Masters of War

I just wanted to briefly comment that we have passed the three year mark of the Iraq War. It sickens me that we're still there and that so many Americans and Iraqis and other nationalities have died.

There's an excellent timeline done by Think Progress--a very good blog. It sources all of the lies told in a comprehensive way. I'm glad there's smart people out there who can do this kind of stuff, because I don't have the time or the intellect to do so.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

SATURDAY'S A RUGBY DAY!
We played the Chicago Dragons this past Saturday. Despite having the lead at halftime and a good majority of the game, we ultimately lost. It was a crushing blow to just about everyone there, including our amazing coach Phill. Phill, you're the shit and don't ever think differently!

There were a lot of things we did wrong. But we also did a lot of good things.

I'm very happy with the way the backs played. I feel like this is the first time that we've ever worked cohesively and not as individual units. We were constantly talking to one another. And the ball was making it down to our outside wing consistently. We were also running some scissor plays--I know I saw it at least twice.

Unfortunately, the ball was not making it into our flyhalf's hands a good portion of the time--for a variety of reasons. So we didn't get to run our plays. But I did get to do something I hadn't done before....

One advantage I have as weak side wing is I get to see how everything is developing (even more so than the Full Back at times).

I was laughing at the fact that the Dragons were openly telling each other what plays they were going to run (through words, hand signals and eye contact)--so I would yell it out to John (our Full Back) and Rickie (our flyhalf). Even when I couldn't hear what plays they were about to run, I could see how they were lining up and who was making eye contact. It made it very easy to read.

I played alright but not great. I was happy with some of the tackles I made. I was also happy that when I did get the ball and was tackled I didn't cough up the ball. I was able to get down on the ground and present the ball to my teammates--for some reason a lot of our guys were panicking and just didn't do that. Oh well. We'll work on it before Bingham.

After the drinkup, SJ and I went home, showered, ate some dinner and fell asleep watching TV. It was nice not to go out drinking some more with the rest of the guys.

I'm loving every minute I get to spend with him. He's truly enhanced my life. Unfortunately, with me working 6 days a week, and with rugby three days a week (plus more some weeks since I'm on the board of directors) and the normal chores that goes with living, we don't get a lot of alone time together. But when we do--it's really wonderful. And for that I'm truly grateful.

I told him that when a cat looks at you and squeezes its eyes, it's saying, "I love you." (I read that somewhere). So now, if we're across the room from each other (like at the drinkup or somewhere else), we squeeze our eyes. It makes us laugh and feel good at the same time. I know this probably sounds nauseating to some, but I thought I'd share anyway.

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS

Ok. I didn't write much about the war although I am very passionately against it -- I protested against it before it even happened. I made two signs and stood at Camelback Road and 24th Street. One read, "This Gulf War Veteran Doesn't Approve of THIS Gulf War." The other was more mainstream--I think it read, "It's About the Oil Stupid."

Anyway... this is a great song written by Bob Dylan. The problem with Bob Dylan is he writes these amazing songs and insists on singing them. He's such a horrible singer that it's distracting. Anyway, Pearl Jam has covered it several times. This is one my favorite live versions. Special thanks to Marc from Bawlmer, who found this great streaming site called FLURL who will stream my legally owned songs.

Lyrics

Stream