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Topics - Stray Pooch

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Cuz apparently they were on FIRE . . .  :D

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3DHS / Osama's death actually occurred years ago . . .
« on: May 01, 2011, 11:52:40 PM »
but Obama has been holding it for a time his ratings were low . . . :D

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3DHS / In the probbly-so-late-you're-absent-category . . .
« on: January 20, 2011, 08:36:09 PM »
Can anybody tell me why I can only go so far down in a post before the screen starts scrolling back everytime I type a letter?  It makes it very difficult to post wen I cannot see what I am typing.  I'll bet this was a new feature designed to make me post smaller items - lol!

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3DHS / Hooah.
« on: September 11, 2010, 01:48:23 AM »
First Medal of Honor for Living Afghan War Vet

DES MOINES, Iowa – A 25-year-old soldier from Iowa who exposed himself to enemy gunfire to try to save two fellow soldiers will become the first living service member from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Friday.

President Barack Obama phoned Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, on Thursday at the base in Italy where he's stationed to tell him he'd be receiving the nation's highest military honor, Giunta's father told The Associated Press. He will become the eighth service member to receive the Medal of Honor during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The seven previous medals were awarded posthumously.

"It's bittersweet for us," said Steven Giunta, of Hiawatha. "We're very proud of Sal. We can't mention that enough, but in this event, two other soldiers were killed and that weighs heavy on us. You get very happy and very proud and then you start dealing with the loss as well. You can't have one without the other."

Giunta was serving as a rifle team leader with Company B 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment when an insurgent ambush split his squad into two groups on Oct. 25, 2007, in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, the White House said in a news release.

Giunta went above and beyond the call of duty when he exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a fellow soldier back to cover. He engaged the enemy again when he saw two insurgents carrying away a wounded soldier, 22-year-old Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan, of McFarland, Wis. Giunta killed one insurgent and wounded the other before tending to Brennan, who died the next day.

"His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon's ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American soldier from enemy hands," the White House said.

Giunta, who enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, is now stationed in Italy with the Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He was in his second tour of duty in Afghanistan at the time of the ambush.

Giunta, who was previously awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, among other medals, called his parents after hearing from the president, his father said.

"He was very honored to talk to the president but he's very reserved about it," Steven Giunta said. "It's not something he's comfortable with, the event or the Medal of Honor."

Steven Giunta said his son is humbled because he believes he was just doing what he was supposed to be doing.

"He mentions every other soldier would have done the same thing. It kind of rocks his world that he's being awarded the Medal of Honor for something each and every one of them would have done. He's very aware of that."

"What a privilege and honor it is and what the men have done over the years to receive it, the feat, the above and beyond portion of it, it's amazing to me," Steven Giunta said.

Giunta will be awarded his medal at a White House ceremony at a date yet to be determined.

The President will present the Medal of Honor posthumously to Staff Sgt. Robert Miller in a White House ceremony on Oct. 6.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_medal_of_honor

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3DHS / China uses teleportation technology for military communications.
« on: September 09, 2010, 12:27:01 PM »
Ok, this is interesting, if a bit "cold war" scary.  China is using quantum mechanics to develop a super-secure encryption technology for military communications.  Pretty nifty stuff.

China's Quantum leap in teleportation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599201668700

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3DHS / Just not here, neither.
« on: August 22, 2010, 08:29:17 PM »
Temecula, California, has little in common with New York City. But the debate over a new mosque in the sleepy suburban town east of Camp Pendleton echoes many of the themes expressed in the controversy surrounding the Park 51 Islamic center to be built near the World Trade Center site.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2012134,00.html?xid=rss-nation-yahoo#ixzz0xNaeiSA4


Nor here, if you please . . .



When the congregation of Grace Baptist Church held services in its new building last month, no protesters marched outside to mark the occasion. It's doubtful that protesters will gather later this month when the church throws an all-day party to dedicate the new brick building on the corner of Bradyville Pike and Veals Road. The words "Not Welcome" will probably not be spray-painted on the new church's sign.

The same cannot be said for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, which owns the neatly mown 15-acre field next to Grace Baptist and whose plans to build a mosque for its growing community has been caught in the net of anti-Islam sentiment in the U.S. Both of the signs the Center erected at the site of its future home were vandalized; the first had "not welcome" sprayed across it; the second was simply smashed in two. Since May when the Center gained building approval from Rutherford County, local Tea Party activists have aggressively fought to stop the mosque, staging protests, claiming that it was too big (inflating it from a modest 6,800 square feet to a whopping 53,000 square feet) and making it a campaign issue in recent elections. Republican Ron Ramsey, Tennessee's lieutenant governor and a gubernatorial candidate, gained national attention — and ridicule on The Colbert Report — after opining "you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, a way of life or cult, whatever you want to call it?"

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2011847,00.html#ixzz0xNbEO92P


and certainly not here . . .  (same article as second, above)

Last February the Al-Farooq Mosque in Nashville was vandalized, with graffiti — a cross and "Muslims go home" spray painted on its facade. Earlier this year, a white supremacist was sentenced to 183 months in prison for his role in the 2008 bombing of the Islamic Center of Columbia. Attempts to build new mosques in other nearby cities, including Brentwood and Antioch, have been stopped.


Sign at anti-NY Mosque rally today

"EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ISLAM I LEARNED ON 9-11"


Everything I need to know about the motivation behind this movement I learned from that sign.



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3DHS / Delta tops United for worst luggage disaster.
« on: June 27, 2010, 01:49:46 AM »
Remember that guy whose guitar got destroyed by United Airlines and they wouldn't compensate?  He wrote a series of songs about it and embarrassed United royally. 

Well, I found out about this from a FB friend.  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700043531/Delta-loses-cremains-urn-sent-to-San-Diego-instead-of-SL-airport.html?s_cid=rss-30  His mother's ashes were lost byDelta!  What is really funny is that the article talks about his wife, Rebeccah.  He isn't married to her.  His wife is named Sunny.  This is jus great, yet anothr false media report of Mormon polygamy - lol!

The good news is that all ended well.  The bad news is, according to Carl, the attendant told Rebeccah that she (the attendant) wasn't paid enough to care.  Incredible.  I hope her pay just dropped by about, oh, say 100%.

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3DHS / Second generation in the Saloon
« on: June 25, 2010, 04:38:42 AM »
The McChrystal debate has brought in a newbie, though some of you may remember I have mentioned him a time or three.  To give you an idea of how long this debate club has been around, I once told about how he was dealing with some Young Life folks in MIDDLE SCHOOL.  Ark, as I recall, was unhappy about that.  He's 22 these days and hasn't been in middle school for quite some time.  I have mentioned him a few other times as well.  I referred to him as Stray Pup then.  He's not so much a pup these days as a rather fine young man if I do say so myself.  He has, however, adopted that name as his nom de 'puter on this forum, so in case there is any confusion, I'm the Pooch, he's the Pup. 

Go easy on him, 'cuz he does bite sometimes and I wouldn't want to have to put him down or anything. :D

Welcome, Pup.


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3DHS / Why do we debate like fools?
« on: June 15, 2010, 02:44:39 AM »
I seldom post here - or even read here - much anymore.  It's pretty easy to explain why.  The tournament of minds that was the purpose of this site has degenerated into a tournament of the mindless.

The reason I enjoy debate is because I learn from it - and I get to pontificate about my own views.  That gives me both an ego boost and a way to sort out and organize my own thoughts.  I have on a few occasions been paid for publishing essays based on ideas i hashed out here.  I have had my horizons expanded, my ideals tested and my opinions refined over the last several years between here and PIC, but the moments of enlightenment are sandwiched between incessant muscle-flexing, insult-tossing and blithering profanity-laced nonsense.  What in the world is the point of all of this mindlessness among so many who have such excellent minds?

Is arguing over whether we should use ethnic slurs or stereotypes in any way conducive to actual exchange of intelligent ideas?  Is the use of those devices helpful in any way in coming to an understanding of the world?  I am in the process of re-reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" right now.  Pirsig makes some pretty profound arguments about looking at both sides of perception (in this case classical versus romantic views) and how ultimately each is necessary.  Are the techniques of debate that seem to be predominant on this site in any way advancing that kind of mutual sharing and understanding?  What's the point?

At the same time, I'm teaching the Old Testament, reading "The Dream Palace of the Arabs" by Fouad Ajami and trying to reconcile my children's lifestyle choices with my view of eternal law.  That's a helluva lot of mental processing. I could use a place where I can expend a little creative energy instead of just absorbing information - and at its best this place combines both.  But at its worst, it presents a barrage of unseemly, uninspired and unimportant grudge matches.  Is this really what we come here for?  Why?  Why don't we just kick puppies or beat up our pillows at night and be done with it?  What's the point?

I understand that debate gets intense, and we all know I've fired my own live rounds on this range, but this isn't a skirmish, it's an ongoing firefight.  I am equally offended by BSB's use of the term "kike" and MT's "Amerikkka" references but I am not going to insist either be censored, nor am I going to retaliate in kind.  If someone wants to start a thread trashing Mormons I may respond, if I think it appropriate or potentially valuable - or if it just touches a particular nerve and my sugar is high - but I will respond in the moment, not throw an ultimatum out there to delete the thread or face some kind of rhetorical Mormon jihad.  What's the point?

If half of the posts on this site are ad hominem attacks on other posters (and I suspect that estimate is low) then why bother posting them at all?  My ego is as big as anyone's here but I'm not going to waste my flagging intellectual energy on proving I'm as bad-ass as some other poster.  Generally speaking, I'm not.  I get pissed but I don't have the stomach for hours of negativity and pointless deutero-debating (although I realize that's what this post is).  I think some of the views expressed on here - many in fact - are mindless drivel, but I don't think that the people posting are mindless.  We are just throwing intellectual tantrums instead of tryng to communicate with others in some kind of sensible fashion.  What's the point?

My old high school was a great place to learn in 1975.  Unfortunately, today it is plagued with high crime rates, high teenage pregnancy rates, high drug use rates and very low academic performance.  We are discussing a 35 year reunion.  Nobody has any interest in going to the building as part of that.  It's not the same place.  I sometimes feel that way when I check in here.  I know that there is substantive discussion going on somewhere in here, but finding it is like navigating a minefield.  I like chocolate, but if I have to dig through manure to find it I'm really not interested.  The manure won't taste any better for the addition of the chocolate, but the chocolate will certainly taste worse.

It's tough, I know, to avoid a response when somebody lobs a grenade at you, but it would both elevate the debate and reduce the incidence of mud-wrestling if we could do so.  I get very depressed when I check in, which I only do when I am bored anymore.  I'd like to spend more time exchanging ideas and less exchanging insults.  Otherwise, what's the point?






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3DHS / Stupid things liberals say:
« on: May 25, 2010, 09:34:08 PM »
Keith Olbermann on MSNBC teasing a story about a Tea Party Candidate who (apparently) claims to have discovered the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona. "I hope all of the animals have their papers." Way to make yourself look even more stupid than the guy you are making fun of, Keith. Hint, if you can't read the Bible, at least watch Indiana Jones.

For those in the saloon who may not be Bible literate, the "Ark" - as in Noah's - was a big ol' boat.  The "Ark of the Covenant" was a big ol' box.  Contained the Ten Commandments, Moses's brazen serpent and some other souvenirs of the Exodus.  Covered with Cherubim, but no animals.  Two different things. 

If the guy claims to have found the Ark of the Covenant, he's bonkers (at least I ASSUME he is).  But at least he isn't illiterate.  Not to change religious references, but Instant Karma done gotcha, Keith.

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3DHS / Hell - according to chemistry.
« on: March 30, 2010, 11:24:26 PM »
(Courtesy of my daughter on Facebook)

HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term.

The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :


Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell,then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'


THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

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Culture Vultures / My Fifteen Favorite Musical Moments
« on: February 21, 2010, 10:41:02 AM »
My Fifteen Favorite Musical Moments

I love musicals!  I've seen just about every movie musical made!  I’ve seen Broadway productions on tour, regional theatres, college shows, and even lots of great high school productions.  In high school I performed in “Pajama Game” (Chorus), “Oklahoma” (Fred) and “Music Man” (Jacey Squires).  My oldest son, Chris, played the lead in “William Wants a Doll” in elementary school and was also in an original musical "Chicken Man and the Greening of Belo Horizonte” in High School.  My middle son Rob was in “42nd Street,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Cabaret,” and “Pippin.”  My Favorite Musical is "Les Miserables," which I’ve seen three times.  I have also seen "Wicked" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," as well as some very good high school productions of "Fiddler on the Roof," "Godspell," “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and others.  I especially love "1776" because I share a love for it with my daughter Amity.  My other two children grew up with a weekly "musical night" to introduce them to all of the fun.  Get it?  I‘m a musical fanatic!

So here, in no particular order, is a list of my fifteen favorite musical moments:

"1776!"  "Abigail, what's in these kegs?"  John Adams is discouraged.  The entire South has just walked out of Congress over his refusal to remove abolition from the Declaration of Independence.  John Dickinson of Pennsylvania is battling him to have the whole idea of separation from England thrown out.  All of his allies in Congress have given up independence as a lost cause.  And what's more, people consider him obnoxious and disliked - and pig-headed!  John retires to the bell tower to talk - in a letter - to his wife Abigail.  He pours his frustrations and loneliness out to her, and she responds by telling him that the accusations thrown at him are all nonsense (except the "pig-headed" part!).  In the middle of his reverie, McNair, the Congressional Custodian, calls up to tell him he has a delivery.  While Adams has been working away in Congress, Abigail has organized the ladies of Boston (at his request) to make saltpeter to support the war effort.  At the end of each letter he reminds her of the request with the admonishment, "Saltpeter, John."  Just as his world seems darkest, he receives this delivery of barrels from his wife.   Her triumphant answer to his question about the contents is "SALTPETER JOHN!!"  This show of support from the love of his life re-energizes him and he is off to birth a new nation.  I never make it through this scene without Kleenex!

"The King and I"  "On the clear understanding that this kind of thing can happen."  (Specifically in the movie version, with Deborah Kerr as Anna.)  Anna is trying to teach the King how to dance as he had seen done at a ball earlier that evening.  She begins by trying to teach him the polka, carefully counting out the steps, but throwing him off count with her compliments.  They start out chastely holding hands, as Anna sings of how a dance may lead to romance.  Then as the reality of this possibility strikes her, she sings nervously "On the clear understanding that this kind of thing can happen shall we dance?"  They begin joyously dancing, but suddenly, the King stops.  He tells Anna that this is not the way he had seen it earlier.  Anna protests that it was "just like that."  But the King suddenly moves closer to her and slowly places his arm around her waste.  "Was like this, no?"  says the King.  At this point, Deborah Kerr nearly sets the screen on fire with her nervous, breathless anticipation and her husky one word answer, "Yes." and off they go on a wild, frenzied polka. This is as close as a Rogers and Hammerstein musical ever gets to a steamy scene - and all without ever jeopardizing the G rating.  Marilyn Monroe never did anything half so sexy.  It's an amazing moment.

"Les Miserables"  "I have bought your soul for God."  Ex-convict Jean Valjean is damned by his record to live the life of a fugitive, even after his release.  Driven from place to place, abused and cheated, he is taken in for the night at the home of a Bishop.  The kindly churchman lives a life of poverty, but has kept one luxury, silver eating utensils and candlesticks, as a comfort to him.  Valjean, bitter at the world and ungrateful for the charity, steals the silver utensils in the night and flees.  He is captured by patrolling guards and claims the Bishop gave him these as gifts.  The guards drag him to the Bishop who, to Valjean's shock, "verifies" this story and even gives Valjean the silver candlesticks he had "left behind."  Dismissing the guards, the Bishop then tells Valjean "You must use this precious silver to become an honest man."    The shock of this unexpected mercy and the precious gift humbles Valjean, forcing him to reconsider his world view, and ultimately redeeming him.  This contrasts, later, with Valjean's forgiveness of his tormentor, the detective Javert.  When given the opportunity to kill Javert during a battle, Valjean releases him instead.  Javert, rather than being humbled, refuses to accept that he is now in debt to a convict, and this pride leads him to suicide.  This is the ultimate point of the musical, the power of accepting grace and the tragedy of rejecting it.  It is also, through no coincidence, the ultimate point of the Gospel.

"Fiddler on the Roof" "Look at my daughter's eyes."   Tevya has five daughters - and a problem.  He is, as all of the Jewish people in his village, a slave to tradition.  It is his job as a father to find husbands for his five daughters, with the aid of Yenta, the matchmaker.  With his first daughter, he strikes apparent gold.  Lazar Wolf, a well-off butcher, has asked for her hand.  Tevya agrees to the match, and then enjoys a night of drunken celebration.  But in the morning, when he announces the "joyous" news to his daughter, Tzeitel, she falls at his feet and begs him not to force her to marry.  Bewildered, but moved by his daughter's pleas, he relents.  At this time, Tzeitel's young love, the tailor Motel Kamzoil, asks Tevya for her hand.  Rejected by Tevya, Motel blurts out that he and Tzeitel had already given each other a pledge to marry.  Tevya is shocked at this breach of tradition.  He finds it "Unheard of. Absurd! Unthinkable!"  But as he looks into his daughter's eyes, he sees the love and the hope there.  He struggles inwardly, in a device that will be used throughout the show, wavering between the demands of tradition and his love for this daughters.  "Well children,: he says at last.  "When shall we make the wedding?"  This wise, though reluctant, decision is the first of several that will stretch his faith and his love for his children - even to the point of breaking.  It is this conflict and how he handles it that makes Tevya such a beloved and realistic character.   

"Wicked"  "Look to the western skies!"  Well, what else could it be?   This is a perfect example of the huge first act ending.  Glinda and Elphaba are parting ways, Glinda to rise in the political world and Elphaba to rebel.  After the wizard turns out to be a corrupt fraud, Elphaba rejects him.  Glinda desperately tries to show Elphaba the error of her ways.  But Elphaba realizes "Something has changed within me."  Recognizing that she can no longer accept the lies upon which the Wizard's power - and her lifelong dream - is based, she suddenly finds the power in herself, and decides "I'd sooner try defying gravity."  Blasphemously declaring herself the equal of the Wizard, she reasons "If I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free."  And so she does, literally, escaping the pursuing mob by rising above them on her broomstick and proclaiming "Nobody in all of Oz, no wizard that there is or was, is ever gonna bring me down!" 

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”  “Children of Israel are never alone.”  Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob (Israel), is given a beautiful multi-colored coat. This caused his already jealous brothers to plot his downfall. Joseph is sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. He seems to recover nicely, becoming the head of his master, Potiphar’s household.  But Potiphar’s wife, infuriated when he rejects her advances, accuses him of improprieties and he is thrown in jail.  Stripped of his family, his inheritance, his freedom and even his dignity, he sits in his jail cell and resolutely sings “Close every door to me.  Keep those I love from me.”  Humbly he declares “If my life were important I would ask if I’ll live or die.”  But even in this darkest hour his faith remains strong, and he sings, “I have been promised a land of my own.”   This moving song is reprised at the end, after he rises to the highest office in Pharaoh’s court, proving that he remembered God in good times and bad, as God did him.

“Camelot”  “I know you in autumn, and I must be there.”  Arthur’s wife, Guinevere and his most trusted knight, Lancelot, are being anything but trustworthy.  In spite of his love and admiration for the King, Lancelot cannot resist the lady.  Guinevere, for her part, is at first repelled by this seemingly arrogant knight, but over time has become deeply attracted to him.  They fall in love, and in spite of the betrayal of Arthur and the danger to his kingdom it causes, begin an illicit affair.  At length they realize they must stop the deception, but Lancelot cannot think of how he will break it off.  “If ever I would leave you,“ he sings to his love, “it wouldn’t be in summer.”  Nor, it turns out, could he leave her any of the other seasons.  “No never would I leave you at all!”  Ironically, this beautiful love song is the beginning of the end for them all.  But, like Camelot itself, the knight and the lady have this “one brief, shining moment.” 

“Music Man”  “Like to see some stuck-up jockey-boy sittin’ on Dan Patch . . .”   Harold Hill is a traveling salesman who lives up to every stereotype - slick, ethically dubious and always on the lookout for a quick sale and a “sadder but wiser” woman.  The charlatan needs a pretext for breaking through the legendary Iowa stubbornness in River City.  He finds it when an old acquaintance casually mentions a new pool hall opening in town.  “Friend,” he tells his buddy, loud enough to attract an audience of curious onlookers, “either you are closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community!”  He then launches into a slick, polished patter song that warns the townspeople of the dangers and moral decay this new addition will bring.  “You got trouble, folks,” he tells them “right here in River City, with a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for Pool!”  Only, it seems, a Boy’s Band (for which he will gladly supply the instruments, uniforms and instruction – at a price!) can save the town now.  It’s a song delivered in a style that is part evangelist, part politician, part salesman and all Broadway!

“My Fair Lady”  “Bed, bed, I couldn’t go to bed . . .” and well should Eliza Doolittle go to bed!  After all it’s past three A.M. and she has been working long, grueling hours for weeks.  Professor Henry Higgins has made her a “project.”   He is trying to teach her to talk “like a lady in a flower shop” instead of the poor, dirty flower girl she is.  He will try to pass her off as a high-born lady at a ball in six months.  Progress, unfortunately, has been slow.  Higgins has drilled her, berated her and generally treated her like, well, a poor flower girl.  But in a rare merciful mood earlier that evening, he had taken pity on her, soothed her aching head and given her a speech expressing confidence in her.  Encouraged by the attention for which she is so starved, Eliza makes a breakthrough.  “The rain in Spain,” she correctly pronounces, “stays mainly in the plain.”  Thrilled at this accomplishment, Higgins takes her into his arms and dances with her.  It ends all too soon for the infatuated Eliza.  As the housekeeper and maids admonish her to get to bed, she sings “I could have danced all night, and still have begged for more!”   Tomorrow the grind will begin again, and there is still a long way to go.  But at least tonight, Eliza has no need of sleep.  “Sleep, sleep, I couldn’t get to sleep, not for all the jewels in the crown!”

“Pippin”  “People like the way dreams have of sticking to your soul.”  Every show has a song, usually the first or second number, where the central problem of the play is spelled out.  This is one of my favorites.  Pippin is the son of the great Charlemagne.  Everyone (even the Pope!) thinks his dad is the hope of a new Roman Empire.  But Pippin is having an identity crisis.  He has no idea how he can become a success and get out from under the noble shadow of his father.  “Why do I feel I don’t fit in anywhere I go?”  He laments.  “I’ve got to be where my spirit can run free!”  His ambition and longing for identity will lead him (with the help of the “Leading Player” who is part narrator and part Satan figure) to try many paths to glory.  He tries war, sex, money and other vices but none of them seem to satisfy.  “I won’t rest until I know I’ve got it all!”  Finally, as he realizes the Leading Player has been steering him wrong, Pippin rejects his advice.   Pippin is stripped of everything – money, titles, glory and left with only his wife and family.  That’s when he realizes, he already has found his “corner of the sky.”

 “West Side Story”  “The Jets are gonna have their way tonight . . .”   Another great Act I ending.  In “Les Mis” all the talk as the first act draws to a close is about how all of the subplots will come together in “One Day More.”  But in this Bernstein/Sondheim reimagining of “Romeo and Juliet” it’s all going to happen tonight.  “Tonight there will be no morning star,” sing Tony and Maria – not realizing how literal that will be.  Tony and Maria are looking forward to being together.  Anita is looking to spend some “quality time” with her lover (Maria’s brother Bernardo) tonight as well.  “He’ll come in hot and tired, so what?  No matter if he’s tired, as long as he’s hot!”  But the Jets and Sharks are gearing up for a rumble.  Tony is a Jet and Bernardo is a Shark. A lot plans will be changed tonight. There will, in fact, be a morning star, but some of them won’t see it.

 “Rent”  “I will cover you.”  Mark, Roger, and their friends are struggling artists trying to live “La Vie Boheme.”  But the specter of AIDS hangs over them – and this is the 1980s.  All too soon Angel, the talented street performer, and conscience of the group has passed away from the disease.   At her funeral, her companion, Tom Collins, sings to her about the love and support they shared.  “With a thousand sweet kisses, I’ll cover you. If you're cold and you're lonely, you've got one nickel only, when you're worn out and tired, when your heart has expired.  Oh lover, I’ll cover you.”    Her friends sing, too, about celebrating the “seasons of love” they had together.  For a moment the petty differences tearing the group apart are forgotten in their shared grief.  Angel is gone, but her spirit will remain with the group.  In the end, as drug-addict Mimi is near to death, she miraculously comes back.  Angel was there on the other side says Mimi, “and she looked GOOD!”  Angel sends Mimi back.  Even after death, Angel is a healing presence.

“Gypsy”  “Got the time and the place and I got rhythm . . .” Louis is the untalented sister of talented “Baby” June Havoc.  Their mother, Rose, is the ultimate stage mother.  They travel the dying vaudeville circuit with a troupe of “newsboys” and a cow (which is played by Rose as the front and Louise as the rear!).  But times are tough, gigs are scarce and Rose can barely afford to keep them in eggrolls on the allowances the troupers’ parents send in the mail.  Some of the boys are thinking of striking out on their own.  Louise has a budding crush on one of them, Tulsa.  She stumbles upon him working on a separate routine.  She is just coming from her own practice, and is still dressed in the cow-bottom costume.  He swears here to secrecy, and then excitedly starts showing her the routine.  He imagines himself getting ready for a night on the town.  “Got my tweeds pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl!”  Louise wants to be the girl, and as he describes his moves to her, she begins dancing with herself, clumsy cow hooves and all.  She mirrors the moves he makes, dreaming of running away with him.  “If she’ll just appear, we’ll take this big town for a whirl . . .” As she dances along, suddenly Tulsa notices her moves and invites her to dance along.  Louis, like Eliza, could dance all night.  But it is not to be.  All Tulsa needs is the girl, but that girl isn’t Louise.  He runs off not with her, but with June.  Mama Rose is left with one, untalented daughter, and a ravenous appetite for vicarious fame.  The untalented, unpretty and unloved Louis will get fame – and she will dance - not on vaudeville, but in burlesque as the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.

“Cinderella”  “I have found her!  She’s an angel . . .”   Nothing is quite as pleasing as a Cinderella story – especially when it IS the Cinderella story.  Rogers and Hammerstein’s treatment of the classic fairy tale was made for TV in 1957 starring Julie Andrews but is better known for the 1964 remake with Leslie Anne Warren.  (There has been a third version made but it is nowhere near as satisfying.)  We all know the story.  Poor abused girl goes to the ball with the help of her fairy godmother.  Dick and Oscar were naturals for this fairytale romance.  They know how to write a good love song.  This one is sung shortly after Cinderella makes her entrance into the ball.  The Prince is immediately charmed and off they go!  After finding a more private place to waltz, the Prince marvels about how quickly he has fallen for her. “Ten minutes ago I met you.  I looked up when you came through the door.  My head started reeling, you gave me the feeling, the room had no ceiling or floor!”  Why doesn’t anybody waltz anymore? The Prince and Cinderella do, with Cindy showing an awful lot of poise for a girl who just rode to town in a pumpkin pulled by rats!  The Prince sings, “I like it so well that for all I can tell I may never come down again.”  But he does have to come down.  The clock suddenly strikes twelve, the hour when the coach and four become a pumpkin and rodents again (and Cinderella turns into, well Cinderella).  We know the rest of the story – the frantic escape, the glass slipper, the magic ending.  But this moment, when they each “wanted to ring out the bells, and fling out my arms and to sing out the news” is my favorite fairy tale musical moment. 

“Oklahoma”  “I ain’t gonna dream ‘bout her arms no more.”  Not all great musical moments are about the good guys. Judd Frye - a dark, brooding farmhand - works for Laurie and Aunt Eller.  Laurie, though far too proud to admit it, is sweet on Curley, a handsome cowboy who promises to take her to a planned social in a “shiny little surrey with the fringe on the top.”   But annoyed by Curley’s bragging, she plays hard to get.  Judd asks her to go to the social, but though she tries to be kind, her rejection is clear – and Judd does not take it too well.  Defeated in love by Curley, Judd sits in his lonely room, gloomily contemplating his life “The floor creaks, the door squeaks.  There’s a field mouse nibbling on the broom . . .” But he dreams of a life where he’s “better than that smart-aleck cowboy, who thinks he’s better than me!”  Taken away in a romantic fantasy, he dreams that “The girl that I love ain’t afraid of my arms, and her own soft arms keep me warm.”  But suddenly he is brought back to reality, and realizes his dreams are “all a pack o’ lies!”  His romantic fantasy dashed, he decides that he will have his way with Laurie, whether Curley (or she) likes it or not.  “I ain’t gonna leave her alone!  Going outside, get myself a bride! Get me a woman to call my own!” 

Did I leave anything out?  Well, yeah!  How about “Pilate’s Dream” in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Edelweiss” in “The Sound of Music,” or the classic “Make Believe,” from “Showboat?”  Then there is  the ironically melancholy “There’s a Sunny Side to Every Situation” from “42nd Street,” “It’s All for the Best” from “Godspell,” or the haunting “Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera.”  Furthermore, I’ve limited myself to just one moment per musical – and that took some doing!  I snuck in a reference to the Act I finish in “Les Mis.”  But I could also list the beautiful “On My Own” or “Bring Him Home,” – not to mention the brilliant comedy of “Master of the House” from that musical.  That’s true of all of the great shows – one wonderful moment after another.  These are 15 of my favorites.  I could easily list fifteen more.  In case I didn’t mention it – I LOVE MUSICALS!

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3DHS / Indiana college lifts 116-year ban on national anthem
« on: February 20, 2010, 11:17:15 PM »
I'm not really sure how I feel about this.   I completely support the National Anthem and playing it at public events.  And being in a Mennonite-heavy area, I am confronted by their annoying attitudes about the country frequently.  Yet I still think a religion, or anybody for tat matter, has the right to refrain from being patriotic.  I may not respect THEM but I still respect the right.  So this is a little complicated.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100220/ap_on_re_us/us_star_spangled_college

Ind. college lifts 116-year ban on national anthem

GOSHEN, Ind. – For more than a century, there was no playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Goshen College — a small Christian college with ties to the Mennonite Church.

That's about to change. For the first time in the school's history, Goshen College will play an instrumental version of the national anthem before many campus sporting events.

The decision to reverse the ban on the anthem is aimed at making students and visitors outside the faith feel more welcome, but it has roiled some at the 1,000-student college who feel the song undermines the church's pacifist message and puts love for country above love for God.

Since college President Jim Brenneman announced the decision in January, about 900 people have joined the Facebook group "Against Goshen College Playing National Anthem," hundreds have signed an online petition protesting the move and letters sent to administrators and the campus newspaper have overwhelmingly voiced opposition to the change.

"We're very aware that not everyone on our campus that's part of this community shares the same views," said college spokeswoman Jodi Beyeler. "We believe that everyone here should feel like this is home."

John Roth, a Goshen College history professor, said Mennonites have historically avoided the song because its lyrics describe using war and military might to defend the country.

"The link between the national anthem and the military identity of the nation is made very explicit," Roth said.

Mennonites, whose church is rooted in a 16th-century movement in Europe known as Anabaptism, also believe singing a "hymn of allegiance" like the national anthem implies a deeper loyalty to country rather than to God, Roth said. However, Mennonite Church USA — which represents the largest and most mainstream group of Mennonites in the U.S. — does not specifically prohibit the anthem.

Goshen College officials say discussions about whether to change the policy began in September 2008 when the athletic department asked Brenneman to reconsider the school's stance. Brenneman said the teams often bore the brunt of criticism about the policy because the anthem's absence is most visible at sporting events, where it has become part of American culture.

Two months later, a parent from a visiting team game complained to the athletics director when the anthem wasn't played, said Vice President for Student Life Bill Born. Her complaint caught the attention of conservative talk show host Mike Gallagher, who featured the issue on his show. More than 300 people called or sent e-mails to the school, most urging the school to change its policy.

Beyeler said the choice to lift the ban had nothing to do with the national attention generated by Gallagher's show and stemmed instead from the work of a task force assembled last spring. The group recommended playing an instrumental version of the song, followed by a prayer.

The college approved the change, effective with the spring sports season that begins next month. It plans to review its policy again in June 2011.

Brenneman said he thinks the athletic teams are relieved by the decision.

"Sometimes they've been about the only ones who have been on the front lines of this to defend this position. I think we all recognize that that hasn't necessarily been fair to them," he said.

Freshman baseball player Mike Milligan, a Catholic, says students and athletes can choose how much they want to participate. About 45 percent of Goshen students are not Mennonite.

"I don't think that everyone has to show their respect, but we need to at least have the choice to show our respect," said Milligan, who started a Facebook group in favor of the decision. It has more than 200 members.

Some students said choosing an instrumental version of the anthem was a good compromise.

"You're not offending anybody, and everybody kind of gets a little of what they want," said junior Sabrina Swain.

But Allen Shenk, a senior music major who is Mennonite, isn't sure that solves the issue.

"It's a good compromise in the sense that it doesn't specifically mentioned the bombs bursting in air," he said. "But everybody listening is going to be thinking those words to themselves anyway, so is it really helping that much?"

15
3DHS / Valentine's Day Message
« on: February 14, 2010, 12:36:22 PM »
The real message of Valentine's Day.

Love One Another

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