Musings in Search of a Muse

... I'm a bit of an Anglophile. Okay, more than a bit. Most things from the UK -- particularly England -- grab my attention and delight me. When I get my Mini Cooper I plan to have the Union Jack (the flag I pinned to my security badge at work) decal on the roof. My spelling leans toward the British standard as does my slang. I celebrate Guy Fawkes Day, Boxing Day, and a number of other Anglo traditions. And any woman with that accent is instantly hot. Add freckles and mmmmmm ....

So you can imagine my pleasure when I found a great Website for pix (like those in this post) of my beloved homeland away from homeland. Until I am blessed enough to visit I'll make due with what I can gather in books and on the Web, view on the telly or hear from the Beeb. Long live Her Majesty, the Queen!

Here is the line up for The History Channel on my cable system for today:

• 05:00 PM - More American Eats
• 07:00 PM - Cannibals (Part 1)
• 08:00 PM - Cannibals (Part 2)
• 09:00 PM - Snackfood Tech

Write your own jokes ... I'm off to satisfy this peckish feeling that has suddenly hit me.

Speed Bump does it again. Funny and poignant. There was a time when I found Ouija Boards fascinating entertainment and wished that I could genuinely connect with "another plane."

Then I grew up. I realized the true danger of giving into the occult. No, I didn't think the board would actually work, but it could be an invitation to Evil. The potential for harm increases dramatically if simple acknowledgement of Evil progresses to actively seeking it and then openly encouraging it.

Satan and his minions can only do harm if permitted. They, too, are bound by God's laws, but humans have an exclusion clause called free will. We can choose to ignore God and we can go further by inviting Satan's influence.

Ouija Boards are excellent invites because the perceived entertainment value or it's use as a social lubricant. Impressionable minds -- and I won't pick on the young here, just the developmentally and spiritually immature -- can easily take the fun too far. Whether becoming disappointed by the reality of the process, bored with the eventual banality, or becoming too carried away with the social situations than develop during the party atmosphere often associated with the board's use, some people seek to extend the adventure. This is the invitation. This is the willing abandonment of God that Evil most desires.

The cartoon is amusing but it is far from being a vote for Evil so don't be afraid to laugh. However, avoid the next step! This can be difficult, I know. A clerk at a local bookstore and I were getting along rather well one afternoon and I sensed some potential for a date. As we chatted, though, she had a side conversation with another clerk about store business in which she brought up her plans to consult her tarot cards about something.

Bam! In that instant I had to decide if pursuing something more than a mutually enjoyable talk was worth having to deal with the occult issue. The evangelist in me was overjoyed because it would be an opportunity to perhaps save a soul -- the ultimate thrill. But the chicken in me felt the task was too large. That hurt. Vanity, active oppression, social ineptness -- who knows the cause. In any case, the opportunity passed and I may never know what could have been. Or maybe I'll go back when my faith is stronger. Let's call this battle with God's enemies a draw.

"Book your trip to beautiful 2003 UB313 and get away from it all!" announced the advert board as I passed. Well, if I want a vacation as far away as possible from my daily life, I suppose I couldn't any further than the 10th planet of the solar system.

Sure, that's a lame way to start a post, but at least I haven't done it before. But how often is a new planet announced? It's been some 75 years since Pluto was confirmed and some astronomers aren't 100% sure it is a planet. But not too long after 2003 UB313 (hopefully that's a temporary name) was announced some astronomers challenged the claim that it's number ten or that it is even a planet at all.

If you ask me, if it's about 1.5 times bigger than Pluto as reported and has a more regular orbit, then it's a planet. The big question should be are we going to recall Voyager or the Pioneer probes so we can update the direction telling extraterrestrials where we are?

There was once a time that I was on top of computing technology. I remember ARPAnet, sending e-mail in the '70s, the DEC Rainbow, writing hypertext documents before there was a World Wide Web, testing AOL's first Web browser before it went public, and buying one of the first Palm Pilots.

Being reasonably near the cutting edge is a thing of the past. For example, I started blogging much later than many, bought an iPod by it's third generation, started using flash drives later than other geeks I know, and more. Now I'm far enough away from the edge it is looking like a horizon. So of course I start to listening to podcasts after the cat left the bag.

Nearly all the home-grown podcasts I've listened to so far are puerile in quality and content, I don't much like the professional ones put out by the media companies, and someone (please) tell me where to find a good episode of Adam Curry's program. His write up in Wired late last year made me think it would be a fun listen. ::::sigh::::

Then along comes God in Tech from GM Podcasting Network, a show about technology today with a Christian perspective. After only one episode (#5), I'm hooked. It was interesting, entertaining, and professional. I could tell that Mike and Tanya Norton not only knew the subject, but they really cared. And they had a really good time, too. Well worth a listen, so click the link above to visit their site or iTunes users can click here to subscribe.

It's been many moons since I thought about the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, but as soon as I read this story a particular memory whizzed right back.

Carburetor breast fantasy wins bad writing contest - Yahoo! News: "As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual," went Dan McKay's winning entry in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

McKay, 43, of North Dakota was said by organizers on Thursday to be visiting China "perhaps to escape notoriety for his dubious literary achievement." He wins $250 (142 pounds).

The California San Jose State University contest challenges entrants to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels and has attracted entries from around the world for 23 years.

I haven't checked the contest's official Web site yet to confirm my memory, but I believe my favorite bad opening line went something like this:

"It was a dark and stormy night and the rain falling in my whiskey dampened my spirits."

No, this is not a review of the Broadway phenom Spamalot! or an endorsement for a tasty meat product. Rather it is a plea to spammers to get their act together.

Firstly, you aren't fooling me. I don't know any of the people shown in the picture and the subject lines aren't even remotely intriguing. Honestly, how do spammers make any money at all?

Secondly, my ISP has to stop making it easy for spammers to get through to it's mail service. I use several services (for different reasons) and my Comcast account receives the highest volume of unexpected spam (9 pieces today so far, and that's below average, but the day isn't over yet). Users are given a filter to activate, but it does no good at all. Yahoo! Mail and Gmail filter very, very well. In fact, I haven't seem spam in the latter account in months.

Thirdly, I pay for e-mail. Even if it is a free service like Gmail, I still pay for Internet access. No one has the right to take up my time and my space without my permission. Send it to my snail-mail box if you have to send anything. I'm required by law to have one of those so I don't mind as much.

When PCWorld.com reported that the "Government uses color laser printer technology to track documents" I wasn't totally surprised. A friend of mine works for Xerox and was telling me about the anti-copying technology built into some of the machines he uses. For example, one of them recognizes the recent forms of U.S. paper currency and stops the reproduction process. Probably a good idea, but even that won't stop people's stupidity. While paying for something at a pharmacy a few years ago I spotting a b&w photocopy of a $10 bill with "Don't do this again!" scrawled underneath. Pointing to the paper, I asked the clerk "Someone was having fun?" thinking it might have been an employee messing with the store copier. Not catching my drift, he replied, "Yup, one of our clerks took a one-sided b&w copy for a candy bar and gave change."

The article isn't completely about counterfeiting, though. It explains how many color laser printers print discreet, yellow dots that can be used to trace the printer to a user. "The dots' minuscule size, covering less than one-thousandth of the page, along with their color combination of yellow on white, makes them invisible to the naked eye. ... One way to determine if your color laser is applying this tracking process is to shine a blue LED light--say, from a keychain laser flashlight--on your page and use a magnifier."

All this assumes the printer is registered somewhere. Printers in corporate offices probably are, but wouldn't someone really determined to "do a good job" put more than basic effort into not being traceable? There were no warranty cards with my printer because I got it from a pile of leftover hardware at a closed computer store so who would be able to trace it to me? What this essentially does is make it much easier to catch the casual ne'er-do-well. All well and good, I'm sure, but what efforts are in place to trace mass counterfeiters, or terrorists that print documents, or other high-level transgressors?

This simple bit of technology will yield results if the criminals slip up or simply don't thoroughly think things through. Much like the practice of engrave Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) on larger parts of a vehicle helped after the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. Authorities traced the VIN found on a transmission part to van rented in New Jersey but it probably would have stopped there if the terrorist hadn't been stupid enough to ask for a refund on his rental deposit.

I picked up a few new tracks so my Inspirational music iMix was updated. Got iTunes? Then click here to see it.

CNET News.com reports that mobile service providers aren't very warm about Motorola's plans to integrate Apple iTunes into a phone. "Not all hope is lost. Cingular is said to be interested in completing the triad necessary for a Motorola iTunes phone because it has fallen behind rival carriers in its music strategy. But even that could be just a temporary solution if Cingular decides to go ahead with its own broadband music initiative as planned next year."

MSNBC.com and others ask Did Microsoft wipe Apple off the map? "As software rivals, Microsoft wants to wipe Apple Computer off the map. With Microsoft's new Web service for satellite photographs, did the world's largest software company find a way to do exactly that?"

"Internet sleuths discovered that anyone using Microsoft's new 'Virtual Earth' Web site for a bird's-eye view of Apple's corporate headquarters saw only a grainy overhead photograph of what appears to be a single, nondescript warehouse and a deserted parking lot -- not Apple's sprawling campus, with 11 modern buildings surrounding a plush courtyard. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)" I cobbled together the comparison discussed in the article (click on the image for a larger version). Yup. It looks pretty blatant.


The article also mentions that "Google's mapping site includes color aerial photographs from October 2002 with more detail for Apple's neighborhood, provided by the U.S. Geological Survey."

"One satellite expert said companies should provide more details, such as the date for each photograph, to help Internet users make sense of these images. 'It's a problem, one of the real challenges. There's a reason why most pictures in magazines and newspapers have captions,' said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org. 'What's missing from this imagery is, there are no captions to tell you when the image was acquired or what you're seeing or why you should care.'"

This is something both companies need to improve. There are some glaring problems with the imagery quality, too, though I have to give the nod to Google overall. Consider this comparison of bad vs. worse. No wonder some Muslims don't like the West. At least Google got the name politically-correct (pun intended).

Other pros and cons? Let's look at Google Earth (v 3.0.0395 Beta) first.

• Pro: Motion, motion, motion. My golly, but it's fun to fly from place to place on the globe. Makes me a bit dizzy at times, but it's worth it. I've never seen my regular drive from southcentral Pennsylvania to southern Maine and back this way before.
• Con: The 'Places' list needs more organization tools. It's tough to keep an orderly pattern to the views I've bookmarked.
• Pro: Bookmarks in the Places list allow for detailed view manipulation, including a variety of place markers, room for copious notes, and great integration of said information with the chosen view.
• Con: The roads overlay doesn't always align well with the roads in the photo images.
• Con: Entering known coordinates for places seldom align with the images of the places. For example, both Mount Everest and Mount Fuji are off by a few degrees. Good thing they are big and hard to miss.
• Con: If you are a consumer, try MS Virtual Earth first, then use Google Earth for more information or just for fun.
  
• Pro: Installing client software for working with the online databases gives much more flexibility to the images, allows for easy sharing with groups (of which there appear to me many) or individuals, and allows for more tools.
• Con: The client software takes up a fair bit of hard drive real estate.
• Pro: Quite a few means to communicate data with others, including a BBS.
• Con: No way to work offline or export movies.
• Pro: Image flexibility the use of customizable layers, the image plane can be tilted (as well as rotated), and a 3-D feel.
  

How about MSN Virtual Earth?

• Pro: Web-based interface means
• No client software cluttering up the hard drive
• Your work "travels" with you from machine-to-machine if you are an MSN member.
• "Live" updates of software just by accessing the site.
• Some digiterati favor this interface. Click here to see why.
  
• Con: The Web-based software doesn't allow the cache flexibility of client-based software so imagery flexibility is weaker. For example, the image plane can't be tilted.
• Pro: While still black and white, the resolution of some images beats Google.
  
• Con: Controls are not at all touchpad-friendly.
• Con: Road illustratons can't be overlayed on the photos (like using a highlighter on a paper map), though with the clarity I saw this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
  
• Con: Street names cannot be removed from the images (i.e., they aren't an overlay).
  
• Con: No motion. Okay, maybe it's not needed, but it's rather fun.
• Pro: If you are a consumer, try this service first.
  
• Con: While probably designed to be easy to use, tools tend to display over the image, thus blocking parts that might need to be seen.
• Pro: Switching locations via the Scratch Pad is fast and painless because there is no motion -- just a cut, to use a movie editing term.
• Pro: The image of my Mom's house and a few other places important to me are better than Google's versions (though still B&W).
  

Here are some suggestions for both:

• Get more images of common or historical places such as Stonehenge, Israel, Hiroshima and others.
• Enable the user to gather information about the image. Knowing resolution plus date and time of capture would be as useful as the copyright information that is on every image.
• Offline cache, please. Those of us with laptops sometimes find ourselves away from any Internet connection (i.e., civiliazation).
• Look at other satellite image sites on the Web. They don't pixelate or airbrush government buildings to distort them. Yes, I'm know that this will help lazy terrorists, but it's not hard to get this information. I've seen plenty of pictures featuring the roof of the White House taken by people in airplanes.
• Make is easier to plot a preferred route. Virtual Earth allows some modification (much as other Web-based services do), but no service or software that I've ever tried beats a map and a pen for custom routes.
  
• Microsoft needs to tie their product into Encarta. This would be like a 'Live' version of the Encarta mapping product that was available in the 1990s.
• Someone needs to talk to The National Geographic Society. Now. That would be the ultimate partnership.
• And both need to get a picture of my house when the lawn is mowed. It's pretty obvious that both images were taken on different days, but couldn't someone have gotten the timimg better?

Each product is going to be a valuable resource for teaching geographic concepts, particularly place, location, spatial relationships, and human/environment interaction. Kudos to Microsoft and Google for trying to beat the heck out of each other to be the best.

MSNBC.com reports that "A woman who told police she wanted to be a 'cool mom' pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges Monday for having sex with high school boys at parties where authorities said she supplied drugs and alcohol."

My high school Theater Arts teacher did much the same thing the one year she taught. Of course, being an outcast geek I didn't know about this until near the end of the school year. Funny, the only thing I can remember her teaching me is that Morning Thunder tea was a great wake-me-up in the mornings. Fortunately that was never given as homework so I didn't have to find out what it was.

Actually, I'm quite surprised that Vanity didn't make it into the list of Top Seven Deadly Sins. It has to be Satan's favorite. Think what vanity makes us do:

1. Spend exuberant amounts of money on clothes, make-up, and hair care products. Guess I'm caught in the latter. The $1.99 shampoo/conditioner combo was traded in for the $2.99 shampoo, the conditioner of the same price, and a $3.50 leave-in conditioner spray. Hey! I'm growin' a pony tail here! But my clothes will forever remain frumpy and unkempt.
   
2. Buy ridiculously impractical cars to impress others. This primarily affects males after the age of 40 years, but there's a reason for the stereotype of hot blonde chicks in convertibles. My screaming yellow Ford Focus is in no way being middle-age crazy jus because I bought it when I turned ... er ... 40.
   
3. Waste time primping and preening. Okay, since I've started letting my hair grow long I've been keeping a hairbrush in my car.
   
4. Stay at home, avoiding social contact because of Appearance Deficit Disorder. It's often justified by "There's something really good on TV" or "I'm just not up to it" -- whatever "it" is. Can't say I've done this, but I know people who have. I avoid social contact because people don't like me, not because of my looks. Sure, there are folks who do like me, but do I want to hang out with the same 4 or 5 people all the time? Actually, I am going out on the infrequent date or two. But I do like going places with people. Gotta work on this one.
5. Hang out with the "cool" crowd so you can feel "cool," too, even if you aren't having any fun. No, not my style at all. I may be shallow in many ways, but not like this.

Yeah, we've got to get Vanity into the Top 7 somehow. But I can't think of one to bump off. Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth, Pride, Lust, and Wrath are all just so timeless.

One of my favorite movies is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Cruising around Wikipedia for information about the Spear of Destiny and related topics I came across the article about Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. I guess it is related, after a fashion. In any case, it is hilarious. Here's an excerpt.

"The instructions for its use are in the 'Book of Armaments' (Chapter 2, verses 9-21), as follows: 'And the LORD spake, saying, first shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither thou count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'"

The Discovery Network show Myth Busters has long been a favorite of mine because it is entertaining, interesting, funny, and (yes) educational. The recent addition of some new faces in 'Mythbuilder' positions has only improved it.

With a variety of skills in film and sculpture, Kari Byron is often called upon to fabricate the projects brainstormed by the leads and the other Mythbuilders. I simply enjoy when she is in the frame, however, because is totally adorable and very expressive. Few people I know have as much fun as she seems to when something blows up or is destroyed violently. In the episode that tested the myth of a woman getting pregnant by a bullet that passed through a man's testes, she seldom strayed more than a few feet from a test rifle and was like a kid in a candy shop whenever she had a chance to fire the weapon. I'd still watch the show if she wasn't on it, but it is a whole lot better with her. Check out her bio and her work here. And don't worry about the talons shown in the picture above. I think she borrowed them.
Photo (C) Discovery Network

A campaign encouraging people to enter an emergency contact number in their mobile phone's memory under the heading ICE (In Case of Emergency), has rapidly spread throughout the world as a particular consequence of last week's terrorist attacks in London.

Originally established as a nationwide campaign in the UK, ICE allows paramedics or police to be able to contact a designated relative / next-of-kin in an emergency situation.

The idea is the brainchild of East Anglian Ambulance Service paramedic Bob Brotchie and was launched in May this year. Bob, 41, who has been a paramedic for 13 years, said: "I was reflecting on some of the calls I've attended at the roadside where I had to look through the mobile phone contacts struggling for information on a shocked or injured person. Almost everyone carries a mobile phone now, and with ICE we'd know immediately who to contact and what number to ring. The person may even know of their medical history."

By adopting the ICE advice, your mobile will help the rescue services quickly contact a friend or relative -- which could be vital in a life or death situation. It only takes a few seconds to do, and it could easily help save your life. Why not put ICE in your phone now? Simply select a new contact in your phone book, enter the word 'ICE' and the number of the person you wish to be contacted.

I may have broken a company policy by reprinting the above text from an in-house e-mail at work, but under the circumstances I don't think anyone will mind.

If we are talking about portraying the Father of Lies well, then actor Peter Stormare would certainly qualify as a "good Satan." In the fairly entertaining, though blatantly heretical movie Constantine, Stormare is rather effective in his brief screen time. This is the only performance I can recall where the basis for the character is insanity. Every actor sneaks in evil at one point or other though most try to make the character as human as possible. I guess this is to emphasize the dichotomy with evil. Al Pacino does this exceptionally well in The Devil's Advocate* as part of another stand-out rendition.

But insanity is a great choice. It just works. One moment he's congenial, the next he's a taunting child, and once he even seems to channel Brando. In between we see physical discomfort, personal conflicts, professional pride, and a wide range of emotions and physical behaviors. It's the kind of performance so convincing it scares.

*Just an aside, Keanu Reeves is the lead in both Constantine and The Devil's Advocate, struggling a bit at times to match the quality of his co-stars. In each of these movies and in the Matrix trilogy he plays a variation on Our Savior.

There are many times I wonder why I bother putting my thoughts into this blog, let alone movie reviews. Even with deep reflection I can't recall a time when I consistently kept a journal, even when it was required for school assignments. Often I would simply jot down scraps of memories just before the assignment was due. Surprisingly, the teacher or professor would comment that I showed great initiative to keep a narrative as detailed or as pertinent as the work showed. Hmmph. So, though I do enjoy writing, maybe I write because it is a great way to keep in touch?

My vanity isn't such that I believe those who know about this current effort frequently visit my site. In fact, I know virtually no one does. It isn't that people don't like me or that I'm not that interesting -- trust me, I do have a handful of friends with Internet access and they seem to more or less enjoy my company. So, I guess I had better be writing because I have something to say that is unique and original.

This is where we come to the movie review. Almost. There are many great places to get movie reviews. One of my favorites is from Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. Rather more often that not his views and mine are in concordance. When we do disagree it is often because he tends to look for deeper meaning or some ineffable value beyond mere entertainment whereas I find value in any movie, even if only to make fun of it much like is done on Mystery Science Theater 3000. There are also some great places to get pre-biased reviews from writers that you might find like-minded socially, politically, or religiously.

In the latter category is something from Christian Spotlight on Entertainment. Their review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is so well written, insightful, and creative that once again I wonder why I bother writing my own. In respect to common Christian concerns (violence, language, sexuality, morals, to mention a few), the review brings up salient points that I agree with or at least find notable. Here is a highlight and I recommend reading the whole piece:

As a Christian viewer, I see this tale about an eccentric chocolate maker and a boy who embodies all that is good as a first-rate morality tale for children and adults. As you sit there look deep inside the story that surrounds you and drink in not just the lush images, but the spiritual significance that echoes our Lord’s warnings about making wrong choices and the inevitable consequences involved.

Here’s the key to understanding choices and their consequences: God has set in motion spiritual laws for human beings that lead to good or bad results, depending on the choices we make. God tells us that if we rise above our selfishness, we build good character. If we fail to understand that, we fail to understand a great deal about God and His plan and purpose for us.

Building upon this, there are several aspects of the film that engaged me. For example, the imagery is stunning, as seen in this still from early in the film:


Director Tim Burton has a pop-artist's eye tinged with a darkness that transmutes shapes and colors from countenances we would routinely accept as innocent and friendly into like representations that mask an inner turmoil. The trees are clearly trees, but they look unhappy, even the candy ones. Charlie's house appears to suffer from osteoporosis rather than simple decay and neglect. Disingenuous characters have an obvious glaze to them beyond a simple veneer of humanity masking atrophied souls. As with his other films, this artistic idée fixe can sometimes be too much. I found myself too often (and to my distraction) recalling Beetlejuice (1988) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). A few critics assert that the burning of the puppets early in the movie is an example of this perspective taken to an extreme, but I see it not as unnecessary violence, rather as a clever commentary on social values and a curious insight to Mr. Wonka's psyche.

All this is a cradle in which Johnny Depp crafts a character that has a boy's crushed, but not broken dreams wandering lost in a man's body. Some comments I've read label the character as psychotic and I wouldn't disagree that some manifestations are present. But here's a person who, through the misguided words and deeds of a father simply trying to show love, felt that his passion and intellect was disregarded. What we see in Willy Wonka is the result of a broken relationship. Depp portrays this with such nuance and skill I sometimes forgot there was an actor under that ridiculous haircut. He didn't play this for comedy. It is clear that he took a purely dramatic orientation and I would be surprised if a nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences would be seen as an insult.

The cinematography follows suit to the art direction and is simply splendid in the big screen IMAX format that I saw. It isn't in 3-dimensions, but something about a 3-story tall screen really changes the experience. There are parts that might be improved with the traditional theater aspect ratio and I might have to see the film again as a comparison.

All-in-all, a superior film on many levels. It is good, simple entertainment, a visual feast for the artistic, a study in dramatic acting, and a fine morality play in seven acts (each of the children, Wonka, and the public). I would be remiss, however, if I didn't address the question that has haunted this production from the day of its announcement: Is it better than the 1971 version with Gene Wilder? This is a very unfair question because it is like a comparison of toffees and Tootsie Rolls. Both are candies, but different candies. Each film has merits and I would likely watch each for different reasons. The Wilder film is much more light-hearted on all levels and makes me laugh more often. The Depp film is a thinker's film because the story matures into a conscience-driven statement. Youngsters would be the likely audience for the former while teens and adults would likely get more out of the latter.

We'll miss you, Scotty!
James Doohan, "the Canadian-born actor who affected a brogue as embattled Enterprise engineer Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott on the 1966-69 series and in seven of the franchise's big-screen adventures, has died, it was reported Wednesday. He was 85" (E! Online News).

More coverage from BBC News & MSNBC.

The Sliders episode "The Dream Masters" is reminiscent of the 10/25/1968 episode from Star Trek titled "Spectre of the Gun" because both involved an Old West-style "shoot out" confrontation while in a dream state.

Nope, there's no particular reason I brought up the topic, really. The idea just struck me. Feel free to go about your business. Nothing to see here.

From MSNBC.com: "Actor Colin Farrell is suing a woman for allegedly trying to distribute and profit from a sex tape he says the two recorded with the agreement it would never be made public."

If it's not something you are willing to do in public for free, then don't do it! And where's the pride that this woman should have? If she succeeds, then she has effectively become a prostitute. C'mon, girl! Do you really want your parents to see that tape?

Craig, AKA "Al"

One day I visited my brother and found him explaining to his son that world was completely without color until the invention of color TV. Proof? Episodes of Mr. Ed went from B&W in one season to color in the next. The father in Calvin & Hobbes was laying much the same trip on his son in one strip. Calvin responded, "But, Dad! What about all the paintings by the old Masters?" Dad casually replied, "Son, they were all insane."

Why is it that men like to mess with their kids like this? I'm not blessed enough to have kids of my own, but I sometimes treat my friend's offspring as such and try to throw them for a loop or two every now and then. It's fun. Try it.

Look at the Daily Devotional from In Touch Ministries for today: "If you believe that God might be leading you in a certain direction, take the time to earnestly seek His mind on the matter, and open your heart to listen to Him."

Go, Fishy! Go! `·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>

Many killed in Iraq suicide bomb: "At least 58 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the town of Musayyib, some 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad. Police told the BBC the bomber blew himself up near a mosque. The blast caused a nearby fuel tanker to explode. At least another 80 people are said to have been injured."

1776: English colonists in North America were mistreated by a government remote both geographically and politically so they rose up against their oppressors and created a new nation.

Attention: Citizens of the Middle East. There is a better way, but if you don't want it, please let us know. If you want to have your lives dictated to you by cowardly men with no real vision beyond the power they can grab for themselves, we would be more than happy to come home and enjoy the fruits of our own struggles.

1789: French citizens were dying because of the neglect of their sovereign so they reminded the world through revolution that those in power serve only at the pleasure of those governed.

It may be silly of us to assume that because we didn't want to be killed for enjoying freedom that everyone would feel the same way. Far be it for us to fight for you if you don't want to fight for yourselves.

1919: The peoples of India, tired of a long and unjust occupation of their country by the British, eventually decided that they had enough and brilliantly resisted their servitude to become the world's most populous democracy.

It was wrong for us to not ask in the first place and I for one apologize, but it's hard for us to watch as children starve or are blown up. Watching as mass graves are filled with the bodies of innocent villagers who had a different ethnic background than the leader of the nation disturbs us so naturally we wanted to do something. Maybe you like having your Olympic athletes and their families tortured because they lost to athletes with better training, nutrition, and the love of their homeland.

1991: The apex of the fall of Communism in Western Eurasia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics dissolved when it's people realized that life could be better.

If that's the life you want, fine. Just tell us. Don't let others speak for you. Enjoy at least one freedom before you give them all up.

Every now and then I click on the "Next Blog" button that's on the upper right corner to see what other bloggers are writing about. It's amazing how many of these things are from Malaysia. And here I thought the most popular language on the Web was French.

Below is an excerpt from a rather interesting blog find. It features a personal view of the recent bombings in London. I added emphasis to the section that struck me as most interesting.

London saw the worst terrorist attacks in its history, and the first suicide bombings in Europe. A horrible tragedy, no doubt. What was reassuring was the way most British leaders - political and religious - responded. There was no mention of a 'crusade' or denigration of Islam. Prime Minister Blair was especially commendable for the mature way he handled news of the attacks, while hosting the G8 summit meeting in Gleneagles at the same time. What was also helpful was that Muslim leaders of all sects came together in England to unequivocally condemn the attacks and declare suicide bombing against civilians un-Islamic. Finally a fatwa that I can agree on! What is ironic is that these same religious leaders did not bat any eyelid when declaring suicide bombers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel martyrs. Even in Finsbury Park, where residents argued in favor of suicide attacks earlier, no one was visible who supported the London bombings. Everyone condemned the terrorist attacks. May be the fact that this time the genie attacked home had made these religious leaders sit up and talk sense. Is it too late though? I hope not!

This points up several things. First, all this isn't really about religion. Second, this is proof that Tip O'Neill was right, all politics is local.

The media keeps emphasizing that terrorists of late have religious affiliations. This is a sham. Having read the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Koran, and having made more than the usually cursory study of religion that most people make, I don't see how anyone justifies mass murder of civilians -- particularly children -- as god's will. The war being waged isn't wholly holy. Overthrowing a government (say a democracy to form a theocracy) is purely political. If you don't recognize this then you might want to brush up on the Crusades.

Further evidence that the conflict isn't religious is the local political reaction mentioned above. It's the Politics 101 concept NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard. People don't usually mind letting others take the hit, make the sacrifice, or deal with the problem as long as they don't have to do so. The true meaning of the war finally struck those who previously had but a superficial view, just as most Americans didn't really care about the atrocities in Iraq or Afghanistan before 9-11.

Now if the terrorists would take a look at life the way others do they might understand the full impact of their actions. It's a matter of people, not ideologies. If only there was a "Next Perspective" button that we could press.

Yahoo! News tells us that "The Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser nibbled off a small market-share portion from Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) in June, continuing a consistent monthly trend this year," and continues with many statistics and figures that totally lost me. My question is What is the point?

After all, I didn't pay anything to download the product. I don't pay anything to use it. And I've yet to buy anything from the Mozilla store (C'mon, gang! Some of us like our clothing in sizes fit for men!). Apparently the point isn't to make money, it seems, so why is anyone bothering? And why is Microsoft worried?

Ship of Fools has a great section called The Mystery Worshipper in which various people report on a church service they've attended. My initial impression was that this was likely to be the most irreverent part of a pretty irreverent Web site. After all, this is the site that's looking for the funniest offensive religious joke. Here's an excerpt from a rather literate contributor who answered the question "In a nutshell, what was the sermon about?" reviewing a service at West Point:

The chaplain preached on the words "deliver us from evil," one of a series of sermons on the Lord's Prayer. During World War II, Winston Churchill vividly described the evils of war to the British people, and yet they were willing to shoulder the burden and follow him to victory. As Christians we fight a specific enemy – Satan – who attacks daily. Satan is not that cartoon character with red suit and pitchfork – he is a living being, the captain of evil with a squad of lieutenants to do his bidding. The greatest threat to Satan is the Christian who integrates his beliefs into his everyday life. Our spiritual readiness program must include God's holy armor. Clothed with righteousness we can say, "Be gone, Satan!"

That's a well-written summary of what sounds like a great sermon. Some of the other visitor reports I've read range from being inspirational to 'interesting' -- the quotes implying polite sarcasm, of course. Each report, however, does follow a rubric.

• Denomination:
• The building:
• The neighbourhood:
• The cast:
• What was the name of the service?
• How full was the building?
• Did anyone welcome you personally?
• Was your pew comfortable?
• How would you describe the pre-service atmosphere?
• What books did the congregation use during the service?
• What musical instruments were played?
• Did anything distract you?
• Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what?
• Exactly how long was the sermon?
• On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
• In a nutshell, what was the sermon about?
• Which part of the service was like being in heaven?
• And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
• What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?
• How would you describe the after-service coffee?
• How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
• Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian?
• What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?

That's good stuff. I think I'll use this list when I shop for churches after my schedule at work changes. It's all the questions I need to have answered without me having to think of them before going off half-cocked.

Not sure who Izabella Miko is, but she has a really great Web site. I was too busy playing with it to wonder about the person. I got the impression from the IMDB that she's a B-movie actress.

Drive-through robber gets bank loot - Yahoo! News:

That was easy.

A bank robber behind the wheel of his car on Tuesday sent a note through a vacuum tube to the teller at the drive-through window at a branch of Chicago's LaSalle Bank and the teller obliged, returning an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

The exchange was completed through the bank's pneumatic tube communications system, in which canisters are passed back and forth between motorist and teller.

The FBI said it was investigating the drive-through theft.

Draw your own conclusions. I'm too busy shaking my head in disbelief.

Drivers using cell phones more likely to crash (MSNBC.com): "Drivers using cellular phones are four times as likely to get into a crash that can cause injuries serious enough to send them to the hospital, said an insurance study released Tuesday." The study discussed in the article also found that using a headset or other hands-free device - as required in many places - doesn't help much. Still, legislation is still being implemented. Chicago is one of the latest major examples.

With the blast that film critic Roger Ebert gave The Fantastic Four you would think he was related to Victor von Doom, the film's villain. The review is weighed down with vitriol: "And the really good superhero movies, like 'Superman,' 'SpiderMan 2' and 'Batman Begins,' leave 'Fantastic Four' so far behind that the movie should almost be ashamed to show itself in the same theaters." While I will agree with Mr. Ebert that this film almost totally lacked character development - a hazard faced whenever trying to launch a franchise with a movie that tries too hard to please everyone - and loped along with the most tenuous of story lines, it was a great popcorn movie. Rather good special effects, though not ground breaking, keep the movie alive. The casting was fairly inspired with Julian McMahon's portrayal of Dr. Doom being about as good as comic book movie villains get.

Spider-Man (2002), it's sequel two years later, Batman Begins (2005), and 1989s Batman (featuring Jack Nicholson as the Joker in screen history's ultimate delineation of a comic book villain) are exceptions to the rule that superhero movies are usually bad, very bad, or simply not released after production. And many that were released shouldn't have been. Consider the unreleased version of The Fantastic Four (1994) with this tid-bit from the IMDB:

"The movie contains one of the all-time great 'bad movie' moments. Doctor Doom's henchmen come to kidnap Alicia Masters. They sneak up behind her and do the standard 'chloroform rag over the mouth' bit to render her unconscious. And we get the standard point-of-view shot from her, seeing the bottom half of the screen covered by the rag and then the rest of the image going from clear to fuzzy to black, as to show us what she is seeing as it happens. Pretty standard for numerous low-budget action movies. One problem though. The character of Alicia Masters is completely, totally, and in all ways, blind."

Yes, that is bad. Bad like Captain America (1991), one of the IMDBs "Bottom 100" movies. Yet Mr. Ebert wants us to think the current Four movie is this bad when it isn't. Honestly, I thought it might be considering it has been over-hyped in just about every medium possible. Witness that there are no fewer that 11 trailers or shorts at the QuickTime movie trailer site. That's the most I've ever seen. Then there are the seemingly endless TV adverts, promotional tweeners on various networks, and the usual -- though, surprisingly, not excessively done -- merchandising tie ins (see: the recent Star Wars assault). Over promotion of this magnitude often means the movie is going to be a bad one. Ask anyone who saw Hulk (2003). That was a film I actually thought of walking out during, but stayed and wallowed in self-pity that I had nothing better to do than endure such drivel.

Stephen Spielberg's War of the Worlds (2005) is a film I've avoided because I thought it was going to be bad, but I saw it today before screening The Fantastic Four and it was never less than rather good, often flirting with genius. Most of my first impression was guided by the cuts chosen for the trailers -- the mish-mash of bad acting by Tom Cruise (an actor that I believe isn't as good as he thinks he is), the endless chase segments, and the seeming lack of relationship to the seminal story, the masterful 1938 radio play, or the well-received 1953 film.


It was rather good, though. The whole cast was excellent, even Mr. Cruise after a while. Dakota Fanning's performance had depth and nuance uncommon to adult actors, let alone a pre-teen. And Tim Robbins puts such a passion into playing an Ordinary Joe who has stepped over the line of clear thinking that I completely forgot he was an actor.

The special effects are riveting: Totally seamless to the live action, completely appropriate to the story line, and merely suggested at times in a brilliant move reminiscent of the scariest movies ever made. You know the ones. They never show the monster (or the whole thing) but still manage to frighten you to the core. Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) was a masterpiece because of this and Worlds will be long studied by film students for the way the film implements the technique. We still get to see the invaders in stark detail, but not gratuitously. Directors of Spielberg's caliber understand that no manufactured image can equal the terror one's imagination can inflict. The imagery in 1973s The Exorcist was so disturbing that audiences were sickened, but even more potent was the imagined source behind the horrors.

The photography is just as good as the special effects, particularly the innovative shots used to show the aliens rather than the typical point-and-hope-for-awe techniques slopped about in most films. With the lavish set construction and fantastically realistic art direction throughout, nothing less than Oscar-winning photography will do and this film delivers.

Without a doubt, War of the Worlds is a superbly crafted disappointment for those who are thinking they'll find a film on par with Independence Day (1996). There can be no better way to bring H.G. Wells into the 21st Century - where his mind has been all along.

No, not mine. I wouldn't be so vain to make that claim. Instead, I'm thinking about London Underground Tube Diary - Going Underground's Blog. Normally light at heart and full of wit, this site has been providing some rather good insights of late about how the Tube's culture is affected by the recent bombings. Well worth a look! While you are there, "Mind the gap, please."

Yet another example has surfaced to illustrate why I am increasingly beginning to believe that the word hypocrisy is becoming a synonym for the word government.

White House Won't Comment on Rove, Leak - Yahoo! News: WASHINGTON - For the better part of two years, the word coming out of the Bush White House was that presidential adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the leak of a female CIA officer's identity and that whoever did would be fired.

But Bush spokesman Scott McClellan wouldn't repeat those claims Monday in the face of Rove's own lawyer, Robert Luskin, acknowledging the political operative spoke to Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, one of the reporters who disclosed Valerie Plame's name.

McClellan repeatedly said he couldn't comment because the matter is under investigation. When it was pointed out he had commented previously even though the investigation was ongoing, he responded, "I've really said all I'm going to say on it."

Pay special attention to that last paragraph. Suddenly, the rule changes when propitious. I expected better from an administration built around a president that is touted as a man of deep Christian faith. Perhaps the problem lies (no pun intended) in that Rove is a political operative, and politics colors everything. Mr. Bush needs to clear this matter quickly rather than wait for an official investigation that will likely stir up more trouble. As a so-called Lame Duck he doesn't need Rove as much as he did when during his re-election campaign. The political capital that is likely to be squandered in the defensive holding action that has begun would be better spent on the battle to replace Justice O'Connor.

It is so very sad that some American leaders don't seem to have any faith in our friends. Case in point, Yahoo! News (and Reuters) reports that some U.S. troops have been told to avoid London after the recent bombings. "All 12,000 members of the U.S. Air Force stationed in Britain have been banned from visiting London because of last week's bombings, newspapers reported on Tuesday, and one daily slammed the decision as 'timid.'"

At first blush, this may seem prudent. After just a few moments reflection, however, the decision becomes obviously ridiculous before even considering the insult that it ultimately becomes. Did U.S. troops receive similar orders after the Madrid bombings? No. Did any nation's troops receive similar orders after 9/11? No. This order is disturbingly bad judgment that more than certainly came from a pencil-pushing, middle-management minded staff officer. He or she should be sacked, but not before being ordered to ride each of the trains on the Tube and a bus or two.

This action is especially reprehensible considering the recent words of London's mayor who publicly advised the terrorists to "see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world, will arrive in London to become Londoners, to fulfill their dream and achieve their potential ... whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail." How can we let down one so impassioned and eloquent? How can we let down a friend and brother?

(Matthew 5:9) Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

This picture became a favorite of mine shortly after 9/11:


Then look what I found after the bombings in London earlier this week:

Right after the gang I work with ordered Chinese food for lunch delivery today I came across this story:

450 Sheep Jump to Their Deaths in Turkey

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported.

In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned, Aksam reported.

"There's nothing we can do. They're all wasted," Nevzat Bayhan, a member of one of 26 families whose sheep were grazing together in the herd, was quoted as saying by Aksam.

The estimated loss to families in the town of Gevas, located in Van province in eastern Turkey, tops $100,000, a significant amount of money in a country where average GDP per head is around $2,700.

"Every family had an average of 20 sheep," Aksam quoted another villager, Abdullah Hazar as saying. "But now only a few families have sheep left. It's going to be hard for us."

Yup, we were too late to order lamb chops in lemming sauce.

But seriously, if sheep are really that fluffy, why did so many die? Wouldn't the first few have cushioned the fall for the others? Now if only the first one had taken a ewe-turn .... I wonder if they were on their way to the baa-baa shop to get sheared? Actually, a few of the more polite sheep in the herd survived. They kept telling the others "After ewe!"

Okay, I was going to be serious. It's tough, though, so I hope I'm not asked to do the ewelogy.

The Union Jack


If these colors won't run when used in the United States national flag, what makes a bunch of cowards think the same colors will run when found in the Royal Flag of the United Kingdom?

Wikipedia has a great article on the "Union Jack." Poke around there a bit to find out why this dynamic image is just a tad incorrect.

From a BBC News report comes a rather impressive quote from London's mayor, Ken Livingstone:

I say to those who planned this dreadful attack, whether they are still here in hiding or somewhere abroad. "Watch next week as we bury our dead and mourn them but see also in those same days new people coming to this city to make it their home, to call themselves Londoners and doing it because of that freedom to be themselves."

Earlier comments echoed some of the best speeches of Sir Winston Churchill. Here's the text as found at FoxNews:

"I want to say one thing, specifically to the world today — this was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful."

"It was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers," the former Trotskyist said. "It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian ... young and old … that isn't an ideology, it isn't even a perverted fate, it is an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder."

"They seek to divide London, they seek Londoners to turn against each other ... this city of London is the greatest in the world because everybody lives side by side in harmony. Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack."

Livingstone also had words specifically for the terrorists: "I know that you personally do not fear to give your own life in exchange to taking others ... but I know you do fear you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society ... in the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our seaports and look at our railway stations ... you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world, will arrive in London to become Londoners, to fulfill their dream and achieve their potential … whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."

Bravo, Mr. Mayor. Bravo. Leadership such as this is exactly what is needed right now. The cowards don't stand a chance.

Seldom do I miss my camera phone for the camera part. The pictures really weren't that good and I never had a great use for it. Strange, because as an employee of one of the world's largest mobile phone service providers I can send or receive all the images I wanted for free. But the recent tragedy in London makes me want to dust off the little bugger and use it for a while rather than my trusty, always reliable Nokia. Consider ...

BBC News reports that "Mobile phones provided some of the more immediate and vivid images of the bomb attacks in London" and became prime sources for plethora of blogs and other Web sites filled with information. Here's an image from that story:


Does anyone else feel a cultural change rumbling along the horizon? If so, you are too late; it's already here. Cable News Network (CNN) started using pre-cursors of today's technology a decade ago in the first Gulf War.

Yahoo! News has a good story along the same lines: "Independent Television (ITV) sent out a mobile phone text message request to hundreds of subscribers to its service seeking any video footage of the events, some of which wound up broadcast, but most of which was of too poor a quality or too graphic to be shown. 'Two years ago, the only place you got home video from was air show disasters and weddings,' said Stuart Thomas, editor of ITV London News. 'But now a large proportion of people in this country are carrying a camera with them all the time, which is just incredible."

MSNBC has a story reminding us that London probably has the most surveillance cameras per capita than any other city. This closed-circuit system may be more valuable with the forensic work than the designers had planned.

Of course, what good is all this technology if it can't be used? SkyNews reports that "Rumours circulated in London on Thursday afternoon that the police or mobile phone companies had brought the network down to prevent the possibility of more bombs being detonated. But London's police chief, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, told a press conference that was not the case. He said the network was kept running so people could find out about loves. 'We did consider it. We do have that ability,' he said."

At least Guy Fawkes had a genuine cause and the intestinal fortitude to face up to his actions: "On arrest Fawkes did not deny his intentions, stating that it had been his purpose to destroy the King and the Parliament" (Wikipedia). No coward there.

The Nazis even invented new munitions to conquer Britain in World War II yet still failed. Hitler took the cowardly way out, but he didn't slink around without an agenda.

The French may have a reputation of late (okay, the last hundred years) of not giving their all in battle, but at least they fought like men during the Napoleonic Wars.

Just because Spain caved to terrorists before their last presidential elections in March of 2004, do the terrorists honestly think that the United Kingdom will? Nearly everybody can beat Spain. Consider what Britain did to the Spanish Armada in 1588.

The only thing the terrorists did yesterday was to create more trouble for themselves. They will miss the day that they only had to watch the skies for the American Eagle. The British Lion is now stalking. Run, cowards, run.

God Bless the United Kingdom!

What are you doing reading this?!? Hit the Web and follow the story!

One of the reasons I decided to become a teacher is a National Geographic study in the 80s reported that Americans knew less about geographic concepts, individual nations, and specifics about the world around them than citizens in nearly every other nation on the planet. Another reason was that maps are cool. After all, I was raised traveling as a Navy brat, reading maps (and folding them), and learning about the world, so how could I not love geography.

Thank goodness for technology. With the Internet I've had more access to maps and geographic information than I could ever imagine having with my atlases and collected map from a huge diversity of sources. And then comes Google Home, one of the best mapping tools a geographer could have. This program is going to be an essential tool as I teach the Five Themes of Geography:

1. Location
2. Place
3. Human-Environment Interaction
4. Movement
5. Region

Example: Mecca, Saudi Arabia (Makkah, Al-Mamlaka al-'Arabiya as-Sa'udiya)

1. LOCATION: 29° 29' N 39° 45' W (or) Near the West Coast of the Arabian peninsula with mountains to the east and a coastal plain and the Red Sea to the west.

2. PLACE: A desert biome predominates between it's windward location near mountains and the Red Sea.

3. HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION: Desalinization plants have been built on the coasts to provide fresh water to the interior. Comprehensive irrigation programs have made the city very "green," like an oasis.

4. MOVEMENT: Mecca is the center of worship for the world's followers of Islam. As part of their religion, Muslims are required to make a trip (a Haj) to Mecca at least once in their lives (if able). This makes the city quite busy and prosperous. Its location along the coast means that land travellers wishing to avoid the eastern desert will likely pass through.

5. REGION: As the "home" of Islam the area around Mecca has been a dominant influence in forming the Muslim traditions, religious writings, and language.

Some data & statistics from: Johnson, Otto (ed.). Information Please Almanac. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997).

Oh! And the program is free for consumer use, though if you use GPS devices or you are a professional that depends on precision mapping, you'll want to opt for the non-free editions for access to more tools. All the editions are tougher to fold than a good ol' map, but I can't imagine using a map without Google Home.

The HP commercials featuring The Kinks' "Picture Book" or The Robins' "Out of the Picture" to promote printing products are really cool. You've seen them ... people waving about plain, white frames that "capture" an image over the scene or "leave" an image in much the same magical manner. It's some of the most amazing moving image manipulation I've every seen. And thanks to the explanation HP has provided, now I know how they did it. Got broadband? Then watch the adverts here. MSNBC has a nice article about the whole shebang.

"In the beginning there was nothing. God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better." -- Ellen DeGeneres

As soon as Comcast stops messing around (once again, substituting their Help page for a page I'm trying to view), I'm going to check out Ship of Fools. According to an article from BBC News, the site is looking for the most offensive Christian humor. If that doesn't sound odd, consider that the site is Christian-based.

BBC NEWS - US evangelicals boost green lobby: "Green evangelicals first hit the headlines in 2002, when Reverend Jim Ball launched a campaign called 'What would Jesus drive?', claiming that gas-guzzlers are ungodly. His call for the US government to take action to protect the environment has since been taken up by powerful leaders of the evangelical community."

As a Christian, the idea of protecting the environment only makes sense. Of course, it made sense before I was born again, but now it's become more of a moral imperative. After all, we are just tenants and the landlord is watching.

According to Google: "On some searches, Google automatically instructs your browser to start downloading the top search result before you click on it. If you click on top result, the destination page will load faster than before." The bad part is that your browser cache will fill up faster and if you are setup to automatically accept cookies, you'll get quite a few of those. Visit their site to learn more about this feature, plus get instructions on how to activate or deactivate it.

From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.
Published by Harmony Books in 1979:

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels. A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value— you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you—daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with." (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Chapter Three)

So with the release of yet another iteration of the story in the form of a fairly popular motion picture, why haven't the marketing conglomerates of London, New York, Tokyo, Hollywood or Ursa Major released a commemorative towel? A Froogle search hinted at the availability of special towel tie-ins, but after a fair bit of searching I've yet to find one. The best I've seen is a lame t-shirt with "Got Towel?" printed in plain letters on the front. It's not even an adequate rip-off of the Milk Marketing Board campaign.

Needless to say, my search turned up some good towel information from the BBC. Well, any towel in a storm, I guess. Got yours?

BTW - According to IMDBs trivia for the movie, "Sam Rockwell has said that his interpretation of Zaphod Beeblebrox was based on a combination of George W. Bush and Freddie Mercury." Dang! I knew it! And that's one of the things that I found disappointing about the film. And look into the Towel Day article in Wikipedia or click the banner below.

The White Stripes, a rather unique Alternative band out of Detroit -- one guitarist and one drummer and that's it -- has brought the fun of music videos back with "The Hardest Button to Button." It's kind of old school as it utilizes trick photography rather than computer animation and relentlessly synchronizes the imagery with the drum line. Some of the other videos at their site have these techniques, but are wholly unique. And check out the video for "Fell In Love With A Girl." You'll never look at Lego bricks the same way again.

The band is rather old school, too. Don't get me wrong. Their music for the most part has a fresh and modern feel, but it's obviously doesn't forget it's heritage in Rock and the Blues. In a recent interview* with Terri Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, there's a discussion in length about this aspect of the music. That's one of the reasons why I changed the genre of the first track I downloaded, "Ball and Biscuit," from Alternative to Blues. The guitar work, lyrics, and general rhythms are very straight out of the Memphis school of Blues, but the vocals are clearly Alternative.

*Click the link for the interview. It is also available on iTunes (free for a very limited time) and as an Aubible.com download.

The Disney company has a really fun gag going -- hiding Mickey Mouse silhouettes or arranging things in a similar shape (so-called "Hidden Mickeys") on their properties and Websites; in their movies and software. It has become such a phenomenon that people notice the shapes in the strangest places. I found one in Vatican City when I was looking at a satellite image of the country from Digital Globe. Of course, this was rather serendipitous. If you are going to Disneyland soon, look for the 50 that have been placed for the park's birthday celebration.

I help the gag whenever I can. The last few times I did faux finishing on walls in other people's houses I would sneak in a Mickey silhouette or two. They are usually at kid-height, of course.

When folks get together for a celebration there are, in my opinion, three critical needs: Food, beverages, and music. When I revel in my love for America, the latter is very important. Of course, all music commemorates some aspect of my country: patriotism, diversity, pride, freedom, tolerance, faith, allegiance, hope, or any of a nearly limitless and fully debatable (the beauty of the 1st Amendment) list of attributes that define the United States. I collected some in an Apple iTunes iMix (Red, White & True), but of course in the iTunes Essentials library you will find a larger, more varied group called America: Pride (links work if you have iTunes).

Of the 75 tracks in the catalogue pictured above, I have but two in my collection: "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood and "Red White and Blue" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The Greenwood song has been on my mind for a few days now, but the latter is the one that really catches my mood today. It's a strong combination of the sentiments behind Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," Don McLean's "American Pie," "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag" by the Charlie Daniels Band, and their own "Sweet Home Alabama." Look at the lyrics and you'll see what I mean:

"Red, White & Blue"
We don't have no plastic L.A. Frynds,
ain't on the edge of no popular trend.
Ain't never seen the inside of that magazine GQ.
We don't care if you 're a lawyer, or a Texas oil man,
or some waitress busting ass in some liquor stand.
If you got Soul
We hang out with people just like you

My hair's turning white,
my neck's always been red,
my collar's still blue,
we've always been here
just trying to sing the truth to you.
Yes you could say
we've always been,
Red, White, and Blue

Ride our own bikes To Sturgis
we pay our own dues,
smoking camels, drinking domestic brews
You want to know where I have been
just look at my hands
Yeah, I've driven by the White House,
Spent some time in jail.
Momma cried but she still wouldn't pay my bail.
I ain't been no angel,
But even God, he understands.

My hair's turning white,
my neck's always been red,
my collar's still blue,
we've always been here
just trying to sing the truth to you.
Yes you could say
we've always been,
Red, White, and Blue

Yeah that's right!

My Daddy worked hard, and so have I,
paid our taxes and gave our lives
to serve this great country
so what are they complaining about

Yeah we love our families, we love our kids
you know it is love that makes us all so rich
That's where were at,
If they don't like it they can just
get the HELL out!

Yeah!

My hair's turning white,
my neck's always been red,
my collar's still blue,
we've always been here
just trying to sing the truth to you.
Yes you could say
we've always been,
Red, White, and Blue

Nearly every value that was instilled in me as a youth by my true-blue, patriot-to-the-core father is in this song. Sure, deep down I'm also an Anglophile, but it is part of my heritage; part of my pride in America. Other parts of that pride are found in this song, and I'm glad that it's part of the soundtrack of my life.