"It's not a free-speech zone when we did it!"

I did not watch President Obama's inauguration today. There is nothing particularly interesting about a leader with no real vision. Sadly that's a trait that has been shared by every president since Reagan. But I digress...

It does interest me this afternoon however that President Obama continued the tradition established by former president George W. Bush of having a "free speech zone" marked off for the event...

Freedom Plaza is the site of one of the only authorized demonstration zones, where a strip of the plaza is designated a free speech zone.

The "free speech zones" were a routine and chronic practice of George W. Bush. Nobody who protested his policies was allowed anywhere close to him when he was president and out in public. There were many instances when protestors were limited to an area nearly a mile away from Bush.

The "free speech zones" were wrong then. They are just as wrong now on Obama's watch.

But that seems to be going clean over the heads of a lot of self-professed "conservatives" today, judging by how many at the above link on Politico.com are feigning outrage that Obama is keeping those who disagree with him out of sight and out of mind.

Here is what I wrote this past October about Obama continuing Bush's practice.

Now, I defy anyone to argue that it was any more right when Bush had the "free speech zones" than it is for Obama to do precisely the same.

This is but one reason why I have become so disgusted with politics. I like to think of myself as an honest person... and honest people have a problem with sullying their hands with such blatant hypocrisy.

That and as I said earlier: there is no leadership with clear and bold vision in America.

Sometimes I wonder if that might be on purpose. Or even if that's what we the people have come to embrace.

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Back from the break

I needed to unplug from some things for the past couple of weeks. Including this blog.

Nothing traumatic or crazy happened. 'Cept I chose to focus on a few things and getting other things re-focused that had been lingering too much for too long.

This blog has been around for nine years now (wow!). In that time it has become quite a chronicle, a collection of documentation, about the evolution and development of that strange and bizarre creature that God created in Robert Christopher Knight. And that's what it will continue to be, until whatever point if and when I decide that it's time to retire from blogging.

But sometimes, that evolution and development appreciates the time to rest and reflect. And I'm still reflecting now. There might not be the frequency of posts that many readers (gauging from the amount of e-mails that came in) seem to enjoy, at least not off the bat.

In terms of Doctor Who, I'm regenerating. Becoming a different person.

But then, aren't we all? Isn't that what every one of us has been doing since the day each of us came into this world?

And besides, my girlfriend thinks it's time to write some more here. She has me well trained already. So I'd better get to work :-)

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It had to happen: BACK TO THE FUTURE and DOCTOR WHO mash-up!

A friend in our community theater guild is fond of wearing a t-shirt with this graphic on it...

So what would happen if Doctor Emmet Brown's DeLorean crashed head-on with the Doctor's TARDIS in a game of chicken?

Probably something like this...

Props to Kristen for coming across this uberkewl video by James Farr!

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Aaron Goins Jr.'s 2012 in Review

For me personally, the best part about this New Year's Day is that I made it through the rest of 2012 without getting any more speeding tickets! Having three in the past twelve months really was going too far even for me, but at least I'll have that "defensive drivers class" coming up to write about :-)

Which one is Honey and
which one is Boo Boo?

Anyhoo, there was plenty of good about 2012... and too many things that were quite a mess. If that Psy guy doesn't make good on his promise to put an end to "Gangnam Style", I swear that I'll be reaching for a glass of whiskey, a revolver and two bullets. The country remains without any real vision or leadership. And I could have lived the rest of my life and died happy without ever being told that such a thing as Honey Boo Boo (right) exists.

But on the plus side of the ledger: 2012 saw the announcement that we ARE getting Star Wars Episodes 7-9 at last, and many more Star Wars movies afterwards.  For that alone I will say that 2012 was a terrific year!

Reviewing the previous year's pop-culture, sports, entertainment and pro-wrestling scenes (especially the pro-wrestling) really isn't my forte however. But rest assured that in his own inimitable style, Aaron Goins Jr. is on the case! Over on his blog The Highlight Reel, Aaron has composed a monstrous (and hella fun) compilation of the year that was 2012. Even if you know more about Taylor Swift than you do about Vince McMahon, you won't be at a loss for something good here. Part 1 covers professional wrestling and sports, Part 2 goes over entertainment and music and Part 3 is about anything and everything in between including more pro wrestling (are we seeing a trend in our boy Aaron's blogging?).

But I think the best part is how Aaron chose to wrap up his look back...

There were so many good times that, even outnumbered by the bad, I cannot help but smile when I think back on 2012. I hope that 2013 will be a better year for me. I hope it is a better year for us all. I hope that we can find more time to smile, more time to think, and more time to cry tears of joy and not sorrow or pain. 2013 is a year full of hope. In conclusion, I hope 2012 was great for you and that 2013 will be even better.

God bless.

Hear hear! May we all have a better year in 2013 :-)

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One last photo from 2012 Holiday Season

Kristen and me on Christmas Day at her parents' house...

Despite everything she says, I still insist that she is far too sweet, fun and beautiful for a guy like me to be blessed with :-)

I am feeling led to say something here. That this Christmas was, for more reasons than I can possibly count, THE best Christmas that I have been able to enjoy in a very long, long time.

It was the first Christmas that I have had without Mom. In fact, it was a year ago today that we had her funeral. And in a lot of ways this was a trying and difficult year in other aspects as well.

But when I see the person I was a year ago, the time that I was going through then... and then now, how far God has brought me in that time, how He has blessed me more than I possibly deserve. And then how Kristen had promised that this was going to be a wonderful Christmas...

It was. It really was.

And Lord willing, next Christmas will be even better ;-)

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Out-of-whack priorities

Good friend, Baptist minister and wise Christian brother (he's certainly wiser than I shall ever be) James Hodges made an observation earlier today. I'm sharing it here, because in so few words it speaks volumes...

Why should we worry about the 'fiscal cliff' when we have already fallen over the 'moral cliff.'

Unfortunately, all too true.

Perhaps there would be no concern of a "fiscal cliff" at all if we had chosen to long ago steer away from the moral cliff.

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Truly scarier than the Sith...

For as long as we've been watching Star Wars movies, I can't recall anyone drawing attention to this one fleeting but horrifying image from Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...

Ewoks. With blaster rifles.

For the good of the galaxy, let us hope the triumphant Rebels never allow them to leave Endor.

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THE WALKING DEAD set to Adele's "Skyfall"

Massive spoilers in this video, 'cuz it covers everything from the start of the first season on up to the third year's mid-season finale.

If you're caught up on The Walking Dead, you still won't be ready for the abundawundawesomeness of Jonathan Wong's video. He's masterfully edited together clips from The Walking Dead and set it to Adele's hit song "Skyfall", the theme from the latest James Bond movie.

If you only watch one YouTube video this week, watch this one. If you only watch ten, watch this one ten times!

AMC oughtta hire Jonathan, this vid is so dang cool!!

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"Taps" for a true soldier and statesman

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"Stormin' Norman"

1934 - 2012

 

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"The Snowmen" is blowing every DOCTOR WHO fan's mind right now!!

HOLY &#@$!!!

I was prepared to write up a review of 2012's edition of what has become a much-anticipated holiday tradition: the Doctor Who Christmas special. And then showrunner/writer Steven Moffat louses it up by making everyone's job at writing about it ridiculously almost impossibly hardcore crazy difficult.

So on this side of the pond "The Snowmen" just finished transmitting on BBC America.

Good. Lord...

"The Snowmen" has done what no other Christmas special before has done: it has sent Doctor Who COMPLETELY off the rails like a highballing freight train. The lever is broken and the brakes are GONE, bay-bee!!

Halfway through the story I was already set to declare "The Snowmen" to be not only the best Christmas special we have yet seen, but to be one of the best Doctor Who stories ever. This was a Doctor (Matt Smith) we have never witnessed before in any incarnation: tired, world-weary... and dare I say apathetic? Smith has steadily been turning the Eleventh Doctor into a far darker character than we've become comfortable with. The tragic events seen in "The Angels Take Manhattan" have taken their toll on the man who was once savior of worlds.

It also didn't hurt that we got to see the return of Madame Vastra and her associate/wife Jenny, and Strax (who had such wonderful wacky and trigger-happy lines in this special that many on Twitter are demanding that he be the next companion for the Doctor).

Then there were the Snowmen: perhaps the most nightmarish and twisted villains we have seen in any Doctor Who story in recent memory. And there could have been no better actor to give them life and a voice than Ian McKellen. Richard Grant also brought a sinister presence as Doctor Simeon.

So let's get down to brass tacks: "The Snowmen" as a story all its own blew the minds of everyone watching tonight. But then there was that last half or so hinting at something else amiss.

And then came the last few minutes...

JEEBUS CRIPES CRISPIES WITH MILK AND BROCCOLI!!!

Doctor Who is now totally off the chain. And so begins the era of Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara: perhaps more than any other companion in nigh-on fifty years of Doctor Who, set to be a major enigma in the already-enigmatic life of the Doctor.

This will go down in history as the Christmas Night that melted the gray matter of Doctor Who fans across the globe. And there will be NO end to speculation between now and when the show returns in April for the second half of the current season.

"The Snowmen" gets an unprecedented FIFTEEN Sonic Screwdrivers out of a possible five from this reviewer. Yes, it's that good.

Best. Doctor Who. Christmas. Special. Ever. Must. Watch. Again.

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To a very many people...

To friends in far places,

To friends not forgotten,

To friends never to be seen again within the circles of the Earth,

To friends who will ever be cherished across the the years, until we meet again at last on that distant shore,

To friends who will be loved always, though they may never know it...

Merry Christmas.

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"It wasn't us Protestants, honest!"

This evening I had the opportunity to do something that I've wanted to do for most of my life: attend the Christmas Eve Mass at a Roman Catholic Church.

I am very happy to report that it was as beautiful as I had long expected it to be. Although I am not Catholic, nonetheless I came away from the experience feeling that God had ministered to my spirit in a way that I have needed Him to these past few days especially.

That, and it was a pleasure to celebrate the birth of Christ with my Catholic brethren. Turns out that just about all the Christmas hymns were those that I had already grown up with :-)

Here's a photo I shot just before the Eucharist tonight at St. Veronica's...


The church was packed solid! We had to sit in one of these three adjoining hallways that had been furnished with extra chairs. St. Veronica's has, I think four Christmas Eve services in order to accommodate everyone.

And then there's what happened later, which at least one person described as the "most thrilling Mass ever!"

As the Eucharist was nearing its end (this one little kid gave me a REALLY crazy look when he saw that I was still sitting down and not getting up at all to take part in the Eucharist)... that is when the fire alarms went on all over the church!! So the priests had to administer the Host to the last few parishioners with loud noise and flashing lights all over the sanctuary. The alarm could be delayed for a few seconds before going full-blast again, so some poor deacon was in the back of the building frantically deactivating the fire alarm every few seconds, trying hard to not miss a beat.

A group of parishioners were coming back to where we were sitting after having the Eucharist. And... I tried, Lord knows I tried to hold back folks, but I just couldn't help myself...

I blurted out "It wasn't us Protestants, honest!"

Turns out that in the narthex at the entrance of the church, where some of the overflow crowd was sitting, a baby accidentally pulled a fire alarm lever.

So this is how my first Christmas Eve Mass at a Roman Catholic Church ended: with two fire engines arriving at the scene...





Not quite how I always envisioned a Christmas Eve Mass to wind down, but exciting all the same :-)

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It's Christmas Eve and the snow is falling

Awright, so it's hard to make out in the pic... but trust me, it is snowing at my location. And at a pretty good clip too! Maybe we'll get a White Christmas. There was one in Reidsville two years ago. Where I am now, perhaps a chance for an even bigger one.

Oh yeah, no traditional Christmas post this time as in years past. May be some pretty neat stuff that I'll be putting on the blog the next few days :-)

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Tammy's first Christmas

Don't ever let it be said that anybody in this wacky family lacks for gifts on Christmas!

This pic is actually a few days old, but I wanted her to go ahead and start enjoying it. Here is Tammy - now a very psycho eight-months old - with her new doggie bed :-)




She's come a long way from the bed she made on her first day with us...

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"Astoria!!"

After dinner tonight (which may or may not have been in celebration of today being the Festivus holiday) Kristen's sister-in-law Melissa presented me with a gift: her rendering of one of the many memorable moments from our trip to Oregon this past June...



That's Uncle Bob and yours truly, when I suggested we drive from our rental house in Hood River all the way to the Pacific coast. Because that was when Astoria was having its annual Goonies Weekend and I always wanted to see the house from that movie.

Alas, we did not make it that far. Maybe we'll be there in 2015 for the big party they're already planning for The Goonies 30th anniversary :-)

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Raggin' on Rudolph

Two thoughts about the reindeer who went down in hist-o-REEEEEE...

1. If Rudolph's nose is THAT bright, and also such high-energy because of its intense red hue, assuming it's radiating out the lumens of at least the running lights of a commercial airliner and that it's shining right at his face...

...Rudolph should be totally blind by now!! Even one trip around the world would have been more than enough to burn out his retinas.

I hope Santa sleeps easy with this on his conscience.

2. Johnny Marks wrote "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in 1949 as part of a publicity campaign for the Montgomery Ward's department store chain.

Just think: if the company had insisted upon royalties every time that song was played or performed or sung in public by school choirs and Brownie troops, Montgomery Ward's would still be in business!

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"Who are we to You?"

Ever since I first saw this movie in February, it has lingered on the edges of my consciousness like no film before has.

And of all the wonder that is to be found in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, this is the scene that has most entranced and enchanted me.

As I wrote after watching it then, this is a movie that dares to ask God "Why?", before providing the same reply that God gave to Job.

Now that the thought occurs to me, I might even suggest watching The Tree of Life after studying the Book of Job from the Old Testament. Yeah: read everything from the beginning, on through Job losing all but his life and then to the monologues by his friends (some help they were!) and exactly before hitting the point where God comes in to answer Job, go to this scene in The Tree of Life and let that paraphrase what God says.

What God has said to Job and to every one of us who has demanded of Him, "Answer me."

The music is "Lacrimosa" by composer Zbigniew Preisner. And as soon as I find the CD of it I am absolutely putting it on my iPod.

Just felt like posting something beautiful at this late hour...

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