Calling all Atheists, Agnostics, Brights, Freethinkers, Humanists, and Skeptics

George Bush says he speaks to god every day, and christians love him for it. If George Bush said he spoke to god through his hair dryer, they would think he was mad. I fail to see how the addition of a hair dryer makes it any more absurd.

-Unknown

Source: The Daily Atheist:Quote

There's an online survey at Atheist Nexus for you. 

It is a descriptive and exploratory survey on "coming out" and living as an atheist.

Click here to take the survey. It takes about 20 minutes, and the results will be posted on Atheist Nexus as well as other, related sites. It is completely anonymous. I hope you'll take it and pass it on to others of your friends and family who are atheists. Thanks!

When you care enough to hit send

I love this site: Some eCards
"When you care enough to hit send."

Check them out, and send one today!

I Wonder

I wonder ... do you suppose this bailout "emergency" is the Administration's "October surprise?" I've been expecting them to come up with some sort of emergency to ensure a Republican victory in the upcoming election, but I actually expected either an attack on Iran or some sort of imminent  "turrurist" threat. However, when Dumbya came on prime-time television tonight to speak to the nation about the imminent financial threat which *must* be dealt with *immediately,* it dawned on me that this could be it - the October surprise. Only, it may have backfired.

As you know, they wanted Congress to adopt Paulson's bailout bill, as written, within 24 hours. When that didn't happen, they sent Cheney in to try to strong-arm the Republicans into supporting the bill. When that didn't work, they started making small concessions to Sen. Dodd's recommendations, and now they've trotted out the Prez to try to get the public's support (no, I do not know what they were smoking when they thought that would work.)

Meanwhile, McCain is SO concerned that he's passing up the chance to debate Obama (what a trooper!) so he can "lead the fight, because that's what leaders do" (his campaign spokeman's words) and handle this "urgent crisis." 

I wonder if their plan was that Obama and the rest of the Democrats in Congress would protest the Paulson bill, but it would get passed anyway - by Friday, mind you - because this is so urgent, and then keep pounding the message from now 'til election day that if it wasn't for the Republicans passing the bailout bill, the American taxpayers would be in the crapper for sure. They didn't count on the taxpayers already knowing what the crapper smells like because they're IN it, not to mention resenting the hell out of a bailout, nor was the Administration prepared for the revolt within its own party. 

When both parties in Congress started saying wait, let's take a good look at this bill and not be rushed into anything, lo and behold, the market held steady - thus, no immediate crisis. This whole thing just might have backfired. And wouldn't that be nice?

Except, that does still leave Iran on the table, doesn't it?

How did it come to this?

Our country is in danger of continued religious bullshit oozing from the White House, into the Supreme Court, and what's left of our personal freedoms. I thought we'd had enough of this already.   

The Kids Are Alright

We went to see the Dallas Theater Center's production of The Who's Tommy last night, a surprising season opener for this conservative venue. It brought the house down, as they say. Thunderous Standing O.

Signs warned of "loud rock music." Someone behind us said this was the first time she'd ever been handed ear plugs at the theater. When the local band, Oso Closo, opened up full blast, I thought, "You call this loud? Hah! I saw the original Tommy performed by The Who back in the 70s when Keith Moon was still alive. You don't know what loud is!" (Which, incidentally, is why composer Pete Townshend, whom I've actually met, is almost completely deaf now.)

I couldn't have been more pleased with the band's performance. Truly first-rate. I love the fact that not one of the band members or actors was born when Townshend wrote this first-ever rock opera back in 1969. The Kids Are Alright, indeed. 

There were a couple of departures from the original story:

In this version, Tommy's father, Captain Walker,  kills Mrs. Walker's lover, not the other way around. The actor who plays Captain Walker, Nehal Joshi, has a phenomenal voice not to mention the ability to act.

Also in this version, Tommy is assassinated, which when you think about it, is just the thing that usually happens with messiahs in general, so it makes sense. 

Cedric Neal's adult Tommy was good, certainly, but imo lacked the necessary charisma for "the new Messiah." As for stage presence, he might as well have been part of the ensemble.

The performances of Liz Mikel (the Acid Queen/Gypsy) and Gregory Lush (Uncle Ernie) were exceptional.

The best part of the whole production was the way the band interacted with the cast. In fact, the band was part of the cast, made possible by wireless technology. I loved this aspect of it, and I know we're going to be hearing a lot more of Oso Closo.

Click here to see pics from the production and to read more about Oso Closo. 

Onward

This is my new baby, Miss Augustina Olympia. "Auggie" for short. She's an Italian Greyhound that was left at a shelter. A friend's daughter was fostering her when Scruffybutt died. We really didn't think we wanted another dog so soon, but ... just look at her. Awwwww... 

Here's a pic of Auggie with Spot, the kitten we had for a too-brief time. 

How's your sugar level now?

Hello Again

I really appreciate the emails and comments I've received during my absence from the blogosphere! You guys look great - did you change your hair?

In our last episode, this blogger was going to do some extensive revisions on her Japanese historical novel and start the hunt for an agent. The revisions are done and I'm now on the query-go-round. One agent asked to see the full MS, so that's very exciting. After a month, I got an email from her assistant saying that they "are in the process of reviewing" my MS, and to let her know if I had any questions. That was two weeks ago. Seems like forever. Waiting to hear something, anything, is nerve-wracking. The pros say to go on to the next project. I've tried, unsuccessfully.

One thing I did was sign up for this year's NaNoWriMo. I have no idea what I'm going to write, but I figure anything that will make me put butt to chair every day for a month is good. 

**********************

Sad news. My darling little terrier mix, Scruffybutt, died in her 14th year on August 4th. 

I miss her so much.

We also just lost a kitten that we had for about a month. He was adorable. Named Spot, or sometimes Spoticus. (Look closely for the little dark spot on his forehead.) He had a terrible disease called FIP. It's fatal and very quick. He was just six months old, so he never got a chance to grow up. Poor little guy. We miss him.

I hope to get around to visiting everyone's blogs. I know it's impossible to catch up with everything, but I'm looking forward to being back in touch with you. Rock on.

Oh, and -

GO COWBOYS!