Merry Christmas Commentary

Taken from someone else's blog, quoting yet someone else:

Merry Christmas Commentary
Bob Scheiffer

If I wished you a merry Christmas, some would say, `Well, how improper. He's throwing his religion in my face.' But I hope I'm not, because to me the Christmas story is a message of love and forgiveness. To me, that means tolerance and respect for others. These are wonderful thoughts but no more admirable than Judaism's emphasis on values or Islam's command to help the poor, which to me are just different ways of saying the same thing.

I have come to believe that all the great religions are basically true, all part of the same peace, a conclusion I neither ask nor expect anyone to share. If it matters to you, I am a believer but, like Kirkegaard, I am suspicious of all organized religion because too often it professes to know the mind of God and who could know that?

To me, the greatest misunderstanding of religion is held by those who try to impose their beliefs on others and teach their children they are somehow superior to those who do not believe as they believe, which would seem to miss the point of all religion.

Rather than arguing over the details, wouldn't we all be better off to focus on the values that all great religions share? We'll find out later who got the details right. The one sure thing I know about all this is that the Christmas story helps me. It reminds me that I am happier when I try to be forgiving rather than revengeful, when I try to be helpful instead of judgmental.

So I do wish you a merry Christmas, if you know what I mean.

What the hell is going on here?

This state has lost it's mind! Christmas is being all but abolished for the sake of "political correctness". I can't believe what I'm hearing on the radio these days! Christmas carols are being outlawed. School plays are being censored or stifled altogether! What kills me is that these are not the result of public outcries, but rather one or two individuals (who likely haven't gotten laid in about 20 years) causing a stir...and New Jersey is listening!
The only ones being hurt (whether they are aware of it or not) are the kids! Why can't they experience the holidays as we did when we were kids? This country has gotten entirely too uptight lately. What's worse is that many of the people allowing the "rules" to exist are people my age! What happened? We need to just chill for a bit I think.
I just bought a book of stamps that have the Holy Mother and Child on them. It makes me crazy that I have to worry about offending someone if I use them!

I bet the tight-asses that are doing all the bitching have no problem taking the days off from work though! Can't stand hypocrites!

Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone!
Actually, nevermind that...Merry Christmas everyone!

A dreary day

What a lousy day it is outside today. Cold and rainy...the type of day you wish you could just stay under a blanket all day.
On the upside, I received a shipment confirmation from Amazon for my camera!
Very cool. Now maybe I can get some halfway decent shots at Nearfest.

I'm bringing my car in for a regular service this weekend. They're also replacing the CD player because it just stopped working. The caveat is that there are 5 CDs inside of it, and they tell me that I have to wait and get them mailed to me, and it can take up to six weeks. Very NOT cool. I can't believe there's not some sort of emergency eject like computer CD drives have.

Oh well...there's always a catch.

Just another relaxing Sunday

I love Sundays. Except for maybe a household chore or two, I'm pretty much a non-productive individual on Sunday. And that's how I like it.

After reviewing the Europe pictures taken by both my mom's camera (a 3.2MP Canon), and my inferior Sony DSC-30, I've decided that I need a new digital camera. I did some research and decided on the Sony Cybershot DSC-W1. I don't know if Sony has stopped making this one already (it was only introduced this past spring), but there seems to be out-of-stock issues at a lot of retailers. Buy.com stated it is OOS from the manufacturer, and I ordered it from Ebuyer.com (the best price I found), only to get an email from them saying my order has been cancelled due to it being OOS. Turns out this was a good thing, because I checked Amazon and found that starting today, there is a $50 rebate on the camera. It will turn out to be a $40 net savings over my original order...provided I don't get similar bad news from Amazon in the coming days.
Worse comes to worst I'll just pick it up on Ebay, because I had already jumped the gun and ordered a 256MB memory stick from Ebay.

Another highlight of Sunday is taking advantage of my NFL Sunday Ticket subscription and Tivo. Watched both the Miami-Buffalo game as well as the Colts-Titans game. Peyton Manning is fun to watch. Being a Dolphin/Marino fan, I really wanted Dan's record to hold up, but you can't help but root for Manning and be happy for him...and I've never seen a quarterback execute play-action better than him. By the time this guy's career is over, he will be the one who sets the standard by which future rising QBs will be judged. Hopefully he will be able to overcome the one hurdle that Marino couldn't. Provided he keeps playing the way he is, I think he can do it, because he has something Marino never had...that being a balanced offense.
I do hope though, that the remainder of Marino's major records hold up at least through Dan's lifetime. ;-)

Another year already

Today is the 11th anniversary of Frank Zappa's death. It seems like yesterday we were observing the 10th year of this occasion. Amazing how time is just zipping by.
Gotta play some FZ today.

RIP Frank

Glad to be home

The trip was nice, but it's always nice to be home.
Did the usual Saturday thing by visiting friends, where I was treated to a really nice belated Thanksgiving dinner...complete with turkey and all the fixin's. Nothing beats being with those you love.

Euro-trip Days 4, 5, & 6

Rather than post a day-by-day account of London, I'm going to sum it up in one post, because frankly, London is not worth my time.
I was actually looking forward to London more than Paris, if for no other reason than being better equipped to communicate. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

First, the highlights:
The bus tour of the city was really cool. You get to see pretty much everything there is to see in London from the upper level of a roofless bus. You could also get on and off at will for 24 hours on the same fare.
The Tower of London was interesting, and the Beefeaters are very animated and amusing tour guides.
Piccadilly Circus is really cool. We walked the mile or two there several times from our hotel. It seems to be the Times Square of London, complete with large on-a-building TV screen. I also learned from a tour book that the statue of Eros, which stands in the center of Piccadilly, has faced in three directions in it's history, but never in the direction in which it was intended...towards Shaftesbury Ave (which happened to be the way back to the hotel).
Went to Harrod's...pretty much just to be able to say I was there. Like the Louvre, it is a very overwhelming place. An 8-story department store that was as busy as a New Jersey mall on December 23rd. For someone like me who absolutely abhors shopping, I couldn't get out of there too soon.
The British Museum was very cool. I liked it better than either museum in Paris. It has more of the ancient artifacts that I fancy, such as Egyptian statues and the like, the famous Rosetta stone, and Greek sculptured pieces of the Parthenon. Those were the most impressive to me. The detail in those pieces are amazing, and how well they have stood the test of time is equally impressive.
The one place I regretted not making it to was the Science Museum. That seems like it would have been an interesting place, with items such as Thomas Edison's first phonograph. Not sure why that's not in the Edison museum, but whatever.
Saw a couple of plays in London, and I must say that despite it being the most "American" thing I did, I enjoyed them the most. First we saw "We Will Rock You", a play by Queen and Ben Elton. The premise of the play was a cross between Zappa's Joe's Garage, Rush's 2112, and the Matrix. The music of Queen was so well executed by the musicians in the rafters that until I actually saw that they were there, I thought they were using instrumental tracks of actual Queen recordings.
One amusing moment during the play was during the intermission (or interval in London) when my mom commented that her "fanny" (being slang for butt in the states) was sore, and the English couple sitting next to us (of which the man now lives in the states) kindly informed her that unlike in the states, in England "fanny" is slang for vagina. :-)
The other play was Mel Brooks' The Producers, starring Nathan Lane (in place of Richard Dreyfus) and Lee Evans. Both actors and the play as a whole were hysterical. Nathan Lane was a perfect Max Bialystock and Evans was equally good as Leo Bloom. I never heard of Evans, but he looked vaguely familiar, and I was told he is a popular stand-up comic over there.

And the not-so-highlights:
The ethnic mix in London is just as diverse as NYC, and I honestly think there are proportionately less English speaking people in London than in NYC. On top of that, what I had initially expected in Paris...that being rude, pushy, arrogant, obnoxious people...I instead found in London. This is only my opinion, but I honestly felt that the people of London made New York City look like the hospitality capital of the world. Granted, there were some very nice folks...mostly the cab drivers and other "old country" type natives, but overall I felt very unwelcome and even "in the way". I must point out here that at no time did I have an "I'm an American tourist...accommodate me" attitude.

The traffic was another nightmare...both vehicle and pedestrian. The people on the streets are totally unyielding. My mother needs a walker to walk, and people were just pushing around her, cutting her off, making it near impossible for her to cross the street. I could not believe the glaring lack of compassion for fellow human beings.
On another occasion, we were waiting to cross a side street during rush hour. A cab came up to the intersection from the side street, and while he was already over the crosswalk, no part of his car was yet in the main street he was turning on to. During this time, the light for us pedestrians changed to green. A guy in front of me started to cross in front of the cab, with me right behind him. While the other guy was already in front of the cab, the cab started to move into the main street. The guy literally had to jump back out of the way. I slammed my hand on the cab (that's how close I already was) only to have an obscenity shouted at me by the cab driver as he continued to drive across our path. The sad part is that he was a typical example of the way people navigate the city, whether on foot or by car.
Just like I would not want outsiders to judge my country by their perception of NYC, I am giving the natives of England the benefit of the doubt and am assuming that they prefer not to have the city of London be their representative. There was little that I liked about London, and I would encourage any friends and family that want to visit Europe to put London at the bottom of the list of places to visit. I think I can say for a certainty that I myself will never go there again.

Joe Jackson said it best in the song "Jet Set":

"This really is a pretty place, but I wouldn't want to live here."

Oh, almost forgot...one day while I was standing on the street having a cigarette and minding my own business, a young woman (maybe in her mid-20's) walked by, looked at me, and said, "We don't like Yankees...nobody does."
Well, fuck you very much.
No matter what their political views, or their opinion of the war, don't they realize that if those planes had exploded into Parliament or something, that the USA would be backing England 110% in whatever actions were taken?
I didn't want to get too off topic and go on a political rant, but I just want to say this...it disgusts me how this war has divided people, specifically Americans. Nobody is perfect, and even the President is only a mortal human being. A decision was made based on what the administration felt was the best course of action to ensure national security. Whether a US citizen agrees or disagrees is irrelevant. He is our President, voted in by the people, and we have a civil obligation to support him and our country. The word "United" in USA is supposed to mean something, and I find it very disturbing that patriotism seems to be taboo these days. It bothers me that I am a proud American and an ashamed one at the same time.
I don't consider myself a Republican or a Democrat. I hold the antiquated notion that believes the best man should be voted in, not just whoever is running on a particular ticket. I feel that anyone who remains loyal to one party, regardless of who is running, is very narrow-minded. And just like with religion, the more a person defends their one way of thinking, the more narrow-minded they are.
A perfect example during this past election was the Democrats. Prior to running for President, John Kerry was documented as being fully supportive of Bush's attack on Iraq, including being one individual to insist that Saddam was hiding WMDs. Yet when he started campaigning, he and his supporters conveniently left that detail out. What a bunch of hypocrites.
That's why I don't buy into bipartisanship, and I don't buy into organized religion. Some may say I'm a person without direction or convictions. Whatever...I'm happy and virtually stress free. Who's better off? I am my own person with my own identity...not someone else's.
People who are devout followers of a party or religion are, IMO, no different than a cult. They remind me of those faceless school kids in Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'.
Anyway, thanks to my reliving my London experience, this is becoming too negative, so I'll sign off until I'm in a better frame of mind.

Peace

Thanksgiving Day away from home

I didn't think I would, but I'm experiencing a bit of melancholy on this Thanksgiving Day in London. I miss having turkey dinner with my friends and miss watching football on a full stomach. :-(

Euro-trip Day 3

Left Paris today for the London leg of the trip via the Eurostar train. What a delightful experience that was. If only airplanes were as roomy, luxurious, and comfortable as the Eurostar. It's an expensive hop across the English channel (we got a deal...$90/person one way), but it's an extremely pleasant ride, the seats are large (even for me), and they recline, plus you get a nice lunch with wine. I was wishing I could have gone home on that thing.

Pretty uneventful first day in London. After getting settled in, pretty much just had dinner and called it a night.

Euro-trip Day 2

Day 2 of my European excursion...still in Paris. Today was the visit to the Louvre museum. To say this place is overwhelming would be an understatement. It is said that if you were to walk the entire museum and look at each and every exhibit, it would take about 3 months and you would have walked over 12 miles. In my opinion, that might be a conservative estimate. Again, not being much of an art buff, this place did not impress me. Sure, it had it's share of some cool stuff (I'm more interested in ancient artifacts than paintings and such), and of course it's the home of the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, but I just don't see the fascination with one piece of art over all others. There were numerous paintings of people with "mysterious" smiles...what makes old Mona so special? And the Venus looked very much like many of the Greek statues in that and other museums. Again, what sets her apart? Because the sculptor is unknown? So what? Maybe it's because she's one of the few that still possesses a head...who knows?

Later, it was a ferry cruise on the Seine. This was very enjoyable. You get to see all the major Paris landmarks...the Louvre, the Orsay, Notre Dame, and of course the Eiffel tower, plus the beautiful bridges that span the river.

Immediately following the river cruise came the "Illuminations" tour, which is basically a ride around the city in a minivan at night, complete with city history narrated by the driver. Not an overly impressive event, but a nice little overview of the city.

Paris is the only city I've been to that is beautiful both day and night.

On an unrelated note, I found it interesting that the city is about 99% populated by French and German cars only. I think I saw one Honda Accord, and a Chevy Suburban (which stuck out like a sore thumb). Otherwise, it's nothing but Renault, Peugeot, VW, and a smattering of Mercedes and BMW.
When I asked the airport shuttle driver about the lack of Japanese cars, he said it's because they are expensive to repair and maintain (as is the case in the states), and they are the worst at holding their value (complete opposite in the states). Apparently, Volkswagen holds the best resale value in France...go figure.

I almost forgot to mention...the coffee in Paris is the best I've ever had, bar none.

Euro-trip

Today was the first day of my trip to Europe (Paris first, then London).
Left Saturday night in the states to arrive Sunday AM in Paris. The flight was delayed for a while because the plane had a faulty starter shaft. Of course they didn't have a replacement so they had to take one from another plane. I'd hate to be a passenger on that plane.
The hotel I'm staying at in Paris is very quaint and very small, but in a very nice section of the city. Actually, from what I've heard about European hotels, this one does not surprise me. I actually quite like it...it's more "personal".

Went to Musee d'Orsay which was quite interesting, despite my lack of any serious interest in art. I do prefer impressionist if I'm going to look at anything, and this museum had quite a bit of it. My faves were Renoir and Degas. Not that I look for stuff by them, but anytime I thought a painting was kinda cool, it was usually one of them when I'd look down to see who painted it.

Paris is a beautiful city, and despite popular American opinion, the people are extremely friendly, helpful, and accommodating.

Quote of the Day

"It's been a little tough to prepare for the debates, because he keeps changing his positions, especially on the war. I think he could spend 90 minutes debating himself." —President Bush, on Sen. John Kerry