Perpetual Thursday

Viva La Vida - First Impressions

2008-05-31T16:25:00.002-04:00

Emily started blogging again, so, not to be outdone, I'm going to do the same. After all, I got her blogging the first time, so it would look bad if she was still doing it and I wasn't, right? Besides, I miss it.

A short while ago, Coldplay released the song Violet Hill (from their upcoming album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends) as a free download via their website. I like some of their music, and I really like free stuff, so, of course, I downloaded it.

Now, while I liked Violet Hill, one thing about it stuck out to me: with its dark, slightly rough sound and emphasised guitars, it didn't sound like Coldplay's style. It has hints, sure - the piano work and Chris Martin's signature falsetto - but, for better or worse, it wasn't the Colplay I was used to.

Since then, however, I've managed to get my hands on three more tracks from the album: Life In Technicolor, Viva la Vida, and Lost? (acoustic version). Here is what I think...

Life in Technicolor: As first track on the album, Life in Technicolor makes a nice opening. Though there is a (very small) amount of vocal work, there are no lyrics on the track, and that works perfectly. There really isn't a whole lot to say about opening tracks, but I can honestly say that this one stands out as possibly the best opening track I've ever heard (note that I'm not counting albums that open with regular songs - I'm talking about tracks set up just to open the album). It builds up well and even manages to be pretty catchy.

Viva la Vida: This one struck me, because I wasn't expecting it at ALL. After listening to Violet Hill enough, I expected the whole album to have the same dark, rough sound. Not Viva la Vida. Featuring a string section, a piano, great vocals, and even bells, Viva la Vida sound like a victorious symphony. The lyrics, on the other hand, talk of times gone past from the eyes of a man who once had the world in the palm of his hand, and are delivered by Martin in way the fits the music to perfection (no falsetto here - sorry ladies).

Lost? (acoustic): To the extent of my knowledge, Lost? is a bonus track, and acoustic version of the similarly named track Lost!. However, don't like the word "acoustic" give you the wrong impression: Lost? doesn't have any of the coffee-house sound that today is too often associated with acoustic music. There's no guitar work here - nothing but Chris Martin and a lone piano. Very slightly dark, quiet, and calm, Lost? still holds a hint of the epic downfall vibe that perforates Viva la Vida. Again, Martin passes on the falsetto to retain a slightly more sombre sound to the song, which fits it very well.

Overall: Out of the four tracks I've heard, Viva la Vida itself if my favourite, and certainly the most Coldplay-like. While none of these three are as dark and rough as Violet Hill (which, despite not being Coldplay-like, is, again, a pretty good song), they all hold a flash, musically and lyrically, of the same dark vibe, and the same suggestion of an epic downfall.

From what I've heard so far, Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends is indeed a step in a new direction for Coldplay. Again, it's darker, and it's more epic. However, it is still Coldplay at heart. After hearing Violet Hill for the first time I was worried that it may not be a good change, but having heard these new three tracks, and getting a better idea of how Violet Hill fits in with them, I can honestly say that it's a change for the better. I'm looking forward to the albums release, as it could very well be the best Coldplay album yet.

All for now - until next time, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

"Energy" Drinks

2008-03-20T01:35:00.001-04:00

This can filled with drink
Which I have not yet tasted
Is still so sexy

Recently, whilst out shopping, I came across a couple of energy drinks. Now, generally, I'm not much for energy drinks, for two reasons: a) they don't seem to have any effect on me, and b) they all seem to taste like urine. Albeit, they sometimes taste like flavoured urine, but that's still urine. Regardless of those two reasons, however, these two cans stood out. Why? It wasn't because they sounded particularly tasty. Nor was it because they had eye-catching cans. No, it was because of their names: Aphrodite Love Drink, and Peep One Erotic Drink. I could make a witty comment, like "What do you get when you combine Red Bull with Viagra?" (done); I could talk about how perverted it is to see that stuff next to the root beer where any kid could read it's e-mail spam-like label (done); or I could even write a haiku about it (done). But I won't (because I just did) - instead, I'll take the high road, and post pictures I took of the cans, so you can think for yourself. Read the full post to see them.

I took a few others as well - among them shots of the backs of the cans (ingredients and company information) - and uploaded them to Facebook, so you can check them out at:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18360&l=ef3a7&id=658484513

As a closing note, let me answer the real question all this raises: how did they taste? The Aphrodite Love Drink was great. Essentially, it's Black Currant juice - yummy. The Peep One Erotic Drink was, sadly, a typical energy drink - urine flavoured.

Branch Water

2008-03-14T20:29:00.018-04:00

On Monday, Quezon, Mike (who was visiting), and I went to youth group together. Whilst there, a terrible thing happened - I told a story. Now, granted, everyone who knows me long enough hears at least one of my stories at least one time, but up until then, the wonderful folks at Youth Group had been spared. No longer - thanks to Mike saying just the right thing at just the wrong time, I began telling a story that I like to tell everyone I can - to pass it on to others, as it was passed to me. It went over pretty well, and some people wanted me to put the tale into writing so they could memorize it. Now, while technically this is against the rules of oral storytelling, I decided that this one time, I could make an exception. So, without further ado, allow me to present Branch Water - Unabridged. Read the full post for the story, ya' dig?

Branch Water
As Told by Patrick J. Simmons
Once upon a time, a young boy was given an school assignment to write an essay on a topic of his choice. He chose to write his essay on Branch Water. He worked very hard on his essay: researched every detail, wrote in his best handwriting, made no mistakes. So, when the time came to submit his essay to his teacher, he was confident that he would receive high marks on it. He handed his essay to his teacher, who got no further than the title when she snatched a pen, marked the essay with a bright red "F," thrust the essay back at the boy and sent him off to the principals office.

As the boy sat down in the office, the principal asked him, "so, why are you here today?"
"Honestly," responded the boy, "I'm not sure. I turned in an essay, and thought bit was pretty good, but the teacher gave me an F and sent me here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the principal, "what was your essay topic?"
"Branch water."
"Ack! Out! Out! You are hear by expelled! Get out of my office, and out of my school!"

So, the boy went home - expelled and confused. When he got home, his mother was in the kitchen.
"Well, you're home early. Is everything okay?"
"I got expelled, mom."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know. I just turned in my essay and my teacher failed me and sent me to the principal, and then he expelled me as soon as he heard what my topic was."
"Well, that's terrible," said his mother, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Get out of my house," yelled his mother, "get out now! You are no longer my son! OUT!"

So the boy, disowned, expelled, and confused, went to the home of his Aunt Ruth. He knocked on the door, and she opened:
"Well if it isn't my favourite nephew! What are you doing here?"
"Well Aunt Ruth," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I came here."
"Well, that's terrible," said Aunt Ruth, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"GADS! Go! Go away! Now! Begone," yelled Aunt Ruth, slamming the door in his face.

So the boy, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, went out to a local park to sleep on a bench. As he began to drift asleep, a hobo came up to him:
"Hey kid, this is my bench. What's a little boy like you doing sleeping on a park bench anyway?"
"Well hobo," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, so I came here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the hobo, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"ARRRGGH," screamed the hobo, running away and getting hit by a car and killed as he ran across the street.

So the boy, partially responsible for the death of a hobo, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, went to sleep on the bench. In the morning, he awoke to find a police officer standing over him.
"Well hello there my lad," said the police officer, "what are you doing out here sleeping on this park bench?"
"Well officer," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the police officer, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
The police officer gasped and snapped a pair of handcuffs on the boy. "You're under arrest."

The next day, the boy, with an arrest record, partially responsible for the death of a hobo, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, went to his court hearing.
"All rise for The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks," said the bailiff.
Everyone rose.
The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks entered and was seated.
Everyone sat.
"So my boy," said The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks, "what brings you to my courtroom?"
"Well your honor," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so here I am."
"Well, that's terrible," said The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Thirty years!"
The gavel smashed down, and the boy was taken away to server his thirty year prison sentence.

On his third day in prison, the boy, a convicted felon, with an arrest record, partially responsible for the death of a hobo, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, was talking with a fellow inmate.
"So," said the fellow inmate, whose name was Bubba, "what's a kid like you doing prison?"
"Well Bubba," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, so here I am."
"Well, that's terrible," said Bubba, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
Bubba screamed like a little girl, ran over to the nearest guard, grabbed a home-made machete the guard had confiscated, and shanked himself.

Thirty years later, the boy (well, actually, he's a man now, but to keep things simple, we'll keep calling him the boy) was released from prison. Since he was now old enough, had no where else to go, and had seen one to many "Cheers" re-runs, he went out to a bar. As he sat at the bar, the bartender looked at him:
"Wow," he said, "you look awful. What's your story?"
"Well," said the boy "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released, and here I am."
"Well, that's terrible," said the bartender, polishing a glass that didn't really need it, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
The bartender dropped the glass. "Oh," he stammered, "oh wow... Listen, here's what you need to do - go to the old lady who lives across the street, tell her I sent you. She'll help you out."

So the boy went across the street to the home of the old woman, and knocked on the door.
"Who are you," asked the old woman, opening the door.
"The bartender sent me."
"Oh, well then it most be important. What's your story?"
Well," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me here."
Well, that's terrible," said the old woman, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Sweet honeyed yams," exclaimed the old woman. "Here, take this jar of cookies to the lumberjack who lives out in the woods, and he will help you."

So out into the woods the boy went, cookies in tow. Unfortunately, he didn't have directions, so it took him four days of walking to find the lumberjack's cabin, and he get rather hungry and ate most of the cookies.

In fact, he ate all of the cookies.

But he did arrive at the lumberjack's cabin, and was greeted by the jumberjack.
"Well now, who are you?"
"The old woman sent me. Errr... here," said the boy, handing the lumberjack the empty jar.
"Ate the cookies, huh?"
"Yeah. Sorry..."
That's okay. Everybody does. So," said the jumberjack, "what's your story?"
"Well," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me to the old woman, who sent me here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the lumberjack, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"By the power of Greyskull," exclaimed the lumberjack, "you need to leave, now!"
"But, where do I go?"
"Here, take this axe to the Old Indian Fort at the other end of the forest, and they will help you. Now, go!"

So the boy went, and, after a week and a half of wandering through the forest, reached the Fort, where he was greeted by Chief Falling Rocks.
"What brings you here, stranger," asked Chief Falling Rocks.
"The lumberjack sent me," said the boy, handing Chief Falling Rocks the axe.
"Ah, I see," said the Chief, accepting the axe, "so then, what's your story?"
"Well," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me to the old woman, who sent me to the lumberjack, who sent me here."
"Well, that's terrible," said Chief Falling Rocks, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Bullocks," exclaimed the chief, "go away and never come back!"
"But where do I go?"
"Take this special carved arrowhead back to the old woman, and she'll tell you - now begone!"

So back to the old woman the boy went. Upon arriving at her home, he immediately gave her the arrowhead.
"Well I see they've sent you back to me. Oh dear."
"Well, what do I do," asked the boy.
"Take this quarter," replied the woman, producing a coin, "to my husband in the basement."

Down the stairs the boy went, and found the old woman's husband.
"Who in blue blazes are you?"
"Your wife sent me down here," the boy said, handing him the quarter.
"Oh, wow, this must be important - my wife hasn't given me a penny in over fifty years. So then, what's your story?"
The boy sighed, then began: "Well, I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me to your wife, who sent me to the lumberjack, who sent me to Chief Falling Rocks, who sent me back to your wife, who sent me down here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the husband, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Oy vey! Get out! Out now! Out of my basement and my house! Never come back!"
"But, but, but," stammered the boy.
"But," replied the husband, "but, go across the street to the bartender, and he will explain everything to you at last. Your journey will be over."

Overjoyed, the boy ran up the stairs, out of the house, and - was hit by a truck.

The moral of this story is: look both ways before crossing the street.

The End

Firefox Trick: Rhapsody Player Sidebar

2008-02-07T16:50:00.000-05:00

Firefox is an awesome browser. In addition, Rhapsody is an awesome music service. So, using the two together makes perfect sense, right? I certainly think so, but the thing is, I don't really like how the Rhapsody playlist appears in its own little window - I would much rather have it open in the sidebar, so that it stays right with me in an easy to access spot as I browser Rhapsody and the rest of the web. Fortunately, not only is it possible to get the Rhapsody player to open in the Firefox sidebar, it's easy to do and doesn't require more than a minute to set up. (Read the full post for the instructions.)

All you need to do is set up a bookmark for the Rhapsody Player (not, mind you, for Rhapsody.com, but for the player itself):
1. Open your Bookmarks menu (or go to the Bookmarks toolbar), right click where you want your bookmark to appear, and select "New Bookmark" from the right-click menu.
2. Name the Bookmark something like "Rhapsody Player," and past "http://www.rhapsody.com/player" into the Location box.
3. Check the Load this bookmark in the sidebar box.
Done!

Using the bookmark is easy:
1. Go to Rhapsody.com and log in.
2. Open in Bookmark.
3. Start adding music.

Nothing more to it than that. Once you've logged in and opened your bookmarked player you're free to browse around Rhapsody or any other website all you want - the player will run nicely in the sidebar and keep you logged in and your music playing.

"White Tree" Blogger Classic Template

2007-12-06T02:18:00.000-05:00

I've been planning on creating a few Blogger templates for public release since sometime early thing year, but it took me until last night to actually get it together enough to finish one.

"White Tree" is a simple, clean, and flexible three-column liquid-layout template designed for use with Blogger (under the 'Classic' templates system). You can see it in action at Perpetual Templates, a blog I set up for the purpose of testing and displaying the template, and possibly future ones.

White Tree is heavily based on the template I'm currently using here on Perpetual Thursday (also created by me). Actually, as you can probably tell by looking at it, White Tree is almost a duplicate of Perpetual Thursday's theme - it's just white instead of black, has a tree instead of lightning, and doesn't display abbreviated posts on the main page.

However, this is enough to make it look very different from the template here, and it really did come out very well, if I do say so myself. I was tempted to use it here, actually, but I've kept this place pretty dark since it started, and really don't want to change it.

Anywho - you can download the code for White Tree as a text file at:
http://alternative-internet.com/webmasterstuff/sectionc/whitetreebloggerclassic.txt

The terms for using it can be found on deviantART:
http://hobbramble.deviantart.com/art/quot-White-Tree-quot-for-Blogger-71402052

I hope that somebody finds a use for it, as I'm very pleased with it and would hate to see it go to waste. I'm working on a version to use with the updated Blogger template system (as opposed to classic templates), and might try and get a Wordpress port together in the future - not sure yet.

Coming later this week: Why Harry Forbes Should Get Sacked. Stay tuned, and may all your Thursdays be Perpetual - esp. tomorrow, happy Saint Nicholas' Day!

How about "The Orange Oaf?"

2007-12-02T01:50:00.000-05:00

Well, once again I've managed to go for while without posting anything, and then suddenly come back with a complete overhaul of Perpetual Thursday's template. This time, however, I've finally got it to where I am truly, completely happy with it. It's big, it's flexible, it's clean, it's awesome. I'm very happy with it.

Now, I promised in my last post that I would have some witty commentary lined up for this post, and, as much as possible, I do not disappoint. So, without further ado, I want to talk about the Orange Order. More specifically, I want to talk about their new superhero: ORANGE MAN!

From the BBC:
"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's... well he doesn't have a name yet, but the Orange Order hopes to win a new generation of fans with their own superhero.

The origins of the Orange Order may date from the 17th century battle for supremacy between Protestantism and Catholicism, but they have high hopes for this 21st century makeover.

King William has been an Orange icon for more than 300 years, but it seems the curly wig and pointed hat combo were not doing it for the kids any more.

While the unnamed character still sports a sash, the traditional bowler hat has been replaced by a trendy purple cape."

Read the full article...

Now, originally I had simply intended to give some kind of witty commentary on the order (probably with some little jab like, "silly protestants, tricks are for kids"), but after giving it some thought, I realized that this pretty much speaks for itself. So, rather than come up with as many silly names for him as I could (the Orange Oaf was the only really good one I could come up with), I've decided to create a couple of helpers for Capitan Citrus: the Anglican Avengers!

The Rump Ranger

I was originally going to call this fellow "Gay Man," but that's a bit overdone, so I went with the Rump Ranger Instead. He's the teams fashion expert - designing the costumes and fixing the hairstyles.

He might also be the Tangerine Tomfool's domestic parter, but no one is sure. After all, we're not supposed to know their secret identities.

His theme song is a show tune. His special power is the "gay ray." Or perhaps the "gay-zer," whichever sounds more idiotic.

The Heritic

I went over a lot of different names for this fellow, and I'll admit that this wasn't my first choice. However, "Super Satan" sounded really, really bad. So I went with this one.

He's the reluctant, bad-guy helper. He seldom agrees with Power Pumpkin up there, and they often get into it with each other. However, in the end, the share the same common goal: leading souls away from the Catholic Church. So, when they need to, they can put aside their differences and work together.

His theme music is "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. His super power is his "magikal" bow, which which he shoots "atheist arrows."

Well, that's as far as I'm willing to take this joke - however, if you can come up with your own additions to the team (pictures not necessary if you don't want to do em'), please comment and let me know!

Hillary Clinton Hostage Situation

2007-11-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

I was in the middle of posting something else just a second ago, but I've got something far more interesting to post about right now, so I'll get back to it.

Right now, as I am writing this, there is a hostage situation at the Hillary Clinton campaign office in New Hampshire. According to WCB TV/DT Boston:

"A man claiming to have a bomb took two workers hostage Friday at a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign office in New Hampshire, police said.

The incident happened at about 1 p.m. Friday at 28 Main St. in Rochester. The man had what appeared to be a bomb strapped to himself inside the Democrat's office, according to Bill Shaheen, a top state campaign official."

At the moment, according to Fox News (yeah, I know), the police is talking to someone inside. If the reports are correct, "the assailant said he wanted to speak with Senator Clinton" (FoxNews.com). However, if the television report is to be believed, there is "zero chance" that the negotiator(s) will allow the 'assailant' (described by witnesses as a "man as in his 40s with salt-and-pepper hair" - WCB TV/DT) to speak with Hillary.

"Nearby businesses have been evacuated, and the St. Elizabeth Seaton School has been locked down. Several elementary and middle schools in the area also locked their doors in what officials called a 'soft lockdown.' Children at the McLelland School, Maple Street School and William Allen School were only being released directly to their parents... Clinton... is not in New Hampshire, was attending a National Democratic Committee meeting in Virginia, where she canceled her address because of the hostage situation." (Again from WCB TV/DT)

Now, Fox has said that their report that there were negotiations taking place are NOT confirmed, and that they are awaiting for more information.

The swat truck is currently moving, and Fox is saying that earlier five swat team members were seen, but police would not say whether or not they entered the building.

I'm obviously not the only guy blogging about this - Jenn of the Jungle is commenting on it over at Screw Liberals. And as I watch, more blogs and news agencies continue to pick up, with articles showing up at The Guardian, The Baltimore Swamp, The Huffington Post, Slacker at Work, WMUR 9 New Hampshire, MSNBC, Time, the BBC, the Palmetto Scoop, CNN, and the Mindful Mission, Crazy News, Losing the War on Humor, WGAL 8, The Age, globeandmall.com, KOCO 5 Oklahoma City, ABC News, the New York Times, A Rake's Progress (warning: moronic liberal), Sword at the Ready, Las Policitas, Daily Kos (nothing much yet, but expect liberal nonsence), Newsvine, Reuters, and Support Your Local Gunfighter. (List last updated at 5:45 p.m. GMT-5)

In addition, Fox now says that there is a possibility that there may only be one hostage or even no hostages left inside.

It's worth checking out WMUR 9, as in addition to their article, they have a live video feed. On their feed they are currently saying that the hostages are indeed out of the building, and Fox is now reporting the same.

According to the video feed from WMUR 9, the suspect is locally known in Rochester, and earlies told his son to "watch the news." And they are now saying there there IS still a possibility that there is one, or possibly more, hostage(s) inside.

WGAL 8 as recently uploaded a video of an interview with a witness, which you can see at: http://www.wgal.com/video/14739208/index.html

WMUR 9 has said they they saw a person they were told is a negotiator on a cell phone talking to someone. They say there were previously told that police were going to attempt to get a phone inside, but do not know whether or not it is inside.

In addition, they say that the suspect possibly has a mental illness, and is most likely in his 40s. There is also a rumour circling saying that he is possibly known to the Rochester police department. However, none of this has been confirmed.

In addition, someone on Craigslist is offering cash (supposedly 1000 U.S. Dollars) for video of the incident or interviews with witnesses.

Fox news now says that they have eyewitness reports claiming the suspect is a man named Troy Stanley. In addition, they are reporting the possiblity that the suspect does NOT have a bomb, but rather, road flares taped to his chest. None of this has yet been confirmed by authorities.

It's worth noting that several of the Fox News reporters have stopped saying "the suspect" or "the man," and rather referring to him as "Stanley," despite the fact that the suspect's identity had not yet been confirmed.

A recent comment on the post over at Screw Liberals describes Stanley as "a government conspiracy nut who claims the government has planted a bug in his head." This isn't confirmed yet either. *wink*

ABC News reports on their website that the suspect is "...a man described as a well-known local resident with a history of emotional problems who told his son to "watch the news today." He is said to be in his 40s with salt-and-pepper hair." This fits with what everyone else is reporting.

WMUR 9 reports police ARE indeed communicating with the suspect, who is still inside.

Both WMUR 9 and Fox News is currently awaiting a press conference from law enforcement officials, which they expect to happen soon. WMUR also says that they are no longer sure that the two hostages previously reported as released were, indeed, released. They do say that they are certain ONE hostage has been released, but they are unsure about the other two. Both Fox News and WCVB TV/DT still report that the two additional hostages were released.

WMUR just played some footage of a woman who works at a restaurant called "The Governor's Inn," who says the the suspect takes stepson came in for coffee and described the suspect as unemployed, possibly getting a divorce, and a heavy drinker. She said he did not give his name, but said he and his mother had been interviewed by police. None of what she said has been confirmed.

A U.S. News blog at ABC News currently reports that 3 hostages have been released - this is not confirmed (I am getting sick of saying that).

As I wait for the press conference to start, I'd like to post a little commentary on this issue. More specifically, on Rake Morgan's take: "a man described as 'mentally ill' has strapped on a bomb, walked into a Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, taken hostages, and is threatening to harm himself and everyone around him.

Earlier today we received the email copied below from one of Hillary’s foremost character assassins, a man who could also be called 'mentally ill,' Robert Morrow. Using the anti-abortion rant to incite others to commit violence is not unheard of. In this case, Morrow is claiming that Hillary wants to 'kill babies' because 'it’s God’s law.'

Put those thoughts into the head of another, armed mentally ill person and it would not surprise me if that’s what it took to cause today’s crisis in Rochester."

Ah yes, of course - Hillary's pals come out to say that this is all the pro-lifers' fault. What an absolute dumbass. I'll get into to that more later - the press conference has started.

The police conference is taking place right now (WMUR 9 and Fox News bothy have coverage). Rochester Police Capitan Paul Callahan will not confirm any names, the number of hostages, anything about the suspect, or the "road flare/bomb" rumour. In other words, he's saying pretty much nothing.

I don't have a problem with that at all. It's their choice. Still, not a very informative conference.

WMUR is reporting that area residents are not in danger.

Sorry about my sporadic updates and de-connected writing, but I'm trying to keep up as much as I can.

The Hillary campaign site as a little message up, which you can view at by clicking here.

I didn't mention it earlier, but both the nearby Barack Obama and John Edwards campaign offices have been evacuated as part of the "hostage crisis."

Good lord, have I really been blogging about Hillary Clinton for over an hour? Yikes.

According to Fox News the suspects ex-wife says that he is a "paranoid schizophrenic" and that he was not taking his medication. This has as of yet not been confirmed.

The suspect is NOT, as was previously said, Stanley. Though the suspect's identity has not yet been unconfirmed, Foster's Daily Democrat identifies him one Leeland Eisenburg - a 40 something man with a history of mental illness, and ex-wife who says he's a paranoid schizophrenic, and a step son who says his been drinking. In other words, nothing new, just a different name.
How to make yourself look like a complete dumbass part 2: Rake Morgan gave us one lesson, now it's time for another, courtesy from a comment on the ABC news article, posted by one eddix64: "Two words come to mind when I read stories like this: Gun Ban"

No one ever said the guy has a gun. In fact, a man interviewed by WMUR who says he has talked to one of the hostages inside via cell phone (he is a co-volunteer) claims that the girl he talked to said the suspect does NOT have a gun. Obviously, there is no way of confirming this, but there still isn't a reason to believe that the fellow inside has a gun.

Hillary's location has finally been released - she's at her home in Washington.
WMUR is not playing video of what seems to be images of the arrest of Leeland Eisenberg. He is handcuffed, has been searched, and is being loaded into a vehicle. Fox News is now also reporting that the suspect is most likely Leeland Eisenberg. According to WMUR, News Center 5 has reported to them that Mr. Eisenberg was scheduled to attend a court hearing for domestic violence at one o'clock today.

Before the suspect left the building, a young man believed to be a third hostage left the building and was escorted away by police.

UPDATE: In reference to the Leeland Eisenberg/Tony Stanley suspect bit earlier, Fox News now has this note: "A woman earlier told FOX News that the man's name was Troy Stanley and he was a paranoid schizophrenic who wasn't taking his medication. It was unclear whether Stanley and Eisenberg were one and the same, and police wouldn't confirm whether Stanley was the assailant, or an alias used by him."

WMUR, WCVB TV/DT, and Fox News now all refer to the suspect (now apprehended) as Eisenberg.

I'll have more to say later - for now, I'm going to go eat.

What I've Been Up To

2007-10-29T16:41:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've last blogged, and though I've meant to write something for a few weeks now, I just haven't been able to actually sit down and do it. Partly I've been busy, partly I've been lazy, partly I've just had no motivation... A whole lot of things can be blamed, I suppose, but it doesn't really make a difference. The point is, I haven't blogged much. But here I am, blogging again, and it's about time.

Last Thursday I flew back to Indiana to get my Eagle Scout Board of Review. Tons of paperwork, merit badges, rank advancement, and painting led up the that point, and at last it is all finished. The board passed me - I am, for all intensive purposes, and Eagle Scout.

Of course, I still have to have my Court of Honour ceremony to get the actually award, but the work part is finished. I plan to go back to Indiana for the CoH sometime around Easter 2008, if all goes well.

My first semester of courses at the community college is finally over - and I passed both of my classes. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to take for the second semester yet - possibly a web design/programming course. Dunno' yet. Highschool courses are going alright - Calculus is Hell, and Physics is Purgatory, but I mostly expected that. I'm a little behind in my calc work, but I should be able to catch up by Thanksgiving.

This November - which seems to be creeping up on me rather fast - I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The point is to write 50,000 words between November 1st and 30th - which shouldn't be too bad. I think. Anyway, I wrote a little bit more about it in This Blog is Not Pornography, if you're curious.

Also, since I last posted in here, I've started on my webcomic, 58 Carson Street - and I'm currently up to 10 comics (I'm doing roughly two a week - Tuesdays and Fridays). It's worth checking out if you think I'm funny. Actually, it's not too bad even if you don't think I'm funny.

That's really all I've got for the moment - just thought I'd post about my personal life. I haven't blogged in a while, and I haven't blogged about me for even longer.

Until next time, when I will undoubtedly post some kind of commentary on some kind of news, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

"In and out in 45 minutes."

2007-09-20T19:22:00.000-04:00

Father Peter Daly has one of those smiles that makes me want to punch him just to get him to stop smiling. I'm sure you know the kind of smile I'm talking about. (The guy who does the television advertisements for eHarmony.com has one too. I'm not really sure why, there is just something about the way he smiles that I absolutely cannot stand.)

Father Daly is a writer for the Catholic News Service. I've never really paid him much attention until just recently, when he decided to write a short column about the Tridentine Mass and the motu proprio.

As you may have guessed, it wasn't a very nice column... In fact, it painted a completely negative view of the both the Tridentine Mass and those who go to it. It also gives false impressions about the Mass and people's reasons for attending it.
Father Daly accomplishes all of this using his own research into the subject: "The parish just west of mine has been celebrating the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass for more than 15 years...Almost nobody comes."

Before going on, let me establish that his research ends conveniently with this one parish. This is a very popular method of supporting one's argument: 'Well, it's like that close to me, so it must be like that everywhere.'

Now that he has implied that almost nobody wants to go to the Latin Mass, he moves on to say who does want to go, and why: "Most of the people who come are elderly. They like this Mass because it is quiet and short."

Ah yes, quiet and short. Now, just in case you get the wrong idea here, he is implying that "quiet" is a bad thing. Silent meditation, reflection, and prayer apparently don't count for anything. Someone ought to tell the monks...

Now for one of my two favorite parts of his column: "My neighboring pastor is a bit exasperated by the whole thing. It means a lot of work for him. Under the old liturgy, the priest did just about everything...For my neighbor the extra liturgy means has had to move the alter for the Mass facing the people...Then he has to set out different books and change into different vestments. Most inconvenient of all, he has to prepare and preach a different homily."

Now, rather than point out that if we ditched the Novus Ordo, none of the above would really be problems, I'd like to focus on the words "most inconvenient of all." A very poor choice of words on Father Daly's part, even if the perfectly express what he's getting at here: the less work the priest has to do the better. We're happy to server God, provided it's not inconvenient.

Here's where it gets really good: that's EXACTLY the same argument he used against people who go to the Tridentine Mass! "Under the old liturgy, the priest did just about everything. The people who come to the Latin Mass like that part of the tradition just fine. They don't think they should have to do anything but show up."

There it is, in between complaining about how hard the Tridentine is for priests, he makes the utterly bogus statement that the reason lay people go to it is because they think the Novus Ordo is too hard. Brilliant.

As the column moves on, he continues this line of thought: "A few folks from my parish go over to my neighbor's parish for the Latin Mass...They don't like all the singing at my parish. They don't like shaking hands. They don't like Communion in both forms. They don't like having three readings. They tell me what they like most about the Latin Mass is that they can get in and out in less than 45 minutes."

"They don't like all the singing at my parish."
Two things to note: there is singing at the Tridentine Mass. Not always, but often. Almost every Latin Mass I've gone to has had at least two songs. Even when they don't, I don't see a problem with it. No singing is better than the Protestant hymns they are very likely hearing at your Novus Ordo.

"They don't like Communion in both forms."
First off, it's Holy Communion. Secondly, what's better: people kneeling down and taking the Holy Eucharist reverently on their tongue, or people sauntering up, taking the Holy Eucharist in their dirty hands, popping into their mouth and hopping over to drink His Most Precious Blood out of a cup full of germs from every other person at the church? It's not just about reverence, it's about the spread of germs too.

"They don't like having three readings."
Let me think... The Epistle, the Gospel, and the Last Gospel... One, two... Well, maybe I'm just an ignorant Traditionalist, but it certainly seems like that makes three readings to me.

"They can get in and out in less than 45 minutes."
This is true for your average Low Mass, but not a High Mass. A High Tridentine Mass can take up to 2 hours. But on the subject of the Low Mass - which is better, a 30-45 minute reverent celebration of the Mass, or a one hour long huggy handshake party?

Now Father Daly goes on to tell us more about those nasty, lazy Traditionalists: "For them, a good liturgy is also one where they don't have to speak to anyone or do anything. Their whole attitude says 'I want no commitment and I want no communication.'"

By the time I read this, I was already feeling sorry for Father Daly, and this only made me feel worse. It's like he's trying to make himself look like a complete ass. Cleaning alter linens (there are a lot more for a Tridentine Mass), cleaning the church, caring for all of the many sacred vestments and objects used, serving the Mass (High Masses can have 10 or more servers, easily) - not to mention church socials or stopping for a chat after mass (outside the church, of course). They is quite a bit of commitment necessary for a Tridentine Latin Mass.

To close his article, Father Daly says the following of the Latin Mass: "We can offer it. But almost nobody will come."

Ignoring both the old who come to the Mass they were raised with and the young families who come looking for a truly reverent Mass, Father Daly ends with what almost sounds like a vain hope that the Tridentine will fail.

Father Daly obviously doesn't like the Tridentine Mass, and even shows contempt for those who do. Maybe he hopes to show traditionalists the light with his article, so that they may come to the Novus Ordo he loves so much. If that is is goal, I can confidently say that "almost nobody will come."

However, I don't think that is his intention. I think, more than anything, he is simple trying to pacify his own fears that maybe, just maybe, somebody will come.

Ok, But We Get The Moon!

2007-08-02T15:47:00.001-04:00

Friends, family, fellow bloggers, readers, and whoever else bothers reading Perpetual Thursday: I'm back. I'm settled in the new house, my schedule is somewhat regulated again (ok, once I get a job again, that's going to go haywire, but for the moment anyway, I'm good), I've got internet access, and I'm ready to start posting.

Well, they've done it again - the Russians have done something really, really cool, and as usual, everyone else (esp. the U.S. and Canada) are green with envy. This time, instead of going up, they went down - to the tune of 4,261 meters below the North Pole. From the BBC:

"Russian explorers have planted their country's flag on the seabed 4,200m (14,000ft) below the North Pole to further Moscow's claims to the Arctic.

The rust-proof titanium metal flag was brought by explorers traveling in two mini-submarines, in what is believed to be the first expedition of its kind.

Both vessels have now rejoined the expedition's ships, completing their risky return journey to the surface. "

Read the full BBC article...

Now, if you ask me, that is just plain awesome. But apparently not everyone thinks so:

"Canada, which also claims territory in the Arctic, has criticized the mission. 'This isn't the 15th Century,' Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay told the CTV channel. 'You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say "We're claiming this territory",' he said. "

As always, the minute something neat happens, someone has to make a fuss over it. Can't anybody appreciate, even for a moment, the achievement made?

"'This may sound grandiloquent but for me this is like placing a flag on the moon, this is really a massive scientific achievement,' Sergei Balyasnikov, spokesman for Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Institute, told Reuters...

...Soviet and U.S. nuclear submarines have often traveled under the polar icecap, but until Thursday none had reached the seabed under the pole."

Read the full Reuters article...

To me, that's enough - something amazing's been done, and I'm happy enough to just be impressed by it.

Ok, so maybe I'm a bit jealous too. So much for my country of Patazstan flag.

Well, that about wraps it up for the moment. For those of you looking for something to read between my amazing posts here (I'm assuming that you are hanging on my every word, right?), I'd recommend my little brother's blog: Bling's Blog. It's an amazing combination of spelling errors, odd grammar, bizarre subjects, and more - don't miss it: http://blingsgotblog.blogspot.com/

Also, don't forget to check out the Alternative-Internet.com team blog, This Blog is Not Pornography, at:
http://www.alternative-internet.com/blog/
There you can find out about my various Alternative-Internet.com projects (including my upcoming webcomic and my latest stories), as well as check out my weekly feature: Paddy's Pic of the Week.

Before I close, I'd like to mention that I'm going to start using labels for my posts. At first, this won't affect anything, but eventually I'll add a list a labels to the sidebar so you can just directly to posts concerning the topics that matter to you: religion, politics, philosophy, news, humour, Blogs of Note, and so on. Keep an eye out.

I should be posting again later this week, so until then, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

Where Have I Been?

2007-07-08T13:53:00.000-04:00

It has been a very long time since I last posted in here (and I have yet to post my "really good post"). There is a good reason though: I've been really, really, really busy. In addition to being gone at Boy Scout camp all last week, I've spent all my time either working on Alternative-Internet.com or getting ready to move.

The good news... Well, not exactly good, but the news is that we're moving this Wednesday, so soon the major headache will be at least partly over. Yay.

Once we're all settled, I'll be posting again.

I mean it this time.

After all, I've got a lost to say.

Until then, thanks for reading, just hang tight for a little longer.

BoN: May 2007

2007-05-26T14:42:00.001-04:00

Well, I didn't get to my "really great" post this week... Watch for it Sunday thru Tuesday though, I'll get to it.

Anyway, kicking off my May 2007 roundup of blogs of note is one of the most interesting blogs I've ever read: A Capite Ad Calcem. Now, I wouldn't recommend it to those looking for a quick read, because Anthony's posts seem to often be essays on various topics. Almost like reading the Article of the Day from the Wikipedia. Topics range from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, to Muzzle-loading, to Alcohol, to Bees. Not all posts are full fledged essays, though. Some are short blurbs, images, videos, or comments on various subjects (such as Traditionalist vehicles). All in all, A Capite Ad Calcem stands out of the blogging crowd as incredibly different from anything else I've seen.

I have a confession to make: I'm a gamer. Doom, Wolfenstein 3D (and pre-3D, for that matter), Commander Keen, Mario, Zelda, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Age of Empires, Halo - been there, done that, played em'. Hence my second blog this month: Destructoid. In my humble opinion, Destructoid is one of the best video game blogs and gaming news sources on the web. It's funny, hardcore, and basically totally awesome in every regard. From gaming news, to reviews, to fake games, to who knows what else, they have it, and then some. Go there. Now.

Lastly, I'd like to took my own horn (as well as the respective horns of the staff at Alternative-Internet.com), with my final Blog of Note: This blog is not pornography. As its name would suggest, the official Alternative-Internet.com team blog is NOT pornography. In fact, I'm not really sure what it is, or what it shall be. But you should go there. It gives a fairly accurate look at what my projects at AI are.

Anywho, that's all for this edition of Blogs of Note. Until my next post, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

P.S. Anyone notice? I'm not an insignificant microbe in the TTLB Ecosystem anymore. I'm a multi-cellular microorganism. Rock on. Too bad I may have to leave the ecosystem... More on THAT later...

Prom Night

2007-05-21T22:45:00.001-04:00

I've got a really nice post in the works, as well as a new BoN, both slated to appear later this week. For now, let's talk about me.

Last Saturday night I want to a homeschoolers prom. First, myself and five others had dinner at my house, prepared by my wonderful mother. Then, we went off the the prom. The prom started at 7:00 (we arrived at about 8:00) and lasted until 12:00 midnight (we, along with almost everyone else, left at about 1:00). Three of us (from the peeps who had dinner), along with some others, went out to Stake n' Shake afterwards, than left for home at around 2:00 - 2:30. I got home at around 3:00. I think I got food poisoning, though, because I couldn't get to sleep thanks to a painful stomach cramp and case of diarrhea. I got to sleep (at last) at 11:00 Sunday morning (I was too sick to go to church, or to do anything else for the rest of the day).

Other than being sick after, though, I had a blast! They played some pretty good music, and I danced on and off, and chatted with a bunch of people, and tried to burn down the building, and generally had a good time. Mike Little and I danced Blues Brothers style to Shout, and got a pretty good crown watching. Alex Kesckes came up with a crazy little dance the involved arm-rolls and playing paper-scissors rock with only draws. I myself managed to jump higher than I've ever jumped in a suit before. I even danced a couple of slow songs. Some people (not me) took pictures, and I'll post them if I can get my hands on any.

Now for some things not about me:

The internet seems to be an immense repository for junk and useless content. However, Kevan Davis, creator of the fantastic MMORPG Urban Dead, has created the single most useful thing on the internet: A Single Random Scrabble Tile. Just refresh the page and get a new tile. Wow.

Also, a quick hat tip is in order to Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor who, in his on his "Updates from Trent" page of the NIN website, said the following:

"As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more...

...Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music...

...when I asked a label rep about this his response was: 'It's because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out - you know, true fans. It's the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.'
So... I guess as a reward for being a "true fan" you get ripped off."

Ya' hit the nail right on the head.

Oh... That pun wasn't intended.

It was really bad too.

Anyway, thanks to AfterDawn.com for the NIN link, and I'll have two more posts this week, as noted at the start of this one. Until then, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

Get em' while they're young!

2007-05-03T17:08:00.001-04:00

Go get a bucket. Hell, get a bleeding dump truck. You'll need it.

Recently a website called MassResistance posted two clips (totaling almost 16 minutes) from a video produced by Women's Educational Media called It's Elementary. The clips can be found at:
http://www.massresistance.org/media/video/brainwashing.html
I would heavily recommend watching both of them. I realize that it may take a good while to download, but you should still watch both clips, all the way though. There are also four small clips (one of them, titled "Stomach," is included one of the two bigger clips) that can be viewed on the video's official website:
http://www.womedia.org/itselementary.htm, I'd take a moment to see them as well.

According to Women's Educational Media, It's Elementary is a "documentary for educators that shows how acknowledging gay and lesbian people in schools prevents prejudice and violence." More correctly, it's a documentary that shows a) how to brainwash children, and b) how easily children become pawns.

Children are easily swayed by what they are told, and, when subjected to biased information (in the case of It's Elementary, homosexual propaganda) how they are quick to accept, and furthermore defend, what they are told.

Generally speaking, kids cannot be expected to know more than they are told. They take the information given to them and accept it. You can't expect a child to research an issue.

You can tell a child that the moon is made of cheese, and they are likely to belie it. Certainly, they will later come to realize that this is not true, but at first, having no reason to belie otherwise, they will take what is told to them at face value. It must be true, because it is what they are told.

As children grow up, they continue to absorb more information, they begin to research for themselves, they begin to learn more and more. However, what they are told when they are children remains, and continues to influence their line of thought.

If, as they grow, they are continually subjected to more and more biased information on an issue, then they will only become more firmly rooted in their faith in it. Like unto clay, children as molded with ease, but as they clay hardens, it becomes harder to change it's form.

To shape a future, you shape children. To save a future, you must shape children to uphold good, steadfast morals.

Parents, grandparents, older brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, godparents, priests, teachers: you hold the clay, how will you form it?

(Thanks to The Evil Traditionalist for the link.)

Countries & Presidents

2007-05-03T00:00:00.001-04:00

Recently the news seems to be brimming with reports of presidents making stands for what they believe is right. Just a few to note:

- President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador recently made the following comment: “We are an army of defenders of our Christian faith, we are an army opposed to abortion.”
(Lifesitenews.com, SAN SALVADOR, May 2, 2007)

- President Giorgio Napolitano wrote that "...Italy will not leave Archbishop Bagnasco alone..." in reference to threats made against the Archbishop for his opposition to homosexuality.
(Lifesitenews.com, ROME, May 1, 2007)

- President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic came out against the "religion" of Environmentalism saying it is: "a way of introducing new forms of statism, new forms of masterminding human society from above."
(Lifesitenews.com, LONDON, March 12, 2007)

- President Lech Kaczynski of Poland has come out against homosexuality many times, from his banning of a "gay" pride march, to his statement regarding homosexuality: “If that kind of approach to sexual life were to be promoted on a grand scale, the human race would disappear.”
(Lifesitenews.com, DUBLIN, February 21, 2007)
(Lifesitenews.com, BERLIN, Germany, March 10, 2006)
(Lifesitenews.com, BRUSSELS, October 26, 2005)

- President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia vetoed a bill of EU demands to put "sexual orientation" into anti-discrimination and employment laws. The Latvian Parliament also refused the demands (previous to the veto).
(Lifesitenews.com, LATVIA, June 22, 2006)
(Lifesitenews.com, LATVIA, June 16, 2006)

- President Enrique Bolanos of Nicaragua signed a bill eliminating the "therapeutic abortion" exception in their code, hence, banning all abortion (including in cases of rape and even if doctors certify a risk to 'life or health'). The bill was signed after passing the National Assembly with a vote of 52 in favor, 9 abstentions, and 0 against. You read it right: all abortion banned. ZERO against.
(Lifesitenews.com, MANAGUA, November 20, 2006)

Note that though all of the links I gave were to LifeSiteNews coverage, there has been coverage by other news agencies that you can easily find with about ten minutes of Google searching.

Pretty amazing stuff, though, isn't it? So, now that we've seen other countries' presidents make their stands, let's see what a couple of other presidents are doing:

- President Michelle Bachelet of Chile signed a decree authorizing the distribution of "morning-after" pills to girls 14 and up without parental consent.
(Lifesitenews.com, SANTIAGO, Chile, January 31, 2007)

- President George Walker Bush of the United States of America said at a press conference that he supported the decision of FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to allow the Plan B over-the-counter early abortion pill to be sold to women over 18 without a prescription. He also said: "I believe that Plan B ought to be -- ought to require a prescription for minors, is what I believe."
(Lifesitenews.com, WASHINGTON, August 21, 2006)

Originally, I put the following at the begriming of the post, but after some thought, I moved it to the end. Better to prove my point, then make it, in this case:

"I am consistently amused by people who call the United States of America "God's Country." I'm not sure we're the worst country on the chart, but I wouldn't call us God's Country. Not by a long shot."

Rock On, Your Eminence!

2007-05-02T00:22:00.001-04:00

"Archbishop Bagnasco... ...issued a strongly-worded condemnation of the proposal to give legal rights to unmarried couples, including homosexual couples, comparing such measures to also giving rights to other sexually radical behaviours such as incest and pedophilia. 'Why not say no to various forms of living together, to the creating of alternative forms of the family?,' asked the Archbishop. 'Why not say no to the incest of a brother and a sister who live together and have children in Great Britain? Why not say no to the party of pederasts in Holland?'"
Read the full article at LifeSiteNews.com.

Since making this statement (as mentioned in the article), Archbishop Bagnasco, head of the Italian Bishops Conference, has been the target of plenty of abuse: threatening graffiti was spray-painted on his cathedral, as well as other buildings; he received a picture of himself in the mail accompanied by a bullet; pornographic images of the Blessed Virgin Mary were left in pamphlets in his cathedral at the end of the Easter Vigil Mass.

But his Eminence is not alone - the Pope telephoned the Archbishop to urge him not to give in, and the Vatican Secretary of State sent a telegram signed in the name of the Pope urging him to "continue in his work for the common good, defending and promoting those human and religious values..."

In addition to this, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano wrote to the Vatican Secretary of State saying, "I wish to assure you that Italy will not leave Archbishop Bagnasco alone to face the present threats."

Let's hope not.

Better watch out, though, if President Napolitano gets too supportive, he could end up a "Homophobe," like a certain other President.

Let's hope so.

Somebody's got to make a stand, and it shure are hell ain't gonna be Spain, or Denmark, or Canada, or Belgium, or South Africa, or the US, or any number of other places.

Hot Fuzz

2007-04-26T23:48:00.001-04:00

I recently reviewed the film Hot Fuzz on a message forum I visit, and intead of writing a whole seperate review for my blog, I'm just re-posting the one from there... Here goes:

I first saw Shaun of the Dead about a year ago, and thought
(and still think) it was one of the best comedy's ever. Simon
Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright instantly went on my
favorite comedians list.

Hot Fuzz was even better. I went this afternoon with a few friends
(I went dressed up as Shaun from Shuan of the Dead... My
friends did NOT dress up, though they said they would, so I looked
rather silly), and had one of the best times I'd ever had at a movie.
Hot Fuzz had everything I was hoping for: explosions, quips about
other "serious" cop movies (i.e. Bad Boys II), explosions, crazy
villagers, explosions, and of course, explosions.

Actually, there really were not all that many explosions until the
end of the film. Hot Fuzz tells the tale of sergeant Nicolas Angel,
London's best cop and most important member of the force, who
is transferred because he is so good, he makes all the other cops
look useless, and they are afraid they might loose their jobs.

Angel (Pegg), is transferred to the quaint city of Sandford, the
"Best City in the Country." He quickly learns that his job is going
to be worse than he expected when he is paired with the police
chief's son (Frost), who he first meets coming out of a pub, drunk,
and trying to drive home.

A series of brutal "accidents" follow all over town, which Angel
suspects are murder. A shifty, violence-obsessed local supermarket
owner is his suspect, but the police force, none of whom have
ever done any "real" work, think he is crazy.

The entire town, esp. the police force, is filled with a fantastic array
of strange and kooky characters who add to the often oddball humour
of this wonderful flick.

Some of the murders themselves are violent, as they happen in
over-the-top, grisly ways. (Example: the pointy tip off a church
steeple falls on a man's head, smashing his head into his neck.
His body stumbles about for a second, then falls down and lands
with a spray of blood.)

The action scenes also, are extremely over-the-top, with tons of
guns, and as I believe I mentioned, explosions.

A great perk about this movie, is that though it parody's overdone
cop films that take themselves seriously, in it's own way, it is one,
and one that's even better than the "serious" ones.

9.6 stars - out of 10.

There you have it. In short, go see Hot Fuzz. More soon, I'm going to start blogging again, I've just been a bit busy over the past few weeks. This weekend I will be at a scouting camporee, but I may get a chance to post Sunday, otherwise, sometime next week.

Feminism v.s. Femi-nazi-isim

2007-03-21T14:54:00.001-04:00

I'm about to say something that, at first, might scare some of you. Ready? Here goes: Feminism is a good thing.

No, really - I'm serious. Feminism can be a good thing. That brings me to the title of this post: Feminism v.s. Femi-nazi-isim. Femi-nazi-isim is a bad thing, obviously, but what is it? In its essence, femi-nazi-isim is today's feminism.

Femi-nazi-isim is best expressed using a real-life example, such as, say, Linda Hirshman:

"NEW YORK, June 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Linda Hirshman, a feminist US writer on cultural issues, has told the world why she thinks staying at home with the children is an occupation 'not worthy of the full time and talents of intelligent and educated human beings.' She complains at length that the feminist movement, while making some gains in public life through legal activism, has largely failed in the one area where it counts most: the family.

She upbraids women who stay at home for failing the feminist agenda, saying, 'They do not require a great intellect, they are not honored and they do not involve risks and the rewards that risk brings.'"

Read the full article...

Ann Coulter put it very well when she said, “Hirshman isn't just expressing an opinion about what she thinks is best, she is saying that any woman who makes a choice different from what she espouses is unequivocally ‘wrong.’”

That's femi-nazi-isim. It isn't about giving power to women - in a way, it's about forcing power upon them - like it or not.

If a women wants to be a stay at home mother, she must be anti-femi-nazi - a traitor to women everywhere. How horrible of her to stay at home and care for her family.

In an article in the National Post, author Caitlin Flanagan said: "If you love your work and you love your child and you decide to give your child less of you to go to work, you missed something big and important and so did your child."

Flanagan is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of To Hell with All That: Fearing and Loathing Our Inner Housewife.

In her book, she points out that: "When a mother works, something is lost."

Of course, if femi-nazi-isim was about helping women, staying home would be her choice - and good for her if she makes it. But it isn't about helping - it's about 'empowering', which in the strange language of the femi-nazi's means 'getting careers and ditching family life, no ifs, ands, or buts.'

So what is feminism - what is the "good thing" I said it can be? Well, let's look at Eva Herman - a leading German TV moderator and anchorwoman:

"BERLIN, Germany, March 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)...

Eva Herman published her account of the fatal flaws in a career-oriented lifestyle in a bestselling book entitled 'The Eva-Principle: Towards a New Femininity', released last year...

In The Eva-Principle, Herman tore open the issue of abortion as a violation of the woman, blaming pro-abortion laws for minimizing the trauma of abortion as nothing worse than going to the dentist.

Her book was founded on a rejection of the feminist goals of emancipation, career success and self-fulfillment, replacing them instead with the 'radical' goals of motherhood, home-maker and marriage-partner.

'Let's just say it loud,' Herman wrote. 'We women have overburdened ourselves -- we allowed ourselves to be too easily seduced by career opportunities.'"

Read the full article...

Eva Herman has, of course, outraged femi-nazis with her book (and it's sequel, Dear Eva Herman, a collection of responses from women who were relived to admit that professional success didn't make up for the loss of family life), which, as it's title says, leads towards a "New Feminity." That would be good feminism.

Feminism fights thing that hurt women, like pornography and prostitution. Doesn't the destruction of family hurt women too?

Femi-nazi-isim fights the family, and thus, in essence, fights women. Herman knows that. Flanagan knows that. Coulter knows that.

If only everyone else would figure it out.

Southern Rock & Simple Things

2007-03-09T21:50:00.001-05:00

As I sit here before my keyboard, ready to post about the dismal news articles that continue to make the headlines in our screwed up world, I suddenly realize that I am in rather good mood about things.

Dad's just come home from Connecticut, I've has a pretty darn good day at work, I've got a nice glass of tea next to me, I'm expecting a phone call this evening, and I've got some great Southern Rock playing in the background (Marshall Tucker, Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Allman Brothers).

To be honest, I'm sure I'll manage to become a dismal, depressed lump again soon, but until then, I'm good.

So now for the question of the day: how in Hell does Mahoney (or for that matter, many other people, such as "Father" Fred Bailey) continue to get away with the stuff he's pulling? Commenting on his latest bash myself is almost redundant, as you can find coverage of the the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress (also known as MahoneyFest and BaloneyFest) all over:

What "Religious Educators" REALLY Learn in L.A. - Catholic Cavemen
BaloneyFest 2007 - V! For Victory
More on Mahoney's RE Congress - The Cafeteria is Closed
Comming to L.A. Tomorow... - Christus Vincit
Another Festival of Dissent - RomanCatholicBlog.com
LifeSiteNews.com Coverage
(Thanks to Christus Vincit's post for three of the other links.)

So back to my question: why hasn't Mahoney been removed from his position. Heck, why hasn't he been excommunicated?

Great state of things we're in.

To end this post on a happier note, and a much sillier note, here is a little video on YouTube featuring one of my favorite musicians, Moby, in his REALLY early days - via Moby's journal, Schaumgummi.

Bloggers' Block

2007-02-22T22:11:00.001-05:00

It has been quite a while since my last post, a month to the day, and I'm both sorry and annoyed by that. I've been meaning to blog, I just haven't. I've jumped from being uninspired, to being inspired but without the time, to being too busy, to being too lazy, and so on. Anyway, here I am blogging again, and happy about it.

The weather around here has been completely off-the-wall lately. First it was a warm winter, then all of the sudden it froze for a bit, replete with deep snow and freezing rain, and now its warm again. Less than a week ago there was ice frozen to the trees, and yesterday I want to work (outside) in a sweatshirt and snowpants and was comfortably warm until about an hour after sunset, and even then a jacket over my sweatshirt sufficed. Emily has some great pictures of the freezing rain's effect on the area at the Hazel Page, so go check them out.

Tom Crusie and Katie Holmes' wedding is old news, but recently I came across an article about it that shocked me:

"Everyone expected Andrea Bocelli to serenade pal Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on their wedding. However when he didn't, it left a lot of people wondering why. Now, the Opera superstar has revealed that Scientology was the reason why he skipped the couple's nuptials...

...'I was not present at the (Scientology) ceremony because I'm Catholic. I didn't think it was respectful for my religion to be there,' Contactmusic quoted Bocelli, as telling the US edition of OK! magazine."
Read the full article at DailyIndia.com.

Good for you Mr. Bocelli. There's something most Catholics can learn from you, other than just Opera.

I mean, really, how many Catholics today would skip a friend's wedding if the friend in question was not Catholic? Be completely honest: not many.

To wrap up this post, I'd like to link to a very short (two paragraph) post at Fidelity to the Word, entitled Human-hide wallets and cannibalized embryos. It's a bit morbid, but the point comes across clear, correct, and hard-hitting.

I'll be posting more regularly again, so expect another post sometime between now and Monday. I've a lot more to catch up on.

Journalistic Malpractice

2007-01-22T20:00:00.001-05:00

"NEW YORK, January 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New York Times has once again published another 'hit piece' on the institution of marriage, alleging that for 'the first time more American women are living without a husband than with one'. However, US census data for 2005 shows that the January 16th front-page story in the New York Times is just another disturbing showcase of the Times’ tolerance for 'journalistic malpractice'."

There is an expression, which I'm sure you've heard, that says to 'take everything with a grain of salt'. In other words, don't just go believing everything you hear (or read, or see, or whatever). What's sad is not a lot of people do it. "The New York Times is a huge, reputable paper, so it couldn't lie to me, right?"

Recently I've started writing again, and I've just got the first part of my current project, The Wrong Turns, typed-up and online. You can check it out at: http://www.alternative-internet.com/reading/patrickjsimmons/2007/wrongturnsintro.php

I'm also writing a short story about one of my co-workers, Paul. It is barely started, as I'm working to finish the Wrong Turns before I get on it, but it's going to be in the general style of Styrofoam Dreams.

It feels good to be writing again, not that blogging doesn't count, but writing stories is a bit different. Because of school and working a lot, I've been half too busy and half just not interested in writing for a while, but I've got my spark back and am pretty happy about it.

To wrap up this post, I want to recommend a really nifty video over at Weebls Stuff called Patrick Moore. The animation is neat, but where it really shines is the music.

Anyway, I'll be back later this week with more, providing I find something interesting to post about.

Overdue Book, Sir?

2007-01-07T23:08:00.001-05:00

I have in my possesion a library book. I didn't check it out, and I'm not completely sure who did, but I have it. I probably should return it, but it's over 30 years overdue, and the overdue fees would be more than the book is worth, so I haven't.

I guess I'm just not as honest as Robert Nuranen, who just returned a book due on June 2nd, 1960, and paid all $171.32 of the overdue fees: "I figured I'd better get it in before we waited another 10 years," he said after turning it in Friday with the $171.32 check. "Fifty-seven years would be embarrassing."

Read the full blurb at CNN news.

Robert, I take my hat off to you.

And now your local forecast...

2007-01-03T22:37:00.001-05:00

Depending on where you live, the you may or may not have warm, sunny summers and snowy winters. You could have warm winters or snowy summers, depending on your relative location to the equator, among other things. However, in the beautiful state Indiana, summers are generally warm and winters generally cold. By cold I mean, cold enough for snow. Snow is a good thing. Not only is it very pretty, but it allows for many winter activities, such as building snowmen, having snowball fights, sledding, skiing, and snow tubing.

This winter is my third working at Perfect North Slopes. I don't work in the skiing area (though I do ski); I work in the snow tubing area. (Snow tubing is like sledding, just in an inner tube - the tubes at Perfect's have hard, plastic bottoms and felt covers on top for added comfort and speed, as well as a smother ride.) Thing thing is, though, for skiing, or snow tubing, or even snow boarding, you generally need snow. Now Perfect's has a system to blow man-made snow onto the hills, but it still needs to be cold enough for the snow not to melt (in effect, blowing water onto the hills).

This winter, though, has been unseasonably warm. We've had afternoon's in the mid-50's (Fahrenheit, about 12 degrees Celsius). It is completely insane. Here is a current weather report for Lawrenceburg, Indiana, home of Perfect North:

Note: This is a constantly updating weather report, so it could be colder (and I hope it is) sooner. When I posted this, though, it was 43 degrees Fahrenheit (7 Celsius).

Fortunately, Perfect's seems to be holding on. Which means that I've worked 9-to-5 shifts three days last week, 9-to-4 shifts every day the week before and yesterday, and will hopefully work then tomorrow and Friday (today I was feeling sick), as well as a 4:30 to 1:00 night shift Saturday, provided the weather holds.

Now for the joke: at the Tubing Park there is a big clock that displays the current time and temperature. However, the attached thermometer has been getting some rather odd readings, as it is apparently not set up correctly. By 'odd' I mean 'slightly high'. By 'slightly' I mean 'very'. True, it is rather warm for this time of year, but 530 degrees Fahrenheit?

And now, the punch line: Maybe there really is global warming!

Now is an appropriate time to laugh.

Well, I know it was long and kind of pointless, but there it is, the state of my working life and the weather round' here. Until my next post, in which I will probably have something much more interesting to say, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.