What decade is this?

It's rare for me to stay up late and watch an entire Late Show with David Letterman. Usually, I'm not really interested in who the guest is, the musical act at the end of the show isn't worth staying up for, or I'm tired and I want to go to bed. However, a month or so ago I happened to watch an entire show. I didn't intentionally watch the whole thing because of who was on it... it just happened. But, I'm kind of glad I did because of the musical group that was on: The Darkness. This was my first encounter with this group and I thought they were pretty interesting to put it mildly. They made enough of an impression on me to remember the name of the group, the name of the song, the tune of the song, some of the lyrics, and what they looked like. I can sit through a 30 second commercial and five seconds later can't remember what product was being advertised so it is huge for me to remember this much.

Then, the other day I turned off my CD player in my car and turned on the local Top 40 radio station. The next song was "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by The Darkness which was the same song they played on Letterman. I never thought I would ever hear this song again because I thought it was so ridiculous and here it was on the top 9 at 9:00. What is this world coming to? So, I had to find them on the good ol' WWW and see if this is for real or find out if I'm living in the Twilight Zone.

When I see and hear this band I have to ask myself, "Is this really the year 2004?" The Darkness seems like they took a time machine from mid-70's through the mid-80's to the present. They're like Queen meets REO Speedwagon meets Led Zeppelin (minus the coolness of Led Zepplin). Take a look at a couple of their videos* (I Believe in a Thing... and Get Your Hands Off...) and you'll see what I mean. Everything about them reeks of stadium rock of the 70's and 80's.

A few things to take note of:
- High falsetto voice
- One-piece body suit complete with flared pants and exposed chest
- Emphasis on guitar solos
- Drum beat continues near the end of the song while the rest of the band claps hands in unison high above their heads
- Unrealistic concept for video which has nothing to do with the song including an alien craft and a large squid
- Long, unkempt hair reminiscent of the 70's
- Cheesy background vocals (Notice the mysterious floating heads not unlike a Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody video)
- The flames emerging from the bottom serving absolutely no purpose
- Lightning (who uses lightning anymore?)
- General skankiness of all the women who are irresistably in love with the band members

*contains some sexual content including, but not limited to, naked female mannequins placed in a compromised position

Don't be touchin' my stuff

The idea of "living in community" has come up in conversation a couple of times over the last 24 hours. A question was posed to me and others last evening during a home Bible study. The question was something like, "What are your fears about living in community with other people."

For the sake of understanding, allow me to define "living in community" as best as I can. In the early first century church, there were a group of believers, possible hundreds or thousands, who chose to live communally. (I'm picturing the dorm scene in Son-in-Law where the girl's parents are following her through the co-ed dorm when a guy was walking down the hall and someone naps his towel revealing his naked butt. "Communial Living!" she explains. Anyway, back to the lesson...) Everything they owned was given over to the good of the community and they shared everything. I imagine they lived in close proximity to each other and spent most of their waking hours together. They probably knew nothing of individualism and selfishness living in that environment.

Fast-forward 2000 years and translate that into something we can grasp. Community living in the 21st century might not look like "communal" living as it perhaps did in the 1st century. We might not live on the same property but meals, recreation, and many resources would probably be shared among everybody. Decisions made are done for the good of others and there would be no sense of individualism or selfishness.

Now, back to the question. I answered the question last night by saying that there are certain things I like to keep to myself (I referred to it as "my stuff") and if I'm living in close proximity with many other people for the better part of each day, my stuff might get exposed. I didn't really define my stuff but it really doesn't have anything to do with something tangible. "My stuff" is my personality, my idiosycracies, my behavior, my thoughts, my sins, my habits, etc. My stuff remains largely hidden from the world save a few people in my inner circle.

Insert more people into the equation. Suddenly, my stuff is subject to being exposed to lots of people who might not like my stuff. They might try to change my stuff and they might make judgments upon me based on my stuff.

Talking to a couple friends at lunch today, the subject of living in community came up in reference to a song a Christian artist wrote about people masking the sin that's going on in their lives and being afraid to expose themselves to other believers. Meanwhile, their sin and lifestyle tear away at them in secret when they really should be vulnerable and let their stuff be known to those that can help them.

Community living would be hard thing to sell because everyone wants to hold on to their stuff.

80's Flashback

Nothing like a little nostalgia to kick off the weekend. Here are the top 25 hits of 15 years ago (April 1989). What memories come to mind? What were you doing? Who were you dating? Which songs did you love? Hate?

1 - Eternal Flame, Bangles
2 - Girl You Know It's True, Milli Vanilli
3 - The Look, Roxette
4 - My Heart Can't Tell You No, Rod Stewart
5 - The Living Years, Mike and the Mechanics
6 - She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals
7 - Walk The Dinosaur, Was (Not Was)
8 - Stand, R.E.M.
9 - Dreamin', Vanessa Williams
10 - Lost In Your Eyes, Debbie Gibson
11 - Like A Prayer, Madonna
12 - You Got It, Roy Orbison
13 - Superwoman, Karyn White
14 - Just Because, Anita Baker
15 - You're Not Alone, Chicago
16 - Your Mama Don't Dance, Poison
17 - Funky Cold Medina, Tone-Loc
18 - More Than You Know, Martika
19 - Heaven Help Me, Deon Estus
20 - I'll Be There For You, Bon Jovi
21 - Paradise City, Guns N Roses
22 - Don't Tell Me Lies, Breathe
23 - Roni, Bobby Brown
24 - Second Chance, Thirty Eight Special
25 - Room To Move, Animotion

The 26-50 list features artists like Def Leppard, NKOTB, Paula Abdul, Living Colour, Winger, Howard Jones, and Jody Watley.

Pictures for your enjoyment

Here are some pictures of Makenna on or around her first birthday. You'll see Ryan in there too.

A little explanation...

Ok, so my wife says my blog sounds like I hate the world. So what? Just kidding. I should explain a little bit. I normally don't have a negative spirit about things, it just comes across that way. :) Seriously, though, most of the time when I write I'm doing it out of fun and not anger. Some of my humor probably comes across as critical, cynical, and hateful. I won't deny the cynical part because that's probably what motivates me to write.

In any case, I'll try to lighten things up a little bit and write so you don't think I'm shaking my first at everyone. When I'm angry, I think you'll probably know it. You should just hope you're never on the receiving end of my rage.

May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your homes.

Blog Survey

Here are the results of a survey about blogging practices and their expectations of privacy and accountability. I wasn't a part of the survey so I'll be sure to interject my comments.

- the great majority of bloggers identify themselves on their sites: 55% of respondents provide their real names on their blogs; another 20% provide some variant of the real name (first name only, first name and initial of surname, a pseudonym friends would know, etc.)

From now on, in order to remain anonymous, I'll refer to myself as "Bookie" (hence, the title of this blog). Actually, I'll probably most likely refer to myself as "I" or "me" but if I ever reference myself in the third person I'll use "Bookie."

- 76% of bloggers do not limit access (i.e. readership) to their entries in any way

I thought about creating private entries that only certain people could access with a username and password. Thoughts?

- 36% of respondents have gotten in trouble because of things they have written on their blogs

I don't think I'm in any danger here. It's not like anyone reads this thing, anyway.

- 34% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in trouble with family and friends

I dodged a landmine on this one. A little creative editing and deleting and, BAM!, it's all good.

- 12% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in legal or professional problems because of things they wrote on their blogs

I think my friend is in discussions with Wal-Mart's legal team. I'm crossing my fingers.

- when blogging about people they know personally: 66% of respondents almost never asked permission to do so; whereas, only 9% said they never blogged about people they knew personally.

Yeah, like I'm going to ask the nerds if I can write about them! It's my freakin' blog... I can write about anything and anybody I want.

- 83% of respondents characterized their entries as personal ramblings whereas 20% said they mostly publish lists of useful/interesting links (respondents could check multiple options for this answer). This indicates that the nature of blogs might be changing from being mostly lists of links to becoming sites that contain more personal stories and commentaries.

ramble ramble ramble

- despite believing that they are liable for what they publish online (58% of respondents believed they were highly liable), in general, bloggers do not believe people could sue them for what they have written on their blogs.

I'll make sure I consult my legal team before posting anything that could result in litigation.

Putting and end to terrorism

Here's my idea to end terrorism in the USA...

Convince all the nerds, geeks, and dweebs in this country to start calling themselves terrorists. Let them weild guns they're too afraid to use, build small bombs to blow up old computers, and assemble themselves into harmless organizations where all they do is play D&D and send out viruses thorugh e-mail all under the umbrella of Terrorism. Suddenly terrorism doesn't look so cool and they'll find something else to do with their time and money.

Road Trip!

Where have all the spontaneous people gone? If it's 6:00 PM and I have nothing to do, who will go to NYC with me? Nobody. If I'm in Phoenix and have time to kill, who wants to drive a couple hours to Mexico? Nada. I heard about some cool jazz bars in Philly... who wants to run down with me some Friday night? [grasshoppers chirping] You people are lame! The next time someone feels like being spontaneous, give me a call! The rest of you can sip milkshakes in Scottsdale, AZ or eat wings at the Chicken Coup and get home at 9:00 PM.

St. Patrick's Day

Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Great Pumpkin, the Hanukkah Armadillo, the Tooth Fairy. Now I have to deal with the St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun? What's up with that?! I'd heard of leprechauns before in reference to St. Patty's day and Lucky Charms but now it seems like I have to accommodate him for a holiday. I turned 30 years old this year and I've NEVER heard of any diminutive green creatures visiting my house unnoticed leaving presents and spreading holiday joy on March 17th each year. I recently heard about two families doing this in their own homes and celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a visit from the Leprechaun. Something doesn't sound right here. I mean, how many mythical beings do kids need in their lives sneaking into their houses leaving presents, hiding eggs, buying teeth, and spreading cheer?

15 minutes of fame and 15 tons of crap

If you want your name to be featured in the news across the country, just obtain a bunch of cats... a few dozen if possible. Things will work themselves out from there.

104 Cats Allegedly Seized From East-Side Home - March 17, 2004
Cats ate woman - February 10, 2004
134 Cats, 6 Dogs Removed From Utah Home - January 28, 2004
171 Cats, Other Pets Taken From Houston Home - November 8, 2003
130 cats removed from south side house - September 22, 2003
etc...

Going crazy!

I wish this dang thing were anonymous. This has proved to be more frustrating than therapeutic because I can't write the things I want to write about. Any ideas?

Police: Woman Tried to Pass Fake $1M Bill

COVINGTON, Ga. -- A woman was caught trying to use a fake $1 million bill to buy $1,675 worth of merchandise at a Wal-Mart, and was later found with two more of the bills in her purse, police said.

The United States Treasury does not make $1 million bills, but people can buy souvenirs of such a bill at some stores, police said.

"It looks real, but of course there's nothing real about this," Covington Police Chief Stacey Cotton said Tuesday. "People do crazy things all the time. I think it's just another example of some odd things that occur."

A clerk at the store immediately noticed the bill was fake when 35-year-old Alice Regina Pike handed it to her on Friday, Cotton said.

Pike then tried to use two gift cards with only $2.32 of value on them to buy the merchandise, but when that didn't work she again asked if the clerk could cash the $1 million bill, Cotton said. The store then called police.

Pike, of Porterdale, was charged with forgery. There was no listing for her phone number in directory assistance, and she could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Covington is 32 miles southeast of Atlanta.

I don't even know where to start with this one. Any quip I come up with points to her obvious stupidity. I think I'll let this article speak for itself. Fire away!

Happy Birthday to You!

In honor of my daughter's first birthday (yesterday, March 3), here is the e-mail I sent out to family and friends announcing the birth of Makenna Josephine Book. I'll post pictures after the party.

We’d like everyone (well, family and friends, anyway) to share in our excitement in welcoming a daughter to our family. We were really tempted to choose a name like Rita or Paige (pause for laughter) but we couldn’t willingly destine such a tiny, beautiful creation such grief as she would experience throughout her lifetime. She has, nevertheless, inherited some of my genes, which, according to popular opinion, is cause for greater affliction in her days ahead. For those of you who don’t know me that well, that was an attempt at humor.

As you are praying for the sanity of my new child, here are the details you were probably looking for (complete with footnotes)…

Name: Makenna Josephine Book (1)

Birth date: March 3, 2003 (03/03/03) @ 2:29 PM (2)

Weight: 7 lbs. (3)

Length: 19 1/4 inches

Visit the web page with some pictures.... http://www.bookfamily.net/makenna.htm

By the way, the labor and delivery went quick and without much pain or any complications. Her brother, Ryan, is very excited about having a sister.

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

1. McKenna means "son of Ken". Since I am neither Ken nor is she a son, that name wouldn’t be appropriate. However, Makenna is a girl’s name which means "happiness." We have de-capitalized the "K" because we are not advertising for Kmart. By the way, if you did not understand my first joke in the introductory paragraph, say the name "Rita Book" about 10 times consecutively and you’ll get the joke. Paige Book is pretty self-explanatory. Also, we do not have any nicknames planned for her, like: MJ, Mac, Kenna, Kenny, MacJo, M. Jo, Josie, Jo, or Booklette (notice the feminine spelling).

2. We realize that her birth date happens to be 03/03/03. In light of this, we considered naming her Trinity. Our only option in this case would be to drop the use of the middle and last names since "Trinity" with anything else doesn't sound as cool.

Actually, the nurse said she was born at 14:29. She must have had some of Stephanie's medicine because my watch doesn't go up to 14 and especially 29 minutes past 14. Someone said something about military time but the only uniforms I saw were either solid blue pajamas or smocks with flowers on them. Unless the doctors and nurses were part of a "slumber-party-flower-power" military, I'll go by my watch that said 2:29 PM.

3. I think this is the size of the turkey Stephanie and I ate for our first Thanksgiving together. It's hard to compare the two since that was so long ago and they are two completely different shapes. Other things that weigh seven pounds:

- the average weight each person gains during the holidays
- 7 lbs. of marbles
- one of Donna Imel's chocolate chip cookies

Things I learn from TV

Speedo = Banana Hammock

I'd like to thank...

During the Academy Awards last night (congrats to LOTR!) the winners gave credit to people in their lives who have influenced them along the way: family, mentors, friends, work associates, etc. As I watched I thought it would be nice to have my name spoken in gratitude for millions around the world to hear. In fact, since I don't have anyone in my life close to being nominated for an Academy Award, I'd be willing to pay an award winner $500 to mention my name in gratitude during the 2005 ceremony. Anyone interested can contact me for the official stipulations and agreement.