Cloudy With a Chance of – What did he Just Say?

(I know, it’s been forever since I’ve blogged here.  That’s all I’m going to say about it.)  :)

So we took the kids on a “family date” to see “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” the other day.  It looked funny in the previews and it had been while since we tested Roland’s ability to sit still for an hour and a half.  Yes, it was funny.  And yes!  Roland sat still for the most part.

However, 10 minutes or so in the movie, someone referred to the town that the movie was about as a “hell hole”.

What??

The movie was based on a children’s book.  Think “hell hole” was in the book?  Somehow I doubt it.  Fortunately the rest of the movie went fine.

This got me thinking today about how different things are these days.  I don’t remember my parents having to worry about what new phrase I might repeat after going to see a KIDS movie when I was young.  Maybe they did.  I know there was a lot of…um…adult…innuendo then, as there is now, but outright bad language?  I’m not so sure.  And to tell the truth, I doubt movies like Shrek that are full of innuendo would have been accepted by a lot of parents when I was young.

Sometimes we will watch and older cartoon with the kids and we’ll notice how one character might call another one an idiot or call them stupid.  And we are floored that we were allowed to watch things like that.  Yet, we barely notice when the word “hell hole” is used in a movie.

This is light in comparison, but it is something else I think about a lot.  We were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with the kids a couple of months ago and Goofy said, “You know what, chicken butt” to another character.  Now, I’ll be honest.  I laughed my butt off when he did that.  :)  And being more honest I’ll admit that I say that to my kids a lot now.  But I can remember a time in my life when “butt” was off limits.  Now it’s being said on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

And don’t even get me started on the state of “family hour” programming, if there is such a thing any more.  There’s another word for “butt” that is off limits for my kids that you can’t watch a show with anyone over 18 as a character and not hear it.  We like to settle down with the kids at night and watch a few minutes of what we consider a “safe” show.  If it is a show that Beverly or I actually care to watch, it usually is a cake decorating or cooking type show.  But those still have language that is unnecessary.

Why is every curse word except the F-word fair game these days?  Oh, except for god da**.  They can say the D-word but not God in front of it.  Classy, huh?  I just don’t get it.

We’ve pretty much taken the approach that it’s impossible to shield our kids from this kind of language now.  Kinda sad, but that’s the reality for us anyway.  We’ve scaled back the TV shows we watch significantly but as I said it’s pretty much unavoidable unless we stopped turning the TV on altogether.  While that may be tempting at times, I don’t think it would really solve the problem either.  It would delay it though I suppose.

If they repeat a word that shouldn’t then we tell them never to do it again and why.  It actually has worked pretty well so far.  Any time someone says, “Oh my God” on TV (and you know, they aren’t actually talking to God), one of the kids will point that out and say, “they shouldn’t say that, Daddy”.  So that gives me some comfort.  I do just wish it wasn’t so easy for kids to hear that kind of stuff though.

Oh well.  This wasn’t really about anything other than some rambling.  You probably wish you had your 5 minutes back now.  Sorry.  :)  Feel free to chime in with thoughts if you have any.

Question: What lessons do you hope to instill in your kids?

(Note - This is mostly a rant sessioin. Obviously I want to instill a lot more than just these two lessons in my kids.)

1. When you get married, MOVE OUT!
I've noticed a bit of a trend lately with some youngins getting married and then moving in with one of their parents instead of moving out on their own. Observe this passage in scripture:

Genesis 2:24 - For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

It doesn't get any more clear than that, folks. When you get married, you need to be on your own with your new spouse. I'm sorry if I offend someone out there, but that's how I feel.

The only exception I will make to this is if my kids have found a place to stay and the wedding date happens to be before they can move in. While that could be considered poor planning on their part, I'm not going to be crazy with this rule. But they don't need to get married with the intent of staying with me indefinitely. I'm sorry, but once they have decided to live with someone else, they've decided not to live with me.

The main lesson I'd want to teach here is that when they get married, they need to be ready to build their lives together on their own. And I don't think moving in with their parents and still having some dependence on them is a good way to do that. I'd love for my kids to live close to me when they get married. Just not with me.

2. If you aren't legally allowed to get married without my permission, WAIT!
Along the same lines as that last one - I've seen a couple of people get married before they are 18 and thus ask their parents to sign a paper saying they are allowed to do so. Again, I don't want to offend anyone, but that's just crazy to me.

I don't see any harm in waiting. Maybe that's because I started dating my future wife in high school and we didn't get married until we were 21. I can simply say that we were definitely not ready to get married before we were 18 even though it is obvious we would still be married now.

The main lesson I'd want to teach my kids with this one is that they need to make sure they are really ready to face the world on their own. And I don't think anyone can claim that at 17 years of age or younger in this day and age.

Question: What's a good book to read at the beach?

So it seems like every week one of my friends on Facebook is saying they are going to the beach. School is out and a ton of people choose the beach as their summer vacation destination. My wife and I are planning a trip to the beach later this year. If I had not already read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, it would have been perfect for our trip.

Why? Simple reason really. It is a BIG BOOK!

The book pictured is 1192 pages. So you could start it and pretty much guarantee yourself that you will not ever finish it while you are on your trip. It took me a very long time to read it. I think my wife read like 5 books in the time it took me to read that one.

Plus it's a really good book too. I read it last year because I heard it mentioned a lot during the presidential primaries. Even though it was written over 50 years ago, it is very relevant today.

To summarize the plot - The political leaders of our country keep passing laws to control/restrict our businesses. To the point that the executives of those businesses shrug their shoulders (hence the title) and leave. As that happens, the world starts to fall apart.

It is a very political book. But I think the story is good even if you don't care for the politics very much. And even though I felt Ayn Rand may have over-exaggerated the problems with a government that goes out of control, I think it gives interesting insights on what can happen when we give up the freedom's that our forefathers fought so hard to secure for us. And it definitely can give a different perspective on how politicians can spin even the worst ideas and situations into something positive.

I should mention that it is not a Christian novel. Ayn Rand was an atheist and she takes several jabs at religion in this book. If you can't or don't want to read anything with that type of content, then don't get this book. I will say that I think she makes some good points, but clearly I disagree with most of her perspective there.

Anyway, if you are planning a trip to the beach and would like a book that you can get lost in while relaxing in the sun, I think this is a good one. Just be sure to pack some sunscreen. :)

Question: What activity or behavior should be a crime?

I think the vast majority of reasons that people use for honking their car horn constitutes being a crime. In my opnion, car horns could pretty much be removed and roads would be much safer than they are now.



Some examples:



- Honking your horn at the driver next to you while driving down the interstate to because you recognize them and want to give them a shout out. Um, have you ever thought that staring at them and causing them to stare at you means their are two people NOT STARING AT THE ROAD?? Not to mention that this behavior often causes windows to be rolled down and people to try to talk to each other. Oh, and the potential effect of startling the other drivers around you. So yeah, very dangerous.



- Honking your horn to get the person in front of you to move at a green light if they happened to be doing something like blinking when the light turned green. Give them a few seconds people!



- Honking your horn because someone doesn't drive the way you think they should. Okay, I know that cars were created so your awesome skills could be put on display, but give the rest of us a break. Sure, there are a ton of folks out there who probably should not have a license, but honking your horn at them is not going to make them realize that. And again, it probably scares the and everyone else who you are not directing your anger at.



I'm sure car horns had a purpose when cars were first invented, but I find them very unnecessary now. And I think if we can be ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt which places no one but ourselves in danger, then there should be tickets for honking your horn for stupid reasons which could definitely harm others.

Question: What would be the pros and cons of legalizing Marijuana?

This is a question that gets brought up a lot lately. I guess that will continue as Marijuana use gets to be more accepted. I remember not too long ago that pot use was considered to be much the same as many other illegal drugs. Now, especially since it's been approved for some medicinal applications, very few people seem to be surprised when they hear about or see another person smoking pot.



Do I think Marijuana should be legal? Well really the question is - should ANY DRUG be illegal? The Libertarian in me would love to say that there should be no laws against drug use. And to tell the truth, I'd go along with that if people could be trusted to be responsible with drugs and alcohol. But I'm already scared enough to drive at certain times at night when statistics show more people are likely to be driving under the influence of alcohol. So while I think it is really unconsitutional to prohibit any drug use, it's not really practical to say anything goes. If we are all being honest, the laws against the "hard" drugs are there to protect everyone involved. Yes, I know the argument that if you made them legal then the excitement about breaking the law would go away and then people would be more responsible. But I can't say I see that's the case with alcohol even though it's legal. There would have to be a limit on the legal use of these other drugs, as there is with alcohol. That limit would still be broken and lives would still be shattered, as it is with alcohol.



So I guess the way I'm going answer this question is to say that legalizing Marijuana would have the same pros and cons as legalizing alcohol does...



Pros:

- More people would know what the limits are and would consider the consequenses of breaking those limits.

- Taking pot off the street and putting it into the hands of regulators would likely help more responsible people from getting into too much trouble with the drug. For instance, if pot could be categorized like beer, wine, hard liquor is now, people would know how much they can take to fall within the legal limits.

- Realizing that you have a problem with addiction to pot and getting help would be easier than it is now. In that at least you can admit it and people will be somewhat more accepting. Much like alcohol is now. Let's face it - if you admit a problem with something that is legal like alcohol or gambling, people look at you differently than if you admit a problem with something illegal like pot or cocaine.



Cons

- Well, think about all of the cons related to alcohol being legal. Again, lives are shattered every day by alcohol use. People are killed. Families are broken apart.

- I can't say I know much about the effects of marijuana use. For instance, how many joints would it take to have the general side effects of a can of beer? Or should that question be the other way around (how much beer = 1 joint)? Sure, it depends on the individual user's tolerance but you see what I am getting at. I'm left to assume that marijuana is generally stronger than your basic alcoholic beverage. That being the case, then we are introducing a more dangerous drug into our society. There would clearly be consequences to that.

- All of the drugs in this discussion are gateway drugs. A little bit of alcohol many times leads to wanting more alcohol, or stronger alcohol. So a little bit of pot would likely lead to wanting more pot, or stronger pot.



So in summary - in a perfect world, marijuana would be legal because people would take it responsibly. But we are not in a perfect world so it's probably best to have as few legal drugs as possible.

Question: What's the least fun you've ever had at a place that was supposed to be fun?

Ok, I know I know. I was gonna blog more and then I stopped blogging....Again. Sorry. Ok, enough of that. Let's get on with the answer...



The year was 2001. Beverly (my wife) and I were in our early 20s. We still sorta followed the music that was popular at that time. Several bands we liked were going to be there. Creed was one of the headliners and we really liked them. Here is the lineup that year if you would like a little bit of nostalgia.



http://www.thebealestreetmusicfestival.com/2000-bealestreetmusicfestivallineup.htm



So us and another couple bought tickets. We were really excited. This was the first year where they had three days of music by a bunch of artists we actually like. Should be a lot of fun, right?



Wrong.



So the first night we get there and the main band we wanted to see was Creed. We thought we'd bring our lounge chairs and find a place to set up and just enjoy the scenery for a little while until an hour or so before Creed was supposed to take the stage. That didn't work out at all. For one, no chairs allowed. For two (is that even a term? oh well), it started raining really hard soon after we got there. And when I say hard I mean I think a tornado was close or something. We were watching Percy Sledge (of "When a Man Loves a Woman" fame - yeah, that time slot was pretty weak) and the bottom fell out. Completely miserable.



So after the rain stopped a bit, the ground was muddy. Not Woodstock muddy I guess, but still pretty darn muddy. And tons of people started flowing in the place. Before long, it was pretty much shoulder to shoulder traffic across the entire park.



Oh, and I haven't mentioned the alcohol. Now, I understand that those types of events are for partying and drinking. And even though we weren't really into that kind of thing, we knew most of the people there would be. What we did not expect was the huge crowd that basically made it impossible not to get stuff poured all over you. I think we had as much beer on us as the other folks had in them.



So anyway, we make our way over to the stage where Creed was going to be performing. The band performing at the time had just came on. Their name was Sevendust. I think I'll call them Satan's Minions or some such name like that though because they sounded more like something straight out of Lucifer's lair than anything I'd ever experienced before. Lots of yelling and screaming. Several fans in the crowd with bongs and who knows what else. Scared us to death (almost literally it felt like).



Good times.



So Satan gets off the stage and we wait for Creed to show up.



And wait...



And wait...



It's so long that one of our group decides to go back to the car and wait for us to be done. Yeah, he decided hanging out in a parking garage by himself would be more fun than waiting on and eventually watching one of the top bands of that day perform.



So Creed finally performs. Still a ton of people. Not as many crazy folks doing drugs in our area anyway, but it was really crowded and people were shoving and spilling beer all over us. Creed put on an ok show from what I recall and from what we were able to catch between watching them and trying not to get trampled on.



By the end of the night, we were completely exhausted. We went back the next couple days but didn't stay long either day really. It kept raining and the crowds were still crazy. But we had spent the money and there were a few bands we wanted to see so we braved the elements for those few bands and left ASAP each day.



That was the first and only time I've ever been to the Beale Street Music Festival. And the last time too. Never again. Never. Again.



When people tell us they are going and act excited we pretty much laugh in their face now. We are clearly not the type of people who that event is meant for. And that's fine by us.

A Quick Reminder

Ok, so this blog isn't titled Danny Is RIGHT any more, but the fact is that I'm still RIGHT.  The proof is all over the news today.  I just finished browsing around the news and here are some of the headlines:

• From DrudgeReport - "TAX DAY BECOMES PROTEST DAY"
• From CNN - "'Tax Day Tea Party' protesters gather in Washington. Watch Now: Live on CNN.com"
• From NPR - "Why Protest Big Government With Tea On Tax Day?"

I could go on and on, but when I say all over the news I really mean it.  Browse around just a little bit and you'll see it.  Watch the news on TV today or tonight and it will be on there.

In case you don't get to it and the news passes, here is an article that explains it pretty well and should be accessible for a while.  Basically, "Tea Party" protests are being organized across the country today to rise up against high taxes and our government's crazy spending and over-reaching influence in our lives.

So why does this mean I was RIGHT.  Observe some quotes from some of my previous blog entries:

• From this entry:

So lets say Obama wins and the scenario I mention above happens over the next two years.  We'd have a Democrat Congress that isn't doing what their constituents want them to do and an already angered Conservative\Republican base.  Which means that we have a great chance at major changes to Congress in just two years.  Liberals likely will not put up challengers to the Democrats, and they may be angry enough not to vote (just like conservatives did two years ago and likely will do again this year).  But REAL conservative candidates will start to surface.  And they will take seats away from the Democrats.  They may even challenge the Republicans and win, thus making the party more conservative.

• From this entry

I also think it's interesting that some of the most moderate Republicans lost their seats last night.  Everything is being set up nicely for a major movement back to the RIGHT.  The Democrats will not lead this country in the direction that their liberal constituents want them to, but their agenda will be liberal enough to fire up a conservative backlash.  We've voted out the folks on "our side" who weren't conservative enough.  Now it's time to go back to the drawing board and find the folks that are.

• And one more (which is really a quote from somewhere else but it was on my blog so I'll take semi-credit :))

In the past two years, I found that when the young people heard the message of liberty, they overwhelmingly responded favorably, fully realizing the failure of the status quo and the need to once again endorse a system of self reliance, personal responsibility, sound money, and a non-interventionist foreign policy while rejecting the cradle-to-grave nanny state all based on the rule of law and the Constitution.

To ignore the political struggle and only "hope for the best" is pure folly. The march toward a dictatorial powerful state is now in double time.

All those who care -- and especially those who understand the stakes involved -- have an ominous responsibility to energetically get involved in the battle of survival for a free and prosperous America.

 

So clearly something is brewing.  These Tea Parties have nothing to do with Republicans (although the GOP sure is trying to get some credit in every way possible).  They have nothing to do with Democrats.  They have everything to do with AMERICANS who are getting FED UP with our government trying more and more to control our lives.

This sentiment originated with the original Boston Tea Party of course.  And although it isn't being mentioned much today, Ron Paul supporters held some Tea Parties over a year ago that are likely where the organizational roots of today's protests come from.

This has the potential to escalate to exactly what I predicted during the final stages of the last presidential election.  These protests are going to cause politicians to take notice.  And they will create future politicians.  This potential not only makes me RIGHT, but it also makes our country better.