That's Duty. James Duty, Philosophy Major. And other random things...

Well, I found out today that I have been admitted to the Philosophy undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Fah-reak-in' A! I'm so excited and relieved--relieved that my search for a degree program has finally ended. Thanks to everyone that proofread my writings and gave me feedback! You're all awesome...and I'll be utilizing your services for my graded papers in the near future. I start this summer!

I finally got around to making out a budget. I even put it in Microsoft Excel--how serious am I about budgeting? Yeah, I would say pretty serious....I'm getting ready to mail off my opening deposit check to open my savings account. New York, New York, here I come...hopefully...some day...soon...

Today's my first day of my Mission Qualification Training. Which means I'm finally getting down to business here with my short-term AF career. More than half way through my enlistment term. Yeah, about that....hmmm....not much else to say there...

I also wanted to make a quick mention about the V Tech shooting. I have an old friend who is a student there, and I was very relieved to know that she is ok. It's bizarre because I've been thinking about tragedies that have occurred in my lifetime (the Challenger explosion of '86, the Oklahoma bombing, Columbine, 9-11, etc., and now V Tech) and the fact that I just can't grasp the full reality of them. That may not make much sense, and I won't dwell too much on it here, but for me it ties closely with my efforts to understand religious faith. In any case, I think the only thing I can do is to keep the victims of whatever tragedies I know of in my thoughts, and to count among my blessings the fact that I have so far only been a distant witness of such events...

SOAPBOX WARNING

Last week there was a very unfortunate accident involving a pit bull last week at a local Petco or something or other. Basically, a full-grown pit bull and a 2 month old golden retriever were each left at a Petco (or whatever) for grooming by their respective owners. Somehow, while the golden retriever pup was loose, the pit bull got out and killed the pup. Of course, the news was all over that. As the days went by, the story of what actually happened came to light. The pit bull did in fact kill the puppy, but not quite as savagely as it sounded at first. The video of the pit in captivity at the humane society showed a very happy dog, with a wagging tail and a friendly facial expression, and it kept looking up at the camera man as though it just wanted to be petted. The workers at the humane society stated that the dog 'appeared to be well cared-for and loved by its owner'. When the investigation was done, the owner was not cited and Petco is now under investigation for failing to keep the pit bull penned up. Basically, when it was able to get out, it approached the puppy and grabbed it by the neck playfully (a couple of witnesses were quoted in the news as saying 'it appeared the pit was trying to play'), but due to the fact that pit bulls have very strong jaws, and that the puppy was only 2 months old, the pit's act of playfulness ended up seriously hurting the pup, and it died an hour later. I feel for the owners of the puppy, but the fact is that this was not at all a pit bull temperment issue. It was an issue of the professionalism of Petco (or whoever it was) and their failure to keep the puppy protected from other full-grown dogs. I hate to beat a dead horse, but I will anyway. I was raised with a dog in the house--always. Collectively, we've owned several collies, a St. Bernard, a Blue Healer, a Cocker Spaniel, a Pomeranian, three full-blood Rottweilers, two Rottweiler mixes, a miniature Schnauzer, a terrier mix, a Greyhound, a Chihuahua, a Pit Bull, a Jack-Russel Terrier, and a Lab-Akita mix. The only problem dogs were the Jack-Russel Terrier, the terrier mix, and one of the Rottie mixes (she had Chow and German Shephard in here as well). And even with these 'problem dogs', in the right home they would have thrived, and often did after getting a new home. All I'm saying is, don't blame the breed.

END OF SOAPBOX

It's kind of ironic that I bought a Nintendo Wii, and now all I play on it is old school NES game that I downloaded from their online store. Kid Icarus, Gradius, Super Mario World....good stuff. Takes me back....I want to buy the new Super Paper Mario game for the Wii. It's getting great reviews, but I got other stuff going on so it would be kind of a waste. I will, however, buy the new Metroid Prime on the Wii when it comes out, supposedly this summer.

For the first time in years, I turned Mtv on while I was getting dressed in the morning and a video by Amy Winehouse came on called 'You Know I'm No Good'. I'd never heard of her before, but I liked the song and her voice immediately. Very soulful and kind of gritty. Then, I heard it again on some tv show later that week. I may have to sample some of her other stuff. I've also been listening to Fall Out Boy's newest cd, Infinity On High, or something like that. I like a lot of the songs on there. I actually really like the first one, Thriller--I love when you a put a cd on and the first song is a good one. Anyway, I looked up a live version on Youtube, and the band prefaced the performance by saying the song was about how useless the Internet is. What? The lyrics don't seem to say anything like that. By the intro to the song on the album, and the lyrics throughout, I thought it was about the fact that they 'made it' in the music business. Whatever. This is why I think that musicians should just shut up and play and sing. When they step out of that safety zone, they sound like idiots. "The (After) Life of the Party" is really good, too. The background instrument during the verses (whatever it is) sounds awesome and really defines the song, for me anyway.

In the past few weeks, I've seen some good movies. I saw Grindhouse, which I actually liked a lot. I think I like it more the more I think about it. The first movie was just a mindless gore flick. Not a big fan of gore, but it's well shot with a campy humor. So I liked it. The second movie was, in my opinion, the best. Great character developent, and it cracked me up towards the end. I also saw Shooter, with Mark Wahlberg. I also liked this one, but I did kinda think of it as a bad Bourne Identity rip off.

It was suggested to me recently that I should exchange my 'Freakin' A!' tagline with 'Rock 'N' Roll!'. I think I'll work on that...but it has to come naturally. For a long time before, it was 'Hell's Yeah!', and I've only recently changed it to 'Freakin A!', relatively speaking. But I'll see what I can do...

Fin

Listening to: Infinity On High by Fall Out Boy

This will crack you up (animal lovers only)...

I saw this article on MSN.com and it cracked me up....

A bird who doesn't heed the call of the wild

Colorado sandhill crane prefers humans, cat food and talk radio

By Jack Chesnutt

Producer

NBC News

DENVER, Colo. - At a wildlife sanctuary in western Colorado, a three-year-old sandhill crane nicknamed "Baby" is listening to talk radio. It's not the words that have Baby's attention, it's the sound of the human voice. Baby, standing three feet tall and weighing 13 pounds, is a bird with an identity problem.

"This is a bird that doesn't know he's a bird," says Nancy Limbach, who runs the Pauline Schneegas Wildlife Foundation near Silt, Colorado. "I put the radio in his cage, because he clearly likes the sound of people talking."

In the early spring, thousands of sandhill cranes make their northern migration through the flyways of the western Rocky Mountains. They flock to lakes and reservoirs for food and rest before continuing their flight toward Montana and Idaho. While the wild birds feel the urge to move on as the weather grows warmer, Baby prefers cat food and a steady supply of worms from the local bait store.

'Baby' doesn't heed the call of the wild
Three years ago, a ranch hand from the town of Nucla found a tiny bird-chick. Dogs had killed or scared off the rest of the flock. According to friends and neighbors, Roberto Lozano fed the chick cat food from a bowl.

As it grew older, the bird walked and flew around the tiny farming community. The bird sat on the porch, and would sometimes fly to a nearby playground. Lozano named the bird Baby.

That might have been the end of the story, except the ranch hand was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He asked friends to please return Baby to the wild. Lozano's condition deteriorated; he died in late March.

Enter Coen Dexter, an ornathologist, and his wife Brenda Wright. They took Baby to a field next to a large reservoir known for flocks of sandhills. They released Baby from its cage.

"It was a beautiful day," recalled Wright. "We said 'Be free! be free!' But, Baby took a nap nearby as we ate our lunch. We tried to walk away and the bird just followed us."

The couple tried to sneak away and get in their truck. Baby did not answer the call of the wild. "Unfortunately the crane was so imprinted on people it would just not become a crane," said Dexter.

The Wrights watched as Baby fell into step with a pair of hikers. And when the Wrights tried to drive away, Baby flew loops over the truck.

Just likes people
For about a week, Baby mingled with the wild cranes at the reservoir. Evelyn Horn, a local birdwatcher, saw Baby browsing for food near the water, but the bird would walk up to anyone in the area, and follow them like a puppy. Horn nicknamed the bird, "Fido."

"I saw a bird that wanted to be up close and personal with people," Horn said. "It was looking for a friend."

After Baby tried to befriend a rancher on an ATV, and "freaked out" at the sound of hundreds of wild sandhill cranes nesting on the reservoir, the Wrights knew it was time for therapy.

Their hope was that Baby could be rehabilitated and released back into the wild. But, the last three weeks at the Wildlife Foundation's center have shown that, as a bird, Baby has no sense of self.

He is attracted to people, even showing the spread-wing/puffed up chest activity of a breeding male — the mating dance is not for a another bird, but for Nancy Limbach, who runs the sanctuary.

What will become of Baby? There are plenty of offers to adopt, and a children's book author is even planning to write about Baby. The final decision is in the hands of both federal and state wildlife officials. Limbach says zoo life could be the good life for Baby, "regular meals, and lot's of people to relate to every day."

Limbach hopes that the paperwork can be completed and a suitable zoo found in the next two months. Until then, there's talk radio. The local farm report, or Rush Limbaugh — it doesn't matter, Baby just likes to listen.

Jack Chesnutt is an NBC News Producer based in Denver, Colo.