Pilgrim's Progress?

Ah, the blind eyes turned to our Nation's founding principles. The audacity of these officials to say that God should not be thanked in Public Schools when referring to our Nation's first Thanksgiving. In this Fox News story, the Maryland public school administrators are flat out denying the fact that this country was founded on Christian principles and not only the acknowledgement of God, but thanks to him as well. To say that the Pilgrims celebrated their first Thanksgiving and did NOT thank God is laughable. Why is it that God is mentioned more than just a few times in our very own Constitution, and the many documents that define what our country was founded for, and our first President's very own words at our first Thanksgiving: "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor." state otherwise? Why is it that these public school officials are not reprimanded for diluting our children's view of this Country's founding principles and the real reasons for our official holidays? Why are they continually allowed to mold our children's education to rule out God?? Heaven forbid there should be Ten Commandments in school, or prayer in school, seeing as how they teach good rules and better living. Who knows what our children might do if they were forced to think that it is wrong to kill, steal, covet, or honor their father and mother. Might be offensive, no? Heaven forbid they should know the real DOCUMENTED reason for celebrating Thanksgiving, as stipulated by our founders. These people are blind to the real reasons our Country is going to hell in a handbasket so quickly, and our children are becoming more and more destructive by the minute. Do you think these kids even once stop to think that they might offend someone when they commit crimes??? NO!!! They commit them because they don't have any reason not to. They don't have enough of a conscience to tell them not to. Somehow I get the feeling that thanking God for his many provisions doesn't prompt kids to do bad things. But that's just my opinion.


Fox News Story Here

The closing of the year

The holidays are fast approaching which means a sort of "blogger slow-down" for the Observatorio. I find it out of my way to sit at the computer and write about stuff when I should be spending time with my family, so postings may be a little few and far between. Oh, I might post something at night when all the day's events are done and there is need to pass the time. Usually, my head is in one place: "Family Land", and the events of the world mean little, except any OU games happening at the moment. With two new nephews and new houses for the Parental Units & Aunt 'n Uncle, much is occupying the Observatorio's time. So bear with me. You should find yourself very busy with the holidays too, so reading one average Joe's blog is not exactly at the top of your "to do" list, anyway, I reckon.

Mmm Hmm.

Quote of the month

"Let us think more of the opportunity before us than we do of the accomplishment behind us."

- James Cash Penney
Founder of JCPenney
1875-1971

Monthly Classic Movie Review

It's nearing the holidays. Lots of good holiday movies to choose from. Next month's classic movie review is already selected. I am looking forward to that one. This month, the turkey's on the table and the hand's between two pillows! This month's review is dedicated to one of the funniest comedies, and certainly one of the very best holiday movies ever: Planes, Trains and Automobiles. This is just too good a movie. It follows Mr. Neal Page(Steve Martin), in a desperate attempt to return home for Thanksgiving with his family, and getting a flight out of the big city during the holidays is about as easy as playing Pick-Up-Sticks with your butt cheeks! Along the way, his taxi is taken by a big lug, they share a quick face to face, and then the taxi drives away. After finally landing a flight, Neal finds he is on the same plane as the man who stole his cab! Hijinks ensue, and the two go on a cross-country trek in, you guessed it, planes, trains and automobiles. Neal's unwanted partner in crime is Del Griffith, played to immortal perfection by the late, very great John Candy, in his most memorable performance aside from Uncle Buck. Whereas Uncle Buck is more of a timeless character, Del Griffith is the perfect blend of comedic performance and dramatic acting. He's a loveable oaf who causes most of his own problems, but has such a tender heart that you can't help but love him. Neal realizes he is stuck with this guy, as much as he hates to admit it, for the duration of the wild goose chase to get home. Their auto experience includes a backwoods dufus and his strong-as-a-bull wife, whose first baby come out sideways; a rental car that gets sandwiched between two semis in a nighttime drive, and subsequently charred to a crisp. But oddly enough, the radio still works. It's clear as a bell, don't ask me how! The train they board only goes so far before breaking down. The planes take them to small, out of the way towns and small airports. The greatest scene of this film is the infamous hotel room, where the two men find themselves rudely awakened by a slight "mixup". Neal- "Why did you kiss my ear?" Del- "Why are you holding my hand?" Neal- "Where's your other hand?" Del- "Between two pillows." Neal- "THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!!!!!!" Just you try not to split your sides!
This movie is rated R, because of only one scene. Neal finally reaches the breaking point when the clerk at the rental car desk is too busy with her phone conversation to pay attention to him. In his tirade, he utters the "F" word approximately 19 times. In the "edited for television" version, the scene was filmed again, without the "F" words. Other than that, this film is barely enough to earn a PG-13, so don't let the rating turn you away. This film is an absolute gem that is perfect for the holidays. It is similar to Home Alone, in that someone is trying to get home during the holidays and hitting every type of snag along the way. Both Films were made by John Hughes, who has made some of the cinema's finest films.
This film comes to a wonderful end that will warm your heart and make the journey all worth while. It makes you want to be with family and celebrate togetherness and give thanks. It works on so many levels.
With great characters, note perfect performances, brilliant dialog, and some of the funniest scenes in any comedy, this film has Steve Martin and John Candy in their best form!

You're going to need lots of therapy

P.E.S.T. That's Post Election Selection Trauma. According to Psychologists in South Florida, it's real. It's valid.
It's too much, if you ask me. Voters who were severely distraught over Kerry's consession in the election have gotten their panties in a bunch. Many of them have gone in for therapy. All this funny business has gotten the attention of Rush Limbaugh, who has offered council to those who have P.E.S.T. Of course, if you know Rush Limbaugh, he is not truly offering real council, because he knows he is not a psychologist. He is most likely joking. And if he is not, you don't have to take him seriously. Besides, if you really are distraught that Bush is still in the White House, wouldn't you rather go to anyone else than Rush Limbaugh for help????? Sheila Cooperman of the American Health Association in South Florida is mad at Rush for offering help. She has a hissy fit and basically gets defensive of her assertions that P.E.S.T. is real and those suffering from it need legitimate clinical help. Anything to fatten the doctor's wallet.
Look at it this way. I'm sure there was many a hippie in the 60s that thought life as they knew it would end, that the world would be forever in disarray, that there was no hope. We live on. America still thrives. Life goes on. Deal with it! Don't think that lying on a couch, then pumping yourself full of drugs will make things better. Therapy SCHMERAPY!!!
Or, as Anthony LaPaglia says in the movie So I Married An Axe Murderer: "Charlie, two words: Therapy."

Prescription for bunched up panties

Cursed

Do you ever feel that you are stricken by a curse you can't abolish?

You can count the Observatorio guilty as charged. My curse: spills. For years, I have been blessed with an uncontrollable mess-making affliction. Don't let me get near a freshly cleaned rug. Red wine and white carpet, forget about it. Not to mention the mud tracks all over the house. You can almost count the seconds on one hand. It's like that movie The Goonies. Hand me something you want to be broken, start counting to yourself, and ... CRASH!!!

I had the severe misfortune tonight of being the laughing stock of the party. Heaven forbid I carry a plate full of pasta more than three feet without spilling half of it all over the floor. Perhaps I am just followed around by a ghost that has nothing more to do in the afterlife than make me drop stuff.

To those whom I have demonstrated my curse: please accept my apologies. Broken glasses, plates, family heirlooms; none are safe from the dreaded curse that plagues me. You would do well to childproof your home before requesting the pleasure of my presence at your humble abode. You know who you are. I will not mention any names, for fear that my curse might permeate your little slice of heaven.

Do yourself a favor and watch the movie The Pink Panther. There is a scene where the great inspector Jaques Clouseau gets home from a hard day's sleuthing. He takes off his hat and hangs it on the coat rack. It falls to the floor. He disregards it and takes off his gloves and puts them on the shelf. They fall to the floor. He gets a little frustrated, picks them all up and tries to put them back on the shelf. They fall back to the floor. He then takes off his trench coat and hangs it on the coat rack. The coat rack basically disintigrates, and everything falls to the floor. He throws his hands up in disgust and leaves it all in a heap at the bottom of the closet. It seems that everything this man touches loses the will to be solid and becomes a mass of jelly.

The curse continues.

The Incredibles ****

Brilliant movie. Saw it in the local DLP theater, which if you are anywhere near one, I highly recommend seeing it DLP as it is the best theater format available to us peons. True, celluloid is better, but I have not seen but perhaps one movie in a theater that could surpass DLP, and that particular theater doesn't exist anymore. Computer animated films are the best thing to see in Digital Light Projection. Anything straight from a computer to your local theater is most likely the best presentation you will ever see. Maybe not hear, but see.

As with all Pixar movies, the characters shine and are immediately likeable. You always feel strongly for the players in their films. The voicework is perfect, the design and imagination of this film is so spectacular. A moving, thrilling adventure for the kids and adults. The look of this film is very stylized, and not bent on showing off the prowess of current computer technology. Story and characters are what count in this movie, but the quality is nothing to be taken lightly either. Brad Bird is most responsible for this film, and a lot of it reminds one of the previous movie he did: The Iron Giant. Both are set in the 50s and some of the character designs are very much alike. As usual, this film is a comedy adventure. The funniest moments are laugh-out-loud funny, and the adventurous spirit brings you back to your childhood, where your imagination ruled the day and you could go anywhere and do anything. I can't wait to see this again! I love that superhero movies of this sort make me want to don a supersuit and fight crime, if only my woman would tell me where it is! "Why do you need to know?" she says!

The usual Pixar suspects are still here: Wallace Shawn, who played Rex, the dinosaur toy in the Toy Story movies is here as Mr. Incredible's day job boss, and embodies just about every annoying boss you've ever had. John Ratzenburger, who played Ham, the piggy bank in the Toy Story movies also makes a very brief appearance, as he does in every Pixar movie.

There were a few good trailers before the movie. The next Pixar movie is called Cars, and it looks like it is going to be a comedy classic. Again, great characters that you can't help but love the minute you meet them. And of course, the creme-de-la-creme: Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith. I had just seen the teaser on the internet, but it needs to be experienced in a large theater. There were moments of big bass that you just can't get at home... at least, not without mucho dinero and many home theater equipment purchases. That film is gonna tear the house down. I can feel it.

Kudos to Pixar. Again. The way they're going, they can do no wrong.
Brilliant, exciting, imaginative, and machine washable, darling, that's a new feature.

A website full of Chicken-Littles

You won't believe some of the responses to this bit of childish wailing. The Democratic Underground is so far underground right now they've struck lava. They think the world is coming to an end. They think the election has been stolen again. They think Bush is Hitler incarnate. It is truly unbelieveable. Some of them don't even want to call themselves American. If that's the case, leave the country. Go live somewhere else. You'll be back. And if you don't ever return, don't worry. You won't be missed.
One particular response pretty much summarizes the liberal way of thinking: vote Democrat, or else you are a bastard and are stupid. Bush won the popular vote by more than ANY OTHER CANDIDATE IN HISTORY! That must say something for the whole of America. The majority of the citizens of this great Country want Bush to stay in office. So therefore, we must all be stupid, no? Folks at democraticunderground.com want you to believe so. Truly pathetic. I can't deny that this was still a very close election. But the facts remain. The people have spoken. 4 MORE YEARS!!!!

Awwww, boo hoo!

Rock the vote, dude!

Tuesday morning. November 2, 2004. 7 a.m. A local Middle School. Voted for the first time in me life. Pretty sad, huh? Here I am @ 27 years of age and only now am I voting? I really didn't put much importance on it until now. This was truly a huge, mondo important election. I had to make sure that Bush got my vote. Anyone but John Kerry! Now, all you Kerry supporters out there, doesn't it sound stupid to call for "anyone" but Bush? As in, you'd rather have a child murderer in the White house than Bush? You'd rather have someone who would turn control of our Country over to the U.N. rather than Bush? You'd rather have someone who'd sell our Country to the highest bidder than Bush? Now you know how ridiculous that statement is. No, I'd rather NOT have those types of persons in the White House instead of Kerry. But I DARN SURE ain't gonna vote for Kerry or any liberal, whilst I can vote for Bush or vote Republican. I had to be certain that I showed my support for Bush, in the midst of all the mudslinging and drudgery the Dems and their cohorts are stirring up. Now I'm sure that not ALL these things are the works of the Democrats, but I have seen so many low blows by unknown people this election: tires slashed on volunteer vehicles for the Republican party, headquarters ransacked and vandalized, calls made to unsuspecting voters urging them to vote for Kerry to help legalize gay marriage, under the guise that the call was made by the Democratic party, the list goes on. Personally, I think it is a grand conspiracy cooked up by Michael Moore, the Democratic Underground(democraticunderground.com), moveon.org, etc. They will do anything, including cheat, to win this election. They have made it clear in their warped minds that Bush stole the previous election and that they are entitled to steal one of their own. Democracy in action, eh? Like a man says: "Vote early, vote often."

Unc. 2.0

Samuel 

Well it has happened. The second nephew is here. Within 2 weeks of the first. Samuel Ryan North is his name. We had a contest going to see who could guess his weight. I hit the nail right on the head @ 8lbs. 5oz. He's cute as a bug in a rug. Got him and Austin(see "Call me Unc.") an OU pennant for their rooms. They are both OU fans, whether they like it or not! Well, that does it for kids in my immediate family. Littlest sister is only recently married, so I am not expecting a third niece/nephew/rugrat for at least a year. Or thereabouts. No pressure.