there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy . . .

sometimes it’s hard not to strike back. lord knows i want to. with every fiber. which is part of what they want, i think. so – i’ll refrain.

instead, i’ll simply ask – why in the world do folks who think religion is a joke care so much about what others think about religion? the party line of militant atheists is that the ad is aimed at letting other "closet" atheist know "they are not alone."

i don’t believe in martians; i don’t believe in man-made global warming; i don’t believe in getting cancer via using deodorant. there are lots of folks who do. and yet, i don't feel alone, nor do i feel the compulsion to offend or pick a fight with folks who fall prey to what seems to be, from my perspective, faulty logic. it's what they believe. they have the right to have faith in what seems to me to be clear idiocy. great. go for it. i have no desire to impede their thought process.

so what's up with the full frontal on folks of faith? if there are any non-religious folks who are interested in a serious discussion of this question, please inform me. cause it’s driving me nuts.

one last piece of halloween candy

having a kid this time of year is great. halloween is our official kick off to the holiday season. between birthdays, thanksgiving, christmas it's pretty much non-stop fun anyway; add in a curious, observant four-year-old into the mix and you can count on some cool memories being made.

well - tops so far this year was special k seeing the september cover of the christianity today sitting on the table and casually remarking,




"i guess that's what jesus is wearing to trick-or-treat in this year."

halloween 2010

papa and special k (aka fancy nancy) take a break at trunk or treat on the tailgate of a vintage 1969 ford f-100

halloween costume trivia

the beaglepuss, or funny glasses, are novelty disguises usually utilizing fake glasses (often horn-rimmed); fake moustache and bushy eyebrows; and a large, protruding plastic nose. originally designed as a caricature of groucho marx and marketed in the 1940’s, the groucho glasses have evolved over time into various forms of silly disguises.

happy halloween week!!!

around halloween time when i was a kid, my grandmother, snookie, would recite this poem by james whitcomb riley to the kids. it would scare the bejeebers out of me. hope you and yours have a frightfully fun halloween!

Little Orphant Annie
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other children, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you Don't Watch Out!

Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out!

An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out!

An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out!

you know, winning, it's like better than losing. - nuke laloosh

congratulations to the texas rangers on their historic victory over the new york yankees to win the american league pennant. we're proud of you all and look forward to the upcoming world series!

go rangers!

free stats for the dallas cowboys

add up the following and what do you get?

1 rookie of the year award
2 time player of the year
4 time rushing leader
5 pro bowls
15,269 rushing yards
109 touchdowns
0 spikes of the football in an nfl career
______________________________________________
0 yards in celebration penalties

congratulations to the 2010 texas rangers!

now - go kick some yankee's @$$

viva texas rangers

i’m a forty year old baseball fan who grew up in dallas pulling for the rangers in the old minor league stadium. growing up, some highlights for me as a fan include getting to see guys like the following play and manage at the ball park (these appear in no particular order as they pop into my mind): billy martin, toby harrah, gaylord perry, bobby valentine, charlie hough, pete incaviglia, jose canseco, will clark, rusty greer, mitch williams, julio franko, jim sundberg, rubin sierra, juan gonzalez, harold baines, kenny rogers, buck showalter, kevin brown, and, of course, o captain, my captain, the nolan ryan.



and a big thank you to ryan, not only for the memories as a hall of fame pitcher, but also for creating new memories from the front office. thank you for putting together a fun product on the field. ron and the boys are so much fun to watch. it’s a treat to see a texas rangers team playing ball the right way and winning. the last couple of seasons have been a blast!

and yesterday was yet another great day in what has been a joyous season (other fans can complain about losing all they want; but when you’re only a 50-year-old club and have never won a playoff series, that trumps curses and droughts in my book). wow. game one down (thanks, cliff lee . . . you ‘da man!)



keep the claws and antlers flying high!!!!!

“As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape.”


John Lancaster Spalding

baby needs new shoes

one of my favorite times of year is the fall. especially, back to school. new beginnings, possibilities, everything is shiny and new. i’m convinced that the act of renewal is woven into the very fabric of why i love to teach.

one of my favorite activities of childhood that has always been a great memory for me was the buying of new shoes. my earliest memories of buying “school shoes” was getting to go pick out new Zips from the Stride Rite store. i remember having a red pair one year, a navy or black pair a different year, and i vaguely remember having a green pair on one occasion that almost, but not quite matched my green toughskin jeans (yes, those beloved reinforced deniums from Sears and Roebuck).

no matter what the color, each pair always came out of the box with that new sneaker smell, revealing the double “Z” emblazoned down the entire length of the shoe. i remember seeing those two Z’s on each shoe, gazing almost trance-like at those impossibly white twin bolts of lightning thinking, “i can’t wait to strap these babies on; they will make me run like the wind! AND, i’ll be able to jump higher too! i just know it!” it was a glorious fantasy for a boy who didn’t know he would grow up to resemble a fire-plug, usually finish most foot races in the middle or rear of the pack, and have a vertical leap only an anvil could envy.

i don’t consciously remember ever seeing a commercial for Zips. i don’t really know why my parents bought sneakers at Stride Rite (although we did buy dress shoes there at Easter because they carried extra wide church shoes). and although i can’t really find an advertisement or commercial from the 1970’s, i did find this sweet 1980’s commercial that may go to the archetypal nature of sneaker advertisements. behold: Zips (which in the 1980’s are apparently way cooler than their 1970’s predecessors – zippers and pockets? Are you kidding me?)


flash forward to 2010. this year’s back-to-school sneaker buying experience was especially poignant for me. my very soon to be pre-K daughter’s school’s uniform code dictates snappy, but not very sneaker-like blue-and-white saddle oxfords. so as not to deprive her from having a “back-to-school sneaker experience,” and since she has outgrown her current tennis shoes anyway, i thought i’d go get her a pair of shoes she casually mentioned a few saturday mornings ago.

it happened during our ritual bi-monthly trip to shipley’s donuts. as we were sitting and eating our sugary goodness, Special K leaned over the table and said, “Hey, Papa. You see that girl over there,” pointing to a two or three year old girl about thirty feet away. “Yes,” i said, peeking over the box scores of the first place texas rangers. “She’s got on a pair of Skechers,” my four-year-old said knowingly. “She does?” i counter. “Yep,” Special K says confidently. “What do you know about Skechers?” i query. “Well,” she begins, sitting up straighter, “They’re sparkly,” she begins. she waits; i wait. “Some of them light up,” she says as her face sorta lights up in anticipation. she waits; i wait. “And,” she continues, “Aislan, at church has a pair too.” “Hmmm. I see,” i say, noting the shoes and wondering if there will be more from my fashion conscious daughter. there isn’t.

so, as school approaches, i think to myself that i’ll just trot on down to the store and pick up a pair of the aforementioned too cool for school light up Skechers that have captured the imagination of my child. little did i know what i was in for. not only were there several dizzying styles of sparkly, light up and non light up versions of the shoe, but they were adorned with all sorts of graffiti from skulls to peace signs, neither of which i’m a big fan of, nor wanted to encourage in the clothing choices of my four-year-old. in addition, the price range varied with the amount of bling associated with each style, some ranging upwards of sixty buck. “holy $&!#,” i think to myself, “i don’t even spend that sorta cash on my own shoes. and i’m certainly not going to pay that sort of coin for pacifist or gang related imagery.” luckily, i did find a pretty snazzy pair of Skechers on sale that looked at first glance as pretty innocuous.

feeling pretty proud of myself, i brought ‘em home to my girl who was every bit as pleased as i hoped she would be. as she opened the shoe box,she squealed, “Skechers! Skechers! Just like on the commercial, ‘Go, Skechers, Go!’” and then it happened; the jungian connection between 40-year-old dad and 4-year- old kid. as she finished putting them on, she jumped up and headed for the door exclaiming, “Come on, Papa! Watch me run around the house! These Skechers will make me run faster! Watch me run!” and away she flew. i must admit that i was feeling pretty puffed up.

and then my wife brought it to my attention that the graphics on the shoes were modeled after old school tattoo art.

"winning, you know . . . it's like better than losing."

i’ve always been a big fan of kevin costner through thick (dances with wolves and seven academy awards; small indie films like a perfect world; quotable masterpieces such as bull durham; classics like field of dreams; and thrillers like mr. brooks) and thin (robin hood, prince of thieves; alright, even i couldn’t quite stomach water world; but i staunchly maintain that the postman is one of the most underrated films of all time – if you’re brave enough – try it again).

but regardless of his films' successes or failures, i’ve typically been pretty impressed with the guy. his work ethic always seems commendable and his passion always seems infectious and genuine. he's not afraid to fail, and, consequently, this leads to some huge successes.

it seems costner may be close to another success. since the exxon valdez spill in 1989, costner was convinced that there had to be a better way to address oil spills. so, over the last 15 years and $20 million of his own money later, costner's ocean therapy solutions has developed a working centrifuge machine that can separate oil from water at the rate of 2,000 barrels a day. it is going to take this sort of of innovation, determination, and self reliance to clean up the gulf coast.

it can be done. and we can do it.

in the words of president obama, “What the public wants to see is us solving this problem. And that may not make for good TV.”

he's right.

mr. president, there are lots of folks like costner with lots of workable ideas who would love to be put in the game.

so - put us in coach.

we're ready to play.

today.





Perdido Pass, Orange Beach, AL

trends

over the last several years, may tends to be a down month for writing blogs, what with summer festivities going on all. but, looking over last year's may blog, i got warm fuzzies noting that one entry dealt with the fact that the texas rangers were in first place. a rarity in my 40 years as a fan.

but, as i write this on this beautiful may afternoon, i can say for the second season in a row, the rangers are in first place. again, it may be but for a temporal moment, but i'll take it.

i love what nolan ryan is doing for the philosophy of how baseball should be played in texas. pitching, defense. the little things. even we lose, it seems prettier that when were were living for the long ball to miraculously bail us out in the 80's and 90's.

so - go get 'em boys! thanks for two great summers in a row!

Happy Tax Freedom Day April 9, 2010

Whooohoooo! Happy Tax Freedom Day to you and yours. If you live and work in the US, prior to today, the money you made this year went to the federal government. After today, you get to keep what you earn! What a concept. Keeping what you earn.

Jonah Goldberg has a great op ed piece in USA Today on April 6, 2010. In the article, Goldberg asks us to "(i)magine for a moment that Tax Freedom Day was Dec. 31. In other words, picture working 365 days a year for the government. Now, the government would 'give' you a place to sleep, food to eat and clothes to wear, but all your income would really be Washington's income to allocate as it saw fit. Some romantics might call this sort of arrangement 'socialism' or 'communism.' But another perfectly good word for it is 'slavery' or, if you prefer, involuntary servitude."


We could do worse than remember the wisdom of Aesop. "Better to starve free than be a fat slave."

"Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious." George Orwell

"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse."

James Madison, speech in the Virginia constitutional convention, Dec 2, 1829

spring break 2010 wrap up

 

spring break was awesome. we covered about 1,000 miles from the ‘burg, MS to sewanee, Tn; over to chattanooga, TN; and then down to fairhope, AL. in the car; with a four-year-old; without a DVD player; without a cell phone; without incident.

i won’t get on a soap box here, but folks often think we’re crazy for the way we raise special K. however, after seeing her on her first real hikes of any elevation at oak mountain’s peavine falls and sewanee’s morgan’s steep to cross trail, i'm pretty sure we're on the right track with her.

with the determination and agility of a regular billy goat, special K moved her low center of gravity up and down the trails with grit, identifying flora and fauna on the fly, undauntedly facing challenging climbs, and quickly overcoming bumps and scrapes that come with hiking. in short – she was a champ. she left me filled with joy (and not just a little bit of pride) at what a courageous and tough girl we’ve got on our hands! i could go on and on.

from the mountains to the aquarium to the gulf mexico, special K reflected the psalmist’s wonder and excitement of god’s creation.

"Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-- bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-- living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works--he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord." psalm 104

 

(if you want to read some excellent literature on kids and the woods, check out Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods; he is right on the money.

make my day . . .

so - remember the lines from the 1971 classic, Dirty Harry?

“I know what you’re thinkin. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve go to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

well, this past week i felt kinda lucky myself. maybe it was st. patrick’s day in the air; maybe it was the fact that i ran into my cousin who has been away in wyoming and who i have not seen in over ten years; maybe it was the fact that we rode a kawasaki mule from my uncle’s upscale hoover, alabama home down to the muddy banks of the cahaba river to have some cigars, adult liquid refreshment, and visit between shooting off live rounds within the city limits; maybe it was knowing that no one in their right minds would be able to find us.

weapons of choice: dominican, cold, 12 gauge stoeger coachman and (drumroll please) ruger super redhawk 454 casull.















wow. you know the one dirty harry used - the one that WAS the most powerful handgun in the world? my cousin says the 454 is eleven times more powerful than that. i don’t know if this is the case, but this is what i do know: it was a rush to shoot the double action ruger; the first shot literally caused me to take a step backwards; and after six shots, i had a blister between my thumb and index finger of my shooting hand from the recoil. and the sound . . . what’s that? come again? i can’t quite make out what you’re saying. oh, yeah. it was freakin’ LOUD!

word on the street was that the local pd was looking for us, but no one really wanted to get stuck in the mud.

my three favorite clean jokes of all time . . .

1) a duck walked into a pharmacy and asked the pharmacist for some chapstick. the pharmacist asked, “how are you going to pay for it?”
the duck said, "just put it on my bill."

2) what did the green grape say to the purple grape?
“breathe.”

3) what did the snail say when he rode on the back of the turtle? “WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”


thank you, thank you very much. . . i'll be here all week . . .

with friends like these . . .

"What are conscience? I'll tell ya! A conscience is that still small voice that people won't listen to. That's just the trouble with the world today."
Jiminy Cricket

"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. The bamboozle has captured us. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back."
Carl Sagan

smile, don't you know god loves you?

i relish the occasions when god peeks out from the abstract and his nature is revealed in the everyday. i’m convinced that he does this often; i am just not attuned to him enough to pick up on it most of the time. but when i do see it, i’m always amazed. in the following clip, i felt like god sorta winked at me while nudging me in the ribs as if to say, “if you want to have a bit of fun, watch this.” and there he was, revealing himself to me through three things i love the most – music, humor, and the shear creativity of the average human being. and why should this be a surprise? we are, after all, made in his image.

let it snow

as a humanities instructor who has been fighting the good fight for about 18 years, sounding the alarm that man-made global warming (MMGW) is a myth designed to infuse socialism into our midst, it’s been a lonely road at times. some colleagues in the science department have laughed and pitied me; sincere students have looked down their collective noses at the moron who should stick to talking about his own field of study; others have sworn that i hate the earth, the environment, al gore, life itself.

so, i must admit that when snow appeared in 49 states this week and one of the main voices in the MMGW movement made the concession “that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon,” the cockles of my heart were quite warm, errr, i mean, ahem - cozy.

i do love the earth, the environment, life, clean water and air. maybe not al gore - though i don’t wish him ill, just that he be exposed for a greedy fraud. the acknowledgement that there have “been two periods which experienced similar warming, from 1910 to 1940 and from 1975 to 1998” and that these periods of warming “could be explained by natural phenomena” should put a dent in the marketing of those environmental indulgences better known as carbon off-sets. as i have discussed elsewhere on this blog, if you follow the money trail, it is easy to see that the MMGW Hoax is a way to redistribute wealth.

luckily, the hucksters are being revealed for what they are.

watch out for those who say the cold is made by MMGW and for those chicken littles who will, inevitably, claim that we’re about to face a new Man Made Ice Age.

but, in the mean time – bundle up, hunker down, stoke the fire. enjoy the next decade. make some snowmen, a snow angel or two, maybe make some snow-icecream. stick out your tongue – the snow tastes fine – even in february in the deep south.

music just doesn’t get any sweeter

savana lee and anthony crawford in foreground, Sugarcane Jane
craig riches and david trice on drums and bass, Leavin' Brothers Band


if you ever happen to find yourself on Fish River in Daphne, Alabama on a sleepy weekend afternoon, try to find your way to the picnic tables at Big Daddy’s. you’ll always find great food and a good time, but – if you’re lucky, you might just get to listen to one of the south’s best kept musical secrets–
Sugarcane Jane .

whether singing their original works (like Louisiana, Butterfly, and Sugar) or putting their down home sound on familiar classics (ranging from an incredibly playful and fun Hot Rod Lincoln to a spontaneous rendition of Roger Miller’s Dang Me or a dreamily mellow and psychedelic Midnight Rider), Sugarcane Jane’s appeal cuts across generations and appeals to a wide audience.

Alabama’s own Anthony Crawford and Savana Lee continue to work their musical alchemy creating sweet sounds that are assessable and easy, while at the same time intuitive and distinctly their own. if it’s your first time to hear Sugarcane Jane, you’ll find yourself saying, “wow. now, who are these guys? they’re good.” if your familiar with their work, you’ll overhear such comments and smile knowingly as you remember the exact time and place you first stumbled onto the band.

either way – when Sugarcane Jane plays, heads bob, feet tap, smiles spread, and hearts beat just a little faster. you’ll either fall in love with the band, or fall in love with the band again. it just can’t be helped.

so - if you’ve got a sweet tooth for great music and are ever in South Alabama around Fairhope, Daphne, or Gulf Shores, don’t hesitate to give Sugarcane Jane a listen. if you wait too long, the secret will have passed you by.

fruit of the (parcells) vine . . .

wow. what a football year. i must say, that as a dallas cowboy fan, i was disappointed they were not in the super bowl. but, as an nfc fan and a transplant to south mississippi, i could not have been more excited for the saints and the city of new orleans.

however, my greatest delight of the evening stemmed from the fact that i am a monster fan of bill parcells. as a teacher and motivator, parcells, in my book, is about as good as it gets. i was elated when dallas hired him and sad when he left.

just imagining the big tuna watching the game, masterfully coached by his protégé, sean payton. i can just almost see parcells' smile spreading across his face as the second half progressed. peyton did his mentor proud. i bet parcells was thinking to himself something along the lines of, “that’s my boy.”

as i thought about peyton and parcells and the link between the two, i kept hearing the words of Christ rattle around my brain. in john 5 he says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

would that i might do The Mentor proud.

remnants

“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”
Thomas Jefferson

friends in low places

one of my heroes is a high school buddy of mine, will white. he was a year ahead of me, but took me under his wing as a freshman. we both played trumpet in the band; he took me on trips with his church youth group where i was introduced to rappelling, horse back riding, and camping out under the milky way in capitan gap, new mexico; we played pranks on folks and each other all the time. will was always one of the good guys.

one thing i always admired about will was his singular focus to become a pilot and fly planes for a mission organization. and that’s exactly what will did when he grew up. will and his family have been working in haiti for years, flying for mission aviation fellowship.


will’s duties include, providing transportation, supplies, housing, encouragement, and support for missionaries and national church workers in haiti. will is also the haiti program flight scheduler; in this role he takes requests by email and phone from local missionaries, teams coming from the US, and haitian pastors and christian worker, and coordinates them with the 3 aircraft and 7 pilots, as well as managing the ongoing maintenance schedule of the airplanes.

i was relieved last night when an email from will appeared in my inbox. he and his family are safe. his wife and kids are already back in the states, while will stayed behind, already involved in helping supplies get to the front lines.

if you get a second, while you’re praying for Haiti, include will and his family. they’re good folks doing good work.