Moog and Oog: The Arms Race

When I had heard the term, "paleoconservative" and "paleoliberal", it made me think of cavemen for some reason. Then I thought that it would be funny if cavemen really did have left and right leanings in those days. So thus, I came up with Moog and Oog. Read on, and let me know what you think. Maybe I'll make more such stories of these two.

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Moog and Oog: the ultimate paleo-politicos.

Moog: the ultimate paleoliberal.
Oog: the ultimate paleoconservative.

Moog and Oog are a couple of cavemen at the local rock pile, digging for good throwing rocks. During their search, Moog and Oog talk about the rumors that a local tribe is experimenting with something called “spears” and how it will affect the power balance among the neighboring tribes. Oog asks “What you think about rumors of new weapons Bear tribe said to have?” Moog answers:

Moog: Me not like it. Me not even like using regular weapons, because me feel that we should all just try to get along.
Oog: Ha, me knew you going to say that. You always want to get along.

Moog: What wrong with that?
Oog: You live in dream world. Real world not like that.

Moog: Maybe real world not like that RIGHT NOW, but could be.
Oog: No. Bear tribe and our Wolf tribe always fight. It go way back. My father Og fight Bear tribe, and his father O fight bear tribe. My son Ooog will fight Bear tribe too. It tradition.

Moog: Maybe Bear tribe always fight Wolf tribe because Wolf tribe always fight Bear tribe.
Oog: Bear tribe started it. Legend say Bear tribe leader Ditka hit Wolf tribe leader Muk during inter-tribal council way back when.

Moog: Me know this legend. Legend also say that Muk called Ditka bad name. That why Ditka hit Muk.
Oog: So? Ditka no need hit Muk. Bad name just name, not fist.

Moog: To call someone bad name called ‘provocation’.
Oog: There you go again, use big words. Me think you just make those up.

Moog: Provocation real word! It in dictionary!
Oog: What is ‘dictionary’?

Moog: It book of words
Oog: What is ‘book’?

Moog: Never mind. But it word. Trust me. Me not lie to you.
Oog: Me know you not lie to me, because you part of Wolf tribe. Bear tribe always lie, not Wolf tribe.

Moog: What if Bear tribe say that Wolf tribe always lie?
Oog: Didn’t me just explain? That lie! Bear tribe always lie.

Moog: But me mean that Bear tribe could be saying same things we say about them. How we know who right and who wrong?
Oog: Let me draw you picture. Look here: This Bear tribe. They always wrong. Now look here: This Wolf tribe. They always right.

Moog: But…
Oog: No “but”! That way it is!

Moog: But…
Oog: Don’t make me throw this rock at you!

Moog: Okay, me just get back to original topic. Me think we should talk to Bear tribe before they make spear.
Oog: Yeah! Good idea! That way, we bust up plans before they make them! Maybe take spears too!

Moog: No! Me mean that we talk peace with Bear tribe!
Oog: ‘Peace’! Hah! Bear tribe not know meaning of word ‘peace’!

Moog: You know what word mean?
Oog: No, but me know that they not know it, either! They dumb!

Moog: Peace mean we leave each other alone. No more fighting, just getting along.
Oog: Bear tribe never stop fighting. They make spear to make more fighting, not less.

Moog: Good point, but maybe if we make peace talks, we stop something before something starts.
Oog: No need for talking. We just make better weapon than spear. We get Weapons and Designs R&D Committee on it before Bear tribe can make trouble with spear.

Moog: Ah, now we getting to point me trying to make. What has Committee made so far?
Oog: Committee come up with cutting edge technology: rock for throwing, and club for hitting, but Committee need to stay ahead of curve. That why we need counter to spear, but we need to know what spear is and how it work.

Moog: We get closer still to point. So what happens when Committee make counter to spear? What Bear tribe do next?
Oog: Me not know. Maybe they make better weapon than our weapon.

Moog: So what happen when they make better weapon than our weapon?
Oog: Then we make even better weapon.

Moog: Then they make even better still weapon. So when it stop?
Oog: It stop when they stop.

Moog: Maybe it stop if we stop first.
Oog: Then Bear tribe will end up with better weapon! That not good idea!

Moog: But if we stop before they stop, then they lose interest in making better weapons. Then arms race need not escalate.
Oog: What arms have to do with this? I thought we talk about weapons.

Moog: ‘Arms’ is other name for weapons.
Oog: Why not just say ‘weapons’?

Moog: Because saying ‘arms’ sound smarter.
Oog: Saying ‘arms’ when you mean ‘weapons’ sound dumb, not smart!

Moog: (Sigh). Okay, then weapons race need not escalate if we give Bear tribe no excuse to escalate.
Oog: But Bear tribe may escalate anyway.

Moog: Hm?
Oog: In fact, Bear tribe may escalate BECAUSE we not improve weapons technology.

Moog: Why would Bear tribe want to escalate if we give them no reason to escalate?
Oog: So that they stay ahead of us in weapons race. Then they always hold it over us during inter-tribal talks.

Moog: That make no sense. Then Bear tribe causing trouble they not need cause.
Oog: It make perfect sense. Bear tribe may be liars, Bear tribe may be always wrong, Bear tribe may even be dumb, but Bear tribe not stupid.

Moog: Hmm. You do have point. And they at least smart enough to make spear, so if they get edge, then they try to keep edge.
Oog: Me think peace was possible so long as no one made weapons in first place.

Moog: Ah, me see what you saying. Once one of us made throwing rock and throw at other guy, then weapons race begin.
Oog: Yes, then other guy make throwing rock, and then each tries to make better weapon than other.

Moog: So if it start, then it can stop. That point me been trying to make all along.
Oog: Too late. Genie out of bottle. There no going back now.

Moog: But surely there other way than simply accept grim specter of death to wind its way in valley?
Oog: Who this specter guy? Is he part of Bear tribe?

Moog: Him only metaphor for point me making.
Oog: Oh, so specter part of metaphor tribe.

Moog: Uh…….something like that, yeah.
Oog: So...you find any good rocks yet?

Moog: No, me not find any good rocks; me only find rocks good for throwing so we can continue senseless acts of death and destruction.
Oog: You can be real downer, you know that?

Moog: Sorry. Me try better to put happy face to pain and suffering.
Oog: See? Now you get in spirit of things!

End

Spurs win 2nd game

The Dallas Mavericks were unable to finish off the San Antonio Spurs last night, so the best-of-seven series is now 3-2. The Mavs will have to wait another day and another game to put away the Spurs. It was a very frustrating game, but I knew all along that the Spurs were not going to go down quietly. They ARE the defending champs for a reason, after all. Even with all the frustration from yesterday, the Mavs were only a missed put-back away from winning the game. But I still believe that they can do this-- they just have to go through another game to do it. Remember, my prediction had the Mavs winning this in 6 games, and tomorrow is the 6th game. I'm still on track for my prediction, in other words.

NBA playoff seeding

Remember back on May 10, when I had said that the NBA playoffs should use a different seeding system than the one they have now? Well, David Stern heard me!

However, the seeding system he proposes is different from the one that I'm proposing. I'm still working on that, and I'm also trying to decide how to post it here. It might look kind of awkward posted as text here, so I might make it an image file instead. I think the NBA should take a page out of the way the college playoffs are set up, because those playoffs are often very exciting, and excitement draws fans.

Odds and Ends Commentary 5-16-2006

Halfway through May already?
Can you believe it?

Bush's speech on immigration
I didn't get to see President Bush's speech when he gave it, but I did read the text of what he said. From the sound of it, it sounds like he's trying to please as many people as he can --which is what politicians do, of course. However, I think that a lot of what he said made sense. Saying it is one thing, of course --but the implementation of the ideas brought forth is "a whole 'nother animal". Also, I only saw what Bush plans to do about the border to Mexico, but the U.S. also borders Canada. If we build a "Maginot Line" at the U.S./Mexico border, wouldn't terrorists and other bad egg types just get around that by coming through Canada instead? But I guess we should stick to solving only one problem at a time, eh?

In the meantime, my opinion on this issue still has not changed after all this. I still welcome those who wish to come here; but they still need to go by the book by going through the process of becoming a citizen as the immigrants of the past have done.

"Agg-Town Fights DVD" reactions
This article shows how Arlington, Texas is reacting to the recent bad news of the taping of teenage fights being sold as DVDs. While the arrests are a good start, I think that this will only prove to be a "Band-Aid" instead of a solution --in other words, they can't just treat the symptoms, they need to find the cause. While they can remove some of the instigators, the environment that caused this whole sorry episode still needs to be dealt with.

That's going to call for some painful societal level soul-searching if the solution is to have any good, permanent effect. Our society still hasn't shaken off the effects of "political correctness", so it may be a while longer before any serious, productive societal-level soul-searching takes place. PC has become to our society what alcohol is to an alcoholic, and just like the alcoholic who wants to quit, this statement must be taken to heart: "In order to fix a problem, you first have to admit there that IS a problem." How the city of Arlington responds to this and what solutions they offer will go a long way in telling us where we are in regards to actually dealing with problems like this.

The Da Vinci Code - book and movie
I've been reserving judgment on The Da Vinci Code until I've either read the book or seen the movie. However, I haven't heard a lot that is positive about it. From the sound of it, there's a lot of basic flaws in the book that undermines the credibility of the story. Granted, it's a work of fiction and even says so at the beginning of the book, but judging on the coverage that it's been given, you would think that it was a scholarly tract rather than a novel. However, one error got my attention right away: the albino Opus Dei monk. Opus Dei doe not HAVE any monks!

Plus, my liberal-minded coworker is offended by the portrayal of the albino character, who also happens to exhibit some un-albino type traits --like driving at night. According to her, the eyesight of albinos are usually poor, so they don't usually drive at all, much less at night. If the book can't get even basic facts right, then it says a lot about the accuracy of the rest of the book. In other words, if it can't get info about albinos right (which should be easily available for anyone who bothers to find out), then how can we trust its accuracy in regards to Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Catholic Church?

The only reason that I can see for its popularity is because it "dares" to say bad things about Jesus and Catholicisim. Nowadays, saying bad things about Jesus or Catholicism is as about gutless as it comes, because anyone who does such a thing will know that they will have various anti-religious groups coming to their rescue. While I don't believe in the so-called "liberal media bias", I do believe that many members of the media suffer not so much from a deliberate attempt to slant their coverage in a left-wing way, but rather from being among only those who already believe the way that they do. It's called "groupthink". The more liberal-thinking members of the media has an axe to grind with the Catholic Church, so they'll be all over something like the Da Vinci Code which says things that they want to hear. It's rather pathetic when you think about it; to be so hostile to Catholicism that you'll give credibility even to something as misinformed as this novel.

Close-up of a 1941 penny

Here I was testing the close-up zoom feature of my digital camera by taking pictures of a 1941 penny. Ain't it cool? Imagine the history that this penny has seen. You can tell that it's been around, judging by the smoothed out edges that it shows.

Weekend Wrap-up Commentary 5-13-2006

Bush's speech on immigration on Monday
President Bush is going to speak Monday on the issue of illegal immigration and what he wants to do about it. If you went by what you've heard from protesters, you'd think that he was in favor of deporting all illegal aliens and building a "Great Wall of China" at the US/Mexico border; but actually, Bush is much more open to these immigrants than what your average conservative commentator is comfortable with. However, the outspokenness of these commentators, plus the counterprotests of Americans has led Bush down this road of addressing the nation in this fashion, and from the sound of it, he may concede somewhat to the desires of his conservative base. If that is indeed what he ends up doing, the protesters may wish that they had left well enough alone, because as I said above, Bush' s initial plan was already close to what they had been asking for. I shall be commenting on his speech on Tuesday.

"Agg Town Fightz" videos
"Agg Town" is the slang, hip-hop name for the city of Arlington, Texas, which is located between Dallas and Fort Worth (this info is for those readers who are not from Texas). The "Agg Town Fightz" (which I shall call ATF from here on) are videos that were filmed (usually by cellphone cameras) and produced by a local group of black teenagers. They took pictures of fights among black teenagers and put together fight videos on a DVD, and added rap music in the background. Apparently, the sale of ATF went well enough that a second ATF 2 was also out, and a ATF 3 was apparently in the works. Attached below is a link to the story from a local newspaper:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/community/14552945.htm

I find the whole story not so much as an outrage as it is depressing. With all that our society has gone through to help us all have equal and civil rights, plus with all that is available out there for young people today with computers and technology plus all the information and knowledge that is to be had via the Internet, this is how some young people choose to use these talents --to make and sell fight videos? Here's what's particularly bothersome: The producers of this video are black. One of the producers said that this is a hobby of his. Let's view this statement from this perspective: What if the producer who said this happened to be white? The NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and all of the other prominent black leaders would have been down here protesting in ways that haven't been seen since the 1960's. So with that, let's ask this: does it really make a difference if the hobby enthusiast producer happens to be black? Isn't the outrage just the same? I shall be commenting more on this as this story develops, because what we are seeing here is a significant demonstration of our society as it is today.

Retirement of Hummer 1
So the vehicle will all the fuel economy of a tank is finally going to be retired, eh? Once the price of gas got to around $3 a gallon, that pretty much doomed this gas guzzler. I never drove one, and I always wondered how it would have felt. Does it drive like a regular car, or does it feel like you're driving a tank?

Sports
The Dallas Mavericks play Game 3 today of the best-of-seven series with the San Antonio Spurs. These next two games are in Dallas, and they will be an important test on where the Mavs are in thier development as an "elite" team. Beat these guys --who happen to be the defending champs-- and the Mavs will have overcome a significant stumbling block in the psychological development as a team. If they win this series, then I forsee them going all the way to the championship.

As for the Texas Rangers, the best that can be said right now is that they still lead the worst division in baseball. I guess we gotta take what little progress we can get right now, but dang, I would really like to see some consistency on this team --particularly in the pitching, but also with the offense. The Rangers, though, have to strive to be better than they're going right now.

Mother's Day
That's tomorrow, folks. Don't forget to wish your mother a Happy Mother's Day. Otherwise, she'll let you know in her own way that you forgot. ;-)

Mavs kick Spurs' butt

http://www.nba.com/playoffs2006/series_sasdal.html

Mavericks 113 Spurs 91

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! Okay, normally I save the sports reporting for the "Weekend Wrap-ups", but the Mavs don't play again until Saturday, and I can't wait that long to talk about it here!

In Game 2 of this best of seven series, the Dallas Mavericks handed the San Antonio Spurs their butts on a platter. >:-)

That's how it shoulda been for Game 1! I knew Coach Johnson wouldn't let them lose Game 2.

The Mavs could have won Game 1, because they basically did in Game 2 what they did in Game 1 --with the exception that the Mavs didn't score points in Game 1 like they did in Game 2. This is why I feel confident that the Mavs will finally win against the Spurs this year.

Also, NBA Commissioner David Stern commented about this set-up in which the #1 team in a conference is playing the #2 team (in won-loss record) in a semi-final. This series should have been the conference final. Hey, it wasn't the Mavs' fault that the current set-up had them as the 4th seed! So heck yeah, this series should have been the conference final!

Both basketball and football can benefit from a different seeding system, for that matter. The recent Super Bowls have been Super boring. This goes along with my theory that both of these leagues should use some sort of bracket system like colleges use. In an upcoming blog, I shall construct some brackets based on the teams that were in the playoffs in both the NBA and NFL, and we'll see how those teams would have lined up in a bracket system like colleges use.

(What am I, ESPN over here or something?)

Warning signs

In the story below, keep in mind that the reference librarian in question is a Quaker!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49809

And then there’s this story:

http://www.ncregister.com/articulo4.php?artkod=NDAz

This was done by a British Literature professor!

It’s times like this that we see that even the normally tolerant, open-minded left wing can display such intolerant behavior.

The above examples (there are other examples, of course) are part of why I can’t fully align myself to the left –which does not at all mean that I’ve gone gung-ho for the right, either. I’ve learned some years ago to not align my views to only one side of the political spectrum. Each side has their good and their bad, and to be too focused on one side amounts to basically cutting off one side of your brain. Just like birds need two wings to fly, we need both halves of our brains to think and function properly.

Barry Bonds blows "save" opportunity

For some strange reason, Barry Bonds refused to sign the ball that a fan caught of his 713th homer. The fan, Carlos Oliveras, is a U.S. Air Force serviceman. He approached Bonds, but Bonds would not sign. Instead, Oliveras got a photo taken with Bonds, and a certificate of authenticity was stamped on the ball.

Bonds foolishly blew a "feelgood" moment, because he sorely needs some positive press right now. He is getting booed because fans don't feel that he deserves to pass Babe Ruth's career home run record due to his alleged use of steroids to reach that mark. Whether that's fair or not to do to Bonds, he did himself no favors by refusing to sign Oliveras' ball.

Maybe he does not support the war in Iraq, and if so, then his refusal could be some sort of political statement about the war. If that's the case, then he is certainly entitled to his opinion (I happen to not exactly be all in favor of the war myself), but he's gonna have to take the grief that comes from such a point of view. Signing the ball of a U.S. serviceman would have been a "double bonus" for him, but instead he has served up a "double negative". So thus, this can rightly be considered a "blown save" opportunity.

Despite the fact that we might have very similar views of the war, his questionable refusal to do something that would have done a lot for him makes me wonder about the man and his decision making. In other words, maybe I don't want Bonds to get the record, either!

Odds and Ends Commentary - 5-8-2006

Short note on the Journey to Nerdville

Just in the past couple of days, I've learned about something called "MP4" files, or "vodcasts", and that they can be played on newer iPods and cellphones. They are like MP3s, but in video format. For an Old School Fool like me, that's just too cool. I was looking into getting a cellphone soon anyway, so I'll ask about that feature while I'm at it. Of course, I'll comment more on this when I get a cellphone and try to download an MP4 file.

Patrick Kennedy

While it is good that Patrick Kennedy is checking himself into rehab, who doesn't believe that he got a free pass that none of us would have gotten had we done the same thing? The famed "Kennedy Mystique" makes the Kennedy family the closest thing that this country has to royalty, but I wonder if that does more harm than good for the Democratic Party? As "the party of the little people", party members should be willing to take their lumps like anyone else when they do wrong. Kennedy getting a free pass sets a bad example, and worse, it gives ammo for the conservative talk shows to use against the Dems. The issue may have been largely dropped from the mainstream media, but don't think that the conservative talk show hosts are going to let this issue get away too soon.

Sports

What a bad weekend for the local pro sports teams. I don't know if it was rust on the Dallas Mavericks' part from being off for almost a week, or that the San Antonio Spurs came to play, or if it was both, but the end result is that the Mavs lost by two when it was all over. However, I don't doubt that Coach Avery Johnson is all over this, and that he already has something in the works for tomorrow's game. I still stand by my original prediction of the Mavs in 6.

And while we are on the topic of mystiques, the Texas Rangers got themselves swept by the New York Yankees. While the Yanks are still a formidable team, they are also a beatable team. The Rangers could have easily have gotten a win or two from this series, but I believe that they got spooked by the so-called "Yankee Mystique" (I tell ya, put a Kennedy in a Yankee uniform, and there's no telling what they can do!). It's only because the Rangers happen to be in the worst division in baseball that they happen to still have a marginal hold on first place. The Rangers are better than the team that they appeared to be in this series, and that's what's so disappointing.

Mock-up ads for my website

I didn't get to post these last week, so here's some today. I'll try to post more of them later in the week. I made the following ads this way: My digital camera has a feature called "whiteboard" in which light colored surfaces are made absolutely white, while dark surfaces are made absolutely black. That contrast makes for some interesting pictures as shown below. Once I took the photos, I opened them up in Adobe Photoshop and stretched and skewed the image to emphasize the facial expressions shown below. Then, of course, I added text to finish it up. The end result is a visually interesting and humorous ad --which is important if people are going to remember it.

End of the Week Wrap-up 5-6-2006

French toast again, or "If Dad doesn't know, ask Mom!"

I asked my mother about why the cost of French toast is much more than the cost of regular toast when they're both basically slices of bread, and she said that it's because eggs are used in the making of French toast --sometimes two or three eggs that the toast is dipped in. So basically, the cost covers both the toast plus the eggs used to make it. So there ya go.

Being an artist vs. looking like one

On the campus where I work, an art professor I know wears no other shoes besides Birkenstock sandals. Even in wintertime, she wears them --but with socks. I discussed this with some people I know, and they thought that all artists wore them. They had this impression that artists were supposed to be liberal, sometimes surly and arrogant, dressed Bohemian style (basically, like a slob), hate Bush, and of course, wear Birkenstock sandals. That got me to thinking: Isn't that a stereotype, actually? I consider myself an artist --certainly not a Picasso or a Rembrandt --but certainly an artist. And yet, I don't dress or act that way (okay, maybe I can be a tad surly at times, but it's not because I'm an artist).

Granted, the stereotype of non-conformity is usually expected, but --isn't it a tad ironic for an artist to conform to a stereotype of non-conformity? In other words, doesn't it fly in the face of being a non-conformist to conform to an expected standard of non-conformity? I think it does, and I think that I'm being a non-conformist artist by consciously trying to NOT conform to the expected non-conformist stereotype. So there. What's the artist community gonna do about it? Call me a rebel? Wouldn't that make me a non-conformist? Gotta love it. ;-)

Chaos in the superhero universe

My student workers at the university library where I work, plus people that I know online keep me up on the goings-on in the superhero universes of Marvel and DC Comics (which I shall refer to from here on as MCU and DCCU respectively). In the DCCU, they just completed a limited series called Infinite Crisis, and as a result, the superheroes are going to be expected to register as heroes in the countries where they work.

Meanwhile, in the MCU, they're just starting a limited series called Civil War. In the MCU, as a result of a disasterous episode of a superhero reality TV show, the federal government is now going to require superheroes to reveal their secret identities to the government, and to register basically as supercops for the feds. This divides the superhero community, because many of them feel that they need the anonymity that the mask provides. Also, it would only take a corrupt federal employee to sell their secrets to the highest bidder for their identities to be known by the wrong people. Or it could be a super villain who threatens utter devastation unless a superhero's secret to be revealed. I guess you can look at it this way: Would you trust the federal government to keep your secrets? Anyway, this series is about the chaos that ensues from this federal action.

I shall be keeping up with this, because I may write it in for my own superhero on my site. Whe I've gotten more info on the results of these actions in both the DCCU and the MCU, then I shall comment more on how this will affect what I plan to write for my own superhero character, The Shamrock.

Sports

After having almost a week off, the well-rested Dallas Mavericks are now set to play the San Antonio Spurs starting tomorrow. I strongly believe that the Mavs can do this. My prediction: The Mavs in 6 games. The key will be for the Mavs to give the weary, banged-up Spurs no rest. Come at them hard and fast right from the get-go, and don't let up until the clock ticks down on that 4th win. Stay tuned, folks... this could be the Mavs' year to go all the way! :-D

Edtoon - US/Mexico border 5-4-2006

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050400284.html

This edtoon is about the issue of Mexico legalizing certain drug usage, but as the article above states, President Vincente Fox has now backed off this bill, and says that he won't sign it. Below is the edtoon that I had come up with for this issue.

Notes on the Road to Nerdville - 5/3/2006

Notes on the Road to Nerdville - 5/3/2006
"Old School meets High Tech" or, "Old Dogs can learn new tricks"

I just noticed that this is my first Nerdville note on this new blog. In my previous blog, I had posted the occassional note about my journey to learn some new high tech gadgetry. Now I shall continue that Nerdville journey note-taking here. :-)

My newest high tech toy is an MP3 player. It took me a bit to figure it out, but once I figured out about "ripping" and "syncing", the rest sorta fell into place. As they say, with new tech comes new terminology --or something. Anyway, I've been trying to step up (no pun intended) my walking exercise, which is rather boring without at least a radio to listen to. But on the FM side, I'm tired of hearing music from the 60's and 70's, and newer music does not interest me. On the AM side, though, there's only so much conservative talk radio that I can listen to.

Along comes my MP3 player. First, it's NOT an iPod, but a brand called Sansa. I didn't want the real deal, because I didn't want to spend that kinda money on an iPod only to mess it up. But since I chose an MP3 player that my student workers weren't familiar with, they couldn't readily provide the assistance that they could have otherwise provided had I gotten an iPod like they have. Well, excuse me for not being like everyone else! ;-)

But I generally learn about stuff by messing around with it, and if it doesn't break first, then I start to learn about it by trial and error. Well, now I got enough of a hang of my MP3 player to be able to upload podcasts of news stories and debates. When I went walking around today, it was so cool to listen to something that was actually helpful and informative--instead of listening to something by the Beatles for the umpteenth time. Don't get me wrong; I like to listen to music from time to time as well, but if I'm going to have a site and a blog that are going to emphasize opining, then I need to listen to more stuff like that. While I am "old school" in some ways, it's times like these that I appreciate living in the Internet Age.

This has been a note from the road to Nerdville.

Odds and Ends Commentary 5-1-2006

Oops, Baby, she did it again

Rumor has it that Britney Spears is pregnant again. It could be worse. It could be Tom Cruise that is expecting again. (I hope that this comment doesn't come back to haunt me).

French toast

When I took my dad to lunch the other day for his birthday, he asked a question that I did not know the answer to. He looked at the price of regular toast and the French toast. He then asked, "How come French toast is so much more than regular toast? Aren't they both basically just slices of bread?" My dad has this tendency to ask these kinds of questions right out of the blue. I didn't know the answer to that; all I could figure is that the batter that they cook it in must cost that much more. He thought that it could be possible. Does anyone know why French toast costs so much more? My dad's probably already forgotten that he asked that question, but now I'm curious.

Sports

The Dallas Mavericks are one win away from making life easier for themselves. If they can sweep the series against the Memphis Grizzlies, then they can just kick back and chill while the Spurs and the Kings slug it out in their now-tied-up series. I don't recall the Mavs ever being able to do that in the playoffs. They could use the rest, because many of their players are banged up.

The Texas Rangers, at this point in time, currently lead the worst division in baseball. They've shown some improvement since the start of the season, and if they can develop some consistency, then they should be able to make a serious run for the division title. Most of the "ifs" are in pitching, and if those questions can be answered, then we just might be talking playoffs come September. Yeah, I know... it's too early in the season to be talking playoffs, but I think that the Rangers made an important step in straightening themselves out from their poor start. It's a good sign.

Coming up later this week

One edtoon will come up this week. I have the idea, I just have to figure out how to make the artwork match the idea. That's one of the challenges of making edtoons. Also, I shall be posting mock-up web ads of my website. This is in case I advertise on someone else's website. I could use this web ad art as a link to my website. I've got quite a few made, and once I figure out which ones I like the best, I shall post them here.

Immigration protest of May 1

The more this issue comes up, the more that they don't change my mind on the issue. My opinion is still the same: the folks who are here illegally should work on their legal status before they can talk about their rights in this country. The issue of amnesty is frequently brought up, and if, by that, they mean "grant them citizenship simply because they happen to be in this country at this certain date", then I think that from a political standpoint, it's going to hurt whoever supports it --especially politicians. I think that the best thing that should be done is the federal government to declare a grace period of a certain amount of time (perhaps 3 or 4 months) in which any person here illegally will be made immune from prosecution so long as they declare their intent to become citizens of the U.S. and that they start the process of becoming a citizen.

The argument frequently coming from pro-amnesty groups is that this nation is made up of immigrants, so this is only a continuation of that tradition. Not even the Sean Hannitys and Rush Limbaughs deny this, and they've both said that it's not immigration that they have a problem with, it's that these folks are here illegally and they want to be rewarded for it. And for those who want to talk about how the crew of the Mayflower came here without asking the native population whether they could stay, I know how the conservatives will answer this. They will say that this was before the country of the U.S.A. came into existence, and that these were also decisions made from a previous time, so the U.S. and today's citizens can't be held accountable for the decisions made from a previous time and for which they had no control over (in other words, "Should the sins of the father be payed by the son?"). I know that this will be their response, so anyone wanting to use the Mayflower argument should be prepared to answer the reponse that I listed above.

This issue is being made more complex than it needs to be, and it makes me suspicious of the motives of those who are trying to complicate this issue more than it needs to be. What could the motive be for making an issue with an easy answer into some sort of boondoggle? Does this effort of complicating and obfuscating the issue benefit the very people for who it is supposed to help? I truly don't think so. Those who seek to confuse and obfuscate (regardless of what issue they are trying to confuse and obfuscate) are almost always out for themselves and their interests rather than those they purport to be helping. I think that there are some devils in disguse among these alleged angels of aid and assistance.

For my part, as an American-born Hispanic, I want a greater representation of people of my culture, but I also want them to do this by the book. If they're happy and proud to be in this country, then they should show it by starting the process of becoming a citizen. Hispanics have much to offer this country, and I would be overjoyed if we could share those gifts to this great country. And Americans can learn a lot from us in regards to family, religion, and especially food! :-)

Edtoon - Tony Snow - 4-28-2006

Jack's Goth little brother

This post is both about demonstrating my digital camera's ability to zoom in real close, and also to show the peculiar and interesting talent of a woman I know.

She takes the Jack-in-the-Box antenna balls and changes them over into a "Goth" look. Notice in one of the pics below that the attention to detail goes right down to the nose stud.

If the Jack-in-the-Box company ever wants to market a "Goth Ball" one day, she's good to go. ;-)

Odds and Ends Commentary 4-25-2006

School uniforms in the Fort Worth ISD

Today the Fort Worth ISD school trustees are expected to approve a standardized dress code for students from kindergarten through eighth grade, while leaving the issue of a dress code in individual high schools up to the vote of the teachers, students and their parents. If you ask me, they should do the dress code for all the way up through high school. Yeah, there will be the cries of “repressing creativity and expression” and such—but I am unmoved by such pleas. (Warning: I’m about to sound like an old dude) Kids today get away with a lot more than I would have gotten away with at that age, so they can just go cry in their iPods and their MySpace websites about school uniforms. I wore uniforms back in grade school, and I wasn’t physically, socially, or psychologically harmed by them –nor was my creativity or expression suppressed. Children at those age groups benefit from more discipline, not less. I could go across the board as to why mandatory uniforms are much more of a plus than a minus, but that’s been discussed elsewhere already ad nauseum. But I will say that everyone will benefit from eliminating the “fashion war” that high school has become in recent decades. The more students concentrate on their studies and the less they concentrate on their clothes, the better we will all be—both in the short term and the long term. And these same, complainer “they’re stifling my creativity!” students can always be creative and expressive --but on their own time after school!

Tom Cruise and other celebrities

I am officially tired of hearing about the following celebrities: Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson, George Clooney, and Jennifer Aniston. Actually, I’m pretty tired of hearing about celebrities in general and the “out-of-touch-with-reality” lives that they live. Celebrity watching these days has become a freak show, and one that I am tired of listening to. Some people want to boycott gas stations, I say let’s boycott celebrities and quit feeding their already inflated egos. Who’s with me?

Cool camera special effects

Over the weekend, while experimenting with my camera, I came across some cool “special effects” that my digital camera can do. I’ll be posting some of the pictures that I’ve taken later in the week. :-)

Sports

Dallas Mavericks’ coach Avery Johnson is rumored to about to be named Coach of the Year. It will be the first time for the Mavs, and I can’t think of a more deserving coach to get it. Now if the NBA can follow suit with a “Most Valuable Player” to Dirk Nowitsky, followed by the Mavs winning the championship, then we can call this a banner year for the team!

And speaking of the Mavs, their farm team, the Fort Worth Flyers, reached the finals of their league, but lost to their opponent. It was quite an accomplishment to get to the finals at all, considering that not only is this the first year of existence for the team, but that it had roster changes like nobody’s business. That’s life in a farm team, though, as the numerous minor leagues team managers in baseball can attest. The Flyers are much better than the previous “Texas Rim Rockers” team (which was a constant car accident in progress for its entire first and only season), and it looks like the Flyers are going to be around for the foreseeable future.

Math Trick

This came to me by e-mail. Enjoy!

A NEW & DIFFERENT MATH TRICK:

Here is a math trick that might get you to thinking...

1. Grab a calculator. (You won't be able to do this one in your head.)
2. Key in the first three digits of your hone number (NOT the area code.)
3. Multiply by 80.
4. Add 1.
5. Multiply by 250.
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number.
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250.
9. Divide number by 2.

Do you recognize the answer?

Main Street Arts Festival pt. 2

More pics at the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival.

If you note in the pic of the angel artwork, it costs $1,300!

Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival 2006

Images attached are from the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival this past weekend. I wish I could go to more of the events, but there's just too many! I might have to take a day or two off during the week in order to see some of these events. This blog limits pics to 5 per post, so I may put up some others later.

Edtoon - Gas prices - 4-23-2006

End of the Week Wrap-up 4-22-2006

Jokes Week

Yep, in case you hadn't figured it out, this week was Jokes Week. Basically, I was feeling terrible because of allergies this week, and my mind wasn't in "opinionate" mode, so I posted jokes that I had been receiving this week. I may continue to do that here, though, because it's easier for people to just go to my blog rather than me forwarding them to everyone I know. Plus, it gets more eyeballs looking at my blog, and for any blog to get noticed, you gotta get a lot of eyeballs looking at it. That's also why I'm trying to post something --if not everyday-- then at least several times a week. One thing I hate about reading blogs is when the blogger goes a long time without adding an entry. They have "spurts" in which they post a lot, then they disappear for two weeks or longer. That's a good way for me to weed them out of my list of bookmarked webpages. Blog readers want something to read!

Edtoons on my blog

I liked how my first edtoon came out on my blog, so I'll try to post a new edtoon here at least once a week, but I'll aim for more than that. Then once a given month has passed, the edtoons for that month will go to my website as a sort of archive. I've already got an idea for my next edtoon, and I'll try to post it either later today or tomorrow.

Sports

The Dallas Mavericks are about to start their playoffs, and it's against the Memphis Grizzlies. During the playoffs, no opponent should be considered a "given", but the Mavs should be able to handle this team so long as they don't look past them and play their game like they're capable of. The Mavs should win this best-of-7 series in at least 5 games.

The Fort Worth Flyers will play the championship game tonight. Two players were called up earlier this week to play in the Mavs' last game of the season so that the Mavs could rest some players for the playoffs. The game was meaningless, because both teams were already in the playoffs and their postions in the rankings already set. Once the game was over, they were sent back to Fort Worth for tonight's game. Go Flyers!

The Texas Rangers seem to finally be showing some signs of life. I did not realize it until I looked at the standings on Monday, but the whole American League West division sucks! As badly as the Rangers were playing to start the season, they were only down by 2 games! No team was over the .500 mark, which right now makes us the worst division in baseball. The flip side of this is that we still have a chance to win the division! ;-) It's bad to have to depend on the other teams in the division to be doing just as bad in order for your team to still have a chance, but I guess we have to take our gifts as they are given to us.

Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival

I love going to the Arts Festival. I love all the hustle and bustle and the art and music and the food --just the whole atmosphere of the event. It's for this weekend, and I plan to go tomorrow and take some pics.I'll be posting them here on Sunday or Monday. Here's a link to the website for the event:

www.msfwaf.org

Come on down. Maybe I'll see you there! ;-)

Punny Measurements

This was sent to me via e-mail.
--------------------------------------------------------
Punny measurements.

What is the ratio of an igloo's circumference
to its diameter?  Eskimo Pi

What does 1 millionth of a mouthwash equal?  
1 microscope

How much time elapses between slipping on a peel
and smacking the pavement? 1 bananosecond

How much time it takes to sail 220 yards at
1 nautical mile per hour?  Knot-furlong

365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer because
it's less filling is equal to what measure of time?
1 lite year

What is 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone?  1 Rod Serling 
(Only old folks will be able to answer this one)

How long is half of a large intestine? 1 semicolon

How much does 1000 aches equal? 1 megahurtz

What is the basic unit of laryngitis?   1 hoarsepower

What are two big breasts in one small bra?
2 cups overflowing

What is the shortest distance between two jokes?  
A straight line (think about it for a moment)

What does 453.6 graham crackers equal?  1 pound cake

How much is 1 million-million microphones?  1 megaphone

What is equal to 1 million bicycles? 2 megacycles

What is equal to 365.25 days?  1 unicycle

What do 2000 mockingbirds equal?  Two kilomockingbirds

What do 10 cards equal?  1 decacards

What does 1 kilogram of falling figs equal?  1 Fig Newton

What is the measure of 1000 grams of wet socks?  
1 literhosen

What is 1 millionth of a fish?  1 microfiche

What does 1 trillion pins equal? 1 terrapin

What do 10 rations equal?  1 decoration

What do 100 rations equal?  1 C-ration

What do 2 monograms equal? 1 diagram

What do 8 nickels equal?  2 paradigms

2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at 
Yale University Hospital is equal to what?  
1 I.V. League

Bumper sticker for both Democrats and Republicans

Someone just told me about a bumper sticker in New York that is popular for both Democrats and Republicans.

It says, “RUN, HILLARY, RUN”, and Democrats place it on the back bumper while Republicans place it on the front bumper. If this is a real bumper sticker and I can get a pic of it, I’ll post it here.

Redneck jokes

I got these from another site I visit. :-)

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

YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK IF:

You think a stock tip is advice on wormin' your hogs.

You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.

You think TACO BELL is the Mexican Phone Company.

Your state's got a new law that says when a couple get divorced, they are still legally brother and sister.

You think Possum is "The Other White Meat."

You carried a fishing pole into Sea World.

The centerpiece on your dining room table is an original signed work by a famous taxidermist.

You think a quarter horse is a ride out in front of the Wal-Mart.

Your huntin' dawg had a litter of puppies in the living room and nobody noticed.

You and your dog use the same tree.

You think God looks a lot like Hank Williams, Jr., and heaven looks a lot like Daytona Beach, Florida.

You think the last words to The Star Spangled Banner are "Gentlemen, start your engines."

You believe dual air bags refer to your wife and mother-in-law.

Your grandfather died and left everything to his widow. But she can't touch it until she's fourteen.

The people on Jerry Springer's show remind you of your neighbors.

You think fast food is hitting a possum at 65 mph.

Your family tree has no forks.

Fifth grade was the best six years of your life.

You have to go outside to get something out of the 'fridge.

A seven course meal is a bucket of KFC and a sixpack.

Your lifetime goal is to own a fireworks stand.

Your dad walks you to school because you are both in the same grade.

You need one more hole punched in your card to get a freebie at the House of Tattoos.

You think the Mountain Men in Deliverance were just "misunderstood".

You've been to a funeral and there were more pick-ups than cars.

You've ever climbed a water tower with a bucket of paint to defend your sister's honor.

You've been on TV more than 5 times describing the sound of a tornado.

You think loading the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk.

You use a NASCAR credit card.

Your brother-in-law is your uncle AND your grandfather.

You stare at an orange juice container because it says, "CONCENTRATE".

Your wife's job requires her to wear an orange vest.

On Thanksgiving Day you have to decide which pet to eat.

The tail light covers of your car are made of red tape.

The KKK kicked you out for being a bigot.

That billboard that says, "SAY NO TO CRACK" reminds you to pull up your jeans.

You've got more than three cousins named 'Bubba'.

You're banned from the Memphis Zoo because you disturb the monkeys.

Your child's first words were "Attention K-Mart shoppers!"

First edtoon on my blog

Attached below is my first attempt to post one of my edtoons to my blog. Please let me know what you think of it.

Odds and Ends commentary 4-17-2006

Local newspaper coverage of Catholic topics

The Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Weekly Review section had a feature article on the 1^st anniversary of Benedict XVI. The author was by Hans Kung, who is known among Catholic circles as something of a rebel Catholic who lost his credentials to teach the faith. Earlier in the year, the Fort Worth Weekly had a feature article on another deposed Catholic instructor: Father Charles Curran. It’s a bit odd that both of Fort Worth’s newspapers chose such men to write their articles on Catholicism. Odd, but certainly not surprising. While I’m not a believer in the “liberal media bias” concept, this tendency to select the “rebels” only falls in line with that stereotype. Weren’t there other sources that these two newspapers could have interviewed that don’t have an axe to grind against the Catholic Church? Absolutely! In fact, there are more pro-Catholic sources that they could have referred to than anti-Catholic sources. That they instead chose to go to a hostile source is itself a source of great disappointment; especially since there were many other friendly, well-spoken sources that they could have chosen. Nowadays, going to a hostile, anti-Catholic source takes absolutely no guts at all.

Are wildlife preserves anti-nature?

That thought occurred to me last week. Let's see what you folks think about the argument that I’m about to present. Wildlife preserves are supposed to protect animals that are low in count or close to extinction. However, according to the theory of evolution, species dying out is part of the "cycle of life”. Don’t get me wrong -- I would like to keep some of the wonderful creatures that we have as long as we can. But by trying to preserve these creatures beyond what should be their natural lifespan of existence on our planet, are we actually messing with the natural order of things according to Darwin’s theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest? If so, then can the wildlife preserves’ purpose of trying to keep dying species in existence actually be considered "anti-nature"? In keeping consistent with Darwin’s theory then, maybe it’s okay to have spotted owl burgers or to have snail darter escargots, because all we’re doing is participating in natural selection. What do you folks think?

Sports

The Dallas Mavericks have looked rather lethargic as of late, but then, these last few games aren’t of great significance, because the playoffs are close, and it might not be worth the Mavs to kill themselves for the chance to get the #1 seed that they are most likely not going to get. So in that instance, I can understand trying to scale back a bit to save the players some wear and tear as they go into the playoffs. But they better get it back come playoff time!

The Fort Worth Flyers are in the NBDL Championship! Let’s hope that they bring a second championship to Fort Worth in a year! (The Fort Worth Cats won their league last season). Their game is Saturday.

The Texas Rangers looked marginally better in recent games, but it’s still not pretty. They have to try harder to win more games in order to keep from being in too big a hole at the start of the season. The recent 3 game series with the Oakland A’s could have easily been a sweep.

Easter family picnic

Easter was great. Spent Saturday with fam. Took pictures. Hunted eggs. Got slight sunburn. Don’t know why I’m keeping comments brief.

End of the Week Wrap-up

End of the Week Wrap-up

Instead of calling my Friday or Saturday posts "Odds and Ends Commentary", I shall distinguish it by calling it an End of the Week Wrap-up (or EOTWWU for short). This describes better what I'm going to do with posts on that day.

So on Mondays: Odds and End Commentary
And on Fridays or Saturdays: EOTWWU

Holy Week Challenge

It has been 5 days since I started fasting, and I have one day to go. Wow. I did it. I purposely did not weigh or measure myself beforehand, because it wasn't about stats that I did this, but about demonstrating to myself that I could reduce my intake of food. This was, in other words, an exercise in discipline; and if I can find the discipline to do this, then I can apply this discipline to other areas. Just for the record, though, I have noticed that I've slimmed down somewhat --but again, slimming down was the result of the fasting, and not the direct intent. I'm planning to do this again next year for Lent.

Immigration protests

The protests that were supposed to take place on the 10th seemed to have been rather peaceful for the most part. Had any of them gotten way out of hand, no doubt we would have heard a lot about it. The issue is still being discussed, of course, but at least most of the demonstrations have been civil and organized. My initial opinion has not changed, however --I still believe that the immigrants need to settle their legal status first before discussing any of their rights as workers in this country.

Edtoon test run

I think that my edtoon test run from earlier in the week went pretty well, so now I shall start posting edtoons here on a weekly basis starting next week. Then each month, I shall archive them onto my website. This blog, though, is handy for posting the edtoons right away, while a given news story is still active. This allows me to "strike while the iron is hot." I look forward to this, because I used to do edtoons back in college, and it will be good to get back in the swing of things. For posting edtoons, I shall just post the edtoon with little, or preferrably, no commentary, because the edtoon is supposed to be the commentary. The edtoon should be able to stand on its own without me having to explain it. I'm gonna be a little rusty for a couple of weeks until I get back into the habit, but once I hit my stride, then I probably can post an edtoon at least 3-4 times a week.

Happy Easter!

Chocolate Bunnies cartoon

This was sent to me by someone I know. I thought it was hilarious!

One of the perils of the Internet Age

Yesterday at TCU, we had an example of one of the perils of living in the Internet Age.  One e-mail sent on campus somehow managed to have bulk addresses that ended up going to everyone –faculty, staff, and students –that had a TCU e-mail account.  Some jokers took this mistake as their 15 minutes of fame to a largely unwilling audience by writing their inane comments, then hitting “Reply to All”  It got so bad that I received at least 50 e-mails related to this mistake, including some that said “Stop Replying to this e-mail!”  Those e-mails begging us to stop were, of course, sent “Reply to All.”  Fortunately, it seems to have subsided, and it never rose higher than a nuisance.  However, it emphasizes all the more about the need to be careful when sending e-mail and using “Reply to All”:  There may be more “All” looking at your e-mail than you intended.

Edtoons test

For this post, I am testing how posting editorial cartoons (or edtoons for short) here will look like. If it comes out looking good, then I may post edtoons here on a semi-regular basis. :-)

Odds and Ends commentary

Odds and Ends Commentary

I’m trying to find a good spot in the week for the Odds and Ends commentary (O&EC), which I find useful for introducing new topics in brief (and that I may bring up later in a separate post), or to bring up goofy topics just for the heck of it.. There are two possible ways to use O&EC:

One idea is to start the week off with Odds and Ends commentary. That way, if one of those topics happens to become a bigger story later in the week, I can make further commentary on it.

The other idea is to have a sort of “Weekend Wrap-up” on Fridays, where I comment on stories that took place during the week.

For the next few weeks, I’ll explore both ways and see which one seems to work better for me. I might end up doing both. :-D

Holy Week Challenge

Today starts my fast for all this week through Saturday. I am going to fast all this week in the usual Catholic way for Lent; that is, I shall have one full meal, plus two smaller meals, but those two smaller meals combined can’t equal another meal. Plus, NO snacking! Snacking is a habit that I’ve been slowly breaking over the past couple of months, which will help me this week so that it won’t be such a shock to my system to suddenly be deprived of so much food that I was used to eating. I’ve never done this before, so I don’t know how I’ll do. I had only a small bowl of oatmeal this morning, so when lunchtime rolled around, I was so HUNGRY that I almost ate the table that I was eating on! Actually, I didn’t wolf down my sandwich as quickly as I thought I would. Halfway through Day 1 now, folks. :-)

Immigration law protests

I’ve been surprised by the comments of the more liberal folks I know. They think as I do on this issue, that illegal immigrants need to settle their legal status first before they can talk about getting rights that citizens of this country enjoy. I guess I was expecting them to make this another issue to “rage against Bush”, but they don’t seem to have taken this issue in that way. I thought that they might use some kind of argument along the lines of calling illegals “legally challenged immigrants” or some such politically correct phrase. It could also be that they recognize that commenting on this issue too soon may blow up in their face later. This is an election year, after all.

As for the protests themselves, I am glad to see that they’ve been orderly and peaceful so far –especially since the number of participants can sometimes be very high. For that, the marchers should be commended, and most importantly, it makes it more likely that their messages will be heard. It doesn’t mean that their desires will be met, but peaceful protests are more effective in communicating their messages than rioting and looting would be. Kudos to all those who have organized these marches, that they haven’t incited their listeners to violence and mayhem. Another, larger protest is planned for today, and I shall be commenting on that later this week.

Tom Cruise in this Sunday’s Parade magazine

In Parade’s article about Tom Cruise, I found one of his comments particularly funny when he asked: “Who’s to say what’s normal?” Usually, people who ask that question are virtually admitting that they aren’t normal. Tom has been acting a bit bizarre as of late, especially his antics on Oprah. Yep, that’s normal behavior, alright. ;-)

Sports

The Dallas Mavericks had an excellent game against the Spurs, and they didn’t suffer a letdown on the game of the next day. Both are good signs as to how the team stands going into the playoffs. Now if they can only overtake the Spurs in the standings before the season’s over with….

The Texas Rangers, on the other hand, are not doing well at all. They finally won their second game last night. This might be a matter of redeveloping team chemistry, because when you think about it, the Rangers lost Alfonso Soriano and David Delucci, both whom were starters last season. Now the team has to get used to two new starters. But the sooner they “gel” as a team, the better, because the Rangers don’t want to get into a position where they start the season out in a huge hole. In other words, they need to start stringing some victories together RIGHT now.

And speaking of baseball, Fort Worth’s team, the Cats, won their league championship last season, and Fort Worth’s basketball team, the Flyers has a chance to give the city two champions. The Flyers ended their season at the top of their league. Not bad for a team that’s still in its first season! If the Flyers can win their championship, then it’s up to the Fort Worth Brahmas hockey team to try to give the city a “three-fer”. The Brahmas won’t do it this season, but there’s always next season. Go Flyers!

http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/2006_Development_League_Champ_060410.html

Cool item for the cool uncle

Click here: Amazon.com: Star Wars The Return of the Sith: Anakin Skywalker FX Lightsaber: Toys & Games

 

The link above is a cool item for the cool uncle.  My nephews, ages 8 and 6, love light sabres.  How much cooler would Uncle John be with this light sabre?  Why, with this, I can attain the most coveted title in all of uncledom:  the UberUncle.  An uncle can dream, can't he?  ;-)

 

Sure, it's $100, but I've seen it at the local Borders Book Stores, and it is indeed cool!  The blade is fixed, and looks like it's made with a type of glass (but it's not glass).  And when you turn it on, the color of the blade slides from the hilt up to the tip just like the movie.  And of course, when you turn it off, the color slides back down from the tip back to the hilt.  Plus, it also plays the expected sound effects from the movie (well, heck, if the cheaper versions of the light sabres can provide the sound effects, then these $100 light sabres darn well better play them, too!)

 

You will notice, though, that if you scroll down just a little bit, you will see their suggestion about buying two together.  Well, the price for two together is no different than from purchasing them separately!  That ain't a quantity discount.  \:-( 

 

I only need one anyway.  :-D

Mavericks 92, Spurs 86

YEAH, BABY!!!!

Odds and Ends commentary

Katie Couric’s move to CBS

Couric’s move to CBS won’t make me any more likely to watch CBS than I am now. My guess is that the ratings will go up only briefly when she first starts out, but then go back down once the novelty of her being there has worn off. Harsh as it is to say, Couric as the anchor is largely just that: a temporary ratings draw. Will that cutesy blonde with the friendly personality really be taken serious as a journalist? I think that it’s highly unlikely. To go from cutesy to serious journalist is too large a gap for her to overcome --much like Donny Osmond wanting to be taken seriously as a gangsta rapper.

Bush authorized leak of intelligence

Is it just me, or is it kind of funny that a sentence has both “Bush” and “leak of intelligence” in it? Shouldn’t he have tried harder to retain his intelligence? ;-)

Holy Week Challenge

I’m now up to 7 victims—er, volunteers—for my Holy Week Challenge. That’s cool. :-)
I’ll be giving progress reports here next week.

Sports

The Dallas Mavericks really need to step it up to get ready for the playoffs coming next month. A HUGE test of where they are at now is tonight, when they play San Antonio. I’m still hoping that they can get the number one seed. Maybe Coach Johnson should make his profanity-laced tirades a weekly thing until the season is over! ;-)

The Dallas Cowboys’ new schedule came out yesterday, and there are 6 nationally televised games planned. How much you wanna bet that the national media is hoping to see another “T.O. episode” play out during one of those games?

Broken record time: The Texas Rangers could sure use some pitching. I am glad that baseball’s back, but this is a rather ugly start. For this, I waited 6 months?

Holy Week fasting challenge

It appears that I was right about re-introducing my Holy Week Challenge idea to people I know online and in person. I brought it up a couple of weeks back, but that might have been too soon. Now, however, I have had some who have taken up my challenge. One is going to do a complete fast on Good Friday and Holy Saturday and wait until after Easter Mass on Sunday before he eats again. His fast will be WATER ONLY for that time. I told him to be sure to monitor himself during that time. I know that it’s not a fast that I could do.

Another person is going to “fast” from her computer from the Monday after Palm Sunday through Good Friday. No e-mail, no Internet surfing. Nothing. As addicted as we are nowadays to our computers nowadays, I accepted that as a worthy challenge. I just wonder what her e-mail inbox is going to look like on Saturday!

If I have more people who accept my challenge, I shall post it here. Next week I shall also update on how I’m doing on my own fast.

Stay tuned!

Early musings on the Texas Governor election

Of the 4 candidates for governor of Texas --Rick Perry of the GOP, Chris Bell of the Democrats, and the two possible independent candidates Carol Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, I can already say that Bell is likely to not get my vote.

In a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article back before the recent primaries, the Democratic candidates looking to get nominated as the Democratic representative for governor were actually fighting over who was more pro-choice than whom! This tells me where the focus is for the Democratic party: abortion. That counts Bell out for me, and not just because I oppose legalized abortion. A party that wants to stay so fanatically focused on legalized abortion shows where it's priorities are, and if legalized abortion is what they feel is most important to concentrate on for their campaign --despite issues more deserving of their attention-- then my vote is going elsewhere. I'll still listen to what Bell has to say, but such a start to the campaign already puts him in a hole for me.

Kinky Friedman is also likely not to get my vote. Don't get me wrong, I think he brings an interesting perspective to what would otherwise be a boring campaign, but I'm just not certain that he is the man for the job. While his slogan of "Kinky Friedman: why the hell not?" is appealing, it's not enough to make me want to vote for him. It makes me say: "What the hell for?" Basically, I need to hear more from him; and he has to be able to inspire the kind of confidence that will lead me to believe that he will indeed be the rugged independent that he's promoting himself to be. We get enough candidates that say that they will make a difference; Friedman has to show that he is true to those words and that it's not just another empty campaign promise. BUT, just as quickly, let me say that I DO want him on the ballot so that we have more alternatives to pick from!

That leaves Rick Perry and Carole Keeton Strayhorn. One of these two is likely to get my vote --I just haven't decided which one yet. Each says things that politicians are expected to say to their likely voters, but it's not easy to know who is more likely to back up their words. As the incumbent, Perry has the track record and experience to refer to; but his track record has "potholes" that aren't pretty. That is what Strayhorn is likely to concentrate on during her campaigns. It's a matter of trying to decide if what Strayhorn offers as a solution is workable, and whether her apparent ego won't get in the way too many times. As with Friedman, though, I do want her on the ballot so that we have more alternatives to pick from.

I also hope that they have and televise debates among these four. It should make for a very interesting and entertaining campaign. It's still early folks --there's still more to come!

1st Anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II

It is amazing that it has already been a year since the death of Pope John Paul II. When I think of the impact that he has had on the faith, and on the world, for over 26 years, and now suddenly a year has passed. Even with his passing, his influence shall be felt for years to come, because he had the foresight to concentrate on what was truly important: the young people. While the media tends to throw around terms to describe "generations" (baby boomers, Gen X, and so forth), I think the generation that grew up under JPII can rightly be called the JPII Generation. They are seeds whose full flowering of their potential is yet to be shown.

Hopefully the JPII Generation will be a complete turnaround from what we have had in recent decades, of a consumerist mentality and a philosophy of serving selfish interests. When we look out for ourselves --when we make ourselves our own gods that we worship-- we then serve a very limited, very petty, and very selfish god. The "selfgod" is basically very juvenile, and no good can ultimately come from such a "worship service."

It is my prayer that the young people of the JPII Generation will take JPII's lessons to heart, and that they will lead the way to a true revival of the spirit of service to others. The old, selfish gods of the "Me Generation" need to whither away and take their destructive influences with them. In their place must go the God that JPII worshipped, the only God that can lead the way to true growth and maturity --and true love. God bless John Paul II.

Stupid act of protest

In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Weekly Review section for Sunday (April 6, 2006, page 3E) is an example of what I call a stupid act of protest.

On this page is a photograph of a flagpole at Montebello High School in California. The flagpole has the flag of Mexico above the flag of the United States. Not only that, the U.S. flag is upside down. The flags were arranged that way in protest of the proposed federal immigration bill that has been the center of the protests of recent weeks. Protesting is one thing, but this is an example of stupid protesting, because all that this will accomplish will be to provoke the opponents of illegal immigration unnecessarily. Plus, if you think that these opponents wouldn't listen to these protests before, they're certainly not going to listen now.

I've already spoken previously on this issue before, and I said that illegal immigrants should settle their legal status before they try to ask Americans for anything else. For illegal immigrants to ask for the rights that American citizens enjoy all while maintaining their illegal status is the rewarding of an illegal act.

Schools and other institutions that display such senseless acts as I mentioned above do absolutely nothing to help their side of the issue, and they end up making not only their opponents more resistant to their views, they also end up creating even more opponents. This senseless act demonstrates that these people are too narrow-minded for their own good, and that they are not interested in true discussion and dialogue on this issue. They have become so passionate about their views that they are literally blind to the harm that they cause to their credibility.

A little more clear-headed thinking would have headed off this stupid act of protest before it ever occurred. Unfortunately, clear-headed thinking appears to be seriously lacking at that school; which is rather tragic, since it's supposed to be an institution of learning.