Alexander the somewhat less than mediocre

Ferlotta and I went to see "Alexander" last night. It wasn't as bad as you've probably heard, but it was certainly bad enough that I wouldn't recommend paying to see it. A lot of folks complained about the "faggitization" (to quote a guy in a local paper) of Alexander by Oliver Stone, but that's not the reason to avoid the movie.....I'ts just--well, bad...There's no shortage of over-acting, the film is edited/slapped together in an annoying, choppy manner, and several of the performances were less than inspired (I won't even go into the rant about the mish-mash of accents). Not awful, but certainly not good, it's a lot of pretty pieces, plus several ugly pieces, crammed together to make a moderately unappealing whole.

Hmmmm....I guess recruiting from N.A.M.B.L.A didn't help....

It seems that the annual number of Catholic priests being ordained in the U.S. is down by 50% in the last 40 years. This, along with the buggery (and attendant cover-up) scandals and decreasing tithes, has the Pope concerned. Story here, another bit on church, tithing, buggery, and whatnot here, with a little bit on the history of tithing here.

And by the way, anybody know if Chris Steele became a priest?

I very much enjoyed the time Ferlie and I spent at the family homeplace for the celebration of Thanksgiving. All of my mother's siblings were there, and 3 generations of folks with whom I share more than just DNA ate, drank, and made merry. Ferlie's belly, alternately known as "Baby V", "Little Rani", or "Veronica", was one of the stars of the show, as were the two beautiful daughters of my cousin "Smelly Melly". Maddie, the elder of these, has christened me "the monster", and somehow, that seemed to fit. Maddie is quite the charmer, and I'm pleased to report that she has demonstrated 100% less biting of my nose than her mother did at the same age. As usual, our good friend Rogers was there, and we hope to have him back for many years to come.

My forest management/dominion over nature project continued with a few more hours of vine-slashing, mimosa-maiming, and the transplanting of a white oak, red oak, maple, and magnolia sapling-- digging each up from an "untenable position" and re-planting them at more pleasing places on the farm (all of which met with my dear ole Mom's approval, btw). The beech and wild cherry trees I transplanted at this time last year are thriving, and hopefully this batch will do as well.

It seems that the fans in Detroit, a city known for friendliness and good fellowship, carried their antics a bit too far last night. There's talk of the police analyzing video to determine if crimes were committed (well, duh), and if so, by whom. If you don't want to take the time to read the article, the story goes a little somethin' like this: big rich black guy makes a rough, unnecessary foul on another big rich black guy during the last minute of a basketball game...there is no doubt that the game's outcome has already been determined, so the foul was either intentional mischief by a gloating winner, or simply sloppy stupidity....fouled guy shoves fouling guy, the teammates of each join in a scrum, but despite copious use of the f-word, there appear to be no injuries, and the peace is restored.....fouling guy is then hit in the face with a full cup of beer, thrown down from the stands by stupid obnoxious small young envious white guy....fouling guy and a teammate rush the stands, punching folks along the way, more fighting, more things thrown, mass stupidity ensues.

One of the primary reasons that I've quit going to "big time" sporting events is that I've come to despise the "rowdy fan". It seems to me, anyone who's going to get so wrapped up in the outcome of a game is probably a little too nutty to be near. And to make game attendance even more enticing, Behold-- as our inevitable civil/social decline continues, a new sub-type of rowdy fan doth emerge--the wingnut who's at the game for riotous behavior, heckling, and the making of spectacle.

Of course, the players have to assume responsibility for their own actions, and the statements to the effect that charging into the stands is a form of self-defense are illogical attempts at justification, nothing more. But ya know, if somebody did the same sort of thing to me on the street, I'd retaliate, and believe myself justified in doing so.

With the NBA, MLB, NFL, or the EIEIO, all decisions come down to money, and you are sadly deluded if you think otherwise. The players put up with all the heckling (well, most of the time, heheheh) because of their huge salaries. The owners don't clamp down on the venue operators because the goal is to keep down the costs of staging the game. The venues don't increase security or limit the sale of booze because it would cut into their profits. If the players associations can convince the owners that they'll strike if civility isn't enforced, or if the owners can convince the venue operators that they'll take their business elsewhere unless security is tightened, or if the fans "stay away in droves" in response to the escalating barbarity in the stands, perhaps we'll see some change....but don't bet on it.

Evander Holyfield was a man worthy of great respect. He trained harder than any of his peers, and, albeit for a rather short time, dominated the heavyweight division, legitimately earning the title "undisputed heavyweight champion of the world". He fought on past his prime, took too many punches to the ole noggin', and has finally been suspended from boxing in the U.S.

I hope that he has plenty of money stashed away for his retirement.

Last night, my beloved and I ventured forth to dine with Hatch, Marissa, and Victoria. Famous Dave's (ticker symbol: DAVE) was the feast-site of choice, where we were thrilled and amused by Marissa's retelling of what is sure to be a classic addition to the Hatcher Family Saga-- "The Sheet Incident". You can read more about our friends at Hatch's Blog. After dinner, we retired to Hatcher Estates, to there watch "Saved!", a movie that surprised me immensely by 1) not being the vitriolic anti-Christian film it was purported to be in the media, and 2) demonstrating that McKauley Culkin still has that magic that endeared him to us all back in the 1980's. The movie was pretty darn funny, and I would recommend it to anyone who isn't still on a hunger-strike over Creed's switch-over to mainstream "secular" rock.

Greetings all....Ferlotta and I have been muy mucho busy, and that fact, combined with my innate laziness, resulted in no entries for quite some time now. Well, we're back, and here's what's new....

Veronica Grace Clemmons is still a-kickin' away at Ferlie's belly. It has been the greatest joy of my life to sit around, holding my beloved, and feeling/watching her abdomen pulsate. All of our medical news has been good, and we're expecting the newest Clemmons circa 2-27-05.

Our anniversary is March 1st, and my dear old Mom's birthday is February 23rd, so there's plenty of opportunity for shared date significance, or SDS. SDS is a phenomenon known far and wide, primarily by children who share a birthday with the Dec 25th celebration of Christmas (known to them as "screwed out of an extra present day"). One of our favorite SDS sufferers is our dear friend Cassondra Link, who is this year forced to share the joyous anniversary of her birth with American Turkey Death and Dismemberment Day, known as American Thanksgiving to those of us who haven't been politically correctified out of our proper raising.

Hello again to all of our loyal readers, and hopefully we'll do a better job of keeping you amused in the near future.

Paul and Ferlie