The Chicago Cubs will celebrate the 100th anniversary of playing at Wrigley Field this year! Think of the historic events. Babe Ruth’s “called shot.” Kid K’s breakout game. Harry Caray. The collapse of 1969. Jose Cardenal’s afro. Sutcliffe going 16-1. Andre Dawson’s magical MVP season. Bartman. All of the aforementioned took place without a World …
Search Results for: Mark Erickson
Thirty years ago today, March 2, 1984, the film This is Spinal Tap was released. This rockumentary, or mockumentary, directed by Rob Reiner, featured Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel), Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins), Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls), and a bevy of actors and actresses in guest spots. Numerous actors filled in the role of drummer. …
I watched the Sochi Opening Ceremony. Kyrgyzstan had a cool flag, and I learned that Nepal has the world’s only nonrectangular flag. I was surprised that Iceland had only five athletes. Mexico had one out of a population of 118 million. By contrast, Sweden had 111 out of a population of less than 10 million. …
According to the liner notes of Black Box, WaxTrax! Records moved from Colorado to a storefront on Chicago’s North Lincoln Avenue in 1978 after being “fueled by the punk revolution.” WaxTrax! issued its second single in 1981, featuring Divine of Pink Flamingos and Polyester fame. Also, in 1981, the record store and recording studio released …
During one furlough day I had to break from my massive deck project to rest my bones from all the bending, lifting, and stooping. I choose to do something I had never done in my 25 years of living in Chicago: I toured the Bohemian National Cemetery located at 5255 N. Pulaski Road on Chicago’s …
David Bowie is a staple on classic rock radio, and deservedly so. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (and my Rykodisc extended version) is clearly a four-star album. I am also quite fond of Outside (1995) and Earthling (2007), among other releases. Bowie has had duds. I listened to …
I have not been able to follow the logic of the government shutdown. Clearly, America has divided government. One faction(s) has sought repeatedly (>41 times by Congressional vote) to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is approved legislation and upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Personally, I do not agree 100% with …
During Sunday’s Viking/Bear debacle, the network aired a commercial/PSA that reminded viewers to remember 9/11, honor the troops stationed abroad, and that the United States has troops stationed in 175 countries. Parenthetically, the United States has over 800 bases located throughout the world. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Andrew Browne wrote an article about China …
Rep. Barbara Lee (CA), one of a select few Honorable Members of Congress who opposed 43’s illegal invasion of Iraq, has written a letter concerning Syria to 44 in the last 24 hours. Here’s the letter. – Mark Erickson Dear Mr. President: We join you and the international community in expressing unequivocal condemnation over the …
In April 2013, The White House accused Syrian President Bashar Assad’s shi’ite forces of using sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent banned by international treaty, on a “small scale” against rebel sunni factions. Russia denounced the allegation of sarin gas use, calling the evidence “unconvincing.” Retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff …
I am disappointed by President Obama’s forays in the Middle East, failure to close Guantanamo, and use of drone “missions” that create more hatred than peace. The following lyrics come from a Dead Kennedys song called “Kinky Sex Makes the World Go ‘Round,” which was part of the 1987 release, Give Me Convenience or Give …
I was never a rabid fan, just a casual one. However, I’d love to see these guys in concert (not at a festival). I can’t believe they dissolved over 20 years ago. Man, I am old! http://www.vita.mn/crawl/210487301.html – Mark Erickson HOW THE REPLACEMENTS SAVED ME FROM THE LEDGE, by Claude Iosso
This Swedish band, Goat, is from Korpilombolo. There were in Chicago two days ago. I should have gone. Drat! Sweden produces great music these days… Opeth and Meshuggah are very different from Goat. – Mark Erickson
Passage from Escape From the Planet of the Apes. Zira: I should have said that chimpanzees had no part in the destruction of Earth. Only the gorillas and the orangutans. E.2.: What’s the difference? You’re all monkeys. Cornelius: Please do not use the word ‘monkey.’ We find it offensive. As an archeologist I had access …
In the months before the United States invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, leaders of the Bush (#43) regime, i.e., National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Vice President Dick Cheney, made statements to various organizations such as the United Nations, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the House+Senate Armed Forces Committees, and …
In this latest installment, you will learn that George W. Bush was the worst president in our lifetime. Earlier this month the European Court of Human Rights found the CIA guilty of torturing a German citizen, Khaled el Masri. Allegations included kidnapping him in Macedonia, covertly transferring him via extraordinary rendition to an Afghan detention …
My church arranged speakers over the four Sundays preceding the national election to facilitate discussion concerning “Christian Faith and this Year’s Election Issues.” Last Sunday, retired North Park University Professor of New Testament, Dr. Cal Katter, focused on the dire economic issue of America’s widening gap between the rich and everyone else. Dr. Katter emphasized …
In the Business section of yesterday’s conservative Chicago Tribune, writer Gail MarksJarvis has a column about the Standard & Poor 500 index’s performance over the last five years. I will use her analysis to further inform the masses of the depth of the damage caused to this country by President Obama’s immediate predecessor, #43. In …
9.11.12. George W. Bush (43) was notably absent at the Republican National Convention, and his two-term administration was barely mentioned. However, brother Jeb quipped “during incredibly challenging times, [43] kept us safe.” What ?! 9/11 happened on the watch of 43! In fact, Condoleeza Rice testified during the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry that a Presidential Daily …
My neighbor, Bill Werner, MD, MPH, authored this article for my church’s monthly newsletter. I am copying it verbatim with his permission, as follows: Soon after the Supreme Court issued its decision that the majority of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 was constitutional, I attended a debate by two legal …
I have had “Vkgoeswild” bookmarked for quite a while, and you should follow. And now she comes through: Only piano for Free Bird. This pianist is amazing! I love her Queen stuff. Check out DP’s Lazy, NIN, and System of a Down (who rawked last month when I saw them) and so many others. SHE …
In a recent Wall Street Journal, an opinion piece written by Arthur Herman, who is identified only as the author* of a book titled, Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, focused on the (alleged) aging weaponry used by the military. Mr. Herman lauds the free market in contrast to “layers …
I heard a stirring tune sung in Italian on my evening commute the other day. I went to the station’s website, www.wnur.org, which is the student-run, self-sufficient radio station at Northwestern University. My one source research has led me to Italian prog. GOTTA visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz86bw70Beg and search for Museo Rosenbach on YouTube. – Mark Erickson
On January 16, 2012, Mitt Romney tweeted that, “More Americans have lost their jobs under Barack Obama than any president in modern history.” I am so tired of hearing GOP Presidential candidates bash President Obama’s alleged folly. Instead, let’s focus on the last decade. First, according to the Wall Street Journal, the eight years of …
Army Private Bradley Manning has been charged with aiding the enemy, transmitting defense information in violation of the Espionage Act and more than 20 other crimes. He could face life in a military prison. I viewed three of the files he is accused of illegally transmitting. Two had incident coordinates and basically nothing more in …
We’re in the second week of January and America has yet to crown the national champion. And the Rose Bowl Parade took place on January 2. My response will be brief, but could be a graduate thesis. The Illinois/UCLA game was emblematic of numerous problems. I forget the name of the bowl game in which …
The parallel to this story found on the website of the Evangelical Covenant Church (anybody like Mission Covenant Church better?) and Mr. Alice Cooper is the death penalty. Man should not execute human subjects because the person could at some point invite Christ into his/her life. Penitentiary is derived from penitence; they should sit in …
In 1989, Pedophilia State University head football coach Joe Paterno wrote a book called “By the Book.” How telling, in retrospect. In the strictest sense, Coach Paterno adhered to his legal requirement by reporting to his supervisor the anal rape of a 10 year old child by Paterno’s longtime friend and coworker. Perhaps Coach Paterno …
This is what I recall about 9/11/01. Normal day at the office, working in my 8’8′ cube across from soon-to-retire George Vuscko. A co-worker announces the first WTC building had been hit and then I discover that no one has internet access. We’re waiting for the decision to evacuate, which must come from D.C. Then …
http://youtu.be/LaK6khs8aMw Last weekend my entire family went to the theater to watch “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” “Rise” is the prequel to the 1968 movie starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowell. In a nutshell, “Rise” is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen in a theater. Where shall I begin? Well, star …