Not gonna do it and you cant make me

Several items in the news here as of late; 1) Hurricane Katrina nothing to add there yet, 2) Bob Denver has passed.This should be a day of national mourning., 3) The John Roberts confirmation hearings.
I for one find a symmatry in the last 2. Has anyone listened to the John Roberts confirmation hearings? I have... The man has got his act together I must say. He has been answering questions for two straight days from Senators who are fresh and have had forever to prepare their questions. My "Blink" suspicion is that he is less of an idealogue than he may seem and he will be reasoned and reasonable on the bench. Least that is my hope, years after Iraq has slipped into prosperity or civil war, years after New Orleans is being rebuilt in the same location for the second or third time, it is highly possible that John Roberts will be on the bench, shaping the future of American jurisprudence. He has been honest and intelligent in the face of those less so but whos egos allow them to overlook such facts. He has stymied repeated questions about his beliefs with the judicial equivelant of Gilligan's "I'm not gonna do it and you can't make me." While the hapless Gilligan was ultimately and always persuaded, Diane Feinstein and Ted Kennedy seem to lack the persuasive capabilities of Ginger and Mary Ann.
It is unfortunate that these hearings are on the heels of the greatest natural disaster in the United States this century it is further unfortunate that Bob Denver has passed, overshadowed by these events it is nonetheless a loss at a time when we could all do with a good laugh.
Cant you see him in red shirt and sailor cap standing on the shore of that uncharted isle declaring "Nope! I'm not going to do it and you cant make me!"
Good bye Little buddy...

Coldplay (Yawn...)

Okay their Brits, Okay Chris dates one of the hottest women on the planet. Okay they did a great rendition of Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. Other than that they were, well, Okay. Maybe the view from the cheap seats wasn't so great, maybe the techno stage seemed a little to U-2. Maybe Chris Martin's awe shucks brit downhomme was endearing, but you know what at the end of the day all the music seems to be in the same time with the same beat no matter how hard they ahem "rocked out"
The high point of the evening was watching two elegantly dressed and coiffed girls fight to see who could throw up in the trash can first. Oh the things that pass for a good time.

Kids will say the damndest things

I was struggling to recall why ships are referred to as she in response to a question from Sophie. She walked patiently beside me listening intently as I explained about language and the feminine and masculine and how ships carried feminine descriptors in the old days. I was trying hard to evade any of the contemporary definitions about, cost of upkeep, paint and powder, etc when she asked me quite innocently.
"Daddy could it possibly be because only so many men can get on before she sinks?"

Could be Sophie, Could be...

Data Point Friends We Need Those we don't

Have you ever noticed the folks with something like 100 names in their day timer all of whom they call friends? Ever wonder how they keep up with all those folks? Ever wonder what a friend was and was not. Managing friendships seems to me to be about managing expectations as much as anything, for a friendship is nothing if not an unwritten contract between two people. Its when one side violates that friendships end, Usually.
Friends will help you move, real friends will help you move bodies. True friends will help you move the body then dope slap you from here to kingdom come for screwing up.
Most of what people call friends I call acquaintances. So the difference between a friend (acquaintance) and a true friend. Well in a man's case that test will come when one of you is being a complete bonehead and the other stands with his fingers in your chest and says, knowing full well that the outcomes range from a smile and a "yeah your right" to a trip to the hospital for one or both of you, or worse the end of the friendship or both. "You are being an ass, and I aint standing for it!" I hope I have been this friend to those that have been this friend to me.
For a woman? Near as I can tell its the girlfriend who will sit in the dressing room and tell you "yeah that bikini makes your ass look huge."