Halloween Party

Frankie'nBonnie welcome you to an evening you will not soon forget.



Naturally, awards were given. Most dysfunctional was a tie.



Electricity. Most electric was no surprise to AOL fans.





Transvesticism. The winner of best crossdresser was a surprise. The expected winner has thrown his wig away.




Aeroprimate"Why are monkeys flying out of my husband's butt?"

fysdunctional.Miss Diagnosed should have gotten a second opinion.





Hairdresser. You wondered how the highlights would come out.

Kyle

Whatyoudontknow.The other night, I was getting ready to go out, and decided to give the email a check. I found this:

Anyway, I am writing to let you know that Kyle died of lung cancer earlier this week. The obit was in todays paper. I think the funeral is tomorrow. He had undergone only one chemo treatment. He was upgraded a few weeks ago to have a chance. Sorry, but this is all I know. Thought I should tell you.

Kyle Jarrell was from West Virginia. After a visit with the Air Force, he settled in Atlanta. This was in the late 60's. He had many stories about the nightlife he found.
He got a job as a draftsman with an engineering firm, and did that for many years. Along the way he got married and bought a house in Stone Mountain. After the draftsman job ended, he did several things, before winding up as my co worker.
At "Ammonia Blueprint" we print construction documents. Kyle operated one machine, I operated the other. There was a lot of cooperation and teamwork involved. Kyle was a team player.
Both our machines had strengths and weaknesses, and we learned how exploit the strengths and work around the weaknesses. After a while it was almost automatic.
Kyle was an excellent person to work with. He was quiet, diligent, careful, and hard working. He did not make trouble.
With his engineering background, he was fun to have around. I would notice things about jobs, and Kyle was an appreciative audience for my observations.
Yes, he was an enthusiastic smoker. This was always outside, so I was not directly involved. I do regret that it took some time off his life.
Every morning, I would leave the train station to start my walk down West Peachtree Street to the job. Kyle would be on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette. I would say hello, he would say hello, and I continued to walk. We were going to spend all day together.
You don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone.

Listening

Profundity
I read something the other day that struck me as very profound.
The difference between prayer and meditation is simple.
Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is listening to God.
Listening is not respected in our society. People like to talk, often at the gross exclusion of others who are not as loud or persistent.
Wouldn't it be great if people were proud of their ability to listen, rather than boastful of the clever things they say?
You have two ears, and one mouth. Maybe you should listen twice and speak once.
It is often said that people need to talk more. Could it be that there is too much talk already and that people need to listen more?

TalkTalkTalk, Could this same analogy be extended to singing and dancing? Song is the active, verbal, talking part that compares to prayer. Dance is the more reactive, non verbal practice which could compare to meditation. While this is an imperfect analogy, there are similar points to be made.
Could a yin/yang comparison be made? Is prayer the active yang, while meditation the passive yin?
I read this somewhere on the Internet. I was too slack to "save" the page the statement was on. Therefore, I am unable to give credit for this idea. Suffice to say it is not original.

what you say

Beelzebubba
"What you say about me is a reflection on yourself"
I was once called the devil by an abusive Jesus worshipper. I returned with " I am not the devil". It degenerated into a nasty shouting match, which is what the (drunken?) J.W. wanted all along. Oh, if I only had the wisdom to coolly respond with "What you say about me is a reflection on yourself".
I heard that Friday morning during a radio interview with Deepak Chopra. While promoting a book, he appeared on "Denny Radio" a local talk radio show. Denny was very rude to him, interrupted him constantly, called him a whack job (hence the quote) and made a point of telling everyone that Jesus was his lord and savior. Dr. Chopra kept his cool, and was impressive.



correspondence
I sent this letter:
Denny
I would like to thank you for having Deepak Chopra on your show. His grace in the face of your rudeness and name calling was very impressive.
The way you interrupted and insulted him speaks volumes about Jesus Worship. I heard how you had to sneak in before the break that Jesus was your Lord and Savior. Did anyone ask?
Why are Jesus Worshippers so rude?
You quoted Jesus as saying " I am the way the truth and the light. No one can come to the father but through me" There is a bit of controversy as to whether or not Jesus really said that. I would hope he did not, because that makes him look like a raving egomaniac who cannot be trusted.
Of course, with believers like you telling me about Jesus, I am not going to be following him anytime soon.
I listed to your show quite a bit. You are not as obnoxious as Neal Boortz or as annoying as Laura Ingraham.
I heard a rant by you Thursday where you said something about not leaving Iraq, and wound up screaming congratulations at Al Queda for 9-11.
I made a comment about your show on my blog a few months ago. Go here to see it.
Cam Mckinnon



Ifnotforthehonor
Saturday, I was banned from Pyromaniacs. If you would like to see the thread that got me booted, go here Of course the comment I made which got me booted was deleted. It is included in this letter to the big dog blogger:
It is your blog. You have the right to ban me if you like.
However, you might want to know the exact words I said...

"That's right Michael: the things you demand and expect of others which you yourself do not do "-
Gee, Scent, this sounds like some of the things you have said about me.
"Be warned: you're on the edge of getting bleeped here. "
Good Grief.
Soon it will be time to talk about Santa Claus. Ho Ho Ho."

Now, that is hardly lawsuit material. Good Grief is not considered profanity.
I have looked through the google page.
As for the comment about CandyinSierras, I sent her an email explaining my position, and received a very nice reply.
I might add that I was the only person that day to say that hard core preaching at funerals is not appreciated by everyone. This is a sore subject with me, and one which creates a lot of ill will for Jesus.
I also see you mentioning my discussion about copyrights and credits... a serious question, which was well recieved by you.
There is also a fracas about McDonalds, where I was clearly wrong and quickly apologized.
I supported your criticism of gambling.
And so it goes. I admit that sometime I am setting fires, but this is "Pyromaniacs". Other times I have had serious concerns, and seem to be the only non believer in the house saying obvious (to me) things.
"a full-time gadfly who will badmouth every other post we make, by complaining about our "tone" or "attitude"—preferably framing the criticism with a nasty tone and bad attitude—without really interacting with the actual point under discussion."
I saw 16 references on the google page. There have been hundreds of posts in that time frame.
I didn't know I was that important.
I should add that you should pay my successor in this job better than I.
Of course, you are well within your rights to do this. I would request, however, that you NOT pray for me. Over the years, in disputes with Jesus worshippers, I have heard that many times. It always has a nasty sound. And when you consider the nasty childish tone of many of these disputes with Frank Turk... while admitting that I deserve some of the blame...for you to say "praying for you to have your eyes opened to the glories of Christ and His power to redeem sinners." has a very hollow sound.
Maybe you should pray for Frank Turk.


sabbathmegaverbiage
Today, pyro posted this essay on the subject of banning commenters. Strangely enough, it deals with technical doctrinal disputes, and ignores the issue of personality conflicts. My problem with pyromaniacs is a personality conflict.
"he's an anti-Christian who has been trying for a very long time to get himself banned"
"What you say about me is a reflection on yourself"
Now, I am going to miss matching wits with Frank Turk. It is fun to have a little feel good squabble with someone you don't have to listen to, or see the hate in his eyes. (Unlike an abusive co worker or family member) Other than that, I don't feel too badly . Pyro is saying more about themselves, and about Jesus, than they are about me.
There is the irony of someone who writes hateful things, and signs them “Grace and Peace to You”. Grace is like teenage boys; those who talk the most do the least.
"I won't let your absence stop me praying for you to have your eyes opened to the glories of Christ and His power to redeem sinners"
Now, dragging Jesus into a personality dispute is in bad taste. This was a major problem with the Professional Jesus Worshipper I used to work with, and caused me to have a feeling of disgust for him and for Jesus. While the Pyro business is less painful, it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
Just don’t say you are going to pray for me.


Perspective
This morning I talked on the phone with a high school friend of mine. After discussing the mess of Iraq and the hilarity of mark foley, we got around to mutual friends.
There is a person who I knew, and was a close friend of Steve's. He made a fortune in real estate and retired. A few months ago, Steve mentioned that our friend had built his own airplane.
Today, I learned about the fatal consequences of that hobby.
I was tweaking the start of this essay, and saw where I wrote " hence the quote". I flashed back to a scene in English 101, where the pilot had impressed our instructor by using the word "hence" in a paper. That teacher was the kind where you remember, verbatim, things she said 35 years ago. (“The best way to win an argument is to use statistics, and the best way to get statistics is to make them up"). I looked forward to the day when I could get together with the pilot and discuss her.

shirley and margie

Talkstoomuch
The following is a letter I sent to talk radio gabber Mike Gallagher. He recently introduced Ann Coulter at a fundraising dinner here for the Christian Coalition.

Mark,
I listened to part of your show today. ( I am a local delivery driver and can only hear bits and pieces)
You were talking about democrat sex scandals, as a way of excusing the mark foley fiasco.
1- Multiple democrat wrongs do not make a republican right. Even if Ted Kennedy is involved.
Of course, if abortion had been legal in 1969, Miss Kopechne might be alive today.
2- The more you talk about this the longer the issue will be in the public eye. He who excuses himself accuses himself. When you talk about the demo sexcapades, people will know that you are really talking about mark foley.
3- Maybe it is the repubs who want to talk about this instead of the issues. After all, the war is a disaster, the budget deficit is out of control, and our nation is not safer today than it was before 9 11...as I believe I heard you say today ( excuse me if it was someone else on the "whine sampling" Sometimes I have a tough time telling y'all apart. You are at an advantage though, because the only other political talker on in Atlanta at your time is rush druggie limbaugh)( or is that lush ruggie dimbaugh?)
4- I listened to a few minutes of the Phelps sisters last week. I was grateful to be kept working inside for most of that hour, and was not tempted to listen to more.
Shirley and Margie are not to be confused with surely goodness and mercy.
5- Was it you or Medved who was recently whining about the lack of decency in everyday life? Whichever it was, the station in Atlanta that carries both of you regularly has ads for herbal remedies that "improve sexual performance."
Too bad they couldn't have played one of those ads when Shirly and Margie were on. But then, they may have. I feel certain that you have little control over the ads the local stations carry.
6- I am going to post this on my blog, http://www.chamblee54.blogspot.com/.

no accident

There are times when the only appropriate response is to shout a few cusswords and turn the radio off. It is best not to have an accident if you do this while driving.
One such moment was this morning. On the radio was a syndicated local, whose first name rhymes with squeal. Our host was interviewing the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. (If he were to go into the ministry, he could be Pastor Hastert.) Squeal asked the Speaker if it was fair to harass Mark Foley, after the Gary Studds affair. That is not an exact quote and there may have been something about fairness in the mix. Of course, fair is a baseball hit between first and third base.
Of course, there are a few differences in the two incidents. The congressman from Massachusetts with the porn star name met his boyfriend/page in 1983. That was 23 years ago. Since then, we have the internet, the symbiotic use of "Christian Conservatives" by the Republican party, a few trillion added to the national debt (which was still in the billions in 1983), The Contract on America, Fox news, , a president impeached.... the list goes on and on.The world is different today. I dare say Mr. Studds would not be getting an easy ride today The big thing is the cynical attempt by the Gross Old Pervert party to position itself as the watchdogs of America's moral well being...all while promoting a war in Iraq. The fact that Mr. Foley had an entertaining cyber trail didn't help his cause either.

Defoliation.Isn't Defoliate something we did in Vietnam? I believe it involved dumping chemicals on a jungle to clear the leaf cover, and allow us to see the enemy troops underneath. I believe that is what Agent Orange was used for. Of course, now congress has be de-foley-ated.


Conspiracies. Bob Woodward was on the airwaves the past few days hawking a book called "State of Denial". (Mr. Foley is from Florida, which may well be the State of Denial). Back to Mr. Woodward. Could it be that the White House leaked the IM to the press, to take attention away from what a disaster the war has become?
Of course, this is going to hurt the repugnant party. Why would W do something this dimwitted? Just remember that this is the same President who did not anticipate the insurgency, who thought our conquering army would be greeted as liberators.



AntiCatholic. Why are commenters assuming that the clergyman who molested Mr. Foley was a priest?

no cigar

Hypocrisy is so much fun to write about.
I don't even know where to begin on the Mark Foley drama.
The talk radio gasbags have been atwitter today. Now, when it was President Cigar and his intern, they spoke of little else for an entire year. But this is different. Mr. Foley is a Republican, a member of the G.O.P. (Gross old perverts). The a.m. radio gasbags had a private meeting in the oval office with W a couple of weeks ago, and are fired up in their support of the President , his morally bankrupt party, and World War W. So, today you heard a lot about the adventures about Bill Clinton, Barney Frank, and Gary Studds. I suppose four wrongs make one right, but I am not a moral statistician.
Well, there is a difference here. As Timothy Noah noted in Slate"Foley was chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children. "For too long our nation has tracked library books better than it has sex offenders," Foley declaimed when the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which he helped write, passed in July. "That day is coming to an end."
Of course, we now know that, to him, this means:
Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out
Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:54 PM): brb...my mom is yelling
Maf54 (8:11:06 PM): ok


For the best transcript I have seen so far of this I.M., go here.
One other difference between Mr. Foley , Mr. Studds and Mr. Frank is the star quality of his name. Mark Foley is just not a very interesting name. Gary Studds sounds like a porno star. And Barney Frank...it is as if the cartoon character converted to Judaism. How do you circumcise a Purple Dinosaur?

Another difference between MAF54 and Gary Barney and Bill is that the demopervs did not have a fun filled i.m. leak out. For sheer entertainment value, this document is tough to top. Some of these lines will live on for years:
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:32 PM): its kinda weird
Xxxxxxxxx (8:02:50 PM): but along with that I like the whole catholic girl look....thats our schools uniform
-----------
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:53 PM): well i better go finish my hw...i just found out from a friend that i have to finish reading and notating a book for AP english
Maf54 signed off at 8:17:43 PM.