casting off the extra baggage,
he realized how much he had lightened his load
and his journey became much easier.
he found himself smiling more
and liking himself more
and he realized
before it was too late
that the sunshine he was seeking
was right in front of him
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Eli Mattson
Here is the final performance of Eli Mattson on AGT from September 24, 2008. Will he win? Won't know until next Wednesday night, October 1st. He is up against some truly fabulous talent, but from day one, this has been the talent I have been hoping wins. That hasn't changed for me one itota.
Good luck, Eli! You're the champ for a lot of us out here. One way or the other, this young man has such a great future ahead of him, win or lose!
Monday, September 22, 2008
From A Canadian View
I wish I knew who had written the following, but I don't. It was received by a friend of mine in his e mail from a friend of his from Canada. I'm leaving it as it was originally sent, typos and all, just so you can get the full effect of it. Quite an amazing group of comparisons indeed.
Hope you enjoy!
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....
* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're
'exotic, different.'
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential
American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* N ame your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maver ick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become
the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a
voter registration drivethat registers 150,000 new voters, spend
12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a
State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people,
become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services
committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing
a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and
serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and
Veteran's Affairs committ ees, you don't have any real leadership
experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then you're qualified to become the country's second
highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man in his
eighth decade.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while
raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches,
you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then
left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month,&n bsp;
you're a true Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropria te sex education,
including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the
fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with
no other option in sex education in your state's school system
while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very
responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position
in aprestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner
city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's
values don't representAmerica 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one
DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to
vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated
the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely
admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
LET'S GET BACK TO THE REAL ISSUES OF THE CAMPAIGN!!
Hope you enjoy!
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....
* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're
'exotic, different.'
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential
American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* N ame your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maver ick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become
the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a
voter registration drivethat registers 150,000 new voters, spend
12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a
State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people,
become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services
committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing
a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and
serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and
Veteran's Affairs committ ees, you don't have any real leadership
experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then you're qualified to become the country's second
highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man in his
eighth decade.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while
raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches,
you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then
left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month,&n bsp;
you're a true Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropria te sex education,
including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the
fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with
no other option in sex education in your state's school system
while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very
responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position
in aprestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner
city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's
values don't representAmerica 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one
DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to
vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated
the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely
admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
LET'S GET BACK TO THE REAL ISSUES OF THE CAMPAIGN!!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
This Just In
During the half hour results show tonight of America's Got Talent it was announced at the very end of the show that Eli Mattson has indeed made the top five for the finale next week.
Way to go Eli!!!
Way to go Eli!!!
Eli Mattson - Top 10 America's Got Talent
Top ten performance by Eli on America's Got Talent, September 17, 2008. To me, he just seems to get better with each performance. Voting results tonight to see if he made it to the top 5!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
An Absolute Must Read
The following is a link regarding an interview conducted by ABC News with Sarah Palin. What an eye opener this interview was!
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5789483&page=1
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5789483&page=1
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Eli Mattson - If I ain't got you - Top 20 AGT 2008
Another update to Eli Mattson on AGT. This performance from September 10, 2008. Another stellar and amazing performance from him. Such power in his voice, such power in his delivery, and such powerful piano playing. Regardless if Eli wins this competition or not, he will be a national recording star, very, very soon!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
This Is Totally Mind-Boggling
The following is a must read for anyone who wants to continue to live in a free country whose forefathers bestowed upon us certain rights in our Consititution, The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. If you aren't aware of this shocking story about John McCain's questionable running mate, it would do you well to read the following:
The TIME magazine article
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html
The list can be found below, and at this link
http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sarah-palin-vp-nominee/
Let's spend a few moments browsing the list of books Mayor Sarah
Palin tried to get town librarian Mary Ellen Baker to ban in the
lovely, all-American town of Wasilla, Alaska. When Baker refused to
remove the books from the shelves, Palin threatened to fire
her. The story was reported in Time Magazine and the list comes
from the librarian.net website.
I'm sure you'll find your own personal favorites among the classics
Palin wanted to protect the good people of Wasilla from, but the
ones that jumped out at me were the four Stephen King novels (way to
go Stephen, John Steinbeck only got three titles on the list), that
notorious piece of communist pornography "My Friend Flicka," the
usual assortment of Harry Potter books, works by Shakespeare, Walt
Whitman, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain (always fun to see those two
names together), Arthur Miller, and Aristophanes, as well as "Our
Bodies, Ourselves" (insert your own Bristol Palin joke here), and
the infamous one-two punch of depravity: "To Kill a Mockingbird"
and "Little Red Riding Hood." But the cherry on the sundae, the
topper, is Sarah Palin's passionate, religious mission to clear the
shelves of the Wasilia Public Library of that ultimate evil
tome: "Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary." That's the one
with "equality," "free speech" and "justice" in it.
Go over to your book case and take down one of the books you'll find
on the list (I know you've got a couple) and give it a read in honor
of the founding fathers. Then tell me I'm not the only voter who
doesn't want this woman within thirty feet of the United States Con
stitution.
Sarah Palin's Book Club
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter20and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
M y Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughte rhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John20Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster
Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
Symbols by Edna Barth
The TIME magazine article
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html
The list can be found below, and at this link
http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sarah-palin-vp-nominee/
Let's spend a few moments browsing the list of books Mayor Sarah
Palin tried to get town librarian Mary Ellen Baker to ban in the
lovely, all-American town of Wasilla, Alaska. When Baker refused to
remove the books from the shelves, Palin threatened to fire
her. The story was reported in Time Magazine and the list comes
from the librarian.net website.
I'm sure you'll find your own personal favorites among the classics
Palin wanted to protect the good people of Wasilla from, but the
ones that jumped out at me were the four Stephen King novels (way to
go Stephen, John Steinbeck only got three titles on the list), that
notorious piece of communist pornography "My Friend Flicka," the
usual assortment of Harry Potter books, works by Shakespeare, Walt
Whitman, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain (always fun to see those two
names together), Arthur Miller, and Aristophanes, as well as "Our
Bodies, Ourselves" (insert your own Bristol Palin joke here), and
the infamous one-two punch of depravity: "To Kill a Mockingbird"
and "Little Red Riding Hood." But the cherry on the sundae, the
topper, is Sarah Palin's passionate, religious mission to clear the
shelves of the Wasilia Public Library of that ultimate evil
tome: "Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary." That's the one
with "equality," "free speech" and "justice" in it.
Go over to your book case and take down one of the books you'll find
on the list (I know you've got a couple) and give it a read in honor
of the founding fathers. Then tell me I'm not the only voter who
doesn't want this woman within thirty feet of the United States Con
stitution.
Sarah Palin's Book Club
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter20and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
M y Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughte rhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John20Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster
Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
Symbols by Edna Barth
Monday, September 08, 2008
Eli Mattson (Semi) - America's Got Talent
This is a follow up to my posting on Eli Mattson a few weeks ago. This is semi final performance from September 3, 2008. The judges comments at the end really say it much better than I can. All I know is he is tremendous and I certainly hope this young man wins the competition this year.
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