Ok, I have been totally fed up with the controversy over Miss California's comments in the Miss USA pageant regarding her feelings that marriage is between a man and a woman, and the subsequent totally uncalled-for controversy that followed, generated by pageant "judge" Perez Hilton. (Why is a gay man judging a woman's beauty pageant, anyway?)
Now comes comments from someone named Keith Lewis, identified as a "Los Angeles talent agent and gay activist," who expresses his negative opinion about her speaking at a church that "promotes homosexuality as both unnatural and abnormal" (um, isn't any true Christian church supposed to do that? The Bible plainly teaches this. If a church believes in the Bible, this is what they are SUPPOSED to teach, and certainly anybody, public or private, has a right to stand up in a church and express their agreement with what that church teaches - or has that right been revoked?) He goes on with the absolutely outrageous statement that "we (apparently meaning the gay community) stand by our concern for her individual image and look forward to a time in the near future when she can put down her personal agenda."
Um - like YOU don't have a personal agenda in attacking and belittling anyone who openly believes in and professes the Christian faith? Like YOUR personal agenda isn't trying to get homosexual behavior approved as being "normal and natural," which is the opposite of what the Bible teaches? SHE has a "personal agenda" and YOU don't???
And, Mr. Lewis, do YOU care about your "individual image" in front of a holy and just God who loves you but cannot help you if you don't first admit that homosexual behavior is a sin in His eyes? I think you better start worrying more about yourself and less about Miss California, sir! If she is wrong, God will deal with her. If she is right, that means YOU are wrong, and she then has not only a right, but a responsibility, to proclaim the truth, whether you and the rest of the gay community like it or not.
And yes, I have a gay family member, and she knows how I feel about her lifestyle, and while she doesn't like to hear my opinion, she absolutely respects me because she knows I'm not going to be an "enabler" and tell her that she can live any old immoral way she wants to, that I will take a stand against whatever she does in her life that is harmful to her in any way. I do that because I care about her, not because I hate her. (I would do the same if she were smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, if she were an alcoholic, if she were married and cheating on her husband, etc. etc.)
Well, Jesus did warn his followers that "if they hated Me, they will hate you too, and they will persecute you for My sake."
Funny, isn't it, how if Christians speak out against any form of immoral behavior, we are told we are indulging in "hate speech" and encouraging hatred against those who "disagree" with us. Yet the gay community can indulge in the most virulent and vitriolic diatribes against someone like Carrie Prejean and even call her a "bitch" and worse, and somehow, this ISN'T "hate speech?" Please explain the difference to me, because I don't see it.
Finally, my message to Carrie Prejean is - you go, girl!! You are my heroine!!!!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Retro Television Network - RTN
I recently discovered a TV network that my cable system must have just started carrying, as I don't remember seeing it before. It's called the Retro Television Network, or RTN for short. In summary, it is everything TV Land used to be and no longer is, and it's so much fun to see all the old shows that I haven't seen in years, plus retromercials (does TV Land even *show* old TV commercials anymore?)
Shows from the 60's and 70's such as "Marcus Welby M.D." or "Ironside;" one of my all-time favorites in "The Rockford Files" (anyone who knows me knows I've had a crush on James Garner since I was about 9 years old; and in high school, Friday nights meant Jim, Rocky, Dennis, the Firebird, and an hour of wonderful television!) - "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (I haven't seen that one since forever, and it's such a classic show!) - and today I was thrilled to see a rerun of another of my very favorites, "Banacek." My mom and I used to watch that show together back in the early 70's. It only lasted a couple seasons, more's the pity, but it was SO good. George Peppard was wonderful, suave and "cool" as the wise-cracking insurance investigator with all the Polish proverbs. I had to let out a gleeful whoop when I saw the opening credits and thought, "Hey, look, they're showing 'Banacek!'"
A lot, if not most, of the shows on this network seem to be Glen Larson productions for Universal Studios; everything that was on television 30 years ago seemingly was a Glen Larson production for Universal Studios! RTN must have bought the entire vault of Universal shows!
One thing I've noticed is how dated these shows are. Not in the obvious way, such as clothes, hairstyles, cars, or secretaries sitting at desks with typewriters and rotary-dial phones. Rather, it's the writing. The "flavor" of the writing, if you will, seems almost sophomoric, if that's the word I'm looking for. Sadly, the trend in television in recent years, and it's considered "progress," is for shows to be harder-edged, grittier, more cynical, more violent, more sexual, more "in your face." The tamer, more easy-going writing for shows from 30 or more years ago seems almost bland or silly in comparison. And yet, I myself PREFER the older shows precisely BECAUSE they were not so hard-edged or cynical in flavor. "Banacek" beats anything that is on television today, and "The Rockford Files" will always be a classic to me. (Incidentally, when I was in high school, my "dream car" was a gold Pontiac Firebird "just like Jim drives." I never got one, more's the pity, and they don't make'em like that anymore. That car was just way too cool!) (And where did Jim find the money to get it repaired, or to have insurance on it, when it seems like he crashed it in almost every episode? That's a mystery as big as the Sphinx!)
I'm also seeing Westerns on here that I've never had a chance to see ("Laredo") or haven't seen in years ("Alias Smith and Jones" and "Wagon Train.") Anyone who knows me also knows that my favorite genre of all is a good old Western, and most of my favorite TV shows are Westerns ("Maverick," "The Big Valley," "The High Chaparral," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "The Virginian.") So that's a treat too! (I read somewhere that a movie version of "Alias Smith and Jones" is planned. Oh please, leave it alone. They'll make THAT "harder-edged and grittier," too, you can just bet, and it will thereby lose all the charm the old show had!)
I love the retromercials, too! "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know!" I'd forgotten all about that one! Took me right back to Saturday mornings as a kid, watching cartoons all morning!
Right now, it's safe to say about the only networks I watch are Encore Westerns, the History Channel, Fox News, and now RTN!
Shows from the 60's and 70's such as "Marcus Welby M.D." or "Ironside;" one of my all-time favorites in "The Rockford Files" (anyone who knows me knows I've had a crush on James Garner since I was about 9 years old; and in high school, Friday nights meant Jim, Rocky, Dennis, the Firebird, and an hour of wonderful television!) - "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (I haven't seen that one since forever, and it's such a classic show!) - and today I was thrilled to see a rerun of another of my very favorites, "Banacek." My mom and I used to watch that show together back in the early 70's. It only lasted a couple seasons, more's the pity, but it was SO good. George Peppard was wonderful, suave and "cool" as the wise-cracking insurance investigator with all the Polish proverbs. I had to let out a gleeful whoop when I saw the opening credits and thought, "Hey, look, they're showing 'Banacek!'"
A lot, if not most, of the shows on this network seem to be Glen Larson productions for Universal Studios; everything that was on television 30 years ago seemingly was a Glen Larson production for Universal Studios! RTN must have bought the entire vault of Universal shows!
One thing I've noticed is how dated these shows are. Not in the obvious way, such as clothes, hairstyles, cars, or secretaries sitting at desks with typewriters and rotary-dial phones. Rather, it's the writing. The "flavor" of the writing, if you will, seems almost sophomoric, if that's the word I'm looking for. Sadly, the trend in television in recent years, and it's considered "progress," is for shows to be harder-edged, grittier, more cynical, more violent, more sexual, more "in your face." The tamer, more easy-going writing for shows from 30 or more years ago seems almost bland or silly in comparison. And yet, I myself PREFER the older shows precisely BECAUSE they were not so hard-edged or cynical in flavor. "Banacek" beats anything that is on television today, and "The Rockford Files" will always be a classic to me. (Incidentally, when I was in high school, my "dream car" was a gold Pontiac Firebird "just like Jim drives." I never got one, more's the pity, and they don't make'em like that anymore. That car was just way too cool!) (And where did Jim find the money to get it repaired, or to have insurance on it, when it seems like he crashed it in almost every episode? That's a mystery as big as the Sphinx!)
I'm also seeing Westerns on here that I've never had a chance to see ("Laredo") or haven't seen in years ("Alias Smith and Jones" and "Wagon Train.") Anyone who knows me also knows that my favorite genre of all is a good old Western, and most of my favorite TV shows are Westerns ("Maverick," "The Big Valley," "The High Chaparral," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "The Virginian.") So that's a treat too! (I read somewhere that a movie version of "Alias Smith and Jones" is planned. Oh please, leave it alone. They'll make THAT "harder-edged and grittier," too, you can just bet, and it will thereby lose all the charm the old show had!)
I love the retromercials, too! "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know!" I'd forgotten all about that one! Took me right back to Saturday mornings as a kid, watching cartoons all morning!
Right now, it's safe to say about the only networks I watch are Encore Westerns, the History Channel, Fox News, and now RTN!
Message to Susan Roesgen of CNN - paging Susan, paging Susan
I watched your little interview with the gentleman holding his baby at one of the Tea Parties the other day. Ma'am, with all due lack of respect, you made a fool of yourself on national television.
Ahem - where do I even begin? First of all, your ridiculous and condescending comment to this man about "Do you realize you're eligible for a $400 tax credit?" Golly gee, what a lot of money! Woo hoo, let's go on a spending spree!! Did you see he was holding a baby? Do you know how expensive babies are? How far is $400 going to go when you have a baby to support? Especially when it's doled out in dribs and drabs ($13 per paycheck - wow, that'll really stimulate me to run right out to the nearest store and spend, spend, spend! That's about enough for me to buy a few lunches at McDonald's and that's about it.)
More to the point, IT'S HIS MONEY TO START WITH. What the government is doing by oh so magnanimously giving us $13 extra in each paycheck, up to a total of a whopping $400 in one year, and then patting us on the head and telling us to go away, we should be happy now, makes me think of what it would be like to be walking down the street and suddenly a robber jumps out from the bushes and waves a gun at me. "Gimme all your money!" he snarls. I protest that I have only $100 cash on my person at the moment. "Then give that to me!" he insists. I do, fearing what he might do if I don't comply with his demand. He then proceeds to lick his thumb and peel off a $5 bill and hand it back to me. "Here, you can have this back. I'll take the rest," and he runs off with my money. Gee, how generous of the robber, to let me have a whole $5 of MY MONEY back after he STOLE it from me at gunpoint!
As for the $60 billion the Land of Lincoln is going to get that you so sarcastically pointed out to this gentleman, Susan - well, Susan, where do you think that money is COMING from? Some of it is being printed as we speak, which will inevitably lead to hyperinflation (do you want to be able to afford groceries, Susan, and have some of your paycheck left over after you go to the grocery store?), and most of it is coming from the bank account of that little baby in that man's arms, and all the little babies around the nation who aren't even old enough to start PRESCHOOL yet, and are already in massive debt up to their little EARS because of the so-called "stimulus!" Do you have any children, Susan? Do you even CARE that you have mortgaged their future away? If you don't have children, do you care about kids like my grandnephew Patrick, who just turned 9 in February, and HIS CHILDREN are in debt up to their ears, and he's at least a decade away from even being a DAD yet!
Susan, I close my diatribe against you and your ilk by quoting a famous saying: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."
I guess these comments make me a "hatemonger." Well, I do hate - foolishness and stupidity.
Ahem - where do I even begin? First of all, your ridiculous and condescending comment to this man about "Do you realize you're eligible for a $400 tax credit?" Golly gee, what a lot of money! Woo hoo, let's go on a spending spree!! Did you see he was holding a baby? Do you know how expensive babies are? How far is $400 going to go when you have a baby to support? Especially when it's doled out in dribs and drabs ($13 per paycheck - wow, that'll really stimulate me to run right out to the nearest store and spend, spend, spend! That's about enough for me to buy a few lunches at McDonald's and that's about it.)
More to the point, IT'S HIS MONEY TO START WITH. What the government is doing by oh so magnanimously giving us $13 extra in each paycheck, up to a total of a whopping $400 in one year, and then patting us on the head and telling us to go away, we should be happy now, makes me think of what it would be like to be walking down the street and suddenly a robber jumps out from the bushes and waves a gun at me. "Gimme all your money!" he snarls. I protest that I have only $100 cash on my person at the moment. "Then give that to me!" he insists. I do, fearing what he might do if I don't comply with his demand. He then proceeds to lick his thumb and peel off a $5 bill and hand it back to me. "Here, you can have this back. I'll take the rest," and he runs off with my money. Gee, how generous of the robber, to let me have a whole $5 of MY MONEY back after he STOLE it from me at gunpoint!
As for the $60 billion the Land of Lincoln is going to get that you so sarcastically pointed out to this gentleman, Susan - well, Susan, where do you think that money is COMING from? Some of it is being printed as we speak, which will inevitably lead to hyperinflation (do you want to be able to afford groceries, Susan, and have some of your paycheck left over after you go to the grocery store?), and most of it is coming from the bank account of that little baby in that man's arms, and all the little babies around the nation who aren't even old enough to start PRESCHOOL yet, and are already in massive debt up to their little EARS because of the so-called "stimulus!" Do you have any children, Susan? Do you even CARE that you have mortgaged their future away? If you don't have children, do you care about kids like my grandnephew Patrick, who just turned 9 in February, and HIS CHILDREN are in debt up to their ears, and he's at least a decade away from even being a DAD yet!
Susan, I close my diatribe against you and your ilk by quoting a famous saying: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."
I guess these comments make me a "hatemonger." Well, I do hate - foolishness and stupidity.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Phoenix lands baseball's 2011 All-Star Game
Yessss! The Arizona Diamondbacks and Chase Field will play host to Major League Baseball's All-Star Game and surrounding activities in the year 2011. This has been a long time coming - baseball stadiums built *since* ours was built have already had their opportunities to host the All-Star Game, so it's about time Phoenix was awarded the game! I am proud to think my city will be showcased during this grand event, and I even hope to attend, if not the game itself, perhaps the Home Run Derby (this is still two years off, so who knows?)
I still chuckle thinking about one certain Anaheim taxi driver from 20 years ago - my mom and I went to see a California Angels game in the mid-80's, and took a taxi to the stadium. We were talking about how hopeful we were that one day, Phoenix would have a major league team of its own. The taxi driver scoffed at this, telling us that "Phoenix is a very, very small town. You don't have enough population to support a team." We asked him if he had ever actually BEEN to Phoenix, and he said no! When we informed him that Phoenix and the surrounding metropolitan area was actually bigger in population than a lot of cities that already had major league baseball, such as Kansas City or Seattle or Pittsburgh, etc., he didn't believe us! We had lived in Phoenix for over 20 years at that point, he had never BEEN to Phoenix, and yet he didn't believe us! So when Phoenix was awarded the Diamondbacks as an expansion team, and then when the D-backs won the World Series, and now that we are getting an All-Star game - I still think of that guy and wonder what his opinion is of all this!
I still chuckle thinking about one certain Anaheim taxi driver from 20 years ago - my mom and I went to see a California Angels game in the mid-80's, and took a taxi to the stadium. We were talking about how hopeful we were that one day, Phoenix would have a major league team of its own. The taxi driver scoffed at this, telling us that "Phoenix is a very, very small town. You don't have enough population to support a team." We asked him if he had ever actually BEEN to Phoenix, and he said no! When we informed him that Phoenix and the surrounding metropolitan area was actually bigger in population than a lot of cities that already had major league baseball, such as Kansas City or Seattle or Pittsburgh, etc., he didn't believe us! We had lived in Phoenix for over 20 years at that point, he had never BEEN to Phoenix, and yet he didn't believe us! So when Phoenix was awarded the Diamondbacks as an expansion team, and then when the D-backs won the World Series, and now that we are getting an All-Star game - I still think of that guy and wonder what his opinion is of all this!
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