Tributes to this icon of many of our childhoods, Evel Knievel, who passed away today:

LeBlanc:

An icon of former children everywhere has made the greatest jump ever today, straight into Heaven.

Newscoma:

The Wide World of Sports was the big deal when I was a little kid, which means the Evel was the man.

He was pretty groovy in his Elvis outfits and the fact that he was the face of fearless when I was a little kid. I was nine when he did the whole Snake River thing…

…I miss those crashes. These kids on reality shows can’t compare to Evel.

He was the man.

Sadcox:

My absolute favorite toy as a little kid was the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. I’d wind it up as fast as it would go and send Evel flying up a ramp made out of an album cover and the phone book.

Thanks for entertaining us for all those years!

Slarti:

For men my age, Evil was a HUGE icon in our consciousness during childhood. I still remember building ramps out of bricks and plywood, and jumping whatever was handy (including, one time, my brother). I idolized Knievel that much. I was SO jealous of my best friend because he had the Knievel wind-up motorcylce/action figure. That had to be the coolest toy since the 6 Million Dollar Man action figure, with bionic eye and cool punching motion.

Evil Knievel is dead. I am suddenly feeling very old. Rest in peace, Evil.

Pistol Pete:

I remember watching Knieval’s daredevil stunts on Wide World of Sports growing up. He seemed to show no fear and took risks very few (if anyone) would take just for the thrill of saying he’d done it (oh, and maybe for the thousands of dollars he got for doing them). The benefits to the leap of faith he has now taken for Christ, however, are immeasurable…

…And now, as Kneval takes that great leap into the Beyond, I pray his fans and all who knew of him would likewise be touched by Christ so they might one day land safely home.

Les Jones simply posted a quote, which said it all…

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have no idea how good it makes me feel to be here today. It is truly an honor to risk my life for you. An honor. Before I jump this motorcycle over these 19 cars - and I want you to know there’s not a Volkswagen or a Datsun in the row - before I sail cleanly over that last truck, I want to tell you that last night a kid came up to me and he said, “Mr Knievel, are you crazy? That jump you’re going to make is impossible, but I already have my tickets because I want to see you splatter.” That’s right, that’s what he said. And I told that boy last night that nothing is impossible.”
– Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel, 1938-2007

As always with these roundups, if you post about the topic afterwards, just let me know in the comments, and I’ll give you some link love by adding you to this post.

(Yes, I know December starts tomorrow. So I figured I’d get this up here early. Also,Vol Abroad asked for more pix.)

from digital blasphemy

Without comment:

(CNN) — Two people held hostage at Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, have been freed, CNN affiliate WMUR said Friday.

Neither hostage was harmed, another affiliate, WCVB, reported on its Web site.

CNN has confirmed that at least one hostage has walked free, about two hours after the situation began.

The story is ongoing.

The examination of this question is being ably handled by Laura Fuller Julie Fletcher at the Family Resource Blog.

In today’s society, it is generally ok for a woman to say she loves children. For a mother to be present at school functions or even in classes, if a man states he loves children the first thought that often comes to mind is ‘Oh my gosh, he must be a pedophile’ or ‘That is so weird’. So generally, all men who love children is a pedophile in many minds. I’ve seen enough of this type of talk in forums, chats, and in person to know this is a major frame of mind.

This is very scary to mothers out there who encourage their children’s fathers to be involved in their children’s lives. A father who spends the same amount of time, if not more, with their children at school, in extra curricular activities, or allowing their children’s friends to visit suddenly is a weirdo. Why is this? There have been women who take advantage of young men or boys throughout time. But I have heard people when viewing such stories covered in the media think the women involved were punished too severely. It is like a rite of passage for a teen boy to be sexually involved with an older woman. Take a peek at any of the American Pie movie series if you don’t believe that one. Older woman + young man/boy= acceptable.

I admit that ever since that Ted Danson TV Movie about incest, the public attitude toward fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives seems to have changed dramatically. It kind of makes me sad.

I Co-Sleep with my dog. That’s probably as close as I will ever come to co-sleeping with any of my children. The dog snores and kicks me in the boobs when he turns over. It’s not pleasant. Apparently, though, co-sleeping with babies is not as bad.

These days, C. is a healthy, apple-cheeked 4 month old. She weighs about 15 lbs (we’ll find out when she goes for her check up on Monday), and she nurses just fine in any and all positions. So for the past few nights, I put her down to sleep at bedtime in the little bed right next to ours, but when she wakes to nurse, I pull her into bed with me - between me and the bedrail on my side of the bed - and nurse her back to sleep. And we nurse and snuggle and both get a full night’s sleep. It’s awesome, and it now feels right.

I am reminded yet again that one of the great pleasures of mothering a new baby is the tactile comfort of sharing sleep with her. I love the way she smells, and the way she nestles in next to me. And as a mama who works full time and has to be away from my baby 40-plus hours each week, it’s a wonderful bonding time.

What about all of you? Did you co-sleep with your kids?

Bob Krumm talks about the oft-blogged about impending impeachment of President Bush

Clearly what Biden is advocating is impeachment, not for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” but for political differences. Further proof that talk of impeachment is all about politics was Biden’s answer to an audience member who asked why not impeach the President now: “If you’re going to impeach George Bush, you better impeach Cheney first.” Why? If it’s about actual criminal conduct, what’s his crime? It’s all about getting the other party out of the way–the Constitution be damned.

They make clothes that I NEED to own, apparently.

I know we’re planning our MCB party for after the first of the year, but tomorrow night there’s an unofficial gathering at the New Beginnings Coffee House. Ginger and Slarti will be there singing and others are invited to attend.

If you are able to go, head on out there and enjoy some good music, meet up with friends and support Slarti and his wife as they face her upcoming cancer surgery.

I confess. I LOVE it when Bob Krumm writes about Ron Paul. Because I like Bob Krumm, and he challenges my thinking. Of course, I generally still come away from his “Ron Paul is Teh cRaZY” posts supporting Paul. But it’s a good mental exercise nonetheless.

He’s done it again.

The other moment that showed me that the good doctor should instead be running for King of Artbellistan was a little thing, but it bothered me. I don’t even know when it was but at some point he grew agitated and extended his arm toward the crowd. What was that? I couldn’t tell if he was trying to point down a detractor or if he was returning the salute of one of his neo-nazi followers. Either way it showed an inability to control himself, like the wild gesticulations of a madman.

Unfortunately I was wrong weeks ago when I told my friends that after the dust clears people are going to separate Ron Paul and his core ideas of a smaller, more constitutional government from the wacky nuts who glommed on to his campaign. Sadly, he will have no lasting legacy that in years to come gives birth to a new respect for limited government. Because in your guts you know he’s nuts.

I would simply say that it was the growing respect for limited government in advance of Dr. Paul’s candidacy which has bouyed him so long. In short, he’s not the father of the movement. Our movement is the father of his candidacy.

After J. Michael Strazynski hooked up two strong female characters on Babylon 5, all the cool kids have been imitating his lead. The Hot Girl On Girl In Zero Gravity seems to be a sort of fanboy holdover descended from kinky AD&D weekends and Boris Vallejo calendars.

That’s why I rolled my eyes at the Big Revelation in last Saturday’s BSG: Razor. Oh good. More straight men fantasising about space lesbians. Razor pretty much cemented my growing opinion that as wonderful as the reboot of Battlestar Galactica has been over the past few years, it has a strong streak of mysogyny which is pretty undeniable. The authors of the show seem to have rewritten the popular Bible verse. Instead of the love of money being the root of all evil, it is now the love of women.

Of course, other people have other opinions on the movie.
Big Orange Michael

or the past couple of days, I’ve been trying to figure out if I liked “Razor” because it was a really cool two-hour episode of one of my favorite TV shows or if it’s just that it’s been so long since we had any new Galactica that you could have shown “Black Market” and I’d have loved every last second of it.

Honestly, I think it’s a litle of both. Yes, “Razor” was pretty darn good, but I think the fact that it’s the first new Galactica since March also played into it.

Alan Sepinwall

If it seems like I’m being a harsh critic, it’s because I hold “Galactica,” like “Friday Night Lights” and “The Wire” and a handful of other great series, to a higher standard. Did I enjoy “Razor”? Absolutely. Was I grateful to get a taste of the series during the long hiatus? You bet. But was it as great as it could have been, given the personnel involved and their track record? I don’t think so.

I don’t know if I should be thrilled or bummed by this. I get totally jazzed every year when Cadbury Eggs come out. But this kind of harshes my late-February buzz, you know?

Heather writes about an aspect of holiday-itis that I think probably affects most people.

This time of year is always interesting. It seems like there is so much more going on and so many more things to do, people to see, etc.

It all makes for a busy, busy mind. From my dad’s b-day to New Year’s Eve, it’s a series of events and functions, multiple December b-days, including my own, holiday parties, excuses for friends to get together, and other random things that pop up out of nowhere.

…
’m telling you, my mind is a mess. I need to go Christmas shopping—although I have no idea what I’m getting anyone. I need to get a haircut, although I want a new hairdresser and have no idea what I want done. I need to go get my tags renewed, but I don’t want to take my lunch time to drive to Green Hills. I need to get a super cute outfit for my b-day, but I have no idea what that could be.

We won’t even go into the pile of papers on my desk or the decorating I need to do to my office.

Is this REALLY the most wonderful time of the year?

Aunt B.’s noticed something all too familiar to me.

So, this has been the first week we’ve been back to anything approaching a normal schedule–to the park on Sunday and then walks in the morning.

And here’s what I’m noticing. I’m finding it really, really unpleasant. Like, when I set out for the walk, I feel great and the wind is in my hair and the cool air feels nice on my face and the dog looks cute and off we go. But as I start to warm up, I start to feel like [redacted].

Not physically. But emotionally.

What say you? Does the first workout after time away make you mad? I personally have an AC/DC mix on my iPod I crank up for just such occasions.

Yesterday, I asked the guys about those electric razors that are heavily advertised during this time of year. There was a fun discussion that started with razors and eventually veered to vacuum cleaners! At one point, I thought my question for today would be the turning point of the comments, but since it only came up a few times I’ll throw it out there for the women* to answer.

Ladies…

Does Zales make your heartstrings zing?

Should he go to Jared?

Does every kiss really begin with Kay?

Basically…will all your holiday dreams come true if there’s a little velvet box waiting for you under the tree?

*Of course, I’d love to hear from the men, too!

*

*

*

Our pal, Dave Delaney, who I lovingly refer to as the Barcamp King, is organizing the first evah Nashville Geek Breakfast on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 (7:30am - 8:30am) at Noshville on Broadway!

Here’s the scoop:

Geek Breakfasts have been popping up in many cities lately, so why can’t we do the same right here in Nashvegas?

Geek Breakfast is not about drinking beer first thing in the day, it’s about getting together with like-minded folks over bacon, eggs and plenty of coffee. It’s an opportunity to meet other people who are interested in all things geeky. Topics will likely include: blogging, podcasting, new media marketing, open source, programming, un-conferences, social networking, design, tech careers, and a series of tubes.

You should come along! Bring a friend or come alone. Bring your wallets, cause breakfast ain’t free ya know?

Indeed. If you are on Facebook, the official invite is here (and that is where you will RSVP). If you are not on Facebook, please RSVP in the comments here or on Dave’s blog.

…but my inner 12-year-old boy totally cracked up at this:

*

*

*

*

*

*

h/t: Tennessee Guerrilla Women

For Reals.

She has a really interesting story, which you must go to her place to read, and then comes up with this observation:

[T]he Internet has made the world much smaller. The story tells itself. People in traditional media are looking throughout the blog world and are finding things of interest in non-traditional ways. This is important.

I also think it’s interesting that when reading her writing, the man who called her couldn’t tell that she was from Tennessee. There’s a lot of prejudice in the world of writing, especially writing for television. People are all the time barred from that career because they are too regional, too old, too whatever.

But then here’s a regional above-the-cutoff age (which is about 38 I hear) for TV writers woman getting calls from people who read her writing.

Your Sista has a sad story today.

When people wonder why I don’t drink, (except for that rare once a year something) I usually point to the fact that addiction runs rampant through all the branches of my family… so much so that people in my family could fill up the Betty Ford Center. I don’t know what it is on both my mother and father’s side of the family, we have strong tendencies toward addictive behaviors. I know it’s hard to imagine this perfect looking group of people here could ever have trouble with collie_clan_1991.jpgaddiction, but, several in this photo have.

Including the little boy in the middle, front with his hands in the air.

The end is especially heartbreaking. Head over to her place for the full story, photos included. It truly is heartwrenching.

I learned a new word from Adam Groves today. That word is subsidiarity. According to Adam’s post this morning subsidiarity means

[T]he principle which states that matters ought to be handled by the smallest (or, the lowest) competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level.

He’s got quite a few thoughts about our current state of subsidiarity, including one which particularly resonated with me:

Democrats are an obvious no with their talk of expanded federal health care programs, which are well intentioned, but still strip away communities. Their talking points make it obvious. If I have to hear the phrase “global community” one more time, I think I’ll scream. I don’t want a “global community” - I want my neighbors back. I want the old borrow a cup of sugar days. Republicans, it seems are no better. While they are better about empowering families, with personally managed solutions to problems like health care, they still strive to use the federal government mechanism to accomplish them. Tax breaks through the federal IRS, federal health bureaucracies to disburse and manage personal health care plans, federal oversight to make sure no one breaks the 15,000 pages of regulation on these “personal” accounts.

It’s no secret that I’m a Midwestern Mennonite. I’d just as soon go back to barn-raisings and potluck dinners at funerals. Of course I realise that’s highly idealistic, and there are many parts of the world in which this model is not necessarily workable. However I think we’d be better off if we didn’t look to remote entities for solutions.

What do you think? Is the Federal Government too remote? I know that Mack and Aunt B. are discussing this issue from a Left perspective at their blogs this week, which is probably why I’m fascinated with working this concept out. At what point do we divest personal interests into either corporate or governmental for the greater good, and how far beyond that point do we go before it all turns pear-shaped?

How global should our village be?

I have a burning question for the menfolk* out there. This is akin to what Roger did a few weeks ago when he asked the gals about the appeal of celebrity news and the importance of breast cancer. However, it’s not as heavy a subject.

I’m watching television the other evening and naturally, with it being the “holiday” season, all the commercials are about gifts to get for your significant other, family members, hair stylist, etc. And inevitably a commercial comes on advertising the latest and greatest in men’s facial hair grooming tools - the electric razor. And in the commercial the man’s significant other tries over and over again to give him the perfect gift and fails repeatedly until she gives him this razor. He’s thrilled beyond all comprehension that she finally got him the electric razor of his dreams.

So, here’s my burning question. Guys, do you really pine for razors? And if you don’t, what should that commercial be advertising instead?

*Don’t worry, I have one for the womenfolk too.

From Sugarfused

I understand your pain.

In reality, I probably need to lighten up on the vanity and stop worrying about my hair. I think my hair angst probably represents other things in my life that I can’t control, and my indecision reflects my inability to accept my powerlessness. Or maybe I’m just wishy-washy.

Existential moment focusing on realities of excepting some degrees of fate and destiny or just a bad hair weekend.

You decide over at Beyond the Fried. 

The striking writers resumed talk yesterday with the producers in Hollywood, and several blogs are reporting good (rumourish) news.

But here goes: a very reliable source tells me that there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between both sides.

“It’s already done, basically,” the insider describes. That’s because of the weeks worth of groundwork by the Hollywood agents working the writers guild leadership on one side, and the studio and network moguls on the other. I was told not to expect an agreement this week. But my source thought it was possible that the strike could be settled before Christmas.