Wednesday, November 26, 2003

We all know that men and women interpret things differently at times, right? Then how about the following list of words?

Dual Meanings
1. THINGY (thing-ee) n.
Female......Any part under a car’s hood.
Male..........The strap fastener on a woman’s bra.

2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj.
Female......Fully opening up one’s self emotionally to another.
Male..........Playing football without a cup.

3. COMMUNICATION (ko-myoo-ni-kay-shon) n.
Female.......The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one’s partner.
Male...........Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the boys.

4. COMMITMENT (ko-mit-ment) n.
Female.......A desire to get married and raise a family.
Male...........Trying not to hit on other women while out with this one.

5. ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.
Female......A good movie, concert, play or book.
Male..........Anything that can be done while drinking beer.

6. FLATULENCE (flach-u-lens) n.
Female.......An Embarrassing byproduct of indigestion.
Male...........A source of entertainment, self-expression, male bonding.

7. MAKING LOVE (may-king luv) n.
Female......The greatest expression of intimacy a couple can achieve.
Male..........Call it whatever you want, just as long as we do it.

8. REMOTE CONTROL (ri-moht kon-trohl) n.
Female.......A device for changing from one TV channel to another.
Male...........A device for scanning through all 375 channels every 5 minutes.

At one point, I leaned over to the woman next to me and said, “These are high school kids, right?” We both chuckled a bit in amazement at the display of talent we were seeing/hearing.

Dad, you would have loved it immensely since they played a lot of jazz.

Here’s the rundown:

1. Concert Etiquette - in the program they had a long explanation of proper concert etiquette. Of course, no one paid much attention to some of the items (cheering and screaming, being the one most ignored), but the thought was good.

2. Percussion Ensemble - I had no idea what this was going to be. They were slated to do two numbers. First was “Flight of the Bumble Bee” the other was “Toccata” from Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.” I’ve always heard “Flight...” as a strings piece and “Toccata” on the organ, so I was intrigued when the curtain opened to show a semicircle of xylophones and other pipes. And I can’t explain how brilliant they were on both pieces. I got chills during the “Toccata” piece several times.

3. Workshop Jazz - The next section was performed by a jazz band. Jazz is not my thing at all. I can appreciate that it’s good music, but I don’t like it to listen to, really. So I was pleasantly surprised at how well this band played the three numbers: “Freedie Freeloader,” “Little Sunflower,” and “Now’s the Time” with featured soloists throughout. Very talented kids.

4. Concert Band: This was the larger brass orchestra (no strings). They played two pieces: “Tales of the Emerald Isle” and “The Wind and the Lion.” The first was an odd piece that had an African poly-rhythmic sound that I really liked. The second piece needed a little more practice, they were pretty good, but there were some rough spots.

5. Name of the School Withheld Jazz - This was the best part of the show, hands down. This jazz band played four numbers. It was after the first song that I leaned over to make my comment about high school kids. This is the band my small group gal is in. They played “Blue Bossa,” “Jack the Bear,” Sugar Rum Cherry,” and “Manteca.” Unbelievable how good they are - they could have played for Duke Ellington.

6. Symphonic Winds - This was the final segment of the concert. A smaller cut of the Concert Band, a cello and piano were added, my small group gal is in this one too along with her younger sister an another gal in our youth group at church. They did three numbers: “Suo Gan” (this was used in Empire of the Sun), “Fugue” from Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor by Bach, and “Rendevous With The Other Side.” The first number was haunting, lovely, well done. I recognized it from the movie. The second was also well done. The third piece was kind of weird and I’m not sure I liked it and was kind of a bummer of an ending to the concert for me.

Overall, the concert was great. I’m so glad I went, not just to support my friend, but because it was fun entertainment.

I’m looking forward to the chorus concert of another small group gal at another high school in a couple of weeks. Being a chorus geek myself in HS, that will bring back some memories for me, I’m sure.

I love Christmas music of all kinds, from the classical Messiah by Handel to Santa Got Run Over By a Reindeer. But my most favorite is the music done by contemporary Christian artists - because this season is the commemoration of the beginning of our faith - the birth of Jesus Christ. So every once in a while in the next month, I plan to feature a song that is primarily a CCM Christmas tune and may not be known to those who don’t listen to that kind of music.

Today’s song is Bethlehem Town performed by Jars of Clay on City on a Hill - It’s Christmas Time. Really read the words, it’s an amazing song and the jazzy-bluesy music is fantastic.

BETHLEHEM TOWN

oh, mary, joseph, rest your eyes
try not to think of the ending
world full of empty, He will die
but tonight He is still just a child

the silent night drifts all away
and the angels are dancing around you
there’s the joy of knowing He’ll save the world
overshadowing the pain that He’ll go through

CHORUS:
have you cursed at the wind
have you cried to the heavens
have you fought with this mercy you don’t understand
when the wise men kneel down
to kiss the hand of this king they found
in bethlehem town

will you hold back the years a while
will you dream that this man could always be a child
and never carry all the weight
of the dirt and the distance and the company we keep

[CHORUS]

and did the stars shine much brighter that night
you gave birth to the death that would bring us to life
and did the mystery keep you awake
was the sound of His little heart too much to take

oh, i don’t understand
when the wise men kneel down
to kiss the hand of this king they found

[CHORUS]

in bethlehem town
in bethlehem town

by Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Steve Mason and Matt Odmark

© 2002 Bridge Building Music, Inc. / Pogostick Music / BMI / All rights adm. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc / All rights reserved.

Thanks to Tony, I now have a “Most Commented Posts” listing on the right. There’s a current conversation still taking place at this post that’s getting ready to scroll off the main page and I wanted an easy way for the participants to get there.

Thanks, Tony! You’re the greatest…

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

I haven’t been posting in the evenings much lately. I’ve been trying to read instead of blogging.

Tonight, I’ll be at a local high school band concert. One of my small group gals plays a mean saxophone in a couple of the bands. So I’ll be hanging at the school with her parents and her younger sister’s small group leader, because the younger sister is in the band(s) as well. Really, they’re a scary talented family.

I’m sure I’ll have something to post about it tomorrow.

And have no fear, my VCR is set for 24.

I know, it’s still two days away. However, I received an email with this festive picture, and I couldn’t resist posting it today.

Five Guys

I had the Little Bacon Cheeseburger and cajun fries.

Yummy.

I’ve brought out the Christmas music. I know it’s a couple of days ‘til Thanksgiving, but it is Nov 25, which means Christmas is exactly one month away! So this morning, I pulled my Christmas CDs out. Right now, playing in the CD player in my computer is Linus & Lucy: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi.

In my car, I’m listening to City on a Hill - It’s Christmas Time.

Yesterday, someone mentioned that the state sales tax is going to go up a penny. I wasn’t too surprised, it was only a matter of time before our Democratic Governor would implement some kind of tax increase. It turns out he has a tax reform plan that includes the sales tax increase, a decrease in the food tax, an increase in the cigarette tax, the estate tax on farms and small businesses would be repealed, and the repeal of the car tax would be completed.

Under the plan, most Virginians would pay more sales tax but less income tax. They would pay higher taxes if they smoke but lower taxes on groceries. Big corporations would pay more, but farmers would no longer be hit with an estate tax. Everyone would pay less tax on the cars they drive.

Republican lawmakers, who control both chambers of Virginia’s legislature, did not declare the plan dead on arrival. But several challenged Warner’s repeated claim that 65 percent of Virginians will pay lower taxes if the plan is adopted after the General Assembly session begins in January.

“All I know is, when you are a poor person who goes to try to buy clothes, it isn’t going to be a tax cut then,” said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), referring to the proposed one-cent sales tax increase.

[...]

Warner’s plan would generate $1 billion in new money for the state.

The centerpiece is a one-cent increase in the sales tax, which would raise about $750 million a year. He also proposes to raise the cigarette tax from 2.5 cents to 25 cents per pack and to add a new top tax rate of 6.25 percent, up from 5.75 percent, on people with taxable income of more than $100,000 a year.

At the same time, he proposes to finish the phaseout of the car tax in four years and reduce the sales tax on groceries, from 4 cents to 2.5 cents. He proposed income tax breaks that would benefit all Virginians but especially low-income workers.

Monday, November 24, 2003

I haven’t done one of these in a long time…

PromoGuy’s Monday Mission 3.47

1. It is a lovely 21 degrees here in Oklahoma, and since walking in from the parking lot, I can’t seem to warm up. I’ve got the coffee to my right and the space heater to the left and the non-functional central heat blowing above me. What do you do to get warm when you are very cold?

It doesn’t happen that often, really. Bundle up in blankets, drink hot chocolate/coffee. After a few winters in New Hampshire, I’ve adapted to severe cold pretty well.

2. What is the first thing you do in the morning after you get up?

Well, that’s a little personal. I use the “facilities” and then brush my teeth.

3. I mentioned earlier in the week that Sub Hunt was one of the first arcade games I ever remember playing. Many years later I would become equally entranced by the Atatri 2600 (ugh, I am showing my age now, aren’t I?). Do you remember the very first video game you ever played (arcade, handheld, console, etc.)? What do you remember about that experience?

It was probably Pong. I was young and we were very excited to have the new Atari game system.

4. Do you have a good memory or do you find that you need to write things down to remember them?

I have an excellent memory, for the most part. Although I do write things down just in case.

5. I am currently really getting a kick out of the Citibank Citicard commercials about Identity theft, to the point of quoting them out loud (which no one gets, I really need new some geeky-er friends). What are some of your all-time favorite television commercials?

The Lipitor ad with the attractive older gentleman at the pool who ends up belly-flopping. Cracks me up everytime I see it.

6. Since Thanksgiving is this week, I felt like I just had to throw in the obligatory food question, so here goes. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving food that is made by one person, and no one makes it better? If not, then what is your favorite food to eat at Thanksgiving? (Those who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving feel free to insert your favorite fall food)

My own mashed potatoes. I’m the undisputed champion maker of the mashed potatoes in my family. (At least I think it’s undisputed...)

7. Wireless telephone companies will now let you move your cell number to another carrier, or move your land line number to your cell. Not only is this incredibly convenient, it forces cell phone companies to be more competitive. Are you planning to switch cell phone companies as a result of this new law, or possibly pit two companies against each other for a better deal?

I’m locked into a contract and really I’m pretty happy with my carrier. However, when my contract ends I’ll be happy to have options and to keep my number.

BONUS: Where?  That’s too far down the road for me to decide now. Who knows who’ll still be around in 2 years.

Today’s Comment Question: What should be free, but isn’t?  The air that I breathe. Wait...that is free. How about the water, then?

Unexciting.

I, with two other ladies in my office, ventured out to Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet. Upon our arrival at the local PH, we discovered that they no longer do the buffet.

Very disappointing.

The service was disappointing as well. However, the pizza and breadsticks were very good and incredibly cheap - less than $5 per person. That’s hard to beat these days.

Jury Recommends Death Penalty for John Muhammed

As one who endured the horror and fear of those weeks last fall, I am happy to hear that this jury has the fortitude to make that decision.

Let’s hope the Malvo jury is as decisive.

To those who served on the Muhammed jury, many thanks from a grateful Northern Virginian.

There is a website that has cross-section photos of popular candybars. Name that Candybar - it’s tougher than I thought.

[via Chewie]

I as at IMdB.com trolling for links to a couple movies and noticed the ad banner at the top of one page was promoting two new episodes of Horatio Hornblower on December 2 and 3. Woo Hoo!

LATER: In other hoity-toity television, The Forsyte Saga restarts on December 21 on PBS’s Masterpiece Theater. This is the first part that aired in 2002. Then in February 2004, The Forsyte Saga, II starts (there is no link as yet).

I’m doing really well with Fellowship of the Ring now. I’m just about finished with the Council of Elrond (Book 2, Chapter 2).

Did we have a time limit on this challenge? I can’t remember…