Saturday, July 29, 2006

BRING IT ON!!!

I rarely write on anything remotely political, but this is some interesting stuff. The Christian-Ziomist group is cheering on the IAF and the IDF - which a nice pop in from our President in support. Oh, and a few other important people are waving too..

This evangelical political philosophy is rooted in biblical prophecies and a belief that Israel's struggles signal a prelude to Armageddon. Its followers staunchly support the Bush administration's unequivocal backing of Israel in its current battle with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

President Bush sent a message to the gathering praising Mr. Hagee and his supporters for "spreading the hope of God's love and the universal gift of freedom." The Israeli prime minister also sent words of thanks. Israel's ambassador, its former military chief and a host of U.S. political heavyweights, mostly Republican, attended.

Wow is the only word I have for this.

I mean, this is bizaar stuff to me. I admit that in the past I was enamoured with Revelation (I think all Christian youths are at some point) - but I never, ever would have a BRING IT ON attitude towards this.

War is not pretty... it's not fun... and trying to "map" the hand of God onto this is ludicrous. Yes, I do know that God is present and certainly watching us.. that's not the point. The point is that us Humans shouldn't be pressing for war to fulfill Armagheddon. As for me, I'm keeping a bag packed full of clothes :-)

Full article here.

"Behold, I am coming like a thief." Blessed is the one who watches and keeps his clothes ready, so that he may not go naked and people see him exposed. Rev 16:15

At least I know some(thing) is reading my blog...

I feel fine.. Now that I've I said it in my blog the whole world can find us and build statistical groups of us.

Someone finally did it and now you can see some interesting applications here. It's tracking people's "emotions", mapping them by their current local weather, and allows graphical drill down based on numerous factors.

Marketers are crying, and the goverment is listening. I don't know the implications here - this is a very simplistic model - but the presentation is compelling.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

And she did cut a wide swath

And she did then take up her machinery
And she did cut a wide swath
That the hens might have hay
With which to build nests
For the time of their laying was fast approaching
Also that her children might run amok
In ever wider, open pastures
For twas the season of heat
But yea verily upon eveningtide
Twas cool enough that 91 felt like 68
And at such a time, the children could make merry
Romping through the fields with utter abandon and sheer delight

And it was good...
for as the heat relinquished its brutal grip upon the land
something outside the confines of the home was accomplished

That 'bout sums up my evening...
Does anybody really read this goofy stuff?

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Old Cure for Contemplation

I am not excited about the developments in Israel and Lebanon. My best friends in high school were a Lebanese Catholic (yes, there are more than a few over there!), and a Muslim from Egypt.

This will expand, IMHO, and be very difficult for America if I am not mistaken. (Could be, hope I am)

So, some thoughts from the old Cure are swimming around in my brain...

Killing an Arab

World War

Yeah, I know, silly me.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

New Cure

I have been a fan of The Cure for many, many years. It all started when I saw the video for Boys Don't Cry in Bremen, Germany when I was 14. Yeah... well over 20 years ago.

So, I had to buy Staring at the Sea the next day. Wow. Loved it.

Came home with my new collection of pictures of these unusual looking musicians. (Side note... I read a blog last night that suggested R. Smith got his hair and makeup tips from the recently deceased Syd Barrett. That's a joke, but there is this odd similarity.) The music is fantastic. I love the riffs. I am a lyrics person at heart, though, and I found a lot of interesting lyricism in The Cure's works.

And so, when I'd go to Austin to whup up at the state German contests, I began collecting older material, including a rare copy of Three Imaginary Boys. Even have a copy of Do the Hansa, which I find ironic LOL I was having a lot of fun.

Fast forward more than 20 years. I just downloaded Taking Off. What an amazing song for we convivial types. I mean *really* And the video soars (literally) (300kbps streaming. see http://www.thecure.com/downloads/ for 56kbps)

The antithesis of Taking Off would have to be The End of the World. But that video... again, wow. Yes, of course there's plenty anticonvivality floating about in their songs, but IMHO it serves to highlight the grotesque disorder of the world.

Speaking of which, have you seen the Dani California video by the Red Hot Chili Peppers? You will laugh your, well, see for yourself I have a lot to say about this, but primarily it lies in the realm of explaining marketing to the kids when they're much, much older LOL

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Summer fun ends

Well, for me, the organizer, summer fun ends tomorrow. Our babysitter, who has given me 4 hours a day to figure stuff out, goes overseas. :(

Although the changes might seem small, they were hugely necessary. The playroom was not completed, but the house will finally be attacked by a professional steam cleaner Friday. This was supposed to have happened the week before we moved in.

As I mentioned in the previous post, those days of "why did we do this?!?!" are slowly subsiding. We still have more than we can manage, but it's kind of fun to tackle it bit by bit. Someday, we will have 10 lush, fun, productive acres. (sigh)