Monday Musings...

And here we are again...closing in on the end of yet another year...(wow).
Seemed like the weekend would never end...and to me, that's a good thing.
More on that in a bit, but first, let's see what the weather has in store for us.
The Hoosierland will be a good bit COLDER this week (that seems perversely apropos, doesn't it?), with today's temps reaching ONLY into the lower 30s And although we enjoyed more of the sun over the weekend than we saw ALL last week, we'll be having  partly cloudy skies over the Midwest
So, with that dispensed with, let's pour a nice hot cup of Monday fortitude (we might need it today) and set about seeing what else has been going on since last we met here.
*** First out of the freezer is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
December 20 - 

---Today is NATIONAL PEPPER POT DAY (not to be confused with Pepper Potts from Marvel comics Iron Man mythos).
Many of you Midwesterners might not have heard of this wonderful dish, since it is primarily a PHILLY thing, so here's the WIKI to bring you up to speed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Pepper_Pot
I remember eating this version of Campbell's soup all through my youth, and with the Campbell's soups factory right across the Delaware river in Camden NJ, you can see why.
It's pretty tasty, and if you can get past the beef "tripe" part of it, it's a great way to warm the "innards" on an east coast winter day.
---It's also TICK TOCK DAY, and here is the only source I found that spells it out:

http://www.dates.abouttravelingtheworld.com/special-holidays/tick-tock-day/
Just in case you were wondering, EACH day contains 86,400 SECONDS...time to get moving, hmm?
Moving on...
*** Seems we had another shooting in Fort Wayne overnight.

Here's the story (so far):
http://wane.com/2014/12/29/1-hurt-in-fort-wayne-shooting/
This took place on Thompson Ave. near Taylor St around midnight when police were initially called to that scene when people reported gunfire in the area.

Police found one person suffering from a gunshot wound to the buttocks several blocks from that intersection.
That person (no gender provided, probably a black male) was taken to hospital in serious condition.
Several vehicles were reported also hit by gunfire in the neighborhood (lousy shots, as usual, and thank heaven for that).
No suspect, motive or victim ID was provided (nice to be kept in the dark).
*** And...so it seems this year will appear to end as the new year will begin on the city's south side - with gunfire. (typical)

"Just another night in Kabul", as I like to call it, or if you're more the historian, another recreation of Pickett's Charge, or perhaps the assault on Yorktown.
Actually, it SOUNDS more like the Warsaw Ghetto circa 1944...withOUT the Poles and Nazis...just local ghetto-scum shooting off ALL their illegal firearms (which is STILL a violation of city code and against the LAW).
This has been a pet peeve of mine for over a DECADE...and with good reason, namely a little something called PHYSICS.
(it's the whole "what goes up must come down" thing)

He's STILL tall!

Hard to believe it's been a YEAR since Adam Widener from WANE stopped by and interviewed me about the gunshots we hear every year as the new year arrives..and there is nothing to make me think anything will be different, because these "locals" around us have NO regard for anything, especially life, as can be evidenced by the homicides (only 15 this year - lazyasses), robberies, assaults, fights, domestics, and burglaries.
I show YOU every week ALL the shots fired calls that go out in a radius of JUST 3 miles of our "Fortress", and it's always the same - the majority of them occur where all the "ethnics" live, which happens to be around us.

Same old sh*t at these places

That's the way the neighborhoods have CHANGED over the last 15+ years (never for the better, mind you), and those downtown have done nothing about it. HUD and Section 8 rentals still represent the majority of houses, and on certain blocks, gunfire becomes a way of life...(helluva life, too).
The apartment complexes that dot the area are no better (if not worse), no matter WHO owns them or HOW often they change the name of the place.
Sure makes you wonder where the FWPD priorities lie, because if the command staff were SERIOUS about halting crime in OUR part of town, they'd be acting MORE like that Milwaukee Sheriff, David A. Clarke, who, to ME, represents what a commander or chief SHOULD be, and not what we've been stuck with in Fort Wayne for the last 15 years.

Sheriff Clarke - a REAL leader and role model.

Sheriff Clarke is a man who GETS IT, and s not afraid to call things and people for what they truly are. Nice to see some integrity (in a command uniform) for a change.
*** Next up, as the year winds down, it's time to drag out the stories that made the news for 2014, and I'm not a huge fan of such things, because I like to determine what is newsworthy based on how it impacts the majority of people, rather than how it impacts whatever "bottom dollar" some advertising agency chases after.
Many times, the "news story" we're led to believe is the BIGGEST one is usually the one that got the MOST air-time (which advertisers and ratings pundits must love).
I could care less about current sports figures, those posing as"singers", and other sundry media asshats.
To me, they are not news. They're ENTERTAINMENT, plain and simple.
The Ebola scare...sure, that's a biggie.
Our president's chronic LYING to the American people - another biggie, and always worth it.
(when your blinders are removed).
As far as "local" news, it was pretty much divided all over the charts. here's a link to the poll WANE conducted:
https://polldaddy.com/poll/8481215/
Seemed that the majority DID vote for last winter and the cold we faced...sounds reasonable enough.
Can't really concentrate on NATIONAL or GLOBAL news when your city is all but shut the hell DOWN for a few days.(all thanks to "global warming"), right?

Not with THAT again...sheesh!

Usually, what happens outside YOUR front door tends to become more "important" than much of the other news, and with good reason...it impacts YOU.
 I think that's fair to assess such things that way.

THIS was our "biggie" story this year...

Only 3% voted for the new FWPD chief and public safety director...it would appear they got ALL the press they "deserved".
Having these two in their respective positions didn't do much to quash the crime down here...
The arrests made that got hoodlums and thugs off our streets came with the ASSISTANCE of STATE and FEDERAL agencies chiming in and working WITH local law-enforcement...let's NOT forget that one, people.
*** Next, it's been a fantastic FIVE days of watching the BBC America channel.
That's because they've been showing 100 hours of our favorite time lord, Doctor Who.

I just wish they'd have shown some of the episodes from the classic series..I mean, it's not like the BBC doesn't HAVE those shows to air, right?
And it would have been a nice journey to see HOW the series progressed over the last 50 years.
Maybe for the holiday season of 2015?
(just a thought, folks...and a damn GOOD one at that...already have a "short-list" made)
But, if you thought that was the end of the Doctor for this year...think again.

Happy Who Year for 2015

You can ring out the old and ring in the new with a happy "WHO-YEAR" event - an all-day marathon of episodes going from 2014 right into 2015. Since Dick Clark and Guy Lombardo aren't around any longer to do New Years the right way, it seems the next, best option.

Now THOSE were the days...

(yeah, I just REALLY dated myself on that one...lol)
The "music" acts they toss at us on most every New Years shows are pretty much wasted on me.
I'm a traditionalist when it comes to holidays and celebration...sorry.
*** Last back to the vortex...I miss a lot of what New Years used to be...and I can recall with damnable clarity most of the pivotal New Years in my life.

There were a few extremely memorable ones, as well as many of the rote variety,and yet, they were all taken in stride...adding up over the years...the decades, until one year, there you are...a lot further down the road of your life.

And, we often look back with fond memories, seeing the path we made that got us from "there" to "here".
Thing is, we often can't see ALL the people we touched (and whose lives touched ours) along that path.
But, we can always take solace in knowing that without them, we would not be who we are today.
Some have helped us, yet ALL have taught us (one way or another)...not a bad thing to think about, is it?

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.