I am a Star Trek nerd. I collect Star Trek stuff, I jumped from a perfectly good helicopter in my Command Gold Star Trek shirt flashing the live long and prosper hand sign (the best gang sign in the universe), I actually feel the urge to (and have at times) stood up when the Star Trek theme plays on TV or at the movies, I have several Star Trek ring tones for my phone – some of which I have spent much of my own time crafting.

Years a go a friend gave me the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek. And ya know…the book speaks the truth!

Each person or each species, no matter how alien, has the right to live their lives as they wish. (As long as they’re not trying to take over the galaxy or eat you or something.)

Everyone has a role in life. Sulu is the navigator. Uhura is the communications specialist. Do your own job and the ship will function more smoothly.

Whatever you are doing, answer a distress call. The most important time to help someone is when they need it.

If you mess something up, it’s your responsibility to make things right again. (Say you disrupt history and cause the Nazis to win World War II. To correct matters, you have to let Joan Collins walk in front of a car even though you’re in love with her.)

The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

If you can keep your head in a crisis you’ve got a fighting chance.

The unknown is not to be feared. It is to be examined, understood and accepted.
Close friends become family and family is the true center of the universe.

End every episode with a smile.

And lastly, with time and patience you can even learn something from The Next Generation.

Recently David Borgenicht, President of Quirk Books reminded me that you CAN learn a lot from Star Trek.

Damn it, Jim, read on

Every year when I was full time at KILT I read this on the air. Every year the office staff worked liked Santa’s Elves to fax and email copies to listeners who wanted it. So since I am no longer able to read it to you, I will post it here. Please share with your friends and family.

The Christian’s Twelve Days of Christmas!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas are the 12 days between Christmas (December 25) and the Epiphany (January 6), which is when the three Magi arrived with Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.

Origin of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”
An Underground Catechism

Most folks, I believe, are familiar with the Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. If you listen to the words carefully, it seems like nonsense set to rhyme and music. However, it was written with a serious purpose.

It is more than just a list of twelve silly gifts. Catholics in England during the period 1558-1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic. [Note: Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.]

The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written in England as one of the “catechism songs”to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment. The authorities would not know that it was a religious song. Actually, the catechism to which it referred was rather ecumenical so they could claim to be Protestant if cornered.

The songs gifts had hidden meanings to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The “true love” mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, but refers to God Himself. The “me” who received the presents refers to every baptized person, i.e. the Church. The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge in memory of the expression of Christ’s sadness over the fate of Jerusalem! “Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou would not have it so…”

The Christian’s Twelve Days of Christmas!!

A partridge in a pear tree ——- The one true God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ

2 Turtle Doves —————— The Old and New Testaments

3 French Hens —————– Faith, Hope and Charity

4 Calling Birds——————- The Four Gospels or the Four Evangelists

5 Golden Rings—————— The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch which contains the law condemning us of our sins

6 Geese A-Laying —————-The six days of Creation

7 Swans A-Swimming————The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven Sacraments of the Catholic faith

8 Maids A-Milking ————–The Eight beatitudes

9 Ladies Dancing —————-The Nine Fruits of the Spirit

10 Lords A –Leaping————The Ten Commandments

11 Pipers Piping—————–The eleven faithful apostles

12 Drummers Drumming——The twelve point of Doctrine in the Apostles creed

Jason Allen – I’ll Miss You This Christmas is one of my most favorite new holiday songs.

Not because it’s a “miss you song” but because his guitar playing and vocals are always spot on for this sound.

Click the link to listen to the song and if you have a chance to catch Jason is concert….GO. His guitar playing is worth your time.

Because Hannah cracks me up and her explanation of how magnets work at the end of this video is spot on.

New video has been released that shows the formation of a brinicle on the ocean floor. Essentially an underwater icicle, the brinicle, or “finger of death,” freezes everything in its path.

This is something I’d never heard of and certainly never wanna come close to in the water.

Find out more about the video

As a radio person for many years WKRP has always held a warm spot in my heart. And one of the best Thanksgiving Day screw ups in radio promotion history just happened to happen on it…enjoy the turkey drop.

Did you know that the businest day at vet ERs around the country is today – Thanksgiving day.

We tend to forget that human food is not always good for our pets.

My cats do not eat human food except for VERY rarely and even then in VERY limites amounts.

What is ok and what is not

Ok, I am not a cranberry person. One of the reasons my Grandma Lucille started making her famous red hot salad was because I wouldn’t eat the cranberry sauce from the can.

Only once or twice has my family done something totally out of the norm and made fancy from scratch fresh cranberry sauce. But there was always the can of jello type cranberry sauce on the table.

I had no idea how many people take this can of cranberry stuff so seriously.

Dig in

It really needs no explanation.

Every year friends ask me for the recipe for Grandma Lucille’s Red Hot Salad. She made it for every family holiday gathering since I can remember until she passed away. I have kept the tradition alive through the years. It’s easy to make – which is even better since I am not that good with recipes!

You’ll need:

2 boxes of cherry jello
1 med sized jar of good applesauce (don’t get store brand because it’s usually too runny)
1 bag of Brach’s red hots or cinnamon imperials – they melt best

Boil 1 1/2 cups of water and add about 2/3 of the bag of red hots to it (more if you like it real cinnamonny)
Take it off the heat or they’ll stick while they melt and stir til the red hots have dissolved
Add the red hot mixture to the jello in a good sized bowl
When you add the applesauce be sure to spoon it in carefully – if you dump it in you’ll have quite a mess and it won’t set up even
Stir it a bit to make sure the applesauce blends with the Jello and then let it set up as usual

I serve it as a side dish but it makes a great snack or desert with some Cool Whip on top