Bush And Blair Love Song

This is a little old, but I think it is funny. Like I've said, some people have way too much time on their hands.

Rocky Balboa

It was Ok, but they should've killed Rocky off had they wanted it to be really good. It was definately better than 5. That one was a giant stink burger. I think this latest installment tries to get there by integrating moments from earlier Rocky movies. The movie had some good ideas, but it fails to build the the suspence the others did. I think the best way to describe it, it just comes up a little short in everything. It was a nice try though, it wasn't a complete loss. Probably worth 3 bucks, not the standard 7.50.

How does ESPN rank your state for football?

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?page=communityfbIP&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Gerald Ford - 38th President of the USA, dead at age 93

Former President, Gerald Ford passed away near Rancho Mirage, CA (about 130 miles east of L.A.) this morning. The causes have not been divulged, but he was suffering from pneumonia.

I remember seeing Gerald Ford speak at the U of U in November 1974. He was the only President to serve that was never elected to office of Vice President or President. I knew President Ford played football, but did not know that he passed up on both the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers so that he could coach at Yale. President Ford was unarguably our most athletic President. He restored honor and dignity to the office of the President.

He now passes on to greater things. It was nice having you serve us Jerry. :)

Boxing Day

Today is Boxing Day. I copied this off Wikipedia so that you can read about Boxing Day:

Boxing Day is a public holiday celebrated in the United Kingdom and most other Commonwealth countries on December 26, the day after Christmas Day.

Origins

There are disparate theories as to the origins of the term. The more common stories include:

* It was the day when people would give a present or Christmas 'box' to those who have worked for them throughout the year. This is still done in Britain for postmen and paper-boys - though now the 'box' is usually given before Christmas, not after.
* In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on 26 December, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.

* In England many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.

* In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that lockbox in which the donations were left.

* Boxing Day was the day when the wren, the king of birds,[3] was captured and put in a box and introduced to each household in the village when he would be asked for a successful year and a good harvest. See Frazer's Golden Bough.
o Evidence can also be found in Wassail songs such as:

Where are you going ? said Milder to Malder,
Oh where are you going ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said Milder to Malder,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said John the Rednose.
And what will you do wi' it ? said Milder to Malder,
And what will you do wi' it ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'll put it in a box said Milder to Malder,
I'll put it in a box said John the Rednose.
etc.

* Because the staff had to work on such an important day as Christmas Day by serving the master of the house and their family, they were given the following day off. Since being kept away from their own families to work on a traditional religious holiday and not being able to celebrate Christmas Dinner, the customary benefit was to "box" up the leftover food from Christmas Day and send it away with the servants and their families. Hence the "boxing" of food became "Boxing Day".

[edit] Date

In common usage, when 26 December falls on a Sunday, this is now referred to as Boxing Day[4] despite Boxing Day officially occurring on 27 December when the 26th is a Sunday, in order to retain it as an extra Bank Holiday.[5][6][7] In the latter half of the twentieth century in the United Kingdom, when 26 December was a Sunday it was referred to as Christmas Sunday, and "Boxing Day" in popular usage referred to the 27th.

In some Commonwealth countries, fixed-date holidays falling on Saturday or Sunday are often observed on the next weekday, so if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday then Monday 28 December is a public holiday; in the UK and other countries this is accomplished by Royal Proclamation.

If Christmas Day falls on a Saturday itself then the Boxing Day holiday is automatically on the following Monday, and no Royal Proclamation is required. In such a circumstance, a 'substitute bank holiday in lieu of Christmas Day' is declared for Tuesday 28 December, this being the next available working day - thus the Boxing Day holiday occurs before the substitute Christmas holiday.


Although the same legislation (Bank Holidays Act 1871) originally established the Bank Holidays throughout the British Isles, the holiday after Christmas was defined as Boxing Day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and St Stephen's Day for The Republic Of Ireland (and now by a few people in Northern Ireland). St Stephen's Day is fixed as the 26 December.[8]

[edit] Gwyl San Steffan (St. Stephen's Day, Boxing Day: Dec. 26th)

As in most of the rest of the UK and Ireland, the day after Christmas Day was always most significant in the day-to-day events of Wales. Some activities that took place on this day seem peculiarly Welsh, including that of "holly-beating" or "holming." In this, it was customary for young men and boys to slash the unprotected arms of female domestic servants with holly branches until they bled. In some areas it was the legs that were beaten. In others, it was the custom for the last person to get out of bed in the morning to be beaten with sprigs of holly and made to carry out all the commands of his family. On many farms, horses and other animals were bled in a custom that was thought to be good for the animals' health, even increasing their stamina. These customs died out before the end of the 19th century.

[edit] Commonwealth observance

Boxing Day in the UK is traditionally a day for sporting activity, originally fox hunting, but in modern times football and horse racing.

Boxing Day (in French, lendemain de Noël, "day after Christmas") is also observed as a public holiday in Commonwealth countries, and is a day when stores sell their excess Christmas inventory at significantly reduced prices. Boxing Day has become so important for retailers that they often extend it into a "Boxing Week". This occurs similarly in Australia and New Zealand, although some Australian states, including New South Wales are tightening restrictions on Boxing Day retail trading[2], deferring the post-Christmas sales to December 27.

In Australia, a test match starting on December 26th is called the Boxing Day Test Match, and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before, what is typically, the largest crowd of the summer. The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is also started on this day.

In Northern Ireland, all Premier League clubs in soccer-football play their biggest rivals. The most popular one is Glentoran v. Linfield, between the two biggest clubs in the league.

[edit] European observance

Boxing Day is a holiday of peculiarly British origin, but in most years it falls on the same day as the Feast of St. Stephen (St. Stephen's Day - 26th December).

In Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden, the 26th is known as the Second day of Christmas (der zweite Weihnachtsfeiertag in Germany; Δεύτερη μέρα των Χριστουγέννων in Greece; Annandag Jul in Sweden; Andre Juledag in Norway; Tweede Kerstdag in the Netherlands; Annar dagur jóla in Iceland; Tapaninpäivä (St. Stephen's Day) in Finland; Karácsony másnapja in Hungary) and is also a public holiday.

In Ireland, the 26th December is known as St Stephen's Day, or Wren's Day; in Austria it is called Stefanitag, in Spain San Esteban, in Italy Santo Stefano; in Wales, it is known as Gŵyl San Steffan (St. Stephen's Holiday). A practice known as Hunt the Wren is still practiced by some in the Isle of Man, where people thrash out wrens from hedgerows. Traditionally they were killed and their feathers presented to households for good luck. In Ireland, children used to kill a wren, then take its body from door-to-door, begging for money which they would use (supposedly) to pay for the bird's funeral. In Germany the days between Christmas and new year are called "the days between the years" (zwischen den Jahren) and becoming more and more important for retailers to clear the unsold Christmas goods.

[edit] Canadian observance

In Canada, Boxing Day is observed as a holiday, except (in some cases) for those in the retail business. Boxing Day and the days immediately following are when many retail stores sell their Christmas and retired model products by holding clearance sales. Some shoppers will line up for hours at night (sometimes before midnight and after midnight on December 26) for retailers to open their doors. Except in Quebec (where stores open at 1 pm), retailers often open their stores earlier than usual, such as 6 or 7 am. Some retail companies internally refer to the sales week after Christmas as the "thirteenth month." (See Boxing Week.) It is similar to Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) in the United States. Boxing Day 2005 was the single largest economic transaction day ever in the history of Canadian commerce (according to Visa). Individual big box stores can even gross over $1,000,000(CAN) on one single boxing day.

However, in some cities, retail stores are not permitted to open on Boxing Day because of municipal regulations; in those cities, Boxing Day sales begin on December 27.

In addition to the retail aspect of the holiday, Boxing Day also serves as a second day for families to gather for dinner and to exchange gifts. Boxing Day Dinner is, in many ways, just as much a part of many families traditions as Christmas Dinner itself.

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
4. And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;
5. To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16. And they came with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

Way To Go Hawaii Warriors!

Once again, a PAC10 team has gone down in defeat to a supposed inferior so called "mid-major" opponent! The score with 2:00 left is Hawaii 41-24. The warriors dominated ASU tonight in the Hawaii Bowl. The question now is will the PAC win any of its bowl games? The snobby PAC10 conference that is supposed to be vastly superior to the MWC and WAC, has so far been totally worked by them. Now Florida State will probably beat UCLA, Texas A&M over California, Missouri over Oregon State, Michigan over Missouri and the PAC will go 0-6! At least thats what we hope! Oh yeah, by the way, Big Concocted Stinkpickle (BCS) is a farce. Just in case I haven't made that clear!

LDS video on the doctrine of Jesus Christ

Johnny Harline

An Elder gave me this today at church. The Elder's parents are really close friends with the Harlines. You'll notice its signed by Harline, who was the big hero of the Las Vegas Bowl (9rec. 187yrds. 1td).

Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Come All Ye Faithful)

We Must put some Mo-Tab doing Christmas Hymns! Merry Christmas Everyone!

God's Country!

Congrats To The Utes!

Good job University of Utah! With your win the MWC goes to 3-1 in bowls, the only loss was the Lobos in the New Mexico Bowl. Even though my Alma Mater, the U of U are a bunch of women in football uniforms and everything, you've got to hand it to them. They played a great second half and beat the "Golden Hurricane" of Tulsa.

Non-Mormon Review of The Book of Mormon

I joined the social networking site, Shelfari and as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I was naturally curious to read what other people had said about The Book of Mormon. For those that aren't familiar with The Book of Mormon, we believe that, along with The Bible, The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is an account of a group of Israelites who immigrated to the Americas shortly before the fall of Jerusalem circa 400 B.C. during the biblical ministry of Jeremiah. I do believe that The Book of Mormon is divinely inspired and is the word of God. I like that this reviewer has an objective view as he/she reads The Book of Mormon and other Latter-day Saint (Mormon) scripture. This reviewer describes The Book of Mormon as myth. Myth is one of those ambiguous English words. We often think of myth as meaning something false or fictional. Myth is also oral tradition passed on from generation to generation. I am a fan of Joseph Campbell's work on myth. Campbell shows how certain similar myths have permeated different cultures - the virgin birth is a good example. Myth shows the contrast between good and evil. Wikipedia defines myth as follows,

"Mythology, mythography, or folkloristics. In these academic fields, a myth (mythos) is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths often are said to take place before recorded history begins. In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it. Use of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or false."

I personally do believe that The Book of Mormon is a literal history of the inhabitants of the South and North American continents and contains the history of Christ's visit to the Americas shortly after his death and resurrection in Jerusalem. It is my hope that anyone would read The Book of Mormon with an open and objective mind and find the truths within, as this reader did.

DIVINELY INSPIRED?

* 5 stars out of 5

Reviewed by an Amazon user, 2006-12-14

I am not a member of the LDS Church, and never have been. However, I have read the LDS Scriptures and am a Gnostic Christian. I get tired of hearing fundamentalist Christians tearing "Mormons" apart because "Mormons" don't spout the same doctrinal Shibboleths as fundamentalists. Much of the rancor settles around Joseph Smith Junior and his claims to Divine revelation.

Rather than go into a dissertation on Myth I will direct the truly intelligent reader looking for genuine answers (rather than a target for their religious bigotry, hatred, and self-righteousness, growing from their own inadequacies and uncertainties) to The Power of Myth, which is available as a book, videotape, or DVD.

Literalists of all kinds, both Biblical literalists and Book of Mormon literalists, are groping in the dark, making a lot of noise, cursing the darkness. It's better to kindle a light than curse the darkness, so that is what I'll do.

To have had a Divine encounter, as I have, and as Joseph Smith Junior had, is to Know That, which cannot be uttered in human speech except in the form of Myth. God is so utterly beyond conceptualization and language that only Myth can convey these Truths. To understand Myth is to be enabled to enter into the experience that gave rise to the Myth. Such works are the Book of Mormon and other "Mormon" scriptures, as well as the Bible.

As a closing remark, I will point the reader to the Book of Abraham, one of the "Mormon" scriptures, "translated" by Joseph Smith Junior. The actual book behind the Book of Abraham is an ancient Egyptian funerary text. It actually says nothing at all akin to what Joseph Smith wrote in the Book of Abraham. Does that mean Joseph Smith was a false prophet, was not Divinely inspired? Or does this rather point out the Transcendent nature of the Divine Touch? I contend that the ancient Egyptian funerary text, in the hands of Joseph Smith Junior, served as a catalyst for Divine revelation. As a Gnostic I have the same experience with the Bible and other spiritual works, and even non-spiritual works. All can be "grist for the Mill" in the hands of one touched by the Divine. Joseph Smiths experiences were of a very intense visionary nature, and were most likely utterly overwhelming. It therefore does not shock, or even surprise me, that he used Myth to convey what he had seen and heard.

The Book of Mormon is a testament to Joseph Smiths ineffable experience of the Divine, and is his effort to communicate that experience to the rest of us in the Power of Myth.

BYU vs. PAC10

Oregon's Coach said the other day, right before BYU wacked them, that BYU would not be able to fair well in PAC10. This naturally made me curious. What has been BYU's record against PAC10 opponents in the modern era? I went back to the start of the Lavell Edwards coaching career to find out. Their record has been 19-30 against the PAC10. On the surface this seems to validate the coach's argument, but it was very apparent to me that during the dominant years, when BYU was flying high, PAC10 schools mysteriously disappear from BYUs schedule then they return again during the down years. This proves my theory about the BCS perpetuating the theory that these non-BCS schools couldn't play with them and then to prove it, not scheduling them when they are actually a threat and overwhelmingly at their own venue. Between 79-85, the PAC only played BYU 3 times and one of those was Washington State in the Holiday Bowl(a non-scheduled game), a game that BYU won. The points for and points against are BYU 22ppg vs. PAC10 27ppg (only 2 fgs a game average), but again, it begs the question, "how many points would BYU have scored had the PAC10 allowed Steve Young, Jim McMahon and Robbie Bosco to have a go at them.
The other thing I noticed when I broke it down was that BYU played pretty close to .500 against Arizona and ASU when they were still in the WAC. BYU was 6-8 against them and that was when BYU had some bad years early in the era. The PF-PA were fairly even (BYU 20ppg and ASU/AZ 25). This proves my second point about the BCS. By not allowing BYU to be in a "good" conference, they hurt BYUs ability to recruit and hence they are not on an even plane. We can see here that when BYU is put an even playing field with BCS schools, they are competitive, regardless of the Oregon coach's lame theory that BYU is inherently inferior. I guarantee if they had a playoff, BYU would start getting recruits that had heretofore passed on them. Left to there own destiny, BYU would flourish (and Utah). They both have a bigger fan base than many PAC10 schools and that would only grow. But the BCS knows this thats why they think that its a wonderful system they have created, it keeps BYU down. Like I've said a million times, only those who get paid by the BCS think its a good idea. Lee Corso, I'm lookin' in your direction.

The Art Of Motivational Speaking.

If you have ever considered hiring a motivational speaker, you may want to consider the services of one Mr. Matt Foley. He has travelled all over the United States at the behest of parents, school administrators and universities giving motivational speeches that have served to dissuade impressionable youth from the vices of a troubled world. His method is to powerfully inculcate youth with a very real image of the ill-effects of such vices. He does this in a very descriptive and demonstrative way, a method that resonates with today's youth. "After hearing Matt speak about his struggles overcoming marijuana addiction and seeing how it affected his life, I determined never to touch the stuff", said Mike Miller, a young freshman at the University of Wisconsin. Testimonials such as this are common place all over college and high school campuses. Go Matt Go!

I Hate Tommy Lasorda.

This is dedicated to my dad since he is a Dodgers fan.

Tribute To The Mississippi River!

As a geography student, I must stop here to give props to the "Mighty-Miss", the "Old-Man".

Where Does This BYU Team Rank?

My list: (I would love to have input or votes on the best)
#1- 1996 Sarkisian was awesome (he is very underrated despite having the second best pass rating in BYU history). This team had two of the best TEs in the country (Chad Lewis and Itula Mili). Best BYU secondary of all time. There was not a weak link on this team. Played in the Cotton Bowl and beat Kansas State.
#2- 1984 Won the National Championship. How can you not rank them high? Bosco was very good and had good Wide Outs (Kozlowski and Bellini). Good TE Mills.
#3- 1980 Won the "Miracle Bowl" and had an impressive 30pt avg. win a game. Beat Wisconsin 28-3. TE Brown was a stud. McMahon set all kinds of NCAA records.
#4- 2006 BYU's offense great again and looks like BYU of old! Their defense is a more than pleasant suprise. They shut down a good Oregon team. 73 yards in a half. They barely lost to a very good BC team in 2OT and should have won the Arizona game. They would have been undefeated and in the BCS.
#5- 2001 The good Crowton team. They had perhaps the dynamic offense in BYU history running a mixture of option (Domanator) into a prolific air attack and a descent defense with very good players such as Gilford. Beat Cal and Miss. State and Utah in a thriller. The only knock is that after Staley, then what? He got hurt and the season blew up the last two games.
#6- 1983 Steve Young! Need I say more? Lost to Baylor by 4, their only loss, but beat Missouri in the Holiday Bowl.
#7- 1981 Great team, but didn't beat anyone outside of Washington State in the Holiday Bowl, but they destroyed opponents. Although the did lose 2.
#8- 1990 Ty Detmer was a man possessed. They beat Miami, who only lost 2 games the whole season. Probably the best team BYU has ever beat.
#9- 1979 Beat Texas A&M had an amazing PF-PA, but had a very weak schedule. Lost to Indiana in the Holiday Bowl.
#10- 1994 Even though they didn't win the Conference, they finished 10-3. They had Walsh as QB, a great arm, Jamal Willis and they won over Notre Dame in South Bend. They destroyed Oklahoma in the Copper Bowl.

BYU Silences The Quack!

The BCS is most certainly the "Great and Abominable Church" spoken of in the the scriptures. It is the great whore of all the earth and its defenders are its pimps. Mike Bellotti's anti-MWC rant is proof of this. Even after the Ducks got totally destroyed by the Cougars, he stood by his statement that the MWC is an inferior conference. But it doesn't really matter what that "Quack" thinks of the Mountain West, because if he really feels that way, he has to admit that his team flat out sucks and that he sucks as a coach. My sneaking suspicion is that coaches like him don't really believe that rhetoric, they simply spout it to perpetuate the perception of "the talent gap", an artificial prestige to make it easier for them to recruit! If it is so much bigger than MWC, why did BYU average more attendance than all but three PAC teams and only 150 less per game than UCLA? BYU averaged a lot more than the Ducks. I think attendance is a pretty good indicator of a good product, don't you?
BYU did its job to dispel the myth and bring down the "great and abominable BCS".
They started off sloooowwww tonight. This was after ESPN hyped the game as a shoot out in the desert. It was anything but a shoot out, at least in the first half. BYU's offense couldn't seem to do anything right, especially in the First Quarter. BYU's defense was the big story, holding the team above water until the offense could gather itself. The Cougar defense held Oregon to only 73 yards in the first half much to the disappoint of Gary Crowton, the former BYU coach and now offensive coordinator for the Ducks. In fact, the Cougar defense was so dominant, they posted a shutout through three quarters. One wouldn't have expected such, due to BYU's injury ridden secondary, but Justin Robinson stepped it up "big-time" and intercepted two passes. One of these picks was a huge momentum shifter after Beck had thrown an interception of his own and it appeared the ducks would score. As he went to the sidelines his teammates gave him the royal treatment, propping up his feet and fanning them.
BYUs offense was destined to get things going. John Beck to Johnny Harline, over and over again. Harline 9 receptions for 182 yards, a personal record for the best tight end in the nation, who will certainly play on Sundays next year.
As the second half started, everyone, BYU and Oregon fan alike expected Oregon to come back with a vengeance, but it was not to be. BYU set the tone on the opening kickoff stopping the Ducks dead in their tracks.
Beck came alive in the second half and silenced the critics if there are any left. With a late TD scramble, he dove in the endzone, proved he is not the mechanical quarterback that many accused him of. As he dove over the pylon, he sprung up waving the fist in a show of emotion. The TD run pushed the score to 31-0, essentially ending the game in favor of the Cougs. Beck set a Las Vegas bowl passing record with 363 yards and would have extended that even further had it not been for all the dropped passes in the first half.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Curtis Brown, my personal favorite. He was a studd as usual. He had some big carries. The thing that makes Curtis a vital part of this team is not his running as much as his fire! He is the soul of the team. On a run in the second half, he refused to go down. Instead of responding to the pushing by Oregon at the end of the play, he turned and started amping up the BYU crowd, jumping in the air and pumping his fist.
The only negative aspect of the game was ESPNs coverage. Why do the spend half the broadcast talking about basketball? Their interview with Jerry Tarkanian was pathetic. He actually said that Oregon is every bit as good as BYU. Well, apparently not Jerry. He made this comment after BYU had tripled Oregon in yards. And instead of admitting that the PAC10 and the rest of the BCS are not that much better than the so called "mid-majors", they stated that, "this is a butt-kicking, what does this say about the PAC10." What does it say about the PAC10?! It says that they are good, but BYU and the MWC are not as bad as you think. ESPN will never admit that the artificial distinction they have created between the BCS and non-BCS has created a perception that there is a huge gap in talent, which does not exist. BYU is just a better team than Oregon and could be successful in the PAC if they were given a chance. And does anyone have a line on why they interviewed Ryan Leaf on and talked to him for so long? Who cares about Ryan Leaf? What do you expect from the BCS pimpin' network?
This turned out to be the best bowl performance in BYU's storied history. BYU is a team that has traditionally had a less than stellar post season reputation. They showed well for the conference who so far is dominating in their bowls. Let see if those losers the Utes can keep it up, I'm guessing that they should beat the "Golden Hurricane."

Unemployment in the USA

I put this map together today with help from the 2007 World Almanac. There are values associated with each state, but to simplify the map and the legend, I just classified it into 5 categories using the Jenks classification method.
There were a few things that surprised me. I was surprised that unemployment on the west coast was so high. I was surprised that it was so low in some places like the Dakotas. I think it is a pretty good looking map though.

Have You Ever Done Something Like This?

What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done on a date? I'm trying to isolate mine to just one. I was always saying something stupid and still somehow continue even after marriage, but I fortunately never did this.
Mayber this isn't appropriate for this blog, I don't know.

Glenn Beck On Cheers.

A Glenn Beck viewer emailed and asked the host if he was in Cheers. "Yes", he said. "I was way in the background trying to act natural." Then he encouraged us to look for it on Youtube if we didn't have a life, because some geek like me had put together a montage. And hey, since I don't have a life, here it is for you. Enjoy.

Christmas Story.

This one is for you Joey and Troy! I honor the christmas memory of you two polar opposites sitting on the couch next to the christmas tree with nothing in common, but the back slapping you share as Ralphy gets pushed down the slide by Santa's boot. "HO HO HO!" Merry Christmas!

Christmas Vacation Attic Scene!

Now that its getting to be Christmas, we can start putting scenes from Christmas movies on the blog. This is one of the best scenes from on of the best Christmas movies made! The funny thing about this one is that my wife did this with the stairs to the attic and about killed herself. She must have sustained brain damage, because she married me!

Lake Bonneville In Utah County.

I had to redo these, because I didn't want my name on it.
Map 1- This map shows the municipalities of Utah County in relation to the ancient lake.
Map 2- This is for those who want to get an idea of where they lived in relation to the lake.
Map 3- This shows the high risk areas for liquefaction (the darker the red, the higher the risk) and how it relates to the lake.
Map 4- This shows the remnants of the ancient lake that still exists in the "fresh water lake", Utah Lake. On a nice day, the lake doesn't glow from toxic waste. J/K.
Map 5- Just threw this in to show population density for the county in a choroplethic display.

Just in case anyone was curious about what lake Bonneville is, Lake Bonneville was a large, ancient lake that existed from about 32 to 14 thousand years ago. At its largest, Lake Bonneville was about 325 miles long, 135 miles wide, and had a maximum depth of over 1,000 feet. Three major shorelines were left by Lake Bonneville, and one by the Great Salt Lake. The Provo and Bonneville shorelines of Lake Bonneville can be seen as terraces or benches along many mountains in western USA. Fish lived in Lake Bonneville; amphibians, waterfowl, and other birds inhabited its marshes; and animals such as buffalo, horses, bears, rodents, deer, camels, bighorn sheep, musk oxen, and mammoths roamed its shores.

Am I self righteous?

I feel that an explanation is in order here. Someone seemed to think the title of my blog was a little self-righteous so I felt like I needed to explain a little.
When I set up the blog, I was thinking of the Sean Connery's line in the Indiana Jones movie when they were in Nazi Germany, "we are Pilgrims in an unholy land my boy!" I was thinking about this because of all the name calling on the Internet. I flipped it around since it seems, I'm one of the few conservatives left on the Internet or so it seems. Even though my address was pilgrim in an unholy land, I called the blog, "The C-Dog Blog", but I found out that that name was being used. Wanting to be somewhat original, even though I stole the line from a movie, I thought it would be appropriate. The Internet is after all a giant wasteland of filth. It is an "unholy land". That is my explanation now I feel a little better. Ah! Thanks.

New address for my blog

I liked your nick-name for my blog so much, I changed the name and address to http://thergdfactor.blogspot.com/

It's the same blog, same attitude, and the same content, just a new name.

God hates figs

I think Westboro Baptist got confused reading their Bibles. It's clear that God hates figs not fags. These scriptures prove it:

"Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he was hungry.
And when he saw a fig tree by the road, he came to it, and found nothing on it, but leaves only, and said to it, Let no fruit grow on you henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon has the fig tree withered away!"

--Matthew 21:18-20

"The next day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry:
And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if perhaps he might find any thing on it: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
And Jesus answered and said to it, No man eat fruit of you hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it."

--Mark 11:12-14

More info at http://www.godhatesfigs.com/

"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Galatians 5:14

"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"

1 John 4:20

That last scripture from 1 John really says it all. If someone truly professes to preach the Bible and believes it is the word of God, how can he or she condemn another person? How can he or she claim that God hates a group or people or a nation? I'm sure God is not happy with the choices that we make, but we are his children and he loves us. What is the purpose of sending a Savior, Christ, whose birth we celebrate at this time of year if we cannot be forgiven?

The gospel of God is a gospel of love, not of hate. Men have corrupted the words of God to serve their own purposes, but God does not condone hatred, violence, murder, or war.

John Chapter 15 sums it up:

"1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall bask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."

In this chapter Christ speaks metaphorically. He compares us to branches on a vine. We cannot bear good fruit if we are not part of His vine. The Lord will choose whom he will choose to cast off, but of us it is required to love all men. "The servant is not greater than his lord." This scripture tells me that it's not up to us to decide who is good or bad, only the Lord can decide this, only the Lord can prune his vine. If we are His friends, we will know his will. If we are His friends, we will love one another.

R.D.

The Intolerant Tolerant Pt. 3

Joy Behar helped out my "Intolerant Tolerant" segment yesterday, by comparing Don Rumsfeld to Adolf Hitler. I saw her briefly today as my wife was watching "The View", she was trying to "apologize" for the statement. It didn't seem like much of an apology to me. She was more railing on the "mean"conservatives who twist her words to make it sound like she was calling the former Secretary of State a Hitler. Well, you judge for yourselves. Was that the comparison she meant to make or not? You may very well disagree with Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush administration. I think that any responsible person would disagree with at least some of what Bush has done, but to throw these kinds of comparisons around not only is slanderous, but it detracts from the evil perpetrated by the Nazis. The "Nazi" comparison is a favorite for today's left. If they disagree with you, you must be a "Nazi" and yet they try to keep military recruiters of their campuses, they throw pies at speakers, they won't invite conservative speakers to campuses on many occasions and they shout down speakers they don't agree with. I don't know which side is more "nazi". But thank you "View" you are giving my "Intolerant Tolerant" segment almost daily material!

Charlie Sheen bashes Christianity

Read about this at:
http://www.get-the-skinny.com/blog/?p=160

USS Oklahoma Groundbreaking Memorial 2006

Our grandfather served on the USS Oklahoma. He passed away earlier this year. He wasn't able to see this happen.

I got this email today:

USS Oklahoma Groundbreaking Memorial 2006

Greetings.

My name is Bob Adams. We had the honor of being at the USS Oklahoma Ground Breaking ceremony at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th 2006. It was a trip of a lifetime for us to meet the survivors, families and friends. To hear them tell their stories as well as the heart felt comments from speakers such as Rear Admiral Doug McClain, Commander Battle Force SEVENTH FLEET, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Paul Goodyear, a driving force behind the memorial and others.

Our goal was to document the event with photos and video for those who were not able to make it to the Memorial Groundbreaking as well as for those who attended and want to revisit their experience. I have photos online for viewing now. I will updating the site with additional photos and video in the days ahead, so please check back.

Here is a suggestion for viewing:

Please view the albums the first time using the slideshow link. The slideshow link is located above the large photo on the right side once you are in an album. As soon as you click the slideshow link, a control box will pop up from the bottom of the screen. Immediately move the duration slider (bottom right in the control box) all the way to the right (from 4 to 10). Turn your volume up.

Also, Please share the link with others you think would like to view both the USS Oklahoma and the Pearl Harbor - A Nation Remembers ceremonies.

If you would like to download any of the photos for your personal use please contact me and I will make arrangements.

Special Thanks to Kevin King for all his effort in the USS Oklahoma Memorial effort and his Great USS Oklahoma site at www.ussoklahoma.com
USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor Fund
USS Oklahoma Memorial, PO Box 7734, Edmond, OK 73083
(I will provide his email to you if you want it. I don't want him getting spammed.)

The photos are found at: http://ydm.phanfare.com/

Man Look At These Paganistic Mormons!

I love this Haka that BYU does! Polynesians rule! This is the coolest thing, but it makes me wonder sometimes what some people will think(seeing how suspicious people seem to be about us in general and how much ignorance there is in the world). When BYU was here in Boston, I wondered, will they say "see I told you honey, them Mormons is weirdos?" Know what? I don't really care, they'll think what they want anyway. We as LDS embrace all cultures as children of our father in heaven!
I wanted to see exactly what the Haka was so I found the definition online. Here it is:
A haka is a Māori posture dance accompanied by chanted vocals. Haka actions may include facial gesticulations such as showing the whites of the eyes and poking out tongues and a wide variety of body actions including slapping the hands against the body and stamping feet. As well as chanted words, a variety of cries and grunts are used. Haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent many instruments. The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy, or whatever feelings are relevant to the purpose.
Haka are sometimes popularly thought of solely as war dances, but individual haka have different purposes, not all related to war. War haka were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. Today, haka constitute an integral part of formal or official welcome ceremonies for distinguished visitors or foreign dignitaries, serving to impart a sense of the importance of the occasion.
The word haka also has a broader use as a generic term for Māori dance or song accompanied by dance. A group of people performing a haka are known as a kapa haka (kapa meaning row or rank). Thank you Wikipedia!
It is awesome! This is the one they did in front of the dang Utes up there in Salt Lake City, right before they smoked their sorry buttock. Yes I did go to the U, yes I can't stand the Utes, precisely because I went there.

Wow! Crazy Lady Alert on Hannity!

OK, I know the point of this blog is to speak the truth and to expose persecution and hypocracy. I don't want to be the one persecuting, but this lady and her congregation are way-out-there!
This Lady's church believes that 9-11 was good and every time a soldier dies it is a good thing, because it is the righteous judgment of God. OK, this is why people are put off by religion, because of hateful people in some extreme congregations. Like the ministry that held up "God Hates Fags" signs at Matthew Shepard's funeral. This is such a disgrace, it angers me that people could invoke his name for such garbage!
Hey, where do I sign up to join her church? Boy it sounds like it has a lot to offer! It helped this lady to become sinless! She's right! There are no innocent people, can I wack her? Please? J/K.
Now let me get this right, her family, just those 100 people are christian and no one else? I mean I know it says in the Bible that His people shall be called a "peculiar people", but I don't think it says anything about them being "off-their-rocker" does it?

Watch Monk on USA!

Since the mission statement of this blog is to seek after things that are praiseworthy, I would be remiss if I didn't post Monk, which by the way will air a brand new episode Friday at 9est on the USA network. If you haven't seen Monk, it is definitely worth watching. It is clean, wholesome and funny!
You can tell a lot about the show by this one clip. It is not the best scene from the Monk series certainly, but it'll do. You can tell by this that he is 1. a detective 2. almost non-functionally OCD 3. a prude and 4. very smart!
Tony Shalhoub plays the part of Monk and ex-detective turned private consultant. The reason he is so good at his job is that the smallest thing bothers him as you can see in this clip. He has one of the worse cleanliness fetishes ever and he wouldn't be able to function if he didn't have a side-kick with him 24-7 providing wet-wipes. It makes for good stories and good laughs! So if you haven't started watching it, GET ON IT!

Colbert vs. Wexler!

This is one of the funniest interviews I've ever seen in my life! You have to stick it out a little. It is almost 6 minutes long so it takes a couple of minutes to get to the really good stuff, but it is well worth it. I laughed so hard, I have milk coming out of my nose and I haven't drank milk in 3 years!
He tells Wexler that since he is running unopposed and you can't possibly lose, lets play a little game. He has him say all this stuff and amazingly, Wexler plays along with him. Funny, funny, funny.

A Few Good Men In German!

This is really cool!! Even if you don't speak german, it still is really well done. This is a must see if you like german and A Few Good Men. It is a Few good G-Men, but it is the exact dialog from the movie and the sound qualitaet ist sehr gut."Glas Clar!." If you've seen the movie a thousand times, as I have, you'll be able to pretty much follow it, I think.
"Wir befolgen befehle, oder Menchen sterben!" Probably a common phrase in Germany in the 30s and 40s, huh?
Go to the RGD factor on my Peeps Blog to watch the Brady Bunch Few Good Men!

Another Example of the Intolerant Tolerant!

This is an interview with Bill Maher. This interview "made my agent orange act up"! I noticed Tony Snow was sitting right next to him. I thought he showed tremedous restraint by not taking his coffee mug and smashing it over Mahers head. I know I would've been tempted to! Maher espouses the view that if we were enlightened and tolerant, we would accept gay marriage and become Europe. He must be tolerant if he professes this, shouldn't he be? WRONG! In this interview, besides condescendingly inferring that all the "red states" are inherently stupid, says that religion "stops people from thinking". I guess that is why so many religious people are immensely successful layers, doctors, businessmen, inventors, politicians ect. He should note that if it were not for Philo T. Farnsworth (a Mormon and inventor of the TV), that he wouldn't be able to spout such non-sense. He says that religion is a "neurological disorder"! If religion is a neurological disorder, then most living or who have ever lived on the earth have this strange ailment. Isn't this the bigotry that he is always railing against when he and his friends talk about the use of an epithet to describe a homosexual?. I do agree with one point Maher makes. When he says that people shouldn't flaunt their religion before people to be seen and praised, he is right. I always have an adverse reaction to athletes praying in the end zone after a touchdown. But Maher obviously has no understanding that Jesus taught, don't pray to be seen of men, but pray in your secret places. I think if anything, the "neurological disorder" is the disorder that keeps people from understanding and following the powerful teachings of Christ, whether religious or not. The intolerant tolerant just don't understand this point.
One more point, he stated that the "future doesn't belong to religion." I can't understand how someone that has no hope or concept of eternity can make such a proclamation. Eternal life awaits those who follow Christ's teachings!

The Intolerant Tolerant.

Proving once again the intolerance of the so called "champions of tolerance", Rosie O'Donnell made fun of Chinese people on her show "The View". In my earlier post, I made the comment that "those who scream the loudest for tolerance are the worst practitioners." The exposition of incidents like this will be common in my blog, because of the frequent intolerance of the left. The other day when I googled Glenn Beck and Nazi you should have seen all the hits! I got tens of thousands of hits about how he is a Nazi by people on the left! Another example of the selective tolerance of the left. Below is a clip of Rosie's insensitivity!

Rosie O'Donnell Tolerant?

Great Story. Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

Pay Attention To Your Kids!! Please.

Watch the kid running around the basketball court! This is why you don't let your kids run around unsupervised. Ouch!

In Loving Memory of Mark Dean Nielsen

Several years ago, one of my best childhood friends passed away when he was struck by a train in Nebraska. A couple years after his death, his mother asked me if I would write something as a tribute to his life. One of my many failures in life is that I haven't accomplished this goal. I thought with the use of the Internet, maybe she would do a search one day and stumble upon it. I'm not exactly sure what happened to her after Mark's passing. The last I knew she was living in West Valley, Utah. I hope she is doing well.
What can be said of Mark. I'll do the best that I can considering the constraints of an aging thick skull and the fog of time. I'll beg the reader's pardon if the best parts are left out, my lack of memory is one of the wonders of the world. And certainly there were so many experiences we shared in our decade of friendship that I won't recall them all. I can't believe its been over 10 years since he died!
One thing I do remember is the first day the Nielsens moved in next door to our house in Provo. We looked over the empty lot between the two houses and beheld a UHAUL truck in the steep driveway of their new home and wondered together with my family who they were. Todd and I speculated whether or not they had any girls our age. I have to admit, I didn't think much of Mark the first time I saw him, because of his long hair. We thought maybe he was the girl. This was an oddity in 1984 Provo. I thought, "great we get to live next to a stoner". Now that I'm older and a bit smellier, I'm ashamed for thinking that way, but thus is the ignorance of youth and first impressions are often misleading. This is a great lesson for me now, as I've learned more forcfully that we are all God's children and have good qualities which we just need to be reminded of from time to time. I don't remember how we were forced into servitude helping them with the move, but I'm glad we were. It wasn't the smoothest move in the world and maybe Charlotte wishes she'd asked the Teemonts instead. We broke the aquarium going down the driveway and her fish flipped and flopped all around on the pavement, but Mark and I inaugurated a friendship that would last a decade and see us through some amazing times. Why did our friendship transition into a life-long friendship so easily then? We're we meant to know one another? Why was it so much easier to nurture friendships then? Are we less friendly as we get older, more insecure or less trusting? I don't know. But I digress.
After quickly becoming friends and realizing we both shared many common pleasures, (i.e. sports, girls, wanton destruction, you know the usual) Mark became a permanent fixture in our house. It got to the point where my mom would stumble up the stairs on a school morning to find Mark rummaging through the fridge in search of some breakfast. She grew, or at least we trained her to stop asking why Mark had slept over on a school night. After a while, she didn't even mind and Charlotte would call to ask if Mark was there. "OK, just wanted to make sure he was there, see ya later", Charlotte would say. Mark was like my mom's fourth son and she'd often say "hi son" to him in half joking.
We were notorious for having, shall we say a little bit of a pit for a home and I wondered why Mark wanted to spend so much time there, but we loved that he did. Maybe in retrospect, it was the way it was because we rough housed so much. I remember taking the mattresses off the beds, standing them upright in the stairwell and pushing them down in front of us. We would fall over each other tumbling down the stairs.
It wasn't long after our friendship started that I discovered Mark's dad was Danish and his mom was Greek. The Schmo that I am, I took great joy in referring to him as the "Dan-Greek", a nickname that stuck and was propagated in the neighborhood for years to come. He took it in stride and didn't seem to let things bother him much. (much)
We teased Mark unmercifully looking back with the objectivity that distance allows. I remember tip toeing around him as he slept in on the weekends. I and usually Todd, my accomplice, would quietly place the speakers on both sides of his head as not to wake him before the anticipated moment had arrived. I'd put the White Album in the "boom box" forward it to ole' #15 on the display. Going Marty McFly on the volume, I turn it to the right until you could hear the static slightly register, I'd don the sun-glasses and hit play. Mark would wake up to Ringo poundin' on the drums and levitate momentarily off the bed, before hitting the ground again. Then running towards us as if he was going to punch us, he sang to us a "chorus of the four-letter-serenade". Sure he cursed us a lot, but deep down, I think he really liked it. He must have, he always came back, right?
Mark somehow kept a healthy respect for the Beatles despite these rude awakenings. He even liked the 15th track I do believe, but he could never seem to grow an appreciation for "Crosstown Traffic" by Jimi Hendrix. There was something deeply flawed in his personality to not like this song and I took it upon myself to aid Mark with this deficiency. I embarked on a mission to bring him to the light! I played it for him whenever the occasion would permit in a vain hope that it would grow on him. I would call him on the phone, say "hey Mark", hold the receiver to the speaker then press play. "Do do, do do do, do do", he loved that part. I'd play it when he came over to watch MTV at our place, play it under the door when he was trying to do his business in the bathroom to which came a muffled response through the door. My favorite methodology of all was blasting it full out my window facing his house. He would pop out the door and yell something like "turn off that #%%# thing, I'm trying to watch the smurfs over here and I can't hear the TV over that garbage!" OK, that part isn't true, I can't remember exactly what he watched in those days, I don't think it was the smurfs. Maybe it was "A Small Wonder", no that was grandpa's stupid show.
The one thing that annoyed the living heck out of me is the previously mentioned, MTV Watching (AT MY HOUSE)! I remember I was starting really to hate MTV, because it was in the crapper after being somewhat good in the very early 80s. Mark, on the other hand, loved it and would come over to get his fill. I'd be watching something and he'd sit down, grab the remote and turn on that infernal channel! I finally called and had them block it, because it drove me nuts. I don't think he appreciated it very much and couldn't understand how I could do something like that. How can you pay for a channel and not get it, he would inquire. Because if the cable company really wants to screw you, they'll give you MTV2 for free or something to that effect was usually my reply.
Maybe the reason he liked MTV so much was that he was an entertainer (in his own mind).
We used to work at Arbys together. After we'd close, he would get in front of the lobby microphone and start wailing "TAKE ME DOWN TO THE PARADISE CITY, WHERE THE GRASS IS GREEN AND THE GIRLS ARE PRETTY!" He would gyrate and bob back and forth in front of that microphone like he was Axl Rose. It was truly horrible and several times, I almost threw up in the Arby's sauce containers, but somehow managed. Just when I thought I'd gotten through to him and convinced him that he had slightly less talent than Robert Goulet, I'd go back to cleaning the shake machine. Teri would come running and say "do it again". "NOOOOOOO!!! What are you doing?". She'd just laugh and Mark would hear the guitars and the drums key up for an encore and I'm sure he saw groupies in the audience judging by the goofy smile on his mug. I'd just go back to my work and let them have their little show while trying to concentrate as best I could on the elevator music playing through the weak arby's speakers.
Even though we teased him an awful lot (see, I'm still teasing him), Mark was always a good ally to have. I remember one time, we were driving back from somewhere and I was being a brat to one of my siblings. My parents finally lost it and told me to get out and walk. It was a substantial distance from home, probably about 8 or 9 miles. Mark jumped out with me and started walking. My mother informed him that he need not walk and that they'd take him home, but he said "no, Clint's my friend, I'll walk with him". I thought that was a wonderful display of loyalty. That was a christ-like gesture if there ever was one. "I'll walk the distance with you, even if you're the one that got in trouble!".
He was merciful, but still had a streak of righteous indignation. There was the time that we were at the Provo High pool and a couple of guys wanted to start something with us. Todd and I weren't gonna do anything about it and Mark, though agitated and exchanging words, was willing to let bygones be bygones. That was of course until they followed us outside. The kept hurling pejoratives at us and finally after Mark responded with a comeback of his own that the bully took exception to, he came up behind Mark and hit him in the back of the head. Mark spun around and yelled, "YOU HIT ME!". This made me and Todd laugh at the least opportune moment. Mark being in the midst of puberty, had his voice crack. Exactly as he said "HIT", his voiced cracked and went high pitched. But undeterred, he went over and popped the kid between the eyes and he toppled over a bike.
Had Mark not been my ally, I would have been sorry. He was always kind of a tough guy. He hit really hard in football and "smeer the queer" (I know, it's not PC, shut up). He was so tough that kids in the neighborhood would throw the ball at him rather than take the hit like a good victim should. I won't point any fingers, "Gardners I'm lookin' in your direction."
As any card-carrying teens, it was truly a wonder we survived at all. One thing we liked to do was to dress up in layers of my step dads army clothes, go up in the mountains, get a running start down the mountain and jump head-first into the scrub-oak! Amazingly, we were never impaled, by a branch! We also used to love to roll boulders down the side of the mountain as well. Never hit any homes, but I'm sure we displaced some squirrels and snakes.
Mark seemed more fearless than most though when we pulled our stunts. I remember he'd always go the fastest on the bike and jump the highest off a jump. If he fell, he'd laugh it off. I imagine that's why he had so many scars and broken bones. What was it? Left-collar bone twice and right once, maybe both twice? I can't remember anymore. I remember having a lip-sync concert in our garage and inviting the whole neighborhood to watch. Todd was pounding away with "paint scrapers". Mark stepped a little too close and slice! Just about lost his hand. It slit the top of his wrist. He just looked at it and said, "wow, cool, look how deep it is". He went home and not the hospital. He always had a HUGE scar on the top of his wrist, because of that.
Of course, with teen years came, girls!!! We loved them. Oooh how we loved them so, and they loved....Mark (wait a minute, thats not fair!) Why don't they love ME? But they did seem to take a shine to him, which always made me a little jealous, I'll admit it. I remember in Rockland when he decided to go back home to Utah, the girls were begging him to stay.
Earlier when we were attending Junior High at Farrer an incident occurred. We were in art class one day. He and I were over by the window doing something "arty". Mark took his art serious back then. I was looking at him and laughing about something as a cute girl walked behind us. I saw a jerking reaction, a kind of shocked look as he went up on his toes slightly. I realized that she had just given him a "scwonch"! Holy cow in Happy Valley! In Junior High? "Did she just grab your butt?" I asked. He just kind of shook his head affirmatively and not at all smiling or amused. It was to Mark's great credit that he took offence when a lot of guys in Junior High would've pulled the old mr. suave "well, well, well, hey baby." That for me was awesome, especially at an age when a stiff breeze makes the male sex start singing Wayne Newton loves songs 24/7.
I did respect him a lot, because at his core, he knew what was right and what was wrong. I know that if he were alive, he'd be fighting for values right now. I wish I'd have told him that I respected him now that he's gone, instead of being competative and teasing all the time. There were a few times when the teasing just got to be too much and he blew his cork! Like the time we were filming our little crap C movie "Follow the Ho Chi Mihn Trail". My brother, Roger, kept shooting Mark in the backside with his bb gun. Mark finally snapped and our movie took a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse. It went from 'G', uninteresting and totally stupid to 'XXX', provocative and yet somehow, totally stupid. Mark very creatively restructured the English language in a way that had previously and has yet been duplicated. He even suggested in great detail several different things Roger could do with his bb gun and most of them were anatomically infeasible. Mark though was good natured about the shootings in the end. Roger approached him with a hand full of Sego-Lillies to beg his forgiveness and asked him to the prom. Mark accepted and smiled the cheesiest grin in the history of bad-cinema. I don't how the prom went for those two and I never saw the pictures, but I'm sure they made a snappy couple.
The other "snapping" incident occurred on a day when Mark chose to sleep-in, he was pretty good at that too. He loved to sleep in on the weekends. I mean you know it's bad when he out-slept me! We wanted to go do something fun and were sick of waiting around for him, it was the weekend, time for little boys to play and cause havoc! Todd and I ran over to the "Dan-Greeks" house and knocked on the door. "No, he's asleep", his mother informed us. We were disappointed, but I decided we could avoid the middle-man and get it directly from the horse's mouth. We went to the back of the house and started throwing little pebbles at his bedroom window to wake him up. He finally popped his angrily distorted head out to see who was disturbing his slumber. Recognizing who it was, he motioned for us to go away. We respectfully listened to his complaints, having great empathy for him and then did the only thing we could being in our position. . . We waited for him to close the window, draw the curtain and allotted about a minute so we could be sure he was comfortably back in bed and then started lobbing pebbles again. Of course we did, what else could we do? This was now our entertainment. It didn't matter if we could get him to come out and play, now he was the show. If we could get a reaction, that was sufficient for us. After 3 or 4 more gestures for us to leave him alone (several of the gestures being made with his longest finger), he finally came running around the side of the house with a big old boulder (I swear I don't know how he fit that sucker in his hand) and hucked it at us as hard as he possibly could. It didn't hit us, which is evident in the fact that neither Todd or I have a physical deformity, but we did decide on that note it was time for us to find a less dangerous past time.
Mark had some odd talents. Belching was chief among them. He could suck air over and over until he had built enough in his innards to release a death defying burp! On occasion, he would even hurt himself and be out of commission for a couple of hours (no exaggeration here). Honestly, I have never heard burps like that in my life and didn't think they were humanly possible. It sounded as if the bowells of hell were opening and releasing all there wrath in one giant, long drawn out groan. One night, we thought that it would be funny to put this talent to good use. My sister Di and her fiance, Troy, were courtin' on the front steps after work. They both worked at Arbys at the time and had driven home together after working the late shift. We were "asleep" in the living room and noticed that they were out on the porch. Of course, we couldn't just let them just enjoy each others company uninterrupted so we opened the window and started dropping stink scudds into the crisp night air. This didn't seem to dampen the romantic atmosphere enough, which was very frustrating. We decided drastic measures were in order and closed the window. "Mark do 'The Burp'"! He started sucking air over and over as fast as he could. He placed both his hands by his mouth and formed a suction with his hands up against the door. We said, "loose" and then came the release, "waaaaaaaaaaaaaah"! Its a wonder that the door didn't go flying off into space like the trapped villains in Superman. I was looking around for General Zod and his ilk! You could hear Di and Troy just outside the door laughing, "oh my gosh" and speculating if that was a burp or what, it might have been an explosion in the house, maybe we should go check. I know somewhere in Heaven, Mark is travelling around awing the heavenly hosts by reciting the alphabet in every earthy spoken tongue, and some unspoken, including the adamic language!
The burping probably came as a direct result of all the maraschino cherries that we dared him to eat. He was always good for a dare. "I double dog dare you." One time, we received a giant bottle of the things as a white elephant gift or something. No one really liked them, but Mark. "OK, tough guy, if you like them so much, we dare you to eat the whole bottle." "Oh yeah, no one double dog dares me and gets away with it." He ate the whole thing, every last one (ick)! I'm not sure what kind of ill effects it had an his digestive system, but I'm sure there had to be some. It still makes me sick every time I think about it.
Then there is the time he made out with my sister, Di. Just kidding Di. I'm not sure how this rumor got started, but just to clear it up so there's no question about it. Mark and my sister did not make out. That would have been like Marty and his mom kissing in 'Back to the Future'. Mark was like her brother.
Mark was a close friend to all of us. I saw him judged by others and myself at times, yet he was more than he appeared. Though imperfect, as we all are, I'm glad I had the pleasure to know him and learn from his life. We all remember his life with great affection and fondness. I ofter wonder what he might have done had he not passed on. This much is certain, he is still doing good things in the hereafter. Mark sought out truth in this life and he will surely find it in the next. He is sorely missed even more than a decade after his untimely death. I love you my com padre.
C.D.D
P.S. I reserve the right to add to this as more comes to mind.

Pretty Good Remake, Not Bad.

Is Rock 'n' Roll Evil? Pt.2

I received a provocative comment when I wrote the first installment of "Is Rock 'n' Roll Evil?" from Lily. She is an intelligent Harvard Student and I enjoy her insight in the "dog blog" even though I don't agree with her. I believe that she is a student of philosophy up there, but she may have to correct me on that one. Instead of responding in a comment, I thought I'd do a second installment and respond to some of her observations and questions.
First, Lily asked me if my remedy for the negative effects of these forms of entertainment would include isolating ourselves? I believe that the prophets have clearly stated that we should not isolate from the world, else we can do no good in it. I think there are certainly forms of entertainment that are not worth an ounce of our time and should be totally shunned (pornography, certain music or movies with extreme images of hate, violence and sex, etc.). We should live in the world and try to find the beauty in it and interact with others, but shouldn't be part of the world, meaning we shouldn't partake of things that hurt us.
I think Lily's best point and hardest to argue is that the "lifestyle portrayed by rock'n'rollers is a lot of the time whimsical and self-indulgent. But that (my argument) is actually far too broad a generalisation." I actually do agree with her that I made an overly broad generalisation on this point. I don't believe that all their messages are inherently evil. I believe in the 13th article of faith (one of the 13 brief summaries of our religion) "if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." Some of this music, particularly the BEATLES is very beautiful and is definitely praiseworthy in many respect, though not all. I admire them as songwriters and musicians and believe that their music will transcend time. Also, I agree rock music doesn't necessarily translate into "bad acts". I know that Bono and others do much for the cause of humanity, which is religion in its truest sense. However, this much I do know and feel comfortable in boldly proclaiming, these men are fallible and many of their theories and philosophies are contrary to the teachings of the Lord, Jesus Christ and these philosophies are embraced by many who listen as if it is the unqualified truth without disecting the words to discover the their real meaning.
Once, I had a philosophy professor at Utah Valley State say that the best philosophers in the world are Rock'n'Roll artists and I had to think about that for a second. They do tell us a lot of truths, but if you get beneath the surface is it sound philosophy? The example Lily used was Lennon's "imagine". Lennon says a lot of good things in this song. Imagine no poverty and no riches, but equality. This is most definitely a gospel principle, but look a little closer to what he's telling us to do. Imagine "no hell below us above us only sky." He wants us to believe there is no consequence for sin and no need to have faith in Jesus Christ. Most the song talks about good things, like sharing the world. But we need to be mindful of what we call good. Many musicians sing about "love", but what do they mean, love with total selflessness or lusty disregard for the welfare and salvation of others? They sing about "happiness", but do they mean a fleeting enjoyment that leaves someone ashamed, empty and separated from God or do they mean the joy that is promised as we follow true principles, humble ourselves and believe in Christ?
Lily argues that "people have a religious experience and internalise things from listening and repetion in a "daze". I think here she is implying that religious people have concepts drilled into them by blind worship and kind of a brainwashing, if I'm reading her argument correctly. She goes on to say that "religious experience comes from the message (that strikes true internally), and is then manifested, if you will (or if you so choose, in that sort of "chanting". I believe here she is commenting on my depiction of the young teen listening to rap and walking around "chanting" in what I referred to as a daze.
To address the first part of her comment, I had to think about that comment for a little bit. Here's some of the thoughts that I have on this. As we are all the sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly parentage, it is certainly true that we all have a divine heritage. As such we possess certain qualities. One of these qualities is that we all feel the pin-prick in our hearts when truth is presented. We all have in us a desire to return to God. It makes sense that he provides a method that we can know how(it is given to all men to know right from wrong and good from evil). Sometimes, however, we are all confused (I used to worship the beatles and put way too much stock in what they sang about) when those truths are interspersed with half truths or deception (intentional or unintentional). The Lord does not want or expect us to blindly follow in a "daze" and learn by vain repetition, but to supplement our learning with frequent prayer asking for help to know truth from fiction. He asks us in James "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, which giveth liberally and upbraideth not." The gospel is infinitely more powerful than the precepts of men, but is in no way as loud and repetitious as the theories of men that we see on TV, in the movies, in song, in school, by our friends, on the Internet, etc. I do agree with Lily though, that we shouldn't walk around in any kind of a "daze", whether religiously or irreligious. We should closely examine these things for ourselves, when we truly consider what most musicians are telling us, we can discover for ourselves how truly shallow their meaning is and what a dead end their theories lead us to.

Ferguson Messes With Rumsfeld.

I saw this stuff on Fox News and laughed my butt off. Someone has way too much free time on their hands to be creating this. Wow! Thanks CC for reminding me about this one. I bet ole' Rummy wanted to do this with the press very often. I've never seen a press so adversarial and disrespectful as they are with this administration. It's one thing to question, but you have to respect the office at least and they don't at all.

Happy Birthday Heimer!!

Holy cow, How old are you now? You old fart. 35? One foot in the grave the other on a banana peel. I'm gonna start sending you nose and ear hair clippers.
Happy-B day.
Clint

Here is an article in the Boston Herald on the Church.

http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=171825&format=&page=1

Glenn Beck's Testimony of the Gospel.

I love this video, its so powerful! You should see all the negative garbage you see when you do a search of Glenn Beck in the Blogs. On youtube one of them was making fun of his testimony, saying that he was a phony because he condoned the killing of a terrorist. "Very sweet... like when Beck said about a month ago that the solution in Iraq is to have someone go and shoot Moqtada al-Sadr in the head. How sweet. How Christian. How... phoney." DEFENDING Moqtada al-Sadr? Men like this are devoted to killing as many Americans as possible! Glenn is realistic, if al-Sadr and his ilk were reasonable and really wanted to live peacefully with the west, Beck wouldn't have a problem turning the other cheek, but don't we have an obligation to defend ourselves? We've seen what extremists like this are like, "I won't rest until every Israeli and American is dead!" I saw that clip in Stewarts History class more than a decade ago. How do you turn the other cheek with that? You're kind of obliged to defend or be vaporized aren't you?
But its amazing to me how callous people can be when the spirit is manifest like this, this man spills out his soul and is obviously touched, feeling gratitude and love for God and is mocked for it! Doesn't 2 Timothy say something about traitors in the last days, lacking natural affection and despisers of those who are good? I bet he/she wouldn't have a problem with Glenn Beck getting wacked, just terrorists. I really like when he says, "cry out to the Lord". Made me think of the hymn, Redeemer of Israel. "How long we have wandered as strangers in sin."

Glenn Beck is the Man and a Mormon!

I don't know if you guys knew but Glenn Beck, who has the third most popular radio show in America, is a Mormon. He is a recovering alcoholic and recovering liberal. Pretty much the same thing, clouded judgment, out of control bar tabs and anger issues.
I just heard him on CNN, oh yeah, he also has a TV show. The guy went alcoholic to workoholic. He was talking about how he used to drink and do drugs everyday, but the LDS church helped him to quit it all and turn his life around. His family is the center of his life now. KUTV did a special on him that he has been playing in parts on CNN. Yesterday, he joked self-deprecatingly that when he went into the font, he thought it was going to start boiling, because of all his sins. I got a kick out of that.
You should all start listening to him. He is funny, he's got 'tude, hes wicked smot (sorry been out here too long) and he likes to poke fun at the left, a good combination. They're so threatened by him on the left, they've already resorted to calling him a Nazi. Wait, you don't have to be a threat, you just have to be right of Fidel Castro to be a "Nazi" in the liberal book. Some guys blog said that he had lost all faith in CNN, because they put Glenn Beck on. Why? Because CNN is finally telling it from both sides a little bit after years of no voice from the right at all? Though sometimes, I cringe a little, because he might make a comment that is a little over the line, but that's why we all sing about Glenn around the campfire!

Is Rock 'n' Roll Evil?

No, really I want to know. Were our grandparents right even though certainly wrong on a number of things? Was this a time that they were "spot on"? Sure they might have sounded fanatical, old fashioned and prudish, we have to at least consider the argument that they were right, if we don't consider every opinion then we are fools. Even if the opinion requires only seconds to consider then dismiss.
I love listening to my Beatles, Doors and all the classics as much as anyone, but the more I listen to it, the more I run across a re-occurring scriptural theme "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die." "Live for today and don't worry 'bout tomorrow." "Rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun, only the good die young." "The world is your oyster so get high and get whatever you want to." It seems like they bombard their listeners with encouragement to be selfish and don't worry about anything but their own carnal appetites and people eat it up. Whatever makes us happy in the moment is acceptable, no matter whom we had to trample on to get it or if it is offensive to God.
Rap is obviously the worst example of this (except for apparently Tupac who was instrumental in my brothers conversion to the Savior). The other day, a member was moving. She is the only member of the Church in her family. Her son had head-phones on and was listening very intently. He was ignoring his fathers pleas to help load the truck and he was wandering around in daze, muttering the lyrics to a rap. It struck me so strongly that it was almost like the chants of a Monk, kind of a religious mantra. It kind of scared me, because I thought, "man this kid is really internalizing this stuff, he is having a quasi-religious experience with it or should I say irreligious experience." It begs the question, how much are we all effected by the entertainment we subject ourselves to? As was said in the last conference, Babylon effects us in ways we don't even realize.
But rap isn't the only culprit of "artists" stealing men's attention from the true God by dishonesty and cunning. Ok, this was one of the weirdest "rockumentaries" that I've ever seen, but at least it was refreshingly honest, not like the usual crap about how happy they were, "but then, tragedy struck again and their life fell into the crapper, again, but then, they were the happiest they'd ever been, again, and so on and so on". I mean, come on, if the precepts and methods to happiness that they constantly prescribe bring such stability and happiness, why is it the same story in all of them- no one, drunk, someone, drunk and stoned, no one, rehab. But I digress, the Black Sabbath Rockumentary made me think of writing this post. I think it was on VH1, but it might have been MTV, its all pops and whistles to me. I stopped because they were doing a piece on Black Sabbath and Ozzy looked so different so it piqued my interest. The drummer started going into how he used to be big into the occult and witchcraft, he had upside-down crosses and pictures of Satan hanging on all his walls. One night, he woke up with a hideous nightmare and looked down to the end of his bed to behold a "very malevolent dark form" and could feel rage and hatred and it scared him. He went and told Ozzy and the group thought it would be great to write a song about it. After that, the group felt inspiration that they should write songs in the same vein to scare people. So by their own admission their songs were inspired by a dark spirit and witchcraft! Think about that for a second. They admitted to being inspired by the devil and yet me bringing up this subject will probably make me a fanatic. I remember growing up as a young child in the 80s and religious groups accusing these bands of this very thing. In turn they were scoffed and marginalized, but it turns out, at least in this case that they were right. Maybe I'm overreaching a little, I don't know, but I would love feedback on this issue. Do you think rock musicians are the "ravening wolves in sheep's clothing" we were warned about that sing about a twisted brand of love and tolerance, or am I out to lunch on this one?
Hey why don't we ask the McLaughlin Group if they agree with you guys.
WRONG THEY WERE ALL INSPIRED BY THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS!
NEXT ISSUE!