Dann Todd's 'Dain Bramage'^**

Coming To America....

Bernard Lagat is runner from Kenya. He came to the US on a college athletic scholarship in the 1990's. And he has enjoyed living in the US so much that he decided to stay.

This past weekend Bernard was in Tokyo, Japan running in the World Track & Field Championships where he came in first in the 1500 and the 5000 meter races. The look on his face as he crossed the finish line in the 1500 meter race was just....just...priceless. You see a lot of runners that look anything from pleased to exhausted after finishing a race.

Bernard was jubilant. He was happy. He was thrilled.

It was his first running victory as an American. I wish I had been able to find a photo of that moment to include in this entry.

"This means a lot to me, and it means a lot to the American people,'' said Lagat, who became a citizen in 2004. "This is for them, and I will be happy to do it again for them.''

Maybe....just maybe....America isn't such a bad place to be after all.

UPDATE

Thanks to Ruth for finding the video on YouTube. Follow the link or click below to watch Mr. Lagat's outstanding performance in Osaka.

by Dann 

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The Price For Having A Creative Mind

Kyle Garchar is one creative guy. At a recent home football game he managed to get the visitors to raise pieces of construction paper that spelled out the phrase "we suck".

The price for such creativity? A three day suspension and being banned from all extra curricular activities for the rest of the semester.

You can watch the video below, or go here to see his movie of the event.

An AP story on the event contains a couple of errors that shows that they didn't bother to watch the video. Nor did they bother to interview Mr. Garchar.

Early in the video, there is a shot of a car with the words "you suck" spray painted on one of the side windows. You can hear Mr. Garchar's voice suggesting that the act of vandalism had something to do with a school rivalry rather than a comment directed against him personally. This aspect of the story is missing from the AP account.

Later in the video you see the instructions that were attached to the construction paper that clearly indicate that each spectator is to take the top piece and hand the rest to the left. The AP story states that "Directions left on stadium seats instructed fans to check that the number listed on their papers matched their seat numbers." The instructions seen in the video suggest that construction paper would have been handed out to the end of each row for distribution to the rest of the row. And of course, the fact that Mr. Garchar had two collaborators from the opposing school that also were punished might also suggest something about the distribution of the colored panels.

In any case, I hope that while the principal was threatening Mr. Garchar with a near-death experience if he should ever pull such a stunt again, that he also took the time to shake his hand and congratulate him on a most spectacular piece of stealth, misdirection, and subversion.

by Dann 

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Sarcasm: The Well That Never Empties.....

....and the well that is used too often.

Chris Clarke has some thoughts on the overuse of sarcasm, cynicism, and "snark" as rhetorical tools. As my 5.2 regular readers can attest, I do not deal well with sarcasm. Chris offers:

I grow tired, again and after some rethinking, of what is sometimes called “edginess.” Or “attitude,” or “snark.” Three fine traditions, these, and well-placed in the rhetorician's bag of tricks, each of them the precise and fitting tool for one task or another. And yet we rely on them too heavily. Maslow’s dictum about hammers turning everything into nails is relevant here. When the only rhetorical tool you have is an insult, everyone you talk to begins to resemble an idiot.

Although I disagree with Chris on a great many issues, I think he has some fine thoughts to offer in this post about the relative value of posturing over persuading. Each rhetorical tool has its place. Just as one would not use a screw driver in place of a hammer or a saw, neither should one become overly familiar one style of writing.

Chris' post includes these gems as well:

And yet that sarcasm corrodes the soul.

and

Strategy is easy; comity is hard.

Yes, indeed.

by Dann 

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