and it was very moving. The Lincoln was spectacular, and there were lots of little details that make the monument interesting. I did have to shake my head in mild disgust at one point though. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is etched in stone on one side of the memorial; however, I overheard a parent explaining to his young son that it was the Constitution. I was tempted to correct him, or slap him on the back of the head, but I held my tongue. Hopefully the young lad's teachers will pick up where the Dad fell short.

Another highlight was our trip to Mount Vernon. I can sense Leilani's eyes rolling as I recount historical field trips as "highlights," but at least I had a ball. Gen. George Washington was an amazing man in so many respects, and to see the desk where he made some of the most meaningful decisions in history was a humbling experience. They also have a great museum there that includes a display of some of Washington's dentures.
Final story from the trip. I was supposed to leave on Monday to get back to Vegas. Zach was nice enough to drive me to the airport, and I gratefully accepted. Before we started driving, Zach looked down and noted that we would need to stop for gas. Well, we started driving, and then Zach got sidetracked talking about how awesome I am. Then, about two miles from the airport the car starts to sputter and we spent the next little bit waiting for Acura's roadside assistance. Southwest didn't have another flight out that night, so we head back to Casa de la Beynon for night number two. It all worked out for the best; we headed out to see some waterfalls the next day and I got to hang out with some of my favorite people for another day.

Other than that, I can't think of what anyone would like to know. I'm still at Stryker (sans the tuition reimbursement), I finish grad school in December (can't wait!) and I'll be heading to Hawaii for work in June. I'm also starting to workout more like I used to. I want to lose weight, get stronger and all that business, but mainly, I just want Steve to post on his blog how proud he is like he did for Amanda.

Good times and Go Utes and Dodgers!

No Question, Utah is the National Champion

This is from Rick Reilly on espn.com. My favorite article on the subject thus far.

Some gifts people give are pointless: Styling mousse to Dick Vitale. An all-you-can-eat card to Kate Moss. The BCS Championship given to Oklahoma or Florida.

It means nothing because the BCS has no credibility. Florida? Oklahoma? Who cares? Utah is the national champion.

The End. Roll credits.

Argue with this, please. I beg you. Find me anybody else that went undefeated. Thirteen-and-zero. Beat four ranked teams. Went to the Deep South and seal-clubbed Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The same Alabama that was ranked No. 1 for five weeks. The same Alabama that went undefeated in the regular season. The same Alabama that Florida beat in order to get INTO the BCS Championship game in the first place.

FIND ME ANYBODY ELSE THAT WENT UNDEFEATED. THIRTEEN-AND-ZERO. BEAT FOUR RANKED TEAMS. WENT TO THE DEEP SOUTH AND SEAL-CLUBBED ALABAMA IN THE SUGAR BOWL.

Yeah, that's how it is now in the shameful, money-grubbing world of college football. If you're Florida and you beat Alabama, you get a seat in the title game. If you're Utah, you get a seat on your sofa.

Hey, remind me: What do they give out for one of those BCS things anyway? It's been so long since I cared. Something from Sears? This is the sixth year in the past 10 that the title has been in dispute under this cash-grab, fan-dis, monopoly that the BCS has created. Which is why the title game just doesn't matter anymore. It's like being named Miss Ogallala. Or Best Amish Electrician.

Just take a look at the teams that think they're worthy of being called national champs:

USC? Great year. Wonderful. Let's all go to SkyBar and celebrate. But it lost to Oregon State, a team Utah beat.

Texas? Lost to Texas Tech, which lost to Ole Miss, which lost to Alabama, which Utah crushed.

Florida and Oklahoma? They lost. Utah never did.

So that's it. Utah is the national champion. The Utes should probably have two now, actually. They went undefeated in 2004, too, and their coach still thinks they were the best team in the land. Smart fella named Urban Meyer. Coaches Florida now.

By the way, we're calling our title the "national" championship because it actually includes the whole nation­—all 119 Division I schools—unlike the BCS, which includes 66. Yeah, the BCS somehow eliminated the middleman—the NCAA. The conferences these schools play in take their dump trucks full of cash straight from the TV networks and fairness can go suck a lemon.

Nettie Tien

The Utes won't get the trophy they really deserve, so we gave them one of our own design.

Do me a favor. Call Ohio State president Gordon Gee and ask him why he won't support a playoff. He's one of the most powerful presidents in the NCAA. He could get it done. If he says anything other than, "We don't want to share the loot" then you know he's lying his bow tie off.

"This is not how we normally do things in America," says Utah president Michael Young. "In America, quality usually wins, not conspiracy. And there's a reason people usually enter into a conspiracy. It's money. You make money doing it. And those that are in on the conspiracy want to stay in and keep everybody else out."

Sure, BCS blowhards will hand you schlock about how the college football season is like a playoff, how it's an elimination tournament every week. Really? Well, how come Florida and Oklahoma weren't eliminated with their losses? Utah ran the table, beat everybody set in front of them, including Ala-damn-bama in no less than the Sugar Bowl, and gets the bagel.

Oh, by the way? It was Utah's eighth straight bowl win, the nation's longest streak. Among the losers during that run? Let's see USC, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, and now the legendary Houndstooth Hats.

"What else do we have to prove?" asks Utah's magical quarterback, Brian Johnson. Good question. He and the Utes essentially whipped Alabama at home. Handed Nick Saban a garlic necklace to wear the entire off-season. Stepped on his team's neck 21-0 in the first three possessions and never looked back. Let's see. Who was it that was losing to Alabama until nearly six minutes into the fourth quarter? Oh, yeah. Florida.

What, you want the Utes to win a spelling bee? Make a prize-winning souffle? Knock up Angelina Jolie? What?

It just slays me. It really does.

Call Myles Brand, president of the asleep-at-the-wheel NCAA, and ask him if he and his greedy presidents are going to stand in defiance of president-elect Barack Obama, who wants a playoff and wants it yesterday.

Ask Brand what he's going to do if Obama starts asking the Justice Department to look into anti-trust hearings against the BCS. Or the Department of Education to consider withholding federal funds from these schools that have entered into this secret club called the BCS. You don't think playing in the title game means millions in general-fund donations for a school? That's as unfair as anything Title IX fought against.

Until all these people do the right thing, I'll be celebrating with the true national champions—the undefeated, untied Utah Utes. (Our new slogan: Utahk about a team!)

Lemonades for everybody!

More Political Thought

I hope for Barack Obama's success as our next President. I believe he is a man of conviction and ability; with a story that is inspirational. President-elect Obama's achievements will translate to our achievements as a nation.
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In order to have a successful Presidency, it is my belief that Obama cannot live up to many of his campaign promises. The expansion of government for the sake of the welfare of it's citizens is a socialist tenant. I had a debate with a fellow student at UMass about this subject (Jason). There are few things more enjoyable to me than to have a meaningful discussion with someone who is informed on the issues. We have fundamental disagreements, but I respect a person who maintains a belief system built from knowledge, as opposed to rigid ideology. One of Jason's assertions was that the United States is destined to follow the model of Western Europe. The nations that make up the European Union have a adopted a system that can best be described by two words that seem an ill fit: democratic socialism. The European nations hold free and fair elections, but operate under an economic system that has the lofty goal of the well-being of all. Jason claimed that this European system was an evolution, a higher state of living that Americans would soon enjoy. My rebuttal was that this country was founded on a belief that European systems were outdated and oppressive. I argued that the industrialized world has followed America's lead, rather than vice-versa. Capitalism and representative democracies have flourished as economic and government systems all over the world. Free markets are destined to go through corrective periods, and we're certainly in one now. However, adding more government and bureacracy to the equation makes the cure worse than the disease.
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I have found that the trouble with my liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that simply isn't so. There are many reasons that socialism has failed at every turn, in every nation where it has been enacted. Those who would trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state claim to have a Utopian solution. What these well-meaning people fail to recognize is the destruction of man's motivation. This country has become the most powerful force in the history of the world as a direct result of free market principals, not in spite of them. Democratic capitalism is not an oxymoron, the two go hand in hand and each is necessary for the other's survival. Imagine being able to talk with an ancestor from the past. Imagine being able to tell him or her that you live in a land where the only limitations on what you can achieve are those you place on yourself. That there is a democratic system of government and the equitable application of the law. The ideals that many have yearned for, fought for and died for are in place for us.
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The flaws in the belief system of the Obama, Reid and Pelosi triumvirate are glaring. Growing government organizations only adds to bureaucracy, not to the general welfare of it's citizens. I believe that there needs to be safety nets for the truly needy, but we already have those safeguards. Growing the number of people who rely on the government for their well-being creates a class of citizenry that is the polar opposite of what the founding fathers envisioned. Are we so lacking in common sense that we can't see that government programs are almost without exception inferior to private sector solutions? I am against forcing American citizens into compulsory government programs, such as a national retirement account run by another new agency. Democratic Congressional leaders have asked for testimony on abolishing the 401K in favor of a pot of money that everyone contributes to. Does this ring familiar? It should.

As for foreign policy. I have had my reservations and frustrations with the Iraq war, but that doesn't give our newly elected leaders the right to pull our troops from the war in defeat. It is interesting that the war has an approval rating below 30%, but at it's start the approval rating was close to 75%. Part of the disenchantment is the fault of defense department bureaucrats and Bush Administration spokespeople who promised a quick and tidy war. Thank God John McCain put whatever political capital he had left behind the successful "surge" strategy and General Patreus. The mistakes of the Iraqi war notwithstanding; America's best chance for a victory over Islamic extremism is to push for peace through strength. That is the hard way, to earn a peace through facing down an enemy that views our ideals and way of life as an abomination. There is an easy way to peace; we could all enjoy peace right now if we only surrendered to the demands of extremists who command the conversion of the infidel. If we have the courage to tell our elected leaders that we want our national policies to be based on what we know is morally right, we can't go wrong. The road to peace comes from the courage to show our enemies that there is a point beyond which they will not advance, there is a price we will not pay.

I have faith in us. I have faith that you and I have the ability, the dignity and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny. I believe that America is still that shining city on the hill that President Reagan described, and if that is jingoistic, I am guilty. Republicans would do well to listen to the speeches of Reagan and Democrats would do well to listen to JFK. I sincerely hope that Barack Obama's advisers will steer him to a centrist position, and not let him inflict the damage that a hard left agenda would inevitably bring.

I was cited for contempt today

Here is the story. Most of you have been to my house, and know that my garage is in the back. A couple of weeks ago, they painted a red strip all along the shared driveway and called it a fire lane. One morning, I needed to load a heavy box into my truck, so I pulled it up to my garage. I loaded the box, and then went inside to get my laptop, some sales pamphlets, etc. I come out 10-15 minutes later, and there is a parking ticket on the windshield. The ticket is for $250, but that's not even the best part. The parking ticket was issued at 4:15AM!!!!!

So, I went down for my hearing today. I was sitting in the small court room, listening to my fellow citizens come in and beg for leniency. They were getting 20-30% knocked off their ticket amounts. Well, my turn came up, and I got ready to tee off like Tiger Woods before a drive. Here is what I said, verbatim, from the court records:

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Your Honor, I have neighbors who are in law enforcement, and I have neighbors who make a living practicing law. All of them gave me suggestions for how I could get this ticket reduced, and some believed that I could have it wiped out completely with the right argument. I am not going to heed any of their advice, however, because I want to make a plea to the City of Las Vegas for some common sense. Knowing that your enforcement agents are roaming middle-class neighborhoods before the crack of dawn to give parking tickets is very unsettling to me. Half of the homes in my neighborhood are vacant due to foreclosure, and to levy exorbitant fines on the people who are left is immoral and wrong. I would be embarrassed, your honor, to even be associated with an agency that carried the mission of "let's see how many people we can make miserable today." (right here I received a warning from the Marshal/bailiff to wrap it up) The amount of the fine, I continued, is bad enough, but the process for the dispute borders on an organized criminal effort on the part of the city. I have a job where I can set my own schedule, bu I know the city counts on no-shows who can't take 3-4 hours from work to come down here and wait for judgment. I'm sure an actuary has studied how much the city can increase it's revenues by holding hearings only in the middle of the day on Tuesdays and Fridays.
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Judge: your objection to our city's way of doing business is noted, I am going to cite you for the full amount since, by your own admission, you were parked in an illegal zone.
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Me: Your Honor, I want to reassert my opinion that this agency exists for no other reason than to extort money from the people of Las Vegas.
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Judge: That is the second time you have accused this court of having nefarious motives, and this one brings with it a contempt fine of $50. (slams gavel once)
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Me: Your Honor, who would I appeal this decision to?
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Judge: Me
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Me: Okay, I appeal your decision
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Judge: Denied (another gavel)
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At this point, the Marshal came to lead me out of the room by the arm, and I was sent into the room with the cashier to pay my citation. I paid the ticket, and the $50 contempt fine, but I felt like my fellow parking victims were with me. I got a few smiles and thumbs up on my way out. The $50 was worth it.

I was supposed to attend a rally for Sarah Palin in Henderson, NV yeseterday, but I had to drive out to Kingman, AZ for business instead. I have heard that it was a zoo trying to get into the venue, so maybe it was just as well. I imagine it is the last time Caribou Barbie will pass through the state, but maybe there will be another chance down the line. With the immense response she has received from the base of the Republican party, she might be tagged to run on the top of the ticket next time.

The national polls are continuing to look more and more grim for Senator McCain, but as Tina Fey said: "Polls are just a fancy way of systematically predicting what's gonna happen." It looks increasingly likely that Barack Obama will be our next President, but that doesn't worry me. I am a strong John McCain supporter, but I don't view Obama as a threat to our nation or as someone who will appoint terrorists as advisors (just a sample of what I've heard during the course of the campaign). What has me concerned is the likelihood that radical Democrats in Congress will be assuming leadership positions with nearly absolute power. The Democrats in the Senate are likely to achieve a 60 member majority which will overpower any attempt at a filibuster; while the House is set to see a massive number of newly elected Dems. Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi are going to take this country in directions that scare the hell out of me. Massive redistribution of wealth, stifling corporate and personal taxes, environmental extremism, a weakened national defense, a paradigm shift in foreign policy, ramped up social programs that are already unsustainable, the list goes on. These aren't right wing conspiracies, this is based of their voting record which is available for everyone to review online.

I realize these are tough times, and that many people are hurting from a bad economy that is shedding jobs at an alarming rate. However, the move toward socialism that is the vision of hard-left Democrats is hardly the solution. Capitalism has brought a higher standard of living to more people than any economic system in the history of the world. Sen. Waters actually stated in a Senate hearing, for the record, that if she had her way, she would socialize the oil companies. The potential for disaster under a very liberal President and Congress is evident. Our leaders should not be looking to European systems as examples, but that is exactly what they're doing. I have a genuine concern for what is going to happen to our country with very liberal leaders. Our government is at it's best when we have a strong two party system, so that they can check each other from going to far in one direction.

It's important to note that the United States is not a true democracy, but rather, a representative republic. This is a very important distinction. Because we elect representatives to speak on our behalf, it is important for voters to be educated on the issues that the candidate supports. I fear that many voters in this country have no idea what the issues are, but are simply asking for change.

My mind is jumping from topic to topic, and I'll have to save some of what I'm thinking for other posts. However, I did want to share a text message my good friend from Philly sent me:

How do you piss off a liberal?

Get a job, take responsibility for your own life, and be happy!

College football teams around the country have different ways of intimidating opponents. Down at LSU they have the visiting team exit by Mike the Tiger, a full grown bengal tiger who inevitably roars and claws at the cage when the opposing team runs out of the tunnel. In Florida a large crowd surrounds the visiting buses as they pull up to the stadium and chants "gator bait, gator bait" as they exit. Iowa uses a more pacifying approach, they have painted the visiting locker room pink. Everything in the room is pink, from the benches to the toilets.

Ever since reading Dante's Divine Comedy, I have wanted to petition the University of Utah to put a large sign about the tunnel of the visiting locker room. One that reads:
THROUGH ME, THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY;

THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO GRIEF ETERNAL...

ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE.

A bit melodramatic? Maybe. But, I think it would be a nice way to welcome the enemy for the day from other schools. What do you think fellow Ute fans? How would you enhance the intimidation factor at our stadium?