The Fourth Horseman

If the Dustbowl itself can’t erase the regrets that haunt the Fourth Horseman, it’s unlikely the tequila will. Besides, what’s Armageddon without Death? (coming in April)   First, an introduction. Hidely-ho, reader. I’m the writer best known as David Mark Brown and the infamous RedneckGranola. You may know me from such websites as www.thegreenporch.com or … Read more The Fourth Horseman

Wikileaks for Dummies

cartoon by Randy Bish in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

“What’s a wiki?” While I’m sure most of my highly informed readers would never ask such a question, (The answer, by the way, according to wikipedia is “a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor.”) you might be scratching your belly over the whole wikileak episode.

The reason, I believe, so many of us are still bedraggled over the issue is that, while technically savvy and ultimately geeky, the champions of leaking classified U.S. government information have overlooked a critical medium for conveying information quickly and succinctly in American culture. No, not the internets. I’m referring of course to the Dummies book enterprise driven by Wiley Publishing.

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Jesus Christ, Captain Obvious?

Buddy Christ
Buddy Christ from the movie Dogma

I don’t know about you, but from time to time I tend to be a praying man. Those times are usually when I’m bent over a barrel and my cheeks are getting red from life spanking me mercilessly. So you can understand my relief when as I was stumbling through the Gospel according to Matthew the other day I found a reference to a couple of guys who seemed to be a lot like me.

In chapter 20 we meet a couple of blind guys sitting by the road outside of Jericho. Now I image blindness is a sucky thing even today, but I can make an educated guess that it guaranteed a life of begging and scraping just to get by in first century Palestine. So these two guys are maybe sitting by a little fire lit with goat dung and eating crusty bread when a big crowd comes by.

At first they probably hope this means a few extra drachmas in the old guitar case. Then they figure out that the rock star of the roadshow is the guy they’ve been hearing about, Jesus of Nazareth. It’s basically like Little Debbie walking through the middle of fat camp. Right?

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