Happy Easter!

 

But seriously...

Tidings of great joy

Christmas Words of Wisdom

 

 

In the old days it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it "Christmas" and went to church, the Jews called it "Hanukkah" and went to synagogue, the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy Hanukkah!" or (to the atheists) "Look out for the wall!" --Dave Barry

Christmas is forever, not for just one day. For loving, for sharing, giving, are not to put away. --Norman Wesley Brooks

Christmas gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect on the important things around us. --David Cameron

Christmas is the loveliest, gentlest festival of the revolving year - and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. --W..J. Cameron

Christmas is a season, not only of rejoicing, but of reflection. --Winston Churchill

Christmas, my child, is love in action. --Dale Evans

There is a Christmas song upon the air, there is a joy innate within the heart. --Edna Green Hines

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality. --Washington Irving

I wish we could put some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. --Harlan Miller

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. --Agnes M. Pahro

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. --Norman Vincent Peale

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don't clean it up too quickly. --Andy Rooney

For the spirit of Christmas fulfills the greatest hunger of mankind. --Loring A. Schuler

Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves. --Eric Sevareid

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. --Roy L. Smith

 

Christmas is a time to open our hearts to God and His gifts. Just like the rest of the year. --Unknown

 

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children they are all 30 feet tall. --Larry Wilde

 

Now a lot of people don't know the words to even the most common of carols. Between you and me, I find this befuddling. How do you make it to adulthood without ever picking up at least one verse of "Joy to the World"? --Reese Witherspoon

To all my liberal friends: Please accept with no implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or tradition of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year of 2024, but not without the due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contribution to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wish. To all my conservative friends: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

 

Wouldn't life be worth the living 

Wouldn't dreams be coming true 

If we kept the Christmas spirit

All the whole year through?

--Unknown

 

You Know Who Works in mysterious ways, again

Don't try to tell me God doesn't have a wicked (tee-hee!) sense of humor: Drunk dumbass steals statue of St. Michael the Archangel, gets stabbed by angel's sword.

Eff around with an archangel, find out.

Poetic justice.

 

The guy was seriously injured. The sword got him in the neck. I love this final line in the article: The statue of St. Michael the Archangel was unharmed. Of course he was.

I noticed that this story is actually from January, but it just popped up on my social media feed for some reason. That makes me wonder - did the guy recover? Did it have an effect on him? Did he change his evil ways?

Pic snicked from linked article.

Recent reading: "The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger"

 

The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger: The Inside Story of California's First Drive-Thru and How It Became a Beloved Cultural Icon 

by Lynsi Snyder

 

It may sound weird (especially if you've never had the pleasure of eating at In-N-Out) but one of the best things about being a Californian - especially in this sorry age of the not-so-Golden State - is the ability to claim the In-N-Out Burger chain as our own. 

Lynsi Snyder had the great fortune to be the only In-N-Out heir born into her generation and after her uncle, father, and grandparents passed away, she inherited the successful and beloved chain while only in her twenties. Now forty-one, she has stepped up and grabbed the baton, continuing the high standards set by previous generations and has led In-N-Out to even greater growth than ever imagined, and without any compromise. After reading this book, I have a great deal of admiration for her. She works hard, she works smart, she holds herself to high standards, and she doesn't let it overwhelm her. If you check out her social media, you'll find someone who is having a blast and living her best life.

 

Lynsi repeatedly praises the In-N-Out workers (known as associates) and the customers, always giving them credit for the continued success of the company. Before I even finished this book, not only was I craving their food, but also found myself wondering why I never applied to work there. My first-ever real job as an unskilled sixteen-year-old was at McDonald's, which is the perfect place for someone unskilled and inexperienced. It was actually pretty good training. But In-N-Out is on another planet in terms of how they train, treat, pay, and promote their associates. The examples of In-N-Out's beyond the call of duty way of doing things are too numerous for a blog post - read the book and learn.

To her credit, Lynsi also addresses some of the issues that have plagued her family, including drugs and abuse, her ill-advised early and unsuccessful marriages, and she does it simply, without apology, and with grace. She is currently in a happy, healthy place, and has become the great leader that In-N-Out needed after losing both members of the second Snyder generation before their time, leaving the company in a potentially vulnerable position. She has also dedicated her company and herself to multiple non-profit organizations that combat against and aid victims of child abuse, substance abuse, and human trafficking.

Snyder has four children of her own and I imagine they are being groomed to continue the glory that is In-N-Out Burger without compromise for generations to come. And that is great news for Californians and fans of great burgers, amazing service, and high quality food. 

From the book:

Together with my team, I began studying our menu on the most intricate level to see if we could improve quality even more, making items better and healthier. We discovered a number of practices we were using were outdated. For instance, we worked with all our bakers to remove calcium propionate (a mold inhibitor) in our buns and replaced it with natural enzymes. With our chilis and pickles, we removed artificial Yellow 5 and replaced the additive with natural turmeric. In our strawberry shake syrup we removed artificial Red 40 and replaced it with natural fruit juice. In our vanilla shake we removed ethyl vanillin and replaced it with natural vanilla. In all our shakes and lemonade we cut out high fructose corn syrup and replaced it with natural sugar.

 

October Words of Wisdom

Bedrooms are our sanctuary. They should evoke tranquility, calm, warmth, and beauty. It's where we greet each new day and close the day we leave behind. I find great value in simplicity of the room where we sleep. Subdued lighting and little distractions, our beds are our sacred place. I consider the bed in which we sleep one of the most considered and and valuable possessions. --Rachel Ashwell

 

Being at peace is the ultimate power play. --Unknown 

Life tried to crush her, but only succeeded in creating a diamond. --John Mark Green

 

Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn. --Albert Einstein 

 

When one door closes, another door opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we don't see the ones which open for us. --Alexander Graham Bell

 

I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape. --Charles Dickens

My silence doesn't mean I agree with you. It means your level of stupidity rendered me speechless. --Unknown

"I don't need anyone" is a statement made by those who at some point needed someone but no one showed up. --Sara Kuburic

 

Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution. --Albert Einstein 

Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. --William Penn

 

Until then, paint it black. --Eddie Muller, The Czar of Noir

You Know Who works in mysterious ways

An oldie but goodie from icanhazcheeseburger

From The Babylon Bee: 

 

 From the article:

 

Ya think? Do check out the whole article at the link. In the meantime, here's what happened:

The Dodgers won the NL West with a record of 100 wins and 62 losses for a .617 winning percentage. Only the Atlanta Braves (104) and the Baltimore Orioles (101) won more games. And the differential of runs scored versus allowed was dominating: +207. Only Atlanta (+231) was better.

 

On the other hand, the Arizona Diamondbacks were a distant second to the Dodgers with a record of 84-78 for an anemic .519 "winning" percentage, which means they won barely more than half of their games. But it was good enough for a Wild Card spot in the playoffs.

I don't follow baseball that closely to have seen the predictions about this matchup, but I would bet most if not all heavily favored the Dodgers. And I'll bet no one thought there was a snowball's chance in Hell (see what I did there) of the Dodgers being swept by a clearly inferior team.

And yet yesterday, the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers 3 games to 0 in the playoffs, eliminating them in the most humiliating way possible. The Boys in Blue go home in shame, while the DBacks will be taking on either Atlanta or Philly.

God's punishment? Who knows? But the Dodgers just took a trip to playoff Hell. Have a nice off-season, blasphemers. And oh, to be a fly on the wall at a Catholic church this weekend.

Double Feature: I go to the movies

Believe it or not, I haven't seen a first-run feature film in a theater since 2011, when my Mom and I (still dealing with the loss of my Dad) saw the massively disappointing Bridesmaids. Seriously, we both spent the whole time wondering when it was going to get funny. We needed cheering up, which is why we went to this movie. But I found it crass and unfunny, with an unsympathetic protagonist who's life was one big pity party.

Another thing that has kept me out of theaters is that so much of what Hollywood releases is crap, and even the good ones could usually stand to be 15-20 minutes trimmer. Not to say there haven't been a few I wish I'd caught in theaters - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and JoJo Rabbit immediately spring to mind. But there aren't too many others and over the years low quality, excessive runtime, and the high price of admission eased me out of the habit of seeing movies in theaters. Add to that how quickly they become available on cable and streaming, you have to be quick to catch them on the big screen. Blink and you'll miss. In fact, I first saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on an airplane, on the flight back from Bouchercon Dallas in 2019.

It's not like I haven't been in a theater, just not for first run films. So far this year I've seen Casablanca and The Big Lebowski on the big screen thanks to Fathom Events, and will be checking out A Christmas Story in theaters in December. The Brother and I also went to a very cool Twilight Zone screening shortly after returning from the aforementioned Dallas trip. 

So it was a bit of culture shock for me to go to the movie theater not just once, but twice in the past week. But there were two that I just had to see in person, on the big screen.

 

First up: Sound of Freedom. I had discovered Operation Underground Railroad online a couple years ago and have donated ever since. Their work echoes a situation I had heard about in a class at Writers' Police Academy when the instructor mentioned how human trafficking skyrockets during the Super Bowl. Apparently traffickers descend on host cities in droves. The instructor mentioned that rescuing victims is just the beginning, that they need a significant amount of aftercare. You can't just send them home and expect them to pick up where they left off. OUR not only assists in rescue operations, but also provides aftercare.

 

Tim Ballard was an agent with Homeland Security busting lowlife scum for possession of child pornography when a fellow agent pointed out that while nailing consumers was fine, they weren't rescuing the victims themselves. This prompted Ballard to do so, and it began a journey that saw him make a career out of it. 

This film is life-changing. It's terrifying - and not gonna lie, hideously depressing - to realize how easily man's inhumanity to man comes to some people, and not just a few, and not even when children are involved. I couldn't talk after the film ended; I had to go into the restroom to compose myself. Tim Ballard is a rare hero and the world could use many more like him. 

 

Jim Caviezel gives a quietly solid performance as the heroic, driven Ballard, and while all the performances are solid, special props go to child actors Cristal Aparicio and Lucas Avila as the abducted siblings who prompt Ballard's journey. The film does a great job of not showing actual abuse of children, but inferring how they are groomed and abused. It gets the point across without becoming unwatchable. It also, unfortunately, shows how easy it is for these animals to find and take their victims.

 

Sound of Freedom should be required viewing for every man, woman, and child, regardless of political or religious bent. The film also pointed out a couple of horrifying stats: One, that criminals are increasingly choosing trafficking over selling drugs because drugs can only be sold once, while trafficking victims can be sold five times a day for a period of years (also mentioned in the WPA class), and two, that more people are enslaved by traffickers today than were enslaved back when slavery was legal even in otherwise civilized parts of the world. It's mind-boggling how widespread it is. 

Oppenheimer: I was a huge fan of the 2014-2015 WGN series Manhattan, which unfortunately only lasted two seasons (and season two ended just as they were getting ready to explode the first bomb), so I was looking forward to this take on the subject. Also, based on what I saw last night, both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars are locked up (Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey. Jr.)

 

Oppenheimer is the proverbial triumph of filmmaking. J. Robert Oppenheimer was a genius, a gifted physicist who was tasked with creating a weapon of horrifying power to be used against his fellow man. But any moral qualms (well represented in the film) he may have felt in creating the atom bomb were offset by the need to develop it before Nazi Germany did so. The film does a great job of balancing the need to outpace the Nazis with the decimating power of the weapons created by Oppenheimer and his fellow scientists in the Manhattan Project. The devastation the bombs inflicted was counted in the loss of thousands of lives, but had the Nazis triumphed and Oppenheimer and his team failed, one can only wonder what world we would be living in today.

In addition to the visual magic he's put onscreen to represent the science in creating the atom bomb and immense power behind it, Christopher Nolan has stacked this film with great actors. Murphy and Downey own the screen, melting into their characters, but there is an embarrassment of riches throughout the cast. Matt Damon shines as the Army general who recruits Oppenheimer to head the project. Others include Aiden Ehrenreich as a naive Senate aide who gets a sobering education in politics, a sinister Casey Affleck, Rami Malik in a deceptively important role, Tom Conti as Albert Einstein, Gary Oldman as President Harry Truman, Kenneth Branagh, Josh Harnett, David Dastmalchian, Dane DeHaan, James Remar, James D'Arcy, David Krumholtz and in a nicely ironic turn, Christopher Denham, who was in the cast of Manhattan, as an ominous member of Oppenheimer's staff.

Major female roles are sparse. Emily Blunt delivers an expectedly solid performance as Kitty Oppenheimer. Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock is only really required to get naked and simulate sex; one has to wonder why she bothered with this role. On the other hand, the film does show how many women populated the Manhattan Project, although none of them feature heavily in this version of the story.

 

One thing that really affected me about Oppenheimer's experience was how badly he was railroaded by his own government when he tried to renew his security clearance post-Manhattan Project. Vile corruption in our government is a sad fact these days, but it was depressing to realize that it isn't a recent development, that it goes back at least as far as the 1950's. That a genius who was hugely responsible for America coming out of World War II on the winning side was so horribly treated is inexcusable. I'd expect it today, but it was kind of a shock to see it back then. Power does indeed corrupt, and apparently always has.

I highly recommend both of these films. In fact, I may need to go see both of these one more time before eagerly awaiting the DVD releases. I'd like to see Oppenheimer in IMAX, but the only two theaters anywhere near me with IMAX are both located at malls (The Grove and Del Amo in Torrance) and given the mob looting that's been going on at Southern California malls these days, I'm trying to avoid those places. But both films were well worth returning to the world of first-run films in theaters.

 

Happy Fireworks Day!

Hey America! It's your birthday! 

 

I wanted to post the immortal Dodge Challenger/Team America mashup, but it's age restricted on YouTube due to language (FUCK YEAH!!!) so here's a link: Enjoy!

 

I think Sophie may be a bit deaf in her old age. She hardly hides from the fireworks at all anymore.

Now the second worst thing we've done to England after Meghan Markle.

Greetings from the beach! No, I didn't do this, I just snicked it off the internets.

God bless America.

Easter Sunday

 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

It was the day before Christmas...

Almost there!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! My annual reposting of The Digital Story of The Nativity

I swear, not only does this never get old, but considering how fast technology advances and considering it was made in 2010, it's held up really well.

#worshipthebaby

I love this thing.

November Words of Wisdom

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them. --Marcus Aurelius

 

If we did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. --Thomas Edison

 

The truth, manfully spoken, can never be unwholesome. --Robert Dabney

 

Tradition is the means by which the vitality of the past enriches the life of the present. --T.S. Eliot

You cannot heal the physical without also still working on the mental, and the emotional, and the spiritual. --Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram

 

We are the most informed people in the history of civilization - and yet the most confused. Though our heads are crammed with knowledge, our hearts are empty. --Billy Graham 

 

Don't blame a clown for acting like a clown. Ask yourself why you keep going to the circus. --Unknown

Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality. --Edmund Burke

Civilization is not an endless succession of inventions and discoveries, but the task of ensuring that certain things endure. --Nicolas Gomez Burke

 

October Words of Wisdom

Why I post these every month:

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. --Socrates

 

Two words should be taken to heart and obeyed when exerting ourselves for good and restraining ourselves for good and restraining ourselves from evil - words that will ensure a blameless and untroubled life: persist and resist. --Epictetus 

A man who does not think for himself does not think at all. --Oscar Wilde

 

I'm not the hero you wanted. I'm the monster you needed. --Unknown

I just got to the point where I decided that I want to live an unbullshitafied life. --Steve Maraboli

 

Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keep winning in private. Not everyone deserves to know what you are up to. --Unknown

 

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks. And all the sweet serenity of books. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

 

I cannot comprehend how any man can want anything but the truth. --Marcus Aurelius

I learned that every mortal will taste death. But only some will taste life. --Rumi

 

It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down. All that matters is you get up one more time than you were knocked down. --Roy T. Bennett

No man is free who is not master of himself. --Epictetus

It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build. --Nelson Mandela

 

Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. --Plato

  

God rest her soul

"Those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten."

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

 

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has been laid to rest at Windsor Castle with her beloved husband Prince Philip, and along with the rest of her family: her parents King George and Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mum) and her sister Princess Margaret.

The BBC's closing monologue to their coverage of the Queen's funeral (and also their non-stop coverage since having to announce her death on September 8) delivered beautifully by Kirsty Young:

What a momentous day it's been, from the might of the military parades and the splendor of Westminster Abbey, to that hushed intimacy of St. George's Chapel in Windsor. It's often felt in recent days that a veil of sorrow has covered the nation, but the Queen's funeral has surely exemplified her reign. She unified us in one final act of togetherness, unifying the United Kingdom and indeed the world beyond in respect, ceremony, and significance.

As a very young woman she famously said her whole life, whether it be long or short, would be devoted to our service; well, never was a person truer to their word and today we have come together, many of us with tears in our eyes, but all of us with an abiding warmth in our hearts for all that she gave.

Just over three months ago the world - and a certain little bear - said, "Thank you for everything," and the Queen looked as though she thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. We will surely be ever grateful to have had that final opportunity to celebrate with Her Majesty her remarkable long reign. If, as she once said, "Grief is the price we pay for love," then the weight of our collective sorrow is testament to the depth of affection in which she is held.  

She made history, she was history. Queen Elizabeth II is gone, but she will surely never be forgotten.

You can watch it on this thread on Twitter.

 

 

Truly the end of an era

RIP Queen Elizabeth II, who died peacefully Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was the longest serving monarch in British history, and the second-longest in the history of the world (only a French king served longer and she was only a couple years behind him).

 

One of the saddest sights (of many) of the COVID era was the sight of her sitting alone at the funeral of her beloved husband Prince Philip. I wished someone could have just gone over and sat down next to her so she didn't have to go through that alone. I hope they are now spending a glorious eternity together.

This double-rainbow appeared over Buckingham Palace just before the Queen's death was officially announced.

At the age of 21 the then-Princess Elizabeth made this pledge to her people:

“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong. But I shall not have the strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.”

 

She was a woman of her word - just two days before her passing, she cheerfully and graciously received the new Prime Minister.

God knows the woman has earned her eternal rest, but the world is a poorer place without her.

 

 

 

 

More words of wisdom from a very wise and eloquent woman:

 

"Each day is a new beginning, I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God."

 

On her husband, Prince Philip: "He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments. But he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years. And I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.

 

"I pray God will never let me know the last time I ride a horse."

 

 

If you like, you can leave a message of condolence at the Royal Family's official website.

 

 

 

That's Her Majesty Queen Badass to you.

Images snicked from the internets. Let me know if any are yours so I can give credit where credit is due.