Sometimes I'm forced to work in some fairly undesirable (high crime rate) areas. Despite people living in crappy shacks for houses, they seem to drive some expensive cars. Maybe it's just a different set of priorities than I have, but it's strange to see a house devoid of any upkeep, and have a BMW in the driveway. Sure people can spend their money however they want, but I figure patching that hole in your roof would be an immediate concern.
Another thing I've noticed: a lot of really rich people get lost and end up in the Whittier area. I'm not talking "Friendly Hills Rich", I'm talking "Way the Fuck Rich." A few weekends ago, we left my parents house to go out for dinner at a restraunt and I saw a 911 Turbo driving down the parkway.
"Dude, Spyglass is on the other side of the freeway."
In just this last week, right outside the "Chicken Ranch" section of south Whittier (the aforementioned undesirable area), I've seen a Maserati convertible, an Acura NSX, and a Jaguar Xk8 (?). Parked outside my aprtment was another NSX. Sure they were lost. Because nobody around here can afford a car around $100K. While uptown Whittier isn't exactly impoverished, I really didn't expect to see an Aston Martin DB7 driving down Painter Ave (why somebody gets an $150,000 car in powder blue is beyond me).
Expect a recall on those GPS navigation systems.
Congratulations to my niece, Madison, who's team won the gold medal.
Yet another super-duper special extra scene added feature edition. At least the format is better.
With my usual weekend hockey games taking a break, I got my fill with three great NHL All Star games on ESPN Classics, catching a replay of the first USA gold medal at the World Junior Championship, watching "Miracle" for the the first of many times, plus the 2004 skills comp and All Star game.
"Miracle" is really a good movie and Brendi and I both noticed that the kids in the theatre loved the movie, but not the way the dad's did. Anytime a critical scene was coming up all you had to do was look around and see the adult men were all choked up. Grown men, as still as can be, tears forming in their eyes.
Sounds petty, I know. But every once in a while, something as trivial as a sporting event, a music festival, or a protest can make an entire people feel together. There is no way I can relate to a music fan who attended Woodstock. Nor can I say I know what it would feel like being in a march, hearing Martin Luther King Jr. deliver one of his powerful speeches.
I was only 7 years old. It was my first time watching the Olympics. Being home, sick with the flu, I watched everything I could. Eric Heiden kicked everyones butt, I swore bobsledding was "cool," and I saw hockey for the first time. I remember watching that game and jumping up and down on my bed, but it was only later that I realized how great an upset it was. It was like your high school JV team beating the Super Bowl champs. No, it was bigger than that.
The political climate of the time was important as well. People one generation younger than me have no idea what it felt like being in a cold war. Sure, Conflict and Crass may give a sense of what it was about, but knowing that the Reds were evil is different.
I love the way SI didn't put a letter of text on the cover. The emotion is in the photo.
My niece sent me 25 reasons she is proud to be Canadian. It's a great list but #12 was the best:
12. Canada has the largest French population that never surrendered to Germany.