Great Question

HT: My Dad

Excellent advice!

HT: Tammy Weber

Who can?

Even Norman might get a laugh out of this.

This painting was used as the artwork for the cover of the February 13, 1960 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.  The oil on canvas hangs in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.   It is titled, for reasons that should be obvious, ”Triple Self-Portrait.”

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) is one of my favorite American artists.  Some might call him more of an illustrator than artist.  He drew and painted stuff.  That makes him an artist to me.  Not surprising, many contemporary art critics pan his work and diminish it for being overly sweet or too sentimental and idealized.  Nevertheless, I like his work because it really did capture a slice of American history and the values that we held as a nation when he was living.  We could use a dose of those values today.  Besides, a lot of his work captured life when I was a child, and frankly, I can relate to much of what is depicted in his paintings.

This spoof on Rockwell’s “Triple Self-Portrait” is simply hilarious.  No commentary is necessary.  Like real Norman Rockwell art, this one has a  message that speaks very clearly for itself.

 

HT:  Dan Phillips by way of Stan McCullars for the Obama spoof.

Trouble brewing?

First there was this ”incident.”

And then there is this guy’s explanation.

Looks like we might be witnessing a little tension between these two.  But fear not, they’ll get their differences ironed out.

Update at 4:40pm CDT.  Further explanation from TOTUS.

An Earth Day Confession

Yesterday, I posted an article, wherein I discussed all the things I did NOT do on Earth Day.  As I noted, all of these were evidence of my attempt to “tread lightly” on our planet. 

While I stand by each and every one of those examples, I have simply been wracked with guilt at how prideful those claims were.  While they were all true, I confess that I DID do some things that Al Gore, and others, would say will serve to shorten the lifespan of our dear planet Earth. 

Scripture tells us to confess our sins to one another (James 5: 16), so I hope that this medium will serve that purpose.  Here goes.  On Earth Day, I did the following:

• I had to attend a meeting that was held about 50 miles from where I live.  I decided that participating via conference call was really not practical since it was a lunch meeting.  Maybe someone in the future will figure out how to do a telecommuting lunch, but for now, it seems like it won’t work.  I know that this will sound like I am making excuses, but I live in the country, so there is no public transportation.  And truthfully, I really never gave much thought to either walking or bicycling the 100 miles round-trip.  (I know, selfish.)  So, I concluded that driving was my best, (I know it was not a good one, but it was the best) option.  If it is any consolation, I did take my wife’s hybrid automobile instead of my gigantic environment destroying pick-up truck.
• During the afternoon of Earth Day, I began to sense that sometime before the end of the day, my wife and I would get hungry.  You know where this is going, so I’ll just get right to the point.  I prepared a meal that required, sorry, the use of energy.  The meal that I prepared included ingredients that people generally regard as not healthy when eaten raw, so I cooked them, using both, (I feel terrible about this) propane gas and electricity.
• On Wednesday evening, I’m going to guess it was around 8:30 or so, it got dark.  In fact, it was dark enough that we really could not see very well without the use of (yikes) electric lights.  So, I turned a few on.  Okay, maybe it was more than a few.  But I promise, our house could probably not be seen from outer space like the Las Vegas Strip or anything.  Besides, I was finding that reading in the dark was really not very productive, but I am willing to learn how this can be accomplished if anyone knows a trick that might help.
• Perhaps this one is THE most scandalous.  I turned on the television because I HAD to find out who the two contestants were that were eliminated from American Idol.  In the event you were more respectful of The Earth and did not have your television turned on, those eliminated were Lil and Anoop.
• Finally (okay there are probably more offenses, but this will be all for now) of all the days this week, I thoughtlessly, no, I’ll correct that and say it was done with a callous indifference, I picked Earth Day to re-charge my cell phone.  It was low on charge, and without even a second thought, I plugged it in.  I know you will be relieved that I unplugged the charger when it was not in use because I hear that the polar ice caps are melting because people leave their chargers plugged in when not in use.  If this shameful practice describes YOU, repent and unplug!  For the record, because I DO unplug, I did NOT cause what is seen in that picture above.  So there!

My celebration of all-things-Earth

Yesterday was Earth Day.  So, as a show of support for The Earth, with all of its sensitivities, and vulnerabilities, I decided to stand in agreement with Earthophiles, that we need The Earth and that if we did not have it, we would probably miss it.  (I’m just sayin’.)

If you listen to the really fanatical lovers of The Earth, essentially anything we do, has a negative impact on The Earth, so I chose to celebrate all-things-Earth by NOT doing certain things that would otherwise have an impact on The Earth.  I believe the favored term by the creation lovers is “treading lightly.”

Now mind you, I never have, and never would do any of these things, but for the sake of The Earth, I consciously and intentionally chose to NOT do them on The Earth’s special day.  So, here is my list of things I did NOT do, so as to say that I “tread lightly” on The Earth.

• I did not drain the 15 quarts of oil in my diesel guzzling pick-up truck, directly onto the ground.  In fact I did not drain my oil at all.
• I did not vent the ozone depleting refrigeration gases out of my refrigerators, automobile air-conditioners, or the air-conditioner in my home.
• I did not make any unnecessary trips in an automobile just for the heck of it, essentially driving to some point-unknown, for some unknown reason.
• I did not deflate the tires on our vehicles, which would have negatively impacted our gas mileage.
• I did not purchase any cattle or swine to be kept at our ranch.  As you probably know, these livestock are prone to flatulence, and those emissions are harmful to the environment.   At least that’s what the nut jobs say.
• I did not post a blog article yesterday.  While the energy I saved, is probably immeasurable, there must surely be some theoretical savings in the consumption of energy, on my end, out in cyberspace, and on your end as well, you know, when you read a blog.  I mean, seriously, I used NO pixels yesterday on this site.
• I did not turn all the lights on in my home and leave them on all day, especially during the middle of the day when we don’t need lights, or in rooms where we were not present.  What’s more (and I think you’ll find this pretty much over-the-top), we turned the lights off at my house the night before Earth Day, meaning they were still off when we woke up on The Earth’s special day.  I know you’ll think that’s enough, but wait, there’s more.  We turned the lights OFF when we went to bed last night and ended Earth Day in the dark.

You’re welcome, Earth.

On a lighter note…

Yesterday, Josh Harris, pastor of Coventant Life Church in MD, wrote a guest post at Abraham Piper’s blog 22 Words. 

The title of Piper’s blog is a key to its style and content.  In each post, Piper (and his guest bloggers) say something in 22 words or less (not including the words in the title).    Josh Harris’ guest blog post was entitled “22 Essential Words for Writing Cheesy Christian Pop Songs“  It was a tongue-in-cheek poke at the music industry…at least I THINK it was tongue-in-cheek.  Here are the words:

1. Mountain
2. Love
3. River
4. Ocean
5. Amazed
6. Imagine
7. Valley
8. Believe
9. Waves
10. Running
11. Deep
12. Shout
13. Stillness
14. Moment
15. Arms
16. Tears
17. Walk
18. Hills
19. Reaching
20. Waters
21. Joy
22. Peace

In the comments section of the blog, Piper offered this:

Your mountains of love
Flow down the rivers to the ocean.

I’m amazed when I imagine
In the valley and believe.

Waves running deep
Shout stillness into the moments
I’m in your arms.

Tears walk down the hills
Reaching waters of joy and peace

What do you think, did they collaborate on this blog?  Or are they just that clever?  Read some of blogs Piper has written himself and I think it entirely possible that he simply read Harris’ article and posted the comment to it.  His wit appears to be just that good.

Either way, Harris is right-on in his observations of the “essentials” for shallow, cheesy lyrics, and Piper has probably penned the next big hit to be heard on contemporary Christian music radio stations.

Never thought of it in these terms…

…but I guess I just might be one of “those.”  “Those” is an R-WE!  Read HERE what an R-WE is.

I am not a military veteran, but I do own guns, and have been shopping for ammunition to beat Barry to the punch in imposing any draconian limitations on it.  I oppose abortion, and believe our immigration policies and failure to protect our national borders is nothing short of a complete dereliction of duty by our federal lawmakers, the Judiciary and the Executive Branch (including under Bush).  Yeah, the same ones who quiver at the thought of terrorists or drugs coming across the border, but do little of real substance to prevent it.

And oh, by the way, I am a Texan.   In light of recent comments by our Governor, I guess he’s on their R-WE watch list too.  My gut tells me he speaks for many of us who reside in this state, and probably millions more around the country.

Using the terms describing an R-WE, as set forth by U.S. Department of Homeland Security in that article, how would they classify you?  Participate in the poll below.

Can’t wait ’till these babies roll off the assembly lines!

HT: my Bro-In-Law, Tim