Leave Iraq Now

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Back on October 17 I said this about the situation in Iraq:

We’ve got to get out of there. Now. It would be far cheaper and safer to simply give Iraq the money it needs to rebuild. Send the National Guard home where it belongs, let half of the regular Army rest, and redeploy the other half to Afghanistan. I’m no military strategist, but this is obvious.

War correspondent Joseph Galloway is also saying that we need to leave. Now. Click here.

What we need to do is what none of the commissions and their reports dared to suggest: Begin withdrawing American forces from Iraq right now. Not in 2008. Not after the American death toll has crossed 5,000. Not just in time for a presidential election.

There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there’s only one way to leave Iraq: Load our people up on their trucks and tank transporters and Bradleys and Humvees and head for the border. Now.

Live to Run, Run to … ?

Last week The New York Times ran an article entitled, “Is Marathoning Too Much of a Good Thing for Your Heart?” The gist of the article is that a lot of marathon runners are getting older, and the number of heart attacks during races — many of them fatal — has skyrocketed. A contributing cause — perhaps the primary cause — may be heart damage caused by long distance running.

As if right on cue, this past weekend there was a fatality in the Tucson Marathon. The victim was only 40. He dropped dead during the last quarter-mile, meaning he had completed 26 out of 26.2 miles.

Runner In Tucson Marathon Dies At The Finish Line

12-11-2006 8:01 AM

(Tucson, AZ) — Marc D. Witkes of Durango, Colorado set out yesterday to tackle the Tucson Marathon but collapsed less than a quarter-mile from the finish line. He was later pronounced dead. Forty-year-old Witkes competed in 30-marathons and 25-ultramarathons including the Double and Triple Ironman competitions. His death came as a shock to his fellow runners. He broke down at 10:51 a.m. near North Oracle Road and East El Conquistador Way. Witkes was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived. Rescuers tried to resuscitate him and he was taken to Northwest Medical Center Oro Valley where he was pronounced dead.

I’ve run eight marathons. I can assure you that while chugging up mile 18 of the Boston Marathon, the notorious Heartbreak Hill, your heart feels like it’s trying to escape from your chest.

For now I’m not running, due to tendinosis in my right ankle, caused by wear and tear from 33 years of running. I’m told that if all goes well, I’ll be able to start running again in three weeks, after the first of the year. I’ve been told by the foot doc to forget about running the Boston Marathon this year. Maybe my body is also trying to tell me something.

Silents is Golden

There are a few things about which my opinion cannot be changed. If you watch Chaplin’s “City Lights” and you don’t cry at the end, you aren’t human. This is, for me, the all-time greatest ending to a movie.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Movies/Wordpress/DEC06/CityLights.flv 400 300]

Backtrack

I Feel Fine

Friday, December 8, has no entry. It’s blank. The day that John Lennon was killed in 1980. I’d like to say I did that intentionally, to symbolize the space that could never be filled; but, the fact is, I screwed up.

The first Beatles song that I was aware as being “a John song,” was “I Feel Fine.” I’ve always considered “I Feel Fine” to be very innovative, and not just for the guitar feedback intro. To me it represents the point when The Beatles started to really break away musically from Beatlemania.

The audio player has the original single, 42 years old, that belonged to my big sister. Perhaps it still does, but she’ll never get it back! 😉 When that finishes, a second track will kick in with take 6 of the instrumental for “I Feel Fine.” This one you won’t find on “Anthology.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Sounds/Wordpress/DEC06/IFeelFine45.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Sounds/Wordpress/DEC06/IFeelFine.mp3]

Technical note: Listen to the cymbals in the left channel of the studio session recording. Hear the smearing and slurping effect? The original is perfectly clear and clean. This is a good example of where 128 Kbps MP3 comes up short.

I Saw Dead People

Body Worlds

Recently, I went with Eric and some friends to see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. At first it’s interesting and perhaps fascinating, but a little goes a long way, and very quickly it becomes creepy. And I say that as a one-time student of human anatomy for artists.

What makes it disturbing are the macabre positions and situations in which the preserved corpses are placed. After a while one gets the disquieting sense the exhibit isn’t so much instructive as it is perhaps the expression of one man’s ghoulish fetish. Mel Gibson would find it a turn-on.