In a previous post or two your faithful correspondent has mentioned his fondness for the ukulele. One of the things that yours finds so attractive about the instrument is that it is so unformed. By this I mean that it has not gelled into a particular form of playing.
Acoustic guitars are usually associated with classical or folk music. Electric guitars go with rock, country or jazz. Clarinets equal classical, big band or klezmer music. But the lowly uke manages to cover all those genres and more.
This very day I have received in the mail a CD of Bach music played on the uke, listened to tin pan alley, rock and comic songs all played on the uke. It's a great little instrument and one of it's strengths is that it that it has not been niched.
On the other hand, the dulcimer, one of which I received for Christmas this year, has been niched to death. In reading over books, notations and the Internet, I see that the instrument has been niched to the point of causing it's own death. The niche for the dulcimer is earnest folk music, either American or English. A whole lot of dulcimer players seem to think that by playing the instrument they are preserving a musical tradition that would be lost unless they kept playing Barbara Allen or Boston Boy. Nothing new, nothing funny beside Little Brown Jug.
The average dulcimer player does not seem to have a sense of humor. Their earnestness is almost painful. The wildest they get is to have hummingbird shaped sound holes cut into their instruments. Or a headstock shaped like a dragon. They're either honoring "roots" America with their songs or pretending to be Elizabethan bards with songs about some character longing for his lily white lady while forgetting that Ben Jonson was an awful drunk and that it was more likely that the song sung among the costermongers was more likely to be something comic about old Jake trying to shag Betsy instead of Lancelot longing for Guinevere.
If you go through the Internet sites selling ukuleles and dulcimers you'll see that the ukes are offered with pineapples, tikis, cowboys or flames painted on the sound boards. Uke players and makers have a sense of humor. But you'll have a long, hard search trying to find a dulcimer with anything more "radical" depicted on the instrument than a hummingbird or a lily shaped sound hole. One wants for the day when some musician realizes that a dulcimer can kick out the jams.
Until that day the dulcimer will remain a painfully earnest instrument. That situation ill be good for the dulcimer aficionado, but it won't be any good for the instrument itself. It will become a new sackbut or psalter.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Saturday, December 17, 2005
The Enemy of My Enemy...
Years ago Steve Miller sang a song which contained the phrase, "the pompatus of love." No one could ever figure out exactly what a pompatus was. But Miller was never quit the wordsmith of say, Irving Berlin or Cole Porter. Miller actually tried to rhyme "taxes" with Texas."
But "pompatus" is pretty close, in pronunciation to "pompous." so it's a pretty good launching pad to talk about George Galloway.
George Galloway is a member of the British Parliament. He has been implicated in the UN Food for Oil Scandal and has been accused to funneling money to Saddamite Iraq. As outraged, pompous politicians often do, he blustered his way through it sounding like an old Kawasaki 400 running on one cylinder. He managed to cow the United States Congress because he has a British accent and has a larger vocabulary than your average Congressman. But he was later shown to be a prevaricating weasel
Mr. Galloway likes to make himself out to be a champion of the little guy. As we all know, in the Western world there is usually more sympathy for the little guy than there is for the big guy. In Galloway's case the little guy in the Arab world and various Third World dictatorships. The big guy is the US. It makes good public relations and the press eats it up.
But in this little guyism it is often forgotten that sometimes the little guy is a real jerk and deserves to be be slapped around like Wilmer was by Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon. North Korea is a little guy playing with matches in a dynamite factory. Cuba is a little guy with it's own little gulag. And the Arab world is a little guy ruled by people as crazy and authoritarian as Nazi outhouse rats.
George Galloway recently gave a speech in Syria, part of which follows:
"What your lives would be if from the Atlantic to the Gulf we had one Arab union -- all this land, 300 million people, all this oil and gas and water, occupied by a people who speak the same language, follow the same religions, listen to the same Umm Kulthum.... The Arabs would be a superpower in the world if they had unity, instead of the shameful situation in which Arabs find themselves today.... Hundreds of thousands are ready to fight the Americans in the Middle East, and in Latin America there is revolution everywhere. Fidel Castor is feeling young again. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile are all electing left-wing governments that are challenging American domination. And in Venezuela, the hero Hugo Chavez has stood against them over and over and over again." (Tip o' the lid to Mark Steyn)
So there you have it. Galloway thinks the US is bad. Therefore those who hate the US are good and are his friends. What he doesn't realize is that if the Arab world extended into Great Britain he would find himself out of a job and would be acting as a lickspittle to some mullah sitting in Buckingham Palace. That is if his throat was cut for being an infidel.
But that's the leftist way. It worked for Stalin. Until he found a bunch of Germans parading into Russia.
But "pompatus" is pretty close, in pronunciation to "pompous." so it's a pretty good launching pad to talk about George Galloway.
George Galloway is a member of the British Parliament. He has been implicated in the UN Food for Oil Scandal and has been accused to funneling money to Saddamite Iraq. As outraged, pompous politicians often do, he blustered his way through it sounding like an old Kawasaki 400 running on one cylinder. He managed to cow the United States Congress because he has a British accent and has a larger vocabulary than your average Congressman. But he was later shown to be a prevaricating weasel
Mr. Galloway likes to make himself out to be a champion of the little guy. As we all know, in the Western world there is usually more sympathy for the little guy than there is for the big guy. In Galloway's case the little guy in the Arab world and various Third World dictatorships. The big guy is the US. It makes good public relations and the press eats it up.
But in this little guyism it is often forgotten that sometimes the little guy is a real jerk and deserves to be be slapped around like Wilmer was by Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon. North Korea is a little guy playing with matches in a dynamite factory. Cuba is a little guy with it's own little gulag. And the Arab world is a little guy ruled by people as crazy and authoritarian as Nazi outhouse rats.
George Galloway recently gave a speech in Syria, part of which follows:
"What your lives would be if from the Atlantic to the Gulf we had one Arab union -- all this land, 300 million people, all this oil and gas and water, occupied by a people who speak the same language, follow the same religions, listen to the same Umm Kulthum.... The Arabs would be a superpower in the world if they had unity, instead of the shameful situation in which Arabs find themselves today.... Hundreds of thousands are ready to fight the Americans in the Middle East, and in Latin America there is revolution everywhere. Fidel Castor is feeling young again. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile are all electing left-wing governments that are challenging American domination. And in Venezuela, the hero Hugo Chavez has stood against them over and over and over again." (Tip o' the lid to Mark Steyn)
So there you have it. Galloway thinks the US is bad. Therefore those who hate the US are good and are his friends. What he doesn't realize is that if the Arab world extended into Great Britain he would find himself out of a job and would be acting as a lickspittle to some mullah sitting in Buckingham Palace. That is if his throat was cut for being an infidel.
But that's the leftist way. It worked for Stalin. Until he found a bunch of Germans parading into Russia.
The Integrity of the Academy
Soon after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC the Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal offered to make a donation of 10 million dollars to be used for the rebuilding effort of NYC. In his offer he made several unwise, from the American viewpoint, comments about the need for the US be more sympathetic to the Arab world and quit worrying so much about the security of Israel. Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the prince to keep his money partially because of the prince's remarks.
Giuliani, not running for office at the time, showed some integrity that several universities have not. Talal has made contributions of 20 million dollars each to Harvard and Georgetown University for the establishment of departments, of centers, for Islamic/Western understanding: OpinionJournal - Taste
In other words, the presidents of these universities have sold their souls for filthy lucre. Harvard was originally founded as a training college for Presbyterian ministers. Georgetown was founded as a Jesuit college. In years past the purpose of the universitie's studying other religions was to understand how best to present the Gospel to members of those religions. Now it's all a big ecumenical love-in and the race for the long green, no matter where it comes from.
Giuliani, not running for office at the time, showed some integrity that several universities have not. Talal has made contributions of 20 million dollars each to Harvard and Georgetown University for the establishment of departments, of centers, for Islamic/Western understanding: OpinionJournal - Taste
In other words, the presidents of these universities have sold their souls for filthy lucre. Harvard was originally founded as a training college for Presbyterian ministers. Georgetown was founded as a Jesuit college. In years past the purpose of the universitie's studying other religions was to understand how best to present the Gospel to members of those religions. Now it's all a big ecumenical love-in and the race for the long green, no matter where it comes from.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Some Guys Are Just Made For Killin'
If you don;t live in California you may not have heard of a man named Stanley "Tookie" Williams.
Williams (I refuse to refer to him as "Tookie" or Mr. Williams) is on California's Death Row at San Quentin prison. He has been there for 24 years. He was found guilty of the murders of four people. One was a clerk at a mini-mart. The other three were a father, mother and adult daughter at a motel. The goal of the murders was robbery. All four people were shotgunned.
Williams is also often "credited" with helping to found the Crips street gang. Actually, he was not one of the founders. He was a guest of the California Youth Authority (read youth prison) during that time. But the claim, made by his supporters seem to think that his being a founder of this band of hyenas seems to give him a street "cred" that he would not otherwise have.
If all goes according to schedule, Williams will be walking the last mile this coming Tuesday and will be breathing his last for killing four people. I celebrate the death of no man, but there are some people without whom the world is a better place. Williams is one of those. He did bad things and, for his own justice as well as ours, he deserves to be executed. To deny him the death penalty would be to deny him his justice. He knew the rules when he pulled the trigger and there's no reason for society to cheat him out of his reward.
But there has been a movement afoot among the local glitterati, race hustlers, bleeding hearts and dimbulbs to demand that the state give clemency to Williams because, in prison, about ten years ago, he made a turn around and was, to quote one supporter, "redempted." What did he do to get "redempted?" He said that his involvement in the Crips was a bad thing and "wrote" books for young people telling them that gangs are bad. The word "wrote" is used in the preceding sentence because it is suspected that the books were actually ghostwritten. This despite the fact that prison officials say that Williams is still a "shot-caller" for the Crips.
What's interesting is that Williams has never apologized for, or even admitted to, the murders for which he is in prison.
As I write the governor of the state of California is pondering the giving clemency to this beast. What I want to know is, why? Williams cannot, no matter how "redempted" cannot bring back the lives of those he murdered. "Writing" kids' books about how bad gangs are just doesn't make it. 99.9% of the people on Williams old turf could tell a kid that gangs are bad.
Williams (I refuse to refer to him as "Tookie" or Mr. Williams) is on California's Death Row at San Quentin prison. He has been there for 24 years. He was found guilty of the murders of four people. One was a clerk at a mini-mart. The other three were a father, mother and adult daughter at a motel. The goal of the murders was robbery. All four people were shotgunned.
Williams is also often "credited" with helping to found the Crips street gang. Actually, he was not one of the founders. He was a guest of the California Youth Authority (read youth prison) during that time. But the claim, made by his supporters seem to think that his being a founder of this band of hyenas seems to give him a street "cred" that he would not otherwise have.
If all goes according to schedule, Williams will be walking the last mile this coming Tuesday and will be breathing his last for killing four people. I celebrate the death of no man, but there are some people without whom the world is a better place. Williams is one of those. He did bad things and, for his own justice as well as ours, he deserves to be executed. To deny him the death penalty would be to deny him his justice. He knew the rules when he pulled the trigger and there's no reason for society to cheat him out of his reward.
But there has been a movement afoot among the local glitterati, race hustlers, bleeding hearts and dimbulbs to demand that the state give clemency to Williams because, in prison, about ten years ago, he made a turn around and was, to quote one supporter, "redempted." What did he do to get "redempted?" He said that his involvement in the Crips was a bad thing and "wrote" books for young people telling them that gangs are bad. The word "wrote" is used in the preceding sentence because it is suspected that the books were actually ghostwritten. This despite the fact that prison officials say that Williams is still a "shot-caller" for the Crips.
What's interesting is that Williams has never apologized for, or even admitted to, the murders for which he is in prison.
As I write the governor of the state of California is pondering the giving clemency to this beast. What I want to know is, why? Williams cannot, no matter how "redempted" cannot bring back the lives of those he murdered. "Writing" kids' books about how bad gangs are just doesn't make it. 99.9% of the people on Williams old turf could tell a kid that gangs are bad.
I Didn't Mean Go This Far!
Last week I posted a piece about the value of modesty among young women. In doing so I didn't mean that I condoned the going of this far: International News Article Reuters.com But once again, our Muslim brothers have shown themselves more enlightened than we in the West. Or is it because a burqua covers a woman's bruises inflicted by her husband than does say, a nice pillbox hat?
Round Up O'Links
Christopher Hitchens, apparently, is an ironman. He's survived a long sojourn with the hard Left, has imbibed countless gallons of Scotch and has smoked enough ciggies to supply a small country. But he keeps going on. Even when I disagreed with his formerly hard Left politics I enjoyed reading and listening to him. Red-eyed with a hangover he is able to speak or write better than 99.9% of politicians.
Hitch weighs in on the Saddam Hussein trial and Ramey Clark's place in it:FrontPage magazine.com :: Saddam's Chief Apologist by Christopher Hitchens .
We here at Bloody Nib Manor are not Christmas freaks. We long ago abandoned draping the manse with fairy lights, wearing holiday sweaters in 80 degree Southern California winters or expecting everyone to smile and say Merry Christmas as they hand over a Big Mac. Nowadays we use a dandelion sprinkled with glitter as a Christmas tree, hide under the blankets until Jan. 2 and growl and anyone saying anything to us as we force ourselves out if the local Wal-Mart.
That being said, the leveling of Christmas is amazing to behold. By leveling your faithful correspondent means that a minor Jewish holiday (Hanukkah, Chanaka, or whatever) that used to be celebrated by spinning a top and handing our gold foil chocolates for the kiddies has been elevated to an excuse to go out and shop, the Muslim holiday, Eid, has it's own postage stamp, the fraudulent Kwannza is now honored by greeting card manufacturers and we're forced, while listening to or watching the news, to listen to neo-pagans whine about how Christmas was ripped off from them when, in fact, if Christ had never been born said neo-pagans would probably be sacrificing their first born on December 21 to make the sun return. Never mind the village atheists whining about the "establishment of religion" in the Great Republic while happily accepting Christmas (opps! I meant "holiday") bonuses from their employers. It's all Happy Holidays and Holiday Trees and Holiday Shopping and the Midnight Holiday Mass from the Vatican. And if you don't like it you are the Scrooge for reminding the great unchurched that the reason all this goes on is because of the birth of Jesus. The "holiday" season is supposed to be a bacchanal of buying, partying, groping and regretting the morning after.
Meanwhile, some Jewish thinkers are coming to the defense of Christmas as Christmas and as a celebration of the birth of Christ:FrontPage magazine.com :: Jews for Christmas by Sharon Hughes. And while you read it I'll be singing "Unthinking Physics of the Universe Bless Ye Merry Gentlepersons."
Hitch weighs in on the Saddam Hussein trial and Ramey Clark's place in it:FrontPage magazine.com :: Saddam's Chief Apologist by Christopher Hitchens .
We here at Bloody Nib Manor are not Christmas freaks. We long ago abandoned draping the manse with fairy lights, wearing holiday sweaters in 80 degree Southern California winters or expecting everyone to smile and say Merry Christmas as they hand over a Big Mac. Nowadays we use a dandelion sprinkled with glitter as a Christmas tree, hide under the blankets until Jan. 2 and growl and anyone saying anything to us as we force ourselves out if the local Wal-Mart.
That being said, the leveling of Christmas is amazing to behold. By leveling your faithful correspondent means that a minor Jewish holiday (Hanukkah, Chanaka, or whatever) that used to be celebrated by spinning a top and handing our gold foil chocolates for the kiddies has been elevated to an excuse to go out and shop, the Muslim holiday, Eid, has it's own postage stamp, the fraudulent Kwannza is now honored by greeting card manufacturers and we're forced, while listening to or watching the news, to listen to neo-pagans whine about how Christmas was ripped off from them when, in fact, if Christ had never been born said neo-pagans would probably be sacrificing their first born on December 21 to make the sun return. Never mind the village atheists whining about the "establishment of religion" in the Great Republic while happily accepting Christmas (opps! I meant "holiday") bonuses from their employers. It's all Happy Holidays and Holiday Trees and Holiday Shopping and the Midnight Holiday Mass from the Vatican. And if you don't like it you are the Scrooge for reminding the great unchurched that the reason all this goes on is because of the birth of Jesus. The "holiday" season is supposed to be a bacchanal of buying, partying, groping and regretting the morning after.
Meanwhile, some Jewish thinkers are coming to the defense of Christmas as Christmas and as a celebration of the birth of Christ:FrontPage magazine.com :: Jews for Christmas by Sharon Hughes. And while you read it I'll be singing "Unthinking Physics of the Universe Bless Ye Merry Gentlepersons."
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Screen Queen Makes Sense
The television program "Dynasty" was never a favorite of those here at Bloody Nib Manor. It was just too soap opera-like and damn silly. It was "Dallas" without the cowboy hats.
And Joan Collins, despite the fact that she was at one time a real "babe", was never one of our favorite actresses. This may be due to the fact that she never appeared in a demanding role since she appeared in "Samson and Delilah" with Victor Mature and Angela Landsbury, and the fact that she always put herself forward as a Glamour Puss.
But even a thinking a Glamour Puss is sometimes able to see the light:Britain Destroying Itself From Within
I may have posted this link before. It's just too bad that I wasn't able to link a French thinker saying the same thing.
And Joan Collins, despite the fact that she was at one time a real "babe", was never one of our favorite actresses. This may be due to the fact that she never appeared in a demanding role since she appeared in "Samson and Delilah" with Victor Mature and Angela Landsbury, and the fact that she always put herself forward as a Glamour Puss.
But even a thinking a Glamour Puss is sometimes able to see the light:Britain Destroying Itself From Within
I may have posted this link before. It's just too bad that I wasn't able to link a French thinker saying the same thing.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Don't Let It All Hang Out
Bloody Nib Manor is in a metropolitan area. We're not in the back of beyond or the far side of the desert. And we're not prudes. We can remember when young women wore bell-bottom pants and fringed bikini tops. But that wear was worn at such places as Grateful Dead concerts, Love-Ins and parties. Daily life was usually much more modest consisting of bell-bottom pants and t-shirts with inane saying printed on the front.
Contemporary life has given us what we call "hootchie-mama chic." For those not in the know, a hootchie-mama is a woman who dresses like a slut. These young women seem to have woken up one morning, looked down at their chests and suddenly discovered that they have breasts and have had the thought, "Wow! I've got boobs! I have to go out and show everyone these things!" Consider the various Brittaneys, Christinas, Jessicas and Parises, or whoever graces the cover of the latest People/Us/Star/ National Enquirer. The current crop of Pop Tarts has inspired little girls to dress in a manner that would have made a Saigon whore blush back when a bar of soap could buy a Yank dogface out of his virginity.
Finally someone has come to the conclusion that looking like Madonna (not the Madonna) in her early career is not such a good thing for women or girls. Check out this site:Modesty Zone ,and make sure to check out the store.
On a personal note, a few years ago while looking for a new church, I attended a fellowship that was of the Dutch Reformed tradition. In fact, the preacher was a Dutchman. But the way the young women dressed would have made Abraham Kuyper drive them out with a stick. One Sunday a woman in front of me was wearing a skirt so short, with a slit up the back, that if I had wanted to I would have seen more of the woman's inner thigh than I've ever seen of the same of the ever young Lady Nib. The woman in question was in her late twenties or early thirties with two young children. There's a place for such attire. Church isn't the place.
Let's face it: most people look better with clothes than without clothes. There's no point in ruining one's image before intimacy. And why is it that Brad Pitt or whoever never showed up at the Academy Awards wearing only a tux jacket with no shirt when any female actor could do it an not turn an eyebrow?
Contemporary life has given us what we call "hootchie-mama chic." For those not in the know, a hootchie-mama is a woman who dresses like a slut. These young women seem to have woken up one morning, looked down at their chests and suddenly discovered that they have breasts and have had the thought, "Wow! I've got boobs! I have to go out and show everyone these things!" Consider the various Brittaneys, Christinas, Jessicas and Parises, or whoever graces the cover of the latest People/Us/Star/ National Enquirer. The current crop of Pop Tarts has inspired little girls to dress in a manner that would have made a Saigon whore blush back when a bar of soap could buy a Yank dogface out of his virginity.
Finally someone has come to the conclusion that looking like Madonna (not the Madonna) in her early career is not such a good thing for women or girls. Check out this site:Modesty Zone ,and make sure to check out the store.
On a personal note, a few years ago while looking for a new church, I attended a fellowship that was of the Dutch Reformed tradition. In fact, the preacher was a Dutchman. But the way the young women dressed would have made Abraham Kuyper drive them out with a stick. One Sunday a woman in front of me was wearing a skirt so short, with a slit up the back, that if I had wanted to I would have seen more of the woman's inner thigh than I've ever seen of the same of the ever young Lady Nib. The woman in question was in her late twenties or early thirties with two young children. There's a place for such attire. Church isn't the place.
Let's face it: most people look better with clothes than without clothes. There's no point in ruining one's image before intimacy. And why is it that Brad Pitt or whoever never showed up at the Academy Awards wearing only a tux jacket with no shirt when any female actor could do it an not turn an eyebrow?
On the Front
Having called a cease to the Bloody Nib Bardot versus Deneueve controversy, it's time to get back to things that matter.
The French, having not so much ignored the problems that the recent riots raise as much as they have downplayed the problem (It's not cancer. It's just a plum sized bleeding cyst on the inside of my stomach), have decided to try to pay off the rioters with promises of a better life in the land of Roland. So once again, those who hate filthy lucre but believe that all problems can be solved by an exchange of the long green, believe that they can buy peace and love from those who hate them. Meanwhile the Mohammedans in La Belle France continue their march to overtake the nation that was once called the Catholic Church's first daughter:Fundamentalism in French Workplace - Los Angeles Times . We here at Bloody Nib seriously doubt that if there were an underground of Huegenots at EuroDisney or Renault that had unofficially set aside broom closets as "Prayer Rooms" the employers would have been so inclusive. After all, there's nothing so militant and offensive to the body politic as old fashioned Protestantism.
Oriana Fallaci was in the U.S. this past week and had some interesting things to say:Jihad Watch: Spencer: Fallaci: Warrior in the Cause of Human Freedom . Meanwhile those women who don't seem to care much about Islamic women being beaten and treated pretty much like slaves because they want to be allowed to pee standing up at a men's urinal say that Fallaci is being intolerant because of her stand against the Islamic invasion.
It's rather too bad that Gloria Steinem didn't marry a Saudi and tell us all of the joys of being a woman in an Islamic country and how it would be good for Europe and the Americas to embrace the Koran.
The French, having not so much ignored the problems that the recent riots raise as much as they have downplayed the problem (It's not cancer. It's just a plum sized bleeding cyst on the inside of my stomach), have decided to try to pay off the rioters with promises of a better life in the land of Roland. So once again, those who hate filthy lucre but believe that all problems can be solved by an exchange of the long green, believe that they can buy peace and love from those who hate them. Meanwhile the Mohammedans in La Belle France continue their march to overtake the nation that was once called the Catholic Church's first daughter:Fundamentalism in French Workplace - Los Angeles Times . We here at Bloody Nib seriously doubt that if there were an underground of Huegenots at EuroDisney or Renault that had unofficially set aside broom closets as "Prayer Rooms" the employers would have been so inclusive. After all, there's nothing so militant and offensive to the body politic as old fashioned Protestantism.
Oriana Fallaci was in the U.S. this past week and had some interesting things to say:Jihad Watch: Spencer: Fallaci: Warrior in the Cause of Human Freedom . Meanwhile those women who don't seem to care much about Islamic women being beaten and treated pretty much like slaves because they want to be allowed to pee standing up at a men's urinal say that Fallaci is being intolerant because of her stand against the Islamic invasion.
It's rather too bad that Gloria Steinem didn't marry a Saudi and tell us all of the joys of being a woman in an Islamic country and how it would be good for Europe and the Americas to embrace the Koran.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Close Your Eyes and Pretend All's Okay Part 3
If you go to the comments of the previous entry you'll find several comments; all by some rascal named Anonymous. Upon closer inspection you'll see that one of the comments was apparently generated by a person who wants to direct the reader to his/her website dealing with miracle cancer cures or financial advise or some other "money-making opportunity." Ignore those. Your correspondent has nothing to do with that stuff.
On the other hand, there are a couple of comments posted by another Anonymous who actually comments on what yours has put forth. For the purpose of this blog, this Anonymous will be referred to as the Real Anonymous and it is his comments that part of this entry will address. The Real Anonymous is worthy of attention. The other guy is the Susan Powter of commenters -- a conman looking for the main chance.
To get to cases. It's unfortunate that Monsieur Anonymous chose Pamela Anderson and Grace Kelly as the Yank versions of Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve. Pamela Anderson was born and raised in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, and only arrived in the U.S. after her adulthood. Her only talent is the exhibiting of her surgically enhanced figure and her rather plain face. Her motion picture career has, up until now, rather limited, and her television career, in Los Angeles, has pretty much been limited to late night television. At the best Ms. Anderson could be called the better looking (but not by much) older and more shapely cousin of the Olsen Twins from the Great White North.
Grace Kelly, while from a Philadelphia Mainline family, abandoned the States to become a monarch of a Cote d'Azure gambling hell called Monaco. She traded in her Gadsen flag for a tiara. I think I need not say more. Maureen O'Hara, Irish born and bred and now living in Bermuda (or is it the Bahamas?) has shown more loyalty to the Great Republic than did Princess Grace.
If we are going to make analogies of French celebrities regarded as Marianne to American celebrities regarded as symbols of Liberty, the better choices would be Rhonda Fleming (Bardot) versus Jacqueline Smith (Deneuve). One is prettier than the other, but who would you rather have loading your shootin' iron while fighting off Indians, Redcoats, Rebels, or Yankees. Now that I think of it, I'd probably rather have Jane Russell by my side since she could kick Robert Mitchum's ass, and she was eminently huggable. By that's neither here nor there.
The point is that the symbol of Liberty or Marianne, from your correspondent's point of view, is that Liberty is something to be embraced, as is Marianne. Not something to be stood back from and admired. Take Delacroix's painting of Liberty Leading the People to Freedom. The painting shows Liberty (the model for Marianne) in liberty cap and carrying the tricolor storming the ramparts of monarchy.. Is it not easier to imagine the divine Bardot doing such a thing than Mme. Deneuve?
But that's enough of that. I'm suing for a truce with M. Anonymous. He's correct in that it's a Ginger versus MaryAnne argument. I like MaryAnne.
In the real world, we have an old article by a German about the state of Europe:FrontPage magazine.com :: Europe -- Thy Name Is Cowardice by Matthias Dopfner
And if you have a few bucks to spend buy a copy of Robert Spenser's The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades. It'll let you know what the Mohammedans are all about.
On the other hand, there are a couple of comments posted by another Anonymous who actually comments on what yours has put forth. For the purpose of this blog, this Anonymous will be referred to as the Real Anonymous and it is his comments that part of this entry will address. The Real Anonymous is worthy of attention. The other guy is the Susan Powter of commenters -- a conman looking for the main chance.
To get to cases. It's unfortunate that Monsieur Anonymous chose Pamela Anderson and Grace Kelly as the Yank versions of Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve. Pamela Anderson was born and raised in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, and only arrived in the U.S. after her adulthood. Her only talent is the exhibiting of her surgically enhanced figure and her rather plain face. Her motion picture career has, up until now, rather limited, and her television career, in Los Angeles, has pretty much been limited to late night television. At the best Ms. Anderson could be called the better looking (but not by much) older and more shapely cousin of the Olsen Twins from the Great White North.
Grace Kelly, while from a Philadelphia Mainline family, abandoned the States to become a monarch of a Cote d'Azure gambling hell called Monaco. She traded in her Gadsen flag for a tiara. I think I need not say more. Maureen O'Hara, Irish born and bred and now living in Bermuda (or is it the Bahamas?) has shown more loyalty to the Great Republic than did Princess Grace.
If we are going to make analogies of French celebrities regarded as Marianne to American celebrities regarded as symbols of Liberty, the better choices would be Rhonda Fleming (Bardot) versus Jacqueline Smith (Deneuve). One is prettier than the other, but who would you rather have loading your shootin' iron while fighting off Indians, Redcoats, Rebels, or Yankees. Now that I think of it, I'd probably rather have Jane Russell by my side since she could kick Robert Mitchum's ass, and she was eminently huggable. By that's neither here nor there.
The point is that the symbol of Liberty or Marianne, from your correspondent's point of view, is that Liberty is something to be embraced, as is Marianne. Not something to be stood back from and admired. Take Delacroix's painting of Liberty Leading the People to Freedom. The painting shows Liberty (the model for Marianne) in liberty cap and carrying the tricolor storming the ramparts of monarchy.. Is it not easier to imagine the divine Bardot doing such a thing than Mme. Deneuve?
But that's enough of that. I'm suing for a truce with M. Anonymous. He's correct in that it's a Ginger versus MaryAnne argument. I like MaryAnne.
In the real world, we have an old article by a German about the state of Europe:FrontPage magazine.com :: Europe -- Thy Name Is Cowardice by Matthias Dopfner
And if you have a few bucks to spend buy a copy of Robert Spenser's The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades. It'll let you know what the Mohammedans are all about.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Close Your Eyes and Pretend All's Okay Part 2
If you turn back the clock and read Close Your Eyes and Pretend All's Okay posted on November 12 you'll see that a kind soul named Anonymous (that chap is as ubiquitous as Forrest Gump, although I think I see the hidden hairy hand of an ex-Eagle Rocker involved in this) made two comments regarding my comment that the French making Catherine Deneueve the model for Marianne was a step down from Brigitte Bardot. To paraphrase my correspondent, I was committing a crime by saying that Deneueve was a step down from B.B. Read the comments before you read any further (or is it farther?).
Finished reading? Here's the scoop from Bloody Nib Manor. Mme. Deneueve was, and is, a remarkably beautiful woman. Her beauty, though, is of the architectural type. It's rather cold, though classic. She is a woman as imagined by a French philosopher/mathematician trying to appeal to the Deconstructionalists and Post Modernists. Has anyone besides me noticed that since Deneueve hit thirty when she smiled it seemed that she was doing you a favor by noting your mere existence. Mme. Deneueve is the Marianne of the French Academy -- a cool, logical (and one wonders when the French traded their vaunted talent for logic for a short term pragmatism that would make William James abandon the philosophy if he had lived long enough). Mme. Deneueve is a sort of Athena version of Marianne, except not so wise.
The almost divine Mme. Bardot, on the other hand, is, and was, a people's Marianne. She may not have the classical beauty of Mme. Deneueve, but she is much more attractive aesthetically, personally and sexually. B.B. is not just French, she is from the earth of France as it once was. She transcends class, region and time. She can be a Breton, a Parisianne, from Marseilles, the Alcelse (sp?) Lorraine, the Vendi or the French Alps. She represents a France that was, and not just a France of philosophers or salon loungers. The average ethnic crapaud has as much idea of Deconstructionalism or Post-Modernism as does the average Iowa corn farmer. He's not interested in, whenever he thinks of it, existentialism or Sartre or Camus or Derrida. He's interested in the survival of his nation. Brigitte Bardot represents the nation of France, as it was and as many Froggies think it is, much better than Mme. Deneueve who seems to think of nothing much more than herself and the appearance of others.
Consider this fact: B.B. has made several publicized comments about the Islamization of France. In fact she's been sued over her comments and has had to pay penalties for her comments. B.B. cares for France. Mme. Deneueve, on the other hand, has only made the controversial comment that the reason that American women are overweight is that they eat too much bread. Who cares about France and who cares about herself? And just remember that B.B starred in a silly movie called Babette Goes to War. The movie took place during World War 2. Deneueve, on the other hand, has, as far as I know, only starred in war movies in which she is pretty much the victim.
Let's put it this way. Beauty is in many way subjective. All I know is that I'd rather have a cup of coffee or knock back a beer with B.B. than have champagne with Deneueve because in my mind Bardot is France and Deneueve is only an elite segment of said benighted nation.
Now let's get down to cases on the current unrest in France. If one watches the cable television news or reads the rags one would think that only cars have been burned by "disaffected" Islamic youth. But this, and the site is translation from the French so the grammar ain't great, shows that more than cars have been torched:Translated version of http://alexcorvus.blogspot.com/
A French Jewish philosopher has a few thoughts about what's going on in France:Haaretz - Israel News - What sort of Frenchmen are they? . Read the whole article.
And finally, if you've got a few bucks to spend, got to Amazon.com and order the novel The Camp of the Saints and read it. You'll see that some Froggies were more prescient than others.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
A Couple O'Links
The rioting in France goes on and Chirac et amis continue to attempt to consult the shades of Voltaire, Rousseau and Louis XVI about the correct course of action to take.
Meanwhile, some of the rest of the western world seems to be waking up to the danger of Islamofacsism:
Islamic preachers drive the poisoning of young minds - Opinion - smh.com.au
World Magazine - Weekly News Christian Views
And remember that during the time that the Muslims controlled Spain the majority of Spaniards were not Muslim. They were Christians who gave up their faith and nation to acquire "peace."
Meanwhile, some of the rest of the western world seems to be waking up to the danger of Islamofacsism:
Islamic preachers drive the poisoning of young minds - Opinion - smh.com.au
World Magazine - Weekly News Christian Views
And remember that during the time that the Muslims controlled Spain the majority of Spaniards were not Muslim. They were Christians who gave up their faith and nation to acquire "peace."
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Pat Robertson = Knucklehead
Bloody Nib Manor has since the 16th century, been a repository of hard core Protestantism. In fact, certain branches of the clan have gone as far as to adhere to the Puritan faction. Even the ever lovely Lady Nib, who is Japanese born and bred, is a Protestant of the old type i.e., pre Calvary Chapel/ Kumbaya.
And we here at the manse tend toward the conservative politically.
But sometimes we find ourselves wishing that those who have deigned themselves our spokesmen would just shut the hell up.
A case in point is Pat Robertson.
In the past couple of month Mr. Robertson has stated that it might be a good idea for the US government to assassinate Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and last week he told a city in the Northeast that they can forget any help from God because the populace voted out school board members who held to the theory of Intelligent Design instead of the Darwinian Theory of Evolution.
The man has shown himself to be an idiot and a prideful man. I believe that there was an Adam and Eve. I believe in the Creation as outlined in the Bible. But Robertson has gone way out of line. He has taken upon himself the mantle of a prophet. He seems to think that he is an Isaiah or Jeremiah without any proof that he has been given the mantle. But he insists that he knows God's mind. If that isn't pride, I don't know what is. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah were reluctant to take on the roles of prophets. They thought they were unworthy. Robertson, on the other hand, seems to think that he deserves to be a prophet. In other words, God owes him.
We here at Bloody Nib Manor will continue to refer and defer to the Scriptures instead of listening to a buffoon who tries to replace the church with the television church.
When your correspondent was a young apprentice Pat Robertson was know among the trade as "that moon-faced guy." Maybe back in those days we knew that he was a lunatic.
I don't know what Robertson's status with God is. He says that he's a Christian and I have to take him at his word. He's not been found in bed with a dead whore or a live boy. But his interpretation of the faith may be a little off.
I happened to come across, on the radio, Randi Rhodes of Air America, a liberal talk radio network. A caller said that her comments about Robertson's latest gassing were Christian bashing. She protested that she was not bashing Christians and that she was insulted by his accusation. But, in her comments it was apparent that she was bashing Christians because she saw Robertson as representative of the thought of all conservative or fundamentalist Christians. Is not the bashing of conservative, evangelical or fundamentalist Christians by using the club of Pat Robertson Christian bashing? The leaving out of liberal Christians of the Spong and Campolo type doesn't matter. When the US at large think of Christians they think of Calvary Chapel. Not Foundry UMC.
And finally, and cruelly, how can anyone take seriously anything that Randi Rhodes says? Her accent (Brooklyn, Bronx, or whatever) is so thick that one could listen to Plato and think it's all nonsense.
And we here at the manse tend toward the conservative politically.
But sometimes we find ourselves wishing that those who have deigned themselves our spokesmen would just shut the hell up.
A case in point is Pat Robertson.
In the past couple of month Mr. Robertson has stated that it might be a good idea for the US government to assassinate Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and last week he told a city in the Northeast that they can forget any help from God because the populace voted out school board members who held to the theory of Intelligent Design instead of the Darwinian Theory of Evolution.
The man has shown himself to be an idiot and a prideful man. I believe that there was an Adam and Eve. I believe in the Creation as outlined in the Bible. But Robertson has gone way out of line. He has taken upon himself the mantle of a prophet. He seems to think that he is an Isaiah or Jeremiah without any proof that he has been given the mantle. But he insists that he knows God's mind. If that isn't pride, I don't know what is. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah were reluctant to take on the roles of prophets. They thought they were unworthy. Robertson, on the other hand, seems to think that he deserves to be a prophet. In other words, God owes him.
We here at Bloody Nib Manor will continue to refer and defer to the Scriptures instead of listening to a buffoon who tries to replace the church with the television church.
When your correspondent was a young apprentice Pat Robertson was know among the trade as "that moon-faced guy." Maybe back in those days we knew that he was a lunatic.
I don't know what Robertson's status with God is. He says that he's a Christian and I have to take him at his word. He's not been found in bed with a dead whore or a live boy. But his interpretation of the faith may be a little off.
I happened to come across, on the radio, Randi Rhodes of Air America, a liberal talk radio network. A caller said that her comments about Robertson's latest gassing were Christian bashing. She protested that she was not bashing Christians and that she was insulted by his accusation. But, in her comments it was apparent that she was bashing Christians because she saw Robertson as representative of the thought of all conservative or fundamentalist Christians. Is not the bashing of conservative, evangelical or fundamentalist Christians by using the club of Pat Robertson Christian bashing? The leaving out of liberal Christians of the Spong and Campolo type doesn't matter. When the US at large think of Christians they think of Calvary Chapel. Not Foundry UMC.
And finally, and cruelly, how can anyone take seriously anything that Randi Rhodes says? Her accent (Brooklyn, Bronx, or whatever) is so thick that one could listen to Plato and think it's all nonsense.
Close Your Eyes and Pretend All's Okay
Seventeen days after it started the rioting in France goes on. Apparently Chirac and Villapin and Co. have decided to declare victory over the disturbances by attempting to have "dialogue" with the arsonists. But isn't that the French way? You know the old joke: Why are trees planted along the Champs Elysees? So the German soldiers can march in the shade. It's somewhat reminiscent of Louis XVI trying to have "dialogue" with the Jacobins.
At one time in France it used to be the norm for government buildings to have busts of Marianne prominently placed. Marianne was the anthropological representation of France in the same way the Uncle Sam is of the United States or Jack Bull (and whatever happened to the great Jack Bull?) was of Great Britain. Over the years the image of Marianne changed. In the late 50s and 60s the image of Marianne was based on Bridgitte Bardot. During the 70s the image of Marianne was based on Catherine Deneuve (a step down in your correspondent's opinion). I don't know who the model for Marianne is now. But I suspect that within the next ten years Marianne, if represented at all, will be represented by some unknown woman wearing a chador. And then we'll know that France has become Gaulistan.
Mark Steyn has a few words to say about the current "disenfranchised youth." :Telegraph Opinion Early skirmish in the Eurabian civil war Check it out and laugh through your tears.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
The War in Eurabia
Today marks the ninth days of riots in the suburbs of Paris by Islamic youth. If one reads the local rags on would believe that the rioters of just "youth", as if Jules and Marianne, having nothing better to do between their drinking of pastis and the eating of pate de foie gras decided to burn a few cars and a pre-school or two. Meanwhile, the President of La Belle France (Dominique de Villepin)thinks that "having dialogue" with the rioters will end the mayhem. But what can one expect from a man who considers himself a "poet." Poets are good for poetry and seducing silly teenage girls, and not much else. The Minister of the Interior, Nicholas Sarkozy, has taken a harder line. He expects people in France to act like civilized Frenchmen. He has called the rioters "thugs" and, for some reason, that appellation is considered controversial. Sarkozy, the son of Hungarian and Greek immigrants to France, knows what it's like to be a son of immigrants and expects a certain modicum of restraint and good behavior from second generation North Africans and Turks. But, apparently, the liberal faction sees the Muslim youth as somewhat stupid, primitive and naturally violent, so the youth must be handled with kid gloves.
But be that as it may, here's a round up of links concerning the War in Eurabia:
Paris When It Sizzles
Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Arms For the Poor”
The Fall of France The Brussels Journal
The Daily Demarche: Oh, to be a fly on the wall. This is funny.
The Daily Demarche: "The City of Lights"- did they mean burning cars?
And finally, to show that some pigs are more equal than others from Australia. I've never beat the ever lovely Lady Nib, but if I ever do and the local constabulary are called, I'll use the excuse that I'm a Muslim:Herald Sun: Police told to respect traditions [ 25oct05 ].
But be that as it may, here's a round up of links concerning the War in Eurabia:
Paris When It Sizzles
Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Arms For the Poor”
The Fall of France The Brussels Journal
The Daily Demarche: Oh, to be a fly on the wall. This is funny.
The Daily Demarche: "The City of Lights"- did they mean burning cars?
And finally, to show that some pigs are more equal than others from Australia. I've never beat the ever lovely Lady Nib, but if I ever do and the local constabulary are called, I'll use the excuse that I'm a Muslim:Herald Sun: Police told to respect traditions [ 25oct05 ].
A Retraction
We here at Nib Manor haven't enjoyed the gift of omniscience for a long time. It came to an end when about the time we turned thirty. At that time we realized that a rotten trick had been played on us and that world had become much more complicated.
So I find myself having to retract a statement made in a previous entry. In a previous post I stated that a savings bank in the United Kingdom has stopped giving out piggy banks as premiums for opening savings accounts because of protests by Mohammedans living in Great Britain. It turns out that the story may be false. I picked up the information from several websites, each of which linked to an English newspaper. Now, some of those sites say that the newspaper may have been duped or have fallen victim to a new urban legend.
So, if you live in England and want a piggy bank, you may still be able to get a free piggy for depositing some funds. BUT, I wouldn't be surprised that the story has inspired a Muslim in Derby to file a protest with the bank for "disrespecting" Islam. We'll be waiting for the story to rise again.
As you may have noticed, the illustration on this post says "Save The Flag (and the pig) Fly Free!" This, of course partially refers to the Islamic fatwah on pigs. But there is also a war on the Cross of Saint George, which is the red cross used on the English flag. Our Islamic friends protest St. George's Cross as an insult to them because many of the Crusaders fought under that flag. Prison officials in England have been told not to wear English flag lapel pins because Muslim inmates may be offended. There's nothing like buckling under to the hurt feelings of convicted criminals.
It's just too bad that George Washington didn't get his way in desiring that the stars on the American flag be six pointed stars. The US is constantly being portrayed, by the Arab world, as a slave to the Jews. Six pointed stars in the jack would just send them into paradoxisms of rage and they might never have immigrated here.
And finally, for those of you who notice such things, you might notice that the font of this post is different than that of previous post. The only reason is because I neglected to change the font to my preferred font before starting this entry. Nothing special here, so move along.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
More Pigs!
We here at Nib Manor are not particular fans of cartoons. Since the great days of the Warner Brothers cartoons in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Jay Ward productions of the 1960s, there hasn't been much to our taste. Japanese anime is boring, Scooby Do is and was just dumb. Like many contemporary live action films, most modern cartoons lack depth.
But this past week, while recovering from a 24 hour virus excited by the World Series, I happened to come across this program on the local PBS television station:Welcome to Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks Entara Ltd. I was impressed. I'm not usually much a fan of computerized animation, but this program is an exception. More importantly, though, is that the stories are good. And they're funny. And they have a bit of a moral without being being heavy-handed like the old flannelgraph presentations in Sunday School.
Check it out if you get a chance and while you can. The show is an English production and you can bet dollars to doughnuts that some imam in Nottingham or Derby is getting ready to file a protest claiming that an Irish pig is an insult to Muslim kiddies. But you know what that great humanitarian, the Ayatollah Khomeni said, "There is no place for humor in Islam."
Prince Charles=Twit. Bardot=Prophetess
Imagine that you wake up one day and find yourself to be the Prince of Wales. Your mother, the Queen of England is considered the head of the Anglican Church. One of these days, if you live long enough you will be the King of England and will be the head of the Church of England. One of your titles will be Defender of the Faith. The Church of England is, at least historically, a Christian church. Christianity was, and is, an exclusive religion. In other words, salvation is only found through the Grace of Christ and faith in Christ. Other religions, by this claim of exclusivity, no matter how "nice" or colorful of spiritual, are pretty much exercises in re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after the iceberg was rear-ended.
Prince Charles, current Prince of Wales and perhaps future king, takes a different tack. He has said in the past that he would like his future title of Defender of the Faith be changed to Defender of Faiths. His idea is that, since Great Britain is now a multi-religious society, he should not favor one over the other. Or to put it another way, he plans on being the head of the Church of Kumbaya. He is a "modern," "liberal" and "forward thinking" monarch. Or to be more truthful and to the point, he plans on being the first dhimmi king of England.
I'm sure that Charles is a nice fellow. He has some ideas about architecture that I agree with, bad taste in wives, is reputedly a decent polo player and a rather indifferent father. That's all his business. But now he has decided to come to the US to explain Islam to us poor benighted Yanks:Telegraph News Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush. There are about 1.6 million Mohammedans in Great Britain. There are several times that in the US. Large populations of Muslims have a longer history in the US (since about 1900 in Michigan there has been a large Islamic presence) than they do in Great Britain. But Charlie knows best. Perhaps he should visit the Netherlands and explain this all to Ayaan Hirsin Ali, the surviving relatives of Theo Van Gogh or the survivors of Pym Fortyun. Thanks for nuthin', Chuck. And thank God for Washington, Adams, Hamilton and Co.
Meanwhile, in France, there's been a bit of a bother with Muslims rioting in a suburb of Paris:Fjordman: Second night of rioting in Paris. Make sure to read the whole post. The police in Paris admit that they have been unable to deal with the street fighting. They'd better get used to it because it will be come more and more often. Perhaps the foreign Legion should be called out. Meanwhile, Brigette Bardot is considered the author of "hate speech" for warning our French friends years ago about what has happened.
And if you're wondering why there's a photo of BB on this post instead of Charles, the answer is simple. I'd rather look at BB than an inbred twit. But I'm just a dirty dog.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
We Are Happy Family!
As you may remember, the title of this post comes from the Barney the Dinosaur television kid's show. The following links may show why dinosaurs are extinct.
In Uzbekistan it is apparently forbidden to convert from Islam to Christianity:Compass Direct
In Eritrea, a Muslim nation, some Christians (the government approved ones) are more equal than others. The interesting thing is that the priest managed to have weekly evening meetings with 250 worshippers (almost any Anglican or Episcopal priest would not imagine such numbers in his wildest dreams), but Third World Anglicanism is a much different thing than the Canterbury or American variety; it's Christian: Compass Direct 2
Have you ever wondered what the future of Europe looks like? Here's a hint:Compass Direct 3
Meanwhile, we see what a threat little girls are to Islam:BBC NEWS Asia-Pacific Three Indonesian girls beheaded.
And this is big news on the media:Top News Article Reuters.co.uk Some of the gooey types speculate that the bombings may be the work of Sikh separatists. Ramadan ends and the bombings pick up. What a co-incky-dink! It must be the Sikhs!
In Uzbekistan it is apparently forbidden to convert from Islam to Christianity:Compass Direct
In Eritrea, a Muslim nation, some Christians (the government approved ones) are more equal than others. The interesting thing is that the priest managed to have weekly evening meetings with 250 worshippers (almost any Anglican or Episcopal priest would not imagine such numbers in his wildest dreams), but Third World Anglicanism is a much different thing than the Canterbury or American variety; it's Christian: Compass Direct 2
Have you ever wondered what the future of Europe looks like? Here's a hint:Compass Direct 3
Meanwhile, we see what a threat little girls are to Islam:BBC NEWS Asia-Pacific Three Indonesian girls beheaded.
And this is big news on the media:Top News Article Reuters.co.uk Some of the gooey types speculate that the bombings may be the work of Sikh separatists. Ramadan ends and the bombings pick up. What a co-incky-dink! It must be the Sikhs!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
What I Will be Giving for Christmas
The following item has given me an solution for my holiday gift buying problem --Piggy banks 'offend UK Muslims' - Breaking News - World - Breaking News . You may want to consider buying your friends and family a nice piggy bank and encourage them to save money while making a statement.
And here's a question: If a Mohammedan is given a piggy bank with, let's say, five hundred dollars inside it, will he touch it to get the money out? Will he even touch the money since it has been "profaned" by the image of a pig? I think we all know the answer.
And here's a question: If a Mohammedan is given a piggy bank with, let's say, five hundred dollars inside it, will he touch it to get the money out? Will he even touch the money since it has been "profaned" by the image of a pig? I think we all know the answer.
And You Thought You Had It Tough
Being a conservative Christian -- both theologically and politically -- I'm sometimes amused and bemused by some conservative Evangelicals and Roman Catholics claiming that Christians in America are being persecuted. It is a fact that groups such at the ACLU and Americans For the Separation of Church and State would like to erase all public displays of Christianity from the land, but they haven't gone as far as to burn Christians, churches or Bibles. And it is to be remembered that the Bible tells us that the world will always be hostile to those who follow Christ. We, in the US, actually have it relatively good.
In Egypt, on the other hand, things are different -- The Free Copts ??????? ???????: Muslim radicals threaten to kill Pope Shenouda.
In Egypt, on the other hand, things are different -- The Free Copts ??????? ???????: Muslim radicals threaten to kill Pope Shenouda.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Money Talks
Some of us here at Bloody Nib Manor have never been big fans of Big Business. We've never been big fans of Big Labor either, but that's another story. Big Business has shown, especially within the past thirty years, that it (we'll assume for a moment that Big Business is a single entity because many big businesses share the same philosophy) is willing to sell out the welfare of the nation in which it is based for money. Examples abound. Boeing outsourcing components for the 777 and the Dreamliner to China, Japan, India, France, Italy and Great Britain instead of using American talent and skills, Wal-Mart selling goods made in China by what amounts to slave labor, and the use of customer service centers in India for telephone enquiries by almost every computer and Internet company, are only a few examples. Add to this the hiring of illegal immigrants to do "work that Americans won't do," to quote George Bush.
Big Business looks after its own interests and its own security. In fact, Big Business seems to be able to look after and address problems regarding security and the turning of a dollar much more effectively than do national governments. Consider this story:Middle East Times . The companies in question are based in France, of all places. Could it be that the Fat Cats will be the vanguard against the encroaching dhimmitude?
Saturday, October 22, 2005
A Potpourri
We here at Bloody Nib Manor like to laugh. Despite adhering to a theology more akin to the Puritans of Early America and Commonwealth Britain than the current evangelical bip-bop, hip-hop, we like to exercise our diaphrams with a good guffaw. Let's just say that we take the attitude of Samuel Johnson -- life is ridiculous and yet serious.
Last night your faithful correspondent saw Dolly Parton on the television. And seeing Ms. Parton reminded me that there is an American style of humor that goes beyond irony, snide comments and insults of others. Ms Parton, while a great country singer, is a very funny woman and if she ever loses her singing voice she can look forward to a career as a comedianne. Can you imagine Rita Rudner, Margerat Cho or Ellen DeGeneris saying something like, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap"?
A promoter is trying to excite interest in sumo wrestling in the U.S.Among the featured sumo wrestlers are a group of Yanks. As a young man. before my marriage to the ever lovely Lady Nib, I thought sumo wrestling was basically a pair of fat fellows trying to bump one another out of a ring. Since then I've found out that there is a lot more to the sport. There is a lot of skill and training involved in the sport. I'll never be a sumo fan, but the promotion of the sport in America is a good thing. It shows a form of wrestling that is real, unlike the current fascination with fake wrestling such as the WWF. Meanwhile Greco-Roman wrestling (Plato's sport) is relegated to high school and junior college basements.
The local PBS station is running a new series of mysteries based on the P.D. James novels. The problem is that the actor who is supposed to play Adam Dahlglish just doesn't quite cut it. The actor, whose name I can't remember, would be much better suited to play the role of psychiatrist in some kitchen sink drama than he is suited to play a detective. I've known a couple of police detectives over the years and they have been hard men. And if, God forbid, if I were in a situation where an investigation were done over the death of one of my loved ones, I would much prefer that the investigation done by a hard man instead of a soppy Sam.
I like an English type blend of pipe tobacco. I don't smoke a pipe very often, but when I do I like what I like. When I do smoke a pipe in a public place I usually smoke something like Captain Black. Captain Black is a black Cavendish. It is quite mild. And, for some reason, people who don't smoke like the smell of Captain Black in a pipe. More than once, while smoking Captain Black I have been told something like, "What are you smoking? It smells good." The ever lovely Lady Nib claims that is smells like hot chocolate. The taste of the tobacco is rather inane, but it's acceptable to the public. And given the choice of being able to please the uneducated public with a tobacco that "smells good" or a tobacco that tastes good to me, I'll take the "smell good" tobacco for the simple reason good manners demands a regard for the feelings and senses of those other than one's self.
Last night your faithful correspondent saw Dolly Parton on the television. And seeing Ms. Parton reminded me that there is an American style of humor that goes beyond irony, snide comments and insults of others. Ms Parton, while a great country singer, is a very funny woman and if she ever loses her singing voice she can look forward to a career as a comedianne. Can you imagine Rita Rudner, Margerat Cho or Ellen DeGeneris saying something like, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap"?
A promoter is trying to excite interest in sumo wrestling in the U.S.Among the featured sumo wrestlers are a group of Yanks. As a young man. before my marriage to the ever lovely Lady Nib, I thought sumo wrestling was basically a pair of fat fellows trying to bump one another out of a ring. Since then I've found out that there is a lot more to the sport. There is a lot of skill and training involved in the sport. I'll never be a sumo fan, but the promotion of the sport in America is a good thing. It shows a form of wrestling that is real, unlike the current fascination with fake wrestling such as the WWF. Meanwhile Greco-Roman wrestling (Plato's sport) is relegated to high school and junior college basements.
The local PBS station is running a new series of mysteries based on the P.D. James novels. The problem is that the actor who is supposed to play Adam Dahlglish just doesn't quite cut it. The actor, whose name I can't remember, would be much better suited to play the role of psychiatrist in some kitchen sink drama than he is suited to play a detective. I've known a couple of police detectives over the years and they have been hard men. And if, God forbid, if I were in a situation where an investigation were done over the death of one of my loved ones, I would much prefer that the investigation done by a hard man instead of a soppy Sam.
I like an English type blend of pipe tobacco. I don't smoke a pipe very often, but when I do I like what I like. When I do smoke a pipe in a public place I usually smoke something like Captain Black. Captain Black is a black Cavendish. It is quite mild. And, for some reason, people who don't smoke like the smell of Captain Black in a pipe. More than once, while smoking Captain Black I have been told something like, "What are you smoking? It smells good." The ever lovely Lady Nib claims that is smells like hot chocolate. The taste of the tobacco is rather inane, but it's acceptable to the public. And given the choice of being able to please the uneducated public with a tobacco that "smells good" or a tobacco that tastes good to me, I'll take the "smell good" tobacco for the simple reason good manners demands a regard for the feelings and senses of those other than one's self.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
A Little Jihad News
Why is it that women in Europe seem to be more vocal about the encroachment of Islam into Europe than are the men? Consider the fact that both the demi-goddess Brigitte Bardot and the intellectual powerhouse Orianna Fallaci have been prosecuted for their statements regarding the true threat posed by the Islamization of Europe. Ayraan Hirsi Ali, the female Dutch parliamentarian,has been forced to live on a Dutch naval base because of her criticism of the Islamic influence in Holland. The female minister of the interior of the Netherlands has declared war on the burka in Holland, saying, in effect, "The tea party with Islam is over. Dutch values will be the default values in Holland. If you don't like it, shove off." The men, at least the public men, in Europe, seem content to let themselves slide into dhimmitude. It may have something to do with the fact that European men, for all their macho posturing, are rather wimpy -- in effect, akin to gigilos feeling that their manliness comes from delving the span instead of putting up their dukes and fighting for what they believe in. "The Yanks will take care of that, cherie." It may have something to do with soccer, the ultimate Eurotrash sport.
But be that as it may, another woman, from Russia this time, has leveled a blast at Islamofascism and its creeping into Russia: Union of Councils for Soviet Jews: Window on Eurasia: Russian Novelist Does 'N . I'm not a big fan of the Russian Orthodox Church for several reasons that need not be outlined here. But the Russian Orthodox Church and those remaining religious Jews in Russia are probably the bulwarks against the imposition of sharia law in parts of Russia.
Mark Steyn has an interesting article about the reluctance of the mainstream news media to acknowledging the fact that the terrorism in Chechnya is based on Islam: Media utters nonsense, won't call enemy out . One can only assume that NPR is afraid of getting a nasty phone call from Ibraham Hopper for calling a rat a rat.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the lovefest of Muslims and Christians goes on, with the Muslims being the more loving party: >>> AsiaNews.it /view.php?l=en&art=4359<<<. Actually, the amazing thing in this story is the use of the word "extremists." Most news organizations will not use the term "extremist" when referring to Mohammedans. It might hurt someone's feelings and we wouldn't want that.
And finally, in a non-jihad item, we see that two groups that are societal termites have managed to make bystanders suffer:- toledoblade.com - Nazis stink. Neo-Nazis stink even more. Criminal gangs stink. Criminal gangs "protesting" neo-Nazis stink even more. It brings to mind Faulkner's comment to his wife the night before he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature, "The human race stinks."
But be that as it may, another woman, from Russia this time, has leveled a blast at Islamofascism and its creeping into Russia: Union of Councils for Soviet Jews: Window on Eurasia: Russian Novelist Does 'N . I'm not a big fan of the Russian Orthodox Church for several reasons that need not be outlined here. But the Russian Orthodox Church and those remaining religious Jews in Russia are probably the bulwarks against the imposition of sharia law in parts of Russia.
Mark Steyn has an interesting article about the reluctance of the mainstream news media to acknowledging the fact that the terrorism in Chechnya is based on Islam: Media utters nonsense, won't call enemy out . One can only assume that NPR is afraid of getting a nasty phone call from Ibraham Hopper for calling a rat a rat.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the lovefest of Muslims and Christians goes on, with the Muslims being the more loving party: >>> AsiaNews.it /view.php?l=en&art=4359<<<. Actually, the amazing thing in this story is the use of the word "extremists." Most news organizations will not use the term "extremist" when referring to Mohammedans. It might hurt someone's feelings and we wouldn't want that.
And finally, in a non-jihad item, we see that two groups that are societal termites have managed to make bystanders suffer:- toledoblade.com - Nazis stink. Neo-Nazis stink even more. Criminal gangs stink. Criminal gangs "protesting" neo-Nazis stink even more. It brings to mind Faulkner's comment to his wife the night before he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature, "The human race stinks."
Saturday, October 15, 2005
No Pigs This Week
There will be no Mohammedan/pig comments this week except to ask the question, "When a Mohammedan goes to a MacDonald's' and asks for a hamburger is he committing some sort of a sin?" And if he shops at a Piggly Wiggly does that mean that he might as well commit suicide and consign his soul to the Islamic version of hell?
Let's talk cinematic versions of novels. Back in 1979 a movie came out called The Warriors. The movie was directed by Walter Hill (who seems to have gone downhill since The Long Riders) and was based on a novel by Sol Yurick. I saw the film when it first came out and I enjoyed it. I've seen it several times since then and have always enjoyed it. It had a mythic quality. The novel was based on the history recounted by Xenophon entitled Anabasis. Xenophon was a participant of the march from Persia by the 10,000 and while he tends to punch his own importance in the matter more than is gentlemanly, we can pretty much rely on his memoirs of the March Out.
This week I bought a DVD of the film and a copy of the novel on which the film was based. I did njot buy the Director's Cut of the movie. I bought the version as originally released. I've found, over the years, that Director's Cuts are exercises in masturbation by the director. In other words, the director's cut is akin to saying that, "This was my original vision and 'the suits' made me change the movie." And I've often found that the director's cut just stinks. I'm not interested in Walter Hill's "original vision." I'm interested in the version I saw some 26 years ago. If I was interested in the original, or true version, I'd read Anabasis, which I have. and which I enjoyed.
I got hold of the novel The Warriors in the mail today. I've not read the book yet, but I read the introduction by Sol Yurick And to tell the truth, reading the introduction made me not want to read the novel. He bitched about the publication of the novel and the movie version of his book. Yurick seems to think of The Warriors as an "art" or "socially conscience" novel and that Hill just raped his work. On the other hand, such great novelists such as Hemingway, Faulkner or Chandler never pitched a bitch about the movie versions of their novels. They just took the money and assumed that anyone really interested in the story told in the movie version would take the time to read the book. If nothing else, it shows the confidence of the writers. Hemingway and company knew that their stuff was good despite the screen version. Yurick seems to think that his reputation rests on Walter Hill.
But to get back to the point. Yurick's introduction to The Warriors was one of the few introductions to novels that made me not want to read the novel. I've read introductions to Proust's novels and Joyce's novels, and each made me want to read the novel. I never finished the novels in question, but I learned something from the introductions. Yurick's introduction, on the other hand, taught me nothing except that Yurick considers himself a "serious" novelist who can sling around words about Camus, post-modernism, social realism and on and on. In other words, he seems to be a guy who doesn't want to tell a story as much as he wants to make a social statement. He's a one remembered novel wonder, which more than most of us will ever be. And he bitches about it because he's not going to be remembered for his novel Fertig.
If a person wants to make a socialist statement perhaps that person should study Jack London. London managed to insert Socialism in his novels without shoving it in the reader's face. Hemingway, Faulkner, John Gardener and John Updike were/are able to let their works stand alone without extensive apologia or self/social analysis. They told/tell a story and let the reader take it as they would. When a novelist has to interpret his work for the reader he's failed. Or he's a post-modernist, which is pretty much as being a failure.
But what the hell do I know? I'm just an uneducated bum.
Let's talk cinematic versions of novels. Back in 1979 a movie came out called The Warriors. The movie was directed by Walter Hill (who seems to have gone downhill since The Long Riders) and was based on a novel by Sol Yurick. I saw the film when it first came out and I enjoyed it. I've seen it several times since then and have always enjoyed it. It had a mythic quality. The novel was based on the history recounted by Xenophon entitled Anabasis. Xenophon was a participant of the march from Persia by the 10,000 and while he tends to punch his own importance in the matter more than is gentlemanly, we can pretty much rely on his memoirs of the March Out.
This week I bought a DVD of the film and a copy of the novel on which the film was based. I did njot buy the Director's Cut of the movie. I bought the version as originally released. I've found, over the years, that Director's Cuts are exercises in masturbation by the director. In other words, the director's cut is akin to saying that, "This was my original vision and 'the suits' made me change the movie." And I've often found that the director's cut just stinks. I'm not interested in Walter Hill's "original vision." I'm interested in the version I saw some 26 years ago. If I was interested in the original, or true version, I'd read Anabasis, which I have. and which I enjoyed.
I got hold of the novel The Warriors in the mail today. I've not read the book yet, but I read the introduction by Sol Yurick And to tell the truth, reading the introduction made me not want to read the novel. He bitched about the publication of the novel and the movie version of his book. Yurick seems to think of The Warriors as an "art" or "socially conscience" novel and that Hill just raped his work. On the other hand, such great novelists such as Hemingway, Faulkner or Chandler never pitched a bitch about the movie versions of their novels. They just took the money and assumed that anyone really interested in the story told in the movie version would take the time to read the book. If nothing else, it shows the confidence of the writers. Hemingway and company knew that their stuff was good despite the screen version. Yurick seems to think that his reputation rests on Walter Hill.
But to get back to the point. Yurick's introduction to The Warriors was one of the few introductions to novels that made me not want to read the novel. I've read introductions to Proust's novels and Joyce's novels, and each made me want to read the novel. I never finished the novels in question, but I learned something from the introductions. Yurick's introduction, on the other hand, taught me nothing except that Yurick considers himself a "serious" novelist who can sling around words about Camus, post-modernism, social realism and on and on. In other words, he seems to be a guy who doesn't want to tell a story as much as he wants to make a social statement. He's a one remembered novel wonder, which more than most of us will ever be. And he bitches about it because he's not going to be remembered for his novel Fertig.
If a person wants to make a socialist statement perhaps that person should study Jack London. London managed to insert Socialism in his novels without shoving it in the reader's face. Hemingway, Faulkner, John Gardener and John Updike were/are able to let their works stand alone without extensive apologia or self/social analysis. They told/tell a story and let the reader take it as they would. When a novelist has to interpret his work for the reader he's failed. Or he's a post-modernist, which is pretty much as being a failure.
But what the hell do I know? I'm just an uneducated bum.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Tammy's Blog
The wonderful Tammy Bruce has modified her website to include a blog. Ms Bruce is one of my favorite public personalities. I've listened to her on the radio since her days as the overnight talker on KFI when she used to read books over the air. Now she's on KABC on Saturday afternoons in L.A. and is one other stations nationwide.
Check out her website: www.tammybruce.com . I don't always agree with her, but she always has something interesting to say
Check out her website: www.tammybruce.com . I don't always agree with her, but she always has something interesting to say
More Pigs!
If your faithful correspondent keeps making posts about pigs the name of this blog will have to be changed to the Piggy Nib. But I really do believe that the Mohammedan battle against pigs, pig figures and pig drawings in Great Britain is more important that it appears. To use the old term that has fallen out of favor, "It is the thin edge of the wedge."
Consider the fact that in the US and in Great Britain Jews have lived peacefully for at least three and a half centuries. In America Jews have had a presence since the late 1600s, and in Great Britain since the time of Cromwell. In fact, it was the Puritan government in Britain that invited Jews to immigrate to Britain after Edward II (it may have been Edward I) banished Jews from Britain. Religious Jews are forbidden from eating pork. They have been so forbidden since the time of Moses. To my knowledge there has never been a movement among Jews, religious or otherwise, to ban the existence or portrayal of pig, hogs or boars among non-Jews. In fact the Warner Brothers, both Jewish, are partially responsible for the giving to the world Porky Pig.
Our Islamic "brothers" on the other hand, want to drive Porky underground in the same way that they want to drive women's hair underground. Apparently Islamic clerics and theologians feel that the average Islamic man is so driven by his lower instincts that the sight of a woman's hair/face/ankle drives him to rape, and the sight of a pig drives him to a ham sandwich. The result is that the rest of us are unable, in public, to express our appreciation of porcine qualities. How long will it be before you go to the local Blockbuster or contact Netflix and find that the DVD of "Babe", "Charlotte's Web", or "Animal Farm" is unavailable because some guy who beats his wife with religious consent covets your Virginia ham and feels guilty coveting the ham?
Cox and Forkum have a pretty good cartoon about the current pig ban in Great Britain:Cox & Forkum: Perils Before Swine . Be sure to read the attached Mark Steyn article.
Long live Piglet, Babe and Geordie!
Consider the fact that in the US and in Great Britain Jews have lived peacefully for at least three and a half centuries. In America Jews have had a presence since the late 1600s, and in Great Britain since the time of Cromwell. In fact, it was the Puritan government in Britain that invited Jews to immigrate to Britain after Edward II (it may have been Edward I) banished Jews from Britain. Religious Jews are forbidden from eating pork. They have been so forbidden since the time of Moses. To my knowledge there has never been a movement among Jews, religious or otherwise, to ban the existence or portrayal of pig, hogs or boars among non-Jews. In fact the Warner Brothers, both Jewish, are partially responsible for the giving to the world Porky Pig.
Our Islamic "brothers" on the other hand, want to drive Porky underground in the same way that they want to drive women's hair underground. Apparently Islamic clerics and theologians feel that the average Islamic man is so driven by his lower instincts that the sight of a woman's hair/face/ankle drives him to rape, and the sight of a pig drives him to a ham sandwich. The result is that the rest of us are unable, in public, to express our appreciation of porcine qualities. How long will it be before you go to the local Blockbuster or contact Netflix and find that the DVD of "Babe", "Charlotte's Web", or "Animal Farm" is unavailable because some guy who beats his wife with religious consent covets your Virginia ham and feels guilty coveting the ham?
Cox and Forkum have a pretty good cartoon about the current pig ban in Great Britain:Cox & Forkum: Perils Before Swine . Be sure to read the attached Mark Steyn article.
Long live Piglet, Babe and Geordie!
Saturday, October 08, 2005
A Few Thoughts on Tea
One of my most vivid childhood memories is waking up early on a Saturday or Sunday and walking into the kitchen seeing the Earl sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper waiting for a saucepan of water to come to a boil. "Want a cup of tea, Hitz?" he'd ask. "Yes, Dad," I'd answer. And then when the water came to a boil he'd plop Lipton teabags in mugs and pour in the hot water. After a couple of minutes of steeping the teabags would be pulled out and sugar cubes would be dropped into the mugs, the tea would be stirred and then gingerly tasted and approved and the heat would warm me up on the coldest day.
The Earl is a tea drinker. Hot, cold, lukewarm. And I'm a tea drinker. It wasn't until I was in the Navy that I got used to drinking coffee. And even then coffee was a poor substitute for coffee. It's not because my family is English. I was the first member of my family to touch English soil since the late 1600s. And there was no great tea drinking tradition in my family. There was always a coffee pot on the hob for the rest of the family. Tea was, and is, my preferred drink. It's more warming, more cooling, more refreshing and better tasting than coffee.
Orange pekoe, oolong, Darjeeling, Assam, Earl Grey and lapsong souchong. Those five varieties of teas cover a greater flavor spectrum that do all the world's coffees. From light and clear to heavy and smoky, tea offers a drink that can be consumed by the pot without ill effect and makes coffee taste like burnt gravy doped with speed. No perking, no dripping, no squeezing. Just infusing leaves for a few minutes results in a drink that is not only stimulating, but calming and refreshing.
And one can't ask for much more from a drink than that.
The Earl is a tea drinker. Hot, cold, lukewarm. And I'm a tea drinker. It wasn't until I was in the Navy that I got used to drinking coffee. And even then coffee was a poor substitute for coffee. It's not because my family is English. I was the first member of my family to touch English soil since the late 1600s. And there was no great tea drinking tradition in my family. There was always a coffee pot on the hob for the rest of the family. Tea was, and is, my preferred drink. It's more warming, more cooling, more refreshing and better tasting than coffee.
Orange pekoe, oolong, Darjeeling, Assam, Earl Grey and lapsong souchong. Those five varieties of teas cover a greater flavor spectrum that do all the world's coffees. From light and clear to heavy and smoky, tea offers a drink that can be consumed by the pot without ill effect and makes coffee taste like burnt gravy doped with speed. No perking, no dripping, no squeezing. Just infusing leaves for a few minutes results in a drink that is not only stimulating, but calming and refreshing.
And one can't ask for much more from a drink than that.
The Quest for Cool
At one time your faithful correspondent was a member of the United Methodist Church. The UMC had, at one time, the reputation of being a Bible based, though Arminian congregation. Then, sometime beginning in the early 60s, the rot set in. By rot I mean theological liberalism. After the theological liberals managed to work their ways out of the pulpits and into the District Superintendent and Bishopric positions theological liberalism became the default position of the church. The Bible was no longer the Word of God. It became a somehow more valid version of Ovid's Metamorphosis. Christ was no longer Virgin born, Adam was no longer the first man, the Sermon on the Mount became a prescription instead of an indictment. The list goes on and on. The UMC, in its leadership, became what 19th century Unitarians were, with a social reforming agenda. Man did everything and God was a shriveled up old guy sitting in a corner as helpless as a kitten cornered by a pitbull. It was man's duty to save God instead of God through Christ saving man.
Once I started reading the Bible seriously I decided I'd had it with such Deistic nonsense. To paraphrase Flannery O'Connor, if the Bible isn't true, then to hell with it. I decided that the Bible was true and I upped stakes, leaving a lot of friends behind and, after a false start or two, found a worshipping body that held that the Bible was inerrant, that Adam was the first man, that Jesus was born of a Virgin, that God hates sin, that man is a sinner and that Christ saves sinners.
For various reasons I was, am and will be a little leery of the Roman Catholic Church. One of the reasons is that the Catholic Church has extra-Biblical beliefs i.e., Mary as co-Mediatrix, purgatory, the gaining of grace through the sacraments, et al. And I figured that if the Roman Catholic Church takes the position that it can add to the Bible, that means that it can subtract from the Bible.
Well, slap me silly and call me Martin Luther, the English bishops have decided that certain parts of the Bible are just not true. See this link:Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible - World - Times Online. (Tip o' the lid to Tammy Bruce) What I want to know is why any person subscribing to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church should trust this bunch of guys. Consider this: when they took their vows as priests they vowed that they believed the Bible. Now they don't. Have they had a revelation? Perhaps the Holy Ghost came down and whispered in their collective ears that the Scriptures that have informed, educated and inspired close to 2,000 years of Christians is just an allegory? Or do these fellows want to try to pull back in the fallen by lowering the standards? Or perhaps they sailed into their positions while flying false colors; cuckoos as it were, laying their strange eggs in the True nest while pushing the native eggs out. Why should any Catholic who listens to this bunch consider the Eucharist the real Body of Christ when the bishops say that parts to the Bible are not true? And does the man in the pew get to pick and choose in the same way that the bishops do.
But, hey, the bishops want to be cool and with it and respected by the average newspaper and television opinion spouter, so who can blame them for playing the part of Judas and/or Simon Magus? They have shown themselves to be simoniacs by the very fact that they have, over the years preached one thing and believed another while drawing a paycheck. When their world begins to crumble about their ears they shouldn't wonder why.
Once I started reading the Bible seriously I decided I'd had it with such Deistic nonsense. To paraphrase Flannery O'Connor, if the Bible isn't true, then to hell with it. I decided that the Bible was true and I upped stakes, leaving a lot of friends behind and, after a false start or two, found a worshipping body that held that the Bible was inerrant, that Adam was the first man, that Jesus was born of a Virgin, that God hates sin, that man is a sinner and that Christ saves sinners.
For various reasons I was, am and will be a little leery of the Roman Catholic Church. One of the reasons is that the Catholic Church has extra-Biblical beliefs i.e., Mary as co-Mediatrix, purgatory, the gaining of grace through the sacraments, et al. And I figured that if the Roman Catholic Church takes the position that it can add to the Bible, that means that it can subtract from the Bible.
Well, slap me silly and call me Martin Luther, the English bishops have decided that certain parts of the Bible are just not true. See this link:Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible - World - Times Online. (Tip o' the lid to Tammy Bruce) What I want to know is why any person subscribing to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church should trust this bunch of guys. Consider this: when they took their vows as priests they vowed that they believed the Bible. Now they don't. Have they had a revelation? Perhaps the Holy Ghost came down and whispered in their collective ears that the Scriptures that have informed, educated and inspired close to 2,000 years of Christians is just an allegory? Or do these fellows want to try to pull back in the fallen by lowering the standards? Or perhaps they sailed into their positions while flying false colors; cuckoos as it were, laying their strange eggs in the True nest while pushing the native eggs out. Why should any Catholic who listens to this bunch consider the Eucharist the real Body of Christ when the bishops say that parts to the Bible are not true? And does the man in the pew get to pick and choose in the same way that the bishops do.
But, hey, the bishops want to be cool and with it and respected by the average newspaper and television opinion spouter, so who can blame them for playing the part of Judas and/or Simon Magus? They have shown themselves to be simoniacs by the very fact that they have, over the years preached one thing and believed another while drawing a paycheck. When their world begins to crumble about their ears they shouldn't wonder why.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Pigs are Your Friends
While considering the pig controversy in Great Britain, and I apologize for dragging this Muslim/Pig controversey on longer than some may see fit, it occurred to me that there are several instances of the employment of pigs that Muslims may be rather hypocritical about.
The first is the use of the heart valves of pigs to replace the damaged or diseased heart valves of humans. Would the man who complained about the display of pig figurines and calendars in Britain refuse the replacement of his heart valve(s) with the heart valves of a pig if his heart was hinckey?
The second is insulin. Not keeping up with current pharmacological practices, the last I heard, insulin for diabetics was made from pig by-products. Would this man refuse insulin for himself or his child if they were diabetic?
Thirdly, American football. The football is called the "pigskin." I don't know if the footballs in current use are actually made of pigskin anymore, but the calling of a football a "pigskin" is the same relationship to a pig as is a ceramic figure of a pig to a real China White. Does this mean that a Muslim should not play or watch football?
How many Muslims are walking around in pigskin shoes (think Hush Puppies), have pigskin wallets or key fobs?
Recently one of the Saudi Arabian Muslim poohbahs has dictated that soccer is an UnIslamic game and that all Muslims should abandon soccer and take up something else. Does this mean that the Islamic countries will not be sending soccer teams to the next Olympics?
The whole point of this is that this Mohammedan war against pigs, pig figurines and pig portrayals is really nothing but a grab for power. It is, in a sense, the thin end of the wedge. The banning of pig representations today, the banning of pigs tomorrow. And your wife being forced to wear a chador the next day.
And if you're not a pig fan, remember this; Mohammendans consider dogs "unclean." Are you going to let some knucklehead who doesn't even have the sense to worship the true and living God as either a Jew or Christian tell you that you have to get rid of your mutt because some illiterate merchant in Arabia some 1300 years ago was chased from somebody's door by a dog?
The first is the use of the heart valves of pigs to replace the damaged or diseased heart valves of humans. Would the man who complained about the display of pig figurines and calendars in Britain refuse the replacement of his heart valve(s) with the heart valves of a pig if his heart was hinckey?
The second is insulin. Not keeping up with current pharmacological practices, the last I heard, insulin for diabetics was made from pig by-products. Would this man refuse insulin for himself or his child if they were diabetic?
Thirdly, American football. The football is called the "pigskin." I don't know if the footballs in current use are actually made of pigskin anymore, but the calling of a football a "pigskin" is the same relationship to a pig as is a ceramic figure of a pig to a real China White. Does this mean that a Muslim should not play or watch football?
How many Muslims are walking around in pigskin shoes (think Hush Puppies), have pigskin wallets or key fobs?
Recently one of the Saudi Arabian Muslim poohbahs has dictated that soccer is an UnIslamic game and that all Muslims should abandon soccer and take up something else. Does this mean that the Islamic countries will not be sending soccer teams to the next Olympics?
The whole point of this is that this Mohammedan war against pigs, pig figurines and pig portrayals is really nothing but a grab for power. It is, in a sense, the thin end of the wedge. The banning of pig representations today, the banning of pigs tomorrow. And your wife being forced to wear a chador the next day.
And if you're not a pig fan, remember this; Mohammendans consider dogs "unclean." Are you going to let some knucklehead who doesn't even have the sense to worship the true and living God as either a Jew or Christian tell you that you have to get rid of your mutt because some illiterate merchant in Arabia some 1300 years ago was chased from somebody's door by a dog?
Geek and Freak Sports
The other day while visiting Earl and Countess Nib I watched a DVD called How to Be a Player. The DVD was produced by the Duncan Yo-Yo company and is a compilation of yo-yo tricks. A few minutes after the DVD began the ever young Countess Nib and the ever lovely Lady Nib wandered off to have a chew fat while my father and I watched the DVD. It occurred to me while watching the DVD that yo-yoing, serious yo-yoing, is pretty much a sport (and I do mean sport) that appeals to males. In the whole of the DVD there was only one female. Everything was boys and young men. Geeky girls spend their time doing something else, though I don't know what -- modern dance perhaps. And, let's face it, yo-yoing on a serious level is a pretty geeky past time. There are baseball heroes, football heroes, basketball heroes, even bicycling heroes. But there really is no such thing as a yo-yo hero who is known outside the world of yo-yo aficionados. Being a yo-yo champ is like being a Frisbee Golf champion. In other words one will not get rich from endorsements for beer, cars, Viagra or even from the manufacturers of yo-yos or Frisbees. Being a serious yo-yoist is like being a ukulele player. No matter how good one is, the world at large sees one's skill as just screwing around when, in fact one has spent hours of disciplined practice to learn how to do a flawless Brain Twister or play Little Grass Shack.
Another sport that receives the same public "honor" as yo-yoing is hacky-sack, or as more properly called, footbag. Hacky-sack (I use the trademarked name because that's what my crowd has always called it) is seen as the purview of Grateful Dead fans killing time between sets, hippies waiting for their buzz to take effect, or college students trying to avoid studying. But a good sacker is a person who has spent a good deal of time perfecting his (and hacky-sackers are overwhelmingly male) skill for either the free-style, circle or net forms of the game. The sacker is often seen, while practicing in a park or village green, as a person on his way to heroin addiction while the English footballer, Mexican or Argentinean soccer players bouncing soccer balls off their knees and heads for hours on end are considered athletes because they are playing against others while the hacky-sack player is often challenging himself. And what fun is there, as far as society is concerned, in challenging one's self instead of knocking someone else down on his fundament?
I was while watching the yo-yo DVD that I realized, and I mean really realized, that I'm a geek. I rather fling a yo-yo than play baseball and would much rather kick a hacky-sack than swing a golf club. I know little about computers, my advanced math is weak, I can fix a car and build an airplane or a boat, I seem to have the geek (and maybe freak since I love the Grateful Dead) mindset about sports. And having realized my true condition at the age of fifty-two I have no choice but to go to Lenscrafters and buy a pair of black framed glasses, preferably with tape over the bridge, and embrace my geekdom. And I'll have to buy a new hacky-sack in pig skin just to offend a Mohammedan.
Another sport that receives the same public "honor" as yo-yoing is hacky-sack, or as more properly called, footbag. Hacky-sack (I use the trademarked name because that's what my crowd has always called it) is seen as the purview of Grateful Dead fans killing time between sets, hippies waiting for their buzz to take effect, or college students trying to avoid studying. But a good sacker is a person who has spent a good deal of time perfecting his (and hacky-sackers are overwhelmingly male) skill for either the free-style, circle or net forms of the game. The sacker is often seen, while practicing in a park or village green, as a person on his way to heroin addiction while the English footballer, Mexican or Argentinean soccer players bouncing soccer balls off their knees and heads for hours on end are considered athletes because they are playing against others while the hacky-sack player is often challenging himself. And what fun is there, as far as society is concerned, in challenging one's self instead of knocking someone else down on his fundament?
I was while watching the yo-yo DVD that I realized, and I mean really realized, that I'm a geek. I rather fling a yo-yo than play baseball and would much rather kick a hacky-sack than swing a golf club. I know little about computers, my advanced math is weak, I can fix a car and build an airplane or a boat, I seem to have the geek (and maybe freak since I love the Grateful Dead) mindset about sports. And having realized my true condition at the age of fifty-two I have no choice but to go to Lenscrafters and buy a pair of black framed glasses, preferably with tape over the bridge, and embrace my geekdom. And I'll have to buy a new hacky-sack in pig skin just to offend a Mohammedan.
When Pigs Are Outlawed...
One has to wonder what is the matter with the British. Or at least the British legal system There seems to be some sort of suicidal mind set there that is baffling. Is it in some sort of atonement for having once been a great power and civilizing force for much of Third World? Or perhaps some sort of self-punishment for foisting Boy George on the world? Or maybe it's some sort of offering to the goddess Diana (Spenser) as an apology for the fact that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles are still alive while Princess Diana died in a car crash with her Muslim boyfriend.
The British, once one of the most chauvinistic and patriotic people on earth, seem bound and determined to become dhimmis to the Muslim minority. A case in point is the apparent banning of the lowly, yet noble pig from public sight:The Sun Online - News: Muslims win toy pigs ban
If one has ever read English light literature one knows, like no other country known to your faithful correspondent, the English have had a special place in their hearts and culture for pigs. P.G. Wodehouse used pigs and hogs many times in his stories, Orwell had pigs as heroes and villains in Animal Farm, Milne's Winnie The Pooh featured the optimistic Piglet. How many stories and novels feature meetings in pubs called The Pig and Whistle or The Boar's Head? English artists of the past expended quite a lot of oil paint and water color on paintings of magnificent pigs, hogs and boars (and not a few bores and boors, to boot). The pig was as much a symbol of England as John Bull. The pig was to the English what the rooster is to the Mexican.
Now we find that our porcine co-creatures offend the Mohammedans and in the interest of "peace" we are expected to kotow to their feelings while they insist on offending ours. It makes no sense. The Muslims were not forced to immigrate to England (or the U.S or Australia or Canada) and they are not being forced to stay. They can go home to cultures that are more in line with their beliefs any time they want. In fact, it would not be surprising that if a charitable fund were established to repatriate Muslims to their homelands there would be no lack of donations to send them home. They feel that pigs are unclean and so we have to make our affection for pigs (whether as symbols, pets or food) a secret. Who would think that Miss Piggy could be so controversial?
The blog Relapsed Catholic has an interesting idea:++ relapsed catholic ++ religion politics culture blog See the entry for October 1.
Here at Nib Manor we have a cast iron pig used as a gate stop. And said pig will leave the manse when it's pried out of my cold dead fingers.
The British, once one of the most chauvinistic and patriotic people on earth, seem bound and determined to become dhimmis to the Muslim minority. A case in point is the apparent banning of the lowly, yet noble pig from public sight:The Sun Online - News: Muslims win toy pigs ban
If one has ever read English light literature one knows, like no other country known to your faithful correspondent, the English have had a special place in their hearts and culture for pigs. P.G. Wodehouse used pigs and hogs many times in his stories, Orwell had pigs as heroes and villains in Animal Farm, Milne's Winnie The Pooh featured the optimistic Piglet. How many stories and novels feature meetings in pubs called The Pig and Whistle or The Boar's Head? English artists of the past expended quite a lot of oil paint and water color on paintings of magnificent pigs, hogs and boars (and not a few bores and boors, to boot). The pig was as much a symbol of England as John Bull. The pig was to the English what the rooster is to the Mexican.
Now we find that our porcine co-creatures offend the Mohammedans and in the interest of "peace" we are expected to kotow to their feelings while they insist on offending ours. It makes no sense. The Muslims were not forced to immigrate to England (or the U.S or Australia or Canada) and they are not being forced to stay. They can go home to cultures that are more in line with their beliefs any time they want. In fact, it would not be surprising that if a charitable fund were established to repatriate Muslims to their homelands there would be no lack of donations to send them home. They feel that pigs are unclean and so we have to make our affection for pigs (whether as symbols, pets or food) a secret. Who would think that Miss Piggy could be so controversial?
The blog Relapsed Catholic has an interesting idea:++ relapsed catholic ++ religion politics culture blog See the entry for October 1.
Here at Nib Manor we have a cast iron pig used as a gate stop. And said pig will leave the manse when it's pried out of my cold dead fingers.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
What's With Us?
A couple of days ago the ever lovely Lady Nib asked your correspondent, "Will Christians ever get around to resisting the encroachment of Islamism into Christian countries? Will Christians fight for survival?" I thought about the question for a few minutes and decided that the answer was "Probably not. A minority will, those considered quite conservative or fundamentalists. But those Christians in the mainstream, having been raised with a 'We are the world' theology (when they have been taught any theology), or who subscribe to a 'name it and claim it' Christianity will do nothing."
It was an answer that I hated to come up with. But the history of the reaction of Christianity to the invasions of Islamism in the late twentieth century has shown that modern Christianity, for the most part, does not seem to have the will to fight back.
Consider the case of Lebanon, for example. Up until the 1970s Lebanon was a Christian nation in the Middle East. It was, by Middle East standards, democratic and modern. Beruit was called the Paris of the Middle East. Then the civil war broke out. Muslims poured into Lebanon from Syria and a great number of Lebanese Christians pulled up stakes and left the country instead of fighting. The result was that Lebanon became a Muslim country, the infrastructure collapsed and Beruit became just another big Islamic city hat no one in his right mind wanted to visit, let alone invest in. The country became just another Middle East Islamic nation living in the sixteenth century with color television and running water.
The Turkish genocide of Armenians (the oldest Christian nation in the world) in the early part of the 20th century has been pretty much accepted by the civilized world as a fact, but the Turks insist that the incident never happened and the kumbaya crowd in the West don't want to bring it up because they don't want to hurt the Turks' feelings. History, for some, has become completely subjective in the interest of appeasement. And many of those who subscribe to the appeasement philosophy are liberal Christians who are reluctant not only to state a truth, but are also reluctant to proclaim The Truth in deference to the feelings of their opponents who wish them no good
The following links may be better able to illustrate the matter better than my natterings:
Gates of Vienna: Cultural Amnesia
FrontPage magazine.com
It was an answer that I hated to come up with. But the history of the reaction of Christianity to the invasions of Islamism in the late twentieth century has shown that modern Christianity, for the most part, does not seem to have the will to fight back.
Consider the case of Lebanon, for example. Up until the 1970s Lebanon was a Christian nation in the Middle East. It was, by Middle East standards, democratic and modern. Beruit was called the Paris of the Middle East. Then the civil war broke out. Muslims poured into Lebanon from Syria and a great number of Lebanese Christians pulled up stakes and left the country instead of fighting. The result was that Lebanon became a Muslim country, the infrastructure collapsed and Beruit became just another big Islamic city hat no one in his right mind wanted to visit, let alone invest in. The country became just another Middle East Islamic nation living in the sixteenth century with color television and running water.
The Turkish genocide of Armenians (the oldest Christian nation in the world) in the early part of the 20th century has been pretty much accepted by the civilized world as a fact, but the Turks insist that the incident never happened and the kumbaya crowd in the West don't want to bring it up because they don't want to hurt the Turks' feelings. History, for some, has become completely subjective in the interest of appeasement. And many of those who subscribe to the appeasement philosophy are liberal Christians who are reluctant not only to state a truth, but are also reluctant to proclaim The Truth in deference to the feelings of their opponents who wish them no good
The following links may be better able to illustrate the matter better than my natterings:
Gates of Vienna: Cultural Amnesia
FrontPage magazine.com
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Sunday Closing
Back in the day when your faithful correspondent was a tyke it was the usual practice for businesses near Nib Manor to close on Sunday. The only exceptions were pharmacies, service stations and the occasional liquor store. Pharmacies and service stations provided goods and service that might be needed by even the most strict Sabbath observer. I think liquor stores were open to keep the local winos from buying Sterno at the local Rexall Drug Store and drinking it when they couldn't get their daily ration of Thunderbird from The Captain's Booty package store. It was considered better to have a wino drinking booze instead of drinking canned heat.
The store closings, were not, in Los Angeles County, not a legal edict. The Sunday closings were the result of the merchants conforming to the cultural norms of the time. As far as I know, in this area, there were no violent actions taken against the odd 5 and 10 store that opened on Sundays by even the most fundamental Christian churches or bodies. The usual reaction was something like, "Did you hear that Grant's has started Sunday selling? I'll never shop there again."
Our Mohammedan friends seem to have a different viewpoint about Friday selling: Gates of Vienna: The Great Jihad in Thailand. If memory serves correctly, Thailand is a country where Theravada Buddhism is the majority religion. Islamism is second. Christianity is a distant third. But, for some reason, the Thai Mohammedans feel that the culture should bend to their norms instead of having the ability to exercise the self-discipline of having their own people not engage in Friday trading.
Meanwhile, parts of Canada flirt with Sharia law. Good luck for all those employees of Can-West wanting to get together at T.G.I. Fridays for a Molsen after work on a Friday night.
The store closings, were not, in Los Angeles County, not a legal edict. The Sunday closings were the result of the merchants conforming to the cultural norms of the time. As far as I know, in this area, there were no violent actions taken against the odd 5 and 10 store that opened on Sundays by even the most fundamental Christian churches or bodies. The usual reaction was something like, "Did you hear that Grant's has started Sunday selling? I'll never shop there again."
Our Mohammedan friends seem to have a different viewpoint about Friday selling: Gates of Vienna: The Great Jihad in Thailand. If memory serves correctly, Thailand is a country where Theravada Buddhism is the majority religion. Islamism is second. Christianity is a distant third. But, for some reason, the Thai Mohammedans feel that the culture should bend to their norms instead of having the ability to exercise the self-discipline of having their own people not engage in Friday trading.
Meanwhile, parts of Canada flirt with Sharia law. Good luck for all those employees of Can-West wanting to get together at T.G.I. Fridays for a Molsen after work on a Friday night.
I'm a Big Ol' Meanie
Once upon a time your faithful correspondent was a child. Even a young child, believe it or not. At that time, being a child I wanted everything and truly believed I desired everything because I was me and there was nothing more important than me. So, after scrambling my brains watching Saturday morning cartoons and the associated commercials, I would announce to my parents that I wanted a Mr. Machine robot (or a Johnny 7 OMA or a Fanner .45 or whatever) and occasionally my parents would say "No." My counterargument would be something like, "But I need a Mr. Machine." To which said parents would reply, "No one needs a Mr. Machine. We'll buy you a new yo-yo instead if you're a good laddie." Which would elicit my worst condemnation: "You're a Meanie!"
In looking over the proposed Federal spending for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina I have come to the conclusion that I have inherited the Meanie gene.
I appears that Mr. Bush and Company have decided to rebuild every damn thing in the affected area, but only better. Not only will interstate highways, levees and locks (all under the aegis of the Federal government), but also sewers, roads, houses and probably casinos and brothels (which legally fall under the authorities of the state and local governments).
In other words, the Federal government has become truly a Big Daddy on the Gulf Coast. The state and local governments get a pass. They don't have to do their jobs. After all, why should the governments of New Orleans and Louisiana do their jobs now that the damage has been done when they never bothered to do their jobs before the hurricane?
It's infuriating. Back in 1900 a hurricane hit Galveston, Texas that resulted in the deaths of 8,000 to 12,000 people. The local and state governments appealed to the then president, Grover Cleveland, for Federal aid for the rebuilding of the area. President Cleveland said, in effect, "I'd like to help you. But, constitutionally I am unable to. The only thing that the Federal government can do is rebuild those things having to do with Federal matters such as Federal highways, canals and harbors. For me to go any further would be to violate the Constitution I have sworn to uphold."
But Cleveland lived in the days before Geraldo Rivera sobbing on the tube or Shepherd Smith throwing a hissy fit before a television camera. In fact, he lived before radio. And perhaps because he was living in a print age when matters where discussed in black and white instead of technicolor, he got away with being a Meanie. He was able to live within the legal restraints of his office and explain the restraints of the role of the Federal government. Now, in the age of instant answers it is, for some reason, the place of the Federal government to provide answers instead of those who purport to be closest to the people on the ground. The civic government of New Orleans plans the next Mardis Gras while the Feds (and you and me through our taxes) bear the burden of rebuilding the city.
The current attitude of the Feds being the saviors of the populace in matters other than defense and commerce makes one wonder what would have happened if our pioneer fore-fathers had the same attitude. The pioneers would have probably never gotten beyond Ohio, if that far, because the Feds would have been expected to not only clear farmland, but build log cabins, roads and local schools.
In looking over the proposed Federal spending for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina I have come to the conclusion that I have inherited the Meanie gene.
I appears that Mr. Bush and Company have decided to rebuild every damn thing in the affected area, but only better. Not only will interstate highways, levees and locks (all under the aegis of the Federal government), but also sewers, roads, houses and probably casinos and brothels (which legally fall under the authorities of the state and local governments).
In other words, the Federal government has become truly a Big Daddy on the Gulf Coast. The state and local governments get a pass. They don't have to do their jobs. After all, why should the governments of New Orleans and Louisiana do their jobs now that the damage has been done when they never bothered to do their jobs before the hurricane?
It's infuriating. Back in 1900 a hurricane hit Galveston, Texas that resulted in the deaths of 8,000 to 12,000 people. The local and state governments appealed to the then president, Grover Cleveland, for Federal aid for the rebuilding of the area. President Cleveland said, in effect, "I'd like to help you. But, constitutionally I am unable to. The only thing that the Federal government can do is rebuild those things having to do with Federal matters such as Federal highways, canals and harbors. For me to go any further would be to violate the Constitution I have sworn to uphold."
But Cleveland lived in the days before Geraldo Rivera sobbing on the tube or Shepherd Smith throwing a hissy fit before a television camera. In fact, he lived before radio. And perhaps because he was living in a print age when matters where discussed in black and white instead of technicolor, he got away with being a Meanie. He was able to live within the legal restraints of his office and explain the restraints of the role of the Federal government. Now, in the age of instant answers it is, for some reason, the place of the Federal government to provide answers instead of those who purport to be closest to the people on the ground. The civic government of New Orleans plans the next Mardis Gras while the Feds (and you and me through our taxes) bear the burden of rebuilding the city.
The current attitude of the Feds being the saviors of the populace in matters other than defense and commerce makes one wonder what would have happened if our pioneer fore-fathers had the same attitude. The pioneers would have probably never gotten beyond Ohio, if that far, because the Feds would have been expected to not only clear farmland, but build log cabins, roads and local schools.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
A Few Thoughts Pertaining to Nothing i.e. Silliness
For some strange reason the local news the other day decided that it was worth the time and electrons to report a story about the "supermodel" Kate Moss being photographed in a recording studio nasally vacuuming a few lines of cocaine. Well slap me up side the head and call me Nancy! I was surprised. To think that a "supermodel" would be an aficionado of Peruvian marching powder is about as surprising as discovering that male monkeys masturbate in the zoo.
This same week a report came out that another "supermodel" whose name I can remember was the victim of her step-father's greed. He stole and/or embezzled some 7 million dollars from her bank account. The surprising thing there was that she had 7 million dollars to embezzle. Is it not a strange thing that a woman, whose only job is to act as a clothes horse strutting up and down a runway or being photographed for a fashion rag would be paid enough that would allow her to have seven million bucks in the bank? Meanwhile, the engineers, mechanics and machinists who build the planes, roads and buildings in which she struts her stuff consider themselves lucky to make one hundred grand a year.
But that's modern life. What makes a "supermodel" anyway? In my lifetime there have been three models I consider "supermodels" -- Susie Parker, Cheryl Tieges and Cindy Crawford. Parker was the classiest, Crawford was the vanguard of the new school, and Tieges was the best. Tieges had, during her career, had the face, the smile and the figure to be a model who transcended high fashion and popular fashion in a way that no model before or since has managed to do. Tieges was the ideal girlfriend for any guy and the ideal girl friend for any girl. She made fashions approachable. Tyra Banks, Kate Moss and company don't. They look like spoiled brats.
On a second topic talking to a young woman at church last Sunday I found that she had undergone training in the use of the kubotan. A kubotan is a rod about 6 inches long and one half inch diameter made of aluminum, plastic or wood that is used for self defense. In a search of the net I came across several entries about the device:
Kubotans - inexpensive short self defense sticks. In reading over the various websites I found myself wondering how effective the various "martial arts" are in real life. Is a karate brown belt any more likely to prevail over a street fighter or bar fighter than a guy who's last fight was in the six grade of school? I asked my father, Count Nib, about his experience in the Marines during World War Two. He was taught basic judo in combat school. He said that the training was pretty useless for two reasons. The first was that they did not keep up their judo training. The second was because hand to hand combat demanded a meanness that was not taught in judo training. Those enrolled in karate, kung fu and tae kwan do schools are taught to spar. Punches and kicks are pulled. If a student goes through the school does he, by training, always pull his punches? And if a person has been taught a method of self-defense but does not repeatedly practice that method is the initial training useless in a real life situation? Has anyone actually seen a real fight between a karate, kung fu or tae kwan do man and a street fighter? I've seen a couple of "ultimate fighting" championships and that all seem to descend to grappling. In which case it would seem that the proper course of study would be Greco-Roman wrestling. And if the use of pressure points as a method of control. why do not the police spend more time training their officers in pressure point control than they do in billy club whacking? If nothing else, it seems a lot less tiring.
Finally. Why do yo-yos with wooden spindles sleep longer than yo-yos with solid steel spindles? I'm not talking about those nonsensical Yomega yo-yos or the Duncan ball bearing yo-yos. I'm talking about the "old skool" stuff. In other words, real yo-yos.
This same week a report came out that another "supermodel" whose name I can remember was the victim of her step-father's greed. He stole and/or embezzled some 7 million dollars from her bank account. The surprising thing there was that she had 7 million dollars to embezzle. Is it not a strange thing that a woman, whose only job is to act as a clothes horse strutting up and down a runway or being photographed for a fashion rag would be paid enough that would allow her to have seven million bucks in the bank? Meanwhile, the engineers, mechanics and machinists who build the planes, roads and buildings in which she struts her stuff consider themselves lucky to make one hundred grand a year.
But that's modern life. What makes a "supermodel" anyway? In my lifetime there have been three models I consider "supermodels" -- Susie Parker, Cheryl Tieges and Cindy Crawford. Parker was the classiest, Crawford was the vanguard of the new school, and Tieges was the best. Tieges had, during her career, had the face, the smile and the figure to be a model who transcended high fashion and popular fashion in a way that no model before or since has managed to do. Tieges was the ideal girlfriend for any guy and the ideal girl friend for any girl. She made fashions approachable. Tyra Banks, Kate Moss and company don't. They look like spoiled brats.
On a second topic talking to a young woman at church last Sunday I found that she had undergone training in the use of the kubotan. A kubotan is a rod about 6 inches long and one half inch diameter made of aluminum, plastic or wood that is used for self defense. In a search of the net I came across several entries about the device:
Kubotans - inexpensive short self defense sticks. In reading over the various websites I found myself wondering how effective the various "martial arts" are in real life. Is a karate brown belt any more likely to prevail over a street fighter or bar fighter than a guy who's last fight was in the six grade of school? I asked my father, Count Nib, about his experience in the Marines during World War Two. He was taught basic judo in combat school. He said that the training was pretty useless for two reasons. The first was that they did not keep up their judo training. The second was because hand to hand combat demanded a meanness that was not taught in judo training. Those enrolled in karate, kung fu and tae kwan do schools are taught to spar. Punches and kicks are pulled. If a student goes through the school does he, by training, always pull his punches? And if a person has been taught a method of self-defense but does not repeatedly practice that method is the initial training useless in a real life situation? Has anyone actually seen a real fight between a karate, kung fu or tae kwan do man and a street fighter? I've seen a couple of "ultimate fighting" championships and that all seem to descend to grappling. In which case it would seem that the proper course of study would be Greco-Roman wrestling. And if the use of pressure points as a method of control. why do not the police spend more time training their officers in pressure point control than they do in billy club whacking? If nothing else, it seems a lot less tiring.
Finally. Why do yo-yos with wooden spindles sleep longer than yo-yos with solid steel spindles? I'm not talking about those nonsensical Yomega yo-yos or the Duncan ball bearing yo-yos. I'm talking about the "old skool" stuff. In other words, real yo-yos.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)