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Streaming New York Fashion Week Shows On The Go #NYFW #MBFWFebruary 7th, 2014 by Christen Rochon
With NYFW shows scattered throughout the entire city and the introduction of The Pavilion- a brand new venue at Lincoln Center, and The Hub at Hudson-a flexible presentation space for emerging talent just minutes from the Tents, it's practically impossible to watch all the shows – all the time, until now. The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014 Collections have been much talked about over the last few weeks following the announcement of new changes for the shows and now we have your front row seat to all the action.
If you're looking to find all the New York Fashion Week shows all in one place, you've found it! Watch all of the streaming New York Fashion Week shows on the go with DivasandDorks.com.
Once again, we have ALL of the official Mercedes Benz Fashion Week shows streaming live on the web and on your smartphone device. That means, no matter if you're running late to a show – or if you're stuck inside a show waiting for the fashion to begin, you'll always have a constant stream of fashion in the palm of your hands – right here and right now!
Did I mention that we're mobile too? You can watch streaming New York Fashion Week shows on the go easily. [Simply go to DivasandDorks.com on your mobile device and scroll down to the bottom of the page for fashion week coverage on your mobile device.]
The preliminary lineup for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014 Collections includes: NICHOLAS K, BCBGMAXAZRIA, RAOUL, RICHARD CHAI, CREATURES OF THE WIND, TADASHI SHOJI, DESIGUAL, TOME, MARISSA WEBB, DANIEL VOSOVIC, TODD SNYDER, GO RED FOR WOMEN ®/THE HEART TRUTH ® RED DRESS COLLECTIONSM, MARK AND ESTEL, ZIMMERMANN, REBECCA VALLANCE, CARMEN MARC VALVO, PEDRO DEL HIERRO MADRID, TRINA TURK, NAUTICA, REBECCA MINKOFF, HACHE, NICOLE MILLER, CHARLOTTE RONSON, ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY, EMERSON BY JACKIE FRASER-SWAN, RUFFIAN, LACOSTE, JILL STUART, SON JUNG WAN, KOONHOR, HERVÉ LÉGER BY MAX AZRIA, MARA HOFFMAN, ADEAM, IVAN AGUILAR, MONIQUE LHUILLIER, ASIA FASHION COLLECTION, VENEXIANA, LELA ROSE, DKNY, DAVID TLALE, CUSTO BARCELONA, PARKCHOONMOO, DIANE VON FURSTENBERG, VIVIENNE TAM, GEORGINE, MESKITA, MATHIEU MIRANO, CAROLINA HERRERA, NOON BY NOOR, TOMMY HILFIGER, ANGEL SANCHEZ, DENNIS BASSO, ALON LIVNÉ, MILLY BY MICHELLE SMITH, KATYA LEONOVICH, REEM ACRA, RICARDO SECO, ZAC POSEN, DONNA KARAN NEW YORK, TORY BURCH, J.CREW, BADGLEY MISCHKA, JENNY PACKHAM, DIESEL BLACK GOLD, LIBERTINE, NAEEM KHAN, CONCEPT KOREA, PAMELLA ROLAND, MM6 MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA, SKINGRAFT, THE ART INSTITUTES, MICHAEL KORS, NANETTE LEPORE, LIE SANG BONG, KAUFMANFRANCO, HUGO BOSS, BETSEY JOHNSON, MARIST COLLEGE PRESENTS BETSEY JOHNSON REPRISE, CLOVER CANYON, CUTECIRCUIT, ANNA SUI, ZANG TOI, RALPH LAUREN, RACHEL ZOE, J. MENDEL, CALVIN KLEIN, BIBHU MOHAPATRA and HERNAN LANDER.
How do you keep up with all of the New York Fashion Week action? Are you running from show to show or catching the latest fashion roundups online? What are some of your favorite fashion blogs covering New York Fashion Week? Share your insights below.
Five Ways To Optimize Your iPhone Use During NYFWFebruary 6th, 2014 by Christen
If you're one of the "lucky ones" underneath the New York Fashion Week tents at Lincoln Center, chances are that you're using your smartphone to death. More than likely, your smartphone is your precious baby that you use to connect with others on and offline. You use your smartphone to share your fashionable experiences, chronicle style moments and more – but did you know that you may not be using your smartphone correctly? Check out five ways to optimize your iPhone use during NYFW below…
1. Stop Keeping Your iPhone Plugged in Overnight…
Letting your iPhone charge while you sleep at night might be convenient, but it's not the best way to keep your iPhone damage free during this busy week. Leaving your iPhone plugged in after it's already fully charged can damage your battery over time and it could start dying more quickly. Try charging it throughout the days you can unplug it once it's fully charged.
2. Give Your iPhone a Time Out…
You really should be turning your phone off periodically, or your battery will die faster than it should. Leaving it on and idle stresses the battery, experts say. If you, like me – use your phone as an alarm clock, consider picking up a cheap desktop alarm and shut your phone off at night (you'll save radiation exposure AND give your smartphone the break that it deserves.)
3. Stop Leaving the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Enabled All the Time…
When your iPhone has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled and isn't using one or both, it's just wasting energy. As you wander around, navigating throughout the city for your next show, you're not likely going to need or want Wi-Fi or Bluetooth all the time. You're better off leaving both off and just turning them on when you need them.
4. Filming shows in portrait mode…
Hey you! Did you know that you're actually supposed to film videos horizontally – not vertically? You've seen those videos filmed in vertically mode – not cute. Film your awesome fashion week moments the correct way, so that your friends and family can enjoy them without the "black frame of death".
5. Protect Your iPhone With A Passcode…
According to Apple, half of iPhone users do not lock their phones. If you don't have a passcode on your iPhone and it's stolen, your identity and personal information is completely open and available for the thief to grab. And while you're at it – quit walking around with your iPhone in your hand. Around 40 percent of the robberies in major cities (including NYC) now involve mobile devices, so it's actually pretty dangerous to walk around carelessly with your iPhone out.
If you keep these tips in mind while navigating through the fashion week chaos, your iPhone will thank you and last as long as you do! Did we miss anything? What are your favorite smartphone tips and tricks you use during New York Fashion Week? Share your ideas and tips below.
Six Tips To Survive New York Fashion Week Like A ProFebruary 5th, 2014 by Christen Rochon
New York Fashion Week is upon us, and after sifting through this season's fashion week invitations – it's clear that it's time to try something efficient and new this year. There are tons of shows underneath the Lincoln Center tents and well spread throughout the city, which had me wondering to myself – how in the world will I survive them all (without burning out)? After eight New York Fashion Week seasons under my belt, I've received valuable advice from fashion photographers, PR professionals, celebrity stylists and more and have collected six successful tips to survive New York Fashion Week like a pro below…
1. Pack plenty of snacks! "Sometimes it's hard to find the time to eat!" bemoans celebrity fashion stylist, Robyn Goldberg. To combat those unwelcome 'hanger' pains, she suggests packing a protein bar in your purse. International celebrity stylist Ann Caruso adds in her two cents, advising others to pack "healthy snacks in [your] bag like walnuts and almonds." Seems easy enough!
2. Hydrate. Let's face it – running from show-to-show is exhausting! Don't forget to give your body the fuel it needs to recover. Caruso recommends, "drink green juices as much as [you] can and lots of water!"
3. Use ShopTrotter to shop on the go with ease. New York's shopping scene can feel like one giant rat maze. Make your life easier by using the ShopTrotter app! Map out your route ahead of time, or simply use the geo-location feature to find stores nearby.
4. Invest in a portable charger. With all the tweeting, texting and Instagramming, there's no telling how long your phone will weather the storm! Best be safe and pack yourself a back-up charger. You won't want to miss out on that perfect Instagram-worthy runway moment! [Check out my favorite universal portable charger here.]
5. Uber is your friend. "If you can afford it, try to get a car service or hook up with friends who do, [especially] when you have back-to-back shows in difference places," Caruso advises, "so you are not killing yourself trying to find taxis and then being late to shows!" [Sign up for Uber and get a special discount here.]
6. Bring flats! Your feet deserve it. Really! "Keep a pair of flats in your bag for running around in between shows. Those heels can get your feet after a full day of running back and forth!" says Goldberg.
Now that you have these useful New York Fashion Week and busy, non-stop week tips – where are you off to first? Are you planning to enjoy New York Fashion week? Share any of your favorite survival guide tips or links below.
New York Fashion Week: Tracy Reese Then & Now (Fall 2013 / Spring 2014)September 9th, 2013 by Christen Rochon
She's a Detroit native, the world-reknown designer favorite of First Lady Michelle Obama and Tracy Reese has done it again with her Spring 2014 ready to wear collection.
Tracy Reese Then & Now
We recently spotted First Lady Michelle Obama celebrating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington in the Tracy Reese Fall 2013 collection look that debuted in February. Take a look at FLOTUS evolving Tracy Reese styles and in case you needed a style refresher, you can check out some of our favorite Fall 2013 looks below.
Tracy Reese Then & Now
Tracy Reese Then & Now
Tracy Reese Then & Now
Tracy Reese Then & Now
Tracy Reese Then & Now
Are you ready for a vibrant, colorful and island-infused looks from the runway? The Tracy Reese Spring 2014 collection is a breath of fresh Havana air with lady like silhouettes of lace, eyelets and pastels. White lace, midi floral dresses and a flouncy tanks punctuate an airy and bright Spring 2014 collection. Add a sprinkle of "First Lady" worthy frocks and eye-catching patterns and you've got yourself a collection that you'll soon never forget.
Tracy Reese Then & Now
For more Tracy Reese designs and collections to wear today visit TracyReese.com or check out her collection online at Nordstrom.com.
Topshop Teams Up With Google For London Fashion WeekFebruary 13th, 2013 by Tech Staff
UK high street clothing staple Topshop has teamed up with Google+ for this season's London Fashion Week. According to The Next Web, the theme for the fashion outlet this time around is to re-imagine the future of the fashion show. While the online activity of the Topshop Google London Fashion Week collaboration will be engaging, the actual event will be taking place at The Tanks at the Tate Modern in London, England.
Those who are not able to snag tickets for the catwalk can naturally tune in online. Not only will the runway be on show, but model profiles, the work of makeup artists, designer fittings and celebrity arrivals will be accessible.
The Topshop Google London Fashion Week collaboration makes fashion accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Topshop has already been setting up for its show on Google+ with content around the making of the event complete with model diaries and product design. Fans of the stream can also try for tickets to see the event and on February 17, exclusive content will be posted along with material onYouTube.
Interestingly this year Topshop Google London Fashion Week collaboration is also adding 'Model Cam'. It's pretty much as it sounds. The model diaries provide a narrative of the 'Road to the runway' and followers can read up on the experiences of Cara Delevigne, Jourdan Dunn, Rosie Tapner and Ashleigh Good who will be updating their activities from first fittings to the bright lights of the catwalk.
A Google+ photo booth has been installed where users can try on outfits and create a moving image on a catwalk which will be uploaded in an interactive digital shop window and appear on the company's Google+ page. It's only at Topshop's flagship store on Oxford street for now, but hopefully the Google+ booth will make it's way to American locations soon. Until then, enjoy London Fashion Week from the comfort of your laptop or online with live streaming on DivasandDorks.com soon.
Are you looking forward to more fashion being accessible via technology? What brand are you looking forward to connecting with in a unique way online soon?
NYFW: Jason Wu WOWS With His Fall Winter 2013 CollectionFebruary 12th, 2013 by Fashion Staff
It's been an incredible 2013 for Jason Wu thus far. Just last month, he debuted his retail-friendly line, Miss Wu, exclusively for Nordstrom on Jan. 7. (already worn by First Lady Michelle Obama) inspired by chic girls with their boyfriends in the 1960's and beyond. It' only makes sense, during New York Fashion Week, Wu's back at it again. While reports circulated concerns of sparsely attended shows due to the affects of NEMO blizzard - Jason Wu packed a full house! At one of the most anticipated shows at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, revealing the Jason Wu Fall Winter 2013 collection, Wu wowed fashionistas worldwide again.
The collection "Extreme Femininity" included stark white, black, fur, snakeskin, fire engine red and a piercing shot of violet, the silhouettes included exaggerated shoulders in fur shrugs and trench coats, pleated maxi and mini skirts, and a lot of sheer fabric.
"It's all about the embodiment of a woman—powerful, sensual, sexy, glamorous," said Jason Wu as he unveiled his looks board backstage before his show. "I wanted to project beauty—beautiful clothes and beautiful women." But as Wu added, "with every hard edge there's softness."
His 2013 take on evening wear puts a new spin on the peplum trend, incorporating it into tuxedo pants instead of skirts or tops.
Ostrich feathers incorporated into 2 dresses, definitely wowed us all especially the winter white one!
Cocktail dresses and tops will get us all ready for the 2014 Gala season with Grecian inspiration. Will it long before Jason creates another custom fit for our First Lady inspired by this collection? We can hardly bare the suspense to see what other amazing work Jason will unveil this year!
Check out our favorite looks from The Jason Wu Fall Winter 2013 Collection below!
New York Fashion Week Goes Digital – Fashion Feat Or Fail?February 4th, 2013 by Christen Rochon
IMG Fashion and Rightster announced that for the first time, there will be a live stream of every runway show from New York Fashion Week (Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week) at Lincoln Center, as well as video on-demand content available for all shows and presentations, for fashion enthusiasts everywhere. Starting February 7th – NYFW live streams will be available on newyork.mbfashionweek.com and facebook.com/mbfashionweek, giving fans worldwide a front row seat to fashions most beloved designers' shows.
Now that the mystery of one of New York's most fashionable events will be revealed on a computer screen near you, what does that mean for New York Fashion Week and what does that mean for you? The tents at New York Fashion week has always been much more than the experience of designer runway shows and presentations. It is the epicenter of the current and future faces of fashion. Editors, stylists, models, celebrities, makeup artists, bloggers and more crowd inside the tents in an anxious frenzy to network, floss their style and make their way to each designer show. Sure, live streaming of the runway shows will give outsiders a front row seat to the newest season of style, but it'll never replace the experience that is New York Fashion Week.
In fact, half of the entertainment that is New York Fashion Week actually takes place outside of any of the designer presentations. From the omnipotent 20-something pr representative intoxicated with power to the more than desperate model/stylist/actress-to-be , these are just a few of the lead characters you're destined to experience underneath the tents of fashion week. The ruthless elbows & jabs from photographers determined to "get the shot" to the catty chatter of "influencers" complaining about their overbooked (non-existent) show calendar – these are people and scenarios that can't possibly be shared by streaming a runway show online. Last season, the disgruntled daughter of a French publisher went as far as slapping the face of pr before the start of a show – these are scenes from NYFW that I can't make up and definitely won't be streamed on a computer screen near you soon.
Overall, you can in fact call this a fashion WIN for the masses who may never step foot inside a NYFW show, but if you're not easily entertained and have hopes of obtaining an insider's view of what New York Fashion Week really is then think again. Now that IMG Fashion and Rightster has unveiled a small segment of the New York Fashion Week curtain, don't believe that this is an all-access pass for a full-on NYFW experience; those experiences are still reserved the fearless fashionistas and not the faint of heart.
New York Fashion Week Jitters Solved With #SearsStyle!September 4th, 2012 by Christen Rochon
With New York Fashion Week fast approaching, the last minute style jitters are hot on my tail! As a naturally organized person, I opted for pre-planning my NYFW daily style (instead of the usual 'wake up & find inspiration' regime. With that in mind, there's always a worry of 'What Ifs' once New York Fashion Week begins. From wondering if your meticulous show schedule will really allow you to attend back to back shows on time to the most dreaded 'what if' of them all – What if someone is spotted in my identical ensemble?
Luckily, with the power of accessorizing, trend-watching & creating a look that embodies your personal style – you likely won't have to worry about that "what if" at all.
This is where Sears comes in. If you haven't checked it out online, you should visit SearsStyle.com asap, for some great fashion finds including the hottest Fall trend wears as well as statement accessories that will take your style to a complete standout. During the holiday weekend, I began to make my final Fall fashion week purchases including a few items from the Sears Kardashian Kollection. But before heading to the store, I had to check out the Kardashian Kollection online first.
After spotting a few looks & accessories that were super cute, I headed down to the closest Sears location to see what was available for me to try on. Check out a few of my dressing room candidates from Sears below:
Since I'm not quite sure which look fits me best, I could use some help! Vote on your favorite Kardashian Kollection look on our DivasandDorks Instagram page now & help me decide which look to wear during New York Fashion Week!
I'm excited about wearing my SearsStyle picks at the upcoming SearsStyle Brunch during New York Fashion Week, seeing all the style that I can handle during the searsStyle Brunch & catching up with stylish friends all week long. Can't make it to New York during Fashion Week? No worries, you can join in all the fashionable fun during the searsStyle Brunch on Twitter, this Friday September 7th from 1p – 2pm. You could easily win $50 or $100 giftcards from Sears (RSVP HERE).
Interested in seeing more of my Kardashian Kollection choices, check out a few more of my photos here and make sure to check out SearsStyle.com on Twitter @SearsStyle & Facebook Facebook.com/SearsStyle
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. and Sears (Opinions are my own) #SearsStyle #NYFW12 #CBias #SocialFabric
Wild Shoe Wednesday: Heavy Machine Spring 2012 CollectionApril 18th, 2012 by Fashion Staff
In 2011 Vogue Italia selected Heavy Machine as one of the best emerging talents in the fashion industry and production was moved to Italy. Sheepskin, cow skin and nappa leather from Italy Padova was used to create these classic artisan heels with modern rebellious soul. This inspiration is shown by the collection's bright color combinations and bold architectural designs.
Inspired by childhood fairy tales and playgrounds everywhere…
All of these edgy artisanal heels can be found by checking out Heavy Machine online.
Paris Fashion Week: Wild Shoe Wednesday (Prelude) – Kanye West Shoes "Sexy As F***"March 6th, 2012 by Christen Rochon
Kanye West shoes are getting all kinds of publicity lately. First his Giuseppe Zanotti collaboration has been seen on store shelves in Europe selling for almost $6,000, then it was announced that Kanye West designed the footwear for Aussie designer Dion Lee's debut London presentation over the weekend. And now, according to GlamazonsBlog.com on the heels of his second Paris Fashion Week Runway Show – his footwear has already been labeled "Sexy As F***" by model Jourdan Dunn.
So what's the fuss all about…well besides a runway filled with flying racecars zooming around the audience – take a look at them and several of the fashions hitting the runway yourself and let us know what you think?
Kanye West Fall/Winter (Paris Fashion Week)
What do you think? Too tall for your britches? (Six inch heels? We don't think so….)
Check out more of the collection below:
photos by NowFashion.com


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Nollywood stakes its claim in Hollywood
Actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim was joined by Hollywood Celebrities for the "4th Annual Nollywood Convention's VIP Banquet". African actors Caroine Chikezie, Amanda Annan, Raz Adoti joined Hakeem to support this red carpet event for one of the biggest film industries in the world.
Attendees enjoyed Nigerian delicacies, a crowd stopping perfomance by soul singer "Sammie Jay", Nollywood Films which were followed by Nigerian music. Also enjoying the evening were Alice Amter (The Big Bang Theory), Treva Etienne (Terminator Salvation), Ed Gale (Howard The Duck) and Julio Hanson (Angels and Demonds). Read more »
The banquet was a culmination of a 3-day Nollywood Convention at the Palomar Hotel in Westwood to raise awareness of the Nollywood industry to Hollywood. The Nollywood Foundation's president, Professor Sylvester Ogbechie, shared that the Nigerian film industry has grown rapidly to become one of the largest film producing industries in the world.
Read more »
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Summary Box: Monsanto profit balloons in 1Q
(AP) - SOUTHERN SALES: Monsanto reported that its profit nearly tripled in its first fiscal quarter due to expanded business in Latin America.
WARMER CLIMATES: The company's first fiscal quarter is usually not very profitable, as farming operations slow during the fall months in North America. But Monsanto said higher seed sales in Argentina, Brazil and other Latin American countries helped drive earnings from September through November.
RAISED EXPECTATIONS: The company raised its full-year earnings guidance to between $4.30 and $4.40 per share, from $4.18 to $4.32.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Hendricks County Flyer
---- — Mary Delores (Krug) Rolfson of Danville died Wednesday. She was 73.
Born May 7, 1940, in Hammond, she was a daughter of William L. and Catherine M. (Sopota) Krug.
Mrs. Rolfson graduated from Hammond High School and was a licensed practical nurse. She worked at the former Tendercare and Medco Healthcare in Danville (now known as Danville Regional Rehabilitation) and Americana healthcare in Indianapolis, where she retired from in 1994.
She was a member of Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Danville.
Survivors include children William "Bill" Rolfson of Indianapolis, Mary Ellen Rolfson of Morton, and Catherine Rolfson of Danville; three grandchildren; and a brother, George Krug of Griffith.
Preceding her in death was a brother, James Krug.
There will be a chapel service at 11 a.m. (Central Standard Time) Tuesday at Holy Cross Cemetery in Calumet City, Ill.
Calling is from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at Weaver & Randolph Funeral Home in Danville, with a Rosary service at 7:30 p.m.
Online condolences may be made at www.weaverand randolphfuneralhomes.com.


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By: Bill Schammert
We all know it's coming, but just how much? Only time will tell. For now, many Lincoln residents are preparing for what should be the most snow we've seen in more than 300 days.
"We're just getting ready to weather the storm," Gary Elwood said.
It's not the winter he and his wife Barbara were expecting. They recently moved from Denver and know exactly what measurable snow and 40-mile-per-hour winds look like. Living 12 miles outside of Lincoln, they're stalking up at the grocery store. A several day supply of water, canned goods and tuna fish made their way into the Elwood's cart.
"If we end up having stay a few days and home and not go anywhere, we just want to be ready," said Gary Elwood.
It's hard to think about preparing for a winter storm when Tuesday saw temperatures hover around 50-degrees. But, a quick glance at the snow blowers waiting for repair at TCA Outdoor Power, and it's obvious Lincoln residents are getting ready.
"It's definitely good for business," sales and technician specialist, Joel Ganz, said. "Plus, we need the moisture."
Ganz says, just in the last few days, he's seen more than 100 snow blowers and snow plows come into the shop.
"A lot of is just cleaning out old gas," Ganz said. "Getting fuel into the cylinder and just making it spark."
Incase we do hit that upper echelon of forecasts on Wednesday, the Red Cross has a few safety tips.
First, keep at least a three-day supply of water, equal to one gallon, per day, per person. Second, have a flashlight and battery powered NOAA Weather Radio handy. Last, always keep a well-stocked first aid kit.
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New Delhi, 27 June 2012- BagsKart.com, India's leading online store for handbags, wallets and clutches, is all set to offer a wide assortment of trendy handbags in digital, animal and floral prints from the leading brands like Hidesign, Vakaro, Esbeda, Envirosax, Baggit, etc which is sure to take the fashionistas by a storm.
The special range of classic handbag in digital prints by Vakaro is a new addition to the extensive collection at Bagskart. Eco-friendly handbags from its Envirosax range are available in various options in terms of materials, color, straps or design and are spacious with multiple columns for keeping your accessories. Whether you are looking for a colorful functional handbag in floral print, a leather bag with digital, animal or tribal print and contemporary stylish design or interested in purchasing a leather shoulder bag, Bagskart has many reasonable choices to define style and attitude which can make you stand out in the crowd.
Bagskart.com offers a truly remarkable online shopping experience for bags anytime, anywhere. With an unparalleled assortment of the leading brands BagsKart.com becomes an online shopping destination of choice. Look again this summer to colorful modish prints and redefine your style with dazzling and absolutely spectacular collection at BagsKart.com!
Prince range starts from Rs 500 onwards and ranges upto Rs 12,000


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What Makes it Mighty?
- insulated and wipes clean easily
- bPA-free, Lead-free, PVC-free, phthalate-free
- folds flat for easy storage
Munch N' Lunch Lunchbag (more patterns) by Wildkin SKU: WDMNL
Get ready to munch a bunch with the Wildkin Munch 'n Lunch Bag. This insulated, non-toxic lunch bag is the perfect weapon against cafeteria food. This super convenient design opens big but collapses flat to make storage that much easier.
One-year manufacturer's warranty against defects - normal wear-and-tear, and misuse excluded. Rigorously tested to ensure that all parts are lead-safe, bpa-free, phthalate-free, and conform to all rules and regulations set forth by the Consumer Products Association.
- Folds flat for easy storage
- PVC, BPA, Lead & Phthalate-free
- Insulated
- Easy-to-clean, food-safe compartment
- Measures 10in. x 8.5in. x 5in.
Made in China
About Wildkin
Wildkin is a privately owned business located in Nashville, Tennessee. They make useful, fun, safe gear for kids of all ages, and their colorful bags and other items are designed to be both super-safe and very useful.more »
About MightyNest
We make it easy for families to create a healthy home. Each of our 1000+ products has been thoroughly researched to be free of concerning chemicals, and hand-picked for its quality and design. With products for the whole family, ranging from kitchenware to reusable lunch gear to skincare, it is truly better living made easy.


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I was huddled against a wall on Broadway and 5th, just after dawn, when I noticed a woman with a gas mask strapped to her belt.
"Don't worry,†I heard someone next to me say (probably having noticed that my lips were turning white) "this won't be like Seattle, at least, probably not.â€
Despite those reassuring words I couldn't help but recall images from 1999 of Seattle police officers spraying mace into the eyes of protesters. They were locked arm in arm across the street to prevent the World Trade Organization from conducting their last meeting of the twentieth century. I would later find out that these fears were unjustified, but I wouldn't know that for another four hours.
I gathered in the cold with, what turned out to be, more than one hundred Chicoans who would travel to San Francisco and take part in the largest mass movement since the atrocities of September 11th. Like many people in front of the Peace and Justice Center that Saturday morning, I was concerned about American policies abroad. Perhaps I was wrong, but I couldn't see how going into other countries, to both kill and frighten people with bombs, would prevent further terrorist attacks on the US. It certainly wouldn't work for me. If Yemen had four thousand troops stationed in Sacramento, even if they weren't hurting anybody, I'd be trying my darndest to push that occupying force out of my home. I try to be a good citizen, so, rather than wait for November and vote for someone who might (or might not) push for change, I decided to do it myself.
My wife and I climbed aboard one of the buses that the Chico Peace and Justice Center and Chico Peace Works had arranged for transportation. There were no seats so we sat on the floor against the wall in what would be a bumpy, but memorable experience. I marveled that there was a far more diverse group than I had anticipated. There were experienced protesters from the 60s, college students who had never protested anything except a test score, concerned parents with their children, a Chico State professor, rebels without a cause, and even a Gulf War veteran. Opinions ranged from angry denunciations of capitalism to the simple desire to learn more about our country and foreign policy. Best of all, everyone shared their views with one another and, I for one, felt that I received a greater range of discussion (and learned a heck of a lot more about what was going on in the world) than I did from watching CNN.
As we crossed the Golden Gate bridge musical instruments seemed to come out of nowhere. Everyone began clapping and singing in, what appeared to me, an attempt to psyche themselves up for the events ahead. I mumbled comically through Bob Marley's "Redemption Song†but I'm sure I drowned a few people out offering my shrill interpretation of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance.†Sure, I felt a little goofy, but it was terrific fun. It was an experience I'm not likely to forget. We were in a bus traveling to a protest in San Francisco, singing songs about peace. It was 2002, but I felt like it could've been 1968. (Of course, I wasn't born until 1975, so the only thing I know about the sixties I learned from "Forrest Gump.â€)
What I witnessed in Dolores Park that morning was unlike anything I have seen before. I've always been lousy at winning those contests where you guess the number of jelly beans in a jar, but by 11:30 there must have been thirty to forty thousand people (organizers claim there were fifty thousand and the San Francisco Chronicle estimated "at least twenty thousand,†so I'll hedge my bets and say thirty-five). There were so many people that the Civic Center destination was completely filled while, two miles away, others were still waiting in line to march.
International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) organized the rally, entitled: "The Real Axis of Evil: War, Racism and Poverty.†The event, however, didn't have any one voice behind it, simply one message. Quakers, Teamsters, and Socialists joined Palestinians and Israelis to demand a change in US foreign policy. Signs read: "Question the War,†"Stop Bush,†"A Jewish Soldier Murdered My Sister,†"U.S. Out of Plan Colombia†and "Sharon: Stop Using the Holocaust as an Excuse for War,†among thousands of others.
Bob Trausch, one of the board members of the Chico Peace & Justice Center, helped to organize Chico's involvement in the protest. He hopes that people will come to feel that there's nothing more American than gathering peacefully to press your views onto US policy.
"I'm hoping that more people will see this and that more people will feel secure and safe with their feelings,†he said. "They don't have to believe that if they're against bombing Afghanistan or against going into Iraq that they're anti-American. We're all Americans. We all work, we all are educated, we all know what's happening in this world and we don't want our government doing the things they are doing.â€
The police presence was remarkably light with, at most, a few dozen officers dispersed along the two mile route (one even tossed a peace sign my way as I snapped his photograph). Costumes and street theater abounded: a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty in mourning, a giant corn ear protested genetically modified foods, a couple on stilts waded through the throngs of people. There were families; children laughed and sang with their parents, elderly couples in wheel chairs held signs. An African-American woman came out of the hair salon where she worked, applauding and thanking people for working towards change. There were Muslim women draped in black abayas from head to toe and a lone hippie couple wearing nothing at all.
Chico State graduate Adrienne Wright was amazed by the diversity of people and issues. "It's incredible,†she said, "I didn't realize that there were this many people in California who are against the war.â€
Martin Coots, a waiter at a downtown Chico restaurant, was impressed by the turnout but had hoped for a different focus. "It's great to see that people aren't afraid to speak out,†he said, "but I thought this was supposed to be a sister protest with Washington D.C. People here are attacking the shadow, it should be about the World Trade Organization.†Other Chico protesters agreed, and several held aloft American flags with the stars replaced by corporate logos.
Jim Reis, a Gulf War veteran, had more personal reasons for taking part in the demonstration. "I wholeheartedly joined the military and thought I was doing the right thing,†he said. "Fortunately, as I got older, hopefully a little bit wiser and more educated, I realized that war is never the way to solve any problem.â€
And I was there because I love democracy. I wanted to play a small role in making a large change in the world.
"Change always has to come from people,†Bob Trausch told me while we marched, "it can't come from higher up. And this is just the beginning, because people are finally waking up to the fact that we need a change.â€
Amen to that, and you can sign me up for next time.


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Evils and Elections
There is a general sentiment among some fundamentalists that in this election we'll just have to "hold our nose and vote" or "choose the lesser of two evils." I'd like to address those that have chosen NOT to vote for the lesser of two evils.
- We are not voting for a pastor of our country and the Bible does not give us the qualifications for a president.
- We are not a Christian nation in the sense that Israel was God's people. Our country was founded on biblical principles, but we are not a theocracy. We are a republic. We (the people) elect others to represent us in our government. We should try to get the best men available to do that for us.
- In the presidential race, there are only two men available to fill the office. Other names are on the ballots, but one of ONLY TWO will sit in the Oval Office.
- I'm NOT voting for the "lesser of two evils." I'm going to vote for the best man available to represent me.
- In the end, you are still voting for the lesser of evils! Only you're voting for the lesser of six evils. Even if you thought you were the best candidate, and voted for yourself, you'd be voting for the lesser of many evils. So, refusing to vote for evil is not an excuse, sorry.
While we cannot separate our Christianity from the public square, we do not act the same in the public square as we do in church. America is not the church, or the kingdom, or any other religious entity. So on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, cast your vote as an American. God put you in this country. Vote for the best man available to represent you.
Obama = Scary for Israel
Had you heard? Obama has an Arab sounding name. Had you heard that his middle name is "Hussein"? Let's see. I'm trying to think of who else has that same name, except his last name. Does it matter? Not really, but it would at least have me checking out his background and who he supports. What if McCain's middle name was "Adolf" or "Hitler"? John Hitler McCain. No one should check to see if he has any Nazi associations. Um. No. Like that would happen. He couldn't win a national election. He wouldn't even be running. No way he could last. Or how about John Wilkes McCain? But Hussein? You're racist, a bigot, if you even think about that mattering? Oh really? Since when do the thought police, who strap on the first amendment, get to stop me from considering that with their own clever bit of reverse racism.
But with Obama, not only does he have that Middle Eastern sounding name, but he's got the major background to boot. Not only does he have the checkered past, but he also lies about it now in a way that ought to be sending up back-pack explosions all over the place. There is no way this guy in a hundred years should be able to get a sniff of the presidency and, yet, he might just win it next week. He's definitely the favorite. It's so bad, it almost looks providential, as if God is using this occasion to judge our nation by turning us over to our own lusts. It's something like Israel picking Saul to be their king because he's a head taller than everyone else. This pins the stupidity needle like I haven't seen in my lifetime.
I'm observing this from the standpoint of a dispensational, premillennial approach to Israel. We believe that the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant are still in play. We support Israel. Period. I don't care if Israel votes for their own nightmare with a kind of blindness and self-destructive ignorance that borders on insanity. We still have the highest hopes for her and our literal approach to Scripture in part guides us in this vote. I wish Israel could get it too. I wish Jews in the U.S. could figure it out. Some do. I sort of get their history. They have pendulum swung the liberal direction ever since the fascists of the late and early twentieth century. They connect dots from Augustine to Martin Luther to Hitler to the Republican Party. They see the right as being frighteningly Christian. They way have the wrong interpretation of what's happening. I wish they'd wake up and smell the matzo bon. Think Obama Fox–Israel Chicken Coop.
Our future is wrapped up in Israel too, but "no, let's go ahead and stand right on top of the spot where the earth opens up." Hint: the future is not with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Hint: the Jewish hating nations who support Obama aren't hopeful of a bright American future. But Obama doesn't have Achmadinejad as one of his advisors. Oh well, everything must be OK. Shewww! I'm going to give these in just the bullet points. Strike that. The backpack points. And, Colin Powell, who is calling Obama a Muslim? I don't hear anything like that coming from the McCain campaign. Whatever respect I had for Colin Powell just floated down the Euphrates. He's bitter over how he was treated by the Bush administration. The incredible shrinking former Secretary of State. But I digress. Back to Obama and his scariness to Israel.
- His dad a Muslim.
- He grows up in rabidly Moslem Indonesia.
- Bill Ayers. Obama Unapologetic Terrorist Bomber Friend.
- Anti-Israel Jeremiah Wright (his amillennial black liberation theology results in hatred of Israel; see this video).
- Louis Farakhan.
- Wright and Farakhan sittin' in a tree with Muammar Gaddafi.
- Endorsement from Hamas.
- Anti-Israel, Pro-Palistinian statement by Jesse Jackson.
- Close friendship and support of Rashid Khalidi, Yasser Arafat's former close personal assistant (see the Fox Videos, and that LA Times won't release theirs as part of media bias and cover-up, same man that set up Achmadinejad speech at Columbia University).
- Hiding Anti-Israel Views.
- Supports Kenya violent Islamic dictator Odinga (and read this, and this, also claims to be Obama cousin).
- Muammar Gaddafi: Arab world ready to finance and back Obama.
There is too much here to simply dismiss it as fearmongering. It's not like it took any kind of real heavy lifting to put this together. I don't think Obama is a Muslim. Let that be known. Also, I don't think it matters. Jeremiah Wright isn't a Muslim either. I don't think that matters either. What I do say is that this above list should be scary for Israel, and for America too.
It's Not About Race. It's About the Issues!
You may have already seen the YouTube interview linked at the end of this post, but it illustrates a problem that has become all too evident in this Presidential Campaign. Obama has more than just skeletons in his closet. He has corpses in there, rotting and swollen and maggot infested. But the voters don't care. And why don't they care? The reason that the voters don't really care is that the media isn't making a big deal about it. If it were important, the media would be making a big deal about it. Since the media doesn't make a big deal about it, it must not be important.
All of this making Neal Postman's important work in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death that much more prophetic. In fact, this election, like none before, has proven him right. We really do turn off our mind. The TV really is our epistemology. Television really does free politicians from the limited field of their own expertise. As a friend of mine said recently, elections are not about politics. Elections are the new American Idol.
Postman said,
We are not permitted to know who is best at being President or Governor or Senator, but whose image is best in touching and soothing the deep reaches of our discontent. We look at the television screen and ask, in the same voracious way as the Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" We are inclined to vote for those whose personality, family life, and style, as imaged on the screen, give back a better answer than the Queen received. As Xenophanes remarked twenty-five centuries ago, men always make their gods in their own image. But to this, television politics has added a new wrinkle: Those who would be gods refashion themselves into images the viewers would have them be. (pp.. 135)
So, we should not be surprised by this interview, which was produced by (gulp!) the Howard Stern Show, of all things. To be fair, he had one interviewer who supported McCain, and thought that Joe Biden was McCain's running mate. But as you listen to these interviewers, I want you to repeat with me… "It's not about race. It's not about race. It's not about race. It's about issues."
The ObamaNation (of desolation)
The polls say Obama will be our next President. We can discuss how accurate and/or reliable the polls are. Ann Coulter has an outstanding article on polls, demonstrating that they are reliably skewed in the Democratic candidate's favor. In one sense, the polls are unreliable. But in another sense altogether, the polls are entirely reliable. They are reliably unreliable. And they are reliably skewed in favor of the Democratic candidate.
But we should also note that, although the numbers have always been inflated for the Democratic candidate, these same polls have also accurately picked the winner. Clinton had a 12-15 point lead in his first election. He didn't win by 12-15 points, but he did win. Clinton had a 9 point lead in his second election. He didn't win by 9 points, but he did win. In fact, in each of the examples that Coulter gives, the polls picked the winner. Their assessment of the spread was off, but their winner won.
Last Sunday, according to Zogby, Obama had a slight lead (about 2 points) over McCain. This week, that lead moved to as high as 12 points. If you have been following Zogby's daily tracking, you might have noticed that Obama's lead seems to be very volatile. Coulter's explanation could be correct. But still, Obama holds the lead.
So, like it or not, we are likely to be saying "President Obama" for the next four years. The ObamaNation will have its day, as it appears now.
Discouraging? May I remind you that, in the sovereignty of God, we could get the President we want, and that could be the worst thing that ever happened to us. Or, we could get the President we fear, and that could be the best thing that ever happened to us.
That might be hard to imagine, so let me demonstrate. The first proposal for an income tax came during the administration of James Madison. The first time an income tax was imposed was during the administration of Abraham Lincoln. And Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to openly propose both an income tax and an inheritance tax. You can read an interesting history here.
Republicans gave us the Patriot Act. Republicans founded the Department of Homeland Security. A Republican administration (a pretty conservative one, too, as I recall), nominated Sandra Day O'Conner to the Supreme Court. Another Republican nominated John Paul Stevens. Another Republican nominated David Souter. During Republican administrations, America has not moved closer to repentance or revival. Churches have grown more worldly and apathetic in the last eight years. As has already been pointed out, no Messiah will be forthcoming out of Presidential Politics.
The fact is, if we "win" this election, we will likely breath a collective "Shew-w-w! that was close!" We will likely wipe our collective foreheads, dry the sweat off our collective hands, and continue on in our collective complacency, in our collective apathy, in our collective lukewarmness, and in our collective slide towards Gommorah. Just like the last 8 years.
If, on the other hand, we wind up losing this election, that could be the best thing that has happened to us in some time. Will we get more serious? Will we pray for our nation, more earnestly? Will we repent and seek the Lord for a revival?
I have to think so.
If you're interested…
I have 4 extra tickets for the Robbie Knievel (son of Evil Knievel) event at the Home Depot Center ( Albany, Oregon ) this weekend if anybody wants them.
He's going to try to jump 5,000 Obama supporters
…with a bulldozer.
Should be a good time. Let me know…
The Gospel, Stupid
By this time, most people have read about the Clinton war room for the 1992 election, where then Governor Clinton's senior strategists, James Carville and Paul Begala, posted the statement on a whiteboard, "The Economy, Stupid." This was the first time I had heard the terminology, "talking points," and probably you heard it by now, but instruction for a winning campaign—"Stay on message." There was actually a haiku of three phrases on Carville's whiteboard: Change vs. More of the Same, The Economy Stupid, Don't Forget Health Care. As much as people make a gigantic deal about the success of these Clinton talking points, some people fail to remember Ross Perot got 17% of the votes out of that election and Clinton himself received way less than 50%. Perhaps they should have written, Ross Perot Stupid, on that board. Them were no geniuses.
We need our own war room and our message wouldn't be that much different actually. I'd leave out only the third phrase of the Carville Mantra. The strategists drilled into Clinton the importance of repeating the talking points and staying on message. We should do the same. You already know that we won't change the nation through political issues and elections. We need change and not more of the same. But how will change happen? It isn't the economy. Although that's what most Americans think. It is the gospel, stupid.
I'm not calling you stupid. Carville wasn't calling Clinton, stupid. He was saying, "You're stupid if you forget this talking point." I'm saying, put The Gospel on your whiteboard. We're all stupid if we forget it. We're stupid when we even start forgetting the gospel. If Obama wins this election, the answer is the gospel, stupid. If McCain wins, it's the gospel, stupid. Sometimes it takes an Obama to remember the gospel, stupid. When I catch myself thinking too much about Obama, Ayers, Wright, and Acorn, I need to remember the gospel, stupid. Do you think in a given week that we're better off thinking and talking and writing more about this election than we do the gospel, stupid? It's worth some time, just like bodily exercise is worth some time. But it "profiteth little." The gospel profiteth much.
I believe that Jesus was talking about this election in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. People worry about the economy. They worry about their own physical needs. The Lord said in verse twenty-five, "Take no thought" of these things. Don't make those your thinking or talking points. God will take care of you. He'll meet your needs. Instead, make this your haiku, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." The economy and anything else God wants you to have will be added unto you.
Things Stupid about an Election
- It can't take away sin, which is man's real problem.
- It can't make people do what they're supposed to do.
- It can't reconcile man with God.
- It can't stop people's greed.
- It can't create honest leaders.
- It can't stop men from dying.
- It can't get anyone to heaven.
- It can't eliminate the chief reason for crime and war.
- It can't produce genuine love between people.
- It can't cause human government to succeed.
- It can't be the kingdom of God on earth.
- It gives people a false hope and a false sense of security about the future.
Things Stupid about not Elevating the Gospel above Elections
- We can persuade people to vote for our candidate, but they'll still go to hell.
- When we're talking about our candidate, we're not talking about Jesus Christ.
- Even if our candidate does win the election, without preaching the gospel, the numbers of a right type of voter will still shrink.
- Someone for whom we vote will not bring in the kingdom of God on earth, but Jesus will.
- Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead," so surely an election is below following Him.
- Other people might get the idea that elections are more important than gospel preaching.
- While we are spending time on the election, people will not be hearing the gospel.
- God commanded us to preach the gospel and He said nothing about elections.
- The gospel has the power to save someone forever and a politician or the election itself doesn't have close to that power.
- The change of the gospel is eternal and the change wrought by an election winner is temporal.
- The gospel can transform someone on the inside and an election can't.
- God's Word says a lot about the gospel and it says very little about human government.
The election seems like big time. The news media talks about it. For a little bit of time, we share an opinion with millions of other Americans. Maybe we even feel some strength in numbers. But it's not the way that God chooses to change the world. He chooses the weak things of the world to confound the strength of the mighty. He didn't choose elections as His way for men to align themselves with Him. He did choose the preaching of the gospel. Let's not be stupid.
Change You'll Regret
The United States will fall some day. Election 2008 might mark the watershed moment of its sharpest ever decline. Paul wrote Timothy, "The love of money is the root of all evil." I'm not sure that our country wouldn't vote for a sadistic axe-murdering cannibal if he promised it a better economic package than the other guy. Twelve years ago Robert Bork wrote Slouching Towards Gommorha. The slouch has turned into a slippery slide.
What has so destroyed the discernment of American people that they have become so out-of-touch with God-given values? David Wells writes in No Place for Truth (p. 56):
Those who can manufacture such abundance are not immune from the moral corruption that multiplies in the abundance. Genius is never antiseptic. No matter how brilliant the Western achievements are—and they have been brilliant—like all other human achievements, they, too, serve as vehicles for the vices to which fallen human nature is constantly prone. The values that often accompany Western plenty are not made hygienic by the genius whose company they keep. On the contrary, they have become the acid that is eating at the Western soul. The hand that gives so generously in the material realm also takes away devastatingly in the spiritual.
What happened? Wells continues (pp. 57-59):
The Enlightenment world liberated us to dream dreams of the world's renovation and of ourselves at its center, standing erect and proud, recasting the whole sorry scheme of things bare-handed, as it were, leaning only on our reason and goodness. . . . It is as if the ability to make better cars and better airplanes and better medicines and better theories imply an ability to make better selves. . . . The need to be in motion, moving toward the future, to know that we are leaving behind periods of lesser achievement and shaking ourselves free of what is obsolete, is obviously very great. . . . [B]eneath all of the difficulties and disappointments that modernity has brought, there still resides a belief in progress; we continue to think, or perhaps fervently hope, that we are still moving toward a better future. . . . There is always hope because things are always improving, despite the fact that under secular auspices there is no truth by which one can judge whether a culture is moving foward or backward.
This is Obama's belief in change for change's sake and the hope in hope and the hope in change. None of these are hopes rooted in absolute truth. They are rooted in the enlightenment optimism in change. Change means progress.
But does change mean progress? Not according to the Bible. Without God, we'll change for sure. That change will always be a change toward the worse. It will start with spiritual deterioration and end in psychological and then physical devastation. God hasn't made this world to change for the better without Him. We only change for the better by the grace of God. Without Him, its always a change for the worse.
This trust in progress separate from God leaves the absolute truth of God's Word to relativism and then to secularization. Man becomes the new standard, elevating his own thoughts above God's. Without inalienable truth, the culture loses its ability to transmit its values or even meaning from one generation to the next, so neither can it regulate behavior.
With the now uncertain standard, more important than substance is style, the ability to relate and make someone feel happy and secure. A previous world prized permanence. Ours wants change. Wells writes (pp. 42-44):
They made houses and shoes to last; we build obsolescence into many of our products, and our houses last only about forty years. . . . Men's socks used to be darned and shirt collars and cuffs turned to make them last longer. Now we simply replace them. . . .The norms, values, and principles that were once seen to be enduring absolutes, along with the knowledge of God in which they were grounded, now seem quite uncertain and perishable.
Men will place their hope in change. They know they're enlightened and they've progressed. They moved from the old ways to new ones. They prove to themselves that they've been liberated from any bondage to race, gender, sexual orientation, or system of morals. Imagine a nation that prefers a candidate who promises to steal the possessions of a few Americans to spread their earned or inherited wealth to everyone else, who blocked a bill that would protect infant survivors of abortion attempts, and who is unrelenting in his assocations with an unrepentant domestic terrorist who bombed our capital. He looks good. He sounds amazing, or at least that's what the experts tell us. And he's promising change.
Yes to McCain is Yes to Palin
In my last post, I mentioned that if I voted for McCain at all, it would only be because I support Palin. For that matter, if I could simply skip straight to Sarah Palin, I would. And that is a part of what bothers me about this election… Never before have I voted for a man in hopes that he would not finish his term.
It must have been last week that Rush Limbaugh ended his show by saying, "we have three hundred million people in this country, and the best two we could come up with for President are John McCain and Barak Obama?"
I have to agree. This may be one of the most hotly contested Presidential elections since… well, since the last two anyways. But I think the reason it is so has more to do with Barak Hussein Obama than with John "The Maverick" McCain. Obama supporters are in a frenzy. Chris Matthews gets a chill up his leg when he hears Obama speak. And on the other hand, the NObama people get a chill down their spine when they think about the possibility of saying "President Obama" for the next four years. The frenzy is on both sides of Obama… and McCain is merely an accessory.
With that in mind then, I have just a few random thoughts to put up on the blog for you to kick around in the comments thread. These thoughts are truly random in a very random sense of the word. No particular meaning should be attached to the chosen order .
First, if we vote for McCain, we are voting for Sarah Palin to rule over us.
Secondly, that (in my opinion) is not such a bad thing, for several reasons. I do not believe that a woman should rule over us, and I believe what the Bible says about such a case as that — in other words, that it is a sign of chastisement on us as a people. But with that in mind, I am not at all surprised that it has come to this, only that it has taken so long for it to come to this. Nor do I believe that this chastisement necessarily means that God is casting us aside. As a matter of fact, in this case, I can definitely see the possibility that this chastisement is meant to correct us in order to bless us. Palin is a true conservative — I don't believe that the analogies of Palin as "Reagan in a skirt" are that far off — and takes a strong stance on abortion. And, as a woman, Palin has an opportunity to attack abortion in a way that no man could do it in this age of "sensitivity." I realize that we have good reasons for remaining pessimistic about the possibility of putting an end to abortion in the next four years. But that should not keep us from trying. It would not be the first time that God has used chastisement in order to bless. Palin strikes you as an everyday woman: down to earth, middle class, "you betcha." If you watched her debate with Joe Biden, you couldn't help but feel that this was a friend. Could she be a bit too innocent for the Washington shenanig-meisters? Perhaps. One certainly has cause to fear that the wolves might devour her once she gets there. But, one might have thought the same of "Jael with the nail."
Thirdly, if I were given the opportunity to choose my chastisement (as David did), I would prefer the chastisement of a woman ruling over me to the chastisement of Obama ruling over me. In following Rome's path to destruction, I prefer Constantine to Nero. Obama is a truly dangerous man (I'll get to that in a minute). But Sarah Palin is dangerous in a different way – and to a different set of people (namely, the American feminist).
Fourthly, those who think that Sarah Palin is incompetent to perform the duties of Vice President should pay more attention. Actually, you should pay less attention to the Agents of Propaganda (a.k.a the News Media), and more attention to what is actually happening here. Consider: when McCain chose Palin to be his running mate, she was virtually unknown. The media immediately sent a crew to dig up all the dirt that could be found on Sarah Palin. And, not surprisingly, she got some dirt on her. Then, for the next couple of weeks, we were treated to an avalanche of stories about all the dirt on Palin, until the media finally figured out that this strategy was backfiring, and that support for Sarah Palin increased in proportion with the number of hit pieces on her. So, the media backed off. They left her alone. They said nothing about her. For a couple of weeks. Then, THAT became the story… that nothing is being said about her. That obviously meant that she's not doing anything, she's not as popular as she was, people are cooling in their ardour for Sarah Palin.
This brings us to my fifth point — that we really have come to the place where image is everything, where propaganda matters, where propaganda trumps substance, and where invented ethos overrides character. Sarah Palin is a textbook illustration of this. Most of what we know of Sarah Palin we know from her reputation in Alaska (which is, by the way, very good), and from our Agents of Propaganda, the U.S. News Media. In her case, it is a battle between situated ethos (her reputation that results from her character), and invented ethos (her image as formed by the Creators of Image). In time, character always impacts reputation. But in Sarah Palin's case, there is not time enough for her true character to shine through. The media has taken full advantage of this, and thus Sarah Palin has been painted as a bimbo. That's too bad. But the fault lies at our door, when we allow the media to shape our opinions and to invent images for the main players in our political games.
And speaking of invented images, my sixth point has to do with Obama. In the era of image politics, Obama is the culmination of years of practice at carefully manufacturing the right Suit and Haircut to be President. The American people really don't know him. Not that they care. He looks good, he sounds good. And when he has the right tools (think teleprompter), he actually sounds like he believes what he is saying. But Obama's character will shine through his reputation as well. As long as this Presidential season has been, it has not been long enough for Obama's character to overcome his reputation. It will, though.
But then, I have yet another thought here. Consider it my seventh point. Obama reminds me more of a manikin in a suit than he does a despot. Perhaps this is the danger of an Obama presidency. We are not really sure if Obama is the dangerous one, or if the people who manipulate Obama are the dangerous ones. I could be all wrong on this, but Obama seems to me to be like a puppet on a string. He dances skillfully, no doubt, but we are left to wonder if we should be impressed with him or with the people pulling his strings. Watching him reminds me of watching one of those ventriloquist acts with a very accomplished ventriloquist. I can't tell if that really is his voice, or if someone else is doing the talking.
And that, in my opinion, is the real danger of an Obama presidency. One gets the eerie feeling that Obama is not his own man. Someone owns him. Should he win the presidency, someone else will run him. We have always understood the smoke-filled rooms where deals are made. But we have to think that an Obama presidency would be exactly that.
And that is why, all things being equal, my talk of voting third party is just that — talk. I'm thinking out loud. When it comes time to vote, I don't want Obama in the White House. Not that I think Obama would be so dangerous by himself. Get him away from his handlers and his teleprompters, and he is LESS than ordinary. Rather, it is that I think that Obama's handlers are extraordinarily dangerous.
I think I'll vote Palin.
Yes to McCain Is No to Obama
Is McCain just the lesser of two evils? I don't think we can go that far in this election and I'm going to explain why. First, I want to tell you about my voting record.
In 1980, I was 18 and I voted Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter. In 84 I voted Ronald Reagan, not Walter Mondale. Four years later, I voted for the lesser of two evils—I think this would parallel pretty closely with the 2008 election—George Bush, Sr. and Dan Quayle instead of Michael Dukakis and Lloyd "You're no Jack Kennedy" Bentsen. I voted for Jack Kemp in the 88 Republican primary. In 1992 we have Bush versus Clinton. "Read my lips, no new taxes." "The Economy, stupid." I voted Pat Buchanan in the primary. Four years later and four more years of President Clinton. I voted Buchanan over Robert Dole in the primaries. In 2000, a little different, because I voted for George W. Bush in the primary but Howard Phillips, Constitution Party, in the general election. In 2004, I voted Michael Peroutka, Constitution Party. George Bush couldn't have won California in either 2000 or 04. Those were statement votes. Now we come to this election 2008.
The preamble to our constitution starts with "WE THE PEOPLE." We individual citizens are responsible for who we elect. We take voting seriously, according to principles of God's Word. This year I argue for McCain. Let me explain.
More than any other election in my lifetime, we have a "the-other-guy-can't-be-allowed-to-win" election. I'm going to make my comparison between Obama and McCain, but to start, Obama is the worst major party presidential candidate in the history of the United States. I understand that a good argument could be made for Bill Clinton being the worst (especially in light of pretty credible evidence that he was a rapist). Obama comes from the very corrupt Chicago political establishment. Most of you have probably read about his friends (here too). He was mentored by a communist. He did far more damage than good as a community organizer. He began his career in the home of an unremorseful domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers (a must see picture). Obama couldn't get started based on his own abilities and his own merits, so he utilized some of the most scummy as his gatekeepers. He's totally liberal in his Christianity, not a believer in the Jesus Christ of the Bible. He was a leader in Acorn, one of the most radical, corrupt organizations in the United States [they're already at work, it seems, in this election]. It seems he's received illegal donations from Palestinian men who are party of a large clan of Hamas' supporters. He received the second biggest donation ($111,489) from Freddie Mac and called Franklin Raines, former chief executive for Freddie Mac, several times for advice on mortgage and housing policy matters. He spent twenty years as a member of a church that believed and preached black liberation theology. He is endorsed by Louis Farakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. He's got a brother living in destitute poverty in Africa. In his own big project in life, the Annenberg Challenge, he continued shady dealings with a domestic terrorist and ended in abject failure and the waste of $160,000,000 dollars [CNN has finally picked up this story]. He funneled $75,000 of government money to the organization of his wife's cousin. He earmarked one million dollars to his wife's hospital. He voted only "present" most of the time while in the Illinois Senate because he's not good at making important decisions. He had the most liberal voting record in the Senate in 2007, more liberal than Hillary Clinton. If you were to go look at Obama's campaign platform and compare it to how he's actually voted, you'll repeatedly get an entirely opposition view—count on it; he'll behave like he voted, not like his platform. With the above information, no one should even win a state congress position, let alone the presidency of the United States.
Doesn't the above paragraph, a one-stop shopping spot for Obama, show us enough reasons already why we want McCain to win this election? I have things I don't like about McCain, but he's also got some very good positions on issues, enough of them that they make him worthy of our vote. Here are the main points.
John McCain takes a strict constructionist view of the constitution. Did you hear Joe Biden in the VP debate bragging about how he opposed and helped defeat the nomination of Judge Robert Bork? Bork, the originalist interpreter of the constitution, did not make it to the court because of Biden and others. Obama will likely appoint the worst, most radically liberal Supreme Court justices ever. McCain will probably follow the pattern set by President Bush, appointing conservatives. He says he will. This is an area that he is very conservative. In the next four years, we could easily lose one or two of the liberal judges on the court. Their decisions will affect a multitude of issues. Homosexual marriage will likely go to the court soon just like the Texas state anti-sodomy law did (and was sadly overturned) a few years ago. Two more liberal judges and the Supreme Court could easily overturn the marriage amendments in state constitutions all over the United States. We need McCain's Supreme Court nominations and we've got to avoid Obama's.
Abortion wouldn't be a federal issue if it wasn't for Roe v. Wade. Since that decision, abortion is executive branch and federal government. Obama supports abortion. In February 2004, Michelle Obama wrote a fundraising letter during her husband's 2004 U. S. Senate campaign claiming the partial birth abortion ban "is clearly unconstitutional" and "a flawed law." Obama argued in the Illinois Senate against giving medical care to survivors of abortions (here is a site that gives all the information in the right side bar). Obama takes the worst abortion position in the history of American politics. McCain is anti-abortion and Palin is a candidate that takes the strongest position against abortion that I have ever seen in a political candidate in my lifetime.
Obama has always supported gun banning. He says he believes in the second amendment. His actions show otherwise. When Obama ran for the Illinois state senate the political group, Independent Voters of Illinois (IVI), asked him if he supported a "ban [on] the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns" and he responded "yes." In 1998, a questionnaire administered by IL State Legislative National Political Awareness Test didn't ask about banning all handguns, but it did find that Obama wanted to "ban the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons." In addition, from 1998 to 2001, Obama was on the board of directors for the Joyce Foundation, which funded such anti-gun groups as the Violence Policy Center, the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, and Handgun Free America. Both the Violence Policy Center and Handgun Free America, as its name suggests, are in favor of a complete ban on handguns. During his tenure on the board, the Joyce Foundation was probably the major funder of pro-control research in the United States. Obama also opposes the current laws in 48 states that let citizens carry concealed handguns for protection claiming, despite all the academic studies to the contrary, that "I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations."
I don't think there should be a department of education. The state shouldn't be involved in education at all. However, it is, so with that in mind, McCain has advocated vouchers and school choice. That is an incredible expression of conservatism, for which I was happy when I heard it in his acceptance speech. On the other hand, you can mail in your Obama candidacy to the National Education Association and the other teacher's unions.
Those four are enough for me. I could include a much better stand for McCain versus Obama on spending and taxes, on defense, and against terrorism. Those are bonus. You may have a convoluted theory that makes us better with Obama. You would be wrong. I have a better chance of winning the Olympic high jump than Chuck Baldwin and Alan Keyes have of winning this election. If you are going to vote for them, you may as well vote for your grandpa or dad. Vote for me. I've got as good an opportunity to win as them. I see Obama as president as something like Fidel Castro as president. We don't want Obama. We really, really don't want him as president. The only way to do anything about that is to vote for McCain.
Voting Third Party
If you had asked me four years ago, I would have told you that voting third party was foolish. Throwing away your vote. Wrong for the country. Not the way it works. But then, I've done some thinking since then. And I want to share some thoughts with you. This month, I'll let the pundits do the high class opinionating. I'd just like to think out loud.
John McCain is the very first presidential candidate to ever get me to think about voting third party. A couple of months ago, as I was driving my wife home from school, I mentioned this to her. I cannot stand the thought of John McCain being our next president. The only thought that makes me shudder more than a McCain presidency is an Obama presidency. And that is what leaves me in a quandary.
In the political season Before Palin (B.P.), I had decided that I was not voting for McCain. But, when McCain nominated Sarah Palin, I gave it another look. Am I one of those deplorable "undecided" voters, the kind I used to revile? To be honest, yes. I am. Here is why. If I could bypass McCain and vote directly for Sarah Palin, I would do so. We can discuss the whole voting for a woman president issue in the comments section if you like, but for right now I will only say that I would have voted for Margaret Thatcher, and I would have voted for Deborah as well.
My quandary is in voting for a Presidential ticket because I support the Vice Presidential nominee. If I did vote for McCain, I would be doing so in the hopes that the Vice President would become President. I've never voted for a guy hoping that something would happen to remove him from office. Nor am I persuaded that I should.
No doubt our commenters will have plenty to say on this issue, some giving good reasons for voting McCain anyway, and others giving good reasons not to. I'll let the comments section carry on that debate. I meanwhile intend to throw out some thoughts on voting third party, which is what I will do if I don't vote for McCain.
First, these elections are not in the voters hands. God controls the nations. There is no power but of God. God removes kings and sets up kings (Daniel 2:21). The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men (Daniel 4:17). By Him, kings reign and princes decree justice. By Him princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. Elections are not in our hands. Our vote counts, but when the votes are counted, God's will is always done.
This is not a fatalistic view of the election process. It is a simple acknowledgement of the Sovereign rule of God. It is not up to us to vote or to "ensure" that we get the best man in there. God will take care of putting the man in office that He intends.
This also reminds me of a conceit that voters often have — the conceit that says that my vote, especially in a Presidential election, makes a difference. We have been told this and told this, and yet we all have the vague notion that the argument and reality have nothing whatsoever in common. Neil Postman called voting "the next to last refuge of the politically impotent." He went on to say that "the last refuge is, of course, giving your opinion to a pollster…"
Here is my point. I have had the privilege of voting in four presidential elections. In two of those elections, William Jefferson Clinton was elected President. In both of those elections, my vote was overwhelmed by those in favor of Clinton. In the other two of those elections, George W. Bush was elected President. In both of those elections, my state voted nearly 70% for Bush. As much as I would like it to be the case that my vote mattered, it really didn't.
But thinking out loud, I'm not sure anymore that this is a reason for me to vote. In other words, I'm not convinced that "your vote matters" is a moral argument for voting, or that it is a moral argument for voting for the candidate that has been forced on me by the two parties.
Rather, I consider my vote and my right to vote to be a gift from God, a sacred trust. Understanding that the outcome is according to His decree, I view my vote to be more of a responsibility on my part — a responsibility to use that vote to make a statement (however impotent that statement may be) about who should be leading this country.
When I think about it that way, the old "hold your nose and vote" idea goes away. Obviously, I cannot give my approval, no matter how inconsequential my approval might be, to an unqualified candidate. Not even if that unqualified candidate is the overwhelming choice of The Party. In matters of conscience, The Party should never be granted authority to dictate who will be voted for.
Some will no doubt argue against this, that voting Third Party is like voting for Obama. But I would invite those who argue this way to take a fresh look at the history of Presidential politics. There has been a time or two when one or the other of the two major parties split. The Bull Moose Party comes to mind, when Teddy Roosevelt prevented the Republican candidate from being elected. Whenever the split has been severe, the result to the party has been reform – sometimes for good, other times for bad.
The Republican Party really does not represent our values, not even the way it did in the 1980's. Clearly not in the way it once did. Until we as Christians stand up and say, "enough is enough," the Republican Party will continue its slide right behind the Democratic Party. A split in the party might put a bad guy in the White House for four years. But the good accomplished could also straighten up the mess in short order, if the Republican Party got the message. And that could be a good thing.
The Elect on the Election
JackHammers will not be silenced. We've found some stuff to chisel. Eye Protection firmly in place. Hands gloved. Sleeves rolled down. Heads wedged in hard hats. Sweat squiggling out from beneath the head band. We're workin' overtime.
We are the elect. This is the election. McCain or Obama. Republican or Democrat. Or Constitution. Palin or Biden. Electoral or Popular. Gallup or Zogby. We vote. And we're Christians. We're elect, and we elect.
Political discussion all month. Not election — THE election. Wear gloves. Squint manfully. Wipe sweat before it drips.
The Obama Vote
I want to make it easier for everyone to understand how people are polling for the upcoming vote. You may already know, but I want to blend it so you can drink it through a straw. Please don't tell me the problems of McCain here. I'm aware. I'm sure that the Constitution Party and the American Independent Party take a stronger position than he. We're talking about the two who can win. Here goes.
Obama Gets the Women's Vote, not the Men's
Right now the Gallup poll breaks it down like this:
Obama Women—52% Obama Men—39%
McCain Women—44% McCain Men—49%
If only the men voted, McCain wins a landslide. They say McCain's got a woman problem. Obama's got a bigger man problem. I'm sure you know that Obama also gets the metrosexual and sodomite vote—the limp wrist faction—by a large margin. Some have commented on "women rule over them" (Isaiah 3:12). Well, this is how women rule in this country. Remember 1 Timothy 2:14? "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." Women have a more natural disposition to be deceived. God designed them to have male headship. Elections give us a living example why.
Obama Gets the Kiddies' Vote, not the Adults'
The Gallup Poll indicates this right now:
Obama 18-29 year olds—59% McCain 18-29 year olds—33%
Obama 30-49 year olds—48% McCain 30-49 year olds—46%
Obama 50-64 year olds—48% McCain 50-64 year olds—46%
Obama 65 and above year olds—43% McCain 65 and above year olds—47%
We've got to be glad for modern medicine keeping people alive much longer. Plus, people are having less kids, so there are less and less in the kiddie categories. It doesn't help solvency of social security, but it comes in handy for this election. The older people are more likely to vote too. That 18-29 category has the lowest percentage of turn-out. Obama is doing his best to get the idiot vote in Colorado. This is "democracy at its best."
This statistic reminds me of when President Clinton was running for president. He had several town-meeting type gatherings where he sat on a wooden stool in the middle of children, asking them what they thought he should do. The first half of Isaiah 3:12 reads: "children are their oppressors." If it isn't the women, then it will be the children. Who wins if you raise the voting age to 21 again and then abolish women's suffrage? Just wondering out loud.
Obama Gets the Atheist's Vote, not the Church-Going's
We can see from the Gallup Poll:
Obama Weekly Church Attenders—28% McCain Weekly Church Attenders—66%
Obama Semi-Monthly Church Attenders—37% McCain Semi-Monthly Church Attenders—56%
Obama Non-Church Attenders—52% McCain Non-Church Attenders—40%
Obama has the hard fought pagan vote. Vote evil, vote Obama. Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just looking at what we have here. If you look at education, Obama and McCain essentially tie in every category until post-graduate education. There Obama destroys McCain by nearly twenty percentage points. The further you get along in state education, the more secular you become. Either that or Christians are so unwelcome in state postgraduate education, that they don't even try. The more you get God in your life, the less you like Obama. Why does that happen?
Obama Gets the Unmarrieds' Vote, Not the Marrieds'
Gallup registers this:
Obama Unmarrieds—58% Obama Marrieds—41%
McCain Unmarrieds—34% McCain Marrieds—52%
Obama gets the "shack-up" vote. People with a commitment to each other, to stay together, among many other important qualities of marriage, they don't vote for Obama. They vote for McCain. Obama gets the self-centered vote. Obama gets the "me" vote.
When you put it altogether, the consummate voter for Obama is an atheistic, unmarried, young woman. That's his perfect demographic.
Are We Practical or Just Pragmatic?
You won't find the English word "practice" in the King James Version of the Bible. We do have the Greek word for "practice," which is praxis. If you say "praxis" to people, they'll think you have a speech impediment. The first time it appears in Scripture is in Acts 19:18 and it is translated "deeds." It is found five other times and translated "works" and "office" (Rom 12:4) also. BDAG, the foremost Greek lexicon, says that it is "a function implying sustained activity," "a way of conducting oneself, way of acting, course of action," or "customary daily activity." The verb form is prasso, which is found 38 times. BDAG says it means to perform an act or engage in an activity and shows how that prasso is used in that way.
Something that is "practical" is something that can be put into practice. Teaching is practical when it shows how to practice what is being taught. When we preach the Word of God, we want the listeners to practice Scripture. We don't want just head knowledge, but we desire for the stuff in the brain to be lived out. Accurately obeying Scripture is the practice of Scripture. Living God's Word can't be easier than it is. We can't take everything the Bible says to do and turn into something different than what Scripture says and have it be more practical. When it is practical, it is still Biblical.
The Problem
We have our problem, however, when men think that something that isn't Biblical is superior to Scripture because it is either easier to practice than what the Bible says to practice or it seems to work better than what God has actually told men to do. This is Read more…
Witnessing to Mormons – A Starting Point
Eleven years ago, I saw Utah for the first time, from behind the windshield of a Hertz-Penske moving truck, pulling the family car on a trailer, with my wife at my side and the family cat on her lap. We saw the sillouette of the gorgeous Wasatch mountains against the night sky, and we wondered what life in Utah would bring us. Would we, could we have a ministry in Ogden? And of course, one of the big questions at the top of our list — how would we witness to the Mormons.
Life in Utah was different than we expected. We have yet to meet a polygamist (as far as we know). We don't see wild-eyed, bearded prophets like we were expecting. We don't get shunned, and jobs are as available to us as they are to anybody. We had heard that non-Mormons could not buy land in Utah. I now am buying my second home since moving here. Our church has owned its own property for over forty-five years. The LDS (Latter-Day Saints) people are friendly and kind and make good neighbors, and I have no complaint about them.
When we got here, we were most surprised by how much the LDS church dominates cultural life. The news media openly discusses church news. Even sports-talk radio stations regularly discuss the LDS church. Every spring and fall before the General Conference, stores have special sales and discounts that are directly connected to church doings. Even as I sit here at my keyboard hunting and pecking away, our entire state is celebrating a Mormon holiday. This morning there was a parade and businesses are closed for the day, as Utah celebrates "Pioneer Days" — a part of our Mormon heritage.
I am very grateful that God sent my family and me to Utah. It is a great privilege to serve the Lord and stand for him in such a place as this. And, God is doing some wonderful things here in this state. By God's grace, we will see more in the years ahead. One thing is for sure — as is the Temple of Diana, so will be the LDS Temple.
Witnessing to Mormons is a demanding task. All of the "conventional" approaches to witnessing simply do not get any traction here. LDS doctrine has taken all of this into account, and has the advantage of being in flux, so that Read more…


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"You must truly understand what makes you do things or feel things. Until you have been able to face the truth about yourself, you cannot be really sympathetic or understanding in regard to what happens to other people."
— Eleanor Roosevelt, civil rights and human rights leader and wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States
Simply stated, diversity means all of the differences that exist within people create an environment where all employees might feel accepted and that their differences are embraced to help the organization become more effective and efficient. However, in order for us to understand diversity and begin to be inclusive, we must first examine ourselves and know who we are.
Indeed one of the greatest challenges we face in life is the search for meaning and understanding what life is about. What are we really here to do? The first step in being open to diversity and inclusion is coming to understand yourself better, your socialization and influences on your own thinking, attitudes and behaviors. Beginning to ask yourself those questions helps to humanize all of our interactions, in order to know that we're more than our work assignments.
According to diversity expert Mary-Frances Winters, this search is meaningless unless examined relative to something or someone else. "We do not live unto ourselves but rather we are connected to all living beings in some way or another. Examining and gaining greater understanding of those interconnections leads to greater self-knowledge, the ability to co-exist harmoniously with others, and the capability to respect and value differences," Winters asserts.
It is through the quest for self-understanding that we explore the plethora of human differences and learn to be comfortable with ourselves and others. Self-understanding should lead to self-acceptance, which is necessary in order for us to accept others. Valuing self is a prerequisite to valuing others. Without understanding self, it's more difficult to find commonalities that would make the advertising industry more inclusive and more effective in its messaging.
Likewise it is necessary to understand that all language possesses power and that all communication is cultural. Therefore, we must understand the culture from which we communicate and the power we each possess through our language.
Despite much advancement, we still live in a world of intolerance, bigotry and hate. Every person carries prejudices and stereotypes about others, and they are mostly negative. Our beliefs and values are a part of who we are. When we commit to opening ourselves to change, we are in essence committing to take a critical look at our beliefs and values. Why do I believe as I do? What experiences have led me to these beliefs? What if I believed otherwise about this individual or this group?
"An inclusive world is only possible if each of us is willing to examine our hearts, shed narrow perceptions, seek out opportunities to experience difference, and commit ourselves to continual learning." –Mary-Frances Winters
Without self-examination, we can easily fall prey to inadvertent stereotypical advertising and inadvertent exclusion of others. Our positions within advertising have power within society and within our companies. Understanding how we obtained those positions, our struggles and privileges will help the organization succeed and the sell products and services to wider markets.


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CATEGORIES Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Site Announcements, New Line, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Games and Game Movies, Lists, Announcements, CinematicalWe all have our guilty pleasures. At Cinematical we even bravely expose them to our readers. Sometimes they involve movies we just have an inexplicable affection for. Other times, it's the old case of a movie being so bad its good (read: funny). But rarely does a writer present a guilty pleasure so directly and with such clear evidence that I go out and give that movie a second viewing. And yet, I've received more than enough cause to re-watch Dungeons and Dragons, the role-playing game adaptation from director Courtney Solomon, thanks to a piece by Richard Pilbeam. Pilbeam has offered "64 Reasons to Watch Dungeons and Dragons" on his site Frying Bear, and every one of the reasons is good enough on it's own. He cites specific parts of the movie (including hilarious scene captures of Jeremy Irons), special features from the DVD (including the 2 audio commentaries featuring Solomon), the "making of" book and random facts about the production. Now, I've never played D&D, so I can't say that I appreciate all of the ways in which to laugh at the movie, and I can only imagine how much funnier it is to true geeks out there (our own Mark Beall, perhaps?). The only thing better than Pilbeam's list to enhance Dungeons and Dragons would be a commentary from the MST3K guys (this way or that way). ...
[via Fark.com]
More on Solomon's career:
Courtney Solomon is Glad to Get That D&D Thing Behind Him