All Hallows Eve, the start of the Christmas Season

This sucks. First I lose out on the costume contest at work. My Klingon outfit is awesome, by the way. Then I get home and the wife and kid are watching Final Desperation 14 or something. To which I say, ick! There's no, I mean zero, kids coming to my door for candy. And now I'm writing this blog on the crappy little laptop I have, because the Mac is in the same room as the viewing of Final Re-Hashation.

This holiday doesn't bug me too much, as I never had a kid with a fist full of candy shoved in his mouth ask me about druids, evil spirits, or ritual sacrifice. You might as well call it "How-the-heck-do-we-get-the-kid-off-the-ceiling-after-eating-his-weight-in-candy-loween" for all he cares.

What does bug me, is that I made a last minute trip to Rite Aid to pick up some costume stuff (which was sold out) and found two whole aisles (TWO!!!!!) of Christmas Stuff. What on Earth is going on?!?!? Every year it gets earlier and earlier. Someday we'll see Christmas stuff going up on Labor Day if this keeps up. Now, I'm a Christmas Guy! I love the season. Not on All Hallows Eve, however. Not even on All Saint's Day.

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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal

WWJDO, and the new term Jesus Bling ™

WWJDO-Who Would Jesus Drive Over
Taking a little break from the blogs I like series to put this one out there.

You know from my posts so far, I don't bring "The Life" up very often here. This is my venue for letting off steam and trying to be funny. But I know a lot of you reading are family, so in love I say...

I mentioned this before, but I'm a sucker for an AM/PM Jumbo Spicy Dog. Last Thursday I was getting all set to walk in an enjoy one said AMPMJSD, when as I crossed the parking lot, a large American pick up truck began to back up in to me. Sure, this stuff happens ALL the time, and I saw the guy getting pretty mouthy through his mirror. Like I had nothing better to do than to make him late for... whatever.

Well, he didn't stop backing up either, I had to jump out of the way to keep from getting hit. And I am just starting to think "Could you be a bigger jerk?" when I saw it. Jesus Bling ™. You know the stuff. Giant, stick figure fish. "Not of This World" window decals that obscure vision. Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbs fame, praying. All the junk you put on your car to show everybody you a major playa in the Kingdom, yo.

Now, I know. You might wanna say something like "Judge not, lest ye be judge yourself". But, that is not what the Word teaches. The Word gives us the authority to discern right and wrong amongst the brethren. And this brother was bringing his Jesus Bling ™ hard up into my face. My whole body, really.

And the best way to get the "Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch" lobed at you is to be bringing your bling when you do the sin thing, and then leave your window down.

"Nice Fish", I said. Which brings up my next marketing term "Who Would Jesus Flip Off", or WWJFO.

Folks, there are a whole lot of people out there dismissing our cultural relevance out there for crap just like this, and I don't blame them. If you cannot walk the walk... and trust me, I know it's hard. Crazy evil hard! ... then at the very least keep the crap off your car so my co-workers don't have another "Jesus Jerk" to complain about. We are pretty much it. All that stands between this society and licentious evil. And judging by TV and legislature, we are FAILING! We live in a "if it feels good, do it" culture and we all know sin feels good at the time. And they are doing it. And I believe in some way we will answer for that in the Courts of Light.

And who am I to get mouthy about Road Rage? A convicted sinner, saved by grace. I happen to think those are all the credentials I need. Especially when it comes to a brother sportin Jesus Bling ™.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal

Blogs That I like #4, Ragamuffin Soul

#4 Ragamuffin Soul. Los Whittaker is a little too young and too hip to be completely relevant to me, but he's certainly entertaining and he does brighten up the blogosphere quite a bit. He also has the Ragamuffin Soul podcast. I subscribe, but I think it will be less appealing to those of you not interested in modern worship music. His blog, however, is almost universally appealing. Infinitely more popular than me, he seems to have a large and ever growing readership. Time for you to jump on.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal

Blogs I like #3 Mildly Interesting Writing About Things

#3 Mildly Interesting Writing About Things The Blog of long time friend Tony Green. This blog, scarily enough, was started to disseminate information about his battle with melanoma. Face it, we are all scared of cancer. Tony faced it as well as anyone I have seen so far. And, he's now clean. He then documented his move from California to Ohio, along with guest blogger Roger Green (his dad). Now he has settled in and comes up with the most interesting content of any "amateur" blogger I've read. It's good stuff. He posts at least every few days. I'm glad he's kept it up, and you can encourage him by reading and commenting.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal

Blogs I like #2 Neil Gaiman

#2 Neil Gaiman's Journal. Let's be honest, some people have been reading Neil's blog for years, and I haven't. I'm a recent reader, and hit and miss at that. But it's fascinating to look so closely at a real creative person. I'm pretty creative, but I am all but crippled by my ADD and I flit from interest to interest like a butterfly. Neil is a writer, and a writer's writer to boot. He's disciplined enough to put out several thousand words a day, where as I have not done an oil painting since I graduated, which was 2001. Sad for a guy who used to identify himself as a painter.

And of course, how I first came across Neil... He writes comics! He wrote The Sandman, which is one of those transcendent comics like The Watchmen and Kingdom Come that have achieved art status on ANYBODY's list. I really encourage you to read Neil's blog for a period of time. It is real insight into the creative mind... kinda how I wish my blog was.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal

Blogs I like #1 Dvorak Uncensored

I thought I should maybe give some props to some folks around the blogosphere who's content I enjoy pretty regularly. In no particulary order, here's some of what I read.

#1 John Dvorak: Dvorak Uncensored TWiT's cranky curmudgeon, I read John mostly to get ticked off. He's a godless bast**d, and I stay away from anything he posts having to do with faith of anykind. He is, however, a great writer and stays relevant with technology, which is what he's known for. I've been a fan of John since he pissed me off bad mouthing Apple on "Silicone Spin" on the old ZDTV which begat Tech TV which begat G4TEch TV which begat RIP.

John publishes several posts a day (having a team helps) so there is plenty of content. I also recommend the TWiT "netcast" (that word does NOT work for me) and Cranky Geeks, a DL.TV production production.

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That's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online

Recovering S.T.D. (Speed Thrash Death) Enthusiast

Ok, apparently I am jumping on the back of a post by Kristiapplesauce, that was picked up by Tony Green, and West Wheeler. I'm not going to be too specific, as in the past a certain dark brown beverage might have colored my memory, but here's a short list of the folks I saw live, in the best order I can remember.
The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan
Metallica
Queensryche
Faith No More
Rush
Mr. Big
Anthrax
Exodus
Suicidal Tendencies
fIREHOSE (NOT Fire House) Formerly The Minute Men
The Black Watch
Van Halen (Sammy Era)
Alice in Chains
Megadeth
Motorhead (memory is hazy at best. Very loud)
Slayer
Fight (with Rob Halford)
Iron Maiden (numerous times)
Twisted Sister
Testament
Overkill
Ozzy Osbourne
Lita Ford
The Cult
Dangerous Toys
Tora Tora
Poison (before they were signed I got thrown out because a friend threw his shoe at Bret Michaels)
Conspiracy of Thought
Last Amanda
Plumbline
All Together Separate
B.B. King
Dr. John
Little Feat
Daryl Mansfield
The Cry
Alicia Keys
The Isley Brothers...

I think that's it. At least that I can remember.


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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online:The Platypus Portal