Merry Christmas to All!!!
May we all enjoy the Christmas season and remember the reason for the season.
The Month before Christmas
Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-Pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was nowhere to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS!
not Happy Holiday !
Please, all join together and wish everyone you meet
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Christ is The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!
(Thanks to my Uncle for sending me this.)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
New Rules of Feminism - Addendum
In case you missed the original change in rules, look here:
New Rules of Feminism
Now, "rich businesswomen" (as the L.A. Times refers to them) Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina have won Republican primaries and are taking on incumbent Democrats (Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, respectively) in my State of California.
The L.A. Times already revealed how it wants us to perceive these women. Of course, Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer aren't exactly poor. Boxer started out as a stock broker and married a very successful lawyer and lived in the very rich Marin County, Ca until 1994. Yet I have never seen her referred to as "rich".
Meg Whitman arguably has a more impressive background. She worked her way up the corporate ladder before marrying a successful neurosurgeon. She comes across as much more of a self-made woman than Boxer. She's rich because of her own doings.
But of course, media pundits refuse to see her as a feminist because of that (R) next to her name.
Tina Brown Slams Female GOP Primary Winners
Carli Fiorina has a similar story. Starting out as a secretary, she worked her way up to becoming CEO of Hewlett Packard. This was at a time when a female CEO of a hot tech company was unheard of. If only she had been a Democrat, she would probably stand above Hillary Clinton as the benchmark feminist that all our daughters should aspire to be.
Of course, had she been a Democrat, that would mean that she didn't have the internal convictions to have been a successful CEO in the first place so it was a moot point.
New Rules of Feminism
Now, "rich businesswomen" (as the L.A. Times refers to them) Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina have won Republican primaries and are taking on incumbent Democrats (Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, respectively) in my State of California.
The L.A. Times already revealed how it wants us to perceive these women. Of course, Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer aren't exactly poor. Boxer started out as a stock broker and married a very successful lawyer and lived in the very rich Marin County, Ca until 1994. Yet I have never seen her referred to as "rich".
Meg Whitman arguably has a more impressive background. She worked her way up the corporate ladder before marrying a successful neurosurgeon. She comes across as much more of a self-made woman than Boxer. She's rich because of her own doings.
But of course, media pundits refuse to see her as a feminist because of that (R) next to her name.
Tina Brown Slams Female GOP Primary Winners
Carli Fiorina has a similar story. Starting out as a secretary, she worked her way up to becoming CEO of Hewlett Packard. This was at a time when a female CEO of a hot tech company was unheard of. If only she had been a Democrat, she would probably stand above Hillary Clinton as the benchmark feminist that all our daughters should aspire to be.
Of course, had she been a Democrat, that would mean that she didn't have the internal convictions to have been a successful CEO in the first place so it was a moot point.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
A Night at the Hollywood Bowl
The Show
Last night, Michelle and I went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw Carole King and James Taylor perform, both individually and as a duet. These are two of Michelle's favorite artists. I always liked James Taylor, although I was never what you would call a fan. I had barely heard of Carole King before I met Michelle but I found out she had performed written, and co-written quite a few songs I knew and liked. I had no idea she had co-written "The Loco-motion" or "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" until last night.
Getting to the Bowl almost requires taking a Park & Ride as the parking at the Bowl is really bad in terms of space and accessibility. It gets rather cool there this time of year and the seats are wooden park benches - towards the back of the arena anyways. Despite all that, it was very enjoyable. James Taylor has not lost anything in his voice at age 62. His voice sounded like we were in the studio with him in 1970. King was also impressive and the chemistry between them was great.
I tend to prefer rock and roll with more substance than these two offer. I like layered instruments, tempo changes, and lyrics with obscure or double-meanings. Taylor and King make very personal music with simple melodies. Their lyrics are straightforward. You know what they are conveying. However, these two artists do their thing so well that I found myself enjoying the show quite a bit. Michelle was enthralled. When it was over, we both agreed it was a great show.
One Observation
I realize as I write this that this is going to come across as completely inappropriate to some people. I had a good view of a horde of people just arriving and getting to their seats just before the concert began. The thing that struck me was... ready... They were almost all white! As I then looked across the mass of people, I realized that at least 98% of the audience was white. I spotted a couple of black people amongst the thousands. I saw no sign of a Latino or Asian whatsoever. Is there something wrong with this? Of course not!
I imagine that some black performers are going to attract mostly black audiences, the same with Latinos. It's apparent that some performers have broad, cross-racial appeal such as Madonna and the late Michael Jackson. While others don't.
What's my point? It is that if this were any kind of political event, it would have been blasted by the mainstream media. I'm sure someone at MSNBC would have called this some kind of "Klan" or "Nazi" event. In the case here, it was a collection of people who shared a similar taste in music and that's okay. In the case of a Tea Party event, it is a collection of people who are concerned about tax dollars being wasted on corporate bailouts, possibly jeopardizing the future prosperity of the United States. Apparently to the mainstream media, this is not okay. By the way, I certainly hope the black people at the concert weren't "uncomfortable" as I am sure, they were as welcomed as anybody else.
Has it ever occurred to anybody in the media that the reason so many people attending the Tea Parties are white because black people don't want to protest a black President? I'm sure many blacks are concerned with the same things the Tea Party is about as their children are in jeopardy too. The media seems to want to believe that only white people are concerned with skin color. I don't believe that's the case.
Last night, Michelle and I went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw Carole King and James Taylor perform, both individually and as a duet. These are two of Michelle's favorite artists. I always liked James Taylor, although I was never what you would call a fan. I had barely heard of Carole King before I met Michelle but I found out she had performed written, and co-written quite a few songs I knew and liked. I had no idea she had co-written "The Loco-motion" or "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" until last night.
Getting to the Bowl almost requires taking a Park & Ride as the parking at the Bowl is really bad in terms of space and accessibility. It gets rather cool there this time of year and the seats are wooden park benches - towards the back of the arena anyways. Despite all that, it was very enjoyable. James Taylor has not lost anything in his voice at age 62. His voice sounded like we were in the studio with him in 1970. King was also impressive and the chemistry between them was great.
I tend to prefer rock and roll with more substance than these two offer. I like layered instruments, tempo changes, and lyrics with obscure or double-meanings. Taylor and King make very personal music with simple melodies. Their lyrics are straightforward. You know what they are conveying. However, these two artists do their thing so well that I found myself enjoying the show quite a bit. Michelle was enthralled. When it was over, we both agreed it was a great show.
One Observation
I realize as I write this that this is going to come across as completely inappropriate to some people. I had a good view of a horde of people just arriving and getting to their seats just before the concert began. The thing that struck me was... ready... They were almost all white! As I then looked across the mass of people, I realized that at least 98% of the audience was white. I spotted a couple of black people amongst the thousands. I saw no sign of a Latino or Asian whatsoever. Is there something wrong with this? Of course not!
I imagine that some black performers are going to attract mostly black audiences, the same with Latinos. It's apparent that some performers have broad, cross-racial appeal such as Madonna and the late Michael Jackson. While others don't.
What's my point? It is that if this were any kind of political event, it would have been blasted by the mainstream media. I'm sure someone at MSNBC would have called this some kind of "Klan" or "Nazi" event. In the case here, it was a collection of people who shared a similar taste in music and that's okay. In the case of a Tea Party event, it is a collection of people who are concerned about tax dollars being wasted on corporate bailouts, possibly jeopardizing the future prosperity of the United States. Apparently to the mainstream media, this is not okay. By the way, I certainly hope the black people at the concert weren't "uncomfortable" as I am sure, they were as welcomed as anybody else.
Has it ever occurred to anybody in the media that the reason so many people attending the Tea Parties are white because black people don't want to protest a black President? I'm sure many blacks are concerned with the same things the Tea Party is about as their children are in jeopardy too. The media seems to want to believe that only white people are concerned with skin color. I don't believe that's the case.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
The Game We Wanted
Seemingly, every NFL season has a prominent NFC team and a prominent AFC team that appear destined to face each other in the Superbowl. Just about every NFL season has one or both teams taking an unexpected early exit in the playoffs.
Not this season. This time, we get the Saints and Colts that were dominant and even undefeated late in the year. This time, we get to see Peyton Manning vs. Drew Brees, Reggie Wayne vs. Marques Colston, Joseph Addai vs. Pierre Thomas, Dwight Freeney vs. Darren Sharper.
The sentimental choice of course, is the Saints. With them carrying the hopes of a whole recovering city on their back, and with them never having gone to the big game before, it's hard not to be happy for the team and New Orleans. They have the means to pull off the dream too. Drew Brees is a smart and accurate passer. He has plenty of weapons to throw to. Reggie Bush is a threat to score every time he touches the ball (admittedly, he is also prone to fumbling the ball too.) Their defense is quite underrated. They pummeled Brett Favre in the NFC Championship game and they are quite adept at creating key turnovers.
Then you have the Colts. They've been here before, they're experienced, tough, and explosive in their own right. This is a team determined to build a legacy as a winner. Had it not been for the incredible run by the New England Patriots in recent years, it would most likely be the Colts with the multiple Superbowl rings. Peyton Manning, time and time again, has shown an incredible ability to read defenses and find their weaknesses. He is one of those players who makes his whole team better. He is the face of the franchise and is the driving force behind the determination and dedication to their success. Their defense is quick and fierce and underrated like the Saints.
This has been the Colts' season. They are one step away from capping it off and being perceived as one of the greatest NFL teams of all time.
The only problem is, the Saints will win.
Not this season. This time, we get the Saints and Colts that were dominant and even undefeated late in the year. This time, we get to see Peyton Manning vs. Drew Brees, Reggie Wayne vs. Marques Colston, Joseph Addai vs. Pierre Thomas, Dwight Freeney vs. Darren Sharper.
The sentimental choice of course, is the Saints. With them carrying the hopes of a whole recovering city on their back, and with them never having gone to the big game before, it's hard not to be happy for the team and New Orleans. They have the means to pull off the dream too. Drew Brees is a smart and accurate passer. He has plenty of weapons to throw to. Reggie Bush is a threat to score every time he touches the ball (admittedly, he is also prone to fumbling the ball too.) Their defense is quite underrated. They pummeled Brett Favre in the NFC Championship game and they are quite adept at creating key turnovers.
Then you have the Colts. They've been here before, they're experienced, tough, and explosive in their own right. This is a team determined to build a legacy as a winner. Had it not been for the incredible run by the New England Patriots in recent years, it would most likely be the Colts with the multiple Superbowl rings. Peyton Manning, time and time again, has shown an incredible ability to read defenses and find their weaknesses. He is one of those players who makes his whole team better. He is the face of the franchise and is the driving force behind the determination and dedication to their success. Their defense is quick and fierce and underrated like the Saints.
This has been the Colts' season. They are one step away from capping it off and being perceived as one of the greatest NFL teams of all time.
The only problem is, the Saints will win.
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