Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

As previously noted, I've been re-watching the entire six season run of LOST. My soul-mate has patiently watched along side of me, though I know she'd rather be watching West Wing (or What Not To Wear). In honor of my birthday last weekend we finished off the last season in a burst of weekend-consuming marathon viewing. I have to say it: Blu Ray is worth the money. Sunday we watched the 2+ hour final episode, where the writers wrap up things as much as they are ever going to be wrapped up. By the time it's over, I'm in my weepy mode, from all the emotional twists of fate. The credits roll. I wipe my eyes. "So what did you think?" I ask. Long thoughtful pause on her side. "It was good ," she says, choosing her words carefully. "There certainly was a lot of it to watch." I guess I'll be watching the special features alone.

I've convinced my long-suffering wife to watch all six seasons of LOST (I preordered the gonzo boxed set as soon as it appeared on Amazon). We are now half-way through the final season and are still married. The ABC website has the following little bonus clip they released at Comic Con this year, which will only make sense if you are a total fanboy like me and have seen the entire LOST run: If it makes no sense, go back and review at ABC.com .

What to do about Ron Paul? Sometimes he makes absolute sense, other times it's like listening to your crazy uncle rant - you know, the one who goes off after a few drinks at Thanksgiving about how the Holocaust never really happened.  With Hurricane Irene heading up the Eastern Seaboard, he chose to spout off about how FEMA was just a drain on the economy and not necessary. "We should be like 1900," he said, referring to the great Galveston hurricane of that year. For those of you unfamiliar with the 1900 Galveston hurricane , here's a little context which Dr. Paul conveniently failed to supply us with. The storm, estimated to be a Category 4 hurricane, hit Galveston on September 8, 1900, with a resulting loss of life estimated at between 8,000 and 12,000. Over 3,600 homes were destroyed. Survivors lived in tents and shelters constructed from debris, and were without water service for 4 days. The suggestion here is: why get the government involved? Let th...

It's true: of late I've taken to hanging out in a bar on Sunday afternoons. Wait, I'll explain: my friend and occasional debating partner, The Whited Sepulchre , has organized an acoustic guitar circle that meets on Sunday afternoons in The Corporate Image , a rather unpretentious watering hole over on the east side of Fort Worth. I'm not sure if the name of this place is supposed to be ironic or not, but the bartender is friendly and more than appreciative of our musical musings. We've done this about 4 Sundays now. It's great fun. There's four of us who could be called regulars and there's enough overlap in repertoire and musical taste that we all manage to play along, no matter who actually starts any given song. I borrowed a collection of harmonicas from youngest son and add a little harp when appropriate (or I can't figure out anything else to do). The Whited Sepulchre, by the way, is a natural for this -- he's quite a guitar player...

For those of you who know me in the real world (or what passes for it), you may find the following link of some interest . The rest of you, who've come here in search of technical advice or whining about politics, keep moving; nothing more to see. Update: I fixed the link so it actually works now.

Lately I've heard a number of people (friends, acquaintances and strangers) toss out the line " an armed society is a polite society. " I wonder how many of them are aware this is a quote from the Robert Heinlein novel, Beyond This Horizon , first published as a two-part serial in 1942, and in novel form in 1948. Some context: in the novel, openly carrying weapons and dueling are the social norm; one can wear special clothing to opt out of this practice but to do so is to be relegated to second class status (you chickenshit bastard). Some other things in the novel my gun-toting friends may not be aware of: in it the world has become such an economic utopia that working has become optional, and projects with no possibility of any economic return are favored above all else.  So, in other words: a fantasy. The reality of the situation is that carrying a weapon doesn't make you more polite, it only serves to make other people more polite to you . That's not bei...

I admit it: I think the Isaiah Mustafa commercials for Old Spice are really funny and clever (can't escape those years in advertising). Wired had a link to a Sesame Street Parody that's pretty funny -- see below. Just in case you've been living under a rock for the last year, the original is here:

When the city told me the sycamore in front of the house needed to be cut down I had mixed feelings. In my mind, sycamores are sort of junk trees -- about one step above hackberrys. They're prone to disease and messy, and will occasionally decide to drop limbs, and not just small ones. The one in question had been planted overly close to the driveway -- which was the issue: a street project meant new curbs and driveways. Not a good thing. Honestly, I'd mused on the possibility of getting rid of it myself. Still, the sight of the big spray-painted X's on the trunk was a little dismaying. Friday morning I got a message from the spouse that a tree service was truck parked in front of the house. Duh duh duuuhhh. By the time I got home... The front yard, formerly shady, was now open and sunny. Very open. Very sunny. It was a little jarring. The tree men reported the tree was about 60 years old. At one point there were lots of sycamores on our block but they had all ...