Saturday, August 26, 2006

MY DAD


John William Evans, 1927-2006
"Now cracks a noble heart. Goodnight, sweet Prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest." - Horatio, in "Hamlet" (William Shakespeare)

My dad passed away Thursday afternoon. It had been a long, hard slog for him the past year and a half. He seemed to go peacefully, and apparently was not in pain. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and support. My mom is doing well so far, and so are the rest of us. It is a difficult time, but thus far we are weathering it well. I am relieved that his suffering is done, but I miss him like crazy. Here is the obit that I wrote for the local paper, as posted on the local funeral home website:

http://www.webfh.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=95178&fh_id=10282

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

NEW BLOG OF LITTLE INTEREST TO MOST BUT POSSIBLY OF INTEREST TO SOME

I have helped Mac (otherwise known as Baby Mackie) start his own blog. It is called "Baby Mackie and Friends", and it is listed in my links. It is at www.babymackie.blogspot.com . There won't be anything there but cat pictures... no politics, no religion. Just cat pictures. New ones will only be posted occasionally. But, now that you know his blog is there, please feel free to visit Mac once in a while! Enjoy.

Monday, August 21, 2006

BRIEF NEWS + CURMUDGEONLY QUOTES

Once again, I'm not sure how much I will be posting during the coming days. My father, who has been in ill health for quite some time now due to congestive heart failure, is very possibly in his last days. He is at home, receiving hospice care. My wife and I have pretty much set up camp at my parents' house for the foreseeable future. I will keep you all posted.

Anyway, here are a few goodies for you!

SOME OF SNAVE'S CURMUDGEONLY QUOTES COLLECTION (and all are from "The Portable Curmudgeon", compiled and edited by Jon Winokur!)

It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just and omnipotent God, but it is quite easy to imagine it run by a board of gods. If such a board actually exists it operates precisely like the board of a corporation that is losing money. - H.L. Mencken

I never vote for anyone. I always vote against. - W.C. Fields

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw

By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day. - Robert Frost

Maybe this world is another planet's hell. - Aldous Huxley

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple. - Oscar Wilde

Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do so. - Bertrand Russell

Like its politicians and its war, society has the teenagers it deserves. - J.B. Priestly

I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. - Wilson Mizner

Santa Claus has the right idea: visit people once a year. - Victor Borge

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another. - Jonathan Swift

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. - Lily Tomlin

Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted. - Fred Allen

I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally. - W.C. Fields

Pray, n. To ask the laws of the universe be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. - Ambrose Bierce

I think I think; therefore I think I am. - Ambrose Bierce

Peace, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting. - Ambrose Bierce

A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on. - William Burroughs

An optimist is a man who has never had much experience. - Don Marquis

Obscenity is what happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate. - Bertrand Russell

Go into the street and give one man a lecture on morality and another a shilling, and see which will respect you most. - Samuel Johnson

Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms. - Groucho Marx

It is often pleasant to stone a martyr, no matter how much we admire him. - John Barth

A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it. - Oscar Wilde

I love mankind; it's people I can't stand. - Charles Schultz

Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more that it ceases to be serious when people laugh. - George Bernard Shaw

Liberty doesn't work as well in practice as it does in speeches. - Will Rogers

I must decline your invitation owing to a subsequent engagement. - Oscar Wilde

Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time. - H.L. Mencken

To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true! - H.L. Mencken

History repeats itself; that's one of the things that's wrong with history. - Clarence Darrow

No good deed goes unpunished. - Clare Boothe Luce

The golden rule is that there are no golden rules. - George Bernard Shaw

On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good and not quite all the time. - George Orwell

Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable. - H.L. Mencken

The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. - Paul Valery

Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one. - A.J. Liebling

Fork, n. An instrument used chiefly for the purpose of putting dead animals into the mouth. - Ambrose Bierce

Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain. - Martin Mull

Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. - Ambrose Bierce

We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience. - George Bernard Shaw

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principle difference between a dog and a man. - Mark Twain

It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens. - Woody Allen

Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce

I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members. - Groucho Marx

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

People in general are equally horrified at hearing the Christian religion doubted, and at seeing it practiced. - Samuel Butler

Christ died for our sins. Dare we make his martyrdom meaningless by not committing them? - Jules Feiffer

Go back to reform school, you little nose-picker. - W.C. Fields

Chastity always takes its toll. In some it produces pimples; in others, sex laws. - Karl Kraus

The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around. - Herb Caen

Bore, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen. - Ambrose Bierce

I must apologize for the lack of bloodshed in tonight's program. We shall try to do better next time. - Alfred Hitchcock

So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence. - Bertrand Russel

In America, life is one long expectoration. - Oscar Wilde

In America sex is an obsession, in other parts of the world it is a fact. - Marlene Dietrich

There is only one honest impulse at the bottom of Puritanism, and that is the impulse to punish the man with a superior capacity for happiness. - H.L. Mencken

In this world of sin and sorrow, there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. - H.L. Mencken

Sunday, August 20, 2006

LITTLE KNOWN COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, PART ONE:

http://www.ladonia.net/index.html

Major Conflict, check out the link for a photo of their new saucer!!

Friday, August 18, 2006

BABY MACKIE ROCKS!!!



Wednesday, August 09, 2006

QUICK MOVIE REVIEW: TALLADEGA NIGHTS

This film certainly doesn't represent the zenith of human intellectual achievement, but I have to say I laughed my butt off watching it. If you like seeing redneck culture lampooned, this is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours. Whether you love NASCAR, or whether or loathe it (as I do), there are laughs aplenty. Sure, having a racing sponsor by the name of "Laughing Clown Malt Liquor" may be a bit sick, but I love it. Check out the scenes where Will Ferrell (Ricky Bobby) is saying grace... heh! There may be a few too many gay jokes/gags for some people, but I think what is funny isn't necessarily the portrayal of Ferrell's racing nemesis (a gay Frenchman) but the portrayal of stereotypical redneck reactions to gay men... usually not a funny thing, but made so in this film. While the movie tends to hold nothing sacred, it's quite hilarious in a base sort of way. If you liked "Old School" and/or "Anchorman" (I still need to see the former, but I LOVE the latter and quote it frequently), this film will probably be right up your alley! On a four-star rating scale, I would give it three-and-a-half.
RichardDawkins.net