No Matter How Small...

Well, once again, I went against my better judgment a few days back to see a kid's movie that I fully expected to be disappointed in, and was proven wrong. Although, this time my reluctance wasn't without merit--Defense Exhibit A, Defense Exhibit B. I knew, I just knew that this would be another example of the filmmakers getting the Seuss-portion right--and then all 60 or so minutes worth of filler would be dreadful.

But, I'll admit it, the non-Seuss stuff was seamlessly integrated with the original. The whole thing worked in a way that rivals the best of Pixar's works.

The animation was perfect--you know, you just know if he was alive and working today this is the kind of thing Seuss'd be producing. The characters--major and minor were fun, interesting, clever. The character voices were great--was very impressed with Will Arnett's work--making me regret his being replaced as KITT. The story was intact, especially the moral--a person's a person, no matter how small. (or big, or blue, or Whovillian, or whatever).

The way that the kangaroo provoked the mob mentality was brilliant. "It's for the children. It's for the children." How many ridiculous, criminal, and out right bad movements/ideas/policies have been rammed down our throats from all ends of the political spectrum by that mantra? If only real people were able cajoled out of following that Pied Piper of a slogan the way they were in the movie.

Shockingly, there's a little controversy around the film, first was the the way Carol Burnett's kangaroo states with aplomb, "that's why we Pouch School." I found (find, actually) that line hilarious. There are a few tight-shoed homeschool bloggers who are up in arms over this line, but most of those I've talked to/read actually have a sense of humor about it--some have even embraced it. (if I was more energetic, I'd go see how many homeschool bloggers have complained about the depiction of homeschooler Mama Boucher in the Adam Sandler classic)

The second comes from the Pro-Life movement's embrace of the line "A person's a person, no matter how small" (despite the widow Geisel's objections). This led to quite the tacky protest interrupting the Hollywood premier. How stupid. Great way to create ill-will for the movement.

Thankfully, that nonsense doesn't interfere with the movie (unless you happen to be reading blogs while watching it or were at the premier)--which was a real pleasure to watch, through and through.

The Doctor Is In...

Just caught the season premier of Doctor Who--loved it! Tennant scores again as the Doctor, and I didn't hate Donna this time out. Thankfully, her initial contact with the Time Lord had a positive impact on her and she's likable now. Still, I miss Martha (esp. after SciFi showed "Smith and Jones" last week), not as much as Rose, mind you. Can't wait to see the two of them again...

Best moment: when the Doctor realizes he's talking to himself while starting to explain the alien technology. Hard to feel bad for someone who can say, "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey of the constellation Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old, and I'm the man who is going to save your lives and the six billion people on the planet below. Do you have a problem with that?" But Tennant makes you do just that.

Maybe this ep was a little long on the comedy, short on the thrills. But hey, I'll take the good Doctor in any way they give it to me. I trust they'll get the balance right in the weeks to come.

For girlfriday's sake, I won't talk about the jaw-dropping bit. Can't wait to hear what she has to say about it...

Upcoming Events

Be sure to mark your calendars:

Ides of April - just in case you forgot--Tax Day. [sigh].
April 23 - Tax Freedom Day. Early this year. But don't worry, Obama and/or Clinton have plans to move this to later in the year.
May 3 (a.k.a. Day After Iron Man's premier) - Free Comic Book Day
May 8 - No Socks Day (name pretty much says it all)
May 9 - Lost Sock Memorial Day, not really sure what it is with May and Socks...
May 16 - National Sea Monkey Day. Frodo will be celebrating this one for sure...
May 24 - International Talk Like Bob Dylan Day
May 25 - Towel Day

Hope you appreciate this bit of public service, now back to obsessively focusing on myself.

Meet the Family

Ack! I can't believe I forgot to watch/record the first Walken-hosted SNL in five years. He has got to be one of the all-time greatest hosts. Thankfully, NBC's put a good chunk of the episode on hulu.com, including this bit of impression-y goodness: Meet the Family.

Postscript

Calvin and Hobbes doesn't corner the market on comic strip government school critiques, go Frazz!

Thought for the Lord's Day #20

The Tamed Lion

1 A Lion, though by nature wild,
The art of man can tame;
He stands before his keeper, mild,
And gentle as a lamb.

2 He watches, with submissive eye,
The hand that gives him food,
As if he meant to testify
A sense of gratitude.

3 But man himself, who thus subdues
The fiercest beast of prey,
A nature more unfeeling shows,
And far more fierce than they.

4 Though by the Lord preserv'd and fed,
He proves rebellious still;
And while he eats his Maker's bread,
Resists his holy will.

5 Alike in vain, of grace that saves,
Or threat'ning law, he hears;
The savage scorns, blasphemes, and raves,
But neither loves nor fears.

6 O Saviour! how thy wondrous pow'r
By angels is proclaim'd,
When in thine own appointed hour,
They see this lion tam'd.

7 The love thy bleeding cross displays,
The hardest heart subdues;
Here furious lions while they gaze,
Their rage and fierceness lose.

8 Yet we are but renew'd in part,
The lion still remains;
Lord, drive him wholly from my heart,
Or keep him fast in chains.

- John Newton

Demons can charm you with a smile, for a while

So I watched Sweeney Todd the other night, and it was about what you'd expect for a Tim Burton musical: dark, cool sets, twisted, lots of strange hair, and Johnny Depp. While I don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone based on the content, it's one of the better musicals I've seen on film (right up there with Grease 2).

Everything I know about Sondheim, I learned from Mandy Patinkin CDs, so I wasn't too sure what to expect from this story outside the trailers. It was a decent story as far as revenge flicks about wronged barbers go (so glad I've given up the whole shaving thing...would have a hard time using the ol' Mach 3 for awhile), the use of the word macabre to describe this hardly seems fair to such a fun word to say. There are some truly great moments--mostly due to the music. The songs were great--it's like the Broadway success that Sondheim's had was deserved or something (yeah, I'm talking about you, Lloyd Webber).

Who knew these people could sing? The always reliable villian, Alan Rickman, Johnny Depp, and the proto-Goth Chick Helena Bonham Carter all made their singing debuts here. Who knew Sacha Baron Cohen could do something worth watching? What is with Timothy Spall showing up everywhere now?

I thought this was some of Burton's more creative uses of color--and was tempted to hang on to the DVD for a few more days to study it, but in the end I decided I'd find a decent discussion on-line or in the comments of this post.

I didn't have to see his face to reflexively shout "Giles!" during a certain actors' uncredited appearance. Anyone else do that? (my bad coffee-making coworker did, so I'm not the biggest geek I know).

Really can't think of anything else to say about this flick at the moment, so off to eat a couple of meat pies...

P.S. So TLomL doesn't hyperventilate, I should probably say that the Grease 2 thing was a joke. "Grease 2? What will people think? You know people don't always know when you're joking..."

Ah-hey ma ma ma

Been awhile since I did a Music Video Friday Post, and I can't seem to get enough of this cover of Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town" by Sugarland, Little Big Town and Jake Owen (who better to sing of life in 1960's England than circa-2007 American Country Music artists?).

Following some of the "Related Video" links, it looks like if this whole Country Music thing doesn't work out for Sugarland, they've got a future as an 80's cover band. See also: "Where The Streets Have No Name", "Pour Some Sugar on Me".

Meanwhile, am thinking of starting a charity organization: The Buy Jennifer Nettles a Sandwich Foundation.

Learning from that Kid and His (Imaginary?) Friend

I've been reading lately about comic strips helping kids become better readers (if for no other reason, they'll invest more effort into understanding unfamiliar words/phrases/ideas so they can get the joke), so last week I plunked down a few bucks for a Calvin and Hobbes collection. It's truly the rare moment over the last five days when that book has not been open in someone's hands (except for school or dining time...pretty much).

Of course, the downside to this is that Samwise is taking Calvin as a role-model.

So getting a link to this article in the mail this week was quite well-timed, "Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Public School...I Learned in Calvin & Hobbes Comic Books" by B.R. Merrick. Now, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't sign on to everything Mr. Merrick says about Calvin, Hobbes or Public School--but as I read over it again, I can't think of a single thing he gets wrong.

Particularly worth your time is "list, in order of importance from worse to worst, the life lessons I, and all the other non-fictional Calvins out there, learned from former-factory/now-corporate government schools."

Sadly, not so sure those strips are that funny anymore.

A quick grumble

Steve Taylor's first film, Second Chance was almost a paint-by-numbers Evangelical movie, but it was good enough to be enjoyable--and I was eager to see more.

But to follow it up with Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz? Ugh.

First time since my initial exposure to Steve that I'm not eagerly anticipating, nay, am dreading, his next project.

Talkin' Baseball

Not only was Monday Opening Day for MLB, it was the start of another season of Little League for the Offspring. Frodo's elected to not play this Spring--which is both sad and understandable (and hey...makes things a lot easier on his parents--we'd have had 3 kids in 3 different leagues and would've had to clone one of us to cover everything).

Samwise has his first game of the year tonight, the Princess has hers tomorrow (immediately following Sam's second game). Arnold desperately wants to play this year, and is counting down the days 'til next season. I'm very impressed with Sam's coach--not sure what kind of results he'll get out of the kid, but am sure he'll get good stuff out of the team as a whole (and vice versa). Not as impressed with Princess' coach--seems to put a great emphasis on quantity of practice over quality.

On the professional side, looks like Torre's getting off to a good start in LA. Beckett and Schilling started the season on the DL. The Girardi-era Yanks got off to a decent start in their opener--the Melk-man doing most of the splashy stuff, but the pitching was as good as it needed to be. Like Patrick over at Yanksblog said, "You're not going to beat the Yankees very often when the only pitchers you see are Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera."

Someone asked me why I'm so obsessed with baseball when it's so "boring" compared to say football or basketball. Here's a snippet from Chabon's Summerland to give part of the explanation:

"I hate it that they even count errors," Ethan said..."What kind of game is that? No other sport do they do that, Dad. There's no other sport where they put the errors on the freaking scoreboard for everybody to look at. They don't even have errors in other sports. They have fouls. They have penalties. Those are things that players could get on purpose, you know. But in baseball they keep track of how many accidents you have."

[snip]
"Ethan," Mr. Feld said, shaking his head in sorrow.... "Errors . . . Well, they are a part of life, Ethan," he tried to explain. "Fouls and penalties, generally speaking, are not. That's why baseball is more like life than other games.

Am I the Only One Who Does This?

Driving into work tonight, "Bohemian Rhapsody" comes on the radio, which is a rare enough event to warrant me staying on the channel without looking around to see what else was playing.

Somewhere between "spit in my eye" and "leave me to die" I realize that I'm doing the whole lip-synch, air band thing right out of Wayne's World--minus the DeLuise kid in the back and with greater accuracy than Dana Carvey.

Torn between being embarassed despite the fact that I was alone in the van and knowing I was alone in the van so I didn't need to care, I admit I faltered a bit there. But figured hey, the song was almost over, so I might as well finish.

Anyway the wind blows, anyone else do this?

Templatey Goodness and the like

Those of you who checked this space Tuesday evening may have noticed the presence of a couple of names rather than my avatar and e-bumper sticker over to your right. That's because I added TLomL as an author to this here blog, and it threw my template into a tizzy.

Now, she was an author here before...well, as far as the permissions and whatnot were concerned, she was an author, she just never contributed anything. Which was okay, because she started her own blog. She closed that one down awhile ago, and hasn't really wanted to get back to trying to keep up a blog of her own--which is a shame, but, hopefully, hopefully, she'll throw something in here from time to time.

I should mention that it took me an hour (in retrospect, it should've taken 5 minutes) to fix the template after adding her as an author. I would like to think, if nothing else, she'd feel obligated to post a few things because of the trouble I went to just to add her. You'd agree, readers, wouldn't you? Leave a comment, pour on the guilt encouragement.

Before I started dealing with the template, I installed the new Microsoft video software MLB is using so I could watch some highlights of last night's Yankee game. I'm not sure why/how, but after doing so, I lost about 25% of my Firefox window to a large toolbar that doesn't seem to include any content. I've uninstalled that software, restarted the computer, played with my Firefox theme...and nothing. Still have this large ugly grayish-brown rectangle at the bottom of my screen. Which really has nothing to do with anything but is just my way of saying that I"m apparently spending my down-time at work tonight on cosmetic troubleshooting. Not really what I had in mind, but what're ya gonna do, eh?

Dialogue Snippet of the Moment

Ben: I mean, they're like our cool, fun uncles.
Sock: Benji, have you ever had a cool, fun uncle?
Ben: Uncle Hector.
Sock: Uncles are creepy by definition, okay? Have you not been watching your SVU?

Reaper

Quote of the Moment

I guess one of the drawbacks to doing nothing with your life is that you're never quite sure when you've accomplished it.

- Jonathan Tropper
Plan B

Opening Day

It's here, it's finally here! Spring is officially here (not that my hay fever hasn't been telling me that for a week), I'm not wasting part of my TV dollars paying for ESPN...life is good.

The Offspring are a little annoyed with me, Opening Day is typically a day off school, but I've been little to disorganized lately and we're behind...so they have at least half a day. I may spare them this afternoon.

Aaaand, Toronto at New York is rain-delayed. I said some not-fit-for-print things to my TV because instead of turning in 30 min late for Wang's start, I saw Kansas City at Detroit. I did retract those things when I finally noticed the bottom-of-the-screen scroll telling me that the game was delayed, so they were showing this "bonus coverage."

That mollified me a bit, but still...I don't care if Detroit's a favorite to win it all this year (and they do look good); on Opening Day, I want to see the Bronx Bombers. Rain had better clear soon...

Some interesting facts, via the best Yankee blog on the 'Net:

The Yankees are 61-43-1 on Opening Day, 28-10 at the Stadium. They are 16-11 in presidential election years. When the Yankees win at home on Opening Day, the GOP is 4-1 in the election. When the Yankees lose, the Democrats are 3-0.

Punished with a baby?

"Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," [Obama] said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."

He's going to have to tap-dance a lot on this one, methinks.

Obviously the pro-lifers are going to have a field-day with this one, but I'd like to think that even some of the pro-choice crowd will have a hard time with the idea of a baby as punishment.

Thought for the Lord's Day #19

We need the Decalogue not only to apprise us of our lawful obligations, but we also need it to discern how far the Holy Spirit has advanced in His work of sanctification and by how much we still fall short of the goal, lest we become secure and imagine that we have now done all that is required. Thus we must constantly grow in sanctification and always become new creatures in Christ.

- Martin Luther

Wow, I Thought Took Music Seriously

Rockabilly, punk, and metal fans are rioting against emo kids in Mexico? I want to laugh at the ludicrous nature of it*...but these are actual kids getting hurt, encouraged to kill themselves, etc. This kind of thing shouldn't surprise me...but for some reason it does.

Mexico's Emo-Bashing Problem (Time)
Anti-Emo Riots Break Out Across Mexico (Wired)

*I'd even planned on putting a joking headline to this like, "Wow, I didn't know Julie had moved to Mexico"

radio.blog update

Got a new radio.blog over there on your right...no real commentary to go along with it...unless it's demanded or something...give it a listen whilst you surf.

A History Lesson

not sure how this documentary video from the future got posted on youtube now...but hey...it did.

TV Catch-All

Random-ish thoughts on what I've been watching/not-watching lately. Basically, since the beginning of the Writer's Strike, whatever's been on TV has been 'stuff to watch 'til BSG and Burn Notice return (with Chuck close behind).' Now, during that period I did find a few things that are very worth watching, but I also found a few that just weren't. But anyway....

John Rich made the dumbest TV choice since Fox's cancellation of Firefly). Gone Country was marginally entertaining at best--other than for the few moments when they focused on music: singing, performing, song-writing--rather than making their stars/victims look foolish in various ways. But something about the show kept us watching from the get-go--our viewing of the premier was a combination of "there's nothing else on/to-do tonight" and "you've got to be kidding me...they're really trying this?" And then after watching faithfully after that, Rich reveals that this has all been just an elaborate set up, like the 1919 World Series or every WWE match.

I briefly held out hope that my faith in Reality TV could be restored once American Idol finished all their audition phases (with a mercifully changed Hollywood Week--tho I did miss all the fighting that went along with the group sing). Particularly with the (first) all-Lennon/McCartney night. I was filled with dread actually by the prospect, and didn't watch it live so I could use my DVR's 360x playback speed (and/or 'Delete' function) if the show went as badly as I feared. But it was actually a pretty good episode--yeah, there were a couple of disasters--but on the whole, it was probably the best performance episode for the top 12. But I found myself just not caring. I skipped most of the next performance, and didn't watch a bit of last night's--not sure I'll watch the rest of this year. These are supposedly the best finalists in the show's 7 years, but I can't seem to care too much about them. Say what you will about Sanjaya, Scott Savol, or Constantine--they got a reaction. Most of these people--including the ringers--induce yawns. I really like Brooke White, but if she wins, she'll make Taylor Hicks' sales figures look like Carrie Underwood's. Ditto for Lisa EdelsteinJason Castro. I just don't get the appeal of Michael Johns (the downunder Tim Daly)--why do voters/the judges like him? Archuleta's nice, a near-lock to win, and duller than a very used plastic butter knife. What can I say about David "I wanna be Chris Daughtry when I grow up" Cook? Really put off by him...the smugness, they way he does the same thing to every song (mostly ripping off a hard-edged cover of something)...his apparent refusal to use shampoo. A friend of mine (with typically decent taste) recently said something about Cook growing on her--I almost air-mailed her some anti-fungal cream. (I appropriated a couple of jokes here from Ken Levine, who's weekly Idol recaps should be must reading for those who watch the show)

The Return of Jezebel James. Wow. If Amy Sherman was looking for something to remind people that she wasn't always the genius behind Gilmore Girls, that she was also a 'genius' behind Veronica's Closet, she found it. Kind of Fox to kill it before people forgot they like her.

New Amsterdam is, um, a decent way to kill an hour. I dig the premise, I like Omar and John, the cop-stuff is tolerable, the backstory things are interesting. But if I didn't have to stay awake all night, and therefore spend a lot of time watching TV, I doubt I'd stick with it. I can't help but quote Marv Wolfman here.

But I do have a question: how come I didn't get that memo that obviously was sent to everyone in Hollywood that said all new cop series had to feature a light-haired male lead and a beautiful Hispanic partner who doesn't like/get along with the hero until she begrudgingly realizes how good he is. We saw this done in Eureka, Life and now New Amsterdam.

Canterbury's Law is about the as good--an okay way to spend some time. It's reminiscent of early episodes of The Practice, but probably won't last as long. It's far superior to Eli Stone, tho, which I gave up on after four episodes.

About the time that the strike started, I put Season 1 of The Wire on my Netflix queue, and so did many, many other people apparently. Six weeks later I got Disc 1 and 2. The story-telling was skillful, there was real talent behind the scripts, and a good deal of it in front of the cameras, too. But it wasn't until Disk 3 that I cared what happened to any of the characters--I was about to write it off as not my cup of tea at that point--and then I was addicted. Now I have to live with the fact that the series finale just aired? Ahhh, I'm the master of bad timing.

I'm tempted to go on and on about In Treatment here, but think I'll put that off a few days and give it its own post.

Am very glad that CBS has it's comedies back in production--particularly How I Met Your Mother. The St. Patty's episode was a good turning point in the season, and I can't wait to see where they take it from here. The Big Bang Theory is still silly fun.

Speaking of comedies, I'm grateful that TBS puts entire episodes of their original series on their website. My Boys was another mid-strike discovery on my part. It'll never be considered a great sit-com. But it's a good one. And given the state of sit-coms today, good ones are a real rarity.

I lost interest in what kletois called The Summer Glau Chronicles during episode 2, and number 3 didn't help. I've got the rest of the season on the ol' DVR--klet, Julie, anyone...do I finish it?

I think that about covers it (hope so...it's long enough). Is there anything on the air now that I should watching?

Happy Birthday, Princess

Well, my little girl is on the downward slide towards double-digits and is careening towards the time where she'll break my heart...sigh.

She's progressing nicely in school, not as well as her brothers were at this point, but moving along steadily. Last week she started her second year of T-ball, and seems to be enjoying it. Frankly, she's probably our best bet at raising a decent athlete, if she can just stop worrying about the state of her clothes and hair long enough to focus on the play.

She's also the most musically inclined arrow in the quiver. We gave her a CD player over the weekend, and it's barely been off since. She's spent hours just sitting in front of it, staring at it like kids do at radios in pictures from the 1940s--taking quick breaks every 90 seconds to let me know what song she's playing/radio station she's tuned into/what CD I need to get her next. I'm pretty sure that's not going to end any time soon.

Happy birthday, sweetie. It's been a fun, giggle-filled six years. Looking forward to as many more as I can get.

(Last birthday post for awhile--phew. Checkbook can't take much more abuse...am getting sick and tired of cake, too)

Mr. Chesney's youngest critic

(quick throwaway post just to help me remember my blogger password)

Arnold's sitting in my desk chair, listening to some iTunes whilst I puttered this afternoon. He turns to me with his unique "confused face" where he scrunches up half his features in a way that's impossible to describe and probably equally impossible to capture on film and objects, "When the sun goes down...it's dark."

I decide not to explain how that's sorta the point and try to distract him with a Backyardigans track instead.

Who knew he listened that closely?

Thought for the Lord's Day #18

let us beware of under-valuing the Old Testament. There has arisen of late years a most unhappy tendency to slight and despise any religious argument which is drawn from an Old Testament source, and to regard the man who uses it as a dark, benighted, and old-fashioned person. We shall do well to remember that the Old Testament is just as much inspired as the New, and that the religion of both Testaments is in the main, and at the root, one and the same. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud; the New Testament is the Gospel in full flower. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the blade: the New Testament is the Gospel in full ear. The Old Testament saints saw many things through a glass darkly: but they looked to the same Christ by faith and were led by the same Spirit as ourselves. Let us, therefore, never listen to those who sneer at Old Testament arguments. Much infidelity begins with an ignorant contempt of the Old Testament.

For another thing, let us beware of despising the law of the Ten Commandments. I grieve to observe how exceedingly loose and unsound the opinions of many men are upon this subject. I have been astonished at the coolness with which even clergymen sometimes speak of them as a part of Judaism, which may be classed with sacrifices and circumcision. I wonder how such men can read them to their congregations every week! For my own part, I believe that the coming of Christ's Gospel did not alter the position of the Ten Commandments one hair's breadth. If anything, it rather exalted and raised their authority. I believe, that in due place and proportion, it is just as important to expound and enforce them, as to preach Christ crucified. By them is the knowledge of sin. By them the Spirit teaches men their need of a Savior. By them the Lord Jesus teaches His people how to walk and please God. I suspect it would be well for the Church if the Ten Commandments were more frequently expounded in the pulpit than they are.

- J. C. Ryle

For those who were disappointed with the Super Bowl ads

I really think this election cycle is bringing out some of the most creative advertisements I've seen lately. This one is a great example. I am in no way, shape or form a fan/supporter/voter for Obama...but you gotta love this:

hmmm, okay, I've gotten political again. Mentioned Obama...gotta make sure I keep the scales uneven. RON PAUL. RON PAUL. RON PAUL. RON PAUL. May 27, Idaho. Make your voice heard. Don't vote for the lesser of two evils. Vote principle. Vote Paul.

You know I had to post this...

Even if it is further proof that only The Man should read the lists...

now excuse me while I go scrub the image of #5 out of my mind...where's the lye?


(I almost wrote something new at work...just didn't like it enough to hit publish...am trying...)

This just in from the "Wayyyy Too Much Time on Their Hands" Department

Happy Birthday, Dear

*

The Love of my Life was born 29+ years ago today, and I am extremely glad she was--taking particular pleasure in 1991 through present.

Mrs. Gibbs was right when she said, "People are meant to go through life two by two." Glad I get to go through it with you, dear.

Happy Birthday.

*Please note the total lack of green on this post. Just the way you like it, Sugar Pie.

Thought for the Lord's Day #17

The Sabbath came out of Christ's hands, we see then, not despoiled of any of its authority or robbed of any of its glory, but rather enhanced in both authority and glory. Like the other commandments it was cleansed of all that was local or temporary in the modes in which it had hitherto been commended to God's people in their isolation as a nation, and stood forth in its universal ethical content. Among the changes in its external form which it thus underwent was a change in the day of its observance. No injury was thus done the Sabbath as it was commended to the Jews; rather a new greatness was brought to it. Our Lord, too, following the example of his Father, when he had finished the work which it had been given him to do, rested on the Sabbath—in the peace of his grave. But he had work yet to do, and, when the first day of the new week, which was the first day of a new era, the era of salvation, dawned, he rose from the Sabbath rest of the grave, and made all things new. As C. F. Keil beautifully puts it; "Christ is Lord of the Sabbath, and after the completion of his work, he also rested on the Sabbath. But he rose again on the Sabbath; and through his resurrection, which is the pledge to the world of the fruit of his redeeming work, he made this day the Lord's Day for his Church, to be observed by it till the Captain of its salvation shall return, and having finished the judgment upon all his foes to the very last, shall lead it to the rest of that eternal Sabbath which God prepared for the whole creation through his own resting after the completion of the heaven and the earth." Christ took the Sabbath into the grave with him and brought the Lord's Day out of the grave with him on the resurrection morn.

-B. B. Warfield

In honor of Frodo being clueless about next week being a certain "Holy day"--atta boy!

Creative Recycling

I just know that Micah's going to start planning his version of this (if he hasn't already). I should probably apologize to his wife now.

Some advice...

I love coffee. It is truly odd when I don't have at least a cup in a day. It's unusual if I don't have a pot a day, honestly (thankfully, the days of late Spring Term '06 are a distant memory--there was a month or so that I was doing three pots a day. Yes, three by myself). Coffee's so important to me, I wrote one (and I think only) love poem to it. I've been tempted to write more. TLomL takes her coffee almost as seriously, and we're raising three coffee-holics (Frodo's a hold-out, for some inexplicable reason).*

I don't primarily drink the stuff for the caffeine (tho' I do avoid decaf--it doesn't taste right), but I do certainly appreciate the effects of C₈H₁₀N₄O₂ (as diminished as they are for me). I drink it for the taste first and foremost--then smell, then feel of it, then heat (esp at work, where it's nearly always cold). But it's primarily about the flavor.

Which brings me to my dilemma. I work with two different people during the week. One is in recovery, and drinks/makes what another colleague calls "AA coffee"--which, in a pinch, could probably be used in place of 10W-30. We knock off our first pot in the first 1.5 hrs of our shift, the second takes the rest of the shift because he really slows down so he can sleep after work. The other person I work with maybe drinks a cup every other week--and then she pours in enough milk/creamer that it's maybe 50-40% coffee--she doesn't like the taste. But there's enough in there to almost make her jumpy.

On the nights she needs coffee--she really needs it. The problem arises if she makes it back to the coffee pot first on those nights--typically she doesn't, but twice in the last three weeks she has. As someone who doesn't like Java, she cannot make a decent pot. It just tastes weak, watery and bland. (now I know a certain man who recently relocated from Idaho to South Carolina thinks I drink mine too strong [he's wrong, incidentally], but I know he'd have issues with this stuff). Incidentally, I've become convinced that Emily Post needs to codify the maxim that only those people who drink coffee should be allowed to make it in the workplace. At my last office job, we had a gentleman who rarely drank the stuff, and couldn't make a decent pot. He'd only make it if he was going out of his way to be a help, or as a gesture of gratitude--but he realized his shortcomings and generally just asked someone to do it for him. That I could respect.

I used to suck it up and drink the stuff my partner makes, but I just can't anymore.

The aforementioned last two times she beat me to the pot, I've just gone without for the shift. (just got home from one of those shifts as you can tell from the mildly rambling nature of this and the previous post, just am not that sharp). I don't want to put up with that garbage anymore, but I'm afraid I'm coming across as rude when I don't have any--and I know I'd come across as rude if I dumped hers out after she's had her 13 fluid ounces and made something palatable. What should I do, readers? Other than redoubling my efforts at being the first one to the staff room, that is. I really don't enjoy going an 8-hr shift without drinking anything--nor do I enjoy withdrawal headaches like the I'm almost done with now. She takes criticism (constructive or otherwise) as well as a bratty, catty and semi-talented American Idol finalist, so I really don't think I can say anything, but I'm open to suggestions.

Alright, whine's over. Hopefully back soon with something else.

* worry not, we don't let the other three, particularly, Arnold drink it that often--but they are learning how to appreciate it

Blog, Interrupted

Sorry, kletois, I was trying to get something posted yesterday, really. But I sorta got distracted. About 4 or so, started having this sharp pain in my chest. It wouldn't go away, didn't seem to be made worse or better by anything I did. After a half-hour or so, got annoyed enough I went to WebMd to play with their "Symptom Checker," which was a waste of time. Because they only have one result for chest pain..."seek medical attention immediately."

How's that helpful?

St. Luke's Symptom Checker was no better. "Call 911."

Again, not helpful.

I want to know what might be going on. Want to know how concerned I should be. And I want to reach these conclusions by playing "House: The Home Game." First I try for Lupus, then come up with some sort of infection, finally settling on something more pedestrian--and bring myself to the verge of death at least twice in the process. The level of my sarcastic remarks is directly proportionate to the level of my pain (yes, the more it hurts, the funnier I get--really). But I don't get to play today, Apparently, I'm supposed to be"very" concerned about whatever it might be that's going on--and never mind the details. [sigh] Just no fun at all.

Well, St. Luke's is just about 4 miles away, so I leave work and check into the ER...excuse me, ED, is what they're calling it now (can't imagine who thought that acronym was a good idea...maybe they're getting underwriting from Pfizer). Anyway, they whisk me into a room, slap on the EKG pads and whatnot, got the ol' IV in, and things get rolling. Sort of.

It was typical ER stuff...lotta hustle and then nothing. Eventually, the doctor came in and told me that my EKG was fine but he was worried about maybe a clot in my lungs (not sure why a bad EKG sounded like a better option to me than that) or something else (not sure what the something else was...I'd drifted off for a few minutes before he came in and was still groggy), so they were going to run some more tests before they decided whether they kick me or keep me around.

It's not too long after that before TLomL joins me in the doing nothing (but making me feel so much better). TVLand finished showing the 80's comedies that had been keeping me company. So I switch to the news, where we are told every 45 seconds that the governor of New York hasn't resigned, but they'll let us know when he does--or decides to. Occasionally, they'll mention Obama's primary win, or the latest scandal with the Clinton campaign. It's enough to make me want to walk out (why couldn't I have done this on or after Opening Day [12 days from today--yee-haw!] so I'd at least be able to watch ESPN?), but I don't--just in case the louse does decide to resign. Or was it because TLomL was there and probably would've arranged to have me sedated if I tried?

The doctor finally returns, probably no clot--tho' it can take a few more hours before the enzymes start to show up on a blood test, so no promises. No mention of the other thing, so I still don't know what it was. My choices are: get checked into the Chest Pain Center, which will mean I'm there for at least 10 hours, while they monitor me and hope the pain goes away; or go home and hope the pain goes away. I opt to go home for three main reasons: 1. Saving thousands of dollars; 2. More comfortable for me and the Mrs., 3. There's food at home. (if it was 1 or 3 alone, I'd have decided on home, honestly--put the two of those together and it's a slam-dunk). So 20 minutes and 30 NY Gubernatorial updates later, we're outta there.

The pain does go away--sometime during my 5-hour late morning/afternoon nap. Have been getting the occasional momentary twinge just to remind me that it was around. So what was going on? Beats me, as the doc said when he was discharging me: "Sometimes with chest pains, we just don't know where they come from or if they mean anything." There are times when I think I'd be happier if they slapped on a leech and sent me home.

One of these days, they'd better find something. I can't afford to keep calling wolf. Since Sept. 06 I've been to the ER 4 times on heart-related issues. Each time, I've come home empty handed. Pretty soon, the villagers are gonna stop coming out to protect the flock of sheep.

So that's all just to say why I didn't get around to talking about The Wire, American Idol, and some books I've been reading lately.

Overheard

Q: Did you hear about the deadly serpent with a lovely singing voice?

A: It was a choral snake.*

*I really have no idea why I felt compelled to post this...but maybe this'll help all of you emailing me for more posts to qualify that request with words like "good," "decent," "quality," "not stupid," etc.**


**I realize if I really focused on those kind of posts, I'd be looking at 368 posts since I started this thing, not 1296+.

First Paragraphs

Subject A:Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery. He lunged for the nearest painting he could see, a Carravagio. Grabbing the gilded frame, the seventy-three-year-old man heaved the masterpiece toward himself until it tore from the wall and Saunière collapsed backward in a heap beneath the canvas.

Subject B:In the history of the world there have been lots of onces and lots of times, and every time has had a once upon it. most people will tell you that the once upon a time happened in a land far, far away, but it really depends on where you are. The once upon a time may have been just outside your back door. It may have been beneath your very feet. It might not have been in a land at all but deep in the sea's belly or bobbing around on its back.

One of these is the first paragraph of a "Juvenile" novel that will never make the author famous. One of these is from a record-selling novel that received mega-press. One is imaginative, clever; the other seems paint-by-numbers. One is something I wish I could write; the other I could whip off in a few minutes.

In short, one is good. The other, not.

Arnold/Kidney Kid Update

March 5, 2004	March 5, 2008

Been a wild 4 years since those first few days of his life...but nowhere near as wild as we expected, thankfully.

Had another checkup last week--on the 4th anniversary of his initial diagnosis. Not exactly the greatest anniversary to note, but hey...you make the best of what you do. As the pictures above indicate, things are going much better now than they were then.

Kidney function tested as 41% (really anywhere between 30-45%, but the most recent blood work showed 41). For those keeping score at home, "10% is Transplantville...20% is when we start planning." Or so says our doc...homey little metaphor, isn't it? Worthy of Dan Rather. Oh, for those who've asked--we're still waiting on results from that all day test.

The visit was educational...learned about the hormonal component to toilet training. Don't know why I'm so surprised there is one, there's a hormonal component to everything nowadays*. A fringe problem with the kidney issue is that that hormone doesn't usually kick-in on time with kids like him. Which does explain a thing or two. Now I don't just bring this up so I have something written with which I can embarrass him...it's just that there's all these things that come along with his condition. You think about chronic renal failure and you think about transplants, dialysis, growth problems and all that. You don't think about problems with toilet training, or having to go through physical therapy, or potential delays in intellectual development (very thankfully, nothing we've really noticed). Every now and then, can't help but wonder about what unexpected problem is next.

On the less nephrological side, things are going very well. He's the life of the party--even when we're not having one, maybe particularly when we're not having one. His speech development could use some work--he gives soft-spoken a whole new meaning. He has this toy computer that he plays with all the time--he's teaching himself a lot of spelling, letter and word recognition, etc. He's chomping at the bit to grow up--even while we all try to keep him from doing so. His parents, my folks, his siblings, my sister, my niece--we're all trying to keep him as a toddler, we're not letting go. But man, oh man...he so wants to grow up; to play baseball, to do schoolwork, to be like his brothers. And he's not letting us win.

Blast it all.



* yeah, yeah, I know there's always been hormonal components to things, we just know about them now...

I don't remember drinking a whole bottle of NyQuil this morning

...but I must have. Cuz I could swear that the by-line to this piece is former Sen. George McGovern.

But it can't be...it says things like:

I've come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society.

Why do we think we are helping adult consumers by taking away their options? We don't take away cars because we don't like some people speeding. We allow state lotteries despite knowing some people are betting their grocery money. Everyone is exposed to economic risks of some kind. But we don't operate mindlessly in trying to smooth out every theoretical wrinkle in life.

The nature of freedom of choice is that some people will misuse their responsibility and hurt themselves in the process. We should do our best to educate them, but without diminishing choice for everyone else.

Oh wait...that first paragraph I quoted starts off by saying:

Since leaving office I've written about public policy from a new perspective: outside looking in.

Since leaving office. Well, that makes sense now.

I really liked the piece, I've got notes on my other hard drive for a rant about how our state gov't is trying to protect us from ourselves in similar ways. Yipe. I was getting ready to write something that would echoGeorge McGovern.

Stop the world, I want to get off.

From Our Table to Yours (or your nook, bar, over your sink...whatever)

Happy Cereal Day!

(yeah, it's a real day...commemorating the creation of Dr. Kellog's flakes in 1897)

(and, yeah, having a hard time coming up with things to blog)

Do You Believe in Love at First Sight?

Iron Man Exclusive Trailer

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Julie, Julie, Julie...how could you have doubted this casting for a second?

Leap Day

I remember back when I was in the State Indoctrination Centers as a kid, it was typical for them to do something special on that intercalated day in February. Classes, on the whole, were canceled in lieu of activities. Movie day (using actual projectors); I remember one year which was unseasonably warm our elementary school had a track meet kind of thing; or something along those lines.

I didn't make any plans for the day for our little academy--I got behind after being taken out with a kidney stone for a couple days last week, and am just too unorganize to have thought of it before this morning anyway. Honestly, I don't really have any ideas what we could do to commemorate the day--other than having the Princess propose to someone, I guess--and that'll only happen over my rotting corpse.

What kind of things are you and yours doing to mark this 'bonus' day?

radio.blog update

Indulging the addiction...think they're all self-explanatory...if you don't recognize one, leave a comment, and I or a fellow addict will be more than happy to help. If you recognize them all, you probably need help. (Please note that I obviously am in deep need of help)


I know, I know, left a few things off...Remy Zero's "Save Me;" "Moon Over Parma;" The Presidents "Clevland Rocks;" Nerf Herder's little ditty...and many others, but hey...I only have so much disk space on my server :)

Ahh, Justification for that Decades Old Thing Hanging in my Closet

(semi-h/t: the fine folks at girlfriday)

I just don't get Wes Anderson

I'll say this for Hollywood Video, they are really into movies. They want their employees thinking about movies all the time--during the interviews, orientation, etc. they kept making us think about movies--not just the new releases, but older films, genre films, and so on. The first Team Meeting I attended we got things rolling by having to name the last movie.

The answers were the typical...Merchant-Ivory flicks, Old Yeller-ish things and so on. I remember struggling to come up with something as it was coming up to my turn. Thankfully, I caught a cover over my manager's shoulders. "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou--just so much wasted talent and opportunity." Not only did I successfully answer the question without the stammering and "uh"s that the other guys made us suffer through before they admitted that Debra Winger die of cancer made them get weepy, but I also shot myself to the head of the Film Geek pack.

In all honesty, I don't really think I shed a tear over The Life Aquatic, but it would've been deserved. Rushmore was great. The Royal Tenenbaums was one of the best films I saw in 2001. But I just totally didn't get The Life Aquatic...I thought Wilson was fine, Blanchett was good (she's genetically incapable of being anything other than good...see Stewart's comments from the Oscars), as were sever other performances. But the whole thing just left me disappointed and annoyed.

That was then, just a fluke, I was sure. So, last night I grabbed The Darjeeling Limited. It, also, contained some good performances. And, to same something positive...I wasn't annoyed, or even that disappointed. In fact, I'm not sure I had any reaction at all. Wilson was good, Brody was good, Schwartzman was good. But, eh. Who cares? Certainly not me. Didn't enjoy it, didn't hate it. Just...nothing. Is it me? Is it Anderson? I don't like watching films and having no discernible reaction.

April 4 is how many days away?

too many...far too many....

Your Geology Lesson for the Day

from Peanuts.com

just another example of White Noise doing our part to educate the masses...

The First in Six Years

Yes, Laura, I have hair. Some. A bit.

Actually, got my first haircut in six years last week. Still not sure I like this better than the Mr. Clean/Dr. White/Caucasian-Avery Brooks look that I've sported May '02 (and off and on before), but this is far easier to maintain.

I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean, S-M-A-R-T!

TV Reviews

In Treatment

Anyone else watching this?

Tidying up...

Slipped a new profile picture of sorts up there and cleaned up the links over to the right.

Date Night

This past Saturday, the local rec center had their annual "Daddy/Daughter Date Night." Last year, I asked her several times to attend, but my Princess just wasn't interested. This year, however, once she saw the flyer for it about a month ago, she wouldn't shut up about it. At.All.

Being the observant guy that I am, I figured she wanted to go this year, so I reserved us a couple of spots. Very glad I did (pretty sure she is, too)

The place was crowded--I'm not sure how many I expected, but it wasn't half of who showed up. I think it was more than they expected, too, based on some of the things the DJ said. But the staff, while clearly over their heads, did yeoman's work, keeping things fun for the girls--dancing, snacks, corsages, a little make-your-own-necklace craft table, portraits, snacks, games and so on.

Oh! and the best face-painting that the Princess has ever been on the receiving end of. Can't forget that.

It was enjoyable just to watch the dad's dote on and goof around with their daughters. There were some girls who clearly would've been embarrassed as anything by their fathers if there had been any boys present; but in their absence of them, they were having a lot of fun.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and as we left, she started making plans for next year. Including the need for us to practice dancing a bit more--she clearly felt uncomfortable on the dance floor. Sure, part of it was intimidation being in the presence of a modern-day Astaire, whether he's her father or not--and who can blame her? I'm looking forward to it.

On putting my money where my mouth is

(no pun intended)

I hope it was obvious that I was blowing off steam/joking around Tuesday. The news isn't quite as bad as it could've been--but it'd have been hard pressed to be worse than it is.

The trust I talked about yesterday isn't always easy...it's doable, but not without some effort--for me, at least, it's always harder when dollar figured get tossed around. But that's what friends/readers are for, right? Prayers and/or a minivan transmission would be appreciated.

Kids are from Mars, Dads are from Earth

Taglines on movie posters/marketing campaigns aren't always that helpful, but in the case of The Martian Child, the tagline's right on: "The story of a man becoming a father...and a boy becoming a son."

John Cusack stars as David Gordon, a widower and Sci-Fi novelist who decides to finish what he and his wife started two years prior to her death: adopt a child. He's matched up with a six year old who's convinced he's from Mars, sent to earth to study what it means to be human. Bobby Coleman plays the boy, and gives what's probably the best child-performance since Cole Sear saw dead people--he's been abandoned, emotionally abused, socially awkward, and totally unsure of himself.

Amanda Peet erases whatever karmic debt she owed the Hollywood pantheon for Studio 60 playing Gordon's wife's lifelong friend--likely Peet's most fully human character to date. Oliver Platt is effective as Gordon's agent (tho' underused, like he is in 97.8% of whatever he appears in), Richard Schiff delivers as the social worker in charge of the case, and Joan Cusack somehow pulls off portraying Gordon's older sister.

The plot is fairly obvious and predictable, but it's supposed to be. This isn't one of those stories that's supposed to sneak up on you and rattle your bars. A simple, straightforward and heartfelt plotline.

Not that this has anything to do with the movie, but coincidentally enough, during the climactic scene the pollen count the house reached astronomical levels--thankfully that count returned to normal while the credits scrolled by.

I should note that while this is a PG movie (yes, they do still make those, I'm as surprised as anyone), I'm not sure it's a movie for kids. Just don't think they'd get into it--which is okay. It's a movie for grown-ups.

This is possibly the sweetest movie I've seen in years--if not ever. Definitely worth the time and money (or spot on the rental queue)

A Lot Happier than I Expected to be a Year Ago

A year ago today when I posted "One of My Best Days," a friend pulled me aside (well, as close as you can come to doing that in the cyber world) and asked if I really thought that it was all that wise to wax romantic about my wife, given what was going on then. I told him that I really didn't care if it was all that wise, it was what was on my mind, so I wrote it.

I don't bring this up to belittle Chris or his remark*, I'm really thinking of what difference a little perspective makes. I'm pretty sure that if I asked him now what he thought of that post, he wouldn't have a single misgiving about it. Now, when I wrote that post, did I have a clue that I was a few days away from having my heart stop when I received divorce papers? Nope. And on either of those days, did I have the foggiest notion, that God, in his Providence was going to restore the marriage? Nope.

But, we all know that God knew it. He is on His throne, and we are not. From the perspective of us here on this ball of dirt, the tapestry is a giant, dismal, confusing mess. But from the perspective of eternity, the tapestry is beautiful, perfect--nothing out of place.

Which means that when the going gets rough (and, we shouldn't forget--when the going is smooth) we can trust in the care of the Master Weaver--it's all going according to plan. How the Arminian/Open Theist/"Don't Label Me Anything, But I Sure Ain't No Calvinist" can rest, I'll never know.

More immediately, this means: while it's slipped a little in the ratings, February 13, 1996 is still one of my best days, and my lobster and I are celebrating an even dozen years as an official couple today. Yahoo!

Soli Deo Gloria.


* One day if I remember to, I'll write up a list of the dumbest comments made to me during that time of trial. All were well meaning, but gracious! people really need to stop and think of what they're saying...

Mahna, Mahna Strikes Back

Here's One of Those Sentences that Make you Wince

Me, talking to my mechanic yesterday:

"What's the worst case scenario here gonna run me"

"Aww, you don't want me to answer that...Let's do some diagnostics first."

Don't want me to answer that? Ugh. Please pass the hemlock.

Finally was able to get a number out of him (but he insisted several times that it probably wouldn't be that)...a few hundred more than the purchase price.

Make that a double hemlock to go, please...

Help Wanted

a fellow homeschooler sent me a piece from Alpha Omega Publications' Homeschool View

Now accepting applications―

Family seeking fun-loving, godly homeschool teacher. Applicant will be responsible for providing total educational development and daily personal care for children of multiple ages. Applicant will assume the following roles: cook, housemaid, nurse, taxi driver, administrative assistant, accountant, athletic coach, social director, computer technician, household and automotive repairman, gardener, course instructor in multiple subject areas and grade levels, and various other responsibilities. This is a full-time position―approximately 120 hours or more per week.

Qualified candidates must be able to work well under pressure, multi-task, and prioritize work loads while maintaining a friendly, enthusiastic attitude. Quick thinking, good memory, and a varied background in extensive subject matter are a must. Promising candidates will be resourceful, adjust easily to distractions, and display creative, hard-working leadership abilities. Organizational and problem solving skills are a plus. Previous teaching experience and/or college preferred, but not required.

If you're interested in working in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, this is the position for you! For more information on this exciting opportunity to earn fulfilling, one-of-a-kind rewards, please apply in person today.

If this was in the paper/on monster.com I wouldn't have thrown a résumé at it--there's no way on God's green Earth I fit these qualifications. And yet here I am.

What was I thinking?

Witty Repartee

I so have to remember this trick.

Q & A

Despite having been informed recently that I no longer hold Reformed convictions* (probably news to the Calvinistic Baptists I've been harassing lately as it was to me), we're plugging our way through the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

When Frodo and Samwise were younger, we used the First Catechism with them, and were pretty pleased with what they were able to do. But then a friend gave us a copy of Westminster's Shortest Catechism (partial answers of the WSC so that younger kids can get a start on it without all the verbiage--saves them from learning more than one catechism), and we tried that with the Princess until we lost it and went awhile without really any catechism at all.

That didn't last too long and a couple of years ago we started the older three on the WSC--we're making decent progress on memorizing and understanding it--have backtracked a couple of times to focus on this or that, etc. But Arnold's been left out of the memorization thing entirely (would try to ask him a few basic related questions, tho). But recently we've had him at least echo me phrase by phrase using the answers that the others are memorizing. And, naturally, he's actually memorizing things!

Granted, he's still having some troubles with pronouncing some words, so it comes out:

Jus-ication an act of od's free grace, wherein he pardoneh all our sins, and accept us as ri-eous in his sigh, on-y for ri-eousness o Chris impew to us, and ceive by faith alone![he picked up on my stress of that idea and shouts the last three words]

instead of

Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.

(and yes, Frodo, I typed that out from memory.)

Regardless of how he says it, it's a blessing to hear. Generally, his siblings will erupt in applause as he finishes his daily regimen of questions (while I appreciate the sentiment, and share it...the practice gets really old). Sure, he's got a long way to go before he really understands what he's saying beyond the phonetic level--and sometimes has a ways to go before he even gets that. But the neural pathways are being laid. The pattern is getting stuck in the recesses of his brain...and, by the grace of God, they'll stick there--and grow deeper and more permanent all the time.


* I haven't decided what kind of theology I now hold to...maybe I'll give the whole Emergent thing a try...get to drink coffee during services and cuss when I want.

The movie with a title so long, you'd think a Puritan wrote it

With an all-star cast depicting the last days of one of the more colorful figures in U.S. History, odds are, you're going to end up with a good movie. Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a textbook example that sure things aren't.

Or let me put it another way...if you've ever wondered how Young Guns II would've been if Kevin Costner had directed it...this is the film for you.

The actors did what they could with what they were given. Brad Pitt does a decent job, but is largely wasted. Mary-Louise Parker spends far too much of her limited screen-time as window-dressing. Sam Rockwell only gets to really stretch his legs for a few minutes, but, again, largely wasted. About the only actor who really gets to shine is James Carville (James Carville?). Casey Affleck, whose task it is to carry the film, tries but the weight is too much for someone of his stature. Try as they might, lemonade is out of the question--the best these pros can do with these lemons is make some ReaLemon.

The film is an interminable, meandering, would-be epic that looks gorgeous but in the end, just made me glad I got an extra 2 hour nap today.

Spiderwick?

Anyone out there read/had their kids read The Spiderwick Chronicles? Been wondering about them for awhile, the Library never has a copy in stock, and I just cannot bring myself to spend $11 on a book that measures 6.8" x 4.7" x 0.8" without a good idea if it's worth it (yet one more reason I won't buy a Bruce Wilkinson book, tho am pretty sure of the worth of those).

This is just sad...

Report: 1 in 4 Britons Think Winston Churchill Never Existed

One in four Britons don't believe wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill existed, according to a recent survey.

I'd laugh and laugh at this, but am willing to bet a similar number of Americans would say the same about FDR.

Churchill is compared to Florence Nightingale and Sir Walter Raleigh, seen by many survey respondents as a mythical person, the London Daily Mail reported Monday.

The survey, conducted with 3,000 respondents to test their general knowledge, reported other historical figures such as Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, Cleopatra and the Duke of Wellington were made up for books and films, the Mail reported.

Oh I've seen this on Leno. Who knew he could've gotten scholarly attention for this? (note: am sure this serious statistical analysis was exponentially more funny than Leno has ever been)

The survey, by UKTV Gold, also found that Sherlock Holmes was a real person.

A drug-addicted genius solving the impossible while abusing his good-natured doctor friend? 'Course they think he existed...they watch House, M. D.

Young Britons under 20 lack a basic historical education according to the survey results, historian Correlli Barnett told the Daily Mail.

I'll take 'Obvious Conclusions that Really Didn't Need an Expert to State' for $300, Alex.

"This suggests a complete lack of common sense and respect for our greatest heroes of the past," Barnett said.

Do I really want a wireless lifestyle?

Snow's coming down steady today, and it appears to be intermittently interfering with things

• Satellite TV...spotty (can't help but rejoice that I'm a baseball fan today of all days for TV signals to go wonky...LOL)
• Wireless Internet...very spotty
• Wireless phone...bad connections, dropped calls, static-filled convos

I got no strings to pull me down, but that also means that I could be easily set adrift.

Thought for the Lord's Day #15

How just is the apostle's observation, that no man can say Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost! How astonishing the thought, --that the Maker of heaven and earth, the Holy One of Israel, before whose presence the earth shook, the heavens dropped, when he displayed a faint emblem of his majesty upon Sinai, should afterwards appear in the form of a servant, and hang upon a cross, the sport and scorn of wicked men! I cannot wonder that to the wise men of the world this appears absurd, unreasonable, and impossible; yet to right reason, to reason enlightened and sanctified, however amazing the proposition be, yet it appears true and necessary, upon a supposition, that a holy God is pleased to pardon sinners in a way suited to display the awful glories of His justice. The same arguments which prove the blood of bulls and goats insufficient to take away sin, will conclude against the utmost doings or sufferings of men or angels. The Redeemer of sinners must be mighty; he must have a personal dignity to stamp such a value upon his undertakings, as that thereby God may appear just, as well as merciful, in justifying the ungodly for his sake; and He must be all-sufficient to bless and almighty to protect ,those who come unto him for safety and life.

Such a one is our Shepherd. This is he of whom we, through grace, are enabled to say, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. We are his by every tie and right; he made us, he redeemed us, he reclaimed us from the hand of our enemies, and we are his by our own voluntary surrender of ourselves; for though we once slighted, despised, and opposed him, he made us willing in the day of his power: he knocked at the door of our hearts; but we (at least I) barred and fastened it against him as much and as long as possible. But when he revealed his love, we could stand out no longer. Like sheep, we are weak, destitute, defenceless, prone to wander, unable to return, and always surrounded with wolves. But all is made up in the fulness, ability, wisdom, compassion, care, and faithfulness of our great Shepherd. He guides, protects, feeds, heals, and restores, and will be our guide and our God even until death. Then he will meet us, receive us, and present us unto himself, and we shall be near him, and like him, and with him for ever.

- John Newton

Please note the very definition of "Amazing Grace" by the hymnist himself:

We are his by every tie and right; he made us, he redeemed us, he reclaimed us from the hand of our enemies, and we are his by our own voluntary surrender of ourselves; for though we once slighted, despised, and opposed him, he made us willing in the day of his power: he knocked at the door of our hearts; but we (at least I) barred and fastened it against him as much and as long as possible. But when he revealed his love, we could stand out no longer.

Who Needs Obama/Clinton/Romney/McCain/Huckabee? Draft Abraham

Typically, I don't like it when a blog goes out of it's milieu--I read sports blogs to read about sports, political/news blogs for news/politics/reasons to kill myself, theology blogs to read about theology, writer blogs to read about publishing/process/promotion/influences/(okay, these guys typically get away wiht more before I get annoyed. But every now and then someone'll step off the reservation and it'll be worthwhile. Case in point:
Nice to see our priorities are in place

The nation is at war in Irag and Afganistan and families across the land are mourning their fallen sons and daughters. The economy is closing in on a recession. Our literacy rate is falling. Kids are abused, people are homeless and global warming could make Houston Street beachfront property in a few decades. Guns are readily available to criminals. The terrorists who planned the destruction of the World Trade Center remain at large. Gas is headed for $3.50 a gallon.

Yet Sen. Arlen Specter is concerned that the NFL destroyed videotapes of football games. And the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today had a old baseball player named Chuck Knoblauch come to Washington to ask him if he used steroids six years ago.

What’s next....

You gotta read the rest...

Thought for the Lord's Day #14

The Spirit of God shows us hidden things, the knowledge of which cannot reach our senses. . . . We are told of the resurrection of the blessed, but meantime we are involved in corruption; we are declared to be just, and sin dwells within us; we hear that we are blessed, but meantime we are overwhelmed by untold miseries; we are promised an abundance of good things, but we are often hungry and thirsty; God proclaims that He will come to us immediately, but seems to be deaf to our cries. What would happen to us if we did not rely on our hope, and if our minds did not emerge above the world out of the midst of darkness through the shining Word of God and by His Spirit? Faith is therefore rightly called the substance of things which are still the objects of hope and the evidence of things not seen.

- John Calvin

not sure how I got off-track on these, will try to do better...

Semi-Coherent Random Ramblings

Having one of those nights where consciousness wants to leave me faster than um, some witty metaphor about me back in high school and cheerleaders that I could write if I wasn't about to receive a restraining order from wakefulness. So am just going to type random thoughts into NoteTab during these wee small hours of the morning in an attempt to keep the brain churning.

Buckle up kids, this could be a bumpy ride.

I understand the WGA is fighting for what they think is important, fair, just, etc.--and I truly support them (which is gotta be the first time in my life that I've pulled for strikers). But I want this strike over! I want Chuck, HIMYM, Life, Battlestar, House, Bones, etc. back. The double-dose of Chuck Thursday (thank you NBC!) which I just finished watching (thank you NBC.com!) really just served to remind me how much I miss them. (that doesn't sound tooo pathetic, does it?)

Whoever first thought of wrapping milk chocolate with a thin candy coating is a genius, right up there with the inventor of the wheel.

Had my first exposure to Vista tonight. They bought a new computer for the office at work and asked me to set it up for them (wow! they actually read my résumé!!!). I don’t get the hate for it. Seems kinda nice. When I had my desktop repaired last spring, my computer guy told me he'd tell me to take my money elsewhere if I asked him to install Vista. Based on press/friend reviews, I assured him that wouldn't be an issue. But now, I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I'm not running out and buying a copy today (pretending I had the money) or anything, Dear :) It probably helps that this machine was designed for Vista, unlike most of the people I know who hate it on upgraded XP machines. Not sure I see any great advantage over XP, but then again, I haven't spent that much time on it.

Thomas Sangster is one impressive child actor. But his eyes are seriously creepifying.

Good friend wrote a very long soul-baring blogpost a week or so back. Don't see eye to eye with her on some of what she talked about, but I can see where she's coming from. Great example in how a church can fail...

Co-worker was watching Shattered Glass tonight. Saw something I couldn't believe...Hayden Christensen was acting! Don't get me wrong, he's not my generation's DeNiro, but he was actually acting pretty well. Figured after recently ripping on the guy, I should mention that.

I just find it hilarious that the Feds can't find Chuck Knoblauch to give him his subpeona to appear before that waste of taxpayer money committee on 'roids in baseball. Speaking of which, Stallone is saying he took HGH to get ready for Rambo. NO WAY!

Speaking of Yankee players, Phil Hughes started blogging recently--this probable future superstar is interacting with the fans in a very open way. Seems like a fun guy. Liked what I saw from him last year, have great hopes for this year. Now am pulling for him even more (didn't think that was possible), cuz I feel like I know the guy. Silly, I know.

Man, my handwriting (which is fairly nightmarish to begin with) is really, really nasty when I'm tired.

For those having a hard time surviving the strike...Alan Sepinwall's Strike Survival TV Club is a real help. Right now, he's going through Cupid--best work Paula Marshall's ever done and some of Jeremy Piven's best as well. Even Lisa Loeb!

I've held off on a couple of anti-Marvel/anti-One More Day rants over the last couple of weeks for some reason. Still might let loose with one before long, but, I should just take this opportunity to say I hate, HATE, HATE, HATE the moves that Joe Q and the rest of the Marvel Powers That Be are making lately. Nothing against them personally (well, am trying to keep it that way) but may they have very short tenures at their current jobs.

One of the best ways technology is helping my life is my cell phone. Why? I get to talk to TLomL on the way home from work each day. The conversation is rarely profound, rarely productive or even that informative..."Man, it's cold." "I'm so tired." "I've got so much to do today..." "Kids work up too early." That kind of thing. But I'll tell ya, that 20 minutes or so are some of my favorite each day.

Speaking of which, today when I get home, I'm going to do something I've done for maybe a grand total of 7 hours since Sept 06 when I gave up the whole land-line thing...I'm turning off my cell.

Time to go...

Am sorely tempted to give this a try...

from Wired.com:

Turn your waking day into a 22-hour party by getting your shut-eye polyphasically — in a few quick bursts. Studies by the Chronobiology Research Institute show that for those on round-the-clock schedules — sailors, astronauts, gamers — it's more effective to recharge in short stints. For survival, the brain will eventually adapt by entering the REM state much faster. The cumulative result: a higher percentage of the best kind of z's.

Can't help but think that they're absolutely right later on when they say that, "The first seven days of deprivation will be sheer misery."

H/T: Sheldon

Not quite up there with Shawn Spencer in the whole observation department

So we get the new Nampa Recreation Department catalog the other day, TLomL flips through it and passes it along, "nothing interesting in here." I start to thumb through it, catch this picture out of the corner of my eye, do a double take, then whack her on the shoulder with the rolled up catalog. "Nothing interesting, Mom?" I ask as I show her the picture with her #2 in the center. Oops.

But it goes downhill from there.

We later show the picture to Samwise, "Hey! I have that shirt!" Oy vey. "I would hope so, since it's you wearing it." "Hey! That's me!!"

A couple days later we show that to my mother, who admires the photo as any grandmother should adding, "And I recognize that pair of eyes behind him, don't I?" "Nah, Frodo's in another class this year." "Oh, really? I was sure...." Then this morning, as I'm scanning the picture, I take another look...those are Frodo's eyes (and, proof that only a parent would catch, Sam hasn't worn those pants to PE this year)--that's a picture from last year.

Heaven help us if we're ever called upon to identify someone in a police line up...

Of all the sexist, racist, ignorant things to say...

Been seeing this headline on my iGoogle page all day and I've finally had enough:

Apparently black women (at least those who'd vote in Democratic primaries, and what self-respecting black woman wouldn't, I guess...) cannot think in terms of issues or qualifications beyond skin color and gender. John Edwards must only have White Male Democrats voting for him. How do people think like this?

Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans only as members of groups and never as individuals. Racists believe that all individual who share superficial physical characteristics are alike; as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called "diversity" actually perpetuate racism. Their intense focus on race is inherently racist, because it views individuals only as members of racial groups.

- Rep. Ron Paul

(for those who are interested, you can click on the image to get to the CNN article, or if you want to read something of value, click on the name of the best GOP candidate running to read his article "What Really Divides Us?")

Just 'cuz I haven't done this in awhile

snapped this yesterday

Frodo took this while we were at it...I was supposed to be in this pic, but...ugh. No way am I showing anyone that thing...you can see my driver's license photo first.

Well, that explains a lot...

In memory of December 31, 1995...


Has it really been 12 years? Seems like yesterday...

You've Got Your "Ooo"; You've Got Your "Eee," You've Got Your "Ooo Ah Ah Ting Tang" and You've Got your "Walla Walla" and Your "Bing Bang"

Had this one about ready to go last Tuesday, and for some reason didn't finish it...I'm telling ya...over the last month or so my attention span has been akin to a hyperactive fruit fly's....

Went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks last weekend, and I'll be the first to tell you I had almost no interest at all in doing so--was practically antagonistic about it. I stopped short of antagonism because 1. it's a kid's movie fer cryin' out loud, not some Michael Moore or Oliver Stone dreck; 2. The TLomL and Offspring were bored out of their minds and this would serve to alleviate that for a while (I was pretty bored, too, but had a couple of unread novels on my library stack, so...); 3. I was trying to be a good sport things that didn't involve me sitting around sipping some sort of beverage and reading/watching TV. So with only a little expressed reluctance, I throw in the towel and go.

All the Offspring were excited about this movie--Arnold, in particular, was excited to go see "the 'real' Chipmunks" (as opposed to the cartoon snippets he'd seen on youtube). The rest of them kept singing "The Chipmunk Song" (a cute enough song in December...but in January?). This was going to be a long afternoon.

And then in the opening shot of the three computer generatedly furry critters doing a bucket brigade with nuts while singing "Bad Day", I look over at Arnold--literally sitting on the edge of his seat, his back as straight as possible, and eyes wide and filled with wonder. So much for my bad attitude.

Just as well that I dropped the attitude then, it was a cute flick. Not up to Enchanted or your typical Pixar level, but it was a good kid's movie. Was everything you could hope for in a Chipmunks film. Jason Lee was great as Dave--I couldn't help but think repeatedly that Lee was doing this film just like Chevy Chase would've in the mid-80's. Just something about the way he carried himself. (if Lee was mid-80's Chase, I think that makes David Cross Dan Akroyd).

Was the movie predictable? I should hope so--the target audience is in elementary school, fer cryin out loud. Were some of the jokes dumb? I should hope so--the target audience is in elementary school, fer cryin out loud. Was it fun? Was the music catchy? See above. Will I stop writing these questions?

BTW, if someone had just told be before I went to the movie that Justin Long was Alvin's voice--I would've gladly gone. Something about that guy...

Anyway, there is one big warning I have to give: you will get "Witch Doctor" stuck in your head. Period. No question about it. The movie's hip-hop-ish version has been stuck in my head since [note: in the week since I first wrote this post, that song has become unstuck, but it took time, a very long iTunes play list, and a lot of effort]. The the Classic Chipmunk version is infectious enough, but this new one is audio-MRSA.

Cackling at this Classic

Was trying to come up with something to put up here involving text, ideas, thought, etc. when I checked my email and got this video from a good friend...couldn't much else but crack up.

Are You Ready to Vote?

No, not talking about Ron Paul (or anyone else...). I'm talking about the voting that we Americans really care about--Tuesday vote counts that make Super Tuesday look like a High School Newspaper Opinion poll, I'm talking American Idol.

That's right--it's back tonight. I'll probably ignore, as per usual, most of the audition shows, I know that once we get to Hollywood week--I'll be there with my kids right after (during?) breakfast, putting my DVR to use every single episode. Especially in these WGA-Strike days, where I have nothing else to do...

Can this year top last? Yeah, hard not to...and the producers seem to know that. Hopefully their intended tweaks do the trick. As usual, Alan Sepinwall nails it in his column: How to polish a tarnished 'Idol'. Idol fans, or just those who like to think about how a TV show--nay, TV juggernaut--can improve itself, give it a read.

I knew something wasn't right lately...

It's snowing! We've got snow everywhere. Lots of it. According to the state's largest newspaper (which frequently gets things correct) 1/9 will be the first Snow Day for Government Schools in this part of the state since 1993. 1993? Really? That long? I knew our winters hadn't been up to snuff for awhile, but 15 years? That blows me away.

The way in to work tonight was a drag, to be honest--my co-worker, driving in her first real snow of her life was 30 minutes late. But, there's a part of me that really enjoyed it. Haven't spent too much time analyzing the why's and wherefore's of that enjoyment, but here's a few off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts:

1. TLoML hates driving in snow--even a little bit of it. So when it's time for her to go to work today, she'll call on me, her Man, for help. Not often I get to feel all Iron John-like. If you hear me doing my killer Tim Allen impression over the next few days, this is why.
2. I'm a native Idahoan. Which makes me a minority in most of the jobs I've held post-high school. Which, yeah, bothers me. I don't have a lot against those people who move to the state because of what it offers in way of nature, space, etc. (although too many of those types miss the irony of all the space, scenery and whatnot being destroyed to make room for them). What bothers me are the people who come here solely for the cheaper standard of living and complain non-stop about our infrastructure, government, politics, culture, welfare rules, weather, etc. etc. etc. I've worked with too many of those--particularly now. And I know they're all hating this weather--and all I have to say about that is, "HA. You moved here. This is Idaho." The person who will be relieving me at the end of my shift is a fantastic example of this. And I'm going to enjoy her misery more than I should.
[please note I never said anything about these things making me sound like a good person]
3. But most of all, is this feels right. This is what winter is supposed to feel, sound, and look like. It's supposed to be cold. It's supposed to be white. It's supposed to be wet. Lawns aren't supposed to be seen this time of year. And up until when I graduated UI (they still had snow days in northern Idaho after '93), that's what winter was about. But not lately. It's good to have it back.

Hasn't the Poor Man Suffered Enough?

Poor, poor William Gibson.

It apparently wasn't enough for Hollywood to take his groundbreaking short story, "Johnny Mnemonic," and turn it into 1995's Keanu Reeves' nightmare. Nope.

Today's SciFi Wire reports:

Hayden Christensen (Jumper) may star in a proposed film based on William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer.

Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that Christensen would play Case,the hacker at the center of the story.

Christensen--that automaton that made people think, "You know, that Jake Lloyd wasn't such a bad little actor..."--playing Case??!? It's just wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Next thing I'll be reading that Larry the Cable Guy has been cast as Ender Wiggin...