Month: May 2005

Okay, I’m confused. I mean, first I thought “Deep Throat” was Linda Lovelace. Then I found out, no, it’s a guy, and he’s Hal Holbrook. And now it turns out, of all things, that he’s a former FBI bigwig named Mark Felt who is not a woman and doesn’t look a thing like Hal Holbrook (although whenever Hal Holbrook turned up on “West Wing,” I kept wondering if he was later spilling secrets about Bartlet to the Washington Post.)

I find it interesting that he’s felt conflicted all this time, wondering if he was an American hero or an American traitor. Me, I’d say hero. But I can’t help but wonder how the current White House would view him…and, for that matter, if they would prosecute him if they could.

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I extend my respects to anyone reading these words who is in the armed services, or has family who has served or is serving.

Ariel marched in a Memorial Day parade along with her school band. She played the bells, which–believe it or not–is one of the heaviest instruments to lug. Savvy of “Hitchhiker,” she made sure she knew where her towel was: Slung around her shoulders to serve as a cushion for the bell straps. Several of the kids in her band made snide comments about, until they’d finished marching a couple miles in the heat with their instruments. There they were having sweated through their clothes while Ariel was calmly dabbing away whatever perspiration she’d generated, courtesy of her towel. Suddenly they weren’t so snide anymore.

We then went down to the playground where Caroline ran around like a little nut. After that, we went bowling. Caroline has actually become proficient in Bumper Bowling. She takes a six pound ball, sprints toward the foul line, stops right where she should stop and flings the ball out onto the lane. The major mishap occurred when she raised a very vocal protest over having to return the bowling shoes, which she’d become quite enamored of.

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The following was reported at Indystar.com (the full link is posted below):

“An Indianapolis father is appealing a Marion County judge’s unusual order that prohibits him and his ex-wife from exposing their child to “non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals.”

The parents practice Wicca, a contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.

Cale J. Bradford, chief judge of the Marion Superior Court, kept the unusual provision in the couple’s divorce decree last year over their fierce objections, court records show. The order does not define a mainstream religion.

Bradford refused to remove the provision after the 9-year-old boy’s outraged parents, Thomas E. Jones Jr. and his ex-wife, Tammie U. Bristol, protested last fall.”

This is a real new one on me. We don’t have a case of one parent complaining to a judge that the other parent is raising their child in a religious faith that they themselves object to, and it’s part of a custody dispute. This is a judge who unilaterally didn’t like the faith in which a child was being raised and endeavored to take action. The article goes on to say:

“The parents’ Wiccan beliefs came to Bradford’s attention in a confidential report prepared by the Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau, which provides recommendations to the court on child custody and visitation rights.”

Understand, there’s no Satanic rituals here. They don’t even practice skyclad. Nor is there the slightest indication that the child is being harmed.

I have little doubt that this ludicrous decision will be overturned, but the notion that it occurs at all…I mean, is there any more pure travesty of the First Amendment than the courts telling two parents in what faith they can and cannot raise their child? Maybe the parents should reconsider the whole divorce thing; if this is how they want to raise their child, they’re going to be a lot stronger together than separately.

Me, I’m wondering if Tom DeLay is going to be speaking up in outrage over this clear abuse of power by an activist judge. Unless, of course, he’s too busy whining about being ill-used on “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”

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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050526/NEWS01/505260481

In the June/July issue of the “Buffy the Vampire Magazine,” the news section talks up the “Spike” comic book, stating that the one-shot is being produced by “respected writer Peter David.”

And here I thought I was the Rodney Dangerfield of comics.

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Had lunch with the Tom Brevoort/Andy Schmidt editorial office today. Discussed the approach and general parameters for the new Spidey title which, by the way, is definitely going to be called “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.” It’s a long-standing way of referring to him, and nicely captures the sense of fun we want to try to bring to this title. Is there a danger that some people may think it’s a kid’s book? I guess. So it’ll be up to us to educate them otherwise.

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I was standing at the far end of the aisle, with my dad and brother there and Harlan as my best man, and I felt like Indiana Jones standing at the lion’s head, clutching at his heart and looking at an abyss beneath him as he was preparing to make a leap of faith.

Backing out was neither an option nor an issue. Still, I felt the sort of nervousness to be expected of someone embarking upon an endeavor for a second time when it crashed and burned the first time.

And then I saw Kathleen coming toward me, resplendent in her wedding dress (which, in accordance with tradition, I hadn’t seen her in), her parents escorting her, and I calmed right down. Everything came together for me at that instant and I knew it was all going to turn out fine.

And now we have a motorized little speed demon named Caroline, and she continues to be a great mom to our little one, a great stepmom to Ariel, Shana and Gwen (I can’t tell you the number of times Shana and Gwen have called with some problem and said, “Hi, dad, is Kath there?”) and a wonderful wife to me.

We’re not doing anything especially elaborate; just going out to dinner tonight. But just being together is more than enough.

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The conclusion of “Tempest Fugit.” Whad’ja think?

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