Thursday, January 8, 2009- Joe DiPietro

I'm sure this theme has been done before, taking common phrases containing -ing words and re-cluing them so that they work without the -ing.  All the theme answers had words that started with S, to add to the fun.  So it was a fun puzzle to do, especially since I did it in the middle of the night, struck once again with my "Vegas insomnia".  There were some other fun fills such as MINT FAMILY, DUBOSE, DEVILLE (not clued with Cruella), PSYCHE and BARED IT ALL.  You'd think that with all that material I could wind it all into some sort of rant but I'm just not up to the task.

Darn it, TV Land watcher that I am, I knew who Miss Crump was but just couldn't picture her student.  OPIE got filled in through crosses before I realized that he was the answer.

Two clues, interestingly enough in symmetric position, almost ruined it for me.  SET AT was not great, SLOWISH was meh but EASTS? give me a break!

Friday, January 2, 2009- Martin Ashwood-Smith

I was going to use today's puzzle as a springboard but couldn't find any entries that really inspired me.  Instead I'll comment on this billboard that I saw here in town:

It reads: is sorry for the narrow-minded, judgmental, deceptive, manipulative actions of those who took away the rights & equality of so many in the name of god.  Our hearts are with you.

It does my heart good to know that there are good and tolerant Christians out there, too.  (Although, where were they before the election?)  In fact, I guess, most of them are but many have been corrupted by fundamental churches.  Interestingly enough, I had a conversation about gay issues with my banker today, a sweet lady that I have known for years.  I knew she was a Christian but didn't know to what extent.  Although she has always been very supportive of me in the past, she admitted today to voting Yes on Prop 8.  And I couldn't hate her for it!  She proceeded to go through all the "talking points"- the downward spiral of marriage for pedophiles and polygamists, the bible stuff, etc. and I realized that she's just going on what she's been fed.  I tried to enlighten her as best I could and may have planted some seeds in her mind by asking questions like "Would you go to a gay wedding if invited?" (she said yes because she wouldn't want to disappoint her friends).  I asked her what she thought of the fact that I was married and she seemed OK with it.  She is trying to compartmentalize her religion and her tolerant feelings as best she can.  I think seeing how hurt I was and hearing my side of the story presented in a rational, understanding manner may have made her think a little.  I certainly hope so.

Blue Light for Equality

Put a blue light in your front window to show your support for equality.

www.blue4equality.com

Contrasting Points of View from the Same Material

I just read a rebuttal to Lisa Miller's Newsweek article about religion and gay marriage.  Interestingly enough, the author used almost the exact same points, just interpreted them in a different way.

That just goes to show:

The bible is like statistics- they both can be used to justify any point.

Saturday's puzzle

Actually didn't finish this one because there were too many questionable fills (which I actually ended up guessing right but not entering).  Ironically enough, I spelled CADUCEI with an S.  Never heard of JASPER FFORDE so that stopped me dead.  And A POP didn't come, either, if I'd had to fill in something, I would have gone with SOP for 35A.  Oh well, live and learn.

I could have done without LDS in my puzzle, especially on the same day as the nationwide protest that their church brought upon itself.  And calling it a denomination is being generous, at best.  It's the world's largest cult started by a guy who just wanted to bilk a publisher's wife out of some money.  So instead they're bilking millions of sheep out of their hard-earned 10%.

Where were you when this was going on?

Join the fight for marriage equality!

Click here to find the location in your city

March for marriage equality Saturday, Nov 15.  Marches are taking place in all 50 states.

Some random thoughts

I didn't get to do the whole puzzle today as I only had limited time this morning before heading out to drive to Vegas (this time for a conference on Age Management Medicine).  So instead of crossword-inspired commentary, I'll just add a little off the top of my head about the election.  It's late so I'll keep it short.

Yay, Obama!  Finally, the country has a chance to pull itself out of the doldrums that it's been in for the past eight years.  I really feel that with your cool confidence, generous spirit and even-handed, intelligent leadership many positive things are about to happen.  For those people who feel like they have to defend Shrub, please give me one good thing that's happened to the country in the past eight years.  And no, the judges will not accept "the country is safer" as an answer (who can forget the classic "I believe the memo was titled 'Al Qaeda Determined to Strike in US'" spoken by the other dingbat, Condi?).  Remember, in the 1960s we went to the moon.  Given our progress in technology, etc., in that same time period in the 2000s we should at least by now have clean, renewable energy.

To Sarah: your fifteen minutes are way up.  Pack your bags and head back to Wasilla and let's hope we never hear from you again.  You've got a special needs kid who needs a mother (maybe you should spend some time researching that topic).  I've gotta give you credit for moxie, though- you're like a second-year medical student who first decides to hang out a shingle as a neurosurgeon and then decides to be the Chief of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.

To the "Yes on 8" people: Kiss my married ass!  This has nothing to do with religion (the bible is like statistics- you can make it agree with any point), nothing to do with children (they're just fine being raised in any loving household), nothing about trampling your rights (how you think my being married affects you in any way still floors me).  What does this have to do with?  You're grossed out by the fact of gay marriage.  Pure and simple.  The rest, like your precious Creation Museum (which I've visited, horrified), is nothing more than rationalization.  You're nothing more than hypocrites masquerading as "Christians"- hypochristians.  You and your divisive ways certainly don't stand for anything Jesus preached.  Ever hear of "do unto others"?  How about "live and let live"?  I didn't think so.  Now go crawl back into the dirty, slimy, money-lined hole from which you wriggled out of and leave us to enjoy our lives in peace.