45 Minutes At Border's

Last night was Soccergirl’s Brownie Scout meeting. Nothing unusual in that, other that a slight change of routine. After her dinner of leftover Spaghetti, we headed to the designated meeting place, where the ever efficient troop leader said hello, and “check your email. I sent you something this afternoon”. With that, I was dismissed from the world of women and girls. I would have ninety whole minutes to myself!

Bliss.

I decided to go over to the café at our local Border's book store and read... and people watch. I toke notes, of course, because, hey!... I'm a blogger, and I’m weird like that.

Upon arrival at Border’s, I took a quick spin through the Science Fiction section to see if there was anything new on the shelves since Saturday. There wasn’t, so I proceeded straight to the café with my book. I made camp at one of the tables in the recently renovated seating area, and took stock of the people sitting in my immediate area: There were two guys playing chess, who were taking it awfully seriously (they had a clock and everything). These guys didn’t look like they date much, but what do I know? There was a guy in his mid-thirties who was with a young girl of about 4; they were looking at a children’s magazine together. There were a couple of uncouth young men who didn’t have the decency to take off their hats indoors (which really bugs me), one of who was reading a sports magazine, while the other was reading PC Utilities magazine. There was a man in his 40’s who was reading a fishing magazine… and taking copious notes from it. There was a woman in her mid-thirties who was copying recipes from several cookbooks.

NOTE: Does anyone else think that this is a poor practice? It irritates me when people treat bookstores like libraries, taking books from the shelves, using them for homework, or research, with absolutely no intention of buying anything. Worse, these thrice-damned clods don’t even have the grace to put the books back on the shelves.

Anyway, there is a young woman, of about 21 years, sitting at the table directly in front of me, who is eating a huge burrito. The burrito is so large, the young woman is sort of planting it on the table, holding it with both hands, and instead of picking it up, she is bringing her face to burrito-level to take bites from it. She also has a tattoo in the small of her back, which her ill-fitting shirt doesn’t cover. She pulled her shirt down at least six times in the last 15 minutes. Take note, sweetheart: If you don’t want to bare your midriff, wear clothes that fit!

There are two people sitting behind me who have met here in order for the man to talk to the woman about her resume. He is some sort of resume wizard and she is an educated woman whose English isn’t as good as it might be, and he is helping her with her job search and CV.

Other patrons of the café include a couple of people hunched over their laptops and talking earnestly into their cell phones.

An aside, I realize that the purpose of the chairs here in the café is the comfort of the patrons, but I really don’t think that the people who came up with the whole comfort scheme meant that the earnest young fellow reading the computer magazine should have his bare feet tucked under him in the chair.

OK, the young woman with the burrito called it quits after eating only half of it. A good thing, too, because her boyfriend/study partner has arrived and gotten his lap top all set up for something. Not that this matters, because since his arrival, the young woman has received a steady stream of visitors, including one woman who I think was her mother… all while the guy sat there, ignored.

One thing is certain; the Border’s café is a fun place to watch people… even if it is a bit too noisy for my tastes.

At the appointed time, I took my book and headed for the exit. I had 15 minutes to get back and pick up Soccergirl. It was a beautiful night, and I drove with the windows down, listening to the radio. I got to the school just as the meeting ended.

Soccergirl said that she had a great time. I'm glad she did. I did, too.

A Rant, If I may

I'm going to say something unpopular today, and as much as I am loathe to give offense, some of what I say may offend some of you. Hold on tight.

Here is the thing: I'm getting a little tired of all the, what I call "veteran worship" going on these days. Although I think that our veterans are worthy of respect simply because in a society where fewer and fewer people are willing to serve their country in uniform, credit belongs to those "in the arena".

Our veterans are (mostly) good people who have given our country the benefit of their service, usually deriving no small benefit of their own from their military/naval experience. Indeed, where I work, you'll find that 80 percent of the men are veterans.

Our veterans have served their country in war, peace, "police actions", counter insurgencies, and wars that have no names. Our veterans have done things most Americans will never have to do... or even imagine having to do.

I come from a family of military men. My dad was a career soldier, as was my brother. My father-in-law is a navy veteran of combat in the pacific during World war Two.

I am proud to be a veteran, and proud of my fellow veterans.

What I am NOT proud of is listening to a bunch of @*#&%$* politicians simpering out how American soldiers are serving in Iraq to protect our freedoms, etc...

Our military men and women are being done a disservice by our country. While they are serving our country and fighting a war at the command of our government, this should not be misconstrued as fighting to protect my freedom... or yours. They have been ill-used by rascals and scoundrels of both major parties, for political reasons, and I am disgusted by it.

Most of my male friends are veterans. Soccergirl's Godparents are vetereans. I have friends that have served in Beirut, Lebanon, the first Gulf War, the Invasion of Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and fought Philippine rebels in the jungles (didn't hear about that one, did you?... well, none of them were to wear the Purple Heart medal for their combat wounds). Some of those friends are terribly embittered. Not because our country didn't fall over itself, kissing their asses when they got home, but because they realize that their efforts were frequently for nothing.... because they were ill-used by their government.

Oh sure... the rhetoric can be downright heart-breaking, with bumper stickers like: "If you value freedom, thank a vet" which is nice, but unless you are thanking a veteran of world war two, you are probably wasting your time. Our soldiers haven't fought to physically defend America since then.

Anyway... our veterans deserve better. Our active duty servicemen and women deserve better. They deserve better than being the wounded, maimed, fucked-up, political ponies that our politicians are making out of them.

It Was The Best of Times...

...It was the worst of times.

It was a time of joy, it was a time of sorrow. It was a time of sheer magnificence, it was a time of lazy indifference. It was a time of pride, and a time of disappointment.

It was a weekend of youth soccer in Suburbia.

On Saturday, soccergirls team (which I coach), The Dynamite, played a beautiful, and joyful hour of soccer, in which they defeated their opponents in a decisive 8 to 3 victory. Soccergirl had 3 goals, and she, as well as all of her teammates played with skill and verve and determination. They worked hard, and pulled together. They played as a team, they talked to each other, they passed the ball around, the took hard driving shots at the goal.

They were fearless. They were fierce.

As a coach, I was proud of their hard work, and quite pleased with the results. As a parent, I was near bursting with pride, watching my child play so well.

Saturday was a good day for the family.

Today, I was reminded of the 18th verse of the 16th chapter of Proverbs that says: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." What I mean by that scriptural reference is that I felt so good about how well we did yesterday, that I was unprepared for the ass-whooping we took today. We lost 3-0. Sure, the other team had to work for it, but to say that my girls played like CRAP wouldn't be an understatement.

They were bloody awful.

They were contact averse, they were taking their time on the field, they were kicking the ball in the WRONG DIRECTION. In short, they did everything the opposite of the way they did it the day before.

It was truly painful to watch. My goalies did a fine job. They worked hard and stopped lots of shots... unfortunately, there were just too many shots on goal allowed by the rest of the girls.

They ain't gonna be happy at practice Thursday, believe me.

Coach Gunfighter ain't havin' ANY of this crap next week!

USMC Silent Drill Platoon

Reader Soccer Mom In Denial asked me who these guys were... so I thought I would share.

The Silent Drill platoon is an infantry platoon that is part of the battalion that makes up the bulk of the Marines at Marine Barracks, Washington, DC. For the most part, all of the troops are ceremonial. There are two companies of infantry that comprise the "marching battalion", as well as The Drum & Bugle Corps, The Marine Band, Headquarters & Service Company, etc...

During the spring and summer, the battalion puts on two parades per week, in addition to any other ceremonies (eg, White House stuff or funerals at Arlington National Cemetery). These parades are the Sunset parade, held on Tuesday evenings at the Marine Memorial in Arlington and the Evening Parade, held Friday evenings on the quadrangle of the main barracks area.

The video below, is from a performance during a summertime Evening Parade.

Enjoy!

Oh, the area where the Marines are marching is only about 20 yards from the sign you saw on the earlier post, that says "Marine Barracks".

Remembrance of Things Past

I had planned to start this series a few weeks ago, but life had other plans. So here we are.

This series of posts will be about places that have either meant a lot to me, or I have at least found interesting enough to tell a story about during my now-twenty one years in the Washington, DC area.

I have been here since May of 1986, when I was assigned to the Marine Barracks located at 8th & I streets, Southeast, in Washington, DC. The Day I arrived in DC was an important one, as it has shaped the rest of my life.

After being assigned to DC and learning to love the place, I put down roots here and decided to stay here after my second enlistment was up (I had plan to make a career of the Marine Corps, but coming to DC spoiled me).

After the end of my first marriage, I lived in a few different places until I ended up here, on A street, southeast. I lived in a rather small apartment in this building, but my memories of this time are very happy, on the whole. While I lived here... I call it my time in the wilderness, I learned a little more about the grown-up me... I also learned to find joy in a spartan environment (no lie, my kitchen was smaller than the closet in our current walk-in closet.


Seen from the rear of the building, in this picture, my apartment was on the top floor on the corner. Yeah... pretty small, but since the building was under rent-control, I was only paying $600 a month! It was in a great neighborhood, that had an incredible amount of police protection (there were lots of members of Congress in the neighborhood).

You know what one of the other great things was about that apartment? It had really, really hot water, and incredible water pressure! Now, as a suburbanite who lives in an area where homes are being built, I have become used to less than thrilling water pressure, but after showering in my old apartment, your skin would actually tingle!

The other great thing about is something that I already mentioned. The neighborhood. The neighborhood was only 4 blocks from the main Library of Congress building, 5 blocks from the great Capitol Hill pubs that I used to haunt, like the Hawk n Dove, or Tunnicliff's Tavern and just 2 blocks from venerable, old Eastern Market.

Although I lived in this neighborhood during what could have been a real low point in my life, sorting through the train-wreck of my post-divorce life, I wasn't miserable. While living there my love for Washington, DC deepened. My love for urban living blossomed. I started to grow.

My apartment was a short walk from the Eastern Market Metro (subway) station, which I rode to and from work (and the gym, which was my main entertainment, since I was pretty much broke... but in great shape).

Eventually, things started to turn for me. I was promoted twice, and having a little more money allowed me to I start taking a bit more joy from my surroundings. Fastpitch and I would make day trips every other weekend, to the National Zoo, or the ride the carousel on the National Mall, or ride the metro out to Pentagon City mall.

The best thing that happened to me during this period, though, was that I met and successfully wooed, the person who would become Mrs Gunfighter.

I left that neighborhood when we got married, in 1994, and headed for the Virginia suburbs. In the intervening years, I went to work for a different agency and work in the Virginia 'burbs, I still have to go into the city from time to time, and when I do, I always drive through the old neighborhood.

It makes me happy.

My Surgical Diary (III)

I've seen the surgeon, this morning, and he has given me a clean bill of health! He removed my stitches, and is pleased with my recovery.

The part that you just read, took about 5-10 minutes of my appointment... we spent the next twenty minutes talking about rguby. Turns out that he is as rabid about it as I am.

Even better, as I was driving up to our house, the refrigerator delivery people were parking in front!

So, it is now 10:30, and the rest of my day is clear. I could go back to work... but I'm not!

Emmy Recap

Did you watch the Emmy Awards, Sunday night? No? Well, I did, so you didn't have to.

If you have been reading for awhile, you know that TV-wise, I love nothing so much as an award show... unless it is watching some skull-busting, hard-hitting rugby. So, last night, I got prepared, and settled in to watch the prime-time Emmy awards.

I'd like to state for the record that as much as I dislike Ryan Secrest, I give him credit for doing not only his radio show and American Idol, but this guy actually worked the Red Carpet for the pre-Emmy show. He might be an irritationg girly-man, but he gets full credit for the work ethic.

So Secrest starts the show right in time with some really stupid animated bit from some show I never watch... a little kid that talks like a sophisticated adult, and a talking dog. It was wasted on me.

The show is being presented in the round... it seems a little strange to me, but what the hell, right? It's television...

Secrest launches right into girly-man territory by talking fashion with Eva Longoria & Terry Hatcher... she of the phony relationship, and made-for-papparazzi kiss. They gush about designers in a weird way, before Secrest gets William Shatner in on the act. Mildly amusing, but let's move on.

Ryan introduces Ray Romano only four minutes into the show, as a presenter, but then Romano launches into some weird stand-up routine... 10 seconds of which is blanked out... dead air. It turns out he used the word "screw" while he was talking about his former costar, Patty Heaton's new show... geez.

So... stand-up routine finished they get to the first award at 8:11, with the award for Supporting actor in a comedy, which is won by Jeremy Piven, for Entourage. Good for him, but, to tell you the truth, I don't watch his show, nor do I watch the shows of the other nominees... so, whoopee!

Next, America Ferrera and Vanessa Williams present Best Supporting Actor in a drama. I care a bit more about this category, as William Shatner is nominated for his role of Denny Crane in Boston Legal... which is odd, because I never thought of that show as a drama... I mean, how could you? Anyway, Terry O'Quinn, from Lost gets the award. While O'Quinn gave his speech, the cameras cut to his wife at least three times... which worked well for me, because, while Terry O'Quinn might be a fine actor (and I wouldn't know since I have never seen Lost, his wife had spectacular rackage. Really! I need to throw in another aside here: America Ferrera looked great. I don't mean that in a "Oh-I-Loved-Her-Dress" kind of way. No, no. America was HOT!

Next up were Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Tina Fey presented Jamie Pressly with the Best Supporting Actress in a comedy for My Name Is Earl (Nope, I haven't seen that one, either... um, are you noticing a trend?)

By this time, things are moving quite well, it was 8:25, and things are moving right along. Kyle Chandler (whoever the hell he is) and Kathrine Heigl, presented the Best Supporting Actor in a movie or minisereis award to Thomas Hayden Church for Broken Trail... a western, which was apparently, really good. Nothing much to say here, except for the fact that the announcer mispronounced Heigl's name as "Hey-jel". Kathrine corrected the announcer ("actually, it's high-gull"), as soon as she got to the microphone.

Next was a commercial for Audi. Some crap trying to convince me that buying an Audi is smart because they are safe. NEWSFLASH: THERE ARE NO SAFE CARS. NONE.

INTERLUDE: TIME TO FOLD LAUNDRY (don't you love TiVo?)

Next, Ellen DeGeneres (whom I love) introduced a montage of political one-liners. Funny enough, but let's move on, shall we?

It's time for the Best Supporting Actress in a drama. Presenting the award to Kathrine Heigl (the chastened announcer pronounced it right, this time) are Eva Longoria and the cast of Entourage.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jon Cryer present the Best Writing for a comedy to the Conan O'Brien Show, before Christina Aguilera and Tony Bennett do an unlikely duet, singing "Steppin' Out" Now, you know me, folks: I'm not afraid to say something hurtful when I need to, and this is one of those times. You see, as much as I enjoy Tony Bennet's music, and I truly do, it is time for Mr Bennett to go away gracefully. He is 80 years old, and, God Bless him, he can't sing like he used to. No, I don't expect him to, since he is 80 years old... but some of last night's notes made it a little difficult for me to feel good about the performance. Take a bow, Tony, and bow out!

In a not very subtle segue, Tony Bennett, An American Classic won the next award (it was a big night for him). Alec Baldwin, wearing a white Dinner Jacket, presented the award for Best Director for a music or variety, to the assembled directors of Bennett's music special. Bennett's son made a speech, and when Tony started to ramble like a consufsed old man, they started the music and off they went.

Next up were Kiefer Sutherland and Ali Larter (who, like Debra Messing, is spectactularly flat-chested), with the award for Best Lead Actor in a miniseries or movie, which went to Robert Duvall, for Broken Trail. Duvall is one of my favorite actors, going all the way back to his great role as Colonel Kilgore, in Apocalypse Now, in 1979. Unfortunately, Mr. Duvall got a little long-winded while he talked about westerns and he got themusic, too. Bye Robert!

By now it is 10 minutes after 9, and I have to take another pause to fold laundry, while Ryan Secrest makes a Vanessa Hudgens joke.

Next, Queen Latifah introduces several members of the cast of the miniseries Roots, which is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this year. The cast will be presenting the award for Best Miniseries, but before they do, the cast members each speak briefly about what the show meant to them, or others... with the original music from the miniseries playing in the background. Louis Gossett, Jr. said that the whole experience of the miniseries was still moving for him. I have to report that seeing those film clips from Roots, along with the music was moving for me, too. Not as much for the subject matter but for the memories they evoked of a certain thirteen year old boy in Union, New Jersey, and how the miniseries made him feel, then.

I was in jr high school at the time, and for that entire week, all of the black kids in school were practically numb. I don't think I can adequately explain it right now. Someone remind me to revisit this soon, ok?

OK, so the cast of Roots presented the Best Miniseries award to Broken Trail... and Duvall got the music again.

After this, it was time for Neil Patrick Harris and Hayden Panitierre to give and award for something... I don't really remember what it was, to tell you the truth, my notes are handwritten, and a little less than neat. Anyway, the young Ms Panitierre is a beautiful child... but if you think I am going to use words like sexy or hot, in connection with her name, you are wrong. Why? because she is the same age as my oldest child. Your pal Gunfighter may be a little odd to some, but I don't perv like that!

Where was I?


Oh. Allen Taylor and David Chase won the awards for Best Director for a drama and Best Writing for a drama, respectively, for The Sopranos

Steve Carrel was next, presenting the award to The Daily Show, for best musical or variety show. Can I just take a moment to tell you that I don't theink he is funny? Thank you.

Ghostly pale Marcia Cross and Mark Harmon presented the Best Supporting Actress in a movie or miniseries award to Judy Davis for The Starter Wife.

I took another break to fold laundry, here... because some creep was on, talking about how television helps the world.

Glen Close, Mary Louise Parker and Kyra Sedgewick, presented another award to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Great. Didn't see THAT either

Ok, it got a little interesting for a few minutes here, as Joe Mantegna introduced The Jersey Boys... a tribute group to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (who I have always enjoyed), as a prelude to the Emmy Award triubute to The Sopranos. I enjoyed the music... I would go see this show if it ever came through DC.

OK, then we get the cast of The Sopranos for great big audience blowjob that they are supposed to get for being so good... personally, I never saw the appeal. Bye, Tony... don't let the doorknob hit you in the ass.

Now we get to Best Actress in a movie or miniseries, presented by Sally "The Flying Nun" Field and Patrick Dempsey.

Ahem. So, the lovely Helen Mirren wins the award. I love Helen Mirren, I do. I bet she would be a shag and a half.... but I digress. Ms. Mirren said that she was going to talk until they plaed the music on her, and proceeded to go on at length at her admiration for Americans (thank you, Helen, we love you Brits, too). She continued to talk, but the music didn't play. I suppose that just goes to show you, iconic American performers like Robert Duvall and Tony Bennett get played off, and as soon as the flag-waving mutual admiration society starts a metaphorical USA-USA chant, they won't make her shut up. Hmm. No matter, I still love you, Helen... I just wonder about some things.

It's 10 P.M. now, and Masi Oka, from Heroes introduces a new category: Creative Achievement in Interactive Televison. Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, of Current TV, accept the award.

Does anyone here know who Brad Garrett is? I have never heard of him, which is no great surprise... but he was the guy who came out next with Joely Fisher's breasts... er, with Joely Fisher. Ms Fisher, resplendent (isn't that a great word?) in a yellow cleavage baring dress, proceeded to make nipple jokes and a Senator Craig joke, before she and her co-presenter gave the Best Individual Performance in a variety or musical award to .... Tony "I wonder if they'll play the music on me again" Bennett (they did).

This is getting long... so I am skipping some dull bits and moving on to Ryan Secrest, who then came out in some weird Henry The VIII costume, and made a joke about how gay it looked. The joke fell flat, Ryan.

O Lord! Please make this end! As much as I love award shoews, they tend to get really dull in the last hour... this one was no different. I think I'll have a drink, now. I was gratified that James Gandolfini didn't get an award for his work as Tony Soprano. Not that I have anything against Gandolfini, but I'm a little tired of the hooplah surrounding this show. Having said that, I am particularly pleased that James Spader did get the award for Best Actor in a drama, for his work as quirky, kinda pervy, but brilliant lawyer, Alan Shore on Boston Legal (Yay! A show I watch!). Spader accepted the award from Kate Walsh, who looked quite splendid in her slinky red dress.

In a stunning upset, 30 Rock won the award for Best Comedy Series! Let's hear it for the little guy!

Next, Sally Field recieved the award for Best Actress in a Drama Series, from Hugh Laurie and Felicity Huffman. During her acceptance, she uttered these words, which were bleeped by FOX: "Let’s face it: If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no goddamn wars in the first place."

EDITORIAL NOTE: You know something? We're grownups. If we can casusally talk about people being murdered here at home, or killed in an immoral war, every night on the night on the fucking news..., hearing to ocassional vulgar word that slips out on an award show shouldn't really scorch anyone's ears. I can't tell you how glad I will be when this current crop of dirtbags leaves Washington. Censorship has become the only real function of the FCC.

Helen Mirren presented the final award for Best Drama Series to The Sopranos, in a complete anit-climax. OK, Sopranos people, get your asses up on stage, get your award and get out of my badda-bing sight!

So there it is, folks... my Emmy recap.

I wish this show was as much fun as award shows can sometimes be, but it was fairly dull. I suppose that is my own fault. I might have found the show to be a little less tedious if I had any attachment to more than one of these shows, but there you have it.

Cheers,

GF