Corn subsidy caucus voters had their say in Iowa and now it’s round two of “I’m running a positive campaign, but you suck,” aka the presidential primary process. An active base of evangelicals in Iowa stunned the party by um, blessing Mike Huckabee with 34% of the vote while rejecting corporate rep Mitt Romney and completely ignoring the FauxNews and military-industrial complex favorite, Rudolph “don’t call me Hess” Giuliani. Those voting in Iowa’s Democratic caucuses were fairly evenly split between two guys and a girl, but the night’s big winner, Barack Obama, earned more votes (nearly 90,000) than the top 3 Republican candidates combined.

Personally, I love each party’s fringe candidates, Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Republican Ron Paul. They were featured on Bill Moyers Journal that I caught Saturday night between 2 and 3am. Both are thinkers and have fundamental beliefs that defined each of their party’s long before corporate interests hoarded most of the Donkeys and Elephants. You can catch the transcript here.

Now the action is occurring just a few miles north of here in a more progressive state anxious to cement its image after losing face in 2003. It will be interesting to see which candidate receives the large segment of “Independent” NH voters. Those Independents favored Republican John McCain in 2000 and Barack Obama last week in Iowa. With “change” (from 7 years of Bush-Cheney) the emerging theme of 2008, I predict Mr. Obama will garner most Independent votes, win the Granite, and position himself to make history.

The Republican “establishment” candidates are an embarrassment to our country. For Thompson, Romney, McCain and Giuliani to smirk and laugh at another candidate (Ron Paul) shows a complete lack of respect to the American people who should be allowed to hear the man’s views, even if the vast majority don’t know what the hell he’s talking about because he actually provides details and not just sleepy slogans and “Islamo-facist” rhetoric. Aside from Dr. Paul, Mike Huckabee seems upright, but with the corporate sponsored Republican machine against him, he’ll struggle. I expect Mitt Romney is pretty, rich and energetic enough to win the Republican nomination, even if John McCain wins in NH.

The general election is the Democrat’s to lose. The country is fatigued by Bush-Cheney and generally is hearing more of the same out of the Republicans. Mr. Obama is building a wave of youthful hope that recalls the optimism of JFK’s presidency in the early sixties. My hope is that Hillary Clinton acknowledges this early and doesn’t help Republicans by tearing down Mr. Obama in a summer long dirty war of attrition just because she’s technically still in the race. Regardless of what new political makeup she may apply, it will never paint her the face of change that is Barack Obama.

As 2007 met its 365 day quota and 2008 begins, I’m quietly enjoying a final few days of vacation. Most of this week was spent at DisneyWorld with my son and father and not my laptop.

Last week many a website, newspaper and magazine published their “best of” lists and I’m feeling somewhat obliged to contribute. Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to enough music or see sufficient movies to compile a top ten heard/seen, never mind a top ten. To quell the demanding masses, here’s a 2007 favorites compilation:

• Digital Download – Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky”
• Musical – The surprisingly wonderful “White Christmas” at Boston’s Wang Center
• Day – October 19th
• Walk – 10 blocks straight down Broadway with Kyle
• Quote in a meeting the morning after: “I’m not doing math in my head right now.”
• Toy – Nikon D40 DSLR
• Book – “Moneyball”
• Business Trip – Cleveland including a ballgame at the Jake.
• Job – (Tie) New doorway to the basement and landscaping makeover
• Concert – Wilco with Megan and Madison
• Movie – Knocked Up, seen with Megan while she was… uh…
• Gift – Tickets to “Mary Poppins” on Broadway for Kyle’s birthday.
• Documentary – I added this category because “Sicko” got nosed out for best movie
• Moment – Kyle standing to walk and hug and kiss Megan
• Doctor – (Tie) Christie Stine and Madelena Martin

2007 was a year that fear turned to hope and a new life began. It wasn’t a bad year, but it also wasn’t a list topper. Favorite year? Hmmm… I’ll have to give that some thought. A couple Sunday’s ago, Kyle, Dad and I watched a “60 Minutes” interview with Tom Brady. When asked his favorite of 3 super bowl rings was, he paused and then answered, “the next one.”

Here’s to 2008…

It’s just another song…

He flinched with his grandson’s fear of the needle seeking crimson flow. A bout of Diverticulitis threw an 8 hour delay into vacation, but not life. I sat with my Dad at the Villages Regional Hospital for extended coverage of “I knew her best” coming from our presidential contenders over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, interrupted regularly by the other “important” story of the day which could have been reported with a simple scrolling message:

I sat, paced and pondered the day away while Kyle spent it watching movies with my Dad and Caroline’s long-time friend, Anita. Many concerned faces filled my view of the ER expressway. I imagine many trips to the Villages hospital are one way and the hasty, nervous voices of loved ones explaining symptoms were subtitled with hope for a reprieve back home. Fortunately for Dad, there was no blockage or infection, so he got a ticket for the 7:30 home.

With a nod to “Reservoir Dogs,” a film he’ll likely never see, Kyle has dubbed Dad “Mr. Grey” for the trip, although I think his nickname more closely resembles a Boston mobster he looks like: “Whitey.” Oh, and “Mr. Young” didn’t leave me out of the naming game. I’m “Mr. Old.” Thanks, my boy.

“Mr. Old.” With less than 10 months to a half a “C-note,” I’m not digging it. Tonight Dad asked if I’ve given any thought to living here, um, later. “I try not to think about it,” was my reply.

“Though the course may change sometimes
Rivers always reach the sea”

“Ten Years Gone” – Led Zeppelin from Physical Graffiti

After we completed the red tape obstacle course, the staid woman at the desk said “stay healthy,” and three generations walked out, one better than the others. With the deadline for making resolutions we’ll break a few days away, that woman’s advice is the leader in the Villages clubhouse.

I’m sure it all goes back to the story of an infant born in a manger after his parents were shut out at the local Bed and Breakfast. Didn’t they know how tough it is to get a room during the holidays? I think anyone raised with the traditions of Christmas just naturally chills out, even if the temperature doesn’t fall below 60… This year’s Christmas is being spent with Dad, but I can’t say I remember another. As each page turns, the ghosts of Christmas past dim, like old monochrome Polaroids.

I do remember many Christmas highlights with Mom, and some presents… The fire engine set… Lincoln Logs… A wood burning kit… “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “The Beach Boys Greatest Hits” on vinyl… A tabletop hockey game*… 1995 was a quiet but dark year and I ended up on the naughty list and collected the traditional lump of coal. That was funny and would actually come in handy now given the price of home heating oil…

It’s quiet here in “The Villages.” For one thing, there aren’t many young children in a retirement community. Last night as we walked around the town square before and after dinner, Kyle sang Christmas carols. I joined in and Dad left us just Megan short of a barbershop quartet. That’s what Christmas is about for me. When the silent night is broken only by songs from the heart.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

* By Isaiah12:2 on Flickr

While Kyle charmed the cute Southwest Flight Attendant into food that nobody else on the plane got, I read a Men’s Journal interview of Jack Nicholson. I thought there would be more, but three gems are better than none:

• Live in the Now.
• Don’t waste hate time on anything you don’t love.
• Live the way you want to live.

This morning was only the third time Madison’s R&D; into crying woke me up. 4:46 emitted against morning darkness and the daily ritual began. Baby girl must know Big Papi still has presents to shroud before our early Christmas morning unfolds in a couple hours.

My dawn routine consists of filling my head gradually with caffeine and data. It’s actually much more pleasant that that made it sound and it is elevated by the aroma of Green Mountain Fair Trade Organic Breakfast Blend. Yeah, it’s a mouthful. Once the caffeine drip commences, my narrow attention span turns to Bloglines for vast consumption of bits and bytes. This morning a post in the Creative Generalist blog on Neuroscience and psychology reminded me how music can “get you.” Think about the songs sleeping in your ipod. Some are “nice,” but they’re just a little above a dentist’s office background of acoustics. Then there are those that reach into your soul, pick you up off your feet and shake you. One of the great things about music is the freedom of it. OK, DRM aside, one person’s dental diversion is a “stop you in your tracks” heartbreaker to another. What song(s) have that emotional pull for you? This (lyrics) is one that does for me…

I’m like a second grader on the path to understanding the calculus of my new Nikon D40, but in spite of my inexperience, the new toy grabs some cool stills. Last night “Tanta” Claus visited in the form of Barb to share a few presents with the kids and me. “You should take some profile shots of that baby.” Uh, OK.

Then there’s this optical illusion taken from Kyle’s world of all things Potter. I had the camera on “Program” mode and 800ISO (for low light). The shutter stayed open just long enough to catch a shot of Kyle’s mind being sucked out by Dementors. Of course he loves it…

Sometimes you just fall right into the shit… The good shit. Like “happy as a pig in shit” shit. Tonight I wrote a quick email to one of Kyle’s doctor’s reminding her I needed “the letter” from her so I can carry all his medications on the plane to Orlando on Sunday. Then I did a Yahoo search (sorry man) on “the Letter” and the #1 result was this gem:

Shit…

“In my day, they put kids like him away.”

– He who shall not be named.

This morning as I struggled to figure out what the heck Kyle wants for Christmas, Megan, who for some reason just appeared around 6am, said, “You should get him the Charlotte’s Web soundtrack. Yesterday when you were trying to get him ready and he wouldn’t get off the couch is because he wanted to hear that song at the end of the movie.” The song is “Ordinary Miracle” sung by Sarah McLachlan. She’s got a hauntingly beautiful voice that’s had a home in my head for quite some time.

Kyle loves (It’s not a coincidence I use that term so often. Kyle loves.) Charlotte, but I know somewhere in that place between his heart and head, he identifies with Wilbur. And just as Wilbur inspired the love of all near Zuckerman’s barn, Kyle does the same for nearly all who know him. The “miracle” that’s happening right now is that Kyle’s physical problems are fading and I know he’s sensing other changes he can’t quite articulate. “The winds changed,” is his recurring phrase. Speaking of wind, yesterday Kyle walked over a mile from the Wang Center to a restaurant on Temple Place off of Tremont Street! He and I had lucked out to see “White Christmas” with Barb after her out of town guests canceled due to this week’s snow. It was a fantastic show and Kyle couldn’t stop talking about it.

As for soundtracks, I’m all set. I mean, I’m not sure how many more times I can hear “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” before someone will have to put me away. I downloaded the song from iTunes…

It’s pretty much all been said in the news about the performance enhancing drug scandal in major league baseball. I thought Roger Clemens was a selfish bore way back in 1990 when he was tossed from game 3 of the ALCS after just 1 1/3 innings for profanity. Oh, and he was a member of the Red Sox then…

As always, it’s the fans that pay. Coming out of the 1994 strike, the owners looked the other way while many of their “stars” shot themselves in the ass to create an illusion of greatness and we fans paid for it. We bought the phony home run chase of cheaters Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa and invited the widow of Roger Maris to help celebrate a lie. Warning track outs became dingers and fans flocked to see them, allowing greedy owners to raise prices to the point where most families cannot afford to attend a game.

This is yet another example of the unraveling of this country. We are so fatigued by scandals and phoniness that apathy is growing and we’re losing the basic expectation of personal integrity in our society.

In “Field of Dreams,” James Earl Jones as Terrance Mann spoke a beautiful and nostalgic soliloquy about the game:

“The one constant through all the years, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.”

Not anymore.

Hey, there’s no sense ending this post on such a downer. The forecasters are calling for another foot here in the snow belt. I can only hope they’re telling little white lies.