Of late, I have been focused on moving and all the necessary craziness that goes with it.
With that in mind......I'm intentionally going to avoid writing any posts....even less than I usually do.....like.....zero.....until further notice.
While I'm away, try listening to a Joni Mitchell album or Take Five by Dave Brubeck....just to name two outstanding artists.
At Goodwill, of all places, I recently snagged what looks like a good vinyl copy of The Glenn Miller Story which is basically the same thing as saying Glenn Miller's Greatest Hits. I had this album back in my teens and played it to death. It was inspirational for me when I was still living with the delusion that I could be a rock-n-roll saxophone man. Miller's heavy use of Saxophones was a new departure for "big bands" in that era and the sound was music of the highest order to my ears.
I can't wait to get resettled, set up my equipment, and start getting records, VHS and cassette tapes copied down to CDs and DVDs as the case may be. I may be able to borrow a machine that will copy the VHS tapes directly.....big help! Otherwise, I have a software program with a hardware adapter that can handle them, video and audio.
So on that note.....ta ta again; see you later.
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Bring them back
I want my heroes back. I want to see real men that do things the way "The Duke" used to. I don't want people who simply do their jobs and put in a day's work being touted as "heroes".
A hero is something that one has to be by action, not just something that happens by doing one's job. An Air Force aviator shot down and held captive for 65 days before being rescued is not a hero. I'm sorry, but unless that individual did something heroic, they don't get the title. The fictional Forrest Gump running into the front lines to carry out, bodily, each member of his company is a hero. The grunt that lays down machine-gun fire to cover the retreat of his platoon without regard for his own life is a hero.
Such deeds are so heroic that our government allows for the awarding of very important medals and other acknowledgements posthumously in the event that said heroes do not survive their acts of bravery, over and above the call of duty.
I used to have "real men" I could look up to. Most of these guys were WWII vets and had some stories to tell. Some of them like "The Duke" and others played fictional men of valor. Some of the real ones had stories so painful that they wouldn't tell; so gut-wrenching that they should never be told; so horrifying that just thinking about them was too much. I see these men on TV now--they're old and they're being interviewed and they all say the same thing when someone tries to call them heroes, they just scoff and say: "I'm no hero, we were just doing a job....the guys who didn't make it....the guys who gave it all....there's your heroes."
Just like the guys before us who gave it all in Iwo Jima, France, Dunkirk, Casablanca, Rome, Corregidor, Leyte Gulf, and on and on....all deserve our utter respect for the liberty and rejection of tyrrany they bought for the world and for all of us in the free world.
"There's your heroes."
A hero is something that one has to be by action, not just something that happens by doing one's job. An Air Force aviator shot down and held captive for 65 days before being rescued is not a hero. I'm sorry, but unless that individual did something heroic, they don't get the title. The fictional Forrest Gump running into the front lines to carry out, bodily, each member of his company is a hero. The grunt that lays down machine-gun fire to cover the retreat of his platoon without regard for his own life is a hero.
Such deeds are so heroic that our government allows for the awarding of very important medals and other acknowledgements posthumously in the event that said heroes do not survive their acts of bravery, over and above the call of duty.
I used to have "real men" I could look up to. Most of these guys were WWII vets and had some stories to tell. Some of them like "The Duke" and others played fictional men of valor. Some of the real ones had stories so painful that they wouldn't tell; so gut-wrenching that they should never be told; so horrifying that just thinking about them was too much. I see these men on TV now--they're old and they're being interviewed and they all say the same thing when someone tries to call them heroes, they just scoff and say: "I'm no hero, we were just doing a job....the guys who didn't make it....the guys who gave it all....there's your heroes."
Just like the guys before us who gave it all in Iwo Jima, France, Dunkirk, Casablanca, Rome, Corregidor, Leyte Gulf, and on and on....all deserve our utter respect for the liberty and rejection of tyrrany they bought for the world and for all of us in the free world.
"There's your heroes."
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Another listening Gem....
I have become a fan of a totally unique TV show called Wretched, with Todd Friel. It's social satire in a way, and features Mr. Friel standing in a "hip" room doing a monologue about current events, but presenting them from a distinctly Evangelical Christian viewpoint. He claims to be "the wretch the song refers to". He closes every show with the admonition: "....go serve your King."
He's not afraid to be direct and doesn't mince words; if something is bothersome, otherwise out of whack or just plain un-Biblical, he says so and gives references in scripture to support it. The style is, in a word, manic and the jumpy camera work can be annoying, but his content is always right on the money.
Check you local listings to see if Wretched is available in your area or on your provider's system at all. On our FIOS system here in West-central Florida it's broadcast on the FamNet station (#242). You can also get to it on the web at http://www.wretchedradio.com/ where you can listen to the rerun radio stream or catch the live feed from 3-5 PM Eastern time.
He's not afraid to be direct and doesn't mince words; if something is bothersome, otherwise out of whack or just plain un-Biblical, he says so and gives references in scripture to support it. The style is, in a word, manic and the jumpy camera work can be annoying, but his content is always right on the money.
Check you local listings to see if Wretched is available in your area or on your provider's system at all. On our FIOS system here in West-central Florida it's broadcast on the FamNet station (#242). You can also get to it on the web at http://www.wretchedradio.com/ where you can listen to the rerun radio stream or catch the live feed from 3-5 PM Eastern time.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
It's Thursday, just Thursday
It's now time for 'normal' people to be getting ready for the big night....the offices have closed early....the party platters are waiting to be picked-up, there are millions of brightly colored paper hats and streamers....confetti in ribbons, confetti in little chad pieces (which, by the way, was the origin of confetti). Soon people will be gathering for meals, drinks and other forms of fellowship....some will get drunk and need a ride home....some will get drunk and drive home anyway....some will not make it home.
Ever since I finally got on the road to sobriety back in May of 1983, I have become less and less interested in New Year's Eve (NYE) for it is, at its core, all about drinking. Rare indeed is the social gathering that meets tonight without any alcohol to help lubricate the proceedings. Yes, I know that my fellow Christians can and will be meeting at each other's homes and for those select few, there will be a rampant rash of sobriety abounding.
Fact is, I don't much care for NYE ever since I quit being a musician back in the bad old days. Back then NYE was the big money night....you would walk off with a nice wad for the same amount of work you did on all the other band nights.....more like what you should have been getting paid in the first place.
So now I don't "do" NYE anymore for three reasons:
Ever since I finally got on the road to sobriety back in May of 1983, I have become less and less interested in New Year's Eve (NYE) for it is, at its core, all about drinking. Rare indeed is the social gathering that meets tonight without any alcohol to help lubricate the proceedings. Yes, I know that my fellow Christians can and will be meeting at each other's homes and for those select few, there will be a rampant rash of sobriety abounding.
Fact is, I don't much care for NYE ever since I quit being a musician back in the bad old days. Back then NYE was the big money night....you would walk off with a nice wad for the same amount of work you did on all the other band nights.....more like what you should have been getting paid in the first place.
So now I don't "do" NYE anymore for three reasons:
- It's dangerous. I used to drive home for an hour in a total alcoholic blackout. The last statistic I knew twenty years ago said that 25% of the population had an alcohol problem. What's that like today, especially when you add drugs into the mix? I don't want to be on the road when I know that at least one in four vehicles on the road is being piloted by someone who is as bad off as I used to be.
- I don't play music in the secular world anymore and there are no gigs for Christian musicians on NYE in my area so I guess I'm not going to be getting geared up for a big bash tonight or any other NYE.
- The biggest reason is that I don't drink. No booze equals very little reason to 'party'. If I had an invitation to share the eve with Christian friends it would definitely be with the understanding that I would leave early anyway to get home and crash at a human hour. So by the grace of a loving Higher Power that I call God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, I am free from the deadly obsession of booze one day at a time. God bless the beautiful, simple precepts and 12 steps of AA for helping me get started back on the road to the true healer, Jesus.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Ya think?........
There is now a new television commercial that features one of Hollywood's truly lovely women, Ms. Brooke Shields, in an ad for a new elixir that is used for, get this, growing fuller eyelashes. Hold on, it gets worse.
What's remarkable about the ad, aside from the obvious appeal of someone like Ms. Shields, is a line in the copy being delivered by the voice-over narrator. At one point he says: "...for inadequate or not enough eyelashes". Now....correct me if I'm wrong but aren't "inadequate" eyelashes and "not enough" eyelashes the same thing?
To be fair to Brooke I have to say that she wouldn't know what the voice-over would be....in Hollywood she would come in, do her two or three scene setups, and go. The post-production people would then take over and assemble the final product into a complete ad for the client. Ms. Shields would never know what the final ad would look or sound like.
But I'm still embarassed for her and the client who spent money to have this ad done. They should have made sure that a qualified proofreader (such as my esteemed self "truly a legend in his own mind....") reviewed the copy and caught this blatant boo-boo before it escaped onto the small screen. Oh well, I guess they'll call me next time they have have something for me to review or look over (tongue-firmly-in-cheek).
What's remarkable about the ad, aside from the obvious appeal of someone like Ms. Shields, is a line in the copy being delivered by the voice-over narrator. At one point he says: "...for inadequate or not enough eyelashes". Now....correct me if I'm wrong but aren't "inadequate" eyelashes and "not enough" eyelashes the same thing?
To be fair to Brooke I have to say that she wouldn't know what the voice-over would be....in Hollywood she would come in, do her two or three scene setups, and go. The post-production people would then take over and assemble the final product into a complete ad for the client. Ms. Shields would never know what the final ad would look or sound like.
But I'm still embarassed for her and the client who spent money to have this ad done. They should have made sure that a qualified proofreader (such as my esteemed self "truly a legend in his own mind....") reviewed the copy and caught this blatant boo-boo before it escaped onto the small screen. Oh well, I guess they'll call me next time they have have something for me to review or look over (tongue-firmly-in-cheek).
Nothing to Say......
The title of this post is the title of a song often heard on Christian radio and it's by Andrew Peterson, a singer-songwriter of great talent. The title appealed to me because I decided that today is a day off. It's a strange day: it's like the day Joni Mitchell wrote about in Chelsea Morning:
Anyone who knows me even a little bit well knows that I'm a long-time fan of Ms. Mitchell even if she is Canadian :-) I know, she can be profane and terminally cynical at times but her lyrics are eerily similar to my own thoughts, or my thoughts as they often used to be. You see, I have actually gotten over my desire to fly like Peter Pan and to be a real boy like Pinocchio. I did something both wonderful and horrible....I grew up.
I don't have the same dreams I used to have anymore. As I've gotten older, my desires, tastes and aspirations have become transformed, twisted around, refined, chewed up and finally disgorged as something the cat never even considered dragging in. In short....I'm different.
The apostle Paul said that when he was young he did young guy things; then he grew older and put away childish pursuits. For some of us this is good....for others it may mean having to avoid trading toy guns for real ones or you could end up like Charlton Heston, waving a rifle at a NRA meeting (personally, I don't think that's all bad....I'm on his side).
So when did we trade youthful zeal for aged contentment? Where did the fire in the belly get to? It moved into the fireplace to warm our aching bodies is where. And what about stamina? Remember how you could stay up for three days straight, stay out all night Friday Saturday & Sunday with three different girls (or women if you were lucky), play volleyball for six hours, ping-pong for four hours, cram for a physics final, take the final and pass, eat at least one whole garbage pizza, drive to the next state for ice cream, etc.....then get 5 hours sleep and be totally okay? Can't do that anymore, huh? I'm lucky if I can stay awake after dinner these days!
My body now makes sounds like my electric can opener (which I need for my arthritic hands) groans like my lawnmower (self-propelled of course 'cause my legs and feet are bad), Wheezings like my coffee maker, makes clicking and grinding noises like my car; also have shoulders and knees that go crackle and crunch every time I try to move them too far, and, oh yes, I have 3 degrees of eyeball enhancers with various stages of magnification: Normal vision, mid-range (for computer) and close up, allegedly for reading...except I know no-one who sits in the bathroom with a magazine held up 4 inches from their nose (Does anyone really read like that?). Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone read like that sitting anywhere.
So there it is....I'm getting older. It's a tough thing to face at times, but face it we must because there ain't no stopping it or going back. And you know what? I don't wanna go back....I'm kinda likin' who I've turned into (by the grace of you-know-who) and now that I'm sixty-three years old and in such lousy shape, I have only one question......what's up for the next sixty-three years Lord? Bring it on!
Woke up, it was a Chelsea Morning, and the first thing that I knew—
There was milk, and toast, and honey,
And a bowl of oranges too,
And a bowl of oranges too,
And the sun poured in like butterscotch,
And stuck to all my senses......
And stuck to all my senses......
Oh—
Won't you stay,
Won't you stay,
We'll put on the day,
And we'll talk in present tenses.
Anyone who knows me even a little bit well knows that I'm a long-time fan of Ms. Mitchell even if she is Canadian :-) I know, she can be profane and terminally cynical at times but her lyrics are eerily similar to my own thoughts, or my thoughts as they often used to be. You see, I have actually gotten over my desire to fly like Peter Pan and to be a real boy like Pinocchio. I did something both wonderful and horrible....I grew up.
I don't have the same dreams I used to have anymore. As I've gotten older, my desires, tastes and aspirations have become transformed, twisted around, refined, chewed up and finally disgorged as something the cat never even considered dragging in. In short....I'm different.
The apostle Paul said that when he was young he did young guy things; then he grew older and put away childish pursuits. For some of us this is good....for others it may mean having to avoid trading toy guns for real ones or you could end up like Charlton Heston, waving a rifle at a NRA meeting (personally, I don't think that's all bad....I'm on his side).
So when did we trade youthful zeal for aged contentment? Where did the fire in the belly get to? It moved into the fireplace to warm our aching bodies is where. And what about stamina? Remember how you could stay up for three days straight, stay out all night Friday Saturday & Sunday with three different girls (or women if you were lucky), play volleyball for six hours, ping-pong for four hours, cram for a physics final, take the final and pass, eat at least one whole garbage pizza, drive to the next state for ice cream, etc.....then get 5 hours sleep and be totally okay? Can't do that anymore, huh? I'm lucky if I can stay awake after dinner these days!
My body now makes sounds like my electric can opener (which I need for my arthritic hands) groans like my lawnmower (self-propelled of course 'cause my legs and feet are bad), Wheezings like my coffee maker, makes clicking and grinding noises like my car; also have shoulders and knees that go crackle and crunch every time I try to move them too far, and, oh yes, I have 3 degrees of eyeball enhancers with various stages of magnification: Normal vision, mid-range (for computer) and close up, allegedly for reading...except I know no-one who sits in the bathroom with a magazine held up 4 inches from their nose (Does anyone really read like that?). Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone read like that sitting anywhere.
So there it is....I'm getting older. It's a tough thing to face at times, but face it we must because there ain't no stopping it or going back. And you know what? I don't wanna go back....I'm kinda likin' who I've turned into (by the grace of you-know-who) and now that I'm sixty-three years old and in such lousy shape, I have only one question......what's up for the next sixty-three years Lord? Bring it on!
Spam should be cooked, not read.
I have gotten, oh yet another, of those internet chestnuts that refuse to die. This one has very nice pictures to go with it; pictures of Bill Cosby, pictures of Bill Cosby at his amiable best, supposedly posed so as to lend legitimacy to the accompanying article which declares in no uncertain terms that Dr. Cosby, hold on to your hats, is.........running for the U.S. Presidency in 2012! The article also lists a number of very good campaign platform issues worded in such a way that no good American could ever disagree with them. Trouble is, Dr. Cosby never said that stuff.
Whoa....didn't we go through this before? Gee, wasn't it 2008 the last time we had to put up with this bit of wisdom flying through the internet ether? Did anyone bother to check the veracity of this story in 2008?
I think not!
Has anyone bothered to check the veracity of this article presently?
I dare say...no way....Jose.
Heaven forbid that anyone should spend the three or four minutes it would take to go to a hoax-buster sight like Snopes.com and check out whether or not it may be true. Let's face it, there are so many ways to waste time with a computer and reading false e-mails is not one I care to pursue. This kind of stuff almost amounts to a unique kind of spam, and one which is not easily cured by a simple delete. If you're a fact freak like me, you do bother to check out this garbage and end up wasting the 3-4 minutes the original sender should have taken in the first place to verify the truth of the article! Stack up enough of those 3-4 minutes and you start to get a serious waste of time.
Oh, I'll be alright as soon as I calm down. There...I feel much better now...just had to get that off my chest.
Okay, now let's talk about people who forward e-mails with the last seventy-five headers still attached.......
Whoa....didn't we go through this before? Gee, wasn't it 2008 the last time we had to put up with this bit of wisdom flying through the internet ether? Did anyone bother to check the veracity of this story in 2008?
I think not!
Has anyone bothered to check the veracity of this article presently?
I dare say...no way....Jose.
Heaven forbid that anyone should spend the three or four minutes it would take to go to a hoax-buster sight like Snopes.com and check out whether or not it may be true. Let's face it, there are so many ways to waste time with a computer and reading false e-mails is not one I care to pursue. This kind of stuff almost amounts to a unique kind of spam, and one which is not easily cured by a simple delete. If you're a fact freak like me, you do bother to check out this garbage and end up wasting the 3-4 minutes the original sender should have taken in the first place to verify the truth of the article! Stack up enough of those 3-4 minutes and you start to get a serious waste of time.
Oh, I'll be alright as soon as I calm down. There...I feel much better now...just had to get that off my chest.
Okay, now let's talk about people who forward e-mails with the last seventy-five headers still attached.......
What Have I Done
Today, just a few minutes ago, I finished my online application for Social Security retirement benefits. I didn't think I would ever live long enough to reach this age (But I'm sure glad I did). It seems that it was just a few days ago that I was fighting off stage 4 lung cancer, which was followed by an attack of brain-eating bacteria (hence the lumpy hole in my skull where they scooped out the bad stuff), a fractured hip that left me with a limp, two cracked vertebrae that needed surgery, and a host of other minor plagues that descended after I hit the tender age of 59.
But in all, I am actually quite content to be looking back on that period of my life as one of serious change, a period that culminated in the death of my wife last October, 2008. Since then I feel that I have been given yet another chance and that God, for reasons I'll never understand, still wants me around. I know He has plans for my life and I firmly believe in the 11th step: "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our concious contact with God.......praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out". I left out the part about "as we understood Him" because to me there can be no other way to understand the Lord of the universe and creator of all, except as the one, true God of our fathers, forefathers and founding fathers.
So that's where I am today and every day.....praying for that knowledge of that will. Maybe I'll never rise any higher than being the bass player in a small suburban non-denominational church, maybe I actually will cut my own CD (or I should get modern and say "Burn" instead) and watch it climb the charts (with a bullet!). Maybe I'll find another life companion, a mate and helper to share things with, the laughter and tears...who knows? Only God.
We'll see. It's all up to Him anyway, no?
But in all, I am actually quite content to be looking back on that period of my life as one of serious change, a period that culminated in the death of my wife last October, 2008. Since then I feel that I have been given yet another chance and that God, for reasons I'll never understand, still wants me around. I know He has plans for my life and I firmly believe in the 11th step: "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our concious contact with God.......praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out". I left out the part about "as we understood Him" because to me there can be no other way to understand the Lord of the universe and creator of all, except as the one, true God of our fathers, forefathers and founding fathers.
So that's where I am today and every day.....praying for that knowledge of that will. Maybe I'll never rise any higher than being the bass player in a small suburban non-denominational church, maybe I actually will cut my own CD (or I should get modern and say "Burn" instead) and watch it climb the charts (with a bullet!). Maybe I'll find another life companion, a mate and helper to share things with, the laughter and tears...who knows? Only God.
We'll see. It's all up to Him anyway, no?
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Something new...something borrowed....something...oops!
I've started a new blog so that I can keep my political and Christian rantings separate. When I started out I wasn't very political, but as this current administration in D.C. has been pulling one major screw-up after another, it seems that I have had a lot to say after all.
So I'll be adding some of my material from my other blog and saving that one for church and other Christian-related items.
Be sure to check in often, I may just surprise you and write something good!
So I'll be adding some of my material from my other blog and saving that one for church and other Christian-related items.
Be sure to check in often, I may just surprise you and write something good!
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