Dear readers,
Prayer would be much appreciated right now and it's not for me. Thank you.
Prayer would be much appreciated right now and it's not for me. Thank you.
Monday, November 03, 2014
We are supposed to be better than this...
What I'm about to say is going to get me in a whole lotta trouble with some people. But it's way past time that it be said...
There are two groups of people in America who have been taken for a ride by either of the two major parties. They have been taken advantage of at practically every turn. They have been promised everything and have been given nothing.
I speak of Christians being held captive by the Republican party and of those of African descent by the Democrats.
Both of those groups have become the battered housewives of the Democrats and Republicans. They've been beaten and told "where else are you gonna go baby?"
People like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have kept their brethren beholden to the Democrats only because it feeds their own egos. Booker T. Washington warned against such when he said "There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs – partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
No American deserves to be treated like this. It's something that no free man or woman should tolerate.
And then there is the loathing I have toward the Republicans for what they have done to so many well-meaning Christians.
What is the single biggest issue that most Christians have been passionate about during the past several decades? It is abortion. What is it that Republicans have kept promising that they will do away with if they got into power? It is abortion.
The Republican party has held the majority of votes in the legislature and held the White House so many times since Roe v. Wade, and still we are no closer to getting rid of abortion. And we will NEVER be rid of the sin of abortion if we keep trusting the Republican party to accomplish the task.
Because the truth of the matter is, the Republican party - or at least its leadership - DOES NOT WANT ABORTION TO GO AWAY!! It is the biggest thing they have to keep Christians, especially evangelicals, voting Republican. If abortion was finally made rid of, the Republican party would no longer have all of those well-intentioned Christians to count on to vote for them at the ballot box every two and four years. The LAST thing that the Republican leadership wants to do is throw away their biggest draw.
The GOP had the Presidency and both houses of Congress during the past decade. Did they ever attempt to overthrow abortion? Nope. Not at all. And yet so many of us as followers of Christ have been told in no uncertain terms that we have to vote Republican, that it's "God's ticket" on the ballot.
What am I trying to say in all of this?
We the people have been USED and ABUSED by those who care for nothing but power and prestige. They promise everything and deliver nothing. The two parties and the system they have created is among the most corrupt in the history of the world, and we owe it NO allegiance whatsoever.
We will not be a free people until we stand up, look at those who keep us in bondage right in the face and tell them: "no more".
We either stand on our principles or we stooge for a party. There is no middle ground.
We are better than this. God meant for us to be better than this. America is a land meant for people of liberty and ideas, not limited thinking and ideologies.
If you have understood what I have written and have been pissed-off about it... good. It's SUPPOSED to piss you off. Parties, politicians and the media have insisted you wear blinders. Tear them off and see the light.
And tell those who would claim power over you - WHOEVER you are - that they can go to hell.
Vote tomorrow. Absolutely. But I brook no illusion that anything will change for the better in America, no matter who wins or loses. With each passing election we lose more and more liberty. We have sacrificed responsibility for convenience and we think we can make up for it every two or four years at the ballot box. As a Christian, I believe that too many of my fellow believers have been taken in by the notion that we have to have political power in order to effect change for the better. We are called to be a light for Christ, not to be seated at the table of power. We've been told a lie that we have to elect rulers over us... when in America WE THE PEOPLE are the rulers. Not politicians, or even the government itself. "Render unto Caesar," it is said. Here in America we threw Caesar out on his ass a long, long time ago. The citizens are in charge, for better or for worse. Unfortunately we have shirked that charge because the media or the parties - and I don't care WHICH party - has told us a damned lie in saying "trust us".
I choose to vote tomorrow because I am a free citizen who is not beholden to any man or to any party. None but God can lay claim to my vote, and any who think otherwise is a blithering idiot. I will vote because this land is where God chose to put me and I *will* be responsible with that.
There are two groups of people in America who have been taken for a ride by either of the two major parties. They have been taken advantage of at practically every turn. They have been promised everything and have been given nothing.
I speak of Christians being held captive by the Republican party and of those of African descent by the Democrats.
Both of those groups have become the battered housewives of the Democrats and Republicans. They've been beaten and told "where else are you gonna go baby?"
People like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have kept their brethren beholden to the Democrats only because it feeds their own egos. Booker T. Washington warned against such when he said "There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs – partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
No American deserves to be treated like this. It's something that no free man or woman should tolerate.
And then there is the loathing I have toward the Republicans for what they have done to so many well-meaning Christians.
What is the single biggest issue that most Christians have been passionate about during the past several decades? It is abortion. What is it that Republicans have kept promising that they will do away with if they got into power? It is abortion.
The Republican party has held the majority of votes in the legislature and held the White House so many times since Roe v. Wade, and still we are no closer to getting rid of abortion. And we will NEVER be rid of the sin of abortion if we keep trusting the Republican party to accomplish the task.
Because the truth of the matter is, the Republican party - or at least its leadership - DOES NOT WANT ABORTION TO GO AWAY!! It is the biggest thing they have to keep Christians, especially evangelicals, voting Republican. If abortion was finally made rid of, the Republican party would no longer have all of those well-intentioned Christians to count on to vote for them at the ballot box every two and four years. The LAST thing that the Republican leadership wants to do is throw away their biggest draw.
The GOP had the Presidency and both houses of Congress during the past decade. Did they ever attempt to overthrow abortion? Nope. Not at all. And yet so many of us as followers of Christ have been told in no uncertain terms that we have to vote Republican, that it's "God's ticket" on the ballot.
What am I trying to say in all of this?
We the people have been USED and ABUSED by those who care for nothing but power and prestige. They promise everything and deliver nothing. The two parties and the system they have created is among the most corrupt in the history of the world, and we owe it NO allegiance whatsoever.
We will not be a free people until we stand up, look at those who keep us in bondage right in the face and tell them: "no more".
We either stand on our principles or we stooge for a party. There is no middle ground.
We are better than this. God meant for us to be better than this. America is a land meant for people of liberty and ideas, not limited thinking and ideologies.
If you have understood what I have written and have been pissed-off about it... good. It's SUPPOSED to piss you off. Parties, politicians and the media have insisted you wear blinders. Tear them off and see the light.
And tell those who would claim power over you - WHOEVER you are - that they can go to hell.
Vote tomorrow. Absolutely. But I brook no illusion that anything will change for the better in America, no matter who wins or loses. With each passing election we lose more and more liberty. We have sacrificed responsibility for convenience and we think we can make up for it every two or four years at the ballot box. As a Christian, I believe that too many of my fellow believers have been taken in by the notion that we have to have political power in order to effect change for the better. We are called to be a light for Christ, not to be seated at the table of power. We've been told a lie that we have to elect rulers over us... when in America WE THE PEOPLE are the rulers. Not politicians, or even the government itself. "Render unto Caesar," it is said. Here in America we threw Caesar out on his ass a long, long time ago. The citizens are in charge, for better or for worse. Unfortunately we have shirked that charge because the media or the parties - and I don't care WHICH party - has told us a damned lie in saying "trust us".
I choose to vote tomorrow because I am a free citizen who is not beholden to any man or to any party. None but God can lay claim to my vote, and any who think otherwise is a blithering idiot. I will vote because this land is where God chose to put me and I *will* be responsible with that.
Saturday, November 01, 2014
What the #&@% did I just watch on DOCTOR WHO this week?!?
To: Steven Moffat
From: Christopher Knight
Subject: This week’s new Doctor Who episode “Dark Water”
Dear Mr. Moffat,
You have crossed a terrible, terrible line with this episode.
The same was said of what we came to know as the War Doctor. This, somehow, is far more insane and certainly the boldest thing yet seen on Doctor Who. So bold, that you may have finally gone too far.
I hope you know what it is that you’re doing.
Sincerely,
Chris
p.s.: do NOT consider doing this to the Doctor himself. The consequences would be disastrous. I could see someone of the opposite gender in the role, but not the character himself.
p.p.s.: I am compelled to state for the record that what you did is actually better and truer to that particular person than happened on Russell T. Davies’ watch and that "Missy" is a fine addition/extension of the Who mythology.
p.p.p.s.: Roger Delgado will always be the best!
p.p.p.p.s.: somehow, I think Delgado would have admired what you have done.
p.p.p.p.p.s.: oh yeah, “Dark Water” is the best episode of the Peter Capaldi era by far!!
From: Christopher Knight
Subject: This week’s new Doctor Who episode “Dark Water”
Dear Mr. Moffat,
You have crossed a terrible, terrible line with this episode.
The same was said of what we came to know as the War Doctor. This, somehow, is far more insane and certainly the boldest thing yet seen on Doctor Who. So bold, that you may have finally gone too far.
I hope you know what it is that you’re doing.
Sincerely,
Chris
p.s.: do NOT consider doing this to the Doctor himself. The consequences would be disastrous. I could see someone of the opposite gender in the role, but not the character himself.
p.p.s.: I am compelled to state for the record that what you did is actually better and truer to that particular person than happened on Russell T. Davies’ watch and that "Missy" is a fine addition/extension of the Who mythology.
p.p.p.s.: Roger Delgado will always be the best!
p.p.p.p.s.: somehow, I think Delgado would have admired what you have done.
p.p.p.p.p.s.: oh yeah, “Dark Water” is the best episode of the Peter Capaldi era by far!!
"November Rain"
It's the first day of November. Seems like a lot of people are getting cold wind and precipitation of some kind (further west of my location many places are getting 3 inches of snow).
Perfect day for a song like this. Some consider this to be the best music video ever assembled...
Admittedly, I did post this same video six years ago. Somehow, seems even more appropriate now.
Perfect day for a song like this. Some consider this to be the best music video ever assembled...
Admittedly, I did post this same video six years ago. Somehow, seems even more appropriate now.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Look! Chris makes a political endorsement!
Here comes something that I haven't done in... what, at least six years? To be honest I can't remember. I think the total amount of times that I've endorsed a candidate has been less than three.
(Okay, I guess I kinda endorsed myself during that very wacky school board race in 2006, but that mostly came during the process of chronicling that process here on the blog. I didn't actually come out and say "I endorse myself!" although that would be kinda funny...)
For many years I have had a policy and I have kept strictly to it, without any exceptions. It is this: I will not vote for any candidate whose campaign runs a single negative ad against an opponent. If a candidate cannot win on her or her own merit, then that candidate doesn't deserve my vote. All a negative ad demonstrates is that the candidate running it is more interested in power and prestige than in the people.
I'm telling y'all here and now, that my ballot wound up having a lot of blank spaces at the very start of this campaign season. I've been watching every race like a hawk, showing partiality to none. Longtime readers also know that I am not partisan. I vote for the person, not the party. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, independents... each and more have been represented in the ballots I've cast.
Incidentally, one of the most absolutely worst things that a person can do is vote a straight-party ticket. Too many people fought and died so that we might have the rights of citizenship. Those rights do not include casting votes without thinking about who you're voting for.
Some of these notions won't find approval with more than a few. But I don't care. You shouldn't come to this blog or that of anyone else and expect commentary fitting the status quo. Around here, we laugh at silly concepts like conventional wisdom.
But anyway...
Here, with less than a week left before the election, after observing this season very closely, I can confidently attest that there is at least one candidate who has passed my test. The same cannot be said of his primary opponent in the media, and it certainly cannot be said of the two "front runners" in this state's U.S. Senate race.
If this candidate runs a negative ad in the eleventh hour, I'm going to withdraw my endorsement. But this far along, seeing what I have, I don't think that it's going to happen.
So it is that The Knight Shift and its eclectic proprietor gladly announces that in North Carolina's 6th District race for United States House of Representatives, I am going to heartily endorse Mark Walker. Not only because his values and beliefs as in such close alignment with my own, but because he has run the cleanest campaign that I have probably ever seen for office at the national level. Not one commercial - be it television or radio - has come out of his campaign aimed at an opponent. And I seriously believe that he is going to win election in very large part because of that. People are fed-up and tired of negative campaigning. People are hungering for real character and integrity. I would never intimate that Mr. Walker is a perfect candidate, because there is no such of a thing. If he does win election to Congress, there will be things that I will disagree with him about. That's just the nature of this carnal world where we each strive to see through the glass darkly. But I can very confidently affirm that voting for Mark Walker will be one that for the first time in a long time will not be a vote that I see myself regretting.
If anyone asks, I'm not affiliated with the Walker campaign. I haven't volunteered for it, I haven't made any phone calls or passed out literature. I've never met Mark Walker. I do know many others who do know him personally, and not one of them has not attested that he is a man sincere in his beliefs and convictions. These are people who I respect a tremendous deal and if they say that about Mr. Walker, I'm inclined to believe them.
So again, Mark Walker wins this blogger's enthusiastic endorsement. And I will encourage this blog's readers who are also in the 6th District of North Carolina to do likewise. And if you want to know more about Walker, his background and what he stands for, click on over to his campaign website.
(Okay, I guess I kinda endorsed myself during that very wacky school board race in 2006, but that mostly came during the process of chronicling that process here on the blog. I didn't actually come out and say "I endorse myself!" although that would be kinda funny...)
For many years I have had a policy and I have kept strictly to it, without any exceptions. It is this: I will not vote for any candidate whose campaign runs a single negative ad against an opponent. If a candidate cannot win on her or her own merit, then that candidate doesn't deserve my vote. All a negative ad demonstrates is that the candidate running it is more interested in power and prestige than in the people.
I'm telling y'all here and now, that my ballot wound up having a lot of blank spaces at the very start of this campaign season. I've been watching every race like a hawk, showing partiality to none. Longtime readers also know that I am not partisan. I vote for the person, not the party. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, independents... each and more have been represented in the ballots I've cast.
Incidentally, one of the most absolutely worst things that a person can do is vote a straight-party ticket. Too many people fought and died so that we might have the rights of citizenship. Those rights do not include casting votes without thinking about who you're voting for.
Some of these notions won't find approval with more than a few. But I don't care. You shouldn't come to this blog or that of anyone else and expect commentary fitting the status quo. Around here, we laugh at silly concepts like conventional wisdom.
But anyway...
Here, with less than a week left before the election, after observing this season very closely, I can confidently attest that there is at least one candidate who has passed my test. The same cannot be said of his primary opponent in the media, and it certainly cannot be said of the two "front runners" in this state's U.S. Senate race.
If this candidate runs a negative ad in the eleventh hour, I'm going to withdraw my endorsement. But this far along, seeing what I have, I don't think that it's going to happen.
 |
| Say no to the negative ads! Vote Mark Walker for Congress! |
If anyone asks, I'm not affiliated with the Walker campaign. I haven't volunteered for it, I haven't made any phone calls or passed out literature. I've never met Mark Walker. I do know many others who do know him personally, and not one of them has not attested that he is a man sincere in his beliefs and convictions. These are people who I respect a tremendous deal and if they say that about Mr. Walker, I'm inclined to believe them.
So again, Mark Walker wins this blogger's enthusiastic endorsement. And I will encourage this blog's readers who are also in the 6th District of North Carolina to do likewise. And if you want to know more about Walker, his background and what he stands for, click on over to his campaign website.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
GOG.com has released X-WING and TIE FIGHTER!
Today shall be a day long remembered...
Courtesy of the amazing folks at GOG.com (the GOG stands for Good Old Games), what are by far two of the greatest computer/video games ever wrought by mortal hands have gone on sale today, ready to be enjoyed by a new generation or by those who have longed to reminisce about those heady days of the early Nineties.
And I would be saying that even if they weren't Star Wars titles!
X-Wing was an astounding and revolutionary game in its own right and when it came out early in 1993 it took the industry by storm. With a brilliant combination of 3D graphics, rich user interface, an immersive storyline and balanced yet incredibly challenging gameplay, X-Wing was the Star Wars experience that everyone wanted but few thought we would ever get. This was the combat simulator of its time and even by today's standards it holds up incredibly well. At last, players could join the ranks of the Rebel Alliance in the fight against tyranny, with a variety of fighters: the X-wing, Y-wing, the ever-slippery A-wing and the powerhouse B-wing.
But not to rest on its laurels, the following year LucasArts released TIE Fighter: still considered by some to be THE best computer game of all time. TIE Fighter turned the tables and let gamers take to the skies against the scum and outlaws that the Rebels really are (the intro sequence alone are enough to make one giddy about blowing Rebel fighters out of the stars). TIE Fighter improved on everything that made X-Wing work, and then some. An even more interactive story/campaign and array of craft (including the TIE Defender and my personal favorite the TIE Bomber) gave you all the tools you'd ever need to show them pesky Rebels what's what.
And as of today GOG has made X-Wing and TIE Fighter available and 100% compatible with modern systems! If you're still playing these classics with old CD-ROMs (or even the original floppies), you'll never again have to juggle disks. For $9.99 each you can download a DRM-free single-file installer and set up either game (or both) on any moderately-equipped system from Windows XP on up.
Incidentally, for the ten bucks you're actually getting two flavors of each game: the original DOS version and the "Collector's Edition" that ran on Windows and required a joystick (the DOS games could be played with a mouse). The Windows-based Collector's versions have prettier graphics. But the DOS ones have the iMuse MIDI score that changes dynamically as events in the game are triggered (i.e. the Imperial theme starting up as a Star Destroyer suddenly arrives on the scene). The Windows editions have Redbook WAV audio instead (meaning it doesn't change per combat conditions). Personally, I'm going with the DOS versions at least at first. Having an iMuse score with the game itself more than justifies the price tag.
So what are we waiting for? Mash down here for X-Wing and aim here for TIE Fighter!
These two games have been the most hotly-demanded on any modern game-delivery platform and now after years of yearning GOG has given both Star Wars fans and general gamers alike what they've wanted more than most. And along with these two GOG is as of today also offering other classic games from the LucasArts vault: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (which some will argue is really the greatest PC game ever and not without reason), Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island, and the very twisted Sam & Max Hit the Road. More LucasArts games are promised for the near future (maybe I'll finally get to play Full Throttle...)
So there it is: X-Wing and TIE Fighter for modern computers at long last. Go get one. Or the other. Or get both. Now. You know you wanna.
(I'm holding off until after I finish writing my book. Getting to play X-Wing again is going to be a present to myself :-)
Courtesy of the amazing folks at GOG.com (the GOG stands for Good Old Games), what are by far two of the greatest computer/video games ever wrought by mortal hands have gone on sale today, ready to be enjoyed by a new generation or by those who have longed to reminisce about those heady days of the early Nineties.
 |
| Stick it to the Empire in X-Wing... |
X-Wing was an astounding and revolutionary game in its own right and when it came out early in 1993 it took the industry by storm. With a brilliant combination of 3D graphics, rich user interface, an immersive storyline and balanced yet incredibly challenging gameplay, X-Wing was the Star Wars experience that everyone wanted but few thought we would ever get. This was the combat simulator of its time and even by today's standards it holds up incredibly well. At last, players could join the ranks of the Rebel Alliance in the fight against tyranny, with a variety of fighters: the X-wing, Y-wing, the ever-slippery A-wing and the powerhouse B-wing.
 |
| ...or blow Rebels to smithereens in TIE Fighter! |
And as of today GOG has made X-Wing and TIE Fighter available and 100% compatible with modern systems! If you're still playing these classics with old CD-ROMs (or even the original floppies), you'll never again have to juggle disks. For $9.99 each you can download a DRM-free single-file installer and set up either game (or both) on any moderately-equipped system from Windows XP on up.
Incidentally, for the ten bucks you're actually getting two flavors of each game: the original DOS version and the "Collector's Edition" that ran on Windows and required a joystick (the DOS games could be played with a mouse). The Windows-based Collector's versions have prettier graphics. But the DOS ones have the iMuse MIDI score that changes dynamically as events in the game are triggered (i.e. the Imperial theme starting up as a Star Destroyer suddenly arrives on the scene). The Windows editions have Redbook WAV audio instead (meaning it doesn't change per combat conditions). Personally, I'm going with the DOS versions at least at first. Having an iMuse score with the game itself more than justifies the price tag.
So what are we waiting for? Mash down here for X-Wing and aim here for TIE Fighter!
These two games have been the most hotly-demanded on any modern game-delivery platform and now after years of yearning GOG has given both Star Wars fans and general gamers alike what they've wanted more than most. And along with these two GOG is as of today also offering other classic games from the LucasArts vault: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (which some will argue is really the greatest PC game ever and not without reason), Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island, and the very twisted Sam & Max Hit the Road. More LucasArts games are promised for the near future (maybe I'll finally get to play Full Throttle...)
So there it is: X-Wing and TIE Fighter for modern computers at long last. Go get one. Or the other. Or get both. Now. You know you wanna.
(I'm holding off until after I finish writing my book. Getting to play X-Wing again is going to be a present to myself :-)
Friday, October 24, 2014
So... you wanna watch Chris play the Doctor Who theme on his dulcimer?!?
Sure. Why not...
I've mentioned a few times that ever since late spring I've been taking lessons on playing the mountain dulcimer. So far I've notched up quite a repertoire but I'm still learning the real basic mechanics of what is truly a beautiful instrument. Still, I've come a long way in a short amount of time :-)
Anyhoo, from the very beginning I've had in mind to play the Doctor Who theme on dulcimer. It's something that I've played around with for awhile now and... well, I think that I've got it. Just needs a little more finesse, is all. Only tonight did I figure out the last half of the second strain of the theme. When I get really good I'll string them all together nice and flowing.
Okay, so if you want to see and hear what I've done so far ummm... well I can't post it on YouTube at the moment 'cuz for some reason YouTube doesn't like it when I try to publish from my iPad. But fear not! I've uploaded the video onto Facebook and made it public so that anyone can watch it.
Just a work in progress. Next time it's gonna be even better but I'm still rather proud of how it's turning out already :-)
I've mentioned a few times that ever since late spring I've been taking lessons on playing the mountain dulcimer. So far I've notched up quite a repertoire but I'm still learning the real basic mechanics of what is truly a beautiful instrument. Still, I've come a long way in a short amount of time :-)
Anyhoo, from the very beginning I've had in mind to play the Doctor Who theme on dulcimer. It's something that I've played around with for awhile now and... well, I think that I've got it. Just needs a little more finesse, is all. Only tonight did I figure out the last half of the second strain of the theme. When I get really good I'll string them all together nice and flowing.
Okay, so if you want to see and hear what I've done so far ummm... well I can't post it on YouTube at the moment 'cuz for some reason YouTube doesn't like it when I try to publish from my iPad. But fear not! I've uploaded the video onto Facebook and made it public so that anyone can watch it.
Just a work in progress. Next time it's gonna be even better but I'm still rather proud of how it's turning out already :-)
