A Decade

Frodo's odometer hit double digits today. That's right, my little boy is 10. Honestly, half the time he seems like he's 15 (the other half he's more like 7), so it's not that hard to swallow his age.

What is hard is realizing I've been a father for a decade now. There are very few things I've done for 10 years, and trying to realize that being a dad is one of them has taken a lot of my concentration today--not sure why, but it has.

Regardless, I'm very proud of my little man--God has been more than gracious in the children he granted me--starting with him. I've said it before, I'll say it again (for at least 8 years, I bet)--I'd be lost without him. He's a great learner, a great doer, a great companion, frequently wise beyond his years, almost constantly goofier than should be legal, one of the few people I can trust implicitly (as long as we're not talking about how he treats his siblings) :)

Happy Birthday, Son.

Run, Skinny Boy, Run

Not quite as catchy as the title to that hilarious flick, but best I could come up with.

Frodo and Samwise participated in a one mil "Fun Run" for kids on Saturday--did pretty well, too (esp. since they refused to train at all)--nine and a half minutes for Sam, and ten and a half for Frodo (roughly...think only 40 seconds separated them, really).

Not nearly as cool as baseball, but they liked it :)

Lifting a Pint for Sam

Patriot Samuel Adams was born this day in 1722. Adams was one of the men behind the Boston Tea Party, was a delegate to the Continental Congress 1774-1781, signed the Declaration of Independence, and served as Governor of Massachusetts (1794-1797). When he wasn't showing more political courage, backbone and conviction than every elected person currently in Washington, D. C., he brewed beer. From what I understand, he was a far better politician than a brewer. It's in this connection that most people know about him today (I don't even want to think about how many college freshman know what the Boston Tea Party is...), his name is now attached to a very fine beer (not a great one, mind you), but one worthy of the name.

Thomas Jefferson called him the "Patriarch of Liberty," his cousin John (you may have heard of him) said:

Without the character of Samuel Adams, the true history of the American Revolution can never be written. For fifty years his pen, his tongue, his activity, were constantly exerted for his country without fee or reward.

Here's a few gems of wisdom from his pen:

If Virtue & Knowledge are diffus'd among the People, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great Security.

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsel or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands of those who feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you. May posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.

The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.

Were the talents and virtues which heaven has bestowed on men given merely to make them more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed to the follies and ambition of a few? Or, were not the noble gifts so equally dispensed with a divine purpose and law, that they should as nearly as possible be equally exerted, and the blessings of Providence be equally enjoyed by all?

A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.... While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.

How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!

Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.

If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of Almighty God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.

It is a very great mistake to imagine that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular actions.

All might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they should.

He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of this country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.

If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.

Driven from every other corner of the earth, freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.

I May Have Just Lost My Appetite for, Like, Forever

from WNBC in New York:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

[snip]

PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

And the suffering of nursing mothers and their babies? Ah, never you mind, the dairy cows will be better off.

In a statement Ben and Jerry's said, "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child."

An earlier draft included the phrases, "not to mention, that's just gross" and "ew, ew, ew!"

Recommended Reading

As I seem incapable of finishing any of the post drafts I've been working on, let me direct you to a new blog recently launched by an old online friend. Steveisms starts off with a thoughtful post about disabilities and a sober reminder about the future.

Probably the Only Josh Groban Post I'll Ever Make

From what I heard, the Emmy Award show was a debacle--but a couple of awards, a couple of people who weren't the hosts, and Josh Groban kept it from being a total waste of time. This is a hoot!

Thought for the Lord's Day #24

Been thinking about this for some reason lately. May be one of the more over-cited verses around, but just means you gotta think about it more when you read/hear it.

Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

- Proverbs 27:17

A Small Favor

If any of you happen to be Facebook users, could you head over to this link (link will work if you're logged in) and confirm me as the author of this here blog?

It's a fairly silly thing, but I'd appreciate it. Who knows, I might show my appreciation by finishing one of these posts that I've been pecking away at for a few days now...

Smoke Them a Kipper, They'll be Back for Breakfast

Oh, screw down my diodes and call me Frank!

After a criminally long 10 years, Red Dwarf will be airing FOUR specials in 2009. That's right, the classic SF/Comedy series by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor is preparing to come back, however briefly, next year. This is perhaps the greatest thing the BBC has done since they hired that Russell T. Davies character to dust off The Doctor.

But is ten years too long, can they recapture the magic? Sure, why not? As Holly told us

Time is a great healer. Unless it's a rash, then you're better off with ointment.

This is great, I'm practically in heaven--people heaven, that is--there's not such thing as silicon heaven.

"No silicon heaven? Preposterous! Where would all the calculators go?"

No, really, I'm still alive

I haven't abandonded the blog...despite all appearances to the contrary. Just really tired lately--and anytime I try to wrap up one of the posts I've started, I find it impossible to form a coherent sentence, finish a thought, or focus at all. Hopefully I can force my way through this haze soon, have a lot on my mind.

Putting the Corporate back in Corporate Worship

(clearly, spent too much time in Reformed circles--didn't know a couple of these songs...and needed the Time-Life worship CD commercials to help identify another)

H/T: Mark

Fringe Pilot ep.

That was just disgusting--and I'm not just speaking about the opening sequences with the plane.

I cannot imagine the conversation Lance Reddick had with his agent before he got the part--"You know, I'm tired of good writing; meaty, thoughtful roles; stories that matter. Can you get me a job on some mindless network thing--maybe something where I can play 'disapproving minority boss' on some law enforcement type show. Preferably something that doesn't even resemble reality."

How is this the next big thing in S.F. TV? Bring on Virtuality. Bring on The Dollhouse--quickly.

you know what the sickest thing is? I'm probably coming back next week just to see how they try to build on this.

So much for that idea...

I just watched the first episode of True Blood, "Strange Love" and have to report that I won't be saying much about it as I planned--need another episode or two to decide what I think about this show.

I do think it has promise--I really appreciate the care put into the small touches and F/X in the attempt to make this world come to life. Anna Paquin is as fantastic as ever--she alone should be grounds for sticking around this series; the supporting cast is interesting to say the least.

True Blood premier

In honor of True Blood's highly anticipated premier last night (hoping to catch that by the end of the week), here's a repost of my July of '06 post about the book season 1 is loosely based on. Hopefully by Wednesday, I'll have caught up to the world and can offer thoughts on the adaptation.

Unless you're as blind as a bat, not very observant, or have never visited amazon.com. you know that one of their biggest and oldest features is the recommendations. Based on a few of my purchases/ratings, amazon has been telling me to read the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris. Bored, not wanting to spend money on a couple of books I really want to read, I decide to grab one from the library. Thankfully, they had the large-print version of the first in the series, Dead Until Dark.

The protagonist/narrator is Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie's your typical young southern lady, lives with her grandmother, likes a quiet life, has a good-hearted-yet-wild brother who needs to settle down, works as a cocktail waitress...oh yeah, and she's a telepath. Like I said, typical. She lives in a small Louisiana town filled with antebellum homes and all the people she's known her entire life.

Things change when a vampire comes into her bar. For one thing, she can't read his mind--not having to exert the effort to not read his mind is quite the treat for her.

Vampire? Yeah, a vampires. In this world, Vampires had recently become a legally-protected minority, still struggling for social acceptance (think the Newcomers in Alien Nation).

This particular vampire's name is Bill Compton (name's not exactly up there with Lestat or Armand...or even Angel, Drusilla, Spike), a veteran of The War Between the States with a kind heart (or something like that). Sookie and Bill hit it off, become friends, he spends time with her TWBtS buff grandmother, delighting her with eye-witness accounts. We also get to meet some other vampires...not the fine-upstanding citizens like Bill (who's "mainstreamed"), but creepy, murderous, fiends.

Enter the plot-complication. A series of vampire-related murders. Is it Bill? Is it a Vampire that Bill knows/brought into the community? Is it someone else in Sookie's life? While they stumble their way to discovering the murderer, Sookie and Bill fall in love, deal with social stigmas (from both of their cultures), and have a narrow escape or two.

This was an okay, light read. Sookie's charming, sweet, not too neurotic (was afraid I was in for a second-rate Bridget Jones with a twist). I wouldn't mind reading what happens to the couple next, but I'm not rushing out to grab it (contra Solomon vs. Lord/Thin Blue Alibi). Give it a try if you're desperate for something new.

Grade: C+ not really a triumph for amazon's personality test.

In Honor of the Season Opener

(yeah, okay, I wouldn't have thought of doing anything to commemorate this lesser sport if the song hadn't come up on my shuffle.)

Why the animosity toward the sport? Well, for starters...look at what my (and Gov. Palin's, I should add) alma mater's team did last week.

I know, video quality isn't so hot...can't imbed it, but you can see it in it's glory at Adam Sandler's site.

The obligatory First Day of the School Year Photos

Very serious scholars all...

Arnold joined the ranks of the official students this year--older than any of the rest of the quiver at 4.5 years (to the day). He was more than a little excited--almost rabid, actually, I could barely take a bite of breakfast without him showing me various pages from the workbooks he was going to be using.

Yeah, the photos came out a little dark--not sure why, I assure you, their workspaces are adequately lit.

Generally.

Typically.


Unless they're bugging me.