I normally stay in the toy department with my blog posts but sometimes the real world intrudes and needs to be dealt with.  I have my 35th high school class reunion this summer and the Wausau East Class of 75 will have one fewer member at the event. Tim Fehlandt was killed in a one car crash Sunday night after leaving a Weston tavern. Tim had always been a free spirit and I have only seen him once in awhile over the years but it was usually with a drink in his hand. Every person makes their deal with alcohol in a culture that celebrates everything with a glass of something. Most people I know have driven drunk at some point in their lives and have luckily dodged the bullet of arrest, injury or death. At some point the bill comes due. We've lost some members of our class years ago to drunk driving accidents but this is the most recent. I feel horrible for Tim's family and friends. I also believe they must feel fortunate that he didn't hit anybody else when he decided to get behind the wheel. He apparantly turned down several offers of a ride home. Should a tavern confiscate the keys of a person obviously under the influence? What responsibility do they harbor for overserving someone? The Tavern League will continue to battle stronger drunk driving laws claiming it will cause taverns to close. That's not a good enough reason to avoid putting the hammer down. Ultimately it's every person's responsibility to monitor themselves but when they are too drunk to do it, the people serving the alcohol must step in. We also must stop accepting "having a few" as a regular occurance and be more forceful with our friends and family members when they insist they're "ok" to drive. I'm not ready to start going to funerals for people my age.

The Brewer pitchers get a much needed day off before tangling with the Cubs again tomorrow. Doug Davis was the latest Brewer starter to struggle yesterday. The offense is fine, but the starters need to crank it up and keep the Brewers in games.

No charges will be filed  against Ben Roethslisberger. He has again dodged a bullet for his boorish behavior. If this isnt the final wakeup call for him it's only a matter of time before we're reading about him again in the crime blotter.

Songs of the Day   (from my Ipod)

Fame-David Bowie  (1975)  Bowie had some help from John Lennon on this one which went to Number 1 in America.

Fanfare for the Common Man-Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1977) Keith Emerson introduces the rock masses to the classical music of Aaron Copeland. This band eventually succumbed to it's excesses but was gloriously over the top for a few years.