This is really something

Any readers need to check this out:

http://jaredgarrett.wexlfinancial.com/

Shared this on my other blog

but I wanted to put it here. It's a link to a cause I've begun on Facebook and that I am wanting to build so I can make a website devoted to it.

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/154340?m=8ce7ccd2&recruiter_id=21239792

Check it out. It's called Daddys United.

More of the love

Here's another article I penned tonight. I'm pretty pleased with it.

http://www.helium.com/items/1243239-how-the-government-can-increase-literacy-skills

Here's a tasty morsel

I got to vent yesterday and I wrote an article about local schools and education in general. I had a good time. Here's the article:

http://www.helium.com/items/1241214-how-to-improve-schools-and-education

Enjoy. Argue. Discuss. Agree. Disagree. Hate it.

Just get this subject talked about and changed.

Here's an article you might enjoy

It's one I wrote some time ago, but I thought it might be fun to spread the fun.

http://www.helium.com/items/291096-are-bratz-dolls-appropriate-for-young-girls

So here you go, some equal playing time...

Okay, you make the call. Who's funnier?

This is shocking. Holy smoke.

You'd never believe he had it in him.



He got in some good ones.

This is awesome!

I posted this on quitandwrite, my other blog, but I wanted to put it here too. It makes me smile.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/national_endowment_for_the_arts

We all knew they were somewhat batty

but PETA has really now left now doubt that they are complete imbecilen. (Get the Brian Regan reference?) It's like that old saying: It's better to remain silent and have people wonder if you're a fool than to speak and leave no doubt.

Check this out. Pass it on. Laugh your heinie off.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26892950/wid/11915773?GT1=31037

Those PETA people have, in any thinking person's worldview, lost all hope of being taken seriously now. My gosh.

I mean, I love animals. For breakfast, lunch, dinner and as furry friends. I was raised by PETA lovers. But this is ridiculous.

Just wait: Pam Anderson is going to wholeheartedly endorse this move. Picture Pam Anderson....

Ah the image is priceless.

Scriptures rock

I've just finished the book of Psalms in the Old Testament. Good times. But I also started Proverbs.

Here's a good one:

Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."

That's pretty much right on, isn't it?

Just wanted to share

I know, I haven't been here in a while. Soooorrry. Life has been, as it often is, busy and consuming.

I wanted to post this temple here, because it's where I married my lovely wife. Great happiness has ensued.

This is the Mount Timpanogos temple. It's a house of God. For a romantic like me, being married there basically means that true love lasts forever. Which makes sense if you believe in a God who loves us unconditionally. I mean seriously, the idea of love ending at death is maybe romantic, but is pretty lame all things considered.

So true love can last forever. Ain't it grand?

So I was perusing my political commentary on Helium.com

and came upon this article that I wrote a few months ago. It's all about Gallup polls, the inherent fallacy in the idea of polls reflecting national attitudes, the purpose and objective and agenda of media, and a little more.

So click, read, and have fun. If you'd like to argue, I welcome it and invite you to comment.

http://www.helium.com/items/940695-the-politics-of-interpreting-election-polls-gallup-reuters-and-more

This is falling-down funny.

Here's a link to an article on www.theonion.com, which, if you don't know, is a great website full of important news.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/man_realizes_fly_has_been_down_for

Enjoy!

I just finished John Adams, by David McCullough

and my sensibilities have yet to recover. As an American who avoids party spirit and gives in to cynical diatribes far too often, I feel renewed and revitalized. My party is the United States of America.

What an eye-opening book. John Adams embodied what we see as an American citizen. Flawed, eccentric, intelligent, a voracious reader and student, determined, and quintessentially American, this man deserves recognition as the man who saved this country multiple times.

Read this book. Read it and weep.

Eat that!

I don't know, I get all nationalistic and stuff during the Olympics so maybe I shouldn't watch them. But I can't help it!

I am embedding this video from one on YouTube, and the quality ain't great. There is a link to the better version on MSNBC below. What you need to do is listen closely to those faithless announcers and then listen to them go nutzo. Also, watch Lezak dig deep, way deep, as he takes the win. His rhythm changes as he goes for it. It's remarkable.



Can you believe it? What an amazing American Swim Team performance. The Olympics are the setting of remarkable things, which sometimes repeat history. The French said, "We will smash America."

Yeah, just like John Adams did, we kept quiet and then showed them that we weren't finished.

Here's the better quality link.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0811_hd_swb_hl_l0194&channelcode=sportsw&GT1=39001

Raise your hand

if you want to know what this country was founded on. What drove our Founding Fathers to what they did for us.

I quote from John Adams by David McCullough:

"One day, as [Adams] and Benjamin Rush sat together in Congress, Rush asked Adams in a whisper if he thought America would succeed in the struggle. 'Yes,' Adams replied, 'if we fear God and repent our sins.'"

Marvelous. It gives me tingles.

Laugh all you want

and with good reason, but I freely admit I like this song. The video deepens its cheesiness, but the fact is that I like it. It's like Ebert's review of the latest Mummy movie, as well as of the first one. You know you probably shouldn't like it, but you do.

So enjoy it or not. Or just skip it.

This is Busta Rhymes and Linkin Park doing "We Made It."

Dr. Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I know everyone is thinking and talking about Randy Pausch and how he just died. The thing is, I had never heard of him. So I checked him out on YouTube. The original lecture is over an hour long; I recommend it and you can find it on YouTube.

This video, unfortunately, is from when Dr. Pausch visited Oprah. I dislike Oprah. Passionately. I wish they wouldn't keep showing her and her partner in pretentiousness, but what can you do?

Enjoy this video and check out the full lecture another time.

I am reading John Adams by David McCullough

and was floored by the flap text. So this is a good book. I guess it was made into some TV mini-series not long ago, starring Paul Giamatti and others.

Anyway, some kind of inexplicable shift has happened in this country. I want to share something from this book, and then I will do my very best not to start flaming. I might add a thought or two, but... anyway.

As his family and friends knew, Adams was both a devout Christian and an independent thinker, and he saw no conflict in that.

John Adams and many of the Founding Fathers were devout Christians, and were obviously thinking men. They were well-versed in philosophy, literature and had immersed themselves in many of the greatest thinkers' writings. Here's a list of what John Adams had been reading:

He read Cicero, Tacitus, and others of his Roman heroes in Latin, and Plato and Thucydides in the original Greek, which he considered the supreme language. But in his need to fathom the "labyrinth" of human nature, as he said, he was drawn to Shakespeare and Swift, and likely to carry Cervantes or a volume of English poetry with him on his journeys. "You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket," he would tell his son Jonny.

Practically a laundry list of the greatest thinkers in all Western Civilization. But he was a devout Christian as well and we learn that John Adams was very reluctant to travel on the Sabbath.

If a modern prominent politician was reluctant to campaign and stump on the Sabbath, he or she would be derided as a fanatic or extremist. People would jump to say he or she was judging those who did not honor the Sabbath. They would call him or her self-righteous and someone who was mindlessly, blindly filling the role of a devout Christian.

In short, folks today would name call and form constituencies to make themselves feel better about the fact that they are suddenly confident that this is a better person than them. Is it envy that is driving this derision of excellence and devotion? The ugly green monster is in control of our country and media, perhaps?

I don't know.

I had better stop there, or I'm going to start shouting. Have Senators McCain and Obama even read Cicero, Plato's Republic, Cervantes? Have they read the Constitution and studied the founding principles of this nation?

Or are they being fed poll numbers by their lackeys and just trying to appease a nation of people who are, even if they don't realize it, hungry for more than just sound-bytes and words? Starving for more than just platitudes, promises and moderation.

I say to hell with moderation inasmuch as it quells our desires to be excellent. I say Hades take empty promises of politicians who are trying to appease, rather than lead. Bring back John Adams. Or at least give us a statesperson who is studious, devout, dedicated to excellence and filled with a fire to match that of our founding fathers.

I said I would stop.

But I'm also going to stop spending my time reading the headlines about celebrities and I'm going to start spending my time reading biographies of great men and women. I'm going to study more of the good things. That's why I have this blog.

Because I don't want this to be a weary, humdrum, status quo, blending in life. And neither should you.

Today is funny posting day.

So I thought I would honor Pioneer Day with some stuff to keep you from spending time with your family.

This first video is a hilarious five minutes of Kevin Pollock doing remarkable impressions. Watch his eyes when he does Peter Falk.




Our next video is of the surprising Kevin Spacey. This clip is from Inside the Actor's Studio. I never knew he had it in him.




In the same vein of impressions, here's Matt Damon doing another Matt. It's pretty impressive.



Yes, that Matt Damon is one talented cat.

Next up are a few clips from Brian Regan, one of the cleanest and funniest comedians working today.











So there you go, I hope you enjoyed them. Happy Pioneer Day.

As I read some Milton, I thought it would be good

to post one of his excellent psalms here. So here, for your reading and pondering enjoyment, is John Milton's psalm #2.

Why do the Gentiles tumult, and the Nations
Muse a vain thing, the Kings of th'earth upstand
With power, and Princes in their Congregations
Lay deep their plots together through each Land,
Against the Lord and his Messiah dear.
Let us break off; say they, by strength of hand
Their bonds, and cast from us, no more to wear,
Their twisted cords: he who in Heaven doth dwell
Shall laugh, the Lord shall scoff them, then severe
Speak to them in his wrath, and in his fell
And fierce ire trouble them; but I saith hee
Anointed have my King (though ye rebell)
On Sion my holi' hill. A firm decree
I will declare; the Lord to me hath say'd
Thou art my Son I have begotten thee
This day, ask of me, and the grant is made;
As thy possession I on thee bestow
Th'Heathen, and as thy conquest to be sway'd
Earths utmost bounds: them shalt thou bring full low
With Iron Sceptir bruis'd, and them disperse
Like to a potters vessel shiver'd so.
And now be wise at length ye Kings averse
Be taught ye Judges of the earth; with fear
Jehovah serve and let your joy converse
With trembling; Kiss the Son least he appear
In anger and ye perish in the way
If once his wrath take fire like fuel sere.
Happy all those who have in him their stay.

-John Milton

It takes two readings to really get the point of this poem. In essence, it can be summed up by a line from a poem I wrote years ago: God to me is a good cup of tea.

So there you go.

You can argue, you can gnash your teeth...

but even if you do, I'll still be your pal. Why would you argue and gnash your teeth? Because of the article I wrote and am putting a link to.

http://www.helium.com/items/1116110-should-ron-pauls-supporters-still-vote-for-him

This is about Ron Paul and whether his supporters should still vote for him. I am not telling people who to vote for, nor am I revealing who I will vote for. Instead, I am exploring this issue from the point of view of a supporter of Representative Paul. It might help readers to know that Dr. Paul is probably the only candidate in this election process who has recently read the Constitution.

Let me know your thoughts.

I love it, I love it, I love it!

While I pointedly do not support either of the two Presidential nominees, I have to post this article here. It highlights the schizophrenia of the Democratic party, mainly due to the lobbying power of unions. It also shows, on close reading, that Senator Barack Obama is very much a product of his party's machine and he really may not know what he has gotten into.

http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary/article_212159321.shtml

This is also an argument for vouchers and injecting some capitalism into our system of public education. So if you disagree with vouchers, contact me and we can argue. We can also still be friends.

Why is she in the news again? Yes, I mean Omarosa.

Taking umbrage at the fact that Omarosa is in the news again, I searched high and low for a video expressing my distaste for her. I found a cool one on YouTube, but it had a lot of racial stuff in it, and I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea. So here's how I really feel, or what I would do if she was in a classroom GIVING A LECTURE TO IMPRESSIONABLE MINDS! Arrg!

This is fast, so don't blink.

Lord Christopher Monckton's paper on global warming is causing some distress...

Here's a link to an article that might just open the discussion again. So many people seem to have decided that An Inconvenient Truth was true because of the title, its popularity and Al Gore's miraculous transformation into a human.

While the truth is really still quite hazy. Using the data that they used in that flick, and establishing a causal link between that data and global warming and climate change, was not a scientific effort. Nope. It was a propaganda effort. And while taking care of our Earth is indeed a moral issue, one with which I agree, I don't like people trying to fool me.

So here's a link to a neat article. Argue lots please, but I like that not everyone on this planet thinks this discussion is over. I also like that we are paying more for gasoline, since we were being way too irresponsible with our vehicles. I think the high prices are going to do wonders for the alternative fuel source industries. I deeply appreciate that car advertisements are making a point of using mpg as a selling point.

I also like that we are finally turning our eyes, as a nation, to developing our own fossil fuels, rather than kowtowing to OPEC. OPEC is seriously an inspiration for countless science fiction or speculative novels wherein corporations have taken the reins of the Earth's government.

Here's the link:
http://americanewsjournal.com/index.php/more/514

Read it a couple times to get it. It took me three times to fully understand.

Here's a story about forgiveness. It's kind of moving.

A father forgives his son's killer. Then he goes on a mission of healing. I'm impressed. I tried to embed this video, but I couldn't get all the code. Enjoy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25739196#25740648

Some news about Roger Ebert, my second favorite movie critic.

Ebert, as well as his current co-host, Richard Roeper, is leaving his television program. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel began the show years ago, broadcasting solely in Chicago. As years went by, the program went national and is now owned and distributed by Disney.

But Roger Ebert's leaving the show. So is Roeper. What's gonna happen to At the Movies? Maybe they'll get somebody new, but whoever they get won't be as good as Ebert.

As for my favorite movie critic, his name is Jason Pyles.

Just thought I'd share.

More poetry by ee cummings...

is all we really need on a day like today. Here's one that employs his normal approach to language, but also gives a neat, startling twist. We get a rhythmic sense of old Buffalo Bill riding and then wham!


Buffalo Bill

Buffalo Bill's
defunct
who used to
ride a watersmooth-silver
stallion
and break onetwothreefourfive pigeons justlikethat
Jesus
he was a handsome man
and what I want to know is
how do you like your blue-eyed boy
Mister Death

Studying the book of Psalms this morning...

and found some gems. This is a good place to share them.

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: 84:2

For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. 84:9 (a thousand elsewhere is meant)

No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. 84:11

Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps. 85:13

Teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth: 86:11

Let that be a lesson to you!

Check out this link.

http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=1&searchseqstart=113&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=113&searchsubseqend=ZZZ

Just listen and...

let this sublimely beautiful music do what it will to you. I have strong associations with it from my somewhat odd youth, so don't be surprised that my associations with it include swans, bread, and swinging a jacket in violent circles in front of me.

Anyway, I love it.



This is by Ennio Morricone, and is from an impressive movie called The Mission. The piece is called Gabriel's Oboe.

If you don't laugh, you're not human...

you are a one-celled alien life-form come to take over the planet.

This is a woman called Catherine Tate. I think she has a show on in England or something.

An invented recipe

A few years ago, I was living in Alaska with my wife and three kids. We actually lived in the downstairs of her parents' massive house. But we all ate together most every night. Now I have a lot of experience cooking in both short order and good restaurants, so I am comfortable at the stove. My passion is Mediterranean food, although I have yet to look in a cookbook. I prefer to experiment. One evening when it was my turn to cook, I tried the recipe here out. I was lucky with what I found in the fridge. Anyway, within seconds of her first bite, my wife turned to me, her eyes wide. She asked where I got the recipe. My mouth full, I pointed at my head. "Write it down!" her mom shouted- my wife nodding enthusiastically.

So I did. My amounts are somewhat approximate, but I have since duplicated the dish and it came out perfectly. Here it is. I call this Tangy Mediterranean Shrimp

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds uncooked, cleaned fresh medium shrimp (don't chop)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (the ones that come in a jar w/ olive oil and herbs) (chop)
6.5 oz jar/can marinated artichoke hearts, chopped small
10-15 green olives w/pimientos, chop in half or quarters (I use Mexican style)
3-4 large cloves garlic, minced
8-10 oz can tomato sauce (not Italian style, just plain)
Have some Extra Virgin Olive Oil handy
Have about 2tsp of Corn Starch handy as well.. just in case.
2-3 dashes citrus pepper
1/2 tsp thyme scant dash marjoram
1 T lemon juice salt to taste

Procedure:
You need to have all of your ingredients chopped, cleaned and ready to go the moment you start cooking. Cooking time is five minutes or less, so be prepared! By the end of this, you will feel like the Iron Chef!

First, heat a nice deep skillet on a hot burner. HOT! Medium is not gonna get this done- so if you fear the heat, you can go just under HOT! but not much. Throw the sun-dried tomatoes with all of their olive oil glory, the artichoke hearts and the garlic into the skillet. Saute for about 1 minute, stirring conscientiously to keep the tomatoes from burning too much. A little blackening is fine. If you don't feel there is enough oil, pour a couple tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in there. Then toss your cleaned, tail-less, drained shrimp in there, immediately splashing the lemon juice atop it. Cook for 2- 3 minutes in your HOT! pan.

When the shrimp is fairly pink, pour in about 7 oz of tomato sauce and add all spices. Fold everything together and let it saute and spit until at a power boil. This needs to happen fast. As soon as it is boiling, lower the heat to very low and let it simmer.

Now assess the wateriness of your sauce. Do you want it thicker? If so, mix the corn starch into the leftover tomato sauce, beating out all lumps. Then add it to the simmering delight on the stove before you. If you want thinner sauce, pour the leftover tomato sauce in the simmering skillet and mix well.

Add the chopped olives and taste. If you need salt, then salt to taste and serve right away! Don't let that shrimp overcook.

Finally, I first served this on Angel Hair, which worked wonderfully. But Angel Hair cooks so fast and is so hard to strain that I am now using Penne.

This is now a family favorite. If my wife goes more than a month without it, she gives me looks on my cooking days. I have quickly learned to interpret the meaning of said looks. Oh yeah, this goes great with Artisan or French Bread. Sourdough is my favorite.

One of my favorite songs of all time

is by Big Country. This is one of those songs that tells a story. It is, like much of Big Country's stuff, basically folk music with a loud guitar. Stuart Adamson, the lead singer, idiotically took his own life a while back, but the music will never die.

This will be my last video post for a bit, as I need to branch out more.

The Whole of the Moon by The Waterboys

The Waterboys were a great band who never really stuck, despite their amazing ability. I'm going to post the lyrics to this song so that you can see just how great this song is. This song could actually be the theme song to this blog, all things considered.



I pictured a rainbow
You held it in your hand
I had flashes
You saw the plan
I wandered out in the world for years
While you just stayed in your room
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
The whole of the moon

You were there in the turnstiles
With the wind at your heels
You stretched for the stars
And you know how it feels
To reach too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon

I was grounded
While you filled the skies
I was dumbfounded by truth
You cut through lies
I saw the rain dirty valley
You saw "Brigadoon"
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon

I spoke about wings
You just flew
I wondered, I guessed and I tried
You just knew
I sighed
And you swooned
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
The whole of the moon
The whole of the moon

The torch in your pocket
And the wind on your heels
You climbed on a ladder
And you know how it feels
To get too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon
The whole of the moon

Unicorns and cannonballs
Palaces and Piers
Trumpets, towers, and tenemants
Wide oceans full of tears
Flags, rags, ferryboats
Scimitars and scarves
Every precious dream and vision
Underneath the stars
Yes, you climbed on a ladder
With the wind in your sails
You came like a comet
Blazing your trail
Too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon

If you made it this far, I laud your perseverence.

A fun old video with a great old song.

Just listen. So lyrically rich. One of Peter Gabriel's best.

This is just me selling out, or promoting myself.. or something.

This is a video made for the site called www.helium.com, which is a great place for writers, learners and publishers to go. I've made good money and written over 900 articles for them. This video features yours truly, so I figured I should post it here.

A painting that knocks my socks off every time

He's not Turner, but John Constable combined realism with a sensitivity to light in a way that really gets to me. I can't take my eyes off this painting. I keep exploring the stones and the sky.. everything.. because there's so much there. Love it.

Here's a great poem.

One of my favorite poets of all time, and thinkers actually, is E.E. Cummings. I love his language, the way he gets at his point, and usually his message. Feel free to interpret this poem how you like, but you can really only get the feel of it if you read it aloud.

Don't fear the co-workers. Just read the poem aloud and let your day have this shining moment, okay? Remember, to hell with fear.

Anyone lived in a pretty how town

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did

Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

The video is not great, but this song is tasty.

So this band is Breaking Benjamin, a rather popular band who I've only just discovered. I am usually loathe to admit to liking such a mainstream group, but I can't deny that the guitar riffs do something to me. Ben Burnley's voice is quite something as well, ranging from a somewhat too-sincere emo, a'la Panic at the Disco, to a great hard rock growl. Anyhoo, I really get into this song. I'll probably post another by these guys later.



The song is called Breath and is off their album Phobia.
Here are the lyrics:

I see nothing in your eyes,
and the more I see the less I lie.

Is it over yet, in my head?

I know nothing of your kind,
and I won't reveal your evil mind.

Is it over yet? I can't win.

So sacrifice yourself,
and let me have what's left.
I know that I can find
the fire in your eyes.
I'm going all the way,
get away, please.

[Chorus]
You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'cause I will be the death of you.

This will be all over soon.
Pour salt into the open wound.

Is it over yet? Let me in.

So sacrifice yourself,
and let me have what's left.
I know that I can find
the fire in your eyes.
I'm going all the way,
get away, please.

[Chorus]
You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'cause I will be the death of you.

[Bridge]
I'm waiting, I'm hating, realize, start hiding.

[Chorus]
You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'cause I will be the death of you.