Sweet

Unbelievable.

Jack is Back but...

What do they say: fool me one shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me?

Last year's season was a major disappointment but yeah, I'll probably watch again this season.

Yee-Haww

Smart ForTwo

I want one. Four feet shorter than the mini-cooper!
My birthday is in December. I'm just sayin'... Save The Earth.

Woman

John Lennon was killed in December of 1980. This song was a cut from the album Double Fantasy, which was just about to be released before his untimely death. He is quoted to have said that this song is a tribute not only to his wife Yoko, but to all women.

Lennon had a heart breaking relationship with his mom Julia, twice choosing to live with his father only to return back to his mother. Lennon was 17 at the time of her death when she was killed by a drunken driver. He said it was one of the most traumatic events in his life.
In May of 1968 he met Yoko Ono. Here are a few quotes about the love of his life:
"Before Yoko and I met, we were half a person. You know there's an old myth about people being half and the other half being in the sky, or in heaven or on the other side of the universe or a mirror image. But we are two halves, and together we're a whole. I am with this goddess of love, the fulfillment of my whole life. Everything we do is together, and that's what gives us our strength."

It's often said that when men and women are looking for a spouse they subconsciously are looking for someone like their parent: women are looking for someone like their father and men are looking for someone like their mother. I would have to agree. I would also add that women want someone to take care of them like their father and men want a woman who loves him unconditionally like his mother. It's probably an oversimplification but I would bet it's true in most cases.

Lennon captures it perfectly for me in this song when he writes:

Woman I know you understand The little child inside the man, Please remember my life is in your hands, And woman hold me close to your heart, However, distant don't keep us apart, After all it is written in the stars.

As I make my way through this life I've come to appreciate the many women who have been a part of my life. All my aunts and grandmothers but especially the three most important women in my life: my mom, my wife and my daughter.

To my mom I say “Thank you for loving me unconditionally. Your support throughout this journey has made me the person I am today.”

To Blue Eyes I say “Thirty three years together is not enough time to tell you what your love means to me. I love growing old with you.”

To my daughter I say “From the day you were born till today I have loved you with an unconditional love that will never end. You will always be my little girl.”

To all three I say:
“So let me tell you again and again and again. I love you. Now and forever.”

Strict Church Membership

OK. I know pilgrims are not allowed to talk about sex in public but it is a gift from the Almighty and this one involves a married couple. I've cleaned it up the best I could:

A couple wanted to join a very strict church. The pastor told them, "We have a special requirement for new member couples. To show your devotion to God and others outside of your union, you must abstain from sex for one whole month."

The couple agreed and after two-and-a-half weeks returned to the church.
When the Pastor ushered them into his office, the wife was crying and the husband was obviously very depressed. "You are back so soon...is there a problem?", the pastor inquired. "We are terribly ashamed to admit that we did not manage to abstain for the required month," the young man replied sadly. The pastor asked him what happened.

''Well, the first week was difficult but we managed to abstain through sheer willpower. The second week was terrible, but with the use of prayer, we managed to abstain.." "However, the third week was unbearable. We tried cold showers, prayer, reading from scripture...anything to keep our minds off carnal thoughts."

"One afternoon, my wife reached for a can of paint and dropped it. When she went to pick it up, I was overcome with desire and I just had to make love to her right then and there. It was lustful, loud and passionate. It lasted for over an hour and when we were done we were both drenched in sweat," admitted the man, shamefacedly.

The pastor lowered his head and said sternly, "You understand this means you will not be welcome in our church." "We know," said the young man, hanging his head, "We're not welcome at Home Depot either."

Whoa!

I usually don't post anything political but this is a great answer.
His name is Mike Huckabee and he's running for President.

Best line: I don't know. I wasn't there.

Across The Universe

I saw the previews over the summer and I knew right away it was a movie I had to catch. It came to O Town a few weeks ago but the only theaters that were showing it were down by Disney. This week it finally came to Altamonte. Blue Eyes and I caught it last night.

The reviews were very good so we had high hopes we weren't going to be disappointed. We weren't. A few reviews compared it to one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge. That movie was a feast for the senses. It was similar in that there was more singing than dialog and also very visually appealing. However, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor's singing were superior to the singers in this one but I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

The movie is a musical based on The Beatles songbook and set in the 60s England and America. It's also a love story intertwined with the anti-war movement and social protests of the 60s. If you love The Beatles music the way we do it's a must watch.

It was fun to catch all the subtle references to Beatles songs. It started with the list of characters. The main characters were Jude and Lucy. Other characters were Prudence, Sadie, JoJo, Maxwell and Bono from U2 playing Dr. Robert. He was hilarious. Joe Cocker also made a cameo. I don't want to give them all away but in one scene Prudence suddenly appears in the apartment and somebody asks "Where did she come from?" and someone shouts "She came in through the bathroom window." Blue Eyes and I looked at each other and smiled. We got it but it seemed no one else around us did. The crowd in the theater was much younger that what I thought would be there. I don't know. Maybe they got it too but were too cool to show it and just laughed at the two old farts giggling and nudging each other throughout the movie.

Back to the music... If I was a little disappointed it was at some of the singing. The lead characters' voices were a little week and it didn't help that many of their songs started out acapella. After a while the music would join in. I think I just keep comparing it to Moulin Rouge where all the songs were major productions carried by great voices. The only exception was Sexy Sadie. Boy, she had a great Janis Joplin-like voice.

My favorite parts were the scenes for the song For The Benefit of Mr. Kite and the underwater scenes.





I've never done any kind of illegal drugs (that's for another post) but I would imagine it would be something like these scenes.

The Pilgrim gives it 4 out of 5 strawberries. He says check it out.

First Help Desk Call

I love my job but yeah... sometimes it's like this.

Oh, For Heaven's Sake!

I thought this was a joke from The Onion but I'm afraid it's real.
Have we become a nation of hyper-sensitive little cry babies?

Why There Are No Italian Muslims

I'm all for modesty but maybe they should have ordered a milkshake...
with a long straw.

Rainy Tuesday - Mellow Boss Jam

The man is a lyrical genius. Even if he's from the armpit of the US.
Sorry. Philly guys don't care much for Jersey.

Anyway, this one's off his great Born To Run masterpiece 32 years ago.
Oh my. Has it been that long?

The distant trumpet always throws me into a melancholy tail spin.

Best lines:
And all we gotta do is hold up our end
Here stuff this in your pocket
It'll look like you're carrying a friend
And remember, just don't smile
Change your shirt, 'cause tonight we got style

Shut Up Already

I really don’t care what our so called celebrities do in their personal lives. The only reason I try to catch late night talk shows once in awhile are for the opening monologues on popular culture. I find both Letterman and Leno no longer funny. They’re more annoying than anything else. Lately I’ve been recording The Jimmy Kimmel Show. His opening monologues are great because he’s not so full of himself like the other two. Plus he’s actually funny.

The one thing I can’t get past on any of these shows (and too many others) is the studio audience. Where do they get these people? These are the people (mostly young women, by the high pitched sound of their screams) that start to scream, hoop and holler at the drop of a hat. They scream when the host comes out, when the guests come out, when the celebrity or host says something they agree with, in the middle of the monologue, in the middle of the conversation… SHUT UP already. I’ve really come to believe they are the same group of people that show up at these other stupid shows like Dancing With The Stars, American Idol (sorry honey), The View, award shows and any daytime idiot fest talk show. I blame Arsenio. Can I get a whoop, whoop? NO!

Anyway, it drives me nuts. While I'm getting things off my chest, allow me to rant about clappers. These are the people who find it necessary to let everyone around them know they agree with whatever the speaker has just said by clapping. And they won't stop until a bunch of other morons sheep see it as their cue to join in. These are the same people who probably have bumper stickers all over their cars, sharing with their fellow motorists (who don't give a shinola) their political views, personal views and (dare I say it) religious views. I know God used a jackass once to speak but I've never heard of anyone coming to faith by reading Got Jesus? on the bumper of a minivan. It could happen but I think it cheapens the gospel.

Anyway, I see clappers in church all the time. For once I would just love to see no one join in. Sometimes you'll see them looking around encouraging others to join in by nodding their heads or even (God forbid) standing up.

I just want to yell "STOP IT YOU IDIOT! I'M TRYING TO WORSHIP GOD!!"
All in Christian love, of course...