Who Knew...

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...that people in bars might get married? uh, no. dressed? nope. even? sometimes. But that's not it either.

Oh, yeah, drunk!!

So now Texas is arresting people for getting drunk---in bars!!

Even Madison is not that loony toons! Okay, we banned smoking in bars and bowling alleys. We even banned smoking in cigar bars! But we repealed it (the cigar bar thing, not the rest)!! But Madison is in Wisconsin--we drink lots of beer and brandy. We expect people to get drunk in bars! In fact for college students, that's the reason they go to bars!!

From every Texan (especially one who shall remain nameless, but his initials are HDD) who has derided Madison as as oasis surrounded by reality, I request a humble apology. (You could get away with it, if it were only Austin, but it's not, it's the whole state!)

Next thing you know someone will figure out that we eat too much in restaurants!! and we watch R-rated movies in theatres!! and we shoot guns during hunting season (nah, I won't go there, it's too easy)!! and we don't even want to think about what we do in bathrooms! Where will it ever end!!

Identity Crisis

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You may recall that a while back I changed the name of my blog from "A Room with a Viewpoint" because someone in India asked that I do so. She had used the name for a couple of years.

However, this was some time ago, and she has not bothered to thank me--or even acknowledge the change. In fact, I doubt that she has even come back to see if I did it. I hope I'm not one that requires thanks for doing the right thing, but I didn't have to change it. It was a favor, and to someone I don't even know.

And, as much I like the Lewis Carroll poem, I think "A Room with a Viewpoint" describes my occasional postings more than "Cabbages and Kings."

So, I'm seriously thinking about changing it back. I suspect that she found the site when perusing the blogspot recent updates. I seriously doubt that anyone has confused my blog with hers, or vice versa. I have so few regular readers of my own, that I can't imagine that my blog is interfering with hers in any way.

Made Up Sins

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So Catholic bishops all over the country are granting "dispensations" to allow Catholics to eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's day.

This is probably the first thing that caused to me to begin seriously questioning the Catholic Church--made up sins. Of course, the practice of fasting and prayer are important throughout the Bible. But as with so many things, the Catholic Church had to make up a rule for when you have to do it (fast, anyway, prayer optional) and then make it a sin to break the rule (a venial sin to be sure, but a sin).

When I was growing up, it was forbidden to eat meat on any Friday, not just during Lent. Of course, this wasn't really a penance, at least in Wisconsin. It just resulted in the creation of the "Friday Fish Fry." Much more fun than hot dogs and accompanied by beer, if you were a grown up.

Then the Church loosened the rule, so you only have to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent. (I wonder how many people spent time in purgatory for something that ceased to be a sin.) And now, apparently, a holiday known more for green beer than for any religious meaning is enough for bishops to revoke their made-up rule that is supposed to be a reminder of Christ's 40 days and nights fasting in the desert, in order to add corned beef and cabbage to the beer and other distinctly not religious celebrations. (And isn't there a question about St. Pat being a made-up saint as well??) Ah well, it's just fried fish by another name.

And the Oscar Goes To...

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OK, not that anyone cares but me, but here is my ranked list of Best Picture nominees.

1. Capote (by a hair)
1. Good Night, and Good Luck
3. Crash
4. Brokeback Mountain
5. Munich

Too bad for Heath Ledger that Philip Seymour Hoffman is probably going to (very deservedly) win for his portrayal of Capote. In any other year, Ledger would be a real contender for his portrayal of Ennis in Brokeback Mountain.