Katie’s Beer

Ugly Betty is a good show!  Watch it!  The only problem I have with the show is the very purposeful implications that her young nephew has huge gender identity issue (age 10 and sits in the house all day watching fashion television and secretly read fashion magazine - come on). There are also implications of premarital sex and very tame underwear shots.  Therefore, it is not a good show for kids under the teenage years.

I think the reason to watch it is America Ferrara.  She did a great job of portraying a smart, honest and kind young woman who really has no idea that others find her so unattractive.  I also have to compliment the writers of the show for walking a fine line between making fun of less attractive people and showing them in a very positive light.  I have hope that Ms. Ferrara and the writers of the show will continue to develop her character in a positive way.

Tags: television by TK
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This weekend, my dad is playing in the 2006 NSGA Senior Olympic Hockey Championships (September 28-October 1, 2006) at the Schwan’s SuperCenter in Blaine, MN. His team, Minnesota Blue, won their first game last night. They play two games today. Go Blue!

Tags: hockey by TK
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While I wouldn’t call myself a groupie, I’ve always liked Weird Al Yankovic He’s been around a long time! I started listening to him through one of my favorites, The Dr. Demento radio show (still on the air and streaming online for a small fee), in the 1970’s. I think there is an important need in this world for his music. I have yet to hear a parody of his that crosses a moral line, although I know that not everyone appreciates his sense of humor.

If you don’t watch his face while he sings, you might begin to appreciate his strong musical talent. He just happened to choose musical comedy; I think he could have been a serious musician with his level of talent and creativity. I have to admire that, because there is a place in this world for musical comedy. Another plus is that his music can be enjoyed by all ages.

One video that really formed my current opinion about Weird Al is the Stars Wars/American Pie parody. He wore a wig and looked completely different….kind of handsome, really. Watching that video without the distraction of his black ringlets helped me to see him in a new light. You can watch the video on YouTube.

Random facts about Weird Al:

Did you know that Al was a straight-A student and graduated as Valedictorian at the age of 16 and graduated from the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo with a degree in Architecture?

Besides Al’s official website, a guy named Happy Steve runs a great un-official blog called Yank Blog.

Taylor Hicks himself says he loves the new Weird Al video/song. He said, “That’s funny, that’s cool - I love that.”

Tags: Pop Culture, Music, Humor by TK
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My neighbor has had a Harley for as long as I remember.  On Wednesday nights, in all cooperative seasons, he and his grown son have Harley night.  His son comes over about 5pm and they sit in my neighbor’s driveway for an hour or so tinkering with the bikes and talking.  Then about 7pm they take off on their machines.  I can’t remember where they go, but it’s too a Harley gathering spot.  The other night I joked with them (I wasn’t joking THAT much) that I’d like to join them some night.  They beamed and offered that they have beer and pizza!  I just shook my head and said, “Four more years, guys, four more years until the kids are gone.  Then I’m buying the Harley and joining  you.”

Until I do that, you can enjoy one of my favorite Minnesota bloggers, Rush Hour Rambling.  He has some nice posts on autumn biking and making sure that his young daughter will be a future biker.

Tags: Everyday life by TK
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I still can’t believe this guy isn’t a Lutheran! But in a way it is reassuring to me that he isn’t because, even though he isn’t a Lutheran, HE GETS IT. What is IT? It’s taking a trek through the land that he, and I , and many bloggers have. We survived, went on to find decent churches and create blogs where we post our ridiculous experiences. Michael Spencer,  The Internet Monk,  writes…

Want to make me feel bad? Sure you do.Here’s how you do it. Drop me back into my revivalistic roots and leave me there for an hour. I’ll feel bad. And I’ll feel bad about feeling bad. The guilt levels will rise. Aisle walking tendencies, long dormant, will reappear. Misery about all my failures as a minister and as a Christian will soon overwhelm me. I won’t kick the dog, but I may look like the dog that was kicked. Why? It’s hard to say, except that revivalism is a huge part of me from days when I had little choice about what I was hearing, seeing and experiencing as a Christian. There are aspects of my basic mental framework around the idea of God, what he asks of me and how I relate to him that are going to be forever trapped in a Baptist revival meeting and in the rhetoric of revivalism. Revivalism, in my life, is a version of Christianity that continually stresses my own failure- and our corporate failure- to adequately submit to God, surrender to God, serve God or pray to God. It is this failure that accounts for the deadness of churches, a lack of “victorious living,” and, of course, the failure of millions to come to Christ in a spiritual awakening/revival movement. Read more here

Tags: Religion by TK
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I tell ya, Kirby is a good luck charm!

Tags: Baseball by TK
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A great post from Shrewspeaks over at GrayCharles.com.

We were talking about our memories of the 70’s late-night music show, The Midnight Special. She did a little research and found some great pieces of online memorabilia.

From Shrewspeaks…

TK…Happy B-day! Midnight Special totally forgot about that….so these are for you…

Wilson Pickett
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaLygku28XY

CCR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo6wJLF2jE4

Rick James with bonus Wolfman Jack all deck out in one of Little Richard’s glitter suits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVLs6Fy_3qg

One of my favs…Jim Croce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXBCzuVBVjA

and a very special one….if you only watch one…watch this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9U3jJqAXMU

TK, Thanks for bringing this show back to me from the deep recesses of my mind.

(Shrewspeaks remembers…) I had two sisters much older than me and on Saturday night they would be stuck baby sitting me. Well, they hoped if I was alllowed to stay up with them that I would fall asleep at 9 or so…but I didn’t. I was the youngest night owl ever. So I would watch this with them as a very young one, three-ish or so and you know something…this show even though hidden from my conscious memory was probably a great influencer in my music taste…I mean look at the variety…and The Wolfman to boot…nice.

Thanks for this…Happy Birthday.

Thanks Shrewspeaks. This was a great birthday present!

Tags: Music by TK
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September

a poem by Longfellow, thanks to Norman Teigen

I bear the Scales, where hang in equipoise

The night and day; and when unto my lips

I put my trumpet, with its stress and noise

Fly the white clouds like tattered sails of ships;

The tree-top lash the air with sounding whips;

Southward the clamorous sea-fowl wing their flight;

The hedges are all red with haws and hips.

The Hunter’s Moon reigns empress of the night.

September has always been my favorite month. It is the month of my birthday, which mostly likely caused me to rejoice when I was younger. Nowadays, I cringe at the actual number of my birthdays, but I still love September. Why? Falling leaves, the start of school, cool nights and shortening days, the first chance to put on a sweater since spring, chrysanthemums, my big red sugar maple tree, squirrels busily burying their nuts. What isn’t there to like about September? Of course, I haven’t asked any 9/11 survivors if they love September. Nor my dear sister-in-law who just lost her mother on 9/11, just nine days after her own birthday. Nor the family who just lost their ten year old daughter in the Rogers tornado. But for now, I love September. And I love blogs!

To read the 33rd issue of the Lutheran Carnival, please click on over to my other blog, Be Strong in the Grace.

Tags: Lutheran Carnival by TK
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I know I’ll make you all jealous, but I just have to brag that I received a birthday email from Tommy Shaw and the gang at Styx! I’m the only one they sent that to, right?
Here is is:
Happy Birthday, Theresa!
You thought you could keep it quiet, didn’t you!! We hope you have a fantastic day and are properly celebrated! As always, we appreciate you being a loyal fan. See you in STYXWorld!
Sincerely,
Tommy, JY, Todd, Lawrence, Ricky & the entire STYX family.

Tags: Everyday life by TK
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I haven’t taken a vacation from blogging, but I have been kept away by several things:

• Researching and preparing for the upcoming edition of the Lutheran Carnival which I am hosting this weekend;
• Organizing the upcoming Confessional Worldview Seminar being hosted by my church (please sign up if you haven’t already done so - enrollment is quite low for an event of this caliber);
• Remaining a useful employee;
• Keeping a reasonably clean, happy and well-fed household;
• Going to daughter’s tennis matches in far-flung regions of the metropolis;
• Dealing with a painful budget decrease mandated by my dear husband who has pointed out to me that I spend money like it is water (not an entirely unfair description);
• Walking, training, feeding and loving up my 62 pound puppy (help!) I now know where the idea for the Clifford, the Big Red Dog books came from.;
• Finding some time to read, discover and listen to good music and read blogs.

It has been frustrating not to be able to blog from work due to Big Brother Websense. Blogging by email works, but at times, but the result are not very pretty or polished. I miss being able to post a thought here and there during the day. It really helps me to focus on my work. I do read more posts these days, thanks to Rojo. It is still surprising, though, how many bloggers have not made sure they have an RSS feed going.

A nice young woman came to my door last night handing out literature for local Democratic candidates. She was much more well-informed than me. I didn’t even know that Ron Abrams had retired…how embarrassing. So, I promised her that I would read the literature. I reminded myself that I need to get back in to political mode very soon.

I’ll try to add more thoughts tomorrow. It is very easy to get out of the habit of keeping a blog.

Tags: Blog-keeping, dogs, politics, Everyday life by TK
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