Dodger

Did you know?:Kevins First word was "Dodger" he said it "Dod-Che"

Like Tasha wrote in her blog, we got Dodger almost on a whim just a few months after we were married..I was 23 and Tasha was 22. There were 8 chocolate lab puppies and 3 were female. We took Dodger because she seemed like the most calm of the bunch (:

We would take turns picking her up and holding her and looking at each other with an "oh my gosh are we really going to do this" face. We didn't make it out of there empty handed..we wrote a check for $200, and drove the 30 miles south back home to Chico. Dodger rode on Tasha's lap the entire way. I can still picture how cute both of them looked.

We loved having a new puppy in our house and as she grew older she was very hyper and playful, a typical Labrador.

Dodger was a born retriever and an excellent swimmer. We would take her to the creek by our house in Chico and watch Dodger go flying off the rocks diving in the creek and joyfully swimming around until she had swallowed so much water that she would then have to yak it back up on the walk home.

The 4 years we lived in Ventura were Dodgers Glory years. Since Ventura had (and still has) a look the other way policy with regards to dogs on the beach, Dodger thrived there. We would let her off the leash and she would stalk sea gulls and chase them...she would go charging after a stick when I would throw it in the ocean, leaping over the surf until she located it and then with a flick of her "otter tail" make a quick u-turn, body surfing the shorebreak and running back to Tash and I.

She was a natural frisbee dog. We had her special dog frisbee that I would throw to her on the beach I would try to time it so that she would leap into a small wave right when she caught it. A lot of times I would jump in the ocean with her and body surf right next to her. She never had to be trained to retrieve sticks, tennis balls, or frisbees. She was just so much fun to play with. She could run so fast.

If Dogs go to a special Dog heaven, this is where I think Dodger will always be, running in the surf, waiting to chase her next sea gull

7-1-97 - 11-27-10

"Social Network"

Ahh what a great movie...this one ranks among my all time favorites....I rarely go to the movies anymore because of my issues...(see previous post) But this one one was by far the best tech movie that has ever been made. It follows Mezrichs book closely and shows the creation of a "once in a generation idea".

You don't have to have ever used a computer to enjoy this one though...it is close to a masterpiece and will easily be nominated for Best Picture.

J Timberlake had one of the all time best lines..he plays Shawn Parker the creator of Napster...when told he didn't win, the record companies did, he replies, "Oh really? How many Tower Records do you see?"

I was giddy the entire time watching this one..FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!

Quick take on the midterm election

The GOP as expected took back the house in historic landslide fashion. This is very similar to what happened in 1994 with Bill Clinton and the "Republican Revolution" But in 2010 instead of the "Contract with America" we have the Tea Party.

If Angel and O'Donnell hadn't run in the Senate, then most probably the GOP could have recaptured the Senate..instead they put up wacky out of the mainstream Tea Party backed candidates like Christine "I'm not a Witch" O'Donnell. 3rd partys always hurt the mainstream party that they are most affiliated with. Nader in 2004 took many votes away from John "Reporting for Duty" Kerry. And of course Ross "I'm not crazy, people are after me" Perot. The Tea Party will dissolve in a few years and re-assimilate into the GOP.

So we are back to gridlock just like Admiral Stockdale said in the 1992 VP debates. The best Obama can hope for is that the economy will begin to rebound and by 2012 he will be reelected, if it doesn't and the GOP can put up a good candidate then Obama is a one termer.

So this election I voted for

Legalization of Ganja...even though I have never smoked the herb in my life

Barbara Boxer

Jerry Brown

and the Democratic opponent to our lifelong congressman Buck McKeon

Looks like I better make it official and change my party registration from Elephant to Donkey.

I'm pretty much a Bill Clinton Democrat

P.S. Whoever put together that Whitman attack ad that showed Whitman and Arnold saying the exact same things....brilliant! One of the best political ads ever.