Here’s a movie documenting the addition going up. This is exterior only. Enjoy.
by 
Chris
27
Jan
Opportunity
The earth shook and the walls tumbled down. Tens of thousands are dead and a government that had a tenuous grasp at best was further marginalized. The only thing that kept Haiti’s woes from spreading is the fact that it is an island; there’s nowhere to go. By virtue of geography, the catastrophe is contained.
The people needed help and America, the greatest nation in the world, dug into our pockets and donated hundreds of millions to help. To help rebuild, to help stabilize, to help alleviate, to help feed… to help. When the shit hits the fan, Americans jump in to help. We’re generous that way.
But what now, now that the dust has settled and the bodies need to be buried? Now that the grieving can begin in earnest? Now, we work. And not just the volunteers, doctors and nurses, engineers and aid workers. It’s time for the Haitians to take a long look forward and envision what they want their country and their lives to be like in a generation. This terrible loss, this cosmic reset is an opportunity. Once the horrific job of disposing of the bodies is done, an opportunity of mythic proportion stands before the Haitians, as well as those who descended upon the island to help.
This is going to be hard work, work that the people of Haiti need to embrace, to own. We, the industrialized nations can project manage the rebuilding. We can organize the work and help to execute the plans, but this generation of Haitians must decide upon the goal; not the Haitian government, but the people. It must be more than simply rebuild. Rather than “rebuild,” Haiti must “build.” Build infrastructure, sewers, roads, telecom, electrical. This is the opportunity to vault into the 21st century, to leapfrog over the painful fits and starts of modernization.
When the tears have dried, the hard work must begin. Embrace it, Haiti. This is a one time opportunity. Reach for it. Own it. Envision a better future for your children and start to build it. Envision a greater future and start working toward it.
I wish you luck. Don’t blow it.
by Chris
Will someone PLEASE tell Pat Robertson the shut the fuck up?
by Chris
13
Jan
Get on the Bus
I was reading the news this morning and I ran across a quote from a Chinese official who says, “Hostile Western forces have never abandoned their strategic schemes to Westernize and divide us, and they are stepping up ideological and cultural infiltration.”
This sound bite sounds as though it could have been uttered during the Cold War; but no, it was this year. It seems that the more globalized we, all of earth’s inhabitants, become, the more insular some of us become.
America is the greatest nation on earth, a wonderful hodge-podge of people, cultures and society. It truly is the great melting pot. Sure, there are some tin-foil-hat-wearing isolationists out there, but by and large we all get along pretty well here. Ronald Reagan said it best when he said something to the effect that you can go to France and never become French; you can go to Germany and never become German; you can go to China and never become Chinese; but anyone from anywhere can come to America and become American. The diversity of our backgrounds makes us strong.
Part of the reason it all works is that there is no original American culture, per se. Everything was imported. We have a slew of northern European holidays, plus St. Patrick’s Day, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah, Cinco De Mayo, All Soul’s Day, and so on.
The world becomes smaller each day. Poor nations want to join the rich ones, and rightly so. They should. But they also want to cling to the old cultural ways. They want the money but not the modernization that comes along with it. It seems to me that in order to join the modern world, more traditional countries will have to let go of some of the more stringent aspects of their culture. I don’t advocate wholesale abandonment of the old ways. Often, the old cultural ways developed over thousands of years and were effective in their time and place. But the social mores that worked in the hill country of near-Asia probably don’t have a place in a modern society.
To bring this back around, the Chinese official’s quote seems fearful of unbridled change and a movement away from the familiar into a new and unpredictable future. Change can be scary, especially if you have a billion constituents who may move in ways that the central government cannot foresee. But give the people some credit. We humans are creatures of habit. We’ll stick with what’s familiar and still manage to soak up the best bits of what the rest of the world has to offer.
China will still be China and the Chinese will remain Chinese, of that you can be sure. But culture is not something that can be force-fed. It’s more like a buffet where people will try things as they come along, keep what they like and discard the rest. There is no ideological and cultural infiltration. There is only progress’s inevitable march. Get on the bus, China. Have some faith in your people.
by Chris
08
Jan
The Dominos Fall
Tommy’s Soccer season finished up this fall with a pizza party, trophies and other snacks. It was noon-ish and I was hungry so I had a slice just to take the edge of the hunger. There was a stack a Domino’s boxes and I reached down for a slice of pepperoni. As I chewed my first bite I realized that it was, yet again, an under cooked, doughy, bland, cheezy (spelled with a “z” because apparently there was no dairy involved), less than mediocre mess. I put it down.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I resolved that day that going forward, if I had a choice, I would never again eat Domino’s pizza. I’ll go hungry rather than eat that crap. You may not realize how difficult this is. In my delivery area, there is a Domino’s, a Papa John’s and several local chains. Domino’s has cornered the market for mass delivery because they compete on price. I should say they compete on price alone, since clearly they have not been competing on taste or freshness.
This means that at every PTA event, every after school event, every kid’s birthday party, every neighborhood pool event, there is a stack of Domino’s pizza. Our local franchise charges fifty cents less per pie than Papa John’s and so they get the business. My wife is on the PTA and I have asked her to please, please, please try to convince the rest of the PTA to buy some other pizza, any other pizza. She has tried, but the PTA is only moved by price point. Show me the money.
For the remainder of the fall and all winter, I have successfully and quite happily avoided Domino’s. It hasn’t been that hard, really. Rather than order out, I’ve made it a point to have “make your own pizza” night at home. Once in a while I’ll order Papa John’s, but it’s only a little better. Sometimes I’ll get a pie from our local joint, Mangino’s; that’s pretty good.
Recently, I heard an ad on the radio from Domino’s indicating that they were changing, that the dough would be herb infused, that the cheese would be different, that the sauce would be more savory. If I don’t like it, they’ll give me my money back.
Sorry. Too little, too late. Domino’s pizza has been so consistently bad that I’m sworn off it forever. I have walked out of that room and closed the door behind me.
What I find most interesting about the change in recipe at Domino’s is that it must have been REALLY bad for the entire corporation to make that change to all the ingredients required for pizza. It is tantamount to an admission that they were delivering crap in thirty minutes or less.
Good luck, Domino’s. I truly wish you good fortune. You’ll have to do it without me.
by Chris
02
Jan
Happy New Year, y’all.
From me to you. I sincerely hope your 2010 is tremendous. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I do intend to cross more things off the list. The very best to you. Prost!
by Chris
24
Dec
Little Drummer Boy
Little Drummer Boy, by a band I used to be in called Hip Check, with Bob & Brian. This might be Brian’s finest drumming moment. Plus the arrangement rocks. Enjoy.
by Chris
23
Dec
Merry Christmas, y’all
by Chris
Progress is being made. We’re now under roof with shingles. The break through into the existing house a day or two after Christmas. I’ll keep you posted.
by Chris
16
Dec
Wreaths Across America
“Wake up, Tommy.” I gently shook his shoulder, nearly the only part of him that showed from under the covers where he was buried like a hibernating bear. He stirred, looked over at me and after taking a moment to orient himself, rolled over to sit up.
“Is the sun up yet?” he asked, looking out his darkened window.
“Not yet,” I told him. “It’ll be up soon. Come on – get dressed. We need to get moving.”
It was six thirty on Saturday morning, December 12th and we were headed for Arlington National Cemetery. Each year since 1992, a gentleman named Morrill Worcester of the Worcester Wreath Company in Maine donates thousands of wreaths to lay at the headstones in Arlington and at cemeteries across the country. I had seen the photos of the wreaths at Arlington before but never considered how they got there. This year we were going to help.
We had a quick breakfast and were out the door by ten of seven and on the metro for the seven twenty-seven Metro train out of Springfield/Franconia. By now the sun was up but it was still twenty-seven degrees outside. We warmed up a little once the doors to the train closed and we were under way. By the time we got to the Arlington stop, the train was over half full and nearly everyone got off at this stop. We waited in line to go up the escalator and into a cold, bright morning.
The crowd of volunteers, already thousands strong, was gathering in front of the McClelland gate. By dumb luck, we stumbled into some Cub Scouts from our pack. Eventually the speeches started, thanking everyone for their time, informing the masses of the history and importance of the place and of the event. Tommy took the waiting like a champ. Shortly before nine we began, walking up the hill to where three semis full of wreaths were parked.
The vibe in the crowd was jubilant, almost celebratory and more than once I looked down at my seven-year-old son and said, “This is so cool.” And it was. There were servicemen in uniform; a gang of brand new Marines and Sailors stood nearby. Older veterans, bikers, runners in running gear, girly girls in tight jeans, skate rats wishing they had more on than their hoodies, moms, dads, kids, young, old and middle-aged; it was a huge cross section of the Washington DC metro area, all areas accounted for.
The lines moved quickly and smoothly and we took our wreaths, one in each arm and proceeded into the headstones. By the time we got started, thousands of wreaths were already in place and they looked wonderful. At each headstone we read the name of the man or woman interred there and talked about the wars they fought in. We talked about how freedom sometimes requires sacrifice, about how we live in the greatest country in the world. Many of the markers were decades old.
Tommy and I went back again and again to get more wreaths and every time I looked around, amazed at how something as simple as a wreath can transform a place so hallowed. After we were done and all the wreaths were distributed, Tommy and I walked up to Section 7A where my parents and my brother are buried to say hello and pay our respects. Then we hustled back down the hill to the metro and back home.
All in all it was a wonderful event and I encourage you come out next year. Be one of the thousands of volunteers. Despite the cold, it was a warm event made great by the spirit of the people who participated and the lives of those whom we remembered.
Remember; Honor; Teach.
