Speaking of DeMar, be sure to take a minute and read his rant about VeggieTales. On the whole, I think he's right.

So why does every VeggieTale video still sit on my shelf?

Hank Hanegraaf and his crew took a bold step this week--they had Gary DeMar on the show, promoting End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration of the Left Behind Series. Hank's not a preterist--or a postmiller--and they made that crystal clear today.

Still, just having him on--and allowing him to spout his views . . . takes guts. Most of the callers sounded like DeMar needed to be put on medication tout suite. I can bet that CRI has lost a lot of $$ and supporters . . .

Listen to it here . . .

Ahhh, the simple joys of parenting . . .

Thanks to an overly sensitive son (made more so by a cold) and some clumsiness with his drinking glass at dinner tonight, I was able to say (literally), "Don't cry over spilt milk."

Hey, I said it was a simple joy.

I honestly can't think of anything to say.

gotta come up with something here . . . .

I picked up this flyer the other day for a Workshop Series called "Energy in Motion--Spirit, Mind & Body Integration" to be held at the "Center of Spiritual Living." This workshop will be led by someone who claims to have a M.A. in Spiritual Psychology of all things. Anyhow, here's the tag line at the top of the flyer--"You have a great opportunity to unmaske you fear, tame your anger and demonstrate your splendor in the energy soup of wholeness!"

"Energy soup of wholeness?" Say what?!?

Can't believe it took me until 3 minutes ago to realize that I'd never posted a date, just a time on all these entries.

pfui.

I should probably add to the earlier thought--of course the Giants are going to win--which makes it worse. If there was a little suspense, I might hate it less. But it's only a matter of time, St. Louis is folding like a House of Cards.

(hee, hee, couldn't resist)

I did some reading in Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt today. I haven't sat down and read that cover to cover yet, for some good reasons and some that'll require therapy someday. For those of you who don't know who he is (I pity you), read this.

Anyhow, Adams had a huge impact on my intellectual and social development (or lack thereof), and reading that today helped me remember why and how.

Anyway. Back to the starting point. I was reading him today, going on about how computers should work and how Macs are way to complicated! And it was fun to read. It reminded me why I like to read and why I liked to write--fun. I've spent way too long trying to be a grown-up writer type, who can write serious (and short and non rambling) lines about serious arguments to build up to serious points. That's an important thing to do, and I'm going to continue trying. But. I'm going to try to remember the whole fun thing, too.

I'm not sure why, but I really want the Giants to lose the NLCS. I mean I really want them to lose.

There's no reason for this, I'm not a Cards fan. Not that I've ever made a conscious decision about it or anything, but I'm not a National League kind of guy. So why do I care?

No idea.

»The New TV Season, pt. 1 -- Alias

The show still rocks. It has never lived up to the promise of the Series Premier last year--but I don't think anything could. It has however come really, really close to that mark--and seems to be staying there.
Now I grant you, we're heading into soap opera land a little with the whole Will and Vaughn thing--not to mention Mommy Dearest. But what do you expect from a Felicity episode run amok?

In this week's episode, we once again see Jack as a human being, not simply uber-spy trying to be a dad. This is good. I can't think of the actor's name at the moment (and I'm not online so I can't check imdb.com), but I've like him for a long time, and he really seems to be getting Jack to a new place.

All, in all, I'm very pleased to have Agent Sidney Bristow gracing my TV screen again.

»The New TV Season, pt. 2 -- The Practice

What do you say about this show? It still has its moments of brilliance. But it has lost some of it's luster. The whole Lindsay as convicted murderer thing is old already. We all know that she's going to get off, or get a deal or . . . .something. But Ms. Donnell will be home for Thanksgiving--we all know that. So why do we have to endure this? To watch Eleanor feel bad for herself and get kicked around by the rest of the firm? Oh, gee, that's fun.

Still worth watching, but I wouldn't lose too much sleep if this old dog got put down.

»The New TV Season, pt. 3 -- NYPD Blue

On second thought, I'll save my remarks for now--will let them brew a little, and write something in a few days/weeks. Will just leave it as--it's a new Blue, a different Blue, but still Blue--and one of the best shows on TV. How about another 10? (nah, too many people close to Andy'd have to die for another 10--there aren't that many actors in Hollywood)

»The New TV Season, pt. 4 -- Smallville

Better than last year (except, like Alias, the Pilot!). Best thing--Whitney's gone, probably for good. His presence added little, and made Lana less sympathetic (see below)--'sides, who believed that a guy named Whitney could be any competition for Supes?. Clark's a little more assertive now--disobeyed Dad's direct order about telling Pete his secret. Now that's a big problem, Pete knows--which means he'll get kidnapped 300 times a season now. Why Pete? Why not Lana (she's been getting mighty suspicious lately)? Or fer-cryin'-out-loud Chloe, the intrepid investigative reporter? Because it'd be too hard to maintain the unrequited love triangle thing they've got going. That's the only reason I can think of--well, that, and to justify the existence of Pete's character. This gives evidence (almost the first) that they're as close as they say.

So anyway, back to Lana. Now that she's on her own, we can still like her for thinking about having feelings for Clark. But despite all the history Clark has, Lana's beauty and general niceness, there's still no reason for Clark to be ga-ga over her. Chloe is the girl with the guts, the brains, and the pizzazz. Clark's wasting everyone's time with Lana. But, as we all know, everyone loses to a gal with the initials L.L.

Speaking of L.L.'s--I'm still really liking Lex, and wish they didn't have to make him eeeeevell.

»The New TV Season, pt. 5 -- Ed

Daryl "Chill" Mitchell has arrived and life in Stuckeyville is the better for it. Mitchell has been one of my favorite actors since The John Laroquette Show; he was the only reason to watch Veronica's Closet--but his character was so lame, it wasn't much of a reason; and he was robbed of a decent part in Galaxy Quest. But now he's one more quirky guy among quirky people in the quirkiest Every-town in America. Not that the show was hurting for good characters (they were hurting for ethnic diversity), but he's still a welcome addition.

I'm not going to comment on the whole Ed-Carol-Dennis thing, well much. I mean the whole show is about Ed & Carol, so I have to talk about it some. Ed's right about them, of course he is, we all know it. How long will it take for Carol to learn? Good question. I'd have said it'd take 'til May, but the wedding's scheduled for November, so it looks like's November sweeps material. I almost care. But, since there's so little suspense about it, I can't.

»The New TV Season, pt. 6 -- Friends

This is it, the final year. The writing's almost as good as Season One, again. In some ways better, actually. But, it's no longer about good stories and goofy characters, it's about hanging out with your old comrades (don't want to have to use the title too obviously) and seeing what's going on with them. Makes the flavor of the show a little different, can't explain exactly why. Probably a good thing it ends now 'tho. I can see some water skis and a shark over in the corner of Central Perk, hidden under some rags.

»The New TV Season, pt. 7 -- Firefly
This is the only new show I'm commenting on now--I'll get to Birds of Prey in a week or two. This is mostly because I'm not allowing myself to watch too many new shows, sticking with returning faves and trying to keep the hrs. under control.

So, what about Firefly? I'm not sure, honestly. I like the concept--Post Civil-War galaxy--the bad guys won (of course), but instead of a rebellion, we get a bunch of people just trying to get by on the outer edges. There's a spirit of fun, a little bit of underlying drama (bordering on melodrama with the medic and his sister, actually). The show has a good look, a pleasant feel. And I can't forget that Whedon knows how to tell a good story, unconventional yet safe (as we all learned from the first couple of seasons of Buffy).

BUT, I'm not sold. The show doesn't connect. I don't care about any of the characters. Yet. I'm going to give them that much. They've got me curious, but not much more than that.

Wow. Birds of Prey rocked. Visually, at least. I'm not so sure about plot and if the series'll be worth it. But the sets and feel of the show are just what an installment in the Batman universe should be.

Fuller review in the future, DV, if it's worth the hassle.

Assuming things go well this week, expect to see:

• My reviews of the new TV Season


• My review of the VeggieTale movie, Jonah


• A quick recap of my trip to the LDS General Conference


• Who knows what else?

The Yankees lost. I can't believe it.

Baseball is a sport that invites superstition--so perhaps you can forgive me feeling guilty for not watching Friday or Saturday night. Surely that had something to do with the losses. (although it didn't seem to have much effect on Game 2). I'm also confused--every year that my family has grown, the Yankees have won the series (which explained last year's screw up by Mariano). I get married--Yankees win. We have Number One, Yankees win. We have Sam Gamgee, Yankees win. We have Daddy's Little Princess, and the Yankees LOSE? I just don't get it.

Jeff Nelson (I do miss him, but glad he's getting a chance to shine a little brighter in Seattle) summed it up best in his headline: Shocked, surprised, wrong. Amen.

ugh. It's been far, far too long since I posted here. I didn't even get around to finishing my 9/25 post!

What can I say other than the White Noise of my life got the better of me. I'll try to do better folks.