First off, I think Obama made the right choice with Senator Joe Biden as VP. Not my first pick, but probably the safest and the one which will bring him additional support from long-time Dems.

Well, we are all packed up and ready to fly out of John Wayne Airport tomorrow for Vancouver. Then on Monday, sixteen of us (Donna, me, Donna's BFF Fran and a dozen plus of Donna's cousins and assorted spouses & partners) will be boarding the Island Princess for our seven-day Alaska cruise.

I won't promise anything, but I will try to post once or twice during the cruise, just to gloat. We'll probably check our e-mail also, if you really need to get in touch, but we won't be checking in everyday.

We will definitely be taking lots of photos so if I don't get too close to the edge of a glacier I'll post some of those when I get back. Otherwise, check with my next of kin!

Bon voyage for now!!

John McCain in "Missing, Presumed Dead"

I'm shocked at the behavior of both McCain and Kerry (whom I have admired and voted for) in this situation. Both have things to answer for, especially McCain who has been using his POW experience as both excuse and shield.

Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski is recovering from triple bypass surgery today. Growing up in New England, Captain Carl was legendary and one of those players you enjoyed watching. Like the player he was brought in to replace as an outfielder, the amazing Ted Williams, Yaz instantly captured the hearts of Sox fans.

We're thinking of you, Cap!

War Block Breath Spray

If it was only so easy!

It's sort of funny that, considering what a political junkie I am, I'll be missing the Democratic convention next week.

Actually, it might be kind of pleasant to give myself a break from the whole thing considering how we'll be beat over the head with it from now until early November. At this point I still can't understand why it doesn't look like a landslide for Obama, even though he is 'different' from past Presidents. :-)

We have all the clothes ready to be packed and other things already put away. No doubt, as usual, we have over packed and might not wear everything we bring. A couple of Donna's cousins (with whom we'll be sailing) were shocked to hear that we'll both bringing more then one suitcase. Still, you can never know what might occur so it's better to bring a few more outfits.

I've gone back and forth on which two books I plan on bringing. I have stuff from both San Diego and the ALA convention, plus five more Joe Bob Briggs books to be reviewed. I'll probably finish the paperback of short mystery/suspense stories on the plane ride up, so I'll still need two for the cruise and the trip back.

I'm definitely going to bring "The Powers That Be", the first volume of a new espionage series called Room 59 by Cliff Ryder (and who doesn't believe that to be a pen name). The publisher was at San Diego giving out freebies and I now regret not being as greedy as other folks and grabbing the next two books. I'll just probably blindly pick one of the JBB books and toss it and the Ryder book in my suitcase.

This may not be fascinating to anyone else, but I really don't have anything else on my mind right now.

Bush's I.C.E. Unit Kills Again

This is the sort of thing that demands investigation and not a coverup!

Free Tibet

We should not forget what was done and continues to be done in China.

Oh McCain - Extended Director's Cut

Brilliant and I had to share this!

We enjoyed watching the U.S. Women's Softball team win last night. I have to admit that I did feel a little bad for the Venezuelan team. Donna used to be an assistant coach for a girl's team so she was really into it. We're hoping to see some more games, depending on when they are televised.

Still wishing for Mark Phelps to come in second or third in an event. That would be MY Olympic moment this year!

Interesting report I heard on the radio earlier today. It seems the areas set aside as "free speech" zones in Beijing are unusually quiet. Of course, it might be because the authorities have not given anyone the necessary permits which would allow them to gather there. I'm sure G.W. & Company were taking notes for possible copycat action during the GOP convention. Heads up to the Mayor of Minneapolis-St. Paul! Pay close attention.

G.W. is back (unfortunately) and making noises about the events taking place in Georgia. As I said in the last post, there really is nothing we can do about the situation. I hope that the U.N. does take some action (however futile), but don't expect Putin to change his plans even then, being the little Stalin that he has shown himself to be. Time for Rand-McNally to change the maps again, since if he gets away with this I expect Putin to find excuses to go into other former Soviet states to reclaim them.

Apparently the current campaigns of neither Obama or McCain really are as relevant as what did or did not happen in the Edwards & Clinton camps the past six months. Of course, Barack does have a lot of nerve going to some foreign nation like Hawaii for a holiday!

Show of hands: When you heard that Russia had invaded Georgia, your first concern was that the price of peaches was going to go up? Then you realized it was the country and not the state. Thirdly, you knew deep down that you don't care either way? Am I alone in this?

Seriously, if nothing else it proves beyond doubt that the U.S. is pretty much impotent when it comes to international affairs. I'm sure that Putin had a good laugh, probably in G.W.'s face, when Bush said Russia should not invade a sovereign nation. Like everyone else in Beijing, Putin knows that the President is there to suck up to the Chinese, begging them not to foreclose on the U.S. At least not until after the election, when it can be blamed on somebody else. Probably the Democrats and Bill Clinton.

Donna and I have been watching the Olympics on & off all weekend. Taking a break Saturday night for Bingo and yesterday to do some shopping and grab lunch at Mimi's Cafe. As I've mentioned before, I actually prefer the Winter games for enjoyment and action. Not to knock the track & field, swimming, etc.

Anybody else rooting for Michael Phelps NOT to win the gold in each event? Nothing personal against him, but I'd just like all the announcers to shut up. It almost seems like Phelps is the only athlete competing who deserves notice. My hope is that a Silver or Bronze would get NBC to focus on someone else for a change.

Finally, and this holds true for every time gymnastics are televised. How old are these girls? This is especially apparent in the Chinese team, where I don't know if some have even reached puberty yet!! It kind of makes my feel creepy.

Anyway, enjoy the games! Bush seems to be....

We watched most of the opening ceremony last night while visiting. We also caught some of the 'parade of nations', when we got home, until both of us were falling asleep in our chairs. It certainly was an amazing spectacular, no matter what you might think of the Chinese government or its policies. It is apparent that whomever hosts the next Olympics will not be able to match it in size or scope, even if they go all out using technology.

Found it interesting that Matt Lauer actually spoke on several controversies and political issues as the various countries were announced. As usual, Bob Costas was on hand with lots of information on the various Olympic athletes, both past and present. Neither spent too much time talking over the actual ceremony just to hear themselves talk. The absence of Katie Couric was noted and greatly appreciated by me, at least. Overall it was a good job, although I suppose you could argue with some of the camera shots and angles which didn't aid the viewer.

Of course, I can't let the subject drop without saying a few words about His Smugness and the Mrs. Did he seem especially bored by the event? It appeared as if he was fiddling with his binoculars and twitching his leg quite a bit. As for her, she had the same smile and bored expression in every single shot. It really did seem that neither wanted to even be there, but when you are in debt to somebody you need to pay your respects.

Finally, I'm saddened to hear of the problems in the marriage of John Edwards. It doesn't effect, in my mind, the positions he has taken or the ideas he expressed on the issues in the Presidential campaign. I believe I still would have voted for him, had his name been on the ballot and the scandal erupted earlier. I'm really sorry that the Obama campaign will now have to spend time and effort putting distance between the candidate and his former opponent.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and whatever Olympic event you care to watch.

It's hard to believe that our cruise is less then three weeks from today. We haven't even started to get our stuff together, which for Donna is unusual, since she is usually way ahead. Probably come down to pressing our formal wear and making sure we have enough clean casual stuff for the eight days. Big debate about whether or not to pack more then one swimsuit, as we aren't sure if one of the pools is covered or not and you can't predict the weather up in Alaska.


We thought about taking the laptop along, but decided against it. To likely to either get lost, stolen or just sit in the stateroom unused. We are going to get one of the Internet plans that the cruiselines offer, where you pay for a certain amount of online time ahead, with additional cost if you go over. Never hurts to keep in touch, plus I might try to blog just for the novelty of doing so while on vacation.

Since our other camera was taken out by a Jedi in San Diego, we bought a new one (and a tad better while we were at it) this past weekend. We'll be playing with it to make sure we know what we are doing.