Month: November 2003

Our 6th Anniversary

Saturday the 29th was our sixth wedding anniversary. It was pretty low key in general. Our big outting was to go to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant.

The night there started a bit rocky. We had reservations for 9:30 but didn’t get seated until after 10:00. Then they gave us drinking water in dirty glasses. Ugh. At that point, we were getting quite disappointed. We called for the manager and told him about it. He promised to turn things around right away, and he did.

A four-course dinner is at least a two hour experience. Our waiter did a great job and the food was outstanding. Honeybun absolutely loved the desert: a chocolate sauce to dip bananas, strawberries, and cakes.

The surprise of the night was when we got the bill. The manager covered the dinner. We paid only a few bucks for the drinks (and of course a nice tip).

So, if there is a one near you and you have a special night coming up, go to The Melting Pot.

Thanksgiving a celebration of faith?

Capitalism Magazine published an article they summarized as follows:
Summary: Thanksgiving, a uniquely American holiday, celebrates man’s productive ability. It is not a day of national guilt or a religious festival. This holiday is designed to celebrate, not faith and charity, but thought and production.

To say that Thanksgiving is not about faith or charity is to ignore the obvious. The name of the holiday inherently has religious implications. After all the Puritans we call The Pilgrims did not give thanks to man’s productive ability but to God. In fact, Governor Bradford declared the pilgrims second day of Thanksgiving in 1623 because of an answer to prayer. The pilgrims had been through a severe drought and gathered to pray for ran – rain fell the following day.

This last week The History Channel ran a program on the history of Thanksgiving. The program described how the earliest Thanksgiving observances started in New England (of course commemorating the Pilgrims first Thanksgiving). Back to its earliest roots before President Lincoln declared in a holiday, Thanksgiving observances had a strong connection to charity.

The article claims that it is an insult to hard working people to believe in God’s blessings. That view ignores that our we do not control everything that happens to us (though we are responsible for how we react to it). Christians ascribe some of those things as blessings from God. Our hard work from those blessing results in bounty such as Thanksgiving feasts.

Its amazing that someone would be able to ignore the facts and say that Thanksgiving is not a celebration of faith or charity. It is significant that this uniquely American holiday has such strong roots as a celebration of faith and expressions of charity.

My Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we will spend at home with family and friends. Honeybun has done a wonderful job of planning, cleaning, and preparing for about 10 other guests.

We’ll be having a wonderful dinner of turkey, ham, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, bread rolls, and all kinds of pies & even cheesecake.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving

It should be a Happy Thanksgiving

Since 1970 Native American activists have designated Thanksgiving Day as a national day of mourning. In an online article date 7/14/98, Russell Peters – President of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council – said, “It was not appropriate for the native people to feast in thanksgiving; instead we decided to fast and show by contrast our way of remembering our history.”

It’s sad that a man who enjoys the freedoms and blessings of the richest, most powerful nation on Earth can think of nothing to be thankful for on this holiday and must mourn the loss of a culture he never knew.

When people criticize events such as the national day of mourning as being part of anti-American movement, there is reason to believe they are right. Strangely enough, it is Mr. Peters himself who confirms it:
“In recent years, [the National Day of Mourning has] been orchestrated by a group calling themselves the United American Indians of New England. This group has tenuous ties to any of the local tribes, and is composed primarily of non-Indians. (emphasis added).

Higher education isn’t educational

One of the employee’s I supervise is attending school at Metropolitan State College of Denver – locally referred to as Denver Metro.

She is a biology major but is required to take a history course as a general education requirement. The course she is taking is called American Civilization. The course description of the class says, “American Civilization is an entry-level American history course designed to trace the roots of contemporary America.”

Sounds like a good course and its intents probably are. Unfortunately, professors have their own agendas. The instructor of this class assigned Michael Moore’s book “Downsize This“. Michael Moore is as liberal as they come. The idea that his book is a “text book” is laughable. Not only is it biased, I really can’t find a meaningful connection between a course on American History and a criticism of corporate America.

If that isn’t bad enough, the student told me today that her classed was canceled so they could complete an assignment to – get this – go find a tree, sit next to it and get in touch with herself.

Really, a history class has turned into an indoctrination of New Age spirituality.

What to do for fun

Board games have made a resurgence. Last month Hasbro declared larger than expected earnings because of increased sales in board and card games. Overall, game sales increased 84 percent in 2003. Unplugged entertainment seems to do well in recessionary times.

Last year, the 20th anniversary Trivial Pursuit game was the best selling game of the year. Cranium is also a top seller. So, just in time for Christmas, here is a list of Jason’s recommendations:

Cranium – Great variety game. All our friends like it.
Remote Possibilities – also a fun party game because I’m great at it.
Kill Doctor Lucky – a fun “pre-mystery” game. Like Clue but you committ the murder. More fun than murder sounds…and cheap too.
The Very Clever Pipe Game – Another Cheapass Game. Play cards to connect section of pipes. A quick fun strategy game.
Dungeons & Dragons – Yes, it’s a roleplaying game. You need about 4 other people to play it. Find some normal people interested in Lord of the Rings type adventures and you’ll have some fun.
Pocket Farkel – a quick dice game. All about luck and guts. Very addictive.
Empire Builder – a train game. You have to build your track and deliver goods across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The game board changes everytime.

These are games that my family enjoys. So turn off the TV and Playstation II for a while and enjoy the company of your family and friends.

But I don’t feel jingoistic

Tom Brokaw accepted an award from the National Press Club on Wednesday for being on TV for a long time to read news stories written by other reporters.

During his speech he said, “Radio stations have become instantly jingoistic and savagely critical of any questions raised about the decisions leading up to, for example, the war on Iraq…motivated not by ideological or intellectual passions, but instead by the raw commercial possibilities of creating mob mentality.”

The old, they-really-don’t-believe-their-views argument. By extension, we can only believe those with sincere views are the major network news hosts. To me, it sounds like someone is upset with sinking ratings as viewers continue the abandon old oligopoly media. The blogging revolution is only the continuance of what started with talk radio. We are tired of information being controlled by the likes of Tom Brokaw.

Heroes

Rush Limbaugh returned to hosting his radio show yesterday after completing a 5 week drug rehabilitation program.

Today a judge refused to dimiss obstruction of justice and insider trading against Martha Stewart. Her trial is expected to start in January.

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was searched by police today, apparently related to new allegations of child molestation.

All three have legions of devoted fans. They all have their flaws. They all show that people only have farther to fall when you put them on a pedestal.