The End of (another) era...

My experiment with hand-coding is over. I've proven that I can do it, I've learned more about HTML and Java script than I ever wanted to know and I have come to the realization that, although I have the ability to do these things, it is not why I started blogging or why I got my own server space.

Frankly, it's become a chore.

But how did I get to this point? Glad you asked.

After becoming thoroughly disgusted with Blogspot, I got my own domain name and server and started messing around with HTML. I then looked at literally dozens of content management applications which were either too complex for my simple thoughts or were woefully inadequate for what I wanted to do.

Or they were very expensive.

At that point, I decided that I could hand-code my web log like it was done way back when Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church and dispense with all the third party nonsense. Like I said, I've proven that I can do that.

But content management, I now realize, is not my cup of tea. I'm spending more and more time formatting and organizing and moving files than I am writing and generally mouthing off about some issue or another - the real reason I started doing this.

So the next step was to find a happy medium between doing things my own way and doing it the easy way while being told what hoops to jump through.

I finally settled on Blogger. I know, I hear your incredulous gasps.

"But Art, you HATE Blogger! Right?"

Well, I did have some problems with the Blogspot account. I lost posts, there was a huge time lag on everything I did, posting pictures was a major nuisance and I hated the severely limited templates that they offered.

I now believe that the time lag and lost posts were due in part to my stone-age dial-up connection. That's been rectified by getting DSL. Which I'm using now - ahead of schedule!
It was also due to the slow speed of the overtaxed Blogspot content servers which I've fixed by getting my own speedy server from GoDaddy. Same with pix, they're on my server now, so all I has to do is links to 'em.

And the best thing is that with my newly acquired HTML chops, I can get under the hood of my Blogger template and generally mess around with some degree of proficiency.

What all this means is that I can have the ease of using Blogger's Dashboard, which I've always liked, and let them take care of the archiving and posting and whatnot and, at the same time, utilize the speed of my own web server and my new DSL connection. I can also make the site look like I want it to and have all the techno benefits of a full fledged content management package (automated comments, permalinks, backlinks, rss feeds, etc.) without the hassle of worrying about write permissions, MySQL databases, runtime conflicts and scripts.

The best of both worlds.

That is to say that all this is is one big compromise. Hopefully it will work and it will appear to you as a relatively seamless transition. After all, I wouldn't want to scar your little psyches or anything.

Next week we'll see.

Stupidity is contagious...

If you read (or at least skim) dozens upon dozens of blogs per day as I do, you undoubtedly now know that the the blogosphere has been virtually aflame with heated debate about the failed 'flag desecration' amendment.

I have nothing more of my own to add really. I said my piece and I'm done with that. But I do have a few comments upon others comments to append to this.

Frist, sorry, FIRST, LegendHasIt (whom I generally and sometimes violently disagree with) made an otherwise great point on the Hot Air blog:
"Most of these Senators ‘wipe their behinds’ with the CONSTITUTION every day. Do they think that amending that same Constitution which they disregard and defile on a regular basis to limit what people can do with their own property (even if it is a symbol of the Nation) will make us ‘commoners’ love them?"

I agree wholeheartedly with this part of the comment (and not much else, thank you). It's a very important point though. Why is the constitution, as a symbol of our nation any different than the flag? Both are just pieces of material when you get down to it. It's what they REPRESENT that's important. The same folks who are wigging out over a statistically tiny number of people symbolically 'desecrating' an important U.S. symbol (the flag) are the same people who are much less symbolically and much more regularly 'desecrating' an even more important U.S. symbol (the constitution). Huh.

Second, Glenn Reynolds makes a great point about how this whole debate is just one big pissing contest for those who hope to be reelected sometime in the near future. As he points out, the approval ratings for our national leaders tells the tale:
A solid majority of Americans favor a hypothetical major third party.
Over 50% of Americans say congress members in general do not deserve to be reelected.
Only 38% of Americans approve of the job congressional Democrats are doing.
Only 37% of Americans approve of the job the president is doing.
Only 33% of Americans approve of the job congressional Republicans are doing.
Numbers don't lie.
As Reynolds sums it up, "The two parties have each tried to gain votes mostly by arguing that the other is worse. Perhaps enough people will come to agree that we'll wind up with third -- and fourth -- parties. It might not be such a bad thing."

It couldn't be much worse.

Third, this business of calling anyone who disagrees with the prevailing wisdom a 'liberal' is just one more knee-jerk reaction to what amounts to a national knee-jerk reaction to, well, a knee-jerk reaction. Of course, the problem with 'prevailing wisdom' is the same as with 'common sense': both are usually neither. Until we all quit the name calling and actually talk about the issues, we're just going to have more of the same.

Finally, Sen. Inouye's comments still sums up my position best and I'm sticking with it: "Our country's unique because our dissidents have a voice. While I take offense at disrespect to the flag, I nonetheless believe it is my continued duty as a veteran, as an American citizen, and as a United States senator to defend the constitutional right of protesters to use the flag in nonviolent speech."

If you don't understand this, read it again. If you still don't understand this, read it again. Repeat as necessary.

Stupidity at the highest levels of our Government...

The Senate rejected the 'flag desecration' amendment... by one vote.

GOOD.

This failed amendment was nothing more than club-footed, election year political pandering of the worst possible kind.

In response, the president said, "... the American people deserve the opportunity to express their views on this important issue."

I agree, but tell me, Mr. President, how this is not exactly what has happened? Even if by only one vote. Not to mention what this would mean to someone who wishes to "express their views" by exercising their contitutionally guaranteed right to 'desecrate' an American flag.

The meat of the proposed amendment reads thusly: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

That's pretty broad if you ask me. Actually, it's dangerously broad even if you did not ask me.
There are some things about this that you should ask, though. Like... Who owns said flag? In what venue is this desecration prohibited? How exactly do we define 'desecration'? And who defines it? How will said Congress exercise its power to prohibit said desecration? What would have been the penalty for said desecration? And so on...

Now, admittedly, if go up to a local church, post office, city hall or even another person's private property and take their flag down and 'desecrate' it, then that's just plain wrong. But that's covered under a myriad of existing laws... Like those prohibiting trespassing, theft and vandalism. But if I go out and buy my own American flag with my own money and take it back to my own property and burn it or deface it or urinate on it or wipe my butt with it or whatever else, then how in the world is that anyone else's business?

Especially the Congress of the United States of America's? Don't these people have more important things to be worrying about?

War? Murder? Poverty? Rape? AIDS? Hunger? Child abuse? And so many more...

Oh, they have an answer for that too: "...the flag amounts to a national monument in cloth that represents freedom and the sacrifice of American troops". Yes it does. But that's not really an answer. And that is precisely the point I want to make. The flag AMOUNTS to... It REPRESENTS... That means it's a SYMBOL. Nothing more. A symbol, an important and revered sybol, but a symbol regardless. If I do something nasty to a symbol, then that action is equally, if not more so, symbolic. So why the big debate?

Well, once again, it is an election year.

One of my senators, majority Leader Bill Frist just couldn't he'p hisself: "Countless men and women have died defending that flag..."

Saying things like this are a part of politics. I guess it's what he feels he has to say to keep his constituency happy. And, in a way, it's a verbal shorthand for "I support the troops who have died defending the nation that this flag represents". That's not exactly what he said though. He probably doesn't even realize the difference. Some aide probably told him it was a good thing to say. But, Senator, if anyone ever gave their life to defend our flag, or any flag, literally speaking, then that person is seriously confused and so are you for admiring them. Our service men and women gave, and risk giving their lives every day, to defend what that flag and this nation REPRESENTS. Namely freedom, peace, tolerance and understanding. In other words, all the things this failed amendment was against.

This whole thing really chaps my rearside. Oh, you couldn't tell? Really, I could go on about this for days but I think Sen. Daniel Inouye said it best: "Our country's unique because our dissidents have a voice. While I take offense at disrespect to the flag, I nonetheless believe it is my continued duty as a veteran, as an American citizen, and as a United States senator to defend the constitutional right of protesters to use the flag in nonviolent speech."

Amen, brother. Amen.

News of the web...

Very shortly we will be hooked up with a broadband connection.

Yes, I'm still on dial-up.

I know.

Several friends and acquaintances have commented, rather disparagingly I might add, along the lines of, "You still have 'dial-up'?"

As if I'm some kind of redneck with a broken-down pickup truck sitting in my back yard.

Um...

Seriously, though, I may be the only person in the universe with his own web server, domain name and website who still dials in to FTP.

Mon Dieu!

Yes, it's sad and true, but not for long. My DSL modem is set to arrive next Monday. And I also get a discount on my phone and satellite TV bills, a true static IP address and another new email address (to go along with the other half dozen I never use).

Ah, the wonders of technology.

And, my broadband connection will alllow me to find really stupid stuff a lot faster. Stupid stuff like this:

Rush Limbaugh is in trouble for having non-precsribed drugs again. This time though, it's Viagra. Excuse me for a moment while I go laugh so hard that my eyeballs bleed. I'm sorry, I don't mean to make light of Mr. Limbaugh's serious addiction to painkillers. He's being treated for the addiction and is hopefully off them for good. But getting caught with illicit Viagra? That's like getting caught trying to sneak a six of O'Doule's into the senior prom - it's just asking for ridicule.

Glad I could help.

And then there's the new story about Axl Rose. This guy just can't seem to hold it together for more than a few months at a time. Now he's gone and bit a security guard on the leg during a drunken melee in Scandinavia. The remaining GnR dates are in question as the former Mr. Bailey tries to buy his way out of serious jail time in a foreign country. Geez, man, why not invest a miniscule portion of your billions of dollars in some therapy or something instead? It's bound to be cheaper.

God bless and good night!

A Busy Weekend...

On Friday I took Stacie's new car to get a chrome plate frame and black hitch plug to replace the ones with the dealership name splashed all over them. I then went to the car wash...which, of course, caused it to rain almost immediately. Later, we all went to church to help prepare for the big yard sale. I have never seen so much, uh, stuff in my life:


Saturday morning, Shelby and I went early to open the church gym for the yard sale. People were waiting on us... an hour early. Some folks are pretty serious about their yard sales.

Crazy!

But the youth group has made well over $500.00 and counting. They're going to do it again next Saturday to try to get rid of some of the furniture and other left-over items. The lawnmower might be sold as well.

Speaking of lawnmowers, I spent Saturday afternoon turning my two broken lawnmowers into one functioning one:


Saturday night, Stacie and I went out to eat at Las Trojas. Without the kids.

Nice.

Church on Sunday, a nap and then we do it all over again!

Peace and carrots.

Day Camp at WFUMC...

My kids have been going to 'day camp' at Winchester FUMC this week.

It's great. It gives me a chance to get some things done (or to just have some peace and quiet) and I know they're active, well taken care of and are in a good progressive Christian environment.

Tuesday, they had a game day in the church gym and today was a hiking trip. Of course Tad is instantly the leader in any group. You have to understand that this kid has never met a stranger. As soon as he was able to talk, he was chatting up total strangers in the Wal-Mart. Kids his age flock around him and he inadvertantly becomes their de facto leader.

Sometimes this is good, sometimes not.

At day camp, he's made a new friend who's called either Zack or Zeke - - we're quite not sure at this point.

Apparently Tad and Zack/Zeke share a love for classic '70's hard rock and metal. I have no idea where Tad could have learned of such things - we only listen to Christian Contemporary in the van.

(clearing my throat)

Anyway, Tad and 'Z' performed an unscheduled air guitar concert for all who were interested at day camp. There were impromptu versions of classic hits by AC/DC, Black Sabbath, et al, and just to impress the girls, a couple of U2 songs. Tad sang the lyrics and played air drums while Z-boy played air guitar and jumped around like a madman. After hearing about all this, I have to wonder what the chaperones are thinking about me, er, I mean Stacie. And I have to wonder about what the chaperones have told the ordained leadership at WFUMC... I may get kicked out of the Lay Speaking program over this.

But you know why eight year old boys get into air metal bands, don't you? Duh, the same reason bigger boys get into real metal bands - for the chicks! As we were leaving the church today, a very young lady literally ran out after us and almost tackled Tad, giving him a 'hug'.

I'm telling you, this kid is going to be dangerous!

Enough already!

The media continues to give a disproportionately huge amount of attention to Katherine Jefferts Schori's election as the presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.

What gives?

Apparently, everyone is now concerned that this development will further damage the U.S. Episcopal Church's relationship with Roman Catholics (who have no female clergy) and the remainder of the world wide Anglican Communion (most of which refuse to ordain female bishops). What these concerned Episcopalians are saying is this: "We believe in full equality and rights for women, but we don't want to offend those who do not."? Let's step back a moment and put this into context: imagine this same scenario, but instead of gender, it's race or national heritage ... Can you imagine the outrage. The uproar would be HUGE. Yet there are those who continue to worry about offending the conservatives of the various denominations simply because they are misogynists. Let 'em be offended.

No more posts about this subject.

Episcopalians have elected their first female national leader...

Read about it here.

And good for them...

BUT.

Why is this such a big news story? One national news outlet went as far as to falsley report that Katherine Jefferts Schori is the first female leader of a major U.S. denomination. It's just not true. Other, much larger and more influential denominations have had, and do have, female leaders. Take United Methodists for example. Yes, I could be a bit biased on this, but the facts speak for themselves. The UMC is the third largest Christian denomination, the second largest Protestant denomination, and the largest mainline denomination in the U.S.
And, The United Methodist Church has elected at least one female president of the United Methodist Council Bishops in the past: Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher. And, Bishop Janice Riggle Huie became president of The United Methodist Council of Bishops in May of this year.

So, the question remains: Why was this not a major news story too?

Our Summer Vacation...

has come and gone and everyone had a good time.

Here are some highlights:

We made great time on the interstate and found ourselves in Baldwin County Alabama well before noon last Wednesday. One of the first things of note that we saw was the Gulf IntraCoastal Waterway:





We knew we were close to the ocean then and as we drove into Gulf Shores, I snapped a pic of the sign pointing to our real destination:




Palm trees are a nice touch too:



Then, on to the city of Orange Beach:



Once we got checked into the condo and bought a few groceries, Tad immediately stripped down and was ready for the ocean. (Please don't tell him that he has his swim goggles on upside-down):



After our first trip to the beach, we wandered around for a while checking out the condo:





FOUR swimming pools within walking distance of the Gulf of Mexico?






That's Shelby and Tad on the boardwalk as I snapped their pic from the third floor balcony.



Of course, we went to our favorite restaurant: The Original Oyster House several times. The kids got a kick out of the novelty photo-op outside:



Stacie and Shelby wanted to do some shopping, so Tad and I wandered around. We didn't quite understand this sign we found as you can tell by Tad's expression:



Shelby also got into the 'posing for pictures' routine:



I also took some photos from the car. Here's a nice one of the beach. That's how close the beach is to Perdido Boulevard.



Here's one of the Perdido Pass Bridge:



I also got some amazing sunset pictures in and around Foley:





On Thursday, I got up at dawn and went to the beach looking for some more interesting scenes. It was a little overcast, so I didn't get any really good sunrise scenes:









Before, I went back to the room though, I got one final pic of something really strange:



This is a shell in the sand just after the surf broke over it. It looks like an eyeball?


Later, everyone got in on the beach fun:





On Friday, we went to 'The Track' for Go-Cart racing:



...for Bumper-Boat, water squirt battles:



...and had another silly photo-op for the kids at a landmark souvenier shop:



We also took time to stop at Gulf State Park to set up a family picture. I backed the Pathfinder right up to the dunes with the camera propped up in the cargo area and set on auto-exposure. I really didn't think it would turn out this good:



This may be our Christmas card picture.


Saturday, we packed up, gassed up and did some more shopping and eating on the way back home.


One last thing, A guy named Strange is running for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. I just could not resist getting a pic of this:

Last post...

for a few days anyway. Early tomorrow morning - which will feel like very late tonight - we leave for the Gulf. I think we're ready. The shingles are almost done and my dad volunteered to finish them up. All the various paperwork concerning the new ride is done, it's gassed up and half loaded right now. We're finishing up packing and making our last checks before leaving...

As far as the Pathfinder goes, well, Stacie loves it. I finally got my van keys back and they tracked down the map data DVD ROM for the navigation system. It's gonna be nice to have an interactive map right there on the dashboard. We also discovered why DVD players are such a popular item in SUV's. While we ran some errands tonight, the kids were watching 'Freaky Friday' with their wireless headphones on. I gotta tell you, one of our family trips has never been that peaceful. I was inspired to grab a handful of new DVD's in the Wal-Mart in the hopes that this will carry on all the way to Orange Beach!

In my spare time today, I got some vacation haircuts for me and Tad, took care of some financial considerations, cleaned the house and hauled off some trash. I feel like going to bed now. Unfortunately, I have a 7 hour drive in front of me...

See you next week.

Shingles and diverters...

Worked on the shingles in the early morning hours and again in the late afternoon. We are now about 75% done and should finsh up tomorrow. In between shingling sessions, I took the van to the Ford dealership to have a routine service and to get the heat and AC checked out. It turns out that the cooling system is fine and the heating system is fine but the blower system is totally FUBAR. It all has to do with a diverter - a little door that switches the the origin of the air going into the passenger compartment from hot to cold. The broken part is less than $70.00. Unfortunatley, this part is buried under a mounatin of instruments, modules, wires, doo-hickies and thing-a-ma-doojers in Ford vans. This means that the labor to install the little part is almost , 10 times the cost of the little part. You read correctly: over $700.00 to fix the AC on a van that is not worth much more than, well, $700.00.

I told the 'technician' that I would 'investigate other options'. He gave me a strange look. At the bottom of my statement this is written: 'Customer declined repair at this time.' Heh.

At least the air is cold on the Pathfinder.

Improvements...

Faithful blogees will have noticed some subtle changes to this site. More will come as time allows.

For now, the comments open in a pop-up window, there is a custom close window for the comments, a proper footer is in place (featuring a fake ad for 'DANG!' software) that spans all the columns, several alignment SNAFU's have been resolved and all links have been changed from relative to absolute.

Have I mentioned lately that all this is hand-coded ?

New Blog, New Car...

My main page (this one) is now 100% hand coded. Eventually, all my sub pages will be too but for now I have to continue to use Frontpage extensions because there's an awful lot of things that I still don't know how to do.

Enjoy.

Big Day yesterday... I was up by 7:00 am putting shingles on the house. Before 10:00, it was so hot the shingles were starting to stick together. I then cleaned up and went car shopping with Stacie. Found one and decided to buy in short order. To make a long story short, we spent a very frustrating afternoon (all of it) just trying to buy the dang thing - which we eventually accomplished. We came home and I put on shingles 'til dark.

Oh, the car: It's a (new) 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. Nice. Pix soon.

Who's the bad guy?

Al-Zarqawi is dead, Saddam Hussein is on trial and Bin Laden is holed up in an Afghan cave, reading the Qur'an and eating cold Beenie-Weenies straight from the can while generally hiding out from the good guys like my friend Warner. With no disrespect meant to the Zarqawi family, the people who are prosecuting the Hussein trial, nor to folks like Warner (and his family) who are serving their country in a most admirable way, I'd like to take this opportunity to provide something of a reality check. Namely, that while this great country spends billions of dollars fighting the bad guys, we can't spare one percent of our national budget to end hunger worldwide!

Just so you know.

Nietzsche said, "That which does not kill me only makes me stronger." It's a famous quote and is often repeated but is rarely associated with the fact that Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche has been dead for over a century.

Draw your own conclusions.

Busy...

While we're preparing for vacation, I'll also be putting new shingles on the house, getting the van checked out and possibly going car shopping.

That is to say I'll be busy.

The world may have to get by with only an abbreviated version of my daily wit and wisdom.

Then again, maybe not.

But for now, I'll leave you with this: A federal judge ordered two disputing attorneys to settle their argument by playing 'rock, paper, scissors'.

No joke.

On the beach...

with a drink in my hand and my toes in the sand is where I'll be one week from today. And the day after that, and the day after that and...

Constant sunshine, ridiculously low humidity, fresh seafood by the plateful, push-cart vendors selling mixed drinks, girls in bikinis (sorry, Honey) and not a care in the world.

I may not come back.

Just in case you wonder why no new posts appear here in the latter half of next week.

If posts do reappear the week after that, that is how you will know that I did come back.

Tschuß.

666...

Relax everybody. 6/6/6 came and went without the world imploding. You still have to go to work tomorrow, you still have bills to pay, you still have to deal with everything you had to deal with before the random alphanumeric coincidence of 6/6/6 occurred.

Of course it also just happened to be my wedding anniversary and some people commented on that: 'It must be some kind of omen, don't you think?'

No, I don't think - and it actually bothers me quite a bit that people put so much mental energy into something so silly and inconsequential. I asked a friend who made one of those comments if he knew the origin of the '666' reference. He didn't and I ignored the erstwhile obvious fact that the sixth day of the sixth month of the (incorrectly accounted) two-thousand and sixth year after Jesus of Nazareth was born has almost no relation to the common and historical usage of the number 666. I also chose not to delve into the fact that there have been many other 6/6/6's (June 6, 6 - June 6, 106 - June 6, 206, June 6, 306, and so on. Instead, I offered a Cliff's Notes version of the Revelation of St. John, my understanding of numerology in the early post-apostolic period and a summary of Eschatological literature in the Hebrew and early Christian paradigm.

O.K., I might have gone just a bit overboard with that, but I think I made the point. Numbers are just numbers and they mean nothing unless we assign some meaning to them. If we don't, then they remain just, well, numbers. And even if we do, different people in different times and places can, and do, assign radically different meanings to those numbers.

To drive this point home, my son was born on Friday the 13th and he weighed exactly 6 pounds, six ounces and six tenths of an ounce. (He came three weeks early and, no, he's not called Damien.)

What would that have meant if Tad had been born in, oh, say, England?

Uh, well...

It would mean that Tad weighed 2.908661073 kilograms, that's what. Now tell me, you David Icke wannabes, what exactly is the secret mystical numerological significance of that number?

Precisely.

Now go out and devote your mental energy to the fact that there are misguided zealots corrupting the peaceful message of religion, that children are starving to death in this world, that innocent people languish in prison and that a whole continent is dying of AIDS.

SHEESH!

The best thing I ever did...

Fourteen years ago today, I did the smartest, wisest and most fortunate (at least for me) thing I have ever done.

I married my sweetheart.

She was a quite young and extraordinarily beautiful blonde lady who was just naive enough to think think that I was something special.

She's no longer blonde, but she is still quite young and she's even more extraordinarily beautiful. She's also still naive enough to think I'm special.

At least that what she tells me and, most times, I think she means it!

She was then, and is now, physically beautiful beyond description but it is the beauty of her soul that is so compelling and attractive to me. Stacie is not only a beautiful woman, she is a beautiful person. There are a lot of beautiful women out there - none perhaps as beautiful as she - but truly beautiful souls are even more difficult to find.

She is one of those.

Someone asked me recently, "How did an ugly so-and-so like you end up with a woman like that?" I got lucky I guess. Lucky beyond all belief, finally, in meeting her. I tell people that God must like me a little more than the average person. Really, it was a just a chance encounter, a random series of events that culminated in a life-changing experience. Call it a coincidence if you must. Call it good luck, happenstance or even the will of God.

Call it what you will, I call it the best thing that ever happened to me!

Stacie, I love you with all my heart. You are my best friend in the whole world. You have been my comforter, my counselor, my guide and my muse. You inspired me and continue to inspire me to do good and to be a better person. Meeting you, falling in love with you and marrying you changed my life. (For the better, just in case you're wondering).

I can't imagine what my life would have been without you. I won't even try. But I know this: If I had my life thus far to live all over again, I would change a lot of things. I would do many things differently and I would probably be a very different person. But if any of that would mean that we would not have met or gotten together or stayed together, then I would choose the mess that my life has been all over again just so that I could continue to be your husband.

I would choose that any day, every day, all day long for all eternity.

Which is just how long I will love you more than life itself!

They don't call them 'Goobers' for nothing...

The Alabama gubernatorial primaries are tomorrow...

One of the Democratic candidates, former Gov. Don Siegelman is currently on trial for corruption. Running on the Republican ticket is former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was expelled from office for refusing to follow a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a public building.

Experts say that neither Moore nor Siegelman has much hope of prevailing in the primaries.

That's too bad.

It would have been a much more entertaining race between the two of them.

It would probably also attract a lot of national news media coverage as well which Alabama doesn't necessarily want or need.

Children's Day service was great...

Of course.

Stacie, Shelby and Tad all performed near flawlessly as did most of the others involved.

Here's Shelby and Tad in front of the altar after it was all over:

Sunday evening, Shelby went with the church youth group to see The Da Vinci Code. I was looking forward to getting her reaction to it and maybe even debating some of the questions that the premise of the movie brings up.

But when the kids found out how long Da Vinci Code is, they decided to see X-Men 3 instead.

Ya!

Tomorrow is Children's Day

...at church...

It's also Pentecost Sunday (which is just a coincidence).

It's our tradition that on the first Sunday in June, Pentecost or not, we let the children lead our worship service.

Of course, someone has to lead the children in their leading of the congregation...

And that's how my son got tapped to lead the congregation in reciting the Apostle's creed and the Invocation while my daughter was asked to direct the congregation in the community prayer time.

See, the lady who organizes the Children's Day service each just year randomly picked Shelby and Tad out of all the children in the congregation to do this.

It also just so happens that this lady is my wife and Shelby and Tad's mom.

Just another, you know, coincidence.

In the news...

Arnold Schwarzenegger caved to the administration's demand that the California National Guard troops be sent to the Mexican border to keep out the 'illegals'.

This whole thing is a bad idea for many reasons but the 'Oak's objections (and his about-face) seem to have been mostly financially motivated.

Probably some kind of payola going on in the background.

Dennis (The Menace) Hastert is now longest-serving GOP speaker of the House in U.S. history.

Seven years.

About six years, eleven months, three weeks, six days, twenty three hours, fifty nine minutes and some odd seconds too long if you ask me!

Some people will do anything for publicity. Anna Nicole Smith is pregnant. She's old enough to be a grandmother, has more plastic in her body than a used Geo and has probably consumed more recreation pharmaceuticals than the average English rock star.

'Nuff said.

Criticism of Dixie Chicks too extreme? Wait just a minute. Did anyone ever stop to ask just why the reaction to the lead chicken's criticism of the President met with such rancor? Many other celebrities have opposed our current and other presidents and have not been so ostracized. Many have been even more vocal and candid in their political statements.

Hey, maybe that could be it. The others were HONEST and FORTHCOMING in their criticism. Although the Dixie Chicks completely misunderstood and totally underestimated the intelligence of their following, they really did nothing wrong...

Nothing except that Natalie Maines chose to call Bush an idiot in front of a foreign audience, hoping no one back home would notice. These days, most anyone could walk onto a stage and call Bush an idiot and most people, including me, would nod in agreement and never give it another thought. But Ms. Maines tried to play both sides of the fence. To her loyal (perceived) Red-state American, tobacco-chewing, pickup-driving, gun-toting fan base, she kept quiet about her political opinions. But on the international stage, she catered to the (again, perceived) sophisticated and refined European mind by very imaginatively calling Bush an idiot. It was a deceptive and cowardly tactic (and not a particularly thoughtful putdown) that backfired on her in the absolute best possible way.

Question: Why did she not make these kinds of comments to an American audience?

Answer: Because she was afraid that her comments would hit her where it hurts the most - in her bank account.

Which is exactly what happened anyway.

He-he.

TWO GUYS LOOKING FOR THEIR WIVES:

Two guys, one old and one young, are pushing their carts around Wal-Mart when they collide.

The old guy says to the young guy, "Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

The young guy says, "That's OK. It's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife, too. I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate."

The old guy says, "Well, maybe we can help each other. What does your wife look like?

The young guy says, "Well, she is 27 years old, tall, with long red hair, blue eyes, long legs, big boobs, and she's wearing tight white shorts.

What does your wife look like?"

The old guy says, "Never mind --- let's look for yours."

My lovely wife sent me this...from her work email account!