Mood...
Oh and my mood is decidedly improved. It's amazing what having your kids go to bed on time, happily and 90 minutes of playing Burnout: Revenge followed by a decent night's sleep will do for you. My batteries aren't fully recharged, but I want to finish Chapter 8 of my novel and add to Stranded by Friday.  ¶
12:54 PM 0 pithy comments

  It Could Be Worse...
Okay watch the video from the same people that brought you the de-motivational posters then come back.

Oh, to watch the video, click on the title.

The one at the top of this post.

I'm reasonbly certain that no company in their right mind would do anything like that, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me. After all, Scott Adams' comic strip resonates with people because some of that crap hits pretty close to home. Have any of you seen any corporate behavior like this?  ¶
12:44 PM 0 pithy comments

  Take This With a Grain of Salt...

Your Social Dysfunction: Happy You're a happy person - you have a good amount of self-esteem, and are socially healthy. While this isn't a social dysfunction per se, you're definitely not normal. Consider yourself lucky: you walk that fine line between 'normal' and being outright narcissistic. You're rare - which is something else to be happy about.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com Please note that we aren't, nor do we claim to be, psychologists. This quiz is for fun and entertainment only. Try not to freak out about your results.

  ¶
10:21 AM 0 pithy comments

  Yummmmmmm!!!!
Meat!!!


Weiners!!!


From a site featuring illustrations from the mid-50's. Cah-razy.  ¶
5:03 PM 1 pithy comments

  Speaking of Joy...
doesn't the opening to Panama just rock your damn socks off?  ¶
12:01 PM 2 pithy comments

  Joy vs. Duty pt. Deux
Rt. Click/Save As

Do yourself a flavor and give this a spin. The first few minutes can be skipped (the actual sermon begins at 26:00 on the dot). Hunter is awesome and this message is one I need to hear weekly.  ¶
11:17 AM 0 pithy comments

  It's a Big Ad...
And pretty funny/cool too.  ¶
4:57 PM 0 pithy comments

  Ogling Through Google...
Click the title to read an article I wrote on Google's refusal to bow to Uncle Sam.  ¶
4:43 PM 2 pithy comments

  Know Me in 2006...
I got this from Jay in an email. I have a policy about email forwards (I generally don't), but I like some of the questions so I will post the most relevant ones here and answer them

1. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
King Kong

2. What is your favorite TV show?
Good Eats

3. What is your favorite cuisine?
Earth-food.

4. What foods do you dislike?
Innards.

5. What is your favorite Potato chip?
Salt n Vinegar

6. What is your favorite sandwich?
Muffaletta.

7. Where were you born?
Champaign, IL

8. Coke or Pepsi?
Either in their vanilla incarnation.

9. Do you have pets?
Two dogs (Zach and Sheila), one cat (Mr. Bean, a female).

10. Favorite candy bar?
Marathon.

11. Piercings?
One in right ear

12. Favorite ice cream?
Ben & Jerry's Half Baked

13. Disney or Warner Brothers?
Warner

14. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Taco Bell

Thrilling? No, but certainly less melodramatic than my last post.  ¶
4:31 PM 11 pithy comments

  Don't Be a Phony...
Listened today to a sermon I'd missed (Right-click/Save As) on Ananias and Sapphira. Hunter boiled it down to "Don't be a phony about your faith." (Okay that's me boiling down what is actually a rather good sermon to seven words.)

Right now I feel like a big phony. I don't have much faith in anything especially not a God that won't answer a simple prayer to get enough sleep with a resounding "Yes!".

I skipped small group last night, because frankly my heart wasn't in it. Alec (our leader and a pretty good man, even if he is too blunt) called me when Leigh showed up alone and said that because I didn't show "Satan won." Go Satan! I had a good time watching Cursed (a rather bad werewolf movie graced by Christina Ricci) and the first part of what ended up being a bad football game.

I want what faith I have to be real even when it's at a low ebb. Thus I vomit up my issues here (making sure to have talked to someone about it irl first). Should any of you think that my walk is perfect or even near good or that I'm some sort of biblical scholar (not sure why you'd think that based solely on what gets placed in this virtual diary-uh) let me disabuse you of that notion.

I'm a man, pure and simple. I'm moody, occasionally ill tempered, a champ at jumping to conclusions and judging others. I yell at my kids and my wife. I ignore my friends and get mad when I don't hear from them for weeks. I have a lazy streak a mile wide and a jealous bone you wouldn't believe.

I hope desperately (and I'd say pray fervently but I'm no "prayer warrior") that there's a god out there for people like me. But I suppose that if what the atheists say is true then it doesn't really matter. Either way I'm broke down at the side of the road. I'm waiting in the ditch. I either need a tow truck or the will to get of my ass and hitch into town.  ¶
2:36 PM 6 pithy comments

  Joy vs. Duty
Hunter (our pastor) gave a great sermon at a sister church we visited. It was on Joy vs. Duty. His primary scripture was Heb. 12:1-2.

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Christ did what he did because of the joy he had, not out of a sense of duty.

Hunter gave an example of a recent trip he took to Biloxi. He had preached in early December that parents should take the money that they were planning on spending on gifts and instead spend it on gas to drive down to the Katrina zone and help out where needed. While I don't think he was being entirely serious, he wasn't really kidding either. He said that God convicted him to put his money where his mouth was and so he drove down with a group from our church on the 26th and stayed a week. While he was there something happened that revealed to him that he was there out of a sense of duty.

They had inadvertently parked in a woman's yard while going to work on a family's house that had lost everything. She came out screaming about how they were parked in her yard and didn't they have respect for someone's property and on and on. She was just livid apparently. Hunter's response to this woman was "Don't you know why we're here? Don't you know what we sacrificed to be here to help people out?". In short, all about wanting to be recognized for fulfilling his duty. The man who's house they were working on tried to comfort her and she yelled at him, "Did you lose everything? Do you know what I'm going through?" His response, "Yes and that's why I want to help you.". Yet still he had joy and wanted to share that.

The second illustration he gave was the story of the Good Samaritan. To often, he said, it gets preached as a duty sermon. This godless Samaritan reached out to the man in the ditch, when's the last time you did the same. You need to figure out how to help others. It's your Christian duty to pick people up, dust them off, and help them be good like you.

Instead, it should be viewed as a sermon on Joy. You aren't the Samaritan, you're the man in the ditch. You've been beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Jesus is the Samaritan who has come to rescue you and take you to a place where you can be healed and loved. That should bring you joy and out of that joy should pour a desire to do the same thing.

Both joy and duty can take you to the same place (helping others/serving God) but only joy can sustain you.

Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Neh. 8:10
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Psalm 16:5-11.
LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Luke 2:10.
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."

Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Go and serve God and your neighbor, carrying with you the joy of your salvation.  ¶
11:42 AM 1 pithy comments

  UltrtaViolet...
Trailer here.

I think they dropped an N somewhere along the line.

If you liked Equilibrium then it looks like Wimmer is set to rock your world again. If you found it derivative or otherwise thought it sucked then there's no help for you (okay so it was derivative, but it didn't suck). If you haven't seen it then please do yourself a favor and rent it.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this.

Plot Summary for
Ultraviolet (2006)
Set in the late 21st century, a subculture of humans have emerged who have been modified genetically by a vampire-like disease (Hemophagia), giving them enhanced speed, incredible stamina and acute intelligence, and as they are set apart from "normal" and "healthy" humans, the world is pushed to the brink of worldwide civil war (a war between humans and hemophages) aimed at the destruction of the "diseased" population. In the middle of this crossed-fire is - an infected woman - Ultraviolet (played by Milla Jovovich), who finds herself protecting a nine-year-old boy who has been marked for death by the human government as he is believed to be a threat to humans.  ¶
9:41 AM 4 pithy comments

  King is King indeed...
The internet ate my first post so I'll make this short. Yes it's long and drags in spots, but at a hair over three hours that's okay. Yes it has homages to the original, but adds some nice things. Yes you feel the love between Ann and Kong, but not in a BBM kind of way. Yes he straps on his horror boots and totally kicks your butt, but there are also some great funny bits and drama that is VERY 1930's. Yes you should see this in theaters. Yes the end is a tear-jerker and I would have cried were my heart not as cold as the blackness of interstellar sapce. In short, yessssss.  ¶
9:35 AM 0 pithy comments

  A bit of wrandomness...
Caught up on a bit more of Firefly last night while Leigh visited with friends. This is one dang fine series and more's the pity that both it and the movie tanked. I will watch Serenity after I finish the series. There's a small hope that we'll see more of the gang but I won't hold my breath.

I tracked down an old friend from Elementary school yesterday. I really hope that we can catch up. Gerry, if you're reading this then welcome. And just in case they Google their names, I'm looking for Wesley Godfrey (sic), Curtis Fain, and Shayne Marriage all from who all went to Southside Elementary in the late 70's early 80's. I'm also still trying to track down William "Billy" H. Hatcher. My childhood was pretty fractured by moves so getting a hold of these people and making sure that they're all okay is healing to me.

Still hunting for an artist for Mudd's Tavern.

Looks like I'll finally get some vacation and paid health benefits at the job. This will be a major boon.

I think that's all for now. Peace out!  ¶
9:18 AM 3 pithy comments

  Michael Knight...
why have you forsaken us?  ¶
5:02 PM 0 pithy comments

  Five senses, five favorites...
Seeing:
1. Contrails
2. A stormy sky over the ocean
3. Falling snow
4. The earth from an airplane
5. Pictures of my children

Hearing:
1. 1812 Overture
2. "Daddy!"
3. Handel's Messiah
4. The beep my coffee maker makes when the brew's done
5. Rain on windowglass

Touching:
1. Baby/young child hair
2. Soft skin
3. Worn denim
4. Silk
5. Pages of a book

Smelling:
1. Bacon frying/coffee brewing (at the same time)
2. Clean skin
3. Fresh cut grass
4. Confedarate Jasmine
5. Gasoline

Tasting:
1. My wife's lasagna
2. Good watermelon
3. Sweeeeet tea
4. Caramel apples
5. Muscadine wine  ¶
12:29 PM 1 pithy comments

  Apparently...
I'm a homophobe.  ¶
3:56 PM 12 pithy comments

  This Just In...
My wife rocks! She bought me this:



for an early birthday present and decided that she couldn't wait six months to give it to me.  ¶
11:58 AM 4 pithy comments

  Big Momma's House II...
Okay I realize this means I'm probably bound for hell and that no one will ever take my opinions on movies seriously ever again, but I enjoyed the first one and the trailer is pretty funny.  ¶
9:04 AM 4 pithy comments

  Be Glorified...
Glorify:
Strong's Number: 1392 doca/zw
Original Word Word Origin
doca/zw from (1391)
Transliterated Word Phonetic Spelling
Doxazo dox-ad'-zo
Parts of Speech TDNT
Verb 2:253,178
Definition
to think, suppose, be of opinion
to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
to honour, do honour to, hold in honour
to make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe with splendour
to impart glory to something, render it excellent
to make renowned, render illustrious
to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged

I was reading a discussion about Brokeback Mountain and it got me to thinking. Christians often say things like, "You can't watch X (movie, TV show, video game, still life, dolphins, etc.)because it glorifies Y (sex, violence, sexy violence, violent sex, abortion, Martin Sheen, etc.)."

In the case of BBM it would be that movie "glorifying" homosexuality. I haven't seen this movie, but I know that there is a homosexual sex scene between the two male protagonists (and apparently three hetero scenes, presumably between a male protagonist and a female one though no one's talking about that). Is that portraylal glorifying anything? I think some Christians believe that "glorify" apparently just means to portray.

The above entry from a concordance gives us an idea of what the word that the Bible uses means when it comes to glorifying things (usually God, but at least in one case God glorifies those he's chosen). I don't think that you could say that a movie like Robocop "glorifies" violence or BBM glorifies homosexuality in this way. It portrays it, revels in it, sometimes rolls in it but it doesn't imo glorify it.

BBM (and again I haven't seen it but I'd like to) portrays a homosexual relationship, one where the two men presumably love one another. I don't see how that "praises" or "extols" or "does honor to" homosexuality in general any more than Willy Wonka "glorifies" chocolate. It just is. There are homosexuals. They have relationships; some get married, some break up, just like heterosexuals. There's nothing wrong with showing that in a reasonable way (and apparently the love seen is pretty chaste and...uncomfortable physically). If I'm wrong I'd be glad for any of the dozen of you that read this to tell me why.  ¶
3:01 PM 3 pithy comments

  The Gemitriculator
  ¶
3:33 PM 2 pithy comments

  New Stuff...
New entries in my fictional diary (Start from the beginnning):

Stranded Day Fifteen - Evening
Stranded Day Sixteen - Morning

Also added a drop down for my online projects (most of which are stalled).  ¶
10:35 AM 0 pithy comments

  MCFAT Vol. V
1) I’m not on DVD, and I may never be on DVD as much as you wish I was. What am I?

Thundarr the Barbarian. A feature length remake is in order.

2) It’s going to be cold and gray for some months to come. There are no good movies playing. You don’t want to venture far or spend a lot of money, but sometimes the four walls of your home conspire to drive you mad and you just need to go SOMEWHERE. What do you do?

For the afternoon, the local used bookstore. For the weekend Ashville, NC.

3) If you had to give up one of your senses, which would it be?

Probably sight, since without it I could still read though I'd have to learn braille. I couldn't do without hearing music, smelling flowers, tasting my wife's salsa, or touching my son's hair (kid hair is the best, I know that sounds weird).

4) This sitcom will NEVER be made into a major motion picture, not in a million years. Then again, it wouldn’t be that unprecedented. What’s the WORST case scenario, from sitcom choice to casting, that you could imagine?

"The Ropers" starring Steve Buscemi as Mr. Roper and Phyllis Diller as Mrs. Roper.

5) Now you’re a supervillain. Why? What has motivated you to use your powers for evil, what are your powers, and what are your methods and goals?

Actually given my dark personality as a younger man I could see me getting powers as a teen and using them to get back at all the bullies that pissed me off a la Carrie. And with that in mind TK would be my power of choice but I would use it in sneaky ways. Strictly a revenge killer at first, working my way up to a criminal killing equalizer/psychopath like Frank Castle.

6) Name one artist, in any discipline, who has affected your life in some way.

Tolkien, Lewis, and King who all inspired me to write. (Okay you did say one so I'll say Tolkien since I discovered him first.)  ¶
8:56 AM 2 pithy comments

  Changes...
I'm slowly tweaking this bad boy (instead of writing, sigh...). Anyway check out the drop downs.  ¶
5:01 PM 1 pithy comments

  American Express Meme...
My childhood ambition ... Firefighter/Cowboy/Pilot (Common to most boys I guess). The one I've come closest to is writer and I've yet to get to first base there.
My fondest memory ... My honeymoon, I looove Charleston.
My soundtrack ... Theme from the Twilight Zone.
My retreat ... the mountains of NC
My wildest dream ... hasn't happened yet
My proudest moment ... hasn't happened yet
My biggest challenge ... to pick up my cross and follow Jesus
My alarm clock ... el cheapo and it cranks me up at 6:20.
My perfect day ... Playing with the kids, my wife, adn my X-box.
My first job ... Busboy
My indulgence ... good coffee and better beer
My last purchase ... Shaun of the Dead and Alien.
My favorite movie ... The Quiet Man
My inspiration ... Jesus
My life ... God, Family, Writing
My card ... Ace of spades.


Okay so I "copied" some of Bob's answers, but they were good ones.  ¶
12:59 PM 2 pithy comments

  2006...
Well who would have thunk it? I made it through another year.

I came back to Ciba. We bought a van that was actually built in the current decade. Moved into a new house, not our own but nice enough. Started this here blog. Started another novel. Contacted an old friend. Otherwise not a stellar year, but pleasant enough.

I rang it in with Leigh by watching the Chronic-what-cles of Narnia. More on that later if you're lucky.

So what does 2006 hold? Here are my hopes.
A completed novel.
Being a better father/hubby.
Exercising regularly.
A job with benefits (hopefully with my present company).
More interesting blog posts.
Getting Mudd's Tavern operational again.

They're modest dreams but they're mine. What are yours?  ¶
11:44 AM 0 pithy comments