Georgians KIA in Iraq Part Five: Sgt. Wilbert Davis

Wilbert Davis, Sergeant First Class United States Army:

To hear friends and family tell it, Davis was anything but common. Davis, 40, grew up in the East Tampa neighborhood of College Hill. In 1975, at age 12, Davis pitched for the Belmont Heights Little League and led the team to the World Series. Even his teammates came for Wednesday's service. He graduated from Tampa Bay Tech, then worked at a Tampa Electric Co. plant. While a young man, he fathered two daughters before moving to Anchorage to live with his older sister. Cynthia Davis, an Army wife, persuaded her brother to enlist. He served in the 3rd Infantry Division. Before leaving for the Middle East, he lived outside Savannah, Ga., with his wife, Huiok, and their two young boys. March 31 was the last time Huiok heard from him. He died April 3 while en route to Baghdad with journalist Michael Kelly. Davis lost control of the Humvee he was driving when his convoy came under fire. The Humvee overturned into a canal. Both Davis and Kelly died in the crash.

The above quote and link are from the Arlington website, dated August 24, 2003. Sgt. Davis had only moved to Hinesville 15 months before his death, but I decided to include his profile, since some sites list him as being from Georgia. I don't know if his wife and sons stayed in Georgia, but the boys would both be teenagers now. Honestly, I hope for Mrs. Davis' sake that her sons don't sign up. I also hope that we get the kind of leadership in this country that will stop this cycle of endless war we've gotten into, so that the possibility of a draft can be avoided.
Related: Inspiration, Part One, Parts Two and Three, Part Four

Can Georgia Be Obama's Ohio? - TIME

Can Georgia Be Obama's Ohio? - TIME

Obama has 15 full-time paid staffers who have been in Georgia for over a month. They also have had staff in North Carolina and Virginia and have been "literally moving in dozens of people every week to all three states," said Jon Carson, Obama's national field director. They also expect to have staff in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana before the end of the month. "It's very hard to sit here right now to say what's going to happen in November... Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, Missouri - which of those is going to be most winnable? So our campaign is taking the approach of casting a wide net."

They ain't just whistlin' Dixie! I participated in a voter registration drive Saturday, and there's an organizational meeting tonight, both in Brunswick. Wouldn't it be amazing if I had to change the name of the blog to Blue in Bluesville!?! Yeah, I know, keep dreaming, but I'm going to keep at it with my teaspoons.

In Memory of George Carlin

shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits

I am Spider-Man (though the Hulk is a close second)

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 95% Hulk 80% Superman 65% Supergirl 60% Wonder Woman 60% Catwoman 55% Green Lantern 55% Iron Man 50% Batman 50% Robin 50% The Flash 50%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Fat Rant

Bush-McCain Challenge: Women's Health Edition

"You can't have him."

liveblogging the Tonys (from Mom's house)

Ok, so it's not exactly live, but I will continue to update this post as I watch the Tonys on CBS, starting at 8 PM eastern. Mom and I got ready by watching Legally Blonde: The Musical, as shown on MTV last year. Sure, it's not up for anything this year, but there was nothing on TV, and it was just sitting there on the DVR, staring at us. Mom and I did see a nominated show, but Cyrano is only nominated in 1 category: Best Costume Design of a Play (they were fabulous!). We were only able to see 3 shows when we were in NYC in December. Just going on instinct for the rest of the nominees. Honestly, South Pacific gets major nostalgia points, but how can you not root for In the Heights? You can check out all the nominated shows here.

7:55 PM: Just biding our time, watching Andy Rooney talk about how he's not really rich. Oh, for heaven's sake, he's finally done. Tony time!

Why are they opening with Lion King? Guess Whoopi's decided she's gotta do some Swahili singing?!?

Nope. She didn't get the memo, and came out doing her best Sebastian.

Original company of Rent! Woohoo! And ten years of Lion King, which explains it.

Featured Actress in a Play

Mom's & My pick: Martha Plimpton (because I played Angie back in the day)
Winner: Rondi Reed (not surprised, really)Plimpton can't be pissed, since she's a Steppenwolf member, too!

John Waters, Yeah!

Cry Baby Performance

Best use of license plates: Cry Baby!

Featured Actor in a Play

Mom's pick: Conleth Hill
My pick: Jim Norton
Winner: Jim Norton (Woohoo!)

Passing Strange Performance

Best use of call and response (also props to the tech who finally put Stew's mic back on the stand)

And the count at the commercial break is . . . Kelly: 1, Mom: 0

Best Direction of a Musical

Mom's pick: Sam Buntrock
My Pick: Thomas Kail
Winner: Bartlett Sherr (there's that nostalgia!)
Speech: Way to sneak the politics in there, Mr. Sherr!

Gypsy Performance

Best use of consonants: Patti LuPone! (and her vowels ain't bad either)

Phantom bit

Not bad singin' Whoopi! Much better than that Brightman hack!

Regional Theatre

Chicago Shakes (woohoo!)

Orchestrations

Mom's pick: Jason Carr
My pick (& the winners!): Alex Lacamore & Bill Sherman, In the Heights

Choreography

Mom's pick: Christopher Gatelli
My pick: Rob Ashford
Winner: Andy Blankenbuehler, In the Heights

Book of a Musical

Mom's & My pick: In the Heights
Winner: Passing Strange

Revival of a Play

Mom's & my pick (& the winner!): Boeing-Boeing

Original Score

Mom's pick:Cry Baby
My pick (& the winner!): In the Heights
Speech: Best Evah!

South Pacific Performance

Thought fer sure she was gonna wash that man right outta her hair!


And the count at the break is . . . Kelly: 4, Mom: 1 (Guess it pays to read the New York Times online)

Featured Actress in a Musical

Mom's pick: Loreta Ables Sayre
My pick: Olga Merediz
Winner: Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Speech: Awwww! Tall brunette gets a Tony!

Grease Performance

This should be familiar, since we watched the reality show religiously.
Yeah, they really haven't grown since the reality show. I can see why the reviews were so bad. Bor-ing!

Well, they only gave away one between breaks, and neither Mom nor I got it right, so the score's the same.

Featured Actor in a Musical

Mom's pick: Danny Burstein
My pick: Robin de Jesus
Winner: Boyd Gaines, Gypsy (4th Tony!)
Speech: Way to thank the stage managers!

Little Mermaid Performance

Bo-ring!

A Catered Affair Performance

Faith Prince is a delight, as usual.

Young Frankenstein Performance

Megan Mullally takes up the mantle with moxie. Although she reminds me a bit of Molly Shannon (which is not necessarily a bad thing).

So, again, only one award given, and we both missed it. We have obviously underestimated the appeal of Gypsy. We should have known better.

Best New Play Highlights

I love Rufus Sewell! Wish I'd talked Mom into The Seafarer when we were in the city, but Curtains was good.

Best Direction of a Play

Mom's & my pick & the winner!!!: Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County (not bad for a Broadway debut!
Speech: She's so young! Great speech!


Well, Mom and I each got that right, so . . . Kelly: 5, Mom: 2

Leading Actor in a Play

Mom's & My pick: Patrick Stewart
Winner: Mark Rylance (I almost picked him!)
Speech: WTF?!?

Leading Actress in a Play

Mom's & my pick: S. Epatha Merkerson
Winner: Deanna Dunagan (Broadway debut!)
So many good roles for women this season!
Speech: They shoulda let her go on a little longer!

In The Heights Performance

Best use of a Cole Porter reference! How would they ever take it on tour? Lin-Manuel Miranda's shoes would be very hard to fill! That shit was off the hook!


So, Mom and I were both 0 for 2 on those.

Play

Mom's pick: The Seafarer
My pick & the winner!!!: August: Osage County
Speech:The entire Steppenwolf Theatre Company is on stage

Scenic Design of a Play

Mom's pick & winner!!: Todd Rosenthal
My pick: Peter McKintosh

Scenic Design of a Musical

Mom's pick: Sunday in the Park with George
My pick: Robin Wagner, Young Frankenstein
Winner: Michael Yeargan, South Pacific

Costume Design of a Play

Mom's & my pick: Gregory Gale, Cyrano (only one we saw!)
Winner: Katrina Lindsay, Les Liasons Dangereuses

Costume Design of a Musical

Mom's & my pick & winner!!!: Catherine Zuber, South Pacific

Lighting Design of a Play

Mom's pick: Ann G. Wrightson
My pick: Howard Harrison
Winner: Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps

Lighting Design of a Musical

Mom's & my pick: Natasha Katz
Winner: Donald Holder, South Pacific

Sound Design of a Play

Mom's pick: Simon Baker
My pick: Adam Cork
Winner: Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Sound Design of a Musical

Mom's pick: Sebastian Frost
My pick & the winner!!: Scott Lehrer, South Pacific


Ok, time to catch up on the count . . . Kelly: 8, Mom: 4

Sunday in the Park with George Performance

Nice speech from Sondheim, via Mandy Patinkin. It's hard not to compare them to Peters and Patinkin (and find them lacking).

Revival of a Musical

Mom's & my pick & the winner!!!!: South Pacific!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speech: Way to thank the House Managers and the Staff!

Xanadu Performance

Have to say, I loved that movie back in the day. After all, it had Gene Kelly!
Best musical on roller skates since Starlight Express! As Mom said, "He's got an awesome voice." To which I replied, "Not a bad body either!" Call me Cheyenne!

Count stands at Kelly: 9, Mom: 5
And we are so sick of the pharma ads!

Rent Performance!!!!!

I love that the audience of stars seems as psyched as I am! Singing along. Beautiful tribute.

Leading Actor in a Musical

Mom's pick & the winner!!!!: Paulo Szot ( Mom is so excited!)
My pick: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Speech: yeah, Liza's unbelievable, alright! Happy Birthday Mom, indeed! Nice sneak of politics in there.

Leading Actress in a Musical

Mom's pick: Kelli O'Hara
My pick & winner!!: Patti LuPone (only her 2nd Tony?!?)
Speech: She's not bitter . . . much! She thanked her Thelma Ritter. Love any All About Eve reference. How dare they try to drown out Patti LuPone. Never!

Count stands at Kelly: 10, Mom: 6

Musical

Mom's & my pick & the winner!!!!!: In The Heights
I still think Miranda should have won the Actor Tony, too.
Speech: Shortest speech of the night?!?
Oh well.

Love the Theatre indeed. Good night. I'll try to clean this up at some point.
Oh, and the final score . . . Kelly: 11, Mom: 7

RIP Tim Russert

Tim Russert died today, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to.

The video is an episode of Charlie Rose. The first segment is an interview with Russert about his book, The Wisdom of Our Fathers. As someone who has spent more years without her father than she had with him (he died when I was 15), my heart goes out to the entire Russert family, especially Tim's son. And to Big Russ, Happy Father's Day. I know it must suck to outlive your son.

From My Inbox

Mom sent me this awhile ago, and I'm finally posting it. She doesn't normally send me forwards, but she said she "just had to." I guess you could consider this a Fat Acceptance post.

I think I've found my new philosophy.....

love this DOCTOR!!!!

HEALTH QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... Don't waste them on exercise . Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.


Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.


Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!


Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.


Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!


Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: You're not listening...Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?


Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit- ups if you want a bigger stomach.


Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable. It's the best feel-good food around! !


Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.


Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape! ! Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:
'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intentionof arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, 'WOO HOO, What a Ride!'

John Cusack talks about Bush-McCain

I just love him. Always have. Say Anything, Better Off Dead, and now this!?! Love that guy!

Georgians KIA in Iraq Part Four: Captain Edward J. Korn

Captain Edward Jason Korn, 31, of Savannah, was killed on April 3, 2003. He was killed by friendly fire while scouting for Iraqi positions during a tank battle 15 miles southeast of Baghdad. Captain Korn grew up at the Bethesda Home for Boys. Jason, as his family called him, was a Desert Storm Veteran and Bronze Star recipient. He had been stationed at Fort Knox, but volunteered for war duty in March 2003. He was deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart. There is a great deal of information about Captain Korn at the Arlington website. This is where I found this quote, from William McIlrath, assistant director of the Bethesda Home, who remembered Jason from his time there: "The thing that really impressed me about him was that he always told the truth, no matter how much it embarassed him or got him into trouble." If only the same could be said for President Bush, maybe Captain Korn would still be with us today.

Related: Inspiration, Part One, Parts Two and Three

McCain Women's Clinic Part 3

Okay, so I know the music is not so great, but it does make a point that needs to be made. I also love how the nurse/receptionist reminds me of Cindy McCain.

McCain Women's Clinic Part 2

We are not making it up. We are not exaggerating.

This is only a small sampling of the misogynistic crap that is out there All. The. Time. It's not about Hillary. It's not even about women. It's about humans. I'm one of those. We all deserve the respect that comes with our humanity, and white dudez like Tucker Carlson and Chris Matthews need to learn to recognize their privilege.
HT: Shakesville

Oh, yeah, and I missed my Blogiversary again. I've been blogging (on and off) since June 8, 2006. Two years. This blog has lasted longer than any of my romantic relationships.

McCain's Women's Clinic

HT: Shakesville

Georgians KIA in Iraq Parts Two and Three: PFC Diego Fernando Rincon and PFC Michael Creighton Weldon

Army Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon

19, of Conyers, Ga.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed in a suicide car-bombing near Najaf, Iraq. Died: March 29, 2003

"Diego Rincon was inspired to fight for his adopted homeland following the brutal attacks of September 11. . . . The suicide attack that took Diego's life at Al-Najaf was the first of its kind during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Diego Rincon was awarded posthumous citizenship in a gesture that inspired national law." From My Country to Defend, a book by A. E. Dimond about PFC Rincon, who was born in Colombia.




Army Pfc. Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, 20, of Conyers, Ga.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed in a suicide car-bombing near Najaf, Iraq. Died: March 29, 2003
While other soldiers lost their lives in that suicide bombing, PFCs Rincon and Weldon were the two who had Georgia listed as their home state, although many sites list Palm Bay, FL as PFC Weldon's home state. It appears that he lived in Conyers, but was actually from Palm Bay. Pfc. Weldon followed in the footsteps of his mother, Sgt. Maj. Jean Weldon, who recently retired from the military.


As I post these profiles, it makes me sick how these soldiers were lied to. PFC Rincon joined up because of the September 11 attacks. At the time of his death, the country was actively being deceived by the Bush Administration that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and those attacks. All the medals in the world won't make up for the fact that these young men died because of Bush's lies. That doesn't take away from their bravery and service, but it sure does piss me off!

Related: Inspiration, Part One