Eyjafjallajokull Volcano

Just thought I'd share a link someone shared with me with pictures of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruptions. The power of nature as created by God - these pictures are awesome, terrible, cool, amazing, scary, and wonderful. Prayers, hope, and goodwill to all, especially the Icelanders and Europeans, affected by these eruptions.




http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html?


Hope you like the pictures.

Church Sign: Death and Taxes

A local church here in Huntsville has a sign up that reads:

Death and Taxes - Are you ready for both?

My answer to that is: only for death. It's April 15th, and I still need to finish my taxes. Hopefully, all you mature, independent, patriotic citizens of these United States are a little better off than me in those particular pursuits (maturity, independence, patriotism, etc.).

For what it's worth, here I am blogging at midnight. I have to laugh because there just aren't any good excuses.

Dorkman-Related

Not that it matters much over here at the Realm, but Ken was good enough to (re-)lay-out our sister-blog, The Dorkman Cometh, as we're hoping to get more author visits and spread the word about our fine, ingenious and socially-relevant novel on a larger scale than it has been.

Also, today and tomorrow we will have been at ALLA, the Alabama Librarians Association conference held here at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, AL. In case you passed by, Ken was the one with the "DORK" shirt!!!

Merlin

Has anyone else watched or been watching any of this little BBC show called Merlin?

One of my son's really into fanstasy stories, and I told him about Merlin a few months ago while watching the show last year Sunday nights on NBC before football started. Since, NBC has dropped the show, but the SyFy Channel scooped it up. Anyhow, he watched his first Merlin show last Friday and really loved it.

The premise is essentially a reboot of the King Arthur legend beginning when Arthur and Merlin were in their teens a la Smallville and the Superman saga -- in fact, the show's producer commented that Smallville was quite an influence for Merlin. In the show, King Uther Pendragon, has outlawed all sorcery in Camelot. Meanwhile, Merlin is a magical being serving a snooty but good-hearted Prince Arthur for the good of Camelot that comes under all kinds of attacks that are going to take some of Merlin's magic to defeat. The building of the Arthur/Merlin friendship is a key part of the show. Also, Camelot regulars Guinevere and Morgana are invloved, and guest appearances by Lancelot, an imprisoned magical golden dragon, and some of the other figures in the Camelot legends should be expected.

I haven't watched too many episodes, but each one I've seen has been really entertaining and totally family-friendly -- unless you're just dead-set against the "magic" issue, which I realize some people are or you're very hard core on limitations to the Arthurian legend because this one takes its liberties. Also, most of the actors and actresses in the series are newcomers, so you're seeing them essentially as the role they're playing, which is cool.

Also, for anyone interested, Year One of Merlin comes out on DVD beginning April 20th. I ordered it for my son for Easter here at Amazon. If you're looking for a fun, family-friendly show, check out Merlin - Friday nights at 9:00 p.m. CST on SyFy. I recommend it!

Happy Easter!

Sunday comes! Jesus lives! The Resurrection and the Life. Believe!!!

Where I Fall Short

Just a very, very few of the areas where I fall short:

Love for others. Honesty. Hard work. Friendliness. Loyalty. Faithfulness. Personal discipline. Pridefulness. Anger. Parental guidance. Spiritual discipline. Listening. Broken vows. Dietary concerns. Being a neighbor. Hard-heartedness. Prioritizing. Competitiveness and fair play. Showing grace. Boundaries. Stewardship. Following through. Foul language. Sympathy. Lustfulness. Kindness. Self-indulgence. Bearing others' burdens. Protecting my own heart. Prayer. Apathy. Love for God.

So I confess, work on, and pray about those things where I'm the one holding the hammer and driving the nails. On the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, those sins haunt me. But for all those things... Jesus died. And Easter Sunday's coming.

Groovesharkin'

After receiving my message from management of having my Pandora music cut down to 40 hours per month, I was informed by oft commenter and pal, Douglas, about Grooveshark. It's sort of the next step up from Pandora, in my opinion, as listeners can create their own playlist. It's like having my own Ipod at work. Bannerman! I've got one ninety [*edited - now up to 111]songs long right now, and I'm gonna list if for you -- in order -- and see if you can get a little list going that's better than mine. It certainly doesn't have to be as long as mine. Also, you're welcome to flame me for some of my poorer choices.

1. Burden, The Connells

2. Slide, The Goo Goo Dolls

3. Bare, Matt Nathanson

4. The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and The Pride of Life - 77s

5.Pickin' It Up - Hot Hot Heat

6. I Was Wrong - Social Distortion

7. Nod Over Coffee - Mark Heard

8. Love Your Mind - The Choir

9. Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley

10. Train in Vain - The Clash

11. Just Like Heaven - The Cure

12. Deep End - 77s

13. Shimmer - Fuel

14. Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds

15. I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats

16. The Best of Jill Hives - Guided by Voices

17. When the World Gets Weak - Warren Zanes

18. Since Your Gone - The Cars

19. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2

20. Don't Forget to Dance - The Kinks

21. The Waiting - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

22. That Ain't Right - Pete Droge and the Sinners

23. Where Do the Children Go - Hooters

24. Dulce Et Decorum Est - Matthew Ryan

25. Hold on Hope - Guided by Voices

26. Wither, I'm a Flower - Whiskeytown

27. I Must Be High - Wilco

28. All These Things That I've Done - The Killers

29. Bent - Matthew Nathanson

30. If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself) - Pete Droge

31. I Don't Love You - Lost Dogs

32. Middle of the Road - The Pretenders

33. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

34. There She Goes - Sixpence None the Richer

35. Breathe - Michelle Branch

36. The Adventure - Angels and Airwaves

37. What's My Age Again - Blink 182

38. Lurgee - Radiohead

39. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

40. Hard Luck Woman - Kiss

41. Can't Help Falling in Love With You - Lick the Tins

42. It Could Be Worse - Matthew Ryan

43. Waiting to Derail - Whiskeytown

44. Left of the Dial - The Replacements

45. World Class Fad - Paul Westerberg

46. Truth Is - Sister Hazel

47. Jam - Toad the Wet Sprocket

48. Easier - Glen Phillips

49. When You Say Nothing at All - Allison Krauss

50. Does Your Mother Know - ABBA

51. Wolfgang - Pete Droge and the Sinners

52. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

53. Big Brown Eyes - Old 97s

54. Fallen World - Altar Boys

55. The Sunny Side of the Street - The Pogues

56. Camera One - Josh Joplin Group

57. That Much Further West - Lucero

58. Disappointed - The Connells

59. Saturday Night - Bay City Rollers

60. Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees

61. Thunder Island - Jay Ferguson

62. That Thing You Do - The Wonders

63. Wedding Day - Rosie Thomas

64. New Madrid - Uncle Tupelo

65. Garden Days - Jolene

66. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - The Ramones

67. Basket Case - Green Day

68. Superman's Song - Crash Test Dummies

69. Alcoholiday - Teenage Fanclub

70. Ain't That Enough - Teenage Fanclub

71. Stone Cold Yesterday - The Connells

72. Always Saturday - Guadacanal Diary

73. Compositions of the Young and Old - Bob Mould

74. Girlfriend in a Coma - The Smiths

75. Vacation - The GoGos

76. Bonzo Goes to Bitburg - The Ramones

77. I Know You Know - Friendly Indians

78. Offer - Vigilantes of Love

79. Now as the Train Pulls Away - Bill Mallonee and Vigilantes of Love

80. Sing Me Sweet - Matt Nathanson

81. Welcome Back - John Sebastian

82. Do You Believe in Magic - The Lovin' Spoonful

83. All She Said - Toad the Wet Sprocket

84. P.S. - Toad the Wet Sprocket

85. Angels We Have Heard on High - Sixpence

86. If She Knew What She Wants - The Bangles

87. It's Raining Again - Supertramp

88. Brim Full of Asha - Cornershop

89. For Blue Skies - Strays Don't Sleep

90. Back into Your World - Son Volt

[*edited to 111

91. Feel the Pain - Dinosaur Jr.

92. Competition Smile - Gin Blossoms

93. To Call My Own - Golden Smog

94. Speed of Sound - Coldplay

95. Sick of Myself - Matthew Sweet

96. A Little Is Enough - Pete Townsend

97. Do It for Love - 77s

98. You Know That Is Nothing New - Vigilantes of Love

99. In a Big Country - Big Country

100. Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations

101. December - Collective Soul

102. Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows

103. The Things We Do for Love - 10cc

104. Blue Jean - David Bowie

105. Secondhand News - Fleetwood Mac

106. Surrender - Cheap Trick

107. Don't You (Forget about Me) - Simple Minds

108. Back on the Chain Gang - The Pretenders

109. Save It for a Rainy Day - The Jayhawks

110. First Date - Blink 182

111. That Thing You Do - The Wonders

okay, I'll stop adding - at least to the post - now :) ]

I list all these, not so you know what a goober I am with my musical choices, but rather so that you can see that Grooveshark's catalog of songs tha you can choose through is extensive. And all types of music are available. You want classical, R&B, soul, rap, country, Christian, metal... they're all there. You want 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s... all there. Like Pandora, there's a "Radio" button you can hit, and it has some kind of formula that tries to see what your tastes are and add songs that are similar. Actually, there are a lot of features as I'm just getting started. Anyway, wanted to let everyone know.

Let me know what I should add to my list as well.