Flags and Birds

How long are the flags going to be at half mast? It’s getting a little ridiculous I think. I saw one at full staff the other day. Were they breaking the mold or has everyone else forgotten to put them up? The hospital near me still has Christmas ribbons midway up their flagpoles and with the flags at half mast, they have gotten caught up in the ribbons.

Here’s my gripe. I understand that a former president has died, but we’re in the middle of a WAR! I want my flag up there – proud and strong! I understand that a former president has the choice to be buried in a stately manner, but would even Ford want our national symbol wrapped around Christmas ribbons a monther after he died? It’s starting to piss me off.

On a completely unrelated and much happier note, I’d like to encourage everyone to get a bird feeder. There were NINE cardinals sitting on my deck, on the bird feeder, or in the tree right next to it this morning. Five males and four females. Now that’s a beautiful note to start a day on. (Despite the wimpy flag flying in the same line of sight.)

Whoa – So Cool

Look at this uber-rare frilled shark that marine biologists caught off the coast of Japan. This prehistoric shark lives deeper in the ocean than humans can explore. They believe this might be the first live footage of the creature, which they guess was in such shallow water because it was sick. It has since died. I wanted to attach the video but apparenltly I’m incapable. Check it out though. It’s SO groovy.

This and That

My cat says mom. I swear. He sits at the bottom of the stairs, which are blocked by a baby (cat) gate, and meows. When I come home at the end of a long day, it’s more pronounced – much more pathetic and insistant. Not always, but sometimes, the meow sounds exactly like he is saying mom. It has a clearly-defined m at the end of it. If my roommate happens to read this and feels like backing me up, he can.

I saw Dreamgirls on Saturday night with my nieces. Nine dollars for a movie in the Quad Cities! This was especially annoying because it wasn’t the movie I most wanted to see. However, there’s no pricetag on spending time with my nieces. And the movie had grabbed a couple of Golden Globes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan. It was a good movie, but something about it didn’t get me. Also, I didn’t know it was made from a musical until after I saw it, which I think might have made a difference. As it was, I was disturbed when characters broke out into “non-performance” song at each other. I do think both celebrated actors did a very good job. Whether or not they deserve top nods… I’m not so sure. Great singing regardless.

I check out a lot of music from the library, and I thought I should mention a few of the CDs that I’ve gotten and quite enjoyed recently. Two of the top are world new age, if that’s a genre. (Anymore, I think one can make up about any genre.) They are Deep Roots & Future Grooves – Various Artists and Lost at Last – Lost at Last. Ha! How funny. I just googled Lost At Last and they call themselves Maui’s Global-Techno-Tribal-Trance-Dance-Chants Band. Holy shit. That’s ridiculous. Anyway, I like both CDs, especially the former. A celtic CD of various female singers also caught my fancy. It is A Celtic Tapestry, Vol. 2. Another surprising find was Spirit Songs – The Best of Bill Miller. I thought I was getting a Native American flute/chant type music similar to others that I have. Not so. It has that, but so much more. Bill Miller also is an amazing and powerful songwriter. I have to admit here that I have not even listened to the whole CD. But the songs I have heard have been poignant enough that I had to include it.

I finished the fourth book of Sharon Kay Penman‘s mystery series, Prince of Darkness. I still say that the mysteries are not as utterly amazing as her more historical novels; however, this was my favorite of the series so far. I’m just more invested in the characters now and have accustomed myself to the difference in her writing in these books.

Tiniest Katrina Survivor

When Katrina hit, Noah Benton Markham was one of 1,400 embryos frozen in canisters of liquid nitrogen at a hospital in eastern New Orleans. This morning, his birth was greeted by cheering family members.

 A beautiful story.

My thoughts, however, were focused on why the survival of this embryo makes front-page news while the decimation of millions for the purposes of lifestyle comfort and medical research are not only unheeded, but often lauded as well.

Happyness Made Me Sad

The Pursuit of Happyness was a good movie.

But despite the predictably happy ending, I was terribly sad afterward. The man was so beat down – one thing after another the whole movie long – that I felt a little beat up too. Especially because what won him his happiness in the end was utter focus and motivation. I don’t have those things right now, at least not that solidly. So, I didn’t walk away feeling hopeful, which I think they intended.

Note: The last shot of Will Smith and his son shows them walking high up on one of San Francisco’s hills while the son shares knock-knock jokes. They walk past a middle-aged, black man in a very nice suit and nod hello. For those like myself who did not know this, the man is the real Chris Gardner, on whom the movie is based. I thought it was an odd addition, but now I know, and so do you.

Pelosi Kicks Butts

Can you believe members of congress can chain smoke in their offices? I mean geesh, this isn’t like the chain-smoking owner of the a plastics company I temped at last summer. At least Pelosi put her foot down on smoking in the Speaker’s Lobby in the Capitol Building. I can think of a few other things Congress should do to lead by example.