Tag: Rachel Maddow

Oil Spill Redux Per Rachel Maddow

I’m guilty of watching the occasional bit of shrill TV news. I listen, more like it; I really couldn’t sit still and actually consume a whole hour of TV news unless I were bedridden. But if I listen while in the kitchen I don’t feel that bad.

I occassionally listen to Rachel Maddow; she is half Newfoundlander, after all. That’s really her charm, though this point is lost on most Americans.

This is a nice bit of analysis, in which she compares the current BP oil disaster to….an almost identical situation 30 years ago in the Gulf of Mexico. All that seems to have changed are the haircuts. And even those seem to be coming back into fashion.

Port Kirwan Come Home Year: A Newfoundland Reunion

I’ve always thought it a bit bizarre that I have relatives–and quite close ones at that–who are from Newfoundland. I mean, how many people can say that? It’s a small, isolated part of the world and a largely misunderstood one at that. Rachel Maddow’s mother is from Newfoundland; so that’s already a very positive indicator.

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to go there. I think I’d really like it; I love austere landscapes. I’m less fond of the cold and damp but can make due for a short period of time.

Looks like 2010 is going to be my lucky year because in the little village where my grandparents–and my very favorite aunt–were born is having a reunion:  it’s called the Port Kirwan Come Home Year.

I contacted a distant cousin, Deanne Aylward, who lives in St. John’s and who has a rental home in the village; she says she’ll rent it to me for the reunion and I’ve already offered to provide a deposit. My Aunt Mary says she’ll make the trip, if she’s still alive and kicking (she’s in her very youthful mid-80s); she was born in Port Kirwan, and if she can make it, so can some of my other kin: and that means you, O’Neil and Aylward cousins: you know who you are!