Icewind's Ramblings

Outsourcing is a way of life. True leaders stick to planning and pin the actual work on everyone else. Ice

"Men in Trees" (regular time period Friday’s 7 p.m., ABC) If you ever liked visiting Cicely , Alaska (that remote, quirky locale for the 1990’s TV series "Northern Exposure" ) you should feel right at home with "Men in Trees" , a new hour long ABC comedy set in Alaska 's similarly mythical town called Elmo. It's easy to write her new series off as simply a "Northern Exposure" meets "Sex and the City" as show creator, Jenny Bicks was a producer on that show. We also discover why this show is called “ Men in Trees” ; it's based on a sign on the street where men are literally high in a tree doing some trim work. http://abc.go.com/primetime/schedule/2006-07/menintrees.html Most actors bring a little baggage with them onto a set or movie, but Anne Heche has the entire Samsonite line. Known as a flirty ingénue who dated Steve Martin , she hit all the tabloids when she became Ellen DeGeneres '

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We've added years to life but for most people not life to years. Ic

In my generation, which was a generation ago, the question was repeatedly asked, "Where were you when President Kennedy was shot?" For my generation, there are too many questions with fewer answers. The United States changed directions and suddenly we were in a war called Viet Nam and the loss of this country’s young men’s innocence. Tragedies and calamities abounded in our collective memories. But as with the saying “time heals all wounds” and we proceeded for many years along a course with unclear direction. Within this generation the final innocence was taken on September 11, 2001 , but seems to have been somewhat faded now as the one question that will be asked again and again is, "Where were you on 9/11?" At this time of year, that question doesn't even have to be asked. It has been five years now and we have all aged somewhat and our consciousness changed in our everyday lives and travels. Something lost, flows through my mind,

I am not usually political in my blog and am trying not to be now but the words still ring true regardless how one’s views the current world condition. Here is a short video by Darren Winkler that I wanted to share as a reminder when Innocence died in America . Last year in Utah at the Sandy City Hall they paid tribute with flags to the fallen. Click on the link to see pictures of a visual reminder of those who lost their lives in the aftermath of the planes hitting the World Trade Center . You will never be forgotten . . . Ice

As I stepped out of the shower the other day and looking in the mirror, the thought crossed my mind that I should never post nude pictures of myself on this blog. Doing so probably would not be without precedent as some may recall the time I posted a topless photo of myself that I sent to my doctor friend to identify a peculiar rash that was festering on my chest. It turned out to be an infected mosquito bite that I received while fishing but that email is out in internet limbo floating around I guess. Then, however, another more truly disturbing thought flashed through my brain: Such pictures may already exist somewhere on the internet. And if they do exist, I have only the stupidity of my youth to blame. After the Army, I dated for a little while an art major who happened to be taking a photography course. She was always looking for things to take pictures of so she could practice and I guess I was no exception. She always needed someone to photograph and as her boyfriend, I