Icewind's Ramblings

Those words made famous by Rodney King, the man that was beaten by the LA police department in 1991 was found dead in his swimming pool in California. The police beating was captured on videotape by an onlooker and brought about showcasing the brutality and bad police tactics in LA.   When the trial ended with acquittals for three of the officers and the fourth ended in mistrial, the verdict caused one of the deadliest and costly race riots in the country’s history.   His words spoken on television at the height of the riots, “Can We All Get Along?” would later set the tone for the end of the siege on LA. Over they years since the incident King continued to have a troubled life in and out of jail for various charges and even tried a couple reality shows trying to kick his addictions.   Last year’s VH1 show Celebrity Rehab featured King as one of those trying to kick his alcoholism. There are probably two sides to this story but hopefully this troubled man finds peac...

I was a late comer to start watching the television series Lost but once I started it has been a nonstop joy ride.  The show has a huge cast that is driven with multilayered characters and storylines.  It has been entertaining and fascinating watching the different aspects come into play and focus. The pilot episode introduced us to the main group and in later episodes through flashbacks their stories and dramas unfold before us.  It seems every one of the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 is indeed “Lost” in their lives.  Over the seasons we watch as each face their particular problem and the metamorphosis that transpires. Terry O’Quinn is one of the main forces on Lost and over the years he has appeared in some of my favorite shows, NCIS, JAG, The West Wing, Alias, Star Trek TNG as well as many movies.  He is always a joy to watch as his characters have varied widely.  On NCIS in the episode called “Enigma” he played a Marine Colonel suf...

It has been one of those weeks at work so when I saw this story it triggered a funny memory from a vacation I went on last year to Mexico .  Now this is not a funny story so please do not take me as inconsiderate or mean when I look at this story from a slightly distorted viewpoint.  Feel free to comment and tell me that I am slightly demented to comment so vicariously on such a tragedy but I sometimes look at things from a weird perspective. While we were on vacation Scott and I played golf on a Jack Nicklaus designed course at the Moon Palace Resort and Spa in Cancun Mexico .  It was an early morning tee time as we were the first on the course that day.  The weather was going to be hot so we wanted to get out early and off the course by lunchtime.  The first rays of light were rising over the Caribbean Sea amongst the clouds to the east as we hit our ball off the first tee.  The grass was still slightly wet from the sprinklers that were sprayi...

Or how my day started and continued . . . Sometimes the body takes over and reminds us that it controls more than we want or give it credit for on a blustery morning. I awoke at my normal 4:30 am time but did not feel so good so I lay there hoping the slight headache would quickly fade. It didn’t but for some unknown reason fell back asleep only to jolt up with a wicked ‘charley horse’ in my foot at 5:15 only to fall out of bed trying to get weight on my foot hoping the pain would ease and I could hobble my way to a shower. My headache was doing no better now and had increased so I grabbed a cup of Joe while I showered with the thought all would be better shortly. I didn’t shave (for about two weeks now) but wanted to and slowly started my day . . . out of sync and hurting. I left the house and headed out to Elmendorf Air Force Base to a project we are working on spending several hours out there delivering materials and checking on the progress of thin...