I feel like I ought to have something insightful to say on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks–but I really don’t.  Most of the things I would say, other people have said better.  I especially like what a local woman–Cathy Faughnan from Lafayette–said about it.  Cathy lost her husband in the Twin Towers that day.  She says “the hole never goes away, but life gets bigger around it.”

In many ways–MOST ways, I think–we have recovered.  But I hope our recovery doesn’t dull the memory of the day, especially the memory of the heroic acts of ordinary people.

You may have heard about this new stage production called “Avenue Q,” now playing at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.  Penny Parker’s column in the Rocky Mountain News describes it as “Naughty Muppets…REALLLLY Naughty Muppets.”  I’ve read about it elsewhere, and just got done seeing a huge segment about it on one of the morning TV news shows.  I might be alone on this, but I find the whole thing to be rather unseemly.

It’s bad enough that we enjoy getting our jollies with off-color humor.  But when you take something innocent like Sesame Street and make it “naughty,” it’s even worse.  I read where part of the show involved “Muppet Sex”–with the muppet characters have sex with each other as part of the show.  Ha ha ha.

I’ve done some study on the art/science of comedy, so I understand that part of the comedic formula is the element of surprise–the unexpected juxtaposition of two unrelated or incongruent elements.  But I also understand that associating vulgar behavior to innocent sources is a “cheap” way to get a laugh.  It truly is the lowest form of humor, done over and over and over.  The cable cartoon “South Park” is one recent [tasteless] example.  Back in the 70s it was “Howard The Duck.”

I guess I’m not saying that a show like ”Avenue Q” ought to be “boycotted” or “censored.”  It’s more like–let’s not pour down accolades on a production like this, as if it were something brilliant.  Because it’s not.

My son will turn 13 next week.  I will be the parent of a teen-ager.  I remember back when he was born, looking ahead to this day, wondering what it would be like.  Well, here’s what it’s like…

We’re standing in his room, discussing whether it looks more like a hurricane hit it or a nuclear bomb.  It’s shocking to me that he can put up with that level of disorder.  I’m telling him that we aren’t going to live like this.  He tells me that he doesn’t have TIME to clean his room–he’s too BUSY!  Now, the conversation had taken a similar turn the day before, discussing doing his assigned chores–putitng away the dishes, taking out the trash, etc.  Again, he said he was too BUSY, mainly doing home work.  Of course, he seems to have plenty of time to hang out with friends, shooting marshmallow guns, and playing video games.  When I brought that up, he said-with a straight face–”well, I thought you told me to ENJOY my childhood!  I’m just doing what you TOLD me to do!”

Ah, yes, teen-age logic, for sure.  Of course, I remember when I thought the same way!  Took me back to when I was 13, a summer day in small-town Wisconsin.  My Dad was heading off to work and asked me to mow the lawn–that is to say, he asked me in that “Dad” way that means “I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.”  So I started mowing the lawn but for some reason–I forget why–I didn’t finish it.  I think a friend rode by on his bike and off I went with him, leaving half the lawn un-cut.  My dad was NOT happy when he got home.  But ME?  I couldn’t understand why he was so upset!!  After all, I HAD mowed HALF the lawn–”shouldn’t I get some credit for that?” 

Yep–”teen logic.”  I guess we grow out of it, right?  Most of us do, anyway…

Last night at the MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears opened the show–and got a standing ovation.  I’m wondering–for WHAT!?  What has Britney Spears done over the past year that would merit a standing O?  For her parenting skills?

Of course, LAST year, the response was quite different, when she sleep-walked through a poorly-lip-synched performance of the then-new single from her album.  At THAT time, she was universally ridiculed.  She was made the butt of endless jokes.  And who could forget the YouTube guy, shrieking “Leave Britney ALONE!!”  I just find it ironic–and noteworthy–that the same people who were trashing her last year, are giving her a standing ovation THIS year!  And–again I ask–for WHAT?

I have to think that most of these people had no clue as to why they were standing and applauding.  They just saw everybody ELSE standing up, figured they needed to follow suit!  That’s the way it works in Tinsel-Town, you just try to do what everyone else is doing.

On that note, I have to salute Jordin Sparks for standing up to the host of the show, Russell Brand, who was ridiculing the Jonas Brothers for wearing “promise rings.”  Promise rings are rings teen-agers wear which signify a pledge to not have sex until marriage.   This oaf Russell Brand–who BTW was the worst host EVER of ANY awards show EVER–thought it would play well with the Hollywood crowd to poke fun at this, and for the most part he was right.  But at least Jordin Sparks had the nerve to get on the mike and put him in his place, saying “not everybody wants to be a slut.”  You GO girl!!

A buddy of mine said it best: for football fanatics like me, today is like Christmas Eve!  Like presents scattered beneath the Christmas tree, so the NFL season awaits for each game to be “un-wrapped,” one-by-one–with many surprises, and of course some “clunkers.”

Should I go out on a ledge and make some predictions?  Why not!  Everyone else does!

Broncos will go 8-8 and just miss the playoffs, Jay Cutler will have a great year but I have a feeling that losing Jason Elam will cost a couple of games.  A missed field goal here and there, that’s the difference between 8-8 and 10-6.  Still, I think everyone will feel pretty good about the team’s direction overall.

Surprise team of the year: Houston Texans, 10-6 and a wild card berth.  Matt Schaub pushed by Sage Rosenfeld, plays above his head, DE Mario Williams plays at Hall-Of-Fame level.

Disappointing team of the year: New York Giants, 6-10 and last place.  Chalk it up to the typical Big Blue Post Super Bowl Funk, historically demonstrated.  After each of the Giants Super Bowl appearances, they’ve had a losing season the next year.

NFC Division Champions: Cowboys, Packers, Panthers, Seahawks.

NFC Wild Cards: Saints, Eagles.

AFC Division Champs: Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Chargers.

AFC Wild Cards: Texans, Bills. [Gulp!  The BILLS? Going with my gut here...]

Super Bowl: Mmmmm…how about Cowboys-Chargers?

Other Predictions: Brett Favre will retire again, and admit that he should have never agreed to play for the Jets.  Possible that he could retire before the season ends.  Scott Linehan becomes the first coach fired, before the season’s over he’ll get replaced by Jim Haslett.

Check back in January, see how close [wrong?] I was!

My wife and I are gonna celebrate our 20^th wedding anniversary in a couple weeks, I booked a room at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs!  I was talking to a friend, she and her husband took their KIDS along with them on their 20^th anniversary trip!  I guess I understood her rationale–they have a close family, and wanted to share the experience with everyone.  Not for OUR family, though. We can take the kids to Disneyland or something if we want to share an experience.

Incidentally, I got a nice e-mail from a listener telling me all about the ghosts at the Hotel Colorado–[I wondered why the room rates were so reasonable!]  I think I’ll withold that information from my wife.  Reminds me, though, of a couple we used to know who were really INTO that sort of thing.  They actually DID celebrate their anniversary by staying in a haunted hotel!  I forget the town–it was somewhere along the Texas-Louisiana state line–but it apparently had a history of ghosts at several locations around the town.  There’s even a nightly tour.  Sounds like a tourism angle to me, but then again, I’m a skeptic. 

Interesting–and encouraging–that this year’s State Fair actually out-drew LAST year’s fair by about 1000 people—even WITH the high gas prices!  Just proves that you can’t put a price on getting your annual deep-fried funnel-cake “fix.”  Amazing how BAD those things are for you, but we eat ‘em anyway, don’t we?

Saw on the news, that woman in Golden who stole $8000 from the high school football booster club got sentenced to 20 days in the slammer.  She took over as treasurer in January ’07, within six months had drained all the cash.  I was thnking they ought to make the punishment fit the crime—instead of putting her in JAIL for 20 days, maybe they should strap her to a tackling dummy for 20 varisity football practices…

Tiger Woods is gonna be a dad again, his second child, he and his wife have a daughter, Sam.  Tiger, of course, is not on the tour right now, has that bum knee.  Think his wife likes having him home all the time?  You wonder.  “Tiger, PLEASE!  Can’t you go outside  and PUTT or something?”

David Letterman is featured in Rolling Stone, says he might continue on past 2010 on the Late Show.  He does still have the “WOW factor” going for him.  As in, “Worn Out (his) Welcome.”  Oh, I shouldn’t say that, I guess.  He’s still pretty funny, although there’s more of a “bitter” streak that runs through his show now than used to.  I think that’s why Jay Leno wins.  He comes off as a genuinely happy guy.  Dave, “bitter” can be funny, but a little goes a long way, and people get a lot of it in real life.

Lindsay Lohan posted her thoughts on Sarah Palin’s daughter’s un-wed pregnancy.  On her blog.  Lindsay says she’d like to hear less about pregnancy and more about policy.   Would Lindsay Lohan know policy even if she ran into it with her Mercedes?  In any event, the 17 year-old Palin daughter will be joining her mom at the RNC in St. Paul, along with the 18 year-old guy who impregnated her.  Seems kind of bizarre, but hey, I guess you gotta OWN it, right?  What are you gonna do, run away from it, or pretend it doesn’t exist?  No matter what you do, you’re gonna get criticized for it.

That’s all for today, thanks for reading!….

Well, I spent my Labor Day weekend–laboring!  We’re still trying to get moved in to the home we bought two MONTHS ago!  Made some serious progress, though, over the long weekend.

For one thing, the long tiling process is finally over!  I completed caulking the edges of the master bath Sunday night, and then put the “exclamation point” on the entire bathroom project by installing new toilet seat covers.  Woo-Hoo!  Now I guess we can put the wet saw on Craig’s List–unless my wife insists that we comply with her Dad’s plea that we keep the saw, “just in case we need it in the future.”  Of course, if you’d ever seen my father-in-law’s garage, you’d know that he LIVES by the idea that everything might potentially be needed in the future, and therefore, should be saved.

Speaking of garages, that was another thing I accomplished over the weekend–cleaning out the garage to the point that both cars can now be parked inside.  I blogged on this a couple weeks ago, so I won’t go into it again.  Suffice it to say that I’m not going leave a $20,000 vehicle on the driveway so I can keep a bunch of plastic kids toys under cover and out of the elements….