I finished watching 13 Going On 30 today during my torture treadmill session. Cute movie… serious lapses in plot (duh)… Jennifer Garner is a revelation. Anyway, my favorite scene in the movie was the Thriller dance at the magazine’s party. I’m a sucker for the interjection of such scenes in movies that are not musicals, especially… Continue reading Movie Fun: Music in Non-Musicals
White Paper: A New Level of Hell
Memo to the Prince of Darkness: Dear Mr. Pod, I would like to propose the immediate implementation of a new level of Hell, if you can find the space. I believe that this proposal will provide a uniquely awful form of punishment to the deserving offender, and I know that you will be astonished at… Continue reading White Paper: A New Level of Hell
Sci-Fi Creature on the Loose!
While sweeping the leaves and acorns off the front drive yesterday (a wasted effort thanks to an unexpected late afternoon thunderstorm) I spotted a flash of green next to the porch. It was a large praying mantis, not exactly rare in these parts but also not an everyday occurrence. Mantids are cool insects to have… Continue reading Sci-Fi Creature on the Loose!
Kerry’s Nuisance Advisory System
In the “gotta laugh to keep from crying” vein, I’m having fun with John Kerry’s interview published in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. In an amazingly naive statement, Kerry thinks we can go back to a time when terrorism was simply “a nuisance.” Here’s the complete quote (in context, btw, for you Dem spinmeisters… Continue reading Kerry’s Nuisance Advisory System
Riding in the Tour de Wino
MLB and I recently traveled 110 miles southwest to Fort Stockton, where the annual HarvestFest celebration was taking place. The attraction of this event to us came in the form of a bike ride to the Cordier Estates winery located 26 miles east of town, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. This sounded interesting… Continue reading Riding in the Tour de Wino
A[nother] Reason to Blog
Like any self-respecting blogger, I spend some time (OK…a lot; there, are you satisfied?) poring over visitor logs and being amazed at the variety of ways people stumble across the Gazette. As you might expect, a bunch of folks come by way of search engines, and their search terms are all over the map. For… Continue reading A[nother] Reason to Blog
Ombrophobic Canine
Today was the fourth consecutive rainy day in Midland. I know that doesn’t sound like much to some of you, but this is the desert, folks, and we’re more accustomed to measuring rainfall in terms of consecutive minutes rather than days. If you talk to any real west Texan, they’ll be ambivalent about a situation… Continue reading Ombrophobic Canine
Silence in the Darkness
Our pastor’s sermon this morning was on the somewhat unusual topic of silence. The focal verse was the first part of Psalm 46:10, which directs us to “Be still and know that I am God…” and is one of a number of references throughout Scripture regarding the necessity of being silent (Ecclesiastes 3:7 probably being… Continue reading Silence in the Darkness
Work Like a Dog
I was walking through our neighborhood this morning, trekking back home after dropping the car at the shop to have the alternator checked out, and as I passed in front of a large home the front door opened and a yellow Labrador retriever came bounding onto the circle drive. He zeroed in on the plastic-wrapped… Continue reading Work Like a Dog
Things I Like
There’s a meme going around which is a kind of variation on the “100 Things About Me” list that is found on some blogs. I’ve had a hard(er) time (than usual) focusing on a post with any meaningful content, especially on a lazy holiday, so I figured…what the hey? These lists tend to appeal to… Continue reading Things I Like