:: Scuff Productions ::

One of the littlest birds is about the cutest button of a bird there is. These birds usually wait until the entire group of hatchlings are fledged before bringing them as a family together to the feeders. We’re waiting for that. They, along with nuthatches, can also negotiate an upside suet feeder that other birds can’t. They’re too cute when they do:

NOW on to gardening! The WARM DAYS are really making our garden quite excited. There are SIGNS that once again, through Nature’s wonders, it just might grow again. I think I’ll go see what I can do out there to push things along, eh?

Spring passes into the next glorious season………………………………

The End of May was an eventful one for us. To begin with, the weather is without question the warmest and driest end of May since we moved here. SO dry, we’re 90% done planting in the garden….even transplanted the corn into the soil two weeks early….with hope no big gray cold wet spell happens as it notoriously does right around the annual Portland Rose Festival …..THAT begins this weekend.

Just last night, we saw the opening night of the touring company of Chicago at the huge Keller Auditorium. Don’t think money can’t buy you a spot acting somewhere. The lead Roxie Hart is Harry Hamlin’s wife Lisa Rinna….Hm. Did he fall in love with her ability to knit or sew?

She was just AWFUL. Absolutely, this soap opera actress has NO stage presence, NO music talent, no memory, no passion. Here’s the Oregonian’s review if you’re interested:
***CHICAGO – The Touring Company*** The sad part in that review was that the actress who played Velma Kelly was tremendous and carried the thing (as much as she could). We also disagreed that has-been Tom Wopat was great. He was so so. I can’t believe he has CD’s of his singing that sell. Whew! Maybe he WAS cute years ago. But then, maybe I was too….Oh that’s right…….he still has his hair. Hah.

Now, back to more exciting farm news:

Our oldest JUNCO kids left the nest just last Saturday morning. I walked out early to water and saw one on the driveway with Mom calling. He flew quite well to her to the edge of the yard and shelter…and I there I saw both parents and two kids. Two? So I peeked in the nest to see the last (and unfortunately probably the youngest by a day or so) chick sort of struggling to get out of the little place. Well, seeing me gave him the oomph and he hopped off…..toward the sound but seemed much weaker than the first chick. As I worked around the place that morning I got glimpses of them moving the kids around to find food and safety, and really DID have quite the fun time relishing the fact that at least three survived….( I never saw all four chicks together that morning). I DID see the other Junco Mom with her kid as I watered the garden though….they weren’t 20 feet away and she didn’t seem too upset (because the dog was tied up?). Our Third Junco family was just born yesterday in the flower garden under the poppy blooms….so we begin another two week tippy-toe-around-the-nest for them.

Our first sighting of an Evening Grosbeak baby female happened last weekend but we finally got some good pictures of her. Cutely enough, Poppa landed just before the baby, and we thought this a fun photo of TWO very different but both golden birds:

She was SO grown up:

and she sure showed off HOW camouflaged a female can be in the woods:

how’s THAT for woodsy color? A baby Downy woodpecker had been shown the suet post, and finally is making it here on her own:

We went to the Portland Farmer’s Market with the Barberas. We found some possible sources of some true Ranchers Beef….lots of home dairies, and What a CROWDED place.

MORE interestingly, we stopped at the mammoth Washington Park Rose Garden that is now just two weeks ahead of prime bloom (yep, that’s how they decided WHEN to hose their famous Rose Festival) and sure enough, there’s a few millions roses just shy of bloom, but there was plenty to see….here’s the view to downtown from there:

This climbing rose is a giant:

So, there’s plenty of color and texture going on even though the rhodie / azalea period is about over:

After the market, Emilio and Elena wanted us to join them for lunch but wanted to cook. I hesitated not wanting them to prepare a lunch from scratch… but if you’ve ever seen a native Italian cook up some pasta, never fear, it goes from fridge to steaming plates in about 15 minutes. Pasta Carbonara was the featured dish from Chef Emilio’s able hands:

And we were SO European that day, having a toast in the middle of the day on their patio:

So NOW, I’m settling into a HEAT week that will involve keeping the garden watered, preparing some flower beds for the rest of the stuff we got last weekend, keeping hummer water fresh, and watching some more nature.

The last mentionable has happened sort of spur of the moment. Rodger made me aware of Mel Brooks/Susan Stroman NEW Pre-Broadway Production previews of “Young Frankenstein” beginning for 3 weeks in Seattle when his birthday rolls around. We snagged two tickets for August 24 at the Seattle’s Grand Dame of Theaters, the Paramount Theater, so we’ll have a little trip north in a few weeks HOPING Mel Brook’s Best Ever FUN Theater is THIS one. WHO among you will travel to Seattle to join us for Young Frankenstein? **I’m also happy that this will mean we’ll get to visit with my cousin Nancy and Bruce in Puyallup while we’re there. That should be FUN !

Jocko’s little cemetery spot, now in its third year, has never looked so good with more Clematis blooming this year than ever:

And this surprise Iris bloom is quite magnificent:

So I guess SUMMER is actually going to begin without clouds, without rain, and glorious sights, fabulous wildlife, and lots to see.

So who, really, is going to join us in Seattle August 24?

My summer birding calendar just peaked. My favorite summer visitor (and not always nesting in our neighborhood………..so we don’t see them every summer for extended periods), the Evening Grosbeaks have fledged the first chicks and brought them to the feeder this morning. I saw Poppa feeding a female juvenile! That was a treasured sight for me! To continue that reinforcement, the evening grosbeaks stayed at the feeders steadily ALL morning. What a sight.

I get a little angry every time I hear the half brain-dead non-thinking do-as-your-told Fundamentalists saying, It’s not me, Honey, that hates Gays, it’s in the Bible! They ALWAYS ignore the hundreds of other Old Testament quotes that could have you put to death just as well.

So here, thanks to Peter McG……was a humorous link. I know it’s Hollywood writing, but I have used these lines on people before hoping to get them to think at least. I KNOW of lots of other good ones…………..so feel a couple of my favorites were left out, darn.

But I wanted to make sure you were prepared if any Conservative Right-Wing Religious Nut throws that evil “God Hates Gays Card…the Bible Says so!” card at you. Be prepared. What the bible says:

……BIBLE QUOTATIONS……

Actually, the Republican Presidential Candidates who say they don’t believe in Evolution? Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, and who was that other one??? ……. I’d like to hear them comment on THESE lines too.

NOW………..don’t you wonder why you never see the Fundamentalist Evangelicals asking people about THESE Bible quotes and punishing their OWN people for those violations? It’s just sad Falwell could never love the little Purple Guy for who he was—as Jesus specifically instructed him to do……..in the BIBLE.

We have reached our PEAK of bird activity so I’m going to relish it for a tiny bit. It’s so short lived.

Even the male Rufous boys are thinking of packing up and leaving soon. They’re of NO value to the poor female. They arrive first, set up some territories, fight at feeders and wait for the girls. I have always loved these pictures Rodger captured in 2004 (they’re cropped, yes, to fit here):

The girls get here and they’re all showoff but absolutely NO contribution other than actual mating. Even AFTER mating, they’ll try to keep females from feeders.

Once the deed’s done, they take off on vacation heading back south via a nice trek down the interior valleys of the rockies. The females are left to make the nest, lay the eggs, incubate, hatch, feed, raise, fledge the young. And here again, a most lucky place to be when Rodger saw this little baby in 2004. Don’t you think the world probably looks a little HUGE to this little guy barely bigger than you thumb?

So I lost track………I originally wanted to SAY: The BIRD SINGING in the mornings now is deafening and glorious. The amount of it pauses during mid-day hours, and then again in the evening, it begins but more soft. The mornings are a cacophony of brilliant sounds and for that reason, MAY is the most lovely time to be outside in the mornings (yes, we’re assuming it ain’t raining and you’re not just out there to get slugs off your lettuce).

THIS MORNING I let myself enjoy that action, and so I got to see just looking out the back deck:
Grosbeaks – Evenings – 3 distinct pairs…sometimes males, sometimes females. They’re obviously
nesting right now.
Grosbeaks – Black Headed – 4-5 pairs. We saw the first baby male last night!
Nuthatches – red breasted – many! There probably ARE babies out there.
Chicadees – Black capped – many! Their babies will be brought to the feeder in groups soon.
Sparrows – Song — gorgeous singing.
Sparrows – White and Golden Crowned – - -fleeting glimpses, I’m NOT sure they’re nesting close.
Wren – Bewicks – just one
Robins – Nothing more fun than a robin taking a bath…since they’re on the ground a lot, they’re aggressive bathers!
Siskins – are more fleeing now that they’ve finished raising the first batch of kids.
Goldfinches – seeing less of them now, they’re almost all nesting.
JAYS – Stellar – they’ve fledged the first kid, and now a flock flys in now and then.
Woodpecker – Downy – We have our first fledged baby visiting (and others)
Woodpecker – Hairy – Several times a day.

**I think that was about all this morning.

The dog was left home all day while we were out taking care of some items……….. When that happens we have learned to Whip Him when we get back! WHIP HIM? What do I mean? Thanks to Baird & Karen who learned this from a dog trainer, we bought a Lunge Whip. That’s whip for horses….rather long…..and at the end of it you tie a rope/ball then let the dog chase that to use up some of his stored energy. Baird & Karen’s dog Ellie learned long ago what foolishness this was, and decided that was child’s play. NO, she said, no more whip! MAC, on the other hand, has only become MORE and more addicted to this chase and the first thing that happens when you go out in the garage is his running to the place the whip’s kept and staring at it, then staring at you…………

So anyways……………HE has learned to try and catch this in imaginative ways. Jumping’s one of them, and he can jump over my head now….you can see My hand off to the far right of this picture:
YES, he’s THAT far off the ground experiencing SHEER joy.
It's ALWAYS an exciting 30 minutes, and by the end ...............can you SEE how long this tongue reaches out to try and cool himself off?

I have to force him to quit and drink water…………… HE loves this stuff.

By the way, the first Junco nest babies all have feathers now, and won’t be around much longer. BOTH parents are bringing MORE stuff than I could imagine ALL DAY long now….I didn’t even KNOW Juncos captured insects:

I GOTTA get out and work in that bright sun…………….. Carrots and peas are up in the garden. Corn starts are an inch tall in the little plastic greenhouse, cilantro, sunflowers are peeking out too.

Before we move on to present the facilities upgrade for our visiting summer songbirds, let’s capture the feel 2007 MAY is giving us.

We made our annual trip to French Prairie to some hanging baskets, and this one almost fills one window in front:

Sets a mood, yep. One of the lovely hardy NW flowers is now at peak, and they’re most exotic in my opinion although they’re not regarded as “acceptable” by many gardeners. The wild and lovely Columbine:

The SKIES (when clear, and those clear days are becoming more frequent)…….are getting SO RICH in depth, they are a picture themselves and even more-so when reflected in the mighty Columbia:

Hummingbird feeding activity has dropped in half! Oh No you say? Oh YES, the season evolves for the little guys, MORE and more things are now ready to eat including insects, weathers warmer so they don’t need the sustenance (with no body fat, they can’t “store” energy). AND MOST of all, they’re now nesting! Whoopee! We don’t see groups of them so often now, just a young Mom drinking and drinking all she can quickly throughout the day:

And now ON to a memoriam for a most faithful servant: Our old Tray Feeder that began life as the sturdy seat of the swing on the deck.

That 48″ wiide feeder faithfully withstood 9 years of Portland rain, mold & blight to serve selflessly in its job. It fed thousands of birds & squirrels (not to mention raccoons). It has been placed to rest. Even MORE than the feeding, the jumping, pulling, screen-stretching antics of squirrels & raccoons have not been easy on it. Here it’s shown years into its life in a grand gathering of Evening G’s mid-summer 2005:

And how did it last that long? It should have been replaced about 3 years ago, but I guess I got attached to it (and didn’t want to bother figuring out how to replace it?….er, uh, lazy?) so began tying baling twine around it, then the last year, wired it together in spots, then finally, had to place sticks in where the bottom slats were just rotting off. Even with all that life support, it began to occasionally drop a screen through a hole along with the squirrel that might have landed on it. So immediately after taking it off the chain supports, most of it fell apart and here’s the open casket viewing just before placement into the compost cemetery:

Replacement wasn’t as bad as we thought. This past weekend, we got a few ideas and more easily than we thought assembled the new feeder and it began its new life Saturday:

ALL the animals were on it in no time……………..so we’re proud of the upgrade. I DO have other things I want to write about, but no time……………that’s another sign of approaching summer.

Thanks to Doug T We can now see it clearly laid out how we have ended up in a hopeless disastrous war that may topple the U.S. Economy in the long term…………………. It’s not so complicated after all:

W.W.W.D. = that’s an easy guess, eh?

Getting “tagged” to respond to Rodger Dodger’s question: Tell 10 Things About Yourself others do not know, or would find interesting. I had to look up Meme to make sure I could apply this loosely since my original plan in keeping a record of our lives here was simply an improvement on e-mailing a periodical news note to family and friends. This Web page has evolved so maybe I’ll venture out and mention what a few life changing markers were for me if nothing more than the fun of remembering.

BUT. I’ll use this definition of Meme (there were several) to write: Meme, today, is sometimes applied ironically to ideas deemed to be of passing value. Reference:
WhatIs.com

Things About Mark Others may not know, or would find interesting. Or, more loosely, some things that were markers in my life.

I.
In the first grade, I quickly realized our family’s income level was less than some others. I wasn’t even given the $.15 for a hot lunch and those weren’t corporate mass-cooked trucked-in big plastic bag meals. It was actually pretty good stuff……quite often those 15 cent meals. I was never given anything extra beyond that occasional $.15. My first spending money was earned on the paper route a few years later. And THAT Newspaper route is another story. So, within a few weeks, if I dared walk downtown with a friend or two, I always felt a little less than they watching them actually BUY candy bars, etc. So. ONE time, I decided I, too, wanted to feel rich like the kids with the $.05 cent big Baby Ruth candy bars, so I needed to have something of my own. I had eyed a $.15 plastic two piece train for a while, so this time I grabbed it, put it under my shirt and we all left. I was wracked with fear on the way back to school that somehow “they” would be following me and know I was carrying stolen goods. Of course I couldn’t tell anyone I had this train, so the need I had to feel equal by getting something from the store was completely defeated and the fear/guilt was heavy. I got back to the grade school, hid the train in the bathroom, and returned to class. I was SO wracked with guilt, I made myself quite sick and asked to be excused to go home. I got home, went to bed and sat straight up realizing I’d left the stolen goods at the school! I somehow talked Mom into driving me over there and as dumb as I can be, slinked out of the car toward the school (the outside big windows in OUR class faced the side of the car I got out from), walked all hunched over, snuck into the bathroom, got the train, slinked back out, and went home with Mom somehow not knowing what was wrong. I learned then, at age 6, a weakling like me could NEVER be a THIEF. I’ve never forgotten it so the $.15 lesson was worth it.

II.

**above are Art, Dale, Mark, the three youngest boys.

Hotshot Darrel Grigg lived around the corner from us one way while Roger Davenport lived around the corner the opposite direction. They were BEST friends and we were almost neighbors, we began second grade walking home from school quite often together where Roger and I began to get along real well. I thought I was making a friend, a sort of new experience for me…. Then, without warning one day, in the vacant field, on our trail home, Roger and I were belly-laughing about something funny (I had NO idea what it was even the second after this happened) when Darrel began beating me down onto the ground yelling, “He’s MY friend, go get your own!”. Oddly enough, my older brother was walking behind us with his friends about 20 feet. He stood up to Darrel, warning him he’d better never again lay his hands on me. He didn’t but I often wondered if that’s what made it a long time for me to think I was unworthy of a best friend……………

III
My folks had 5 kids, 1 daughter and 4 younger boys. Mom talked Dad into getting a piano hoping her daughter would become “something” other than Miss Vale Rodeo (or the equivalent). Fran gave up on the piano about puberty time, or about the same time she was sneaking out her bedroom window to see Mr. Cool, Johnny Schaffield, a catholic boy she, as a Mormon child was forbidden to date. The NEXT son, Norm, took about 2 lessons and thought this too pansy-ass a venture to risk his macho image at Vale Union High. Son #3, Art, began and kept at it a year or two, but quit because his talent was blooming in the band as the lead trumpet player. Son #4, Dale, took a few piano lessons, but followed his idol, big bro Art into the trumpet section of the band. I DO believe, my Dad, by then was frustrated he’d bought a piano and things seemed that this would end up a waste of his money. He started me on the piano, and I was NOT allowed to think of quitting until I was on my own when in college. More completely though, it ended up that I WAS the son with the music talent, and by a miracle was lucky enough to become a student of Marilee Scheer, a young Mom in her own right. Mrs. Scheer inspired me to now end and by the age of 12, I was not just the local Mormon “ward” organist, but also the district Mormon “Stake Organist” and playing for several of the towns weddings in every church in town except the fundamentalist Nazarenes and Assembly of God. To THIS day, Marilee Scheer remains a good friend and has taught me more about self respect, esteem, than probably anyone. THAT PIANO ability in that FOOTBALL Town of 1,200 farmers was all that saved a weakling like me from harrassment by the jocks. That was my ticket outta town, no doubt!

IV
The most memorable evening in my baby piano years, however, was when I was only 11. For some reason, 16-year old brother Art and friends were trying to start up a little dance band but had no piano player. My folks somehow let me, the classical-music-only little brother go out to Phil Lay’s house ONE night and play with these grown up High School Guys. That was the first time in my life I got to “jam” with some guys and we all had a BLAST. I have NEVER forgotten that one evening, and to this day, when I rarely but sometimes play, want to improvise, jam, accompany or play with others. There was ONE other big lesson learned that night. Poor Phil’s Mom had died, his Dad a serious alcoholic so wasn’t even home. I’d never been in a home that wasn’t an established sacrosanct Mormon family home. This was an empty, worn tiny place with bare furnishings, a wooden box with a lamp on it. I somehow “understood” how Phil had ended up being so tough. I’ve wondered what ever happened to him? It made me understand that a stable family life might just be an advantage.

V
By the end of eighth grade, I was gaining a little confidence….just a little…..because of the piano, but of course completely intimidated that I wasn’t “cool” like the jocks. I had NO comprehension of the layers of psyche working on that idea then. But with the uncool kids, I did okay. When our age group entered High School that next fall, I was completely embarrassed and angry that homely and plump Carol Markle (yep, a crush on me) nominated me for class president. I had to stand out in the hall with two jocks Billy Ingram (town cop’s macho kid, and Pat Shunn (a different kind of arrogant jerk) while the class voted. We exchanged a word or two, er, more like my semi-apologizing that I was even out there with them, and sorry, for my intrusion. We stepped back in and WHAT? I HAD won! I was aghast and completely unprepared for any recognition or applause. I had no time or social skills to function in that job and spent a year in my “unworthy” position, however, it DID teach me that I had more ability than I thought. That year gave me enough social skills to progress in respect and admiration from others so that by the end of my junior year, the coolest Athlete in the town asked me to be his campaign manager for Studentbody President and we won the job for him! My belief in self really had grown

VI
In my Junior Year, we uncool, mostly Mormon, Unathletic kids rebelled against the jocks, the power kids. So, a motley group of about 6-8 mostly Mormon kids formed, the “Pig Club” (yes, this seems so insane now) for any unpopular kid in school. Of course when it began we were initiates were the only ones who knew about it. Our intention was to have a “fabulous” party a month that popular kids were not invited to—NO POPULAR KIDS ALLOWED. Within three months, lots of kids were wanting to join because we were having a GREAT time at these things. We were learning something about life: TO do what WE were doing was no different than any other “clique” and how its formed. We were discriminating in our “select” “committee” group WHO could and WHO could NOT be allowed in. How long did you think THAT could last in a town were No ONE was unknown either in rank, position, religion, appetites, weaknesses, etc etc etc. By the fourth month, a few of the jocks were pissed off that they weren’t allowed or invited and complained to parents. We were forced to disband the Pigs Club by our parents who’d been advised of the problem by the jocks parents who’d not been allowed to go to the Pig Party. Whew!

VII
Of COURSE I went on a Mormon Mission. I was the youngest of 5 Mormon kids in a tiny town where even passing wind when you might be alone in the dark could easily pop up in next weeks town newspaper. So one did not rock the boat. If you’re expected to go on a mission, you go. One problem about going though was that I did NOT have and NEVER had that “testimony” that almost all Mormons proudly proclaim in their monthly “Testimony” Meetings” “I KNOW the Mormon Church is True and Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God”. I reasoned that not shaming my parents wasn’t the only reason I should go. I just may gain that testimony if I went. So off I went, assigned to Kentucky/Tennessee for two years. That testimony never came but about haflway through the two years, I began to realize that my sexuality was confused, and that the attraction that I’d been taught would certainly ruin my perfect Mormon standing was not going away. So I needed to get home and get the “cure” that I was sure a psychiatrist would have. But I didn’t get to go home yet. One week before I was to be released, we were in a fatal car crash. The friend in the back killed, the driver unhurt, and I with a smashed femur & ribs, and not expected to live. I woke up in a Louisville, KY hospital where I spent the next six months and another six months at my folks recuperating and learning to walk. Yes, by the time I went back to BYU, I needed somebody to bring me out. But that year off also changed me completely.

VII
In MY experience, it’s not the out normal gay folk who are predatory at all. But MOST often, Closeted Married Men ARE predatory. They have affairs with other married men, or anonymous partners in bookstores, and other unsavory places. They take risks and are most likely NOWADAYS to be the ones passing on a disease not just to the partner, but their WIVES. THESE closeted married men ARE often religious (i.e. Ted Haggard) and become the very stereotype they complain about from their pulpits. Hence, they remain in their shackled closeted lives out of shame, denial, etc. Then, when their lives fall apart, they bring extreme pain to entire families. As an Ex-Mormon, I met some of these men, and NEVER gained compassion for them. It has only BEEN these closeted types who’ve tried to seduce me without my consent. The best example on my mission. Even on a mission this Mormon Intellectual Professor at Vanderbilt OFTEN tried to get me away from my missionary partner, always touching, always winking……….. I hated it. Maybe I hated it because I myself wasn’t out yet? Doesn’t matter, I was on a mission so I could NOT have participated in that so WHY was he, as a Priesthood leader trying to do something that obviously was going to satisfy HIS underbelly seedy nature.

VIII
The guy who DID bring me out however, WAS in my mission field and we met when we went up to Salt Lake City from BYU together to go through the Mormon temple with some converts from KY. So after a day in the secret temple rites wearing the secret Temple Clothes, these fine converts put us up in a hotel room where the coming out happened. More surprising than finally realizing how everything played together and how I fit into the life’s puzzle, was HIS story about being the TOP baptizer (he and his missionary partner at the time) for six months (and I KNEW that part of the story already). What he told me that was new was: they were having sex EVERY night for that six months and had discussed becoming lovers after their missions. That was cut short though because his buddy was killed in Vietnam. This drove Bill back into the closet where I believe he remaines to this day……married!! So what does THAT say working in some love to your daily ritual? It drew believers into the Church. Seems to help even in religion, eh?

IX

My devoted Mormon Mother showed how powerful a Mother’s Love can be as she approached her final two years of life. After struggling in her prayers, church, and research for some twenty years after finding out my “secret”, she confided in me that she thought the all-powerful Mormon Church was dead Wrong in their approach to Homosexuality. She believed now that homosexuality was simply one of God’s mysteries that we, as humans, are to learn to accept and love those who are that way. I realized then she loved me unconditionally. She learned to love my partner Rodger that same way from the day she met him in 1989 when, after knowing me for two months, went with me to Vale, Oregon to help them move off their 16 acre place where they’d spent their retirement to go to a home in Ontario because Dad had just been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Rodger learned a lot about an old Mormon family that weekend, and STILL stayed with me.

X
I will never forget having my first cocktail at 23. I had been raised strict Mormon, and remember this quote from one of the apostles in my day: “Once the prophet has spoken, the thinking has been done.” Well. That’s what fundamentalism is all about. The devotees become like sheep and truly will NOT hear or listen to counterpoint considerations since they believe they have ALL truth. Anything that conflicts with that is a lie at the least and actually something “evil” at the worst. So it was one of the most powerful feelings I’ve EVER known to this day (including trying marijuana or LSD back in those salad days) that in the middle of the 2nd black Russian, was the first time in my life I REALIZED that my mind would work independently of what it was SUPPOSED to think. WHEW! That would be the most powerful night of liberation I’ve ever known. No, I’m not now living under a bridge and drinking Ripple.

There you have it. That’s part of how I ended up in Portland in the woods with Rodger. Married once, annulled by the state once , but laying low just waiting………..Here we were in 2004 in line waiting to get a wedding license…..there was NO time for planning or dress-up…….they opened the doors, we were there:

Now I must take the risk and tag someone else……………at the risk of alienating someone, I only do this because these folks are fine writers and I’d love to hear their “10 things”……….
1) Scott, or Purple Twinkie Fame, 2) Doug T of Gossamer Tapestry Fame, and although I don’t even think the famous archeologist reads this page, his views and writing style are fabulous, Mr. Homer of Homer’s World fame.

Whew! This task is complete. I must go run a dog or else he’ll be restless by midnight.

IF after you read this you can think why I shouldn’t celebrate the fact that this man will no longer be contributing to the public discussion of society’s more’s………………then comment, please:

Here are a few classic quotes from Jerry Falwell, truly just a tiny few…

- “If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being.”

- “I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!”

- “Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them.”

- “There is no separation of church and state. Modern US Supreme Courts have raped the Constitution and raped the Christian faith and raped the churches by misinterpreting what the Founders had in mind in the First Amendment to the Constitution.”

- “AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh’s charioteers.”

- “Textbooks are Soviet propaganda.”

- “The whole (global warming) thing is created to destroy America’s free enterprise system and our economic stability.”

- “(9/11 is the result of) throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools, the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked and when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad…I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America…I point the thing in their face and say you helped this happen.”

**thanks Joe My God for the tiny compilation.

And we can ADD to that list (this is just a tiny FEW things about him):
FALWELL hated Martin Luther King, thought he was evil.
FALWELL LOVED apartheid in South Africa and called S.A. a “model” of a Christian Nation
FALWELL compared Hillary Clinton to Lucifer (2006)
Falwell said, “If you’re not a born again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being.”
Falwell said “I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!” . . . .(and we’re well on our way to that, thanks to Bushco)
Falwell said: AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.
Falwell said: The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.
FAlwell said: The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews.

OKAY………….tell me what makes this man someone that followed in the path of Jesus? And just WHO would be burning in the “hell” he describes MORE than himself? Really…….even YOU, Provo, Utah………………you can’t possibly think that his quotes above come close to someone with a clear mental mind.

I think in his death, he’s clearly on a slippery slope as he moves toward his next existence:

I think in this photo of him some 30 years ago it was apparent this man was insane. What’s fascinating is that even though it was clear 30 years ago, his con-artist charisma converted millions to the hate and fear he preached. It flourishes today (because of the born-again BUSH power?), BUT has peaked. WE, the people, as a majority are waking up to the unbelievable horrors fundamentalists truly desire…………….it will never win here as it did in Germany. Yip Yip Hurray!

Please give me an ounce of reason how this death would be mourned by any human being?