Unlucky

I’d like to address a karmic imbalance. Much has been made of the significance of 07/07/07 as a lucky day, so lucky that the number of marriages registered on theknot.com was triple the usual number of July weddings. But that date happens once every century. Meanwhile, we have a Friday the 13th at least once a year, usually twice, occasionally more. This means there are more unlucky days than lucky ones, by a ratio of about 200:1. Even if you choose to embrace 07/07/77, or the Chinese lucky number 8 in 08/08/08, there’s still a wide disparity.

And I can’t find any reference to 7/7/1977 being a day that lots of people were particularly embracing. Maybe, it’s the three 7s, not unlike the slot machines. (Though I did find President Jimmy Carter’s daily log for 7/7/1977).
***
There’s a 30 second video on YouTube: Al Jazeera English – What do you think?, There were, as of last night, nearly 70 response, most of them far longer than the 30 seconds requested (one was 10 minutes!), and most of them reasoned responses, though at least one is not. A couple are very funny. I have no response about Al Jazeera English, because I’m unlucky enough that my cable company, like most in the country, does not show it, even though they don’t charge cable companies for it. It IS available online, however, and I’ll have to make a point of checking it out.
***
New Mexico governor and Presidential candidate Bill Richardson has apologized for using an anti-gay slur. Generally, I like him, though I thought his May 27, 2007 Meet the Press appearance showed up real inconsistencies over the past couple years. I think he still has a good chance of being the Democratic nominee – he’s doing OK in the money race – if the Democrats decide that Barack is too inexperienced and that Hillary is too…Hillary. I think it would be problematic for the party faithful if the Dems fail to nominate either a woman or a black, the folks raising the most money, and they end up with a non-Hispanic white male AGAIN. That said, I really enjoyed watching Ron Paul and Mike Gravel on ABC This Week this past Sunday. Neither has a prayer of winning, but both insist that they’ll be in the White House come January 2009. And if I were a voter in the Republican primary, I would certainly be voting for Ron Paul, who ran as the Libertarian 20 years ago.
***
Boots Randolph died last week. He’s most famous for a song called “Yakkity Sax”, which most people know better as the theme from “Benny Hill”, a show my father loved and I hated. I like the song, though:

***
That youngster Charles Lane died this week. Mark Evanier is all over it. And if you don’t know who Charles Lane was, well, you WILL recognize the face.
***
Can Credit Cards Make You Fat?
***
Sprint drops needy customers.
***
Is Merrin Dungey unlucky that’s she’s been booted off that Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, or will Audra McDonald feel unlucky that she’s gotten the recast part?
***
Bad trip, indeed.
***
ADD found a reference to a report suggesting that copyright should be 14 years. I don’t know about that, but I do feel that Jefferson, Franklin and other Founding Fathers/inventors would feel that the country has been ill-served by the constant lengthening of the copyright period.
***
Someone, I really don’t remember who, suggested that tennis legend Bjorn Borg

is starting to look more like Ed Begley, Jr.


Judge for yourself. (Born is in the middle, between the Wimbledon men’s finalists, winner Roger Federer and runner-up Rafael Nadal.)

And speaking of Wimbledon, Venus Williams makes the Christian Science Monitor. Not unlucky.
***
It would be most unlucky if we lost Eyes on the Prize:

ROG

RM

You know those folks who can’t come up with a cohesive concept for a column, so they compose these little snippets of unrelated ideas and throw them together? This is one of those pieces. Not only that, unless I find some extra time somewhere, there will be another one next week!
***
Earlier this month, I praised Sandra Day O’Connor for her dissenting opinions in two highly controversial cases. Right after that, she announces that she’s leaving the Court. Coincidence…or conspiracy?
***
Been in the attic again. Trying to figure out what I can prepare ahead of time for those days when I’m out of town, or don’t have Internet access (or even a word processor), I hit upon an answer. I found this folder with a personality profile of me from six years ago, and an astrological reading of me from about 20 years ago. I found them to be surprisingly accurate, and somewhat interesting. So, when I’m stuck, I’ll be going to that well, including at least once next week.
***
There was this “contest” last year to see who would be on the cover of Metroland, the alternative newsweekly around these parts. I didn’t win, but I was a runner-up, and they actually did a story about me which appears about 4/5s of the way down. Such narcissism.
***
As I was checking out some blogs to see if my Mixed CD got reviewed (it wasn’t), I saw a reference to a “racist Mexican stamp”, which led me to another blog, which led me to this news report. The story then was mentioned briefly in Metroland yesterday. Do I think the stamp is racist? At the risk of sounding too PC, do you really have to ask? Mexican President Vincente Fox has NOT acquitted himself well in the situation, either.
***
The United Church of Christ has taken a strong, affirming stance with regard to gay and lesbian members. As my delighted UCC friend Jenny noted, “It will bring considerable challenges for those churches who have not been welcoming to gay and lesbian members.” Probably NOT the end of this issue in the UCC or any of the mainline Protestant churches, including my (Presbyterian) denomination.
***
Venus Williams was a Wimbledon underdog. I like this story of this once dominant player, who, due to injury and other interests, slid down to 14th in the women’s tennis rankings, but came back to win an amazingly hard-fought battle against Lindsay Davenport, part of which I had a chance to watch.
***
The most poignant irony about the horrific London blasts is that people could seek safety in the tunnels during the German bombing in World War II, but that in this case, some of the bombs were IN the trains in the tunnels. I’ll always remember the date as Ringo Starr’s 65th birthday, just like I remember September 11, 2001 as Moby’s 35th (and I imagine how crummy they must feel). About.com reports that bloggers have played an important role in getting out news about the bombings yesterday. Ultimately, I relate pretty well to what my buddy Fred Hembeck (July 8) has to say. My prayers go out to those affected.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial