Find the Man's Face

Ashura

I stayed home yesterday for Ashura. I think maybe I would've benefited more yesterday in a group thing, but sometimes the opposite is true. If anything, taking care of stuff alone is often more efficient.

I had not told students anything about why I was gone yesterday, but at the end of the day, one of my students asked me if I had been absent for Ashura. He was a little unsure how to pronounce things but he had the general idea it something about the murder of the Prophet Muhammad (saw)'s grandson Imam Husain (as) - (he had said amal husain. :) ) That is VERY impressive given that most of my students would not know anything about Ashura, Prophet Muhammad (saw), Imam Husain (as), Shia Islam, or Islam in general. He asked me to explain the significance of the day - he understood instinctively that it had to be more than just that fact that the person in question was the grandson of the Prophet (saw). Again, I was really impressed. He also asked me to explain to him who exactly the Prophet Muhammad (saw) was. I make sure not to use instructional time to answer questions like those (which are very occasional anyway), and answer them only to those who asked and only to the limit of their question and not more.

Recommendations for Consumption re: Muharram and Shia

People take different approaches to mourning. And people take different approaches to the observance of Muharram.

I often find myself in a reflective state. For, if a sacrifice is to have any true meaning and worth, it must bring about a benefit and a change. The benefit for all of us from the sacrifice of Imam Husain (as) is the survival of opportunity to seek and find Truth. But the change has to come from our response to the sacrifice - what do we choose to do with the opportunity? Do we honor the sacrifice by availing ourselves of the search or do we succumb to the ho-hum of the status-quo?

I find my own words generally inadequate for expressing much of anything related to Muharram. Others have already said many things well enough.

Here are some things I like to consume this time of year (and all year) in relation to this train of thought (in no particular order):

1) There are not a lot of English language latmiyat available - so what "those Shia" are chanting is often a mystery, and sometimes people assume the wrong things. Usama Al-Atar has produced some popular recordings that are English renditions. Karbala's My Heart (purchase) (download free)
is an Ashura-themed album. I like track 4 - Every Day is Ashura and have it on my iDisk for you.

2) The Murder of Imam Husayn is an African-American rhythm and rhyme story-telling style account of the tragedy of Karbala written and told by Shaykh Ali Abu-Talib son of Abdun-Nur. If you do a Google search, you can find a few of his shorter poems online and experience his strong style. What I have is four-cassette tape set of this poem - so, yes, it is long - but it goes into good detail of the events and are good alternatives to nightly lectures. The tapes say they were recorded and distributed by GrassRoots Calling, P.O. Box 741177 San Diego CA 92174-1177; (619) 527-9683.

3)Husain The Savior of Islam by S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali is very old by the standard of anything available in English about Islam and particularly Shia Islam. But to this day, it strikes me as something very unique. In particular, part of it shows the parallels between the Hajj rites and the role of Imam Husain (as) and the tragedy of Karbala.

4)Honouring Allah's Saints is a very poorly translated book, but it still contains valuable insight toward understanding some of the origin and textual basis for the emotional fervor some Shia'a display in love of Ahlul-bayt.

5)The Brother of the Prophet Muhammad by Mohamad Jawad Chirri is a superbly written and thorough work on the relationship with the Prophet (saw) and status of Imam 'Ali (as) through Sunni sources. A reader of this book would end with a clear understanding of the origins and reasons behind the existence of Shia Islam today.

The clear style of the author can be appreciated online in these digitized texts: UPenn's online book links for Mohamad Chirri.

6)Light of My Eyes, Husayn is a very beautiful mp3 file I found a few years ago. I couldn't tell you who made it or where I had found it. But I uploaded it to my iDisk for you.

7) Ziyarat Nahiya Al-Muqaddasa is a profound Ziyarat in relation to Karbala which comes to us from Imam e Zaman (Imam of our Age) through one of his four original deputies. The link here is to an introduction - click through to find the ziyarat itself. I have it in a text sent to me by a dear friend one year that is identical to what you see online in words if not in formatting - published by NABA. It lists their e-mail address as naba@sabznet.com .

8) Kumail and Kausar Publications has published a handful of very beautiful and moving works.
Their actual website is here.
In the current topic, I recommend both "Oppression on the Ahlul Bayt (as)", which is an account of sad events immediately following the demise of the Prophet (saw), and "Miracles of Ziyaarat e Ashoora" which includes the ziyarat itself and Dua Alqamah and some other shorter ziyarahs, and includes moving and interesting reports about the claimed effects of the ziyarat's recitation.

9) Shiabooks produces the highest quality literature of its type in English I've ever seen. The typeface and Arabic font are simply brilliant and the work is fastidiously referenced and published in high-quality. These works are primarily translations of collections of fully-cited hadith topical collections. Their booklet on Imam 'Ali (as) and his sons is available for free pdf download at their site. The other two books are "The Glad Tidings of Mustafa for the Shia for Murtaz'a" and "The Qa'em in the Qur'an". The former explains the meaning and obligations behind the usage of the title of "Shia", while the second is a tafsir of Qur'an of ayahs that have relation or reference to the Imam e Zaman (as).

10) Tears and Tributes is a by now exceedingly well-known novel-style account or story-telling account of Karbala. If someone just wants to read it like a novel, this serves that purpose. But I've always had a problem with this one in that it quotes people as saying things (as it is, after all, in a narrative style) when in reality I suspect much of that may be without reference to back it so I don't believe in its pure accuracy. That might not bother many people as the general message and much of the details are accurate and clear, but I'm a bit of a purist in that regard.

11) Verses of Ghadir is an exegesis of the Prophet's (saw) Ghadir sermons and the Qur'anic ayahs revealed on that occasion. This work is one of the best I've read on Ghadir Khum - the event of the very public proclamation of the role of 'Ali (as) in Islam.

12) - 14) Ultimately, to me, Muharram and all of Islam is about the Greater Jihad - Jihad e Nafs, Jihad e Akbar - the struggle against the self. Nothing else matters without this. It is the kernel, the essence. These three books are profoundly beautiful and meaningful. They can forever change your life. Even one page from them can forever change your life. Reflection and growth upon the pondering of these is delightful and deep.

Al-Siraj The Lantern by Shaikh al-Bahrani is available online, or also for purchase. It is essentially a book of purity and ethics and wayfaring - the path of gnosis and seeking Siratul Mustaqeem.

Self Building by Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini(or click here for purchase rather than online) is a superior detailed instruction manual for those wanting to win the struggle against self.

Lantern of the Path is by our 6th Imam, Jafar as Sadiq (as). It is a collection of short passages that take a moment to read but a lifetime to absorb and emulate. It is truly a masterpiece of seeking the Straight Path. It can be purchased here, if you prefer the hard copy to the digitized text.

15) A friend of mine wrote a philosophy textbook that explains Islam as its true self better than anything I've ever read. I put a draft version of it as a pdf file called "Islamway" on my iDisk. It is a very dense writing style - lots of meaning in small space, so it is not a fast read. Also, there are a number of typos not corrected in the draft version. I do believe the edited version is coming to publication soon.

I suppose being a math teacher has something to do with why I link to things like this....

Scientific American: Strange but True: Turning a Wobbly Table Will Make It Steady
For every table—turn, turn, turn... there is a proof

Man plans to swim length of Amazon River, broadcast live

He already has records for swimming other rivers like the Mississippi, Danube and Yangtze.

Crazy and impressive.
To watch, starting February 1st, go to Amazon Swim.

Another Beautiful Comet McNaught Image

This one is taken by the comet's discoverer and shows its very long tail.

Muharram

Say: “I ask you for no recompense but that you love my near relatives” Qur'an 42:23

"And hold fast, All together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves." Qur'an 3:103

So let us unite together in the season of Muharram with love for the Prophet (saw) and his near relatives and let us demonstrate it by seeking to learn the Straight Path they follow and become ourselves sincere followers and friends of the best of mankind and of one another.

SOHO's images of Comet McNaught's closest approach ot the sun (perihelion)

Here is video from the SOHO spacecraft that shows Comet McNaught's approach within half the distance between the sun and Mercury. The sun is in the center of the image, but blocked so that the optics on SOHO can see the light of objects near the sun. Mercury is also visible in the image and you can see the comet is very spectacular in comparison. It was so bright it almost overwhelmed SOHO's optics. The lower left of the image shows the time lapse between January 11 to the 16 or so....

Shuttle Launch as seen from International Space Station

Cool - Comet McNaught was visible during the day

Comet McNaught visible in broad daylight. If viewing this after January 19,2007 - go to the archives of the Astronomy Picture of the Day site linked here to view January 19th's image.

Don't buy premium

Many car owner's manuals will tell you it isn't worth the money, and if you've actually experimented with the different fuels you've probably noticed that where you buy it seems to make more of a difference than octane rating, and that's still not much.

Scientific American: Fact or Fiction?: Premium Gasoline Delivers Premium Benefits to Your Car
Exploding the myth that premium gasoline delivers better performance in the average automobile

Hearing is a Great Blessing

Sr. Baraka has a good post going at her blog on gratitude.

Good news in my family this week. My dad has long had very poor hearing, but lately it has been getting much worse, so that he has been almost completely deaf for a few months. The family lore, although I'm not sure of its truth, is that he first lost hearing when he had measles and mumps together as a child. But it has continually regressed during his adult life and I'm not sure what caused its recent stronger decline although ear infections may have been involved. It is quite a challenge for all involved when someone loses one of their senses that they rely on; it is like losing a part of oneself and losing a key connection to the rest of humankind and the world. It is isolating. Like many things, hearing is one of those blessings that we really typically do not appreciate how great it is until we don't have it. Many many years ago he looked into hearing aids but they hurt his ear so he refused to even consider them again. This time when his hearing got much worse, he decided to reconsider. My mom said he is now fitted with a temporary one while a permanent one is being made, and that he seemed to be very happy and could hear her talk, could hear the TV, etc. So we are all thrilled that we might be able to talk to him without screaming and repeating everything until he gets upset and gives up, and he will feel so much more included. He might even be able to hear the phone ring or hear the door bell! So alhumdooleluh for his hearing loss worsening as that is what it took to reconsider a hearing aid. Well worth the cost, insha'allah.

On a related note, I am a big fan of closed captioning. When it became fairly common in TV's, it became fairly common in our household. In my adult life, I have rarely watched TV without the closed captioning turned on. I get annoyed if it isn't available. Live closed captioning can be pretty worthless and pretty funny, but for other shows it is very useful, even if you can hear. It fills you in on mumbled dialog, sometimes provides you with lines in the script that were left out of the shot for some reason, tells you how names and places are spelled, appeals to visual learners, aids with language learning and helps children develop their reading skills as well. Sometimes it gets in the way of stuff you want to see, but that is usually not the case.

Sr. Karima

A few of my readers know Sr. Karima of Denver and would want to know that she has suffered a stroke, I guess about a week ago.

I don't have a lot of details, but she is supposed to be at Swedish Medical Center, Critical Care Center in Denver. I don't think she is having non-family visitors, but her daughter is around. If you decide to send something, she is registered under her name Sally Zareie. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Snowshoe Sunday

Although the snow accumulation this time around isn't great, it is enough to go out and play at snowshoeing around the neighborhood. It is about 10 degrees F outside but as long as you're moving and got your coat on it is warm. Mom put on her snow bib, I forgot to put mine one but was plenty warm anyway.

No Kansas City

Yesterday morning I went to the airport around 9.

Aside - I think the whole quart-size plastic baggie with bottles 3oz or less (the actual amount of liquid is irrelevant - if you have a 4 oz bottle with 1 oz in it, they're apparently supposed to take it) for carry-on is pretty silly. And wasteful - they confiscate so much stuff and I think they just throw it away - they probably can't give opened stuff to shelters, etc. My friend bought some drinkable yogurt for breakfast and they wouldn't let her through with it, nor would they let her consume it on the spot. But they let her embroidery scissors through. So drinkable yogurt is a higher terrorist threat than 3-inch scissors, I guess. It is just an illusion of safety that is very expensive in time and money. If they put that money into those good scanners, etc., that might make more sense to me.

Anyway, met up with 7 others from CSEA and at least one from PPEA for Western Regional in Kansas City. Flying conditions - negative 2 degrees Fahrenheit, limited visibility, snowing lightly. We get to Denver just fine, only 'complaint' would be that it was a prop plane and those are noisy, and we find that it actually looks much nicer - a lot more visibility, and not snowing, but basically same temperature. Our plane for Kansas City boards (first time I've boarded a plane that had two ramps - one to board from the front, and one from the back - good idea for big planes), and leaves almost 1/2 hour late. We're in the air a little less than half-way there and as I'm receiving my lovely airline complimentary beverage, the pilot announces that Kansas City has too much ice and we're turning around back to Denver. He said he could probably land but not take off again so he was supposed to turn around. So around the time we're due to land in Kansas City, we're back in Denver and directed to stand in a long customer service line for rebooking since our flight was canceled. People in our group start getting cell phone messages that they've been rebooked for Saturday. Our President eventually gets through to customer service on the phone after probably an hour and a half (while we stood in the customer service line, we had at least a half hour to go still I think) and the earliest we could be rebooked would get us into Kansas City Saturday night, at which point the conference is more than 2/3 over. So she negotiates ticket refunds and hotel cancellations for awhile, and then we start to make arrangements to get back to Colorado Springs. Most of CSEA folks get a car rental together after eating in the airport and arranging to get their luggage back. Since Katie and I did carry-on only and didn't need to wait for luggage, Katie's husband drives up from the Springs and takes the two of us home - he takes me back to the Colorado Springs airport to pick up my car. Poor car groaned at the cold but started anyway. I end up back home a little before 8pm. So a lot of travel time to get nowhere, but at least I got to finish reading The Hobbit and talk to some friends like Katie and like David Fisk. Bummer about an unnecessary sub day, though. However, I now get to enjoy a 3 day weekend at home instead of in meetings. And I got to see the little prayer area in the Denver International Airport. It's in the main terminal, so it is useless to anyone coming off a flight to catch another, because they'd have to go through security and all that all over again. But otherwise, it is nice.

Today I went with my parents to a gun show at the Phil Expo Center. Dad likes to go to those things. I think the entrance fee usually isn't worth it for gun shows (for my taste, anyway), but the gem and mineral show was pretty cool, more up my alley (that was several months ago). Well, dad ended up buying nothing but mom bought some silver earrings and she bought me a silver bracelet. Today's high was around 11 degrees I think. It really doesn't feel that cold - the sun was out and the wind wasn't blowing. You just need to put on a coat.

Some people are getting tired of our snow, but I'm not tired of it yet. I'm enjoying the crisp air and funny rides over unplowed snow piles on the side streets and wearing hiking and snow boots, etc. I just don't like scraping windows and paying high heating bills.

Rob Gonsalves art

I think the clouds behind the bridge turn into ships just beautifully.



It seemed really metaphorical to me how the people are chipping away at the rock just as the water itself does in erosion.



A moonlit woman born of the reflection of the clouds between the trees in the water. I can envision her walking out of the lake on a quiet, still night; a spectral image?



I thought this one was incredibly clever - The eye starts at the left (at least for those of us from cultures that read left to right) and so at first we see a dark night sky and a man with his telescope pointed the wrong direction - at his celestially-designed carpet. Then our eye moves to the right and we realize the sky is curtain - the dark curtains have holes in them in the shapes of celestial bodies, and the man is looking through his telescope at the images the curtains create on the floor; so neither sky is real, but depending on which side of the picture you look at, they both are. Very imaginative.



This is kind of similar to the ships and the lady from the water but I liked these monks and I wondered what the last one was doing and thinking. Was he going to talk to the woman? What would he say? Was he just bowing to her in greeting? Was he trying to "spy" on her as if in guard of the hall?



Another very clever one. The shadow of the globe seems to block out the light of the moon, although the shadow would be from the real earth rather than the globe - a wonderful play on the actual events of a lunar eclipse or the lunar cycle.


There are several more in addition to these located here: Mighty Illusions - one of my favorite blogs and Widgets in Dashboard.

Tiflaan e Muslim and Eid Mubahila

I have a conference this weekend in Kansas City, so wanted to note a few dates while I have the chance:

22 Dhul Hijjah is anniversary of death of Tiflaan e Muslim


24 Dhul Hijjah (this weekend) is Eid Mubahila

Glorious Quran Chapter 3 Verse 61:

And unto him who disputeth with thee therein after the knowledge hath come unto thee, Say ! ( O' Our Apostle Muhammad ! ) ( Unto them ) come ye, let us summon our sons, and ( ye summon ) your sons, and ( we summon ) our women and ( ye ) your women, and ( we summon ) ourselves and then let us invoke the curse of God on the liars !

This verse refers to the famous event of ' Mubahila ' which took place in the year 10 A.H against the Christians of Najran. A deputation of 60 Christians of Najran headed by Abdul Masih their chief monkpriest came and discussed with the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) the personality of Hazrat Eesa ( as ). The Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) told them not to deify Jesus for he was only a mortal created by God, and not God Himself. Then they asked who the father of Jesus was. By this, they thought that since he was born without a father the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) would helplessly accept Jesus' father being God himself. In reply to this question was revealed the Verse

Verily, similitude of Jesus with God is as the similitude of Adam; He created him out of dust then said He unto him BE, and he became.

When the Christians did not agree to this line of reasoning, then this verse was revealed enjoining upon the Prophet ( pbuh&f ) to call the Christians to Mubahila. To this the Christians agreed and they wanted to return to their place and would have the Mubahila the next day.

Early next morning the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) sent Salman al Farsi ( May Allah be well pleased with him ) to the open place, fixed outside the city for the historic event, to erect a small shelter for himself and those he intended to take along with him for the contest. On the opposite side appeared the Christian prists, while at the appointed hour the Christians witnessed the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) entering the field with Imam Hussain ( as ) in his lap, Imam Hasan ( as ) holding his finger, and walking beside him, Lady Fatima ( as ) and followed by Imam Ali al Murtaza ( as ). The Prophet ( as ) on reaching the appointed spot stationed himself with his daughter, her two sons and her husband, raising his hands towards the heaven said :

Lord these are the People of my House

The Chief Monk on knowing that the baby in the lap of the Prophet ( pbuh&f ) was his young grandson, Imam Hussain ( as ), the child walking holding the Prophet's ( pbuh&f ) hand was his first grandson, Imam Hasan ( as ), the Lady behind him was daughter, his only surviving issue was Fatima ( as ) the mother of the two children and the one who followed the Lady was his son in law, the husband of Fatima (as) addressed the huge crowd of the people who had gathered on the spot, and addressed them saying

By God, I see the faces which, if they pray to God for mountains to move from their places, the mountains will immediately move !

O believers in the Jesus of Nazareth, I will tell you the truth that should ye fail to enter into some agreement with Muhammad and if these souls whom Muhammad has brought with him, curse you, ye will be wiped out of existence to the last day of the life of the earth !

The people readily agreed to the advice counseled by their Leader. They beseeched the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) to give up the idea of the agreed Mubahila and requested for themselves to be allowed to continue their faith, offering to pay ' Jizya '.

- Al Tabari, Commentary of the Quran, v 2 p 192 -> 193

References

*

Ghayatul Maryam, p 300
*

Sahih Muslim, v 4 p 1285 ( English Edition), the tradition is as follows:

... ( The third occasion is this ) when the following verse was revealed : Let us summon our children and your children. Allah's messenger ( pbuh&f ) called Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Hussain and said : O Allah , these are my family ...

Contributed by Br. Ali Abbas

Comet McNaught

This morning on the way to work I made sure to look for Comet McNaught, and I was able to see it very clearly. So that was pretty exciting. This is an image of it taken in Germany posted as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day – an RSS feed I have stored in bloglines and enjoy getting. If you don't see the comet, you may need to go to the archives for January 9, 2007. It's worth it if you don't get to see it with your own two eyes. I didn’t have time to pull over and try to take a picture of it myself, or I’d have been late for work. Comet McNaught is one of the brightest comets of the past several decades. Look for it just before sunrise or after sunset, and near to the sun. When I saw it, it looked like comet Hale-Bopp, but perhaps brighter. It was brighter than Hyatuke and Halley's for sure, by my estimation. It reminded me of a distant plane contrail caught in the pre-dawn light, but it was wider, shorter, and fuzzier.

Eid Ghadeer Mubarak

On the anniversary of the revelation of the phrase in Qur'an 5:3, "This day I have perfected for you your religion, and have completed My favor on you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion," felicitations to all for the opportunity that Allah swt granted to us by this event which perfected religion and made clear the straight path.

- And invite to your creed, but not through words. (Al-Kafi, vol 2, p 46)

Bluestem Open Prairie

This is one of my favorite places - it is only 2 miles from my house. There is a trail to walk - it is about 7-8 km round trip (in the ballpark of 5 miles) around the Big Johnson Reservoir. I was the first person to put my prints in the snow this time around. Here are some pictures I took today:



The antelope are hard to get a good picture of without a telephoto lens. They run if you get closer than 200m or so....




This is what the antelope sign (tracks) looks like in the fresh snow from yesterday.




The small birds gather in large flocks where the gravel peeks through the snow and put their little footprints everywhere in those areas.



The sky is very blue and there are plenty of contrails as there are lots of places for the planes to come from and the right kind of air/weather here.



The prairie hosts a large prairie dog colony. They chirp or bark incessantly when you come by announcing when you come and when you leave with different calls. They have different calls for different types of danger - from air, from ground, even individual people if they get to know you, etc.







Some snow drifts....




Pikes Peak in the background - with snow blowing on it. Yucca plants in the snow up front.

Psych

I started watching Psych
on USA Network last month and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows - it makes me laugh. Let me know if you like it too - check it out for a few episodes, eh?

Tolkien Art

Ha ha, we woke up to even more snow today. We've been long overdue the past few years and I like snow so I'm not complaining. Gotta pray for those who lack heat/shelter, though.

I like this Lord of the Rings art. These are all taken from Rolozo Tolkien
, where there is a gallery of professional and amateur Tolkien art. This is just a taste, there are lots of nice ones there.



Nazgul@Mordor



Legolas



Legolas&Gimli

Let America be America Again

Martin Luther King Day is a little more than a week away, and February is Black History Month. I posted this poem last February but it is so good, here it is again:

Langston Hughes
Let America be America Again

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

Bald Eagle Sighting

I saw the coolest thing today - I was walking around the track across the street and I ended up watching an adult Bald Eagle soar for about half an hour. I saw a juvenile bald eagle as well, but not for quite as long. They are very large and beautiful.

I asked an El Paso County, Colorado park ranger about them via e-mail and he replied back quickly. He confirmed based on what I reported that they were a juvenile and an adult. He said they don't nest in the county but they do hunt in this area sometimes, especially in winter, particularly at the Big Johnson Reservoir/Blue Stem Open Prairie area or along Fountain Creek. The ones I saw seemed to come from the McRae reservoir (also known as Carp Lake) area, near the Big Johnson.

Thanks to Derek (Son of Cheese)

My high school friend Derek aka in blogland Son of Cheese made me one of those little browser icons for the URL bar from the picture above. I don't know if it shows up for all viewers, but I can see it with Firefox.

Thanks!

Comcastic

Well, my ISP Adelphia (also my cable provider) was bought out by Comcast here. As of today, please do not try to reach me by my adelphia address - e-mail will forward for about a year, but please update your address books if I happen to be in any of them. You can reach me at the same address before the @, but now comcast.net instead of adelphia.net . Thanks!

The Prestige Trailer

Since I put it at number one for 2006, I thought I should post the trailer for you to enjoy.

Best and Worst movies of 2006 Meme - short and sweet

Favorite movie released in 2006 that you saw: The Prestige

Runners up: Invincible, Casino Royale, Pirates of the Caribbean II, Akeelah and the Bee.

Honorable Mentions: The Devil Wears Prada and The Guardian. And I'd like to make a nod to a 2005 movie I loved but saw in 2006: Millions.

Least favorite movie(s) released in 2006 that you saw: Little Miss Sunshine

Everyone is invited to play, in comments or on their own blogs.