Archive for September, 2006

Rutter’s Ramblings #35 has been posted over at Rutter’s Ramblings.

Or, Here is a Direct Link to the Show

This episode surpasses August as the greatest number of podcast episodes produced. (Except for that silly week where I did 7 in a row)

Direct Link to the Show

• Podcast Concent – look around
  
• Podcast vs Audio Blog
  
• New Mic stand
  
• Steve Irwin
  
• This weekend’s renaissance festival
  
• Pumpkin Festival
  
• Frappr Disfunction
  
• Grass for
  Troops, give me a break
  
• Bill Clinton’s wavey finger 
  
• 9rules.com, PodShow +, etc.
  
• Lindsay Lohan Moment – Lindsay
  Lohan is finally checking out of the famed Chateau Marmont hotel and
  moving into an apartment she purchased just down the street.
  
• My Little Radio - Leave the Light On
  
• Call the Show: 206-338-2923
  Visit www.ruttersramblings.com or
  ruttersramblingspodcast.podshow.com
  Email:
  podcast@ruttersramblings.com

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I originally wrote this post a few days ago, bu quickly hid it.  Looking at it again, it really is something I want to share.  So, here it is, mock me if you must.

If you like in Ames, you have probably driven by Northwood Elementary School near North Grand Mall. Now closed, this school has a lot of memories contained on its grounds. The most noticeable from the street is of course the white infield baseball diamond that is almost always occupied by baseball or softball teams, or children playing ball with their parents.

You may have even noticed the sign above the field, or the rock with a plaque near the backstop. Robbie Hanson Ballfield. But who was Robbie Hanson? Was he a professional athlete who once went to Northwood? Was he a famous Ames resident who donated money to the school? No.

Robbie was a fourth grader at Northwood who lived for one thing: baseball. His older brother Jake was a baseball star in the “Little Majors” on team Coca-Cola, and Robbie was soon to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

But it wouldn’t happen.

in 1990, barely into the baseball season, Robbie came to his coaches and complained about seeing double. In a short period of time Robbie was first diagnosed with water-on-the-brain, but later upon further examination was found to have an inoperable brain tumor near the stem of the brain. He would disappear from the games played at Inis Grove park, but return later in the season with marker points painted on his temples to help in chemotherapy. On December 28, 1990 lost his battle with the cancer.

We all gathered for the funeral at Stevens Funeral home near the mall, and afterwards the coaches decided to go to Home Alone, playing at the mall theatre. It was supposed to be a funny movie, but the humor was suddenly cut short by one line from Joe Pesci. “Santa doesn’t visit the funeral parlor.”

He sure doesn’t.

The next Spring they dedicated Robbie Hanson Ballfield, and our Little League team practiced there religiously. Every spring and summer his parents could be seen arranging flowers around the nearby flowerbed around the sign that bears his name.

It’s been 16 years this year. I was barely a Junior in High School at the time. The school board wondered why people fought so hard to keep Northwood and Roosevelt open last year. Our schools are more than just buildings. They are living, breathing places full of memories. The laughter and the crying of all the kids that went there resonate from the walls, from the swings. And from the ballfield. Even though there is now no recess, seeing families continue to use that field always makes me remember. And now everytime you pass that field, so will you.

Robbie (left) and his brother prior to his diagnosis.

This evening I stopped by Hastings and just had to purchase a little stuffed “animal” toy that was neatly sitting on a shelf near the front of the store.  It’s eyes sparkled behind tiny glasses and seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

“Buy me,” it said.

I took it in my hand and sat him neatly down upon the checkout platform/desk thing.  As he was scanned into the computer system, the associate remarked. “As a psychology major, I think this is pretty cool.  Plus he’s half off.”

“Is he?” I asked.  A million thoughts went through my head in a split second.  “Or was he merely originally overpriced?” I asked?

Ok, perhaps it WAS a lame attempt to make a joke over the glass being half full, or a cigar just a cigar, but I thought it was funny.  And, I can’t wait to see the reaction at work when Freud joins Timmy the ThinkGeek monkey on my desk.

I’m back into one of my least-favorite daily grind modes.

Get up, go to work, come home, eat, sleep.    Rinse, repeat.

For the next 4 weeks at least.  sigh.  By the time I am done with this stuff, it will almost be Thanksgiving.  Now THAT is scary.

I may need to break up the monotony (sp?) in the next few weeks by coming home and actually doing something in the evenings.  Although after the third week of October, with the play, I will have plenty to do, so maybe I do just need to come home and do nothing.

I’ll be glad when the play starts so I can stop worrying about this pumpkin festival.

Had a strange dream last night.

I had to try and get home from Universal Studios. Except in doing so I had to illegally cross the Mexican border (which was easy since the guard wanted people to cross and all you had to do was point and say “what’s that over there) and then somehow find a taxi to take me to the airport where I would need to get on a flight to New Jersey.

All this mind you, while evading Darth Vader and the empire since I was the last of the Jedi knights.

eh?

I have no money for you, and I’m not interested in updating my information.

STOP CALLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is a gorgeous day.  It is not too cold, nor too hot. The sun is shining, and only a couple clouds are visible in the sky.  If the renaissance festival was today, I bet we would have 3-5000 people alone.  But alas, the season is over.   For Des Moines anyway.

I could be spending today taking digital pictures around Ames and Des Moines.  I am determined to “get in” to the istockphoto.com photographer “club” even though they turned down by original 3 submissions for inclusion.  The hard part is getting in, after that you can submit almost anything and it will be available for people to purchase and download.

Instead, I am working on pointing all of my web sites to their correct  locations.  If I get really ambitious, I may decide to actually work on some of them.  I have added them to the “My Sites” category on the right hand side of the screen since Google seems to like it here at troyrutter.com.

Perhaps someday they will start to earn a few dollars so that I can indulge myself with a treat or two.

Inbetween setting up the domains, I am cleaning the apartment since i will have very little free time, especially in the next 4 weeks, and in actuality the next 3 months.   We start auditions for The Bench, the play I am assistant-directing in two or three weeks.  It should be fun.  I will try and blog my experiences here to keep things interesting.

The first is only about 15 minutes long so it is forgettable, but here is the link for the other… a Saturday special edition:

It seems as though my Amazon store is not letting me link. I’ll try it manually:

Direct Link to the Show

Direct Link To The Show

• Pictionary
  
• The Illusionist, Edward Norton & Jessica Biel
  
• ABC Special on Joe from Girls Gone Wild, Wild America and Devon Sawa
  
• Nobbies finds
  
• Lindsay Lohan Moment – 5 year deal to hawk Cocaine

• Dueling podcasts with Allen
  
• Brett Mikels – Whatever you want
  
• Call the Show: 206-338-2923
  Visit www.ruttersramblings.com or
  ruttersramblingspodcast.podshow.com
  Email:
  podcast@ruttersramblings.com

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