The Explorers Club
No. CXLVI - The aviatrix Diana Barnato Walker (1918-2008).








In the eyes of this beholder a girl is never more beautiful than when she's wearing an old-fashioned leather flying cap.

The Victors: Michigan 38-34 Notre Dame
2-0, Big Ten 0-0

Fielding Yost's ghost, I could hardly believe my eyes as the valiant Wolverines drove down the field for the game-winning touchdown! I give the vile Fighting Irish a lot of credit, they are greatly improved over the team against which we self-sabotaged our way to defeat last season; it doubted it was even possible, but there it was on the field, a halfway decent Charlie Weis-coached team. The valiant Wolverines faced a frankly superior team and triumphed! The execution was far from perfect—there were too many penalties, we committed too many infractions that weren't flagged but surely will be in the future, and Space Emperor (of Space) Zoltan Mesko picked a crummy time to forget how to punt—but those miscues should lead no one to a false conclusion, this was far from a fluke victory. The conqu'ring heroes of the defense did just enough to overcome a phenomenally improved Notre Dame O-line to pressure Jimmy Clausen into several errant throws, and disrupted just enough catches by the plainly superior Notre Dame receiving corps; the victors valiant of the offense, with a handy assist from the special teams, came through when the chips were down and found a way to put point on the board. Call me a foolish optimist, but I'm beginning not to panic every time a Michigan player goes back to field a punt. In every facet of the game, the gentlemen who wear the immortal winged helmet are beginning to display the basic competence that was always taken for granted with a Michigan team; and, bit by bit, they are evidencing the strength of character that is the true driving force behind Bo's promise, "Those who stay will be champions."

There is much work ahead, the season's only two games old, after all, and we won't win every game. Not every team will be as obliging as the vile Fighting Irish. By the end of this year's campaign, we may well have accrued enough defeats to qualify the season as a disappointment in the fat years of the Lloyd Carr era. But you can take this to the bank, my friends and fellow Wolverines, the embarrassing ineptitude of 3-9 is a thing of the past, and we shall not see its like again. Whether experiencing the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, it's always great to be a Michigan Wolverine, but boy howdy, you've got to love that thrill of victory!

Go Blue!

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
MxPx, "Rock & Roll Girl" from Ten Years and Running (T.L.A.M.)

Samstag, 12 September
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "The Yellow and Blue" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary-cum-The Victors: I've never been a big fan of my alma mater's alma mater, not least because it misnames the school's colors of Maize and Blue. However, I could not help but think of "The Yellow and Blue" during the most delightful moment of yesterday's T.V. broadcast, and by that I exempt the game itself and seek for anything unique to the game-watching experience that was added by that particular broadcast team. It—the broadcast—was mostly a sorry affair, marred by Matt Millen's maddening insistence on not committing suicide, but at one point play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough said something very much like, "It's a 'Maize Out' here at the stadium, where Tate Forcier has been amazin' (a-maize-in)." I could not help but think of Amazin' Blue, which in turn eventually lead to "The Yellow and Blue."

"Haaaaail!"

Freitag, 11 September
Trey Parker, "Freedom Isn't Free" from Team America: World Police—Music From the Motion Picture (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary-cum-Operation AXIOM: I commemorated the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on my FaceSpace page, but not here at the much more significant Secret Base for one simple reason: according to public opinion polls, which I freely admit are universally flawed and might be inaccurate, a majority of Americans regard the ongoing war to prevent Afghanistan from falling back under the sway of the Taliban as not worth fighting, not worth the continued investment of American blood and treasure. So, most Americans would like us to abandon Afghanistan, leaving it to the tender mercies of the Taliban, who would once again provide safe haven for their fellow travelers in al Qaeda. Exactly the conditions under which al Qaeda conceived, plotted, and launched the awful events of 11 September 2001.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I would add a corollary to Santayana's famous maxim: those who cannot remember the past deserve to be condemned to repeat it.