Fraters Libertas

Automatic for the People

Thursday’s link to the image of golden-haired, winsome CiCi Anderson lit up the Fraters Libertas phone lines like a Christmas tree. Proving once again you can painstakingly deconstruct a Paul Krugman column all you like, but if you want to create some buzz, link to a beautiful, blonde college tennis player.

The first email came from a happy local reader:

Saint Paul, your latest post is amazing to me.

Thanks for your feedback sir, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Now on to other matters.

Actually ... this correspondent did have another editorial point. So I’m not accused of Maureen Dowd-like cutting and pasting, here’s the rest of it.

You have disproved the theory of genetics. You see, Cici Anderson is the granddaughter of none other than [former KSTP talk radio host] Barbara Carlson. She must have been adopted.

Upon hearing that CiCi Anderson and Barbara Carlson may be members of the same family, my immediate reaction was - same family hell, I’m not sure they’re even members of the same kingdom.

Students of the Linnaean system can do further investigation into that matter. But other sources inform me that the two are indeed related, but only by marriage. (Barbara and CiCi’s grandfather wedded in a second marriage for each, late in their lives). Therefore, adherents of Gregor Mendel need not start revising their theories.

Keeping with the family affair theme, Madame X checks in from Hayward:

Is it just me or does it look like Rick Rickert and Cici Anderson could actually be brother and sister?  Think of all the fair-haired toothy children they will create - and if they are bro and sis, their children are assured to have three heads (albeit blonde, toothy heads).

Yes, they both have the quintessential Minnesota Germanic-Scandanavian, well-scrubbed, suburban look to them. But Rickert’s slack-jawed countenance betrays an intellect at least six degrees of separation (genetics-wise) from the whip-smart, knowing grin flashed by Miss Anderson.

So we need not fear their co-mingling resulting in a fair-haired three-headed child - who no doubt would have returned to Minnesota, been elected governor, lowered taxes, brutalized criminals, and ruled us like a king.

Speaking of which, King from SCSU Scholars checks in with some speculation on how the young couple may fare once they get over there:

I lived in Ukraine for a year -- no woman looks good in a babushka. My experience with the athletes here at SCSU has been that European leagues sound good until you get there. Hoops is better than hockey, but it's still buses through some pretty bleak places. I wonder if Rickert will last the season.

I wonder the same thing. Adapting to a foreign culture can be difficult. For a taste of what this may be like for them, here’s the Krka team’s promotional announcement for the signing of Rick Rickert:

V Novo mesto prihaja Rick Rickert, ameri‰ki ko‰arkar, ki ga je sicer na leto‰njem NBA draftu izbrala Minnesota. Rickert je 208 cm visoki krilni center, ki je v minuli sezoni na univerzi v Minnesoti dosegal povpre?no 15,6 to?ke na tekmo.

Wasn’t that the atomic symbol for potash mixed in there a few times? I give them six weeks.