Advent, Week #4: Wednesday

Last Video for Advent:



Merry Christmas!

My Desktop Background

This can be yours at the soon to open Gift Shop!

Advent Week #4: Tuesday

Follow this link to hear another version of Winter Wonderland.

See if you can figure out which one is the mother and which one is the daughter. Clap CLAP CLAP!

Then check out one of my favorites at this link or watch it below:

Advent Week #4: Monday Morning celebration

In the Old Testament, David danced before the Ark of the Covenant in celebration. This has been considered a prefigurement of what happens in the New Testament, when the last Prophet, John the Baptist, danced before the Blessed Mother when she came to care for her cousin Elizabeth.

"And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to see me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy."

- Luke 1:43-44

So dancing is okay, unless it looks like this:

Sunday Meditation

The Kingdom of Heaven is beyond price, and yet it costs what you have to give. It cost Peter and Andrew the price of a boat and some nets.
- St. Gregory the Great

Advent Week #4: Sunday - The Gloves Are Off

Someone (who will remain anonymous) violated the terms of this musical hairshirt extravaganza and put a video of Boy George where I could see it.

All I can say is, are you dreaming of a White Christmas, and do they know it's Christmas time?

Final week to pray, fast, give alms, and watch bad videos. Extra points for those who can sit through this whole thing:

Advent Week #3: Saturday Duets

Today is a busy day, so I am punishing you early.

These two videos prove that even professionals can sing badly.

Video ONE:



Video TWO:




Even with Dean Martin blitzed, and Frank Sinatra's socks sliding down, they still sing rings around the other two yahoos. Note how Dino keeps the cigarette low through most of the video.

Advent Week #3: Friday Night Feast

First, there is this link to a story which will excite all of you. Burger King has just started marketing a meat-scented body spray.

Imagine the look on the face of Wifeofdadwithnoisykids. Imagine me splashing a bit of this body spray on, and then walking up to her.

I can imagine her breathing deeply the scent of freshly grilled meat. I imagine her closing her eyes, and with quivering lips saying to me, "take me out to dinner, baby."

But enough about me. keeping with the food theme, I bring you a truly awful bit of penance from the folks who gave us the dancing California raisins. This is a rerun from last year, but some things are just so horrible they must return, just like a Canadian penny in Texas.

Prepare yourself.

Advent, Week #3: Thursday with a Lump of Coal

Consider this lump of coal rather than a musical hairshirt:

Aardvark at 180 830 Miles

Another aardvark showed up to celebrate the Aardvark reaching 200,000 miles.

Advent Week #3: Wednesday Respite

Christmas always reminds me of A Christmas Carol, which reminds me of 'Tiny Tim,' which reminds me of Tiny Tim, which reminds me of the ukulele, which reminds me of Carol of the Bells played on a ukulele, which brings us back to Christmas. Note that Christmas is just six degrees of separation from Christmas.

Consider this a respite from the awful music I have subjected you to.

Just as a sentence ending with a dangling participle should torment your sense of correct syntax....

Enjoy.

Advent, Week #3: Tuesday Meditation

"I don't know why people get married to chipmunks."

"Dad, do people get married to chipmunks?"

These were questions from my 7- and 8- years old sons after watching this little bit of musical madness:




I have not had much time to work on original blog entries; this is a busy time at work, at home, and with a new baby who seems to be trying to arrive early. Sometime in the future I shall get back to writing more and including less videos. But let's have one more for the road from 'Old Blue Eyes.'



BY THE WAY, THE BABY IS UPSIDE DOWN!

Advent Week #3: Monday Meditation on Bad Music

Is there anything worse than this?

This video shows why people are paid good money to modify the output of the various instruments and microphones at rock concerts.

I don't think he is saying anything offensive, but on the other hand I am not really sure what he is saying.

It is called 'The Bell That Couldn't Jingle,' and is sung by the man who couldn't sing.

Advent Week #3: Sunday!

This is Gaudete Sunday, so I want to give you something special - SPECIAL!

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK

Or watch it below(for those of you who are not my Facebook friends):

Advent, Week #2: Saturday

Please pray that the '2009' Edition Noisykid will stay in the oven for a few more weeks. We spent last night in Labor and Delivery working on stopping labor.

Actually, I slept on a cot which broke into three parts as I lay there. I had to work all day today.

Anyways, keep Wifeofdadwithnoisykids in your prayers.

But now, let's MAMBO!

Click on the link above to enjoy a little musical nightmare.

I actually learned to Mambo in college, but I don't do that kind of thing anymore.

Actually, it's a Cha-Cha.

Matachinez

Dancing in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. St. William the Confessor Catholic Church, Greenville, Texas, December 12, 2008.

Advent Week #2: Friday - THE BABY IS UPSIDE DOWN!

If only it were true in real life.

The Feto-Meter shows the baby twirling upside down, which is not the way he is positioned right now. Of course, the Feto-Meter does not show the 2009 Model Noisykid with his outdoor plumbing, either.

We are investigating ways to make the baby 'come about' - a nautical term, from my days in the Air Force. But I digress.

Today is Friday, a day our family usually abstains from meat. However, today is also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In honor of this occasion, I send you some Meatloaf for your viewing and listening displeasure:




Well, it's cold and lonely on this Texas Winter night. I can see the keyboard by the monitor light.

Advent, Week #2: Thursday

I feel as if I have been remiss, sending you 'easy' penitential musical hairshirts.

That will end now.

Do you remember the Partridge Family?

This guy sang for them; I only had eyes for Susan Dey.




Oh yeah.

I outgrew my boyhood crush for Susan Dey and her braces which picked up radio signals, met Wifeofdadwithnoisykids, and the rest is history.

Addendum: Advent Homily and Procession

Here is a LINK to a sermon by Fr. Angelo Geiger, from the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

Of note, the Brother seen with the cowboy hat is a former parishioner who is in the novitiate of that order.

Music from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

This next LINK shows the outdoor procession on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. For those of you who are playing the home game version of "Where's Dadwithnoisykids?" you can earn a lot of points in this video. Look for dadwithnoisykids, Wifeofdadwithnoisykids, and several of the Noisykids. As a hint, look for two of the oldest and largest Noisykids as altar boys in the procession.

This reminds me that I need to make 2009 the year that I learn Spanish.

Advent, Week #2: Wednesday

Consider the shepherds, the lowly shepherds who were the first to learn of the birth of Our Savior.

Consider their response if they heard the choir of angels accompanied by this instrument:




Thanks to Sue D. for this link!

Advent, Week #2: Tuesday

I am on call today, so I shall be brief.

Follow this LINK to get a special Christmas greeting from Weird Al Yankovic.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

Consider this version of Jingle Bells by a bunch of guys who look as if they just left a Star Trek Convention:



Speaking of bad acting - I mean, Star Trek - take a look at this:

Second Sunday of Advent

Sunday is a day of rest; therefore, I bid you to rest as you watch this number:



Far, far from Aqualung....

Sunday is a good day to take stock on how well one is doing with the three parts of Advent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.

Prayer: Is the only prayer you say this week something like, "God, when will he stop torturing us with these videos?"

Fasting: Are the videos ruining your appetite, and limiting your intake of food?

Almsgiving: Would you give anything to stop these videos?

It is not too late to start again with prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

By the way, I would stop this exercise in musical hairshirtery for the right price.

Advent Week One: Saturday

This is no time to relax our exercises of mortification.

Tonight, I shall include one of the Noisykid videos from last year after this little bit of bad music 'for the ladies.' After watching the Puppini Sisters sing a jingle, I thought it was time for the women folk to watch a video just for them:

Here is the Link, or watch it below:



Now for one which is not a penance for me to watch; this is Noisykid #8 singing 'Away in a Manger:'

Texas Christmas Ornaments

These were made by my children, and are for sale at today's St. Nicholas Feast Day party.

Feast of St. Nicholas

Here are the family shoes, filled with goodies.

Advent Week One: Friday

At the end of the week, we shall spend a moment contemplating the concept of the 'Little Drummer Boy.'

This musical thorn(below the poem) generates more questions along the line of 'What were they thinking?' than anything else.

But first, I bring you one of my favorite poems from a priest who wrote extensively; one of his greatest works is his work where he discusses his conversion to the Faith. This poem, Lead Kindly Light, is one my confessor introduced to me. It talks about asking God to show one the 'next step' to take when one is lost. We might not know all the steps we have to take as we make our way through this life, but it is enough to know what one is to do right now.

Lead, Kindly Light

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead thou me on.
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those Angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

J.H. Newman

Newman comes from the same land as one of these singers; perhaps this singer will one day change his wild ways and enter the Church as well. Perhaps he could put the second verse of poem to music.

But I digress. Back to a meditation on the Little Drummer Boy

"Unless we recover the zeal and the spirit of the first century Christians - unless we are willing to do what they did and to pay the price that they paid, the future of our country, the days of America are numbered."

Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
1914-2000

Now I shall lob one over the wall, courtesy of the Puppini Sisters - these don't look like consecrated Sisters....

First Week of Advent, Wednesday

"Nothing can make you such an imitator of Christ as your concern for others. Although you sleep on the floor, even though, I dare to say, you kill yourself, if you are not attentive to your neighbour, you have done very little; you are very far from being an image of Christ."

St. John Chrysostom

From the series of books In Conversation with God: Volume One: Advent and Christmastide, by Francis Fernandez

Now for the video. This is a sing-along, for those who speak Japanese. The rest of us can just hum, or stare in confusion.

Advent Day #3 - Meditation and Mortification

Day Three of Advent brings to mind a quote found elsewhere on this blog, one from the Maxims of St. Ignatius of Loyola:

“If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of the great holiness to which He desires you to attain.

Do you want to become a great saint?

Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of divine love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior uses to finish His sacrifice.

All the pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ; that is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ.”


Advent is a time of

PRAYER


FASTING


ALMSGIVING

Permit me to add three more words to the above list:

KATHY


LEE


GIFFORD

Click on this link (for you Facebookers) or watch the video below:

Advent Day #2: Penance, Prayer, Meditation

Today's Musical Hairshirt requires you to follow the link to YouTube because embedding has been disabled.

Make the journey.

Before you go there, consider praying this prayer for a Latin Mass Community which has outgrown the small chapel they are permitted to use:

"O God, who did restore to the Jews, returning from exile, their beloved temple, hear our prayer.

Grant that we may have a house dedicated to your worship, a church in which You will be glorified.

May it be the house of God, the gate of heaven.

In it may your Divine Life be given in Baptism, Your grace restored in penance, Your Body be received in the Blessed Eucharist, Your strength shared in confirmation, Your family be perpetuated in holy matrimony, the sick healed by the oil of extreme unction.

In it may the words of Your revealed truth be preached.

On its altar may You, the High Priest, again make present Your saving sacrifice.

May its tabernacle be the throne from which you rule.

This we humbly ask through Christ our Lord.

Amen."

While I am at it, please remember to pray for the repose of the souls of three of my friends and colleagues who died in Ann Arbor, Michigan on this day in 1994. I previously posted commentary on this subject here and here.

Advent BEGINS NOW

Once again, I am opening up the Mosh Pit for your viewing pleasure. Consider this as a type of mortification for those who need a little help getting into the spirit of Advent.

Prayer

Fasting

Almsgiving

Jon Anderson from the group Yes singing "I Saw Three Ships'"

Thanksgiving Meditation

Folks enjoyed the turkey cooked with Shiner Bock beer over the one cooked with mustard, but still preferred the ones cooked last year with wine. So next year I'll go back to wine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I know this was posted already, but I am conducting an experiment with Facebook.

November 25 2008

Today would have been Theodore's 16th Birthday.

I still get bills for some of his medical care; one in particular keeps getting larger each time I receive it. Every time I call the billing company they tell me it was an error and we have a zero balance on our account.

Somewhere a tree was planted in Theodore's honor; I can't imagine that it would be able to sit still. I recall how he used to sneak up to the lectern and start talking into the microphone. He especially liked to run to the lectern as soon as i went into the confessional.

Speaking of confessionals....

I had a dream about Theodore several weeks ago early one morning. In my dream, Theodore was in church along with the rest of the family. I was standing in line for confession, and Theodore was running around greeting all the people who were present. From somewhere he pulled a tray of donuts, which he began offering to all the people. He ran into the sacristy with his donuts, laughing all the way. In my dream, I started to laugh but ended up crying.

I told my wife about my dream when I left for work, and she had a dream about Theodore afterwards. She dreamed that Theodore told her he was happy where he was.



The look on the face of Henry V after he lay the child in the cart always gets me; hardly a day goes by without me having a flashback of Theodore's death and my failed attempt to resuscitate him.

While the World and I Sleep

While the world and I sleep,

someone will hit the mark.

Exceeding thirty-K,

ere light replaces dark.

No fanfare will it cause;

no quarter hour of fame.

Grateful for your visit,

we'll never know your name.

Thanks all who come and gaze,

upon the words you see.

I won't apologize

for my Bad Poetry.

SMD

11.22.2008

On the anticipated 30,000th visit to my blog, which was started in late June, 2006.




UPDATE!!!!

NUMBER 30,000 was from Taiwan!
That person was looking up stuff about St. Jean Vianney!

Thank You!

Early Thanksgiving Wishes

Permit me to be one of the first to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. Here in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area, Christmas music started a few weeks ago on one of the local radio stations.

We are blessed in so many ways, and we have so much to be thankful for even in a year that has been full of sorrow. I would love to list the many blessings we have received, but it is Saturday, and it is time to work around the house.

Dadwithnoisykids Is Chastised

Some things can bear no explanation. All I can say is that is my 'Default Picture Walrus' trying out one of the features of the new iMac.

I am humbled.

I went shopping with my wife this evening. My main role was to drive the car and pay the bills and spend some quality time with my Best Beloved.

I think I succeeded on most counts. Heck, I even got her in on time, as I promised my 13-year old son:

"How late are you going to be out?" said he.

"I shall have your mother home before 10 o'clock," I replied. "If we are going to be late, I shall call."

He still looked concerned....

We went to a mall in Dallas which is soooo upscale that I am wrong to call it a mall. I had to pay just to walk through one of the stores.

We went to a store where they sell high quality kitchenware and force feed you things that they are cooking in the kitchen/checkout counter which is located in the center of the store. There I was chastised by my wife for something I did over the weekend.

But first, consider this one thought: I could have made the first sentence in the paragraph above a lot smaller if I had just told the truth and said we went to a Williams-Sonoma store.

But I digress. There, as I sipped hot apple cider and slurped butternut squash chowder with risotto, my wife enlightened me on the realities of good stockpots and how much they cost. For you see, over the weekend, I canceled an order for an 8-quart stockpot which would have cost about the same amount as a dinner at Nick and Sam's for me and the missus. I said there had to be a better deal somewhere else. My wife showed me that 'better' deal, and then spoke sweetly on the economics of buying inferior pots which fail sooner than more expensive ones.

Let this be a lesson to all men who meddle in stockpots.

We got home by 9:30 p.m., to the relief of all the children.

Veterans Day Meditation

Today, Veterans Day, I spent the day doing what I did while I served in the U.S. Air Force.
 
I spent the day administering anesthesia to children at the hospital where I work.  For four years, I showed up to work, took care of patients, did administrative work, and sat in on a few committee meetings. 
 
For four years, I never got shot at, never worked in a war zone.  I did have to get trained on small arms before deploying to El Salvador, but I never was issued any weapon. 
 
For all those who served in combat, I thank you for all of your sacrifices.  For those who died in service to our country, i shall remember you in my prayers today.
 
It did strike me that I participated in probably the only government program which resulted in an improvement in my earning potential.  I doubt that any other government program could help me realize my dream to be a doctor.

---

Color coding for safety: Windows Live Hotmail alerts you to suspicious email. Sign up today.

Buyer's Remorse Will Set In

This is not a political blog, but I have to mention that in just the few days since the elections there are some interesting things coming to light.

Note that the stock market has dropped quite a bit.

If you look on Obama's www.change.gov website, you can find such pricey new programs as this one under 'Homeland Security:'

"Barack Obama will establish a $2 billion Global Education Fund to work to eliminate the global education deficit and offer an alternative to extremist schools"

There goes my little 401-k.

There are lots of things that will be done, and many of them include a dollar amount.

Then there is this little bit of information:

"Barack Obama will pay for his $50 - $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level."

Actually, Obama will not pay for this program; we shall, and I do mean all of us.

As I explained it to my children, our expenses consist of the basic necessities(food, shelter, clothing) and those things known as 'luxuries,' which would include things, such as Christmas gifts, birthday presents, new clothing, a newer and faster computer, a new car, a vacation, dining out, new beanie baby scorpions, etc.

If our new president is going to tax us more than we are already, the pool of money left over for necessities and luxuries will get smaller. We shall always provide for the necessities for our children, so the things that we go without will be the luxuries.

Please do not weep for the luxuries that my children will not receive; that is not my point!

My point is that with less money to spend on more luxuries, we will put less money into the economy. For example, we enjoy eating Mexican food, and we are blessed with a good local family-run Mexican restaurant. If we stop eating out, this restaurant will take a small hit on its income; if everyone around here stops eating there, this restaurant could go out of business.

This scenario is just an example of what would happen in an economy where more money goes to the government rather than to the people.

Then there are the unborn who will never see the light of day- and the majority of them are in the same ethnic group as our president-elect:

"Thirty-seven percent of abortions occur to black women, 34% to non-Hispanic white women, 22% to Hispanic women and 8% to women of other races."


For a lot of reasons, I think many who voted for Obama will one day be uttering the last line said by Sir Alec Guinness in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai:




"What have I done?"

I Drank the Kool-Aid

Yes, I went out and bought an iMac. The world is changing. Don't worry, I am still in communion with the Catholic Church.

Attaining Cult Status

Today I made some changes on the blog.

First, I changed the music playing on the 'Music Time' playlist on the sidebar. When I got on to enter this little note, it was not working. I just opened the blog in another window and now I am listening to David Hasselhoff sing 'White Bird.'

The rest of the music is a bit unique. Turn it on and enjoy.

Second, I added a widget which tells me where people are coming from - and where they go to when they realize this blog was not what they hoped for. Don't worry, your privacy is safe with me - I can't say the same for what I read on 'Sitemeter.'

Third, and tied to the title of this entry, I now am blessed with two 'followers.' They are listed on the sidebar at right. These folks are fellow bloggers who have taken an oath to follow this blog regardless of the direction I send it. In addition, my 'followers' have pledged half of their worldly goods to me as a means of providing for my temporal needs.

They also equip me with a new car whenever I condescend to visit them. The car is affectionately known as the 'dadwithnoisykids-mobile,' and comes with armor-plated glass and a wet bar. Join US.

Fourth: How do you like the picture of the cowboy praying the Rosary?

Fifth, I wax political again. This will probably generate more griping from Catholics for Obama.

In the early 70's, there was a prison riot in Attica, New York. The riot and hostage situation ended when security forces entered the prison, resulting in a high number of casualties. The whole situation was very controversial, and I recall that T-shirts with the slogan 'Attica is All of Us' showed up all over the United States. This slogan represented the view of a certain ethnic group which thought that they were singled out during the quelling of the prison riot.

This is where I wax political, if you have been following this rather meandering monologue. After reading and watching this whole 'Joe the Plumber' controversy unfold, it occurred to me that ALL of us will be subject to a great redistribution of wealth under the leadership of Obama. So I stole the slogan I mentioned above and rearranged it, and came up with:

JOE THE PLUMBER IS ALL OF US

I say this because I foresee a lot of money earned by the people who make this country great leaving their pockets and going to spread the wealth around to those who are not at the same financial level. Anyone who dares to challenge Obama will be run through the coals.

I sent an e-mail to Rush Lmbaugh suggesting this as a slogan suitable for T-shirts.

Six: HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS!?!

I guess they won yesterday. We went to a Mexican restaurant on Sunday afternoon, and we were parked at a table right in front of a projection screen which showed that the football game was in full swing. I objected to our sitting there because it was already causing a distraction for the children. It was bad enough that the children sat there watching the game, but what really worried me were the commercials and the gratuitous close-ups of the cheerleaders("Bounce for camera, girls!").

We asked to be seated behind the screen, but we were told that section was closed. We walked out.

Instead we went to another Mexican restaurant(Matt's Rancho Martinez) closer to home, and my beautiful wife got her craving for nachos satisfied.

Seventh, a voter's guide of sorts:

It's unlikely you'll vote for Obama if you....

01. aren't a news anchor.

02. read the New York Times for pretty much the same reason the NSA monitors radio transmissions.

03. automatically conclude that the person laughing in the car next to you must be listening to Rush. Or maybe Obama off teleprompter.

04. dislocated your shoulder trying to explain Obama's position on Iraq to co-workers.

05. find autobiographies generally more interesting when the author has, you know, done something.

06. remember the Carter Administration.

07. would give a month's pay to play Jack Bauer's partner on 24.

08. increasingly agree with Mark Steyn that "almost everything [Obama] says is, well, nuts."

09. think it's relevant — despite what the sophisticates say — that several of Obama's mentors and associates have displayed a dislike for America or a disdain for Americans.

10. think it's relevant that several of McCain's mentors and associates are American heroes of historic magnitude.

11. think about 9/11 more than once a year.

12. have concluded that Larry the Cable Guy makes way more sense than Howard Dean.

13. feel a little safer during turbulence when your pilot is a calm "white haired dude."

14. thought about Hillary's 3:00 a.m. phone call ad when you first heard about Russian tanks in Georgia.

15. wonder why Obama felt it necessary to give a speech on patriotism.

16. get sorta creeped out by 200,000 Germans chanting "Obama! Obama!"

17. think the jury may still be out on Harvard Law School.

18. suspect "merci beaucoup" is French for "empty suit."

19. doubt that teleprompters are really magical dispensers of good ideas.

20. know in your gut that defiantly withstanding 4 1/2 years of torture trumps all of Obama's qualifications and accomplishments combined — regardless of what the elite pundits say.

21. repeatedly find yourself asking "Change to what?"

22. have ever used the term "pompous twit' in the same sentence with "Marx," "Marcuse," or "Sartre."

23. don't like being told what to do — especially by someone who hasn't done it.

24. really like ticking off the media, Hollywood, academics, and PC busybodies everywhere.

25. weren't born yesterday.

Score (# of descriptions that apply to you):
0— Go ahead, write in Dennis Kucinich
1—3 Obama may be your choice after all
4—5 You think Hillary got a raw deal and won't vote Obama
6—24 McCain's your man
25 It's OK to write in Reagan

Now for a little mushiness:

An Electoral Year Folk Song

This is a parody of 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone?' which was written by Pete Seeger, sung by such names as Peter, Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio, and (in German) Joan Baez.

This is my rewrite of the song, asking some of the questions which have gone unanswered about the Democratic Party candidate for the President of the United States.

I could have gone on and on, but my head began to hurt too much, and I found it hard to make any of the lines rhyme. Truly another example of my Bad Poetry.

Where Have Barry's Exes Gone?

Where have Barry's 'Exes' gone?

Are they hiding?

Where have Barry's 'Exes' gone?

I'd like to know

Where have Barry's 'Exes' gone?

Even geeks like me had some

That's what I'd like to learn

That's what I'd like to learn

Where have Barry's classmates gone?

Back at Harvard

Where have Barry's classmates gone?

I'd like to know

Where have Barry's classmates gone?

They could tell about someone

That's what I'd like to learn

That's what I'd like to learn

Where did Barry enter Earth?

In the U.S.A?

Where did Barry enter Earth?

Or somewhere else

Where did Barry enter Earth?

Check 'Certificate of Live Birth'

That's what I'd like to learn

That's what I'd like to learn

Name one thing that Barry's done

In the Senate

Name one thing that Barry's done

I'd like to know

Name one thing that Barry's done

[just hum the tune here....]

That's what I thought I'd learn

That's what I thought I'd learn

What's the one thing Barry's done?

Through this campaign

What's the one thing Barry's done?

To earn our trust

What's the one thing Barry's done?

He's deceived most everyone

When will we ever learn?

When will we ever learn?

Discussion:

The first and second verses asks a question which is worth considering; namely, who knew this candidate when he was a youngster? In the case of ex-girlfriends, I don't really want to dig up dirt on a candidate, but it would be interesting to see if there are ANY ex-girlfriends in his past. What I am alluding to I shall leave to the readers speculation. But I would guess most ex-girlfriends would state(for the record) that he was a 'jerk' and it didn't work. Of course, my wife would say that about me on occasion as well, but she happens to love me, even in my jerkiness.

College and Law school classmates would have a lot of information to divulge about a candidate, especially law school classmates.

There is a lawsuit which is demanding that the candidate hand over his birth certificate to prove that he is an American citizen. There is also a report which states that he had to renounce his US citizenship in order to attend public school in Indonesia(the home of his stepfather).

The verse asking for any accomplishments that the candidate had while a US Senator was inspired by the video below, where several proponents of the candidate are unable to list any accomplishments. We are still waiting....

As I said before, I was running out of rhymes, and so I had to omit the verses about 'Joe the Plumber,' the candidate's grandmother who is ill - after being thrown under a bus for him, Bill Ayers, the recent election in Kenya which resulted in the losers(our candidate's people) rioting and forcing their way into power in the government, and other things which I find troubling about this candidate.

The final verse summarizes my thoughts.

Now, on a lighter look, sit back and watch this video with music from a group called 'Living Colour.'

Of course, the candidate reminds me of the character of the Antichrist in Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson's book Lord of the World, which was written in 1907.

Lyrics cross-posted to my Facebook page.

Imagine You Work in Human Resources....

This tells the story in a way that makes you realize just who voters could be "hiring" on Nov. 4th (God forbid).

I received this from a friend who was in Government Security and also
Corporate Security. He said, 'Those of you that have worked in
industries that require high level security clearances can understand
the probable rejection of this Candidate.'

Imagine for a few moments that you are the Human Resources Director
of a major multi-billion dollar corporation. You are sitting in your
office when you receive a phone call from the Chairman of the Board of
Directors. He tells you that the board is considering a candidate for a
high-level executive position. He advises you to complete a thorough
background investigation and have it to him within 10 days.

You immediately call the Private Detective Agency you have used for
years and give them the name and address of the prospective candidate,
along with the deadline for a high level security clearance. Your next
move is to call your assistant to your office, giving him/her the
candidate's personal information along with instructions to 'do your
standard beginning background checks.'

Preliminary findings begin landing in your fax machine on the third
day.

1. Your candidate has used more than one name.


2. His original birth certificate is unavailable, and he was
mentored during his youth by a high level communist in Hawaii, Frank
Marshall Davis. You receive a 3 page 'dossier' on Frank Marshall Davis.

3. You also learn the candidate was proctored into an elite Eastern
private university by a middle eastern Muslim. You receive a short
dossier on Khalid al-Mansour.

4.You learn the candidate has terrorist organization 'Nations of
Islam' employees on his current staff, and one of his advisers is a
member of the global terrorist group 'Muslim Brotherhood.'

5. On day four, you receive in the mail from the security agency two
books the candidate has written. You read both books, highlighting the
anti-American, anti-white racist p assages. You note the admissions of
drug use.

6. You also receive in the packet a copy of the bitter anti-white
thesis his wife wrote as a college undergraduate.

7. You receive a 4 page fax on the candidate's relative, Raila
Odinga, who is connected with brutal Muslim politics in Africa, and
background information on the candidate's estranged father who was part
of Kenya's most corrupt regime.

8. The fifth day brings to your special delivery mail: The complete
background on Bill Ayers; his association with your candidate, his FBI
criminal record, and a copy of the book 'Rules for Radicals' written by
communist Saul Alinsky.

(Bill Ayers standing on top of the American Flag)

9. You are advised your candidate used tactics from 'Rules for
Radicals' at his previous employment.

10. You are advised the candidate's wife used an excerpt from this
book during a recent speech.

11. You receive by fax, a background on A.C.O.R.N. and an alert:
This group is being watched by the U.S. Department of Justice and other
state and local law enforcement agencies.

12. You learn that by Muslim Law, Muslims consider the candidate to
be a Muslim for Life.

13. You learn your candidate is endorsed by every Muslim terrorist
organization on Earth; because he holds Muslim beliefs.

14. His friend, Louis Farrakhan, is head of Nation of Islam. You
learn that the candidate's Christian pastor met with global terrorist
Mohmmar Gaddafi in Libya, along with their mutual friend and
anti-American Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan has also identified Obama as
The MESSIAH.

15. You receive printed transcripts of his pastor's anti-White,
anti-American 'sermons' and are advised your candidate has been close
personal friends with this 'pastor' for two decades.

16. Your candidate has referred to this radical pastor as his
'personal spiritual advisor,' and in fact, the title of one of your
candidates memoirs was inspired by a line from this pastor's 'sermons.'

17. In your fax machine on the sixth morning is a file on one Tony
Rezko; his friendship, associations and business transactions with your
candidate, as well as high level 'people' of middle eastern origin, and
his federal conviction. You will spend most of day seven compiling a
file on the candidate, The Obama File, complete with footnotes and cross
references.

18. Additional information is arriving regarding the candidate's
friends and acquaintances during college, and you learn that he did not
run with a mainstream crowd, but chose radicals and communist agitators
for his social group.

19. The morning of the eighth day has arrived and you and your
assistant have placed a small mountain of background information into
manageable 'piles' including:
photographs of the candidate's family in Africa, he and George Soros
(including a brief file on the Soros 'Open Society Institute'), photos
of the candidate and Louis Farrakhan and anti-Israeli Arafat advisor
Edward Said.

20. You begin to outline and write your 'Summary Evaluation' to the
Chairman of the Board of Directors: This candidate has a tissue thin work experience resume. He
has not managed large groups of personnel, departments, material, or P&L
statements. This candidate's own writing exhibits a character of
deep-seeded anger and resentment towards people of the Caucasian race
over the issue of slavery. His emotional gravitas is centered upon his
African heritage, and his belief that the white man is responsible for
global poverty and unequal sharing of wealth.

21. The candidate's personal associations since childhood have been
mostly with radical African Americans, Muslims, and communists; those
who harbor anger towards The United States of America. Particularly
disturbing is his lengthy relationship with Bill Ayers, an unrepentant
Weatherman radical who bombed government buildings and abdicated the
overthrow of the United States.

22. Given the current global situation of nearly twelve thousand
Muslim acts of terrorism since 9-11, it is disturbing to find his close
associations with Muslim groups 'http://www.mafo2008.com/'

23. You have highlighted passages in both books and find one
particularly disturbing: 'Should
the political winds shift in an ugly direction I will side with the
Muslims.'

24. The candidate has surrounded himself with anti-American
grievance mongers, and appears to manipulate 'typical white people' by
appealing to their guilt about slavery. He is a socialist, and totally
disenfranchised from the history of 'root America .'

25. The candidate refuses to discuss his years at Columbia
University , although he lived off campus and made few friends. He will
not release his application to the State Bar notes which raises
questions on several issues including the use of drugs and lying on his
application about it's use..

26. Very little is available about his e xperience with the Chicago
Annenberg Challenge, a foundation that spent $100 million with no
discernable benefit for the schools and students that it was putatively
designed to help.

27. It is therefore your strongest recommendation this candidate not
be considered for any position within the corporation. WITH THIS
RECORD, HE SHOULDN'T EVEN BE CLEARED FOR 'UNCLASSIFIED'. SO HOW CAN HE
POSSIBLY BE COMMANDER IN CHIEF?

Camping Pictures

This weekend we went to Cooper Lake State Park. The park is located Northeast of Sulphur Springs, Texas. The boys were reluctant to go there, but there were no other openings in any other park within 2 hours from us. It turns out that October and March are the busiest months for camping in Texas.

My job was to drive the boys. They were responsible for getting all the gear ready and planning all the meals. I was available to give advice. I did veto one selection for lunch on Saturday, and I did insist on some fruit cups in a menu heavy on protein and simple carbohydrates.

I should have brought a Dutch oven and made them biscuits....


Here is the campsite. My home away from home for two nights. I slept in the large tent on a cot.

Wider shot of the campsite. Weather was great, with temperatures in the low 80's during the day and 60's at night. Cloudless night, with the moon setting sometime around 4 in the morning. While taking some of the boys to the bathroom, I showed them the Milky Way Galaxy - the concentrated band of stars that make it, at least. We could see a lot more stars than we could back home. We saw one(1) shooting star.


Fishing. Fishing's dirty little secret is that there is a lot of time spent fishing but very little time spent actually catching fish. We talked with other fishers ("catch anything?") and enjoyed a quite Saturday morning. This pier connects two little points of land.
Here is what the above picture looks like if you turn your cell phone camera 90 degrees:
After changing into swimming trunks, we rented canoes and headed out into the lake. You can see where we went in the background of the picture below. We were told to keep close to the shore. We saw birds - don't ask me what kind - wading along the shoreline, and an occasional fish would leap out of the water to taunt us for trying to catch them.

The boys loved canoeing, taking to it like ducks to water. All they could talk about afterwards was when they could go canoeing again.

Swimming followed, with the boys pictured below inthe designated swimming area. Note the wall in the background indicates that the water level is about 4-6 feet below normal. Al Gore made it happen.

As an aside, do you think Al Gore will one day give his Nobel Prize back, especially after we enter a phase of global cooling? Perhaps he will give it back and request that it be given to Irene Sendler (actually to her estate, since she died recently).


I stayed on shore after wading in the gooey pseudo-sand that they used to make the beach. A group of Cub Scouts were nearby, trying to blow stuff up.

Speaking of blowing things up, here is our campfire ring, complete with pot for hot water, my cup of hot chocolate, and a few hot dogs awaiting delivery on a plate. Dinner Saturday night consisted of hot dogs, chili for making chili dogs, and chocolate or a fruit cup for dessert.

I took some of the chili and put it on a flour tortilla.

This picture requires some explanation, if not an apology. This is the chili for putting on the hot dogs. It actually tasted pretty good.
Now I have to read Ivanhoe to the little boys. Actually the story is now known as:

iVanhoe

Just War Theory In Action?

While I do not condone violence in most circumstances, there are some cases where its application is open to discussion. As an example, I give you this vignette for your consideration:




Times were tough on the Prairie.

Six Months Ago Today:

Our son Theodore died.

I shall write more this weekend, but for now I would like to thank all of those who remembered us in their prayers.

On Monday, I shall answer this question: What do Lazarus and Theodore have in common?

Litany of Humility

After months of neglect, it is time to return to a recurring theme. No, not the Mosh Pit. Instead, consider this prayer which was written by Cardinal Merry del Val(1865-1930).

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved,

From the desire of being extolled,

From the desire of being honored,

From the desire of being praised,

From the desire of being preferred to others,

From the desire of being consulted,

From the desire of being approved,

From the fear of being humiliated,

From the fear of being despised,

From the fear of suffering rebukes,

From the fear of being calumniated,

From the fear of being forgotten,

From the fear of being ridiculed,

From the fear of being wronged,

From the fear of being suspected,

That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I,

That, in the opinion of the world, others may, increase and I may decrease,

That others may be chosen and I set aside,

That others may be praised and I unnoticed,

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

We bought the Noisykids some Sidewalk Chalk...

Somehow it ended up NOT on the sidewalk:

Noisykid #10 and #11 are proud of their new shade. By the way, Noisykid #11 asked me to untangle his scapular and his chain which has a St. Gerard medallion on it. I reminded him that I don't want him going to be with both sacramentals around his neck. He then launched into a long explanation that, if he were to die, he would 'shoot straight up to Heaven so fast.' He explained that this would be a good thing.

I told him that I don't think my heart would stand another breaking like that; Wifeofdadwithnoisykids agreed. Noisykid #11 then explained how he was dressing his soul like that of Pope Benedict XVI.

I wonder if Pope Benedict ever did this kind of stuff as a kid....probably.
Why is this warning on packets of silica gel? I would think that anyone who can read would have enough sense to NOT eat this stuff. It is the 'illiterati' we have to protect.
I was thinking about disciplining children one day, and mentioned to my wife that St. Joseph never had to take Jesus around back of the woodshed to administer corporal punishment. He didn't need correction for doing evil. Of course he needed to be shown how to do things, but that was all that he needed. He may have tried to eat silica gel as a baby, but once He could read the warning on the packet he never did it again. In fact, he probably had to translate it into Aramaic for the benefit of his parents who didn't speak English.

My thoughts are wandering. I am just a little rattled about some of the people we met when we drove along Skyline Drive in Virginia. These people were the only disturbing people we met on our travels. Here is a video of their antics in another forest:




Here is another, more serious installment:



We got Rickrolled twice in as many days. Find out what that means HERE! The eighties are mounting a comeback....I actually put that song on my iPod.