The Garden Party Has A New Home!

Beginning today, I’m self-hosting my newly-landscaped Garden Party blog!  So, if you’re RSSing me or linking to me on your own blog, please note the new location:

http://www.thegardenpartyblog.com

Come on over and have some sweet tea!

Please Be a Good Party Guest and Comment!

Comments are my favorite snack food.  I’m always interested to know who has been in the Garden and what their experience was like.  So, please talk to me so I don’t have to rely on those dreary old stats in the back room and wonder who the people are behind the numbers!  Here, have some nice, cold lemonade and a finger sandwich!

“Take On Me,” by A-ha…Literally Translated

Remember how many times you sat through this video back in the day…and neither the lyrics nor the images seemed to make sense.  Sure you do.  We loved it anyway because it was unique and dynamic and had a catchy beat.  Who cares if we couldn’t sing along, right?  Well, now you can, thanks to Dustin McLean.  Enjoy this and let me know if you got through it without at least one LOL.

Special thanks to Brian…my favorite Hedgehog for alerting me to this!  Go visit his blog, listed under “Friends” in my right column.

Exodus 22:21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom;  for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

Just Discovered the YouTube Death Metal Cover Trend

Maybe it has to be 11:00 p.m. or later – like it is now – for me to find this stuff hilarious.  The fact remains that I am just tickled pink by this whole thing.  A bunch of YouTubers seem to enjoy taking old videos of pop hits and overdubbing them with death metal versions of the songs.  While it may sound like something that would get boring in a hurry (especially for a middle aged woman who does not listen to death metal), I’ve gotta say:  When done well, this is truly an art form. (Warning:  The comments sections of these video pages are littered with profanity.)

Submitted for your approval:  Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” covered by Italian band “Raintime.”  The audio doesn’t always match the video, but that’s hardly the point:

Like that?  I placed it first because it was the most listenable track I found.  Now, how about Britney Spears’ covered by “Ten Masked Men.”  I just could not stop laughing watching this.  It’s 11:09 now.  Maybe that’s why.  Or, maybe it’s really just funny as all getout:

These are the only two I found that were good enough to post here.  There are more, including several attempts to cover Tay Zonday’s “Chocolate Rain,” death metal style.  All of those failed miserably, making me wonder why so many people thought it would be a good idea to try.  See, now?  It’s 11:22 and I seem to be coming to my senses!  What did you think?

Job 37:17 Why are your garments hot, When He quiets the earth by the south wind? 18 With Him, have you spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror? 19 “Teach us what we should say to Him, For we can prepare nothing because of the darkness. 20 Should He be told that I wish to speak? If a man were to speak, surely he would be swallowed up.

The Tale of The Monkey Man

Just got this from my favorite joke-forwarder, Dave (known affectionately as “Obie.”) Enjoy!

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Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.
The villagers rounded up all of their savings and bought all the monkeys.

Then they never saw the man nor his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!
Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.

2 Chronicles 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. 22 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

Molly: Shetland Pony, Katrina Survivor, Prosthetic Leg Success

Received this email moments ago from dear frient Charlotte (a horse owner).  Meet Molly:

Molly: A survivor with spirit!

Here is the text of the email as it was forwarded.

Meet Molly. She’s a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didnt overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

This was the right horse and the right owner,’ Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. Shes tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore, is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Mollys story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly’s regular vet, reports. And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too.’ And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. It can be pretty bad when you can’t catch a three-legged horse, she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people. And she had a good time doing it.

Its obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life, Moore said, She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others. She could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.

This week, Molly the Pony, a childrens book about the pony who has already inspired thousands of people around New Orleans, has been published. Its not a book about amputation or prosthetics, its a book about people and ponies.

Not very well-written, but you can read the snopes article here, which is a much more eloquent account of Molly’s story and provides some links to other articles about her.  The book, “Molly the Pony,” is available on Amazaon.com.

LSU’s YouTube channel offers this promotional video featuring Molly.  If you’re squeamish, be aware there are a couple of mildly graphic views of Molly’s wounds and surgery.

This is Molly’s most recent prosthesis, which has a smiley face embossed in it.  Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.  Last time I published a feel-good animal story, I was a little cantankerous, but I’m feeling warmed and inspired by this story, from the spunk of the pony to the compassion of the rescuer to the remarkable medical and technological teamwork that went in to giving Molly a new lease on life.  Her smiling hoof-print and her work with children make this that much more special.  Today, I am thankful for this opportunity to witness humanity at its best…and to read a Katrina success story.

Isaiah 63:13 Who led them through the deep, As a horse in the wilderness, That they might not stumble?” 14 As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest, So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name.

Take the Barack Obama Test

Just received this email, forwarded to my by my husband who got it from the American Family Association website. The AFA is a bit over the top for my personal taste, but they are a Christian activist organization constantly petitioning and lobbying for what they believe to be “traditional family values.”  Go on and visit their website for more on them.  That’s not what this post is about.  It’s about a man named Brad O’Leary, a book he’s written called “The Audacity of Deceit: Barack Obama’s War on American Values,” and an online test he has made available as a voting aid called “The Barack Obama Test.

While the author clearly states he wrote the book and the test for his daughters and granddaughters – all voting age, and all of whom claimed they would vote for Obama because he “is good looking and an eloquent speaker,” and while his position is clearly in opposition to Obama’s, the test seems relatively straight-up.  There are 48 multiple choice questions.  They are written in a way that often belies the personal beliefs of the author, but they are still straight questions that represent the issues.  You get to choose whether you agree or oppose the issue and are free to ignore the rhetoric.  You receive 1 point for every answer that agrees with Obama and lose 1 for every one that opposes.  The instructions are to consider whether or not to vote for Obama based on whether you receive a positive score or a negative one.

When you’re finished with the test, you are taken to a results page that not only reports your score, but shows how your answers compare to Obama’s position as well as how it measures up to “All Americans” (Source: Associated Television News / Zogby America Poll of 1, 005 likely voters conducted 7/9/08 through 7/14/08. Margin of Error +/- 3.2 percentage points).

At the very least, it is an interesting exercise and is an excellent tool to get Americans thinking about the actual issues rather than how they feel about the candidates themselves.  I’ve put a little button in my left column that leads to this test so it will be easy to find between now and election day.  Whatever your position, I urge you to please vote.  Please.

Numbers 24: 5 “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel! 6 Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens by the riverside, Like aloes planted by the Lord, Like cedars beside the waters. 7 He shall pour water from his buckets, And his seed shall be in many waters. “His king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 “God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones And pierce them with his arrows. 9 ‘He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?’ “Blessed is he who blesses you, And cursed is he who curses you.”

Vote for Me For President!

JardinPrayer for President in 2008

Please take a moment to view this little news item about my late-to-the-table presidential campaign.  Then, I hope you will consider voting for me for President of the United States of America!

Or, if you don’t feel I would be a better president than Barack Obama or John McCain, you can launch your own campaign!  To find out how easy it is, click the link, watch my campaign video (less than 2 minutes), and then click the link to make your own.

I got 2 political “humor” emails this morning.  This was one, courtesy of my dear friend Pam (who has supplied me with blogworthy emails before…thanks, sweetie!).  The other said this:

There is now less than a month until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States.

The person elected will be the president of all Americans, not just the Democrats or the Republicans.

To show our solidarity as Americans, let’s all get together and show each other our support for the candidate of our choice.

It’s time that we come together, Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you support the policies and character of John McCain, please drive with your headlights on during the day.
If you support Obama, please drive with your headlights off at night.

Thank you for your participation.

My personal preference is to start my own campaign…how about you?

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Tabloids – (Rolling my eyes, shaking my head)

October 2008 Issue

Because, I, too, would be devastated if my ex actually survived a plane crash.  Who wouldn’t, right?  Oh, and let’s put the actual survivor in a little circle and splash the famous women who are no longer a part of his life all over the cover.  Brilliant.

I’m going to stop now.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

YouTube SuperNote Contest is a Hit!

It’s Friday.  The SuperNote challenge launched 5 days ago (I blogged that here).  I’ll tell you this much:  Rhett and Link dream big!  On Day 5, at 11:30 a.m. EST, 678 people have submitted their video SuperNote for the team captain of their choice.  That’s an average of 136 submissions a day.   The contest continues until Halloween.  If things continue at this rate, there should be about 5,424 videos of people going “AAaahhhhhh…” on YouTube by then.  That, my friends, is an EVENT!

So, here’s what’s going on:

Rhett and Link, famed internet comedy duo (see box in my left column and link in my right) have hatched this wickedly cool idea.  Challenge the YouTube community to record themselves making the longest vocal note they can produce and  upload it as a video response to their team captain’s SuperNote video.  The team captains are these popular YouTube entertainers, all of whom have significant followings:

SuperNote Team Captains

Charles Trippy, iJustine, thehill88, ShayCarl, edbassmaster, What The Buck?, David Chow Music, Brookers, Katers17, Wicked Awesome Films, Nalts, and Rhett & Link themselves. Those links will take you directly to their SuperNote Team Captain YouTube page.

As a casual YouTuber, I was unfamiliar with most of these people, but now subscribe to nearly all of them.  So, this is bound to be good for business for the team captains!  I borrowed these graphics from Rhett and Link’s website, where you, too, can visit to keep an eye on the contest as it develops, choose a team captain, read comments, and view the top 100 submissions on a given day.  That’s rhettandlink.com/supernote. Click on any of the team captain banners there and you’ll be whisked to the team standings for that captain.

As SuperNote videos are submitted, they are tracked by a super secret review database where several actual human beings sit, watch, and time the SuperNotes.  They are given Mini Wheat Thins and small bits of swiss cheese for their efforts. Water if they review more than 20 submissions in a half-hour period.  At least, that’s what I’ve heard.  From there, the top 10 SuperNoters are displayed on the SuperNote page (updated periodically), as well as the overall team standings.  At this writing, here is what those stats looked like:

September 26, 11:30 a.m. Standings

Visit the Rhett & Link SuperNote page to see this chart live and to click on those links so you can view these over-achievers with your own eyes and ears.  Heck, let’s face it, this is not nearly as much fun to read about as it is to actually listen to.  The first few are annoying, but after a while, there’s a kind of zen-like feeling that creeps in.  By the 10th video, you’re convinced you have to be part of this thing!  You have been warned.

Yours truly is currently in the #35 position, which is not too shabby, considering how many entrants we have at the moment!

September 26, 11:30 a.m. Ranking

Here’s what I think about the SuperNote contest…er, challenge…er, experiment.  I think it is good, clean fun that absolutely anyone can participate in and that it builds fellowship and community.  There are a few complainers that don’t seem to like contests that have actual rules.  SuperNotes must be one, real, continuous note produced by the person (or persons) whose face can be seen on the  video producing it.  If you don’t have a microphone, don’t like your face seen on the internet, or flat out think you can cheat your way to the top, you’re just not in the right contest.  Complaints these exclusions aren’t “fair,” are cropping up, but to them I say, “Hey!  This is a silly internet contest…lighten up!”

Prizes are being offered by Rhett & Link as well as by some of the team captains.  Creativity is rewarded as well as simply holding the note the longest.  I’m glad I discovered The Boiz (I had better call them “The Boiz” at least once in this post since I made such a big deal about that being my personal pet name for them in the launch post) before this took off.  It’s a great ride, playing in their yard.  Go find out for yourself!  I’m predicting right now that this will make national news and result in late night talk show appearances for at least The Boiz, and maybe some team captains as well.  So, why not get in on the ground floor!

Exodus 32:18 It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singing I hear.

Fringe Episode 103: Ghost Network – My Cranky Review

I reviewed the Fringe Pilot a few posts back.  I was on the fence then, but anticipated sticking with Fox’s “New Hit Series,” for the first season.  Now, I’m not so sure.  Somehow, I managed to completely miss the second episode, but watched about half of it last night on Fringe Television - a pretty impressive website where full episodes are available for viewing without having to dowload a player.  I only watched half because I had just finished watching the third episode, “Ghost Network,” and had really had enough for one night.

This episode opens exactly…and I mean exactly…like an “X-Files” episode.  Same dark lighting, same something-really-spooky-is-about-to-go-down music, same ominous dialogue, same focus on a desperate character haunted by something supernatural, culminating in a big “What just happened?!” moment and then the first commercial break.  That’s not officially a complaint, since it inspired a wonderfully nostalgic feeling and really sucked me in to the episode.  On the other hand, the thought, “This feels just like an ‘X-Files’ episode opening ” repeated in my brain throughout the entire segment.  So, maybe it is a complaint.  In any case, I’ll get to the real complaints in a moment.

See, here’s the thing:  If I’m going to invest myself in a new epic mythology television series (like “LOST” or “X-Files,” both of which I am enormously devoted to), there has to be a…well…a natural process.  It’s like dating.  If the guy shows up in his best suit, bearing a dozen long-stemmed roses and a Cartier watch, it’s not generally a good idea to presume this is what the entire relationship is going to be like.  I mean, you wouldn’t marry that guy based on that first impression, would you?  I hope you wouldn’t.  Your mama raised you better than that, didn’t she?  No, you’d spend time with that guy and get to know him and, if you’re both fortunate, love would grow.  Granted, I fell head over heels for “LOST,” at episode 1 (It had me at “hello”), but that’s just what kept me coming back for more.  And, it never once disappointed.  I mean, not once.  Some might disagree, but I have never experienced a let-down with any episode.

But, if that guy showed up for the first date in his best suit, but still had bits of tissue stuck to shaving nicks on his face and his socks were two different colors, maybe you’d try to overlook that to give the actual person behind the faux pas a chance…but you’d be leery.  And, “Fringe” had me leery from the start.  I’m often turned off when I can see stagecraft.  It is easy to see “Fringe” trying very hard to show us how much it is “just like” its predecessors…trying to convince us that we should put it in the same pantheon and not evaluate it for ourselves.   Did those other two series’ do that?  They didn’t have to.  See where I’m going with this? And, the careful plotting of a mythology in a television series is really starting to get old for me.  As a device to gain a faithful audience from the outset, I think it also has the potential do alienate those who are not blown away by the first few episodes.  You can claim the episodes stand alone for casual viewers until the cows come home, but I’m not sure you can really have it both ways here.  A show like “Fringe” is after the superfan demographic.  And, well, I just don’t think I have enough room in my heart for another series.

Sure, the production values are extremely slick, the characters are all well-cast and engaging, and those symbols (or glyphs) are intriguing. (To see hi-resolution images of each glyph and a brief description, visit the Fringepedia.)  But, when I started to see the tiny little Easter Eggs being logged at Fringe Television here, my brain just short-circuited.  Not again!  It was a great ride with “LOST,” and eagerly anticipate Season 5 and the new nuggets it will bring to my over-active, analytical brain, but how much of this can one really tolerate in one’s diet?  I’m talking about tiny things…like a brief shot of a dusty old car in a dark garage with the logo modified from “MG” to “MD,” referring to “Massive Dynamics,” the big, mysterious corporation.  Come on!  And, I’m still not complaining yet!

Let’s get to the actual episode, because I see I’m ranting just a bit.  Focus, woman!  Focus!  Here are the glyphs that appeared during the breaks in “Ghost Network:”

Episode 103 Glyphs

This episode centered on Roy McCohn, a guy with metal in his blood (put there 20 years previously by Dr. Bishop, who is now receiving transmitted thought over a “spectrum” supposedly unknown to anyone except Dr. Bishop and his old lab buddy “Belly.”  Roy sees things that are about to happen…terrible things…because he’s picking up the intentions of others who have, apparently, discovered this spectrum of thought waves…this ghost network.  I just know the writers wanted to call it a “Psychic Network,” but I think they would have either had to get permission fro Dionne Warwick or given her a guest spot or something.  The opening segment was awesome and the scene that greeted us on the other side of the commercial break was equally so:  a bus full of dead people frozen in place by a silicon-based substance like – as Dr. Bishop put it, “mosquitos in amber.”  Nice.  If they could have kept up that level of eloquence and intrigue for the entire hour, they might have had me.

But, in the very next scene, we’ve got Dr. Bishop and his son Peter sitting in a diner.  When Peter gets up from the table and his cell phone, left on the table, vibrates, the good doctor is mystified by it.  He later says to Peter, “It was moving.  I stopped it.”  Okay, for a guy who’s been locked up in a mental institution for 17 years, I can actually accept that.  But, remember how I complained about how familiar he was with the computers he used in the pilot?  In this episode, he confidently asks to “view axial images,” during an MRI of poor old Roy, even though he lets us know he’s never seen an MRI machine before, and he later makes a reference to satellite television.  These inconsistencies in his knowledge base just say “sloppy” to me.  Don’t try to tell me this is because he’s crazy or anything like that.  If you’re trying to be “LOST,” or “X-Files,” then you need to put that same kind of devotion in to the internal consistency and maybe stop spending so much time changing car logos.  You know what I’m sayin’?

And, apparently the writers felt there wasn’t enough quirkiness in the house.  It suddenly became necessary to have a piano brought to the lab because piano music helps Dr. Bishop focus.  We learn that he and Peter both play very well…setting up yet another contrivance we will surely see more of…much, much more of.  I also know I can count on every episode to have these elements:

• A confrontation between Agent Dunham and Special Agent Broyles
• A flirtation between Agent Dunham and Peter Bishop
• A big lab experiment
• A weird Dr. Bishop moment
• A Massive Dynamics scene with creepy Nina Sharp
• A chase and a takedown featuring Agent Dunham

The formula is already smelling a bit musty to me.

But, because I want to give credit where it is due, there are a couple of humorous moments that are genuinely engaging and smart.  At the start of an experiment on poor Roy involving drilling right into his brain and monitoring his responses to pictures shown to him, the door to the Harvard basement lab is knocked upon, making the characters…and me, in this case, jump.  Agent Olivia Dunham answers and we see two students who ask, “Is this Poli-Sci 101?”  Her response?  A straight-faced, “Not remotely.”  Good one.

I may become a “casual viewer,” but I’m sure not changing any plans to be sure I see every episode.  I’ve given my heart twice to series’ before.  That’s enough for this old girl.  You follow your own heart, but guard it well!

Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith– 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

Whoa! Animated GIFs Work in Blogs!

Y’all are in for it now!

Discover Katers17 on YouTube Before She Becomes Too Famous for YouTube.

Katers17 is one of the YouTube team captains for the “SuperNote” collaborative experiment/contest spawned by Rhett and Link.  Don’t know about that yet because you don’t read my blog every day or because you don’t know Rhett and Link or because you actually have a life outside of the internet?  Well, either check out yesterday’s post here at the Garden Party or head on over here for more information on how you can become a part of the greatest thing that has ever happened to YouTube.  Miss that, and you’ve missed being a part of history.  That would be tragic.

I’ve only been a casual YouTuber since I first discovered it a couple of years ago.  I don’t follow many of its in-house celebrities.  When Weezer did their “Pork and Beans,” video last May,  I discovered a whole bunch of iconic YouTube figures and realized I wasn’t fulfilling my civic duty to stuff my brain full of popular culture until I glaze over.  So, I gave myself an education and added a bunch of subscriptions to my channel.  However, neither Rhett & Link nor Katers17 were included in that pantheon.  Now, with the SuperNote party in full swing, The Boiz (my new pet name for R&L) have introduced me to a whole new crop of wackos that are beginning to really eat into my real life.  Not that I’m protesting…much.

Rhett & Link themselves (oh, excuse me…I mean, The Boiz (that might get old sooner than I anticipated…even for me)) wormed their way into my heart the very moment they showed up in my email inbox and have simply refused to leave that warm and cozy spot even though they aren’t paying any rent.  But, that’s okay…they’ve commented here (which is very close to paying rent in my book…I thrive on comments) and they’ve called me “awesome,” (which is actually one better than paying rent).  Beyond that, they’ve led me to Katers17.  Let me tell you something, friends.  This is exactly what YouTube ought to be about!  Katers17 has real talent, and has that spectacular combination of gorgeousness and humor that make a performer irresistible.  She sets out to entertain…and I’d much rather watch one of her sketches than some dude making sure the world knows how little thought he is willing to put in before activating his webcam.  Want to meet her?  Of course you do.  Here’s a wonderful introduction for you:

Now that you’ve been properly acquainted, let’s go right on to a more intimate relationship.  I get the impression Katers doesn’t mind of we move a bit fast.  Spend about five minutes with her here:

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Katers17 has also done a 4-part series called “Garden Party,” which, I’m certain has nothing whatsoever to do with this blog, but is kind of serendipitous anyway!  Here’s the first of the series…go on her journey!

To visit Katers17 right at her own home on YouTube, click on this little linky.  You’ll be greeted by her and by her Team Captain SuperNote entry.  Then, come back and tell me you adore her as much as I do.  Then, go record your SuperNote and upload it to the contest!

Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

Lilly the Kid and Billy Boxer – Another Adorable Animal Story

I’m going to just confess right up front:  I’m blogging this for the views it will generate.  My early entry, “Moose Magic” continues to be my most viewed to date…by a wide margin.  A single picture of a hippo and a tortoise also ranks highly and my stats page tells me these two stories are searched on by a lot of people (a…LOT) every day.  Since this is still a fledgling blog, I’m not above giving the people what they want in order to get y’all over here to see that there are actually other fascinating things to read about in this world!  Sure, I think baby animals are adorable…so don’t get on my case about that.  I set up this blog to share things that show up in my email inbox, so this is a valid entry for that reason alone, but I really did consider skipping this one because…well, because I was concerned about the cuteness overload factor.  Still, the stats seem to indicate my fears are unfounded, so here you go, everybody:

Lilly and Billy

Meet Lilly and Billy.  I have to admit, that is a striking picture.  My own dog (Benjamin the awesome black Lab) is off being neutered today, so I do have a genuine soft spot for this type of story at the moment).  Here’s what the email said that introduced me to these two:

A paternal dog has adopted an abandoned baby goat as his surrogate child.

Billy the boxer has become the constant companion of the 12-day old  kid called Lilly. He sleeps with the goat, licks her clean, and  protects her from any dangers at Pennywell Farm Wildlife Centre at Buckfastleigh, near Totnes, Devon in England.

Billy and Lilly have formed a close bond.  The kid was abandoned by  her mother when she was only a few hours old and adopted by paternal Billy when his owner Elizabeth Tozer began hand rearing the goat.
The unusual bond has developed over the last month and the pair are now inseparable.

Elizabeth said: ‘Lilly follows Billy around which is really quite  amusing to watch and Billy sleeps with the goat and cleans her mouth  after she feeds.’

Billy the boxer protects his little kid

Lilly was the smallest of a litter of three kids and her mother  abandoned her because she could only care for the two stronger ones.  The pair have attracted quite a crowd at the animal center and the staff are keen to see how their relationship will develop.

A Basket Full of Cuteness

A very quick and cursory check of the google results for this story reveals it has been blogged ad nauseum since about February of this year.  No reason to doubt its authenticity, so a snopes check turns up nothing.  So, just enjoy the pictures and have a lovely day.  I’m going to go in the back room and watch my line graph spike.

I know I sound kind of chilly today.  That’s really not the case.  I’m a big critter lover.  I guess I’m still just scratching my head at the voyeuristic perspective I get from all the statistical information WordPress gives me.  Look at those two, will ya?  Adorable!

Romans 11:17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,

The SuperNote. You Know You’ve Got One In Ya.

I promised you I’d let you in on the new interactive project Rhett and Link have cooked up.  About an hour ago, they launched “SuperNote: The YouTube Experiment.” What’s this all about, you ask?  The Boiz (as I have decided to refer to them from now on whether they like it or not) describe it this way:

The biggest, baddest, most innovative, most intense, YouTube user collaboration experiment in YouTube history is here! It’s SuperNote, where we find out who can hold it the longest on YouTube. A vocal note, that is. It just launched today with this intro video:

And, without further ado, here is the video explaining the experiment:

Shy about the notion of being seen by the whole world doing something this goofy?  Me, too.  I considered donning a foam clown nose, over-sized dark glasses and a hooded sweatshirt in order to gain the courage to upload my SuperNote.  But, then I realized courage was not the necessary motivator…playfulness is.  If you need the disguise, go ahead and wear one.  I didn’t hear anything in the rules that said you couldn’t hide behind a mask!  But, why not just enjoy the spirit of this experiment and become a part of something really fun!

Join whatever team you like (team captains include iJustine, Michael Buckley, Nalts, Brookers, and other familiar YouTube faces).  My heart belongs to The Boiz (even as they begin to grow increasingly annoyed with me for calling them that).  My SuperNote has been uploaded.  Time will tell if my reputation will suffer for this, but I’m not running for office or even doing anything half as scandalous as so many who have run for office seem to have a predeliction for!  So, I’m not sweating it.  Hope to see your faces there!  If you decide to do a SuperNote because of this blog, please comment and let me know who to look for over there!

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The Best 4:24 of My Day

…and it’s not even 10:00 a.m. yet!

I didn’t watch the Emmys last night.  I never do.  So, how was I to know that Josh Groban opened the program with a medley of television show theme songs?  I couldn’t know.  And maybe some of you don’t yet know that Josh Groban occupies a place in my heart that is reserved for angels and artist’s artists.  So, perhaps you can imagine my delight when I found this video while searching for Emmy video on Stephen Colbert ( in order to be informed when I watch his program tonight):

Even if you’re not a Josh Groban fan (Why not?  The guy can sing!), I’m betting you’ve hung around with your friends singing tv show theme songs on more than one occasion in your life.  Am I right?  You know I’m right.  So, to hear that grand tradition executed with such utter awesomeness has got to bring a smile to your face!  Me?  I just sat there with the biggest, dopiest grin on my face and soaked up every note, every image, and every moment.

As for Stephen Colbert, he won for Best Writing, but lost 2 other categories for which he was nominated.  I’m betting there will be some good comedy on The Colbert Report tonight.

Psalms 33:1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. 2 Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. 3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. 4 For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Can Your Cell Phone Cook Your Brain Right Inside Your Head?

By the time I received this email from my cousin Courtney, the “forward” was 10 levels deep.  This baby’s getting around!  Actually, this particular urban legend is enjoying a second life after last year’s viral campaign claiming an egg can be cooked by placing it between two activated cell phones.  The concept seems to have originated from an article written on the Wymsey Village Web site in 2000.  Though the site publishes spoofs, some genius (maybe two or three of ‘em) decided to take that ball and run with it.  And we, the ever-wiilling to swallow whatever looks like it might be juicy, slam-dunked it right into lore (Source: snopes.com).

Alas, we are easily bored, so if the same old hoax is to keep us fascinated, it needs a shiny new coat of paint.  In June of this year, the new model was rolled out, making me wonder why it took so long to reach my inbox.  The email carried a couple of comments from a few of the people who had forwarded it.  Comments like:

“THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO STOP USING YOUR CELL PHONE SO MUCH!!  Check this out!”

There was a single word below that linked me to a video and promised me I would not believe my eyes.  The word was:

POPCORN

Let’s face it, popcorn is a much more dynamic food than eggs.  At least, from what you can see with the naked eye.  Here’s what the link led me to:

Wasn’t that fun?

Now, if you’ve never encountered this concept before, chances are good you’ll do the same thing you did when you saw emails like the other one’s I’ve posted in this blog (Bill Cosby is running for president and the “front fell off” an Australian oil tanker): You’ll wonder for a minute or two whether this could really happen.  But, let me make this very, very easy for you.  It can’t.  The three scenes in the video were actually part of a marketing campaign for a company called Cardo Systems, which manufactures wireless headsets (among other things).  The YouTube community gobbled it up like cotton candy and a simple search on “cell phone popcorn” yields almost as many copycat videos as smarty-pants debunking videos.  Go ahead and play with that over at YouTube if you have some free time on your hands.  It’s good, mindless fun.  But, I wouldn’t recommend actually getting your friends together with their cell phones and sitting around a coffee table for an hour trying to discover the truth about this for yourself.  There is a difference, you know, between good, mindless fun and a complete waste of time!

In the interest of responsible reporting, I feel compelled to spend a moment on the current facts about the dangers (or lack of danger) of using your cell phone.  Here’s a video from a 2007 Fox News broadcast:

And, for a more recent update, here’s a blog from Brian Dunning called Skeptoid that brings it all together very nicely.  It has links to articles, references, and everything!  I just became a fan of Skeptoid while researching this post!  Of course, since he’s an atheist, I wish I could use my cell phone to transmit the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ right in to his doubting brain, but he’s a smart guy and does some very good work.

I’ll leave you with one heartfelt request:  Please hang up and drive!

Proverbs 21:28 A false witness shall perish, But the man who hears him will speak endlessly.

Rhett and Link Have a Meltdown!

A new video from Rhett and Link is always instantly blogworthy at this Garden Party!  Last night, after their weekly live chat, the fellas held what they referred to as an “after party.”  Their plans for the evening were to rehearse, record, and video tape a new song, called “The Economic Meltdown Song 08″ – an extremely timely endeavor considering President Bush had just addressed us on that issue earlier that morning!  They decided to leave their live video feed up so we could watch the creative process…and even participate in it!  They monitored the chat that accompanies the video feed and even used the live poll feature to ask our preference on the phrasing of a particular line.  I’ll toot my little horn for a second and say they (and the chat community) chose phrasing that I originally suggested.  I’m loving that to pieces, but I’m not going to indulge my ego enough to tell you which line it was.  That would take away from the awesomeness that is Rhett and Link, and that’s what we’re really here to discuss tonight!

It’s a bare-bones video, which is intentional to compliment the subject matter.  There was discussion of making sure to mention both McCain and Obama in the song so as not to appear they were endorsing a particular candidate.  But, when I saw the finished video this afternoon and laughed my butt off at the picture they used to accompany the line, “moving back in with Mama,” (It was a pic of Sarah Palin), I decided to believe it was their tiny, subtle way of making their statement.  Link’s funny expression after that sealed the deal on that one for me.  Maybe that’s just me.

Anyway, I wanted to see this video filmed outside in the dark under a street light with the guys’ guitar case open at their feet for tips.  But, it was after 2:30 a.m. before they even got around to setting up the video camera.  Without further ado…please enjoy!  Oh, and COMMENT!  Comments are my favorite snack food!

Since I am part of the crowd that is showing up for the live broadcasts, I’m privvy to certain privileged information.  I’ll share this with you now:  There is an absolutely awesome interactive video experience being unveiled on YouTube Monday (September 22).  It is the brainchild of Rhett and Link but will involve lots of other YouTube favorites…and you’ll have a chance to participate yourself!  Check back here or at their YouTube channel for more!

Luke 14: 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it– 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

Palin For President…Just Not THAT Palin.

Oh, yes!  While the jokes about the confusion over Sarah Palin vs. Michael Palin are already getting a bit musty and eye-rollingly obvious, this little gem just made my afternoon!  Lovingly and competently produced, it caters both to my need to maintain a sense of humor about the presidential (and vice-presidential) candidates and my undying adoration for all things Python.  Watch.  Laugh.  Comment.

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

Penny! We’re Here!

Here is some fan footage of the filming of a “LOST” Season 5 episode, just posted today by YouTube user “thelostvault.” If you have trouble viewing today (September 17), it may be because YouTube is going to conduct some maintenance at 6:00 p.m. EST.  Try again!

The video is just over 8 and a half  minutes long and features Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) at a marina with some Asian characters we have not seen before. I must confess, I am so desperately starved for new “LOST” images that I was willing to sit through the inane and obnoxious (and incessant) chattering of the people with the video camera in order to soak in the view.  You, however, would be well advised to simply turn your volume down and spare yourself.

If you’re a Desmond fan, you’ll get to see him stand around, sweat, jump rope, smile, and actually film several takes of a brief shot in which he yells variations of, “Hey, Penny! We’re here!”  Ah, but where, exactly is here? (Cue spooky “LOST” note).  Oh, and if you sit through the whole thing, you’re rewarded with a cool shot of what I believe is a baracuda that also crashed the set.

I just wanted to be among the first to blog it.  I love “LOST.”

Ezekiel 34:2 Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.