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July 9, 2009

The Man Wall

Now, THIS is what I want for Christmas!

The Man Wall




* 42″ Vizio Flat Panel LCD HDTV
* 3 – 26″ Vizio Flat Panel LCD HDTVs
* 1000 watt Panasonic 5.1 Home Theater System
* DVD player with 5-CD changer
* iPod docking station
* 2 – Wireless surround sound speakers
* Live 7-foot sports ticker with built-in computer
* 1 year free service for sport’s ticker
* Full-size built-in beer refrigerated beer keg with tap
* 1000 watt microwave oven
* 2 cigar humidors (holds 25 cigars each) complete with gauges
* 32-bottle wine rack

Price:

$14,900 plus shipping

The Man Wall

July 8, 2009

shibboleth

shibboleth\SHIB-uh-lith; -leth\ , noun:
1. A peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular group of persons.
2. A slogan; a catchword.
3. A common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.

Origin:
Shibboleth is from Hebrew shibboleth, "stream, flood," from the use of this word in the Bible (Judges 12:4-6) as a test to distinguish Gileadites from Ephraimites, who could not say 'sh' but only 's' as in 'sibboleth'.


I wasn't familiar with this word, but when I read the origin of shibboleth, I immediately thought of something I read in some WWII book or story about how sentries, when wanting to further verify the identity of someone challenged and who knew the password, used American trivia that every US soldier would know but an enemy most likely would not. I also remember reading something very similar in regards to the Pacific theater part of the war and found a source for that at Wiki.

From Wiki:

Shibboleths have been used by different subcultures throughout the world at different times. Regional differences, level of expertise and computer coding techniques are several forms that shibboleths have taken. For example, during the Battle of the Bulge, American soldiers used knowledge of baseball to determine if others were fellow Americans or if they were German infiltrators in American uniform. The Dutch famously used the name of the port town Scheveningen as a shibboleth to tell Germans from the Dutch. Some shibboleths are jokes.

During World War II, some United States soldiers in the Pacific theater used the word "lollapalooza" as a shibboleth to verbally test people who were hiding and unidentified, on the premise that Japanese people often pronounce the letter L as R, and that the word is an American colloquialism that even a foreign person fairly well-versed in American English would probably mispronounce and/or be unfamiliar with. In George Stimpson's A Book about a Thousand Things, the author notes that, in the war, Japanese spies would often approach checkpoints posing as American or Filipino military personnel. A shibboleth such as "lollapalooza" would be used by the sentry, who, if the first two syllables come back as rorra, would "open fire without waiting to hear the remainder".

Bear vs Cougar

July 7, 2009

verdant

verdant \VUR-dnt\ , adjective:
1.Green with vegetation; covered with green growth.
2.Green.
3.Lacking experience or sophistication; naive.



The first two definitions wouldn't describe the Texas Panhandle, at least not very often.

The third definition definitely describes me.

Three Cheers for Def Leppard!

Free Def Leppard tickets for military personnel and veterans

From the website:

Def Leppard & Raven Drum Foundation Offer Active and Veteran Military Personnel Free Concert Tickets to Their 2009 Summer Tour

Def Leppard and Raven Drum Foundation announced today that they will be celebrating America's military veterans with the gift of music - free tickets to Def Leppard Summer 2009 concert dates! The offering is intended to thank these heroes in a meaningful way for their service. In a time where families are unsure of their personal and professional stability, many of our heroes are coming home to families that are suffering in the wake of a turbulent economy and these families are often forced into a position of having to do more with less, eliminating the opportunity for a night out for an important, bonding entertainment experience.

Def Leppard's involvement did not come by chance: "It came through a desire to give something back and what better way to honor these heroes than with a night of music," said Def Leppard drummer and Raven Drum Foundation founder Rick Allen. "Our mission with Raven Drum Foundation is to serve, educate and empower veterans and people in crisis through the power of the drum, and music is just one of the tools we use to promote healing. It is so exciting to have my band, family and so many others contributing to this effort; it is a significant part of who I am as a person. To have this moment means a great deal in ways I cannot measure. And I thank everyone involved, especially the veterans."

Military personnel and veterans with a military ID are eligible to receive 2 tickets to one Def Leppard show. Tickets are available on a first come, first serve basis through http://www.ravendrumfoundation.org. Raven Drum Foundation's partners, Wounded Warrior Project and Salute America's Heroes will handle the distribution of the tickets.

For more information on the Raven Drum Foundation, visit their website.

Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard

If You Love Something

From the Photobucket archives:




If you love something, set it free.

If it comes back, it was, and always will be yours.

If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with.

If it just sits in your room, messes up your stuff, eats your food, uses your phone, takes your money, and never behaves as if you actually set it free in the first place, you either married it or gave birth to it.