It's hard to imagine television much better than we've had on Monday nights this January. The last episodes of the first season of NBC's Surface have been edge-of-your-seat exciting and I can't wait to see what happens in next week's finale. I started watching this show because it is filmed in one of the best-kept-secret, cool ass cities on the eastern seaboard, Wilmington, North Carolina, but as the season progressed, I kept watching because it was so good. When we left our main characters last night, we left them facing an approaching tsunami, that had apparently just taken out San Juan.
There's not much time to catch my breath after Surface ends, because a quick change of the channel takes me to Fox and the fifth season of 24. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I started watching 24 with the first episode of the first season and have been hooked on Jack Bauer's efforts, albeit sometimes unorthodox, to save the world, ever since. This fifth season is, in my opionion, the best since the first and each hour brings on new surprises. By the time I was done with Surface and 24, I was feeling grateful that Medium is in re-runs, just for a little rest and an early to bed. I almost felt hung over this morning from last night's television induced adrenaline.
************************************************************
I saw a great bumper sticker last evening while in Decatur (one of the cooler little burghs inside of I-285) picking my son up after basketball practice. It said, "Frodo Failed and Bush Has The Ring". I laughed out loud, but have to wonder what he'll be saying tonight in his State of the Union Address. I am not expecting him to say too much about Katrina, although I doubt he can leave it out entirely. It's just that the mere mention of it calls to mind failure and incompetence. While national security seems to be an important issue for this administration, it just seems to this simple southern girl that what has happened in New Orleans in Katrina's wake is a matter of national security and, to this day, incompetence seems to be the norm, rather the exception. I know this has been said over and over but it merits repeating: the levees were designed, built and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Had the Corps done their job right, New Orleans would be fine now. It's a Corps failure. That's a federal failure and it needs fixing.
***********************************************************
While I'm on the subject of the federal government, I would like to briefly talk about underaged drinking. While, ostensibly, the states choose the age at which is it legal to purchase or possess alcoholic beverages, they were pressured by the federal goverment, some years ago, to lower this age to eighteen, or lose any federal dollars for the construction and maintenance of interstate highways (so, it's not really up to the states, after all). Now, an eighteen year old can go to Iraq and die for our country, get married in any state, have sex legally in any state and, if charged with a crime, will be charged as an adult, but cannot buy a drink. Most importantly, if a group of kids, away from parental supervision (say, at college) are drinking (illegally) and one of them appears to have had so much to drink that they may be in danger, his or her friends are at risk of being arrested in the event they seek help for their friend. I know that lowering the drinking age is a volatile subject and not something that could easily or rapidly be done, but, the fact is that some kind of amnesty for those who might seek help for friends in danger from excessive consumption of alcohol is a relatively simple thing the states could do that might save some lives on college campuses.
************************************************************
Finally, it seems that recently, I've had way more people than usual outside of my little family on my prayer list, and that their needs are real and great, and that the list of "add ons" after my "regular" prayers is growing in length and seriousness. Most particular among these, after Lewis' family (see below) is my oldest son's dear friend, Sean, who, upon graduating from UNCW has been diagnosed with a very serious cancer and finds himself, rather than looking for a job, fighting for his life. I just wanted to ask those of you who are inclined to pray to please add Sean in Wilmington and his family to your prayers. He's a smart, kind, funny and beautiful young man. He's been a great friend to my son. His brother, whose bone marrow Sean may need, is serving in a very dangerous capacity in Iraq. Please pray for Sean's brother's safety and Sean's successful treatment. I thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment