happy hour indeed!

i though about calling this photo this little light of mine, but it sounded kinda sacrilegious. so, i'll just call it, papa's a pretty cool dude 'cause he took me to sonic.

the wojtowicz's, franklin, and douglass

patrick, melissa, and gabrielle wojtowicz have become my newest heroes. after reading an article about them in the 4/14/09 issue of USA Today (having trouble linking to the article - sorry) and a subsequent article by peggy noonan , I decided to check out the wojtowicz’s blog (i can't figure out why this link says the blog doesn't exist, but when it says that true north doesn't exist, click on true north and it will take you to none other than true north).

these guys figured it out. as patrick says in the USA Today article, “The idea of living a fuller, more satisfying life seems simple to us now. . . . We would basically buy stuff to feel good. . . . When that stuff stopped filling the voids we had, we started analyzing what it was that we were really missing. . . . Money, cash, credit, maybe they don’t matter. Maybe, just maybe, it is those things that impede our ability to be truly happy.”

patrick is right. and the path the wojtowicz family are on embodies ben franklin’s ideas of self-reliance, specifically virtues #4, #5, and #6: resolution, frugality, and industry. i hope and pray, that the wojtowiczs are indicative of a whole movement back to an agrarian life style. if they are, and if there is a shift in american culture back to an agrarian mind set, maybe an unintended consequence of BIG GOVERNMENT’s meddling in the american way of life could be a positive.

in his Self-Made Man lecture of 1859, frederick douglass said, “Self-made men are the men . . . who they are, without the aid of any of the favoring conditions by which other men usually rise in the world and achieve great results. . . . They are the men who, in a world of schools, academics, colleges, and other institutions of learning, are often compelled by unfriendly circumstances to acquire their education elsewhere and, amidst unfavorable conditions, to hew out for themselves a way to success, and thus to become the architects of their own good fortunes. . . . If they have traveled far, they have made the road on which they have traveled. If they have ascended high, they have built their own ladder. . . . I am certain that there is nothing good, great or desirable which man can possess in this world, that does not come by some kind of labor, either physical or mental, moral or spiritual. A man may, at times, get something for nothing, but it will, in his hands, amount to nothing. What is true in the world of matter is equally true in the world of the mind. Without culture there can be no growth; without exertion, no acquisition; without friction, no polish; without labor, no knowledge; without action, no progress and without conflict, no victory. The man who lies down a fool at night, hoping that he will waken wise in the morning, will rise up in the morning as he laid down in the evening.”

i think franklin and douglass would've been proud of the wojtowic family.

hard-working hands gain control, but lazy hands do slave labor. Proverbs 12:24

go get 'em america!

god bless the new crop of sons and daughters of liberty who are participating tomorrow in the tea parties around the country! may your voices be heard!

a stack of money with eyes, a gecko, and a karaoke singer walk into a bar . . .

this video is for my daughter who really likes all things geico. hopefully, she will not grow up with some sort of unhealthy paranoia.

tell me tommy boy; what is it good for?

as an amateur ornithologist, my ears perked up when i heard about the newest cyber space rage - tweeting. or is it twitting? or twittering? anyway - as a technological neanderthal, i’m doing well to figure out how to post a blog every now and then, much less tweet every two seconds. how does one keep up with tweeting and why? i mean, when i don’t blog for weeks at a time, it occurs to me to go to confession. which is strange. but if stephen king can crank out books a year, shouldn’t i be able to crank out blogs a month? so along comes the twitter. which i still have not gotten a straight answer about from my students. which alerts me to the fact that tweeting or twittering or whatever is either a) so new they don’t even know what it’s good for, or b) it’s not really good for anything. anyone besides the cartoon network got any insight for those of us being left behind?

Bob Dylan once said, “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.” It seems South Carolina’s governor, Mark Sanford almost gets Zimbo’s drift; he sorta understands James Madison's observation that "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." So, should Mr. Sanford get half of an “‘atta boy!” for rejecting "some" of the stimulus bill? for almost saying,"No" to the stimulus package? Sanford rightly avers that “The name of the game is staying true to the principles that got you into politics in the first place _ and letting the chips fall where they may." So why not apply this to a total rejection of the stimulus bill? would that there were governors out there who had the strength and courage to follow all the way through with their principles.

ezra, the seer

ezra taft benson was the secretary of agriculture in the eisenhower administration. i’m not sure how popular he was then, but i wish there were more wise politicians with some cajones like ezra’s around today. i understand he actually was a prophet in the lds organization. i think that's what the bookend weirdness of the second clip is all about. after listening to a few of his words, it seems maybe he did have a touch of the sight. certainly, he was on the mark politically.

can you hear me now?

america - how much more can you take? when are you going to listen and realize what's going down? wake up out there. the wool is being pulled over your eyes as the following quote and clip illustrate.

from the press conference last night, obama says: "I know that there are a lot of folks out there who've been saying, 'Oh, this is pork, and this is money that's going to be wasted,' and et cetera, et cetera. Understand, this bill does not have a single earmark in it, which is unprecedented for a bill of this size. ... There aren't individual pork projects that members of Congress are putting into this bill."

the bold italics are mine for emphasis in light of the following clip.

the postman was right about the wretched stone

of course one of the benefits of watching the super bowl is the commercials. however, one commercial in particular was quite haunting.



initially, this commercial made me think of mike judge’s idiocracy (which is a great satire on what happens to a culture that abandons literacy). in the imaginary future of idiocracy, the number one show on television in the year 2506 is owww, my balls. the fictional sit-com revolves around a single theme: how the protagonist’s testicles are assaulted and abused as he carries out his daily routines. after thinking of judge’s vision, i recalled reading neil postman’s great book, amusing ourselves to death: public discourse in the age of show business. in the book, postman reminds us that television’s entertainment value is a type of huxleyian “soma” which lulls folks into a blissful ignorance which translates into a voluntary relinquishment of their rights to the government. if television is a gateway drug and the internet is crack, what sort of drug is hulu? the future is now. and we need to detoxify ourselves. we’ve medicated ourselves into a state of consciousness from which we might never awake. before it's too late, turn off the visual media and read chris van alsberg's the wretched stone to your kids.

we don't need no stinking stimulus . . .

The following is a list of 41 modern-day political heroes who should be applauded for looking out for the American people’s best interests. These 41 brave senators voted against S. Amdt 3983 and H. R. 5140, the so-called Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008. God bless these 41 members and help them to remain strong in their convictions.

Alphabetical by Senator Name:
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Martinez (R-FL), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
Wicker (R-MS), Nay

Of note: *McCain (R-AZ), Not voting

the audacity of hope . . .

i love the super bowl for lots of reasons, but one of the draws for me is the cool commercials. in this season of really creative advertisements, the following, in my opinion, will be hard to top this sunday. if i needed someone to advertise something for me, i’d do my best to hire the folks who put this spot together. it’s simple. it’s subtle. it’s effective. no matter which side of the issue you take, it is difficult to muster any sort of negative response to the presentation of this ad. this is the kind of smart thinking we need more of. this is the sort of moving spirit that can win the day.

i'd pay a dollar to see that at the carnival

sometimes i see things that i just can’t help staring at. it’s rude. it’s impolite. i try not to do it in public. but in the privacy of my own home, it doesn’t seem to hurt much. in these waning days of the football season, i’ve been watching a ton of football fluff on the various sports channels (particularly a series on the nfl network called missing rings). i’ve also been sucked into another show called playbook which is described by the nfl network as a program that uses “exclusive access to coaching film” to “give fans an in -depth look at the match-ups and how each team looks to exploit the other.” as a football junkie, one might assume that i tune into the show to learn the ins and outs of competing teams. but, no-sir. i tune in for one reason. to stare at brian baldinger’s right digitus minimus. i can’t help it. indeed, i found myself this past season actually seeking out games on fox that baldinger was calling even though i didn’t care a jot nor a tiddle about either team on the field, all the while ignoring the fact that baldinger is one of my least favorite color commentators. i would mute the tv and hope the network would cut away from game action and show the booth just so i could catch a glimpse of baldinger’s right digitus quintus. his right fourth finger colloquially is so jacked up that it makes me feel like a vicarious arthritic barometer. if i’m visually locked into his digitus V, i can accurately report the atmospheric pressure and predict high pressure fronts with some modicum of accuracy.

it was when a commercial break came on that my hypnotic lock on baldinger’s pinkie was interrupted and i realized that my habit of staring in-house was indeed dangerous. my daughter, who is a very live wire of a three year old, had been lying silently and statuesquely on the couch beside me with her head in my lap. this is so unusual and out of character for her that asked her if she felt well. she assured me that she was ok. and then went silent again. i should have known something was up, that this was indeed my child. after a couple of minutes she said, “hey, papa. why do you have a charlotte’s web inside your nose?”

“i don’t know, buddy,” i said, “but it is really not polite to stare.”

quality entertainment

i’m not really sure who this guy is or what his story is, but it’s proof that quality entertainment can be made from christian perspective (i’m making a huge assumption that this guy is indeed a Christian). anyone know anything about this tim hawkins guy?

mad about madmen

very rarely do i experience envy. it is one of the seven deadlies that doesn’t really phase me too much. but, on occasion, when i witness the creative genius of folks, i must admit, i get twinges of jealousy. in such moments, i wish and hope and pray for just one given moment sometime in my life when i could be that good at something - anything. whenever i hear night rider’s lament, or my colleague, trevor hunt, play the classical guitar, or witness dr. joyce applegate teach a field biology class, i can’t help but think to myself, “is there, or will there ever be any one thing i’m that good at?”

one of these envious moments creeped into my thoughts as i watched an episode of madmen. it’s a snappy show about a madison advertising agency, sterling cooper, set in the late 50’s early 60’s. john hamm plays don draper, the main character and sterling cooper’s top advertising gun. in an episode called the wheel, a single scene struck me as quite stunning and beautiful in its forceful simplicity. the craft of creating great television is evidenced here. i must admit that i was envious of talent and abilities on display in the writing, the acting, and the directing. enjoy.

one toke over the line, sweet jesus, one toke over the line *

as a “university” church with a congregation that ranges from degreed professionals to folks off the street and everything in between, you’re liable to hear a spectrum of thoughts during any given bible study. moderate, fundamental, conservative, sometimes just plain nuts. but no one ever seems to stomp out angry or with hurt feelings, which is what i really enjoy about this particular gathering of folks. and you gotta show up week to week, because you just might miss something. you can never quite pin-point when or how god’s going to manifest himself.

last night’s bible study examined the virgin birth narrative presented by only two gospels, matthew and luke. lines of thinking and questioning arose from our crowd in a fairly typical manner for the group: how is jesus of the line of david if joseph is not the biological father? wouldn’t mary probably know how the birds and the bees work, and, if so, why’s she asking the angel about the basics of biology? the ex nihilo idea of genesis manifested in the womb? how does the dirt of adam’s “birth” become dna, and did god, the father, use miraculous means to introduce the y chromosome into mary’s fetus? some good heavy theological lifting going on.

the spirited back and forth was good natured banter and did provoke lots of good thought. and yet a din of sorts, a static created by the conversation, clouded the room.

and that’s when i caught a glimpse of The Sublime.

during a collective breath which provided an opportune pause in our voices, a gentleman in the back said in a calm, sure, steady voice just loud enough for everyone to hear: “if you pray to god and you truly believe that the creator of the universe hears you, you’re already over the line. you already ARE a mystic.”

* brewer and shipley

what country do you think this is?*

lately, it seems the gop has attempted to have life imitate art. unfortunately, they chose the theater of the absurd to immolate in the last election cycle. and clearly, even after the election, some folks in the party still don’t get it. this is poignantly illustrated by congressman joe knollenberg (republican, michigan) at around the three minute mark of the following clip. note knollenberg’s answer to cavuto’s question, “where do you draw the line with our money?” joe’s answer is not unlike the clock in perandello’s play , the bald soprano, which strikes the hour twenty-nine in one scene and “as many times as it wants” in another. there’s a disconnect here that is becoming more and more bizarre as the calendar turns.



*garage attendant - ferris bueller's day off

pic from dia de los muertos

click to enlarge scary skull face

fashion trends in the deep south

as an instructor on a college campus, i see a range of fashion year to year, season to season. every now and again, a fad or trend will surface that piques my curiosity as to how and why said fashion evolved. currently, a bizarre trend grips our deep south campus where the temperatures during the months of october and november average around 85 degrees for highs and about 45 degrees for lows. on any given day, more than half the co-eds are wearing shorts accented by snow boots with fuzzy trim. are these folks hot or cold? when is the last time it snowed on this campus? does the bookstore carry odor-eaters? is the circulation in their extremities poor while their core temperatures remain above average? is this look popular in current pop culture? is this a statement on the alleged global warming? what would mr. blackwell think of this look, god rest his soul? while not as troubling as the billed cap worn cock-eyed or as strange as a toboggan with a bill, i do wonder what these young folks are thinking as they dress for the day. probably the same thing i was thinking during the early 1980’s while sporting argyle patterns suited only for exclusive links courses or pastel tee-shirts and white jackets with the sleeves rolled up a la the set of miami vice. huaraches and mullets, anyone?

the signs are everywhere. . .we just need to see them

“Dagny, the whole world’s in a terrible state right now. I don’t know what’s wrong with it, but something’s very wrong. Men have to get together and find a way out. But who’s to decide which way to take, unless it’s the majority? I guess that’s the only fair method of deciding, I don’t see any other. I suppose somebody’s got to be sacrificed. If it turned out to be me, I have no right to complain. The right’s on their side. Men have to get together.”
She made an effort to speak calmly; she was trembling with anger. “If that’s the price of getting together, then I’ll be damned if I want to live on the same earth with any human beings! If the rest of them can survive only by destroying us, then why should we wish them to survive? Nothing can make self-immolation proper. Nothing can give them the right to turn men into sacrificial animals. Nothing can make it moral to destroy the best. One can’t be punished for being good. One can’t be penalized for ability. If that’s right, then we’d better start slaughtering one another, because there isn’t any right at all in the world!”
He did not answer. He looked at her helplessly.
“If it’s that kind of world, how can we live in it?” she asked.
“I don’t know . . .” he whispered.
“Dan, do you really think it’s right? In all truth, deep down, do you think it’s right?”
He closed his eyes. “No,” he said. Then he looked at her and she saw a look of torture for the first time. “That’s what I’ve been sitting here trying to understand. I know that I ought to think it’s right – but I can’t. It’s as if my tongue wouldn’t turn to say it. I keep seeing every tie of track down there, every signal light, every bridge, every night that I spent when . . .” His head dropped down on his arms. “Oh God, it’s so damn unjust!”
“Dan,” she said through her teeth, “fight it.”
He raised his head. His eyes were empty. “No,” he said. “It would be wrong. I’m just selfish.”
“Oh, damn that rotten tripe! You know better than that!”
“I don’t know . . .” His voice was very tired. “I’ve been sitting here, trying to think about it . . . I don’t know what is right anymore. . . .” He added, “I don’t think I care.”
She knew suddenly that all further words were useless and that Dan Conway would never be a man of action again. She did not know what made her certain of it. She said, wondering, “You’ve never given up in the face of a battle before.”
“No, I guess I haven’t. . . .” He spoke with a quiet, indifferent astonishment. “I’ve fought storms and floods and rock slides and rail fissure. . . . I knew how to do it, and I liked doing it. . . . But this kind of battle – it’s one I can’t fight.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Who knows why the world is what it is?”

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

more halloween goodness!

here's special K in her wilbur (pronounced "YIL-bur") costume. we went to our halloween party as the cast of charlotte's web. big al was a stunningly beautiful charlotte and i had my own gutter rat take on templeton. a good time was had by all. as soon as ms lundy forwards the digital pics, we'll post more.

halloween treats!

as always, halloween was a blast! this year was especially memorable since my daughter was able to have BIG fun in all the festivities – halloween party at our house, carnival at the school, trick or treating in the neighborhood. lots of candy and good times. this is one of the early pics we got back from the disco tent at the school carnival. thanks, laura, for snapping it and sending it our way!

some voting season fodder . . .

Some quotes to ponder as the election hour draws nigh. For more, check out Walter Williams’ list of quotes from
Framers and the Constitution.

"Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated."
--Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Albert Gallatin, 1817

"If Congress can determine what constitutes the general welfare and can appropriate money for its advancement, where is the limitation to carrying into execution whatever can be effected by money?"
-- South Carolina Senator William Draden 1828

"We still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping at the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretenses for revenue and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without a tribute."
-- Thomas Paine

"If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general welfare, the government is no longer a limited one possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one subject to particular exceptions." James Madison, "Letter to Edmund Pendleton," -- James Madison, January 21, 1792, in The Papers of James Madison, vol. 14, Robert A Rutland et. al., ed (Charlottesvile: University Press of Virginia,1984).

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."
-- Mark Twain, 1894

pay no attention to the heat miser behind the curtain . . .

while cruising the blogosphere, i stumbled upon a thoughtful, humorous, and spot-on blog by lobos motl. motl is a physicist living in the czech republic who takes on the global warming hoax in the reference frame . motl's notion of “the gore effect” is quite funny as are the documents surrounding the arrival of gore at harvard to give a speech on global warming; note the local low temp of 25 degrees which was last seen on October 22, 1883. kudos to motl! preach it, bro, preach it!

politics makes stange bedfellows . . .

not everyone in the democrat party has forgotten their roots. note the echos of jfk in lynn forester de rothschild's comments.

"Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort – thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate."
– John F. Kennedy, Nov. 20, 1962, press conference

"Our present tax system ... exerts too heavy a drag on growth ... It reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk-taking ... The present tax load ... distorts economic judgments and channels an undue amount of energy into efforts to avoid tax liabilities."
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 24, 1963, message to Congress on tax reduction and reform, House Doc. 43, 88th Congress, 1st Session.

is this what folks want?

is this really what folks want out there?

along with the obvious joys of being a first time parent come some unexpected pains. one of the least anticipated side effects of becoming a parent, in my experience, is the immediate ability to empathize and be moved by the relationships of other parent/child relationships going on around me. for the past year the lives of three sets of parents and children in particular have moved me in ways i did not believe possible.

in one instance a son discovered the body of his elderly mother who had been brutally murdered with a hammer by a crack addict that, when caught, turned out to be an old high school acquaintance .

in another situation, an expectant mother of naturally occurring quadruplets has battled for almost two years for the lives of her daughters. she lost three of the girls in the delivery process and continues to face challenges with her daughter who fights everyday to recover from being delivered prematurely.

last week, some friends of our family lost their eleven year old son to cancer. he fought the disease in a heroic way.

each of the folks involved taught me things about strength, perseverance, and grace. but the lessons, i think, were heightened for me because of the relationship i have with my own daughter.

since her arrival, one of my favorite hobbies, going to the movies, has been curbed a bit. we tend to see about the same amount of movies as we did before; they are just viewed via netflix about six months to a couple of years behind the curve of the general populous. last night, we saw bella, a film from 2006 written and directed by alejandro gomez monteverde. this quite film portrayed the strength, perseverance, and grace of its central characters in such a powerful way that i spent most of the film watching the screen through a blur of tears. if you missed it on the big screen – take the time to watch it. share it with someone. and hug your kids. squeeze ‘em just a little bit tighter than you might normally do.

Ben Franklin famously said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” A big thank you to those in the Senate* who tried to abide by Franklin’s wisdom when they voted “no” for the bail out attempt. God give representatives in the House the same courage and wisdom to thwart this bill tomorrow.

* Allard (R) Barasso (R) Brownback (R) Bunning (R) Cantwell (D)
Cochran (R) Crapo (R) DeMint (R) Dole (R) Dorgan (D)
Enzi (R) Feingold (D) Inhofe (R) Johnson (D) Landrieu (D)
Nelson (FL) (D) Roberts (R) Sanders (I) Sessions (R) Shelby (R)
Stabenow (D) Tester (D) Vitter (R) Wicker (R) Wyden (D)

economics 101

lots of ideas floating around out there on the financial crisis and what to do about it. we need to get back to the basics. spend less that you make. save for a rainy day. help those who truely need help. we've lost most of these concepts along the way somewhere, from the individual to the nanny state that the us government has become. after lots of reading and careful consideration of which one article to pass on to both of my readers out there, i've settled on martin masse's piece in the national post. in his article
Bailout Marks Karl Marx's Comeback, masse argues correctly, i think, that out of fear we are about to adopt marx's proposal number five which, in effect, puts the government in charge of centralized credit. wow. we are actually considering giving this over to a bunch of yahoos that can't even make a profit in their own cafeteria. short term pain is worth the long term loss of liberty. while this is an uncomfortable choice, it should not be a tough choice.

i love the smell of bacon in the morning (or at any time of day)

one of life’s pleasures for me is football. there’s not really an aspect of it that i don’t like. some of my fondest memories in life revolve around what is a great sport. this year, our college had a faculty/student game of flag football that was quite a blast. there was an all-star sort of quality to it in that there were “celebrity” announcers and refs, so many faculty and students involved that only a few series on each side of the ball was possible for each player, and some good natured ribbing going back and forth between teams. long story short, we all had some fun. an added bonus – the faculty won 20-13.

never forget

to all the men and women from the president and the military to the police, fire, and emergency personnel on the street who have kept us safe from another attack on our own soil: thank you for being always faithful.

behold - the uncle willie!

at my parent's house there is a tin-type on the wall of a gentleman only known to me as uncle william. he seems to be a somber young man in his late twenties, early thirties. the most striking thing about uncle william is his SWEET handlebar moustache. i saw this picture for the umptieth time this summer and decided to grow what i affectionately refer to as an uncle willie. it's been growing for about three months. today marked pearl river community college's centennial celebration, and several of the faculty dressed in period clothing to mark the day. i also took the opportunity to unveil a severely waxed version of the uncle willie for the first time in public. happy birthday pearl river, and god rest the soul of uncle william.

more fantasy league politics

the second person i’d draft, on election day for fantasy league politics (right behind the coach: czar of budget) would be the minister of get-off-of-your-behind-and-do-something. this cabinet position would also be know as mr. cause & effect. in this position, i would draft michael phelps. not because he’s a great athlete. not because he’s won 14 gold medals. not because he’s the greatest olympian of the modern games. no sir. he would be my pick because of his diet. this guy eats 12,000 calories a day! check out this sample food list: for breakfast -three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelet; three sugar-coated slices of french toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee; for lunch - half-kilogram (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks; for dinner - half-kilogram of pasta, with sauce; large pizza; energy drinks. doesn’t he realize these foods are unhealthy? these foods cause heart disease and love handles? why does he eat in such an unhealthy manner? because he can. how could he do this and still weigh 187lbs and have 8% body fat? because he got off his behind and did something. every day. cause. effect. you eat this much, you gotta work out hard to avoid the big one and look like a chick magnet. if you spend five hours a day swimming, you can eat this way too. and i bet you’ll approximate the abs of a greek god or goddess within the year. we don’t need health nazis and government regulation of folks’ food consumption. instead, what we need is a shining example of cause & effect, like michael phelps, my first choice for minister of get-off-your-behind-and-do-something!

the perfect storm?

for my money the best ticket in town has got to be wednesday night in denver. barry o’s camp made a tactical error in giving michigan and florida full votes and allowing a roll call vote on the floor. two things we know about the clintons – they are not quitters and they do not like to lose. to paraphrase nuke laloosh: “you know, winning; it’s like, better than losing.” there’s a storm a brewin’ and its name ain’t gustav.

coach's purse-strings

wouldn’t it be fun to put together a “fantasy team” for politics? i’m not sure how you’d do an “election day” or what sort of point system you’d have, what the “positions” would be, or even how long the season would last. but the idea intrigues me. and i know you’ve all put together a fantasy list of who you’d put in charge of what if you were “managing” the “team”. or maybe i’m out standing in my field all alone on this one. but anywho . . . if i were in charge, i would appoint an acquaintance of mine who we’ll call “coach” to the position we’ll call minister of finances. check that. maybe call it czar of budgets. but anyway, coach in real life is a man who is the assistant baseball coach at a university and could really show the collective congress a thing or two about budget control. this is a man who will stop a team bus between two fast food joints and tell the boys to wait in the bus until he gets back from negotiating with the two chains. in one particular instance i know of, the boys all ate taco bell instead of burger king because the taco bell folks would feed the bus drivers AND the coaches free if the team ate there. burger king would only feed the drivers free. now get this. even though coach got a daily meal stipend from the university, he negotiated a free meal for himself. and on top of securing a free meal, he ordered three bean burritos and a drink because that’s all it took to fill him up. the guy could’ve gotten ANYTHING on the menu for FREE! but he didn’t. he got what would fill him up. so, as i sip on the champagne of beers and ponder my ideal political universe, i’d like to toast the coach, the guy i would appoint as czar of the budget on my political fantasy team.

liberty or death?

with each passing year, it seems that government is more and more interested in limiting individual freedoms and, for the most part, it seems the populous is content to just sit and take it. businesses in my town, for example, can no longer offer smoking sections because the city government has decided that it needs to regulate what goes into our bodies. where will this particular slippery slope end? now that public restaurants and bars are off limits for smokers, our homes will be targeted soon. already the food police are working hard to legislate what foods can and cannot be served/consumed at restaurants. when that battle is won, the health-nazis will again take the battle into our homes. the squeeze upon our freedom of choice in what automobiles we drive is in full swing, and, if we don't pay attention, the nanny state will be regulating our thermostats within the next decade. all of this is to say that i really enjoyed ruminating this past fourth of july on the freedoms we enjoy as well as those which have gone the way of the dinosaur and others that are on the endangered species list. with this in mind, i chose not to fly the stars and stripes this independence day; instead, i proudly hung the flag designed by the minutemen of culpeper, virginia. this flag evolved from ben franklin's political cartoon of a rattle snake chopped into thirteen sections representing the fractured nature of the original thirteen colonies before the revolutionary war. the caption in franklin's cartoon read, "join or die." in these times of political struggle and bipartisan idiocy, it seems that we could take a lesson from this cartoon and this flag. no matter what stripe you are politically, we must not ever forget that at the core of our nation is the belief that we are free and independent and self reliant beings who live best when government leaves us alone.

old school

i like old school stuff. the time before cell phones. the era of basketball as a non-contact sport. agrarian culture centered around family as opposed to biofuels. one old school thing you still might see from time to time on an old country road every now and again is a basic courtesy that comes in the form of a single finger, or, on occasion, maybe even a whole hand, being raised in salutation to another occupant of the road. a basic acknowledgement of others, it may convey greetings or thanks or even “you’ve got the right of way.” but i’ve never seen it used in a negative way. even when i encounter this gesture from complete strangers on roads i’ve never been on before, i somehow feel connected to the place and to that place’s former time that is inevitably dying. as a kid i’d see this gesture all the time; i saw it again today, but could not tell you the last time i’ve seen it. anyway – if you’re out there reading this blog, just imagine yours truly sitting behind the wheel of a 1969 ford f-100 coming at you down a country back road doing about 50 mph on a bright sunny afternoon. the windows are down and you’ve really got nowhere you’ve got to be in a hurry. as we pass each other, i’ll raise my finger from atop the steering wheel in a knowing way and nod. maybe you’ll even return the favor.

worth a thousand words . . .

. . . featuring the great CW

for my money, this is one of the greatest videos of all time featuring one of the greatest actors of all time. would that we all could channel a touch of CW everyday.

need we say more?

ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhh . . . ahhh . . . well. ahhh. . .

1925-2008
a true conservative voice departed today. william f. buckley, jr.’s conservative voice crying from the wilderness of the current political landscape will be missed. godspeed

the new era of 'shine

this week an out of control republican mississippi senator, john read, attempted to introduce legislation that would ban obese folks from restaurants. yep, those who are for the expanding the nanny state are attempting to regulate YOUR food. this follows closely on the heels of the rights of smokers and business owners being trampled to death by the health nazis. everyone in america should have the right to eat whatever they want whenever they want it. in fact, if i should have the right to walk into a fast food joint, order up 50cc’s of liquefied hog grease and mainline it directly into my fourth valve. when they out-law different types of food (and don’t kid yourself – it’s coming. for doubters go look at the history of how the government took down big tobacco), i’m going to buy a mint 1968 plymouth road runner with a 426 nitrous powered hemi, load that bad boy down with whoppers and shipley’s donuts and camel cigarettes and unfiltered marlboro reds and hit the road to seek my fortune. all this is to say that one of my favorite childhood memories was hearing my southern baptist preacher of a daddy play the guitar and sing a sweet ballad of a song who’s remnants have stuck with me over the years. and thanks to the sheer genius of youtube, i’ve gotten to hear the song again, in it’s entirety, as an adult. ladies and gentlemen – embrace mark collie’s ballad of thunder road as the anthem against the health police. as always - thanks pappa bear!

something that (almost) makes sense!

amidst a world where the fictional “reality” of video games and television and movies predominately shape our views of the world, west virginia has decided to consider “a bill to teach schoolchildren how to handle a gun and hunt safely . . . . ‘Hunting is an economic and cultural thing and we have seen a decline of hunting licenses over the past years.’” Hunting is indeed one of the single most potent activities that can shape america’s future for the better. it leads to family bonding. it teaches personal responsibility and the consequences of actions. it provides instruction on the nature of life cycles. it leads to respect of and for the environment. and, i think, it leads to a reverence and appreciation for something much larger and mysterious than oneself. the only problem here is that parents should be taking the lead in teaching hunting and gun safety to kids, not the government or educational system. this educational movement is indicative of the “nanny state” mentality we’ve become all too comfortable with in america. the government should not have to provide firearms education to kids (or sex education, or social/behavioral skills, or religion, or numerous other facets of life one should learn at home). nor should we be comfortable or willing to turn that education over to strangers in the marketplace. parents need to be the ones out front, leading the charge of developing well rounded kids.

barry and levon, part duex

the quality of the footage is not the best, but the comedic excellence transcends the technology. AHHHHHHHHYEAHHHHHHH!

laughter IS the best medicine

i becoming more and more convinced that every single day i need a dose of comedy to combat my glacially inevitable march toward becoming the embodiment of a grumpy old man. so – youtube has become my morning fix of choice. this morning i recalled a hilarious sketch from a forgotten show from comedy central called the state. the sketch features two forgotten comic heroes, barry and levon. the sketch is called “$240.00 worth of pudding.” and for my $240.00, it’s about as funny as it gets. enjoy as you “cook and chill all night long.”

whoooooahhhhhh!!!!

i’ve been fascinated with the straight razor shave since childhood. i grew up watching westerns with my dad, and always thought it was cool when the cowboys shaved in the river with a straight razor. i got my first straight razor shave when i was eighteen in houston. the barber was a woman. it was an existential moment for me. for about thirty minutes there i caught a glimpse, i think, of whitman’s sublime. but that’s another story. shortly thereafter, i began to collect straight razors and barbering paraphernalia. my favorites of the collection are my granddad’s straight razor and a wooden burma shave sign. when i began teaching at pearl river community college, i discovered they had a barbering program. one of the requirements for graduation is proficiency with the straight razor. when klelly ran the program, he had a woman named misty whose specialty was the straight razor shave. and faculty could receive barbering services for free, so about once a week in ’98 and ’99, misty would knock the sandpaper off for me. but misty graduated and most of the students since have made me a bit nervous. however, for christmas this year, my sister and brother-in-law got me one of the coolest gifts i’ve ever received. it was a straight razor shave from a high-end boutique shop called the art of shaving, new york. if you are a man, i highly recommend that you put a straight razor shave on your list of 100 things to do before your die.

pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

occasionally, someone in the media has the courage to draw back the veil. one such man is correspondent jonathan mann of cnn, who interviewed al gore after he received the nobel peace prize , which became sorta silly after yasir arafat won it in ’94. kinda like the heisman trophy became in ’97 when peyton manning lost out to charles woodson. anyway - in a post award interview, jonathan mann asked the following, "The Associated Press, among other sources, is reporting that your family home near Nashville, Tennessee, used $1,200 a month in electricity, which is 10 times the average for homes nearby. It's been widely disseminated, and I think that's what he's getting at. Is it true? Are you a little less green than you seem?"

to which al gore replied, “There's a global warming denier group that put out misleading information.”

to which mann parried, “The Associated Press is not that kind of organization.”

to which al gore responded, “No, they reported what that group said. And the -- the -- look, when you try to make a case like this, you are going to have -- you're going to have people try to attack the messenger in order to get at the message. They have not been able to succeed. But the most important element of this is the message. And part of what they -- part of what these deniers try to communicate is that the only way to solve this crisis is for individuals to make changes in their own lives. We've made those changes, many millions of others have, but we have to stop kidding ourselves. This is not a 'me' problem. It's a 'we' problem.”

the italics and bold are mine. i mean, isn’t the main message of conservation individual responsibility? clearly, mann, in totoesque fashion, has pulled back the curtain to reveal al gore for who he truly is - the green equivalent of l. frank baum’s huckster.

but be of good cheer - gore can only pull the wool over the eyes of those of us who have no heart, no courage, or no brains.

more election fodder

on april 16, 1781, samuel adams said in the boston gazette: "Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual - or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country."

it's a weighty task we set forth to accomplish every election cycle, no? but in the information age, opportunities to appraise candidates are not difficult to find.

on december 4, 2007, republican presidential candidate, fred thompson was interviewed by charlie rose. for those of you who are still undecided, this entire interview can be seen on youtube and is well worth your time to see it. the interview appears in six sections on youtube as Charlie Rose the Candidate Fred Thompson 12-04-07, parts 1-6. what impressed me the most was thompson’s discussion of how his federalist leanings (you can read Thompson's own words in a brief article called "talking about federalism" here ) and conservative principles guide his thoughts on things like education, immigration, social security, terrorism, torture, and taxation. i have only included part 6 of the interview below, but would urge readers to view the entire six sections and give me your thoughts.

hold out for true conservatism

the pool of republican candidates is a weak and unsatisfactory one with no clear top choice. however, there are some candidates,like giuliani and mccain, who simply are not conservative. others though, are putting on the wolves’ clothing and attempting to appear conservative when their past records clearly indicate a pattern of moderate to liberal thinking. mike huckabee’s past record and current thoughts on four issues (illegal immigration, taxes, global warming, and pardons), reveal him as one of the least conservative candidates running in the republican primary. the information provided below was taken from CBS News, the Arkansas Leader, and onenewsnow.com.


ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

“Huckabee's recent strong stand on immigration, including an intolerance toward companies that employ illegal immigrants, runs counter to the image he crafted in his final years in office. He was battling conservatives within his own party who were pushing for stricter state-level immigration measures.

Huckabee opposed a Republican lawmaker's efforts in 2005 to require proof of legal status when applying for state services that aren't federally mandated and proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Huckabee derided the bill as un-American and un-Christian and said the bill's sponsor drank a different "Jesus juice."

That same year, Huckabee failed in his effort to make children of illegal immigrants eligible for state-funded scholarships and in-state tuition to Arkansas colleges. At the time, Huckabee said he didn't understand the opposition to it.

"It hurts me on a personal as well as a policy level to think that we are still debating issues that I kind of hoped we had put aside in the 1960s, maybe at the latest the '70s, and yet I understand people have deep passions about things usually they don't fully understand," Huckabee said.”


TAX INCREASES

“- Imposed an income tax surcharge of 3 percent on tax liabilities of individuals and domestic and foreign corporations (Act 38, 1st special session of 2003). (It was temporary until revenues improved. The legislature repealed it in 2005.)

- Increased the sales tax by 1/8 of one percent by initiated act (but it was a personal campaign by Huckabee, who campaigned across the state for it and took a celebrated bass boat trip for 4 days down the Arkansas River holding press conferences in each river city to urge passage of the act)

- Increased the sales tax by one-half of 1 percent (Act 1492 of 1999)

- Increased the sales tax by 7/8ths of 1 percent and expand the sales tax to many services previously exempt from the tax (Act 107, 2nd special session of 2003)

- Collected a 2 percent tax on chewing tobacco, cigars, package tobacco, cigarette papers and snuff (Act 434 of 1997)

- Levied an additional excise tax of 7 percent on tobacco (Act 38 of 1st special session of 2003)

- Increased the tax on cigarette and tobacco permits (Act 1337 of 1997)

- Increased the tax on cigarette and tobacco – cigarettes by $1.25 per thousand cigarettes and 2 percent of the manufacturers’ selling price on tobacco products (Act 434 of 1997)

- Increased the tax on cigarettes by 25 cents a pack (Act 38, 1st special session of 2003)

- Levied a 3 percent excise tax on all retail sales of beer (Act 1841 of 2001 and extended by Act 272 of 2003 and Act 2188 of 2005)

- Revived the 4 percent mixed drink tax of 1989 and added a 4 percent tax on private clubs (Act 1274 of 2005)

- Increased the tax on gasoline by 3 cents a gallon (Act 1028 of 1999)

- Increased the tax on diesel by 4 cents a gallon (Act 1028 of 1999) Note: Contrary to what Huckabee has said repeatedly in debates, speeches and TV shows, the 1999 gasoline and diesel taxes were not submitted to the voters and approved by 80 per cent of them. It was never submitted to a vote. It was the governor’s bill and it became law without a vote of the people. What the voters did approve in 1999 was a bond issue for interstate highway reconstruction but it did not involve a tax increase. Existing taxes and federal receipts were pledged to retire the bonds.

- Increased the driver’s license by $6 a person, from $14 to $20 (Act 1500 of 2001)
So which raised taxes more? It is hard to quantify. If you measured the increases in the revenue stream, the Huckabee tax cuts far exceeded Clinton’s but that would be unfair because the economy had grown and the same penny of tax would produce far more under Huckabee.

But if you look at the major taxes, I see the aggregate Huckabee taxes as greater, especially if you deduct the 4 cent gasoline and diesel taxes that Clinton vetoed in 1985 and that the legislature enacted over his veto.

Anyway, the sales tax is the big revenue producer. Both raised it by 1.5 cents on the dollar and both expanded it to cover a myriad of services. Clinton raised motor fuel taxes a little more, Huckabee cigarette taxes a lot more.

A further note: Huckabee claims credit for a major tax cut in 1997, saying it was the first tax cut in Arkansas history (there had been many prior to that) and that he forced the Democratic legislature to curtail its impulse to always raise taxes.

The facts: The omnibus income tax cut bill of 1997 was proposed by Gov. Jim Guy Tucker in the spring of 1996. It had multiple (7) features, all aimed at relief for middle-class families or the elderly. He asked interim legislative committees to expand on his plan. Tucker then resigned before the legislature convened after his conviction on Whitewater-related charges, and Huckabee took office.

At the legislative session that followed, the Democratic caucus of the House (88 of the 100 members) made the Tucker tax cuts its chief program. The bill was introduced with 83 sponsors (all Democrats) and all Democrats voted for it. It was unopposed. Huckabee’s tax cut was to give each taxpayer a check for $25 each fall, saying it would help offset the burden of sales taxes on groceries (the repeal of which he repeatedly opposed). The legislature rejected Huckabee’s plan and passed the Tucker bill. Huckabee signed it into law.

The 94 tax cuts that he said he fathered are similarly misleading. The vast majority of those were the usual exemptions and modifications of various taxes and fees that the legislature enacts every time it meets. They were not a part of Huckabee’s program with a few exceptions. Rather, Democratic legislators sponsored them, usually at the behest of whatever special interest benefited, and Huckabee signed them when they hit his desk. If you did a similar summary of Clinton’s years he could claim probably well over 100 tax cuts. Every Arkansas governor since World War II could claim dozens each.

If you counted all the tax benefits extended to corporations under the incentives enacted by the legislature under Clinton — and they were part of his programs, especially in 1983, 1985 and 1989 — the tax cuts would dwarf those under Huckabee.”


GLOBAL WARMING
“Huckabee has also been riding a wave of support on the campaign trail from evangelical Christians, including some liberal evangelicals who believe human activity is causing global warming. The more than 100 signers of the Evangelical Climate Initiative recently praised Huckabee for "announcing his support for a mandatory cap on global warming pollution" and "recognizing that Americans have a moral obligation to address climate change." He tells OneNewsNow that he wants to "create a greater level of conservation."”

QUESTIONABLE PARDONS

“Governors seldom reduce sentences in other states – and almost never for murderers serving life without parole or for rapists or for habitual drunk drivers, while in Arkansas it's a regular habit with Huckabee.
___ Other governors use their clemency power only rarely, while Huckabee has made it routine. As we've told you before, he has issued more than 700 pardons and commutations during his eight years in office – more than 137 this year alone – and more than his three predecessors combined.
___ Here are the figures for neighboring states since 1996, when Huckabee took office (and keep in mind the population of these states is nearly 20 times ours):
___ >> Louisiana – 213.
___ >> Mississippi – 24.
___ >> Missouri – 79.
___ >> Oklahoma – 178.
___ >> Tennessee – 32.
___ >> Texas – 98 (in-cludes 36 inmates released because they were convicted on drug charges with planted evidence).
___ Total: 624 vs. Huckabee's 703.”

in a world full of people only some want to fly, isn't that crazy

there are moments in time that remind us of our passing youth and imminent mortality. this past friday was such a day for me. one of my childhood heroes – evel knievel – made his last jump, from this world into the next.

as a kid, i remember watching his jumps on abc’s wide world of sports, pretending to be evel knievel on my huffy thunder-road bicycle, and wearing out three different ideal evel knievel super stunt cycle sets.

one of the greatest jumps Evel ever made was the lead of faith he made after years of resisting God. as the uk telegraph reports , “Like many American icons whose careers are distinguished by their bad boy behaviour, Knievel later found God. He became a Christian in April, and was honest enough to confess that he had refused for 68 years to convert, because he didn't want to surrender ‘the gold and the gambling and the booze and the women’. But the night before his death, sensing his imminent demise, he telephoned friends to ask them to pray for him, declaring he was ‘ready to be with God’".



i look forward to asking for evel’s autograph when i get to heaven.

soemtimes folks get it right

often i am too cynical, too jaded. last night my lovely and gracious wife, knowing just how to goad me, informed me that brad pitt was going to make an announcement today on some morning show. my immediate reaction was to guess that he was about to announce his political support for a candidate. my wife and i mulled over the silliness of such announcements on both the part of the announcer as well as the audience members who might be swayed to vote a certain way via celeb endorsements. pat sajak nailed it when he said, “If any group of citizens is uniquely unqualified to tell someone else how to vote, it's those of us who live in the sheltered, privileged arena of celebrityhood. It's one thing to buy an ab machine because Chuck Norris recommends it (he's in good shape, isn't he?) or a grill because George Foreman's name is on it (he's a great guy, so it must be a great grill!), but the idea of choosing the Leader of the Free World based on the advice of someone who lives in the cloistered world of stardom seems a bit loony to me.” however, i must admit i was wrong and quite pleasantly surprised to read that pitt’s announcements had little to do with overt politics; rather, he announced today “(i)n a telephone interview from New Orleans, where he plans to present the designs today, Mr. Pitt said the residents of the (Lower Ninth Ward) had been homeless long enough. ‘They’re coming up on their third Christmas,’ he said. Mr. Pitt said he had been attached to New Orleans for more than a decade. ‘I’ve always had a fondness for this place — it’s like no other,’ he said. ‘Seeing the frustration firsthand made me want to return the kindness this city has shown me.’ Rather than bemoan the slow pace of redevelopment in the Ninth Ward, Mr. Pitt said he decided to address the problem directly by teaming with William McDonough, the green design expert; Graft, a Los Angeles architecture firm; and Cherokee, an investment firm based in Raleigh, N.C., that specializes in sustainable redevelopment.” i work with students everyday who have been effected by Katrina and are indeed still trying to recoup some normalcy in their lives three years later. our campus, which took around a $55 million hit from the storm, has yet to received a satisfactory insurance settlement. as a result, the troubles faced by our institution of higher learning provides us a daily mirror image of what some individuals have faced over the past three years. i would like to take just a moment to thank brad pitt and the countless others who have, over the last few years, put their money, time, and effort (no matter how great or small) into the recovery efforts of gulf coast region.

hooked on reading worked for me

probably the single most powerful influence that set the course of my life was growing up in a household of readers. both my parents read and read to me. as a minister, my father’s professional tools were not wrenches or calipers, but paper and ink. my mother’s background was in education. a family of modest means, we did not have lots of extravagances. but there was always money for books. as a professional educator myself, i’ve been to about 15 years worth of meetings where folks hash out the problems of the educational system in the united states, looking for the silver bullet that is going to stamp out ignorance. new math, phonics, direct instruction, technology in the classroom, experiential learning. and most importantly, more money.

however, despite years of trying new classroom management skill and curriculum strategies coupled with millions of wasted dollars, a recent report from the national endowment for the arts, reveals that “Americans — particularly young Americans — appear to be reading less for fun, and as that happens, their reading test scores are declining. At the same time, performance in other academic disciplines like math and science is dipping for students whose access to books is limited, and employers are rating workers deficient in basic writing skills.”

this certainly should come as no surprise. what is shocking is that the national endowment for the arts’ findings lifts the veil which hides two dirty little secrets that have derailed progress in american education. the report states that “In seeking to detail the consequences of a decline in reading, the study showed that reading appeared to correlate with other academic achievement. In examining the average 2005 math scores of 12th graders who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books, an analysis of federal Education Department statistics found that those students scored much lower than those who lived in homes with more than 100 books. Although some of those results could be attributed to income gaps, Mr. Iyengar noted that students who lived in homes with more than 100 books but whose parents only completed high school scored higher on math tests than those students whose parents held college degrees (and were therefore likely to earn higher incomes) but who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books.” this finding reveals that the silver bullet which will solve the educational crisis in america is not a technique or money. instead, the solution resides at home. if parents would simply take the responsibility and the time to read to their kids and instill the love of reading for readings sake, i contend quality in america’s classrooms would rise as would test scores across the board.

more silliness from the benchmounts

one of the major battle cries from the left is the call for tolerance and openness in all things and for all people. the double standard of this notion coming from the left becomes almost humorous if looked at by objective, logical observers.

example one: most "enlightened" folks in hollywood claim to be open minded, but apparently if you’re a conservative, you have to remain, ahemm, “in the closet” about your political leanings for fear of how it will affect your marketability in the television and film industry. as
andrew breitbart, co-author of Hollywood, Interrupted, points out, actors “learn very quickly, if they know what's good for them, to donate to the Democratic Party. If they were to donate to the Republican Party, they would be exposed to career-ending ridicule, period.” wow. that right there is openmindedness to the point of being edgy, no?

example two: in light of ongoing drought conditions in georgia, the governor led lawmakers in a prayer for rain. an organization called (get this now) the atlanta free thought society protested . you’re kidding me, right? the FREE THOUGHT SOCIETY protested!??? how does that work in a logical world?

10 Things That Should Be Brought Back Into Vogue

10. The right to tackle NFL quarterbacks.

9. Attention to detail no matter what the endeavor.

8. Basketball as a non-contact sport.

7. Studying more than 20 minutes for a major exam.

6. Men who act like men and women who act like ladies.

5. $1.00 a gallon gas.

4. The concept of shame.

3. Pocket watches.

2. Reading.

1. The straight razor shave.

hail mary, full of grace . . .

now that i have a daughter, i often think of my formative years. rarely, however, do i have visceral moments where time truly seems to bend and place melts away from the here and now in favor of somewhere almost forgotten. but last night as i sat in at the north endzone, shooting pool and drinking cold coors and watching the dallas cowboys, one of those moments happened. i don’t really want this blog entry to be about what feels like just the beginnings of the legend of tony romo story. but the cowboys of the aikman era were so dominant that there was rarely a moment when hope of what might be possible factored into my emotional spectrum. last night, though, as the game against buffalo wore on, and romo seemed to implode with every passing moment, my vision began to narrow. the hard edges of the pool tables began to become part of a dali-esque painting. the barstool’s ridiculously tall, rigid frame began to feel more and more like a black-vinyl sofa my folks owned in the 1970’s. the patrons blurred from sight. the 52 inch television broadcast in all its hi-def of glory, morphed into a 13 inch black and white with no remote control. with 20 seconds left and the cowboys trailing 24-22, for just an instant, i was a kid again. and for a moment, a single fleeting moment, reality bent, and i turned to say to my father, “we can still win this game.” for a brief second, i was back at my parent's house watching football with my dad, rooting for one of captain comeback’s 23 come-from-behind fourth quarter wins (incredibly, 17 of those came within the last two minutes of the game). of course, when i turned to dad, he was not there because he was back in dallas watching the game with a neighbor while i was in a mississippi sports bar re-entering reality. regardless of how the season ends up, it was a priceless moment for me. and i just want to say thanks to my dad for loving football. and for loving the cowboys. and for loving me.

a bright spot in a sometimes dark world

never forget