Tuesday Toast 5.21.13

This Tuesday Toast is a shout-out to the Rangers. Not the Texas Rangers, the New Yokr Rangers, or worse the apocalyptic Central Park Rangers, but the Yellowstone National Park Rangers.

They keep the peace, calmly fighting the ever-present tug-of-war between man and beast; between those who have common sense and those who don't within the 2.2 MILLION acres of Yellowstone National Park. Here's a tally of what they have to watch over: 1,000 grizzly and black bears; 80 wolves; 500 Bighorn Sheep; appx 100 KittyCats (Mountain Lions, Bobcats, Lynx); 100 Moose; 3,000 Bison; 20,000 Elk and of course, 3.5 MILLION people.photo by Robert Panozzo from Shuttergive.com

One is supposed to stay a minimum of 25 yards away from elk, bison, black bears, coyotes etc and a minimum of 100 yards from grizzly and wolves. I've seen people chase a black bear in the woods; stay within 25 yards of a bison but be 200 yards from their car (if the bison gets irritated you'll never ever ever make it back dude). People have been attacked by bears for being dumb enough to try to get close to a cub and pet it.

That's just the interaction with animals. Most people may not realize of all of the entire world's geothermal activity nearly HALF of it is within Yellowstone. Yet people love to take shortcuts across the park from trail to trail. Occassionally one falls into some unclassified geo-activity… and boils to death. Yep. People, Yellowstone is like a chicken pot pie. There are safe crust areas on the edges like mountains, but the rest of the crust has boiling hot liquid underneath.

Congrats to those flat-brimmed hat, green uniform with orange safety vest wearing men and women. You park rangers are doing a bang-up job keeping the stupid and/or ignorant from hurting themselves and the animals.

Tuesday Toast 05.14.13

I got some Chobani Greek yogurt samples (Chobani Bites) in the mail. More than a single sample, I received 24 little cups of three different flavors courtesy of my friend and fellow blogger, Katie Arnold.

This isn’t about the glories of Chobani, but a quick opinion? Great stuff. All three flavors - Raspberry with Dark Chocolate Chips, Caramel with Pineapple Chunks, Fig with Orange Zest – were top notch. Excellent product and kudos to them.

Katie has had, for her youthful age of 20-something (I won’t tell), quite a full life already. She’s graduated from Berklee College of Music; been in the music business; was an excellent barista at Conscious Cup and now is working her way into sports therapy (physical; not psychological).
What makes her unique is her attitude.Katie Arnold taken from her website

Positive. Make that healthy positive.

She’s made herself into an athlete - a solidly successful runner of everything from 5K to half-marathons. She works as a chiropractic assistant. She’s a vegan… and yet I don’t hold that against her. :)
She blogs.
A lot.
At least three times a week at talkless-saymore.com.
It’s always refreshingly positive and helpful. I urge you to give her a look. Follow her blog. She has suggestions on new music; exercise routines; what to eat… I’ve been following her (blog, not her - not a creeper) for about three months and I am impressed. And and and she has an occasional contest. Hence, the Chobani Bites.
YUM.
Girl can’t help being helpful.
Nice job, keep going Katie Arnold.

As for the rest of you… be careful, your awesomeness is showing.

Tuesday Toast 5.07.13

On a normal week, if there ever is such a thing as a normal week in the world, I would get very positive about someone who is doing good for the world around them… and it would only take around 300 words. This one is a bit more complicated.

Yet, I’ll still aggravate someone. Can’t help it.

This week? I’m going mostly passive. People in this select group have elected to remain a little more passive than active. Either side I have no issues with, but I tend to be more active on this issue – hypocrisy not so delicately wedged within the standing feathers of the Chicago Blackhawk organization.susannah collins as used from Chicagonow

Their chairman, Rocky Wirtz, requested a sports anchor woman Susannah Collins, be taken off their broadcasts. Why? First she slipped up when discussing the team by stating they were having plenty of sex before game. She fixed it immediately on-air, but as it was live, she couldn’t take it back.

But no, that wasn’t his “real” reason. Seems she - which Comcast SportsNet was WELL AWARE OF when they hired her – was part of a series of “sports” videos which stretched the limitations of sexual innuendos and racist comments.

Sportnutz videos were somewhat funny. Not outrageously funny, but funny and not exactly seen - at the time - by a ton of viewers (the most popular one, prior to this brouhaha, was sitting around 40 views currently around 70,000). They were meant to be taken as jokes. However, this is where it gets sticky as cheap bubble gum. Comcast SportsNet is owned by all the Chicago professional sports teams. As such, any “suggestion” by any owner of a team is less a suggestion than it is a demand.

Rocky Wirtz can claim it was not his decision to fire her. But he is hiding like a political hack in the toilet stall of hypocrisy, as if he’s Larry Craig as it is his organization that contains the following three acts of hypocrisy:

IceGirls - dressed skimpily skating around during breaks semi-helping to clear shaved ice. They do far more skating than working for a good hip-swinging reason.

ShootThePuck SlutGirl - during the second period intermission the Blackhawks bring three people out onto center ice to shoot the puck for prizes. One- a semi-celebrity. Two - a kid donning a Blackhawks jersey. Three - the most provocatively dressed sexy woman they can find that night. I have no clue she’s a slut, but the implication of sexual desire is certainly evident.

Bobby Hull as ambassador.
But he’s a Blackhawk legend!! No doubt, on the ice the man had gifts not many players have ever possessed. He’s also a well-known, documented wife-beater and racist. Click here for WSCR host Dan Bernstein’s take peppered with facts.

Dan’s right. It’s not okay to simultaneously pretend you are appalled at Collins’ JOKING behavior and yet objectify women. Atone. Show some alignment for zero tolerance - at minimum, fire Bobby Hull.

As for the Toast? Those of us who have privately and publicly stated “Blackhawk management? Fuck you,” this goes to you.

Tuesday Toast 4.30.13

Yet another in a long line of Tuesday Toasts targeted toward irritating at least 47.67777% of the population because we are going political. What? Write something where everyone won’t get in line in agreement as if some parade? No point in writing anything unless you get someone’s dander flustered.

So we have Minnesota. No, this is not a toast to the state, but Minnesota has never been a state afraid to elect someone different. Jesse Ventura, current crazy conspiracy theorist (good Atlantic article), for governor? Why not. Michele Bachmann (ok, HUGE mistake for which Minnesota constituents will atone in 2014). Ladies and gentleman, this Toast goes out to none other than Minnesota’s part-time satirist and current full-time Senator Al Franken.gunflint trail. pretty northern minnesota shot by me.

You remember Al Franken, right? Most of us in our late 40’s to mid-50’s remember Al Franken as a very funny writer for Saturday Night Live who got in front of the camera for stoic-faced funny monologues as well as his character sketch with Stuart Smalley, the feel-good psychologist (let’s ignore the Smalley film).

Then he got serious - sort of. Serious in nature to caring for our country and attempting to right the ship after our tumultuous Bush years. He’s a fighter, and a damn intelligent one. Beat the holy crap out of Bill O’Reilly (click for video) for fighting against simple book title verbiage when he wrote "Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Looik at the Right."

He champions the middle class, environment and other just causes to keep our country and our planet from imploding under corporate rule. Sounds heavy? It was meant to be. He fought like hell to win his election and has been fighting ever since. Plus, his emails are pretty damn entertaining.

Al Franken, I wish you were one of our senators in Illinois.

Tuesday Toast 4.23.13

Normally, as normal as I can be, I'll have this Tuesday Toast ready-to-go by the end of Monday. Tuesday morning I'll take another gander, peruse, make changes and hit "publish" sometime in the afternoon.

Today it's off the cuff. Not as if I haven't been thinking about it, but actual writing? Well, here it goes. This Tuesday Toast, a blog designed to make most readers get a positive outlook for their day, week or life is dedicated to the city of Boston.

No brainer, right? It's what I thought… initially. Question swimming across my left and right hemispheres was "If it wasn't Boston, would I have written it? Moreover, what I have been able to write it?"

I like Boston. Only been there twice, but both times I did what I do in nearly every city I visit. I walked it. A lot of it. Went to all its sights, shopped, ate crustacean and Italian everywhere. creative commons license. flickr. Image by Michael KappelBehaved like a tourist. What I felt was a camaraderie. Not me as being a "part" of Boston, but Boston as being a centrifugal force on its own. Helpful people these Bostonians were as I carried a tired 5 year-old boy fireman style four blocks back to the hotel one night after a White Sox-Red Sox game at Fenway.

I grew up in Denver. I would like to think Denver could gather itself up, throw some chaw into collective cheeks and find anyone who dared to wreak havoc on their version of Boston Marathon, the Stock Show. But I'm not convinced. Diversity has changed Denver. It's not bad, but it's kind of like my adopted hometown of Chicago. Neighborhoods are incredibly different and sometimes you can say you lived in Chicago, but if you weren't in "their" backyard, you didn't.

Someone recently wrote a book about living in Chicago, Neil Steinberg. His book, "You were never in Chicago" spoke about the tightness each neighborhood relishes. Again, it's not bad, but different (the book, however? fabulous - click and order). I am not convinced Chicago could pull it off either. Sure, they'd gather forces, but somewhere there'd be an escape route forgotten. Not Boston.

Other places i have lived or been to often (too often to some)? San Francisco? Definite maybe, closer to yes. Los Angeles? No way. Never happening. Austin? Tough call. I'll throw them in the Denver category as it has its own wide expanse to handle.

So Boston, I doff my derby to you. Great job. For all you out there? Smile and be careful… your awesomeness is showing.