The 2015 Scheels Christmas Commercial – Starring ME!

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This was fun to shoot. It’s always amazing to see what doesn’t make it to the final version. I’m rather hoping the other footage gets used as well – it was all well shot.

I want to thank Media Productions of Fargo, N.U.T.S. who were my agents for this shoot, and the gracious people of Scheels. This commercial was just plain joy to work on that night.

I’m still stunned that 10 hours of work condenses to 30 seconds. But I know for sure that Santa will be back at Scheels to shop next time he’s near one – great place, great people.

Now, here’s the link to the video and the video itself:

A Palate Cleanser

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Yesterday’s blog seemed to trigger a few people. I have reports of howling in the woods and fists bludgeoning reason.

Just to clarify, self-deprecating humor is part of this blog. If you missed it, more’s the pity.

Oh, and for one reader – Why yes, that is an Arabic Bible on the header. You evidently missed the loaded .45 automatic on top of it. While this blog does come from a Christian world view, we also handle weapons on a regular basis. One of them is sarcasm. You can take, or leave, anything I say here as you see fit. But I don’t speak on behalf of all Christians. I’m pretty sure I only speak on my own behalf most of the time. And I wonder about that!

Now, on to current business. My friend Emilie Hendryx is not just a gifted photographer, but she’s also a writer and a blogger. She’s gathered together several of her friends, all of whom are professional writers (Yup, I finally got a paying gig. News in a day or two on that!) and we’re all contributing Christmas stories.

I have the honor of leading the parade today. I do hope that you’ll stop over at her blog, Thinking Thoughts, and read each story this month. Mine is a true one, and describes a modern miracle.

I hope you’ll click that link and go check it out. Share it on Facebook and/or your blog (the link to her blog, not any stolen content!) and help her grow her audience.

Be blessed, have a great day, and go read that blog!

We Need To Kill More White People.

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At least that’s how it seems to me after reading my friends posts this weekend in the wake of the shootings in Colorado Springs. Being a deep thinker, I decided to address this one right away to avoid being late to the stupidity festival.

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It’s become America’s number one industry: outrage butt-hurt. Every time someone is killed/not killed it is automatically a race issue. It is not just my black friends doing this, it’s some of the white ones as well.

“Notice how he didn’t get beaten/shot? Well, he’s not Syrian or Black, so there’s your answer.” That one is almost a direct quote – I spared them from a Google search.

My favorite, from this past week was, “Lookout people! Minneapolis Police flying Blackhawks today. Keep outta danger.” Uyh..er…but… Well, Blackhawks are not gunships. Mind you, flinging Molotov cocktails at the police might warrant a bit of targeting, but last I looked Blue Thunder isn’t quite here yet. If you doubt me, here’s the video link. In my house, flinging exploding bottles of liquid fire gets you shot. I think the Minneapolis Police Dept. is being remarkably restrained under the circumstances.

The point of this ramble is that either you, as an individual, wish for the police to use minimum force in every circumstance, or you want to see your enemies punished. It’s truly one or the other.

The police, like it or not, were not responsible for slavery. Nor were the currently sworn officers on the job responsible for the Watts riots, Selma, or anything whatsoever that happened before 1950. So why is it that a 27 year old cop is blamed for all of this history?

I did notice that a lot of people weren’t shot in the United States last year, most of them not shot by the police. The number grows every year at an almost fantastic rate. Strangely, more people are shot by other people in the black community than are shot by cops. Same in the white community. I fail to see how just shooting more white criminals will help in this statistical race, since the number of people not shot so exceeds the number shot as to make it almost statistically insignificant.

Perhaps a lottery? All of you with a grievance over a black person being shot by the police (whether or not they grabbed a gun, had a knife, tried beating the cop unconcious, etc., or it was just a murder by the officer) get to pick five white people you know personally. Once everyone who feels outraged has selected their vicitims, they will be rounded up in a large stadium and random people will be killed from the pool until no more black people are ever shot by the police. It worked for the Germans during WWII, why not here?

I suspect either you’re starting to get it, or you’re not reading any longer, merely sputtering and slamming your hand on the desk.

That’s what I want. I want everyone to be treated with appropriate levels of violence regardless of the crime, the race, etc. If you can get the cuffs on without a death that’s the way it should be. If the suspect resists, game is on! Regardless of color, if you fight the police you run the risk of dying. Goes for big bearded white guys as well. So far so good.

But let’s not see how outraged we can be over the police not killing suspects. Keep in mind that your favorite Boston Marathon bomber was not killed by the police. He rather so deserved that extra half a magazine in my opinion, but they got the little slime without killing him. Let’s not riot and loot and act crazy when the police arrest one of their own for murder or some other felony. It means they (the department) are doing their job and putting a bad guy in jail.

Let’s march, and sing, and link arms over dead children in Chicago who are gunned down every day. Averaging over 12 deaths a week in Chicago – a city with some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. But it is not in the media because it doesn’t fit the meme. Let’s all agree that cops who shoot people on the ground when they’re no longer a threat should be tried for murder. Let’s agree that shooting a fleeing misdemeanor suspect in the back is probably a homicide, but there may be exceptions.

Let’s try to follow the rule of law, protest peacefully, and not presume that it all boils down to race. It doesn’t. On either side. Let’s not get in each other’s faces and spit and hurl nastiness. Let’s at least pretend that we’re not a society no further advanced than the Hell’s Angels where you treat one member badly the whole gang stomps you.

Perchance we could all try to act like brothers and sisters? Crazy talk, yes I know. But I’m working on it. How about you?

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I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.

Bad Lip Reading Rules

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I realize that many of you have speculated on what my secret is. The secret of keeping myself out of custody in some institution, either criminal or mental. There is no secret: you’re all just as messed up as me, but I’m out in the open. Today’s blog is a good example of what allows me to function some days without the net coming down.

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There is a thing (if you know of a better term, please put it in the comments) know as Bad Lip Reading. I first became aware of them about three years ago, having missed out on their genesis. (I won the Genesis contest in 2015 – have I ever mentioned that?)

The videos they (nobody seems to know if it’s a man or a woman – yes, I’m binary) put out are venomous at times, but always funny as can be. The video presented here is their version of the October democrat debate:

Some of their work has transcended every group and hit hard at the NFL. Good grief, I have laughed hard and long over some of the stuff they have done. This is the 2015 version, and well worth the time to watch it:

Perhaps my favorite is one that they did during the early days of The Walking Dead. Some of the characters have moved on, but the videos really take the starch out of the drama. It’s lovely:

Okay. You’ve wasted enough time watching this stuff. Get back to work, don’t let anyone see you goofing off, and go back to these later after your shift ends.

Or, just waste the whole day. Heck, I’m not your boss.
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I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.

Brass Tack Time.

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Today’s blog will be fairly brief. I’m busy mourning the end of Western Civilization today. It seems that not only am I a racist (even though Islam is not a race) but a bigot. Ironic that that is a French word, no?

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The key to this argument is that I’m neither. Bigotry is based on a lack of rational thought. Sorry, kids, but I actually studied this subject for a little while (33 years) before I wrote last Friday’s blog. You may not like what I say, but the truth sometimes stings.

Let me quickly lose the last of my reading audience with the statements that follow. I’ve noticed over the years that the more right (in every sense of that word) that I am, the more readers I lose for a time. But the total readership continues to grow. Abortion is a great topic on that score, but today’s might be even better. Let us begin.

Jesus’ parable about the good Samaritan does not apply here, nor does the part of the Gospel that talks about feeding the hungry, visiting prisoners, and clothing the naked. If, indeed, all of the people streaming out of the Middle East were true refugees, it would. But it’s an invasion of Islamists bent on spreading the Caliphate with a few straggling oppressed people thrown in for good publicity photos. If we’re getting some new neighbors, how about we start with the Yazidis, the Syrian and Iraqi Christians, Kurds, the Coptic Christians, and the Druze. Crazy talk, I know. Back to being a bigot. But if we’re letting in people with no vetting, that might be the place to start.

Vetting. Seriously, what has this administration gotten right about that area of the world in the last seven years? It is, for all practical purposes, impossible to vet anyone from Syria. Closed society, dictator, secret police, no papers, no cooperation, etc. Perchance we could set up camps for them Syria and protect the camps? Nice houses, not tents. Water. The whole deal. Then they can go back home when the whole thing is sorted out.

Oops. That one above is laughable. It will never end. But even worse, most of the “immigrant/refugee” types are economic refugees and invaders. Very few that would truly fit into the cultures where they are heading. Sorry, but until we have some vague idea of who they are, the house next door isn’t a great option. Unless you’d like to have them next to you? I’ll even spot you the towels and dishware if you let them move in with you. Deal?

Anne Frank was denied asylum and we all know how wrong that was. Okay. I’ll let that one pass the smell test. We should never have let the Nazis invade Holland. Agreed. We should have never let Hitler have his Sudetenland. Munich was a total flop. But her father asked for asylum after the invasion. Bad news, the Nazis were not letting anyone out without ransom.

The United States, by the by, wasn’t letting much of anyone from 1924 until 1965. So it wasn’t just Ann Frank. The point is, her family would have been a great addition to the United States. I’d say the same about any of the Syrian refugees who are genuinely being persecuted at home and want to come here and join Team U.S.A. My fear (back to bigotry) is that we aren’t going to be able to sort them out. How many terrorists is too many to let slip in with the rest?

I must be a hater because I fear for the culture and safety of my homeland. Okay.

This isn’t going to be settled on a blog. What I would like is for my fellow Americans, especially Christians, to think about what we’re doing before we do it. I give as my example the Mariel Boatlift of 1980. Most of the same arguments were made then, and for many of the same reasons. We’re still cleaning up from that fiasco. Is it too much to ask that we get to pick who comes to this country? I’m all in favor of refugees. Really. But let’s at least try to admit people to this country who aren’t planning on blowing up the Mall of America to celebrate their third month in the country.

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I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.