Who else...

Hey, I was thinking about who else we should include on this blog - we're forgetting Adam Anderson, Kathy Wright and Brent... Brent...mental breakdown... can't recall his last name. You know, tall, thin, funny sarcastic...somebody help me out here.

Happy Turkey Day!

Bob and I are not doing anything today, we are having our Thanksgiving on Saturday.
We hope everybody is enjoying the holiday. I told Eric that a soc-hop in our basement is feasabile. I needa favour from those of you that live close though, please bring all your extra sleeping bags, we can put all of you up for the night in the basement if we have enough sleeping gear. We are starting to get excited about a group of people being here. Pot -luck is ok with us, the time is of of no matter,we will be ready to go from noon on, just let us know! Any one needing directions, I will post them soon and leave the numbers to call if you are lost.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


LOVE,
Robin & Bob

Kel sent this great picture of her and Diana to post on the blog! Let's see if it works! 

Let's Start Getting Things Finalized

Still pretty quiet around here. The counter on the page keeps going up, so maybe people are checking in to see if anything is new, but aren't posting anything new themselves [which... ahem... I suppose I'm guilty of as well...].

We're just about, what, like 5 WEEKS away from Sunday, December 26th. Yes, it was a unanimous decision which I hope still works for everyone that is going to be making it to the reunion. I got my airline ticket a week ago - I'll DEFINITELY be there. WHOO-HOO! I'm getting into Midway on the 20th, and will be in Indiana until early on the 31st.

Speaking of definitely being there, I've got a new "poll" going to the right. Just click next to your name to let us know that you will definitely be showing up. When? The 26th. What time? Um, I don't know yet. Where? Robin's place - which, I'm sure, she will give directions to as we get even closer. What will we do there? Besides drink a lot, well, we could do a potluck or get pizzas or subs or have a sock hop, etc. Hopefully, we won't just all sit in a circle an stare at each other. [Hey, if you have the ability, you might want to throw together and burn a "Reunion Mix" CD - all of the good 'uns that remind you of people/places/events from the old days...]

SO, do the poll, and, you might also want to "COMMENT" on this very post saying, "Yeah, I'm coming, and I'm bringing [this person] & [that person]."

OH, most importantly, I spoke to John this past weekend and he knew about the site and all, but never got an invite because his invite was sent to the wrong email address... oops. I've sent him a new invite [which it appears as though he has read, but not accepted yet] and seems to be up for the whole event. I'll let him speak for himself when he signs on, though...

Election year chicanery and the little mermaid

Well, I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm on pins and needles about this election. Given the state of the supreme court, this could very well be one of the most important elections of our lifetime - justice appointments over the next four years will influence the next 25-30 years of court decisions. (See http://presidency04.lmu.edu/special_focus.htm as one example of more info.)

The lines were longer than I've ever seen them at the polling place in my neighborhood - about an hour wait. It's good to see people taking an interest - I just hope the involvement doesn't wane after the election results are in, and that people remain active.

I don't know if any of you listen to NPR, but there is a Chicago-produced program that I still love called "This American Life" with Ira Glass. The show is on Saturday, and usually covers kind of quirky topics. [Check out the January 24, 2004 show on "Recordings Made For Someone" if you want to laugh until you cry - it's one of my favorites - http://www.kcrw.org/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=ta&air_date=1/24/04&tmplt_type=show, and includes a side-splitting reference to The Little Mermaid! Intrigued? Give it a listen!]

Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that this weekend the program aired a story on swing voters and also one on voter fraud - a huge digression from their usual topics. I was stunned that Jeb Bush, among others, could get away with some of the outright dirty tricks he's pulled this election (yes, they mention Democrat tactics, too). It's unbelievable. Really - if you haven't heard it, it's worth a listen... you can hear it by visiting http://www.thislife.org/ and clicking on the real audio file - here's a summary of the program: "This American Life Special Report: Vote Fraud.
Stories of election year chicanery appear in the paper every day. TAL contributor Jack Hitt compiles a list of the most egregious accounts, double checks the facts, and gives his election eve rundown of the dirtiest tricks to look out for this November 2."

Whatever the result of the election - whether we like it or not - this kind of fraud is completely anathema to everything our democracy stands for. Call me naive - I know there is a certain amount of corruption that is inherent to political power, but this is just plain wrong.

Anybody else have a take on this?

PS - if you have time to listen to the entire hour program "Recordings Made For Others," it's worth it as it sets the story up, but the Little Mermaid piece begins about 37-38 minutes into the real audio stream. Enjoy!