Star Trek meets Spamalot.

I found this on Wil Wheaton's website and just laughed my ass off! I had to share it! Share this with your friends! Get ready to laugh!

Monty Python vs Star Trek

Star Trek... Lives?

Ok... I have to admit, I have not been keeping up on the new Star Trek film like most of you would normally think I would. I attribute that to a number of things. Busier days at work, a new high school student in my family, taking on heading up a youth organization at church, and generally just living la vida loca. But I think the number one reason why is that I have utterly and completely embraced, fell in love with, and can't get enough of Battlestar Galactica. It absolutely rocks and is the best thing on television. Hands down. Chuck, Boston Legal, and Nip Tuck are close, but they are not quite as good as BSG.

But enough of that for now. I saw the new Star Trek trailer, and it looks pretty good! I am still leary of a set of new actors for old familiar characters, but I am optomistic that it will work. I have been watching the Star Trek: New Voyages which is a low budget production company that is producing new "original" episodes of Star Trek, using our beloved characters but with different actors. They even have some of the original Star Trek production crew and writers working for them. Check them out. They have made 3 new episodes of about 1.5 hours each and they are fun to watch. Truly made in the spirit of the original episodes.

Ok, here is the trailer... And I hesitate to call it that, because it was recorded via a hand held from the movie screen. It is not official, but the site has a good critique of the trailer (which I agree with strongly) and veiwer expectations for a new Trek movie.

Enjoy!

STAR TREK TRAILER

In Honor of Veteran's Day

They are still among us... but not for long. The Vets of WWI. A they are some of the oldest living humans and they all had a part in the Great War. It is as though being in the war gave them the right to live to be older than a century. But all things fade and even these heros will fade into the past. Here is the Yahoo News story about their annual celebration of the end of the war. My greatest appreciation and respect to all vets who have served their country.

DOUAUMONT, France (AFP) – Europe on Tuesday marked the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I, with the handful of surviving veterans at the vanguard of commemorations for the fallen of the "War to End All Wars".

Leaders from the powers that fought the war, now allies, gathered at the site of the 1916 Battle of Verdun, where 300,000 men were slaughtered over 11 months of bloody trench warfare while ceremonies were also held in Britain.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking at the ossuary in the village of Douaumont which contains the remains of thousands killed in Verdun, spoke of the need to "honour all the dead, without exception."

He also said that many of the hundreds of French soldiers executed for desertion or mutiny during the war "had not dishonoured themselves, were not cowards, but had simply been pushed to the extreme limit."

Britain's Prince Charles, the speaker of the German parliament Peter Muller and Australia's Governor General Quentin Bryce also attended the ceremony at Fort Douaumont, the epicentre of the Battle of Verdun.

Smaller memorials were held in towns and villages across Britain, France and the other countries that took part in the disaster.

Far from being "The War to End All Wars", the so-called Great War merely set the tone for the 20th century's litany of brutality, although in terms of sheer mass killing on the battlefield it has rarely been equalled since.

Many conflicts followed but November 11 -- the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when the World War I armistice was signed -- has become the moment when the world remembers the dead from all of them.

In London, Britain's acts of remembrance was led by three of the country's last four surviving veterans of World War I, and attended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other ministers.

At exactly 11:00am (1100 GMT), Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110, and Bill Stone, 108, led a two-minute silence at The Cenotaph national war memorial, where Queen Elizabeth II had led national tributes on Sunday.

The medal-bedecked veterans -- among the five million men and women who served in British forces during the war -- were pushed in their wheelchairs to lay wreaths at the memorial in central London.

They represented the armed service they belonged to -- the Royal Air Force, the Army and the Royal Navy respectively.

Patch, a machine-gunner who fought during the Battle of Passchendaele in Ypres, said before the ceremony that he was "very happy" to be here.

"It is not just an honour for me but for an entire generation. It is important to remember the dead from both sides of the conflict. Irrespective of the uniforms we wore, we were all victims," he said.

Erich Kastner, the last of the German troops, died on January 1 this year, aged 107. The last French veteran, Italian-born legionnaire Lazare Ponticelli, survived him by only two months, dying on March 12 aged 110.

Tuesday's ceremonies placed a firm emphasis on reconcilation with France, Britain and Germany now firm allies within the European Union.

In 1917, after three years of bloody conflict in Flanders and on the Somme, the United States intervened on behalf of Britain and France, and brought with them ambulance driver Frank Buckles, now 107 and living in West Virginia.

Between 1914 and 1918, among the major belligerents, Germany lost 1.9 million troops, Russia 1.7 million, France 1.4 million, the Austro-Hungarian empire a million and Britain 760,000.

The Rainbow Bridge

Yesterday I went to the visitation of a beloved veterinarian from my hometown. This man was a wonderful person to meet and to have as a vet. He truly cared about the animals and the people he served. He helped me put to sleep two of my beloved dogs when the time came to do so. I struggled at the idea but he helped me to see that my love of the dogs was selfish and only prolonged agony for them. He did this with a compassion for both myself and my dogs that I will always remember. And I am sure he did this for every client that was faced with the same decision. Our town vet was active in the community and a huge supporter of our school system, especially the local FFA chapter.

He was only 58 years old. He had survived brain cancer years ago and returned to work as if nothing happened. He was a good man.

Yesterday while walking to the visitation, my wife and I were stopped in our tracks by an absolutely beautiful sunset which was accented by a huge, bright, completely full, 180 degree rainbow. It looked as though it were spanning the entire east end of our town. After admiring this beautiful site, my wife and I went into the funeral home for the visitation and to pay our respects. We moved along the line to the casket and family, but when we got there the family was not present. Apparently they too had been told of the rainbow and went outside to see it. I thought it a nice thing for the family to see on a day that was for them, very depressing. They returned with huge smiles and it was then that we were told of the poem that was in the memorial card printed up for the visitation. In it was this:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...


Pretty neat huh?

I don't know what you might think of it, but I am pretty sure that there are alot of happy pets greeting Doc right now.

Later!

Connectedness...

I recently signed on to Facebook and like many thing on the internet it is a way to waste some down time when there is nothing else to do. But one of the neatest things about it is the way you can reconnect with people you have lost track of, and while not meeting face to face you can still keep up to date and stay connected. That recently happened with a friend of mine who I found on Facebook. Years ago, this friend and I were fencing partners. We fenced so much we got to the point we could not beat one another in a sparing match. It was a alot of fun and along with the fencing we had a number of common friends and generally had a great time hanging out with everyone. And as life will have it, he moved on, moved out of the area and kind of disappeared off of my radar screen for a number of years. Well, we found each other again via Facebook and while reading his info I found that he has become a therapist and he put a little bit of his philosophy into his bio. Here it is:

Inspired by a day spent with Patch Adams at the 2005 Evolution of Psychotherapy conference in Anaheim, I have come to the conclusion that mental health boils down to connectedness: the health and strength of our relationship, not just with others -- but our internal selves as well.

I could not agree with him more. Having good, solid relationships with family, spouses, friends, and like he says, our internal selves, is absolutely key in finding happiness and stability. Both outwardly and inwardly. I have been lucky enough, blessed if you will, to have an enourmous amount of friends. And I am also lucky to say that I have a large number of close friends and my close relationship with my family is something that many would say is out of the ordinary. I try hard to cultivate these relationships and with it, I think it helps me as a person who feels good about himself. I can only hope that the reverse is true for my family and friends.

To have friends, you must be a friend. To be a friend to someone, you have to like and be comfortable with youself.

Thanks to my family and friends for keeping me happy and healthy!

What happens now?

Obama is now the president elect of the United States. In many ways, which I won't get into, this scares me. I do not think that he will be the healing leader that all his fans say he is. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think so. I personally think he is someone who will Europeanize the United States and bring us closer to socialism. We have been sliding that way for the last 20 years, and the momentum will only increase under Obama and a Democratic led Congress. And now that we do have a Dem President and Congress, at least I and the rest of America will know where to point the finger of blame when things go bad. But will they go bad? I hope not. I really really want America to be the best country in the world. I want it to be the leader in all things. I want the rest of the world to respect us, to fear us, and to need us. But here in America we have become so divided into an us and them, red and blue mentality (I blame the media for this brainwashing) that I feel we are sometimes on the edge of a new Civil War. And as Lincoln said, a divided house cannot stand. (oh, for a new Lincoln...) Government is going to grow under Obama. Welfare will expand. Taxes are going to go up. And most likely, the Democrats will self destruct like they always do when they have the top of the hill all to themselves.

What will I do for the next two years is do what I have always done. I will work to make my family safe, comfortable, and happy. I will not ask for handouts. I will go to work, put in a full days work and be happy about it. I will do all the things that I have always done to make my life worthwhile. I will continue to support things like my church, politicians who fight for smaller government and less welfare, the NRA, the Boy Scouts, and all those things that I think made America a great country. I think we will have a weaker country for the next few years and will be more of a follower instead of a leader. I will work for change if change is needed.

I will wait and see.