“PETER HITCHENS: Our selfish dismantling of marriage has left children in a lonely Dickensian hell”

He’s right, you know…

Many modern weddings are lavish affairs in beautiful places, but they simply do not demand the commitment that couples used to make. And many modern couples, seeing which way the wind is blowing, never bother to marry at all. Such commitment is generally discouraged, even viewed as foolish.

And of course this results in much freer lives for adults in their prime, no longer tied down by crabby old rules. But the children are the ones who suffer, and whose freedom from worry and insecurity has been sacrificed to allow for grown-up freedoms to do as we will.

Review: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Top Gun: Maverick posterI’m going to keep it short and sweet: I enjoyed “Top Gun: Maverick” more than any movie I’ve seen in years.

Not only was it a respectful sequel to the original “Top Gun” movie, it was exquistily executed in every respect: the acting, the music, the aerial choreography, the sub-plots, etc. Tom Cruise is my favorite actor, and he continued to cement that status, but he didn’t have to carry the movie. The entire cast and crew clearly contributed to this masterpiece.

Tom, if you see this, the short introduction you provided was a gift. Something horribly frustrating happened not long before we got to the theater, and you broke through depressed mood. Thank you.

To everybody else, unless this movie genre just isn’t your cup-of-tea, you really should head to your local cinema to watch this.

A couple things before I wrap-up. First, a trailer for the movie:

Second, The Critical Drinker’s review (coarse language and spoiler alert warnings):

It’s worth watching The Critical Drinker’s review; I respect his opinions more than any other movie reviewer, he provides specific reasons why it is a great movie, and he is entertaining. The description for his YouTube video, as I write this, is:

Top Gun: Maverick is everything I could have wanted in a sequel to one of the most epic 80’s movies of all time. Join me as I review it.

Go see “Top Gun: Maverick.” 🙂

Donny’s World Begins…

I am looking to the smiles Donny’s World is going to engender. 🙂

You ought to get your own puppets from Pubbets too. 🙂

SDMF and Hell’s Angels

(This is a cross-post of an article from 2012 on Traditores.org. It is one of my most regularly viewed posts on that site. The kindness that the Texas Hippie Coalitiion showed me reminded me of it.)

Black Label Society logoAlthough I can appreciate almost any style of music that includes a melody, I am especially drawn to tunes with heavy guitars. Over the years, Ozzy Osborne has had a knack for not only putting out songs with great guitars—he also attracts especially talented guitarists. (For those not familiar with Ozzy, he first became famous as the lead singer of Black Sabbath—another guitar-laden band.)

Perhaps Ozzy’s most famous guitarist is Rhandy Rhoads, who is considered one of rock’s best even though he died at the age of 25 in an airplane accident. Rhandy’s death was hard on Ozzy…but life does go on, and Rhandy was ultimately replaced by Jake E. Lee, who was later succeeded by Zakk Wylde.

Which almost gets us to the acronym in this article’s title. 🙂 Read More

“Hillary Clinton Did It”

Most of the press will ignore this news, but the Russia-Trump narrative that Mrs. Clinton sanctioned did enormous harm to the country. It disgraced the FBI, humiliated the press, and sent the country on a three-year investigation to nowhere. Vladimir Putinnever came close to doing as much disinformation damage.

You should read the whole article. It’s short and to the point.

Texas Hippie Coalition

Yesterday, I had the honor of meeting, and listening to, the Texas Hippie Coalition. All I can tell you is that they were the nicest bunch of guys (band and their supporting cast), and that Big Dad Rich provided a prayer before the concert that was an incredible testimony to Jesus. Big Dad Rich’s brother, Terrance, and THC’s drummer, Joey, especially showed me above-and-beyond kindness.

Yeah, I paid for the meet-and-greet :-), but that doesn’t explain how congenial the band members were to all of who had…nor how Terrance and Joey were so friendly outside it.

I will have fond memories of the night long into the future.

Alan Fahrner and the Texas Hippie Coalition

Before I share a couple of video snippets from last night, I’ll admit THC presents a conundrum for me. If you look at the liner notes from their last album, at least four of them call on the name of Jesus. Additionally, from talking to Terrance and Big Dad Rich’s prayer, it’s clear their faith is much more than that of a “cultural Christian.” Yet, as a minister, I can tell you that there are things that Big Dad Rich says, does, and sings about that would cause me to counsel a congregant who said, did, or sung about.

That is, I am blessed to call Terrance, Big Dad Rich, and some of the other band members brothers in Christ, but I do not know how to harmonize aspects of their behavior with what I believe Scripture teaches. Neither my conversations with Terrance at the merchandise table nor the meet-and-greet were appropriate venues for asking about the apparent disconnects, and it is unlikely I’ll ever have the opportunity to do so, but it would be a great conversation…and I will be regularly praying for Big Dad Rich, Terrance, and the band. God watch over you and yours brothers.

Now that I’ve shared my conundrum, here are a couple snippets from “Hands Up” last night at the Wild Goose Saloon in Parker, Colorado (which deserves five stars for being an incredible venue with friendly staff). Coarse language warning:

UPDATE: Egad! I just realized I forgot to say that they were stunning on stage. Amazingly talented band.

Joey, if you ever read this: First, thanks for the friendliness. Second, I don’t know how you do with the drums what you do with the drums. Wow. Third, and finally, you cause me serious hair envy as you whip it around playing the drums. 🙂

To Bid Dad Rich and the rest of the band: You are as equally talented as Joey, and thank you again for your kindness and your music.

Finally, to Terrance, there is nothing I can say that would measure up to the hospitality you showed me. Thank you!

“Why is Canada euthanising the poor?”

When folks tell you that the slippery slope argument is bogus, examples like this show that if far from always true:

What the article shares is shocking…

Sean Feucht Versus the Texas Hippie Coalition

Who did it better, Sean Feucht or the Texas Hippie Coalition?

By “it,” I mean: Give God credit.

Exhibit A, a screenshot of the “About” page on seanfeucht.com, searching for all references to “God”:

Screen shot

Exhibit B, the liner notes from the Texas Hippie Coalition’s latest album, “High in the Saddle”:


Liner notes

So, who did it better?

Obviously, my two exhibits prove nothing, but you gotta admit it makes you wonder. Do popular Christians ever consider whether the promotional materials people create for them show the correct amount of humility? Whether people see “Soli Deo Gloria” (glory to God alone) in the words?

Turning Your Sprinklers Back On (and testing with a Hunter X-CORE Residential Irrigation Controller)

Are you like me and when you only do something once a year, you have to figure it all out again? 🙂

This video is so next year I can travel back in time and younger Alan can tell older Alan how to turn on his sprinkler system after winter and test it with a Hunter X-CORE Residential Irrigation Controller.

And this post is to make it easier to find this video. 🙂

Maybe it’ll help you too.

Official controller manual on the Hunter Industries website.

Video on Rumble:

Video on YouTube: Read More

Why censorship is…

I saw a meme that a disconcerting Google search autocomplete, so I figured I’d try it myself. On my iPad Pro, this is what I got:

Google autocomplete screenshot

The was the meme (from here):

Meme

My results weren’t as bad, but are still concerning. Do you agree?

Thought for today: Be the guy who gave the ball away

I don’t put all my thought for todays on this site, but this one is worth it if you’ll also watch the video that inspired it. 🙂

Thought for today: Be the guy who gave the ball away

And the inspirational video:

“Autobahn” by Kraftwerk

I cannot believe I didn’t know about this song before today!

If you look at my last name, you’ll understand why hearing it on a replay of an old American Top 40 especially caught my attention once I saw it’s lyrics on an Amazon Echo Show.

Autobahn lyrics

“Wir fahr’n, fahr’n, fahr’n auf dear Autaboahn” 🙂

(Per Google Translate: “We drive, drive, drive on dear Autaboahn.”)