"Aye, There's the rub!"

In my lifetime, I have admired a variety of women who have been on the World Stage for their grace, courage and resolve. Margaret Thatcher, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott-King, Mother Theresa all come to mind. Benazir Bhutto knew how deadly Pakistani Politics can be. Her father was killed by a political rival back in 1979. With her beauty, Radcliffe education and eloquence, Mrs Bhutto could have made a fine career for herself in the News Media,business or a number of other ways. Instead, she became to first famale president of ANY Islamic nation.


After being forced into Exile, she could have stayed away from Pakistan's violence and growing fury among it's Islamic fundamentalists who have pretty much free reign within the country.

 Yet, she chose to return to her native Pakistan to be involved in the Political process. In her heart, she had to know that political and religious extremists would do everything in their power to kill her. She even talked about her near miss in October:

It has now been more than two weeks since the horrific assassination attempt against me and the police have still not filed my complaint. They filed their own report without taking statements from eyewitnesses on the truck targeted for the terrorist attack which resulted in the death of more than 158 of my supporters and security guards.

Soon thereafter, I was asked by authorities not to travel in cars with tinted windows -- which protected me from identification by terrorists -- or travel with privately armed guards.

I began to feel the net was being tightened around me when police security outside my home in Karachi was reduced, even as I was told that other assassination plots were in the offing.

 Today, after several near missess, they finally succeeded in killing her. It takes uncommon courage to know a situation will put your life at risk, but yet in the name of Democracy, Mrs Bhutto returned to Pakistan. In my opinion, she is the bravest woman I have ever seen. Pakistan's loss is our loss.

We enjoyed a very nice Christmas eve and Christmas. On Christmas Eve, my family and my dad and his wife met at my grandmother's house in Richfield, Minnesota.
 
When I was a kid, my grandmother's house was the seen of HUGE parties on Christmas Eve. In the 60's, the women always were dolled up in their nicest dresses. The men wore white shirts and ties, for the most part. I remember either my grandpa Adams or my Uncle Chuck crashed on the couch upstairs after having drank one cocktail too many:
"Mom, Uncle Chuck is sound asleep."
-"Steve, leave him alone"
"But Mom, he's snoring! And  he's REALLY loud!"
-"STEVE!  Leave him alone!"
"But Mom!"
-"SSHHHH!"

I think the two Christmas Eves that stand out most in my mind from my grandmother's house were the time my Aunt Kay suprised everybody by coming back to the States for Christmas. I remember "Santa Claus" coming down the stairs, and then my mom making a bee-line towards Santa and planting a big wet one on his face and almost tackling him in the process. My mom had recognized my Aunt Kay's eyes through the white wig, beard and make-up. Not suprisingly, she brought back all kinds of cool stuff from Australia. 

The other one  I remember-and it's my earliest Christmas memory-I was 3 and we lived accross the street from my grandparents house. We were going back to our house when my pregnant mother slipped and fell on the icy front step. I remember to this day that she was very shook up and crying that she was afraid that she would lose the baby. (No worries, my sister Wendy was born 5 months later)

Christmas Eve 2007 was a more laid back affair. We had a very nice visit with my grandmother and Mac, her caregiver and former roomate of my aunt Kay. At 91, it's hard to say if this will be the last Christmas eve at my grandmother's house. We brought over some ham and pumpkin pie. My dad and his wife brought over the au gratin potatos and the green bean hot dish.(The latter is a staple at Christmas tables in Minnesota)

On Christmas Day, I picked Grandma up to bring her to our house. My brother and his two boys joined us. My wife cooked up a storm: Turkey, Mashed potatos, gravy, carrots and trifle for dessert! It's different recipe than my South African friend May Gaertner makes, but it was very, very good.  We got a couple more inches of fresh snow, and the kids had a ball playing out in the snow, playing kickball. We had a great Christmas.

Meanwhile, down in Dallas. My sister Wendy was gearing up to have a great Christmas. She was making prime rib, my sister Amy and her Husband Mike and my Mom were going to their house. In the midst of all of the comings and goings, my sister's Brussels-Griffon Terrier(If you ever saw the movie "As good as it Gets" with Jack Nicholson and Greg Kinnear, it's the same breed of dog) got out of the house, and made a bee-line towards the tollway-where she got hit and killed. When I found out, I felt just terrible. It sucks to lose a dog.(I've had one poisoned to death and one hit by a car when I was a kid) So I know how much Wendy's two kids have to be hurting. This Christmas will be one that they will never forget...but for all of the wrong reasons.

Sorry to end on a downer note. I don't mean for this posting to look like a French drama where almost everybody gets killed at the end, or least does not have a happy ending. This was just a very nice, if somewhat subdued Christmas up here, and just a major downer for my sister Wendy and her kids.

A lady named Gail who I met on the internet asked me how I feel about resolutions. I gave it some thought, and here is what I wrote:
 I don't know if I am a fan of resolutions. I believe in goals, because I think it is too easy to fall off the bandwagon and let a resolution slide. Thanks to my mid life crisis and deciding to play rugby back in 2006, it took my physical conditioning kicking and screaming to a higher level than where it had been.(I'm the 4th rom the right) I feel like I look better than a couple of years ago. My goal in 2006 was to improve my fitness. My goal in 2007 was to take my Family to France and see some rugby World Cup games. We made it, and had a great time.
 I think what gives me resolve to complete my goals are:
A. Picking something finite.
B. Being a middle child made me realize that to stand out, it had to come from within, because other people were not going to do me any favors.
C. Being a nurse makes me painfully aware of the fragility of life and how much your life can change on a dime-to no fault of your own. In being a nurse caring for patients while somebody was dying, I never once heard somebody say "You know what? My family sucks. I wish I had spent more time at work." I don't know how many times I heard people say that they wished they had spent more time with their kids or taken that trip they always wanted to do.The latter was a big motivation in going to France this year.(That and seeing great friends like Jean Paul, among others)
D. You are given one body(transplants notwithstanding). You have to take care of it, because dying piece by piece with amputations and not being able to have marital relations with one's wife  because of the side effects of Type II Diabetes is no way to live.

Hope your goals for 2008 come true. My goal in 2008 is to work on and improve my Spanish.

When my wife and I were both in the U.S Air Force, we were stationed in San Antonio, Texas. I was at Randolph AFB and my wife was at Lackland AFB. From 1984 untill Ian was born in June of 1987, my wife and I had something called free time. We have not seen a whole lot of that in the past 20 years. Having kids has a way of changing that.

During the Christmas season, my wife and I volunteered with an organization called "Elf Louise".  http://www.elflouise.com/main.php   
Here is a Cliff Notes version of it's history: The Elf Louise Christmas Project is dedicated to providing a little bit of joy to Bexar County's less fortunate children. Get into the spirit of Christmas! Join Elf Louise volunteers in spreading joy throughout San Antonio! In 2006, more than 4,500 Elf Louise volunteers wrapped and delivered presents to 21,000 children in 5,500 families! The project began in 1969 when it's founder, Louise Locker, was a student at Trinity University in San Antonio. She found that for many San Antonio families, Christmas just did not exist. Louise began to look for a way to provide a few Christmas presents to some of these children. That first year, with the help of a friend, she collected gifts for children in 13 families. The Elf Louise Christmas Project is a 501 (C)(3) Non-profit organization staffed by all volunteers and funded by donation. 98 cents of each dollar donated goes directly to the purchase of toys, approximately 2% is used for telephone, postage, and insurance expenses.

Along with donating toys and time sorting toys in the warehouse, the highlight for me on those winters of 1984-1987 was actually BEING Santa Claus. Yup, I got to be the big guy!

I got to wear the Santa Claus suit while my lovely elf of a wife was my chauffer. I also had another volunteer in the car to keep the bags of toys organized. I remember when we would be stopped at a red light or stop sign and a car would pull up next to us, look over, then the adults in the front seat would smile, lean back and say something towards the back seat and then all of the sudden small heads would pop up, see my Santa-clad self and start smiling and waving. As much fun as that was, it was nothing compared to seeing the suprise on kids faces when I would show with a bag of toys in hand for a family who was having hard times. If not for Elf Louise, there would be a lot of kids in Bexar County and San Antonio who would not have much of a Christmas. It's a pretty cool feeling.

Seeing those kids made me see myself when I was a little, little kid. Even when my mom was a single parent and money was tight, somehow, we always got what we wanted for Christmas. Heck, we got MORE than I would have even dared to ask of Santa. 

Here in the Twin Cities, we always give to Toys for Tots and my wife, through Women of Today, has had me help underprivliged kids go shopping for their brothers and sisters. Those give you a good feeling...but it's nothing compared to volunteering in San Antonio for Elf Louise, and wearing the white beard, red suit and having a child both perplexed and happy to see you in their living room.

Those of you who spend any time around my blog know I don't talk a lot about American Football. Part of the reason is that I have become really disillusioned by the poor conduct and behavior of the players on and off the field. It's gotten to the point where watching ESPN or the NFL Network is like watching Court TV. I also just hate that every time a reciever catches a ball or a defensive players sacks to quarterback or makes a good play, they carry on what seems like forever as if they have won the damned game with all of the dancing and such. I just don't watch the game as much anymore.

When I was a kid, I was glued to the TV on Sunday afternoons watching both games of the doubleheader.When I was a kid in the 1960's and 1970's, Back when the Minnesota Vikings were a very good team with players with charachter, you NEVER would have seen that type of behaviour like you see today on the field. If a player scored a touchdown, they just handed the ball to the ref. If Alan Page, Jim Marshall or Carl Eller sacked the quarterback, they regrouped with their mates in the defensive huddle. I loved those old-school players like Chuck Bednarik(the last guy to play both offense and defense in a game-a tough, tough guy who would get along with any rugby player or Marine Drill Sargeant), Mike Ditka, Dick Butkus, Bill Brown and Jim Otto. Those guys played the game and made a good living, but did not get rich from it. A couple of years ago I had a chance to get my picture taken with former Vikings Dave Osborne, Bill Brown and Mick Tinglehoff. I felt like a little kid again. To me, guys like this represented what was great about American Football.

One thing that people don't realize is that there are a good number of former NFL players who have some serious health issues related to the pounding their bodies took back then. More than a few are disabled. Seeing a guy like Earl Campbell being wheeled around in a wheelchair at the age of 53 is a tough thing to watch. Mike Webster was maybe the greatest center in the history of the game. He had severe problems with mental health and memory issues related to playing with so many concussions. He died in virtual poverty cared for by his son.

In Minneapolis a couple of days ago, there is a group called "The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund" had a fundraiser in the Twin Cities. Here is their web site: http://www.gridirongreats.org/

As you know, American Football is a tough game. There are quite a few players who suffer from some serious health issues related to playing the game. There are many good causes to which one can donate this time of year. For those of us in my age group and older who got joy out of watching NFL games in the 60's and 70's, it might be worth your time to visit the web site and think about making a donation to some guys who the NFL and NFL Players association seem to have forgotten about, and that's a real shame. They deserve better from the League who made a lot of money off the blood and sweat of these hard men.

December 7th. It's a day that marks the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
It also marks when I first started to date Da Red-Head. It's the 66th anniversary of the former and 27 years of the latter.

Back in 2000, when I was working as a camp nurse with CLV at the French Camp near Hackensack, I went for a bike ride. While going by some cabins on Woman Lake, I saw a car that had Minnesota License Plates that read "Pearl Harbor Survivor"....As I went by, I thought to myself "There are not many of those guys left...I gotta talk to this guy". Workout be damned. I did an about-face on my bike and went back to the cabin and knocked on the door. An elderly man answered the door and I asked him if he was the Pearl Harbor Survivor that belonged to the car. He nodded his head. I held out my hand and asked him I  could shake his hand. We ended up having a nice conversation about that "Day in infamy", as President Roosevelt would call it the next day. He seemed really surprised that somebody actually still wanted to talk about it. It's 7 years later, and there has to be even fewer of those Pearl Harbor Vets alive. If you think that a Marine or Sailor was 17-18 on that day, that would put them into their late 80's today.  Here's a moment to think about those whose lives were taken that day...

I also pause to give a thanks to Becky for putting up with me for these past 27 years.

It's odd to have a day where as a military veteran it gives a moment of reflection, but at the same time to be thankful that I was able to find a fine woman.

Here in Minnesota, we have no worries about a white Christmas this year. We have a nice blanket of white snow that has covered the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area. There is no trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. We have a couple of stations that play Christmas/holiday music 24/7. My top 20 in reverse order looks like this:
20."All I Want for Christmas is You"- Given that my wife and daughter watch the English Movie "Love Actually" almost every day during the holiday season means that Mariah Carey's version of this song has kind of grown on me. Not that she is a bad looking singing elf...
19- "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer". When I first saw the music video of this, I just roared. It's one of the funniest, if not most tasteless song of the holiday season.
18-"Il est ne` le Divin Enfant".  (He is born the Devine Child)- Every time I hear this song, it brings me back to when I was studying in Montpellier, France 26 years ago.
17-"Do you Hear What I hear?"- Bing Crosby's version with his rich and comforting baritone is the gold standard by which others are judged in singing this classic.
16-"Away in a Manger"-When sung by school kids, it adds an innocence and sweetness to this song.
15-"What Child is this?" Again, another fun one to sing in church.
14-"Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer".Growing up in the 60's, we baby-boomers fell in love with the cartoon version of this song which introduced us to Rudolph, Clarice, Hermey the Elf(who wanted to be a Dentist), the Island of Misfit Toys and Yukon Corneilius, among others.
13- "Have a Holly-Jolly Christmas". See above. Burl Ives played Sam the Snowman voice in Rudolph. An excellent dramatic actor and a folk singer(Was a a collegue of the late Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger), he achieved immortality with his version of this song.
12- "The 12 Days of Christmas"...'nuff said.
11- "Mr Grinch" The song from the cartoon adaptation of Dr Seus' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is great fun. The cartoon itself was narrated by Boris Karloff. A true holiday classic for kids...and overaged kids with a bit of gray hair like me.
10-"Hark the Harald Angels Sing" This is a wonderful song if you are at a Christmas service, but I will always associate this song with the last scene from the film "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.
9-"Feliz Navidad" The Puerto Rico-born singer Jose Feliciano has acheived a certain level of cult status with this song that came out even before Latino culture was embraced in the United States. I think of the time I was in the Air Force in San Antonio, Texas. I loved the Mexican traditions of the Luminarias-the lighted bags with candles that lined the Riverwalk, Tamales and some of the Mexican pastries that were popular during the Christmas season. Even our Creche/nativity scene at our house is one we bought in Piedras Negras Mexico during our time in South Texas.
8-"Un Flambeau Jeanette, Isabelle"(A torch Jeanette and Isabelle) I love the French version of this Christmas song. Again, It brings back nostalgia of Christmas time in France, and what a wonderful Christmas eve and Christmas Day I had care of May and Gerry Gaertner. I refer to their domicile filled with love and caring as "The South African Consulate-Montpellier Branch".
7-"Rockin Around the Christmas Tree". Brenda Lee's rolicking version of this song adds a little rock-a-billy beat to the Christmas season. It never ceases to amaze me how such a diminutive woman can have such a big voice when singing.
6-"The Little Drummer Boy". The Vienna Boys Choir version of this song is by far the best. Nobody else is even a close second.
5-"Joy to the World". When attending a Christmas Eve service, this song, usually the last one sung in the service, just brings down the house.
4-"O Holy Night". Very few mortals can do justice to this song. People with exceptional pipes who I have heard sing this song that have brought tears to my eyes are the Late Luciano Pavarotti, Celine Dion and Joan Baez. When you have somebody with great vocal range singing this song, it really is a treat.
3-"Do They Know it's Christmas?" This was a group of top British Performers in the winter of 1984 who got together to record a song with proceeds going to African famine relief. It was a worthwhile cause, but the finished product gets more airplay each Christmas the last couple of years. When this all star group of British artists get to "Feed the World...Let them know it's Christmas after all", the harmony is just heartfelt and exquisite.
2-"So This is Christmas(war is over)"- John Lennon's career with the Beatles put him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He did not need this song from his solo career to achieve imortality-That said, it only added to his rich body of work. This powerful song gives us all a chance to ponder what really is important during this Christmas Season.
1. "Silent Night" -I have heard this song in English, French and it's original German. Irregardless of the Language it is sung in, I think that this is the most beautiful song ever written. When sung in church with the church darkened and with everybody holding a lighted candle, it is a magical experience.

The great thing about lists is that they are, by nature, subjective. I just wanted to share my favorites with you.

For most of us working stiff's, we are lucky that if we have a bad day at the office, generally only a couple of people know about it. It's not like professional athletes. When they have a bad day at the office, EVERYBODY knows about it.

This past weekend Bryan Habana, the South African wing and poster child for the Springboks victory at France 2007 in the Rugby World Cup, had a STINKER of a game in front of a World Wide Rugby Audience watching the Barbarians(an all-star tream made up of players from all over the world. This squad had Kiwis, Aussies, Fidjians, Welsh, English and Italian players) During the Rugby World Cup, the only real shortcoming that people remember about Habana's game during the World Cup in  France was getting left for dead by the American wing Ngwenya, in what was one of the most memorable tries in the tournament.(It was certainly THE highlight of the tournament for an American Side who did not win a game)It was one of the few misfires in a serious beat-down that the 'Boks inflicted on the US Eagles.
Against the Baa-Baa's, Habana had just a nightmare game: dropping balls, bad passes, poorly placed kicks. In fairness, he was surrounded by what can be most diplomatically described as a Springbok B team. My South African Friend Jacques was at my house watching the game with me, my daughter and our rugby-playing(now wrestling) Portuguese exchange student. Jacques almost choked on his Cognac watching Habana's miserable display. He was not overly impressed or happy with the 'Bok performance and could not believe his eyes at what a tough go of it Habana was having at Twickenham. To cap off a really tough day at the office, Habana was laid out on a nasty high tackle from Kiwi Troy Flavel.(Who was sin-binned for the foul) 

Any Argentine player watching Habana playing at sixes and sevens this weekend must be wondering why he could not have played with similar form in the Semifinals against the Pumas. They have to be wondering just how close they came to lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy.

As it is, that is the one bit of good news for Bryan Habana: He is still a World Champion, and most people will remember his brilliant try in injury time to snatch the 2007 Super 14 title for the Blue Bills against the Natal Sharks and his wonderful play in France 2007. His poor game against the Baa-Baa's does not negate the type of year that most rugby players can   only dream of. For him, 2007 will be etched in his memory like his wedding day and the birth of his children.

Joining a rugby club in 2006 and starting to blog this year have both contributed a great deal to my ability to meet some really fun and interesting people via rugby games and functions with my Metropolis club in Minneapolis and the blogosphere has been just a rich source of meeting new people. I would like to give a shout out to a scrumhalf named Wendy and her blog :http://westrugby.blogspot.com/   She eats, drinks and sleeps rugby in one of my favorite places in the US of A: Austin, Texas. As I have told more than a few people over the years after having lived in San Antonio: "If you can't have fun in South Texas, you either need to switch to de-caf, or you just need to re-assess your life". It's a city with great food and a fantastic live music scene. The people down there are really friendly, too.
     At any rate, her November 13th posting re: the University Of Oregon's proposal to drop wrestling and possibly make women's rugby a varsity sport was spot- on. It's a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Title IX was meant to give women athlete's increased opportunity to participate in varsity sports. Too often collges and universities are using Title IX as an excuse to eliminate men's sports under the guise of creating an equal playing field for women.  Wendy's willingess to go public and say this practice is not what the spirit of Title IX was, sure made her a friend with this ex-wrestler, wrestling coach and referree, who has been dismayed at how many colleges have gotten rid of their wrestling programs. It's become a sort of shell-game that has pitted coaches of men's non revenue sports like Baseball, swiimming, gymnastics and wrestling verses women athletes-and that's just wrong. I'm old enough to remember when young women didn't have jack to do if they were athletic-my mom had to play G.A.A because her high school did not have varsity sports. It's hard to say what my mom could have done had she had a chance to shine on the basketball or volleyball court. The way colleges have done  this has made women's athletics the bogeyman, and that's just not right.
      Wendy, you've made a friend for life with me on your posting that collges need to be even handed in implementing Title IX. Axing non-revenue men's' sports is not going to make up for the many years that women athletes got hosed in this country. As the saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right. Thanks for bringing up a worthwhile subject, and doing it so eloquently in your blog.

Maybe the BCS folks can use some of your sage wisdom and clean up this mess that the BCS has become for College football in the U.S...but that's a subject for another day. Up here in the Gopher State, our college football team is light years away from getting hosed out of a BCS Bowel Game like Mizzou was over the weekend. (How does ILLINOIS get to the Rose Bowl, and Mizzou end up out of the picture?")