Marty Traded

So much for not wanting them to trade Marty. Last night, we talked a little bit about the trade, but mostly, about the fact that Nanny and Granddad were visiting. They stayed over because they are on their way to Florida today. And you care because..., you're wondering.

I'm actually posting to just keep things moving. It feels like, lately, at work, I don't have a minute to myself. This is my minute. Autumn is doing great. We're loving life. Our curling party is on March 11th. That's all.

Trade deadline

Today is the trade deadline in Hockey. It's actually at 3:00PM. The Hames family are official Sabres fans, and only want what's best for the Sabres. In my opinion, what's best for the Sabres is doing nothing. Admitteldy, I had momentary visions of Gary Roberts on the Sabres. He'll go to the Penguins where he'll play with Crosby who was 3 years old when Roberts last won the Stanley Cup.

Don't trade Marty Biron for the sake of trading Marty Biron. Keep him on the bench as insurance. Don't panic. Most of the guys who are injured will come back before or during the playoffs.

Last year, at the start of the playoffs, Derek Roy, Jason Pomenville, Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek were rookies in the league. They had zero playoff games under their belt. Now, they are grizzled veterans with a game 7 in the eastern conference under their belts. True, they don't have Stanley Cup Final experience, but I'll take the experience they have and bet the farm on them.

And, I will take Tim Connelly on the power play, anytime he's ready. Because in the playoffs, the power plays are that much more important. That said, I'll post trades as soon as i hear them.

When Pam came to sit

We told you about being Sabres fans, and going to the game on Thursday night. What we didn't tell you was that Pam, Jessica and Jacob babysat Autumn. Here is a picture. They are cute together.

A bruise

Here you go. Her first real mark on her head. A bruise she got on Friday. This was taken Saturday. She still has some purple skin. And Dad has to take her to day care in the morning. Great.

This American Life

One of the best hours of broadcast each week is This American Life, on the radio. Stories that are touching, funny, moving, always entertaining, each week a theme is brought to us, and each week our family listens. Last night, Rhona and I went to see Ira Glass speak at UB. It was a great performance. It was funny, and inspiring. But it was also interesting. Ira thinks that we need learn how to tell stories better. And the way to tell stories is life this:

Something happens. Something happens. Something happens. Something happens. And then you reflect. That's the key to a good story.

Moving forward on this blog, I will try to tell stories in the manner Ira Glass suggested. We'll see how it goes.

Sabres Fans

At our little house, we're huge Sabres Fans. We have our Sabres gear, we listen to the games, and occasionally, we get to go. Last night was one of those chances. And what a night to pick.

We watched Marty Biron fight the Ray Emery, the Ottawa goalie, who is a former Gold Golver, outweighs Marty by 50 pounds and have a picture of Mike Tyson painted on his mask. We saw a fight that ended with 100 penalty minutes for the Sabres, resulting from a questionable hit on co-captain Chris Drury. It was a high-energy, mental game.

And they won. And that's what makes these guys so much fun. Here are the highlights of the game. I swear, it was mental.

Here we go again, again

This is another post about how the US seems about to go to war with Iran.

Why is this relevant in a blog about Autumn? Because a war with Iran will effect her much more dramatically than the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The war in Iraq has been strange, annoying, unnecessary and will have a long term effect on the US. But it really isn't hurting us. A war in Iran? In my opinion, is a few ticks past escalation.

Let's recap:

The US already invaded Afghanistan. They did so because the Taliban was harboring Osama bin Laden and wouldn't turn him over. That's close to right. They wouldn't turn him over to the US, but they wanted to turn him in. There were problems with the offer, but in hindsight, it seems like a good starting point. Still, there was a somewhat popular invasion. The war there is still going on. And the drug trade is benefiting immensely on the war.

The US then invaded Iraq. It was because of WMD's, they said. It was against the wishes of just about every country on earth, with the exception of Britain and Australia. Italy and Poland were there two, but they're out. I could go on and on about this one, but the news is sort of already.

Now, they are thinking about Iran. And, to add a scary thought, there's talk of using bunker busters. Which are little nukes. Let me repeat, the US is contemplating dropping nukes on Iran.

Now, if you look at the middle east, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan are pretty much it. Meaning, the US will be at war with the entire region.

True biblical believers think the second coming will occur after a world war in the Middle East. George Bush counts himself among the true believers. I'm not saying we're all in serious trouble. But I am saying that I've been scared for my adopted country for a while now. And I'm getting more scared, because now I have a little girl.

She's a stand up girl

There isn't much Autumn likes more than standing. She does like walking along with our help, but standing is the best.

So it wasn't too much of a shock to come into her crib and see her standing there, trying to eat the top bar. Seems somewhat expected, don't you think?



To recap: She can stand on her own. She crawls around the living room without much problem. She's growing up.

Curling

Curling, originally uploaded by MRHames.

After mom and dad curled, Autumn got to eat. Note the empty beer bottle to the right, and the Chief Head painted on the ice.

Autumn at the Curling Club

This past weekend, Autumn got to see where it all started for her dad. She was at the Chinguacousy Curling Club, being shown off by nanny. We have pictures. And when Dad gets off his butt and stops posting about politics, you'll see them. I did show Autumn her dad's banners, if you were wondering. If you're wondering what banners, you can ask.

Anyway, I like it that the first Curling Club Autumn entered was also the first one her dad ever entered. And the first one her mom ever entered. It won't be the last.

Circular logic, and here we go again

In 2002, The Bush Administration made it's case for invading Iraq. It said that Iraq and al-Qaida were collaborating. Colin Powell says this on Feb 5, 2003:

"I can trace the story of a senior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training in these weapons to al-Qaida."

He's referring to al-Libi, who provided information under torture and recants everything. That is one of the mis-truths you can read about in this excellent piece by Mother Jones Magazine called Lie by Lie.

Well, we're off again. Now, the White House is proclaiming that Iran is arming insurgents in Iraq. The New York Times and the Washington Post are quoting unnamed sources who say they have evidence of this link. I wonder if this is the same level of evidence that lead then Donald Rumsfeld to say, of Iraq's purported WMD:

"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

As you may have read, they weren't anywhere. And eventually, Donald Rumsfeld resigned, forever to be remembered as the guy who said stuff, on camera, and then denied he ever said it.

Anyway, lets say for a moment they are right. Lets give them the benefit of the doubt and say that Iran, a predominantly Shia state is in fact arming the insurgents in Iraq who are primarily Sunni. Lets say, even though this administration has been wrong on almost every turn, (greeted as liberators, won't take a lot of troops, won't cost more than 50 million, WMD, link to 911, etc), lets say they are right this time.

The question becomes, of a state arms someone, is it a reason to declare war one them? The answer, of course, is no. If it's yes, so many countries in the world would have the justification to attack the US. Look, at times it was politically expedient to arm Saddam and Iraq in the war against Iran. It was also expedient to arm anyone battling the soviets.

But think about it. Even if some of the people in Iran are supporting insurgents, that isn't a reason to invade. It just isn't.

A serious diversion

Drive the streets of Paris. And no, this isn't a Google Earth thing.

Autumn crawled

Yesterday at daycare, Autumn took four crawl steps on her own. Rhona and I met at her daycare for a little family Valentine's day lunch. We all went to the little gym at the daycare and played. It was there that Autumn officially crawled. She had been getting a little frustrated by the lack of movement. She would try hard to move, but it wouldn't go well, and she would complain. But yesterday, it all worked out. She crawled.

Life is going to get completely interesting.

Some quotes that made me go hmmm

"Here is the message that an imaginary 'intelligent design theorist' might broadcast to scientists: 'If you don't understand how something works, never mind: just give up and say God did it. You don't know how the nerve impulse works? Good! You don't understand how memories are laid down in the brain? Excellent! Is photosynthesis a bafflingly complex process? Wonderful! Please don't go to work on the problem, just give up, and appeal to God. Dear scientist, don't work on your mysteries. Bring us your mysteries, for we can use them. Don't squander precious ignorance by researching it away. We need those glorious gaps as a last refuge for God."

"It is a tedious cliché (and, unlike many clichés, it isn't even true) that science concerns itself with how questions, but only theology is equipped to answer why questions. What on earth is a why question? Not every English sentence beginning with the word 'why' is a legitimate question. Why are unicorns hollow? Some questions simply do not deserve an answer. What is the color of abstraction? What is the smell of hope? The fact that a question can be phrased in a grammatically correct English sentence doesn't make it meaningful, or entitle it to our serious attention. Nor, even if the question is a real one, does the fact that science cannot answer it imply that religion can."

- Both by Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion -

Snow Day

They say this: Snow will start around 5:00PM. The snow warning will end tomorrow morning, sometime. We had a snow storm back in October, and since then, not much. But, take a look at this.


All that white stuff on the map, is snow. That's what's coming. Who knows, maybe Valentine's Day will be a snow day!

China and the environment

We all buy a lot of stuff that's made in China. It's life. It's hard to find things that aren't made in China. However, when we think of things made in China, it's worth considering, for a second, what buying those things does to the economy. Think about this: 2 out of every 5 people on the planet are from China or India. China has 1.3 billion people. And they are getting hungry for energy. According to Spiegal Online, China is really polluting the planet.

"In order to feed its appetite for energy, China is building coal-fired power plants as fast as it can. Every seven to ten days a new plant begins spewing smoke into the sky. The amount by which China increased its power production last year alone is greater than Britain's entire capacity."

Every seven to ten days? Here's the article that talks about China and the environment.

What does this mean to your $1.95 made in China shirt from Wal-Mart? Well, it means each purchase helps a country continually rape the environment. And since we live in the environment, it's not so good long-term. I know it's hard to not buy things made in China. It's hard to pass on the a $2.00 shirt, or a $5.00 kid's toy. I don't expect people who read this to stop buying things made in China.

But after reading this article, I'm thinking the planet could use us all thinking a little harder about the country of origin of our stuff. This is the planet we're leaving to Autumn and her generation. Lets at least think about telling China to quit screwing with it.

montage collage (click for more)

See my Tabblo>

Busy Weekend

Here's Autumn taking a crack at crawling. This was Sunday morning, while Dad and Autumn were alone. How cute is that ending? Feel free to comment.

As promised, Autumn Walking 2

This then, is some more 'tape' of Autumn walking. Still with the help of Dad, but still cuter than ever.



Wait till she walks. Crikey, we'll be uploading video every hour.

Autumn walking

With dad's help. But still. I love how it starts with Lucy staring down her stuffed Christmas Tree. The little stuffed tree is supposed to play "We wish you a merry Christmas", but it's more like a sad little whine. Anyway, here's some of Autumn walking.



She's a walker. And soon, she'll be moving around like crazy. Coming soon, walking part 2. The end of this, with Go Sabres, is fun.