A & W

Windsor Golf Course is a nice little 27-hole track nestled just north of Madison, Wisconsin along I-90/94. For a duffer and his son, there couldn't have been a finer venue for 18-holes. Temperature in the mid-70's and nary a breeze. Fairways looking sweet with the rough cut fairly, a few sand traps and water hazards, and the recipe was perfect.

At the close of our round earlier in the week at a course on the south side of town, Austin and I continued to savor the round over Cokes and candybars in the clubhouse. Today, I had a better plan. Situated on the northeast corner of the intersection of I-90/94 and State Rd 19 (Exit 131) is an A & W Rootbeer stand. As I pulled in, I giggled and got an odd look from my son.

As a kid, Dad & Mom would take Jeff and I to an A & W drive-in not far from our home in Minnesota. Nothing tasted so good as a Mama burger with cheese and diced onions tumbling out the side washed down by A & W Rootbeer on tap! A real glass mug chilled just enough to keep the rootbeer icy but not cold enough to ice it up.

The hamburgers were decent, the fries quite good, but--oh--the rootbeer was better than I remember it. It tasted nothing like the stuff that comes out of the bottle. It was thicker, creamier and, like no other carbonated beverage, able to quench an 18-hole thirst.

Most of my family bleeds Dr. Pepper, but you'll find my heart deep in a frosty mug.

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Trivial Pursuit: A & W gets its name from Roy Allen and Frank Wright the partners who started the rootbeer business in Lodi, California in 1919.

"The Silver Chair" & the promotion process

I suspect the eyes that grace this blog will be familiar with The Silver Chair. For those of you who've stumbled into this cave, TSC stands as Book 4 in C.S. Lewis' masterful Narnian allegory.

Like any good author, he takes the opportunity to plunge his pen deep into the heart of the sillinesses and absurdities of his day. As he gets to the end of his wonderful adventure, Lewis takes a final dig at "establishment schools" of mid-20th century England.

When the protaganists of the story, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole, return to England from Narnia, they return at the moment they left, a moment where they were about to be ridiculed and wedgied by the bullies of their school. But Scrubb and Pole were very different people upon their return, and to make matters worse for the bullies, they return with a Narnian prince and with a massive lion.

The principal, or Head, heard the to-do and arrived in time to see the enormous feline and regaled prince bringing justice to the unjust schoolyard. She flew into hysterics and called the police. The deific cat and prince returned to Narnia after everything was set to right, but the Head remained in hysterics. The police saw nothing but a blathering biddy. Lewis writes,

"And in the inquiry all sorts of things about Experiment House (the school) came out, and about ten people got expelled. After that, the Head's friends saw that the Head was no use as a Head, so they got her made an Inspector to interfere with other Heads. And when they found she wasn't much good even at that, they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after."

As I was reading this to my girls, I choked with laughter. All I could think about were community organizers.

History: The Mayflower Compact

When the pilgrims arrived on the east coast, they signed one of the first documents of American governance. On the heels of the birthday of our nation's independence, it's a good read.

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherence of the ends aforesaid; and by the virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.

Consider the chosen words.

• "In the name of God..."


• King James as sovereign lord "...by the grace of God"


• "Having undertaken for the glory of God..."


• "...and advancement of the Christian faith...


• They formed their government "in the presence of God"


• They formed it in "submission" to Him and to the government they were forming


• In establishing their government, they understood the need to enact "just and equal laws..."

As our nation dismisses the one true sovereign of the universe from its governance, the one for whom justice is an inherent quality, it will become more difficult with each ensuing day to maintain justice for all much less justice for any.

Triplets

Vacation should be a time for letting your mind relax, savoring the vistas as a thousand miles of changing vistas pass between Texas and Wisconsin, but as the statelines ticked past, I could not help thinking about three American icons slipping into eternity.

In the span of two days, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays all came face-to-face with their Maker. Their lives continued to pop into my mind as mile followed mile.

Farrah Fawcett exploded into American libidos on Charlie's Angels and as a swim-suited pin-up that has never been rivaled. Her fame of the 70's translated into limited commercial success in succeeding decades. She remained steadfast with her live-in, Ryan O'Neal, and bore him a number of children. Farrah's final decade found her in a fight to the death with cancer. In the heat of the American spotlight, she died.

Michael Jackson hit the scene about the same time Farrah did, earning his fame as part of The Jackson 5. Many thought of The Jackson Five as a black answer to the Osmonds, but when both bands dissolved, Michael's talent remained. He completely changed the face of music, video and dance, but for some still unknown reasons he marred his own visage into the mask of some circus clown. Out of the spotlight but trying to get back in, Michael likely died trying to silence his demons with drugs.

Billy Mays. Ten years ago, I'd never seen the man. Five years ago, I couldn't tell you his name, but would have remarked, "Isn't he the Oxy-Clean guy?" From obscurity into the white-hot of American fame, the seemingly genial and 0ver-loud pitchman erupted into the American commercial. With speed just as sudden, he died. At fifty. The same age as Michael Jackson.

More mileposts race by. Such a sudden cluster of deaths can't help but make one consider their own mortality. Why did she die? Why did he die? What is God saying in all this?

Even the One who knew the answer to such questions would not reveal it to His followers. When asked about a governor who was murdering his charges, the King of kings responded by stating that it wasn't necessarily for more grievous sin that these had died. He then dipped into another current event of the day by stating that the eighteen crushed under the weight of a structurally deficient tower had no greater corruption than the next guy.

But--and this is pivotal--such events, said the Lord of all, should bring us to a point of self-examination and repentance before a holy, righteous, and just God. "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." We all will face death, and repentance will not forestall death. Repentance before God and an accepting of the finished work of Christ will prevent the second death, a death of unmitigated and eternal horror.

As Solomon closed Ecclesiastes, he encouraged, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days come..." And then to drive the final nail in his treatise, he said,

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His
commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into
judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Farrah, Michael and Billy have all slipped into eternity. In a few weeks you will have forgotten them, perhaps to think about them one more time this year when the end-of-year look backs on all who died take place. In this season with their deaths fresh in your mind, perhaps a bit of repentance is in order. Perhaps a lot.

Before you know it, another hundred miles slip into your review mirror.

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UPDATE: This morning, I read where Karl Malden died. He passed from this life at age 97! He was the large-nosed, chapeaued police lieutenant on "The Streets of San Francisco," the TV show where Michael Douglas, Kirk's son, got his start. He was superb as Omar Bradley next to George C. Scott's eponymous "Patton," and he earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Sadly, many will only know him for "don't leave home without it." He died in the quiet of his home after a long life and an outstanding and unsoiled acting career. What a difference.

QotD: "Icon" misused

Today on National Review's blog corner, Jonah Goldberg, author of Liberal Facism, considers the media fawning over Michael Jackson. The gist earns QotD honors:

"If anything, Michael Jackson's life, not his death, was tragic."

It's a sober assessment of Michael Jackson's life (read it here). Consider:

• From a family who, if they'd hit their stride in 2009, would be the subject of some macabre reality series.
• Became a sensation with his brothers as part of the Jackson 5 in the 70's.
• Oozed talent. Oozed good looks.
• Tried to put himself off as a friend to children while having one of the most sexually suggestive stage shows ever seen. Today it would be fare for the Disney Channel.
• Altered those incredible good looks and realtered them until he became something out of a 50's horror movie gone awry.
• Married Elvis Presley's daughter. Divorced less than two years later.
• Drugs (pain medication) became a natural part of his life.
• Another marriage, this to his dermatologist, produced two children, a son and a daughter, and it, too, lasted less than two years.
• Mega-debt replaced his mega-millions.
• He sired a third child by a surrogate.

Phenomenal talent. To what end? "And the rich, young man went away exceedingly sorrowful..." An "icon?" Ought not be.

Mark Sanford. Governor. Adulterer. So what's to learn?

Husbands...

...love your wives...

...as Christ loved the church...

...and (yes "and"!) ...

...gave himself up...

...for her...

Ephesians 5:25

Dwell upon the weight of each phrase. Let Paul's implications roll through your mind. After verse 25, it gets even better. Really, it does. But, oh, how well we would do to get this far.

A biblical command to "love your wife." It's not a feeling. It's not something I can fall into our out of. That's not "love."

Love demands volition, a choice, or as Don Francisco sang, "an act of the will." I choose to invest my life into my bride for her good, not for her likes, but for her good (biblical good)...regardless of what I get in return. At least that's what God calls us to.

If I'm doing it as a 50-50 proposition, then it's not much different than a proposition. I invest a little, I get a little. When I stop getting, I go somewhere else. They sell that in Vegas and in Times Square.

If I'm seeking the affections of another or If I succumb to the lurings of another, then I have stopped seeking the good of the one to whom I have made a vow and sworn an oath. I have begun seeking my own satisfaction.

Love is a choice, and marriage is a promise to exercise that choice until God removes the breath from one set of lungs. Rich or poor, sickly or healthy, thick or thin, Vikings or Packers. It's a daily choice, a moment by moment choice.

Any lapse can unseat a governor or far worse, ruin a husband and father by bringing mountains of agony to his family. All for a morsel of Turkish Delight.

Husbands, love your wives!

QotD: Maggie

Found this quote from Margaret Thatcher on Jay Nordlinger's "Impromptus" today (here...always a good read). Substitute "Obama's economy" for "socialism" at your leisure.

“The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

Flag etiquette

As others feel free to burn our flag on foreign soil, for those of us who revere what our flag represents, I offer a bit of flag decorum. Thought it might be helpful as we approach our day of independence.

The flag should not be emblazoned on items such as lawn chairs, paper products,
yard goods and furniture. (U.S. Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8) “The flag
should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be
festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.
Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white
in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk,
draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general...” The flag
should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or
delivering anything. The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in
any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins
or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising
signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.
No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform.
However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel,
firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents
a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel
flag pin, being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

FYI here.

Hair dye

What's with Hollywood and hair color? Is a person not permitted to have dull, brown hair? Nobody has natural hair the color of Liam Neeson in Taken or Nicholas Cage in any of his last half-dozen movies, National Treasure 2 for a heinous example.

Frankly, I don't much care for the artificial colors on females, either, because in 99.97% of the cases, it looks as plastic as the bottle from which the dye was dispensed. That said, I understand the societally-imposed, individually-swallowed insatiable search for youth. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. Vanity.

When dudes start dying the dirty-blonde that has started sprouting the silver or hair-plugging, toupeeing or spray-painting the follicles that have long since vacated the premises, something's amiss. If you got the genes where the hairline is racing after faster than a French battlefield, que sera, sera. Get used to it. And DON'T comb-over! Going gray? Steve Martin. Peter Graves.

You want a credible character in film or on TV? Try a credible look. Unless of course your going for a Bozo the Clown feel to your action film. Just me.

Barbara Boxer...

...is an ego-maniacal dowager (here).

Whew. I feel better. If it were name-calling, that would be petty. No, yesterday, she "earned" it.

Do you wonder what went through the general's mind? He's a far better man than I am. Held his composure like a granite statue. I couldn't have done it. A line from Wayne's World came to my mind. "A ********* says what?"

Do you wonder what possessed the California Democrat to emphasize her position over the general? Perhaps she recognized the humongous deficiency of character on one side of the room. Over-compensation.

California. I wish they'd secede.