Natasha Richardson and skiing

She just looks like she would be fun to hang with, doesn't she? In every picture or film I have seen her in, she looks like a fun, vivicious, gregarious woman. Married to Liam Neeson for many years, of course, everyone knows by now she died while skiing. This was not a Sonny Bono accident where she was blasting down the slopes and hit a tree. She was receiving lessons on a beginner's slope when she fell and hit her head. A number of people have asked why she wasn't wearing a helmet. As a huge fan of skiing (and the incredible feeling of being so high you can literally hear the silence), I would never even think of wearing a helmet. I have been snow skiing more than fifty times. The incredible rush of flying down the mountain on your skis would somehow be compromised with a helmet. Yes, I know, better to be safe than sorry but it has NEVER dawned on me to wear one. If you fall, you are trained to fall in a certain way where your body, being relaxed, takes the brunt of the blow. I have fell with the best of them and have hurt my back a couple of times, but have never landed on my head. I can't wait till I get back to Colorado and visit Dillon, A Basin or Mary Jane again. I very rarely go on a blue slope, never on a black one, and always on the green (beginner) slopes. There is something special about taking the lift to the very top of the mountain, taking twenty to thirty minutes to ski back down, thighs hurting so bad you are crying like a baby and then doing it all over again. True bliss and one journey I would never think of putting a helmet on to enjoy.

Here is a map of Winter Park. I always took the lift to Mary Jane, which is the at the top of the runs, on top of Winter Park. What fun!

Boycott Peppermint Pattys

Last month Hershey closed it's American Peppermint Patty plant and shipped those 300 jobs off to Mexico. Teamster's President Jimmy Hoffa said..."That plant stood for decades in Reading, providing countless families with good wages and job security. Members of this community helped build that company and this is how they are repaid. Hershey's actions are unconscionable in this economic climate. Pennsylvania lost nearly 60,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2008 and the estimate for the month was well over 30,000 jobs lost. When are we going to tell companies like Hershey that enough is enough?"

Well said, when indeed? I know that I am only one voice but every once in a while , in the grocery check out line, I would indeed treat myself to that luscious cream filled delight.

No more. I will never eat a Peppermint Patty again and I am almost of a mind to boycott Hershey's altogether. Their new advertsining campaign (which has been all over the basketball tournament) is very well done. But, now, I'm done. No more Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats, nothing. Hey, I might save a few pounds in the meantime.

Tournament Time

The first round is done. the Big 12 is 6-0. The Big East isn't and the ACC has been exposed. Hey, Jay Bilas, how's your beloved ACC doing? Yeah, that's what I thought. Hey, Seth Davis, how's your beloved Big East doing? Yeah, that's what I thought. Hey Digger? How's your..wait, will someone please wake Digger up? Go Siena. and Cleveland State. and Western Kentucky. I must say Mizzou looked good handling a scrappy, gritty, gutty Cornell team. Love this time of year...baseball on the horizon. Spring has sprung.

Charlie, We Hardly Knew Ye

This guy used to creep me out. Now, he's a sad, pathetic old man.
The Manson murders happened the summer of my 13th year. It pretty much consumed me and almost made me want to be like Vincent Bugliosi, who put him in jail forever. Was no way I could afford law school, however. Soon we'll be saying bye bye to Charlie. As my mom would say, he'll have a one way free pass to hell.

Tom Petty Rings True

The waiting is the hardest part, every day you see one more card. You take it on faith, you take it from the heart...the waiting is the hardest part.