Chris watches THE ARTIST and loses his mind over its beauty and brilliance!

The Artist is the best picture that came out in 2011. Nothing else comes close. I found myself thinking that yesterday as we were watching it (at the Carousel Grande Cinema 15 in Greensboro) and the more and more that I've thought about it since the more resolute I am in that belief.They just don't make movies like this anymore, folks. And I do not mean anything about...

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America: Welcome to the urinocracy

I am officially coining a new word: "urinocracy".It's the best term that I can come up with to describe what this country has become, after observing what is going on with the Republican primaries this election season. Then it occurred to me that this really is what the United States has devolved into.What is a "urinocracy"?Urinocracy (noun): Government of, by, for and determined by adults who engage in pissing matches with each other.Seriously:...

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For those enduring hardship...

Today's trial is tomorrow's testimo...

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It's dogs barking "Imperial March" from the Star Wars movies!!

This is a "teaser" for Volkswagen's commercial during this year's Super Bowl. Yes, Super Bowl commercials now have teasers for them. And even so this is already the greatest Super Bowl commercial in the history of anything...

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Movies from alternate realities

Imagine if, five decades before James Cameron set to work on it, it had been Howard Hawks instead who gave us Avatar... starring William Shatner, Natalie Wood, John Wayne, Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner?It would probably look just like the poster on the right. And that's just one of the many very kewl "what-if?" scenarios that artist Peter Stults has come up with in "Movies...

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iPad fun with Zoe and Wally (AKA the girlfriend's cats)

This evening Kristen and I were hanging out in one room of her apartment when we heard her cats Zoe and Wally meowing outside the door. I had an idea so I grabbed my iPad, turned on the camera and slid it partly outside under the door. The results? Hilarit...

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Happy 40th anniversary to SANFORD AND SON!

It was forty years ago today, on January 14th 1972, that Sanford and Son starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson, premiered. In the four decades since then Sanford and Son has come to be regarded as one of the funniest - and finest - television series ever.You know you want it: here's the classic opening titles, with that theme composed by Quincy Jones...But why stop there? YouTube is hosting full episodes of Sanford and Son so if you've never seen...

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Tired of negative political ads? So am I (and I'm gonna do something about it...)

Four years ago I made a solemn vow to myself, and I have kept to it. Not only that but my conscience has rested much better because of it...I pledged to not vote for any candidate for public office who runs even a single negative campaign ad against an opponent.I'm telling y'all right now that the ballot I cast in 2008 had a lot of wide open empty spaces. But the candidates...

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Review of STAR WARS: DARTH PLAGUEIS: Luceno's latest well worth seven year wait!

"Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even stop the ones he cared about from dying."-- Supreme Chancellor Palpatine,talking to Anakin...

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Obama's recess appointments: I smell hypocrisy

So it's coming out that a bunch of Republicans, including senators Orrin Hatch and Mitch McConnell, are expressing concern about President Obama making recess appointments when the Senate was not in session. Former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese is saying that Obama is committing "a breathtaking violation of the separation of powers."Oh please...The Justice Department headed by Eric Holder is defending the appointments as legal. Y'know, just like...

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The end of general-purpose computing?

It's a bit of a long read, but Corey Doctorow has published an exceptionally well-written piece at Boing Boing about the direction that general-purpose computers are going in regard to SOPA (the "Stop Online Piracy Act") and other dubious legislation. Doctorow recounts the history of digital rights management measures, how they have all ultimately failed and will continue to fail, and how it is driving information as we know and enjoy it to become...

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Dude's BRILLIANT poem about why following Christ means rejecting religion

Wow.Just... wow."So for religion, I hate it. In fact I literally resent it. Because when Jesus said 'It is finished', I believe He meant it."I can think of any number of people who I would love to tie down and make them watch this video. This dude, well... he gets what it means to follow Christ.Legalists, don't watch this if you hate squirmi...

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I need to laugh. Heck, we ALL need to laugh...

Trying to move forward on some things, after the events of the past few weeks. Our family is still dealing with Mom's passing, and all of the matters pertaining to that.I'm gonna try to resume blogging in earnest during the next few days, 'cuz a lot of y'all have been sending some really nice compliments and condolences, and apparently this lil' site is a pleasurable pastime for more people than I had realized. That means more than I can possibly...

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Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey: Where to buy it!!

This has been one of the crazier past few days in this blog's history. Ever since Discovery Channel aired the final episode of its hit series Moonshiners a few nights ago the traffic to The Knight Shift has been ginormous! Seems that all the writing I've been doing over the years about Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton has put me on the radar of likker lovers across the Intertubes....

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Separated at birth?

Something I noticed a short while ago...On the left is Paul Krugman, columnist for The New York Times. On the right is The Most Interesting Man in the World, spokesman for Dos Equis be...

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Watch MOONSHINERS on Discovery Channel tonight! So sayeth Popcorn Sutton's widow!

Recent events in my personal life have kept me from watching Discovery Channel's new hit series Moonshiners, but many have told me that it's a most excellent reality series about those free souls who make likker in true Appalachian style!I shall however be tuned in tonight (as well as having my DVR set to record) as I have just received word straight from Pam Sutton, the lovely and vivacious widow of moonshining legend Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton, that...

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We can go no further on this side of Jordan...

The array of flowers that were placed atop Mom's casket. The two pink ones are meant to represent her two children...The teddy bear that my sister Anita placed inside Mom's casket on the morning of the funeral. I enclosed a letter: the last piece of writing that I ever did for my mother.The casket at the graveside, immediately following the service... The final resting place...

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