Please Join Us!!
October 15, 2009
September 23, 2009
Second Annual Yellow Ribbon fundraising event – Poetic Art!
Hello,
After Mick O’Sheas’ great success last year now Marti and I are very pleased to announce the next fundraiser for the Yellow Ribbon Fund in remembrance of our son, Sgt. Scott Kirkpatrick.
As many of you know, Scott did Slam poetry for several years and won the DC Slam Poet Championship in 2000. He performed his spoken word poetry in venues not only here in Washington and Baltimore, but New York, Boston and Chicago. During this time the three of us were just starting to work on a collaborative exhibit of Scott’s poetry, Marti’s paintings and my photography for the Jo Ann Rose Gallery in Reston Virginia. Of course when Scott joined the Army we put our plans on hold.
Most of you are aware that Marti now works for the Lorton Arts Foundation as the Studio Manager & Exhibition Coordinator at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton Virginia. When Scott was killed our planned collaboration became the catalyst for an exhibition which Marti proposed and was accepted wholeheartedly by her boss and the staff at the Workhouse.
This fall the Workhouse will present Poetic Art, A Benefit for the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Curated by Marti and juried by the two of us, the exhibit will feature both professional and amateur poets and artists, invited or juried, to work in collaboration. The work of art will inspire the poet’s words, or the poem will inspire the artist’s creation. The exhibition will open to the public October 21 – November 21, with an opening reception and reading of poetry October 25, 2009 2-5pm. All of the original artwork with its accompanying poem will of course be for sale. Also for sale will be a full color show catalog of the paired art & poem and wine by the glass and hopefully Guinness Draught.
Marti and I have also selected a couple of Scott’s poems and will have artwork in the exhibit too.
As an extra bit of fun (If the Virginia ABC rules can be worked out) there will be an auction of one bottle each of 10, 12, 17, 21 and 25 year old Glenfarclas Single Malt Scotch. Even more special, there will be a single bottle each of their 105 Cask Strength, 1981 Special Cask and 1974 Vintage whiskey!
If you can’t make it but would like to purchase a catalog please shoot me an email as it will help with our printing count. We do not have a price yet but believe it will be in the $13 to $18 range.
We would love to see you and hope you can join us in support of this very worthy cause.
Ed and Marti, Kevin too!
January 20, 2009
The Historic Moment
Watching the crowds around Washington these last couple of days I am struck by and marveling at the ebullient joy and pride of Americans for this historic moment. I cannot watch this on TV or listen to the voices on the radio both here in America and around the world without getting very emotional. A very large part of this is the election of an African-American to the Presidency, there is no doubt about that, but another large part of this is a sendoff to the current administration and an almost total repudiation of the policy and destruction that has been borne by the world over the last eight years.
Since the election, there has been lots of talk about George Bush’s legacy and what his administration has accomplished. Normally, one would expect a long list of accomplishment. That is not the case and even the conservative pundits have difficulty with this. They have to reach far and what they come up with is that Bush tripled the support for AIDS treatment in Africa. Not what you might have expected from a Bush presidency eight years ago. The litany of destructive policy and actions is everywhere and I will only observe is that every policy of this administration has enriched someone greatly at the expense of the rest of us. In their “defending Freedom, Democracy and America” George Bush and Dick Cheney have embraced the very ideals and tactics of the most extreme regimes in history, not to mention the regime they sought to depose. Their actions are so extreme that there are calls for War Crimes Tribunals internationally and commissions, investigations and trials, if warranted, here at home.
Torture, Rendition, Secret prisons, un-secret prisons, illegal wiretapping and everywhere you turn the deprivation of Liberty and Freedom with no recourse to Justice. This is the very antithesis of what America stands for. It is why our enemies hate us and is what this administration’s legacy will be. In opposing our enemies they have empowered and emboldened them while at the same time tearing down the very towers of Freedom, Liberty, Justice and Opportunity that America represents to the world. That is what George Bush’s legacy will be. The promise of America taking back the high road and her rightful position in the world as leader and as the shining example of what individuals can accomplish and enjoy in a life of freedom and assured human rights is what the election of Barack Hussein Obama means to the rest of humanity.
What I will say is that in a small way, I feel sorry for George Bush. Not very sorry, but sorry still. Can you imagine what it must feel like to see a huge majority of your fellow countrymen and most of the world simply ecstatic at seeing your backside riding out of town? I don’t care what kind of face he tries to put on, even George Bush must be gnawed at by this total and complete rejection of his presidency as well as him personally.
But, the late-night comics are sorry to see him go, the past eight years has been a cakewalk for them. This link is from the Letterman show last night.
December 1, 2008
A Different Christmas Poem
A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the garden to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Grandfather died in France ‘ on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gran always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of Burma
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… a Union flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a trench with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”
“So go back inside,” he said, “harbour no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”
PLEASE, would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
Armed Service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us..
Chris Smith
(Skipatrol)
Royal Marine Ret
October 7, 2008
October 6, 2008
Yet, Another Sign of the Apocalypse
The great British chocolate maker has offshored to China the production of its great chocolate….. I quote:
Hong Kong’s food safety agency said samples of two chocolate products made by British candy maker Cadbury at its Beijing factory contained considerably more melamine than the city’s legal limit of 2.5 parts per million.
The two items were among 11 Chinese-made products that have already been recalled by Cadbury in parts of Asia and the Pacific.
Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety said Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Hazelnut Chocolate Bulk Pack contained 56 parts per million of melamine, while Dairy Milk Cookies Chocolate contained 6.9 parts per million.
Calls to Cadbury offices in London and Asia Pacific went unanswered Sunday
via Tainted Cadbury chocolate found in Hong Kong – Yahoo News.
September 28, 2008
What just happened here?
” It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed? “
– George Will, 9/23 Washington Post
Is this what I think it is? Did George Will just endorse Barack Obama? or at least express a preference?
August 31, 2008
August 26, 2008
Run For The Fallen ~ Final Day’s Event…
On Sunday, Day 72, the Run For The Fallen runners arrived crossing Memorial Bridge at the end of the last 10K, sweaty and smiling carrying American flags to the applause and shouts of appreciation from hundreds of supporters and families.
Back before Day 62, August 15th, 2008, the day Scott, the four men who were killed with him and 44 other brave soldiers honored that day, I was emailing with Shauna Sweet. Shauna does Media Relations for the Run and I wanted to get more information about the schedule of that day. I was thinking we would make the drive (nearly 7 hours round trip) to just east of Love Virginia on the Blue Ridge Parkway to welcome and thank the runners as they passed and placed the flag and note-card for Scott. Several things happened to make that impossible and so I asked Shauna to pass a request to Jon Bellona that he inscribe “Warrior Poet” on Scott’s memorial card with the flag. She passed my note on to Jon and he said he would do that.
So as we were greeting the runners, Sunday, I sought out Jon as I had a nice thank you speech ready for when we shook hands and when I introduced myself to him as Scott’s dad he immediately said, “Warrior Poet!”. I was so stunned by his remembering my son that I was speechless and overcome with emotion. The words I had planned were gone and I could only clap him on the shoulder (he was way to sweaty to hug). But that moment and the look on his face and in his eye of understanding and compassion is one of the great memories I have of this past year and I will never forget it. I can imagine that he had many moments like this on the trek east with other Gold Star Family members. A few moments later as Jon addressed the crowd he said, “America is a beautiful country and it is full of kind, loving and caring people.”
In conceiving this run I think Jon had a rare moment of inspiration. To undertake it and in accomplishing it he gave so many the opportunity to share with him the honor of knowing, loving and remembering those Fallen that preserve our nation. I did not know his best friend, 1st Lt. Michael J. Cleary, but I feel like I know him now through my short time with Jon. The great thing is, and I am certain of this, Jon created that same feeling in the thousands of Americans he came to know this summer. What he has done to honor Mike’s memory and the memory of the others fallen is nothing short of perfect.
Thank you Jon Bellona! What a privilege it was to be part of your great run!
~ ~ ~
Some photos I made of that perfect morning…
Run For The Fallen crosses Memorial Bridge
Jon Bellona leads the runners on the last leg into Arlington National Cemetery
Looking South towards the Custis Lee Mansion, the Run ends...
Jon Bellona addresses the crowd of over 200 runners and families
Section 60 Families present "Thank You" cards to Jon Bellona and the Run for the Fallen
The Runners, Families and supporters walk the last mile to Section 60
ANC Superintendent, John Metzler welcomes and congratulates Jon Bellona
Jon Bellona places the flag he carried across the country from California to Washington, DC
Runners and Families place flags and flowers on the graves of the Fallen
We shared a wee dram of the Glenfarclas 21 with Scott
Links to other blogs or video
August 18, 2008
Run For The Fallen ~ Final Day’s Run ~ August 24, 2008
The final day’s run for the Run For The Fallen will occur on August 24th, 2008. Starting in Ft. Irwin California June 14th and now 71 days later the Run concludes its remarkable honor to our fallen troops on this coming Sunday morning with a ceremonial 10K run through the District. This date is one day and a year after we had Scott’s service at Arlington National Cemetery.
We will be there. We are encouraging anyone who can to join us at Section 60 at 8:30am that day to walk or run to the Arlington Metro station just outside the gates of Arlington National Cemetery around 9:15-9:30am where the Run For The Fallen’s completion will occur and closing remarks will be given.
The Cemetery opens at 8AM. Get a pass at the Visitor Center. We will leave Section 60 at 8:30AM walking to the Metro station. If you want to take the Metro in, Arlington is on the Blue line.
