NEW HAWK CITY
Straight outta the "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" files: No more than 100 yards from my front door there is a wildlife phenomenon happening that is quite cool. A red-tailed hawk has taken up residence in a tree that literally overhangs the West Side Highway. It's a pretty cool sight each day, whilst going for a run in Riverside Park (because these days I'm too lazy to drag my ass over to Central Park), to start out by looking up at Mr. Hawk's nest as if the Upper West Side has suddenly become a scene out of Animal Planet.
I do believe that there has not been a hawk sighting in Manhattan--outside of Central Park--since the 2006 NFL Draft, so this is cool. Of course, rent being what it is in this part of the world, none of us here are surprised that (I kid you not) a few smaller birds have taken up residence in the bottom of the hawk's nest. Yes, Mr. Hawk is sub-letting.
THEY HAVE A HISTORY WITH LIQUID TRANSFORMATION
A CNBC report this morning featured a desalinization plant in Israel (Happy 60th Birthday, by the way) that actually isn't some mad-scientist's dream. The plant actually takes salt water from the Mediterranean, extracts the NaCl, and turns it into potable water. In fact, CNBC's Carlos Quintana reported, the plant actually has to add limestone--from the Dead Sea, no less-- to the water to make it taste more like the tap water we all know and love.
A few thoughts:
1) First, it was me, here, that suggested months ago that desalinization would be the equivalent of a cortisone shot in the fight against global warming. Just as cortisone does not heal you but only masks the pain, desalinization would solve two potential headaches in the future by A) creating more drinking water for a burgeoning world population and B) lowering ocean levels.
2) If anyone should have mastered desalinization first, shouldn't it have been Israel? These are the same people who first mastered turning water into wine. So, by the distributive property--or is it the associative property?-- Israel should be able to turn salt water into wine. Which would be cool.
3) This is not to be confused with deStalinization, the process of extracting a blood-thirsty, megalomaniacal Fascist dictator from your government.
APOLOGIZING, BY THE NUMBERS
When did we all forget how to apologize? Before I expound on that thought, here is Roger Clemens' penitent statement from a few days ago:
"Even though these articles contain many false accusations and mistakes, I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry. I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans. Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right.”
I don't want to be one of those MSM (mainstream media...even though this is a blog...because unlike Braylon Edwards, I do blog) types who excoriate Clemens for all of the unseemly aspects of his life that have surfaced since the Mitchell Report first was issued. Because, as an "everyone", I'll readily admit to having flaws. In fact, when it comes to dating I can be absolutely flawful.
But here's the thing. Apologies are a numbers game, and by that I mean the following. Your apology is meaningless, Mr. Clemens, unless you acknowledge:
Who you are apologizing 2.
What you are apologizing 4.
If anyone needs a remedial lesson in penitence, you could do worse than Daniel Plainview's apology.
And yet, while Clemens seems to be plummeting in an avalanche of unseemly revelations, I believe he is less despicable than Barbara Walters. On a recently taped episode of "Oprah", Ms. Walters unburdened herself of the guilt of having had an affair with a married senator in the 1970s (dude's still living, so yeah, he must have appreciated seeing that on the CNN crawl) and of having hidden the truth about Star Jones' gastric bypass surgery (No!).
Certainly, it's just a coincidence that Walters has just released her autobiography, entitled, "I Never Gave Birth To A Sports Blogger". Seriously, though, Barbara Walters is 78 years old. She has wealth, fame and, according to a friend who once worked at ABC, "great legs".
But does she have class?
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NBCSports.com's John Walters goes into the world of college sports and well beyond. From Notre Dame to the latest in pop culture, JDub tackles it all.
Did I hear that right? J-Dub is dating falafel? That's crazy! The game of telephone never comes off as well online for some reason.
Maybe Clemens is just apologizing for his Blue Jay years. I'd like to see Roger in a confessional booth: "Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. We good? See you next week."
We seem to be experiencing the same type of earth planet phenom. High above in one of the palm trees that grace our front yard, a nest has been built to accommodate a mighty owl. He had been residing in the trees across the street but has moved to our property How do I know??? Because of the huge droppings that grace our front yard. It's time to have the trees trimmed!!!!
Despicable? That's a bit harsh. I'm not that huge a fan of Barbara Walters & know for a fact that she could be misleading to her potential interview subjects when she was in the hunt for a "get". But I do acknowledge that she was a trailblazer for women in television news. Plus, she, like Katie Couric now, was put through Hell for having the temerity of trying to enter the NAMC (news anchor men's club).
I'm thinking that she may be retiring soon or just realizes she won't live forever. I can almost guarantee that SOMEone would write a bio of Babs after she's gone & it would have included the info of that affair & she's probably just trying to put her version of it out there. If it's ok for a "biographer" to expose all, why not the person herself? Plus, it's not like the guy was an innocent bystander.
I don't know, I think I'd agree with you if the people involved had never been in the public eye. Of if one was famous & the other was not. I guess what I'm trying to say is that since Brooke was a US SENATOR & a public figure himself & he probably initiated the illicit relationship, well, 'chickens come home to roost'.
As for 'Star' Jones, the woman gives me gas. Ironic, no?
Pray tell, who are you dating that could be so flawful? Is she a lederhosen-wearing German barmaid who doesn't believe in shaving? Or is she an underage African pygmy who never learned to swim? Once you've aired your dirty laundry, you must fess up, or the overactive minds of the Johntourage will jump to wreckless conclusions.
Location, location, location...Even bird brains know that it's all about location when finding a home.