Some Christmas Day advice: if you’re hungry, Sonic is open. However, they will forget your $4 popcorn chicken. And your fries. And you’ll be too distracted by holiday cheer to check the bag before driving home. And it’s a bit too nasty out to go back for it. And you’ll be left with mediocre burgers (but tasty tater tots…). So maybe don’t do that.

And may God/Goddess/Xenu/Flying Spaghetti Monster bless us, every one.

Here’s another round of random bloggings:

. Pro Evo – I got this book today in the mail called ProEvo: Pro Evolution – Guideline for an Age of Joy. I’ve never heard of it, didn’t order, don’t know where it came from, other than it was plastic wrapped with an insert that mentioned the mysterious “Foundation”.

Googling the book, and it’s author, Tomotom Stiflung, only led me to a string of other blogs of people who had received the book under similar circumstances. It can be found on Amazon (see the link above) for a penny (!) and no real information. The actual website for the book is extremely vague – and in German, I think. I translated it in BabelFish, but it was not informative in any way.

On brief inspection, the book seems to be a weird mess of common sense ideas laced with wild assumptions and stretched logic, pushing a hive-mind agenda, insisting that no one is a true individual. For instance, from pages 78-79:

Man in not an independent being with his “own” strength and his “own” thoughts and actions. Whatever he may think or do consciously or unconsciously: all is behavior that occurs automatically within the energy-organism of the universe…

Reading the back cover of the book brings on a true WTF moment – all seven supportive blurbs are credited to people identified only by their initials, with equally vague descriptors. Example: Prof. Dr. L. K., world famous scientist, and Dr. B. M. S., university professor. The most ridiculous attribution is to “A large country’s institution for press, books, films, television and radio”! Whoa.

. Carbon Leaf Concert – thanks to the handful of folks who joined me out at the Carbon Leaf show back on the 6th. The concert was fantastic, and I think all who came with me to Mississippi Nights walked away with a solid appreciation for this group. They currently share the position of “Adron’s Favorite Band” with Breaking Benjamin, albeit in a completely different musical genre.

. B-Day – Thanks also to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and to whom I haven’t responded to yet. I’m wayyyyyyyyyyy behind in all my communications, so please bear with me. My cellphone currently has 12 messages I haven’t listened to yet (I hate talking on the phone and checking voicemails), and my inbox is full of un-replied-to messages. I usually try to bury my birthday and keep it a very quiet thing, but this year it got turned into a week long event. If I seem like I’m hiding from the world right now, it’s because I was so social for a couple of weeks that I kind of burnt out. I have to hermit out once in awhile just to retain my sanity.

. NEW GIG – It’s literally been a year since the last time I played a show, so it’s fitting that my first gig in a long while would be the same show I played last year. Come check out the 3rd Annual MS Benefit at Laurie’s Place in Edwardsville, IL, on November 4th. I’ll post more details for the show when I have ‘em. It’s for a great cause and it’s a good time. If you’re reading this and thinking “what? Adron’s a musician?” then you really should come to the show.

. Fragile Things – Just started reading Neil Gaiman’s new short story collection, Fragile Things. It is, as usual, utterly brilliant most of the time, haunting, compelling and thoroughly enjoyable. If you’ve not read Gaiman, then you’re missing one of the great voices in modern literature.

. Down in the Valley – Watched Down in the Valley, starring Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood and David Morse, on DVD the other morning. Despite all of the critical praise, I didn’t find much in this film. I think Norton could have performed this role in his sleep. It’s a slow flick and I had to fight to retain interest. The “twist” is just a very surprising moment, and it did catch me off guard, but I felt like it meandered afterward into a vaguely unsatisfactory ending. I gained no big insights from the work. Just a curiousity about Ed Norton’s inconsistant facial hair. Good music choices, though, including the quiet beauty of Mazzy Star.

The majority of Democrats and many Moderate Republicans oppose the amendment, citing it as pandering to the religious right, clearly bigoted or simply unnecessary.

In his Saturday radio address, Bush cast the amendment as a defense of the stability of society and a strike back at judges who have overturned state laws similar in intent to the proposed legislation.

“In our free society, people have the right to choose how they live their lives,” Bush said. “And in a free society, decisions about such a fundamental social institution as marriage should be made by the people, not by the courts.”

Does that sound at least a little contradictary to anyone else? “…people have the right to choose how they live their lives.” But apparently that doesn’t apply to the desire of same-sex couples to make their unions legally and, by some definitions, morally, recognizable.

Of course, in Bush’s “free society”, it is “the people” who make the decisions on social institution, not the courts – which sounds great coming from the man who lost (by narrow margin) the popular vote in his first presidential election and, despite controversy with Florida ballot counting, was finally instated by decision of the Supreme Court. (the first election since 1876 in which the Supreme Court affected the decision)

In the land of the free and the home of the brave, it’s so sad to me to see the leaders of our country be too cowardly to embrace social change and expell centuries of bigotry. Perhaps “home of the politically and religiously compromised” would be a better slogan?

/// Watching “Broken Flowers” starring Bill Murray

Now, this is no attack on faith. I respect everyone’s right to believe what they want, and to find spiritual fulfillment in whatever ways work for them.

Yet, I find these kinds of stories rather insipid. They rarely offer an intelligent argument of faith – only vilify those with a different opinion.

Does the evil, God-hating professor exist? Quite probably. But setting this character up as the face of those who do not subscribe to a traditional faith based religion, Christian or otherwise, is childish, short-sighted and manipulative.

For some interesting looks at these types of forwards, go to:

http://www.snopes.com/religion/einstein.asp

http://www.snopes.com/religion/chalk.htm

/// Reading “The Pillow Friend” by Lisa Tuttle (and hating it…)