Sometimes words escape me. With the passing of Elizabeth Taylor, we have lost more than a screen legend. She was one of those rare woman who was even more beautiful on the inside than she was on the outside. At a time when the Reagan Administration wouldn’t even acknowledge that AIDS existed, she was at the forefront of the campaign to raise awareness and fight for a cure. She knew what it was like to lose a friend to the disease, as it claimed the life of her good friend Rock Hudson. There was no other like her, nor will there ever be again. She had beauty, she had charm, and most of all she had class. It’s no wonder she won the love of so many husbands.
By the way, she disliked being called “Liz.”
It comes as no surprise that Fred Phelps and his in-bred congregation plan to picket at her funeral, although the joke was on them, as it was a private ceremony held at an undisclosed location. This is as it should be. There will, however, be a public memorial, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Phelps and his minions will be there spreading their hateful ilk. One of these days he’s going to cross the line and get his ass kicked or worse. This just might be that day.
Countdown to Show Time
Next week is “Hell Week” for the Olé Olé Olé concert, which will be on April 1 and 2 at Ted Mann Concert Hall. Tech rehearsal is Tuesday, dress rehearsal is Thursday, and Friday night is show time! This concert has been a challenge. Hell, it’s been driving Jim and I absolutely loco trying to learn all the lyrics in Spanish, Portuguese and even Latin, with a couple words of French thrown in. ¡Ay caramba!
But as always, we’ll be ready for the show by the time we start letting the audience into the hall on Friday night. I hope.
We gave the material a test run last weekend, when we took our show on the road and performing to a sold-out house in Bemidji as a benefit for Servant Hearts and Phoenix, the gay-straight alliance at Bemidji State University. We don’t get paid for these performances: 100 percent of the proceeds go to our non-profit partners. The trip was funded by a grant from Bremer Bank, so it didn’t cost us anything either. And we did walk away with one benefit: a chance to test out our performance in front of a live audience. And it went very well. Of course, we got to bring our music on stage. We won’t be so lucky at Ted Mann.
Countdown to Judgment Day
… And The Day After
The WeCanKnow campaign started by Harold Camping and his radio ministry is still out there, putting up their silly billboards claiming that the second coming of Jesus Christ will take place on May 21 of this year. This has prompted a particularly clever and creative atheist group in Tacoma, Washington to put up a website of their own, WeCan’tKnow, with a “Countdown to Backpedaling.” Deciding to have a little fun with it, I’ve created and posted a YouTube video commenting on the phenomenon and sending a message to those who believe the man’s insane ramblings.
I don’t actually identify myself as an atheist in the video, so it may resonate with sensible christians as well (if there really is such a thing). True to christian form, the WeCanKnow website selectively quotes those verses in the BuyBull that support their assertions, while quietly ignoring the ones that refute them. Like Matthew 24:36, referenced in the above video. While I usually quote the King James Version – because of its quaint old-style wording as well as its copyright-free status – I’m going to go with The People’s Bible translation in this case, because it’s the only one that adds a second sentence:
Of that day and hour knoweth no man. How foolish then to be figuring out the time of the Lord’s coming.
Matthew 24:36
The People’s Bible
You can see why Camping is overlooking that one.
I’m already working on the sequel, which I will be posting on May 22, which I have proclaimed “LOL Day” on Facebook. True, I’m jumping the gun… but let’s just say I’m taking it on faith. I’m really looking forward to May 22. First thing out of bed, before I even have my first cup of coffee, I plan to check in at WeCanKnow’s website and see what – if anything – they have to say for themselves.
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