Traveling to Gettysburg for my dream tour

My weekend excursion promises to be a major highlight.

One of my very favorite past times is studying, reading about and traveling to Civil War sites. Thanks to a friend of mine, we are headed Friday for Gettysburg (which I have already toured three times) for a special battlefield walking tour and the guide is Ed Bearss (right).

For those not into Civil War history, Bearss is one of the premier living Civil War historians and is often seen on the History Channel and elsewhere.

The topic for the weekend tour is: "Picketts' Charge & Lee's Retreat."

There are two lectures Friday night, then a full day of touring on Saturday including trips to Fairfield, Monterey Pass, Smithsburg (my kind of town), Hagerstown, Funkstown, Falling Waters and Williamsport.

On Sunday, we will study the cavalry action bet Jeb Stuart and Custer, Culp's Hill and the Pickett, Pettigrew, Trimble assault.

It just doesn't get any better than that. So, I'll be back late (like really late) Sunday night and return to blogging Monday. Prepare yourself for lots of Civil War battle photos and war stories.

Unbelievably, neither of our wives wanted to go with us for this exciting weekend of testosterone filled war discussions.

For more information on Ed Bearss look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Bearss

and here:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/bearss.html?c=y&page=1

Nader understands the news business better than most

Ralph Nader didn't get much coverage this election (deliberate, if you ask me) but he realizes how he could have received a lot more coverage:

http://blogs.courant.com/on_background/2008/10/ralph-nader-and-his-10000horse.html

He is sooooo right!

The future is now, at least for one newspaper

A frequent freefromeditors reader sent along the following link:

http://lifehacker.com/5070302/will-you-miss-print-newspapers-when-theyre-gone

Make sure you follow the link in the above to the New York Times story.

Basking in Spartans win, but no gloating here

The one year my MSU Spartans were able to overcome cross-state rivals Michigan I was out of town and not watching the game. (I may have to do that every year now).

When I heard we had defeated the Wolverines in Ann Arbor it brought back great memories of the 1978 game at "The Big House," as Michigan Stadium is called, when I was in attendance and watched the Spartans beat the Wolverines 24-15.

Kirk Gibson, later of Detroit Tigers and LA Dodger fame, caught a cross pattern pass and ran for a touchdown, which he scored right in front of the few Spartan fans in the south end zone.

So the Spartans are off to a good start, 7-2, and have won the biggest game of the year, but it is only one year and many of my friends root for the Maize and Blue, so I'm not going to pile on because hey, next year will roll around way too quickly.

I'm not even going to mention (except here) the phony gift touchdown the Wolverines received from the replay official.

Both schools are great, but it wouldn't be a rivalry if only one side ever won. So we're not gloating, just basking in the happiness of a rare victory.

More Newhouse bad news

The shoe has dropped in New Jersey. Sounds like a radically different newspaper in the coming months. My favorite pull out quote:

"We've got from now to the end of the year to figure out what adjustments we have to make," Willse said. "We will be able to produce an abundance of good stories. We will still have a good paper but we have to figure out exactly how to accomplish that."

Where have we heard all that before? These editors might as well be political hacks for all the spin they are churning out.

See story:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZNapL_qKwtWcN1sDFSwS-p9YGzgD9415AC00