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Southern California Trojans won’t ‘Duck’ this Weekend

Southern California Trojan FootballNow, the Trojans enter the season when the big games start happening. Oregon, California and Notre Dame will determine as — we would say in the old days — ‘will this be one more step towards the Rose Bowl… or one step back to the Fiesta Bowl?” Of course, this was all before the BCS stuff.

Yep. we’ll be traveling down to the Southern Cal — Oregon Game this weekend just ahead of some anticipated storms… should be quite a game … and with the Ducks… anything can happen!

Last week, the Trojans looked pretty good even throwing in their 3rd string against a team that would have trouble with their local Palo Alto High School football team… but it was great to see all the guys get some playing time.

USC wrote up a good interview on some of the anticipated matchups in the big Homecoming game… here’s a link

Now, let’s see some football! FIGHT ON!

Roger Freberg

 

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California — Planning through Ballot Measures… it works!

good fenses make good neighbors“Good Fences Make Good Neighbors” — Robert Frost

Well, I remember how the ideal future society had everyone living in these little boxes all stacked around each other.. on top and below. At least, that was what all the folks in government were telling us made for an ideal society. The quaint notion that ‘good fences made good neighbors’ was all a lot of hot air…well, that is what they said, but most people didn’t swallow it.

It’s a good thing that this utopian vision of the future never came to pass because…  frankly, it doesn’t work.

Recently, a UCI economist has clearly demonstrated what we all have observed:

“A new study led by a UC Irvine economist debunks a popular argument against urban sprawl – that living farther from neighbors decreases social interaction. In fact, the data shows that suburban living is better for one’s social life.”

Just another planning myth bites the dust… and they wonder why we here in California try to do all of our planning through ballot box measures… because planning for our communities is too important to be left to government employees who may not have to live with the product of their imaginations.

Queen Latifa said it best,” I lived my whole life in a box… I don’t want to be buried in one.” Human beings crave space to live… not just enough to exist.

Roger Freberg

 

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Going through College…. fat, drunk and stupid

fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son... are you holding up your GRE score or your IQ?

Hey I don’t blame these boys from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo ( allegedly students there) from pouring one down from time to time…. but , dudes, aren’t you missing something? I am kinda old fashioned, but… aren’t parties more fun with women? By the way, if you don’t like your picture on my blog… don’t post it on the internet.

Oh, here I go being ‘judgemental’ and ‘offering unwanted advice” again.

dah Big WEeeEEeEeeeenie Award!However, I thought that there had ‘to be a prize for playing this game”… like graduating and earning a ‘dah-ploma’ and a good job? They do graduate — on the average at Cal Poly — in roughly 6 1/2 years. Did you hear that Momsy?

I guess they’ll have to settle for the coveted “Big weenie Award”… along with the approximately 10,000 Cal poly students that never finished their senior projects.

 I can’t blame them too much… I mean, there’s nothing to do in San Luis Obispo…. it’s kinda like ‘God’s waiting room.’ Hey, even their university President has his own packed cellar…. I’ve seen it… burp!

Anyway, I recieved this email this morning from their student newspaper…… well… read it for yourself: My worst party Nightmare.

I had thought about linking blogs about college students and their drunk nightmares from Technorati … but it was amazing… bad enough to survive this stuff… but now it will live forever on the internet. It’s like getting a tatoo with your first girlfriend’s name on it… it is just embarassing later on. So, I had mercy… no links and no capes.

Roger Freberg

 

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Joe Lieberman’s Song is Addictive!

Joe Lieberman.... Independent Hero I guess everyone in America was cheering on the man who supported our troops… and ran as an independent and on his very strong convictions!

Congratulations!

However, his tune or jingle –as you will soon see and hear — is what the Germans call an “earworm’… it’s like the “Brady Bunch” melody… hard to forget.

So check out this tune that got my old friend Evan all frantic!

 Congrats again… it must be wonderful… feeling free.

 

Roger Freberg

 

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Seeing the world for what it is — Children’s Stories

the silly green alligator

Many of us grew up on the classic Grimms Fairy Tells and such… complete with ‘realistic’ violence.

However, when it came to raising our own children… the books that were available were sanitized versions ni which all of the characters lived ‘politely ever after.’

Recently, I had the opportunity to read our local paper written by Jill Kelley of Cox News Service. She somewhat lamented how ‘fairy tales have changed.” I couldn’t help but wonder whether her revelation occurred  before or after her son ‘gasped’ as he watched a PBS show in which someone called someone else ‘stupid.”

Now, I am not ready to drag children through the grimey and violent world that life can be… but we must recognize that understanding that some bad things in the world exist is not at all a bad thing. Most of the problems in the world — seem to me — to be caused by peoples inability to see what is unfolding before their eyes… not because some people see things that don’t exist. Reality is sometimes stares us in the face… and children should be exposed to life incrementally.

I was fairly disgusted with what I read in the bookstores… so much of it was soooo nice… so I embraced the challenge by writing a series of ‘action adventures’ of a favorite animal friend of my daughter Kristin… ‘the silly green alligator.’ I won’t bore you with the details… let’s just say that the alligator did what alligators like to do… eat things… and Kristi ( as I called her then) would be the heroine and ‘rescue’ her cute animal buddies… often violently.

Some people say that this is why she went to West Point, became a combat engineer and likes to play with explosives…. but I say that it is pure coincidence.

I did ensure that my young ladies experienced all the masculine joys of cooking, sewing, cleaning house… as well as the typically feminine activities, such as, martial arts, violent video games, computers, climbing on roofs to watch the stars, football fandom and ‘action’ movies.

 My daughters see the world for what it is… not a perfect place, but a place where they can make their own heaven or a hell…. one brick at a time. It starts by seeing the world honestly…..

 Roger Freberg