Have you missed me?... i've been pretty tied up with work and errands... and i'll tell you what, i love holidays and all, but it really screws up your sense of schedule... anyway, with all the illness going around, it's added to it all to of that and made me perform at like half speed... in fact, it looks like i have a writer's strike beard going on and i think i'm going to have to get shaving soon because it's all itchy and stuff... eh, don't mind me, it's the congestion talking...
So the big news during my absence has been that Fred Thompson dropped out of the presidential race and i guess some people are now reporting that he was only really testing out the waters so that he might be picked as a running mate... sounds like a career underachiever to me... why would you brag about that?... anyway, the other big news is that Heath Ledger is dead... no joke, or recurring joker character in the new Batman movies... the questions surrounding his death include whether or not it was a drug overdose and how Mary-Kate Olson ties into the whole thing...
yeah, i'm doing no good here, so why don't we move on...where did i leave off last time... that's right disillusionment...
RON-PAUL-UTION...?
so it seems like everywhere i go these days, there are Ron Paul banners strewn about on the side of the road or banner ads everywhere or even worse, the moronic online militia posting negative comments about every other candidate, talking conspiracy theories and basically being a nuisance... now, keep in mind, i don't think that everyone who supports Mr. Paul is a moron, it's just those who refuse to accept the strengths of other candidates and the weaknesses of their own...
In fact, Ron Paul has a lot of good things to say and it's no wonder that he's been able to amass such a following... when it comes to the economy, he certainly seems to know his stuff... and with the recent shift in focus at the debates to key in on economic matters, it looks to favor Paul for as long as they let him talk...
However, Paul seems to be one-dimensional in that regard and is more like Bill "It's the economy, stupid" Clinton than the Ronald Reagan persona he tries so hard to embrace... if it is just about the economy, then Ron Paul is probably a great choice... but it's not just the economy... people listen to you when you talk about the economy and people like it when you promise to fix the economy because the average person becomes short-sighted when it comes to money... we, as a nation, are so willing to sacrifice ethics, safety, moral responsibilities, our family, and just about anything on the promise of prosperity...
Look back at Bill Clinton's time as president and you can see what happens when you just focus on the economy... by the end of his term, we as a nation had experienced the most publicized and morally bankrupt trial of a man's infidelity... our military was depleated and, despite rolling with the good times throughout his presidency, the country was in a recession... the point is not that we shouldn't focus on the economy - because i think that we've overlooked basic, common sense business practices as a nation for far too long - but the tunnel vision can only last for so long before everything collapses...
Ron Paul's statements about foreign policies and other practical issues really show a lack of depth and understanding that's necessary to be in such a high position of authority which outweighs his positive statements about the economy... bottom line, it's more than just the economy, stupid...
FOOTBALL
Another set of good to great games last weekend... the Patriots managed to shut down the Chargers pretty well... even with Darth Vader trying to manipulate the force from the sidelines... and the rootin' tootin' Green Bay Packers, led by Yosemite Brett Favre couldn't overcome the elements and knock off the Giants, who are apparently sponsored by Franks Red Hot, hot sauce... of course i'm disappointed that the Pack didn't pull it off, but they were totally outplayed for the whole game and it's only fair that they win...
this means of course that the Patriots and the Giants will be in the Superbowl down in Arizona and it's going to be.... eh, an okay game at least... i'll talk more about it later on...
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
Monday was Martin Luther King Day and i have a few things to say about it... first is that there was apparently an MLK patio sale at a local store... i know this because The Tony Kornheiser Show is back on the air and Tony was ranting about how inappropriate it was to advertise a patio furniture sale and attach the name of someone who assassinated to it... His argument was that of all the things that Martin Luther King Jr stood for in his life, patio furniture sales shouldn't be his legacy in pop culture... which is fine, except he continued to say that it would be okay to have President's Day sales, Christmas sales, etc... if i'm not mistaken, Lincoln was assassinated and that guy they named Christmas after, too...
Anyway, little boy, who is in Kindergarten, learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. in school... now, i'm not sure all that was said during the lesson or lessons, but he told me that King was a good man, who told people to love everyone and that he had a dream before he was "killed by the bad white man"... interesting to say the least...
i guess my problem overall is that he's in Kindergarten... he doesn't have any concept of race... and he shouldn't... he's innocent in that regard... as he should be... i see this as a subtle attack on innocence and maybe i'm just being a little overprotective - again, i don't know what the lesson was about - but i have a dream where kids aren't taught from an early age that race is an issue only to be taught later on that race isn't supposed to be an issue... it's already not an issue... just let us all be neighbors... i'm probably rambling...
GHOST IN THE MACHINE (part eleven)
Long time readers will appreciate this... this time, it's my laptop... my trusty, faithful, german shepherd of a laptop... except that it's been acting up in most every way imaginable... first it started acting slow... i figured that it was because i hadn't shut down in quite a while... well then i got it all rebooted and such and my browser kept freezing... and freezing... and freezing... so i ended up having to uninstall, reinstall, shop around and now i'm splitting time between different browsers... in the meantime, i've gotten my email migrated and lost my filters and address book... so i'm still in the process or rebuilding all that... my other computer is actually acting worse, but i'll save that for another day...
WORD OF THE DAY
Joshua 5: 1-12
This is a difficult subject to talk about... but it's part of the covenant... they're across the Jordan, God's been faithful and they're all in good spirits, preparing to start battle against all the countries that lay ahead... and at the big pep rally, Joshua says, it's time to get circumcised... then it explains that this was the next generation and that they hadn't been circumcised in the desert because of all the disorganization and disobedience... now they're all caught up with their end of the bargain, recovering from the surgery during the time that is afforded by the fear of the Amorite kings... and, having been cleansed, they can celebrate passover and enjoy the food of the land...
IN OTHER WORDS
When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg...
Chapter 4: Master the Inner Game...
This chapter talks about the two distinct games that we are playing... an inner game and an outer game... the outer game is what we get credit for, but it is simply an outpouring of the inner game... Ortberg says that the possibility of mastering the inner game is the biggest reason that we even play the outer game... everything external is wasting away despite our efforts to stave off the effects of aging, but i think we need to recognize and embrace the relationship between external and internal, physical and spiritual, temporal and eternal... doing that isn't easy, especially in a world that likes to compartmentalize everything... props to Ortberg for the Dorian Gray reference... great book there...
BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART
Here's the stuff from last time... a concert review, an interview with Chris Rice and aWalk TRu for Night Owls 4...
Newer postings include an interview with Ronnie Freeman and a new iTRu-nes Playlist...
COMING SOON
the weekend... man, writing in the blog really winds the clock down... but yeah... i'll shave, i'll get better and i'll talk about more stuff... on theTRu, i've got a WalkTRu, Left to Write, and more in the works...
peace... love... bdg...
Well, i was going to dive into some TV shows, specifically Heroes and The Next Great American Band, but then i realized/discovered that the Grammy nominees were announced this morning... thus, i'm bumping that coverage for this, my random comments on the Grammy nods...
