You have to love Memphis. Our newsworthy politicians seem to have a habit of making asses of themselves. More than one city council people have been known for their ability to not hold down their liquor very well.
There have been multiple accusations of fraud and corruption by others... and so on and so forth.
However, when a city has a former mayor they actually admire, they can't properly honor him due to the connotation his name brings up.
You can't tell me that his mother did NOT have a sense of humor about all of this. In this day and age of "manscaping" and the like, the thought of these people NOT realizing Harry Baals was going to be a problem? C'mon...
If you want to get technical about it, I'm quite sure his birth certificate lists his name as Harold Baals. Which, if you think about it, makes this whole conversation moot.
My opinion? If this were Memphis and not Fort Wayne, we would name every building we had "The Harry Baals (this or that)"
Like it's not fun enough to live around here and I'm quite sure the fine citizens of Fort Wayne share my optimism.
Stay Tuned...
11 February 2011
05 February 2011
Oh My God
I certainly am not a person who wants to start some religious war or anything like that. Lord knows I tend to be a critic or even a cynic when it comes to various religions in the world. Before I go any further, let me tell you that I am a christian and I do believe in a supreme being. Having said that, my problem has been with most of the organized religions that are out there. It really boils down to one thing... money.
I've been thrown out of churches for asking too many questions. In one rather infamous case, I was literally dragged out of a Lutheran church for raising my hand during the sermon and asking the question, "What is it that this church does to lead by the example you are setting?" I certainly wasn't being rude. I was merely trying ascertain how the subject of the sermon (being "Christ-like" to your fellow man) was being applied outside of the church. Apparently, not having an answer was solved by having me dragged back out the front door from the pew and placed on the steps outside and admonished never to come back. It ultimately did answer my question as to what that church does that is "Christ-like".
In college I studied quite a few courses in theology and enjoyed them quite a bit. But, ever since those days, my questions asked to various church leaders in different denominations have been met with some sort of veiled hostility. Ultimately, I wound up being thrown out of several Baptist churches, a Catholic church and the aforementioned Lutheran church. Just for asking a question.
On the air, I have questioned certain things the Catholic church does, usually regarding money and the whole sex crime thing. I am quite certain that my name appears on the Catholic shit list. As it does on other church lists. It assures me though, that my relationship with the All Mighty is mine alone and is rather personal.
One thing I have learned over the years, that essentially, most denominations are rather upfront regarding their tenets. That's a good thing, since many prospective members know exactly what they are getting into. Unlike those who are members of the Scientologists.
Clouded in all sorts of secrecy, the Scientologists will reveal those secrets upon the successful depositing of money in the bank. But, when questioned... well, that is a different story.
Last year, Martin Bashir was interviewing a member of this cult. He was being rather nice to the spokesperson of this group until one particular question was asked.
So, it's a violation of his religious beliefs to clarify the beliefs of Scientology?
As much as we beat up on the Scientologists. They are not the only ones who get testy about these things. However, what good is a faith in something that supposed to be inclusive when it ultimately turns its back on any questions? Jesus certainly understood that. He even suggested that one should ask questions.
Granted, Scientology is a pretty messed up deal, in my opinion. To understand their beliefs, I recommend going to this site and reading up. Which by my posting of that probably put me on the Scientology shit list. If that is the case, so be it.
Stay Tuned...
I've been thrown out of churches for asking too many questions. In one rather infamous case, I was literally dragged out of a Lutheran church for raising my hand during the sermon and asking the question, "What is it that this church does to lead by the example you are setting?" I certainly wasn't being rude. I was merely trying ascertain how the subject of the sermon (being "Christ-like" to your fellow man) was being applied outside of the church. Apparently, not having an answer was solved by having me dragged back out the front door from the pew and placed on the steps outside and admonished never to come back. It ultimately did answer my question as to what that church does that is "Christ-like".
In college I studied quite a few courses in theology and enjoyed them quite a bit. But, ever since those days, my questions asked to various church leaders in different denominations have been met with some sort of veiled hostility. Ultimately, I wound up being thrown out of several Baptist churches, a Catholic church and the aforementioned Lutheran church. Just for asking a question.
On the air, I have questioned certain things the Catholic church does, usually regarding money and the whole sex crime thing. I am quite certain that my name appears on the Catholic shit list. As it does on other church lists. It assures me though, that my relationship with the All Mighty is mine alone and is rather personal.
One thing I have learned over the years, that essentially, most denominations are rather upfront regarding their tenets. That's a good thing, since many prospective members know exactly what they are getting into. Unlike those who are members of the Scientologists.
Clouded in all sorts of secrecy, the Scientologists will reveal those secrets upon the successful depositing of money in the bank. But, when questioned... well, that is a different story.
Last year, Martin Bashir was interviewing a member of this cult. He was being rather nice to the spokesperson of this group until one particular question was asked.
So, it's a violation of his religious beliefs to clarify the beliefs of Scientology?
As much as we beat up on the Scientologists. They are not the only ones who get testy about these things. However, what good is a faith in something that supposed to be inclusive when it ultimately turns its back on any questions? Jesus certainly understood that. He even suggested that one should ask questions.
Granted, Scientology is a pretty messed up deal, in my opinion. To understand their beliefs, I recommend going to this site and reading up. Which by my posting of that probably put me on the Scientology shit list. If that is the case, so be it.
Stay Tuned...
14 January 2011
Playing It Safe In The 40's
After dropping Facebook, I do find myself wanting to look at other ways of retro-organizing my life. However, this may be going a bit too far. Perhaps this would be a decent idea in our current litigious environment. It could be adapted and re-written and most assuredly would stand up in court. Click for bigger image.
Just imagine getting caught carrying around a few of these... already filled out.
Stay Tuned...
Just imagine getting caught carrying around a few of these... already filled out.
Stay Tuned...
13 January 2011
Goodbye Facebook
No, they aren't going anywhere, sadly. But I did. I just deleted my account.
Why? I'll tell you. But I warn you, it isn't pretty.
There has not been one thing of interest to me personally since I signed up for the damn thing. Granted, there are some "friends" there who are truly my friends. The cool thing about them is that they know how to get in touch with me in other ways, you know, like dialing a phone or at the very least, sending a text message. Besides, they all know my email address(es).
I know that there are those who are fans of the Bad Dog and Ric show who perhaps, felt a connection to the show through that page. I'm sorry if you did. I probably let you down anyway since I never posted pictures of what I was having for dinner (since food never photographs very well), I never alerted the Facebook world when I was heading to the bathroom, I am also rather proud of the fact that I never felt the urge to post links to videos of bands I like (much less the lyrics).
Seems to me that was sort of a waste. That's what this page is all about.
Perhaps I never felt as though I needed to burden all those people who were my Facebook friends with the things I like.
To me, life is about experiences. If I choose to share those, I do here. Not in simple and snarky liners to be digested so quickly. I am aware, that I might inadvertently offend some of you Facebook people with that sort of thinking and I'll have you know, that is NOT my intention.
In my way of thinking, scaling back can be a good thing. I have this page and I will be maintaining my Twitter account and post here and there more frequently. (Hopefully!)
So, in short... goodbye Facebook. Betty White was right, "Facebook is a huge waste of time."
At least it was for me.
Stay Tuned...
Why? I'll tell you. But I warn you, it isn't pretty.
There has not been one thing of interest to me personally since I signed up for the damn thing. Granted, there are some "friends" there who are truly my friends. The cool thing about them is that they know how to get in touch with me in other ways, you know, like dialing a phone or at the very least, sending a text message. Besides, they all know my email address(es).
I know that there are those who are fans of the Bad Dog and Ric show who perhaps, felt a connection to the show through that page. I'm sorry if you did. I probably let you down anyway since I never posted pictures of what I was having for dinner (since food never photographs very well), I never alerted the Facebook world when I was heading to the bathroom, I am also rather proud of the fact that I never felt the urge to post links to videos of bands I like (much less the lyrics).
Seems to me that was sort of a waste. That's what this page is all about.
Perhaps I never felt as though I needed to burden all those people who were my Facebook friends with the things I like.
To me, life is about experiences. If I choose to share those, I do here. Not in simple and snarky liners to be digested so quickly. I am aware, that I might inadvertently offend some of you Facebook people with that sort of thinking and I'll have you know, that is NOT my intention.
In my way of thinking, scaling back can be a good thing. I have this page and I will be maintaining my Twitter account and post here and there more frequently. (Hopefully!)
So, in short... goodbye Facebook. Betty White was right, "Facebook is a huge waste of time."
At least it was for me.
Stay Tuned...
20 December 2010
Black Beauty Comes to Town
So I get this email from Lindsay Lanier from Allied Integrated Marketing who tells me that Black Beauty is coming to Memphis for a couple of quick stops for one day and she has invited me out to take a look at this thing and even drive it, if I would like to. Hot Dog! I am so there.
If the car looks kinda familiar to you, it should. This is the Chrysler Imperial used by The Green Hornet and Kato. One of the onlookers said that this appeared to be a one in a million car. Actually, it's a one in thirty car since there were about that many made for the upcoming Columbia Pictures film opening Friday, January 14. More specifically, there were only a two or three cars made that were actually drivable. And this is one of them and is actually in a few scenes in the movie.
Lindsay was kind enough to send me the low down on this car:
If you'll notice, this car is a Chrysler Imperial but it is composed of several Imperials, from 1964 to 1966. The front doors are suicide doors and there has been some chopping here and there to get the look they were after. For the fun part, here's what Black Beauty has to offer:
WEAPONRY FEATURED ON “BLACK BEAUTY”
• 2 hood mounted, retractable .30 Caliber M1919 Browning Machine Guns - cartridge-fed
• 8 FIM-92A Stinger Missiles - front bumper loaded
• 1 M2 Grill mounted Flamethrower – modified
• 2 Benelli M2 20 Gauge Shotguns loaded with non-lethal, kinetic impact munitions rifles (rubber bullets / beanbags) - mounted in the light bezels
• 4 FIM-92A Stinger Missiles - rear bumper loaded
• 1 .30 Caliber M1919A6 Browning Machine Gun on tripod mount – trunk
• 2 Retractible front wheel anti-riot spikes
• 6 AR-15, 12 Gauge modified door guns - inset 3 per front suicide door
Just so you know. Everything inside this car is pure fiction. My flipping of switches and pushing of buttons yielded no explosions or anything of the like. However, it did not take away from the fun of driving this thing. It handles much like you would expect a car of this age would. It's a bit sluggish off the start takes big sweeping turns. To me, the amusing thing was that for some reason, people in this city weren't too concerned with the two machine guns mounted on the hood. It was as if people had seen them all their lives.
The movie is going to be released in 3D and looks to be a lot of fun. Especially since this car seems to play a rather large role in the story. Here's a little teaser.
And because you are good people... here's another.
Stay Tuned!
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