No NOT REALLY…

Angie has a spanking new wordpress blog going at Sweet Bippy, and I’ve re-engineered RandomCommands to WP sweetness (after struggling bravely with Joomla...)

Misplaced Keys will stick around (because, both RC and SB run off the MK account at the awesomeness that is Hosting Matters Not sure what I’ll do with this place, or what topics it will focus on.  Expression Engine has a log of neat ways to customize the content, and can feed other parts of the MK universe of blogs…

Also check out Matt’s Blogospeer another member of the MK universe, though in a separate account, up and running under his command.  I feel like Captian Jack, letting his first looie take the prize ship at the end of Master & Commander.  Well without the whole French Captian faking me out…

Any whooo.. teh blogging continues, just in different places… just a link away.. update you favorites or your blogrolls.

Peace.

I’ve been building a new site and it is up (sort of) at randomcommands.com

It is running off of a Joomla backend, and does things a bit differently.

I’ll probably have both of these sites running, but don’t know how I’ll segment what I post where.

[irritating geekspeak follows]
Joomla is pretty interesting software, I’m running the 1.0 stable version (I think 1.0.10) and looking forward to seeing how different 1.5 is…

Nice thing is it is OpenSource, so I can use the same back end on several sites, without having to pay extra license fees for buying a copy of Expression Engine, or paying annual maintenance fees, etc…

I still like Expression Engine, but not sure I’ll keep my maintenance current.

Brian Williams is a dope.  AllahPunditIan at HotAir posted a video grab sound bite of Brian Williams on Chris Matthew’s show.  Watch it, and read his soundbite. 

The money shot:

always tell people there are guys on our team like that, too. They’re called Army Rangers and Navy Seals and the Special Forces folks and the first responders on 9/11 who went into those buildings knowing, by the way, they weren’t going to come out. So we have players like that on our team.

Which is why I don’t watch NBC Nightly News, and have sworn off MSNBC.

The guys on our team, for Mr. Williams benefit, don’t grab a c-4 belt, strap it to their waist and walk into a disco and boogie.  The guys on our team, go into a combat situation fully trained and expecting to come home to their familes, and should they die, they expect their comrades to bring them back with them.  To our team, the motto is no one left behind.

Their team is more than willing to mold explosives to the bottom of a sport’s drink, and blow up planes in a manner to invoke fear and terror in normal citizen’s lives.  Our team takes strides to limit the amount of civilian casualities.  Their team fires indiscriminate rockets, or unreliable IEDs into crowds and civilian population centers.  Our team will sacrifice themselves to preserve life.  Their team sacrifices their lives to take more lives. 

There isn’t a line.  There isn’t any moral equivalence between their team and our team.  Mr. Williams isn’t helping us in spouting this blather… and who the hell gave him the right to ‘always tell people’.  Please NBC, don’t let this guy out in public.

As we’ve nursed Sadie through healing from her unnessesary spay procedure (a whole huge big can of worms, that has nothing to do with what I want to talk about...) we had the opportunity to watch re-runs of Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, on the National Geographic Channel.  We’ve watched a number of episodes thanks to buying a dog just before NGC decides to run a week worth of Dog Whisperer programs, and so we’ve seen a variety of cases, and become fans of Cesar.

His mantra, if a dog pyschologist can have one, is for the owner to project a ‘calm and assertive’ attitude to the dog.  That the dog must understand his place in the ‘pack’, and that dogs are dogs and humans are humans.  All good advice.  He has a great charisma, and a strong confident air about him.  The tag-line before the show Cesar says, “I rehabilitate dogs, and trraaain people.” (Emphasis in his voice) He figures most of the behavioral problems with dogs stem from people’s attitudes and habits they’ve formed around a dog. 

I figure there are principles of dog behavior that are good metaphors for people behavior, and even more dog training done right has some good principles in living a life submitted to God and in relationship to God.

For instance, last night there was an owner of a Chiuauah that initially bought the dog for her son, and the dog had become a very dominant, protective dog, that bit her son, and barked and tried to attack anyone that came close to him or his owner.  In the preview interview, she admitted that she couldn’t give up the dog, she loved it that much.  The problem was, she engaged in absolutely zero discipline of the dog, allowing and by ommission, encouraging his misbehavior.  Cesar came into the house and was shocked and floored when the owner admitted to loving the dog more than her own child, and allowed the dog to bite him, and terrorize him.  When Cesar was introduced to the dog, the dog immediately tried to attack him, and when Cesar tried to discipline the owner freaked out (not eyes blaring, but was very disturbed by Cesar trying to correct the obviously bad behavior by touching the dog and making a fist (not a cocked fist, just a fist in the face of the barking and biting dog).

This was the first time I’d seen Cesar admit that his technique wasn’t going to work.  And he was right, if the owner wouldn’t allow discipline, that case would fail.  Unless the owner was committed to discipline, the dog would continue to misbehave.  Cesar (as impatient as I’ve seen him) patiently tried to explain this to the mother, and determined that because the dog was so small, she was afraid that she might hurt the dog, or cause the dog to break a leg or something.  Cesar finally got her to see that by harboring this fear of hurting the dog, she was enabling other people to get injured, including her own son.

Hebrews 12:5-6 explains that God will discipline his sons.  That the discipline is described as suffering, but in the end it is for our own good.  I can see an image of that in how Cesar disciplines his cases, he brings them into submission with his calm, assertive approach, and doesn’t allow a difference of opinion when he is training his dogs.  The dogs at first flail at this, being used to having no boundries in their behavior, the shiver, yelp, shake, bark, and their posture is stiff and uncomfortable.  Cesar knows this, expects this, knowing that this outward expression only means they are ‘releasing their energy’.  As the dogs relent into submission, they physically relax, being on their back, and become calm, beginning to understand that no harm will come to them, as they begin to walk ‘with’ their calm and assertive master.

We are beginning to use this technique with Sadie, she must accept her position in our ‘pack’, our family.  We must remain vigilant, and interrupt her behavior patterns, before they become out of control. 

With dogs this is easy.  With people, a bit more difficult.  But we know that we live under a calm and assertive God, who is infinitely patient with us, graceful, and full of mercy.

Our Family minister has a blog, and it is on blogspot...  Ummm.. GREAT.. and, I need to have a talk with him…

Anyways, I’ve added his link to my daily reads, and I’ll see if I can coax a blogroll outta him.  ‘Cause everyone knows that half of blogging is the linkage factor, and you’s gotta read, not just write great stuff.  (Which he does...)

I saw a reference to this article on the elevator thingy going to get my lunch, then Instapundit standin Brannon Denning linked to it with the aptly titled Doh!.  I’m taking that as a call for me to blog about it…

Basically, a waitress gets confronted with her stolen ID when a customer presents it as a proof of age when buying a drink at a bar.

Somethings that might have precluded the event:

• The perp was 23, ummm.. use your own ID...
• Check the face of the fake ID you are using before giving it to someone, in case, yano… they MATCH
• If in fact THEY DO MATCH (the face of the server personage, and the picture in the ID) then have a ready response like:
  
  • “Hey, my id is just like you!"
  • “Ummm… I picked this up coming in, does this belong to you”?
  • “Did you ever see that movie with John Travolta and Nicolas Cage?  ya did? well this is kinda related..."

Doh doesn’t even begin… she got turned in by her companion giving her REAL name to the police… some friend…

I totally don’t want this to turn into The Dog Blog (although that is a really cute name!) but I have learned a few things from the short time we have had our new family member!



10. Did you know that dogs should not eat rib bones? You did?! Why didn’t you tell us! She didn’t come with a manual and well we had good intentions, so we gave her one from dinner that we saved. Half way thru the bone, I got worried and looked up on-line if she should have them. NOPE! I called an emergency vet and was told to give her Hydrogen peroxide and wait for her to bring it back up. I was so scared that we had killed our new doggie. Luckily, and 4 tsp. later, she brought it back up and we begged forgiveness! She is fine now. And we promise never to give her: chocolate, any kind of bones that don’t come from the pet aisle at Wal-Mart, onions, grapes, any thing salty, and raisins.



9. We haven’t quite figured out her clues that she needs to potty. I found a “present” on the play room floor. I guess when she went in there and was real quiet, she must have needed to go. Just like a kid, if you don’t hear anything for a few min. assume they are doing something they shouldn’t!



8. She does bark. We heard it. It’s definitely a beagle arrrooo and she tried to sound all scary, but was really just a chicken. Jon went to get the hose to clean up the barf on the patio and it must have scared her to hear him coming with the hose, because she started to bark at him. When she saw it was him and spraying the hose, she ran behind me! Chicken.



7. Those dogs toys at PetSmart can be ripped apart in 3.5 seconds. I had to totally tear the stuffing out of one arm of a toy we bought her before she ate it! It stuck to her muzzle like a white beard.



6. She likes to cuddle right before bed. She is such a girl!



5. When she meets new people she pees! Good thing we were outside when our neighbors walked by and met her. She got so excited she started to howl and arroo.



4. She loves the kids and they want to be around her more than I think she would like them to be! She doesn’t get mad tho, but I have been making sure they don’t over stimulate her. They can’t wait until she gets her stitches out so they can really play with her!



3. Jon is a big old softy. He said from the beginning that this is my dog, my responsibility, etc. and he told me yesterday that he wanted to get up with her in the morning and take her out on a walk!



2. She doesn’t like cheap dog biscuits from the dollar store! Now, that is my kind of dog..discriminating taste. Hopefully she won’t start eating her own poo....



And the number 1 thing I learned in the last 24 hours....  to quote Dan, “ Man! she’s better than TV!”

YouTube video sharing… another below the fold

I read, this which lead me to read this and am saddened that the SBC (of which I’m a member by proxy of our local church) would adopt the ways of the Pharisee and advocate a rabbinical fence to keep people from doing damage to themselves.

The only scripture quoted is: Proverbs 23:29-35.  This passage is against the practice of drunkness more than the use of alcohol.  (albeit, as one that has engaged in being drunk, tis hard to do without the alcohol) Indeed even our favorite reformed Pharisee (after Nicodemus, ‘natch) Paul advised Timothy that a little nip of the vine might be good for his stomach.

I’d have less problems with the passage if it was worded against drunkeness, than the generic alcohol use.  Heck, even just add the letters alpha-bravo to the word use, and I’d be more happy.  As it is, it just shows that Jesus (who turned water into REALLY GOOD wine) would be an unwelcome distraction at an SBC convention, the party-animal.

UPDATE: I fixed the missing links… there should be a resolution to banish unresolved links…

To bring you news about my nephew Chris and his awesome Mom (and MY BIG sister) Sarah.

Chris’ bonzo trip to the National Special Opympics

Way to go Chris!!!!

_{(The picture is link to a PDF file, to copy and share with all your friends...)}

Check it out....

UPDATE:  Okay maybe not totally true, maybe just a new mommy discovering the joy of playschool television.

Still a great tie-in!  :D

Click on the images for full size.  Go on, click em… I’ll wait. 

Have you clicked em yet, hmmm, have ya?? Go on, it won’t take that long. 


The last one is the only signed copy of some very famous artwork.  Well at least famous to me.

Wow!!!  Wonder and serendipity all in one.  For years, we’ve been subscribers to Highlights magazine for Kids.  Even when I was 10 years old, we had a subscription, thanks to Grndma Grace.  I remember paging through the pages of the reader submissions, and making drawings (bad ones) and sending them in, only to be disappointed when I never saw it again.  It was a fun fantasy, a childhood fantasy that I grew out of as the years passed.

Enter my eldest gel, Lauren, with her spirits high she paged through the pages of Highlights (also provided by her Great-Grandma Grace) eyes a wonder at the wonderful possibility of getting published in a magazine.  She made a drawing, and brought it to me, wondering how she could possibly submit it.  I told her to get an envelope and address it as it said, thinking to myself, how will I explain to her that it will never get published, too high of odds, too many other kids.  Before we put her picture in the mail, I told her to copy it in our printer, and send in the copy, because they wouldn’t send back her beautiful picture.  So she did that, and somewhere we found a stamp (really who USES those things anymore?), and placed in the mailbox.  That was over a year ago.

We didn’t renew our Highlights subscription, so it hasn’t been coming regularly anymore, the gels wouldmuch rather read Nick Magazine or the latest in Disney gossip.  It was by chance, that tonight we’d be browsing Wal-mart (hear that Deb… W A L M A R T) with extra time on our hands, letting the kids browse the magazine racks as Angie and I looked for some new shirts for the new ‘business casual’ rules at work.  Tired, and with a headache, I told the girls and boys to hurry up, its time to go.  Getting more irritated that Brenna, with her nose in a magazine just like I often appear, was slow to put it down she glanced at one more page, and said, “It’s Lauren’s!” getting up and flipping the magazine so I could see. 

Words are few when you think of what emotions your children feel at such time.  Lauren is so proud of her art, and her love of tigers is part of every corner of her life.  So I was quite pleased to see her drawing in the upper-left corner of page 31 of the August 2006 issue of Highlights.  Ready to buy the store out of their copies, I said, “grab ‘em all!” Angie wisely held back, and said how about two, we do have a scanner.  So we got two, one for Lauren to brag on to her friends and teachers, and one for us to store in the dusty box in the closet, so we can remember that night at Wal-mart, when a childood dream came true.

Pick one up at your local Wal-Mart.

Okay.. only a few days late. I took the bigger kids to the Ranger game, and a fun time was had by all.  Other pics avail at Flickr. (click the pic)

Rangers beat the BlueJays 9-3 with four homers, two back to back in the second inning.