Of Mice And Men

How did Mickey Mouse become so cute and cuddly? Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. But come on! Some of our most well known childhood icons and characters were mice. Mickey. Minnie. Mighty. Jerry. The list goes on.

And they are all based on God forsaken creatures appropriately called VERMIN.

Our garage recently became the local hotel and spa for neighboring field mice. I’d go into the garage to get something from the freezer or to take something off the shelves and there would be a mice, more times than not, scurring across the floor.

YIKES! I would literally YELP.

I HATE mice. Oh, I don’t mind them in a tank or cage spinning on a wheel and looking adorable.

I guess it’s like snakes. I don’t mind having one as a pet, I just don’t want to run into one crossing my path…LOOSE.

So anyway, we spent the weekend eradicating as many of the buggers as we could.

Saturday morning there were so many of them that we literally saw tails and faces poking out of boxes and shelves TAUNTING us. We couldn’t go 5 minutes without seeing a mouse.

A friend of mine found a NEST in my box of old laserdiscs. And here’s the funny part to balance out the GROSS part, they had a hot wheel car and a (TRUE, I swear) installation disk for MOUSE Works for the Mac.

Now THAT’S pretty funny. We even found a miniature deck of cards nearby from my wife’s scrapbooking supplies. Poker, anyone?

By Sunday, there was little evidence of any new activity.

Except for the litter of mice. Yep. The minute I told my wife we found baby mice it was all over.

But the vet honestly told us that the most humane thing to do would be to feed them to our pet python.

Half hour later, 3 of the 5 were snake food.

The kids looked at us with those eyes that children give their parents when they want to raise mice as pets.

OUCH.

It WAS kind of cute. They even named them.

Sadly, Angelina Jumperina died a day later. My daughter gave her a dignified coffin (a jewelry gift box did the job) and everyone couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

But I started thinking. Isn’t what we did kind of like giving college tuition to the children of illegal aliens?

Think about it. The mice took over our garage. We bring their babies in and raise them.

Nah. It’s not the same thing.

It’s cute. I GUESS.

Yes, even I have a soft spot. Even though on principal, I am still not HANDLING the little critter.

I’m not THAT soft.

And now if you’ll excuse me…I have to go on my hourly Mouse Patrol to make sure Junior’s family doesn’t come by for a family reunion.

9/11 Remembered

Seven years ago this week, my son came into this world. And seven years ago today, America was attacked by dastardly forces on our home front.

I will never forget two dates this week. On the 9th of September, 2001, my son was born. It was one of the happiest days of my life. So sweet…so innocent…a miracle of God.

Two mornings after he entered this life, I was woken up by my then wife as I slept next to her and the baby in the hospital suite.

A plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York City. What the HECK?? How does a plane hit the World Trade Center? Drunken pilot? Heart attack afflicted pilot? What could result in such a tragic accident?

I was still rubbing the sand out of my eyes when we witnessed the second plane hit the second tower. It wasn’t a small plane, as I had imagined. Three things crossed my mind in rapid succession. First, how could TWO planes ACCIDENTALLY hit such monstrously tall towers? And then, this COULDN’T be an accident. Followed by, that was a HUGE commercial plane, not the small private plane that I had imagined the first plane being.

And then…it all hit me…WE WERE UNDER ATTACK.

I said it in those exact words.

I remember looking down at our sleeping son and feeling a sickness in the pit of my stomach.

Most people remember where they were when they got the phone call or watched or heard the news updates.

In my case, I was the one who did the informing. I called up the first people that came to mind…my producer…my close friends…my parents.

I remember telling them “We are under attack” and hearing the gasps of disbelief on the other end of the phone.

I remember how none of it seemed real. Like I was playing the part in some strange movie that could only be screened from the darkest recesses of my brain.

It took days to sink in. I wept. And then I wept again.

It’s hard to imagine that seven years have passed by already. On the one hand it seems like it happened much sooner than that. And on the other, it seems so long ago.

Yesterday my son who was so tiny in his hospital blanket took off down the street in his brand new bicycle that we bought him for his seventh birthday.

He still doesn’t fully understand what happened that day. Nor do I want him to, actually. His older siblings have a better idea and his younger siblings are completely in the dark.

The time will come when they WILL be fully informed. And they will be taught by us and constantly reminded of the fact that 9/11/2001 was one of the most pivotal and dark days in their nation’s history.

And they will be taught, above all else, to never, ever forget it.

Please don’t forget that horrific and historical date. Think about it, long and hard, today. Talk about it with whoever you are able to. See it. Feel it.

Pray hard.

And weep if the tears come. Weep. And feel that inner resolve and toughness that lies within all Americans.

Good WILL win over evil.
That is the ultimate reassurance if there ever was one.

Let Russell Brand Carry The Torch for Obama!

Russell Brand was the sad creature who hosted this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. You know the one with the crazy hair and outfit, parading around the stage calling President Bush a retarded cowboy and praising Barack Obama as the savior of humanity.

My anger over his immature tirade aimed at the impressionable young people of America has not subsided since I witnessed his insanity Sunday night.

But I am not going to try to shut him up, either.

In fact, as McCain continues to climb in the polls and Obama continues to scratch his head wondering why, the best the Right could hope for is for imbeciles like Brand to continue pushing for an Obama Presidency!

According to press stories and interviews in his home country, Brand is an alcoholic and former drug addict. He’s apparently been arrested ELEVEN TIMES for public indecency. His run ins with the police are many.

Is this the kind of spokesman Obama needs as he struggles in the polls?

Of course, most of the young idiots in the crowd applauded Brand’s endorsement of Obama, not knowing that with friends like Brand, no one needs enemies.

These are the young voters the Democrats are courting so desperately.

They can have them.

One final reflection…

There was a time when a foreigner parading an American stage and calling our President a “retard” would have been booed, if not dragged off the stage. Especially at a time of war. There would have been outrage in our parent’s and grandparent’s generations. Imagine that again…a foreign comedian with the audacity to insult OUR LEADER to OUR FACES on OUR SOIL. Now he gets roaring applause.

Boy how the times have changed.

Farewell Coney Island

I never did make it to Coney Island. Shame on me.

Now it is too late for me to visit an American entertainment icon. The amusement park which entertained generations has closed its gates for the last time over the weekend.

Astroland theme park is no more.

This historic closing makes me nostalgically reflect on the theme parks of my youth which are largely a thing of memories as well.

My parents would take me to Frontier Village in San Jose, California. Now it’s a housing development. But it was once a place of wonders and childhood adventures. Although the park closed when I was 9, I spent a good chunk of those first years with my parents and grandparents at this Bay Area attraction. Luckily many have worked on keeping the memory alive with the website www.frontiervillage.net.

Another staple of my childhood was Santa’s Village in Scotts Valley, California. This was an even simpler concept than Frontier Village. Santa. Mrs. Claus. The elves. Some kiddie rides. A petting zoo. That’s all a kid needed back then to be entertained at a “theme” park. You can share the memories at this heartfelt and dedicated site:
www.santasvillage.net/santas.village.scotts.valley.html.

I even have fond memories of the theme park formerly known as Marine World Africa U.S.A.—now known as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. The original site in Redwood City was tiny in comparison to its new home in Vallejo, California. The biggest attractions then were the elephant rides and the giant ball pit. Here is a nostalgic review from a fellow fan of that theme park’s glory days: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?blogid=29&entry_id=14180

How is it that kids were entertained without multi-million dollar roller coasters and $10 souvenir cups??

It wasn’t that long ago in the whole scheme of things. But life did seem simpler then. Even as America recovered from Watergate and Vietnam and Jimmy Carter, it was fun being a kid.

Theme parks had true character then.

I can empathize with those East Coasters who are mourning the loss of Astroland.

May it rest in the peace and quiet and beauty of our memories.

Repeat DWI Offenders Should Be DOA in the System

Here is another tragic story of a repeat DWI offender. He should have been locked away long before his latest act left a newlywed couple dead after his car launched in the air and landed on top of their SUV.

The 22-year-old culprit, Uriel Perez Palacios, had already committed more crimes by his young age than most of us could in several lifetimes.

But the system kept giving him a break.

Palacios was arrested for drunk driving as recently as June but was released after paying a $500 fine.

He had four outstanding warrants and had led police on two chases.

Oh…and he was driving on a suspended license.

What was this man doing on the streets of Dallas early Monday?

Why did Erika Clouet, second grade teacher, have to die alongside her new husband, German Clouet? Neither one will ever reach their 25th birthdays. Neither one will ever know what a happy life they could have had together.

Their lives were ripped away from them, and their loves one ripped off by their untimely deaths.

The culprit is thankfully being charged with two counts of murder (it is believed to be the first time a local prosecutor has pursued murder charges in a DWI case) and three counts of intoxication assault.

Palacios SHOULD have been put away a long time ago.

Let’s hope the system doesn’t blow it again.

Lock him up. Throw away the key on this bum. And keep the streets safe for those trying to mind their business and live their lives.

It’s the least we can do for people like the Clouets. May they rest in peace and may we all keep them and their families in our prayers.