Pretty hilarious thread on Slashdot where people are posting about all the whacked-out stuff they've seen on corporate IT systems. I'm still laughing about the accounting department that backed up its data on VHS tapes.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Nancy Pelosi: THIS is leadership?
From new House speaker Nancy Pelosi:
"We have waited over 200 years for this time to come," Mrs. Pelosi said on the eve of her selection as speaker, a position that makes her second in line to the presidency after Vice President Dick Cheney."...Let's hear it for the power"?"We will not just break through a glass ceiling, we will break through a marble ceiling," she said. "In more than 200 years of history, there was an established pecking order -- and I cut in line."
After calling herself "the most powerful woman in America," Mrs. Pelosi flexed her right muscle like a weight lifter to much applause at an event yesterday titled a "women's tea."
"All right, let's hear it for the power," she screamed as the jubilant applause continued.
Calling herself "the most powerful woman in America"?
I can't imagine any of the Founders talking like this.
Gerald Ford certainly would have never talked like this. This kind of thinking probably never even entered his mind.
Elected officials who are this blatant about love of power are... well, dangerous.
Does America have any freedom anymore?
President Bush is now saying the government can open your mail without a warrant.
We've had so many freedoms and liberties diminished or even destroyed under this President, that can it really be said that America is a free country at all anymore?
Here's something that bugs me: the most persistent of Bush's lackeys and followers are using the same tactics to deride critics of this man that were used by those faithful to Hitler back in the 1930s. I've actually heard some - quite seriously - say that to disagree with Bush is to exhibit mental illness. No doubt that those of us bringing up how wrong this latest action by Der Decider is will be called "unpatriotic" and "fifth columnist" by those who follow Fearless Leader because we dared question his "brilliant strategery".
I can't begin to describe how loathesome I find this kind of blind allegiance to a party or an individual... neither one of which has done anything honorable to command our loyalty.
The Democrats are taking control of the House and Senate today. Why should that even matter? The news channels are all over this story but the reality of it is: nothing will change. We just get one pack of jackals taking turns with another for a slobbering bite out of the fatted lamb that is the American people.
I know some people who were genuinely bothered that the Republicans were swept out in November. Personally, it made no difference to me. Because I understand that no matter who has the House and Senate, regardless of which party has "the power", that this country is still going to suffer loss. We are losing jobs and industry to foreign competitors. We are losing control over our borders. We are losing the right to determine our own destinies. We have lost having a government that is accountable to us. We are losing young people in needless conflict in a situation with no clear goal. We have lost basic liberties like freedom from unwarranted searches and seizures...
Why should I expect things to get any better just because another political party now has the reins?
When does this abuse of power stop?
This country now owes the old Soviet Union an apology. The United States government is doing the very same things that it used to brand the Communists in that country as evil for doing. At least the Soviets were honest enough to admit that they had only one political party running everything. We keep telling ourselves that we have "a choice".
Well, here's the choice as I see things: we either let "them" keep getting away with it. Or we could stop watching the damned football game and put down the PlayStation controller and quit drinking the cheap booze long enough to give "them" a hard kick straight in the ass.
And then keep kicking them while they're down. Kick them in the face, in the kidney, in the groin. Keep kicking them until they don't move anymore.
Either something changes real soon, or else we're looking down that same dark path that Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot and damned too many other insane men have took their people.
And to anyone who still thinks that George W. Bush is "a good Christian man" and a "wise leader": I feel sorry for you. Decades from now, historians are going to look back on this period and wonder aloud "who were these poor delusioned fools that pledged their allegiance to such a morally damaged person?"
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Want a PlayStation 3?
I came back a little while ago from the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Reidsville and they have about six PlayStation 3s for sale: the 60 gig variety at $599. This is the very first time I've ever seen a PlayStation 3 for sale in a retail store. So if you live in the area and have six hundred bucks burning a hole in your pocket and you want one, you know where to go.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Farewell to one of the last decent Presidents
The Washington D.C. portion of the funeral for Gerald R. Ford just ended. His casket is now being loaded on a plane that will take it to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it will lie in repose at the Ford Presidential Museum before interrment tomorrow.
I can't help but think how we are saying goodbye to maybe one of the very last decent men who ever or will ever take on the office of President.
The President of the United States of America isn't something that a person should want to be. If somebody earnestly wants to be President, then they don't deserve to be President. The person who wants the job only wants the power and affluence that comes with it, not the opporutunity to serve others. This office demands nothing elss than absolute humility and integrity.
Gerald Ford didn't want to be President. I don't know if he ever entertained the notion of running for the post. The biggest he let himself dream about was becoming Speaker of the House. And when he got into the Oval Office, he brought the best attributes that one could ever hope to find in a President.
Here's what I keep thinking about: you never saw Gerald Ford going so far as to try and destroy another person in order to secure the Presidency.
Think about that in comparison to the jockeying that's going on already for the 2008 election. Think about that in comparison to the last few elections we've already had.
I doubt Gerald Ford would have let someone like Karl Rove run his campaign, much less let him in the White House.
Do you think that Ford would have let our soldiers' lives be wasted for no meaning in some distant God-forsaken land, out of political stubbornness? No: unlike some Presidents, Gerald Ford actually saw combat. He knew the full value of human life, because he'd seen how fragile it really is.
Ford loved his wife. He would never betray his faithfulness to her. Four short presidencies later we had to watch a far lesser man abuse the office to satiate his lust.
I see Hillary and McCain and Edwards and the rest... and I can only shake my head in disbelief at what our country has come to, if these are the finest candidates for President in 2008. Like I said, nobody should want to be President. Well, all of these people do want it. One of them is going to get it, because our entire system of two-party domination and their media cronies and big corporatism has darn well guaranteed that ONLY those "picked to win" will get the office. We have come to have a political feudal system, where only a certain "elite" are allowed to be elected to higher office in this land. Nobody who wants to actually serve with an honest heart is allowed in the game. It's been that way for some time... and unfortunately it looks like things are going to have to go from bad to worst before that ever changes.
We don't have anyone of Gerald Ford's caliber on the political scene anymore, at least so far as President goes. And I wonder if it's possible that we ever will see someone like him again.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Excellent upconverting DVD player for your HDTV
About a month ago I wrote here about how I was looking for a new DVD player with "upconversion" capability to complement our new 37" LCD high-definition TV set. Well, I wound up with one for Christmas from my parents and to say that I'm impressed would be an understatement...
The Philips DVP 5960 DVD player. I was expecting some marked improvement in picture quality over the regular DVD player we've had for a few years, that was hooked-up to the HDTV set with component cables. Instead I was flat-out stunned. Sending its input to the set via HDMI, visual quality is amazing! Earlier today we watched Cars on it and you wouldn't believe how shiny and life-like Lightning McQueen's hood looked: almost as if you could reach out and touch it. I've tried this player with a few movies like Revenge of the Sith, King Kong and Batman Begins and the difference between the Philips upconverting player and standard DVD was like between night and day. I was really impressed with how The Matrix looked: easily the best I've ever seen in a home environment. We are talking getting a darned-near high-def image out of standard DVDs... and at 1080i too!
But that's not all folks: the Philips DVP 5960 also plays DivX AVI files from your computer. Just burn them to a CD-ROM or a blank DVD disc and insert it into the player. I watched some of the Doctor Who and Lost episodes that I've been downloading from file torrent and although the image quality is not as good as DVD, I'd say it's still excellent enough.
And that's still not all! This player also has a USB 1.1 port that can play videos from portable flash drives or from an external hard drive. It also plays MP3s and can display JPEG images with excellent quality.
It's going to be quite a long time before we - and probably any of us for that matter - commit to a high-definition DVD player. It's still way too early to see whether HD-DVD or Blu-Ray is going to come out on top. Plus, factor in that the high-definition discs are becoming notorious for how easily they are damaged, and the general lack of titles in either format. But if you want to get the absolute most out of your HDTV set and from your existing DVD library, check out the Philips DVP 5960. This one was going for about eighty bucks at Best Buy the other week. Heck, you'll probably spend more on that darned-falootin' high-dollar HDMI cable than you will for the player itself (not to mention an HDMI switch box if you don't want to bother with plugging in a different cable every time you want to watch TV or DVD). Highly recommended for HDTV owners.
Latest rush: MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE, CALL OF DUTY and THE GODFATHER on Xbox
This year's prize for Most Uber-Neato Christmas Gift has got to be what "Weird" Ed got from his lovely bride Olivia this first holiday season with them as a married couple: an old-school Nintendo Entertainment System, complete with light gun and 20 games! Can't begin to say how envious I am of the guy. I wound up giving my NES to a little cousin about twelve years ago along with most of the games. Which I'm glad he got to enjoy it but over the years, some of those games have become real classics, y'know?
Yeah, we're now in "the seventh generation" or whatever of videogames and that's supposed to mean that we are now meant to be playing only on Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s and Wiis... but a videogame system is never obsolete so long as there are people who love to play games on them. Heck, there are still plenty of people around who get their kicks out of playing on the Atari 2600 VCS, and that system is almost thirty years old! I know a few folks who keep their Super Nintendo Systems around to play Super Mario World (a game which took me over three years to beat on the Gameboy Advance, by the way).
Well, Lisa and I got an Xbox two years ago, and the only reason I can see for us "upgrading" to an Xbox 360 anytime soon is when Halo 3 comes out next year. We're still getting a lot of mileage out of the Xbox and even the Gamecube that we got for Christmas our first year of marriage. Thank goodness than when we get a Wii eventually that all the Gamecube games will play on that. I wish the Xbox 360 was as backward compatible. But we aren't looking to stop using the Xbox anytime soon. One good reason is that the Xbox 360 has yet to have any games like Karaoke Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution for it. Either made for the system or with a "software profile" made for them for backward compatibility. And those get more play in this house than anything else.
Well, for Christmas I got Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4 for Lisa. And I wound up with a few games that I'm only now really getting into 'cuz of how sick I've been this past week. But now I'm finding it very hard to put them down, for various reasons...
Mom got me Call of Duty: Finest Hour 'cuz we were in Best Buy the week before Christmas and she was complaining that I hadn't put anything on my "Christmas list" this year... which is 'cuz I've been too busy running for office and other stuff. I spotted Call of Duty: Finest Hour and told her she could get me this. World War II first-person shooter is a new genre to me, even though it's been out for awhile (unless you count Wolfenstein 3-D from back in the day). I like this game a lot... but it's VERY hard! I'm still stuck in the first few levels playing a Russian soldier. I've heard the most recent installment in this series, Call of Duty 3, is supposed to be really good.
Lisa surprised me with The Godfather: The Game, which she remembered my being interested in getting way back months ago but I got so wrapped up in things, I'd forgotten that I really wanted this game. Now I've got it... and I feel like I'm getting way too drawn into this game. It tracks the plot of the movies very well, giving you something of a "parallel" storyline taking place alongside the first two movies. It's incredibly detailed and engaging: so much so that I wound up buying the strategy guide for this game, because otherwise I really might get lost. So much illegal activity you can do in The Godfather: The Game like protection rackets, prostitution and assassination. Stuff that caters to the dark creature lurking in the back of everyone's id. I'm a huge fan of the movies and will admit to sometimes having fantasies of living the Corleone lifestyle... now I get that chance :-)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance was one game that I'd asked for but didn't get, so I went out and bought it at the nearby Wal-Mart the next day. I've been wanting to play this game for a few months now, and it has not disappointed! It's an action role-playing game where you assemble a team of four Marvel Comics character from a huge roster of heroes, fighting to stop this mad plot for world domination by longtime Marvel baddie Doctor Doom. You start off with Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor and Wolverine, but it's not long before you can mix up your team with other characters like Iron Man, Elektra and Deadpool... or even field entire established teams like the Fantastic Four. VERY awesome graphics and gripping gameplay. Definitely something to recommend for whatever system you may have.
So that's how I'm spending my leisure time lately: fighting the Nazis, being a soldier for the Cosa Nostra, and saving the world from the Masters of Evil. Who could ask for anything more? :-)
Happy New Year 2007
No, I will not be eating black-eyed peas and collared greens for dinner tonight. That trick never works anyway...
But Happy New Year to you and yours :-)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
2006: What a wild year
A year ago today, I said in my retrospective of 2005 that that year had "went all over the map, and sometimes drove straight off of it." If that's the case, then 2006 not only went off the map, it mutilated it before burning what was left.
I've been looking over all the posts made during this past year and it's really something: you can actually see me changing as a person, almost right before your very eyes, across this past year. A lot of things that I wrote a year ago, I doubt if I would have written those things today. But they're going to stay up: I don't believe in tailoring the past to accommodate convenience in the present. Whatever flaws I've revealed in myself as a person with this blog are staying put... because I've enough confidence that God is going to let me surpass them.
Speaking of which, I think the biggest thing I learned this past year is to put my faith in God as much as I can, and to trust where He's leading... because what He has in store for us is always a lot better and more interesting than anything we could do on our own.
I didn't write about this at the time but I will now: toward the end of this past January, I lost a job that I was really enjoying. I still don't understand fully why that happened.
And it did devastate me for awhile... but only for awhile. I let it bring me down only so much and then I said "okay, God, where do You want me? I leave it all up to You. I'm tired of leaning on my own understanding anymore. From now on You put me where You want me to be according to Your will, not my own."
Well, what happened after that, I can only call a miracle. I got a better job, one that I enjoy even more than I did the last one. We were able to move to a better place. A lot of good things started happening. And then like a bolt out of the blue, without me ever intending to do it at all, I wound up running for school board... and did amazingly well when the votes came in, all things considered.
I started 2006 with some hope and optimism. That was wrong. I was putting too much faith in myself. And God brought me down for it in short order. But when I started putting my faith in Him, He began doing amazing things.
So I'm not going to make any boasts about this coming year. Except that I do want to rely on God's will and His grace more than I ever have before in my life.
What else can be said of 2006? Lisa and I made some great new friendships (we are really looking forward to visiting Jenna Olwin sometime this coming year 'cuz she has become not just a terrific friend but an amazing sister in the Lord). We re-kindled some old ones. We traveled a bit... and speaking of which, in 2006 I finally got to do something that I'd wanted to do for almost fifteen years. I made a short film that a lot of people seem to have thought was funny. Then I went completely over the top and made a schoolhouse explode in one of my campaign ads. We got to see some friends get married. On at least one occasion I looked into the face of pure evil. I saw a lot of movies and reviewed them here: some good and some outright stinkers.
Whichever way you cut it, this past year was a little bit of everything.
And I'm trying hard not to look forward to 2007. Just want to accept whatever God brings in His time. I've no doubt that it will be something wonderful.
Here's to hoping and praying that we all have a Happy New Year in 2007 :-)
ROCKY BALBOA review
This was the perfect movie to go out of 2006 with.
I haven't felt this good coming out of a movie in, Lord only knows how long.
No film in recent memory had me coming out of the theater feeling so upbeat and hopeful and affirmed with life as Rocky Balboa has. I saw it yesterday afternoon at the Grande in Greensboro and... it's just resonating with me on so many levels. It'll probably be days before I can really feel like I've completely taken it in.
I'm glad that Rocky V was made now. There were some things that I liked about that movie but it had problems: too many to justify it being the final chapter of the Rocky saga. Sixteen years later there is at last a sense of proper closure for this story. If there had been no Rocky V, there would have probably been no Rocky Balboa to go out on such a high note.
You are no doubt reading in a lot of other places that Rocky Balboa is a terrific "bookend" to the tale of Rocky Balboa, complementing the original Rocky from 1976. That is a great description of this movie. In fact, I would recommend watching Rocky before going in to see Rocky Balboa. You don't need to see any of the sequels (except maybe Rocky II). You just really need to know how Rocky got started, to appreciate all the little nuances to be found in this last round of the Italian Stallion's career. For instance, Rocky still has the two pet turtles that he had in the original movie thirty years ago. All the familiar places, like Rocky's old apartment and the meat-packing plant, are still there... though time has obviously taken its toll, as Rocky laments to Paulie while looking at the fading sign on Mickey's gym.
After the Rocky fanfare opens the movie (once again composed by original Rocky composer Bill Conti) we get introduced to Mason "The Line" Dixon (played by real-life boxer Antonio Tarver). As the Rocky movies have famously done before, some parallels to what's going on in the real world are introduced. In this case, Dixon could be a metaphor for what has become of professional boxing. He's beating all of his contenders way too easy. As a result, pay-per-view outlets like HBO are getting tired of carrying his fights. They finally quit televising him altogether, because the field of challengers has become too stagnant. Dixon feels the need to be tested in a real fight: not just to justify his vast earnings but to feel like a worthy opponent in his own right. But no one is to be found...
Meanwhile, we find out what's become of Rocky (Sylvester Stallone). The Italian Stallion is pushing 60, and his life is now bereft of the two things that most defined him: boxing, and Adrian. His beloved wife died three years earlier and he just can't let go of her. But he makes do as best as he can, occupying his time with running his restaurant – which he named Adrian's – and sharing stories about his days of boxing Clubber Lang and the other contenders. Rocky also has a relationship – albeit somewhat strained – with his son Robert (Milo Ventimiglia), who feels that he'll never escape from his father's shadow. And as always, Rocky has brother-in-law and best friend Paulie, as Burt Young returns to the role that it just wouldn't be a Rocky movie without.
Two boxers: one at the top of his game but with nothing to satiate his hunger to prove himself, the other past his prime... but feeling something within – Rocky calls it "the beast" – that won't leave him alone. Then one night, ESPN does a computer simulation – or as Paulie puts it "the fake Looney Tunes fight" – between past and present boxers: in this case, Rocky and Dixon. The computer has Rocky beating Dixon. And almost immediately, the catalyst is at work that will drive these two toward confrontation. Rumors start flying and tongues begin wagging across the boxing world. That Rocky applies for his boxing license does nothing to stem the avalanche of interest in a real Rocky/Dixon bout.
Rocky Balboa makes us realize once again just what makes the character of Rocky so special: that he's a good-hearted guy who cares about other people. That hasn't changed in spite of what the years have done to the guy. At their best, the Rocky movies make us care more about the characters than we care about the inevitable boxing match. For me, one of the most delightful things to see happen to Rocky in Rocky Balboa is the friendship – and maybe becoming something more – that he strikes up with Marie (Geraldine Hughes). Rocky becomes something of a "big brother" to Marie's son Steps (James Francis Kelly III). We see Rocky get a dog from the pound. I like to think that through all of this, we see Rocky start building up a family once again...
And that's part of the heartmeat of what Rocky Balboa is. This isn't a movie about getting older and facing one's mortality, no matter what the press and hype might say. This is a movie about meeting life, however it is that you find life or where it is along its path that you are, and making the most of it. I have to wonder if Rocky even really thinks of his returning to the ring as a matter of age: this is something he has to do. And whatever good might be at the end of his quest, he wants to share with the people closest to him. That's a heckuva great outlook on life no matter how young or old you are. Personally, along with his original portrayal of the role in Rocky, I think this may be Sylvester Stallone's finest performance ever. It would be great to see him get some Oscar nods for this.
Mason "The Line" Dixon is the most believable opponent that Rocky has had since Apollo Creed in the first two chapters of the saga. Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago were for the most part cartoon characters... but given how those two were definitely products of the Eighties – a time when EVERYONE was a cartoon character – that's pretty apropos in retrospect. I really liked how Antonio Tarver handled the role.
Burt Young as Paulie: he made me smile every time he was on screen. Paulie was always one of my favorite characters in the Rocky movies. I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw him wearing the GoldenPalace.com hat to the match: that's just like Paulie, to probably sell ad space on his head for ten grand.
The fight cinematography in Rocky Balboa might be the best of the entire series. A lot of techniques that weren't available at the time of the earlier chapters are used here, including some great use of color-pass. I had thought for awhile that maybe for consistency's sake that some of the same style of cinematography that was used in the first Rocky movies would be used here, but that is not the case: this is a Rocky movie for the 21st Century, and that's a good thing.
So many good quotes coming out of Rocky Balboa. Like Rocky's speech about "the beast" within and how it needs a release, and his impassioned speech before the boxing commission as he's trying to secure his boxing license again. That great delivery by Rocky's trainer Duke (a very welcome return by Tony Burton, who along with Stallone and Young is the only actor to appear in all six Rocky movies) about how Rocky is going to have to compensate for his age by delivering "blunt force trauma... let's start building some hurtin' bombs!"
But the best line of the whole darn thing, that might not only capture the essence of Rocky Balboa but the entire Rocky series, is this from Rocky to his son:
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean, and nasty place an' no matter how tough you think you are, it'll always beat you if you let it. It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! If you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits and not pointin' fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that, and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!"I don't know what else to say on top of that. Like I said earlier, this movie is going to be something that I'm going to be working my mind around for the next few days. Good movies should do that: they're supposed to make you laugh and cry and think a little. Rocky Balboa did all of those things, and more.
This may have been the best movie that I saw in all of 2006. And I can't wait to see it at least once more in theaters.
Congratulations Ashley and Brent!
Good friend from college Ashley Trent got married to... some guy named Brent two weeks ago. On a cruise ship no less! Here's a pic of the beautiful couple. Congratulations to the newlyweds and may God shower all His blessings upon them :-)
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Christmas 2006 after-action report
Lisa and I spent last Friday evening at my parents' place having some Christmas (dining together, exchanging gifts etc.) with them and my sister. We then went home and about 10:30, we drove off into the dark knight for Lisa's parents' home in Georgia. It was about 4:30 a.m. that Atlanta shined bright in front of us, aglow with night lights and Christmas cheer. Another hour after that and we got to her folks' place and promptly turned in for a few hours' sleep...
...'cept I came down with the most horrid case of strep throat that I've had in a very long time! And I had the worst of it the next few days: out of Christmas day itself, I only really remember an hour or so of it. The rest of the time I was in bed burning with fever. It was only the following day that I felt well enough to get up and get out some.
So, not the best of Christmases this year. But I guess I should be thankful: Lord knows that it could have been worse. I'm glad that I was able to share what I was able to enjoy of it with my family... and I'm thankful that they took care of me.
Being sick didn't mean that Santa was afraid to come by. It was a pretty nice haul this year...
Here's the bulk of the stuff that Lisa and I got. She got a bunch of CDs (including the new one from Taylor Hicks and the soundtrack for Wicked), a scrapbooking set, the most recent edition of Dance Dance Revolution for Xbox and the DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. On the DVD front I got Lost Season 2, King Kong Extended Edition and from my in-laws, The Princess Bride: a movie that I had never seen until five years ago and kicked myself for not having seen it earlier and have wanted to get a copy for awhile but never have... now I got one. In the pic you can also see the martini set that Lisa got me that I already mentioned getting. For Xbox I got Call of Duty and The Godfather, which was a surprise gift from Lisa and I think I'm going to get addicted to this one in the worst way. There's also the requisite Star Wars gifts (some Chocolate Mpire Christmas tree ornaments including C-3PO and R2-D2). There's also a new DVD player which I'm going to be writing about more later on, that has upconversion for high-def TVs.
But this, hands-down, is my favorite Christmas gift for 2006:
Last Friday night at my parents' place I got a gift-wrapped box from Dad. When it was opened had a lot of styrofoam packing chips, a card, and this. The card had some money in it but this was the real prize. See this old hammer? This belonged to my grandfather. I never knew either of my granddads: they both died before my time and Dad's dad passed away a year and a half before I was born. This is something of his, that is now mine. I can't begin to describe the sense of connection this thing has come to represent. I'm thinking of putting it in a shadow box to mount on the wall.
And, that was basically Christmas 2006. There would have been a lot more to report about it, had I actually been conscious enough to experience it. Maybe there'll be a more thorough write-up for Christmas 2007 :-)
Friday, December 29, 2006
Gallows humor
Sometime in the next hour and a half, Saddam Hussein is going to be executed by hanging. I know: the death of any person - even one who's done as much wickedness as Saddam - should be a sober event. But in this case I just couldn't resist...
UPDATE 5:12 AM 12-30-2006: I woke up a little bit ago and found that the big news is that Saddam has indeed "danced the Tyburn jig". Here's a pic of the noose going around the former dictator's neck. No doubt we'll be seeing footage of the entire thing on YouTube before the day is out."25 Minutes To Go" Well they're building a gallows outside my cell I've got 25 minutes to go(written and sung by Johnny Cash)
And the whole town's waitin' just to hear me yell I've got 24 minutes to go
Well they gave me some beans for my last meal I've got 23 minutes to go
But nobody asked me how I feel I've got 22 minutes to go
Well I sent for the governor and the whole dern bunch with 21 minutes to go
And I sent for the mayor but he's out to lunch I've got 20 more minutes to go
Then the sheriff said boy I gonna watch you die got 19 minutes to go
So I laughed in his face and I spit in his eye got 18 minutes to go
Now hear comes the preacher for to save my soul with 13 minutes to go
And he's talking bout' burnin' but I'm so cold I've 12 more minutes to go
Now they're testin' the trap and it chills my spine 11 more minutes to go
And the trap and the rope aw they work just fine got 10 more minutes to go
Well I'm waitin' on the pardon that'll set me free with 9 more minutes to go
But this is for real so forget about me got 8 more minutes to go
With my feet on the trap and my head on the noose got 5 more minutes to go
Won't somebody come and cut me loose with 4 more minutes to go
I can see the mountains I can see the skies with 3 more minutes to go
And it's to dern pretty for a man that don't wanna die 2 more minutes to go
I can see the buzzards I can hear the crows 1 more minute to go
And now I'm swingin' and here I go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
EDIT 2:36 AM 12-31-2006: I'm only posting this 'cuz it's gotten everywhere already anyway: the cellphone-recorded video of Saddam making "the long drop".
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Gerald Ford 1913-2006
We heard the news early yesterday morning but I'm just now able to note here that in addition to James Brown, we've now also lost Gerald Ford: 38th President of the United States. Who was a lot of other things too, but to me especially Ford will always be remembered as the first (and so far only) Eagle Scout to become President.
And without naming any particulars, I'll also add that Gerald Ford was one of the darned few Presidents we've had in the past fifty years who merited respect for the solemnity and virtue that they brought to the office. I don't know if we'll ever see anyone of Ford's nobleness return to the White House anytime soon.
Well, I don't know what else can be said, except that a great man has left us. And I thought that it was worth honoring his memory by making a post about it here.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
James Brown 1933-2006
Usually, I wouldn't post something during my Christmas "sabbatical". But hey, James Brown was the man! He made some mistakes in his life (and went to prison a few times for them) but through and through, he was a true son of the South and one of the rare that it could be truly said "he was one of a kind".
He died early on Christmas morning. I know of no better way to pay tribute to his memory than this video of what is his all-time signature song:
UPDATE 7:20 A.M. EST: While we're talking tributes to James Brown, here's what Eddie Murphy did to honor the Godfather of Soul back in the day. "Hot Tub!"
Friday, December 22, 2006
Have a very Merry Christmas
As has become the usual custom, I'm going to step away from the blog for the next few days to celebrate Christmas with family and friends.
Originally published in The Pendulum, Elon University, 12/03/1998
This has been a pretty wild past several months, between running for school board and a few other things. I haven't really afforded myself a chance to stop and breathe in all that time. For the next several days, I'm going to treat myself to that, and take the time to contemplate on and admire how far God brought us this past year... and how far He might still take us yet in 2007.
So until the next time that I post here, here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas... and a Happy Hannukah to our Jewish brethren.
I'll close this post with what has become an annual tradition for me to do. Eight years ago when I was in college, for the last edition that our student newspaper ran before the holidays, I wrote an op-ed piece about Christmas. It seemed to have been a big hit among the folks at Elon, considering how many people told me they liked it and that they just knew what Atari game I was talking about 'cuz they had little brothers or sisters who had done the same thing to them with that, too. Over the years, this really has become one of my favorite things that I've ever written. So here it is again...
Originally published in The Pendulum, Elon University, 12/03/1998
Celebrating the Christmas season means celebrating the memories
Chris Knight
Columnist
Some of the best memories that we take through life are about the times we cherish the most. And sometimes, it doesn’t take much to bring back the joy. Arf arf arf, Ahh... you know how it goes. Dedicated to the memory of W.C. “Mutt” Burton, for whom Christmas was always “In My Bones.”
Last Friday as I was driving around Greensboro, the all-time coolest Christmas song ever came over the speakers.
Who knows what this genius recording artist’s name is? Does it really matter? Whoever he is, he’ll forever be remembered as giving us the immortal sound of “Dogs Singing Jingle Bells”:
Arf arf arf,
Arf Arf Whoof Whoof Whuf…
And there’s the ever-beuh-beuh-beauh-beautiful rendition of Porky Pig singing “Blue Christmas” and the Chipmunks and of course “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Christmas at Ground Zero,” but hearing those dogs singing “Jingle Bells...” ahhhhh.
It brought me back to the very first time I heard that: on the radio coming back from school just before Christmas in 1982. I was in third grade at the time. And it brought back memories of the Christmas we had.
It was cold and very cloudy. I remember that because Santa had brought me a telescope and I didn’t get to use it that night. Which wasn’t too big a worry, ‘cause me and my sister had our brand-new Atari 2600 to play with!
Another Christmas memory: To this day, I’ll never forgive Anita for the pounding she gave me in “Combat.” I don’t care how fancy Sega or the Playstation get... they’ll never touch the 4-bit pleasures of the Atari!
There have been many a Christmas since then, and I remember each one well, for all the little things they had with them.
I’ll never forget Mom and Dad taking me and my sister to see Santa Claus at the mall in ‘84. That morning Dad asked if I’d come with him to cut firewood, so we rode the tractor into the woods. There had been snow earlier in the week, which lay around us in the crisp, cold morning.
Dad also brought his 30-30 rifle, why I still don’t know. After we had the wood loaded, Dad asked if I wanted to try shootin’ the gun.
There I was, a ten-year old kid, holding what looked like an anti-aircraft cannon in my tiny hands. Well, I aimed at this tree like Dad told me to, and pulled the trigger.
To this day I cannot describe the colors that flashed before my eyes, or the sound in my ears. When my existence finally returned, I was flat on my back in the snow, and blood was gushing from between my eyes where the scope had hit my nose from the backfire.
That night Santa saw the bandages and said “Ho ho hoooo, and what happened to you, little fellow?”
“I got shot, Santa,” was the only thing I knew to say.
Hey, was I gonna lie to the Big Man? Uh-uh, no way was I gonna lose all that loot!
The following year’s Christmas I remember for many things, but especially feeding the young calves on our farm. It would be the last year our family would be running a dairy farm, and I had started helping with some of the work around the barn.
Dad set up a Christmas tree in the milking room, with wrapped-up boxes beneath it.
Tinsel hung from the front doors of the barn. And there was something about the feel of the place there, that has always held a special place in my heart, as if we knew that there would not be another Christmas like this one.
I wish there had been another Christmas on the farm, because there’s something I wish I could have seen. And as silly as some people might find this, I really believe that it happens.
You see, if you go out at midnight on Christmas Eve, you will see all the animals in the farmyard, and in the fields, and in the forests, and wherever else they may be, stop where they are.
And then they kneel.
They kneel in remembrance for another night, long ago. It was Christmas, but how many people could know it then?
Nothing remarkable, to be sure: Caesar had decreed a census through the land, and each man went with his family to his town.
One man in particular took his wife, a young woman quick with child. But there was no room for them at the inn. So that night, in a dirty and filthy stable and surrounded by animals, a child was born.
You see, it’s easy for us to forget. At this time of the year, we are too overwhelmed by the consumption and the material and the glitter /and all the customs that come with Christmas.
And it’s too easy for us to forget that Christmas is, before everything else, a birthday.
But the animals, who watched over Him as He lay as a newborn babe, two millenia ago... the animals have not forgotten.
And so they kneel every Christmas and give glory to the newborn king, and in awe that God would send His Son to live among us in the greatest act of love.
And to teach us many things, but especially to “love one another”. And to bridge the gap between man and God.
The birth of Jesus Christ: the greatest Christmas present there will ever be. His birth, which would give mankind the greatest present it could ever ask for.
Who in the world on that night could know the price that this present would someday have?
Heaven and Earth sang praises to His glory on that night. The animals have always remembered that night. And Heaven and Earth still praise and sing unto Him.
And if you only take a little time out from how busy things become at this part of the year, you can hear the singing, too. And it is a great temptation to join in that chorus.
And perhaps in hearing, we will not forget the real meaning of Christmas, either.
This Christmas Eve night I plan to be outside, with the same telescope that I got for Christmas all those years ago, and trying to envision a bright star over Bethlehem. Around midnight, I’m going to take a walk over to my aunt’s farm.
Merry Christmas. Peace on Earth, and goodwill toward men.
