Falling Victim to Corporate Marketing

I admit it.  I took the bait hook, line and sinker.  The History Channel (both one and two) sucked me in with all the talk about the Mayan Apocalypse (perhaps because I've visited Chichenitza personally), Ancient Aliens, Kulkukahn, aligned planets, certain death and destruction and the possibility of sentient awakening.  Yes, I sat mesmerized in front of my television for weeks on end, superfluously engaged in television marketing carried out in perfect form.

I've prepped (just in case), considered the remote possibility that the world could end on the Winter Solstice for no good reason other than I had it ram-rodded into my brain, albeit voluntarily, for several weeks on cable television and on the Internet.  All the while I thought my own mind stronger than that storm trooper tricked by Obi Wan Kenobi on Tatooine by a Jedi mind trick.  I failed dismally.  Master Yoda would have kicked me out of his swamp on day one after realizing how easily I could fall for the simplest of mind gaffs.

Now we find ourselves moving into 2013 and I've begun scratching my head at those who fear the number thirteen for no apparent reason at all.  I have to wonder if I will fall prey to the superstition created after the Knights Templar were rounded up and slaughtered on Friday the 13th.  Yes, I've researched that too.  It would seem that many humans have both a fear of the end times AND a morbid fascination with it.  And it would seem that I am one of those many humans.  I type this both proudly and ashamedly.

Honestly, I wondered if and how the Earth would end--solar flares, alien invasion, nuclear war, Gog/Magog, power grid corruption, massive computer failure, polar shift, global anarchy, earthquakes, floods, food shortages, global warming...............aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggghhhh!!!

So now I am forced to face the world on the 22nd of December.  Luckily I love life and all that it offers--the bad and the good.  I have Christmas to look forward to, a new year to ring in, time with family, a road trip to make, hard decisions to face, and all the stuff in between. 

We can all thank the Mayans for their inexorable ability to tell time, Nostradamus for predicting Hitler's rise and the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Holy Bible for telling us that "no one knows the time or day" that everything will end.  Living life one day at a time should probably resonate with us all, but most especially me!

Music-Medicine for the Stricken Soul

We are all moved by certain things in life: religion, sports, politics, hobbies, movies, television, and on-and-on the list goes.  No doubt that all of those things listed above (and many more) shape and mold us as humans and separate us from the animal kingdom.  It's also interesting to note every person on the planet is motivated and moved by different things and inspired to greatness or mediocrity by his/her environment and personality.  Truly, the things that drive and captivate us make up our invisible human fingerprint.

One thing, however, has proven to be the universal commonality amongst mankind throughout our evolution as an intelligent species: music.  No matter the genre, people are drawn to the rhythm, math, melodies and harmony made by talented musicians.  Genius is often exhibited in the stories told by blues singers, wisdom of the ages demonstrated in the classics, tears ripped from our eyes by the soulful sounds of church hymns. 

What is about music that speaks to us?  I prefer to think of it as food for my soul, nourishment for a hungry spirit.  Music has the uncanny ability to make me smile, laugh, cry, dance, scream and mourn.  Nothing else on Earth has the power to move an individual like a heaven-sent song, whether that song be sung or simply played. 

Do you pay attention to the "score," or background music, during a movie?  Whether you think you do or not, I can assure you your soul hears it.  Imagine a movie or television program without music!  How boring would that be?  How would a twelve hour car ride be with no radio?  No thanks. 

The most important thing music seems to offer is healing.  Native American chanting, Tibetan Buddhist chanting, peaceful Beetles tunes or the haunting sound of Amazing Grace will stir that inner self that we all struggle to understand and know. 

I hope this moves you to listen to more music..........

  

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

You thought this title was about Christmas and New Years?  Boy are you wrong!  The most wonderful time of the year for me is the BCS national championship game, more commonly referred to as the SEC Crystal. 

This marks the seventh year in a row that a Southeastern Conference football team will play for the national championship.  It marks the fourth year in a row there has been much rejoicing about football in the state of Alabama, as The University of Alabama brought home the big boy trophy in 2009 and 2011, while cross state rival Auburn University won it in 2010.  This will also mark the seventh year in a row there is much gnashing of teeth across the nation, especially outside the SEC.  Screams of "easy schedule," "down year," "media bias," and other such nonsense permeates the minds and lips of the unknowing armchair football analyst.

Remarkably, the SEC has demonstrated its dominance in collegiate football year over year by not only winning championships, but by placing the most talented athletes in the National Football League.  Names like Mark Ingram, Cam Newton, Trent Richardson and on-and-on reverberate throughout the League.  And while the cries of a playoff resound around the country, this year alone, had there been a playoff, would have allowed for two SEC teams to play in it.

There are certainly talented athletes at every major college football program, but to deny the current superiority of the SEC is to deny reality.  Will there be a significant polar football shift some day?  Possibly.  But that shift may not happen any time soon, as the conference's focus on winning national titles is only outdone by, well, nothing.

My prediction for the upcoming national championship game, which pits number one Notre Dame versus number two Alabama is this:  an Alabama victory by no less than ten points.  After the game we will hear about the strength of a probation ladened Ohio State team and how it could have beaten Alabama, or someone will note that Bama was beaten by SEC newcomer Texas A&M, but none will want to admit that the University of Alabama has created a dynasty among the collegiate faithful. 

So, with that I bid everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  And I would also like to bid everyone a very merry Roll Tide Roll!!

Rammer jammer yella hammer

Give 'em hell Alabama!

Rooooooll Tide Roll!