The cast and crew of Reefer Madness had a pool party today and Damon bought a big bag of squirt guns for the occasion. This bunch seen here snatched all the guns up and assumed the roles of a ragtag military force, charging around the yard soaking people and constantly shouting things like "REGROUP" or "SAVE YOUR AMMO" and "RETREAT RETREAT!"

If you look closely behind the large, bald white guy in the middle there is a wirey little guy named Devon. As you can see they began attacking me the second I took the pic. I took cover behind an innocent bystander, and began screaming "OPERATION MEAT SHIELD!" Devon foolishly got out of the pool to circumvent my shield and brought himself within grabbin' range. I was unable to wrench his gun from his cold, wet hands (damn was he slippery) but I did manage to yank off the ammo tank on the back.

I think they all learned a lesson, because I was not attacked again after that.

Pic Of The Day

My lady love mentioned the other day that she wants a digital camera so that she can take at least one picture every day. Not even necassarily a picture that relates in any way to the day or her mood or anything specific. Just some image, some captured moment to record that day for her, every day.

I thought it was a pretty cool idea, so I've decided to try to cultivate the habit. I already post a pic of the day on here whenever I manage to actually post something, so I thought I would just start posting whatever picture I took that I happen to particularly like that day on here instead of some random shot I found on a Google Image search.

I'm also hoping on taking writing more seriously again, and trying to commit to a daily post. Hopefully, the daily picture taking will give me something to write about more often too.

We'll see how long this kick lasts.

George Denis Patrick Carlin

May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008

As I get older, many icons of my youth have passed away. I didn't cry when Frank Sinatra died. I didn't shed a tear when Christopher Reeves passed on.

I cried today.

George Carlin was an inextricable part of my youth. A great deal of my own sense of humor is based directly on my father's sense of humor, and a great deal of my father's sense of humor is based directly on Mr Carlin's.

I remember watching stand-up specials with my Dad as a kid. The Hippy Dippy WeatherMan, A Place For Your Stuff, and Dirty Words were among my favorite comedy bits I've ever seen.

George Carlin was the Godfather of a whole generation of stand up comedy. Many young comedians today directly credit him with inspiring them to do what they do.

He got in your face and said what he knew needed to be said, and he made sure he said it in a way that made you laugh while you thought about it.

George spoke in pure music. He spoke in rhythms that were funny on their own, they flowed like water and his words danced a jig on a raft. A gruff, and cynical music, for sure, but a music that tickled your mind, whether you liked it or not.

I was lucky enough to see him in concert when I was about twenty years old. Some lady near the back yelled out something unintelligible, interrupting his joke. Without missing a single beat he casually called out "someone shove a cock in that woman's mouth" and returned to his joke as though he had never left it.

A great man has left us today. No moment of silence for this man though. Have a beer and a good laugh. It's the only way he'd have wanted it.

I will leave you with one of my favorite Carlin moments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac&feature=related

Enjoy.

FYI: THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS BELOW, AND I DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING WRITTEN HERE. I JUST THOUGHT THIS EMAIL FORWARD I CAME ACROSS MIGHT MAKE FOR SOME INTERESTING DISCUSSION. I HAVE INCLUDED THE ORIGINAL TEXT IN ITS ENTIRETY. BE WARNED, IT'S PRETTY LONG AND PRETTY @$%& CRAZY.

"Thoughts of an 83 year old man about the destruction of the United States of America. Profound!

We have been told by the leaders of Islam, (the likes of Louis Farrakhan,) the United States will collapse from inside itself. We also know the terrorists plan years and years ahead on what they will do to complete one of their acts of terror.

The destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers was the culmination of plans made after the first attempt at destruction failed. This plan involved the training of pilots to fly the airplanes into the towers, the Pentagon and possibly the White House.

Coordination between the terrorists had to be planned far in advance and it appears to me there were probably rehearsals and refining of the overall plan. The plan took years to bring it to fruition. It didn't happen overnight; it didn't become the plan over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

How better to bring about the collapse of the United States from within than to bring about the destruction from the top down. Remember the terrorists are patient, methodical and determined to do it right the first time. Now let's examine this scenario.

We know about the uproar over Mitt Romney's religious affiliation with the Mormon church and the opposition to electing a Mormon to the Presidency. Knowing this, can you even imagine what an uproar would come about if a candidate was affricated with the Muslim faith?

In the 83 years of my lifetime there has been no President of the United States , to my knowledge, been elected that didn't claim to be a Christian. If I am wrong, please correct me.
The question now arises, How does Islam get one of their own elected. Answer: pass him off as a Christian. How do they do that?

Answer: plan years ahead and carefully choose the right person for the job. Choose someone who is born on American soil, because that is a requirement for qualifying for the office. Send that someone to the best schools available even though his parents divorce when he is a toddler and neither has the money to send him to the highly expensive schools he attends

beyond the Catholic school he attends after he has been chosen and the refining begins. (Note it must be a male because women are not allowed to rule in Islam). Although his father is a Muslim, his mother an atheist and his step-father also a Muslim, he is sent to a Catholic school after being removed from a Muslim school.

Why would either of his parents choose Catholicism over Muslim or Atheism for his educa tion? Remember, there has never been a President of the United States of America that was not at least claiming to be a Christian. After the candidate for the job of saboteur has been chosen and the refinement process has begun the polishing must begin also.

He must be sent to an outstanding university and obtain coveted degrees and honors. As with all politicians he must begin his career in politics at the bottom and work his way up by using his charisma and good looks that rock stars possess. He must run his campaign for the nomination of his party for President by attracting some special interest groups like ethnic, gender and age groups.

This process of selecting someone to fill all these qualifications will take more than a decade, it will require a generation, but remember, Islam is patient.

Do we know anyone who fits this mold? Yes, I think we do. We know someone running for the nomination of his party for President of the United States of America who was born on American soil.

He was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961 after the possession became a state on August 21, 1959. He attended public schools in Jakarta , Indonesia where his step father returned after marrying Barack's mother. At age 10 Barack entered Punahou School , a private school, in Hawaii until graduation from High School. He then moved to Los Angeles where he attended Occidental College.

He entered Columbia University in 1983 and Harvard Law School 1991. Somehow along the way he joined the Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and thus became a "Christian." (It is interesting to note that he was at either Columbia University or Harvard Law School , far removed from the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago , when he became a member).

He later moved to Chicago where he ran for, and was elected, to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. After serving 8 years in the Illinois Senate he ran for, and won, the seat of Junior U. S. Senator from Illinois in 2004. He has spent the better part of the last two years not being present to vote or just voting "present" on most legislative issues.

He has associated himself with people of questionable loyalty to the United States of America for the last 20 years and has refused to disown any of them although he has tried to disassociate himself from some of the things they have said and some of the things they have done while maintaining his relationship with them.

Who is this young man whom I believe has been selected, groomed, polished and refined by the patient Islamic extremists to accomplish the mission of destroying the United States of America from within? Who is this young man who gained all of this higher education and accomplished all that he has claimed while the son of a single parent, grandson of a middle class couple and step-son of a Muslim in Kenya, Africa?

I believe Barack Hussein Obama, candidate for the Democratic Party nomination as President of the United States of America , fits the mold exactly.

I ask you to think about this."

There is a link to a satirical website in my links that's been there for about three years or so now. It's called VENGANZA. Go check it out if you're looking for a good laugh.

Oh, and you might not laugh if you happen to be a Christian, by the way. It's kind of an atheist's playground, and most of the humor pokes fun at Jesusy folks.

Anyway, in the "Hate Mail" section of the website I came across this little gem:

"If people actually read the Bible and got insight and understanding from the author instead of trying to get meaning from it on their own they would know what it truly means. God knows what He is talking about. Just read the law in the old testament and you will see that science was proven even before the scientists proved it to be true."

The first bit, to me, is completely incomprehensible. Can anyone shed any light on the meaning there? I got nothing.

After that, our friend finishes with "science was proven even before scientists proved it to be true."

I spent the effort typing it again, because it bears repeating.

Hmm...

As though all of the research, experimentation, and theory that all scientists have explored or ever will explore throughout the history and future of humanity can be collectively proven, or disproven for that matter, in one fell swoop. And better yet, as if all of those experiments and findings are all just true or all just false.

Or best yet; science is a theory in and of itself, to be found true or false itself.

It's like when people say that evolution is ONLY A THEORY. Ugh.

I caution all people making arguments on any topic to know the battlefield they are stepping onto before they start firing willy nilly.

Science is a tool, a means to an end... or rather a means to further means, with no end in sight. Every exploration in the scientific disciplines that yields answers more often than not opens up doors to hundreds more questions. Science is most certainly NOT a fact, or a thing that you can know or prove or disprove. Science is itself the avenue through which something can be proven or disproven... or rather the avenue through which we can narrow down the possibilities to the most likely answer.

That is all.

HOORAY!!

I have returned to the cyber-land of the living today. I moved last month, and have not had internet access at home until today.

...I was all excited to get back onto my blog... but now I find I have nothing to say.

I'm stuck in bed with strep throat. I guess that's something.

More tomorrow.

Billy Joel is a Dirty Thief!

Yesterday I was cleaning up around the house, and as is my usual practice while cleaning, I had my Itunes on shuffle. A soft piano sonata began playing, and I instantly recognized it. There were no lyrics on the track, but I began singing the lyrics that fit the melody perfectly:

"This night is mine
It's only you and I
Tomorrow
Is a long time away
This night can last forever"

I have somewhere near to 10,000 mp3's in my library at this point, so I am often surprised at what I hear while on shuffle. Many times I find myself saying "I didn't know I had that."

With this track I thought to myself, "wow, I didn't know I had an acoustic piano cover of Billy Joel's This Night."

It turns out, I don't. Not technically, anyway. What I DO have, and what I was singing along to was Beethoven's Sonata #8 in C. I think it was the second movement. The melody is note for note exactly the same as the melody of the chorus from Mr. Joel's tune. I played them back-to-back just to double check. Perfect match.

There are only so many notes out there, and therefore a finite number of combinations and different artists accidentally reproduce the same stuff all the time, right? So, maybe Billy had one of those moments, right?

I doubt it. It's a fairly complex melody, and it is exactly the same in both songs.

Not that I care. I still love Billy Joel, especially the album An Innocent Man, on which you will find This Night. I just found it funny that he stole from Beethoven. But, I guess if he was going to steal, at least he stole from one of the best.

COMMENTS

Do the liner notes for that Billy Joel album give proper credit? ed 06.11.08 - 5:33 pm

Probably not Ed. After a hundred years, the copyright becomes public domain. Joey, it takes some courage to publicly admit a love of Billy Joel. Vega 06.11.08 - 10:35 pm

Right, that's why Billy Joel doesn't owe anyone royalties in any case, but if he even gave credit in the liner notes, then he didn't steal anything at all. ed 06.12.08 - 11:27 am

At least he picked something different. Most musicians just go for Pachabel's Canon in D and call it a day. And he may well have documented said "theft" with the album. There's a fine line between theft and homage. Josh 06.12.08 - 8:53 pm

Ha ha. Courage? I don't know about that. I know he's not exactly what our generation goes for, but he's pretty mainstream. Here's courage for you.... I LOVE NEIL DIAMOND TOO!! Joey 06.16.08 - 3:34 pm