April 2008 – Page 2

Shorebird stuff for Thursday

Since I didn’t see coverage on some other blog here’s a summary of yesterday morning’s Shorebird victory, salvaging the last of the three-game set against Lake County. This comes from the Shorebirds’ website:

Delmarva scored five runs in the bottom the fourth inning powered by Pedro Silveren’s three run double en route to a 6-3 victory over the Lake County Captains Wednesday afternoon at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Lake County’s starting pitcher Chris Archer walked the bases loaded with no one out and then gave up an RBI single to Delmarva catcher Brendan Monaghan before being lifted for reliever Gary Campfield. Campfield gave up the three run double to Silveren and an RBI single to Matt Tucker. The Captains scored a run in the sixth inning on an RBI single from Adam White scoring Roman Pena. White had two of the Captains five hits and the RBI. Delmarva’s Matt Angle hit his first homerun of the season to lead off the sixth inning. Lake County scored two in the ninth off Mick Mattaliano but Delmarva held on for the 6-3 triumph, salvaging the final game of the series less than 12 hours after Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep.

Luis Noel got the victory for the ‘Birds with his best outing of the season, allowing just one run on three hits in 6.1 innings. Noel picked up his first victory as Delmarva evened up their record at 10-10 as they prepare for a four-game road trip to West Virginia.

I’d have preferred to simply link it but the Shorebirds’ website doesn’t link to particular stories separately for some reason. Regardless, since I had to miss the game I appreciate the update. Good coverage of not just the Shorebirds but all of the minor leagues can also be found here; it’s a great resource for me. In fact, it’s where the recaps I link to in the next paragraph eminate from.

As for Tuesday’s doubleheader I did attend, it was REAL ugly as the Shorebirds were kicked around 7-1 and 11-1. When the highest total on the Shorebirds side of the board for both games is the error total (seven errors in game one and four in game two) you know it was a bad night.

What really made it a tough night was losing starting outfielder David Cash to injury, making it three players on the inactive list. Shortstop Pedro Florimon is out with a hand injury and catcher Jordan Wolf was beaned in the season’s third game and has not returned. While the replacement for Cash isn’t known to me at the moment, the Shorebirds activated infielder Pedro Silveren to take Florimon’s spot.

Wednesday night also marked the debut of three Shorebirds, two of whom are familiar to fans. Catcher Victor Castillo returned to the fold along with lefthanded pitcher Brett Bordes. The other player making his debut was pitcher Aaron Odom, who got the call from extended spring training. Bordes and Odom replace Joe Esposito, who was returned to extended spring, and Jeff Moore, who was promoted to Frederick.

As always, tonight I’ll have a new Shorebird of the Week, after I verify he’s still on the roster after a tumultuous few days.

A push for new turnout

I think I’ve played out the vein of environmentally-related items for a bit, so I’ll turn my attention to something interesting that popped up in my e-mail from my friends at the Center for Immigration Studies.

The paper by writer and professor Stanley Renshon opens with a “news story” set in July of 2009 where non-citizens in the country six months are suddenly granted voting rights. While it doesn’t specifically mention who would be President, arguably such a bill would be signed by a Democrat; however given John McCain’s feelings on immigration it’s not a real stretch to suggest he might do so as well. Several local jurisdictions already grant the vote to non-citizens, a trend that began right here in Maryland.

Of course, our fair state is now one of just five that doesn’t verify citizenship before giving out driver’s licenses (h/t to O’Malley Watch) so I’m a bit surprised that a similar bill wasn’t introduced in our General Assembly this year. There’s enough friends of CASA de Maryland there that such a bill could easily pass, although it might be with less than 80 votes in the House of Delegates and something like a 25-22 vote in the Senate. Regardless, I would give such a bill about a 60% chance if one were introduced next time around.

While I have nothing at all against people who want to come here and take their shot at the American Dream (after all, my ancestors did about a century ago) there needs to be limitations on their number and skill level, both of which we have, and some limit on the rights they can claim until they take the solumn vow to become citizens. Too often we see immigrants who are in this country illegally solely to work and send the money back to their families, people with no intention on becoming citizens yet demanding the rights we as citizens have. That needs to stop.

Returning to the subject of Renshon’s essay, it illustrates another example of slippery slope politics. Until recent times, there wasn’t even a question or discussion of the subject of non-citizen voting because it was understood that voting was a solemn duty to be performed by those who were either born here or made the effort to gain citizenship after years of waiting and paperwork. But somewhere, a small group of people got the bright idea that the voices of immigrants were not being heard and, after some searching for a willing group of fellow travelers who had the power to change this, managed to get a foothold over in Takoma Park about 15 years ago. And once a precedent is set, cities who want to appear “progressive” fall all over themselves to adopt similar regulations and then the growing chorus sets their sights on higher levels of government in the name of equality – after all, it’s not fair that people in this city can do something whereas people in another city cannot. Never mind that the principle is flawed.

On the other hand, cities like Hazleton, Pennsylvania, who wish to control the tide of illegal immigrants and aren’t falling all over themselves to give them undeserved rights are immediately taken to court and placed at the mercy of activist judges who decide what they think is fair. Of course, the more voters that can be recruited to that side, the easier it is for sympathetic lawmakers to be elected (who in turn place activist judges on the bench) and the more goodies that non-citizens can and will think they’re entitled to.

Since most Americans are against these sorts of laws, the only method currently available to enact them (or stop an ordinance like Hazleton passed) on a larger level is through the judicial system. By actively seeking to give non-citizens the right to votes, those on the far left are looking at another way to game the system and guarantee themselves the power to redistribute income from the producers to those the left wing favors in return for votes, ill-gotten or not.

Sick of that green thing too

The other day I came across this article by Eric Adler that originally appeared in the Kansas City Star. While the couple described in the piece as “young”, “smart”, and “green” thinks they do their part in saving the planet, you can also color them skeptical about a number of the so-called “green” products out there. The article also goes on to describe how picky consumers are about the sincerity of corporate America in embracing this trend.

Of course if you’re a skeptic like me you never bought into the hype anyway. Sure, I do a little bit of recycling now and then and don’t drive an SUV, but I’m not going to run out and buy a Prius either. (For one thing, they’re butt-ugly.)

When Senator Gaylord Nelson first inaugurated Earth Day in 1970, there wasn’t too much concern about climate change. It was more about things like recycling, reusing, and preserving open space – things that aren’t too bad on their face. Unfortunately, what once was a nice idea in the spirit of volunteerism turned quickly to lobbying and advocacy. Cars polluted too much, so we needed to get rid of leaded gasoline. Then they used too much gasoline so we had to regulate how many miles to the gallon they had to achieve. Next came the idea that gasoline taxes shouldn’t go to highway maintenance but to bikeways and mass transit. Then the gasoline had to be made at least in part from renewable sources and it broke the food chain. Do you see how things progress on a slippery slope?

Unfortunately, the Hambrechts are well-meaning but may be contributing to their own misery later. It’s one thing for them to choose to have one car, ride a bike to work, clean with soap and water instead of detergent, etc. but if they vote for certain politicans as part of that commitment they may be contributing to taking away the choices others have, like those who may prefer to drive solo to work via car or think as I do that detergent is a much better product for cleaning because it’s made for the purpose.

When the nation was founded, many folks recycled and reused out of necessity. As prosperity took hold because of the freedoms afforded by our method of government, people found they didn’t have to do that as much and eventually the pendulum swung over to the throwaway society we have today. While in my opinion there is some excess to our lifestyle, I’m not one to begrudge another’s choice to live that way. Although I may suggest otherwise they do have that right to carry on with life as they wish.

What makes me sickest about the green thing is the idea that our choice needs to be taken away because we’re not making what some deem as the proper one. It’s time to stand up to those American watermelons (green on the outside, red on the inside) and demand more choice and less regulation in our lives.

My April 22 tribute

One of my best friends back in Ohio was a gentleman named Bob. I have him to thank for making me a dittohead since he made the little studio he and I shared with two other people a Rush room. (At the time, we called it the “Rebeldome” since it was at the south end of the building but separated from our main office at the north end. It’s called quick growth and needing space fast.)

Anyway, we lost touch for awhile but ironically it was Rush who brought us back into communication since he heard me on the program last October (my “big show business break“) and because of it he found monoblogue. Recently Bob passed along this e-mail to me and today was the appropriate day to publish it:

Greetings Mike,

I see from one of your blogs (or response thereto) that you now are a “public figure”. Congrats! Or condolences… whichever is more appropriate.

In review of your “leaving (most) of the lights on” blog, I felt compelled to bring you into the loop of a new way to measure your contributions to the earth. We call it “Cylinder Appreciation Day.” Quite simply it is our way of paying tribute to the wonders and contributions the internal combustion engine has made to modern society. But I did mention “measuring your contribution” didn’t I? Yes, that is where your own personal “Cylinder Appreciation Index” comes into play.

On the national “Cylinder Appreciation Day” one takes measure of all internal combustion engines within their household. If the total number of cylinders does not meet or exceed your chronological age, you are immediately to head off to your local Home Depot to buy the required gas-powered chainsaws, weed-whackers or other such equipment as needed to bring your CAI into good standing. In extreme cases we recommend heading off to the nearest Hummer dealership for those with large discrepencies in their CAI.

Personally I am proud to say I am good for over a decade to come…CAI of 53! Those twin-engined boats do come in handy!!!

Oh, by the way, Cylinder Appreciation Day occurs this year on April 22, 2008. In searching the calendar we couldn’t find anything of value being honored on this day.

Your NW Ohio bud,

Bob

You know, it’s pretty sad that I’m far short of that mark because the only gas-powered implements I own are my car and my push lawnmower. I have an electric trimmer but aside from that I’m just not much into yard work and I really have to stay away from things like boats, ATV’s, motorcycles, etc. because I’m sort of a klutz.

So my CAI is pretty low. However, I think I qualify for a CAI offset because I frequently attend places where dozens of kWh of electricity are “wasted” amplifying musical instuments to loud volume; meanwhile there is additional wastewater generated from the copious amounts of beer and spirits consumed by those in attendance, not to mention the hundreds of automobiles that converge onto the site of the concert in question burning gasoline. It’s a reach but if Al Gore can sell it so can I.

On the whole this is the perfect counterpoint to what would otherwise be a lovely spring day has become. Maybe I need to fire up the charcoal grill!

The unthinkable

Sunday I actually put myself at risk for mercury contamination. No, I didn’t go out and buy a mess of fish to eat (since ribs don’t have mercury I think I’m safe); instead I actually bought CFL light bulbs. I figured since Giant was doing a buy one get two free sale I may as well get some – so now I’m expecting a $5 a month electric bill next winter. I just haven’t figured out where to put them yet.

The problem I have is that I spend the predominant part of my awake time at work, but when I’m not there I’m generally in here typing away and the lamp in this room has a 3-way bulb. Same goes for my living room lamp. So I suppose those two rooms are out.

I could put one of the bulbs in my bedroom lamp, but it brings up another question. Since I have a lamp there that doesn’t recommend using a bulb that’s over 60 watts, can I put a 100-watt CFL there? Supposedly it gives the 100 watts of light on just 26 watts but would that be an issue because of heat? I figured for the price I may as well get the highest watts of light I could, since they were all the same cost.

There are a couple other places I could put the bulbs, one being the laundry closet. I have a bad habit sometimes of forgetting the dryer is running or that my washer is finished with its cycle so I usually leave that light on full-time when I do laundry as a reminder to myself to check (I notice the light shining through the louvered door into the hallway.) But if I somehow manage to break the bulb how would I ventilate the room since there’s no window? And would it contaminate any clothes which happen to be in there?

So I have these bulbs but I’m not sure just what to do with them, besides eat the discount I could have received had I bought the bulbs at other outlets (courtesy of Delmarva Power and paid for as part of my electric bill each month.) I’m not sure if I can put them in my bathroom fixtures because of moisture and I’m pretty sure they can’t go outside because of the vagaries of Delmarva weather so scratch that thought.

I guess they’ll just have to look interesting in my closet until I figure all of this out, or unless someone wants to buy some CFL bulbs cheap. Given that Giant still had a whole bunch of them still in stock that may be a long shot, at least until next week. I’m still expecting that $5 a month electric bill though.

Continuing indoctrination

As a registered architect here in Maryland and member of the American Institute of Architects, one thing I have to accomplish on a yearly or bi-yearly basis is acquiring a certain number of continuing education credits. As an AIA member, I’m required to have 18 learning hours per year while as I recall the state requires 24 learning hours per registration term (mine is two years and I have until the end of April, 2009 to complete that number.) Either way, I’ve never been a fan of mandatory continuing education but unfortunately the AIA tends to push this in every state’s legislature because, quite frankly, it’s a pretty good cash cow for them. Ohio was one of the last holdouts who didn’t require this non-billable crap but the main reason I opted not to maintain my Ohio registration was their adoption of CEU requirements in 2005.

I can see the requirements for continuing education in certain professions like medicine, law, or education. Doctors and nurses need to keep up with the latest techniques and pharmaceuticals, attorneys have to be aware of changes in law and regulation, and teachers hopefully can learn the latest in educational techniques and dealing with more and more types of problem children, but with the exception of the latter case these folks pull in a lot more coin than architects do and their professions change at a much more rapid pace.

While I’m certainly not against architects keeping up with the latest in technology and (in particular) building codes, to me this is simply something a good architect does as part of his or her overall task and the important stuff can be covered in just a few hours of reading per year. They only put out an edition of the International Building Code every three years and yearly supplements are relatively brief. Meanwhile, brick, stone, concrete, steel studs, and 2×4’s don’t change a whole lot over time.

Unfortunately, the organization I belong to sees things differently and they sure didn’t ask my opinion on this recent directive I received:

During the March 2008 AIA National Board of Directors meeting, it was approved that beginning January 1, 2009 the AIA would require all members to complete four (4) hours of sustainable design. These 4 Sustainable Design (SD) hours would be included as part of the current 8 hour/HSW requirement. They are not additional hours to the 18/8 LU hours that the AIA already requires. This requirement would run until 2012, at which time it will be evaluated.

The AIA is currently finalizing the rules of Sustainable Design (SD) Learning Units. During the course of this summer the AIA/CES will be establishing the infrastructure for CES providers to determine, register, and report their future continuing education courses to qualify for Sustainable Design (SD) learning units. These rules will be based upon the following definition.

Sustainable Design (SD) Learning Units
Sustainable design is achieved through an integrated design and delivery process that enhances the natural and built environment by using energy sensibly with a goal toward carbon neutrality, improves air and water quality, protects and preserves water and other resources, and creates environments, communities and buildings that are livable, comfortable, productive, diverse, safe, and provide enduring value to our community and society as a whole.

To qualify as Sustainable Design learning units, the content must meet 4 thresholds:

It must address the AIA definition of sustainability.

It must be a structured (third-party) program (i.e. no self-study).

At least 75% of program content must qualify as HSW.

Its primary purpose must address at least one of the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Measures of Sustainable Design and Performance Metrics:

Design & Innovation; Regional/Community Design; Land Use & Site Ecology; Bioclimatic Design; Light & Air; Water Cycle; Energy Flows & Energy Future; and Materials & Construction to reduce product-cycle environmental impacts and optimize occupant health and comfort.

The only thing this all seems to sustain is cash flow into the AIA coffers, particularly since there’s not the self-study option that’s available for other areas – including the eight required health/safety/welfare credits. Since the organization is also heavily into pushing requirements for so-called “green” construction at the federal and state levels (thus attempting to artificially create a market by fiat where one doesn’t exist) it’s certainly making its effort to have all of their membership drink heavily from the goblet of green Kool-Aid. While it may be time for me to leave the organization, I’m certainly going to get some parting shots in before I go.

To that end, I have their 2012 evaluation already written here in 2008. How about working to get the government off our backs instead of trying to get them further into areas they don’t belong, and while you’re at it laying off this forced manmade global climate change propaganda?

Crossposted on Red Maryland.

The hype reaches a peak

If you’ve been hidden under a rock lately, chances are you might be the only American who doesn’t know Earth Day is coming Tuesday. Anyone else is going to have a hard time avoiding seeing anything that’s green-related, up to and including venerable items like Campbell’s soup cans (thanks to American Thinker) and even, as Michelle Malkin is one to point out, Time magazine. I saw those same soup cans a couple weeks ago at Wal-Mart myself but didn’t have my camera with me to scoop American Thinker. Oh well.

And if you flip on your TV, we all know that the Weather Channel has been in the tank on the side of pushing the Goreian view of so-called global warming for some time now, naturally they’re making a big deal of Earth Day. But Saturday night I saw that the Fox network was plugging a “Green it, Mean it” promotion of some sort. (Couldn’t tell you what the whole deal was since the only reason I noticed was because the TV set on Fox was directly behind one of the band stages.) Yes, that same Fox which has the news channel liberals love to hate pushing green awareness.

Looking through my grocery ads this week, they’re all featuring reuseable bags for Earth Day. Now I take my plastic bags down the road to get recycled when I collect enough of them so it’s not like they’re completely incompatible with the environment. Maybe they’re not as good as paper bags in that respect, but the reason paper bags fell out of favor was because they tear easily and are probably more expensive to buy for the grocer. On the other hand, cloth bags are really smart for the companies because they can sucker people into paying for their own bags rather than absorb the cost!

Maybe it’s a bad idea for companies to go green when they can’t pass the costs on to their consumers as readily but given the chance to cash in on a green fad that needs to come to an end soon before we do anything stupid – like ratify the Kyoto Protocol or put even more mandates in place like the Maryland General Assembly considered – that corporate green for Earth Day is simply an attempt to give themselves more green to spend. I’m not falling for it (okay, maybe a bit as I’ll discuss tomorrow) and hopefully you won’t either.

Pork in the Park wrapup

And so an exhausting weekend on Delmarva comes to a close. Between Pork in the Park and another event on Saturday I’ll write something on later in the week, I needed a nap!

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on perspective) I had the opportunity. My friend Dustin from the Andy Harris campaign decided to pull up stakes early today anticipating the rain so I didn’t have to work Andy’s booth this afternoon.

While I didn’t make it over to WinterPlace Park yesterday I found out that someone else connected to that campaign did:

Apparently Mr. Kratovil was there yesterday - let's hope his campaign sinks like this balloon did.

But it didn’t rain, in fact I believed the weatherman too and didn’t put any sunscreen on so my arms and probably the back of my neck and ear are a little bit red. It actually turned out to be a pretty nice afternoon and there was a crowd comparable to that when I was there late Friday afternoon. Something tells me that Pork in the Park probably beat its attendance record they set last year because yesterday was so nice.

While the KCBS competitors had split the scene, the organizers were shrewd enough to take advantage of the open space and schedule a car show there as part of the draw. So I got my old car picture fix as there were some I hadn’t hitherto seen, particularly a cool 1968 ‘Cuda.

I also had my extra half rack, sort of. I must say that the 1/4 rack I had from the South Carolina BBQ place had probably as much or more meat on it than the bones I had from Skin ‘n Bones Friday night. The sauce was good, too, although it could have been just a little thicker. I also managed to have a pulled pork sandwich from Smoke ‘n Dudes that was a bit pricey at $6 but really damn good. So I had a filling lunch to be sure.

Because I didn’t need to work a booth anymore, I had the full two hours to enjoy these guys:

Local rockers Crossroads did a mix of rock and blues classics.

Here's another shot, pretty much the view the folks at the sound tent had. That group did a good job by the way.

Since I happened to have a pen in my pocket, I wrote down most of their playlist as far as groups they covered was concerned. There were only two songs I didn’t know (more straight-up blues that I’m not familiar with) so I’m pretty proud of my rock ‘n roll knowledge. Crossroads did a great deal of Southern rock (Lynard Skynard, Molly Hatchet, Allman Brothers, ZZ Top) but also threw in more bluesy acts like Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. And then there were other classics from Bob Seger, Foghat, Uriah Heep, and Led Zeppelin. If you’re into that sort of stuff, check them out because I link to their site.

I also caught a bit of Jon Bolin’s acoustic guitar playing beforehand and he did the blues quite nicely too. It sounds like he’s a bit of a scholar on the subject as well. Didn’t stick around to catch the last act, which was probably my loss but sitting out in the sun was really sapping me today. So it was time to go home and look back on a fun weekend.

As I noted up top, I’ll probably do something on the other event I attended last night but it’ll be over at my Myspace page because I decided just to do large-format pictures there. One of these days I’m going to have to find some sort of editing program that can take the wide-format stuff I like shooting and compress it down to 640×480 without cropping. However, that’s for another time.

This week I’ll be looking a lot at Earth Day stuff so you’ve been warned.

Leaving the cult of personality

I sort of alluded to this on Friday and appreciate the advice from Hadley; in fact I did have the half rack Friday evening for my supper and will have another today for lunch split among two establishments, assuming they are both still here with the anticipated rain. However, I can’t quite ignore that other guy from Delaware – though I’m going to attempt to make him only a peripheral character in this post as much as possible.

Needless to say, it’s been a trying month for a number of local bloggers including myself. Mine happened to be on a personal and professional level away from my home computer; regardless it wasn’t assisted by some things which were said and implied elsewhere. On one point brought up recently I will say that the gentleman being questioned was the treasurer (not manager) of my 2006 Central Committee campaign and that the books were closed to the satisfaction of the state Board of Elections shortly after I was successful in winning my seat since I chose to have a non-continuing account. So let’s lay that portion of the whole sordid affair to rest.

While it’s not something I’m particularly fond of, a great deal of our local and thriving blogosphere revolves around the words and actions of one individual. I know I fall into this trap more than I should when my true purpose is to inform and convince people that the political point of view I hold is the most valid one for maintaining the strength and prosperity of our society and our nation. Yet there are times I feel the need to respond to one man’s charges and smears, even against the wishes and advice of my readers – a number I’m pleased to see is increasing but concerned that it’s growing because of a position I’m perceived to be in as a “pro-Maryland blogger.” Of course I’m for seeing my adopted home state succeed in becoming the best state possible but in this case that’s not the meaning of the term.

To be perfectly and brutally honest, at times I feel like I’m in a battle of National Review vs. National Enquirer. I say this not because I think I hold any sort of candle to the late William F. Buckley but because in my mind I could think of no other metaphor that would express the frustration I have at times. Yes, sometimes I do take comfort in knowing I have the respect of many of my peers in this field but sometimes the relative obscurity bugs me. It’s an obscurity that unfortunately has tarred my site with a broad brush, with bloggers being described as a “cancer” by one countywide candidate a couple years ago and now possibly getting a reputation for not quite being the most truthful and trustworthy types, if you catch my drift.

Further, it’s a morass that even can suck in the most talented writers I know. Since “Straight Shooter” has been outed in dramatic fashion I can say that I’ve admired her writing skill for some time on posts she’s placed at a couple websites. But she can do so much better with better material to write about than the exploits of one person, which I think simply serves to inflate his ego. It’s a shame on both sides because both started out with the best of intentions but became tangled up in peripheral issues that made them lose focus on what made them special and worth reading in the first place.

Before I become the pot calling the kettle black, by the time you read this (I’m writing this a day or so in advance so I can enjoy the rest of my weekend!) we’ll know if I managed to keep my BlogNetNews #1 ranking. (Nope, I guess not. Not controversial enough?) I know I’d like to have done so, in part because I’ve managed to make it to the top of the heap four times now but have never kept the ranking for more than one week. So I have a little bit of ego invested in this enterprise too and I’ll guiltily admit there was a brief burst of schadenfreude when I found out about the legal issues that became statewide news. On the other hand, more sober reflection caused me to think that not only would this incident make his “train wreck” (as a friend of mine calls the site in question) even more popular but it would drag the lot of us down even more in the eyes of the public.

By sheer happenstance I ran into Kathleen McLain on Friday and naturally the subject of local blogs came up. While I got the impression that she wasn’t too pleased about the number of personality-based blogs she links to through her TV station’s website, she also praised a story found on one of those blogs commonly linked to that ilk and noted it was something that probably should have been covered by her station. I countered with the old adage, “if it bleeds it leads” and the same is true for the local blogs. Some have made it a mission to combat others they don’t agree with and it’s sad to see.

Since the beginning of monoblogue I’ve kept the tag line, “News and views from Maryland’s Eastern Shore.” But I don’t cover news in the classic TV or newspaper sense, running from fire to crime scene to government meeting in an effort to give all of the happenings contained within our happy little slice of Delmarva. Rather, the news you get from me comes from items I either cover as a good reporter would because I deem them newsworthy (like the Wicomico County Republican Club meetings), from items that I find interesting which lie outside the area normally thought of as news (such as my Harris article yesterday), or different angles on events that were covered as breaking news (my photos from Friday come to mind, I was attempting to inform in a lighthearted manner.) Of course the views come from these items and others found in the news cycle that I felt were worth commenting about, along with posts to reflect my basic philosophy on political issues.

So I suppose I’m going to find out whether my newfound readership is going to stick around while I make the sincere attempt to simply stay away from the issues brought on by just one man, a guy who has managed to make himself the news but really hasn’t accomplished a whole lot while doing so. While I reserve the right to defend myself when attacked, I’m going to trust that the truce of sorts that stemmed from a complaint about being a frequent photographic target will hold in other matters as well and post accordingly. It’s time to get away from the cult and move to what’s really important, or at least worth my time to write about.

Good press is good press

The other day I had a surprise in my mailbox which was nice to find. Reversing a trend that has seen venerable conservative magazines like National Review, Human Events, or American Spectator move toward an online presence, the Townhall website began a print magazine back in January of this year. In the April issue they featured State Senator and Congressional hopeful Andy Harris as part of its “Townhall of Fame.”

The article by writer Jay Swartzendruber gives a little background on Andy’s resume and philosophy along with a recap on the fact he defeated the “moderate at best” incumbent Wayne Gilchrest back in February. He actually has a pretty good spot in the magazine because the article prior to his honor [Townhall bills the Townhall of Fame as “(h)onoring the leaders among us”] is about noted conservative media personality Ben Stein – so Andy has a nice lead-in. In addition, Harris is written about and pictured in another magazine feature called “The Wire”, in a column by Amanda Carpenter called “Grassroots Knock Off Incumbents.”

After reading the magazine (which seems to skew toward a younger reader and talks quite a bit about the media and its impact on conservatism) I began to wonder if I had indeed gotten this particular issue as a coincidence or if there was a plan to send these free copies to conservatives in Maryland’s First District. (If so, that’s some damn fine marketing on Townhall‘s part.) With the number of conservative outlets now vying for attention, any advantage that can be taken is only going to help the fledgling magazine get a foothold in the market.

While I’m not sure I’d be one to subscribe to Townhall magazine, it’s certainly worth taking a look at if you’re interested in conservative media. (Of course, if they were willing to chip in a few bucks for an advertisement here on monoblogue, well, that may sway my opinion of taking it monthly. I’d like my revenue stream a little deeper too.) Certainly it has more content than the Limbaugh Letter that I’ve subscribed to for many moons (a little Indian lingo there, in homage to the Maharushie) at a comparable price. You may recall after Harris’s victory that Rush mentioned Andy as well. It made the magazine more memorable with the local tie-in, that’s for certain.

Did I not say awhile back that our First District race would get national attention? Why I think I did, and it popped on the national scene last October as I recounted.

Pork in the Park pix

Yeah, I know someone else did this but mine are different. Last year I did a little more of a narrative after the fact ~~(and I still might)~~, (I did) but this year I actually checked out some of the competitors and found that aspect fairly humorous, so I’ll make that my focus here.

Let’s begin with what this festival is about, though. If I’m going to something called Pork in the Park, I’m there to eat ribs. One complaint I had last year was a lack of vendors actually selling ribs and this year we have three insofar as I can tell who are not local. Here’s two of them.

On the left you have Skin - n - Bones from Florida and on the right is Smoke' n Dudes.

The other doesn’t quite have as elaborate of a set up.

Representing the Palmetto State is this group, naturally called South Carolina BBQ. Never thought of that as a barbeque state but I'll give them a shot later on this weekend if they're still here.

I decided for tonight to give Skin ‘n Bones my money for a half-rack. Part of the reason is what you’ll see in the second picture below.

If you look closely you'll see something interesting that I shot below.

Nice to see our fair city get a little love as this setup travels from competition to competition.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as good as some of the others I recalled from last year but to each his or her own. I still have a couple to try out that aren’t local.

In terms of real time, I actually ate about in the middle of the two hours I was over there. After I walked around to find where I’ll be Sunday (more on that later) I wandered around the pond to scope out those shooting for the awards from the sponsoring Kansas City Barbeque Society.

While some may liken the barbeque circuit to NASCAR because individual entities compete in a “league” with rules and yearly stops, I think of it more like the professional bowlers’ tour because you have a subset who travels around the country from stop to stop and you have a lot of local competitors at each venue who are trying to make a name for themselves against the big guys. Most of these folks are from this region but some have traveled quite a distance. All of them are vying for a total of $17,000 in prize money but if I could give out prizes for most humorous signs here’s some that would be winners.

These folks pretty much show they have a relaxed attitude:

Actually I'm betting that there's just a little more work involved in being a successful contestant then they're letting on.

Cartoonists have a field day with some of the signs. This one was a favorite of mine:

This sign reminds me of the ersatz law firm Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.

Here’s another good example of that. The disclaimer was quite amusing too, hopefully you can read it in the second photo.

I don't know who those guys are either, but I loved the sign.

Here's the disclaimer - bear in mind the picture needed to be this size yet get the whole thing in.

I seem to recall these guys came here last year so it’s nice to get the repeat business.

I wonder why they have two teams, does that seem odd to you?

This Texas BBQ outfit looked like they were serious, based on the rig that brought them here.

There's a lot of diesel used to get this bad boy down here. Many others have motorhomes or campers parked about WinterPlace Park as well. If you do this for a living, it's easier than staying in a motel because they're up all night doing their cooking.

And then you have a band of brothers, which is nice to see. I guess the family that ‘ques together…oh hell, I can’t think of a good rhyme, you do it.

Keeping it in the family I suppose. It's not clear how extended the family is.

Some participants do this undertaking for a higher cause:

Give us this day our daily...pork?

While others know that sex sells, particularly if you want a thriving merchandising business like the bottom photo shows:

Really, I'm not sure that's the best name for a barbeque place but they're from Massachusetts and things are a little different there I guess.

I actually spoke briefly to Gino and the guy didn't seem all that sexy to me. You gotta like the name and marketing effort though.

Been there, done that, didn’t get the shirt. If there’s one thing I don’t need it’s another T-shirt. Someone who would be glad to supply me one though also has a booth there, as I’ve alluded to a couple times this week. It’s where I’ll be stationed Sunday afternoon so come by and say hello as a few others did to me today as I wandered the premises.

Andy is the only politician represented in this way but rumor has it his opponent Frank Kratovil will be making the rounds tomorrow.

I can’t forget the other component of this festival, and that’s the music. While it doesn’t necessarily qualify as a “Weekend of local rock” post I did catch the first of many acts to be playing this weekend, the bluesy slide guitarist and harmonica player Chris English.

Local bluesman Chris English played and sang a number of venerable blues standards and hawked his CD's while he was at it. It was good stuff to eat ribs and drink a beer by.

Finally, I snapped a shot of the upcoming entertainment for the next couple days. Fortunately I’ll be there to see Crossroads start their show but commence my Harris booth shift at 2:00 so I’ll only catch about half.

The upcoming docket for this year's PitP entertainment.

As an aside to wrap things up for this review, last year I said that it would be good for the South Atlantic League to schedule the Shorebirds away this weekend – as chance would have it, they did. But there’s no shuttle service from the stadium like I suggested because Perdue Stadium is hosting a local dealership’s car event in their parking lot. Too bad about the missed opportunity because I’m suspecting parking will be a problem tomorrow and I wouldn’t be surprised if folks aren’t parked at the adjacent school. But we’ll see and I certainly don’t want to scare people away from a great event.

One more thing I wanted to add – most of the competitors will be outta here after the awards are given this afternoon so if you want to check things out back there my suggestion is to head over before 3:00 or so. Sunday it’ll be more about the entertainment and social aspects of the festival, hopefully the predicted rain will by and large stay away.

A note about a Delaware guy

No, not the one you’re probably thinking of. I just wanted to point out for my friends north of the border that I added a link to a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate seat from the First State (held currently by Joe Biden), Tim Smith. (hat tips: Elbert for the post and John Rittenhouse for the actual link). At some point I’ll get around to adding the incumbent, but I’ll make him wait for now.

I may have something to say about that other Delaware guy in the next few days but I’m still debating whether it’s worth my time on a weekend that promises to be a busy one for me (somewhere there’s a rack or two of ribs calling my name and I’m working a booth there too). So don’t hold your breath.

Yes, that is called a tease. Guess you’ll have to come back and check things out, won’t you?