Cold sunday morning riff

It is a dreary december day, a writer's favorite weather.

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My pal Kent invited me to see our hometown San Diego State Aztecs basketball team rip on my longtime favorite UCLA Bruins last night. Hoist the silver championship trophy at the John Wooden Classic.

Both of my parents were Bruins, I got my Construction Project Management credential at State so my loyalties are slightly divided but as a native San Diegan I was definitely rooting for the red and black.

The game was held at supposedly neutral ground, the Honda Center at Anaheim. The reality was that it was a sea of Aztec fans with hardly a powder blue jersey in sight. Bruins didn't know what hit them. They had never seen the show, having successfully ducked the Aztecs since 1991.

To say that our seats were high would be an understatement. Let's just say that we were led to the third highest row of the center by a Sherpa serving yak tea, who suggested that we might want to utilize a spare tank of oxygen in the thin Orange County air. One sneeze or false move would have sent us tumbling down the aisles ass over teakettle to land at the bottom of the crevasse hundreds of feet below.

Steve Fisher's Aztecs won the game, a great game, well played by both teams, by 9 points, 78 to 69, on the strength of their phenomenal guard and Naismith candidate Jamaal Franklin's 28 points and 7 rebounds. This was their first win against the Bruins since the year before Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1940 to be exact.

It is also the 26th straight win against California schools and twelfth in a row against the vaunted Pac -12. The papers said that it was about a 70/30 fan split but it seemed more like 90/10. The Bruins were booed from warmups and the Aztecs crowd made it their house. Louder than hell, maybe the best game I have ever witnessed for crowd energy. The basketball team was better, the fans were better, the Aztec band was better, our cheerleaders were cuter. Total domination. I believe.

I don't know how far the 5 and 1 Aztecs can go in the NCAA's this year with a lineup lacking a true post but they are incredibly athletic and played tight defense last night. With Shrigley next year things might get epic. The Bruins are a team of blueblood recruits, #1 recruiting class in the nation but last night they were outclassed by San Diego's fierce determination. Great team, they just don't play all that well on aircraft carriers. Should move up to about 18 in the polls this week, I think.

Had a brat and a beer at the game. Beer was great, couple of orange slices on top. Brat was less successful, boiled instead of grilled, but the sauerkraut adequately covered up any real or imagined deficiencies. Thanks Kent, for the ticket and great time.

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Good day yesterday. Aztecs won and I sold one of my best paintings. Would like to thank my clients for making ita good month and season for me. Smoked my wife at gin rummy. Got to miss the Christmas parade. I arrived at my shop this morning and my Mr. Ed style front door was covered with cups and trash as is the entire sidewalk. Come downtown and then throw all your trash around for somebody else to pick up. Seems like you have a good take on the real meaning of Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, is there anything more tired and stupid as the Bill O'Reilly annual railing about people that say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. His attempt at dressing down Governor Lincoln Chaffee the other night was simply ludicrous. We have to fight inclusivity, because it tears against our native tradition. And christianity is not a religion, its a philosophy. Absolute bullshit.

REPORTER: Do you understand how some people feel like you have somehow negated their traditions?
CHAFEE: Yes. You're absolutely right, either its gay marriage or accepting immigrants. You're absolutely right. They don't want to believe this is -- time are changing.
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O'REILLY: Times are changing are they? The Governor told you the truth. He is tying the Christmas situation into secular progressive politics. Mr. Chafee wants to ignore traditions of America and build a more inconclusive nation where Judeo-Christian philosophy is tamped down. That's the big picture here. That's the big picture it's what it's all about. The secular progressives want a new America and traditional Christmas isn't a part of it.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "We still say Merry Christmas" and I thought, so fucking what? Be my guest, say whatever the hell you want to say, celebrate what you want to, no skin off my xmas balls, anybody should worship the belief system of their choice, however ridiculous, as long as it doesn't involve torture or cannibalism.  

Have you noticed how blurry the nexus between conservatism and christianity has become. Merely browse the daily pages of Townhall and you will see how linked they are at the hip, particularly regarding any conversation about abortion. Here columnist Doug Giles pontificates on the real reason atheists hate Christmas. (Hint, it's the sin baby.)

God forbid some people don't follow the dominant meme. If you were more secure in your beliefs, alternate beliefs would not pose such an obvious threat to you. We've had all sorts of traditions in this country, slavery and lynching was big for a while too. Sometimes they are better left discarded. Happy Holidays! (Ow, doesn't that hurt?) 

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Kit Bacon Gressitt sent out a questionnaire asking people what they felt thankful for last week.  Amongst platitudes for Obama's re-election, world peace and the lion laying down with the lamb in the barnyard I offered the succinct "a good crap" which may have set a new low water mark for discourse on her blog. But I was being honest. If all else fails, never neglect the literary scatological card.

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Saw Colleen, owner of the resurrected Le Bistro with Husband Steve yesterday. Restaurant has been open for a few days and everything sounds like it is going very well. All reports have been fairly glowing and they are just getting their act together. Wish them all the success in the world.

She said reviews had been positive except for one young lady who shall remain nameless. Well, young if you aren't counting the four facelifts, she said. Around these parts if you want to guess a person's age, you have to count the lifts like tree rings.

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My new campaign to be a nicer person and not so much of an asshole unfortunately ended a bit prematurely, as my brother Buzz predicted it would, in about two days. My father's birthday Thursday and I had a little reality check with my siblings. I was accused of being overly negative and I reacted in a less than decorous manner.

My brother calls it Robert's annual bloodletting. I know that I feel better.

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Looks like we are heading over the cliff. Republicans would rather coddle the apex predators than make a deal. You know, upper earner tax rate was 39% under Clinton and the celestial bodies still moved freely in their orbits. Even gave us a surplus. Cutting revenue while increasing spending has never proved very effective. Do we really have to go there again?  Bush started this current spending spree, you can't elect them and then disown them.

We can either make a deal or we can spend now until the end of time pointing fingers at Fannie, Freddie, Glass Steagle, Phil Gramm, whoever had the goddawful idea that minorities should be allowed to buy real estate in the first place. Surely there is enough blame to spread around.