Thanksgiving 2011: What I am thankful for

For the Thanksgiving last year, I did not make a post like this. That's because a year ago I was in the midst of what I've since realized was the longest, darkest and most spiritually trying period of my entire life. Last year at this time, feeling thankful seemed like the last thing that I could muster up.

What a difference a year makes...

If anybody had told me that twelve months from then, that I would be at a totally different place, I could not have believed it. And trust me: there were lots of good friends who were doing their best to encourage me then. Telling me "Chris, God hasn't given up on you! The best is yet to come! You will get through this!"

I've never enjoyed telling so many people that I was wrong and they were right, as I have been compelled to do these past few months.

And today, today... well, I can't feel anything but so very thankful for what God has blessed my life with!

So here I am, picking up again what I hope will continue to be an ongoing tradition of this blog.

I am thankful that this past year has been the very first that I have been able to completely enjoy without my bipolar disorder making life a living hell. And I am also thankful that I have been able to write about that on this blog, and apparently it has become a boon for others who must live with this condition. I'm going to begin writing more about Being Bipolar very soon, incidentally. But that I have been able to at last get a grip on my own mind has been an incredible blessing!

I am thankful for having two very wonderful parents, who have been there for me and encouraged me and have been a bigger inspiration for me than I should have been thankful for already.

I am thankful for my sister, who I honestly have not appreciated nearly enough but hope to do better by that.

I am thankful... and extremely thankful at that... for having what honestly must be the most wildly awesome circle of friends that a guy could possibly have in his life. So too many than I could come close to naming them all.

I am thankful for the many new friends that I have made since 2011 began.

I am thankful for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County and the sense of family that I have come to enjoy from working with so many incredibly talented and wonderful people!

I am thankful for new opportunities.

I am thankful for my iPad: truly an indispensable gadget!

I am thankful for ballroom dancing, which I have come to enjoy more than I had expected and I'm looking forward to getting better at it.

I am thankful that I got to read a bunch more books in this past year (including Atlas Shrugged at last).

I am thankful for the music of "Weird Al" Yankovic, which became a huge catalyst for some insanely good things in this past year!

I am thankful that I finally got to see The People vs. George Lucas and that so much of my own movie got to be part of it and is now making people all over the world laugh to our work!

I am thankful for the chances to travel that I have come to have.

I am thankful for the second chances to make right the mistakes of my life.

I am thankful for Kristen, the abundawonderful lady that God has brought into my life. She is not merely my girlfriend. She is... my soulmate, my sister in Christ, the one who I can always count on to make me smile when I need it most, the girl who has made me more happy than I can ever remember being in my entire life. I am truly thankful beyond words for God bringing us together and, well... I'm soooo looking forward to seeing where He takes us from here! :-)

But most of all, I am thankful to God. And I am thankful that He has brought me through the grief and suffering of the past few years and to a place where I am closer to Him than I have ever been able to be before! I am thankful for the faith that I now have in Him: a faith that had been there before but is now stronger, more resilient, more yielding to Him and His will than I have had before in my life. I am thankful that God brought me through the darkness, that He was faithful and true even when I could not feel Him, when I couldn't even believe He was there at all. But He was. He has been with me and He will always be with me and... I thank Him now that if it took the hardship to draw me into this deep a relationship with Him, that I did endure it.

And last but not least, I am very thankful for you, The Knight Shift's readers, who come to this humble lil' blog and (I like to think anyway) enjoy the insights and commentary of its eclectic proprietor. The readership of this site has grown immensely in the past few years and, I count myself as the luckiest guy on the Intertubes that so many good people come to this place on a regular basis. I hope that I'll be able to keep y'all entertained, educated and Lord willing even enlightened a bit for many more years to come :-)

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Fortieth anniversary of Dan Cooper's skyjacking

Forty years ago tonight, a man calling himself Dan Cooper arrived at Portland International Airport and purchased a ticket for Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305: a short flight to Seattle.

Shortly after taking off, "Cooper" passed a note to the stewardess: "I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked."

So began the tale of what has become one of the most brazen and legendary (some have even said heroic) crimes in American history...

Cooper (often referred to as "D.B. Cooper") showed what he purported to be a bomb (some red cylinders in his briefcase that later turned out to be harmless), demanded $200,000 in unmarked bills, and four parachutes: two loaded in the front of the plane and two in the back. After the plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma the demands were met and the Boeing 727 took off again.

At around 8 p.m. Cooper bailed out of the rear of the plane, holding onto his newly acquired satchel of cash. Along with the parachute he wore the business suit he wore when he boarded the plane: seemingly no protection at all against the elements, but Cooper by all accounts was cool and confident nonetheless.

Hurtling himself into pitch black night with freezing rain and driving wind, Cooper was never seen again.

Here's the Wikipedia entry about Dan Cooper, where you can find out much more regarding his infamous skyjacking along with the various theories that have cropped up over the past four decades.

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Department of Homeland Security issues turkey fryer safety warning

Janet "Big Sister" Napolitano's Department of Homeland Security (okay let's be fair, it was George W. Bush's "brilliant" idea first) has decided that turkey fryers are a dire threat to national security. "Make sure the turkey is completely thawed before placing in a fryer", the DHS is warning in a new video.

Hey, Janet Napolitano: I'm a hella lot safer with my turkey deep-fryer than anyone is with your X-ray body scanners! You know: the X-ran body scanners that YOU REFUSE TO PUT YOURSELF THROUGH.

Who do these people think they are?

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Charlotte TV station reports "Man Killed To Death"

You mean there's another way to do it?!

That's from WBTV-TV 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Tip o' the hat to Mark Childrey for finding this :-)

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48th anniversary of the JFK assassination

Here's a rare photo from happier times, when Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby and "White Hat" were still a band...

Fifteen years after first seeing that and it's still about the gosh-darned funniest Photoshop job that I've ever beheld :-)

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Time for... THANKSGIVING WITH THE KRANZES!

I have reposted stuff on this blog twice in the past, on rare occasions. But never three times. This deserves it though (and no doubt will be posted again in years to come).

It's been two years since the last time I shared this YouTube video. And since this is the week of Thanksgiving (yes I've already begun preparing to deep-fry a bunch of turkey) and there are perhaps still a lot of people who've never enjoyed this before, I thought it was well worth posting again :-)

It's the short film Thanksgiving With The Kranzes. Produced a few years ago by aviation students, it's a dead-on hilarious parody of Ron Howard's movie Apollo 13.

It is Thanksgiving 1970. This year it's Gene Kranz's turn to host the traditional dinner for his NASA colleagues. The heroic crew of the Apollo 13 mission has been given the command of the kitchen. But then... something happens.

"Take-out is NOT an option!"

Watch now the film that the real-life Gene Kranz has taken to watching with his family every Thanksgiving!

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Quote from yesterday evening

"It's Shake 'n Bake and I helped!"

Said aloud by me, at the end of the prologue from last night's The Walking Dead.

Go watch it from your DVR or from iTunes or whatever if you wanna "get" that joke :-P

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A ponderance on the Church, Christ and Christian liberty

There are some who throughout the history of Christianity have claimed to be the "one true church": the only legitimate body of Christ that came into being at Pentecost in the days following the ascension of our Lord. I speak not of those who acknowledge parity with brethren of however peculiar perspective who yet profess Christ as Lord, but instead of those who deign to be the exclusive institution established by divine mandate. Such are the ones who incessantly badger, harass and even lust to destroy their fellow servants out of the notion that doing so makes them "first" in the sight of God and man (mostly man).

Such people are terribly ignorant at best, and outright liars at worst. Invariably their founding tenet is that they are the sole custodians and guardians of "the pattern" of worship found in the New Testament.

Therein rests the fallacy of their argument. One that betrays as much a lack of faith in God as it does an ignoble grasp of theology.

Because to claim to be the "one true church" or the "restored church" or whatever is to imply, nay confess before all that Christ's Church is so invirile, so impotent, so corruptible and so weak that it has not survived and prevailed for these two millenia!

So let me put it succinctly and with some bluntness: the New Testament age... never ended.

Oh sure, the New Testament writings came to an end, when John finished his manuscript in his cave on Patmos. The time of the apostles eventually drew to a close when John died.

But the New Testament era itself?

Nope. It's still here. We're living it even now.

Where is the church of the New Testament, then? I'd say: pretty much anywhere and everywhere. It's wherever it needs to be. It is what-ever it is required to be! It becomes... all things unto all men, so that Christ is preached.

Who are the New Testament Christians? Me and... well quite a lot of people, I can tell you that! And a lot of 'em, are some that many of us don't appreciate that they are seeking after and serving the Kingdom just as we are, albeit perhaps in different ways.

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about something that Billy Graham is famous for saying: "Go to the church of your choice." And he's right. Go and worship at the place where... well, wherever it is that you believe that God is leading you to worship Him at. It could be at a Methodist church. Could also be a Baptist church. Or a Presbyterian one. Or a Roman Catholic assembly. Or a Mennonite place. Or a Seventh-Day Adventist congregation. Or a Church of Christ. Or a Lutheran gathering. Or Pentecostal. Or... need I go through them all?

So long as it is a matter of sincere conscience between you and God, it does not matter where I or anyone else tells you to worship Him at. You aren't even obligated by any of us to attend regular worship services if that is how He is leading... but as the writer of Hebrews cautioned, there is a danger in complete forsaking of assembly.

The New Testament Church didn't go away. It's persisted and endured for nearly two thousand years. It is not a brittle thing ready to collapse at the first mild breeze, but a robust edifice built upon a firm foundation. And though I wouldn't dare ascribe any like import to my own writing on par with that of Jude or James, I can at least smile a little in the assurance that mine is a role not unlike Polycarp (in spirit if not in style). The church survived those early years in spite of the weaknesses of men like Peter and Paul, and it will endure in spite of this man's weaknesses also.

I am the New Testament Church... and so can you!

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Some classic listening for a Saturday night

From a time of much better music. Here is "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses...

Yes, I have posted this before. Since it's November again and we're looking at a lot more rain in the next few days, it seemed appropriate.

And also because this is one of the greatest songs in the history of anything, to say nothing about the masterpiece of its accompanying video.

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First poster for THE EXPENDABLES 2

2010's The Expendables was twelve scoops of action insanity with sprinkles on top! Saw it at the theater with my good friend Steven and, it just all-out assaulted our eyedrums and earballs with high octane metal mayhem and madness. In short it was exactly the kind of movie that we used to dream of seeing happen back in the Eighties and Nineties... and then some!

So if putting all that action heavyweight into the same film was gloriously good fun the first time, what might we expect from The Expendables 2, due this coming summer?

Ah-nuldt, you should have stayed in acting all this time instead of playing at governor of California. And looks like we're gonna get a whole new heapin' helpin' of Chuck Norris whup-ass!

The geek in me wants this movie to premiere first at ActionFest, 'cuz I've been going to that festival since it began in April of last year and it's the perfect venue for this sort of thing! But if not, I can wait 'til August :-)

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World's lightest solid material

Crazy buff for wild engineering that I be, this lil' news item just blows my mind...

A team of researchers from the University of California at Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have come up with a metal lattice material that is the lightest solid yet discovered. As you can see in the photo above, a sample of it can be perched atop a dandelion without damaging it at all. This stuff has less density than the air surrounding it! It's also much stronger than aerogel: the previous "lightest solid" title holder.

It's stories like this, friends and neighbors, that still give me a reliable sense of optimism about the future. Who knows what the uses and demand for this stuff will end up being.

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An open letter to Ron Price, member of the Rockingham County Board of Education

Dear Ron,

Five years ago last week, on the night before the election that included the names of you, me and fourteen other individuals on the ballot for Board of Education, you were involved in an incident that continued to make headlines long after the polls had closed.

In the many months following that incident, there were individuals who attempted to extract a measure of accountability from someone who was by that time a duly elected public official. I was one of those, as you well know. It is not only a matter of public record what I did with this blog regarding the events of November 6th, 2006, but a legal one also, as I was subpoenaed during your lawsuit against another party.

I am not writing this to reiterate what it is that you may have done, or to again press claim for what I sincerely believed was required from the seeking after a higher standard in good conscience.

I have had much time and opportunity to reflect upon what I did on The Knight Shift following those events. And now, I cannot but be left with the conclusion that the vast majority of my actions in that matter came not from a spirit of civil responsibility but, unfortunately, a heart of wrongful disposition.

So I am asking you now to please accept my apologies. I have come very much regret that I went too far, and that I failed to consider whether my own actions were earnestly in accord with the better angels of my nature. Indeed, I now recognize and do acknowledge that much of what I did to you in the name of pursuing justice, was far too much of an akin spirit to certain few in this community who revel in spite and trade in rancor and grief.

That, is not the sort of person that I wish to be or would ever want to be associated with.

And I don't believe that you're a person like that either, Ron. You're only human, like me. You made a mistake, like I have... many more times than I care to count! Maybe it took going through what I have had to endure in the past few years to appreciate anew what it is to be here by the grace of God. Maybe it took going through that to realize that I should have done my best to extend the same grace to you, instead of harping about it too many times than was ever necessary.

So now, tonight, I do extend you my most heartfelt apologies for my own part in that matter. I hope that we can move on from here, as two people who only want the best for Rockingham County and its people. I do believe you have the best interests of the children of Rockingham County at heart, and I am glad that I can now tell you that I do count you among the fine men and women who are serving the schools of this community.

I don't want this bothering me anymore, Ron. I don't want you to think that I will always hold this against you, because I don't. I was petty and inane, and I should have been better than that. And I'm thankful for the opportunity to try and make this right.

Sincerely,
Chris Knight

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Government redefined reality: Pizza is vegetable, Brillo pads are illegal gun silencers

What is it about food that brings out more than the usual looniness from government? Remember when California tried to impose the "snack tax"? And before that it was President Reagan who sought to have ketchup officially deemed a vegetable.

Now the squabbling between the Obama Administration and the Republican-held Congress has made it so that pizza is to be classified as a vegetable. The article is nigh worth reading, if only because it is the first (and I pray last time) that this blogger has ever agreed with the food Nazis at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (hey, a stopped clock is right twice a day...)

But that's not the most ridiculous act of federal gubmint to come across this desk today, folks. No, that dubious honor belongs to the assorted thugs and goons at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which has now declared it illegal to possess Brillo pads, Chore Boy Pot Scrubber and similar cookware scouring/cleaning material, depending on how it is construed. From the article...

"[S]ound/gas absorbing materials manufactured from Chore Boy copper cleaning pads, along with fiberglass insulation, constitute a silencer.

Therefore, it is illegal for an individual to replace deteriorated material within an already- registered suppressor without an approved ATF Form 1, 'Application to Make and Register a Firearm,'" along with a "$200.00 making tax" and "a 'no-marking' variance...since there is no viable area in which to apply a serial number to the sound-absorbing material."

The article further states that "The original letter included a question about the owner of a legally owned silencer having a reserve of such pads. In case, you know, they needed to clean something. According to the ATF that would be considered a "stockpile" and considered an illegal act."

So in the BATF's eyes, there is an illegal stockpile of munitions, ohhh... inside the cabinet beneath every kitchen sink in America.

I wouldn't put it past the BATF to seek warrants to invade private property on those measly grounds.

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William Shatner and State Farm make weird Thanksgiving safety video

One week from today I'm gonna be up to my elbows in marinade, Cajun seasoning and all kinds of other good stuff as I prepare three... count 'em, three... turkeys for a hot fryin' bath in cottonseed oil. Yes it's that time of the year again, when Yours Truly goes bonkers for the deep-fried turkey! As has been done in years before, expect photos chronicling the art, and perhaps even a video or two.

However I cannot emphasize it nearly enough: deep-frying turkey is potentially a very dangerous activity. I haven't been burned (yet) but there have been a few close calls, despite taking every precaution that I know of. To me it's worth the risk because deep-frying honestly does produce the most tender and succulent meat that you'll ever get from any method of cooking a turkey, and I suppose that there's always going to be a possibility of injury with any activity involving a heat source. Unfortunately the vast majority of turkey frying disasters happen because those doing the cooking overlook some ridiculously simple and even common sense issues pertaining to the peculiarities of deep-frying.

And speaking of things "peculiar", State Farm Insurance has produced this wacky and fun public service announcement starring the one and only William Shatner! So without further ado, here is The Shatner in "Eat, Fry, Love"...

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Occupy Wall Street finally ends as police clear park

Two months after it began with no clear mission, Occupy Wall Street was brought to a conclusion as New York's finest cleared out Zuccotti Park in the wee hours of the morning.

Now all that's left is a "campsite" ridden with disease, drugs, rape and Lord knows what else.

Might I make a suggestion for cleanup, courtesy of a certain Corporal Hicks...

"Nuke the site from orbit.
It's the only way to be sure."

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HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED for the Atari 2600

Tomorrow is the tenth anniversary of the release of Halo: Combat Evolved. Arguably the most influential video game of the past decade, the first installment of the Halo series drew in millions of loyal players with its combination of breathtaking beauty, tactical ability and mythology on a vast scale.

Fittingly, tomorrow will herald the arrival of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary in stores. It's the original game with remastered graphics for the high-def Xbox 360 (and you can even switch between the look of the 2001 Xbox game and compare it to the shiny new veneer). But one clever dude named Ed Fries has decided to go really old-school in the classiest way possible: adapting Halo: Combat Evolved as an Atari 2600 game! Yes it's true: Halo 2600 lets you guide Master Chief along on the surface of Halo in his fight against Grunts, Elites and other forces of the dreaded Covenant in all the glorious graphics that 1977's technology had to offer. It's quite a charming lil' conversion, be you a die-hard Halo fan or nostalgic for the 2600 (or both, like me :-) Check it out!

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Strange things are afoot in the deserts of China...

Bunches of e-mails, tweets and Facebook discussions today about some downright mystifying patterns that users of Google Earth have spotted carved into the floor of the Chinese desert.

Gizmodo has been on top of this story since it first came to light and you can find pics of many more odd structures. Some readers have also pointed me toward SlashGear's discussion of the patterns. Some of these configurations are huge: one has been measured at being approximately 18 square miles (or 29 square kilometers for our Brittish brethren and others using Metric reckoning).

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