The Heller case ruling was announced today.

Needless to say I am elated.

If I had a Third World understanding (or lack thereof) of gravitational pull on projectiles, I'd go out and rattle off a 30 round magazine into the air to celebrate.

COME AND TAKE IT.

First, as promised, the Heil Baby photo. Gretchen has a peculiar habit of extending her arm outward in the fashion of the old Roman (later Nazi) salute. Please forgive the moustache.


And on the subject of the Hitlerian brush moustache, I feel rather like posting a video clip of another person that sported the style, long before a bloody world war made it symbolic of maniacal evil. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in Way Out West, singing "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine"...their comedy was a favourite of mine growing up, and remains so.

The Duet

You know sometimes, when you start to think things in this country are going really well, and the ways of prejudice and ignorance are dying out, finally? When you start to become genuinely hopeful and optimistic that a brighter, more tolerant day is dawning, and that Dr. King's dream may have been more a prophetic vision than transient dream? When you begin to let yourself believe that the old ways of intolerance have moved aside and that people can finally start to coexist?

Then it hits you in the face. Intolerance alive and well. See below.

Sometime in the last several weeks, my wife was taken off bedrest for a period of three days...after which she was abruptly (perhaps a poor choice of words) put back on. But we did manage to take a trip to the zoo, thanks to a wheelchair we borrowed. Owing to my huffing and puffing behind said wheelchair, I didn't take as many pictures, but here are a handful.

First, the red panda, with a somewhat amusing amount of fur sticking through the bars.



Another one curled up on the ground below.



The orangutan adult, nearly as interested in the exhibit of humans clustering about as the humans were in him or her.



And a juvenile orangutan.



Some sort of Asian deer...



"...I don't want to be binturight."



The kangaroos seem to "park" at a distance away from the paths and viewing areas that is directly proportional to how many visitors are at the zoo that day.



And some geese and ducks in the Australia exhibit, assumedly visiting from the Africa/Canada exhibit.



I believe this is a monitor lizard. First time I've ever seen him out.



One from the top angle:



And lastly, some specimen of African barbeque:

I was struck with a thought as I went to get my final cup of coffee of the day, at 3:30PM. Would I quit my job if they took away the coffee maker?

Frightening thought. The answer of course is no, but the intermittent cups of coffee throughout the day are quite the benefit. Sometimes I feel like I am working for the coffee, like an elephant for peanuts.

Hmmm. Peanut coffee?

No, never mind. Back to the drawing board.

Just watched the requisite "NEVER SHAKE A BABY!" video here at the hospital. While the subject matter is serious and warranted, the cheese factor was through the roof. My favourite part? When the narrator solemnly intones:

Most experts agree that a person does not wake up in the morning and plan to shake a baby.

Most experts? Meaning a consensus or majority? I'd like to hear from the minority opinion. Who are these "experts" anyway? Baby shaker experts? Apparently some of those experts actually do believe that baby shakers wake up in the morning, brush their teeth, gaze at themselves in the mirror, and with a gleam in the eye they lustily exclaim, "today is a great day for shaking a baby!"

Future marksmanship champion Gretchen Jane Neufeld is with us! Now I have to find a good "Daughter's First .22".

This morning I listened to this song on the way to work:

Yes - Time and a Word

Not the greatest Yes song...a decent late 60s pop song with a catchy chorus. Anderson's vocals are surprisingly soulful compared to his later elf-pop style.

But the reason I am blogging about such a non-interesting topic is Chris Squire's bass playing. On the chorus ("There's a time...") the song follows a really basic chord progression, something like the following:

| C * G/B * | Am * * * | F * G# * | C * * * |

But the bass line Squire invented over this very simple chord pattern (I say simple, but some of that little G# turnaround gives it great character) is the sort of stuff that inspires me as a musician. Driving, melodic, and musical. It's that sort of musical genius that makes me forgive his 1980s "I'm a pop star!" phase, preening around the stage and the like.

This is too funny!

So Howard "Mista Scream" Dean thinks he's hit on a beautiful compromise, basically counting the votes of HALF of the voters in Florida and Michigan. I instantly remembered something from my high school American history class:

Three Fifths Compromise

I mean, at least the slaves counted as over half of a person! Democrats in Florida and Michigan aren't even getting that much!