Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A Veterans Day video tribute

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Germans signed the Armistice agreement ending one of our planet's greatest tragedies of all time: World War One. Naturally, it wasn't called that at the time--in fact, Woodrow Wilson declared it the "war to end all wars." It wasn't.

Here in the States we observe this anniversary with Veterans Day. In most of the British Commonwealth it's known as Remembrance Day. Australian folk singer Eric Bogle (whose concert Chris and I saw in Wilmington, DE, in 1993) wrote a song called "No Man's Land." Lots of bands have covered it, and most refer to it by the name The Fureys gave it, "The Green Fields of France."

I like Dropkick Murphys' version best, due to the use of pipes and drums, just as the song describes. Here's a video an American soldier put together to accompany the song, honoring the fallen. (Some of the images are also shown in Dropkick Murphys' official video, but I liked this one slightly better.)

Warning: you will cry. But the twenty million soldiers and civilians who died in that war deserve a few tears.

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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Songs to vote by

I took a half hour out of my busy revision schedule to make a cross-generational, cross-genre playlist to psych you up to vote. I figured it was the least I could do, seeing as I kinda fell off the voter registration nagging routine.

Below the playlist are some more words that are important.








Go to Vote411.org to find out all the information you need about where and when to vote and what you need to bring to the polls.

And please, even if you think your presidential candidate of choice is sure to win or lose, VOTE ANYWAY. Be part of the process. Do your sacred duty as an American.

Besides, the people running for Senator, Governor, House of Representatives, School Board, Sheriff, and Dogcatcher all need your vote. Not to mention the bajillion ballot questions up for consideration.

And if you think you might have to stand in a long line, consider bringing a brand-new, very thick, truly awesome book, perhaps a book that prompted one reviewer to say, "Never have I read a trilogy that exemplifies the spirit of freedom in so meaningful and poignant a way!"

If you don't believe me, listen to these people, like you did last time.






Happy Election Day.

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Sunday, October 12, 2008

Deep Caving (and the blues cures all)

I'm drowning in deadline, and nursing a very sick dog and a mildly sick cat this weekend (they're feeling better now) set things even more in arrears. So don't expect me back until, well, until I'm back.

Today’s voter registration nag video has nothing to do with voter registration. I just really like Guy Davis (I wrote about him a few years ago in this post), and this song makes me happy, despite the fact that it's about economic woes. It's a song called "Things About Coming My Way," and it describes the moment when you think things might just might turn around. At least, that's what it means to me.

Here's your semi-daily update of the dwindling list of states that are still registering voters. The blinky states are closing their voter registration rolls this Monday through Wednesday.

As always, visit VotersUnite! for rules and regs pertaining to your own personal state.

Alabama
California
Connecticut
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts

Minnesota
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
North Dakota
Oregon
South Dakota
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin



----------------
Now playing: Volcano - Beck
via FoxyTunes

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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Don't vote

I pledge to do my civic duty this election season, not by proselytizing on who you should vote for (Seriously, is anyone still undecided at this point? What are you waiting for, a neon sign from God?).

No, I'll do my duty by being a big fat noodge every day until the last state passes its voter registration deadline. I'll list the states every day (except today, because it's still open everywhere) whose registration is still open and highlighting those whose deadline comes the following day.

This will require meticulous record-keeping on my part, not to mention creativity to come up with new ways to bug the pants off you about registering to vote. I hope you appreciate my sacrifice, and show that appreciation by purchasing my upcoming novel The Reawakened, which is chock full of hot political issues like torture, military occupations, and pyrokinetics (setting stuff on fire with one's mind is the big sleeper wedge issue of '08--just wait and see).

Don't worry--it won't be painful. It'll be video-riffic, starting with today's entry, "Five Friends (Uncensored)." Enjoy!

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

The fierce urgency of now

As you probably know, this historic day, when Barack Obama will accept the nomination of the Democratic Party for the President of the United States, also marks the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. I highly recommend taking the time to watch it today, whether you've seen it before (like me, not since high school) or not.



And whatever your party affiliation, take a moment tonight to realize how far we've come as a nation. Be proud.

Then get up tomorrow and make the dream a reality. Because though our nation stands on the "warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice," there are still those who would slam the door.

Let freedom ring.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth Day is his Birthday

As an amateur-turned-professional-turned-amateur environmentalist, I tend not to celebrate (or even notice) this Gaia-honoring holiday. To me, every day is Earth Day.

However, every day is not Misha's birthday. The only cat I've ever had whose birthday I knew for sure (we got him from a coworker whose harlot kitty came home knocked up one night), Misha turns Lucky 13 today.

To join me in celebrating the Day of the Guy, please enjoy this instructive video, "An Engineer's Guide to Cats." It even contains a potential solution to global warming at the end, thus fulfilling my holiday obligation.




Since his favorite thing in the world is a new pair of (human) shoes, I might need to make a trip to DSW. Anything to keep the boy happy.

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The Reawakened

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Wicked Game

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Jeri Smith-Ready

Jeri Smith-Ready is a Maryland author of romantic and urban fantasy.

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