Peter Fountain

Month: May 2011

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Memorial Day

May 30, 2011 by Pete

I played in a parade this morning in Fairport and it was hot, but fun. The street was bursting with people and there seemed to be kids everywhere. It was close to the perfect morning – no rain, warm, lots of families, etc. 

Prior to the parade starting I watched a small ceremony at the Fairport firehouse where they played some music, read some prayers, and read the names of firefighters who had passed away during the prior year. It was a very nice ceremony and all the firefighters stood there quietly in their dress uniforms despite the building heat. 

America is the greatest nation on earth, likely the greatest the earth has ever known and it’s gotten that way due to the sacrifice of many men and women. Amazingly, America has been at war almost ½ of my life starting with Desert Storm at the end of high school all the way up to today, where we are at war in Afghanistan and Iraq and of course we are fighting the mysterious war on terror, which has no face or location. 

We all see the ceremonies and tributes to our military and they are touching and help us honor all those who serve, past present and future, but the other night I saw a brief clip on TV of a young boy whose father was killed 6 years ago in Iraq. The boy is now 11 and he paid a stirring tribute to his father. I have to admit that I cried watching that simply because that’s the real price of war, the loved ones who never come home, or the ones who come home changed forever in some physical or psychological way. For them and those that love them every day is a battle and the hardship they endure is theirs for a lifetime. It was so very painful to watch the little boy who despite his brave facade clearly only wanted to see his dad again. 

While we can pay tribute to our war heroes on Memorial day I believe it’s also possible to honor them by they way we live every day. What better way to honor those who have given so much than to live our lives to the fullest, being the best people, fathers, mothers, citizens, or whatever we can be day in and day out. 

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I’m going to throw up on myself now

May 25, 2011 by Pete

Today the trial began for a mother accused of killing her 2 year old daughter. For whatever reason there has been a lot of media attention surrounding this case and of course lots of speculation and rumors.

During opening arguments the defense attorney told the jury that this mother didn’t kill her daughter, but that the child drowned in the family pool and that she hid the body because no one would believe it was an accident and they would throw her in jail. The defense also mentioned other issues like mother being sexually abused by her father and painted a picture of a very disturbed house. Not pleasant.

The little girl’s remains were found with duct tape wrapped around her head and there has been a claim by the prosecution that her body was stored in the back of a car before being disposed of. This is where I’m throwing up on myself. Your child drowns and you duct tape her head and dump her in the yard? Are you kidding me? I’m throwing up because it’s so horrific to even imagine, but also because the defense thinks anyone in their right mind would believe it. 

While they are at it why not claim the child was murdered by aliens or a government conspiracy?  A two year old child being murdered is bad enough, but to have an attorney get up and there and say she drowned is sick. Did the little girl wrap the duct tape around her head before she jumped in the pool?

Give me a break, and a barf bag.

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Why didn’t I think of that?

May 17, 2011 by Pete

Today while pondering what to add to my corporate site, rikermedia.com, I suddenly came up with the idea of replacing the static text on my about me page with a video about me. 

Why this suddenly struck me I have no idea as it seems so completely obvious now. To be honest I feel kind of stupid ever posting a text-based resume-type about me page out there in the first place. It seemed like the thing to do at the time, but in retrospect it seems kind of silly. What better way for people to get to know me than by watching a short video of me explaining who I am?

Now that I’ve come up with the idea, I’m pretty excited to get working on it. I have to admit I’m not that great with the camera yet, but I’ve been practicing and I’m getting better. I’m finally to the point where I can actually watch the video and decide if it’s good enough to post, or if I should do it over. I don’t know if other people have the same hang up, but for the longest time I couldn’t stand to watch myself on a video. Slowly I overcame that problem and now I can stand to watch one and critique it. 

I’ve been jotting down ideas about the points I need to cover and what order to cover them, but I also want to leave an element of me in there. I don’t want it to come across as scripted and stiff. Hopefully people will see a little bit of me and feel comfortable reaching out to me. 

Should be a fun and interesting process. 

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A final blog

May 5, 2011 by Pete

Today I ran across a ‘final blog’ written by a man who was a dedicated blogger and internet person. It was a final blog because it was posted by his family following his death from cancer. He was 41 and left behind a wife and two young girls. 

The blog was moving and honest and when I was done it really left me thinking hard. I have blogged before about how one day our blogs will end up becoming our archives – a digital record of the things we have done and thought. This blog was a perfect example of that and the author was intimately aware of it. 

41 is very young to die and it was heartbreaking to read his final thoughts, but it was also encouraging that in many his young daughters would have a really interesting archive of blogs and other digital information to one day read about their father. Of course I’m sure they would rather have their father than his blogs, but we are living in an age where leaving an archive for loved one’s is very possible and fairly easy. To be honest, part of my motivation in setting up my own blog is to create an archive for my children and grandchildren and possibly other members of my family. My blog isn’t very serious and I doubt it’s very interesting to anyone, but it should provide some insights into me for those who are interested. 

I loved listening to my grandparents telling stories about the ‘old days’ and their perceptions of events and places and experiences. My kids will only know those stories through me, but hopefully I will be able to leave behind some of my stories for future generations. 

I hope to live a long time, but I’m aware that there is no guarantee of anything, so I press on with my blog in the hopes that someday someone will find it interesting and that they will have a little glimpse into the world as seen by me.