Wow. Thanks. Appreciate it.

Last week I thanked you all for your continued support. This week I’m pleased to announce that for the first time over 20,000 of you visited this past month. In addition to the comments you see on the posts I get a lot of private emails as well. I can say with a big smile on my face that your continued support means a lot to me.

I also realized that I’m more in love with blogging than writing novels at the moment. That may be an outgrowth of my heavy editing over the past several months in order to get the most recent book ready for some contests. And, frankly, until I hear a few things I’m waiting on I’m too distracted to really focus on the novels. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to write but that I’m like a squirrel with shiny objects distracting him. Combine that with the fact that it’s still snowing here in North Hell (Minnesota) in the middle of April and I’m just not terribly motivated. (Yeah, I know – “Put on your big girl panties, Nancy, and get to work. It’s Minnesota, not Florida and you can move.”)

For now that benefits you in the audience. I will write more here when I’m not able to focus on the books. That may lead to some silly videos, some political posts, dog pictures – in other words, no change at all.

I did want to mention that my spam filter has been working very hard lately. If I let the spam monsters autopost on the blog you’d be subjected to an undending pitch for NFL jersey knockoffs, pornography, patent medicines, rants that make me look like an Old Testament prophet in comparison, and a host of small products that seem to think my readers are dupes. Thank you, Askimet, for filtering out the trash.

That, however, might stop your comment from making it through. I have deleted thousands of spam comments in the past few months and it’s more than likely that a few legit ones got nuked as well. I apologize. Part of the problem is that the spam robots actually flatter me in their text. I get comments like: “Gee, this is a really informative and fun blog. I’m telling all my friends about it. Would you like to guest blog at my place?”

Unfortunately that little ego boost has HTML code attatched that will creat a link to “Sexually Active Teen Lizards dot Com” or some other outrage. Consequently, if you have commented and can’t get through the filter you can send an email with “That danged spam filter got me” as the subject line to joseph at commotioninthepews dot com. (Have to post it that way or get buried.)

Finally, I’d like to say goodbye to Jonathan Winters. Growing up he was one of my favorite comedians. He’s also part of that vanishing group of WWII Vets. Another Marine who shaped my mind gone forever – been a week for that kind of thing – I’m actually shedding a tear for that loss. My dad loved him as well. When I was little we had a couple of comedy albums in the house that darned near got worn out over time. Bob Newhart’s The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back” and Jonathan Winters “The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters.” I suppose the three of them, my father, Jonathan Winters, and my dad’s friend Harry Schwartz are all standing around Heaven in their Dress Blues laughing and telling jokes.

Without further ado, here’s a video of Jonathan Winters. I just picked it at random, but you really couldn’t lose with the man. Make sure you stick around until the 7 minute mark. I nearly choked I laughed so hard. In watching a bunch of his clips today it became very clear to me that a lot of what I have in my sense of humor was directly shaped by this man. It hadn’t dawned upon me until this moment that most of my silly voices, improvisational bits and an awful lot of the facial expressions come right out of his acts. I picked a good one to mimic. We’ll miss you, Jonathan. Semper Fi, Marine.

**this will be included in all posts until further notice. Please subscribe now to Commotion in the Pews and then “like” the Facebook author page. I will be giving away a $100 prize from Walker Farms Honey in May if, and only if, I get 100 new subscribers and 100 new likes to the author page. It stands at 65 today, needs to hit 166 before the prize can be awarded. This helps me when I approach agents and publishers trying to get my books published. Thank you!**

Three of the greatest freedom fighters of the 20th Century are now gone.

There’s an awful lot of twaddle out there about “freedom fighters” when you search the internet. Most of those held up as freedom fighters are more accurately murderous thugs and usually poorly groomed. Rarely do you find people described as freedom fighters who actually accomplished what they started out to do (free those in bondage), rather more likely that you’ll see a picture of their funeral.

Today I’d like to point out that Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan were able to accomplish their goal while still in office. They, and it was a collaborative effort, managed to defeat Soviet Communism and free the people of the Eastern Bloc. No small accomplishment.

Along the way they pushed back the tide of socialism that threatened to engulf both Great Britian and the United States. Sadly Britian has fallen further now than before Mrs. Thatcher arrived in office. The United States is apparently doing it’s best to throw away any sense of liberty we once had, but there is still great hope for the future.

I will miss all three of these leaders. The death last week of Mrs. Thatcher marks the end of an era. I hope to see leaders like them again in my lifetime but I’m not optimistic. Then again, nobody expected a former California Governor, an industrial chemist, or a Polish Priest to change the world in the way that these three did in their lifetimes.

**this will be included in all posts until further notice. Please subscribe now to Commotion in the Pews and then “like” the Facebook author page. I will be giving away a $100 prize from Walker Farms Honey in May if, and only if, I get 100 new subscribers and 100 new likes to the author page. It stands at 65 today, needs to hit 166 before the prize can be awarded. This helps me when I approach agents and publishers trying to get my books published. Thank you!**

Healing – & semi-automatic fire.

First things first – I need to go to the range more often. Not that my skills are atrophying, but I need that fun boost from burning powder and Break-free. Second thing – I need another source of revenue if I’m going to get all of the man-toys that I want.

I fell in love with a “black gun” today. One of the ones that if you leave it unattended for more than 30 seconds it will hop out of its case and start sniping at innocents. Really, it’s true! Or don’t you watch MSNBC?

Seriously, it was a lovely 5.56 M-4A4 carbine from Windham Weapons and it was a delight to shoot. For those of you who don’t enjoy the shooting sports I send my condolences. I have been an enthusiast since I was a minor and it has been the one sporting constant in my life. Other sports came and went, but marksmanship stayed around to this day. I appreciate the skills required to do it well, the coordination, the hard work keeping weapons in working order, and the practice required to be good at the whole thing.

And I enjoy the camaraderie. I can honestly say I’ve never gone to the range and walked away less happy than when I walked in the door. You get to do something inherently fun, hang out with people of a like mind, and occasionally take the chance to break bread afterward.

That’s what I did today. And while breaking bread I was able to rejoice with my friend about the changes in their life. We’d gone on a mission trip a while back and become friends while hanging out in the rain forest. Now we meet up to go to the range from time to time. And today I was able to catch up with him over some very tasty food at Holy Land. He’s doing great and it was wonderful to hear about where his life is today.

Well, I’m going to put on my handcuffs and wait for the authorities. I just realized that I’ve outed myself on the blog as a conservative, evangelical, Christian who owns guns and likes military style weaponry because it’s fun to shoot. I figure Homeland Security should be here about ten minutes after I post this update. Good thing I’ve set it to go up on the web long after I’ve fled the scene. (I have to go to eat some fatty food – another strike.) Did I mention that I’m a disabled Vet? I’m sure that’s good for a few color upgrades on the warning label.

Have a blessed day and remember – a clean weapon is a happy weapon!

Fun stuff on a Sunday night.

Sunday I hung out in a sleazy bar. After I went to church.

That probably sounds way worse than it was. I didn’t drink. I did get some second hand smoke from the clothing around me. Worse yet, I got crop-dusted by two-or-three patchouli wearing hipsters.

The Turf Club probably isn’t really sleazy. It’s just hard to get past the bouncer who’s “flying colors” at the door. Not yet patched but I’m sure he’s working on it very hard. Just the bottom rocker so far.

We went to see Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers.

Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers at The Turf Club

Fantastic show. If you get a chance to see them, spend the bucks to go and have a good time. They’re even better in person than the web performances I’ve seen.

If you aren’t familiar with them, here’s a video to enjoy:

Is there a music venue you like that’s “sleazy” but beloved? Do you have something in your life that is totally innocent but probably frowned upon by your church?

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