My MacBook 2006 - 2012

A friend noted recently that I tend to post obituaries on here when I actually get around to posting.  So, I thought I would live up to that trend.

My trusty MacBook died yesterday.  It was the first Mac I ever owned and it served me well.  Through several states, many campaigns and hours and hours of work.  When I got it I taught myself how to use it and how to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop all the same weekend so I could design mail for political campaigns.  Those first days, like so many in a relationship, were fun and exciting yet still lacking in a total trust.  So much so that I kept a p.c. for another year.  I even went back to a p.c. for a while - cheating I guess - and of course regretted it as anyone would. 

If you look at the picture above, you can see the tape that had been holding the case together and keeping the dust out.  The mouse pad no longer worked quite right and I couldn't even upgrade most of the software on it.  Maybe that makes me cheap - I prefer frugal by the way - but I just couldn't bring myself to buy a new one when the old one still worked.

I'm now the owner of a shiny new MacBook Pro.  It's nice and fast and pretty - but I have to admit I miss my old Mac.

Happy Super Tuesday

It's Super Tuesday in Oklahoma, though not too exciting for us Democrats. Today I'm really thinking back to the first time I really paid any attention to the multi-state voting day in 1988. That was the year I backed Al Gore for President. Why? My Grandmother is the reason.

You see, she was old enough to have voted for Oklahoma Senator Thomas Gore, a distant relative of Al Gore (and Gore Vidal for that matter) so that meant our family was gonna be for Gore.

I was pretty excited to have backed the winner - that night Gore won Oklahoma along with Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Nevada and Tennessee. Ultimately of course he lost to Mike Dukakis, but it made me an Al Gore fan for life.

I haven't really had as exciting an experience on Super Tuesday since. I guess your first is always memorable, huh?

Happy New Year

To everyone with whom I shared 2011 - in Oklahoma, New York, Connecticut, Montana and Florida - thanks for making it an amazing and memorable year.

I hope you have a safe New Year's Eve celebration and wish you all the best for a healthy, joyful and prosperous 2012.

Tony Curtis 1925 - 2010

Esquire magazine has reposted their great "What I've Learned" interview with Tony Curtis. At his passing, this is a great read and a reminder of what a larger-than-life character he was. Check it out, it's worth your time.

My favorite, or at least cleanest, quote is below.

When I left the Navy, I used the GI Bill to get into the Dramatic Workshop, which was located at the President Theatre on Forty-eighth Street. Walter Matthau and Harry Belafonte were students there, too. We were all just trying to make it. Later on, I went out to California, and good things started happening for me. When I came back to New York to do a promotion for City Across the River, they gave me a suite at the Sherry-Netherland and a huge black limo. I took it around to show my buddies in the Bronx and then went by the Dramatic Workshop. It was a terrible, rainy afternoon, and who do I see out in front? Walter Matthau. He's got a long, heavy coat on with a Racing Form sticking out of the pocket, and he's looking down at the gutter. Here I am in this nice, warm limo. And there he is, this grumpy guy surrounded by a cold, miserable world. The look on his face says, "What's ever going to happen for me? Nothin'!" So I tell the driver to pull alongside him and stop. Now Walter's watching the limo. I roll the window down, look at him, and say, "I f***** Yvonne De Carlo!" Then I roll the window back up in a hurry and tell the driver to get the hell out of there.

No, no, no, he wasn't mad! For years, Walter loved to tell that story at parties. He'd make it last twenty minutes.

We'll Miss You Bob - We Really Will

Admit it - you've made fun of Bob Barry's OU football broadcast.

No, it isn't nice and no, we shouldn't make fun of him, but we've all done it. Nothing can be more frustrating than a crucial play during a critical game and you're stuck in the car, for reasons passing understanding, and have to listen to the radio broadcast.

But now comes the news that this will be Bob's last season. Soon we won't hear his spotters clearly trying to correct him as he gives us the wrong player names. We won't hear him mix up the downs and we won't ever hear Merv Johnson utter his immortal line "He really did Bob, he really did" after some commentary from Bob.

Just the same, we also won't hear his unbridled enthusiasm. His excitement when we gain a big first down, make a huge completion or Stoops runs one of his trick plays. We'll never hear him fumble over calling the yardage and players and finally just yell "TOUCHDOWN OKLAHOMA!".

TV broadcasts are supposed to be neutral but home school radio is partisan. It has always been and it should always be. It's for the fans and we want someone who is pulling for our guys. Bob may not have been at his best over the last few years, and he has frustrated me on more than one occasion, but he's fun. He's real and he's ours.

Now Bob, heads off into Sooner lore as another of the many legend's we'll pass along to future fans. Thanks Bob for all you've done and the pure love of sports you have shared with generation after generation. We appreciate it and no matter the jokes, we will miss you.

Happy 80th Sean Connery

My favorite James Bond, Sir Sean Connery, turns 80 today. He has taught many a man how to be cool, look good and act like a gentleman. For my money, nothing better than Goldfinger or From Russia With Love.

Sadly he chose his birthday to announce his complete retirement from on-screen roles. He leaves many remarkable films for us to remember him by, but it is sad to know there will never be another movie in which to see him.

D-Day June 6, 1944

The photo of the cemetery in Normandy shows just some of those who gave their lives in order to pass freedom on to future generations. They were part of Operation OVERLORD, known to us today as D-Day, and began the end of the Nazi war machine.

In our busy lives, we should give a brief thanks for those who served in war so we might not have to do so.

Happy Birthday Pete

I want to wish my friend Pete Liesenfeld a Happy 34th Birthday. I'll share in his embarrassment with the photo above from back in 1992 when we were both in the Norman High School Band. All these years later he still puts up with me...

Happy Birthday Mom!

I'm smart enough not to mention her age, but I do want to wish her a Happy Birthday today. The picture above is from her birthday party last year at Blu in Norman.

Happy Father's Day

I'm a little late posting this, but still wanted to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day. We had a pretty low-key celebration. We got him a dvd player - his request - as he is now on Netflix. Does it all himself. The man emails, reads more news than me and shops online - all at 76! Next up, facebook...

Happy 50th Ben Odom!

I want to wish my good friend, Ben Odom, a happy 50th birthday! I met Ben seventeen years ago at Boys State where he was one of the instructors and I was but a young delegate. He may have wished it didn't happen, but I'm sure glad to have had him as a friend, counselor and mentor all these years.

Here's to many more Ben!