Recently a friend talked me into watching Grey's Anatomy. I started watching and was hooked. To be honest I am surprised at how much I love the show. It is so much better than ER and doesn't do any of the politically correct preaching that ER does. It is deeper and you absolutely adore most of the characters in the show, flaws and all.
GG and I were talking awhile back that we were finding it hard to believe that the nerd from Can't Buy Me Love is now supposed to be considered sexy.
Yet any woman who has watched Grey's now understands why Patrick Dempsey is called McDreamy. The transformation was a shock since I had seen him in other things like Sweet Home Alabama and wasn't that impressed. It reminds me of how George Clooney was in things like Roseanne and Facts of Life and you didn't even notice him. Yet he turns 40 and is on ER and all of a sudden everyone is watching ER because of Clooney.
Anyway, its a great show and I just finished Season 2 on DVD. No spoilers about Season 3 since I haven't watched any of it yet ;-)!! I give this show 5 out of 5 stars.
Who Knew???? I was honored that Patrick , Exile, Timothy, A Voice of Reason and Tony all tagged me with the Thinking Blogger Award. Of course, right after tagging me Exile lamented that I had posted on American Idol and Extreme Makeover but what are you going to do? Even us thinkers have to post on some fluff every once in a while.
Here are the Rules of participation:
Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme and know you thinks so highly of ya!…heh
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.
Normally when I participate in these I don't torture others by tagging but this time I couldn't resist. I won't be offended if you don't jump on the bandwagon but here are just some of the people who make me think:
"So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the [slave] trade's wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition. Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition."--William Wilberforce
If you don't go see any other movie this year you must see this one. Last night I saw the best movie I've seen in over 12 years (and you know how much I love movies).
My favorite movie is Braveheart because it inspires me and describes my philosophy and passion for life and politics. Amazing Grace is the only movie I've ever seen that comes close. It has passion and inspires one to pursue a just cause at all costs. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like this movie. I doubt it will but it should sweep all the awards at The Oscars.
"John Newton (played by Albert Finney in Amazing Grace) wrote the words to one of the most beloved hymns of all time between 1760 and 1770, while working as an evangelical pastor. Son of the commander of a merchant ship, Newton was captain of a slave ship for many years, until he underwent a dramatic religious conversion while steering his vessel through a storm.
Repenting and regretting the misery he had inflicted on the thousands of human cargo he had transported across the Middle Passage for many years, he devoted his life to the Church, and wrote the lyrics to many hymns which are still popular today.
In 1780 Newton left Olney to become rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, St. Mary Woolchurch, in London. There he drew large congregations and influenced many, among them William Wilberforce. Newton continued to preach until the last year of life, although he was blind by that time. He died in London December 21, 1807."
When you look back at history and the fight for so many just causes you see the tenets of Christianity throughout many of them. Our founding fathers fight for America's freedom was grounded in Christianity despite the efforts by many to rewrite history. Recently when I wrote my glowing review of the suffragist movie, Iron Jawed Angels I had a liberal howl about how hypocritical I was to do this because liberals were the ones behind the women's suffrage movement. What cracked me up was that one of his own buddies pointed out that many of the people behind both the suffragist & abolitionist movements were Christians. Those who enjoy re-writing history may claim otherwise, but it is true.
After seeing both Amazing Grace and Iron Jawed Angels I am so inspired to fight for what is right with passion. It makes me think of the pro-life movement and how maybe the time has come for us to be like William Wilberforce and "not rest until the killing of innocent babies has ended".
The above video has one of my favorite Tony quotes of all time when he says this to Helen Thomas, "Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view...". Tony did an awesome job on Fox News Sunday, he was even better as a Talk Show Host and he completely rocks as the White House Press Secretary. He has given conservatives some very enjoyable cheering moments when he calmly took on both David Gregory and Helen Thomas without being rude or harsh.
Right now he is greatly missed and all of us need to send out our love to him. Go here to send Tony Get Well wishes. I sent him an email but I will also be finding a way to send him a card via snail mail as well. It will only help Tony's optimism in getting better to see how many people care.
I'm not normally a Cal Thomas fan but he has written a neat article about Tony. He talks of how Tony's faith deepened after his first cancer surgery. It is pretty inspiring. Thomas points out how appropriate it was for W to ask people to pray for Tony since Tony is a man of faith and prayer. No wonder I love him so much!!
The situation in Iran continues to get worse. Why? As Rush points out its because Iran knows that no one is going to have the guts to do anything. Here is an excerpt of his comments from yesterday's show:
"The Iranians have guts. They just announced today, "Oh, guess what? We've changed our mind. We're not going to release the female prisoner that we've got, and what's anybody going to do about it?" They know nobody's going to do anything about it. They know the Brits aren't going to do anything about it, except officially condemn it via diplomatic channels. Yip yip, yahoo! You think that's going to excite or bother Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? The Iranians have a history of not releasing hostages until a president in this country is elected that they fear. In the last case, it would be of course Ronaldus Magnus.
NEWT'S SOLUTION
So nobody is going to do anything. Newt Gingrich had a good idea. He was on Hugh Hewitt's show out in California yesterday. He said, "Look, I'd do two things. First thing I'd do is I'd tell them under the radar -- behind the scenes, not publicly, I'd say -- 'You got 30 days. If you don't release them in 30 days, we're going to take out the lone refinery you have to make gasoline. You people want to live in the Seventh Century, we'll take care of it. You'll all be walking in another month.' Then after we do that, we'll put a naval blockade in there." This is what he thinks the Brits ought to be saying. "'We'll put a naval blockade out and we'll make sure that no gasoline gets into your country. We'll make sure that nobody can export anything to you, and after a month of this, you'll be walking, including your leadership.'"
That's what Newt is suggesting. Without fail. Without delay. He said that's not killing innocent civilians; that's not doing anything. It's just surgical strikes. They have only one gasoline refinery. This is an oil powerhouse but they have to import their gasoline. We've talked about this before. Just wreck their economy in the process of this. It would be just wreck their economy. If you want to do this, guys, you Iranians, fine, but nobody's going to do anything. I say that now. The latest thing the Brits have done is gone to the UN and asked for a condemnation. Well, Snerdley just asked me, "When's the West going to realize that Iran is at war with us?"
Well, you must have forgotten the brilliance and the elocution that we heard yesterday from Senator Hagel. We are at war with Muslims. The "world's perception" is that we're at war with the Muslims. We're the ones that are abusing prisoners. We're the ones engaging in torture. By the way, the Iranians are violating all these Geneva Conventions out there. They can't put this woman in a burqa. They can't dress her up like that and so forth, but they're doing that in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Of course nobody in this country on the left or the Drive-By Media cares about any other nation's violation of any of these so-called agreements between nations, these Geneva Accords, Conventions, or what have you."
I love all the liberals whining to high heaven about Geneva Conventions and how the U.S. should follow them but no one says a word when Hitler Jr. of Iran completely violates them.
"Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that Britain would not negotiate over British sailors and marines held hostage by Iran. In an interview with ITV News, Blair again called for the unconditional return of the 15 Royal Navy personnel who were seized by Iranian authorities last week."
"Britain took its case to free its 15 sailors and marines held by Iran to the United Nations on Thursday, asking the Security Council to support a statement that would "deplore" Tehran's action and demand their immediate release.
But Security Council diplomats said the brief press statement circulated by Britain's U.N. Mission is likely to face problems from Russia and others because it says the Britons were "operating in Iraqi waters"—a point that Iran contests.
A press statement is the weakest action the Security Council can take, but the statement must be approved by all council members. Diplomats said Britain was also weighing a stronger presidential statement, which unlike a press statement, is read at a formal Security Council meeting and becomes part of its official record."
(I finally got my digital camera issues taken care of and was able to transfer my pics of the house!!)
To be honest I've only seen the show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition twice. Yet there was a lot of excitement here the week before last as they had picked a home and family in KC. I found over 16 articles on it done by the KC Star alone. I was talking to the lady at my hair salon about how I had read that the last time the show came here we set a record of 10,000 visitors a day. We weren't sure what that says about KC, maybe that we are pretty desperate for some excitement here ;)!!
Nevertheless, it was kind of neat because the house that they were working on was only 3 minutes from my house. I figured we wouldn't get this close again so I thought it would be fun for the kids and I to go check it out and take some pictures that I could put on here.
The first time, we tried to go on Friday and it turned into a complete NIGHTMARE!! Even though it was only 3 minutes from my house you had to go to the local mall and take a shuttle bus. Somehow my friend and I picked a bad time to go. We waited for an HOUR outside in the cold for the bus. We finally made it on to one and we were relieved. We were only on it for 3 minutes when the BUS BROKE DOWN!! My friend and I were incredulous. To top it off we had the bus driver from hell who was very rude and mean about everything. I took down the correct info so my friend, Little Miss Rude could call and complain for me since she is a pro at such things dealing with the entertainment industry on a daily basis. What ticked us off the most was the bus driver wouldn't let us get on the next bus, she insisted we get back in line at the end of the line after waiting for an hour. My friend and I both had things we had to get to so we left in frustration.
So the next day on Saturday the kids and I set out again, this time on our own. I was dead tired but we went anyway. This experience ended up being the complete opposite. They were running more shuttle buses that day so we literally drove up, got on a bus and we were on our way. The house was pretty awesome and since it was the day before they were going to present it to the family all of the outside was done.
Of course, the family situation is a tear jerker like always. I do think it is neat to see families like this get something nice. The couple, Jesus and Michelle Jacobo had 4 kids, something happened to a relative and they ended up taking in 5 nieces and nephews. So they now had 9 kids and they had a grandfather come live with them to help. That resulted in 12 people living in one small house. The show sent them on a week vacation to Florida while they worked on the house where for some of them it was their first plane ride, hotel stay, etc... So it is a neat thing what the show does for so many families.
It broke my heart this morning to learn that Tony Snow's cancer has returned. Tony Snow is one of those stand up guys who most rational people can't help but love. He has always been a passionate voice for the conservative cause and yet, he is such a nice guy that it makes it hard for people to dislike him. LGF points out these hateful comments but these are by rabid, irrational, vicious leftists who are so filled with hate that they would never be capable of saying anything even remotely kind about anyone on the right.
All that to say, I love the man and I will be praying for God's gracious, healing hand to touch him. I will be praying for a quick treatment and a speedy recovery because we need him in D.C.Click here to see the video of President Bush's kind words about him.
My message to Tony:
We love you and are praying for your speedy return!! Hang in there, you have a lot of people pulling for ya!
I can't believe how little coverage the Drive By Media is giving to Iran kidnapping 15 British soldiers. My local paper, The KC Star had a small article from the AP about it in Sunday's paper buried on the 18th page with this pathetic title, 15 Seized British Confess, Iran Says. Al Jazeera would be proud of the AP for taking Iran's side on the issue.
"It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us," Mr Blair said.
"We have certainly sent the message back to them very clearly indeed. They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong."
"We already know that Iran has been helping the terrorists (I refuse to use the word insurgents) in Iraq, weeks ago ABC News reported about Iranian made weapons seized at the Iran/Iraq border. Also, Iran has vowed not to stop its nuclear enrichment activities and will limit its involvement with the IAEA.
Now they engage in what is nothing short of an act of war by holding prisoner British Sailors. How much longer is the US, Britain and the rest of the Western World going to stand by and let Ahmadinejad and the fundamentalist Iranian government bend us over throughout this long drawn out process of “diplomacy,” before somebody finally stands up to them?
Tony Blair is no Winston Churchill, but he’s no Neville Chamberlain either. Lets see if he has enough sack to stand up to the Hitler of Iran."
"The purpose of the emergency war spending bill I requested was to provide our troops with vital funding. Instead, Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq. They set rigid restrictions that will require an army of lawyers to interpret. They set an arbitrary date for withdrawal without regard for conditions on the ground. And they tacked on billions for pet projects that have nothing to do with winning the war on terror. This bill has too much pork, too many conditions and an artificial timetable for withdrawal.
As I have made clear for weeks, I will veto it if it comes to my desk. And because the vote in the House was so close, it is clear that my veto would be sustained. Today's action in the House does only one thing: it delays the delivering of vital resources for our troops. A narrow majority has decided to take this course, just as General Petraeus and his troops are carrying out a new strategy to help the Iraqis secure their capital city.
Amid the real challenges in Iraq, we're beginning to see some signs of progress. Yet, to score political points, the Democratic majority in the House has shown it is willing to undermine the gains our troops are making on the ground.
Democrats want to make clear that they oppose the war in Iraq. They have made their point. For some, that is not enough. These Democrats believe that the longer they can delay funding for our troops, the more likely they are to force me to accept restrictions on our commanders, an artificial timetable for withdrawal, and their pet spending projects. This is not going to happen. Our men and women in uniform need these emergency war funds. The Secretary of Defense has warned that if Congress does not approve the emergency funding for our troops by April the 15th, our men and women in uniform will face significant disruptions, and so would their families.
The Democrats have sent their message, now it's time to send their money. This is an important moment -- a decision for the new leaders in Congress. Our men in women in uniform should not have to worry that politicians in Washington will deny them the funds and the flexibility they need to win. Congress needs to send me a clean bill that I can sign without delay. I expect Congress to do its duty and to fund our troops, and so do the American people -- and so do the good men and women standing with me here today."
Rebecca tried to talk me into watching American Idol last year. My oldest daughter wanted to give it a try so we started watching it this year. I like it. My top 3 right now are Gina Glocksen, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. The above video is my favorite performance by Gina. Like many I CAN'T BELIEVE that Sanjaya is still on the show. When he didn't get voted off on Wednesday I was just disgusted. He totally doesn't belong in the top 10. Everyone else out sings him and he reminds me of the creepy side of Michael Jackson that appeared after he was famous. Yuck!!
Prison Break continues to amaze me in how good the story lines are and just when you think they've painted themselves into a corner they take a whole new direction. These last 2 weeks have had several shockers. I totally didn't see the President stepping down. I naively thought she was really going to pardon them although I knew in the back of my mind that couldn't happen because it would wreck the show.
I was so impressed with Michael feeling remorse over Sarah and T-bag. Once again the actor who plays T-bag deserves an emmy because he does such a good job on playing someone despicable; who is losing it.
Once again I am amazed at how the show's writers can enable you to feel empathy for almost anyone. I found myself actually feeling sorry for Mahone in this last episode. When I saw him confront Wheeler in the garage I assumed Wheeler was toast, but Wheeler survived intact.
Lost was so good this past Wednesday, even though Sawyer wasn't even in one scene. I really like and am fascinated by Locke's character. It was good to finally find out what caused him to be paralyzed. I have to say that after watching this episode I find his father to be evil incarnate. I also am convinced that Billie is right about the con-man who destroyed Sawyer's life also being Locke's dad. It completely makes sense and would fit in with the rest of the show.
I was also shocked about finding out last week that Claire and Jack are brother and sister. The connections are amazing and fascinating all in one. I love how everything seems to fit together.
I was shocked but not bummed to learn that they bumped off Audrey. I have never been a fan although my husband pointed out, is she really dead? 24 is kind of like Alias, you never know if someone is really dead.
I'm really not buying this storyline with the Vice President declaring war just for the heck of it. First of all, he is supposed to be a Democrat so we know it can't be real. Also, not even Ann Coulter would be ready to strike against a country for the reasons they are coming up with. It makes the whole thing look just a little ridiculous.
I totally cracked up seeing Chloe kiss Morris to find out whether he had been drinking or not. The funny part was Milo looked amused and Morris didn't even get offended. Chloe is never one to disappoint!!
I think its pretty obvious that Nadia isn't the mole, I'm wondering if Ricky Schroeder is.
