Cool websites I've found

Y'know... in case you're looking to waste time. Apparently the internet is great for that.

The coolest t-shirts you'll ever find. They're imported from the UK, so they're not cheap, but man, oh man... me wantee.

¡ʇxǝʇ ɹnoʎ dılɟ

Social networking status generator. Dean-O is filmed in front of a live studio audience.

Toast-it notes. Someone has combined my love of writing with my love of toast. Finally.

Graphjam. Music and pop culture, written out as, well, graphs. Think LOLcats, but without the cats. And the LOL.

It keeps getting funnier...

You may have noticed that The Bloggess is one of our Man's Couch Recommends sites. Her post from yesterday is about 10 reasons why. Take a gander if you get a minute, but be warned, she curses like a sailor...

See it here

Oh Zephyr Winds Which Blow on High.....

Hi Boys-

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been crazy here in North Carolina...as all of you have commented on the presidential race I will save my thoughts for another post but as most of you know it has been a real battleground here. I have loved all the posts and concur as usual. Loved the Obama supporter video...I'm in an office full of them.

I have a HUGE rant that I want to post later this week. In the meantime, thought all of you would love to know that I had to speak in Sacrament this week on "Overcoming Adversity" and used "Oh Mighty Isis" and "Shazaam" in my talk. I'd tell you more but I'm saving all of my talks now so I can present them in General Conference someday....or maybe Michael McLean will write a soundtrack to accompany them.

Thought all of you would enjoy a brief flashback into the world of Saturday morning...where you didn't have to worry about seeing re-runs of "The Real World." I'll be back soon!

I love The Onion

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Bart's post from yesterday echoed vaguely familiar. I know from experience that having poo on your person that did not come from you changes your view... on alot of things. As that experience repeats itself, you will not like any more in the future than you do now. You will, however, notice other parts of your life will seem slightly more trivial in nature.

I can agree with the deep sense of uneasiness about our future. I had really hoped I wouldn't have to wake up every morning for the next few years and eat my Marxist Mini-Wheats while watching SNN (Socialist News Network). Then walk to my newly assigned "wealth distribution employment opportunity" and help my underprivileged, labor-allergic, fellow citizens to realize their dreams. But I digress...

There really is no anticipation anymore. No build up. Why show up to the movie theater three days early when I can watch it on my super deluxe home theater system before it's realeased in theaters? Why stay up late when I can watch the full vesrion of the movie (swears and all) on my iPod while I lay in bed. Why should I have to wait for anything?

It's unnerving to us because we know what it's like to sleep overnight on a sidewalk to see the best concert that will ever come to the Salt Palace. We know what it's like to have to convince our parents that staying up late to watch Solid Gold will really increase our IQ's. We know what it's like to hear about the 2nd coming and then have to wait for it, instead of downloading the "pirated" version into our cellular phone-computer thingy's. Maybe we're just older and putting that much energy into being excited about something just makes us sleepy.

I dont know how Im going to instill the sense of excitement and anticipation about anything into my kids. The 2 year old throws a fit if the Muppet Show DVD doesnt start itself over at the end. We actually have to create events, like going to the pumpkin patch to pick halloween pumpkins. That one's good for at least 2 more years...

A Night at the Movies

I woke up this morning feeling bleak. I might be able to attribute that to the fact that my daughter shot -as was once said on "The Worst Show"- LIQUID POO at me whilst a 3:00am diaper changing was commencing. Maybe it is the thought of political and economic uncertainty in the wake of a media darling occupying the most powerful seat on Earth. Is it moral bankruptcy, lost innocence, the nature of the sacred and how it is mocked by our populous? Is it because -as My Chemical Romance has so eloquently shouted- these teenagers scare the living s*** out of me, simply by their all-encompassing yearning to live like they do on The Hills? Is it the sense of entitlement our society has that is eroding all hope? Is it that my hairdresser used too much bleach in my coiffure last night, and my vain attempt at holding fast to my youth has left me looking like a pock-less Gordon Ramsey?

Or is it simply because all excitement has been kaibached from the movies we are subjected to thanks to cable TV and the over accessibility of film on DVD? See kids, back when there was no accessible media and cable was something that only Greg Funkhouser had access to because of that giant dish in his backyard, you could usually count on one of the THREE major networks blocking off a couple of hours of prime time air to show last year's great blockbuster. But it wasn't just showing a movie on TV. They would advertise it far in advance to get you prepped for it, and every show would open with some cool intro like the one above. Am I the only one that misses getting permission to stay up until 10 to watch the Network Television Premier of (fill in the name of any 70's or 80's movie here,) after anticipating its airing for weeks? Remember what it was like to fill a paper grocery bag with popcorn fresh from the hot air popper and gather with your family to watch it? It was a friggin' event! As time went on, you would even tape it and be very careful to edit out the commercials so you could move through it easier during repeated viewings! Do you remember how comical it was to watch "Arthur" in such a fashion because the network's editors obviously over-dubbed Dudley Moore saying "wash my NECK" when you knew he said something much more dirty in the real film?

Do you remember when you anticipated the release of "The Empire Strikes Back" so much that you would clip any scrap about it out of your mom's Good Housekeeping just so you could prepare yourself for it? Am I just an angry old man, spurned on by the flash-in-the-pan nature of today's infotainment-overload? Could be, but there is just nothing to look forward to any more because all of the pageantry has been taken away in lieu of more choices.

Case in point: Billy Crystal once said that cable was a sham because "....you pay 40 bucks a month and you get to see 'The Beastmaster' 53 times." It is happening more literally than he could have joked. "The Wedding Singer" has been on TV EVERY NIGHT THIS WEEK on three different cable networks. I am not even kidding. It was funny once.......once.

Maybe we were just more easily entertained back in the day. Maybe I just need to put more effort into making an event out of something trivial purely for the sake of recreating that kind of feeling for my daughter.

Speaking of which, I should probably start working and stop typing this so I can do so. Sorry for the rant. Discuss......

You Must Use the Force Wisely

What a waste of a fantastic url:

Skooch.com