Left of the Dial

Kahn

And why not? 

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:

Bradley S. Coleman, 24, of Martinsville, Va.; private first class, Army. Coleman died of non-combat-related injuries Oct. 29 at Qayyarah Airfield, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 51st Transportation Company, 21st Theater Sustainment Command in Mannheim, Germany.

Daniel W. Wallace, 27, of Dry Ridge, Ky.; sergeant, Army National Guard. Wallace was killed Oct. 31 when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Badin Kheyl in Afghanistan's Paktia province, south of Kabul. He was assigned to the 201st Engineer Battalion in Cynthiana, Ky.

Adam M. Wenger, 27, of Waterford, Mich.; specialist, Army. Wenger died of non-combat-related injuries Wednesday in Tunnis, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Ga.

One Home Many Hopes

So Left o' the Dialian DT has a lil' brother who helped found the following project. 

After hearing about it, I asked if I could post the info here, since studies have shown the average LotDian has a heart more than three times the average size. And because all they're looking for is ten bucks--that's about two trips to Starbucks, or one fairly cheap happy hour. And you get a better return than the market, at least, so far this century. Top Management and I have already chipped in. So check it out, yo: 

This is a campaign called “One Home Many Hopes,” organized to ask people to consider donating $10 in an effort to raise $20,000 in 30 days.

”One Home Many Hopes” is a charity Jon Tapper, who owns a Public Relations firm in Boston called Melwood Global, helped put together last year after a good friend of his was moved to action by the poverty he saw in Mtwapa, Kenya.

In short, there is an orphanage, Mudzini Kwetu, which takes care of 35 girls, all of whom were rescued from the Mtwapa streets, where they searched through trash piles for food. Mudzini Kwetu not only gives these girls a home they didn't previously have, it has also given them a childhood.

So the gist is that we're trying to raise a lot of money - $20,000 - in tiny donations by November 23. People can become a part of it by visiting http://www.raceto20k.org/ to make a donation; as well as telling friends, families and colleagues about the effort.

They can also visit http://www.onehomemanyhopes.org/index.html to hear and learn more about this amazing organization.

There is absolutely no overhead for this charity -- every last penny you give you will go directly to the girls.

Thanks to everyone who considers participating.

Dear 48

We're all on the same team. 

Let's do this thing. 

The Promised Land

So last night the fambly had itself an apple pie, in honor of this great nation of ours and its nutty experiment with democracy. Oh sure, there’ve been some stumbles along the way, a few of 'em not inconsiderable, but I like to think that after a couple hunnert years, we’re still doing okay.

The excitement over the election plumb wore out The Boy, so I put him to bed and was just checking email when the phone rang. And it turned out to be understandably reluctant Left o’ the Dialian Matthew, actually outside the front door, holding a bottle of fine agave-based spirits and a lime. “I’ve come to drink to America,” said he.

And so we did, left and right, red and blue, saved and heretic, tall and short, coifed and thinning, thin and thickening. And it was good.

And awaiting me this morning was an email from my first bloggety friend, Professor Steve the Llama, as far to the right as I am to the left, congratulating me on my candidate winning, and asking if I was going to be listening to “The Promised Land” on a loop today.

I was not. But I was more than happy to take his fine suggestion and run this here piece.

‘Cuz I ain’t a boy, but I do believe in a promised land. And I feel like we took one big step closer to it yesterday.

Long Walk Home

One of the greatest songs of this young century so far. 

Long Walk Home

Last night I stood at your doorstep
Trying to figure out what went wrong
You just slipped somethin' into my palm 
Then you were gone
I could smell the same deep green of summer
Above me the same night sky was glowin'
In the distance I could see the town where I was born

It's gonna be a long walk home
Hey, pretty darling, don't wait up for me 
Gonna be a long walk home
A long walk home

In town I passed Sal's grocery
The barbershop on South Street
I looked into their faces 
They were all rank strangers to me
The veterans' hall high up on the hill 
Stood silent and alone
The diner was shuttered and boarded 
With a sign that just said "gone"

It's gonna be a long walk home
Hey, pretty darling, don't wait up for me 
Gonna be a long walk home
Hey, pretty darling, don't wait up for me 
Gonna be a long walk home 
It's gonna be a long walk home

Here everybody has a neighbor
Everybody has a friend
Everybody has a reason to begin again

My father said "Son, we're lucky in this town
It's a beautiful place to be born
It just wraps its arms around you
Nobody crowds you, nobody goes it alone
You know, that flag flying over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't."

Its gonna be a long walk home
Hey, pretty darling, don't wait up for me 
Gonna be a long walk home
Hey, pretty darling, don't wait up for me 
Gonna be a long walk home 
It's gonna be a long walk home

Its gonna be a long walk home
Hey, pretty darling, don't wait up for me 
Gonna be a long walk home
Hey, pretty darling, don't wait up for me 
Gonna be a long walk home 
It's gonna be a long walk home

It's gonna be a long walk home   

It's a Wonderful Lie

It was pointed out to me recently that I do not feature nearly enough Replacements on here. This is unquestionably true.

And yet I shall not rectify that at this precise point in time because I am a rebel. Or an idiot. Or just a jerk.

Instead, I present an acoustic Paul Westerberg performance of a song off his third album, a song I was only barely familiar with until discovering this here video.

You are collectively welcome. 

It’s a Beautiful Lie

Get up from a dream and I look for rain
Take an  amphetamine and a crushed rat brain
How am I feelin’
Better, I  suppose
 
How am I lookin’, I don’t want the truth
What am I doin’, I ain’t in my youth
I’m past my prime or was that just a pose
 
It’s a wonderful lie
I still get by on those
 
I’ve been accused of never opening up
You get too close and I keep my mouth shut
I’m gonna run to the wind where the big bad city blows
 
It’s a wonderful lie, I still get by on those
It’s a wonderful lie, I still get by
 
You can dress to the eights, you can dress to maim
Make you feel great, this fortune and fame
Wearing too much makeup, not near enough clothes
 
It’s a wonderful lie, I still get by on those
It’s a wonderful lie, I still get by 
 
So don’t pin your hopes or pin your dreams
To misanthropes or guys like me
And the truth is overrated, I suppose
 
It’s a wonderful lie, I still get by on those
It’s a wonderful lie, I still get