Here and there

Tonight, I feel the urge to blather on about this and that. I don't usually do things like this. Usually I have a topic in mind and sometimes a few photos as well.

Not this time. No real destination in mind. No road map.

Yes, some stream of consciousness for the first time in a looooong time.

It's late night, and I'm getting tired. But I started iTunes and got the party shuffle working. That might move my brain cells. The first four: Chess Blues. Scott Joplin. The Who. And Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman. Quite eclectic tastes, no?

I'm still watching a lot of hockey. The games are fun and exciting. My team, of course, is the Detroit Red Wings, and in recent years they do one of two things in the playoffs: (A) exit very early, or (B) go for a long run. This is one of those B years. They have advanced to the conference finals and lead Anaheim 2-1 as I write.

The frustrating part for me is that some of the games aren't on TV here (especially since I am recording them for another avid Red Wings fan/close friend). The local cable company has the wisdom to carry CBC, so we get the Hockey Night in Canada games. But HNIC is only carrying some of the Red Wings-Anaheim series, and the others aren't available--the cable system doesn't carry the service that broadcasts NHL games in the states. The Red Wings and Ducks are on CBC tomorrow night, though, and I'll be watching.

Hockey really is the only sport I feel a passion for now. I used to be a passionate baseball fan, but that has cooled off in recent years. Maybe I'll write more about the reasons sometime.

Well, maybe now.

When I was being raised in the Milwaukee area during the 1950s, the Milwaukee Braves were playing there, and I was a big fan of Hank Aaron. He became my favorite player when I was 7 (the year the Braves won the World Series; 50 years ago). This was only his fourth year in the major leagues. I remember when my dad took me and my brother and a neighbor kid to see him at a local lumber yard, where he was signing autographs, and they were giving out baseball bat-shaped pens. I told him, "Henry, you're my favorite player." And he didn't say anything and bent down to sign the next autograph--but I could see he was smiling.

Fifty years later, he is still my favorite player. Many years later, Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record and finished with 755.

And now we have Barry Bonds f.h. It seems inevitable now that Bonds is going to break Aaron's home run record later this year. Bonds--the player who is widely suspected of using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds, who only became a home run slugger in his mid 30s, long after a player's most productive hitting years. And now, he is about to break Aaron's home run record, and baseball won't do anything to stop it.

You may be asking yourself: Why did I write "Barry Bonds f.h." in the last paragraph. OK, if you really want to know, I will tell you.

I got the idea from reading some Islamic texts written in English, about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. After his name, they write p.b.u.h., which is an abbreviation for "peace be upon him." (Although I understand some scholars say this should not be abbreviated.)

"f.h." stands for what I say when I see Bonds on TV. It means "fuck him." When I see Barry Bonds f.h. on the sports news hitting a home run--or even striking out--I say "Fuck him!" Sometimes I mumble it. Sometimes I growl it. Sometimes I say it clearly and distinctly.

"Fuck" is a word I don't use very often. But for Barry Bonds f.h., it seems a suitable sentiment. And it makes me feel better about what is going to happen to record set by the player who is--still--my favorite baseball player. Aaron said he won't be around when Bonds breaks his home run record. I can't say I blame him.

The last thing on my mind is the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who died after being stricken on Tuesday. I don't know if any official cause has been announced, but it sounded like a heart attack.

First of all, Jerry Falwell was a honest, noble man. By that, I mean that he wasn't a hypocrite. He really believed in the things he said, and he walked his talk. Never involved in a scandal. He was genuine.

With that said, I think he did my country a great deal of harm by officiating at the marriage of politics and religion. As a result of his acts, many people now feel that government should regulate personal conduct and moral behavior. He helped people see issues as black-and-white, instead of millions of shades of gray.

What are the legacies of this? For one thing, many of his followers feel that only far-right Republicans will be admitted to Heaven--heard about a church recently that expelled some members who said they voted for John Kerry. That's tolerance for you. Well, that's the way it is. Today, America, for all its claims about diversity, is a very intolerant country. And we can thank Jerry Falwell and his holier-than-thou brethren for that.

Because of that, it has led many others, like myself, away from churches in general, on their/our own personal quest for a belief system freed from doctrine and dogma ... and, now, politics. A belief system where you really do follow Jesus' commandment that you love your neighbor, no matter who that neighbor is. A belief system that loves the earth. A belief system where having liberal, tolerant thoughts and beliefs is no mortal sin nor moral weakness.

I believe there are many roads to the same spiritual destination. Falwell picked his. They picked theirs. All of us picked ours.

So who is right? Maybe we all are ... if we really do follow that path.