Checking out on Pop Culture
Thursday, March 01, 2007
  Am I getting the new Magnovox?
http://www.jamesbrausch.com/?p=485

Well, didn't get the cruise. Now my greatest internet influencer is offering a new Magnovox player.

Why should I be considered James? Because I'm still up to the plate and swinging at the balls you are throwing. I'm convinced that I will be a success with this internet activity. Your products are helping me. They do what they say they'll do. So loyalty shold count for something. I'm still moving forward with your plan.

Respectfully,
Sheppard
 
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
  Am I Going on James Brausch's cruise?!
Been a long time since I've posted on this blog. Many reasons for this but the main,and only one for today that I am posting, is that I'd like to go on a cruise with James. Why? James, quite simply, I enjoy being with smart, successful people.

Now here's the full explanation. At 51 years of age I'm wanting to retire my landscaping business. The Florida heat is wicked in the summer. Being able to stay home with my family and run an Internet business has been a dream for two years now. We home school our son. Guarding his development is critical to me. Te more I'm around home, the better he will turn out.

I never met anyone who had the proper knowledge that you have to do this. I've purchased your products and have invested in a new blog that is to be launched later this week. The topic will center on leading a simple life (as well as finding ways to say goodbye to pop culture).

Thank you for offering this! God bless you.

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Monday, May 15, 2006
  Deadly alligators
Might seem insane on my part to comment on alligators on a blog dealing with insane pop culture. My fertile mind is ready to make a connection: here it is. It is insane to dangle one's feet, stroll near marshy wash outs or swamps and be a demure, petite young woman. Alligators are meat eaters. They eat regularly!

Reading my typical news sights each morning I ran across another alligator attack today. This makes three in the past week. All women. The last one was spotted by the poor lady's step father. He and others stormed into the water and pulled the dead woman from the gator's mouth.

Growing up in Tallahassee FL my friends and I would here stories about gators. Park rangers would never admit they attacked people. They would say that gators would take down dear or pigs. Now some pigs get very big in north Florida...Very big. It is my considered opinion that a large pig would fight more viciously than a human. Jeez, even a dear would wound a gator with its antlers.

So simple logic tells me that gators would find humans a nice easy meal. Many years ago I went to south Florida with my parents. We stayed at their friends house. They lived next to a river or estuary in my mind. Had a nice dock too. The morning of the first full day the man said to me "Want to feed the alligator?" Being something like 10 or 12 years old I thought I'd doied and gone to heaven. "Yeah!" He gave me bread crumbs and such. We walked out on the dock and started throwing bread in the water. In no time a large gator glided silently up to the dock. He ate everything...Quickly and menacingly. I remember looking into his eyes. Pure reptilian evil. This creature had no soul. Only an empty stomach. Being very impressionable and graced with an abundance of Godly fear of large, carnivorous I decided then and there I was no match for a gator.

It still amazes me when I see or hear of people (usually middle aged men) feed gators or try to get close and take a really scary picture of one. In no time flat a gator could grab the imbecile, twist and roll and severe the man's leg off.

Still this does not address how the three women were killed by gators. This is serious, unlike normal gators and gived wise people cause to stay away from areas that attract theses dangerous reptiles.
 
Monday, May 01, 2006
  Illegal Aliens
Over the past several years I've gone through a drastic shift in my position on illegal aliens.

When I started my lawn care business I developed a positive view toward them- based on their work ethic primarily. It's well known in the lawn care/landscaping business that illegals work hard. Contacting with them was a win/win for the small business owner. They'de work their bottoms off for you. Get paid. Then disappear. If you developed a relationship with any of them they would hang around and be dependable.

By and large they'de take care of the equipment, perform their tasks well, not complain about the job, collect their pay and skeedadle out of there.

Now regular home grown young men were/are wimps! They'de complain, tear up ones equipment, cut corners, and have their mind on lunch or quitting time. Too often they would have a drug problem. So depending on them to finish a day or week was expecting too much.

In every category illegal aliens outperformed the local home grown variety. This does not factor the godless amount of paperwork the government expects small business owners to complete on each employee.

Now comes 911 and the absolute scandal of open borders. Here we are- sitting ducks for any terrorist that chooses to enter this country and wreck havoc on us. Too many terrorists have already come through the southern borders.

Problem is illegal aliens come through as well. We have something like 20 million illegals in this country. Most of them think of America as a place to work so they can a). Send money home, b). Disappear into society to commit crimes c). Think of themselves as conquerors of land that was wrongly acquired through the loss of wars and/or purchased by us.

It is a well known statistic that approximately 60% of Mexicans think California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona belong to them. Too many illegal aliens thumb their nose at the American flag. Protesting their "right" to jobs, income and heaven knows what else they parade down streets and see living here as a full sponge that is theirs by right. Their right to suck from as they please.

For the record I'm favorable to any immigrant that wants to come here, work at a job or start their own business. Pay taxes, follow the law, raise their kids properly- even have a dedication to their home country. But if they are not citizens then they should 'shut up' about what they think is wrong with this country. If they become citizens then they swear to defend America against all enemies foreign and domestic.

I'm giving myself heart burn already! So I'll blog on this tomorrow

Christ is risen

S.
 
Sunday, April 16, 2006
  Going against the stream- Orthodoxy
Well today marks the first full day being an Orthodox Christian. Yesterday, at approximately 10:30 a.m., My son & I were accepted into the Orthodox faith. This fulfills a dream I've had for over 15 years. Several detours happened along the way. During a separation & inevitable divorce the Episcopal denomination helped me get back on my feet...My spiritual feet that is. Something about the repetition of the liturgy, both during the service and at home, gave me a terrific sense of peace and stability during a time when for three months I couldn't tie my own shoe laces.

That led to a 12 year period of tenure with the E.C.U.S.A. Met my wife there, had my son there, got lassoed into being on the vestry...Then, and I saw this coming inevitably, the denomination left the mores of the gospel by accepting an openly, practicing bishop who embraced same sex attraction. A sodomite. Had to bolt then.

My family took a 2 year hiatus from church. We said our prayers every night, read and studied the Holy Scriptures, but needed that break from a very draining congregation.

I saw the opportunity to act on my yearnings that surfaced while I was in seminary. The unbroken line of historic Christianity still existed in the Orthodox faith. So Saturday, at the celebration of the resurrection of Lazarus we were received.

Our priest snipped off some of our hair. Burned it in the incense holder, anointed us with Holy oil, had us recite a confession and several vows. Nothing made me feel so solid and glad to please my Lord as this. I could hear the silent whisper of the Holy Trinity saying "Welcome home...We've been waiting."

Now I actually feel tired at the end of church. I'm not a spectator. I'm rendering humble service to the Holy Trinity. I'm consuming the Holy Eucharist again. For several months prior I was truly missing it.

There are times in the service when the very presence of God permeates the congregation. It is truly mysterious but it is also evident the Holy Trinity is pleased.

In another post ( very soon) I will relate an 'incident' with an icon across the room...But that's another time.
 
Sunday, April 02, 2006
  Daylight Savings Time
I'm 50 years old and I still cannot get used to daylight savings time. Why?

The first reason is my body clock is very strong. At 10:00 PM each night my brain shuts down. It does not matter if I see a clock or not. My body knows the time. Several times I've been out of site of a a clock. My body screamed at me "Time to go to bed!" No matter if I'm in a party having a good time or staying up watching the stars in my remote country estate. At 10 o'clock my brain and body say "What are you doing? You're supposed to be in bed!"

No matter what I'm doing, no matter what spiritual state I'm in...The internal body clock rules. So now comes daylight savings time. We loose an hour! An hour of sleep!

Today at church my tired body told me it was too early to go through all the demands of Orthodoxy. But I persevered. I like to think that God had pity on me during the service. I just wanted to make it through...And have some positive influence on God's Kingdom.

Bottom line is that men thought up daylight savings time. They did this to get more work out of us. Since I cut grass and do landscaping work this engenders ill feeling on my part toward Government officials (not that I didn't have them already).

If my memory is correct I'll adapt in another three weeks. By then my body will have gotten over its rebellion.
 
  George Mason
Don't know what possessed me last night, but I watched the George Mason/Florida game last night. For the past few week I've loosely followed the final four activity of college basketball. Even though I'm a short distance out odd Tallahassee FL, I twilight 'Well, why not root for our strongest rival-Florida. I got say, Florida dominated the play to this point. When I turned on the set an hour before game time all the commentators were picking Florida.

Now a few qualifications are in order. I'm not a basketball aficionado. I'm not even a sport's jock. Be good grief! Florida has it all!

There was no doubt that the three point shots dominated the game. George mason couldn't put together a long effort to rout Florida. Almost none of their three point shots worked. Noah dominated the center of the court. Green was unstoppable.

My son pestered me to put on Spider-man ll (it was my idea). I said the games almost over! Lets see the final three minutes. You've got to understand something. I'm a die hard Seminole fan. I'll always root for my team. If truth be told however, my real reason for rooting against Florida has historically been because Steve Spurier was the coach. Has their ever been a more pitiful coach than him?

Never did suffer winers and complainers very well. Steve broke and formed a new mold of disgruntled complainers. So considering all this I am still amazed that I can root for Florida. Their play impressed the hell out of me however.

I predict they win the whole shooting match!
 
Friday, March 24, 2006
  And another link!
 
  Linking to this site!
 

Name:
Location: Florida, United States

I'm a 50 y/o white guy. Own my own business. Have wife, son & two step daughters. Have a Bull Mastiff dog, chickens, 1 cat. I live on 10 acres deep (in the woods) of north Florida.

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