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Website of the Week
For those who are gluttons for listening punishment, here is my official myspace musician page.
Local Pump Price of Unleaded Gasoline:
$3.52/gallon
Price Per Barrel of Oil:
$125.96 (previously $107.90)
last modified May 11, 2008 at 18:16
In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Internation Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights, Sook Ok Lee will testify as a survivor of North Korea's political prisoner camps:
Their goal is to eliminate all forms of opposition. Over 200,000 innocent victims, including women and children, are detained there for life without a judicial process."
"I experienced a living hell there during the seven years that I was there. The ordeal at that time was to such an extent that even today I am not sure whether I am alive or merely dreaming," says Ms. Lee’s testimony,an advance copy of which was obtained byThe New York Sun.
Perhaps the most dramatic part of her account involves the treatment of pregnant women. They "were unconditionally forced to abort because the unborn baby was also considered a criminal by law," Ms. Lee’s testimony says.
"Women in their 8th or 9th month of pregnancy had salt solutions injected into their wombs to induce abortion," her testimony says. "In spite of these brutal efforts, some babies were born alive, in which case the prison guards mercilessly killed the infants by squeezing their necks in front of their mothers. The dead babies were taken away for biological tests. If a mother pleaded for the life of her baby, she was publicly executed under the charge of ‘impure ideology.’"
In my line of work, I come in contact with a lot of Hispanic people, so I have a daily opportunity to refine mi espanol. Spanish, being a Romance language, of course, is derived from Latin.
Anyway, I looked up 'adios' (and its cousin 'adieu') and realized that it is a benediction of sorts. The literal meaning is "I commend you to God." Pretty cool way to say goodbye, don't you think?
I'm a little bummed: Memphis in May is this weekend, looks awesome, and I cannot make it.
A snapshot of who's playing(all times are p.m.):
May 2nd:
08:00 India.Arie
09:10 Wilco
10:45 John Mayer
11:00 Joe Cocker
May 3rd:
09:05 Willie Nelson
10:45 Jerry Lee Lewis
10:50 Sheryl Crow
May 4th:
05:20 Nickel Creek
07:05 B-52's
North Mississippi Allstars
08:50 LL Cool J
09:00 ZZ Top
What's the deal with ESPN and other major sports networks with college baseball? They don't cover it. They cover swimming, horse racing, blah blah blah, but not college baseball. Dorks.
What's the deal with gas prices? Supposedly gas has been $20 a barrel for about a month but it still costs me a $1.50 per gallon. Where is the justice? If a politician even mentions setting foot in the Middle East gas prices jump 10 cents, but oil could be flowing like the Mississippi River and gas stations will still be holding to high per gallon prices until the cows come home.
What's the deal with Hotmail... Well, we've already been down that road before.
And credit card applications? Come on, you guys. How much leverage do you think I have? If I had the income to leverage that kind of debt, I wouldn't have credit cards in the first place. Sheesh. Go figure.
/ends rant, takes breath, feels much better
I'm noticing the recent dearth of comments posted here and figure that it's because you think that either I am very right or that I am very weird. Or maybe both. Maybe neither.
If I were the swearing kind of person, then I would swear that Justin Timberlake is doing a better impression of the 80s Michael Jackson than the real Michael is doing. What gives? My suspicion is that Justin has procured some of Michael Jackson's production staff from the 80s.
The squirrel is at it again. Maybe I should start carrying around a BB gun...
For some reason, whenever I go to scott's blog, Chronic Murmuring, the song Constant Craving (KD Lang), always pops in my head.
By the way, if you have never checked out The Parlor or The Desolation Angels, you are missing out on some good blogs.
I don't know if anyone remembers the blog entry several weeks in which I requested assistance from the blogging community to help me remember a song to which I had provided very sketchy lyrics and had hummed a few bars. Okay, so the the clues weren't so great.
Anyway, thanks to a DJ who actually did his job and announced the artist of a song afterwards, I found out the name of the song and the artist.
The artist, Coldplay. The song, Clocks. That wasn't so hard now, was it?
FYI, the lyrics. And the video (courtesy launchcast).
Thanks Jason for the cat video (you can see it a zillion times, but it will crack you up every single time).
If you, too, want to be the office king of cool e-mails, you know, the guy who always sends out the videos that has the whole staff laughing, then you must go to this site. It is a compilation of all the Stupid Videos that are circulating out there on the web.
Check out the Mean Penguin videos while you are there. Pretty funny stuff.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34)
I think that it is interesting that most people who study this passage focus primarily upon the question of how this is a demonstration of God the Father turning his back on Jesus and allowing Him to become sin for us. While this is all true and good, many people fail to see that Jesus is quoting directly from the Psalms of David (Psalm 22:1).
In reading this messianic Psalm, you gain a deeper understanding of Christ's rejection and broaden the scope of what is happening here.
Read the whole Psalm and see how Jesus is not just praying to the Father, but is telling all those who could hear that He is the Holy One of Israel. Those Jews who heard His prayer would immediately know that He was quoting from this Psalm.
Psalm 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD ;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD , be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD , praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him-
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD ,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn-
for he has done it.
It just so happened that as I was listening to my Launchcast player, I heard a new Townes song and looked at the album release date - 2003. In fact, it just came out today. That's one thing I really like about Launchcast.
Must...buy...this...cd...soon...
My squirrel friend is out with his latest column.
Wow. 158 new e-mails in my Inbox. I never knew just how popular I was until I got Hotmail.
If this doesn't persuade the unconvinced about the legitimacy of the Iraqi war, then I am not sure what will.
(From Fox News)
U.S. forces came upon a recently abandoned terrorist training camp on the outskirts of Baghdad where recruits were apparently taught how to make bombs and what to do if they got captured, the Marines said Wednesday.
...Recruits were also apparently taught how to make bombs, he said. The Marines found chemicals, beakers and pipes.
Hoellwarth said uniforms and gas masks were also left behind, along with bread and other food, suggesting the place had been used fairly recently.
I met a squirrel the other day who not only could talk, no, but actually gave some pretty good advice.
So I said to him, "Fella, you need to set up an online advice column."
And he said, "My name's Chester, you nut."
And I said, "Well, what do you think, Chester?"
Chester replies, rubbing his paws together greedily "I like it, I like it. Muhahahaha!!"
Well, thanks to recommendations from Barlow and Scott, I succumbed to the pressure and watched Run Lola Run last night.
My four word review: "Frenetic, fabulously fast film." The director Tom Tykwer seems to like juxtaposition of opposites or dissimilars. For instance, there are many scenes with circular and square objects (e.g. the casino, the grocery store) Also, you have the immorality of the father compared to Lola's fidelity to Manni.
I think the director is trying to say a lot in this film which makes it a little confusing. Tykwer uses accidents pretty frequently: car crashes, running into glass, running over people, misfiring a pistol, etc. It seems, however, that these accidents work together for the good of Lola, but it is not apparent whether the director believes this is nihilistic good luck or the providence of God. One potential evidence for the latter is Lola's prayer before she discovers the casino.
A lot of things I don't understand. Lola's relationship to the police officer at the bank is unclear. He seems to fear her or is it respect?
Jonah Goldberg makes the case that the US should be sensitive to the national pride of the Iraqi people and demonstrate our contrition for giving the Iraqis false hope and not finishing the job in '91. It is hard to tell how many lives were lost because they resisted Saddam's regime in the hope of the US assistance that never came.
Regardless, we can't deny the real consequences of playing the game the way we did. A little more than a week ago, when the Shiites of Basra failed to rise up against their Baathist overlords, there was a lot of talk in the United States about how this made sense considering how we'd encouraged the Iraqis to rise up against Saddam and then refused to support them when they did. We even saw the old clip of the first President Bush encouraging the Iraqis to topple Saddam. No one knows how many people Saddam slaughtered putting down the Iraqi intifada, but it's safe to assume that a lot fewer would be dead if we hadn't persuaded them to do it in the first place.
I have to be careful how I say this. It is to my utter shame that I must admit that I am somewhat captivated by Joe Boxer's new commercial. It just has a funky distinctiveness to it.
Most of you will remember Joe Boxer's first ad with the guy in his boxer briefs dancing a memorable number for a long uncomfortable fifteen seconds or so. It helped Joe Boxer bring in about $1 billion in its first year with K-Mart. Not too shabby.
This commercial was airing last night during Access Hollywood. Yes, a rare late-night TV watching session for me it was. Malibu's Most Wanted with Jamie Kennedy looks pretty funny. I think Don't Be Hatin' is going to be the office catch-phrase of the summer (e.g. 'not worthy').
The trifecta of my urban television entertainment came with Carson Daly's rapoff. It reminded me of the 'Yo Mama' comedy competitions where comedians would dis each other's mamas until a final winner was chosen. Anyways, I better fly. Word.
For Scott, Valerie, Daniel, and all the unconvinced, this is for you.
This has got to be one of the funniest spots on television these days.
Frankenstein Cured of Joint Pain(Second clip)
For those of us who like simplicity because it accomodates our laziness, you have to visit the Internet Public Library.
You can read a book from a collection of over 20,000 titles or peruse a newspaper from Qatar (if you can read Arabic, that is).
Lots of neat stuff. For instance, I found this entry for April 10 under a book entitled Chesterton Day by Day:
('Heretics')
SUPPOSE that a great commotion arises in the street about something -- let us say a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is approached on the matter, and begins to say, in the arid manner of the Schoolmen, 'Let us first of all consider, my brethren, the value of Light. If Light be in itself good -- -- -- ' At this point he is somewhat excusably knocked down. All the people make a rush for the lamp-post, the lamppost is down in ten minutes, and they go about congratulating each other on their unmedieval practicality. But as things go on they do not work out so easily. Some people have pulled the lamp-post down because they wanted the electric light; some because they wanted old iron; some because they wanted darkness, because their deeds were evil. Some thought it not enough of a lamp-post, some too much; some acted because they wanted to smash municipal machinery; some because they wanted to smash something. And there is war in the night, no man knowing whom he strikes. So, gradually and inevitably, to-day, to-morrow, or the next day, there comes back the conviction that the monk was right after all, and that all depends on what is the philosophy of Light. Only what we might have discussed under the gas-lamp we must now discuss in the dark.
I have to admit that I got a little choked up today as I watched the Iraqis take hammer and rope to the statue of Saddam earlier today. It reminded me so much of when the Berlin Wall came down in the 80s. It really hit me when I saw the big brute of a fellow grab a sledgehammer and started whacking away at the base of the statue. Historic. Symbolic. Many things.
Of course, I have seen images from the war that show the ugly side (e.g., the little girl who was killed in the bombing) and some that show why we must persist in our efforts despite the ugliness.
Here is a picture of a U.S. doctor holding a little girl whose mother had been killed in the crossfire.
A picture of one who is glad that we came.
And another.
What color is the sky?
Scott made a good point about the good fiction coming from Catholics such as Flannery O'Connor and Tolkien, but wonders why Protestants don't have a comparable list of great talent.
Their mastery of fiction actually makes since to me since after centuries of claiming that the Roman Catholic church is the one true church of God they have had much more practice at it.
Thanks to Russ for pointing me toward some interesting axis of evil blogs:
Kim Jong Il
Saddam Hussein(May be a dead link)
Osama Bin Laden
If there is any lesson to be learned from the immediate public flayings and ostracization of Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks), Peter Arnett (NBC), Michael Moore (Bowling for Concubines) and John Kerry (Regime Change gaff), it is that words matter.
I think people are actually getting tired of hearing celebrities and politicians rationalize that they can say one thing (Bush is an idiot, our soldiers are racist killers, America deserves 9/11, ad infinitum and nauseum) and mean another thing (We support our troops, We love America, We are true patriots).
Most Americans want the truth told plainly. They trust the President and believe what he says. They take the vitriole that is directed against the President personally and will not stand for it.
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. (Proverbs 11:10, NIV)
Some soldiers and a couple of reporters have had to be decontaminated for mild exposure to Sarin gas.
Heard this morning:
"Are you talking to me or the other Keesha?"
This is a leaflet that is being dropped on Baghdad.
There are those who have struck the chords, hummed the melodies, gathered the family, and bothered their neighbors with front porch hoedowns and raucous merriment. May their songs always be heard by those thirsty souls who amble down country roads choking dust and memories of love and kin.
(Norman Blake)
(Bill Staines)
(Townes Van Zandt)
For those who should know better but continue to gumshoe slipshod in and out of any and every space and place that infers or implies that it is verily verily a blog of import...
And for the rest of you weary travelers, the parlor beckons your sojourn.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah
Come and see the works of the LORD ,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:4-10
Comedian Dave Konig takes Robin Williams' controversial remarks about the President-
We have a president for whom English is a second language. He's like; 'We have to get rid of dictators,' but he's pretty much one himself. America is broke basically, but Bush wants to wage a war that costs pretty much a billion dollars a month. Orange alert — What the hell does that mean? We're supposed to be afraid of Krishna? Of orange sorbet?
-and provides insightful observations into the deep humorous underpinnings that comprise Robin's statement.
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open eye-
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
No googling! Just guess...
From the Dixie Chicks' Launchcast site:
(3/31/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- The Dixie Chicks controversy continues with the trio getting some support from former Vice President Al Gore. Gore spoke to a college audience last week on the subject of fewer companies owning more media outlets, and what he sees as the increasing lack of tolerance for opposing views.
According to the Tennessean, Gore used recent attacks on the Dixie Chicks that followed anti-war comments by Natalie Maines as an example. Gore told the audience, "They were made to feel un-American and risked economic retaliation because of what was said. Our democracy has taken a hit," Gore said. "Our best protection is free and open debate."
Record sales have fallen for the Chicks and radio stations across the country banned the trio's music after Maines told a London concert crowd that she was "ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." Maines later released an apology.
-- Nancy Brooks, Nashville
What? Our democracy "has taken a hit"? This is ridiculous stuff. Apparently, in Al Gore's world, people should just buy the Dixie Chicks' tripe (literally and figuratively) and should keep quiet about their displeasure. Well, Al Gore, free speech runs in both directions. The Dixie Chicks can say whatever the heck they want to say, but their (former) fans are also free to take their Dixie Chicks albums and, say, bulldoze over them or have a "shock and awe" cd destruction party.
Jerry Taylor and Peter VanDoren show how price-gouging at the pump is actually a sign that capitalism is doing its job and how we all benefit in the long run.
Scott has blogged today about a case in which a guy has been arrested for turning $800 into $370 million over a few months. He is suspected of using insider information, but he claims that he is from 200 years in the future and was taking advantage of a historical low in the stock market.
Well, I'm encouraged that people will still be studying history in the future, but this guy had better be careful that he does not significantly alter the space/time continuum. Also, the Feds need to keep this guy on "Fade Watch".
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