We humans aren't very nice to each other

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Police identified a 23-year-old South Korean student Tuesday as the gunman who killed more than 30 people in a rampage at Virginia Tech. They said at least one of his handguns was also used to kill two people in a dorm room across campus the same morning.

The killing of 32 people Monday at this placid university in southwestern Virginia was the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history.


BAGHDAD, April 18 -- Four car bombs killed 131 people and wounded 164 others across Baghdad Wednesday, the U.S. military said, as bloodshed spiked two months into a U.S.-led crackdown meant to pacify the Iraqi capital.

Some news accounts suggested the death toll may be higher. The Reuters news agency, quoting local officials, said as many as 170 people had been killed, and the Associated Press said at least 183 had been killed.

These above are small parts of news articles just taken from news websites.

Does one of these stories make you feel worse than the other?
One lunatic shooting innocents
Groups of lunatics blowing up innocents
Are we callous enough to think that because those dying in Iraq are mostly Iraqis, it's ok?
Why does our media go crazy with coverage, outrage and emotional broadcasts for one of these events and not the other?
Is it because Iraq is a political issue?
The story above demonstrates clearly that it's a humanitarian issue.

They are both horrible circumstances. I can't imagine how devastated I would be if I lost a loved one in either one of these two horrific events. But I also can't isolate my feelings for the victims just because of where the innocents were slain. Murder is murder. People are people. Children are children.

Where is our leadership? Where is our media? Where is our outrage?

I was really hoping to laugh

I finally watched Borat last night. What a disappointment. The movie and concept just didn't live up to all the talk and hype. Funny? Maybe if I was in fifth grade...Hell, I think Taladega Nights had more laughs...

Very basic scatological humor, political incorrectness, cheap sexual humor, antisemitism, naked men wrestling around, using unsuspecting people to further his whacked humor....Not very creative, not very original and not very funny. If this movie is considered a good movie, I am missing something. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I giggled a few times. I was uncomfortable more than I was amused.

I'm glad I didn't go to the theater and waste $6.00 on this. So that is my rating, NW6 (not worth $6.00). In fact I will go NW.05.

It's my opinion and my sense of humor and I failed to sense much at all.

Correre via alla bocca

I've been on the road quite a bit and have been remiss in writing. I feel a little guilty about that for some reason. So, I am here to relieve some of the guilt. I think I will just ramble.

Things I'm tired of....

Don Imus is an idiot. I make a point of not listening or heeding what idiots have to say whenever I can. I have exercised my right to my opinion by not tuning into his show and I'm glad MSNBC has taken him out. Now, I wish he would get out of the "news". The guy is nobody to me. I'm sick of hearing about it. Where's Paris Hilton when you need to hear about annoying nobody's. I really can't believe I want to hear about Paris Hilton...OK, I don't.

I really believe that if I look up hypocrite in the Dictionary they will use Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as examples. Well...I looked. They don't, but they should.

Politics, the War in Iraq, GWB, Republicans, Democrats, my digestive system, snow in April, reality tv, ticket brokers, ticketmaster, the trials and tribulations of aging, mean people, dishonest people. Did I say politics? Lot of recurring irritations found in this paragraph.

Things I never get tired of...

Música, musique, Musik, музыка, De muziek, musikk, 音樂

l'amore per i miei bambini

l'amore della mia vita

cibo delizioso

golf giocando

ridere con i miei amici ed il mio ones amato

la mia collezione di chitarra

OK...so after going multilingual I lost it and settled into Italian. What a beautiful language it is! I can wait to butcher it again sometime soon in Italia!

Does anyone know how to work a date book?

Where do I begin today? I have lots to write about but I will start with the concert I went to Tuesday (4/3) night in Moline Illinois.

Moline is part of the Quad Cities and is located about 2 and half hours from where I live. Eric Clapton was booked to play the Quad Cities! Rather than get back on the road after the show, we had made a hotel reservation and were planning on spending the night in lovely Davenport Iowa.

For some reason we had put the concert on the calendar for Wednesday (04/4) night. This is where the fun begins! About 3:30 P.M. on Tuesday I decide to go up to EC Access, Clapton's fanclub site to see if anyone had thoughts on the fan club Crossroads festival presale debacle that left most members ticketless, including me. I happened to see a message posted regarding "going to Moline". I clicked on it and the writer was talking about how he was "about to leave for the concert in Moline tonight". I thought, "Wow, they must have added a show" but thought I should look at my tickets. I looked and they said "Tuesday April 3 at 7:30 P.M.". OMG!!! I walked around the corner to my wife's office and said "the Clapton concert is tonight!" She literally shouted "WHAT?" and then "Can we make it?" I said "yes, I think we can but we have no time to spare." She was on her way home to pack a few things within milliseconds. Rather than get back on the road after the show, we had made a hotel reservation and were planning on spending the night in lovely Davenport Iowa, thus there was minor packing to do. I'm not sure I have seen her move at that pace ever! I printed the tickets and was right behind her. We were on the road to Moline at 4:15.

While on the road, we left a voice mail for our "dog sitter" figuring if she was unable to help we might have to call in backup sitter, my son J. Fortunately, she called us back fairly quickly and said there was no problem. It was at this point that I think my blood pressure was beginning to get under control.

We made it to the Quad cities by 6:30 P.M.. Alright it is possible that I exceeded the 65 mph speed limit from time to time but I can't be sure of that (your honor). We checked into the hotel, wolfed down a very mediocre dinner and made it to the show about 10 minutes late. We missed a couple of Robert Cray's opening numbers.

The concert...Robert Cray was very good. The size of this gentleman makes his Stratocaster look like a ukulele. Big man, great style.

I was really looking forward to seeing this leg of the Clapton tour since I had seen one of the earlier stops on the US leg of this tour last September. I thought the band was not quite "smokin" the first time around. They were good...they just weren't killer.

Well, no Derek Trucks this time around. He's apparently off doing an Allman Bros. reunion, so the apples to apples comparison went out the window. I was really disappointed that I wasn't able to watch this kid play again.

Overall, the band was better. EC and Doyle Bramhall had some outstanding guitar duet moments and Doyle had a couple of great solos this time around. Hell, the band is made up of a bunch of all stars...Steve Jordan on drums and Willie Weeks on bass. Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon on keyboards.

EC is EC. He's a virtuoso at any age. At age 62, he's still amazing. He makes it look effortless and that's genius. He pisses me off. He obviously hogged up all the guitar talent because I can't seem to get much. Awesome EC, just awesome.

"Got to Get Better in a Little While" was rockin'. "Cocaine" was the worst rendition of that song that I have ever heard. They were going through the motions. Robert Cray joined the band for a go at "Crossroads" and it was killer.

Summary...nice venue, nice crowd, excellent show, EC is a gift.