Tuesday, December 30, 2003

What I've Learned

What have I learned in exactly 37 years of life? I've learned...
  • The final chord of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" is a thing of beauty.

  • Star Trek and Star Wars are fun, but they're not that fun.

  • Remember your friends and cherish their memories. Keep in touch with them if possible, but remember there's more to old friends than reminiscences.

  • Pride is the cause of 99% of the world's problems. People who are too proud - including me - to admit to themselves that they might be wrong. Too proud to make a change in their lives because it might diminish themselves in their own eyes. Too proud to say, "I'm sorry - my fault". Too proud to consider both sides of an argument. Too proud to be open-minded about facts. Too proud to lose face. Too proud to be thought less of. Too proud to risk embarrassment. Too proud to give in to the truth. Too proud to risk rejection. Too proud to look beyond the surface.

  • The power to make someone laugh - truly laugh - is a great power indeed. To cause someone to laugh gives you a greater power than to make them cry.

  • Corollary: Comedy is 90% timing, 10% material, and 10% irony.

  • On the web, content is king.

  • If the only way to kill the vampire Strahd guarding the gates of Ravenloft is to roll a critical hit with a natural 20 - you'll definitely roll a 4.

  • Nobody is 100% right, and nobody is 100% wrong.

  • There is no crime so heinous as one that harms a child. But harm can be invisible: neglect, ridicule, indifference and overindulgence can be as damaging as other forms of abuse

  • If you know what you need, and you see what you want better see that you keep what you have....

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XVIII

CJ of Up For Anything is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

This week he's featured the cast and crew of the RTB and their holiday resolutions as we ring in 2004. Enjoy!

Monday, December 29, 2003

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

Hang on tight - I'm about to backpedal over everything I've been saying about carrying concealed weapons, and guns in general and stuff. Hold on.....wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Ok, maybe not a complete backpedal - but SayUncle brings up A Christmas Story (SU: Ok...whatever) and reminded me of something I had thought about on Christmas Day watching it at my wife's family's house in West Tennessee....

There's a scene near the end of the movie - Little Ralphie's gotten everything he wanted for Christmas, all except for the one thing he wanted most: the Red Rider BB Rifle. Throughout the whole picture, his parents have denied his request for the BB gun - citing its inherant dangers. In the warm early evening 1940's Christmas Day afterglow, his little brother Randy snoozes beneath the tree, clutching a model zeppelin. Ralphe sits on the couch between his mom and dad, a little dazed, a little happy, and little sad, but not wanting to disappoint his mom and dad who sit on either side of him.

One of them ask him if he got everything he wanted for Christmas, and Ralphie says, yes...pretty much. Almost. His mom is comforting, knowing no-one gets everything they want for Christmas.

His dad, however, has a gleam in his eye. "What's that over there?" he wonders, peering at a chair in the far corner of the room. Ralphie glances up, curious. "What's over there behind that chair? Go ahead, Ralphie - go and see."

A small light begins to build in Ralphie's eyes as he clambers cautiously off the sofa and makes his way over the chair. Mom and Dad stand up to watch, Mom with a quizzical look at Dad - who has a wonderfully melancholy look on his face.

Ralphie finds hidden behind the chair - a long, thin package. Only one thing it could be - he knows it, but can't quite believe it. Eager hands rip at the wrapping paper and we begin to see the markings of a Red Rider BB gun.

Mom says, "How...where did that...?" to which Dad replies with a shrug, "It was Santa - Santa must've brought it." Then softly, to his wife he says, "My father gave me one of the those when I was a kid...."

That scene of a father's love for his son, and the desire to see his children's wishes come true is my favorite scene in any Christmas movie - and one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.

I try very hard to keep the magic of Christmas alive for my kids - we set out cookies, milk, reindeer food outside - we open the fireplace, and make sure the flue is open. The belief in Santa lasts for such a short time as desires turn from BB Guns and Star Wars Death Star playsets to records, CD's, Money Market accounts.... as much of the magic as we can hold on to, the more precious their childhood memories will be.

And from a father passing on a tradition to his son on Christmas to my father passing on traditions to me and on to my kids, it's a Wonderful thing.

Sunday, December 28, 2003

More on O'Charley's

Last week I wondered why the lawsuit against O'Charley's concerning the Hepatitis A scare was going forward.

Then I read this today, and almost lost my lunch:

Hepatitis blame won't kills suits, lawyers say (Knoxville News Sentinel, 12/28/03)

'The likely Mexican origin of the onions blamed in hepatitis outbreaks probably won't bring dismissal of lawsuits against the U.S. restaurants that served them, lawyers say.

It's really not a defense that someone else sold you the adulterated food," said Sid Gilreath, a Knoxville attorney. "It doesn't relieve you of legal responsibility."

...

Tennessee law allows a jury to assign percentages of blame to various parties so each has to pay its share.

...

Nashville attorney Paul Davidson said he believes that because Tennessee law lets juries apportion blame, it's possible O'Charley's will be assigned a smaller part of the fault.'
How any law can exist that would allow any party - individual or company - to assume culpability in a lawsuit when it can be proven they are not responsible...

'"This is not a situation where the restaurant failed to adhere to cleanliness requirements," Davidson told The Tennessean.'
...is beyond belief. Any judge or attorney who allows such a lawsuit to go forward should resign in shame, and this loophole in the law should be changed immediately.

Now, that being said the lawyer being quoted is not officially part of the case. He's simply a Knoxville lawyer being asked his opinion on the case. However, if what he says turns out to be the case, and O'Charley's is forced to defend itself against something it had no control over, it's a travesty.

Thursday, December 25, 2003

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Some random memories of Christmas from my childhood:

  • I always had terrible trouble falling asleep Christmas Eve. Some years I remember I would stay up almost all night - not like I was trying to catch Santa or anything, I was so excited I could just never go to sleep. I remember one year I was allowed to open one present Christmas Eve, and it was the album soundtrack to The Muppet Movie - Rainbow Connection and all. I remember putting the album on Repeat and listening to it Over and Over All Night Long.

  • Another year, earlier, I remember getting a Sesame Street "Bert" puppet and taking him to bed with me.

  • Yet another year, I dreamed I had woken up, gone into the living room with my parents and I had gotten a couple presents - clothes, mostly, no big deal. I woke up for real with a feeling of terror - that I had had a lousy Christmas morning.

  • There's a Christmas picture that I'll dig up and post - I'm sitting in the floor with my brother wearing Green Bay Packers pajamas. Huh? We live in Tennessee - why in the world had I wanted Packers PJ's?

  • Other bits of recollections: My parents audiotaping Christmas morning for several years; always getting an apple as the last thing in my stocking; getting the Shaun Cassidy "Da Doo Ron Ron" album (ok, the laughing and mocking will now commence..................................feel better? Moving on...); the puppet theatre; the TRC Total Control Racing set that ultimately proved my parents were Santa; wandering outside to the front yard late in the evening and singing Christmas Carols softly to myself (and someone else, of course); the weather guys doing "Santa-tracking reports"; one year we visited my grandmother in Atlanta for Christmas, and my parents had to explain that Santa just brought the presents to her apartment. It wasn't for several years that I looked back and said, "Ohhhhh". How they hid the presents in the trunk or something I'll never know
I have many more, I suppose, but that's a random sampling.

We went to our church's Christmas Eve service tonight, our quartet sang a few songs and my spirits were lifted considerably. For several weeks I've been in a paranoid funk, first with the flu epidimic, now worse with the terror warnings. Remembering these happy Christmases and being reminded of the simple message of peace at Christmas has helped a good deal. I can't wait to see the faces of my kids in the morning.

I pray that our nation and its people remain safe, and that His will be done.

Merry Christmas

God Bless Us, Everyone.

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Conversations

Conversation with my daughter, Gigglegirl (age 4) on the way home this afternoon, Christmas Eve.

GiggleGirl is in a pre-Christmas anxious mood...actually, she's angry because she wants to go out of town to see her relatives right now and by golly, we'd better move it. However, when she's in a mood and riding in her carseat in my car, she has a tendency to kick the back of my driver's seat. Hard.

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GiggleGirl: I want to go to Jackson now!!!

Me: No, we're going to church tonight and tomorrow after we open presents we'll leave...

GG: Grrrr....(begins kicking my chair)

After a few seconds of muttered 4-year-old cursing - razzin' Little Pony frazzin' Barney mrrpphin' Ariel...

Me: All right - I'm going to have to call Santa Claus and tell him not to bring you any presents! (make vague motions to pick up my cellphone)

GG: (whining) Noooooooo! Daddy! (stops kicking. Briefly. After a few moments she starts cursing and kicking again - rackin' Wiggles frackin' Lilo and Stitch...)

Me: Hey!! Ok, I'm calling Santa right now... (actually pick up cellphone, move it toward my ear)

GG: (whining harder) Nooooooooooooooooooooo!! DADDY!!! (stops kicking again. Even more briefly. Starts cursing and summoning minor Disney demons - brackin' Chernabog mackin' Firebird - and kicks again with more force...

Me: Ok!! That's it! I'm calling Santa. (open cellphone, make pretend dialing noises, hold phone up to ear)

GG: (crying in disbelief and terror) Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Nononononono!!!!

Me: Hello, North Pole? Yes, can I speak to Santa please? Oh, ok, yes I'll hold... (back to GG) I'm on hold, sweety.

GG: (beside herself) Daddddddddddddddy!!!!!!

Me: Yes...what? Oh, ok - can you have him call Barry _______ at xxx-xxxx (I said my real cellphone number - verisimiilitude, you know). Thank you - goodbye. (close phone, feel guilty for causing daughter to cry - well, I felt guilty for about two seconds)

GG: (sniffling) Daddy, you didn't really call Santa did you???

Me: Yes, I did, but he's busy and I had to leave a message and he's going to call me back. I'll make you a deal. If you can promise me you'll stop kicking the back of my chair I won't tell Santa that you've been bad when he calls back....

GG: (thinking, still sniffling, says nothing)

Me: Well? Do you promise?

GG: (through her tears) D-D-D-Daddy....I-I-I can't promise that!!!

snicker ;)

Well, she never promised anything but she didn't kick my anymore the rest of the way home. I guess that's something.

Although I wonder what I would have done in someone had called my phone right about that time. And if I had "Here Comes Santa Claus" or "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" as one on my ringtones I might have made it ring anyway....

Yeah, yeah, I'm getting coal in my stocking this year.

Holiday Cheer

James Lileks comes out of his brief vacation to deliver some desparately needed holiday cheer, and proving once again that even with one hand tied behind his back and half the letters pulled off his keyboard, he's the best writer in the blogosphere.

If you've never read him before, start now and don't stop. If you're an old fan, enjoy.

Changes, Changes...

Filthy Hippy Speak has moved. Adjusteth thy blogrolls accordingly.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Who's Responsible?

Hepatitis A was cause of death, lawyer says

'An attorney for a Roane County man's family said Monday that Michael Smith died of complications from hepatitis A he allegedly contracted when he ate at an O'Charley's restaurant.

...

"The results (of a family-requested autopsy) were interpreted by one of Smith's treating specialists, and it was established that there was a likely link between hepatitis A and his death," said James K. Scott, attorney for Smiths' family. "In all likelihood if he hadn't eaten at O'Charley's, he wouldn't be dead."

...

Smith's family sued O'Charley's in Knox County Circuit Court for $17.5 million, alleging the restaurant failed to serve food that is safe and to take precautions against contamination.

...

With the help of the Knox County Health Department, East Tennessee Division of the Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Health was able to identify green onions as the disease source.

...

"The FDA is quite convinced that the green onion contamination happened on the farm level in Mexico...We always encourage consumers to wash their produce."
So I don't understand - the contamination is almost certain to have occured in Mexico before the onions were ever shipped to the U.S. But since the suit against O'Charley's seems to be going forward, are they alleging that the onions simply weren't washed before preparation, and O'Charley's is at fault for the man's death? Or did they not do anything out of the ordinary, and the Hepatitis A virus survived standard preparation techniques?

If it's the latter, surely the lawsuit against O'Charley's (and, by extension, their employees) would have no merit.

I haven't heard this point addressed in any of the coverage - maybe I missed it.

Monday, December 22, 2003

Lagging behind

I'm thoroughly offended by this:

The Bear Flag League Store

All I can say is the Rocky Top Brigade better get off their collective butts and compete, lest we lose our rightful place as the most influential blogger alliance in the 'sphere.

Heck, they're even sponsoring a prize in the 2004 Dead Pool...

So, hey, any industrious T-Shirt makers out there? Available are my RTB flag (at top right) or SouthKnox Bubba's version on his site.

Personally, I just want to see Glenn wearing an RTB hat, just so we know he remembers that he's a member.

Hey, Teresa - care to put a logo on one of your felt hats? Think of the licensing revenue!!

SayUncle could offer a stylish RTB sweater for your dog...or we could sell baby bibs with the RTB logo courtesy of BusyMom.

Hmmm....

Um, ok..

Faramir

Faramir

If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Faramir, Man of Gondor, the humble younger brother of Boromir.

In the movie, I am played by David Wenham.

Who would you be?
Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software



(Found via Big Stupid Tommy)

Friday, December 19, 2003

Grim Grinning Ghost..

Apparently there's been a photograph taken of a ghost at London's Hampton Court palace. A security camera seems to have picked up an image of an apparition dressed in strange clothing closing an emergency door.

Here's the image from the security camera:




But our crack staff of gully dwarf photographers has been up all night drinking developing solution and somehow in their drunken stupor came up with some startling close-ups of the ghost. Here's one slightly pulled in:



And a close-up, unprocessed view of the ghost him (it)-self:



Using some patented zooming and sharpening techniques developed by Avon, they were able to clear up the image a bit:



And a bit more:



Until finally, the true identity of the malevolent spirit is revealed!!



And you thought he was going to London just to escape publicity....


Thursday, December 18, 2003

Preventable

The report is out that says the 9/11 attacks were preventable.

Other people are already giving their opinions about this report - here's my question:

Should the airport screeners have stopped the hijackers from getting through the airport gates? Was there a demonstrable breakdown in existing airport security measures that should have detected the box-cutters, etc. that would have kept them from even getting on the planes?

End of an Era

This is a Very Bad Thing:

Carnival Ends Era -- Of Paradise

"It is indeed the end of an era, albeit a rather short-lived one: Carnival Cruise Line is announcing it will reposition Carnival Paradise, the industry's only remaining all-non-smoking cruise ship, to Long Beach, where the ship will sail three- and four-night Baja Mexico itineraries. Somewhat buried in the announcement is an aside that will be a disappointment to non-smoking cruisers: "The Paradise, which has operated as a smoke-free vessel since its induction in 1998, will no longer retain that designation."
My wife and I sailed on the Paradise last year for our 10th anniversary. 10 wonderful smoke-free days, now will be no longer possible for anyone wanting to keep their lungs reasonably clear in an enclosed space. That's too bad.


The Carnival Paradise

Vilification and Clarification

I need to clear something up.

A few days ago, I posted a comment on Mike William's blog, "Master of None" regarding my feelings towards Concealed Carry Permits (CCP). Michael, who has an excellent site that I visit frequently, posted an open letter regarding the State of California denying his application for a CCP. Here is part of my comment:

"If I were to take a live, armed weapon and carry it on my person, in public, it would eat away at my sanity just as if it were emitting lethal radiation. To know that I carried an instrument of sure and certain death on my person, available and ready to be pulled out and used at a moment's notice to possibly kill...a child. A homeless person. An innocent.

Obviously that is not your intent. You want to protect yourself - maybe that is how you feel in California. But being brought up in Eastern Tennessee I've never once felt the need to protect myself from imminent bodily harm in public. And if I were aware of a location that might be unduly hazardous - a dark alley, a badly lighted parking area - I would avoid it. I've never been mugged, nor can I readily pull up a name of any person I've ever met that's been mugged or even bodily threatened in my whole life.

What scares me most is the arbitrary nature of self-defense. What line must be crossed to signal to you that there is imminent danger or threat? Is it a criminal pulling a gun on you? In which case, unless you're a gunslinger, you're not going to outdraw him. Is it someone pulling a knife? Threatening words? Bad language or rude gestures? Where is that one point where you decide, "Yes, my life or the life of my loved ones is in danger and I must now take it upon myself to take the life of another person." What if the guy is reaching into his jacket, and you are sure, absolutely certain that it is a weapon. You pull your gun and shoot--and see he's reaching for his wallet. Or worse, you miss and hit a child running in the street. Where is that line?

The radiation would rot my brain and I would never be able to live with myself.

Maybe it's different in California. Maybe it's different in Tennessee. Maybe I don't love my family enough...maybe I love them too much. But I know myself, and know that if I surrendered to the paranoia - and I mean that in the most basic sense - there would be no turning back.

I'll stay in the light, thanks."
Then, some subsequent commentors took issue with my statements:
"You can argue the benefit of carrying a firearm, and question someone's justification if you like, but speaking of a concealed firearm as if it emits radiation says more about you than it does about anything else. I know that I'm engaging in the popular pastime of "psychoanalyzing from a distance" and I apologize for that, but really, getting so intense about the mere proximity of a gun is a little silly. It's only a tool, and if you aren't comfortable with it that's OK, but some of us are trained, comfortable, and interested in keeping one handy." (Tom K)

I have had a CCW permit for over 5 years (I live in Knoxville, TN.) At no point have I felt "irradiated" with an urge to go gangbusters on the homeless nor have I ever had the occasion to defend myself (I hope I NEVER have to). Barry, do you hear voices in your head telling you to kill people when you carry a pocket knife?...or swing a baseball bat with your kid? (Justin)

Barry: if you actually believe that crap about a radioactive gun eating away your sanity, it's time to check yourself in and get the help you desperately need. Your sanity has already been eaten. (Xrlq)

Are you so morally arrogant that you think that you've got the ethics market cornered? The fact that you don't believe in self-defense does NOT give you the right to impose that belief on others. That is as indefensible as me imposing my religion on you. (Kevin Murphy)

I support your right to choose not to carry if you don't want to. However, that doesn't give you or anyone else the right to prevent me from defending myself in the most effective possible way. I could post, oh, about a thousand pages of information to support the fact that liberal concealed carry results in a net benefit to society. I leave it as an exercise for you to expend the minimal level of effort to find this information online. (Nevada)
I had no idea I was so warped. Obviously I must've posted in Klingon because nobody seemed to understand what I meant. I finally replied:

"First of all, the "radiation" comment was a metaphor I was attempting to use to illustrate the effect possessing a gun on my person would have on my mental well-being. I didn't intend it to be taken anywhere near literally - I thought that would be obvious, but perhaps not.

Second, nowhere in my comment did I try to "impose" my belief on anyone. Nor did I attempt to be morally or ethically superior to anyone, I simply expressed a continued amazement that people find life in public dangerous enough to feel that carrying a concealed weapon is both necessary and beneficial. Several people mention they know dozens of other people who have CCW's - including a secretary who once shot someone in the chest(?) - I myself know of noone who does personally (except those I've met blogging).

Yes, random violent episodes do happen, such as the event cited by Steve, but unless I'm just missing the news they are few and far between. Perhaps I just happen to live in a sane part of the country.

And to the others, no, I don't hear voices in my head telling me to kill my children with baseball bats, nor do I feel compunctions to veer my car off the road into a crowd of people. I understand the lethal potential of a car, but it has other primary uses like, oh, say, transportation. A gun does not."
Michael did understand this, apparently:
"Hey guys, I think Barry was speaking metaphorically about his own perspective on carrying. He can have his own opinion, and I'm sure he's not alone in his feelings about guns. (Michael Williams)
But it didn't seem to matter...
"I think it's obvious that if Barry thinks handguns emit radiation he is a nutcase. Really Barry just because you are too much of a coward to defend yourself doesn't mean I can't defend myself with leathal force if neccasary [sic]. (Jim)"

Barry, a good tinfoil hat will protect you from that radiation. Go to my site for directions on making your own ! (Dennis Kucinich)
Thanks for sharing.

And that was the end of it. So I thought. I started receiving website references from some other sites: SayUncle early on, which is cool because I respect him. But then came Smallest Minority. And Hell in a Handbasket. And Richard Poe. And a couple of others, basically saying the same thing: "What an idiot for thinking a gun will rot his brain like radiation - you need psychiatric help", and "How dare you try to keep me from carrying a concealed weapon!" (In fairness, some sites like Wince and Nod seemed to understand, if not agree with, what I was saying and restrained from commenting on my mental state.)

So now I'm being trashed on several sites at once, which is always a great feeling. I understand that to state an opinion is to risk being criticized and I'm trying not to appear thin-skinned, but I'm surprised at the vehemence and nastiness of some of the comments - maybe I'm naive, but I expect fairness and good taste in public discourse. Silly me. Plus the fact they linked and commented on the original statement and not the clarification made it necessary for me to try to defend myself on the various blogs. I won't try to excerpt, but suffice to say it got to be repetitious.

So, then for the record, I'd like to just put in a nutshell what I wanted to say, then maybe that really will be the end of it. Maybe.

I would feel uncomfortable carrying a loaded weapon. Very uncomfortable that I would possibly have the means to end a person's life within arm's reach. That doesn't mean I'm going to do it, or would ever be tempted. Just that fact makes me uncomfortable.

I also would feel uncomfortable knowing that anyone on the street, in the theatre, at a restaurant, at the supermarket could be carrying a loaded gun on their person. And here's why - despite training, despite temperament, despite the best of intentions: I don't trust you. That's simply it, I don't trust you. I don't trust a person who is not a licensed law enforcement officer of some kind - someone who, by virtue of their job, I would assume they have proper gun training - to carry a weapon. You may be a great person, love your kids, go to church, would never pull a gun in anger at another person - you may be supremely confident of that fact in your own mind, but I'm not. To me, you would be just as likely to be the one sticking up the fast-food clerk as the one defending him, or - in your possibly untrained and excited state - could be the one who with the best of intentions attempts to intervene but misses and hits someone else. Or you could be the one who gets pissed off at me in traffic and, instead of the flipping me the finger you pop off a few rounds at my back window.

I'm not concerned whether there are documented cases of this happening - I am afraid that they will, when more and more people are allowed to carry concealed weapons.

I understand completely that you have the best of intentions, the best training, the best gun money can buy, and the best reasons in the world to want to defend yourself. But I'm sorry, I don't have insight into your character from my vantage point and I can't assume you can be trusted with a gun any more than I can assume you're not going to attack me anyway without a gun.

Some people have used the automobile analogy as a comparison: A car is as lethal a device as a gun - do you have ethical problems driving a car? To that I would say, no, because I have a reasonable trust in my mind that: a) an acceptable percentage of the people driving have a legal driver's license, have been driving for a number of years, and know how to operate a car. I trust myself in that regard as well. Therefore, I think the relative risk of getting in or causing an accident and vital necessity of using a car is acceptable compared to the hardship and chaos that would result in banning automobiles. With firearms, however, even with the several self-defense case story articles I've read recently, I'm not convinced that the negligible gain from carrying a gun would outweigh the high potential risk of an accidental or intentional shooting.

I'm not pushing for any legislation change, I'm not pushing for repealing the 2nd amendment or anything like that. I'm just saying that I don't think it's a good idea because inevitably - inevitably - there will be a tragedy, or tragedies. And I don't want to be anywhere near it.

Thank you. I hope I've made myself clear - please reference this post if necessary.


UPDATE, 12/19/03: Just an observation - hoplophobe sounds like someone with an unnatural fear of old Westerns sidekicks...

UPDATE 2, 12/19/03: Tgirsch at Lean Left has more.

Return of the King

I went to see this epic conclusion to the Lord of the Rings trilogy yesterday (so did Rich). Here are some random thoughts, in no particular order, about the movie (scroll down to avoid spoilers)

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1) Excellent, excellent, excellent film. I re-immersed myself in Middle-earth this week, re-watching "Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" on DVD to get back in the mood. "Fellowship" was 2:36 long, "Towers" was about 2:50, and "King" was about 3:15. If you go, prepare to stay awhile....

2) Some Ring-o-philes may disagree with me, and it's been years since I read the trilogy, but I think the story was more about Merry, Pippin and especially Sam Gamgee than it was about Frodo. True, Frodo was the ring-bearer, and the one who had the courage to eventually resist the ring and finish his task but that was his character more or less through the whole trilogy. If you see the changes in the other hobbits from Bilbo's party in "Fellowship" through the end of "King" you'll see three startling transformations from children to men.

3) I wonder if the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien had any problems with "The Lord of the Rings", by Frodo Baggins at the end of the movie? It made sense, but it was just odd seeing a real body of literature attributed to someone else - fiction or not.

4) Ok, just end the movie...ok? Oh wait another scene...

5) The Riders of Rohan must've watched "The Empire Strikes Back" before going into battle against those giant elephant-things. I kept waiting for one of them to shout, "Set harpoons and tow cables - go for the legs!!"

6) Except for some good battle sequences, I thought Legolas and especially Gimli were wasted in this flim. The minor characters like Faramir, his father Denethor the Steward of Rohan, Eowyn, and others really had larger and more personal roles to play. Gimli was rather one note, especially which is kind of a shame. Again, you can't really go heavily against the source material and I don't remember enough about him in the novel to know if more could've been given for him to do.

7) Um, Saruman? Saruman? *knock knock knock* I could've sworn Saruman was in this trilogy.... Actually all his stuff got cut from the movie so we don't see Christopher Lee at all. The Scouring of the Shire (from the end of the novel) was not included at all where we read the last of Saruman and Wormtongue.

8) After Aragorn rejects Eowyn, I wanted Legolas to run up and say, "Hey....yoo hoo! Me - other big hero guy over here - unattached and everything!! Hey!!"

9) Gandalf, what's the point of sleeping with your eyes open if you're not on guard? And Merry sure took his own sweet time trying to save Pippin from the palantir - why didn't he raise a fuss right away for Gandalf?

10) The scene on the bridge in the Cracks of Doom played out almost exactly like it did in my head (except for the part with Gollum dancing in "mid-air" fighting the invisible Frodo. That actually looked a bit silly right at the major climax of the movie...

11) Amazing how all the random destruction that happens to the soldiers (rocks falling on them, flaming debris raining down, elephant's tusks swinging - none of those events ever happen anywhere near the main characters. One big rocks falls and crushes 100 soldiers in its path and Aragorn barely notices it. I did like the Orc Commander's narrow escape from the flying boulder - one little sidestip, and he spits on it :)

That's all for now - maybe more random thoughts later.

Monday, December 15, 2003

And the Winner Is...

The 2003 Weblog Awards are closed. View the results:

2003 Weblog Awards

Congratulations, Rocky Top Brigadier Busy Mom for winning the Flappy Birds Category!

Close Call

Zeyad of Healing Iraq talks about the immediate aftermath of Saddam's capture:

". I stumbled to my grandmother's house where everyone was huddled in front of the tv watching Al-Jazeera. The news were still uncomfirmed, so we waited impatiently for Bremer's press conference. When he announced "We got him" everyone in the room cheered out loud. The following video of Saddam in his long hair and beard was a shock to us all. My grandmother burst in tears.

...

In the evening, I went out to fond armed teenagers filling our street carrying Saddam's pictures.....Some of the mob were dressed in Fedayeen clothes with grenades and explosives in their hands. I got foolish and tried to take photographs. They dragged me in their midst and I thought this was it."
Read the whole thing for some first-hand reports of life in Baghdad.

Meanwhile...

Newsrack is back after a two-month hiatus. Welcome back - we missed ya!

Saturday, December 13, 2003

Gone to Rehab?

Don't know if anyone's noticed, but apparently Rush Limbautamy has quit blogging on his site.

I have no idea if this has anything to do with his troubles with The Truth Laid Bear, that he wants to give more attention to his other "sites" or if it's a personal matter.

If it is personal, I hope it resolves itself soon. If it's his other blogs, well.....I hope he realizes someday that not everything is a niche issue - problems don't fit themselves into neat little packages you can build anti- sites around.

If it's the Ecosystem stuff, well...you screwed yourself up. You cheated. Grow up and deal with it instead of running away, huh?

UPDATE: Here's his "farewell" message:

THE OWNER'S AND AUTHOR'S OF RUSH LIMBAUGHTOMY HAVE CLOSED THIS BLOG FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE

Please visit SOUTH KNOX BUBBA for great pictures great local color and great comments

or Any of the great bloggers listed on your LEFT - particularly the members of the League of Liberals.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND VISITS

YOU WILL BE MISSED
Notice nothing about the Rocky Top Brigade, but that's not surprising.

Cut him loose from the RTB. I myself am pulling him from the RTB Blogroll. If he wants to walk away, by all means let's do the same.

Thursday, December 11, 2003

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XVII

Tommy of Big Stupid Tommy is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

This week he's featured the cast and crew of the RTB in his version of his favorite television-inspired holiday family party, Festivus.

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

The Next Step...




Bob Gorrell, National/Syndicated.

Volunteer Tailgate Party News

This week's VTP is being hosted by Big Stupid Tommy on Thursday the 11th, so get your cards and letters into him by Wednesday night.

Here's the proposed schedule through January:

Tuesday, 12/30 (skipping Christmas and before the New Year)
Thursday, 1/8
Thursday, 1/22

Contact me to sign up for a date.

Monday, December 08, 2003

Jungle Fever

Speaking of Hatamaran, she's gone to over to the animal kingdom lately. Read her recent posts about the sad results of overdose, pet raccoons, The best Praying Mantis Christmas Ever, and, er, cat poop.

Rocky Top Brigade Updates

  • Jane, formerly of The Daily Rant, has moved to http://www.classlesswarfare.com/. I've adjusted the blogroll.

  • Rocky Top Brigade in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

    "The authors run the gamut, too, from anonymous to UT students, a professor, a father and a Nashville journalist. There's even a Tennessean who says he's scribing from China."
    Is that me? Not sure. SayUncle and Hatamaran didn't get mentioned either, and we're all Knoxville bloggers.

  • Don't forget to vote in the 2003 Weblog Awards. I was nominated in the Flappy Birds category and so far I only have 7 votes....

Grumblings

Several things that I want to grumble about:

1) Grumblegrumblegrumble.....

2) !&*#%^^#

3) razzin-frazszinn.....aaertnuern vuans

Ok, thanks - just needed to get that off my chest. No need to burden anyone with details...

Friday, December 05, 2003

Storming the Mouse

If you are at all interested in the latest goings-on surrounding the Walt Disney Corporation - specifically, the recent resignations of Disney family icon Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold from the Board of Directors in protest of Michael Eisner's management, and the resulting speculation about the future of the Mouse House - I would recommend visiting these sites fairly regularly:
  • Mouse Planet
  • MiceAge

    The above two sites are run by groups of folks who regularly get inside info from TDA (Team Disney Anaheim) that seems fairly reputable and accurate. They can sometimes be over the top with their presentation, but they have good information. Point of fact, one of the two sites is run by a disgruntled former writer for the other (I can never remember which is which) so there's occasionally competition for a good story.

  • Jim Hill Media

    Jim is a great daily read for anyone who's interested in Disney and other entertainment media history - specifically those geared toward families and nostalgia. The majority of his (and his stable of contributors) stories are about Disney, but there are other topics such as Universal, comics, etc. thrown in.
Other Disney sites I follow:Finally, here's the Walt Disney Company's Mission Statement on its Investor Relations and Shareholder Services page:

"The Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products. The Company's primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital profitably toward growth initiatives that will drive long-term shareholder value"
Our local morning radio talk show host read this the other day, and pointed out an interesting ommission. What's missing from the paragraph that you would expect to be in and Disney Mission Statement?

UPDATE (12/08/03): Apparently Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have set up their own website: www.savedisney.com. From what I've been able to tell it's legitimate (although a bit generic) but it could be a source for good information in the weeks to come.

Thursday, December 04, 2003

The Quickie Mart

Today, I helped BrainyBoy (v7.7) run the cash register at his Second-Grade Store.

See, at his school they run a store starting about halfway through the year where they sell snacks, pencils, erasers, gel pens, notebooks and other such small school supplies. He's been at this school since Kindergarten and now finally that he's in Second Grade, it's his time to work in it! Of course, the real reason is to teach the kids some basic economic principles like supply and demand, investing (they each invest some of their own money to buy supplies, then will receive dividends later in the year), plus how to make change and other mathematical exercises.

Today is the second day it's been open, and it's BrainyBoy's turn to work the register. Me, being the swell dad that I am, answered the call for volunteers and helped them out.

It was interesting to see him manage the kids in line paying for their loot. He was able to correctly add up most of the purchases in his head - with a little help - and to make the correct change. What caught my eye was his willingness to help them when there was problem, he was up and out of the chair to check on the price of an item (with me yelling, "PRICE CHECK - KLEENEX TISSUE!" to his chagrin). He goes out of his way to help other kids, a trait which I find heartening.

Of course, he probably got tired of me yelling "CLEANUP IN AISLE SIX!" when someone knocked over a box of pencils, nor did he appreciate me extolling him to say "Thank you, come again!" after every purchase (in my best Apu voice from the Simpsons). Some people just don't understand sophisticated humor...

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

A Question

What is our responsibility to our fellow man?

If a friend is walking towards a cliff, do we or do we not have a responsibility to stop them?

UPDATE: Michael Williams of Master of None offers his opinion. To Michael, I would clarify by saying "friend" could mean anyone - from total stranger up to dear loved one...

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Cheetahs Never Prosper

SayUncle (here, here and here) , Rich of Shots Across the Bow and Mike of Half-Bakered sum up Rush Limbaughtamy's multiple-blog suspension from the Truth Laid Bare for cheating on site statistics.

I think he's giving the RTB a bad name by association, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with his politics or his subject matter. His attitude, ethics and methods leave much to be desired by anyone except the most anarchic blogger.

Doesn't this seem to be the last straw that should get him kicked out of the Rocky Top Brigade? Or should it matter?

UPDATE: Added another link.

Welcome to the Rocky Top Brigade

Big RTB welcome to the newest Brigadiers:

Janet at The Dagley Dagley Daily, Brian across the pond at Voluntarily
in China
, and Jerry at smijer.

Oh, and RTB members - if you want to use my Rocky Top Brigade Blogroll or Flag at the right, feel free.

The code for the Blogroll is:

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=bc437d5b4878268597cc4cb373738dc1"></script>

Vote Early, Vote Often

Nominations are now open for the 2003 Weblog Awards. You can nominate in a number of categories, including Best Overall Blog, Best New Blog (est. 2003), Best Female-Authored, and all for all the Ecosystem categories (including Flappy Birds - hint hint hint).

Oh, and thanks, Brian!

Monday, December 01, 2003

Guilt by Omission?

I usually try to stay away from (capital 'P') Politics, but this caught my eye (via Instapundit):

What’s in Howard Dean’s Secret Vermont Files?

"DEAN—WHO HAS BLASTED the Bush administration for excessive secrecy—candidly acknowledged that politics was a major reason for locking up his own files when he left office last January. He told Vermont Public Radio he was putting a 10-year seal on many of his official papers—four years longer than previous Vermont governors—because of “future political considerations... We didn’t want anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time.”
Excuse me, you don't want anything embarrassing to get out?

Doesn't this imply that there's actually something embarrassing inside?

True, they deny there's a "smoking gun", but why make the statement about something embarrassing if there wasn't anything there?

Also true, political opponents have a way of taking minute details and blowing them way out of proportion but if you're confident of your abilities and qualifications as a campaigner and potential president, there either shouldn't be anything big enough even to be usable, or you, your staff or your message should be strong enough to combat anything that might be dragged out.

So either he's got something to hide, or he's a weenie. I report, you decide.

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XVI

Buddydon of wandering hillbilly is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Caution: break out your Hillbilly/English dictionary for this one - hit's a good'un!

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

Another Brick in the Wall

My wife related to me a story that happened to her today.

This morning we attended BrainyBoy's Thanksgiving program at his school. He goes to a private religious school, so I was privileged to hear him reciting Psalm 100 with a few other of his classmates. After the program we went to lunch and from there I went back to work briefly and he and my wife ran some errands. In the midst of their travels, they went by Target and were looking through the toy section. Since my son wants a GameBoy for Christmas, they were discussing possible cartridges that he might like.

Also in the section was a grandmotherly type, looking for an XBox cartridge for her 7-year-old grandson (the same age as BrainyBoy). She must have been rather clueless about such things, and, spying the game the lady was examining a helpful salesperson came up to help her.

Grandma was perusing Grand Theft Auto III Double Pack for XBox. (You can probably see where I'm headed with this)

Salesperson: Um, ma'am, I'm not sure that game is right for your grandson.

Grandma: Well, he says all his friends at school have it..

Salesperson: You can see there's a rating system on the package that tells which games are suitable for which age group. "E" you see is for Everyone, "T" is for Teens and "M" if for Mature audiences. [GTA is rated "M"]


To make a long story short, Grandma hemmed and hawed about it for awhile and bought it anyway.

Oh, yeah, she also said it wasn't available for for this kid's Gamecube (!!!) so she had to get it for his XBox (!!!).

...

Y'know, where do I start?

First of all I can maybe give Grandma the benefit of the completely technical ignorant. Some people just couldn't tell the difference between a splatterfest like GTA and Chutes and Ladders if their life depended on it. If the highest technical achievement you ever mastered was the iron, then hey, I'm not going to get bent out of shape.

But thankfully (and hopefully) only a very few people are like that. For everyone else, there's no excuse. Any logical, rational person should be able to see and understand the difference between an "E" game like Mario Brothers and an "M" game like GTA. One contains violence, the other doesn't. Everyone should be able to tell the difference.

Unfortunately there are some that just don't care, or think it's important that their kids not be exposed to certain material. Are the persuasion powers of kids these days that great, or is it only exceeded by the apathy levels of their parents (and grandparents)? I think it's the latter - while kids are great for whining and needling about needing this or that, it's the parent's responsibility not to filter out the noise and listen to their kids. And to understand that every decision - every decision they make concerning their kids is vital, and can resonate throughout their entire life.

If Grandma knew that sonnyboy - seven! Did you hear me? He's seven!! - gets whatever he wants for the electronic babysitter which means that Mom and Dad are willing and probably relieved not to be burdened with the nuances of their son's upbringing. And we see that all the time - "all my friends have it!" That may or may not be precisely true, but we see it all over.

So sonnyboy will probably get the game for Christmas from Grandma, fire it up that afternoon and proceed to splatter hookers and pedestrians all over the street, then return to second grade - second grade - when school gets back in.

What will he be like when he's 10? 15? 21? I hope his parents are wondering the same thing...

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Welcome to the Rocky Top Brigade

Big RTB welcome to the newest Brigadiers:

Aaron Chapman at The Golden Calf, John at In A Mays, The Conservative Zone, and Goobage.

Collect your membership cards at the door. Your decoder rings will be mailed to you.

Friday, November 21, 2003

Nursery Rhymes

Gigglegirl came home the other day from day care,

Her: "Daddy? Want to hear the new song I learned?"

Me: "Sure."

Her: (ahem)
"There is a castle on a cloud.
I like to go there in my sleep.
Not many floors for me to sweep,
Here in my castle on a cloud."


Me: (jaw dropping). "Wow, sweety, that's beautiful!"

That's the first four lines of "Castle on a Cloud" from Les Miserables. I see bright things for this girl...;)

...

Tonight we went to see the boat parade on the Knoxville riverfront near Calhoun's on the River. Had dinner with some good friends and their toddler, wandered around the Christmas-bedecked waterfront and Volunteer Landing and felt guilty for being in the Christmas spirit. Then we realized it was actually just about a month till Christmas. Oh, ok then.

I put GiggleGirl on my shoulders and walked around with her, watching the boats and fireworks and helped her feed the ducks. She had on her ruby slippers she got from her birthday and fell asleep on her way home with a red balloon tied to her wrist.

I don't blog about my son as much as I do her - maybe a four-year-old has such wonder it's easier to relate than a seven-year-old boy. He's so smart, she's so innocent - I still don't know why or how I deserve them.

Finally

Attorney Wants Jackson's Children Removed

"An attorney who has tangled with Michael Jackson (news) called Friday for child welfare authorities to temporarily remove the pop star's three children from his custody because of new child molestation allegations."
This would fall squarely in the "It's about damn time" category.

Monday, November 17, 2003

Thank you

"From the WVLT VOLUNTEER TV Newsroom:

The Knox County Commission has voted 10-9 to withdraw the so-called "God Resolution." The resolution recognizes God as the foundation of American heritage and government. It has already been adopted in several other East Tennessee counties."
Link and more info when it's available online.

UPDATE: Commissioners table God resolution (Knoxville News Sentinel: 11/17/03, by Michael Silence)

"Knox County commissioners today essentially killed the God resolution by voting in a narrow margin to withdraw it from the agenda.

The vote brought a standing ovation from some people in the half-filled auditorium, most there to see what would happen on the issue."

...

Shortly after the meeting began, Commissioner Diane Jordan moved that the resolution be withdrawn. Several commissioners called for the question, ending debate, and Jordan's motion passed 10-to-9.

Joining Jordan in voting to withdraw it were Thomas "Tank" Strickland Jr., David Collins, Billy Tindell, Wanda Moody, John Schmid, Phil Guthe, Mike Arms, John Griess and Mary Lou Horner.

Voting against withdrawal were Ivan Harmon, Craig Leuthold, Mark Cawood, Larry Stephens, Scott Moore, Mike McMillan, John Mills, Larry Clark and Howard Pinkston.
Remember this list next election day...

Sunday, November 16, 2003

More on the "God Resolution"

  • RALLIES HELD FOR AND AGAINST GOD IN GOVERNMENT
    (WBIR.com: 11/16/03)

    "Two groups had separate petition drives Saturday, one in Mascot, the other in Seymour. The organizers say they're trying to protect America's heritage, which they believe, is founded in God.

    "If our children lose this now, the disrespect we see in the schools now, with prayer already taken out," says petition organizer Susie Davis, "I feel like this is one more step in removing God from everything we have."
    This is one of the most dangerous attitudes people are having now. It's not the school where children learn disrespect - it's at home. Your home. The one you're passing the buck from. If you don't teach children respect at home, the mostly Godly school in the world isn't going to help them. Parents, responsibility. Now.

    Besides, looks at what she says, "I feel like this is one more step in removing God from everything we have." What she's actually saying is that she is so insecure in the way she is teaching her children about God that if the Government doesn't supply it, it's being taken away from them. I've got news for you, ma'am -- noone can take God away from you, or what you have, unless you let it slip away. And that's exactly what's happening -- You refuse to look after your children's souls and blame the government. Nice.

  • Sam Venable channels Ina Hughs, and gets it: God can take care of Himself

    "It's none of the government's business. Period. It isn't now and it wasn't in 1954, when the fear of "godless communists" was so pervasive in this nation that the words "under God" were inserted in the Pledge of Allegiance.

    I have read the God resolution that's to be considered by Knox County Commission. Parts of it I can accept in the vein of atta-boy fluff - although I reiterate that the God I worship certainly doesn't need political assistance.

    But parts of this thing are flat-out wrong. The whole business of that Ten Commandments statue in Alabama was ill conceived from the get-go, and the Alabama Court of the Judiciary was 100 percent correct in giving Judge Roy Moore the boot.

    The court did not tell Judge Moore he couldn't practice his religion. It simply said he couldn't practice it on company time. There's a huge difference, and anyone not blinded by dogma can see it.

    Anyone not blinded by dogma can also see the difference in a typical government proclamation and the time bomb of the God resolution."
    What's more interesting, is the online poll the KNS is running next to Venable's column:

    Do you agree?
    (1) Yes - 90.8 % (59)
    (2) No - 7.7 % (5)
    (3) Not Sure - 1.5 % (1)

    Obviously there aren't many responses, but if it's any indication of the true feelings of Knox Countians the County Commissioners supporting this issue had better understand which of their constituents have the true power.

This Just In...

N.J. Rock Station Won't Play Jethro Tull

'Jethro Tull is off the playlist of a classic rock station after the band's frontman criticized displays of the Stars and Stripes.

"I hate to see the American flag hanging out of every bloody station wagon, out of every SUV, every little Midwestern house in some residential area," Ian Anderson was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday in the Asbury Park Press.

...

"The reaction of our audience has been 99 percent in favor of the ban and 99 percent incredulous that he would say such stupid things," said Phil LoCascio, WCHR program director and on-air personality.
However, the remaining 1% of the listeners were confused and puzzled because they always thought the name of the lead singer of Jethro Tull was a guy named Jethro Tull.

Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Friday, November 14, 2003

So then, why do it?

Knox County Commissioners are prepared to vote on a resolution recognizing God as the inspiration and founder of America's legal system. Or government. Or something like that -- it's a little unfocused.

Law chief: God measure shouldn't have 'rightfully'
(Knoxville News Sentinel: 11/14/03, by Michael Silence. Hat Tip, SayUncle)

"The resolution has drawn both praise and condemnation and has been passed by several counties in the state. [Commissioner and resolution co-sponser Ivan] Harmon has said it is symbolic and simply recognizes God's influence in the founding of the country."
So then, if it's non-binding and has no real value beyond the symbolic yet is controversial and divisive, plus constitutionally suspect - why do it?

However, it's getting mixed reaction in this area...

Resolution stirring mixed area response
(Knoxville News Sentinel: 11/14/03, by Jeannine F. Hunter.)

"Anybody that would not adopt this resolution, ain't no hope for them," said June Griffin of Dayton, Tenn., who spent five years visiting county commissioners statewide to encourage passage of resolutions recognizing the Ten Commandments as the nation's historical foundation.
Well, we all know what kind of enlightenment has historically flowed out of Dayton, TN. Apparently correct grammar does not. (All right, that's petty, but why is she your spokesperson?)

"I think the fear of God is beginning to creep across this state and across this nation in light of the tyranny that's being exercised in Alabama."
Scary stuff. Tyranny? The Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice refuses to obey a federal court order, and that's tyranny? Do people know what real tyranny is? Tyranny is taxation without representation. Tyranny is getting sent to gas chambers via train cars. Tyranny is being dragged into the street and decapitated in front of your children because your husband was an Iraqi dissident. But I digress. Oh, and that's not all...

"Our leaders better make a public statement that we will acknowledge God no matter what judges say. Better to lose your job than your life," she said. "This is eternity here. Denying God is atheism."
No, ma'am - not making a public statement is not denying God. Respecting the established authority is not denying God. A state or municipality cannot "deny God" any more than it can feel guilt, harbor jealousy or hate the city across the river. A person's choice to deny or accept God is their own, and neither you nor County Commissioners nor any other "resolution" will affect it. I think Ms. Griffin would be better off examining her own life and relationship to God before she starts examining others'.

Quite a few local religious leaders said they had not fully read news stories or the resolution for themselves and declined commenting on the record. Others suggested that private opposition could not be expressed strongly and publicly due to the region's conservative nature.
Nothing like being fully informed, but at least they didn't publicly express an opinion. I think every local religious leader should be fully aware of the scope and ramifications of this proposal - pro or con - because their parishioners deserve guidance from their spiritual leader. Of course, as the second part of the paragraph suggests, oppose the resolution at your own risk because a lot of local conservative church-goers have deep pockets that might take them elsewhere if they don't agree with your position.

'Dr. Bob Bevington, founding pastor of the Knoxville Baptist Tabernacle, said, "I am for separation of church from state, _but I am not for separation of state from God."'
Again, they don't quite get it - the state cannot have a relationship with God. Obviously. To mix the two is to invite a theocratic-based democracy, where specific religious rules have a chance of turning into laws - rules that not everyone who lives her may agree with.

For instance, it's basic that murder, theft, assault, etc are all crimes that hurt other people. What happens when a community's leadership is directly controlled and influenced by a certain religious practice? Adultery could become illegal. So could relationships between people of the same sex. Or certain sexual acts -- oh, wait, that's already illegal in Georgia -- or certain speech...or say, maybe, criticism of the government could be seen as criticism of the church and God and then seen as un-Godly. Maybe since some say the Bible teaches women are inferior to me, women could be forced not to work, or to walk behind their husbands in public, or not allowed to go to school, or to wear completely unrevealing clothing....well, you can see where I'm going with this.

"[Immaculate Conception Catholic Church member Phyllis] Lockwood said each individual should be allowed to use the word "God."

"God can symbolize the universe, or an almighty power or whatever it is that you want to attach to the name. ...You can't take the word away," Lockwood said. "It's in the dictionary. It exists and it's up to each individual, the meaning that they place behind that word that determines its significance."
But we all should realize that the resolution is not intended by its backers to refer to a universal "God". It's deliberately written to acknowledge the Christian God, and no other. To interpret it to refer to anyone's own interpretation of God is fine, but to not recognize the actual purpose of the resolution - to promote one religion over all others - is short-sighted and naive.

I belong to a Methodist Church here in town, and I suspect a number of my friends and fellow church-members probably support this proposal (as well as the Alabama judge), which makes me uncomfortable discussing it among them. But the bottom line that seems to be continuosly trampled is that America, which I acknowledge likely had its government and legal system established using Christianity as its basis) is no longer that same country it was 200+ years ago. Our Constitution was written specifically to protect us from the same religious persecution the Pilgrims fled in England - a theocracy that didn't allow them to worship as they pleased. America changed all of that, and welcomed people of all different faiths and beliefs. We want them to come, we want them all to worship and build churches/mosques/synagogues/whatever. We want their ideas and influences and diversity to become part of our communities.

But some people were never taught that.

It's their way or the highway. Their God or none. This proposal is another step in the direction that our fathers wanted to avoid. And it's one thing we're struggling against half a world away. Losing the freedom to choose how and who to worship would be to lose a fundamental stone in America's foundation. I hope they realize that.

...

SayUncle is all over this as well (link).

Conversations

On the way to Daycare...

Me: (Engaging in harmless banter with daughter)

Gigglegirl: Knock it off!

Me: What? Now-w-w-w, that's not a very nice thing to say to your Dad!

Gigglegirl: (pause). Knock it off!!

Me: Arrgh!

Gigglegirl: Hee hee!

...

(Later...)

Gigglegirl: Daddy, what's that ladder for? (pointing to metal ladder attached to the back of an 18-wheeler)

Me: That's so people can climb up to the top of the truck.

Gigglegirl: Ohhhh...

Me: ....so they can go up and get the Mynocks off.

Gigglegirl: (puzzled) What's a...Mynock?

Me: It's these big leathery lizard bird things that fly around and eat through the top of trucks.

Gigglegirl: (pause) Ohhhh....


I'm a b-a-a-a-d boy...

New Record

Thanks to the InstaDaddy, yesterday was the most visited day ever on Inn of the Last Home. I hope everyone who travelled here from any of the Rocky Top Brigade sites enjoyed their visit, enjoyed reading what our brothers and sisters had to say, and know that they're welcome to come back any time.

Thanks!

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Official Starfleet Log Entry: Regarding Matter of Lost Ancient Earth Artifact containing data regarding "Volunteer Tailgate Party, Vol XV"

Captain's StarLog: November 11, 2145. Captain Jonathan Archer, commanding USS Enterprise.

Science Officer T'Pol has finished salvaging the ancient artifact that was found floating through space in the Expanse. Actually, it was Trip who identified it as an Earth device, circa early 21st century - what they used to call a Palm Pilot, or a PDA. Nice, compact design for information storage and retrieval - I'll have to speak to Starfleet about updating the design. It's unknown at this time how it came to be way out here, but they're working on some theories.

Anyway, the memory module - while badly damaged - was still barely intact and barely readable, still an amazing fact after all this time. Ensign Sato has been able to recover most of it. The contents of the memory seem to be a collection of personal logs, of various description and styles. Hoshi says she thinks they used to be called "webpages" or even something called...what was it, "flogs"? Regardless, these journals apparently were stored where others could read them across Earth's primitive global information network. The variety of opinions and viewpoints is astonishingly diverse - it's no wonder they nearly destroyed each other in the Eugenics Wars and World War III.

Following is a report on the contents of the memory module - only fragments remain, and are disjointed, but each of the people who wrote these journals seem to have been part of some kind of Alliance known as the "Rocky Top Brigade". We're running this term through our historical records, but as everyone knows details from that time are sketchy.

  • Entry #1 is short but seems to be regarding a matter of great import to the author, Deb of Sugarfused: "Quitting". She seems to have decided to kick a bad habit.

  • Entry #2 is entitled, "Dear Governor Dean" from someone who calls himself Stoney at Rebel Yell. 21st century politics and morality seem to be a popular topic for discussion, and Mr. Stoney has decided to refer to a politician as a "gutless moron". 21st century slang is difficult to understand, but Hoshi is working on a primer for me.

  • Entry #3 comes from a flogger who calls himself SayUncle - Hoshi says that's an archaic Earth expression for "surrender". Hm. His post is called, "Second Amendment stuff" which I believe refers to the United States Constitution. It has to do with controversies surrounding individuals' rights to possess firearms at that point in history.

    Hoshi informs me that the correct term is not "flogger", but "clogger". I apologize for the mistake.

  • Entry #4 is an entry from clogger Chris at Quiet Life entitled, "Currency Speculation 101". Financial science was apparently of very great interest in the 21st Century, judging by this record. It also seems people used finances to further political causes. Barbaric....

  • Speaking of barbaric, Entry #5 from Bjorn (this global net reached all the way to Switzerland at that point in history) called "Is acknowledging a higher power really that bad of an idea?" discusses mass graves and the effects religion has and has had on the formation of human governments. I would ask Ensign Mayweather what he thinks about this subject, but I can never find him.

    Dr. Phlox informs me it's time for my physical. End of entry

    ...

    Captain's StarLog: November 12, 2145. Captain Jonathan Archer, commanding USS Enterprise.

    Continuing the report on the contents of the ancient human "Palm Pilot" found adrift deep in the Expanse...

  • Entry #6 seems to have been written by a ruling monarch of one of Earth's nations, Queen Medb. T'Pol has been as of yet unable to find this queen in the political database, nor venture a guess at which nation she rules. Her entry is entitled, "The Machine That Went Ping, Blah and Tick". It is the general concensus of the research team that the poor Queen may have been insane because it seems to detail a treatment for a brain disorder that went terribly wrong.

  • Entry #7 was submitted by one known only as Bugly. His/her post is called, "Good food thats good for you..." and details a snack food that seems to have popular at that time - something called a "Doonut" that was available in rest rooms. I don't understand this one, but Lt. Reed seems to find it very interesting...

  • Entry #8 is entitled, "Poisonous Politics" from Mason at The Southern Reporter. Again, politics was very important to people of the era and it's been postulated that some people even worshiped their elected leaders. There are even some radical historians who suggest they even broke up into political "parties" that were worshipped by the leaders themselves and proved to wield more power than the people they purported to serve. This concept has generally been considered preposterous and fanciful by most historians. Still, this post may lend evidence to the idea that not all of Earth's leaders were good, just and moral.

  • Entry #9 is a heartwarming post that demonstrates they allowed even people with low intelligence to make their views known. The poor fellow they designated Big Stupid Tommy submits his story of the time he heard something called a "zinger": "The Best Thing I've Heard Anybody Ever Said to Anybody Else". Archives suggest a "zinger" was also a snack food at that time in history, so perhaps it has something to do with the "Doonut" mentioned earlier.

  • We're a bit confused as to the meaning of Entry #10 from Guy Montag entitled, "My Dollars for Sharpton Effort". Could humans running for government office actually have accepted currency for political favors? This would on the face to be as absurd a concept as "political parties". But then again, nothing's that far-fetched.

  • Entry #11 is from Peggy of A Moveable Beast, and is called, "25 DEGREES OF PROCRASTINATION". This Peggy seems to have a fascination with horses, as there are several images that were salvageable. She seems to have trouble beginning a project...

    Goodness, Hoshi informs me again that they were in fact not called "floggers" or "cloggers". The true designation of these people was, "Fred". I have congratulated Ensign Sato and will recommend her for promotion.

  • Entry #12 comes from an interesting Fredder called Hatamaran who seems to be a great philospher or expert on human mental health. She has posted an analysis entitled, "it's only natural... " that discusses something called "dissociative identity disorder". The terminology seems even to be beyond that used now in the 22nd century. Could this Hatamaran be a time traveler? That's next on T'Pol's things to discuss with the Vulcan Science Academy.

    Hmm. I think Porthos wants to be fed. Where'd I put those space biscuits? Pause recording...

    ...

    Captain's StarLog: Supplemental. Captain Jonathan Archer, commanding USS Enterprise.

    Bad Porthos! Bad, bad Porthos - I just had my carpet sub-molecularly cleaned!

  • Entry #13 is actually two entries from the same person, CJ of Up For Anything. The first is called, "See What Stealing Gets You?" and has to do with one of the popular sporting events of the day, football. I've never understood the appeal of football - it's nothing like a good water polo match. The second post is again about politics, "Liberals Hate Conservative Minorities" - could there be an unknown virus at work that causes political obsessions among 21st Century Earth's technical elite? Perhaps Hatamaran brought it back from the future in order to destroy humanity in the past. Worth checking into.

  • Entry #14 seems to have been almost hopelessly garbled - even Hoshi is unable to fully clear up the recording. The best she can make is it's from someone called Buddy Don of Wandering Hillbilly and the post is entitled "'Dinner with ole friens of buddy don: a evenin full of coincidents". All the text in the entry is garbled as well. That's a shame, because he was probably a good old boy.

  • Entry #15 is entitled, "Those wacky Republicans" from Manish at Damn Foreigner. I believe judging from this article one leader of the late 20th century was not important enough to have a motion picture created about him. We do have one of this leader's movies in our archives on board ship, and we all love the funny monkey.

  • Entry #16 comes from a former member of the armed forces, Democratic Veteran. His entry is entitled, "OMG - Hearts and Minds redux" having something to do with a minor military squirmish that happened in 2003.

  • Entry #17 was the last entry we were able to salvage. Barry from Inn of the Last Home discusses a recent trip with Tennesee Theatre Association 2003 Conference - Part 1 and A Great Opportunity.

    That's all we got. It seems obvious that humans of that time period were passionate about certain ideals and went to great lengths to express their viewpoints - sometimes with satire, sarcasm and the occasional "zinger". It's a good thing that here in the future humans have evolved past that. But there may have been hope for these people, as well.

    Archer Out. End Recording.


    ...

    Captain's StarLog: Supplemental. Captain Jonathan Archer, commanding USS Enterprise.

    Trip has discovered what seems to be a temporal rift forming just off our port bow. Sensors picked up another memory module floating out of the rift - it appears to be identical to the one we salvaged earlier, and T'Pol and Hoshi have been able to download its contents as well. More entries may be recoverable:

  • Entry #18 is from Fredd-- stand by...

    ...

    Hoshi has revised her terminology once again - the proper designation for these online authors is not, in fact, "Fred" but seems to be "Roto-rooter". I am extremely sceptical about this latest interpretation, so I've decided to just call them a random name...oh, I don't know...maybe "bloggers". Yeah, that sounds good. Continuing..

  • Entry #18 is from a blogger name Les Jones - his entry is entitled Longmire and chronicles Mr. Jones' hero-worshipping another blogger. I suspect both Mr. Jones and Mr. Longmire have been affected by the insanity virus brought back in time by Hatamaran. Apparently it also causes a strange romantic longing for firearms in Mr. Jones as well, which I also noticed in SayUncle's writings. Strange.

    The Human Adventure is Just Beginning
  • Wednesday, November 12, 2003

    My Baby

    Covenant Health At the Mall Brings High-Tech Health Info to West Town
    "Covenant Health’s newest community service, located at West Town Mall near JC Penney, might be described as “one stop shopping” for good health. It’s also innovative, informative, and interactive!"

    Tuesday, November 11, 2003

    A Great Opportunity

    Well, here's the highlights of the rest of the Tennessee Theatre Association Convention for me:

    • Co-adjudicating the High School Scholarship auditions.
      The TTA awards a $500 scholarship to a Tennessee high school senior who goes to any in-state college or university. The students prepare a 2-minute monologue and audition for us. The one whose monologue shows the most skill wins. This was interesting - I'd never done anything like this before, and there ended up being about 20 kids. Some seniors, some juniors - the juniors were ineligible for the scholarship, but encouraged to audition for the experience - but all with relative skill levels.

    • Plays, Plays, Plays
      I didn't get to see many of the performances, but there were 5 colleges, 8 high schools and 3 community theatres that brought shows and performed over the course of the weekend. All were judged and presented scores at the end of the festival. Bearden High School from here in Knoxville won their competition, so kudos to them. I did get to see my wife's alma mater, Lambuth University, perform a funny show called "On the Verge".

    • Nothin' Dirty Going On
      The best part of the weekend is that I was able to get this job that I talked about before... I will be musical directing a staged concert version of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" with the Royal Palm Players in Boca Grande, FL this coming February. Refer to the aforementioned article for the details of how the opportunity came up, but they will be flying me down, paying a salary and providing housing for me in a condo on the beach. Looks like my family will be able to join me for several days as well.

      I received the music in the mail, and while I was initially a little nervous - I play the piano, and play it pretty well but it's mostly by ear and I'm not great at interpreting full scores - I was pleased to see that it's basically from one of those "singers editions" of the show, and not the actual accompanist score. I.e. it's not difficult to play, and allows for a lot of improvisng which, if you've seen the movie or the show, you'll know that most of the songs are fast-paced, rock/country kind of numbers. One drawback - the music only includes the melody lines, and no chorus parts, which means either they'll be coming separately or I'll need to arrange the chorus parts myself. This is no big deal, really, and I'd look forward to doing it - especially since I have several months to get it done.

      Anyway, I can't wait to sit on the beach in South Florida in February while everyone's freezing up her in Knoxville :)

    And that's the way the beach ball bounces...

    Monday, November 10, 2003

    State of Tennessee 2, City of Miami 0

    Quotes of the Weekend:

    "It's war. They're out there to kill you, so I'm out there to kill them. We don't care about anybody but this U. They're going after my legs. I'm going to come right back at them. I'm a ... soldier.''

    -- U. Miami TE Kellen Winslow, Jr. after Vols 10-6 win Saturday


    "As for my reference to being a soldier in a war, I meant no disrespect to the men and women who have served, or are currently serving, in the armed forces. I cannot begin to imagine the magnitude of war or its consequences.''

    -- "U. Miami TE Kellen Winslow, Jr.", aka U. Miami Sports Information Office



    "We couldn't run it, and we couldn't throw it. That is not a good combination.''

    -- Miami Dolphin QB Brian Griese, after Titans 31-7 win Sunday

    Sunday, November 09, 2003

    whistling in the dark

    go vols.

    don't get me wrong I'm ecstatic. judging by the last time the volunteer nation celebrated after a huge win - an upset win at florida in 2001 resulted in the vols losing the next week in the sec title game - i'm going to wait till after the season is over to truly celebrate the vols 10-6 win over miami.

    so, golf clap for the vols then back to business against miss. state, vandy and kentucky.

    yay.

    Thursday, November 06, 2003

    Smack-Dab in the Middle

    Via One Hand Clapping:

    You are Psalms
    You are Psalms.


    Which book of the Bible are you?
    brought to you by Quizilla

    Random Passing Thought of the Day

    Zell Miller has been making the talk show/news show rounds heavily these last few days, promoting his new book, A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat. He was even on the Rush Limbaugh show today, with whoever was hosting this week.

    My thought - given this guy's appeal to both the left and the right...is he gearing up for surprise Presidential run?

    If others have brought this up already, I apologize, but I haven't seen it speculated anywhere yet.

    Tuesday, November 04, 2003

    This Just In....

    Wal-Mart Receives Target Letter From U.S.
    "Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Tuesday it has received a "target letter" from the U.S. Attorney's Office saying the world's largest retailer allegedly violated federal immigration laws."
    In related news, Target has announced it too received a letter, this one addressed to K-Mart.

    K-Mart could not be reached for comment.

    That's the news! Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.