My Political Compass

My Score

Economic Left/Right: -7.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.77

This essentially makes me more liberal than Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama...

Which Holy Grail Character are you?

You are King Arthur of the Britons!
You like to hear yourself talk a lot, namely about
some damn grail. Those closest to you are just
there to serve you and bang your coconuts
together. For some reason Mystical beings come
to you and set you out on quests. If only more
people understood you, perhaps you'd get that
grail afterall.


What Monty Python Holy Grail Quest Character are You?
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My apologies...

I was reading PvP, one of the consistantly funniest comics on the internet (although the humor is can be quite geek intensive) and had a great chuckle at the current strip. Any threat that ends with "Don't make me roll initiative." will make me smile.

However, it alter my perception of the Oscars a tad. Up until today, I had in my mind that Star Wars was beaten by The Deer Hunter for Best Picture in 1977. I have always been upset that Star Wars was passed over for Deer Hunter, not my favorite film by any stretch of the imagination. However, I learn today that Deer Hunter actually won the Oscar in 1978. In fact, Annie Hall is the film that beat out Star Wars in 1977.

This puts an entirely different spin on things for me. Two of my favorite films of all time. Up until Phantom Menace came out, I would have chosen Star Wars, but only by a fraction of a hair.

Now, of course, I would just slap George Lucas silly and gladly hand the Oscar to Woody, while warning him not to cast Kenneth Branagh in anything.

So, I officially apologize Oscar, for 26 years of hard feelings.

Although, if you give the Oscar to Cold Mountain, you will get a +2 Boot of Force right in the ass.

Friday 5

Five Things about Christmas

1. I love being Santa. I am not sure I love it as much as really believing in Santa and waking up Christmas morning to his gifts, but still. I love getting the kids to sleep with threats that Santa does not come if children in the house are asleep. I love sneaking around and quietly assembling gifts. I love seeing the looks on the kids faces as they survey their new toys. I love being shocked and amazed by the gifts Santa brought for them.

2. I love holiday lights, cheesy lawn ornaments and all other public displays of holiday affection. Adam is just a sourpuss.

3. I like watching my children in the Christmas Pageant, but I do not like being in the pageant myself. This year, Merlin did great as an Angel. No stage fright, she said her lines loud and clear, and only waved to her Granny in the audience a couple of times. Gavin and I were supposed to be Shepherds, but Gavin opted out at the last moment, leaving me to Shep alone, like an idiot.

4. I am still having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Were it not for the kiddies, I think I would have let this holiday slip by unnoticed. I miss Casey most this time of year, and it is still too close.

5. I hate, hate, hate working on Christmas. It is against every fiber of my being to leave the house on Christmas and go to work for 8 hours.

Other F5 participants are: Melissa, Adam, Merideth, Chris, Gina, Craig, Gord, Adrienne, Nanette, Marvin, Rob, Laura, Jon, Ritu, Julie, Morgaine, Rik, Fionna and Ray.

Curse You Blogger!!!

And your disappearing posts too...

Peter Pan is just too sexy

Flash in the 'Pan'

According to the wacky folks over at the Family Research Council, Peter Pan is just too sexy for children.

According to the FRC, ""This is a children’s movie and it’s completely inappropriate to include sexual content." because 1. Sex is evil and must be eradicated and 2. because a story about children becoming adults has nothing to do with children actually becoming adults.

Now, I just want to see the movie more, and email the FRC a picture of my kids enjoying it.

And a Very Merry Christmas to You...

Well, I am at work, having to work a half-day shift due to the annoyances of working in a 24/7 center (we never sleep), but this morning was absolutely lovely. I got an iPod, which is just coolness in a small, white case (it will hold the equivelant of 1200 CDs) and the Indiana Jones Trilogy. My parents are getting us Pergo, which is way, way cool. And I think Merideth likes her Portable photo printer, which will make scrapbooking and picture sharing a lot easier.

The kids made out like bandits. Santa brought huge castles made out of what are essentially large legos for each kid, so the designs of the castle can be changed around. Gavin got a Playmobil Pirate ship and Merlin got loads of Disney Princess Furniture and accessories for her room. The kids seemed to have a wonderful day, and that is really what makes Christmas for me these days.

Now, I am trying very hard to avoid making New Year's Resolutions (as that is the surest way to ensure they do not get done) and preparing myself for aother Semerster of Merideth's Grad school and a quick jaunt to Wales in March...

I am sure it is just a throwback from my cowboy days...

Rohirrim


To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
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Friday 5 avec Laura

If you are anything like me, you'll go to lengths to avoid having to go see a doctor. I actually made an honest-to-god attempt to get to see mine today, but I was rejected out cold by the Secretary From Hell (never mind the fact I can't eat or drink anything). But that's not the point... My question for this week is short and sweet:

What are your five most popular (or common, rather) home cures, Granny's Recipes or magic tricks even for curing or preventing any old disease?

I'll gladly grant extra points for anyone whose tip kills my throat pain (preferably without killing me, but I'll consider other options as well)

Hmmm, my main tip is to whine to my wife, not sure how helpful that is... But let's see.

1. Sore throat. In choir, when we had a sore throat, we sucked raw lemons. That worked really well for us.

2. Swimmer's Ear/Ear Infection. Many moons ago, my doctor told me (well, he told my mother) to mix white wine and rubbing alchohol in equal proportions and put in my ears after I swim to prevent ear infections. And as far as I know, it worked great, as I only had ear infections when forgot to use this concoction.

3. I take Altoids for cough and chest congestion. It seems to help.

4. For cold and flu, I drink a temendous amount of Gatorade. My Mom told me is helps to replenish the nutrients i am losing fighting the virus.

5. My main tactic for all illness is to drink heavily right before bed and then sleep for as long as humanly possible. More times than not, this does this trick.

Other F5 participants are: Melissa, Adam, Merideth, Chris, Gina, Dave, Craig, Gord, Adrienne, Nanette, Marvin , Rob, Jon, Ritu, Julie, Morgaine, Rik and Fionna.

My wife is now a published author.

My wife's beautiful essey about Casey, entitled The Stories We Tell, has been published by austinmama.com.

Please go check it out.

Now.

No wonder Adam likes me...

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

Quiz Thing

Why do all these quizzes keep saying I am stubborn, which is patently untrue...


You're a natural born trouble-maker. You hate
authority and do everything you can to get
around the law, or in some cases, break it.
Naturally stubborn, you hardly ever sway once a
decision is made. Your nature is fiery and
courageous, and always out-going. You love
attention and usually have kinky fetishes
you're not afraid to explore. People either
love you or hate you.


What Type of Soul Do You Have ?
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Friday 5

This one's from Rob:


It's soon xmas. Very very soon. What are you going to buy for your partner, your kids, your parents, grandparents - takes deep breath - ????
I've been thinking about what to get the Pip for christmas. She'll be just shy of eleven months, she won't have a clue what's going on, just that it's busy, smells of food and involves lots of paper.
Mmmm...Paper.
We've bought her many a toy the last year or so. Lamaze toys, things that squeek, things that roll, things that peep, things that dangle and rattle, things that chime, books, that sing, teddy bears, rag dolls, the list is long.
The Pips favourite toys? The top off a tub of ice cream. The cord at the bottom of her coat. The coasters with pictures of Regency England on them, and it's not the Regency settings that attract her. If it can be used like a hammer or placed on her head in some way then she's in to it.
But nothing is better than paper.
So here's my pre-christmas shopping rush Friday Five.




Which five 'toys' at any time of your life have meant the most to you and why?

1. Number one with a Bullet on my list is Chewie. My Chewbacca Doll. From the ages of 5 to 11 or 12, I slept with it every night, traveled with it, took it to school, I did everything with the thing. It was my favorite thing in the universe and my first friend. Tragically, Chewie was attacked at camp by older kids who liked to make fun of my doll. One night they dosed him in shaving crea and he never smelled normal again. I still have him at my house. Framed. God, I love Chewie. (tear).

2. The rest of my Star Wars Collection. I had tons of action figures. I had the Death Star, the Cantina, the robot factory, lots of ships I would literally play with these figures for hours. They would do battle with each other, but more often, the good guys and bad guys would team up to play some invisible horrible enemy. Good times.

3. Dominoes. Specifically, to play 42. In my family, you graw up watching the adults playing 42 and yearning to become old enough to play it. You start by learning staight Dominoes, learning what a duce and a tres are, picking up the lingo. Then you sit in a game, with an adult looking over your shoulder, telling you what to play and why. My Granddaddy taught me to play, and I will teach my kids and grandkids. Also, Dominoes are great building blocks and mazes.

4. My High School toys. The Yo-Yo and the Puddle Jumper. Back in high school, my speech squad adopted 2 toys that we took to every speech tournament and goofed off with in between rounds. We got to be very good with Yo-Yos, all of us knowing at least a few tricks, and always searching for the coolest Yo-Yos. Ones with lights and sounds and odd designs, etc. A Puddle Jumper is a stick with a Propeller on one end that flys when you put the stick part between your hands and rub your hands together. I could accuratly hit a target 20 feet away.

5. My tap shoes. Damn, I loved to Tap. I felt so cool when I pulled off a cool step in front of someone who had no idea I could do that sort of thing. I enjoyed Ballet more as an art, but for showing off, there was nothing as good as a Traveling Time Step with optional turn, followed by wings.


Other F5 participants are: Melissa, Adam, Merideth, Chris, Gina, Dave, Craig, Gord, Adrienne, Nanette, Marvin, Laura, Jon, Ritu, Julie, Morgaine, Rik and Fionna.

I'm going to shave my head right now...

You are Professor X!

You are a very effective teacher, and you are very
committed to those who learn from you. You put
your all into everything you do, to some extent
because you fear failure more than anything
else. You are always seeking self-improvement,
even in areas where there is nothing you can do
to improve.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
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Will's Advent DVD

OK, I meant to actually do this once a day, but oh well, better late than never.

Here are my suggestions for good holiday viewing from now (actually Dec First) to Christmas.

December 1.

Holiday Inn.

A wonderful film, and the film I was watching when I decided to do this calendar. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire are both great, and Majorie Reynolds is fantastic. Irving Berlin's songs are great, and one day I want to try to mimic Astaire's Fourth of July tap dance. However, I must prepare you for the Lincoln's Birthday song, which features Bing and Majorie in blackface. It is disturning to watch, and all the rationalizing about the time period of the movie do not make it better. But grin and bear it, because the rest of the movie is phenominal.


December 2.

The Ref

A hysterical movie. Really, it just fills me with Christmas cheer everytime I see it. A family learns to stop hating each other. What is more Christmas than that. While both Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis are great, it is probably Dennis Leary's finest hour.


December 3

The Bishop's Wife.

David Niven, Loretta Young and Cary Grant as an Angel. Grant's angel is probably my touchstone for what an angel is. Imminantly understanding and compassionate, always sincere, never hurtful. I see the Bishop's delima played out over and over again in Church's all over the country today, although usually not with the same result.


December Fourth

A Nightmare Before Christmas.

Danny Elfman sings! A fantastically twisted tale of the power of Christmas. My favorite part are the Christmas decorations the citizens of Halloween Town concoct.

OK, so that catches me up, one a day from here on out, I promise.

If you have a favorite Holiday movie, and are afraid I am going to miss it, email me and if it is better than the ones on the list I have plotted out, I can add it.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

I watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with my son about five times last week, and after the fifth time, I started to have some serious problems with some of the characters.

First and mainly, Grandpa Joe. The family is starving, they don't have enough for bread, and Grandpa Joe has been "too sick" to get out of bed for the last 20 years. Grandpa Joe even tries to play the martyr when he refuses his tobacco money because a loaf of bread looks like a feast.

Then, a few days later, Charlie brings home the Golden ticket. And lo and behold, Grandpa Joe can walk.

Well, screw you Grandpa Joe. You should have got off your ass 19 years ago and gotten a job. Then maybe you could afford to feed your daughter and granddaughter. Lazy Bastard.

Also, Willy Wonka makes a big deal out of the children signing a contract before they enter the factory. Not the parents, the children. No court of law in the universe would keep that contract valid. If Wonka refuses to pay those kids their life time supply of chocolate, Wonka will be in a world of litigious pain.