God is an Embarrassment in Our Lives

We actually don’t know what to do with God.  At least, we don’t know how to share our feelings about Him without seeming awkward or out of place.   We go to the weekly Mass, say our prayers, but don’t think much about it.   We set Him aside in the corner of our heads, and find it uncomfortable to talk about Him to others.

Personality Quiz

Which How I Met Your Mother Character Are You?

More on How I Met Your Mother. Created by BuddyTV

Sainthood and the Moral Horizon

Popular culture disdains the saint because of what he represents: the complete lack of “moral allowance”.   They cannot do wrong.  They are not tempted to tear out the tire of that one person you despise, or scan through the Internet actively looking for source of temptation—and in our world, entertainment.   They become a distant, alien thing, distant and seen only barely in our moral horizon…

Twilight

Sunset,
The sounds of anguish
Anguish
Souls unredeemed
Their souls cry out
There is darkness
No light
Upon them
But the sunset
On their backs

Chains
They are prisoners
In a cage of steel
And wood, and blood
Their throats are parched
Dry
But there is no life
No balm
No dream

Death
Only Death surrounds them
In their sleep She visits
But they do not dream
No light upon them
But the sunset
On their backs.

Nirvana

A vision
A tree hangs against the sky
Branches stretch to oblivion
Dead, dead
Leaves red-gold float harmlessly
Across the air

The ground is filled with them
There are no green, no earth
It is covered
By these dry, dead leaves

As if suspended,
As if Time stood still,
As if the world waited
With bated breath,
The leaves flutter harmlessly,
Slowly,
To the ground

Kaleidoscope

Lights passing

In the Darkness

I watch from the window

They are little specks

In a dark, dark world

Dots that stretch

to Tiny Little Lines

As it moves

As it passes

From place to place

I remember

I remember a lot of things

The red-golden leaves

Suspended in mid-air

The sunshine

Burning my soul, clamoring for day

and the Warmth of Passion

The red golden leaves

and hands outstretched to reach them

The sky without clouds

The sun brilliant, unveiled

Dot.  Lines.  Dot.

I see the lights pass me

They are tiny little lines

Passing in the Dark.

Tableau

A place far away,

Mountains that stretch

To Heaven itself

Fields of endless green

The soft, crisp air,

filling your nostrils

Freezing your skin

A hue of yellow, green and white

A brief glimpse,

You cannot stay

The mountains

reach to the skies,

Where air is scant

And breath leaves you,

And the soul is taken

Watching now

from that fast-moving car

on a shaky railway train,

The mountains from far away

seem to pull you

Their majesty

Like judging gods,

before mortals in Elysium

(as those fields seemed to be)

We move, I move

but the land is endless

and suspended in time,

Untapped, untempered,

unhindered, untouched

I am locked in a prison

of this railway car

While my eyes are only solace

To touch the green and yellow

and the white

Of that place far away

Chuck Renewed!!!

A few days ago, NBC confirmed that the TV series Chuck had been renewed for one more season.    It’s also been a bittersweet celebration, as a short while later the writers confirmed that it was also going to be the last season.

Chuck is a TV series that appeals to every fantasy that every geek has out there.  The protagonist is a geek who gets cool Intersect computer powers, while going on long espionage adventures across the world and still being his fanboy self—each episode of the series has some pop-culture references, from Back to the Future to Star Wars to Die Hard.   He also gets the girl.

Chuck is also a TV series that is constantly in danger of cancellation—so every final episode of a season ends spectacularly, resolving all loose ends while keeping options open.  And die-hard fans (like yours truly) purchase from Subway—a principal sponsor—to try and save the show each season.

So while we wait for the final episode of the season, we also impatiently wait for details on that final hurrah that is Season 5.

Another great series, Supernatural, has been renewed for two seasons.   Check out a review of Season Six here.

“Tiger Blood” Kills Osama Bin Laden

Age of Terror: Killing Lawrence of Arabia

However, a few minutes ago, news has come that their spiritual leader, Osama bin Laden, had been killed by US troops.  This was not your run-of-the-mill Predator drone attack, but an actual ground operation.  He was the public face of 9-11; his broadcasts were aired continuously in defiance of American bombs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ..

Starcraft Tournament Players found to be North Korean agents

By Damien Winters, Friday April 1, 2011, 6:02 AM

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—In a State-sponsored press release Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il revealed that three North Korean agents had infiltrated recent Starcraft tournament in Seoul and had emerged as among the top rankers.

Hya Jong, Kim Eung-Sook and Park Chang Dok, the three agents, had been conditioned at an early age for deep infiltration to the South, and managed to embed themselves into South Korean society early on August 2006. From there, they managed to keep in close contact with an unnamed North Korean handler, who directly reported to the head of North Korean intelligence.

“It was a closely guarded secret”, our sources from the government explained. “We did not know this operation until a few hours ago.”

Eventually, the agents reported that they had successfully joined into one of the major Starcraft teams in Seoul, and between 2008-2009, correspondence between them and the nearest North Korean control station were frequently delayed by weeks.

Then, in 2010, Kim Eung-Sook, under the name silent_killer69, managed to reach second rank in the Blizzard tournament of that year. Earlier this year, in fact, he and Hya-Jong had reached the top ten rankers, and were scheduled for a match for separate teams later this month.

Why the North Korean leader chose to pull the three agents now in the middle of the tournament still bewilders many analysts. “Kim Jong-Il must have been rattled”, Stephen Brown, a South Korean political adviser, opines, “the Starcraft competition this year has been very tight, as we see many veteran players of years before choosing to stage a comeback.”

Meanwhile, the South Korean President has convened an emergency meeting with his Cabinet earlier today to discuss the implications of this breach in security. Sources explain that the North Koreans did try to plant similar agents as early as 2004, but that they were usually detected whenever they chose the Zerg race in tournaments and resorted to “newbie rushes” across the map.

“I wouldn’t have expected silent_killer69 to be a North Korean spy,” narrates one tournament competitor. “He was using Terran surgical strikes, a combination of Siege Tank-Marine-Medic advance, and aggressive economic building was uncharacteristic of how NKs usually play. I was really surprised when the news came out.”

Kim Jong-Il declared that the following Saturday would be held as an official holiday to honor the “heroes who have struck a blow to Western imperialism”. “And we will continued to prove to the world that we are stronger,” he concluded.

American analysts are now studying whether the North Koreans’ use of “nuclear strikes” in then game characterize a broader North Korean strategy in the future.

Seven Minutes to Midnight: The National Elections of 2010

What is important is that the election occurred.   And while our “national doomsday clock” has been set back, it is a fair enough thing to say that it has been set back at least seven minutes…

A LINE IN THE SAND: Edsa, Arroyo and the future of Philippine politics

Introduction–The Revolutionary Goal–The Nature of Revolution–The Revolutionary–The Life Cycle of Revolution–The Philippine Context–The Arroyo Government–Conclusion

Cheesy Idea for SNL sketch

Taylor Swift hosting Saturday Night Live on the Nov. 7 episode got me inspired with this bit of cheesy opening dialogue:

(she enters the stage, to the applaud of the audience)

Taylor: Thanks, thanks, you guys.  I’m Taylor Swift, and I’m hosting Saturday Night Live for tonight, and I’m really excited…

Tracy: (In comes Tracy Morgan) Hey, Taylor…  (Everybody turns to Tracy Morgan, with applause) I’m really happy for you and I’m a let you finish, but Chuck Norris was the best SNL host of all time!  (mimicking Kanye) Of all time!!

Taylor: Tracy… Chuck Norris didn’t host SNL, he never hosted SNL.

Tracy: So?  (sneaks away)

Taylor: (looks at him confused, regains composure)  I-I’m really excited to be here tonight… It’s my first time, and I…

Tracy: (sneaks from behind her)  Hey Taylor…

Taylor: Geez!

(At this point Tracy can appear in a Batman suit, making the scene more outrageous)

Tracy:  Hey Taylor, I’m really happy for you and I’ma let you finish… but Christian Bale is the greatest Batman of all time!  Of all time!!

Taylor: O-kay… (sees Tracy) Anyway, we’ve got a great show for you tonight, and we’ve got a lot of funny…

Tracy: (sneaks from behind her) Hey Taylor…

Taylor: Ughhh!  Will you let me finish?

Tracy: Yeah, Taylor, I’ma let you finish, but Chinese is the best take-out of all time!  (sneaks quietly away as Taylor glares)

(He can appear more times, possibly wearing or holding a prop that would make the scene more outrageous– in this case, he could wear a bunny suit and instead of talking about Chinese food, say that Nintendo is the best console of all time; “so why are you wearing a bunny suit?” To which Trace replies something deadpan, like “Yeah, I like it”)

Taylor: A-nyway, we’ve got a lot of funny stuff in store for you tonight… (sees Tracy near her) What, Tracy?

Tracy: Yeah, Taylor, uh… 30 Rock is the best comedy program of all time!

(Audience reacts.   Lorne Greene sneaks from behind Tracy Morgan)

Lorne: Tracy?

Tracy: (turns to him) Yeah?

Lorne: (grips him on the shoulders and slowly leads him away) Let’s have a little chat…

Tracy: About? (as he’s being led out) Tina Fey’s the best comedian of all time! (or something else more outrageous)

Taylor Swift then finishes the sketch with a “So stick around, we’ll be right back!”

(Taylor Swift’s lines could be a bit longer, and you could change Tracy Morgan’s lines with even more ridiculous boasts–”Rickrolling is the best Internet meme of all time!”–but that’s primarily the gist of the intro.   But it’s probably too cheesy.)