Wednesday, September 27, 2006

the written truth

First, ABC tried to rewrite history and the 9/11 Commission report by changing facts in their tv movie The Path to 9/11. Now, the Republicans are trying to blame Clinton for not doing anything to stop 9/11. Come on, already!!! Clinton did try to catch Osama Bin Laden and even dropped bombs hoping to get him. I'm sick of the current administration and their use of fear and panic. Now Condi Rice is saying that the President did try to stop 9/11 in his first 8 months of office. Well, instead of saying he did something, let's hear what he did Condi. There's plenty of blame to go around for both administrations. And if I see one more speech of Bush and his smarmy smirk I think I'll toss my cookies.

paul

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

miracles

Many of you may have heard about race car driver Katherine Legge who was injured this past Sunday while racing in Wisconsin. She crashed on "the kink", the high speed corner on the back part of the track which spans 4 miles. A rookie from England, Legge, who was going almost 200 miles an hour, flipped over several times when the rear wing of the car came off. She emerged with only bruises and scrapes. If you've seen the footage, it's truly amazing that she walked away from the accident. That would be what I consider a miracle. How she wasn't hurt or killed is beyond me.

Be safe!

paul

Sunday, September 24, 2006

new bird


Ramana Athreya, an amateur bird watcher, discovered something new; twice. Back in 1995 he saw a bird (now classified as a new species called Bugun liocichla) while in India and didn't see it again until earlier this year. The bird, a babbler, lives in tropical forests. Athreya went to the sanctuary where the bird was found and he and some colleagues netted a specimen and were able to get proof of the species. Don't worry, animal lovers, the specimen was not harmed and was set free again. It's 8 inches with and olive- gray body, orange- yellow markings on the eyes, black cap (or head), and patches of white, yellow, and red on its wings. It's named after the Bugun natives that live on the edge of the sanctuary in India.

peace,

paul

Saturday, September 23, 2006

quote of the week

A comment by George Bush to NBC reporter David Gregory (after Gregory "fought" with a microphone): "I must say, having gone through those gyrations, you're looking beautiful today, Dave." Gregory no doubt blushed and got weak in the knees at the comment and later the two were seen getting awfully close behind a tree on the White House lawn. I made that last part up, of course, but really, George, does Laura know?

And speaking of Bush, how thick headed and dumb can he get? He can't decipher the Geneva Convention treaty on his own? Let's hope that he doesn't take America down one more shameful and infamous road. Hasn't he caused enough trouble?

paul

movie minute

"I'm a bride's best friend." (pause) "I'm not gay." That's how the new movie Confetti starts out. Three couples enter a contest put on by a magazine to win a dream house. The catch: They have to have the most original wedding. The film, clearly borrowing from the Christopher Guest films, follows three couples: Naturists, not nudists, overbearing tennis players, and movie musical duo. The film shows how each couple deals with the contest and the big day as it nears. Also thrown into the mix are the fabulous wedding planners, the magazine editor and owner and the families of the couples. The movie has a number of truly funny moments but for the most part it lacks the sharpness and peppiness of a Guest film. The film has a finale that pays off but was a little too neat in the wrap up. The standouts in this film are Martin Freeman (excellent as Tim in the British version of The Office) as fiancee Matt and Jason Watkins as Gregory, the queenie wedding planner. It's certainly enjoyable and a good way to whet the appetite for the Christopher Guest film coming out in a couple of months. One small warning: If you are turned off by full frontal nudity, male or female, this film has both. It's only shocking in the sense that it's a semi-mainline film. It's distributed by Fox Searchlight, the independent arm of 20th Century Fox. It's nudity that is not gratuitous but something that would probably never be seen in a mainstream film.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 3.3

Friday, September 22, 2006

papal points

Much has been said over comments made by Pope Benedict XVI during a speech in Germany. The Pope quoted Manuel II by saying, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." The Pope's aim was to condemn the use of violence under the umbrella of religion, however, he really botched the job. The Pope may be a lot of things but unintelligent is not one of them. I have a hard time believing he didn't know that his comments would incite the furor we have seen. Or, maybe like Richard Armitage (the real cause of PlameGate), he's just truly innocent and didn't know better and made those comments. Armitage (a big ole gossip queen) inadvertently mentioned Valerie Plame's name and in the process outed her as a CIA agent. While the Pope hasn't outed anyone, yet anyway, he has caused some major outrage in the Muslim world. Yes, he's apologized but next time maybe he'll rethink his words and do a little editing before he opens his mouth.

peace,

paul

word of the week

Parental Alienation-A disturbing trend has been creeping into fractured families. Some spouses who are abused and seeking full custody of their children are losing that fight to the abusive spouse because of parental alienation. Some judges are hearing arguments and finding in favor of the abusive spouse. How can this be? There are several reasons: A spouse who is seeking custody of children because of an abusive spouse is rigid when it comes to visitation or custody and the abusive spouse is seen as willing to share custody. Another reason is the fact that most cases of abuse go unreported and when the custody stage comes around, there is no record of past abuses and some judges would throw that out anyway saying that such information is not relevant to custody (yeah, whatever!). The thinking of some judges is that some spouses are tainting the abusive spouse in the eyes of the child; alienating the spouse so that the child will see the spouse in a negative light. I remember growing up, after my parents divorced, that my mom would often bad mouth my dad and make me feel as guilty as possible for wanting to see him.

Some states are fighting back against parental alienation by impeding its use. In Massachusetts in 2004, a staggering 54% of custody cases had the use of parental alienation and the abusive spouse got custody. This isn't really a new thing, however, it first appeared in the 80's with fathers' rights groups. Personally, I can't see how any judge can look at a history of abuse and side with the abuser. At the same time, spouses who are abused need to realize that abuse is not love and teach the abusive spouse a lesson by filing those charges; making the abuse known and getting out of the situation. Not just for their sake but for the sake of the child as well.

peace,

paul

Sunday, September 10, 2006



Another outside view

An outside view

Our temporary sign.


Some pics of the church with furniture. There is really more room than what appears in the picture.


A pic of Jim's office in the new church


A view of a mushroom we have in our front yard.


A bird's eye view of a mushroom growing in front of our house.

weekly post from September 9, 2006

Mea culpa. I didn't write last week because I was a lazy slug!!!

Hello my friends & loved ones,

Another week has gone by and the weekend is full upon us. Today we moved into our new church and it is totally fab! There is so much room and storage space (even more than I remember when I originally toured it). Many people from the church met and hauled the stuff in and then set about getting things set. I worked last night (so I can have Sunday night off) till 6:20 this morning and was at the church by 8:15 and after showing off my man muscles (haha) I left around noon. I proceeded to crash when I got home around 1:30 and slept until almost 6. Jim got home a little later than me. Tomorrow is the first Sunday we'll be worshipping in the church and it's so exciting. It's the first time in the history of our church that we've been in an actual church building; it only took 25 years. Better late than never!!! Now we are just lazing around watching the telly. Which brings me to the title of this week's email.

The title does not suggest that I've become a transvestite drug addict. It refers to the start of the tv season and the admission that I really like tv. Jim likes tv too but he isn't as addicted or neurotic about it as I am. Jim addicted and neurotic (that's a laugh and a half). When I watch a show I do watch every week. If I do miss a week, my mood becomes black and dour (I am part Scottish, after all). It's not really that bad but I do get a bit upset. Tv could be described as a bit of an addiction. No, I wouldn't really go that far but as I said earlier, I really like tv. Besides there are worse things I could be "addicted" to. It's cool because there are shows that only I like to watch, shows that only Jim likes and then shows that both of us like watching together. And Jim has been on an ABC Family kick lately picking up 3 shows from that channel (Seventh Heaven, Kyle XY, and Three Moons Over Milford. Seventh Heaven is the only one I find mildly entertaining. Actually the more I watch it the more I get into it.) I think this year marks a record number of shows that I'm going to be watching each week. This year there are no fewer than 20 shows that I will be watching (2 don't start until January). The show that I enjoyed the most last season was American Idol. The returning shows I'm most looking forward to this year are American Idol, Lost, 24, and Survivor. The new shows I'm most looking forward to are Brothers & Sisters, Heroes, The Nine, Ugly Betty, and Six Degrees. I'm very excited about the season this year; it seems like there are a lot more "quality" shows but whether they are any good or remain on the air for the entire season remains to be seen.

peace,

paul