Monday, July 23, 2007

Puff

A new book was released the other day...no, not that one, this one. I've got to get me a copy and see how close to right they got it!

[Let me clear up one thing before I go on: this song is NOT about smoking pot. Check it out here and here if you don't believe me]

I have a very vivid memory of this song from my childhood. I was about 5 or 6 years old. It was a warm & sunny spring afternoon and mom had let me out in the back yard to wait for my brother to get home from school. He always walked home and came in the back. Seemed like it was a half a mile from the house to the back gate to my kid's legs (it really was a big yard, though...almost 3/4 of an acre). I usually just puttered around on the swing set. I didn't swing so much as I did the see-saw since I didn't know how to swing by myself. We had one of those custom made swing sets that had been left by the people who lived there before us. It wasn't the flimsy, fancy painted kind you see at the stores these days. This one was made out of left over steel pipe and fence posts. It could have held up an elephant. This particular day I sat on the swing, pushing off the ground with my feet. I'd wait for the motion to stop and then I'd do it again. One time as I swung forward, for some reason, I pulled back on the chains and found that I went out a little further than the time before. Maybe I was onto something here! I tried it a few more times and each time I would swing out more than the time before! This was cool! Soon I was swinging as high as the top rail that the chains were attached to! I was flying!

As I enjoyed my new found freedom from having to have someone push me I began singing the song we had learned in our kindergarten class. I began thinking about the words as I flew along singing and it struck me: I'll bet the reason Jackie Paper quit coming to see Puff was because he'd grown up. Wow. What a terrible thing to do to his best friend. Now, I had spent a good deal of my young life wanting to hurry and grow up...be a big kid so I could do big kid stuff, or better yet be a grown up so I wouldn't have to listen to anybody and I could do what I wanted and I could go where I wanted when I wanted and I could get anything I wanted! But it started to seem to me that people changed when they grew up...there was Jackie Paper and there was my brother. My brother was in 6th grade and I had noticed him changing a lot lately. Seemed now all he cared about was looking in the mirror, coming his hair, talking about (yuck!) girls and he was disgustingly clean all the time. I knew by the way that my shoes and clothes kept shrinking every few weeks that there probably wasn't anything I could do about getting bigger. But, I made up my mind right then and there that there was NO WAY I was going to grow up and leave a best friend like Puff behind and forget about him! I said "Puff, you can count on me, buddy, I'll always be there for you".

When our children were born and I began watching them grow I was reminded of this lesson all over again. I have made every effort to not 'grow up' and if the opinion of Daughter #2 means anything Puff and I are still best friends and we manage to 'play along the cherry lane' most every day...

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff,
and brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff's gigantic tail,
Noble kings and princes would bow whene'er they came,
Pirate ships would lower their flag when Puff roared out his name.

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave,
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave. Oh!

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.

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Sunday, July 22, 2007

HEADLINES FROM THE YEAR: 2032

  • Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia.
  • Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.
  • Baby conceived naturally. Scientists stumped.
  • Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.
  • France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica.
  • Castro finally dies at age 106; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.
  • George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.
  • Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.
  • 25-year $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.
  • Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.
  • Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed, they now can photograph a woman with her mouth shut.
  • Man found who actually knows how to put the lid down.
  • Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.
  • Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.
  • Average height of NBA players is now nine feet, seven inches.
  • New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.
  • Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.
  • IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.
  • Florida voters still having trouble with voting machines.

    Now, my question to you: How much of this is just a joke and how much will come to pass?

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

"Anybody here?..."

"...Hey, Old Man. You home tonight? Can You spare a minute? It's about time we had a little talk. I know I'm a pretty evil fellow... got drunk and the like. I know I got no call to ask for much... but even so, You've got to admit You ain't dealt me no cards in a long time. It's beginning to look like You got things fixed so I can't never win out. Inside, outside, all of them... rules and regulations and bosses... You made me like I am. Now just where am I supposed to fit in?

... I gotta tell You. I started out pretty strong and fast. But it's beginning to get to me. When does it end? What do You got in mind for me? What do I do now?

...Right. All right. [Gets on knees, closes eyes & begins to pray] On my knees, askin'. [Peeks up with one eye, waits. Opens eyes, crosses arms]. Yeah, that's what I thought. I guess I'm pretty tough to deal with, huh? A hard case. Yeah... Is that Your answer, Old Man? I guess You're a hard case, too."

Every now and again the God and I will have a conversation like this one from Cool Hand Luke. Just about the time I start believing that things are that way, about the time I start having my own pity party & start felling sorry for myself and all my 'huge' troubles and miseries He opens my eyes and I get a glimpse of how things really are....

"Yeah, that's what I thought...on my knees thankin'."

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Monday, July 09, 2007

Cartoons and Movies and TV Shows - Oh My!

Laura and Jeremy crated their own Simpson's characters. Here are me and my Beautiful Wife in the world of Springfield..





Only problem was I couldn't get a full beard on me. I agree with my daughter...my wife's kinda' hot! The Simpson's Movie should be allot of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing it. According to Russ Transformers was awesome too. I'm tempted to wait a couple of weeks until Simpson's opens and catch them both on the same day.

We saw Die Hard over the weekend. It was just as unbelievable and over the top as the first three were and, therefore, just as entertaining. They cleaned up the language ever so slightly making it a little more kid-friendly. Hat's off to Bruce Willis...it had to hurt doing some of those stunts.

I like this summer's movie mix. So far tons of fun without allot of preaching. I hate 'message' movies...the makers of Happy Feet should be shot. For 45 minutes I enjoyed this cute movie then they start bending the truth to fit some agenda and I walked out. I'm not shelling out my hard earned bucks so some dingle who doesn't live in the real world can try to force his political/social/environmental views on me. Just because they have their face in front of the public doesn't give them the responsibility or the right to spew their views all over me...whichever way those views may go. I pay them for entertainment. Period. If I want a 'message' I will seek it out. If the 'celebrities' are going to get the limelight for their cause then fairness says the lowest of the low, the not-so-rich and beautiful, the ones the world ignores should have their time too. Enough of MY soapbox...you didn't pay to hear my message!

Tomorrow the best season of one of the best TV shows ever is released on DVD. Ron Perlman is beyond good and Linda Hamilton...Wow. If you've never had the chance to check this out I recommend it (some or you were probably too young to fully appreciate it when it was first on). This came at a time in our lives when we needed to see hope...and to know that love would always win no matter what. Start with the first season so you can get the back story and a feel for the characters. The writing was awesome and no show had better music. I challenge anyone to find a movie or TV show that presented a more beautiful picture of New York. Ron Perlman did a CD of poetry reading set to the show's music while in character...it will give you a new appreciation for some of the world's best poems. I loved him in Hellboy and can't until next summer's Hellboy2: The Golden Army. As good as he is, though, I could listen to (and watch) Linda Hamilton all day. I wish she had done something like the CD. She hasn't been in too much lately, at least nothing high profile. Can't blame her with children at the age her's are at now. Looks like our evening viewing is pretty well set for the rest of this week!

[BTW: This show is best viewed on a long weekend with the lights down, the AC turned up and your favorite loved one at your side].

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Monday, July 02, 2007

Please Welcome...

Marshall Samuel McCliment

Born June 27, 2007 at 11:18 a.m. cdt

4 lb. .8 oz
17.75 Inches

He was 6 weeks early but is doing really well. Should be able to go home by 7-7.


"...I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."

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