Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

The power of music

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The question comes up often, maybe too often, in blog and forum memes: what super power would you want to have? When I’m not in the mood to play along with the invisible flying healing walking through walls program, I have said that I want the super power of being able to make music.

For those of you who were born with the gift of music, you might not appreciate that it does seem like a super power to me. Music has the power to inspire us, to reduce stress, and to enhance physical performance in workouts and competition. Even if you don’t believe there is sufficient scientific evidence (and truly, I don’t think there is), there is certainly no shortage of anecdotal evidence that music does indeed have powers.

The reason I am thinking about this should be somewhat obvious. 2009 has been a year of many losses to the entertainment world, and yesterday’s passing of Les Paul, musician and innovator, is a huge loss indeed.

I’m not old enough to have known much of Les Paul’s music, but I’m certainly familiar with the guitar that bears his name. I worked above a music store for a short time during high school, and I got to actually touch and attempt to play some very expensive guitars. Really, who didn’t secretly want to be a rock star (yeah, I know it’s more of a guy thing, but it’s definitely not exclusive to males). And part of that was the Fender Strat… or the Gibson Les Paul.

In reading some of the many tributes and articles for Les Paul, in general and music publications alike, one thing really struck me about his accomplishments. The awards and honors he had received over his long life included awards for music, inventing and broadcasting. How amazing to make a mark and a contribution in three different disciplines like that.

I love music. I have no gift for it. In spite of that, I have a solid body electric guitar that I can’t really play. It’s not a Les Paul or any flavor of Gibson, but that’s ok. Tomorrow no one will be home to hear me play it badly, so play it I will.

RIP Les Paul. Thank you for your creations that gave to so many the super power of music.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 14 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 202 of 274)

Small update: show dog heat stroke deaths

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Thanks to Di for this update. Mary Wild’s arraignment was scheduled for yesterday, August 12. According to the Jefferson County public court records, Ms. Wild waived formal arraignment and criminal setting scheduled for September 15.

Contact information for the Jefferson County prosecutor’s office is still available at Kinship Circle. Help make sure that this crime is punished with the maximum penalty allowable.

Links to earlier posts on this topic (some contain links to news stories if you are just now hearing about this):
Killer heat: don’t let it get you and yours
Update: show dog heat stroke deaths
Update: more on show dog heat stroke deaths

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 13 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 201 of 274)

Safe Haven

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I know this isn’t a current events blog, so I promise I’ll get back to the dogs and computers after just one more local news post. I saw this on the news tonight:

Baby Found In Garbage Can On Southwest Side

I am so glad this baby will probably be fine, but there were already some cases earlier this year where abandoned babies were not so lucky. With all 50 states and the District of Columbia now having some form of a Safe Haven Law, which allows for the anonymous safe relinquishment of infants to designated Safe Haven providers, usually including hospitals, fire stations, and police stations, it is hard for me to believe that anyone would choose to leave even an unwanted baby in a garbage can.

We have had a Safe Haven Law in Illinois since 2001 and it was made permanent in 2005. The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation is the local organization that spearheaded the drafting and passage of Illinois’ law and all of the information about our law is on their website. Still, there are people who are either unaware of the law or do not believe it is truly without consequences. I am not an A-list and maybe not even a Z-list blog, but if this post’s links can make a few more people aware of Safe Haven Laws in Illinois or elsewhere, I’m good with that.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 8 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 196 of 274)

So it’s sorta social, demented and sad, but social

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So many of the words that have been written so far about John Hughes upon his death yesterday at the far-too-young age of 59 have been written by Gen-Xers who were in junior high school or high school when The Breakfast Club was released in 1985. I was nine years out of high school then, and maybe should have been too grown-up to care. But nine years isn’t nearly long enough to forget the hell that is high school. So much of the movie, and Hughes’ other teen flicks, still rang true to me both then and now.

You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That’s the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning.

I never really considered myself truly a part of any group in high school. In hindsight, it was a defense against being rejected. I spent a lot of time making sure I was accepted by everyone, but never really trying to become truly a part of any one group. I really didn’t care (or at least I didn’t think I cared) to be embraced by any group, I just wanted everyone to accept me and not give me any trouble. I probably still do that now.

So yeah, this part really spoke to me, and again, both then and now:

You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain… and an athlete… and a basket case… a princess… and a criminal. Does that answer your question?

It’s obviously true. If there wasn’t something of every so-called group in me, my strategy wouldn’t have worked, would it? But enough about my demented and sad, but social, past and present.

As I’ve mentioned before, I will watch just about anything filmed in either of my two hometowns, even if it sucks. Thankfully, John Hughes’ movies didn’t suck. I always loved that he set most of his films in his home and mine, Chicago and the nearby suburbs. And even more so, that he lived here, rather than in Hollywood, even during the height of his success. Chicago and the north shore suburbs were really showcased well, and we always had fun either accidentally or on purpose finding the locations in the movies.

Given the name of this blog, I have to also express my appreciation for the decent amount of on-screen time given to Rottweilers in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Christmas Vacation. Freya and Axel say a big arf-ing “thank you!”

Hughes’ death might be the 2009 celebrity death that affects me the most. Please forgive me for being extremely lame and re-quoting probably the most-quoted Hughes movie line of the last couple of days (from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), because it’s just too true:

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

RIP John Hughes, and RIP to just a little more of my wasted youth.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 7 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 195 of 274)

Hiroshima

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HiroshimaRuinsLarge
Sixty-four years ago today, the world’s first atomic bomb attack devastated Hiroshima and changed… everything.

I’m not here to say whether or not it was necessary then. Or whether or not nuclear weapons are necessary in today’s world. I’m not a historian and this is not a political blog. And frankly, I’m not sure I really know the answer.

Even though some of my ancestors were originally from Hiroshima, my parents were born in the United States, and so was I. The connection is distant, so I won’t pretend it means more than it does, even on this day. But when many years ago, my brother and uncle were trying to research the family tree, it was still an odd feeling to realize that there are some things we can never find out about that part of the family since the records were totally lost.

I was 18 years old when I visited Japan. There are many things about that trip that are almost lost in my memories after more than 30 years. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum is not one of those lost things. A section of the main exhibit area holds artifacts from that day, all items belonging to young people of junior high and high school age who died in the blast or shortly thereafter. Young people, the same age or younger than I was then, who never got the chance to grow up. I don’t think I can ever forget that.

(Public domain photo from The Manhattan Project: An Interactive History – The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima)

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 6 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 194 of 274)