Cool Yule, Y'all!

I, your errant Aardvark, hope that you all had a delightful Christmas, and a fulsome Boxing Day tomorrow to you!

A Happy and Prosperous New Year as well!
---------------------
...And as the High Aardvark of Christmas, I hereby abolish the use of the term "cray-cray".
---------------------


---------------------
"I do not own the rights to this song."
Then why are you posting it online?
---------------------



----------------------
Why must you ruin burgers, pizzas and Philly cheesesteaks with Pretzel?
----------------------
Evangelical voters, if you go all one-issue and foul up the next election, it won't be because you love the Lord.
It will be because you're stupid.
----------------------
Supermarionation...IN HELL!!!



------------------------
The Lisa Frank dystopian vision: "(a) rainbow coated, sparkle laden, unicorn prancing fascist state".
Thanks, James Hatton. My mind's-eye burns, and I may never sleep again.
------------------------


--------------------
I cannot fathom the mindset that pits one set of evil-doing against another set of evil-doing, to make the second set somehow not-as-bad as the first set.
--------------------
It's STILL too soon for Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru jokes.
*snif*
--------------------
So we find that "FAIR" is a great and admirable concept.
...Until YOU are the one who needs to be fair.
--------------------
The Alabama airwaves are abuzz with talk of Gov. Bentley wanting an increase in state gasoline taxes. These are what fund road work, and we need MAJOR road and bridge-work in the state, so overall, I don't have a huge problem with it. Two things...turn Zeigler loose on ALDOT to find areas ripe for belt-tightening, and then....
Y' know the little signs all over AL secondary roads with a bike on 'em? They say "Share The Road". Fine. I'll be happy to share the road if THEY share the upkeep. Since bicyclists don't burn gasoline in their two-wheeler travels, they cannot help THAT way.
I therefore propose that over-the-road bicyclists pay an annual license fee on their bikes, which monies will go DIRECTLY into the State Highway Repair Fund (or whatever it is called). The license monies, beyond the running of the offices to sell the licenses, will go directly and ONLY to that highway upkeep fund.
You heard it here, first. If you share, share it in its entirety.
I'm a smarty every day.
-------------------
(17 December)
I will NOT be seeing "The Force Awakens" today. It is my decision. I am waiting until the "new" wears off, and I will not have to contend with a theater infested with people who have no clue as to theater etiquette and protocol.
They don't even speak Bocce.
If I chance upon a spoiler online, so be it. There are only a handful of plots, and I have seen them all.
-------------------
I await the cascade of unbelief as people huff and rant about the Syfy channel's "Childhood's End" teleflick. One fellow writes:
"Throughout, I sat in my chair utterly baffled; completely mystified why the Syfy Channel very clearly succumbed to the hackneyed, Hollywood/TV/Media obsession to change *SO MUCH* of the original story." (Jim N.)
I don't know why anyone should be surprised...

Syfy can't even spell their own genre.
--------------------
USPS.
Train your people.
Remove the mouth-breathing imbeciles.
We have received three international packages back because you sorted them to THE RETURN ADDRESS. These are printed USPS-type labels through Etsy. This is happening in Huntsville, NOT locally.

Good thing this crew wasn't working in "Miracle on 34th Street". The Santa mail would have been sent to Wedowee, AL.
----------------------
(13 December)
Okay, can we just stop with Christmas Presentism, and judging past generations for the gifts they gave and appreciated, based upon our Great Enlightened Opinions?
(See what I did there...?)
-----------------------
(11 December)
Apparently our Chinese takeout was constructed from road kill. Woke up WA-A-A-A-AY too early with...issues. Tummy is all queasy-like. Clearly a TERRISS attack upon my person. I must contact the Department of Homeland Gastronomy and have it, nay, ALL Chinese places shut down, because TERRISS.
Or, y'know, maybe I just won't go there again....
-----------------------
This is eminently satisfying:

http://www.slapkirk.com/

----------------------
Y'know, if we spent our time thinking it through rather than posting memes engineered to divide us, we might all be a lot better off.
Ju-u-u-u-st maybe....
-----------------------
I burned my Ouija board in high school.
I was so disappointed when it did not scream.
-----------------------
I believe that I want to do a series of videos reading books aloud. SHORT books. Short stories. Poetry. Like that.
Any suggestions? (I DO wish to avoid lawsuits....)

The humbug, swatted.

They're doing it wrong! Usually it's class envy and photos of riotous excess (beyond Black Friday hooliganism). Homeless people cold and hungry, because they aren't the other eleven months of the year.

I have not seen the standard media guilt-tripping this year. Not that I miss it, you understand...I just realised in the shower that a button had not been pushed yet. I await the other pointy elf-slipper to drop. We have two weeks to be told that economic disparity is EEEE-vil, and carols of peace toward men of good will are hypocritical in the extreme.

Of course I did see a picture of Mary and Joseph being turned away because they might be terrorists. That's allus a laff-riot!

If you can help a hungry person, a homeless person, a man with no shoes, a single mom needing groceries, and some Christmas joy for her kinder, make it so. Donate money or time to the local soup kitchen. As those bleeding hearts in "A Christmas Carol" said 

"(A) few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink and means of warmth.  We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices."

However you celebrate or no, consider those for whom you have been blessed in whatever measure you have been. No guilt, no pressure. Do as you will.

And the other eleven months as well.

Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays.

Blessed days to you all.

Orbital Mechanics

I dunno if I have shared this, but your Aardvark suffers from Short Attention-Span Relationship Disorder. This is NOT equivalent to Roving-Eye Disorder.

If someone is in my immediate orbit, all is well. Regular communication, jollity, a Good Time Is Had By All. If I move away, or, perish forbid, someone else moves away, they are dead to me, practically speaking. I am not describing a jerky "How DARE they leave me?" passive-aggressive response to abandonment, no, but rather a "you are not there to push my 'attend to me' button" response. When someone dies, then they are gone. Period. I do not mourn much, or well. It took over 48 years for me to actually mourn my Momma's demise.

I do in fact view this as pathological, and I have suspicions as to its genesis, but there it is. It bugs me, but I do not wish to feign what I do not feel; neither do I want to ignore them wot I wish to keep in touch wiv.

Please be patient with me. I'm trying.

(He soitainly is...!)

Miscellany

Just gonna say this to all the whiners about Art Bell.
When you have done what he has done, and established paranormal/UFO late night talk as a viable moneymaking format, then you can whinge. Otherwise, shut your pie holes.

--------------------
Art Bell has bailed amidst gunshots, fearful women, and a dreadful fanbase.
--------------------
I like Gravity Falls better than I like Doctor Who.
There. I said it.
--------------------
Apparently our Chinese takeout was constructed from road kill. Woke up WA-A-A-A-AY too early with...issues. Tummy is all queasy-like. Clearly a TERRISS attack upon my person. I must contact the Department of Homeland Gastronomy and have it, nay, ALL Chinese places shut down, because TERRISS.
Or, y'know, maybe I just won't go there again....
--------------------
Why exactly does each episode of Space:1999 feel like two-and-a-half hours?



--------------------------
Dear, dear meme-posting believers:
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7)
--------------------------
This, from C.H. Spurgeon's FB page.
All that, and he loved cigars, too!



--------------------------
Gravity Falls is just the best thing EVER.
Except for pie...maybe....
--------------------------
Y'know, if we spent our time thinking it through rather than posting memes engineered to divide us, we might all be a lot better off.
Ju-u-u-u-st maybe....
---------------------------
I burned my Ouija board in high school.
I was so disappointed when it did not scream.
---------------------------
I believe that I want to do a series of videos reading books aloud. SHORT books. Short stories. Poetry. Like that.
Any suggestions? (I DO wish to avoid lawsuits....)

Happy Sunday!

Flat Earthers, ahoy!

Someone PLEASE tell me that the whole flat-earth thing is an Onion-type gag.
Please.

------------------

REALLY??
The morning after the show aired in the UK, and you are blathering about key plot points?!
"Who" fandom...I'm done.

Thoughtless, selfish louts.

------------------

Noel and I discussed Needful Things to watch this Christmas (that means AFTER Thanksgiving, BTW).
It's a Wonderful Life
Scrooge (the '70s musical)
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
A Claymation Christmas

What are must-sees in your opinion?

-------------------

In other news...I want a SPECTRE wedding band.

-------------------

A reminder:
Passive Aggressive is not found in the list of the fruit of the Spirit.
Lesson learned: You cannot write reasonably in the face of polemic.

-------------------



-------------------

OK. Everyone who is accusing those of us with...concerns...over the importing of "refugees", most of whom are military-age men, not mothers wi' wee bairns, it's time to put up.
How many are you going to invite into your home? How many will you foster with your family?
When you do that, then I'll take your accusations of hypocrisy, and of not caring for my fellow man a little more seriously.

-------------------

Let me try it this way. It doesn't matter what group of needy we talk about..."refugees", homeless, veterans. You who would be the Arbiters of Charity and Goodwill, lead the way.

-------------------

All righty, then.
I have been thinking. It's OK. It's all good. Bring 'em in. Bring 'em ALL in. If everything goes ginger- peachy, well, I'll repent in dust and ashes and say "Boy! I sure had THAT one wrong.".
But if we become targets, and the beginning of the Caliphate West rears its head, well then, I will surely expect the same courtesies from you.

I believe in charity, and aid, and Helping the Other Guy. I also believe in looking out for my own people, my own nation.
I'm done.Bring on the next flail-fest.

-------------------

It doesn't matter if you are an ardent religious person, or an unbeliever, a conservative, or a progressive...
If you have to make up stories or events to support your "side", then you a liar, and the truth is not in you, nor in your issue du jour.
--------------------

All right people, just STOP slinging Matthew 25 around at people who are leery of bringing refugees of whatever stripe into the continental US. Jesus was teaching of the individual's responsibility to his neighbor (and Jesus was talking "neighbor", as in Year One...someone who lives close at hand; someone with whom you have to do.) He was not establishing National Public Policy, because, as He proclaims, "My Kingdom is not of this world.".
So stop casting Jesus as a Republican or Democrat, or suggesting that Jesus would Feel the Bern. The transformation He provides is first and foremost individual, personal. Through many individual redemptions, the society can ultimately be transformed, being filled with the redeemed.
Submit to His Lordship, or shut up. Outside of His Lordship, one has no part in His Kingdom, or the Gospel.

---------------------

Here is a picture I set up (directed?) at the Classic Movie Monstercon years ago.
Rather proud of this, really....



----------------------

Les Folies Terroriste

There is a category error, fueled by emotion. Because the term "refugee" is used does not make it so. That they come from the area and belief-system that has been the source of the terror attacks made so famous should raise an alarm to the thoughtful, but we aren't thinking, we are being guilt-tripped by people. Our President has refused aid to the Mid-Eastern Christians who are being slaughtered because there is no "religious test...that's not who we are!". Apparently there is a negative religious test, then.

If these people need help, then let us set up refugee camps OVER THERE in a neutral country, or on army bases. Why displace them to cultures that may alarm and confuse them?
Help them, yes. Just not over here. If there were only 200 out of 10,000 who turned out to be jihadis, well, that would be 200 terrorists we did not import, and the needy are still helped.
19 guys carried out 9/11. if the reports are correct. The latest Paris attack was what, carried out by fewer than 20? Only takes one suicide bomber to take out a crowd.
Think with your brains, not with other people's security-shaming.

I disagree.
NOTHING'S important on Tumblr.
ESPECIALLY if it's on Tumblr.
-----------------

Sometimes the Scotsman IS a phony.

-----------------

Just gonna put this here.
If you knowingly use an untruth to promulgate your point of view, be it political or otherwise, it means one thing:
You're a liar.

------------------

Who thought that this was a GOOD marketing idea?






--------------------
Doesn't "an advocate on the teacher's side" mean "someone who will raise taxes"?
Just trying to understand.

--------------------

Can we stop with the category error? Please?
The problem is not "Immigrants".
The problem is with ILLEGAL immigrants.

Stop lying.

--------------------

I do not care for George Noory, but the song tickles me.



--------------------

"Borders" ain't about books, kiddies...

Or perhaps they are.

The Great Libertarian Mantra (after All Things Mary Jane) is "Open Borders"
You know, national boundaries are just imaginary lines in the sand, which you Can't Even See From Space, so we should allow free entry and exit across these non-existent frontiers, because countries are just, you know, a state of mind.

Those with a thoughtful Biblical worldview (and no, that is not an oxymoron) may take instruction from the tower of Babel reportage, as well as from Paul's kindly talk with the philosophs at Areopagus in Acts 17.

²⁴ The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶ and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷ that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us..." (NASB)

Apparently, then, God Almighty has drawn the borderlines, and has so done for a Reason. The relative isolation brought by national bounds and identity are to encourage a seeking, not for a Babel-style monolithic Federation of Humankind (which God's musing reveals the power of):

“Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them." (Genesis 11, NASB)

Mankind would have sought to be their own God, and to prevent this, the Almighty fractured the population of Earth into different languages, and thus nation-states. The mindsets derived from the separate languages and national identities were to drive home the fact that man needs God, and that He was overwhelmingly compelled to engineer a redemptive scheme to bring us to  Himself. Babel would have made Mankind to be rival god before Yahweh, and this appears to be what the UN would style itself to be. The various conditions in the several nations then and now would serve to create a desire for reconciliation, and if there is corruption or despotism in that country, to encourage the people to seek His help and deliverance.

In today's "refugee"-laden scene, the porous non-borders have populations looking for the easy out, succor from another country, rather than seeking God in Christ, and working to transform their countries into places of liberty. Of course, the anaemic "gospel" being preached in these areas does not serve to do more than inculcate a private, personal "faith", rather than proclaiming a life-and-nation-transforming one. The true Gospel has quelled practises like slavery time and again, and can transform the vilest and most obstreperous regime.

Some thoughts.

I would welcome yours.

Mutterings from the mire

I'm feeling MUCH better, now! Thanks for the prayers and concern.

BTW, the "Goodbye dear friends" was addressed to the guilty treadless shoes. They are now mouldering in a landfill.

--------------------------
And why can't the GMO crowd produce something actually useful, like making lettuce that comes in large flat sheets for lo-carb wraps.
--------------------------
Dear Kraft-
Putting Philadelphia Cream Cheese in your mozzarella to make it "creamier",means one thing.
It's not mozzarella anymore.
--------------------------


---------------------------
What's on my mind?
Were the classic TV shows of my mis-spent yout' really THAT creative and well-done, or is it that our culture now is so derivative and bereft of any creative impulse?
Clearly there can be no third option.....
---------------------------
Have you ever actually LISTENED to the people who talk about the Flying Spaghetti Monster in public?
Like, at a con...?




---------------------------


Our latest Aardvark tour de force!
------------------------
Can we be adults and realise that everyone cannot have everything that they want?
------------------------
Dear, dear anthro costumers (see also: "furries")
Wearing a plush costume doth not a furry make. Shuffling stoop-shouldered is not portraying your costume character. If you are portraying a dog, you do not have to SMELL like one. There is a magical place called a "washing machine". There is also a magical place called a "shower".

Also, mindlessly squeaking a squeaker as you shuffle along is not Endearing. Neither is it Portraying a Character. It is instead Endlessly Annoying, and does little to increase love for your subset of fandom.

*NOTE* This is NOT a "kill it with fire" screed. I have friends who are furries, and who actually portray their characters and EMOTE with movement and gestures. They Act, and it is really neat to see, especially when young kids see them as stuffed toys Made Real, rather than running shrieking from a Shambling Horror. They may make limited use of a "ventriloquist" mouth buzzer, but it is not the whole of their schtick.
If you wish to indulge in this hobby, I encourage you to practise, read up on physical acting, perhaps *gasp* even miming.
And try the shower and laundry bit.

Getty Images

-----------------------

Taking joy in the misfortune of an enemy, or someone who merely disagrees with you politically, says little about them, but MUCH about you.

-----------------------

This is NOT the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.
Just STAHP!
-----------------------



Cogent.
Pithy.

-----------------------
That look when the sesame seeds fall off....
-----------------------

This wins the internet:
"Stop trying to make things better U.S. Government, you're like the Jar Jar Binks of Govts.
Stop."

(from Cody Brown)
-----------------------

Watched the first episode of the original THUNDERBIRDS series on Shout Factory TV. Their remastering is like getting hit in the face with Living Color. It is the cleanest, brightest I have ever seen, but without being garish.



Later, kiddies!

The pain...the PAIN....

I had no clew that I could do a split.

I was putting up coated screens in the darkroom/laundry area..."dark" being the operative word...by the light of a yellow CFL, and as I turned to head to the steps after completing my task, my left foot proceeded to move far outside the normal scope of my walking, as I hit a wet patch. My body, of course, followed, leaving my right foot behind. I made incoherent pained sounds that did not carry well, and so I had to lever myself up using the dryer. 

There are now feelings I have not felt, where I have never felt them. I await the morning to reveal what I have wrought, for I was wearing a favorite pair of shoes with no tread left, that I ONLY wear in dry places. I guess it's goodbye to you, dear friends.

Maybe I should bronze them....

A Con-tumely

Don't live in fear of being called A Name because what you believe goes against what Is Popular, when you know the name and accusation to be false. That will break your opposition's power over you.

-------------------------



----------------------------

The more cons I attend as a huckster/dealer/vendor, the more I see the pendulum swing. People with Real World business experience (read "life experience") chafing and rebelling against the SJW Empire, people (including female-type people!) who get what, for example, GamerGate was ACTUALLY about, a call for ethical gamer-industry journalism and reportage, not some fell Patriarchal conspiracy to Keep the Sisterhood Down.
The avalanche has started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

------------------------------

The idea that a President, Congressman or Senator should be a politician as part of his resume may be the most pellucidly stupid concept of our day, on the level of having Vienna sausages on toothpicks as hors d'oeuvres at a wedding reception.

-------------------------------

The most smug ad campaign:
United Way.
"I don't just WEAR the shirt...I LIVE it."

--------------------------------

Found on my Facebook feed:
"Happy Women's Equality Day, Weatherly!
On Aug 26, 1920, women achieved the right to vote in the US."


If that was equality, then what's all the kerfuffle about nowadays?

---------------------------------





------------------------------ 

I am now tasting the heat, not the meat.
Bye-bye propane and propane accessories.
CHARCOAL'S BACK TO STAY!!!

-------------------------------

Everybody makes fun, but it's a fact that NO-ONE died from a nuclear attack on America after "Duck and Cover" protocols were instituted.
Perhaps because the Soviets feared a nation that would "protect" its children in such a feckless way.



--------------------------------

This is what I'm talking about, kiddies. This fandom's need to smear itself on Every Other Fandom.
I despise Who-a-booing.




-------------------------------

Wait... so "Ashley Madison" WASN'T a fashion mail order website?

-------------------------------





TTFN, kiddies!

Anything But Jesus Department

I'll just put this here....

Epigramata

Does thinking that naming newly-discovered features on Pluto after pop-culture SF TV and movie stuff is lame make me a bad person?
We can't have run out of astronomers and physicists already.
----------------------

Zimbabwe's response to international badfeels by restricting hunting will have a typical result. Many safaris give the hide and meat to local tribes. This form of sustenance will now be limited, or cease all together.
Betcha the BBC won't whinge about THAT!
----------------------

JUST realised why Joel Osteen and his pastorette wife seemed so familiar.
Twenty years ago they would have been Amway Diamonds, exhorting the faithful at "Network Marketing" functions.
---------------------
"Cannon" is a projectile weapon.
It is also a fat detective.
"Canon" is The Proper, Accurate, Official Story-line.

Learn it.
Live it.
You don't have to love it. Just do it right.
---------------------

The experiment may be done this season. 14 tomato hornworms devastated the hydroponic tomato plants. Few leaves remain, and most of the tomatoes are well-gnawed.
However, I HAVE found NHK World online.
---------------------

If a picture is mounted on a hook on the wall, then it has been hung.
If a person has been suspended with a rope by the neck until dead, dead, dead, then he has been hanged.
---------------------

Everyone loves evolution, until THEIR favorite critter starts to go extinct.
--------------------
If you wish to add tartness to a comment or post, remember:
"Hell" is not spelled "He'll".
--------------------
 Just picked some ENORMOUS herb leaves from our garden. Composting must have given them a huge basil metabolism.
--------------------

I have the Blu-ray of Gerry Anderson's "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun". Started watching it Friday night.
It's the first time I have "gotten" Blu-ray. It's like a different movie.
--------------------
Does being utterly bored with All Things "Star Trek" make me a bad person? See also "Doctor Who".
--------------------

Ricky Gervais has a picture of a woman who allegedly shot a giraffe in Africa on a hunt.
One of the animal lovers commenting said "Yeah let's hunt her down instead.".
All the cognitive dissonance we have come to expect....
--------------------
Our homeschooling days....



---------------------
What do you think? (This is NOT an anti-Catholic screed. It is a glimpse at the damage of overexposure.)
I believe that television has effectively wrecked the Papacy as a force for good.
Back before the Pope had wall-to wall TV coverage (say, the early '60s and before) he remained a mysterious moral figure Over There, one who rarely spoke, but when he did, it was with authority and intelligence, and it affected the whole of Christendom, whether one subscribed to his church and preachments or not. His authority was moral, not based upon consensus nor polls. Now, though, we have the Cable Pope, the CNN/FOXNews/MSNBC Pope, the news cycle Pope, who must fill the ears of the Faithful (and the not-faithful) with politically-charged pronouncements. It's like Christmas every day. It is tiresome. It dilutes his effectiveness, this foaming cataract of sound-bites.

Constant commentary wearies a soul, and the current Pope, the Eco-Pope, the Relevant Pope, comments overmuch, because the news-critters hang upon and report his every utterance.
We need the occasional glittering moral gem, not an endless string of dollar store beads.
----------------------


----------------------
TRIGGER WARNING: Spiritual content. May induce swelling and hives.
This may be borrowed at will. (This is not related to the "angry 'Vark" post.)
----------------------
Theology, the Queen of the Sciences, is HARD. Understanding that reading Scripture follows the same rules of grammar and logic as reading Tolstoy or Tom Swift is HARD. Grammar and sense do not become magically squishy Because Religion.

If you are going to play in the Theology Sandbox, you may wish to understand the rules of your own game. The pronouncement "You don't go to church, so you're goin' ta Hell." may be satisfying to your religious pride, but remember how Jesus dealt with similar attitudes in the puffed-up Pharisees of his day. Also, realise that your "sola fides" belief is completely wiped away by that statement, because you have made the avoidance of hell dependent upon a work, "going to church". That is a heretical doctrine, and could put you in peril of the same destination, as might your pride-filled counsel.
This is why systematic theology is important.
---------------------

For anyone wishing to bother to check, there IS a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament (hence the "old" and "new"). A cursory glance would reveal that Old Testament law strictures are no longer binding upon followers of Christ, especially Gentiles (non-Jews). (Acts 15:1-31).
But if you want to continue to call Christians hypocrites for not stoning divorced persons, or for wearing poly-cotton, in the depths of your ignorance, you go right on ahead. Continue to appear as intelligent and informed as you are.
---------------------

At last I have been provided as good an epitaph as any I could wish, all things being equal.
"He made preachers laugh out loud."
---------------------

Tiki becoming more mainstream does not fill me with joy.

--------------------

Just remember.
In Washington-speak, a "cut" is usually just reducing the size of an increase. Calling it a "cut" just gets more arm-flails.
--------------------

Happy Sunday, Kiddies!

Bank on it, 'til you can't.

We had a lovely little relationship with Cadence Bank. This was after it was Superior Bank, which cemented my belief that if they have to tell you that it is "Superior" in the name, then it must not be. That was after it was Community Bank, which WAS a community bank, until it was taken over in a spate of interstate banking rapine.

Cadence seemed to march to a different drummer, and had a local branch in our little burg, next to the Pig shopping center.



Very convenient, until the local branch closed. Oh, well. Athens branch was only 15 miles away, and we go to Athens several times a week. All was well, until they closed the Athens branch. They said that they hoped having the closest branch in Madison was not an inconvenience (Madison being 30 miles away. Oh, no, no inconvenience at all. We maintained our Cadence account because of inertia, and Homeland Security, and not wanting the bother of setting up a new business account, and besides, it gave me an excuse to go to Sprouts in Madison once a week.

We finally opted to set up an account at the venerable Redstone Federal Credit Union, which dates from the dawn of the Space Age. We spent an hour setting it all up, and during the filling-out-of-things, the Dread Dormomoo, in whose name the business exists, declared that I was retired.

WOOHOO!

I had gone on a sort of sabbatical from the shop a couple of years ago, when Dealing With People became too much for me to handle. I have of course printed, done design work, stripped screens and such, but I effectively removed myself from being the front man, because I found that to be unbearable where custom jobs were concerned.

Retired. Fishing, building models, reading, writing....(The first is a nod to convention, as fishing is to me, work.) I am retired. At 58. I shall be the envy of my crowd. But soft, the truth is a mistress harsh. Since my emancipation from my métier, my time spent at the shop has multiplied. I have not worked as much in quite some time. Much third shifting done!

The moral: Be careful of what people say about you.

The Text Wall of China

Dear conservatives and Constitutionalists:

This has been an interesting week, in the Chinese sense. Many are kvetching that it is the end of our economy, others are whining "Come, Lord Jesus" over the preponderance of rainbows online (I hold firm with the prayer for the Lord's return, but not as whinging over political downturns. The hymn does NOT say "Whine Up O Men of God....). There is a vast cataract of bloviation on one side, and mean-spirited poor winners on the other.

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

What we have seen is a result of a vast stratagem, that of Wearing Down the Opposition. For close to fifty years, the homosexual lobby has worked tactical magic day-to-day, from making Christians look silly by ignoring Biblical context, to having VERY sympathetic and likeable characters on TV shows, to marching their brand constantly before the watching world.

They have lived and put forth supreme effort for their beliefs and lifestyle.

Because of this, 1.5-2% of the population has popularised what used to the sin that has no name by turning it to something akin to civic virtue, and by demanding not mere acceptance, no, but celebration and rights for what has never existed before in 5000 years of history, homosexual marriage being equivalent legally and socially to what Jesus defined as "a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife". (see, Jesus DID talk about it, too!) In doing that they also accrued a large base of supporters, because if you DON'T agree, they will call you made-up names in public. That would be uncool, and you would likely not be invited to the best parties.

How was this accomplished? By unflagging effort to reach the goal.

Dear conservatives, Christians, and Constitutionalists, they BELIEVED, then ACTED unyieldingly to accomplish their tasks. Were we as convinced in our own concerns, we would have stormed cities, state capitols, the very Capitol in D.C., and demanded that those who purport to represent us DO SO. Those who are treasonous would have been arrested, and we would have brought about a renascence of our Constitutional Republic. This is a truth I speak, and you had best hear it. Why did we not fill the streets of D.C.? Why did we not clog the halls of Congress with our demands? Were we so busy that we could not get away? Busy with what? Franklin said that the Founders gave us a Republic, if we could keep it. Was the second car, the bass boat, the vacation so important that we could not be BOTHERED to take back our country?

By all means, let us moan, weep, gnash our teeth, and NOW call on the Almighty to get us out of this mess. OUR mess, for had we the will our fellow citizens had for their interests, we would have won the day by sheer force of numbers. But no, social media, talk radio, "conservative news", all were enough, we thought, we hoped. Someone else will do the heavy lifting. Last year a retired Army guy tried to organise a peaceful siege of Washington D.C. Few could be bothered, and it fizzled.

"Maybe God is judging Amurrica!"  Stop blaming the Almighty for our own almighty sorriness. And as I point my finger of indignation, i am cognizant that three are aimed at me. Nothing short of a revolution will change things, now. I question if we are man enough to even begin to consider thinking about the possibility of debating the need to talk about forming a committee to establish the by-laws for drafting a plan such as we would need.

We have been weighed in the balance, and found sorely wanting. "How can he say this?"

Because we have repeatedly and overwhelmingly lost.

Here endeth the lesson.

Voyage to the Bottom of my Angst

Facebook, why did you put a "Planet Fitness" ad on my page?
YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL!!!!

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Dear e-card makers.
Squashing and stretching clipart and fonts to fit does not increase the whimsy or snarkiness of your product.
It just makes it look like you need your 12-year-old nephew to do your work for you.

Love,
The Aardvark

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Must break out my "The Rocketeer" and "The Wrath of Khan" soundtracks.
James Horner has left us.

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My brain-thinking came up with something terrible. Please to note:
I AM NOT ADVOCATING THIS!
When the Confederate flag is removed from the SC State House, will some genius get before a microphone and say "This makes the Charleston church deaths worth it!"?

While I am not a betting man, I think I know where my money would be. Symbolism ALWAYS over substance. And NEVER let a good tragedy go to waste.

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Just because I have recently used the term "sympathetic magic", and discussed the paranormal, does not mean that I have changed teams.

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When a politician says "the only way", there are likely 437 other valid ways.

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I long to beat Oscar Wilde at the pithy aphorism game. Of course, Oscar Wilde was a hack, a culture whore. Google for Oscar Wilde quotes.

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative."

He used a Pithy Quote Generator TM .

Blank is the blank blank of the blank.

Nowadays he would write Star Wars novels.

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Environmentalists and animal rights activists seem to come from Planet Four-Year-Old.
Recently, on two continents, supporters of elephants and rhinos burned rhino horns and tusks confiscated from poachers. Beyond making the death of those noble beasts thereby meaningless, what is the downside to this fiery tantrum? Anyone...?
...Bueller?

You there...Susie in the front row, waving your arm wildly!
What? Why YES! The do-gooders have caused the value of rhino horn and ivory to increase, thereby giving the poachers increased incentive to kill the beasts and steal the valuable bits. Reduce supply, and the value of what remains goes UP!
Yes, Tommy, that IS what killed the comic-book industry in the '90s.
Can anyone offer alternatives to incentivising the poachers with greater profits?

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"Slab pie" sounds SO much better than "dump cake".
Saw BOTH of those dreadful recipe books at Dollar General: "Dump Cakes" and "Dump Dinners". That establishes the level of the cuisine quite handily.

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I'm not a "woo woo" guy, but I was talking with a friend in an old building that he uses, just visiting, when I felt the precise feeling, movement and pressure of a cat rubbing against my right leg. I immediately looked down, and nothing was there. It was not a muscle tremor or anything like that. I do not believe in "Aunt Maude waiting to pass over" and stuff like that, but I DO believe that as there are critters in the woods that are part of the physical ecology, there are also "critters" in the spiritual ecology as well, that perform whatever service they exist for, just as natural creatures do. The ancients may have seen or felt them, and superstitiously worshiped them as nature spirits. I do not speak of angels or demons, here, but of the lesser "airish beasts" that Chaucer referred to.

In short, I may have had an encounter with the local wildlife.

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Just realised that Michael Savage reminds me of the Evil Movie Producer in "The Wizard of Speed and Time".

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The Gospel of Jesus is the surest road away from living as a victim.
Worked for me.

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If you want to truly leave an historical legacy, get a 35mm camera, and start taking B&W film images. I am of the opinion that color gets in the way of the image (and in movies, the story).

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STOP with the "dark heart of America" stuff, Esquire magazine. We do NOT need to "talk about it". For the past decade we have talked about little else, or at least we have been talked AT about it. I do not have this "dark heart", and I am an American, yea, an American with firearms. I have killed no one, frankly, have only ever considered two targets in my lifetime, and they were evil abusers of kin of mine. Even with such provocation, I killed no one.
I have guns, and I have killed no one.

I WILL NOT own the savagery and insanity of the demonised man who killed nine church attendees in Charleston. His jacket in one picture had a Rhodesian flag, and the apartheit flag. Not normal fashion gear. He acted from his hate, and from his violent nature.
No one else did. He stands alone in his guilt. America is not guilty for this. Even the asses' heads who have beat the drum of racial divide and anger are not guilty of THIS crime.
Only the man. Ecce homo.

The Hivening

From Saturday:

We are splitting a hive, late in the season, and the thought of exposing and handling 50,000 nervous bees is a tad daunting. Smoker at the ready.

As a wild ass in the desert go I forth to my work...
The honey must flow!!

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The Hivening is done! Nary a sting! LOTS of bees!
I had apparently neglected the poor dears. Overbuilding of honey cells. Had I had a super on, we might have had an actual harvest. As it stands, we had to trim some comb off. Honey-filled comb.
Poor us.

We put four brood frames into the new hive, and six empty ones, for growing room. Put 4 new frames in the older hive.
If anyone sees a flaw in my logic and practise, feel free to message me.
We brought the scrapings in, and got a couple of spoons to taste the bees' wares.
Eye-rollingly fantastic. We tasted the honey...smooth, light flavor, no throat-burning like many honeys.
We immediately went out to the hives to thank them, bless them and pray for their continued fruitfulness. I have a very St. Francis relationship with my bees. I love the little things. If not for their apiary stewardship, there would be few, and hungry humans on our world. The weak, the small, granted such responsibility for good.
Seems a parable, yes?

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The honeycomb we trimmed from the hive wound up having eight bees in it. Herself rescued seven and returned them to the hive. Number eight had buzzed its last. I had a fatality last night whilst tending the li'l darlin's. A worker landed on my right leather glove, and took umbrage at the fashion statement. I watched her sting and then pull away, leaving stinger and a small trail of her inwards on my glove. I felt bad for her. But she died protecting The Hive. For Queen and Country! Brave little thing.

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The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen.
Our new queen is not merely pining...she is pushin' up the daisies.
This is an ex-queen bee.

Must acquire a replacement pronto.

Oddments from the Battlements

I hear he is running on the Democrat ticket against Hillary and Bernie.

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ONOES! Hunters killing animals!!
Top of the food chain. Deal with it.
Wolf or rabbit. The choice is yours.
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This makes me so happy, says the man who until recently ALWAYS slept under the covers!



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Spelling bee coverage is more gripping then televised golf.
Except for the clapping.

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I believe that I shall announce my candidacy for the President of the United States of America.
I could do with a colonoscopy, and this seems as good a way as any.



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...on a Crisp Ritz Cracker!
Mmmmmmm...MM!

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The Waffle House hash browns menu options sound like a Mob hit:
scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped, topped.


-------------------------That moment when you know that you concern yourself too much with typography:

I got an email from Grand Rapids Comic-Con. I ACTUALLY saw "Grand Rapids Comic Sans".

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Did I ever share this thing I did?



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Teletubbies 1984:




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My latest, in celebration of Thunderbirds 50th anniversary!




Tatty-bye!

Your Fandom REALLY Annoys Me!

Spent the weekend with the Dread Dormomoo in Atlanta, at TIMEGATE, a con that reminded me of why I do not do SF cons anymore. It was originally a Doctor Who and Stargate fan con, but now The Doctor has shut everything else out,  which is the way of WHO-fandom. As much as I have enjoyed the Doctor in his various regenerations, Who-fandom quickly quells that joy, rendering it into dust and ashes, because the fandom cannot be content with itself; no, it must smear itself on every OTHER fan-thing as well.  Star Trek may not exist alone, no...we must materialise a TARDIS on the shuttlecraft deck. There is a shirt of a Stargate...with a TARDIS in it. There is a strong "WhoLock" fan presence, and well, the "SuperWhoLock" fandoms plumb the depths of "One of these things is NOT like the others.".

It is a peculiarity of the Who fandom that that EVERYTHING else must be painted or flavored by The Doctor and his adventures.

I await Fifty Shades of TARDIS Blue....

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That said, here is my next shirt design: