Revenge of the Mockingbird

So, the Mocking Bird that inhabits the Bradford Pear outside my bedroom read my blog, and decided that he/she needed to start his/her song at 12:30, instead of at two.

Thankfully, my Heroes help deaden the sound.

Dear Cable.

Last January, I took the plunge and called the cable company to disconnect my Cable services: Digital Cable (third tier), High Def Programming (only available on the third tier and above), two HD DVR and an approximately $150.00 bill. That bill does include my high speed Internet connection of about $50.00.

I can remember when mom and dad first subscribed to Cable back in the eighties. The company was Columbia Cable Television (CCTV), and it came with a handful of channels (TBS, MTV and Nickelodeon were my favorites) and a remote control that was tethered to the cable box. I have no idea how much it cost, but, comparing with the four channels we got "OTA" (over the air) it was amazingly cool. The quality was vastly better.

About a year before we disconnected, we elevated our services from the bare basics ($9.00) to the full Monty. We disconnected Direct TV and started enjoying watching commercials for Direct TV telling us how superior it was to cable. For the first month or so, I was in love with Cable. I could come home and just watch for hours. Discovery HD was my favorite. But, after the courtship, we kinda just got use to each other. Days would go by without even turning on the TV. But Cable didn't mind. She dutifully recorded my shows onto the DVR and I watched them when they were convenient for me. Ironically, I was mostly watching Network Television (you know, the stuff that comes for free OTA).

Then I bought a laptop. I discovered TED and uTorrernt and xTvi and learned how to download the same network programming that I was paying $100 dollars a month. Using Roku digital video player and my Netflix account I had access to a vast library of programming. Then, Netflix went and joined up with Microsoft to allow Xbox Live Gold Members the ability to stream Netflix to their Xbox 360 units. With my Xbox 360 and my Archos TV+ (great price from Circuit City) I can stream my downloaded media to either unit (this translates to upstairs and downstairs). Finally, this week I discovered PlayOn which allows me to stream HULU content to either the Xbox or Archos. This has allowed me to decrease the amount of shows that I have to get from Ted and uTorrent. Also, I feel a bit gray about downloading TV bit torrents: I keep it to stuff that I can get OTA.

So my TV life has been ok ever since writing my "Dear Cable" letter.

Hearoes

Do you still follow Heroes? Yeah, me too. But, this post isn’t about the Monday night show about flying congressmen (hey, wouldn’t that really be cool in real life). Instead, it is about mockingbirds.

To be more specific, the mocking bird that lives in my bradford pear tree. Yes, that’s right, the very one that is next to my bedroom. The location is only pertinent due to the fact that Max (my name for the bird) decides to sing at 2:30 am. Everyday. Like clockwork.

Thankfully, I have little foamy ear plugs that you can roll into a tight tube and then insert into your ears. As the foam material returns to its normal shape, it provides a barrier to Max’s serenades. Fortunately, I had a pair to spare for my wife (who also has been woken by the miscreant).

These little foamy ear plugs have become our hearoes.

What ever happened to Tyler?

Three years ago, I posted a bit about Tyler Lindsay and his brother, Ryan, and sister, Christina. His family, Navy people, were stationed out in Washington. But this hasn't stopped their musical ambitions.

Recently, Mama Lindsay posted some videos of the kids on You Tube. I thought I would share them with you. Keep your eyes out for these kids.

Jazz Wonder

Update On Tyler

What a Relief

With Easter just having passed, and a lot of yard work to do, I have had plenty of times to think about my beliefs. Do you ever have these long dialogues with yourself as you work through some things? I do. Even to the point of imagining that I am speaking to someone else. If I am not careful, my thoughts become very audible as I speak out loud to an imaginary friend.

What I have to admit to myself, is that I sometimes get caught up in pride. That somehow, I have God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit pretty much figured out, and I leave it at that.

The part that is still an absolute mystery to me is how some people are just *absolutely* in love with them. And I wonder why I don’t feel that way. Perhaps I am caught in my own dogma of having “figured” them out.

Again, just being honest, I forget that Jesus spent his life with the type of people that I would probably not have hung around with. Those “undesirables” were the ones he came for, and they were the ones he built his church with. And, to top it off, I am still a little hung up about the rules. I want to “do” right so that, you know, the world can see my faith.

What a relief to know that I can admit to myself (out there, while cutting grass) that I don’t have God quite so figured out. And, about all those rules…there are only two that really matter: Love God, and Love People. Even the kind that I might not hang with, because He loves them the same way He loves me.

Phew!

English Porn

I had to write about this, because I am really confused.

Cindy googled “Plural Possessive Worksheets” and got several hits. As she started clicking into them, she noticed that the page was taking a while to render. Then, BAM…there it was: a bevy of women in the Chesapeake area who was ready to help with “Plural Possessive” worksheets.

We thought that it might have been a virus, after all, I had just installed an updated version of our Anti-Virus. Makes sense that we would get a virus. Ran some malware checks, nothing. Everything showing in the green.

As a check, I did some random google searches, including Star Wars, Geeks, Nerf hearder and clicked through. Nothing. But, go back to the Plural Possessive and watch out!

So, let this be a warning to you out there searching for worksheets to help you with English. You might get more than you were expecting.

Birthday Marathon Ideas

In 2001, for my Birthday, I started to take the day off from work and go to the movies. It was a birthday present to myself. As the girls got older, I started wanting to share with them the day. For my 38th, I did the "Star Wars" Marathon - that was one of the bests. For 39 we had a minithon with Shrek and Shrek 2 in preparation for Shrek 3. Last year, we did the Indiana Jones Trilogy as well as catching Prince Caspian in the theaters.

What will it be for the 41st annual Day of Chuck?

• 24 in 24 - Try to watch 24 in one contiguous sitting. Not sure this will be Family Friendly.
• Star Trek Movies - Trek I - VI. Already, the natives are against me on this one, and I would probably be going it alone. With Jay and a bunch of people dressed up as Klingons, this might not be as much fun.
• Lord of the Rings - Extended Editions - I watched the first two over Christmas, and they are still fresh in my mind.
• Pixar - In honor of the "upcoming" Up, watch the Pixar Films Toy Story, Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo, Incredibles, Cars, Ratatooie and Wal-E. Nine Films, but I could cut it off after Cars because I did not like the last two.

I am up for any other suggestions.

Town Hall For Hope

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The Murtaugh List

By now, the term “Bucket List” has worked its way into our vocabulary, thanks to the movie of the same name. In the film, two men with terminal cancer decide to do all of the things that they want to do before they “kick the bucket.” Luckily, one of the men has the financial means to allow both of them to accomplish their list.

But what about you and me?

We are in our early forties. We can look forward to, God willing, a long life, but, we also realize that, statistically speaking, half of our life has passed.

We are no longer the group of kids who would stay up all night in the Kirk’s garage watching movies, eating pizza, and (on occasion) smoke a cigar or two.

Which leads me to the title of my post: The Murtaugh List. The name of the list is taken from one of the characters from the Lethal Weapon series, Sgt. Roger Murtaugh, played by Danny Glover. Murtaugh is facing retirement and the good life, when he gets saddle with a new partner, Martin Riggs. Murtaugh’s catch phrase is “I am getting too old for this stuff.” Ok, he didn’t say stuff, but you get the picture.

The Murtaugh List is a list of things that you are getting too old to do anymore. Off the top of my head, I probably could add “Staying up all night watching movies” and “Smoking Cigars” on the list.

What is on yours?

ht to the writers of “How I Met Your Mother” for this hilarious idea.

Weekend Roundup

• Finally took my Pontiac into the shop to listen to that rattling noise it  makes when she starts up cold.
• Had lunch with a good friend of mine.
• Quality time with Katie – Saturday, mom took Megan to a violin concert while Katie and I kicked backed and played video games, watched MythBusters and chowed on some stove-popped popcorn.
• Sunday worship at ASBC was really good. Alicia sang “Something About that Name.” From my perspective in the orchestra, it is really a blessing to see how God moves in people.
• Dave continued his series on Men and Women communicating.
• Said goodbye to the Shrodt family as they prepare to move to the holy land (Columbia, SC). Dave will start as worship leader at Northside Baptist next week.
• Took the girls to see “Monsters Vs. Aliens.” Not that great, but good for a few laughs. Is it me, or is Seth Rogan in every other movie?
• Last night, around 9:30, something made a really loud noise. I thought it was the wind, but obviously, it was not.
• Thought about the Lizard Man for the first time in years.

Town Hall for Hope

Check it out…

Punctuate This Sentence

Here is an example from sunday's sermon. The pastor put a sentence up on the screens with no punctuation:

A woman without her man is nothing

So, if you are included, please punctuate the sentence to give different meanings.

A Box of Nothing.

At ASBC, we are doing a topical series on Men and Women. What is great is that our interim teaching pastor is bringing fresh perspective and presentation to this topic.

He used a great metaphor to illustrate how men think. Our brain is subdivided into little boxes. In one box might be work, in another there might be family, and in another sports. The main point is that these boxes are fairly separated, and generally do not mix when compared to women. Their brains are like the World Wide Web in that there are soooo many touch points between their boxes. But men have one special box, that women do not have. It's the nothing box. So, ladies, when you ask the guy, what are you thinking about, and he says nothing, he ain't lying.

Relaxing-ish Weekend, too

The title of the post refers to a similar one posted on MMMM, That's Good Coffee. Seems like we both had an extended date planned.

Cindy and I met with our pals, Ron and Sheila, for an overnight stay in "downtown" Virginia Beach. Unlike SC, the cities of the Hampton Roads are more the size of counties. Virginia Beach is the about the size of Richland county, so I usually differentiate between the Resort area, the municipal section and "downtown." Again, with the quotes. About ten years ago, Va Bch decided that it needed a downtown area, so they took some land that had been woods and built large Sky Scrapers there. It is almost funny to drive by and suddenly you are in the middle of these tall buildings, then...boom, they only have two or three.

But the area is really, really nice. Ron's job has him traveling a bit, and he wracks up a lot of points from the Hilton. He was gracious to share those points with us.

We had a late night dinner at the Cheesecake factory, talked for hours, and finally said our good nights. The next morning (a sleep in kind of morning), we met and had a three hour breakfast. Not that we ate for three hours, but we stayed at the table for three hours enjoying the company.

The date seemed to be over too quickly, but, like they say, time flies when you are having fun.

BSG - End to a Good Series.

Battlestar Galactica completed its mission and finally found earth. I am happy to report that I predicted the nature of the end (if not the exact ending) over two years ago. Not hard to do.

I like when a show has a definite story to tell, and knows when it is time to finish up the story. In the case of BSG, Cylons chasing the humans can only last so long, right?

Waking up at the Hilton

Saturday Morning. Just finished brewing a pot of coffee in the mini-coffee pot here in our room. Cindy is watching the morning news while I type this out.

This was our overnight get-a-way. Sure, it is downtown Virginia Beach in the Pembroke area, but, it's some good quality "us time." Something that there has been not quite as much of late due to busyness.

Busyness. It can be a real downer on your relationship with your spouse. Once schedules get spinning, sometimes it feels like you are passing ships, exchanging pleasantries. It reminds me that relationships aren't accidental, and requires effort. Otherwise, you start to get a "something's missing" feeling.

After work, Cindy and I left the kids with our friend and then drove to meet out Financial Peace Buds, the Beards, at the Hilton Garden Inn. We relaxed in the lobby, just catching up, and then walked over to the Cheesecake Factory. I've never been there before, but WOW, it was so good. We left there around 11:00 and headed back to the hotel for more fellowship. An episode of The Office, and 30 Rock, then off to bed.

Sleeping in for me, means that it is after 5:30 am. So, at 7:00 am, I declare that I actually got to sleep in. Yes! Getting up slowly, making coffee and posting on my blog.

A good morning, indeed.

DST and Simple Pleasures

How has your week gone? Getting up an hour earlier with DST and all that? I use to get up at 5:45 am, but, now my body feels like it is 4:45 am. It takes us a while to adjust, right?

It has been especially hard for our girls. I usually get them up around 6:30 am so they are ready to begin school at 8:00. However, there bodies are still telling them that, regardless of what the clock says, it is still 5:30 am.

The first day, Monday, I was going to be a nice guy. Open their doors and with a tender loving voice say "Girls, it's 6:30, time to get up."

The reaction that I got from my oldest was, well...it was rude. And, it only encouraged me to crank it up to 11.

On Tuesday, all pretenses of gentleness were gone. I brought my trombone up stairs a blew morning reveille. Oh, that went over very well.

This morning, I brought up a Raffi track, "Rise and Shine." That prompted the eldest to come out of her room looking for blood.

"Look" I said, "I wanted to do this the nice way, you made it hard."

So, I have two more days and am open to any suggestions to harass the young'ns.

Still Here.

I guess that this hits most of us at one point or another: we stop contributing meaningful content to our blogs. For me, one reason may be that, despite once declaring Facebook useless, it has become my new email: I am compelled to check it.

I do not post many personal items on Facebook. I reserve that for this spot. For my pals.

Although I will not be as bold as Rick to ask for questions that need deep spiritual thoughts, I will try and begin posting more. I may not have a single topic, and it may still be a virtual grab bag of the good, the bad and the ugly.

See ya soon.

I'll be a Monkey's Uncle.

Perhaps because I rarely look at the news, perhaps I am missing what the hub bub is around Obama and the monkey picture?

Is this a political cartoon that may have touched a sore spot? Can we not equally poke fun at all presidents and simply laugh at the cleverness of it all? Are some people's skin a little bit...thin?

Personally, I don't think the monkey looks at all like Obama (if only we could have killed the stimulus bill).

Ok, maybe a little closer: cute enough.

BushMonkey? No arguments there. Funny.

Rick's Site May HARM your computer.

Rick has become the swizzle stick that messes with and challenges my paradigms. Now, his site has been proven to be harmful not only to them, but also to your computer. Don't believe me? Then believe Google:

Actually, something must be amiss with Google because all sites are returning this message. Unfortunately, clicking on the site name will take you to:

And going to the diagnostic page simply gives you:

The thing that is funny is that I did not realize how much I depend on Google. I rarely book mark anything anymore because Google makes it so easy to find.

And Rick...stop twittering. I miss the messin'