Nightmare Before Christmas

I'm pretty proud of this creation. In adding to my Nightmare Before Christmas theme for halloween and Christmas I built Ooogie Boogie this weekend.

He's constructed of a PVC skeleton, and real cotton Burlap. I custom shaped a face structure out of florist foam sealed it and put it behind the Burlap. Finally he's filled with 14 cubic feet of packing peanuts and sprayed with a florescent spray paint.

In case you forgot what the others looked like:

See a Knock Down

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1439819533/bctid2764360001

 

sailing, knock down, volvo ocean race, open 60 sixty

Sounds Familiar

I give the guy on craigslist credit but he didn't leave a name and the link won't be good in a couple of days but this is sooo true:

 

The Envelope

"Dear Captain" the invoice from the marina was
addressed. "Our records show ... ".

"Shit" you screamed. "fxxking sailboat, I hate the thing",

As you toss the bill into the basket, you look around,
your studio apartment is a mess, in the corner, hanging from
a nail on the wall, the photo taken the day you purchased
the "fxxking sailboat" has become faded.

How did this happen, you ask yourself.
You close your eyes, calm down, and think back
to that day, not so long ago, the day you bought her,
the "sailboat". You danced a jig, as you
laughed with all the guys at the Tap. "I'm setting
sail for the Bahama's you bloody land ludders" you
told them.

The following day, how could you forget that day,
as you drove to the marina, you remember
telling your wife "Honey, we can sail her to the islands,
or around the world." "The previous owner told me that a German
sailor took his all the way to Fiji".

"Climb aboard, let's take her for a sail"
you said as your wife threw her carry bag
onto the foredeck.

A few minutes later, as your wife laid out
her beach towel she told you "I feel weird,
maybe a little sick".

"Don't worry, dear, that happens the first time out"
you happily responded as you dropped the mooring lines,
pulled the fenders, and unfurled the sails.

Your new sailboat jumped forward, her rail down, she was
heeled over so far that water was spashing into the
cockpit.

"What the hell is going on" your wife screamed. "The boat is
on its side, we are going to die".

"That is what sailboats do" you calmly told her.

Then; she puked, and started crying.

"Take me back to shore, if you don't take me back right
now I am calling the police" she moaned as she grabbed for
her cell phone.

As you released the halyards, the sails dropped,
the sailboat stopped dead in the water, but the engine
would not start.

"Help me, my husband is trying to kill me" she howled into
the cell phone. "I am on his new sailboat, we are adrift,
the engine won't start, please save me" ..

After $400 dollars was paid to the Seatow
operator, and your sailboat was secured to the dock,
she stormed off. The last you saw of her, that is
until that day in court, the day of your divorce,
was the back of her head as she sped away in the car.

And now every month the marina bill arrives,
a painful reminder that the "sailboat" is still
docked at the "Really Expensive Marina" on
Yachting road.

The For Sale sign hasn't worked, and you are tired of
receiving email from Nigeria, so why not cut the mooring
lines, let her go. So what if you spent thousands on
the new engine, the new standing rigging, all that cruising
gear. If you continue to own her, she will bankrupt you.

If this story is "your" story, I may be able to help.
I am looking for a 26-32 foot sailboat. If
The Envelope with the Dear Captain greetings has
finally convinced you that it is time to cut the
mooring lines, and let her go, just get rid of the
sailboat, stop the bleeding, why not offer up the
boat for FREE.

I'm just a guy looking to go cruising,
willing to take the boat off your
hands. Soon, you will be telling your story
at the Tap, how the boat cost you so much money,
how your wife divorced you, and all the guys will
be doubled over. "Let this be a lesson to you guys"
you will say as another free beer is slid down the bar
in your direction.

 

Hope he is successfull that  poem deserves something.

Electoral College what it means to the little guy

We've all seen the maps, Blue or Red and sometimes we may feel like we are in the wrong state by the color on a map. Recently a good friend of mine sent me this website http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/ the writer displays the popular votes in Cartograms reflecting how the states are more favorably weighted based on Demographics. He makes a lot of great points about the weighting of states and does his best to show the bias of the polls reflected in his Cartograms.

Obviously the electoral is supposed to provide an equal playing field to the country. It might be simpler to go with the popular vote, of course that was the argument back when Gore lost out to the electoral in 2000, but the electorates are set up by politicians to help ensure incumbenancy IMO (In My Opinion). Here is the county map from this website that shows the voting from Mark Newman's Blog.



Now here is a map of what the population demographic looks like at night.



So I overlayed them so you can get a view of what the world really looks like.



California Has 55 Electoral Votes and a population of 36,457,549.

Idaho for example has 5 Electoral Votes (10% of CA) and a population of 1,293,953. (Only 3.5% of CA's population). This rather gives Idaho a greater impact in the Electoral that California based purely on the % of population in the state.

Now that's a different look on the same information, be carefull what you read, investigate before making decisions.

FW: prop 8 petition

I promise that this is the last political email you will get from me till next election :).  But if you feel as I do that discrimination does not belong in our laws please take a moment to sign the attached petition.  Regardless of your personal beliefs about marriage we live in a country that allows a basis for all beliefs. 

 

 Subject: prop 8 petition

 

Sign this petition so we can re-open prop 8... and take back our rights...

http://www. petitiononline. com/seg5130/petition. html


do it if you are 18+ and repost this

 

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Something to think about it

Here's an excerpt from self-portrait in the present sea.

 

When CHIDIOCK TICHBORNE struck something and pitch-poled in the South Pacific in 1980, resulting in my being adrift for two weeks and three hundred miles in a 9’ inflatable dinghy before reaching land, I wrote that life can change in the passing of a single wave, which later became the title of one of my books.

I have recently been reminded that this is the way life usually changes:  quickly and with little warning.

It took me a long time to recover fully after sinking RESURGAM, more than a year, perhaps two; and for a while I took pleasure in simply being alive; but gradually and naturally I began to take life for granted.  Recently I’ve realized anew how difficult it is to do something unusual in life, such as sailing alone around the world, and to cherish happiness, which is fragile and can be lost in an instant.

A fascinating blog about sailing, life and the beauty that comes withit.   Here's the feed if you like it http://inthepresentsea.com/blog/feed/

Tim

 

FW: It's Over The conversation

From: Tim E

It's Over
Now maybe it's time to reach down and show support for our new president just as you asked to show support for Bush. Whether or not you believe anyone listened to you it's your responsibility to heed your own words.

We had an interesting divide in California. On the one hand we overwhelmingly helped elected our first black president showing that one prejudice has been deeply subsided, while on the other hand it looks like we will write another form of discrimination into our states constitution. When we learn to stop hating people for the way they are born and love them for the way they were created we will have truly advanced as a civilization, the race for that is tightening but this fight is not over and will rear it's head again.

AOL Search: Your one stop for directions, recipes and all other Holiday needs. Search Now.

From: EJS
Tim, you show your own prejudice in your call to show support.

Obama wins in "landslide" winning 52% of the national vote, yet the VERY SAME 52% of the vote in California to overturn a 4-3 vote by liberal judges in May that instituted "rights" never before held in the history of the state is discrimination?

Typical liberal dogma...

From: Tim E

I don't see how a call for support shows prejudice, and I don't see how popularity is ever an excuse for it.

The Yes on 8 folks won, as they won when it was 22. The difference is the margin, the race is tightening at least that's positive.

Furthermore there was a time when you could be hung in this country for being a Quaker, Exhiled for being an Evangelical, and in some place required to pray as a Puritan. How easily it is to loose control of the popular religion. However you translate the Bill of Rights, no one would want their personal beliefs trampled on that, I believe, is the fundamental purpose behind those rights.

From: Alan M
Tim

While the No on Prop 8 people would have you believe the change was over rights, they were dead wrong and they had purposely tried to obfuscate the purpose of the amendment. Gays in California enjoy every right that every other individual in the state enjoys. They can receive in heritance from a partner, share property, share medical benefits, etc. What right did they loose? Marriage is a union established by the church between and man, a woman and god. While government has gotten in and used marriage as a litmus test for a desire to share property, true marriage is defined by the church.

Prop 8 is a move to preserve that union. Any other union is something else and should not be called marriage. Whether Life Partner, significant other, or otherwise, these relationships are not marriage! To have a judge declare they are, is both wrong and not a separation of church and state.

Gays are not being persecuted as the “No on 8” people would have you believe, the Yes on 8 people are trying to preserve the holy relationship of marriage. There are also other implications of this amendments and I believe they relate to what society considers normal moral behavior. While I do not hate gay people, I do not believe that what they do is normal behavior and do not want to see our laws mandate that it is normal. By defining this as normal behavior in our laws it can limit the rights of those who do believe in marriage between a man and woman. So I guess to a large part my vote was to preserve my rights.

From: Tim E

Those are excellent points and I agree with you on all your religious points. That is exactly my point, Yes on 8 was asking the State to interfere with Religion naming one belief as the only belief.

What about the Unitarians, Platonists and other religions that don't believe the same?

Should they be told that their beliefs are wrong by the Constitution, State, or otherwise?

Shouldn't the burden of Holy Matromony be placed on the couple being married and their own faith by their own God?

The issue is a "rights" issue because I believe that all people should have every right this country holds, and one of those fundamental rights is religion. People think because I am an Aetheist I don't have religion, but the same rights that you have, protects my rights to believe as I do. We all have our reasons for believing them even if they only differ by a couple of opinions of a couple of verses in the same book.

I was a Christian for most of my life, I have asked Jesus into my life twice, and it may surprise you that I have read the bible all the way through several times. I don't think even as a Christian I would be on a different side on this point than I am now. Not once did I see Jesus persecute the people who did not agree with him, not once did he wish validation from the state for his own beliefs.

Tim

Al, I love your replies they are concise meaningfull and argue strong points and we know we won't be changing each other's minds it's OK.

From Alan M.

Tim

I am not sure what you agree with me on.

God instituted the first marriage in the Garden of Eden when he gave Eve to Adam as a wife (Genesis 2:18-25). Later marriages were to follow the pattern of the first is indicated by the concluding divine instruction in Matthew 19:4-6. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). A unique unity between Adam and Eve was seen in that the two became “one flesh”. The oneness of marriage separated the couple from others as a distinct family unit.

Because God instituted it, marriage is more than just a ceremony. Biblical passages showing that the marriage relationship is based on a covenant or oath sworn before God are Proverbs 2:17, Ezekiel 16:8, 59-62, Hosea2:16-20, Malachi 2:14, Matthew 19:6. Any violation of that covenant invites God’s judgment.

Marriage is God’s unique gift to provide intimate companionship, a means for procreation, and the channel for sexual expression according to biblical standards.

Homosexuality, on the other hand is a sin that results in judgment. The first mention of homosexuality in the Bible depicts God’s judgment upon it as sin. It was the outstanding transgression of Sodom and Gomorrah. The severity of the judgment, which came because of homosexuality, indicates the seriousness of this sin (Genesis 19:1-11). Both cities were destroyed by fire and brimstone (19:24). Depending upon the translation of the Bible you read in 2 Peter 2:6 NT states that these two cities were turned to ashes as a matter of God’s holy wrath, specifically because their inhabitants had given themselves to sexual immorality and practiced perversions. Genesis 19:5 outlines when the male angels came to rescue Lot and his family, the men of Sodom wanted to have Lot send out the Angels so they could have sex with them, Lot offered his daughters, but the angles took care of the situation themselves.

Bottom line is that homosexuality is an act, a sin; it does not qualify for minority status any more that adulterers, rapist, murders, or any other group of people who commit immoral acts.

While I worship a loving God, unrepentant acts of sin are repudiated by God and will find God’s judgment. It is not for me to judge them, only to pray for them. That said, I can not condone their behavior or have them define it as normal or acceptable in the eyes of the law.

Sorry for all the references, but I feel strongly on this topic as you can easily tell.

Al

From: Tim E

You're making my point.

I agree that the Bible does not allow for gay marriage, it doesn't, it's pretty clear....

The constitution however, especially the states did not define it that way.

That is the point, as much as you want to believe that this country was meant to be a Christian nation our forefather's made freedom from any religion very clear so that religions and beliefs may flourish. It was developed by men of many faiths, many who didn't agree with each other, this fundamental discussion gave freedom to all. In my humble opinion.

It's Over

 

Now maybe it's time to reach down and show support for our new president just as you asked to show support for Bush.  Whether or not you believe anyone listened to you it's your responsibility to heed your own words.

 

We had an interesting divide in California.  On the one hand we overwhelmingly helped elected our first black president showing that one prejudice has been deeply subsided, while on the other hand it looks like we will write another form of discrimination into our states constitution.  When we learn to stop hating people for the way they are born and love them for the way they were created we will have truly advanced as a civilization, the race for that is tightening but this fight is not over and will rear it's head again.

 

Tim

 

 

The Handshake

Recently someone asked me "Whatever happened to the good ol' handshake?" when referring to a business agreement.  It began me thinking about why the handshake has lost it's meaning as a pact between two men, and when this diminishing value began to occur.

 

1st we must go back to the believed origin of the handshake, commonly it's thought that it began in Medieval England between Knights and Kings.  Each would display outwardly their open empty hands to show that they present no concealed weapons and mean no harm to one another, they would then grasp each other's hands in a showing of agreement.  What's left out of this common story, or so often not told, is that if one of the two later felt harmed then the result may be a duel, war, and death.  The handshake was backed up every time by the possibility of death, that's a strong agreement!

 

At least in America, duel's lost their approval in the 1800's.  Laws were enacted so that gentlemen wouldn't kill each other over a business agreement and instead people started to fight their battles in court.  Today the courtroom is the battleground where two men duel over a broken agreement, and of course since now there are third parties around the more proof that there even was an agreement becomes evidently important.

 

Makes sense, I don't think I've ever seen a lawyer shake hands in court.  No good lawyer would ever show up to court without a concealed weapon.

 

Tim