"If you're fishing, and you don't catch fish, change bait."

Here is an article about Ultimate Christian Wrestling, a group of pro and semi-pro wrestlers based out of an Athens, Georgia church that travels to other churches in order to entertain audiences with wrestling and preach the Gospel.

Witness [Rob] Fields (aka "Rob Adonis"), a 6-foot-4, 285-pound package of ministerial menace, getting trounced by Lee "Lover Boy" Thomas, with a succession of choke holds, chin blasters and a thunderous flying leg drop from the top rope. When Thomas and his manager, Mr. Evil, gang up on the hapless Adonis, pounding him and stealing his UCW belt, we have to wonder, is the first going to be last tonight?

What would Jesus do?

I'm not quite sure what He would do in a wrestling ring, but I can't imagine Jesus would dress up in skin-tight briefs and then clothesline some guy so that He can give His Sermon on the Mount to an adoring crowd.

Tully Blanchard, a former partner of pro-wrestler Ric Flair, is now an ordained minister and has joined with this group.

Tully Blanchard .... offered his own testimony during a break in the Holly Springs match and stood ready at the altar call — a regular feature of UCW events — to counsel any new believers. Though none approached the ring that evening, wrestling, he said later, can win souls that conventional worship can't. "If you're fishing, and you don't catch fish, change bait."

Funny, but I thought that God, not wrestling, brought people to Himself. Jonah 2:9 reads, "Salvation is of the Lord."

Ultimate Christian Wrestling has its own site, complete with a prayer board, some photos of the wrestlers, and merchandise link.

SomethingCool News conducted a recent interview with Rob Adonis.

More Christian wrestling sites: Christian Wrestling Federation, Christian Wrestling Alliance, Extreme Christian Wrestling

RELATED: Some pro-wrestlers use steroids? I'm shocked, shocked, I say!

a Washington insider weekend

This weekend, my little family will be traveling to Washington, D.C. Hopefully there will be no more winter storms and we'll make it through Pennsylvania without any issues. I feel like we're going to be Washington insiders this weekend since (1) we are going to a surprise birthday party of a friend whose husband works for the CIA, (2) we may be able to meet up with a friend whose husband works in the White House, and (3) while my wife and I are at the party, our children will be cared for by an FBI agent.

Absolutely horrible Christmas songs

My wife will tell you that I'm a big fan of Christmas music. I love singing the traditional carols in church, like "Silent Night" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." I enjoyed being in the Christmas pageants at the church I attended as a child/adolescent - I was a donkey one year, a wise man another year, never Joseph. I've great enjoyed singing in church Christmas concerts as an adult - I even had a solo one year. I play nothing but Christmas music between the day after Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. I listen to the local station that plays nothing but Christmas music (this one if you must know)

Having said all that, I must say that there are some Christmas-themed songs that I absolutely, positively can not stand in the least. Here they are, in no particular order:

• "The Christmas Shoes", NewSong - Do you want to get all teary-eyed during the Christmas season? If so, listen to this. It's manipulative as all get-out. Not only do I find the lead singer's gravelly voice extremely irritating, I do not want to hear about some kid's mother dying when I'm trying to trim the tree. No, no, no.
• "Jingle Bells", Barbra Streisand - Babs, whose voice does not sound like 'buttah' the more it ages, appeared to have been in the manic phase of her bipolar disorder when she recorded this. The music is so jumpy that I immediately jump to another station when I hear it.
• "12 Days of Christmas" - Doesn't matter who sings this or how it's updated - the sheer repetitiveness of it annoys the heck outta me.
• "I Saw Three Ships" - I dislike this for the same reasons as "12 Days," but I do find it barely tolerable when Nat King Cole sings it.
• "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", Bruce Springsteen - The Boss sounds like he severely strained his voice just before he sat down in the recording studio. The track he laid down isn't pretty.
• "Santa Baby", Madonna - Only Eartha Kitt has the voice for this song. Back, Esther, back!
• "Feliz Navidad", Celine Dion - Okay, here's a French-Canadien woman singing a supposedly Latin-flavored song. Bad all the way around.
• "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time", Paul McCartney - What's with so many Christmas songs having lines repeated incessantly? Sir Paul does it here, and he uses a cloying synthesizer to boot. John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" is light-years better.
• "Please, Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas", John Denver - Nothing is better than a dysfunctional holiday, so raise your glass and we will all have a cup of 'Christmas cheer'.

The folks at Lean Left say their peace, and I'm surprisingly in agreement with many of them (considering that I don't lean left) - and, their comments about each song are spot on.

More lists can be found here, here, and here. Wow, everyone's hating on NewSong.

Ouch! That review hurt!

I occasionally watched the MTV show upon which this movie was based, but I have no plans to see the movie itself. I've decided that it's no loss at all, looking at these reviews.

Internet addiction

It's an addiction that only technology could create.

These specialists estimate that 6 percent to 10 percent of the approximately 189 million Internet users in this country have a dependency that can be as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction, and they are rushing to treat it. Yet some in the field remain skeptical that heavy use of the Internet qualifies as a legitimate addiction, and one academic expert called it a fad illness.

Skeptics argue that even obsessive Internet use does not exact the same toll on health or family life as conventionally recognized addictions. But, mental health professionals who support the diagnosis of Internet addiction say, a majority of obsessive users are online to further addictions to gambling or pornography or have become much more dependent on those vices because of their prevalence on the Internet.

But other users have a broader dependency and spend hours online each day, surfing the Web, trading stocks, instant messaging or blogging, and a fast-rising number are becoming addicted to Internet video games. (NY Times)

Best...

We humans (especially we Americans) love to look at and debate about lists. Whether they involve books, CD's, movies, plays, or shopping locations, we love to give a rank ordering of subjects and talk about what should (or not) fits in and where it should place.

The end of the year is nearly here. Many magazines and newspapers will no doubt trumpet their lists of "The Year's Best." I know that I will be picking up my copy of Entertainment Weekly - since I'm no longer a subscriber - for it's 2005 review. (Speaking of EW, I have no clue as to who the 'Entertainer of the Year' will be, but I'm guessing Harry Potter will be somewhere near the top since a new book and new movie came out this year)

The New York Times already has out its list of the "10 best books of 2005." I haven't read a single one - perhaps someday...

Time names its picks of the 50 best websites (including a blog category!) in 2005.

Metacritic gave its list of top 30 albums in 2005 - and no, neither the Stones nor McCartney made the cut. The top honor goes to "Illinoise" by Sufjan Stevens.

Greener Cars gave out its list of best cars in 2005. My Kia Sedona didn't make it. :(

Favorite animated, Christmas-themed shows

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas - What else would be at the top? It's timeless! Plus, you're a money-maker, too.
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Who's up for some roast beast?
3. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer - "Why am I such a misfit? I am not just a nit-wit."
4. Olive, the Other Reindeer - Drew Barrymore does a great job giving voice to a dog that wants to be part of the big scene.
5. Frosty the Snowman - "Happy birthday!"
6. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas - A little on the cheesey side (and not just because of the mice), but sweet nonetheless.

"He is real. He worked miracles. He is the Son of God!"

Anne Rice talks about the re-awakening of her faith and her new book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.

I haven't read the book, so I won't comment on it here. But, I shall allow those who have read the book to share their opinions in this forum.

• The Grey Lady notes the attention to detail, the lack of scandal that sets the book apart from The Da Vinci Code, and the increasing enlightenment of Jesus about Who He Is.
• Frank Turk, blogger and Christian bookstore retailer, gives his thoughts in a three-part series: 1, 2, 3.
• Pastor Rich Vincent "loved" it.

the death of a blog

SwineBass is no more. It's no longer linkable because it has left the blogosphere as if it had never existed. (Well, not quite. It still shows up in the TTLB ecosystem.)

I've put quite a few postings from SwineBass onto the Good Brownie site. I have included the five days from my Florida trip that I managed to blog about - just look in the July 2005 archives if you are so inclined. Five days is all I managed to get in before I became consumed with other things.

Colts 35, Titans 3

You already know what I'm going to type... but I'll type it anyway.

Still perfect

Oh, yes - congratulations, Bengals, on beating the evil Steelers. (Happy I mentioned them, Joy?)

blogging styles

Mister Snitch discusses seven distinct blogging styles to generate traffic. I would say that I'm more or less #1, with a dash of the others thrown in.

Want to look like Saddam?

A military uniform said to have belonged to deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is being offered for sale by a US auction website. The green uniform, with epaulettes bearing the mark of Saddam Hussein's rank in the Iraqi army, has a starting price of $5,000 (£2,900). A US soldier found the item during the assault on Baghdad airport in 2003, according to the website, Manions.com. (BBC)

You'll be the envy of every costume party you go to if you buy it. Too bad that the uniform wasn't for a sale 1 1/2 months ago, in time for all those Halloween parties.

The Emerging Church

The latest movement/obsession/conversation/rage/organization in Christendom appears to be the Emerging Church Movement (sometimes called "E.C.," sometimes called "E.C.M."). Many hail this is a better way to worship and to live out the faith in light of a 'postmodern world', while others contend it is nothing short of heresy and a diminishing of the Gospel. Whatever your view of E.C.M., it is very much like the character of Alex Forrest in the film Fatal Attraction when she says to her rejecting lover, "I'm not going to be ignored, Dan."

Several 'prominent' members in the E.C. movement have blogs:

• Brian McLaren, author of "A New Kind of Christian" and "A Generous Orthodoxy" and pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church near Washington, D.C.
• Dan Kimball, pastor at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, CA
• Andrew Jones
• Doug Pagitt of Solomon's Church in Minneapolis, MN

To become more informed on emergent, you can leave your home and go to either a village or a planet.

Karen Ward is 'webmeister' to a site that reads the following on the front page:

the emerging church of the 21st century may have more in common with the church of the apostolic era, than with the church of the 20th century.
many ancient practices of faith and ways of being communal are being re:booted and morphed for the needs of the future church. as leonard sweet writes, "our faith is ancient. our faith is future. we're old-fashioned. we're new-fangled. we're orthodox. we're innovators. we're postmodern christians."

Here are some of the more popular emergent churches:

• Jacob's Well - Kansas City, MO
• Mars Hill Bible Church - Grand Rapids, MI
• Mars Hill Church - Seattle, WA
• Mosiac - Los Angeles, CA
• Solomon's Porch - Minneapolis, MN

Blogger Justin Taylor has written some helpful posts in discussing a dialogue with the E.C.M.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10.

Phil Johnson (Pyromaniac), blogger and executive director of Grace To You, is certainly an outspoken critic of E.C.M. He has written several posts discussing his concerns, and you can read just a few here and here.

Ingrid Schlueter has also written numerous critical posts on her site Slice of Laodicea. Much of what is on her site is criticism of ECM and of Rick Warren and "The Purpose Driven Life."

Keith Drury writes about E.C.M. resistance from baby boomers.

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, discusses his thoughts here and here.

D.A. Carson has written a book on E.C.M. titled "Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church." Here is an adapted article.

McLaren, Kimball and several others have given a response to criticism. This response mentions an essay written by Dr. David Mills, a professor at Cedarville University (I knew Mills when we were both students at Cedarville) - Mills wrote his essay after listening to Carson discuss his thoughts during the Staley Lecture series at Cedarville in 2004.

John Hammett of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote a paper entitled "An Ecclesiological Assessment of the Emerging Church Movement."

UPDATE: Are you emergent without knowing it? Check here to see if you are.

World AIDS Day

Today has been designated as World AIDS Day.

From the website:

World AIDS Day is about people getting the facts about HIV and AIDS. It's a day for people to get involved and there are many ways in which you can do so. We have a listing of events where you can search to find the ones that suit you, or if you are organising an event, you can add details of your event. If you would like to get involved in other ways, we have some great ideas for you!

Here's another site with info - it's connected to the ONE Campaign.

Evangelicals are getting involved - read about it here.

"I could wire your jaws shut so tight that you can't move your jaws to talk, and if you can't talk you can't eat."

An article in the New York Times discusses problematic experiences that some patients have had with their doctors. The title quote is what a doctor told someone whom she thought was slowly committing suicide by putting on weight.

Fat people say they know that problem well. It happened last summer to Tina Hedberg of Conover, Wis., who saw a doctor when a diet she was on was no longer eliciting drastic weekly weight loss. The doctor, Ms. Hedberg said, told her that she had a mental problem because she weighed 400 pounds. Ms. Hedberg was trying to commit suicide by getting so fat, the doctor informed her. Then the doctor said Ms. Hedberg had two choices. She could be admitted to a mental institution, or, the doctor said, "I could wire your jaws shut so tight that you can't move your jaws to talk, and if you can't talk you can't eat."

Being morbidly obese puts a person at risk for heart problems, for sure, but did the doctor really need to say that? Could a different, more caring approach have been better?

I've worked with hospitals and doctors (although mostly psychiatrists) in one form or another for a total of over eight years. Although the majority of doctors I've encountered have been genuinely caring and respective of patient needs, it is a slim majority. I have observed terrible attitudes some doctors have towards patients (as evidenced by their statements about patients, sometimes made in front of them), especially those who have a mental illness or a substance abuse problem. Numerous people whom I've talked to at my worksite have complained about how little time their doctor spends with them.

Ms. Wong had come across a bane of the medical profession: the difficult doctor. These doctors may be arrogant or rude, highhanded or dismissive. They drive away patients who need help, and some have been magnets for malpractice claims. And while such doctors have always been part of medicine, medical organizations say they fear that they are increasingly common - doctors, under pressure to see more patients, are spending less and less time with each one and are replacing long discussions with laboratory tests and scans - and that most problem doctors apparently have no idea of their patients' opinions of them.

The moral of the story? Talk to your doctor or nurse staff, demand better treatment if you don't believe you are getting proper care, and if you are able to do so, by all means see another doctor.

Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Sex Pistols

These are the 2006 inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols have been nominated numerous times in years past, but finally have their invitation this year to join.

I can't say that I really listened to any of these performers, except perhaps Blondie. (You do realize that Blondie is a group, right? Deborah Harry is the leader singer - she isn't "Blondie" herself.) I still like to sing along to "Heart of Glass" when I hear it on the radio - I prefer it to "Call Me," which I find to be most irritating, musically.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is probably best known in recent years for providing back-up to Bo Bice on "American Idol" and giving a Reese Witherspoon movie its title.

Speaking of Debbie Harry, there is a longstanding debate about who was the better bad girl of rock - Harry or Pat Benatar (who sang "I Love Rock & Roll" and "Love is a Battlefield"). I always thought it was hands-down Harry.

is there meaning behind the anger in rap?

John McWhorter, author of the forthcoming "Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America," doesn't think so and he tells you why.

Why do "conscious" rappers have so little interest in the political issues that directly affect poor black people's lives? Could it be because those issues do not usually lend themselves to calls for smacking people and making the streets run red? If so, then chalk up one more for people who do not see hip-hop as politically constructive.

The "conscious" rappers themselves make the "message" analysis even harder to fall for because they tend to squirm under the label. "They keep trying to slip the 'conscious rapper' thing on me," Mos Def says. "They try to get me because I'm supposed to be more articulate, I'm supposed to be not like the other Negroes, to get me to say something against my brothers. I'm not going out like that, man." So it would be "going out" even to question the theatrical savagery that hip-hop's critics fail to see the good in?

"Conscious" rap, like gangsta rap, is ultimately all about spitting in the eye of the powers that be. But this is precisely what the millions of blacks making the best of themselves in modern America have not done. And contrary to what we are often led to believe, spitting is not serious activism. It's merely attitude.

There is not a thing wrong with "conscious rap" fans enjoying the beats and the rhymes and even valuing the sprinkles of an awareness of something beyond guns, Hennessy and women's behinds. But if we have gotten to the point that we are treating even this "conscious" work as serious civil rights activism, then black America is in even worse trouble than we thought.

Dude, where's my ethics?

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges and tearfully resigned from office, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators. Cunningham, 63, entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

Cunningham answered "yes, Your Honor" when asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted bribes from someone in exchange for his performance of official duties. Later, at a news conference, he wiped away tears as he announced his resignation. "I can't undo what I have done but I can atone," he said. (BreitBart)

I found it interesting that he became tearful during the press conference announcing his resignation. Was he crying because of his behavior, or crying that he was caught and will now face jail time?

His letter of resignation is here.

UPDATE: As of 12:57 AM EST on 12/1/05, still no mention on his website about his resignation.

UPDATE 2: The site now discusses how the office will operate as a vacant post.

Colts 26, Steelers 7

Still perfect

Was it personal? Oh, yes, they made it personal.

Supreme Court will consider N.H. abortion law

On Wednesday, November 30, the Supreme Court will hear a case about a New Hampshire law requiring parental notification before a minor has an abortion.

The 2003 law was struck down, days before it was to take effect, for failing to provide an exception to protect a minor's health. Under the law, parents or guardians must be notified either in person or by certified mail.

Supporters of the law say a provision that allows a girl to go to a judge instead of a parent provides needed protection if her health is in danger. Opponents, however, say the law's requirements could lead to dangerous delays and result in judges making medical decisions instead of doctors. They also view the law as an ill-disguised attempt by abortion opponents to chip away at Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion. (CNN)

It wil be interesting to see how the case is handled by the court. Conservatives will no doubt count on Chief Justice Roberts to rule in their favor, but his vote will likely be the same as Rehnquist's would have been.

"Women are going to get abortions no matter what, whether it's legal or illegal, whether they're 13 or whether they're 50. ... Any limitations put on it is heading backward in time," said Becca Pawling, 35, who leads Annie's Forum, a weekly program that brings together teenage girls and older women for snacks, support, crafts and conversation in Portsmouth.

We've heard this before, haven't we? It's the old they're going to do it anyway so it may as well be legal argument. But does it hold any water? Quite frankly, no, it doesn't. If that argument is valid, then we may as well legalize illicit drug use, since people are just going to use marijuana and crystal meth anyway. After all, people who use drugs put them into their own bodies, and don't they have a right to do with their bodies as they please?

But of course, it's all about moving forward, isn't it. None of this "heading backward in time" stuff. Any step forward is naturally the correct one.

Related: Check out this post on failed abortions and babies left to die on a hospital shelf.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you."
Jeremiah 1:5

Madonna's desire

She may be a horrible actress, but what she really wants to do is direct.

* Okay, okay - she wasn't half-bad in "Truth or Dare," but she was playing herself, so...

what happens if you win the lottery?

Two couples from Oregon won the recent Powerball jackpot, which had been estimated at $340 million but was paid out at $110 million because the couples opted for a lump sum. They recount what happened when they discovered they had won, and also talk about plans for their future.

[Winner Frances Chaney] said they waited a while before coming forward so they could get legal and financial advice. She said she couldn't believe their luck. "I went on the Internet that night to check the numbers," she said.

When she found a match, she checked several other Web sites before calling her daughter to tell her the news. The family checked and rechecked. Then they heard that the winning number was in Oregon, with a ticket bought in Jacksonville, "and we thought, 'Maybe it is us.'"

Steve West, who is self-employed, said he will continue working -- "to keep us grounded." He said he may buy a sports car, and his wife wants a new car, but "we plan on not changing a lot."

The media attention already has changed his life, he said, with people recognizinghim everywhere he goes. "You daydream a lot of times about what you'd do with the money," West said. "But you don't really expect how it would change your life and how things around you might change, until you've actually won the money, and things then begin to fall into place. It's scary." (CNN)

Mack Metcalf and Virginia Metcalf Merida, a married couple who won $65 million from Powerball five years ago, are now both deceased. Click here to read their strange and tragic tale. The article reads that Mack had lived in Kentucky in a replica of Mt. Vernon, and Virginia lived in a 5,000-square-foot geodesic dome house.

This begs the following questions: if you won the lottery and you moved to another locale, what would the house look like and where would it be located?

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
Prov 23:4-5 (NIV)

UPDATE: More on the Metcalfs here.

"I was trying to get out of the way, but they knocked me down."

Here is an excellent reason not to go shopping on 'Black Friday.' Lots of idiotic and greedy people out there.

"Black Friday," the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, began in South Florida early today with a 73-year-old woman being knocked down as a crowd at an electronics store rushed a metal security gate to get inside. The crowd of shoppers outside BrandsMart USA in Sawgrass Mills, angry at being forced to wait by security personnel, pushed their way under the security gate and down a hallway into the store, forcing dozens of people against the walls and trampling the woman. (Sun-Sentinel)

I've been to Sawgrass Mills several times. I've heard that it's the second most visited site in Florida. I'll let you guess as to what is the most visited site - it has something to do with a rodent. Sawgrass has a lot of great stores, especially the Off Fifth and the Gap Outlet. I loved eating at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe (mmmmmm... pumpkin-filled ravioli), but it appears from the S.M. website that it's no longer there.

UPDATE: I last visited Sawgrass Mills in late March 2007. Puck's Cafe had closed.

"So while cranberries can be enjoyed, they should be limited to mealtimes only to avoid potential problems."

Did you have enough cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving? They may help keep your teeth nice and healthy.

Scientists have found a compound in the fruit can stop bacteria from clinging to the teeth, blocking the formation of damaging plaque deposits. However, researcher Dr Hyuan Koo warned many cranberry-containing products were loaded with sugar and consuming large amounts could lead to tooth decay. The study, by the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, will be published in Caries Research. (BBC News)

Roger Ebert to Oprah: "Syndicate!"

If you wonder how Oprah began her path to super-stardom, look no further than her Chicago neighbor Roger Ebert.

Yes, it is true, I persuaded Oprah to become the most successful and famous woman in the world. I was also the person who suggested that Jerry Springer not go into syndication, for which I have received too little credit.

All of these years I have maintained a discreet silence about my role as Oprah's adviser, but now that she has spilled the beans, the time is right to tell the whole story.

It begins early one morning in Baltimore, where Gene Siskel and I are scheduled to appear on a morning talk show hosted by a newcomer named Oprah Winfrey. The other guests on the show include a vegetarian chef, and four dwarfs dressed as chipmunks, who will sing "The Chipmunk Christmas Song" while dancing with Hula-Hoops. (rogerebert.com)

Jump to the source to see the full story.

I've always been an admirer of Winfrey's and what she has accomplished. However, I think she's become a little more full of herself in the past few years. She has shown off her lavish homes, and she spends a little too much on-stage time with her Hollywood friends. I still watch her at times, though, especially the "favorite things" show - and I'll hopefully catch her visit with David Letterman.

who to hire for disaster preparedness

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, heavily criticized for his agency's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job.
''If I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses -- because that goes straight to the bottom line -- then I hope I can help the country in some way,'' Brown told the Rocky Mountain News for its Thursday editions.
Brown said officials need to ''take inventory'' of what's going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware of how serious a situation is. (New York Times)

Here's to hoping he learned from his mistakes.

100 Notable Books of 2005

The New York Times has given its list of the most notable books of the year. I've read "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" already, and I'm currently reading "Collapse" and "Team of Rivals." So, 3 out of 100.

Would I be a better person if I read more of these? Or would I just be a more exhausted person? Probably more exhausted. Also, how many books would a person have to read in order to sound pretentious when they say something like, "I've read [X] books on the NY Times list."

I don't believe the mere act of reading a notable book would make me a better person, or that reading an un-notable one would make me a worse one. Maybe the reading would mean that I'm a thoughtful person, that I care about the opinions of others and/or the history of things, but not necessarily that I would go out into the world and do great things and thereby be better than I was before I read the books. I could read the Bible all I wanted to but if I didn't apply its principles and teachings to my life, what good would that do?

"They were the first ones to essentially give us a recorded celebration."

You think the first Thanksgiving happened with the Pilgrims and some native Americans in Massachusetts? Perhaps you're wrong - at least some Florida historians think you are.

But when it comes to Thanksgiving, Florida historians have been saying the same thing for years: It happened first in the Sunshine State — with salt pork, sea biscuits and garbanzo beans. In the 1560s, French and Spanish settlers arrived separately on Florida's northern coast, and each celebrated with prayer and a thanksgiving feast. The Spanish gathering at St. Augustine even featured guests from a local American Indian tribe.

------------------

It wasn't until 1621, more than 50 years later, that Pilgrims came to Plymouth, Mass., and held the feast that was later dubbed the first Thanksgiving. But the Florida celebrations didn't become widely known until the second half of the 20th century, long after Abraham Lincoln's 1863 declaration that the last Thursday in November would be the national day of Thanksgiving. (Palm Beach Post)

Wax on, wax ... off

Pat Morita, best known for his roles as Arnold on the TV show "Happy Days" and Mr. Miyagi in the "Karate Kid" movies, has died.

Don't you wish you could have someone very wise with you all the time to guide you? That person would especially be handy when meeting up with this guy.

Petra folds

Petra, a legendary Christian band that's almost as old as I am, is ending their 33-year run. I talked about this on my former blog, but I thought I'd mention them here. They have won four Grammy awards and ten Dove awards (the Christian equivilant of the Grammy).

I've always thought that "Christian" music in general was a step down from "secular" music - I don't necessarily mean lyrics, but more the music itself. Musicians who may not have the artistic or musical merit to make it in the "secular" world - and there are Christians who have made it (Johnny Cash or Bono of U2, to name two - perhaps Amy Grant to a lesser degree but that's debatable) - have sought an audience in the "Christian" realm and found it. I realize that this is not always the case, and there are fine examples of talent and musicianship in the Christian realm (I believe Larnelle Harris can go toe-to-toe with any R&B singer, including the late Luther Vandross; Jars of Clay has received recognition from the "secular" press). Petra is one of those bands whose artistry and talent are deeply impressive, whither they be in the "Christian" or "secular" realm.

Bob Hartman, a founding member of the group, and John Schlitt, leader singer since 1986, recently sat down with Christianity Today to talk about how their good thing has come to an end.

Bob made an interesting observation on Christian music:

Back in the day when we started, it was really about ministry. There were record companies that actually cared if you had a ministry or not—that you were bringing something to people spiritually that was going to last. I'm not saying nobody in Christian music is like that right now, but even if there are, they're overruled by other things. It's much more about fashion than it used to be.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to Him through God the Father."
Colossians 3:17

"I really know that if God can forgive him, why not me?"

Eileen Harris forgives the man who killed her husband and daughter.

Rev. Eileen Harris looked into the eyes of the man who brutally killed her daughter and husband and talked to him of God's forgiveness during a court hearing Tuesday at which the former housecleaner was sentenced to life in prison.Harris, a petite woman dressed in a black suit, had just finished describing the pain and longing she has endured since her loved ones' murders when she leaned toward Russell Sedelmaier, who stood with head bowed.

"Russell," she said, calling his name twice before Sedelmaier looked at her. "Because I value the gift of life and I know God forgives and loves all of us, especially you, Russell," Harris continued, smiling just slightly, "I support a sentence of natural life."

"Thank you," Sedelmaier said quietly. He later said, "I'm sorry what I did to the Harris family and what I did to my own family. I'm really sorry."
------------------
"I really felt in my heart forgiveness," Harris said of her comment to Sedelmaier. "I really know that if God can forgive him, why not me? That's where I am in terms of my faith and my understanding of life." (Chicago Tribune)

Would I be able to do the same as Harris? I just don't know if I would or not - I would like to think so, but I just don't know. I've always thought, though, that we are most like God when we have the grace to forgive.

"I'm killing this afternoon and all day tomorrow."

It's turkey slaughter time, but don't worry - Marshmallow and Yam got their pardon.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, do not forget that the day wasn't made just for eating turkey and pumpkin pie while watching a football game.

For info on the first Thanksgiving, click here.

Abraham Lincoln's proclamation (made while the Civil War was raging, no less) can be viewed here.


Psalm 100
1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
3Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

"My wife thinks I'm nuts and my kids are sleeping."

A man spends hours outside a store in Manhattan, waiting for his chance to purchase an Xbox 360. Apparently, he wasn't the only one.

The much-publicized transition to the next generation of video game consoles began Tuesday morning as stores across the country started selling Microsoft's Xbox 360, the powerful new machine that is already the must-have of the season for hard-core game players. They gathered in the rain in Manhattan, where a Best Buy opened its doors at midnight. They stood in line all night at chain stores like Target. (NY Times)

My nephew Adam waited in line at a Target in St. Joseph, Missouri, and writes about his experience here.

now is a time for mourning

Sam, truly the world's ugliest dog, has passed away at the age of fourteen.

Welcome, SwineBass readers

Yes, you have arrived at the right spot. I'm pleased that you decided to follow the link to come and join me. I am truly honored by your presence and comments, as long as they are civil with no vulgar or offensive language, and I hope you feel at home here. The same kind of posts that you'd find at SwineBass, you will also find here. I know that I'm taking a risk in losing some readers (ok, maybe the one or two non-family members that visit), but I'm willing to do that in order to have a more appropriate blog name. So - relax, sit back, pour yourself a tall glass of skinny milk (or 1% if you absolutely must have some fat in your cow juice), and enjoy some good brownie bites!


A WORD ABOUT THE LINKS:
In an effort to create a more interesting blog, I've decided to revise the names that I've given my links. The old site featured such intriguing categories as "friends & family bloggers" and "christian bloggers." I've trimmed the fat, so to speak, so the list isn't as extensive as the SwineBass site. I've decided to create some new categories, and I will give a word of explanation for each.

• Homemade: Blogs produced by friends and family.
• Fudge: My favorite brownies are intensely fudgy and chocolate-y (with maybe some nuts here or there - walnuts especially), so in honor of that, I've decided to list the blogs I read daily here.
• Cake: Blogs that I find entertaining - light and fluffy stuff.
• Chewy: Blogs that really make me think about things.
• Dense: Blogs that are mostly political or cultural in nature.
• Ingredients list: Links to news-oriented sites. The vast majority of my material is culled from the media (whether big, small, newspaper or magazine).

General Motors closings

More bad news from the once-powerhouse company.

My father and brother-in-law both worked for G.M., as a general laborer who retired (Dad) and as an engineer who moved on when he thought the timing was right (bro-in-law Ken). Dad felt such a strong connection that he once dubbed G.M. as "Great Mother, the mother of us all." Because of this, I have strong sympathies for the 30,000 G.M. workers who will now have to look for jobs elsewhere.

The following is a seemingly simplistic, but ultimately truthful, response to the closings:

Mike O'Rourke, president of United Auto Workers Local 1853 in Spring Hill, said GM leaders need to change approaches to be successful. "They need to design cars that sell," O'Rourke said. (ClickOnDetroit)

"It feels like an ancient myth."

Reading this makes me all the more interested in seeing the movie.

Cast and crew members of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe have played down the significance of Christian symbolism in their version of CS Lewis's novel. The Narnia books are often viewed as a religious allegory, with Aslan the lion representing Jesus Christ. But director Andrew Adamson said it is "open to the audience to interpret".

"Faith is in the eye of the beholder," added British actress Tilda Swinton, who said the original book was more "spiritual" than religious. "You can make a religious allegory out of anything if that's what you're interested in," she told the BBC News website. (BBC News)

So, the movie's director and one big-name star, Tilda Swinton, are downplaying the Christian aspects of the books. If the movie's script has the section of the book where Aslan talks about Deep Magic and Deeper Magic Before the Dawn of Time, then I would have to say that the movie is more or less Christian in nature. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please take this opportunity to read the book if you haven't already. If you have read the book, then you should know what I mean.

Cruise v. Lauer

Missed Matt Lauer's big interview with "Dr." Cruise this past Friday? Here is the transcript for your reading pleasure.

You can find more about the Cruise-Lauer showdown here, here, and here.

You can find info about Ritalin, the medicine that Tom and Matt fervently discussed, here and here. Tom was certainly right when he said that Ritalin can be abused, but so can many over-the-counter drugs.

Brian McLaren in Grand Rapids

The Grand Rapids Press has an article about Brian McLaren, author of "A New Kind of Christian" and one of the leaders of the emergent church movement. A biography of McLaren can be found here, on his website.

Arjay Stevens has this posting about the GRP article. As you can see, Arjay is not a fan of McLaren. Phil Johnson, executive director of Grace to You ministries, has written on his views of the emergent church (as well as other fads of Christendom), which you can read here and here.

Confused as to what constitutes the emergent church movement? Click here, here and here.

Update: When I was writing the last bit with the links, I didn't realize that I made a Freudian slip and spelled 'emergent' as 'emergency.' I wonder what that means...

Update 2: I didn't do this post to get "blogspotted," Phil, but thanks!

"Lewis never intended the Narnia books to be evangelistic tracts."

The Internet Monk has a great post on the upcoming film "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and its possible marketing strategies in the church.

I've seen the trailer and it looks very exhilirating. I will certainly pay my ticket to see it. The movie's official site is here.

Update: John Rush from Tennessese (where my paternal grandparents are from) voices his concerns as well.

"The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," episode 1

If you are a (a) reality show junkie or (b) fan of Martha Stewart, then you no doubt caught last night's premiere episode of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart." It has basically the same formula as the original "Apprentice" - the contestants live together, they are split into teams to perform various tasks, the losing team goes to a room to face the consequences of its failure, and a contestant is sent off each week. What I find fascinating are not the similarities between the Donald Trump and Martha versions, but the differences.

In the premiere, every effort has been made to show that Martha is a different person than Donald. Martha has been known (or at least rumoured) to be quite tough with and very demanding of her employees. The smallest details are phenomenally important, and she expects no less than perfection.

However, we don't see that aspect of her - at least not in last night's episode. Martha is much more caring, more personable, less hostile to the losing team than Donald ever was. She trades the commanding imperative "you're fired" to a more relaxed and passive "you just don't fit in." She wrote a farewell letter to the person sent home. Etiquette is of utmost importance here, but wouldn't you have been surprised if it wasn't? Martha's first task for the teams (creative Matchstick and corporate Primarius) was to write a children's book - see, Martha cares about children's development - whereas Donald's first task in the first season was to sell lemonade.

The conference room meeting with the losing team was very interesting. Several contestants attacked each other and Martha didn't know quite what to make it. I couldn't tell from the editing whether Martha was really reacting to what was happening, or if her reactions had been taped later and she was told to "look as if someone is saying the craziest thing ever." The project manager Jeff was sent home packing, primarily for being a "control freak." (You can't have two of those, I guess - Martha is enough for one company) Personally, I would have sent home the creative writer who wanted to shush everyone while she worked.

Next show promises to be more intense, with someone threatening to leave the loft and Martha telling a female contestant that a businesswoman shouldn't cry.

"Move, Satan, move on out of my way."

I work in the crisis department of a hospital in Indianapolis. I frequently see people who are either depressed and/or suicidal, or people who are psychotic. Tonight I saw a woman who repeatedly screamed the title of this post. I didn't know why she'd be screaming this over and over or what to really make of this.

I decided on a whim to google her words and I discovered that she was actually quoting the lyrics to a traditional spiritual. She obviously had mental problems, because the police found her screaming outside in the middle of the night while wearing only underwear, but she didn't come up with the phrase on her own.

Rachael Ray

Who would think that Rachael Ray would inspire such devotion - and such venom - in people? I like her shows on the Food Network - she has four now, which means she's fighting with Emeril Lagasse for control of the network. She's always very upbeat and perky on her shows - and yes, I'm putting it mildly here. I would probably find her more than slightly annoying in real life, but I can take it on the TV. She has stressed in the past that she has grown up cooking with her family and as a vocation but she is not a chef.

Newsweek has an article about her. Read it here.

There's a website that is solely devoted to hating her. (I won't type in the name of the site because it's not very polite.) If this person hated Rachael so much, why not just ignore her? Why obsess about her? Momma always said there's a thin line between love and hate.

"More Power to Ya"

So you were sitting in your living room/kitchen/den watching the "Concert for Hurricane Relief" on NBC last Friday night. Tim McGraw came on and sang a song you've never heard of. It mentioned something about "they that wait upon the Lord," but you can't remember the rest of the words and you didn't catch the title.

Here are the lyrics to "More Power to Ya," words and music by Bob Hartman. The song was originally performed by the band Petra, a legend in Christian music, for their album of the same name, released in 1982. It is based on Isaiah 40:31. (McGraw also performed this song at the Country Freedom Concert in October 2001.)

You say you've been feeling weaker, weaker by the day
You say you can't make the joy of your salvation stay
But good things come to them that wait
Not to those who hesitate
So hurry up and wait upon the Lord
(Chorus)
More power to ya
When you're standing on His word
When you're trusting with your whole heart in the message you have heard
More power to ya
When we're all in one accord
They that wait upon the Lord, they shall renew, they shall renew their strength

Jesus promised His disciples He'd give strength to them
Jesus told them all to tarry in Jerusalem
When they were all in one accord
The power of His Spirit poured
And they began to turn the world around

So be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might
Put on all His armor and fight the good fight
In all of our weakness, He becomes so strong
When He gives us the power and the strength to carry on


If you have yet to do so, please give now.

Kiki or Booba?

Fun with synaesthesia at Wikipedia.

an intriguing question

My wife flew down on business to Miami yesterday. The corporation where she works has offices across the country, including three in Florida (Orlando and Tampa are the other two cities). She said that she didn't see any real damage from Hurricane Katrina while driving through the downtown area. While on the phone with her last night, she said something that stopped my heart a little.

"There may be a job opening in Chicago soon. Would you be opposed to moving back there?"

We lived in Chicago from October 1997 to August 1998. Before we moved, we had very romantic ideals about living there: walking around downtown at night, going to the theatre, eating at great restaurants, living in a chi-chi apartment, and the like.

Once we moved there, we ran into the most blunt (or would you say that bluntest) reality: the commute. We lived in Oak Park, which is only ten minutes (with no traffic back-up) from downtown Chicago. When we tried to get to work in the morning (she worked inside the Loop, I worked just north of the University of Chicago campus), it would take an hour to get there, and a little less to return to our apartment. We survived a partial autumn, one winter, one spring, and a partial summer before we had to move out. We couldn't stand the commute, and we deemed the city unfit to live in with kids. And so April was able to transfer from the Deloitte & Touche Chicago office to the Indianapolis office (she no longer works there), and I left my job to start anew in a different city.

After being away for several years and having made many return trips to Chicago, we both have said, "You know, I wouldn't mind living in Chicago again... even with kids."

And now, a possibility.... Stay tuned!

Update (9/9/05): The job will not be posted. So no Chicago - at least not for now - one never knows what the future holds...

"This is a tragedy of great proportions, greater than any we've seen in our lifetimes."

New Orleans

Who is calling for W.'s impeachment?

I'm not talking about him. Or him. Or her. Or even him.

I'm talking about him.

Hurricane Katrina

She's set to hit Miami, one of my favorite cities, within the next 24 hours, and Katrina may be classified as a hurricane by the time she reaches land. Details here. The MTV Video Music Awards, scheduled to be held on Sunday, may be affected.

If you want to track Katrina, click here. If she moves as predicted, she will hit near Panama City on Monday. As you will recall, the Florida panhandle was ravaged by Hurricanes Ivan last year and Dennis earlier this summer.

My wife is flying to Miami for her business next week. I really don't know how she has a knack for being in southern Florida when storms and hurricanes hit. Last August, April and I visited the Keys and Key West - three days later, Hurricane Charley went through.

Update: My goodness, can you tell I haven't blogged in a few days? Katrina, now a category 5 hurricane, is headed for the "Big Easy." Thousands are flocking to the Superdome.

How do you defend your home?

I am not a believer in guns. That is not to say that I am against this particular group. That is also not to say that I dislike/hate people who own guns; I have friends who are hunters, and they of course have rifles that are kept in their homes. I am also not saying that people shouldn't have guns in the home that they would use to protect themselves; each must make up his/her own mind about that. I'm just saying that I don't personally feel comfortable around guns. Since I have children living in my home with me, I will not have a gun in my house.

This week, two houses in our neighborhood have experienced home invasion. Both occurrences happened while the occupants of the home were there. I repeat: an invader entered the home knowing that the occupants were there. Both occurences, thankfully, ended peacefully in that the invader fled after being confronted.

My father always kept a bat under his bed, just in case he needed to confront someone who had entered our house without permission. Last night at Wal-Mart, I bought a bat to place under my bed. My wife laughed at this, but I bought it because one never knows what might happen. I pray that I never need to use it as a weapon to deter house-invaders.

gender confusion at McDonald's

I stopped at a McDonald's to pick up dinner for my 5-year-old daughter yesterday. Her Happy Meal failed to have the requisite toy inside, so I had to go back through the drive-through to get a toy for her. This was my exchange with the McDonald's worker.

Me: Yes, I was just here. My daughter didn't get a toy in her Happy Meal.

McDonald's worker: Is it for a boy or girl?

Were you ever abducted by aliens?

It may have been more than just all in your mind, according to Susan Clancy, author of Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens.

I have wrestled with what to think about people who claim to have been abducted. Since I work in the mental health field, I naturally find it easy to think that they have some kind of disorder, they are saying these things to fulfill some kind of need, or they just want some attention. I have never considered that real extra-terrestrial beings could have abducted them, because I don't think that is possible.

Delay in releasing documents of SCOTUS nominee John Roberts

Ok, I'm not in the legal profession so I don't really understand something here.

John Roberts has worked in the judicial branch of the government for many years. How can people in the executive branch of the government delay documents of the judicial branch from getting to the legislative branch? Can anyone help me to understand this?

Florida: Day Five

There's nothing like a day at the Magic Kingdom to wear you (and your kids) out. We didn't stir from our bed until 10:00 am. It was fantastic to sleep in that late - it certainly helped to make our daughters exhausted yesterday. We breakfasted on granola bars and Pop-tarts. We packed up our belongings and checked out of the Marriott - next time we come to Orlando as a family, we'll definitely stay closer to all the attractions.

I wanted to eat lunch at my favorite place in Orlando - Cafe Tu Tu Tango. We dined on roasted pears on pecan crisps topped with Spanish bleu cheese and a balsamic reduction served with arugula, Cuban grilled steak skewers with lime steak sauce, and pan-fried chicken and shrimp potstickers. Their food is incredible, and the place was featured on Food Network's "$40 a Day." For dessert we had the crazy bananas (two scoops of banana walnut gelato topped with our homemade caramel sauce, flavored with Scotch and drambuie, surrounded by fresh sliced bananas and sopapilla chips) and the stacks of cookies & cream ( oatmeal cookie wafers layered with vanilla heath bar ice cream and chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream, topped with hot fudge). We had to drive down to just south of downtown Orlando to eat there since it is on International Drive, but it was worth it.

We headed north on SR-27 and out of Orlando. We turned onto I-75N and drove on to Ocala, where we resumed driving on SR-27. We passed by several horse farms - who knew that Florida could horse country. We drove through Williston, Bronson, and Chiefland, and we passed by close to the Manatee Springs State Park. We drove around the panhandle to SR-98. When we reached Panacea, The Sweet One was able to see the Gulf of Mexico for the first time.

We drove along the boondocks of the Apalachicola National Forest. The pine trees were very dense on both sides of the road, and we passed by only a few cars. We saw a few deer, and fortunately they didn't feel inclined to wander the road in front of us. He didn't appear, but I wouldn't have been surprised if we had seen this guy. We were amazed at the large amount of debris still on the coastline from Hurricane Ivan last year. Many houses appeared to be intact, but a good number were still damaged - and a few looked as if they had been abandoned.

Darkness had settled in by the time we reached Apalachicola. The town seemed very quaint with its beautiful homes, art galleries and shoppes. We saw several people sitting outside a steakhouse - they appeared to be having a good time. I learned later that Apalachicola is known for this, but the area hasn't done well this year because of Ivan's destructiveness. I tried to call my brother-in-law Ken from a pay-phone - I could hear him, but he couldn't hear me. The Wife's cell-phone was out of service. I picked up a home buyer's guide for the area - many homes are priced to $1 million and higher.

We finally reached my sister Brenda's house in Panama City at 9:30 PM. Ken and Brenda were happy to see us. Lillie was a little unsure about being around them, but she eventually warmed to them. My neice Leah and her husband Dustin (they are living with Brenda) came home, and we talked with all of them for about an hour. They gave us the keys for my sister Joy's vacation home (she lives in West Chester, OH, but they bought a home in Panama City last year). We hauled our stuff into the home, then crashed for the night.

Florida: Day Four

The long awaited day had arrived ... the day we've been waiting for ... the day The Sweet has talked about ever since we told her about what we would do when she turned five years old .... the day to go to the Magic Kindom!

The girls didn't wake us up until 9:00 AM. The park opens daily at 9:00 AM. Ahhhh! We missed being there right when it opened. What happened to our girls' internal alarm clarks that always seem to go off at 6:30? Ah, well... I had to remind myself that we were here for The Sweet and she would love being there no matter what time we arrived. (I had to re-remind myself of this several times throughout the day, especially when we didn't go on a ride I really wanted to!) Since it was a Sunday morning, traffic was very light.

Before we entered the park, we needed to get fuel for our bodies. We had a gift card to use at a Panera Bread, and we found one in what is probably the best mall in Orlando (outside the outlet malls, of course). The stores were just starting to open, so there were only a few people walking around. We munched on pepperbleu steaks and Fuji apple chicken salads before taking our journey to the Magic Kingdom.

We arrived at the parking lot just after 1:00 PM. I changed into my Mickey shirt (which I had to exchange at the Disney store - the one I bought last night was too snug), and we grabbed The Cute's stroller and bag. We waited only a few minutes for the shuttle to arrive.

We were taken up to the gate to purchase our tickets. It was only natural that when we were in line to be the next to purchase tickets, the people at the window had some big problem that had to involve two ticketworkers andtheir supervisor. We stood in line for what seemed like hours (ok, maybe more like tens of minutes) when we were finally able to purchase our tickets.

Then we stood in line (such a common thing to do at DisneyWorld) to ride the ferry. This was The Cute's first official boat ride, so I had to take a picture of her. One of The Wife's coworkers told her that the ferry would take us to the park faster, and he was right. We didn't wait long for the ferry, and it crossed the lake in less than ten minutes.

We finally made it to the park just after 2:00 PM. The Wife said that she wanted to have the girls' silhouttes drawn right away - while they were still fresh and in an un-whiny mood. We quickly found a guy who sounded Russian to do the silhouttes on Main Street U.S.A. Both girls were done by the time the parade come by at 3:00.

Following the parade we walked on to Fantasyland. We rode Cinderella's Golden Carousel, the Mad Tea Party teacups (one of The Wife's favorites), and Mickey's Philharmagic. The Cute was able to ride the carousel with us, although she sat with me in a carriage that didn't go up-and-down. The Sweet enjoyed the teacups so much that we rode them again later in the evening - Lillie joined us for that ride. During our adventures, we stopped at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe for some french fries - this proved to be our only trek into Tomorrowland.

We went to Liberty Square to see the Hall of Presidents, a very stirring and patriotic presentation (which I suspect Democrats wouldn't like very much because Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush are primarily featured). April stopped in Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe to buy some Christmas ornaments. We munched on fish and chicken for dinner in the Columbia Harbor House.

After we had eaten our fill and The Wife had lifted several napkins because they featured pictures of Mickey Mouse, I took Katie to one of the must-see's of the park - the Haunted Mansion. I did what every good parent must do when they have a small child with them - I dragged her inside kicking and screaming. Well, okay, she didn't kick, but she did scream, "I want Mommy!" She mostly huddled into me and covered her eyes, but she peeked out a few times to see the ghosts dining and dancing, the clock with the turning finger, and the ghost that appeared to be in the coffin with us. When we exited the mansion, she told The Wife in no uncertain times that she would never ride this again. (I remember saying something quite similar when I was taken on the ride by my siblings, and I think I was The Sweet's age at the time)

We returned to Fantasyland so that we could ride another The Wife's favorite (and her must-visit attraction for this trip) - "It's a small world." The Sweet enjoyed this ride immensely. This ride has never been one of my favorites, primarily because the song sticks in my head for hours afterward, but it was fun to ride with April and the girls. The Cute seemed to enjoy it as well - her eyes were wide-open the entire time. We bought a princess hat with Minnie ears attached for The Sweet.

Darkness was creeping upon us, and we still had no signatures from any characters to put in The Wife's scrapbook. We went to Mickey's Toontown Fair, which hadn't existed when The Wife and I were last here (December 1988 - we were both in Orlando at about the same time but we didn't know each other then, of course). We walked through both Mickey's and Minnie's country houses - The Sweet liked Minnie's house better, naturally.

The best stop was in the Toontown Hall of Fame, which also houses the County Bounty merchandise shop. The Wife was able to take pictures with and get signatures of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, Belle, and Snow White. We bought a Minnie ear hat for The Cute and she looked very cute, naturally.

We were close to Main Street U.S.A. and the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey when the fireworks display began at 10:00 PM. As we had expected, the fireworks were spectacular. (We had missed seeing any on July 4th, so it was great to see them here.) We bought some fudge and waited for almost an hour before we made our way out of the park. We arrived back in the Marriott after midnight, but very happy that we had a full and exciting day!

Florida: Day Three

We finally arrived at our hotel - another Courtyard by Marriott - just after 1:00 AM. We were staying on the north side of Orlando, about 5-10 minutes from downtown. April didn't have enough points to stay at a Marriott close to Disney, which would have put us on Orlando's southern side. We drove through a rough-looking neighborhood, which changed drastically after we entered the business park where the hotel is located. Several people were in the pool, but we were too tired to join them. After settling in, we got some much needed sleep.

When we awoke, Katie and I went down to the pool for a swim. April and Lillie decided to relax in the room. Several families were swimming with us, and Katie elected to make friends with a little girl a year younger than her. We were in the pool for nearly an hour, then we returned to the room to get ready for dinner.

We went to the Grand Floridian Resort at Disney for our dinner. On our way there, April and Katie stopped at this place to buy her a Cinderella outfit that she could wear. April paid more than she wanted to, but we figured that Katie will only want to do this once in her life - I don't see her wanting to dress up when we come for Lillie's 5th birthday. We ate dinner in one of the restaurants at the resort, called 1900 Park Fare. Katie was able to meet and take pictures with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother, and two of the mice. We strolled around the resort grounds after dinner and marvelled at the amount of people who could afford to stay here. A bridesmaid posed for pictures inside the main room (can you say "enormous?" I knew you could). Two gay guys bickered while waiting for the valet to bring up their car.

We returned to Downtown Disney to walk off our dinner - too much seafood isn't really a good thing. We stopped in the Disney store and sipped on a shake from Ghirardelli. We bought some T-shirts to wear tomorrow on our trip to the Kingdom. We watched some teenagers shake it on stage to the Village People's "YMCA."

We retired to our hotel around 10:00. Tomorrow will be a HUGE day.

Florida: Day Two

We arrived at our hotel just around 12:30 AM. April checked us in, I lugged our suitcases out of the van, and we were in our room. Not suprisingly, both girls were awake - we had to get The Sweet up so she could walk to the room, and The Cute is a very light sleeper (just like her mother). The room was very nice and clean - aspects that are always great no matter where you stay. There were two queen-sized beds in our room - The Cute slept in bed with her mom, and The Sweet was with me.

We woke up around 9:00 - it would have been nice to sleep a little longer, but kids don't always let that happen. The Sweet wanted desperately to swim in the pool, so we had to tell her, "Just wait - we'll go swimming in Florida. Maybe tonight." We ate Pop-tarts and granola bars for breakfast. We left soon after waking and traveled on I-24, seeing many billboards for this American classic.

We stopped for lunch at a rest area just north of Chattanooga. It was nice to eat our sandwiches and chips by the Tennessee River. When we stopped, all the tables were taken except for one table with a covering and a sign that said it was for the handicapped. We had no choice but to take the "handicapped table." Several people left while we were eating. A family with a woman in a wheelchair arrived and took a table that was further away from the parking away - and therefore was not "handicapped." They said nothing to The Wife when she saw that their license plate was from Indiana and commented about it. I don't know if they were upset or not that we had taken a "handicapped table," but what were we to do?

Once we were through Chattanooga, we turned onto I-75 and into Georgia. We had hoped to be through Atlanta before rush hour hit, but we had no such luck. We were in the middle of downtown Atlanta at 4:00 PM, and we were in trouble. The road had been fairly smooth until just south of downtown and then we hit it - Bumper-to-Bumper Land. Our speed averaged around 12 mph, I think. We saw several accidents, including a car that appeared to be incinerated and a boat that had rammed into the back of the SUV pulling it. There are apparently some drivers in Georgia that need to return to driving school.

We finally entered Florida around 9:00 PM. The welcome station was closed, so we could not get a drink of the famous Florida orange juice. We stopped at some forgettable fast-food joint and continued on our way. Shortly before midnight we were still not at our destination. The Wife called the hotel to tell them we'd be in very late.

Florida: Day One

Why is it that you can never leave when you plan to? You can have most everything packed and the van loaded and ready to go, you can have a hotel room booked in a city you can reach in reasonable time (seven hours), and you still leave much later than you want to...... Such was the case with our family vacation, something we haven't taken in quite a while. April and I have made some side trips to Florida here and there, mostly for her to do some work and me to have a bit of fun (especially here), but this was the first trip to Florida as a family. My five-year-old daughter Katie is going to DisneyWorld for her first time - it will be my nine-month-old daughter Lillie's first time as well, but she will not remember it.

In a perfect world we would have left our house at 3:00, arrived in Chattanooga, TN around 10:00, eaten a nice dinner somewhere along the way (Cracker Barrel is a favorite roadstop - we have them here in Indy, but I think they are superior in the South), taken an evening dip in the hotel pool, and retired at a somewhat reasonable hour. But families with young and very-young children do not live in a perfect world, and my family is no exception.

We left the house just after 6:00. We had to stop at Andy & Jen's home (Jen watches the girls while April works and I sleep) to drop off Jen's payment - we talked to them about 15 minutes before leaving. We pulled into Steak N Shake to order some greasy burgers and fattening shakes. Just after 7:00, we were finally driving down the highway and on our way.

When we made a pit stop in Louisville (these can be frequent with 5-year-olds), we realized that the sky was growing darker and we still had a long road before hitting Chattanooga. April had reserved a room in a Courtyard Marriott for us, and we'd stay for free by using her Marriott points. Since we didn't really feel like arriving at our hotel at 2:00 AM, April was able to switch to a room in Nashville for us. We would stay at a Courtyard Marriott just down the road from a much grander hotel.

Driving through Kentucky on I-65 is vastly different than driving through Indiana. Hills, hills ... hills everywhere! Katie commented on the plethora of "big walls" alongside the highway. We also noticed a lot of strange "attractions" - the National Corvette Museum, Dinosaur World, and Granny's Quilts to name just a few.

We still hadn't arrived by nearly midnight, so we would be driving to our very first stop on Day 2 of our trip.

Send your kiddies (and the Bush twins) to Iraq!

Whenever I read the blogs from my brethren on the Left (which is often, because I try to stay balanced), I will inevitably see some comment from someone about how the president should sign up the twins for the military. The thinking goes like this: if Bush is willing to send troops to Iraq that he doesn't personally know, he and every other chicken-hawk Republican and DINO (all true Democrats oppose the war, just like Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi) should sign up their children to go. I recently saw it on an open thread by Left Coaster.

I don't know where to start with this. It's such a ridiculous statement that adds nothing to any argument against the war in Iraq. I pointed this out in the comments section of the above-mentioned open thread, and of course I got blasted from someone who said, "Don't take everything so literally. Of course we know it is a volunteer military, at least as of today." What does it mean about taking it literally? Is there another way to take it that I missed? And if "we know" it's a volunteer military, why do so many people say stuff like that, including the "documentary filmmaker" Michael Moore? You can't just sign up your child to go in the military - it's a volunteer military (yes, I know I should add the words "for now"), so the individual must decide to sign up.

Christopher Hitchens writes a nice article about this.

Why aren't people going to the movies this year?

Maybe it's because we've seen all these movies - and the characters in them - before. Patrick Goldstein talks about it here.

Consider how many remakes, sequels, and movies made from old TV shows are out now: Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Longest Yard, Land of the Dead, and Bewitched. Still to come: War of the Worlds, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bad News Bears, Dukes of Hazzard, Deuce Bigalow, Transporter 2, and Pride and Prejudice.

Happy Birthday, Pac-man!

pPac-Man turns 25 this year.

One of my greatest childhood pleasures was going to the arcade. A friend from church would spend the afternoon at my house on Sundays, and we'd usually go to the local Putt-Putt golf course - not to play golf, but to spend our shiny quarters in its game room. Yeah, sure, we were geeks, but boy was it fun! I'd take him on trips with my family to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains every August, right before school started up again. During the 1980s, Gatlinburg was filled with arcades - now there are t-shirt stands where the arcades once proudly stood.

Pac-Man was a great game. I remember getting it for my Atari, and how dissappointed I was that it wasn't exactly like the arcade version. I remember having to go to bed on school nights while my parents stayed awake and played it. I remember when Ms. Pac-Man came out, and how much an improvement it was on the old Man.

Jesus loves porn stars

Don't believe me, you say? Jesus loves them indeed.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 (KJV)

John Danforth, former U.S. Senator for Missouri as well as a former Ambassador to the United Nations, has written an editorial in Friday's (6/17) New York Times about Christians on the "Right" and "In The Middle." Danforth shows that there is disagreement among Christians about what is happening in our society and how it should be responded to. Danforth makes some interesting points, but he seems to oversimplify some issues.

Danforth writes, "But for us, the only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Repeatedly in the Gospels, we find that the Love Commandment takes precedence when it conflicts with laws." Yes, Jesus said that loving our neighbor is of utmost importance, but before saying that he talked of loving God with our hearts, souls, and minds. If you were to truly love God, wouldn't you then love the same things that God does, like righteousness, holiness, and justice? What does it mean it to love your neighbor? Does loving your neighbor mean that you just accept whatever he/she says and/or does? If you were to truly love your neighbor, would you point out sin in his/her life, or would you say nothing for fear of being called judgmental?

Danforth writes, "When we see an opportunity to save our neighbors' lives through stem cell research, we believe that it is our duty to pursue that research, and to oppose legislation that would impede us from doing so." What if we believe that a person's life begins at conception, or when a sperm and an egg become one? Is it right to destroy one person's life in order to (possibly) save another's life?

Danforth writes, "For us, living the Love Commandment may be at odds with efforts to encapsulate Christianity in a political agenda. We strongly support the separation of church and state, both because that principle is essential to holding together a diverse country, and because the policies of the state always fall short of the demands of faith." Does this mean that a Christian's politics should be wholly secular? Dr. Martin L. King frequently cited the Bible in his discussions on civil rights; should he have kept the Bible out of it?

Bill, Hillary & rape

In what will surely be one of the most controversial books of the year, Ed Klein has alleged in his forthcoming book, The Truth about Hillary: What She Knew, when She Knew It, and how Far She'll Go to Become President, that Bill Clinton raped his wife Hillary the night that daughter Chelsea was conceived. Klein uses unnamed sources to make this claim.

Come on! Unnamed sources? To write something this shocking/outrageous/explosive and use unnamed sources?? I can't say that I am a fan of the Clintons, but I am a fan of fairness. They have taken the heat (both deserved and undeserved) for many years now, but this is a disgusting bit of "news." If someone wants to tell Ed Klein about how he heard Bill talk of "raping the wife," that person needs to proclaim loud and clear who they are, not slink in the shadows. There is no way to "prove" unnamed sources are lying if they don't identify themselves or give proof of their claims (does anyone have the former president on audiotape saying this? I seriously doubt it), except to say that it didn't happen.

If #42 did indeed say this to someone, I am sure he has a different definition of "rape" than most of us do. After all, he told us there were several definitions of "is."

Althouse writes about it here. Bulldogpundit also has something to write. Ezra Klein gives his thoughts.

Carol Memmott sizes up the impending books on the New York senator.

UPDATE: Dick Morris has something to say.

50 worst hairstyles

Do you have any of these? I must admit, I had #45 sophomore year in college.

WARNING: There is some strong language in this link.

New study about prevelancy of mental illness

The Gray Lady has reported about a new study: "More than half of Americans will develop a mental illness at some point in their lives, often beginning in childhood or adolescence, researchers have found in a survey that experts say will have wide-ranging implications for the practice of psychiatry. The survey is the most comprehensive in a series of censuslike mental health studies undertaken by the government. The findings of those studies are frequently cited by researchers, advocacy groups, policy makers and drug manufacturers to emphasize the importance of diagnosing and treating mental illness."

As I've mentioned before, I work as a crisis counselor for a hospital in Indianapolis. My main job is to evaluate and determine if someone needs psychiatric inpatient treatment. Of course I don't do this on my own, I have to consult with a psychiatrist about admission. I see quite a few people, and many of them have been hospitalized before.

Some psychiatrists are doubtful of the study. "On the other side are psychiatrists who say they believe that the estimates are inflated. 'Fifty percent of Americans mentally impaired - are you kidding me?' said Dr. Paul McHugh, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. While the new survey was carefully done, Dr. McHugh said, 'the problem is that the diagnostic manual we are using in psychiatry is like a field guide and it just keeps expanding and expanding'."

Perhaps La Shawn Barber is onto something about the high numbers of mental disorders. But I think she stole her money line ("liberalism is a mental disorder") from Michael Savage.

Stealing "Harry"

You know a book is going to be huge when people try to sell stolen copies. I'm not talking about someone selling hot stereos or cars or video copies of just-released movies - I'm talking about stolen books. More specifically, I mean the highly anticipated (and that's putting it mildly) book by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series is due to hit bookstores on July 16. No doubt many stores will be selling copies at 12:01 AM, for those who haven't already pre-ordered. Some people may be asking, why is someone who purports to be an evangelical Christian posting about the Harry Potter books without condemning them? Doesn't he know they are evil? Well, I must confess that I own four of the five already-available books (I don't have Goblet of Fire), so obviously I don't think that they are inherently evil, but I would never tell anyone to read them unquestioningly. I believe that any book should be examined with a discerning eye - there's always a need to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Lisa Jackson has written a good article about the books. This link will give you access to numerous articles written by fine folks at Christianity Today.

Bloggin' is borin'?

Roland S. Martin has gotten all riled up about the increasing popularity of blogging. Seems to me he's just upset about people taking over his "journalism turf." Thanks, La Shawn, for pointing this guy out.

This person has written a loooonnggg article about why he hates blogs. If he hates blogs so much, why does he spend time writing about them?