P Ricketts

I think that Pete Ricketts should change his name to something more hip, like I dunno, "P Ricketts." It would sound cool, and make an association in the minds of young, "with it" people to Sean "P Diddy" Combs. Or he could just shorten it to "P RICK," like when Sean Combs went from "Puff Daddy" to " P Diddy."

Wait. Maybe that's not such a good idea. See, I was just thinking about this in my head, but now that I see "P RICK" spelled out on screen, it looks kinda bad... So, just forget the whole thing. We wouldn't want to give people the wrong impression now would we?

In all seriousness, this guy continues to piss me off. Anybody who declares himslf a "Reagan Republican," at the beginning of their newest campaign commercial, while simultaneously continuing to support the policies of the current administration in fighting against things like embryonic stem cell research deserves to be called out. I mean, even Nancy Reagan is for stem cell research, and you can't get much more "Reagan Republican" than that.

Ricketts' new spot, Protect Our Values, is ridiculous. In fact, I think that Ricketts has reached a new level of ridiculousness, that as I have made the case before, was already a pretty high bar. In the new ad, Ricketts begins by saying:

"I'm Pete Ricketts. I approve this message because as a Reagan Republican, I know Washington politicians have abandoned our conservative values of low taxes and limited government."

It's very rare for the first two sentences out of a politicians mouth to kill their rest of their ad for me. Honestly, all it takes these days is seeing Pete Ricketts face to get me fuming, let alone anything he might say. But lets dissect this first sentence, shall we? First, I'm not exactly sure what a Reagan Republican actually is. I'm sure that's it's a term used to harken back to the bygone era of the '80s where everything was just peachy. I'll admit that the optimism and pride in America that the Reagan administration embodied were good for the country, and I'll even concede that some of his policies may have helped bring about the end of the Cold War. He saw the United States as a "shining city on a hill," the light of the world. Which it was. Unless you happened to live at the lower end of the economic spectrum, or I don't know, have AIDS. According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States for 1996, the number of people (white, black, and Hispanic) below the poverty level increased in almost every year between 1981 (31.8 million) and 1992 (39.3 million). And I'm not blaming AIDS on Mr. Reagan, but according to Dartmouth Professor Michael Bronski, AIDS was first reported in 1981 and wasn't addressed by the President until 1987 and by that time 59,572 people had been diagnosed with AIDS and 27,909 had died from it. Add all of that to the fact that national debt exploded from $930 billion in 1981 to $2.6 trillion in 1988, and I'm having a hard time seeing what's so great about being a Reagan Republican. Maybe it's a case of believing in the ideals that something represents, rather than the actual practice, much along the lines of how I feel about this country of ours, but with Ricketts I somehow doubt it.

Moving right along, Ricketts claims we have "abandoned our conservative values of low taxes and limited government." I agree that we have abandoned the ideal of limited government. I totally agree that the Executive now has way too much power, trampling the Constitution whenever it sees fit and committing violations from domestic spying to suspending habeas corpus. But what the hell is Ricketts talking about when he says we are abandoning low taxes? Where has he been since G.W. Bush took office? Hello, tax cuts? Tax cuts even during a time of "war?" Tax cuts that when combined with the money we are spending on the "war" have helped raise the deficit to an astronomical $8.4 trillion? Tax cuts that "have contributed to revenues dropping in 2004 to the lowest level as a share of the economy since 1950, and have been a major contributor to the dramatic shift from large projected budget surpluses to projected deficits as far as the eye can see?" Tax cuts that benefit the wealthy, averaging $44,293 a year for the top 1 percent, while having a negligible effect on average families who end up receiving only about $227 in relief? Tax cuts that have shifted federal tax payments from the richest Americans to a wide swath of middle-class families? What about those tax cuts Pete? Good Lord, you cut taxes any more, and I do not want to see the outcome. As it stands, guys like Pete Ricketts will continue to get richer and richer and almost everybody else in Nebraska will be left father and farther behind. People like you and me. Tell me again how that's in step with "Nebraska Values?"

You still with me? Good. Now, the next part of his ad is downright hilarious. The ad switches from a close up of Ricketts' hairless dome to a shot of DC with Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton super-imposed over the top. Ricketts' voiceover proclaims:

"A Democrat Senate controlled by Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton promises an agenda of higher taxes, more government spending, and liberal judges."

First of all, is Pete Ricketts running against Hillary Clinton and/or Ted Kennedy? Look, I have no particular love for these two either, so to be fair to Pete, I'll call them names, too. How about Hillary "White Water" Clinton and Ted "Brown Liquor" Kennedy? The fact remains, however, that Ricketts IS NOT running against White Water and/or Brown Liquor, he's running against Ben Nelson. Second, are either White Water or Brown Liquor in control of the Senate? No, it's controlled by Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist. And even if the control of the Senate swings to the Dems in the next election, wouldn't Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Harry Reid then be in control? Third, according to Republicans, the Democrats have no agenda! That's what guys like Ricketts attack them on, and now suddenly, they have one? And they're "promising" higher taxes and more government spending? That sure sounds like a great strategy to me, voters love hearing those kinds of pledges. Then what about wanting liberal judges? Well they can have that on their "agenda" all they want, but they still have a Republican in the White House to contend with. And last I heard, "Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, and district court judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate, as stated in the Constitution."

So, as you can see Ricketts continues to pull stuff out of his ass. No facts, just conjecture. He continues to mislead and even managed to mangle the Constitution. Great job, Pete. If he can do all of that in a 30 second spot, imagine what he can do while serving our state in Congress! Win or lose, I can hardly wait until the next election, so I won't have to see Ricketts' ads any more.

Eux Autres + Stella Artois = Awesome

Despite the fact that I was still recovering from my week long journey to, through, and from the South, I went and checked out Eux Autres with Megan at the Goofy Foot on Monday night. I was fine getting there, but by the time the opening bands started playing, I could barely keep my eyes open. I'm sure it was a combination of still being tired from my trip, having gone to work and stared at a screen all day, and drinking beer, glorious beer. I wasn't really planning on drinking at all that night, due to my extreme tiredness, but the Goofy Foot now has Stella. On tap. I have yet to find this beer for sale anywhere in Omaha, let alone on tap. I was so excited, that when Josh went to the bar to get drinks for our table, I had him bring back 2. They were delicious indeed, and served in true pint glasses, not the slightly smaller size you commonly find in U.S. drinking establishments. These were true 20 oz pints and I drank 'em down like someone might steal them from me.

I was still feeling fine, and was enjoying the company. We chatted with good friend and 1/2 of Eux Autres Nick Larimer for a bit, caught up with Mike Arnold, chatted with Katie and Josh, and were regaled with a hilarious story of a recently returned Max's first massage in Jamaica. Right as the first band was taking the stage, I made a mistake in ordering another beer. Needless to say, soon after I was feeling, shall we say, relaxed. Too relaxed. So even though both opening bands, the Third Men and The Family Radio, played great sets, I was forced to basically sit back and listen rather than watch.

Luckily, my half asleep strategy worked, and by the time Eux Autres took the stage, I was able sit up, watch, and sing along. They really put on a great show and I had a lot of fun. In fact, I think that everyone there had a lot of fun, especially the band. They even covered "Summer of 69" which was an absolute hoot. I'm really looking forward to their next album and hopefully another show back in Omaha. Any excuse to down more Stellas and I'm there.

Anyhow, Eux Autres is still on tour, so if you get a chance, check 'em out. You won't be disappointed. Here's the rest of their tour dates:

Fri 16 : Toronto, ON - Rancho Relaxo
w/Ratiscule, Bad Flirt, Terror Lake

Sat 17 : Montreal, QC - L'Escogriffe

Mon 19 : Buffalo, NY - Soundlab
w/Marianne Dissard, Naim Amor

Wed 21 : Philadelphia - The Standard Tap
w/Kurt Vile

Thurs 22 : New York, NY - Pianos

Smoky Mountain 06: A Retrospective

The Smoky Mountains Expedition Party, better known as the A-Team. That's Mike "Howling Mad" Thomsen, Josh "Face" Schweiger, Jeff "B.A." Cowman, Boyd "Hannibal" Redinbaugh, and the 5th Season addition Christian "Dishpan" Thom.

Fontana Dam. Really cool little spot where we spent the first and last 2 nights of our excursion. . . before we were run off by the locals.

Here's everyone else setting up camp at Fontana Dam while I documented. Luckily, my journalistic credientials (hey, I work at a TV station!) prevented me from participating, as I needed to remain an unbiased observer. Way to set up our tent Josh!

The trees in the Smokies are dense, reminding us of our time spent in 'Nam, where we were accused of a crime we didn't commit. Seriously, though , this is what 99% of the backpacking portion of trip looked like. Except at night. When it was pitch black.

Our Smoky Mountain campsite mascot, a 2 point deer. I didn't really get any good photos, but he literally came within 2 feet of us, with an attitude that was all "Don't worry about it doooood."

When we finally got sick of tree cover, we constructed this tower with our bare hands. I think we may have gone a little overboard, but if you're gonna go, go big.


Here's a shot of what the Smokies look like from the steps of the fire tower. I wanted just a picture of the mountains, but the crossbeams asked if I could take their picture, too. They seemed like a nice bunch of guys, so I happily obliged.


After the crossbeams left, I was able to take this unobscured shot. Purple mountains' majesty indeed.

Here's dfferent perspective of our Fontana Dam starting point. The hike up wasn't bad, but swimming with our packs on was a little rough.


We liked the view from the tower so much, we went back at night. We went to check out the stars, but they decided not to show up. F'in stars.


Here's another place where we found a break in the canopy. It had the unusual name of Gregory's Bald. It was pretty nice up there, and much, much, much better than Gregory's Balls. Trust me, you don't want to see those pictures.


We were having a great time up on the bald, being thirsty and tired, until this really nice guy and his wife showed up on their horses. Yeah, then they had the gall to give extra bottles of cold water! And then they were all being super nice and talking to us and stuff. I tell ya, if you can't go to the top of a mountain to get away from nice people, I don't know where you can go. Geez!


After narrowly escaping the back country with our lives on Thursday, we opted to drive to the highest point in the park, Clingman's Dome. There's a joke in there somewhere, but I can't come up with it.


The other A-Team members scope out the situation from a scale replica of The Jetson's apartment. I have no idea why they would build that on top of Clingman's Dome, but whatever.


I thought that it would be cool to have a picture taken of the world's two deadliest assassins on top of Clingman's Dome. Turns out I was right.


There are 1.5 bears per every square mile in the Smokies. This sign clearly shows that you are not, under any circumstances, to feed .5 of a bear. Or a disembodied deer head for that matter.


Just a picture of me on the Appalachian Trail. It's nice to know that even though I may have smelled bad, I still looked good.

Out Of The Woods

No posts last week due to my being incommunicado in the backwoods of Tennessee and North Carolina. It was a week spent driving, backpacking, camping, and hiking. And while that may not sound like a lot of fun to many of you, I had a great time. Thankfully, there were no banjos, compliments on our pretty mouths, or squealing like pigs. There were also no bears. Or half bears, for that matter. The last thing you want to run into in the Smoky Mountains is half a bear, for reasons I will not go into here, but believe me it's a terrible way to go. Ask me about it if you see me and I'll explain in more detail.

I will post more on my trip later, with photos, but for right now I'd just like to give a shoutout to my friends Mike, Jeff, and Boyd for setting the whole excursion up and making the trip happen, as well as putting up with me and my lack of experience. I'd also like give an extra special shoutout to my co-pilot and tent-mate Josh. Anyone who can maintain his sanity and remain cool as hell when paired up with me in such close quarters for that long deserves some sort of medal.

The great thing about trips like the one I just returned from is the way they make you appreciate what you have back home. Don't get me wrong, like I said I had a great time and I would have been happy to stay in the back country even a little longer, but boy was there a lot of stuff I started to really miss. First off, I missed my wife something fierce. This was the longest I've been away from home and Megan simultaneously since we've been married. I missed her while we were backpacking, but when we got back to civilization, it made me miss her even more. Something about knowing that the trip was essentially over made me want to get back to her that much more. The feeling was simultaneously awful and wonderful at the same time.

I also really missed my bed (and by extension sleeping with a woman in said bed), listening to music, non-dehydrated food, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but my dogs. My dogs, by the way, seemed very unenthusiastic about my return. I think they may have been pissed I didn't bring them back anything.

Another thing I missed was my friends back home and I had an embarrassment of riches last night. After recovering somewhat from my 15 hour driving marathon on Saturday, Megan and I joined our newly engaged friends Ben and Kat, as well as Sonali, and our recently returned wayward friends Bronson and Andrea for dinner at Back To Guangzhou for dinner on Sunday. The meal was delicious and had the added bonus of meeting another cool couple in Andrea's twin sister Valerie and her husband Will. After a quick detour to Whole Foods, we went back for dessert at home. There we were joined by none other than Nicole Pazona and we stayed up late catching up. It was great, and even though it wasn't intended to be, it was the best sort of "welcome home" party I could imagine. Unfortunately, it made returning to work today that much harder.

Tonight should also be a good night with more friends as Nick and his sister's band Eux Autres are playing at the Goofy Foot. And even though I'm still tired as hell from my trip, I wouldn't miss the show for the world. I'll post on that later this week as well. Until then, I'll be trying to catch up on work and sleep, and trying desperately to not to do both at the same time.