Sometimes weekends pass without incident, and while it may be a bit boring in the end, not rushing off to the hospital at 2:30 AM on an early Sunday morning makes for a much more leisurely evening nap. For example, this past weekend was relatively painless and uneventful, at least in the out-of-the-ordinary event category.
But I’ll move back a few days before, first.
Last Thursday was St. Patrick’s Day, and both Erika and I had been itching to do something that evening. I don’t even remember the last time that I did anything exciting on St. Paddie’s Day. Erika invited a friend of hers and her friend’s boyfriend over, and along with Erika’s roomate we went in search of a bar on Hawthorne since that’s where there’s always a lot of activity. We first stopped at the Bridgeport Ale House (not my suggestion, though I was happy that someone else thought of it), but they didn’t really have seating for the five of us, and they didn’t have a full bar, either. Our next stop was the McMenamins Bagdad Theater just a block away from the Ale House, and since they have a full bar in the restaurant there, we decided that was probably the best we could get. Oddly enough, though. the place was practically empty when we got there–I guess everyone who was out celebrating was at Kell’s or some other Irish-esque pub around town. Kell’s is a neat place downtown, almost right on the waterfront, and while they play good music and have good food in the attached restaurant, the cover charge, lack of seating, and small bar area make the place tough to navigate in. One Saturday night I was there and it took me close to five minutes to work my way from a table at the front to the bathrooms in the back because the place was so crowded. Then of course, a five-minute trip back. The crowd and music were so loud, I was hoarse the next day from all the yelling to talk to who I was with.
So we avoided Kell’s to avoid the crowds. I just didn’t want to pay a cover charge, personally. Going to a McMenamins actually had nothing to do with anything. My interesting situation with McMenamins is well known in my family and circle of friends, but I never try and override someone else’s wishes to go there (or to not go there, as the case may be). It just happened that the Bagdad was the only bar I knew of in the area, and no one else was speaking up. I didn’t live out there, so I figured that the people who did would have a better idea and know of someplace that wasn’t a dive.
As it turned out, though, we were perfectly happy where we were. Erika’s friend Kim and Erika’s friend’s boyfriend (hereafter to be known by his given name, Cedric) I’ve both met before on a couple of occasions, and they seem like a lot of fun. Cedric has a thick a thick French accent and seems pretty typically French (and makes a mean crepe), so it was interesting to see him drinking beer that night. In my experience with the French over the years, there hasn’t been a whole lot of discussion or consumption of beer, and so I took the opportunity to ask about the obviously booming French beer industry. I’ve had English beer, Scottish beer, Irish beer, Belgian beer, German beer, Austrian beer…well, you get the picture…but never any French beer. Turns out that there are breweries in France, but only a handful and they typically don’t sell huge numbers of export in large quantities due to the wine industry’s dominance in both business and culture. Most of the French breweries, I was told, were centered around the Belgian and German borders where there was more likely to be a market for it. Truth be told, I’ve never even seen a French beer to my knowledge, but since they brew it in a few places, it must be available somewhere.
After downing my third pint in a couple of hours of being there, I realized the mistake I’d been making all night–I was at the Bagdad Theater but not drinking Bagdad Ale.
Moving along, Saturday I went over to my Dad’s and made my famous pizza–no cheese, thyme- and garlic-sauteed chicken, roasted garlic, green and red peppers, sweet onion, and mushrooms, all on my pizza stone and crust, Andrew-style. The pizza came out a bit differently, though, since my Dad was out of both oregano and parmesan cheese. Call me crazy (whch I’m sure you will regardless of what I say next), but I could taste the difference. It wasn’t a bad difference, just…different. Kinda like when I make my special pasta sauce and leave out the peppercorns, the sauce always comes out tasting differently. A bit smoother, not quite as much of a bite (which I like in my sauce). Meh, maybe it’s all in my head.
Sunday Erika and I watched one of the DVDs in the complete “Fawlty Towers” collection that my Mom picked up for the family to enjoy. I haven’t watched that show in probably ten years, but it’s every bit as funny as I remember, if not moreso now that I’m older and get more jokes. John Cleese is an absolute comic genius. We were going to watch more, but her roommate called after locking herself out of their apartment, so we had to cut short our day.
I’ve been following this Terry Shiavo case in Florida with one eye, and I’ve been astounded that it’s been managed to be dragged out for this long. I’m not one to dictate any sort of “right to die” morality, though I stand by Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide law and certainly would wish to abide by a patient’s decision as to whether or not to remain on life support. The way I understand it, this case has been going on since about 1998, though se’s been in her current state since 1991 or so. My only question is, if she had expressed wishes to not remain in a state similar to the one she’s in now, why didn’t her husband begin the legal battle much sooner? I mean, I’m not taking either side by saying that, just curious as to why he got such a late start.
What really got my attention, though, were the shenanagins that Congress took to get involved. It sickens me to my core that the federal government is willing to get involved with something like that and make it a morality issue. The courts had ruled on it numerous times, yet somehow, the federal government decided that it was bigger than the entire judicial system and took drastic 11th-hour actions to save her. Or even better, as one Republican Congressman put it, his party is all for states’ rights–as long as the states are doing what the government wants. Sigh. It would probably be the same no matter who was in office, but I’d like to think that other administrations wouldn’t have people claiming they were doing God’s work in saving Terry. Frankly, wouldn’t God want Terry to die at this point? The common expression when people die is that they’re “with God” and the afterlife, if you believe in that sort of thing, is made out to be greater than your living life. So in her current condition, wouldn’t she be better off being “with God” rather than people claiming they’re doing God’s work in keeping her AWAY from Him? Bah. From what I’ve read this is against public opinion, too, and something like 80% of people don’tt hink that the government should have gotten involved in this case. Then again, the government doesn’t exist to always do what the people want. Remember Elian, the little Cuban boy? That was sure a sore spot for a lot of people for awhile, though I think that the right thing was done in the end.
The parents in this case keep claiming that she speaks to them and is reactive, though specialist after specialist has been unable to reproduce their claims. I keep thinking of the old Looney Tunes cartoon with Michigan J. Frog where the frog would sing and dance for someone, and then as soon as anyone else came into the room he’d stop singing and just sit there with his little hat on croaking ribbit. I think it’s time to let her die. The husband says she would have wanted it, and whether or not he’s telling the truth about that, it’s clear to me what what I’ve read that she would have a better quality of life dead than in her current vegetative state.
Then again, leaving her in her current state might allow her to wake up with psychic powers. Or maybe I’ve just been watching too much of “The Dead Zone” on USA.
Speaking of USA, anyone else see that the USA Network is coming out with a new Kojak show? I always enjoyed watching the old show with Telly Savalas, but the new show with Ving Rhames ought to be interesting. That’s right, a big burly black man is the new Kojak. I was a little surprised when I first read that last year, but I guess there’s no reason that a character can’t change races in a “reinvention” of a movie or show and still be the same character. As long as you have the most important characteristics that make that character…well, that character, then everything should be fine.
Then again, I’m not sure what makes Kojak KOJAK besides the lollipops. Each of the television detectives in the most popular shows had certain traits and chracteristics that made them who they were, but I guess until I can watch the old “Kojak” show and the new “Kojak” show side by side, I really won’t know for certain what his are. Something about baldness, but I guess Ving Rhames already has that part covered. If anyone ever comes out with a new “Columbo” show with a sharp-dressed, fast talking detective who just happens to smoke a lot, I think I’ll be unconvinced, though.
Incidently, if anyone’s curious about the music that’s listed as what I’m listening to when I compose my posts, I typically listen to Digitally Imported Radio while I’m at work. Most of the time I’ve never heard of the artists, but I just use it as background noise so that I don’t go crazy from the silence.
So now my week is almost over with, and I haven’t the foggiest what this weekend will hold for me. Beer? Possibly. TV? Most likely. Eating large quantities of Peeps and seeing how many I can fit fit in my mouth at once? I’ll let you know.