MARCH MADNESS - DAY 1

I was going to post (in detail) about the latest Obamessiah mess. But I'll save that for later. On to more important things.... like... MARCH MADNESS TIME!!!

Okay... tip-off of the first game starts in under 30 minutes. Normally, I go through all the picks meticulously - schedule details, team makeup, injuries, strengths & weaknesses, etc. - but this year I just went (as best as I could) with just a brief glimpse at the match-ups. So... without further ado... here are my picks for the first round:

EAST
North Carolina
Indiana
Notre Dame
Washington State
St. Joe’s
Louisville
Butler
Tennessee

MIDWEST
Kansas
Kent State
Villanova
Vanderbilt
USC
Wisconsin
Gonzaga
Georgetown

SOUTH
Memphis
Mississippi State
Michigan State
Pitt
Marquette
Stanford
Miami
Texas

WEST
UCLA
BYU
Drake
UConn
Purdue
Georgia
West Virginia
Duke

======================

My SWEET 16 are:

North Carolina vs. Notre Dame
Louisville vs. Tennessee

Kansas vs. Villanova
Wisconsin vs. Georgetown

Memphis vs. Pittsburgh
Stanford vs. Texas

UCLA vs. Drake
Georgia vs. Duke

=========================

My FINAL FOUR will be:

North Carolina vs. Kansas
UCLA vs. winner of Memphis/Pittsburgh

If Memphis wins, this’ll be the first time that all four #1 seeds get to the Final Four.


So... what are YOUR picks???

I give you "The Obamessiah's" Spiritual Mentor...

(HT to Redstate)

Excerpt from Redstate's post:

Barack Obama's book "Audacity of Hope" was titled after a sermon from his mentor, Jeremiah Wright. Mr. Wright's congregation, is more about black empowerment than the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The media is trying desperately to avoid this story...

I love the part where he talks about Jesus being a black man put down by rich white people a/k/a the Romans who were Italians who were Europeans ergo "White People." Then of course there is his reference to "the US of KKK A." Nice.

Watch the video of Jeremiah Wright here.

UPDATE: Now PowerLine has a post which links to an ABC News story regarding Mr. Wright:

ABC News reports that Barack Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America." Wright thinks God should damn America for "treating our citizens as less than human" and "for [acting] like she is God and she is supreme." Wright also told his congregation on the Sunday after Sept. 11, 2001 that the United States had brought on al Qaeda's attacks because of its own terrorism. Among the "terrorism" Wright thinks the U.S. has supported is "terrorism against the Palestinians," by which he must mean Israel's efforts to defend itself.

Wright has been Obama's pastor for 20 years. He married Obama and his wife Michelle, baptized their two daughters and is credited by Obama for the title of his book, The Audacity of Hope. Obama says he was not at the church on the day Wright blamed America for 9/11. "It sounds like he was trying to be provocative," is the best Obama can offer on this one.

More generally, according to ABC, Obama has said, "I don't think my church is actually particularly controversial." This suggests that Obama considers Wright's statements about America (that it treats its citizens as less than human and brought 9/11 on itself) defensible.

ABC News story link here.

Fox News story link here.

'Tis about friggin' time the MSM (mainstream media) finally started examining this aspect of The Obamessiah's life. Now, if they'd only focus also on the Tony Rezko trial as well.

RWN's Pet Peeves...

John Hawkins over at RWN posted his Top 10 Pet Peeves. And I must say that his list pretty much conforms to my own.

The Obamessiah Obomination...

(Hat-tip to Redstate for this one)

This is for all those potential voters (especially all of you Pro-Lifers) for the upcoming Pennsylvania primary next month. The following "mock ad" tells the abominable truth about Barack Hussein Obama's position with respect to abortion. When The Obamessiah is further to the left than Kennedy, Clinton and Boxer, you know that there is something seriously wrong.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE!


UPDATE: YouTube has removed the video. In essence, it pointed out in no uncertain terms that The Obamessiah lead the opposition to the Senate bill that would allow basic health care to infants who survived a failed abortion procedure against them. Senators Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton (and John McCain) all voted in favor of the bill to supply the basic health care to the baby.

UPDATE #2: It's back up at YouTube.

WARNING AGAIN: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS A DISTURBING GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPH!

David Mamet is no longer "brain dead"...

(HT to both The Anchoress and to Gerald at Closed Cafeteria)

Famed playwright David Mamet has written an article in the Village Voice in which he has come to the realization that he is now no longer a "brain dead liberal".

Read the entire article here.

Prayers needed for Fr. Corapi...

(HT to Mark Shea)

Apparently, Fr. Corapi (best known for his powerful lectures and sermons broadcast on EWTN) has been ill for some months now and is requesting prayers.


Saint Michael the Archangel, watch over him, protect him and petition Our Father for his healing, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

IT'S MARCH MADNESS TIME AGAIN!!!

WOOT!!!

Okay... I’m a college hoops playoffs nut case (I admit it proudly). It’s in my blood (I’m a Villanova grad). And the ’Cats are trying to claw their way into the NCAA tournament. The first big test was today in the first round of the Big East Tourney where they burst the bubble for Syracuse by pouncing on the Orangemen 82-63.

Next game?... the hated Hoyas of Georgetown (BOO...HISSSSS). They played each other during the regular season. The game was tied when Villanova was called for the lamest of ticky-tack fouls with only 1/10th of a second left on the clock. The Hoyas escaped a defensive battle with a cheap win from the foul line. ALL of the announcers and game commentators were holding their noses and verbalizing their dismay at the bad officiating. It left a bad taste in the Wildcats’ mouths, that’s for sure.

Tomorrow is REVENGE TIME!!!

/queue the marching band/

V... for Villanova...
V... for Victory...

Obama, Rezko & Hillary, OH MY!!!

Well, I guess the final nail is in the coffin. There never was going to be an Obama-Hillary ticket because she would NEVER play second fiddle to anybody after being second string to her husband all her life. But now that a Clinton aide has compared Barack to Ken Starr, well... you can be sure that there will never be a Hillary-Obama ticket either.

But, on to much more interesting news regarding The Obamessiah and this Rezko guy who's currently on trial in Illinois. Per this American Thinker post:

"U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve jailed Rezko...saying he had disobeyed her order to keep her posted on his financial status. Among other things, he failed to tell her about a $3.5 million loan from London-based Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi -- a loan that was later forgiven in exchange for shares in a prime slice of Chicago real estate. Rezko gave $700,000 of the money to his wife and used the rest to pay legal bills and funnel cash to various supporters."

American Thinker goes on to quote from The Times of London:

"A company related to Mr. Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr. Obama's bagman Antoin ‘Tony' Rezko on May, 23 2005. Mr. Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million.

"Three weeks later, Mr. Obama bought a house on the city's South Side while Mr Rezko's wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15. Mr. Obama says he never used Mrs. Rezko's still-empty lot, which could only be accessed through his property. But he admits he paid his gardener to mow the lawn."

The American Thinker post goes on:

Rezko's relationship with Barack Obama goes back to at least 1990, when Obama's law firm did work relating to a Rezko housing development. Rezko was a key early-money fund raiser in Obama's state Senate campaigns and his failed run at the US Congress. In June 2005, when the mansion was purchased, Rezko was widely known to be under federal investigation. Rezko also is a key fundraiser for Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The sudden emergence of Auchi into this story indicates Rezko's deals may include a money trail leading back to dead Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Auchi's Saddam links trace back to a failed 1959 assassination attempt on the life of then-Iraqi-prime-minister Abdul Karim Qasim.

Auchi's General Mediterranean Holdings company was also the largest private shareholder in Banque Nationale de Paris which later merged with Paribas to become BNP Paribas. At Saddam's insistence, billions of dollars of Oil for Food transactions passed through BNP from its 1995 inception until 2001.

Much more details can be read in AT's full post here.

Reagan and Abortion...

NRO had a story in January about Reagan and a key piece of legislation he signed while governor of California concerning abortion. It points to this ill-advised decision, and how it's unintended results lead to Reagan (already pro-life at that point) became an even more staunchly anti-abortion proponent from that moment forward.

A Very Unique Rosary...

Major hat-tip to the American Papist for this post.

He came across a website that sells a very unique and powerfully designed rosary.

Farrakhan praises Obama (heh-heh-heh)...

Nation of Islam head, Louis Farrakhan, spent nearly two whole hours singing the praises of The Obamessiah.


And Tim Russert brought up this fact (and the connection to Jeremiah Wright) during the latest debate between B. Hussein O. and Lady Macbeth.

Go ahead... click on the links and read away. Smashing good fun. Makes me chuckle. The far left fringe of the "D" party are just a few days away from nominating a trainwreck for the November elections.

I'm actually gonna quote Hillary Clinton...

Shocking, isn't it???

But, I have to say that she is 100% dead-on target with this summation of her primary opponent (given yesterday in Rhode Island at a rally of several thousand):

“Now I could stand up here and say, ‘Let’s just get everybody together. Let’s get unified. The sky will open. The lights will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.’

“Maybe I’ve just lived a little long, but I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and have the special interests disappear,” she said.

She's going to need wins in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania in order to stave off the Obamessiah. It'll be interesting to see if she can pull it off.

The Oscar Goes To...

Watched the Oscars last night. I only had two horses in the race since it was such a weak year for films last year. It was thrilling to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova win for Best Song from the film "Once". That was, by far, the best moment of the night. From their performance of the song, "Falling Slowly" (which received enthusiastic applause at it's conclusion), to their winning the award, to Glen's acceptance speech, to Jon Stewart (after the commercial break) apologizing for the cutting off of Ms. Irglova's speech and bringing her back on stage to delivery her own "thank you". Awesome!

P.S. The film "Once" also won for Best Foreign Film the evening before at the Independent Spirit Awards! That was great!

My second horse in the race: Marion Cotillard winning Best Lead Actress for her performance in "La Vie En Rose". The film wasn't put together well, but her performance as the famed French singer Edith Piaf was by far the best performance last year. Her getting the award was well deserved (and not a surprise to me).

Most embarrassingly shameful moment? Having the U.S. troops in Iraq introduce the nominees for Documentary Short Films and then, just a few minutes later, basically spitting in their faces by awarding the Documentary Full Length Film award to an anti-American military hatchet job of a film (the title of which I'm not even going to bother to mention here). You could sense a bit of unease in the auditorium. Serves them right. Shameful. Absolutely shameful.

I just got tagged...

Eric over at The Daily Eudemon tagged me for a meme. (Hah! My first meme.)

The rules for this meme:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules of the meme on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six non-important things:

1. I have a bad habit of being in the middle of several books at the same time. I think the record is six books, all completely unrelated. Wasn't always that way. Somehow, though, I do keep track... I think.

2. I was eleven years old when I first became an uncle. That nephew is now older than I was when I moved to California thirteen years ago. (Uhhg!) I'm now a grand-uncle six times over. (Double-Uhhg!!)

3. March Madness, baby!!! College hoops playoffs! It's in my blood. I graduated from Villanova the year they won it all against the hated Hoyas of Georgetown. (GO WILDCATS!!!) Just put me on a swivel chair in a room with twenty TVs around me. Add food and water when necessary. I'll be there 'til I'm bleary-eyed and passed out from a heart attack if not from shear exhaustion. That first four-day weekend when 64 teams play 48 games to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Nothin' like it!

4. I am a virtual virtuoso and musical master of the steering wheel. Others sing in the shower. Not me. I need to be mobile, and on four wheels. I play steering wheel guitar, drums, keyboards, bass... and if I'm really in the mood, I'll crank up the music really, really loud in the car so that I can "sing" along (horribly out of key, of course).

5. I'm learning how to play a real instrument, though. Guitar. Seven months in (at age 44). It's infuriatingly good fun. Wished I had done this when I was much younger. (oh, and I am a lyricist.)

6. I am NOT a morning person. Never was. Never will be. Yet, somehow, I've been dragging myself outta bed every Wednesday morning at 6 o'clock for the past six years to get to my Men's Catholic Bible Study group.

Okay... I'm gonna tag the following peeps:

Julie over at the Happy Catholic (she's the best at this whole Catholic blogging thing)

Nancy over at the ACS blog (for all things G.K. Chesterton)

Sean over at The Blue Boar (for even more things GKC, and other things)

Dim Bulb over at the Divine Lamp (this guy is theologically deep... in other words, he ain't dim... even I need to visit his site more often... and, he was one of the first people to comment on this fledgling blog of mine.)

Catholic Lady over at Holy Boldness (the newbie on my blog row)

and the West Coast Catholic (a fellow west coaster who keeps it real)

So, about this "BARACK the MESSIAH for CHANGE" guy...

Do you people really think (knowing that we've been fighting the fanatical minions led by Osama Bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein for the last 6+ years) that a majority of Americans would vote for an inexperienced empty suit of a guy named BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA for President of the United States???

Come on... wake up and smell the coffee!

My sister sent me some love by mail...

She kept on promising me that she'd send me some cookies from her bakery for my birthday (it came and went sans cookies). Then she promised me that she'd send them for Christmas (it also came and went with nary a crumb). So last weekend I had our Dad tell her, "Mike said that he's absolutely enjoying all those cookies you didn't send him." (Yeah, I know... I'm so evil... but that's what little brothers are for... heh!)

So, today, a package arrives... with more cookies than I know what to do with. And it's LENT, sis!!! (Her way of getting back at me, I just know it.) The guys in the office, I'm sure, will enjoy 'em.

If you live in the Philly area, feel free to check out La Dolce Bakery in Havertown. They've been so busy since they moved from Wayne, PA, that they haven't had time to re-do their website. But I guarantee you that all those hand-made Italian baked goods will please your palate and tickle your tummy.

Now, if you'll excuse me... I've got some biscotti with my name written all over 'em.

My fledgling blog gets noticed...

I would like to thank Catholic Lady of the Holy Boldness blog for her wonderful comment in my last post. I had absolutely NO idea that my blog was mentioned in the National Catholic Register last week! (Woah, dude!!!)

Apparently, Eric Scheske (of the great Daily Eudemon blog) wrote an article about the blogosphere (registration required) and he must have mentioned my fledgling little blog. I'm not registered to the NCR website, so I can't read the article. But I want to thank him for such a generous gesture. I'm truly humbled.

Thanx again to both Eric and to the Catholic Lady.

You can thank both of them yourselves by paying their blogs a visit.

It's Ash Wednesday Today...

This about sums it up for me right now...

Once...

Hat-tip to Dom over at Bettnet for posting his own review of this film. It forced me to create my own post which I had intended to do last week. So, my review is down below.

(Hey, Ang!...... yeah, you...... this is a perfect movie for you to rent.)
===================================================
I must say that I have been affected by a hauntingly beautiful little independent film entitled, "Once". It's a very small budget film set in Dublin about a busker (that's Irish/English for "street musician") who has a chance meeting with a young woman who is also a musician. We end up following their lives and the burgeoning relationship between them through the course of a week.

The movie is presented in an atypical musical fashion in that though there is singing and performing throughout the movie, the characters do not break out into song like Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow" in "The Wizard of Oz". Instead, the music (all original and written for the film) is used as a story catalyst and as a window into the hearts and souls of these two people, revealing to each other (and to the audience) the details of their past relationships. And as they form a bond between them they eventually head into a recording studio to record some of their inspired songs.

The two actors (who are both really musicians who just happen to be able to act) are relative novices to acting. The music is simple, yet soulful and heart-wrenching. Glen Hansard (the male lead) is the lead singer of the irish band "The Frames" (and whose only other acting role was in the film "The Commitments") and his music is captivating. Marketa Irgolva (the female lead) had never acted before this film. She brings not only her classically trained piano playing, but also beautiful vocal harmonies and an equally soulful acting performance.

I highly recommend renting (if not buying) the DVD. Also, pick up the soundtrack (make sure to get the "Collector's Edition" version of the CD which includes a couple extra tunes plus a "Making of..." DVD). If you go to the official website there is streaming audio of the soundtrack as well as quite a few short videos on the film, the actors/musicians, and the making of the movie.

You will not be disappointed.

Santorum on McCain (not pretty)...

EWTN link to a Catholic News Agency story:

Santorum Alleges Sen. McCain Unreliable on Pro-life Issues

Washington DC, Jan 14, 2008 (CNA).- Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has attacked Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain of Arizona for hindering social conservative issues, arguing that McCain is a poor choice to lead the effort to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Speaking to radio host Mark Levine on Levine’s Thursday night radio show, Senator Santorum cited Senator McCain’s compromises in congressional debates about Supreme Court nominations as evidence the Arizona politician was not a strong pro-life candidate. Santorum, who is now a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said of McCain, “this is not a guy who would give me a lot of confidence that he would appoint the judges who are necessary on the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, who would be strict constructionist judges.”

McCain’s largely pro-life record, Santorum claimed, concealed other problems, such as McCain’s support for embryonic stem cell research and his vote against a Federal Marriage Amendment.

Further, Santorum alleged that during his tenure in the Senate McCain did not provide the necessary support to discuss and vote on social conservative issues on the Senate floor.

Santorum disclosed what happened behind the scenes when he held meetings to gather votes for proposed legislation, telling Levine, “That discussion is held in private, where you’re jostling and jockeying to get your legislation into the queue so that you can have your time on the floor to get something done.”

“And I can tell you, when social-conservative issues were ever raised — whether it was marriage or abortion or a whole host of other issues — there were always the moderates who said ‘no, no, no, we can’t: they’re divisive, divisive, divisive.’ And more often than not, John McCain was . . . with them” in preventing votes on such issues.

Campaign finance reform was another area in which Santorum thought McCain was a weak candidate. Santorum said that the McCain-Feingold campaign reform bill, whose regulations have hindered some pro-life political campaigns, was “an affront to personal freedoms and liberty.”

Santorum called Senator McCain “solid” on the Iraq conflict, but said to Levine that the Arizona senator “was the one who was out there blocking our ability to adequately question… detainees… He did not come down on the side of what I think is appropriate and proper for the kind of war we are fighting today.”

Senator Santorum also attacked McCain’s support for immigration reform, stricter environmental policies, smaller tax cuts, and medical drug re-importation.

An even more detailed case against McCain here (a must read).

Watched the SC Republican debate last night...

Fred Thompson was one fire last night. Made Huckabee look like a fool, while overshadowing everyone else. Flopping Aces has a nice list of blog & news links for the round-up. Plus, today he's picked up the endorsement of Human Events magazine (major coup, there).

My one sentence summations of the six candidates:

Romney is the Bill-Clinton-slick politician with John-Edwards metro-sexual self-obsession.

Huckabee is Gomer-Pyle-as-G.W.Bush (more big goverment mixed with social conservativism).

McCain is the angry-old-man disguised as a hip-maverick.

Guliani has been riding his 9/11-America’s-mayor-coattails to threads for far too long.

Ron Paul is Ross-Perot-redux only less sane.

Meanwhile, Fred is the tortoise in the old tale of The-Tortoise-&-The-Hare. And the one true common-sense conservative in the bunch.

Apologies to MasterCard...

Doing laundry at the local laundromat on a Saturday morning?..... $8.50 (in quarters)

Patiently struggling through guitar lessons every Saturday afternoon?..... $95 per month.

Spending a Sunday morning with a friend at a sports bar eating a breakfast burrito and a decaf coffee while watching the Giants beat Tampa Bay?..... $15 (including tip).

Talking on the phone with a beautiful woman into well after midnight on a Sunday night?............. priceless!

Bin Laden's bodyguard captured?...

Potential reeeeeally good news on the WoT front:

The alleged security coordinator and bodyguard for Al Qaeda terror chieftain Usama bin Laden was arrested in Pakistan sometime last week, the influential newspaper The Nation reported Monday.

Amin al-Haq, 48, also known under the alias Dr. Amin Ah Haq, was arrested last week in Lahore during a special police operation and is being interrogated by Pakistani intelligence, the newspaper reported citing an anonymous law enforcement source.

Pakistani officials have not yet confirmed the arrest.

Amin al-Haq was part of the Afghan delegation flown to Sudan in 1996 to bring bin Laden to Afghanistan. Amin al-Haq is believed to be an active member of the Hizbe Islami Afghanistan party, which joined the Taliban movement in 1996.

The U.S. froze Amin al-Haq's assets after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Story & Video on Fred Thompson...

First, a breath of fresh air from a candidate who's not totally consumed with wanting to be president.

Then, watch the Iowa video that Fred Thompson aired throughout the final week leading up to Thursday's Iowa caucus.

Combine that with this official endorsement (pdf file) by the National Right to Life organization, and that's the reason why I made my first political contribution (modest as it was) this election season.

To those of you who read this fledgling blog...

THE REASON FOR THE SEASON...



WISHING EVERYONE A WARM, SAFE, PEACEFUL, LOVING AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!

Mars Attack!

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1-in-75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.

"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

This should be interesting to watch... from afar, of course.

Good News...

... Dad comes home from the hospital tomorrow morning. He's recovering well, and is able to stomach real food now. Needless to say, he's happy to get outta there. He'll be staying with one of my brothers for the short-term as he'll need to take it easy at first. He'll also have a physical therapist and nurses visiting three times a week (lucky guy) until he's strong enough to be on his own again. He'll also have to visit his cardiologist to go over, monitor and check out the old ticker. But, overall, he's in much better spirits. As one of his granddaughters said to him today while visiting him at the hospital, "You look like grandpop again!"

Kasparov Pulls Out... and Putin is Man of the Year???

Garry Kasparov has pulled out of his fledgling run for president of Russia. [hat-tip to First Things]:

Former world chess champ and thorn in Vladimir Putin’s side Gary Kasparov has called it quits: He will not continue his bid for the Russian presidency as the “Other Russia” candidate.
Kasparov has been a none-too-subtle critic of what he considers a thugocracy in the original Russia. But it seems that opposition to opposition has made a viable candidacy untenable, to the point where Kasparov couldn’t even rent meeting space.

Meanwhile, Time Magazine selects Putin as the "Man of the Year"???

Odd... very odd.

Ridin’ that emotional roller coaster...

So... Dad's back on the up-swing again. I'm sure this is wreaking havoc on him, physically, emotionally and psychologically. I know it's certainly doing a number on me and my siblings.

Here's the upshot: He wasn't able to keep food down, and they had to put the NG tube back in. It's still unclear whether or not he also went into another congestive heart failure during this episode. The doctors ran a bunch of tests and found........ nothing - no blockages, no additional adhesions, nothing. They believe that they moved him too quickly onto solid foods, and his stomach wasn't ready to handle it so soon after the surgery.

As of this morning, they removed the NG tube and he's to start on pure liquids only (water first, then apple juice/grape juice, clear broth, etc.). If that goes well, then they move him up the proverbial food chain to apple sauce and similar soft foods - all with the intention of gradually working him up to solid food.

I talked with him today, and he's tired but in good spirits. He's glad the tube is out. Depending on how he's able to handle the slow upgrade of various forms of nourishment, the doctors hope to have him leaving the hospital before Christmas (maybe even before next weekend). But that's putting the proverbial cart before the horse. As you can see, this whole thing is very proverbial.

Thanks again for the continued prayers and well wishes.

More prayers needed...

Just got off the phone with my sister-in-law a few hours ago. Dad took a turn for the worst last night into this morning.

I simply ask for continued prayers during this difficult time.

Dad update...

Thanks to those of you who have offered prayers and sent well wishes regarding my Dad. After a rough ten days he has made significant improvements. He had to go into emergency surgery to relieve an intestinal obstruction. They were about to remove a part of his intestines, but once they opened him up they realized that it was only abdominal adhesions that formed over the years from previous surgery scars.

He was in ICU for quite awhile as he not only had to recover from the surgery, but he also had congestive heart failure due to excessive fluid buildup in the lungs. It was touch-&-go there for awhile, but things slowly improved. He was eventually taken off the respirator and the intubation. A few days ago he was moved out of ICU, and is now in telemetry. And just this morning they were finally able to remove the NG tube, and he was able to eat real food (such as it is: Jello, soup, etc...) for the first time. With the last of the tubes out it makes it much easier for him to talk, so I'm hoping to be able to talk with him over the phone tomorrow morning.

So, thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers. It has been greatly appreciated.

Veep Spot Speculation...

Katheryn Jean Lopez over at NRO starts her recent column with this intriguing sentence:

I don’t know who the Republican nominee for president of the United States will turn out to be in a few months, but whoever he is, his vice-presidential pick should be Bill Bennett.

The whole column says what I've been thinking for quite some time. I'd actually prefer if he was on the top of the Republican ticket, but I'll taken him in the #2 slot if the eventual nominee is Thompson or Hunter.

Sorry, Mitt, but I'm not impressed...

So, Romney felt the need to talk about his faith. Jimmy Akin ain't impressed. Neither are most other people (except for the typical Romney shills).

I'm not impressed either. Aside from the issues that Jimmy points out, my additional concerns include the fact that Romney (to me) comes off as a Slick Willy redux with a non-conservative track record as governor of a liberal northeastern state.

Sorry, Mitt.

I'm not thrilled with ANY of the presidential candidates from EITHER party.

But, for the time being, I'm sticking with either Duncan Hunter or Fred Thompson as the most favorable to me of a sorry lot.

Dad update...

I've been in constant contact with my siblings back east. Dad's surgery went much better than expected. Turns out that the blockage was due to... (gee, flashback to 1996)... abdominal adhesions. The surgeons were able to fix the problem WITHOUT having to remove any intestines. He came out of surgery and recovery okay, and is currently in ICU. He was intubated and was on a breathing machine for a couple days, and has subsequently been taken off of those devices.

He's not out of the woods yet. He has fluid in the lungs (though it has gotten better since before the surgery), and the doctors want to make sure this doesn't turn into pneumonia.

Thank you all for the prayers and well-wishes. They have not gone unheard by God, and they have been much appreciated by me and my family!

~Trub

GKC on EWTN...

Hat-tip to the ACS... (who hat-tips to Mark Shea) that a tele-play production of G.K. Chesterton's play "The Surprise" will air on EWTN on Thursday, Dec 20, at 5:00 AM (ET). The official premiere will be on Friday, Dec 21 at 10:00 PM (ET) [7:00 PM (PT)].

Another airing will be on Christmas Eve @ 1:00 PM (ET) [10:00 AM (PT)].

Enjoy!

More on Kasparov, Putin and the Russian elections...

From yesterday:

The former world chess champion is awaiting his opponent's next move.

Garry Kasparov, released from jail after serving a five-day sentence for leading a protest against Vladimir Putin, acknowledged Friday he holds the weaker position in his confrontation with the Russian president.

But Kasparov predicted the upcoming election season, which begins with Sunday's parliamentary vote, will force the secretive Putin to reveal his strategy in the nail-biting political game gripping the country as Putin's time in the Kremlin runs out.

As the campaign for the March 2 presidential vote gathers pace, Kasparov said, the Kremlin's beleaguered, fractious opponents can regroup for a new push aimed at "dismantling Putin's regime."

He hopes their ranks will be strengthened following Sunday's vote, which will also push dissenting voices further to the margins.

More news today:

Russians voted Sunday in a parliamentary election where the only question was whether President Vladimir Putin's party would win a strong majority of seats or a crushing share.

The election follows months of increasingly acidic rhetoric aimed against the West and efforts, by law and by truncheon, to stifle opponents.

A huge win for Putin's United Russia party could pave the way for him to stay at the country's helm once his presidential term expires in the spring. The party casts the election as essentially a referendum on Putin's nearly eight years in office.... Putin is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third consecutive term as president in March. But he clearly wants to keep his hand on Russia's levers of power, and has raised the prospect of becoming prime minister; many supporters have suggested his becoming a "national leader," though what duties and powers that would entail are unclear.

It continues:

Opposition parties, meanwhile, claim authorities have confiscated campaign materials and that the managers of halls have refused to rent them out for opposition meetings. Police have violently broken up opposition rallies — most recently in Moscow and St. Petersburg last weekend — and national television gives the parties hardly any coverage.

In contrast, Putin's speeches to supporters have been broadcast in full and repeated throughout evening newscasts.

"The fact is, they're not just rigging the vote. They're raping the democratic system," said chess champion and opposition leader Garry Kasparov on Sunday.

Kasparov, who was jailed for five days after the Moscow protest, spoiled his ballot by writing on it "Other Russia," the name of his opposition umbrella group.

Sunday's vote "meets none of the criteria of a free, fair and democratic election. In effect, it is not even an election," Andrei Illarionov, a former adviser to Putin, wrote in a commentary for the Cato Institute think tank.

...tick-tick-tick...

Surgery...

As I type this my Dad is about to undergo emergency surgery to remove a part of his intestines to bypass the blockage. Given his condition, age and medical history, it's high risk but absolutely necessary.

A humble request for more prayers for my Dad.

Thank you.

Requesting prayers for my Dad, who's in the hospital...

Just got word from my sister last night that Dad (who lives back east, as does the rest of my family) is in the hospital. At first they thought it might be a bad case of the flu or stomach/intestinal virus. Word this morning is that there is some sort of blockage. No further details as of yet. He's on the edge of 82, is not in the best of health (given his past medical history), and has been heartbroken ever since Mom passed away five and a half years ago.

As I drove into work this morning it hit me that - in a very, very surreal way - several significant factors in my life right now have combined in such a way as to make me relive 1996 all over again. It's as though the months of September through December of eleven years ago are re-imprinting themselves onto my current life. The timeframe, the situations, the minutia of details, and all the emotions connected to everything. Just so, so very surreal.

I simply ask for some prayers for my Dad's health.

I also humbly ask for prayers for myself. I've come a long way in these last dozen years. I've grown and matured as a man and as a child of God. It seems, though, that God wants me to grow and learn some more - at least in one particular aspect of my life. To take an emotional risk. To go further down a certain path of opportunity and to see it through, whether it's only meant to be for the short-term or whether it's meant to be longer lasting. And to challenge others to do the same.

My apologies for being cryptic. I just re-read that last paragraph. Although it sounds like I'm talking about my relationship with my Dad, I'm not. That relationship is stronger than it's ever been. So has our faith in God and Jesus Christ. Oddly, though, in recent years we've shared a similar struggle. Both of us have been dealing with a void in our lives. He having lost his soulmate of 50+ years. And I... well... given that I'm still single, that void has been there since day one for me.

God puts you on a path, and you walk it. And maybe some of the choices you made weren't the best. Maybe some decisions were right because the time, the person, or the situation wasn't right. Or maybe you only went so far and then stopped and changed course out of fear. But sometimes, though, God allows you a do-over. Some of the details have changed, some of the specifics are altered. But enough similarities are there to jog your memory. And you're flashed back to a time when you gave up to easily. You've grown since then. So now God says to you, "Okay, what are you going to do this time?"

What do you do?

You risk your heart.

Even if you don't get someone elses heart in return.

You risk your heart.

Because one day that someone will be found.

You risk your heart.

Because that is what Christ did, and does, for all of us... for all eternity.

Because, eventually, God does keep his promises.

On His time, not ours.

But we still have to do our part.

Kasparov arrested again...

I've told you here, here and here, to keep an eye on Russia & Putin. Garry Kasparov has been arrested again during a protest demonstration.

Russian riot police detained another key opposition figure among 200 demonstrators in Saint Petersburg Sunday, a day after a court jailed opposition leader Garry Kasparov for a similar protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The disturbances, exactly a week ahead of December 2 parliamentary elections, came 24 hours after police dispersed a similar march of around 2,000 people in the Russian capital Moscow and arrested Kasparov.

A court late Saturday sentenced the former world chess champion to five days in jail and his lawyer told AFP Sunday he was being held at Moscow police headquarters.

Have a Safe & Blessed Thanksgiving!

That is all.

:-D

Have a Safe & Blessed Thanksgiving!

That is all.

:-D

Yep... it's time to take a shower again...

It's time to take a shower again... a Leonid Shower!

Yep! This weekend is the time for the annual Leonid Meteor Shower. Hopefully, there will be clear skies for optimal viewing, wherever you are. Best time to observe 'em will be Saturday night into Sunday morning.

So, yet again... make a wish upon a "falling star" (just remember to dress warmly).

Che, Chavez and Iran... oh, my!!!

Hat-tip to Belmont Club:

The children of Che Guevara, the revolutionary pin-up, had been invited to Tehran University to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their father’s death and celebrate the growing solidarity between “the left and revolutionary Islam” at a conference partly paid for by Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president.

Read the whole thing here.

Weather Channel Founder Comes Out Against Global Warming...

Hat-tip to Newsbusters, RWN, and Redstate:

John Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel and Joe D’Aleo Director of Meteorology for it's first 6 years on the air and Professor of Meteorology have come out against all the hoopla.

It's definitely worth a full reading:

It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long term scientific data to create an illusion of rapid global warming. Other scientists of the same environmental whacko type jumped into the circle to support and broaden the “research” to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon they claimed to be a consensus.

Environmental extremists, notable politicians among them, then teamed up with movie, media and other liberal, environmentalist journalists to create this wild “scientific” scenario of the civilization threatening environmental consequences from Global Warming unless we adhere to their radical agenda. Now their ridiculous manipulated science has been accepted as fact and become a cornerstone issue for CNN, CBS, NBC, the Democratic Political Party, the Governor of California, school teachers and, in many cases, well informed but very gullible environmentally conscientious citizens.

The entire text can be found here

National Right to Life endorses Fred Thompson!!!

Directly from the official press release:

Marking the first major endorsement by a national grassroots organization in the Republican presidential contest, National Right to Life, the nation’s largest pro-life organization representing pro-lifers in fifty state affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, today announced its endorsement of former Senator Fred Thompson for President of the United States.

“As the first major grassroots organization to enter the Republican presidential race, National Right to Life is proud to endorse Fred Thompson,” stated Wanda Franz, Ph.D., president of National Right to Life. “Our endorsement is a testament to Senator Thompson’s long-standing pro-life record, his commitment to unborn children, and our belief in his ability to win.”

RedState has some interesting early analysis here.

And Hugh Hewitt started crying crocodile tears about the whole thing. I once respected Hugh. He was the major influence in my decision to start blogging, and he can great, persuasive arguments. But I've always known that he's a "party over principles" kind of guy. The cracks began to show in his surface persona when, in the months leading up to last November's mid-term elections, he became too much of an apologist for the GOP and he downplayed how badly they would do come that inevitable Tuesday.

It got even worse when he devoted a whole book to Romney, and has been a blatant shill for the Mass. Governor for well over a year now. He refuses to admit this obvious fact, even while he continues to bash and downplay all the other Republican nominees for president. Today, on his radio show, he started bashing the NRLC for their endorsement, claiming that Romney is "the real pro-lifer" that deserves the endorsement. Sorry, Hugh. You're blind to the fact that everyone is onto you're Romney-shilling shtick, and they don't buy it.

I'll be rooting for a Thompson/Hunter ticket for 2008.

G. K. Chesterton & Christmas...

What's Christmas without Christ?

What's Christmas without a book by Chesterton?

What's Christmas without a Christmas tree?

What's Christmas without Christmas tree ornaments?

What's more perfect than ordering your very own G. K. Chesterton Christmas Tree Ornament from the American Chesterton Society?


I just ordered one for myself, along with a copy of Chesterton's "The Everlasting Man" (I had bought a copy of the book a year ago, but ended up using it as a gift for a family member, so now I'll finally have my own copy to read and enjoy).


P.S. This is not a paid endorsement for the ACS. But it is a good idea to join. The subscription to Gilbert Magazine and the member discounts on GKC books makes it all worthwhile.

Prayers for EWTN host...

Last night I turned the TV channel to EWTN to catch the primetime program "Life of the Rock", which is normally hosted by Fr. Francis. Sadly, the program began on a somber note as another friar broke news that Fr. Francis is taking a leave of absence to "discern his vocation". Additional information was conveyed as the friar read from a letter written by Fr. Francis to EWTN. Needless to say, fervent prayers are needed for Fr. Francis at this time of spiritual crisis.

The Illustrated Man - stage play (review)

This past Sunday evening I attended the final performance of the one-man stage production of Ray Bradbury’s “The Illustrated Man”. It was another fine production by the Rubicon Theater Company at the now-famous Laurel Theater in Ventura. Tobias Andersen (veteran actor of TV and regional theater) gave a stunning two-act performance that lasted nearly two hours.

The play is loosely based on the concept of Bradbury’s famous novel, “The Illustrated Man” which centers around a wandering soul of a man with intricately designed full-body tattoos that eerily come to life and tell their tales. The stories used for the play were, instead, taken from other Bradbury short stories and novels.

From hilarious little stories about “The Murderer” (a man who confesses to killing off all the technological gadgets in his home), “There Was An Old Woman” (who is visited by the grim reaper who calls for her soul, though she’s determined to put up a fight), and the “Anthem Sprinters” (about a bunch of Irishmen who make a competition of racing out of movie theaters before their dreaded national anthem begins to play), to poignant stories such as “The Chicken Ranch Motel” (loosely based on Bradbury’s childhood memories of his family driving across the country during the Great Depression).

One story (“The Fog Horn”) was the lone weak segment of the performance. A story about an ancient sea monster who comes out of the ocean when it begins to hear the plaintive cry of a fog horn, thinking that it is another sea monster calling out in loneliness. As a short story it’s a wonderful piece of writing, but it didn’t translate well on the stage.

Easily the most powerful stories were two segments from Bradbury’s famous novel, “Fahrenheit 451” (the cautionary tale of censorship… or, more accurately, self-censorship). Andersen gave a rousing performance as the words just poured out of his mouth like a flood of truth. Absolutely stunning.

Ray Bradbury (87) was in attendance, and the audience give him a much-deserved round of applause when he entered the theater. Seated in his wheelchair in the front row, one could tell by his reaction to the production that he was thrilled to hear his own words tumble forth from the stage.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet him a few times in the mid- to late-90s, and I’ve always loved his writing. Sam Weller’s biography "The Bradbury Chronicles" is a wonderful read and a unique peek into the life of this most prolific writer. And, of course, read lots and lots of Bradbury!

35 Inconvenient Truths...

(UPDATED, BELOW)

For those of you who continue to genuflect to the "god of global warming hysteria" (especially now that he's been bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize), I give you...

35 Inconvenient Truths: The errors in Al Gore’s movie

"... in October 2007 the High Court in London had identified nine “errors” in his movie An Inconvenient Truth. The judge had stated that, if the UK Government had not agreed to send to every secondary school in England a corrected guidance note making clear the mainstream scientific position on these nine “errors”, he would have made a finding that the Government’s distribution of the film and the first draft of the guidance note earlier in 2007 to all English secondary schools had been an unlawful contravention of an Act of Parliament prohibiting the political indoctrination of children."

The lengthy article continues to spell out in detail not just 9 errors, but 35 errors and exaggerations:

"We now itemize 35 of the scientific errors and exaggerations in Al Gore’s movie. The first nine were listed by the judge in the High Court in London in October 2007 as being “errors.” The remaining 26 errors are just as inaccurate or exaggerated as the nine spelt out by the judge, who made it plain during the proceedings that the Court had not had time to consider more than these few errors. The judge found these errors serious enough to require the UK Government to pay substantial costs to the plaintiff."

Click here to read the 35 detailed points of refutation.

(Hat-tip to PoliPundit)

P.S. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee, remember, has previously awarded the "Peace" prize to the likes of:

Kofi Annan (the thoroughly corrupt former head of the United Nations - remember the multi-billion dollar the Oil-for-Food scandal?),

Yasser Arafat (the now-deceased Palestinian terrorist thug),

Shirin Ebadi (for her "successful" championing of democracy and human rights in Iran???),

Rigoberta Menchú (the Guatemalan who falsified significant details about her family's past - that "history" was the basis for the Nobel committee's decision to award her the prize),

Mohamed ElBaradei and the U.N.'s IAEA (for doing such a bang-up job of preventing nuclear proliferation attempts in the Middle East in such peaceful countries as Iraq, Iran, Syria),

Wangari Maathai (who, after being awarded the Peace Prize, went on to claim that HIV/AIDS was deliberately created by Western scientists to decimate the African population),

Jimmy Carter (the absolutely worst president and ex-president of the U.S., who never met a communist leader or tin-horn dictator he didn't like).

And now Al Gore *sigh*

And that's just in the past 15 years.

Yet, the committee always seems to avoid giving the prize to the likes of Reagan, Thatcher, Pope John Paul II (yet they managed to give it to Gorbachev???).


UPDATE: I forgot to add this additional link from EarthTimes.org which challenges the so-called consensus on global warming. It's a must-read.

Lame attempts at being artistic #4...

ORANGED SENTINELS
A particularly windy day on the coast.


MOONRISE OVER SANTA BARBARA
Taken while at an outdoor concert.


RUSTED WHEEL
Partially buried in the sand by the water's edge, among the cobblestones.


FOAMY


P.S. Click on each pic to enlarge.

Like a slab of bacon...

... I'm a bit smoky.

Thanx to the slew of brushfires currently aflame across parts of southern California since this past weekend. The Santa Ana winds have kicked up (as they usually do this time of year). With the dry weather we've had all year it was inevitable that these fires would easily spark up.

I woke up yesterday morning with winds howling like crazy, though the air was fairly cool. That didn't last long. By 11:00 AM you could begin to smell the hint of scorched timber. By 2:00 PM the once-clear sky turned a pungent grey and the sun was a glowing orange disc. By 3:00 PM the sun waxed a deep red before quickly waning to nothingness as the sky had transformed into an eerie shade of smokey pumpkin; flecks of ash flittering to the ground like a surreal snow flurry from hell. The air was caustic for several hours while the winds tried to decide which way to shift. Finally, the sky began to clear up a bit as it came close to sunset.

Today and tomorrow brings more winds (with gusts in certain areas as high as 90 MPH) and dry weather, before if finally starts to let up by the end of the week. Luckily, I don't live near the areas being affected. And I'm not at any serious risk (although two limbs from a tall eucalyptus tree right by my apartment came crashing down yesterday due to the winds).

I ask for urgent and fervent prayers for all of those who are directly affected by these fires.

Update on Kasparov in Russia...

The former world chess champion Garry Kasparov entered Russia's presidential race on Sunday, elected overwhelmingly as the candidate for the country's beleaguered opposition coalition.

Kasparov has been a driving force behind the coalition, which has united liberals, leftists and nationalists in opposition to President Vladimir Putin. He received 379 of 498 votes at a national congress held in Moscow by the Other Russia coalition, coalition spokeswoman Lyudmila Mamina told The Associated Press.

Kasparov's place on the March ballot was not assured. His candidacy still needs to be registered and is likely to be blocked.

Remember, when the media uses phrases like "liberals, leftists and nationalists" in reference to opposition to the leadership in the former Communist superpower it's not the same as using those phrases in describing Western "leftist" ideology.

More of the story here.

Lame attempts at being artistic #3...

JAG!

Taken when I attended the annual British Car Show at Channel Islands Harbor.

GOT AN APPLE?

Taken at the annual Ventura County Fair. I could just tell by the way he was looking at me that he was just begging for an apple.

ODD MAN IN

Kinda speaks for itself. A little out of focus, though.

SNAKE EYE

Part of an old iron, tile & concrete serpent at the playground of my old neighborhood. Plenty-a-skinned-knee crawling through this monstrosity as a kid.

Writing Resources...

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/art-of-writing/

Some book/resource suggestions on writing:

For scriptwriting, there are a slew of resources (more than there ought to be, actually), the main ones being from the following list of authors:

Robert McKee: http://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-Screenwriting/dp/0060391685/ref=sr_1_1/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190412510&sr=1-1

David Trottier: http://www.amazon.com/Screenwriters-Bible-Complete-Writing-Formatting/dp/1879505843/ref=pd_sim_b_1/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&qid=1190412510&sr=1-1

Syd Field: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/104-8212026-2838337?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Syd%20Field

Linda Seger: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/104-8212026-2838337?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Linda%20Seger

Blake Snyder: http://www.amazon.com/Save-Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009/ref=pd_sim_b_4/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&qid=1190412510&sr=1-1

William Goldman: http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Screen-Trade-William-Goldman/dp/034910705X/ref=sr_1_1/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190412734&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Which-Lie-Did-Tell-Adventures/dp/0375703195/ref=sr_1_2/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190412734&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/William-Goldman-Four-Screenplays-Essays/dp/155783265X/ref=pd_sim_b_3/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&qid=1190412734&sr=1-2

J. Michael Straczynski: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Scriptwriting-Michael-Straczynski/dp/1582971587/ref=sr_1_1/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190412317&sr=1-1

Michael Hauge: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/104-8212026-2838337?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Michael%20Hauge

Viki King: http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Movie-21-Days/dp/0062730665/ref=sr_1_1/104-8212026-2838337?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190412614&sr=1-1


Final Draft is the main screenwriting software program - recently updated. MovieMagic's Screenwriter is another good software formatting program.

For lyric writing (used only as a guide to various formats/song structures, and as a way of showing fine-tuning) is Sheila Davis' "The Craft of Lyric Writing". Remember... lyrics are not poetry... though lyrics can be very poetic, and poetry can be very lyrical.

For poetry, Ottone M. Riccio's "The Intimate Art of Writing Poetry":
http://www.amazon.com/Intimate-Art-Writing-Poetry/dp/0595093809/ref=sr_1_1/103-4950877-7108657?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190479905&sr=1-1

For novels, "The Weekend Novelist" by Robert J. Ray (there are two editions, and they are very different from each other, so make sure to get the original early edition):
http://www.amazon.com/Weekend-Novelist-Robert-J-Ray/dp/0823084507/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-4950877-7108657?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190479738&sr=1-1

James Frey's "How To Write a Damn Good Novel":
http://www.amazon.com/Write-Damn-Novel-Step-Step/dp/0312010443/ref=sr_1_30/103-4950877-7108657?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190478820&sr=1-30

James Zinsser "On Writing Well: 30th Anniversary Edition": http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-30th-Anniversary-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548/ref=sr_1_6/103-4950877-7108657?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190478692&sr=1-6

Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft":
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Stephen-King/dp/0743455967/ref=pd_sim_b_4_img/103-4950877-7108657?ie=UTF8&qid=1190478820&sr=1-30

There are many other (probably better) choices for novelists, but there is also a LOT of dreck out there. It seems EVERYONE has written a "how-to" book for novels and short stories. And 90% of them are written by people who couldn't write a novel or short story, so they wrote a how-to book instead (so true... too true).

Of course, the indispensible books for your desk (along with a good dictionary): Strunk & White's "Elements of Style"; Norman Lewis's edition of "Roget's Thesaurus in Dictionary Form"; the "Rhyming Dictionary by Clement Wood"; Ray Bradbury's "Zen in the Art of Writing"; and, of course, the Ralph Keyes's book "The Courage To Write: How Writer's Transcend Fear".

I'd also add "On Being a Writer" edited by Bill Strickland (a decent collection of essays/interviews/articles by various famous writers about being a writer and the writing process -- includes Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Vonnegut, Capote, Carver, Bradbury, Jong, Robbins, Rod Serling).

Hmmmm.... 67% addicted to blogging (hah!)

67%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Words that make you go, "Wha-???"

So... how come you always hear about someone being "undaunted"... but you never hear about someone being "daunted"?

Or someone being "unhinged".... but you don't hear about someone being "hinged".

People are always "unfettered", "unhinged" and "unscathed"... but what about the girl who's living her life "fettered, completely hinged, and has come away scathed"?

If you are not impervious to attacks... are you "pervious"?

If you are not implusive... are you "pulsive"?

If James Bond is not incommunicado... is he "communicado"?

If you don't make a presumption... is it a "sumption"?

And if someone does not receive an award posthumously... does he receive it "humously"?

What about a location that's not nondescript... does that mean it's "descript"?

And if you break away from convention... is it a "vention"? Or are you "proventional"... but that can't be right because you're against the convention, so I guess you would be "conconventional".

I don't want to approach this whole subject nonchalant... so, does that mean I'm "chalant"?

And, if you don't contradict this whole absurd post... would that mean that you're "tradict"?

And if it's not absurd... is it "surd"?


*sigh*... words that make me go, "Wha-???"

Ted Nugent sums it up perfectly...

I don't know if this is a legitimate quote, as it came via a friend through one of those email chains, but it's hilarious nonetheless. Ted Nugent is an no-nonsense, up-front, in-your-face, conservative, pro-2nd amendment bow-hunter. This just sounds oh-so Nuge:

Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being interviewed by a French journalist and animal rights activist.

The discussion came around to deer hunting.

The journalist asked, "What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' Or is it 'Are you the one who killed my brother?"

Nugent replied, "Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, 'What am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away.' They are very much like the French."

The interview ended at that point...

"Pro-Life" PA Dem. Senator Flip-Flops on Abortion Vote...

Hat-tip to the Curt Jester for this one. So-called "pro-life" U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. (Democrat) does a major flip-flop on an important abortion vote in the senate last week.

"Democrats who take a strong stand against abortion are few and far between -- especially in the United States Senate. When Bob Casey defeated Rick Santorum for a Pennsylvania seat in the Senate pro-life advocates hoped Casey would vote the same as his predecessor; but, Casey cast his first pro-abortion vote last week.

"Last Thursday, the Senate debate an amendment to a bill sponsored by pro-abortion Sen. Barbara Boxer of California regarding the Mexico City Policy.

"Boxer's amendment overturns the policy that President Reagan first instituted and President Bush revived in 2001 that protects taxpayers from funding groups that perform or promote abortions overseas.

"Pro-life groups strongly opposed the Boxer Amendment, but it was adopted on a 53-41 vote. Just 20 minutes later, pro-life Sen. Sam Brownback offered an amendment to undo the Boxer amendment but senators defeated it by the same margin.

"Casey voted for the Boxer amendment and but also for the Brownback amendment -- taking a seemingly contradicting stand on the abortion funding issue.

"On Monday, as David Freddoso of National Review notes, Casey said on the Senate floor that he had made a mistake -- but not because he voted to fund foreign abortions and abortion advocacy.

He said that, on the pro-life Brownback amendment, 'it was my intention to vote ‘nay.’ Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the outcome of that vote.'

It goes on:

" 'If the Boxer Amendment, which Sen. Casey regrettably supported, was enacted,[' said National Right to Life legislative director, Douglas Johnson] 'it would force the removal of family planning funds from private organizations that stick to non-abortive methods, in order to give those funds to organizations that are committed to the promotion of abortion,' Johnson explained."

Pennsylvania voted out Santorum (an excellent senator, to say the least, and a 100%-firm pro-life senator) last November for this joke of an empty-suit politician with popular name-recognition (his dad, Bob Casey Sr., was PA governor).

PA was my home state for 30 years, but I've been a CA resident for the last 13 years... so, I don't have room to brag given that Boxer is my senator. But at least I always knew Boxer's stripes (and I've never voted for her). But, the Casey charade I saw from 3000 miles away. Yet PA still got duped.

Sometimes, you get what you deserve. Perhaps the citizens of the commonwealth of PA will wake-up and smell the coffee. Somehow, though, I doubt it.

Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming...

And this is just the tip of the iceberg (so-to-speak):

"A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals that more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming is linked strongly to variations in the sun's irradiance...

"Other researchers found evidence that 3) sea levels are failing to rise importantly; 4) that our storms and droughts are becoming fewer and milder with this warming as they did during previous global warmings; 5) that human deaths will be reduced with warming because cold kills twice as many people as heat; and 6) that corals, trees, birds, mammals, and butterflies are adapting well to the routine reality of changing climate."

Read the whole article.

Where were you when...?

I was sleeping in bed in my California apartment. My alarm clock must have gone off earlier, and I must have hit the snooze button, because I faintly remember thinking that I had a dream about a plane crash of some sort.

I eventually woke up, and went to the bathroom. Then I headed toward my front door, opened it, and picked up the morning newspaper from the welcome mat.

As I re-entered my apartment the phone rang.

It was my sister, Valerie. She was hysterical. She asked me if my TV was on. I told her I had just woken up. I asked her what was wrong. She kept saying, "Just turn on the TV... turn on the TV right now!"

And there it was...

That strange dichotomy of the whole world both in utter chaos yet also standing still is stunned horror...

And all I kept saying was, "We're at war... Oh my God, we're at war."


NEVER FORGET!!!

OBL's 2nd tape, and more info on the Germany/Denmark captures...

Capt. Ed posts some more info about a supposed deadline for the terrorists who were captured in Germany and Denmark last week. Jihad Watch investigates that is could have involved up to 50 people.

Capt. Ed also mentions a second video tape by OBL, referencing 9/11 and one of the terrorists from that day. And Jihad Watch says that OBL is most likely in a remote northern area of Pakistan (Chitral).

Given that German surveillance tapped a phone call in late August from Northern Pakistan to the German terrorists who were caught, and that some of those same terrorists were recently trained in Pakistan, it makes sense that that's the location of OBL.

Osama Bin Hidin' sends us a little video greeting...

Yes, it's true... the demise of OBL has been greatly exaggerated. He decided to stick his head out of some cave and deliver us a message from his heart. His black beard is a sign that he's leading a jihad, otherwise it would be forbidden him to dye his beard. The fact that he mentions the new pro-American Prime Minister Sarkozy of France means that the message was recorded since the May French elections. He also is quoted as saying, "several days ago" Japan marked the 62nd anniversary of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings. That places the time frame of the recording of the video to only four weeks ago.

Great updates and analysis from Jeffrey Imm over at Counter Terrorism, John Hinderaker at PowerLine, Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters, Robert Spencer's Sept 7 posts over at Jihad Watch, and Little Green Footballs. You can even read the entire 7-page transcript here (in .pdf format).

I urge everyone to read the transcript, and then read all of the analysis links. They're spot-on. They also point to the utter vapidness of the left-wing's take on the war in Iraq. When OBL practically quotes verbatim all of your key political talking points it's a sure sign that you're on the wrong side of the critical issue of our times.

Now remember... all we have to do is covert to Islam and submit to Shr'ia law, and all will be forgiven. As Capt. Ed puts it:

Isn't that sweet? If we just agree to live as slaves under our new Taliban masters, we can finance our homes at a flat 2.5% fee. Think of how liberating that will be! Well, except for the burqas, the barbers, the end of music, dancing, Judaism, Christianity, voting, the press, the 13th-21st centuries, science...

The Terrorism Timeline...

It's that time again to remind everyone about the extent of the actions and effects of terrorism throughout the world, and especially against the U.S. The following list (which I've posted here twice before) has been updated, but is by no means exhaustive:


Sep 4-5, 2007 --- Eight suspected al-Qaida linked terrorists arrested in Denmark (9/4) and another three arrested in Germany (9/5), foiling plots to attack U.S. and NATO sites in the respective countries.

Jul 21, 2007 --- Report alleges Iraqi smuggling ring works out of Chaparral, NM (can you say, "Secure the borders!"?).

Jul 20, 2007 --- TSA warns of dry-runs at airports. The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included "wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cell phone components and dense clay-like substances, including block cheese."

Jul 5, 2007 --- San Diego airport checked baggage found containing two icepacks covered in duct tape. The icepacks had clay inside them rather than the normal blue gel.

July 2007 --- Michigan: The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday declared a Dearborn-based charity a front for the terrorist organization Hezbollah, and is an arm of the Iranian Martyrs Foundation, a group with offices in Lebanon and elsewhere that the U.S. government said funds the designated terrorist groups Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad and aids Palestinian suicide bombers and their families..

July 2007 --- Al-Qaeda threatens to escalate attacks in North Africa

July 2007 --- U.S. Muslim convert gets 10 years for Al-Qaeda training, participation in Somali jihad.

July 2007 --- links between British Jihadist investigations and threats against the USA included July 5 report that 45 doctors had used UK jihadist web site to make plans to attack US facilities such as the shipping facilities for USS John F Kennedy in Jacksonville, Florida, July 6 reports that two of the UK car bomb doctors sought work in Philadelphia, and July 4 report that AQ attacks in USA would follow attacks in UK. On July 6, it was reported by AP and the Philadelphia Inquirer that two of the UK car bomb doctors sought work in the United States in Philadelphia.

Jun 30, 2007 --- Jeep Cherokee driven into the glass doors of the main terminal of Glasgow International Airport, and burst into flames. A suspected car bomb failed to detonate, and the driver of the car, Kafeel Ahmed,[6] on fire after allegedly dousing himself himself in fuel, together with a second suspect Bilal Abdulla, accused of being the Jeep's passenger, attacked the police.

Jun 29, 2007 --- Two unexploded car bombs were discovered in London.

Jun 4, 2007 --- Milwaukee, WI: The carry-on baggage of a USPER contained several items resembling IED components, such as a wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes, and two blocks of cheese.

Jun 3, 2007 --- John F. Kennedy International Airport terror plot. Thwarted homegrown Islamist terrorism plot to destroy the fuel supply system for the airport located in New York City and cause a large amount of causalities by blowing up the connecting pipeline system that runs through densely populated neighborhoods.

May 7, 2007 --- Fort Dix attack plot: Six men inspired by Jihadist videos arrested in the US, in a failed homegrown terrorism plot to kill US soldiers.

Apr 28, 2007 --- Saudi Arabia announced it has arrested one hundred and seventy two people in an Al Queda plot to attack oil facilities, military bases and public figures using civilian aircraft as suicide missiles.

Apr 12, 2007 --- A U.S. federal grand jury indicted Christopher Paul, 43, a U.S. citizen and resident of Columbus, Ohio on charges of joining al-Qaida and conspiring to bomb European tourist resorts and U.S. government facilities and military bases overseas.

Nov 21, 2006 --- “Fly Imams” incident in Minneapolis Airport (U.S. Airways).

Nov 20 2006 --- A suspected terrorist bomb explodes on a train in India (West Bengal).

Nov 8, 2006 --- Houston, TX: A USPER’s checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a 9-volt battery, wires, a block of brown clay-like minerals, and pipes.

Sep 19, 2006 --- Military coup in Thailand by a Muslim General.

Sep 16, 2006 --- Baltimore, MD: The checked baggage of a couple contained a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag holding a cellular phone charger.

Sept 2006 --- Threats to assassinate Pope Benedict XVI.

Sep 12, 2006 --- Failed U.S. embassy attack in Damascus, Syria.

Aug 10, 2006 --- UK to USA flights (arrests made - foiled plot to involve 10 airplanes over Atlantic Ocean)

Jul/Aug '06 --- Hamas & Hezbullah (kidnapping and bombing of Israel)

Jul 31, 2006 --- Koblenz & Dortmund, Germany (two unexploded suitcase bombs on trains found)

Jul 11, 2006 --- Mumbai (Bombay), India (train bombings)

Jun 3, 2006 --- Toronto, Canada (17 arrested - foiled plot to use 3 tons of explosives in Toronto)

Mar 7, 2006 --- Varanasi, India bombing

Oct 1, 2005 --- Bali bombing (two locales)

Jul 7, 2005 --- London bombing (trains/underground)

Jun 2005 --- Operatives discreetly practiced a mock attack while riding the London subway in late June 2005.

Thru-out '05 --- repeated suicide bombings throughout Israel

Thru-out '05 --- Paris riots

Sep 9, 2004 --- Bali bombing (Australian embassy)

Sep 4, 2004 --- Beslan school hostage (Chechen)

Jun 29, 2004 –-- Northwest Flight#327 from Detroit to L.A. The “13 Syrian Musicians” dry-run (confirmed as a dry-run by declassified Feds report in May 2007).

Mar 11, 2004 --- Madrid bombing (trains)

Aug 5, 2003 --- Jakarta bombing (Marriott Hotel)

Oct 26, 2002 --- Moscow theater (Chechen)

Oct 12, 2002 --- Bali bombing (Kuta)

Thru-out '02 --- Daniel Pearl and others kidnapped and beheaded

Dec 13, 2001 --- New Delhi, India (Parliament bombing)

Oct 29, 2001 --- New Delhi, India (bombing)

Sep/Oct, ‘01 --- Anthrax letters in the U.S. Postal delivery (5 dead, 21 illnesses)

Sep 11, 2001 --- WTC/Pentagon/Western PA

Oct 12, 2000 --- USS Cole attack

Dec 31, 1999 --- The failed attempt at major terror attacks on the Millennium (thanks to a sharp Washington State border patrol officer who stopped one of the terrorists trying to drive across the border, and found explosive materials in the trunk of the car.)

1999 --- Second planned attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II in Manila (the Pope cancelled trip due to illness)

Aug 7, 1998 --- Nairobi (bombing of US Embassies – Kenya and Tanzania)

Jun 25, 1996 --- Saudi Arabia (Kobar Towers bombing)

Jan 1995 --- Planned assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II in Manila (Ramzi Yousef injured himself before the attempt)

In 1995 --- attempted airline bombing plot over Pacific Ocean

In 1994 --- Buenos Aires Jewish Center bombing

Oct 3, 1993 --- Mogadishu, Somalia (Black Hawk Down)

Feb 26, 1993 --- NYC (the first WTC bombing)

Dec 21, 1988 --- PanAm 103 (Lockerbie, Scotland)

In 1985 --- TWA flight 847 hijacking (Athens, Greece)

Oct 7, 1985 --- Achille Lauro (cruise ship killing)

Oct 23, 1983 --- Beirut (US Marines barracks bombed)

May 13, 1981 --- Assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II by Turkish Muslim, Mehmet Ali Ağca (hired by Soviets)

1979-80 --- Iranian hostage crisis (444 days)

Sep 5, 1972 --- Munich (Olympics - Israeli hostages killed)

YES!!!... happy dance-happy dance...

I have successfully avoided jury duty service this week (woo-hoo)!

By just one number - the usually dreaded "group number" - I have avoided even the need to show up at the courthouse. They assigned me to Group 46, and they're only calling in Groups 1-45 for the week.

Now, I'm not against doing my civic duty. It's just that, since I've already served on two separate murder trials - and I'm in my mid-40s (ouch, that stumbled off the tongue a bit hesitantly) - I figure that I've more than fulfilled my lifetime supply of civic dutiness. Unfortunately, "they" don't seem to agree with me on that point. But that doesn't matter, for I am in the clear - at least for the next 12 months.

*woo-hoo*

Links for some Catholic Humor and some Spiritual Common Sense...

Curt Jester has a hilarious post that will only make sense to fellow Catholics.

And First Things has "the secret" to spiritual common sense.

Enjoy!