On the South Side

A group of us went out for breakfast at Ginghams before we headed over to the cemetery. In attendance were: Myself and Emily, my Dad and step-mom Judy, sister Becky and Steve, Dad's boyhood friend Bill with his girlfriend Sandy (childhood girlfriend of both Jim & Bill), Bill's mother (you call her either Mrs. Wooten or Mom), and two of Bill's kids with a couple of their kids. Oh yeah, and Aunt Mickey and Uncle Gene, too. Steve (Becky's fiancé) is an active Boy Scout Leader and he's spent the entire day yesterday out at the cemetery planting some of the 150,000 small American Flags at the headstones of all the servicemen. He was nice to go along with us again; I'm sure he could have enjoyed relaxing at home. Then we all met back at Jim & Judy's place for a very nice outdoor lunch on the patio next to the pond. Later, after the crowd thinned out, some of us stayed for a second helping of dessert and a game of "marbles." That's a game t...

One of the things I've been struggling with lately, concerning this blog, is, as I really got into my second year of writing, it hit me hard just how repetitive my life is. I'm going to the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery tomorrow just as I did last year. ( Here's some pictures from that day.) I don't want to simply repeat everything I've already written about...so...what? What shall I say? Well, upon looking back at my posts from last year, it appears I didn't write about it at all. I took and posted some pictures from the day, but I didn't write about Memorial Day at all. I suppose because we're in the middle of a controversial war, the usual pat phrases don't quite do their job. I happen to believe that our military is in Iraq guarding our freedom. But, I'm trying to imagine how I would feel if I didn't believe that. During peace-time, there are accidents of all sorts in the military when people are hurt or killed. We say they ar...

I followed American Idol this time around. I didn't get to see all of the episodes, I didn't try that hard, but if I was home, I'd watch it. It struck me as I was watching the very end, after Carrie had been "crowned," that it really was very much like the old Miss America Pageant. The suspense and the emotion are genuine because one of these young singers really is going to have their life changed with the decision. The emotion is an indulgence we allow ourselves because it's "just" entertainment; it's not really important. These kids just want to be singers and that's a good thing. Pure entertainment is a wonderful thing. Pop Music and Comedy does it for me and most of my entertainment intake is from those two areas. I have to confess though, I do watch some pretty inane TV sometimes. I like shows that have little or no substance whatsoever. I like shows where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. And, you know which is which throughout...

I wish I could express the hundreds of different emotions that went through my head last night. We went up to the Fox Theatre for the annual St. Louis Public School Music Night. Kids from the music programs of all the City Schools get to perform on the big stage for the night. They spend the whole day there getting ready. A couple professional organizations volunteer their time, so it results in a great evening. Emotion #1: I spent my youth in those school bands and loved every second of it. It all started when, at age 11 or so, I asked my Dad if I could play drums. Well, what I really asked him was could I have a drum set? His answer was that if I took lessons, he'd buy me "a drum." Well, I went straight to the music director at Woodward Elementary the next day and announced, "I'd like to play the drums." He said, "I don't need any drummers, how about the trumpet?" I responded immediately, "sure! When do I start?" He gave me a little...

63 years ago today a bunch of big airplanes loaded with bombs took off from an American aircraft carrier, flew over Tokyo and managed to drop a few of those bombs before crash-landing in China. The Doolittle Raid, as it has come to be known, was credited with lifting morale in this country after Pearl Harbor, and has been immortalized by Hollywood in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo starring Spencer Tracy as James Doolittle. Most commentaries, like this one , stop there. A brave, spirited poke in the eye to the Empire of Japan, but militarily not much more. That couldn't be more wrong. At the very moment of the American bombing attack, the Japanese were debating whether or not to invade and take control of the little island of Midway. (So named because it was midway between Pearl Harbor and Tokyo.) It was held by the U.S., but had just a tiny airstrip and not much more. Would it even be worth the trouble? It would be easy to take, but then again, the Americans just might decide to take ...

Yes, the trees on Dover Place are turning green and the evening air is just warm enough that you can sit out without a jacket. After a evening of socializing and getting home with just enough time to walk up the steps before Emily called to get a ride home from work, I had the pleasure of sitting out with a neighbor for an hour or so. In case you missed it from an earlier blog entry, this is pretty much what I view as the meaning of life: sitting on the front porch on a warm summer evening, chatting with the folks from the south-side. From the great philosopher Barney Fife: "Yeah, I think I'll go home...take a nap...go over to Thelma Lou's and watch a little TV." Greater thoughts have never been thunk. Well, this neighbor and I, we got to talking about our childhood homes. And, instead of boring him with all the little details, I'm going to bore you with them: I spent the first 9 years of my life on the north side...of the south side; in what we now would call ...

Well, I sat down tonight to watch 2 hours of NBC. Hour number 1: An in-depth exploration of ``The DaVinci Code'' to separate fact from fiction. Hour number 2: Revelations Episode 1. I was expecting the worse for the DaVinci Code, but it was surprisingly good. Not great, but good. It was informative and fairly balanced. I think it presented the book and the phenomenon that has followed in a realistic way. What does that mean? For me, it means that it placed it properly along side such classics as Chariots of the Gods and Crop Circles: Signs of Contact. In other words it's a hoax that sounds cool to people searching for some meaning in this life. Many people will spend more time examining this ridiculous hoax than they will reading and studying the Bible or books about the Bible. Which brings us to Hour number 2. Revelatons is a mini-series produced by NBC and starring Bill Pullman of Independence Day fame. It, as the title suggests, gives us a look at the "end of...

I've come out of semi-retirement to report this breaking news story: Scientists Create Remote-Controlled Flies Yale University researchers say their study that used lasers to create remote-controlled fruit flies... read more

One of the things I'm responsible for at work is to electronically send the "Draw" down to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Newsaper for all "Single Copy" outlets in the greater St. Louis Area. "Draw" is just newspaper-speak for "request for papers" and "Single Copy" just means retail outlets, boxes that sit on the street and "hawkers," which are the kids that sell from the corners. So, yesterday (Friday), in addition to the entire world being focused on us due the NCAA Final Four being hosted by St. Louis, the Pope was sliding towards death. Since it sounded for a while that he might pass during the day on Friday, the Post-Dispatch understandably wanted to print more papers for the Saturday edition. If he died. I had to have both scenarios ready for the final decision by the Post that would come at around 10:45 pm. I left work thinking that he was going to die before then and Annette and I went out to eat. During that time I r...

We had a good Easter here at the Hudson home. It was a busy, but nice weekend. Emily's been working most weekends, but she likes her job. Friday night Annette and I went to the Good Friday service at our sister church. Saturday morning we drove out to beautiful Dittmer, Missouri to help a friend move back to St. Louis. She's separating/divorcing so a bunch of us from church went out to help her. Saturday night I spent at church preparing the breakfast for Sunday morning. Sunday morning after the Sunrise Service at Bellerive Park folks always come by for breakfast. It's not big, just about twenty-five or so. Easter Service was very nice. A packed church as usual for Easter. My Cousin Ken's niece Tara and her fiancé came and later they told us they'd decided to get married here at Kingshighway. Her grandmother, Ken's mother, my aunt Beth would be very glad to hear this. I can't help but to think of her each Easter as she's the one who always arranged for t...

Sorry for not writing in a while... Let's see...my Dad is doing well. He's still on the oxygen, but is improving each day and should make a "full" recovery. "Full" meaning 72 years old, smoked cigarettes for 50 of those years, so what do you think his lungs are telling him? "We can't, (cough, cough) do it, (cough, cough) any - (cough, cough) - more!" So, he's given up the cigarettes. He says he'll be ready to go to Steak N Shake maybe next week. It's going to be strange, sitting there after we eat and him not lighting up. Maybe I'll start smoking. I can't believe it Holy Week already. Man, where does the year go? I always remember my old friend Scott Doss on Maundy Thursday. He died on Holy Thursday 5 years ago. He and I were childhood friends since 4th grade or so. He moved out of Carondelet before we went to high-school, but we remained friends. When we were kids, he lived down here on Dover, and another kid by the name ...

While roaming through the Baseball Reference site (I added a permanent link to it on the Trivia Night Blog ) I remembered a story my dad told me about Pete Reiser. Turns out, he's the 2nd cousin of Leo Reiser, who attends our church. Leo's upwards of 85 years old now and was quite the musician in his day. He still composes (piano) and plays during Communion once a month. He's also a regular at our Coffee Houses. He loves Rogers & Hart/Hammerstein as much as I do and we've more than a few times blessed the crowd with his not-so-exact fingerings and my not-so-Howard-Keel-like voice. Each time he performs, I think to myself, "Boy, I hope I'm still doing that when I'm 85." Whenever my dad and Leo see each other, Leo says to him, "'morning Son," to which my dad replies, "'evening Star." I guess it's some kind of secret code they made up when they were both in Choir years ago. But, back to Pete Reiser. Poor Pete is the ...

"I won't run," she told ABC's "This Week." "I won't. How's that? Is that categorical enough?" Read more...

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of Condoleeza Rice. She made the news the other day when she wouldn't rule out a bid for the Republican nomination for president in 2008 and when she described herself as "mildy pro-choice." Here's an excerpt from the interview: Miss Rice said abortion should be "as rare a circumstance as possible," although without excessive government intervention. "We should not have the federal government in a position where it is forcing its views on one side or the other. So, for instance, I've tended to agree with those who do not favor federal funding for abortion, because I believe that those who hold a strong moral view on the other side should not be forced to fund it." Describing pro-lifers as "the other side" is one of the ways Miss Rice articulates her position as a "mildly pro-choice" Republican. She explained that she is "in effect kind of libertarian on this issue,...

I'd like to flesh out my feelings on the Supreme Court's hearing the Ten Commandments issue. It struck me that my friend Kurt would be very confused if he were to read my blog post and comments from a few days ago. You see, in the context of a Sunday School class that he was teaching I defended the civil liberties side of the argument quite convincingly. I did this mainly because he was coming off a little heavy handed and I knew there to be some liberal folks in the class that were not likely to speak up. I wanted to say what I knew they were thinking. Now, Kurt knows me pretty well, and was a bit confused by my stance, so we talked about it at some length. He sympathized with my nod toward our shy liberal friends, but, as he's done many times while talking to me, he pinned me down and asked, "Rich, what do you think?" I hate when that happens. After chatting for a while we both agreed that God was probably not much impressed with our monuments. And, like our t...

What's that you say? You didn't know he was in the hospital? Neither did I. Turns out he almost died from respitory failure. Turns out he's got emphasema on top of the bronchitis. Who was buying cigarettes for him, you ask? Yeah, that was me. Was buying cigarettes for him; not any more. He's quit smoking; that's the good news. Finally, after, I'm guessing, over 50 years of smoking he says he's quitting. I think he will. He's probably scared to death now. I'm thinking he's had a life changing experience. I gotta get over there before it wears off.

I don't know how she did it, but Annette got all 4 Beatles together at the Pageant last Saturday night to perform for my birthday. And, just so you know, apparently the Paul is Dead rumor is true. I overheard the T-shirt lady say that Paul (she called him Gary to try to cover it up) went home sick. She then said that they had to call in another Paul and he would be playing tonight. However, I saw a mini-van parked outside with the license plate MCRTNY so I'm quite sure he was there. Or was he? Seriously though, we went to see 1964 - The Tribute down at the Pageant in the Loop last Saturday. Emily went with us and she just had a blast. I was thinking about it: I could do without the costumes etc.; the music as it was played by the Beatles, i.e. on the original instruments stands on its own. I was very impressed with "George" and his Carl Perkins guitar. It was turned up loud and it carried the songs. The power of the pop-song came through; guitar, bass and drums - tha...

Make no mistake, folks who want to see the Ten Commandments taken out of every civil building in the country are not non-religious ; they are anti-religious . And, there's a big difference between the two. Non-religious people do not believe in God. God doesn't exist, He/She/It didn't create the world, nor do they, or have they, ever interceded in history. Obviously not, if they don't exist. But, if people really believe this, then they can be said to have a belief system. We call these belief systems Religion. So, really, they are religious, just not in the way that I am. That's great. Then there are the anti-religious people. These are folks who think that religion is bad and should be destroyed; wiped away from history once and for all. These people, I believe, are, in fact, very religious. We might call them fundamentalist. They believe so strongly in their system that all other systems need to be done away with. Like a Crusade or a Jihad you might say. Well I...

I've started another Blog. This one is completely dedicated to Trivia. I love playing trivia almost as much as I hate bad trivia. So, in an effort to rid the world of stinky trivia, I'm devoting myself to preaching and teaching the difference between good and bad. I've toyed with the idea of writing some software to help me expedite matters if I were to offer my services as Trivia Master for hire, and I've begun work on that. This new blog will be a place for all things Trivia. I'll be asking questions for fun, I'll be looking for questions from readers, both for fun and possible additions to my software. If you haven't noticed, I've dropped away from writing here at this blog. Never fear, I will continue here, but it'll likely be in the online journal mode more often than not. If something strikes in the area of politics etc., you can be sure I'll comment. But, I like to read the news each night, and that usually takes me about an hour, and afte...

I played in a Trivia Contest this past Friday night. It was a fund-raiser for the South County YMCA. I can't say it was the worst one I've attended, but it was not very good. What makes a good Trivia contest? I've been thinking about that. First, there is an expectation of nominal...oh, I'll call it "professionalism." Things like having enough greeters/money handlers and tables outfitted with scratch paper and pencils. But by far the most important aspect of any Trivia contest is the questions themselves. There are specific difficulty-levels of questions and there are specific catagories of questions. A good mix of these two things make up a fun night of Trivia. Questions that are either too hard or too easy make for a frustrating evening. Likewise, questions in too narrow of a catagory are no fun at all. For example: "What is the date that Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan?" This is a nice general question as far as catagories are concerned, but i...