I Don't Have Much Wisdom, But I DO Have Some Experience

It is near impossible to go from being lovers (sweethearts, dating, going steady, partners, etc) to being "friends" especially if you're coming off from being "friends with benefits." (No strings) If it's a guy you are breaking up with, he will grab at straws. I know, because I've been guilty. I know some of you are tender-hearted and have been in a relationship that's been toxic. I know you want to believe that said Sir Toxic will change, and while I DO believe in redemption* I also know that there is a certain type of toxic person who has no concept of changing. He only changes in the sense of as a chameleon changes.

Hear me, going from committed relationship to just "friends" is a transition that only comes after at LEAST six months of TOTAL SEPARATION!! (if not more) and maybe PERMANENTLY. Sir Toxic will take on any form, play any role, use any trick, to get you back and by "back" I mean the same old rut you were in that made you make the decision to get out of it. Your heart wants to think he'll change. You want to believe he'll change. He wants to make you believe he'll change. He may even have fooled himself into thinking he's changed, but DON'T, repeat DON'T buy it!

While I have compassion on the Mr Toxics in the world, I am sick and tired of seeing good-hearted, genuine people hurt by these guys. "Oh, I have a sex addiction" Blah blah blah. You are scared to commit and always looking over the fence for greener grass, that's you're problem, Mr Toxic. There are women like this, too, for sure. Why do you thing we have SAFCAB?

Your decision to send Mr Toxic packing was wise. Now you have to follow through. You may have to endure his thinking you're a b*tch, but that's the price you'll have to pay. Your REAL friends will know that is not true! YOU, dear lady have to lay down the barriers and decide what they are. No one can do that FOR you.

The Buck loves you!

(*repentence, a willingness to turn from the old and begin anew through Jesus Christ)

Yeah, Sometimes I Whine...

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Yeah, Sometimes I Whine...

by Johnny Roebuck on Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 10:15am

...It's not a trait I'm particularly proud of but I think if we don't let it out, it festers and gets way out of hand. I was told by someone very precious to me that I am too much of an open book. What you see is what you get. I like the lack of pretence in that, but I agree, it's not necessarily always positive.

I've grown to dislike "holidays" for some very selfish reasons. Christmas was great when I was a kid and celebrated it for all the wrong reasons and later when I became a dad and shared the joy of watching Josh get more interested in the wrapping paper than the gift. We never were able to keep up with the latest gadgets, Nintendo and the like, but that's okay, now Josh has all that stuff.

Family is the most important thing in life to me. My blood relatives for sure, but I have relatives who don't share my DNA and they are just as legitimately family as those who are. I have what many would call a "step granddaughter" whom I love with all my heart. I also have a cousin who is actually my Uncles adopted nephew, if that makes sense and he is more like a brother than a cousin, five years my senior and always taking up for the "Yankee boy" who came down to Wilson for visits from DC. Yeah, I love Herb.

I long more than anything to be able to see my Mom and Dad and a whole bunch of other relatives who have passed away. I don't know WHAT people do who don't know where their relatives who've gone on do. See, as much as I miss them, I wouldn't bring them back to THIS world as it is for anything, because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt they are with the Lord Jesus and that's alright with me. That's another thing, Jesus. How in the world do you miss Someone you've never actually seen, physically? Yet, that's the way I feel about Jesus. I want to see Him...hear Him say, "It's alright now. You're with Me."

The old folks used to say, "this world is not my home" and I couldn't understand that, but now I do.

This past Friday, I lost count at a hundred, ten "happy birthdays" on Facebook. Wow. It takes my breath away.

My co-workers greeted me with a jelly doughnut with a candle on it and you know what? That doughnut means as much to me as the biggest fourteen layer chocolate cake(...well, you know what I mean)

Here's the whining part. Karaoke has come to mean a lot to me. It saved my psyche when someone I dearly love decided to, in the words of my dad, "set me adrift." That's for the most part where I met some of the hundred and ten people. It seems like when a holiday comes around, or someone's stupid team is playing some big deal game, it's used as an excuse to put off karaoke. It's like it's the first thing to be cut. I don't like that. I never will. Hate to end on a negative note, so lets see...

How about this. I LOVE YOU!

Suspicion Confirmed

I thought I detected the automobile of an idiot.



Upon closer inspection my suspicion was confirmed!

The Art of Less is More...

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The Art of Less is More

by Johnny Roebuck on Monday, October 3, 2011 at 12:57pm

...and the concept thereof

I won't identify the band because my purpose is not to put down, just observe. It's a concept few people grasp, especially in music today. Sinatra definitely mastered it, Dean Martin matured it and Elvis perfected it. Others like Nat (King) Cole and Jim Reeves were masters of it. Some lived there and that's okay, but just because it is good doesn't mean you have to set up camp. There's a line in GI Blues where this German gentleman asked Elvis' character what he thought of the little band and he had no criticism other than to say that "we do it a little differently...we sort of let is OOOZE out!" The gentlman replies "Vas dis OOOZE?" and Elvis is off to singing "Tonight is So Right for Love."

The other thing this band did that so many do is over-harmonize. There are songs constructed to not have harmony. Of course, there are some that it won't hurt, but far too many others that are ruined by it. This band had way too much personell, for one thing. Like a tree, they need a good pruning. Background vocals should be just that...background, not drowning out the lead. When I sing karaoke and someone does this, I make note and do not sing that song again at least in that venue. I am quite capable of ruining a song on my own. What I can't stand is for someone else to ruin it and for me to get credit for it. I'm just that vain. Some say, it doesn't matter because it's karaoke. Well, if it's singing, yes it DOES! I've heard a lot of bands put in unnecessary "harmonies." Many times, they are not harmonies, but dischords. It only takes one person off key to mess the whole thing up.

I have no idea whether Rick Barefoot can sing, but I appreciate the fact that if he doesn't think so, so he doesn't. I've seen people lead every round of karaoke with five of their own songs or people who couldn't sing sing every round when it was unnecessary. One guy, didn't need to sing in the first place. His voice was ragged. There's a difference between Janis Joplin or Rod Stewart's raspy delivery and someone who's just ruined their voice with too many cigarettes and sound like a lung's on its way up.

I don't like the song anyway, but it's popular apparently. It's called "Crazy B*tch" and it has no harmony for a reason...when you add one, no matter how much you try, it doesn't fit...it's like those dad limb bells at the church that try to harmonize the hold hymns and hit a dischord.

But what do I know. I don't even have a band any more

Nice Tee Shirt

Somebody get me one (hint hint)

Divine Appointment

I walked out on the patio of Locked & Loaded last night during another Friday of karaoke. There sat a successful looking couple who turned out to be David and Rebecca, who's last names I did not get. They stopped me and complimented me on my Elvis songs I had done over some time. They indicated that they had come multiple times, although I had never noticed them and had enjoyed my renditions better than any of the tribute artists (formerly known as Elvis impersonators) in Vegas and around the country. They both said I captured the "essence" of Elvis and that it seemed to come from deep within.
This opened a discussion about the Mississippi Flash. David had seen Elvis in Philadelphia on the same tour as the Madison Square Garden performances the year I had seen him (1971) in Baltimore. His dad MADE him go. His dad was no Elvis fan until the Hillbilly Cat sang "How Great Thou Art." From that moment on, David's dad was a dyed in the wool Elvis fan. We spoke of Elvis' generosity, and the times we had seen him. I started to speak of Elvis' receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and hesitated.
David and Rebecca have been to Graceland many times. I finally "spilled the beans" that I am a Pentecostal. Not only that, but a Pentecostal HOLINESS! David and Rebecca are as well. David shared some experiences with me not uncommon to my own. He had a burden in his heart for Elvis' soul. I then shared that Elvis had received "his Baptism" at the age of nine and immediately gave his bicycle away to a kid he thought "might need it more than me."
David has rubbed shoulders with many of Elvis' insiders and shared that he spoke with Bill Baze, who sang high tenor for the Stamps and who also is Pentecostal. David gave a note to Bill to give to Elvis. Bill shared that he was forbidden from giving anything to Elvis directly, that he had to give it to Charlie Hodge who would decide whether to pass it along. David was living in Atlanta at the time, but was moving in a month. The note had his phone number and a message to Elvis about salvation. Elvis was to appear a week after David moved. One night, David got a strange call from his mother. She said she ALSO got a strange call. The voice on the line asked if it was a specific number. It was not, it was David's. She told David that the voice sounded unmistakenly like Elvis. Who knows?
There are "Christian Nightclubs" in Atlanta, or there were. David was in one and sat at a table next to Dottie Rambo. He shared with Dottie his burden and asked if she knew Elvis was saved. Dottie said that he was, and that he'd gotten the Baptism at age nine, but that he was struggling with problems. (Failures) She then produced a prayer in Elvis' handwriting that he had given Dottie and asked her to pray it daily "so I'll know every day SOMEBODY is praying for me!"
David and Rebecca encouraged me as we spoke of my current unemployment and prayed for me. While the discussion of Elvis was great, the highlight was our discussion of spiritual matters. I shared my testimony and they noted how my eyes lit up when I spoke of Jesus. Amen

Not to Be Political, But...

Let's see where we are in terms of 2012's Presidential Election. There's the re-election of Obama. Some folks think it's an impossibility, but not being properly vetted, made it possible for this poor excuse of a human being to be elected in the first time, so the saying goes, if you voted FOR him to prove you aren't a racist, vote against him this time to prove you're not a total idiot. And hey, voting for McCain last time was voting for Obama-Light. Don't know what the Viet Cong did to that man's brain when he was a POW, but it has the same effect as Obama's being brought up by America-hating Marxist-Socialist-Communists. So, no doubt we'd not be in as bad a shape with McCain, but we'd just be going down the toilet slower.

So, those running against. Perry. Friend of Al Gore. That's scary enough. Says Social Security has turned out to be a Ponzy Scheme. Very true and courageous, but Dems get nervous at that false accusation that keeps coming up from the playbook over and over. Too scary at this point.

Romney. Mormon. Enough to disqualify for me, but had his OWN form of Obamacare that was a disaster. No way I'd support Romney.

Ron Paul. I know folks who swear by him who with that exception have brains. No, when you say Iraq should be allowed to have nuclear weapons, you've pretty much have joined looney tune briggade.

I like Herman Cain. All that he's said, all that he's stood for, with one, nervous exception. He was part of the banking system in Kansas City. The Fed, I in no way trust. Just a cartel of bankers in their own interest. Scary

Of everyone, though, Cain makes the most sense, but no telling what will happen.

Memories (Pressed Between the Pages)

The world of karaoke is sort of an experiment in democracy music style. Everyone has their personal likes/dislikes and quirks. There is an over-abundance of very talented singers who would put the corporate pablum on the radio to shame in ALL genres. There's your occasional tone deaf person, the one who because of alcohol or some other reason always runs one line behind in the song. There's even music that isn't even music at all, but a series of phrases in time to a repetitious series of samples jumbled whatever.

There are things that drive people nuts, but they keep coming. It's like church or ball games or whatever. At church Eula may will ask you to "pray for me while I render this here song" at church and people say bless her heart under their breath and your team doesn't always win. So there you go.

One of my pet peeves is singing the same song over and over week to week and not learning or singing something else.

In that spirit, I was asked last night to repeat a song I did the previous week and I offered to sing a similar song instead. This turned out to be serendipidous. The song requested was "Can't Help Falling in Love" which by the way, nationally is the single most requested Elvis Presley song and "Suspicious Minds" follows. I offered to, instead sing, "Hawaiian Wedding Song" and did so. It was toward the end of the night and my final song. I was saying my good-byes to people and had leaned over this fence to speak to someone when an older lady turned around and said, "Thanks for all the memories" and told me she had lost her husband and that that movie "Blue Hawaii" was an integral part of their lives together. Ah romance. So lacking today, but there's a generation who could teach us a thing or three!

Tried it, and it Didn't Work (Nor WIll it EVER!)

Kris Kristoffersen said Jesus was a Capricorn in one of his songs. Commies claim He was a Socialist. The amazing thing is that Socialism/Marxism/Communism has been tried and failed every single time. Capitalism hasn't failed. Rather, it was a victim of subterfuge and sabotage by radicals who try to pass themselves off as "moderates."

Socialism was tried and it failed by the closest thing to perfect people since Adam & Eve, namely, the first century , fledgling church. It didn't work then for those good people and it certainly won't work with the scum bag politicians who want to try it again.

Different Strokes...

It's interesting to see how people process things and it's all part of this thing we call life. People react to things differently. I've noticed that some cannot handle complements without their hat size increasing and it's very unbecoming but I try to be patient and see if there may be a mid course correction. When you walk with the Lord and start that mess he'll cause something to humble you right quick, that's why I try to humble myself.

I've seen hosting karaoke, of all things, transform people from humble, nice, polite people to arrogant, obnoxious doo doo heads and a few people who have had one too many compliments react the same way. The thing to remember is it could all be gone so quickly.

I guess a good way to look at it is God's not finished with me, so he's probably not finished or maybe hasn't even gotten started with them. As we say in the South, bless their hearts

Jerry Lieber, Rest in Peace

He was half of the writing team Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller who wrote songs recorded by Elvis, the Coasters and others. They wrote "Hound Dog" "Little Egypt" and "Jailhouse Rock" and more. There's a new star in Rock'n'roll Heaven and a big hole if there is such a thing as the Rock Writers' Hall of Fame.

Elvis was accused of stealing "Hound Dog" from Big Momma Thornton but Elvis came up with his version of the song after hearing a guy sing it at a fair in Dallas TX.

(Picture: Elvis sings Hound Dog on the Steve Allen Show. Inset: Elvis with Lieber and Stoller)

Loser?

Labeling someone a loser basically makes the accuser the loser. At least that's the way I feel about it. From what I've heard from friends of mine who share this and similar forums, lots of them are tired of the how social websites have been over-commercialized. It's called networking and it is effective until it gets to the point of being obnoxious.

Let's talk about something that you won't see among MY pages and that is, anyone trying to push Amway. On two occasions I was approached about this. One time, a young friend of mine was getting his life in order in many ways, including spiritually and had invited me over to talk, I THOUGHT about his spiritual condition. This was before the cell phone and I had only known one Charlottean who had had a car phone and he had rooked our boss out of that. It turned out to be an Amway meeting. After a while, I became very familiar with the circles on the then, chalk board which today is probably the dry board or even some sort of power point presentation.

A friend had previously pitched Amway to me and I promised if he ever reached something called "Diamond Direct" I would "come in under him." More on that later. Then, years later a guy approached me with it and I told him of my promise to my FIRST friend and his reply, not paying attention to what I'd just said, was, "I'M Diamond Direct!" I made the promise to Ron White, who has long since ditched Amway, multilevel marketing and embraced his ministry calling.

The thing that is so unbecoming of these schemes is the way they instill in their inside victims (members, associates, whatever) an "us and them" mentality. They're LOSERS, because they haven't seen the light of AMWAY! There are people all over the country with attics and garages full of soap and vitamins and whatever Amway puts out. All good products, by the way.

There is a quiet, but growing roar that I believe is soon to manifest itself over these Amway-like multilevel marketing things and that is, a rejection of having them on your social website because they've heard it and are at the point of being TIRED of hearing it.

To her credit, I did see ONE friend who's involved in one of these who didn't wish to bombard people with this crap and started a separate page on a similar group. I salute her. For the rest I know you have to hear it three times, (some of you more) so here it is...No...no...NO! Okay?

Never Got a Chance...

You MAY have read about the Brewery, closing down this week. I failed to pay a visit there as most of my entrance into bars is for karaoke, but I always wanted to go check it out. Yesterday, it was demolished to make way for some new edifice to be constructed on that land. There are technicalities and legalities afoot that restrain me from just totally doing a number on the property's new owner, so suffice it to say that it is a shame my buddy Tom Taylor wasn't given adequate time for a proper "Good-bye Brewery" festival so several of the bands who have played there could do a fare well performance, etc. Let us hope that the old adage is true that what goes around will indeed COME around for this classless, opportunistic, well, YOU fill in the blank. Tom deserved much better than how he was treated.

An Outsider's Perspective

Outsider, because I have a handicap license plate but I only park in handicap spaces when I really NEED to. Sometimes I do, sometimes I do not. Courtesy is at a premium these days and rare at best.

One place where I love to hang out for several activities each week is kind enough to provide special parking spaces for motocycles. That's great. At times, there need to be additional signs above those that read "Motorcycle Parking Only." One above reading, "What part of..." and one below reading, "don't you understand?" because rude four wheelers from pick up truck drivers to those who think their cars are so special they have to park away from everyone else routinely park there. That's just wrong!

However, there recently was an incident where not all of the motorcycle spaces were used up, and motorcycles were in the four wheeler spaces. A friend of mine, not wishing to park in Chocowinity, parked in a motorcycle spot and was severely repremanded by a biker, quite rudely. Now that also was rude of the biker because there was plenty of space in the biker area but none in the four wheeler spaces. It HAS to work both ways or it just doesn't work. Of COURSE, if all the biker spaces are taken, bikers should feel free to park in other spaces, but this incident was one that required courtesy. My friend wanted to leave. One of the owners convinced him to stay. Come on, people. Grow up. As Mr O'Donnel at the Falls Church Boy's Club used to say, "ALL uh yuz!"

;-)

What's in a Name?

A name is very important. If your name was Joe and you were walking down the street, there is little chance that you'd acknowledge someone shouting, "Hey, Frank...Frank...oh Frank!!!" So it is with God. I did not say gods. I mean the One True and LIVING God Who created the universe.

His enemies and those who don't believe His Name is important wish to remove even his TITLE from the Pledge of Allegiance. The simple phrase UNDER GOD really gets under their skin.

God is real and His arch enemy, satan is as well. satan knows that God's Name is powerful probably more than any human realizes. When Thomas (the doubter) saw Jesus enter the room, not using the door seconds after loudly proclaiming he would not believe, Jesus had him examine his body, to touch the scars, put his hand in the wound in his side. Thomas' reply was a profound one. He said "My Lord and my GOD!" Jesus is deity as in God, the Son. Scripture further said that Jesus gave people the power to become children (sons and daughters) of God even to those WHO BELIEVED ON HIS NAME!

Acts 4:12 proclaims, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

Do NOT be amazed at satan's attempt to mess with Jesus' Name. He knows it is poweful and he knows that his days are numbered. That's why he has so many people like puppets uttering his name. After all, when was the last time you heard someone say, "Oh Buddha!" when they hit their thumbnail with a hammer?

DEATH!

It's not a fun kind of subject, but it's part of life. For each of us personally, the end, in terms of this earthly existence. God's Word tells us that it's an "appointment" and following that comes the Judgement (Hebrews 9:27) For the believer in Jesus Christ to exit this body we live in now, is to be present forever with Him (2Corinthians 5:8)

Sometimes, and recently for me, someone dies and the HUMAN understanding tends to dwell on how "unfair" it is for someone to live a short life here, but when you get to know the character of God, and I'm just starting to get to know Him, you see that first of all, He is in control, and you can believe that if something happens that seems to be "unfair" there is a good reason for it that we more than likely won't know until we're in Heaven with Him. I can just about guarantee you that when someone dies "young" as we understand it, had they continued to live, something bad was going to happen and God in His mercy spared them from it.

You may say, "well then, why are there people who suffer long, painful diseases." That one's EASY to answer. I don't know. And none of us do. But we can put our complete faith and trust in God knowing that He's not some big mean old man in the sky who's out to prevent fun. He INVENTED fun. He created a sense of humor. He's not angry with you. Amazingly, though I give Him ample reason to be, He's not angry with ME. His mercy endures forever.

I will never regret having come to know Him. That doesn't mean I'm perfect by any means, but it DOES mean that He accepted me...weird old me just as I was. He's still got a lot of work to do on me, but He's changed me quite a bit, too. Yeah, it hurts, death does, but I've found the Lord to have the best set of "shoulders" to cry on. He is where compassion originated.

Hope what I've said will help you to stop hurting, or at least to hurt less. You'll find that sweet memories will eventually come and you'll tend to only remember the good times.

I love you

My brother in law shares this from God's Word Deut 29:29--

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Matters of the Heart: At SOME Point You Have to Use Your Brain

If there's anything I believe in with all my heart it is the concept of redemption. We ALL sin, make mistakes, mess up or whatever you want to call it. No one deserves a second chance. Did you hear me? I said NO ONE DESERVES a second chance, but the funny thing is the ONE Person Who is capable of forgiving forgives freely. Therefore, I don't have the right to not forgive. Forgiving is not an emotion. It is a decision. You can decide to forgive someone and feel zero manifestations of it, but eventually, if you've decided to do so, you will.

What does this have to do with matters of the heart? Plenty. But first, let's not forget the concept of fool me once, shame on you. Fool me TWICE, shame on ME!

Forgiving doesn't mean becoming one's door mat and letting people continue to abuse you, no!

In the "relationship" arena, (this expression cracks me up, because there are all kinds of relationships besides romantic or lustful ones) hopefully one learns. I am single. There are a lot of reasons for that.

1. If someone is giving out "samples" eventually they will run out of them. Who's to know how low the supply is running out? How few are left. How many other guys (girls) has this person given a "sample" to.

2. If someone tells you they are damaged goods believe them. Beyond that, it's your choice but be ware...You can try to convince them of redemption, but if they feel they have a right not to forgive someone in their former "relationship" they are not capable of being at square one with you and it will be totally unfair. You will probably wind up hurt. Now, if you know redemption and live it before them and are patient enough, they may catch on, but God will not violate the will of a person. Hear me, He will NOT make someone trust you who is in this condition. He WILL NOT MAKE THEM LOVE YOU, no matter how you pray. PERIOD.

3. No one can make you hate someone. It, too, is a decision. Choose not to. This may require a little distance between you and the one you are tempted to hate.

4. Being single is not the end of the world. You may be misunderstood as a horn toad, or a number of other things but you can function without a "help meet." That doesn't mean it's all that fun, but you DO have the freedom to flirt. Do it, too much, and you'll be categorized by some, but you know what? Those people don't count!

Commentator vs Newsperson

There is some confusion about the difference between a news person and a commentator, to the point that a ridiculous question is asked in a poll about Sean Hannity. Hannity is a COMMENTATOR and as such gives his opinion. That's his job. He will re-enforce political things with which he agrees and attempt to disprove those with which he does not. I've said many times that journalism is a lost art and rare these days.

The so called "main stream" media that I refer to as DINOSAUR is so slanted to the left, that a truly balanced approach would appear to be right wing, simply because from the left the center is to the right.

I have seen times when Sean Hannity has gotten obnoxious on his shows both on radio and televison, but I have to hand it to him, he DOES bring in people with differing opinions. Were it not for talk radio and Fox News Channel Americans would be under the impression that most everyone disagreed with them, because this view of things is the majority. The left is afraid of that. A left-slanted talk show can only exist in the land of taxpayer-funded broadcasting because it's been eliminated for the most part in the free market of ideas.

I've yet to totally make up my mind about NPR, which is under new scrutiny. I will admit, that I pretty much wrote it off as yet another leftist media outlet, so when the Congress began to examine whether to continue to fund it, I began to listen more often. I do not rely on any one single source for information, but I can identify a lie when I hear it, because they are usually repeated ad nauseum.

Even this latest poll, which I took but twice now have received one of those famous 404 messages when trying to send it, is asked in such a way as to slant the outcome dishonestly.

For now, I will continue monitoring NPR (National Public Radio) and let you know my opinion.

Nearly Missed

Okay, so my distance vision has deteriorated to the point that last night, I was headed out of L&L lr Trivia and I swore I saw a friend of mine at the end of the bar and didn't have a chance to go over and bug her, so when I was leaving there she was (I THOUGHT) on this bench outside and I walked over and just as I went to tweek her cute little nose, WHOOPS! It wasn't her!. It was this other incredibly delicious looking woman and her boyfriend was very understanding--thus, I'm still alive to tell this tale. Just as I connected I said, "Oh, my GOSH it's not you! I thought you were (mind blank)" couldn't even think of her name. Trying to save the situation I looked at her and said, "You think he bought it?" She said, "Yeah" I wen "Shew! GOT to be moe careful!" and made it safely to my car, looking back occasionally for fear of getting a can of whomp- "butt" opened on me.

Southern Accent: A Thing of the Past?

I don't mind Southern accents unless they're too extreme and just sound like the person's purposely trying to sound ignorant. They swear they can't help it, but when their mouths have to contort to say certain words, it would be much more simple just to talk and forget about the "hey, Andy!"

Mom "hailed" from Goldsboro and was given grief for in her words, "putting her best foot forward." I know another lady in my church who's like that and that's what I call true Southern Belles. Ladylike with no trace of "fiddle dee dee!"

On the other end of the spectrum is the "ebonic" accent, yom sane? Why do people want to sound ignorant? Beats me. All you have to do is listen to the content of my speech some times to give away my flaws. I surely don't need to add a weird accent to it.

Of course, as a kid, spending my summers and every other weekend in Wilson (NC) I would pick up the accent and kids back in Falls Church would say, "Why are you talking funny?" I guess it comes with being a mimmick. You start off doing a character voice and wind up just speaking that way.

In radio, when I started, it was a "non-regional" sound they were looking for. Johnny Dunn, a deejay on then, WRNC in Raleigh told me I didn't have a regional accent and that would be in my favor. To me, deep southern accents only work on like a bluegrass show or something. But a local talk show co-host woman has a pretty thick accent and when she laughs, my Lord, she sounds like the Wicked Witch of the West!

Then you get these guys like her partner who has no bottom to his voice so he grunts to try to make up for it. Sound's ridiculous.

I hope the charming, southern accent never dies, and the Gomer Pyle thing goes the way of television re-run syndication. Shizzayam!

Must Have Been...

When Josh Turner accompanied (Turner fans will get the pun) Scotty McCreery to Garner for the concert Saturday, it must have been quite a dream come true for the lad. I could just imagine, (and still do) if I'd made it as a recording artist and had had Elvis come. I really share his enthusiasm. Just hope the machine doesn't make him do too much of what he doesn't want to do.

In a sense, becoming an on air disc jockey playing someone else's songs was a sell out for me. But, then again, so was playing top 40 songs in a couple of the bands I fronted. It's difficult to find anyone who completely does not sell out. But if Scotty can sing a good number of things that are true to himself, he'll be fine. That's MY definition of success. You can sell all the records in the world, and fill the largest venues and still be empty, if you feel like you're selling out. Karen Carpenter wanted to be a rocker, but I can't imagine that. But what she did was nothing to be ashamed of.

I don't figure I need to be voting on American Idol even though there's a place inside me that hopes this kid does well. You wouldn't believe the number of people from Garner who've told me their version of "I knew him when." Well, we ain't past when just yet, but it sure looks like we're going to be.

Everyone knows I'm just not an American Idol fan, even though against all odds I have to admit they've produced some real talent. They've also produced something far less.

Good luck, kid

(picture Scotty at Garner Saturday courtesy A Scott Honeycutt)

Tipping...Yesterday and Today

The practice known as "tipping" came from "to insure PROMPTNESS." But the law allows owners of restaurants, bars and the like to pay something less than minimum wage and servers, waitstaff, bartenders, etc., are then expected to be paid tips ACCORDING TO HOW THEIR SERVICE is. Minimum service-minimum tip. Excellent service-excellent tip is the way it is supposed to go.

But over the years, it's become customary for patrons to be expected to pay fifteen percent regardless. Some people, we'll just call them SKUMBAGS don't tip at all. Some folks OVER tip for a variety of reasons. (everything from trying to impress the waitress to older guys with the dream of a one night stand)

One trend I found really interesting, was the practice of leaving a penny face up when one gets terrible service. The message to the wait person is "FACE UP" to what you did. You stunk.

I used to be told by wait staff at a certain Holiday Inn in Fairfax when a non-tipper was around. Sometimes I would "accidentally" spill a drink on them. I'm not proud of that.

Happy 63rd, Israel!

Actually, Israel has been for millinia. It was occupied by surrounding Arabs for two thousand years, but was freed once again in 1948. This should be on trivia. The word Palestine comes from the ancient Phillistines of which, there are no decendants as they were wiped off the face of the earth. The Brits labeled those Arabs who occupied Israel "Palestinians" and the land, "Palestine." But that's just a political term, and not based in any kind of historicity.

Israel is Israel and always will be.

Some weeks back I shared my experience with Freeda Roos Van Hessen, the holocaust survivor and Dutch Jewish lady.

A friend of mine was sharing some stuff about another survivor who's son is in a famous rock band, who himself came to this country from Israel...one Gene Simmons. I forget his actual name.

Shalom

Believer vs. KNOWer

I had the privilege of hanging out with Barry McGuire who recorded "Eve of Destruction" some time ago. He was doing Christian music at the time and was telling about people who come up and say, "Oh...you're one of those BELIEVERS, aren't you?"

Barry said he replied, "No! See a believer just believes something. Like if there was a marshmallow toasting championship and all these guys are sitting around competing and a guy's marshmallow falls into the fire and he thinks, I can reach in really quick and get it out and save it. But the champ over there knows better and tells him not to try it. Well, having the learn the hard way, the challenger reaches in and burns himself."

Barry said, "At that instant, the challenger stopped being a believer and became a knower."

I've tried a lot of things in my short life, and have run into a lot of dead ends. You can't always convince people that what they're doing in the long run is fruitless, and of no value, except lessons learned the HARD way.

God's Word (the Bible) puts it THIS way: * "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

All you can do at that point is pray that they'll see what's happening and turn around

(*New King James version)

Mom's Day

This is from last year, but it still fits:

Miss You Much, Mom

She was the mother I didn't deserve, but the one God in his infinite wisdom and mercy gave me. She represented Him well from the day I was born, to the day He called her Home. Hope to see you soon, Mom!









Her birth certificate read:"Baby Girl Howard" and they called her Annie Bayull (Annie Belle) When she got her SS Card she corrected all that as she could choose what she pleased. It read "Annabelle" and she was one in multiple trillions! Thanks, Mom!

Definition

Liberal: (progressive) a person who at some point has at least emotionally signed a declaration of dependence on government.

Through a slow, steady process of indoctrination, the American spirit of "I can" is replaced by a victim's mentality of a difficult childhood, based on anything from race, to bad parents. The indoctrinators sense the weakness and apply "the you poor thing" principle. " Government is your friend and will take care of you," they are told. This is all to cultivate a generation as dependent on government programs, as an addict is on heroin. Manufactured dependency to produce voting blocks of "world citizens" who believe NOT in American exceptionalism, but a global utopia. Patriots are noted NOT for their greatness, while their human imperfections exagerated are emphasized.

This is how we got to where we are in the United States today. Government has taken over tasks that are done inefficiently by a bureaucracy, that private enterprise and faith communities would handle more efficiently. This is done not out of compassion, but rather to enslave. The nanny state operates only to cement the elitists who designed it into permanent power

National Day of Prayer

Psalm 91:2 says "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust"

I have learned to really believe in prayer. I've seen my mother's life extended by forty-one years by the strength of God's people praying for her. I have witnessed in in my life. There's nothing special about my prayers in particular. When I worked in "Christian" radio, people would call in like I had some sort of hotline to God. Fact is, we ALL do, if we'll just call on Him. He's standing by to work in our behalf. He's a loving God and He's not mad at you and not mad at me. (Although I know I do things to irritate Him)

My sister's pastor came up with a concept I really believe in called "Stop-Drop-and Pray!" Often we forget to pray for someone when asked until they come back and thank us and we realize...ooops.

I have people across the country who love to pray as well and I get them to pray for people who ask me to pray for them. We've seen God do some pretty cool things. So keep that in mine, Okay?

Being Real (Transparent, Maybe)

In many ways, a new concept to me, although I've been told that I am way too open and honest. What you see is what you get, but first impressions can come back to bite you. Many say I look like a biker, but in fact, never been on anything other than a Honda 50 I rented one summer at Morehead City. I DID get a ride from a cop as a pre-schooler.

Late last night when I should have more wisdom as to writing things as posts that come to mind I made reference to a desire for the US Military to splatter muslims with pig guts or something to that effect. Which was followed immediately by an apology to my Lord for not having His patience.

Every moment on this earth is a manifestation of God's amazing grace. You may wonder why it took so long for Bin Ladin to be found. You may even take that as an opportunity to bash George Bush or even Obama, but Scripture says it is APPOINTED unto a man to die and after that, the judgement. Only ONE makes that appointment and He is full of grace and truth. He, the Lord loves Osama and wants what is best for him. THAT and that alone, is why it "took so long."

Whether Bin Ladin accepted the Truth is between him and the Lord God Almighty.

Culture of Conspiracy?

*When the press failed to expose John F Kennedy's dirty tricks toward Nixon it was nothing new. Nixon was even labeled by the press as being paranoid. More on that later.

The media never told the public that Franklin D Roosevelt was wheel chair bound. That's just the way things were back then. Kennedy's numerous affairs went unreported. Far be it for anyone to tarnish Camelot.

Remember Dan Rather's lies about George W Bush's military record? That was okay, but anyone wishing to know details that every other President has disclosed about Obama is labeled either "racist" or some other label. Why is it okay for Obama not to reveal his health records, grades and the circumstances under which he supposedly attended Oxidental College? What did he major in? What was his grade point average? What does this guy have to hide? Maybe, just maybe he can get more mileage hiding things than by putting it out there. But is that fair? Shouldn't every Presidential candidate regardless of party be vetted? Isn't that the job of a so called "free press?"

Now, they're quite selective of who they vet and who they do not. This has given birth to sometimes healthy and sometimes not so healthy skepticism, whether it's the magic bullet that the Warren Commission swears killed Kennedy or the unexplained suicide of a Clinton aide, those who wish to look into things are labeled "conspiracy nuts."

Obama made the most of this, withholding his birth certificate with impunity until a sideshow clown named Trump demanded its release.

This week people who swear that "Dubyuh" was behind the fall of the Twin Towers ("It was a demolition! A demolition, I tell ya! Buildings don't do that!")and the Pentegon (despite tapes of a conversation of a woman on that plane to her husband) were rejoicing at the death of Osama Bin Ladin. What were they so happy about? Wasn't he innocent? A "good" Muslim?

I guess we all choose now days what we believe and what we think is horse radish. I know I'm as guilty as anyone.

I've seen a lot of anger from folks making it a point to show that it was US SOLDIERS who killed Bin Ladin and not Obama.

Listen, even a broken watch gets it right twice a day.

Politics is and always has been somewhat of a shell game

*It is well documented that (John F Kennedy's trick while running for President against "Tricky Dick" was getting a hold of Richard Nixon's letter head and sending racist letters to black communities and letters expressing that blacks would get their just dues sent in areas where white folks weren't so fond of blacks. Not the first dirty trick) If I had been Nixon after that, I'd have been looking for more dirty tricks just as he did.

Johnson was elected largely by people who were deceased. FDR had his skeletons, too. Like the book says, it didn't start with Watergate (by Victor Lansky)

Look Again

We were in the Virginia mountains trying to find a winery and I was getting very uptight because we were having difficulty finding the place and started to voice my frustration, when my lady said, "Will you stop? Listen. It's a beautiful day, this is a beautiful place and we're together. Can't you just enjoy that? So WHAT if we don't find the place...

I Stood Up and Cheered

I believe it was 1973. Cat Stevens was playing the Cap Center in Maryland and introduced a song and dedicated it to people who believe in Jesus. I stood to my feet and cheered. I was the only one. Every eye on that arena was on me. I was not at that time even a serious follower of the Lord Jesus.

Having done that, then, do you seriously think it would bother me if anyone at any time called me a Jesus Freak? Think again. I AM freaked out on JEsus. Sold out on Him. SOULed out on Him I love Him. He is my ALL in ALL.

Just sayin'

Freda Roos Van Hessen

About ten years ago, it was my privilege and honor to interview a holocaust survivor, a Dutch Jewish woman named Freda. Somewhere I hope I still have that interview on tape. This woman could read me spiritually.

While shrapnel was flying around and she fled the Nazis, she sought refuge in a Roman Catholic church and saw "the Stations of the Cross" depicted on the walls. She recognized the man in the pictures, Yeshua, (Jesus) as the Person she read about in what WE call the Old Testament from Isaiah. That's all she had to go on, but He, by His Precious Holy Spirit was guiding her to safety.

When Freda told me that she was aware that I am a so called "gentile" but she recognized by the Spirit of God that I have the heart of a Jew. I wept when she said this, because it is absolutely true.

http://www.readingup.com/frieda_roos_van_hessen.html

ANNABELLE-ISMS

Mom (Annabelle) always said "if you lie down with the dogs, you'll get up with fleas!" Judging by the type of guys who call each other dog (quite appropriately, I might add) mom was 100% right. Too bad more people don't have to learn that the hard way. Like *Clint said,(I'll paraphrase) "That's a HECK of a price to pay for being STYLISH!"
*as Harry Callahan

Fifty Years

It just seems like yesterday when we gathered to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of my Mom & Dad's marriage. Shoot, it seems like the day before that that my sister and I were celebrating my parent's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The end of this month marks fifty years that my older (MUCH older) sister and her husband celebrate THEIR fiftieth. They decided early on that they would prefer each other. By that, I mean that they would put each other's interests ahead of their own. The marriages I see these days are based on "what have you done for me lately" and seem to forget and some times don't even include a vow to love, honor and cherish, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Far be it for me to judge ANYONE, that's not my job, but the kind of marriage my parents had and my sister enjoys are rare.
Elvis sang, "I ain't for no one-sided love affair" and marriage these days is like a square dance with people changing partners constantly. I've even heard some say they "traded up" when the left one for someone else.
I never believed that way. I guess that makes me a donosaur and pretty soon we'll be extinct. I recall when I seemed to sound the LEAST bit unfaithful to my bride (shich I never was) a co-worker reminding me, "Roebuck...dat womah got papers on yo @$$!" How things have changed in the name of "freedom." Pity, me thinks

Just as Far as I'M Concerned

I tried marijuana when I was a teen. I have not since that time because of my personal experience. I do not look down upon anyone who chooses to use it other than to hope your tail doesn't get busted.

Here's what happened to me. The first time I smoked that stuff, I had been drinking and got sober, which disappointed me because at that time I was pretty bad about abusing alcohol. The same thing happened the SECOND time and I began, quite counter to the culture of the time to verbally and publicly say that marijuana was a lot of hooey, shall we say. This brought on the fans of the weed who began a campaign to indoctrinate me.

I was instructed as to HOW to smoke it for the "best" effect.

This took place in a field off of Broad Street near Burger King in Falls Church, Virginia.

Everyone in the large circle was singing the praise of the green herb and I began to poke fun at them. Then, someone decided that it was time for us to get some food at Burger King, so I stood up, and kept standing to the point that I was now looking down on my own body somehow. I was not then walking in fellowship with the Lord, but I had the sense to recognize that I had gone to some other spiritual place...a very EVIL spiritual place and fear gripped my very being.

A friend who was scary anyway came over and said, "Hey, BOAT (his nickname for me) Now you're one of us!" His voice came out of my chest somehow. Several people came up and said comforting things to me like, "Hey man, it's all in your MIND!"

I began to think that if THEY could see it, then something really WAS wrong with me. That entire night when I'd step hard, I'd come up out of my body, so I began to walk rather strangely. In my spirit I made a promise to God Amighty that I have kept to this day, "Lord, if You'll get me out of this, I will never do this again!"

There were several scary manifestations of a spiritual nature. I saw the face of evil. I knew and recognized that I was under the influence of evil and in a strange way, having experience evil, I was convinced all the more that there has to be GOOD.

My parents were God-loving, born again, Spirit-filled believers in Jesus of Nazareth and when I walked into the room where they were, the Spirit of God in them, vanquished the evil that was hindering me. But when I walked upstairs, I relived the entire night, from the time I stood up, to the time I laid my head on the bed.

Years later when I smelled the pungent weed, I'd literally get nausiated.

I have stayed true to my promise to God. The presence of that stuff offends me, so do not come into my presence with it, is all I ask. I understand if you need to go somewhere and use it. Well, I don't understand it, but I can tolerate it. It's up to you.

Just wanted to clarify that. I know there are proponents of all types for this stuff, but it is just not for me. Don't dare set foot in my vehicle or my space with it or you'll be walking. I will respect you to the degree that you respect me. I love everyone, okay?

Hurricane Weekend

This Friday night past, it was like a recording of my mom playing the piano kept running through my head. I was aware of the Tornadoes and extreme weather in other parts of the country, but it was far from weighing on my mind, perhaps my subconscious. The song mom was playing is "A Shelter in the Time of Storm" and it was like the Holy Spirit of God was saying in His still, small voice, "I'm getting ready to show you something." Lots of times I dismiss this kind of thing as just stuff that runs through my head, but the Lord DOES speak to me and I believe He speaks to us ALL.

I confess, that there are times when I don't clearly see the path ahead for me and get frustrated and wonder why God just doesn't take me home. That's alarming to people outside the faith community and sounds suicidal. But the the believer, it is quite understandable. What awaits us after this time on this planet, is beyond our imaginations.

I try not to fall into the category of being "so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good." That DOES happen and I've met people like that. In case you don't know, I have given the Lord Jesus a blank check when it comes to my life, because I learned long ago, it's not MY life...I was purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ some two thousand years ago and I want to fulfill whatever purpose He has for me as His humble servant here on planet earth. The very second that that is completed, I want to be in the Presence of Jesus and see my family and friends who have gone on to Heaven. I can't wait.

I posted something to the effect of "Thank You, Lord for being a shelter in the time of storm and a rock in a weary land" Friday night before the storms hit North Carolina. That posting, as it turns out, was prophetic as the major damage from the storm only came as close to where I stay as a block, witnessed by a fallen tree still in the street this morning on Lenoir Street.

I thank God for His protection, because I know I am not anyone special and certainly have fallen way short of being some kind of example of finished work. The GOOD news is, God is not finished with me yet and that's one of the things He showed me even before the storm hit.

Bless the Name of Jesus!

Loving

When I went through a divorce, I learned a lot of stuff about people such as who my TRUE friends were/are, etc. Chief among them was that there is no need to choose sides when a couple splits through divorce or break up, whatever. It happens a lot. Marriage is like a square dance these days with people changing pardners (not to mention the doe sey does)

Last night I greeted a friend in a split up. There are always three sides to a story. His side, her side and somewhere in the middle, hopefully, the truth. I have been privileged (or burdened maybe) to hear both sides of this particular situation...a broken marriage. The WIFE continually told me not to hate the hubby, which I wouldn't do anyway, because like I told her, I love them BOTH.

I felt some resentment aimed at me last night, but I was doing what a friend asked me to and what came naturally. No apologies.

Giant Among Mere Men

Today, I learned that my Sunday School teacher for the past 35 years will go to a new season of life after this Sunday. Ronald Clark Butler, is former Dean of Student Affairs (retired) at North Carolina State University and as I told him before our Sunday school class today, is much more than a teacher to me, but in every sense, my spiritual mentor. I shall miss being spiritually nourished by this great man of God!

The neat thing is that while I was being brought up in Northern Virginia, Ronald and his wonderful wife, Billie were close friends of my cousin, Betty Jo and my uncle, the late AB Howard was their pastor. Uncle Aaron was one of my heroes as well. Ironically, his widow, was my first Sunday School teacher, the former Ruth Sharp, whom I had a major crush on. The sadness in my heart when she went to Costa Rica as a missionary, but the sheer joy, when she married Uncle Aaron, after my aunt Norah had passed away. Now, she would be my Aunt by marriage!

Two friends of mine in my Sunday school class, knew my Mom when she, Aaron, Uncle Odell and "Poppa," the Howard family icon sang in revival meetings across Eastern North Carolina and Poppa would preach the gospel. Mom played piano like none other.

How fortunate I am, to have this rich, spiritual heritage. I fall so very short of being able to even try to stand in these mighty shadows. But I am determined to see them all again in that Great Reunion Day in a distant place with my Savior, the Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of God, Savior of the World and Lord of the Universe. What a joyous day that will be!

picture: Mom (Annabelle Howard Roebuck) at the new church plant in Washington, NC

Pondering...

When I started out in radio decades ago, I did it quite accidentally. I always thought that playing someone else's songs was a sell out. But I sold out and played some stupid stuff, because it was unavoidable. I mean, when I first started I maneuvered around the format to play better songs. It was top forty and it was a losing battle, but I was a genuine deejay. That's DISK JOCKEY for those of you too young to know. Yes, there were discs. Vinyl ones and then compact ones and there were carts and, well that's all beside the point.

Deejay takes on a different connotation these days and has for a while with these guys, I guess out of boredom, (after all, you can only stand so much so called "dance" music. Before that it was disco and they call it hip hop and "urban") they started "scratching." Only someone of diminished mental capacity would think of such a sound as "hey, that's pretty neat!" (Yeah, I know, they said, "fly" or such) Deejays tend to fall into that category.

Wow, THAT was a rabbit trail. ANYWAY, when I first started attending karaoke (dragging my feet to do so because of pre-conceived notions) it was karaoke. The first few places I went to did it right. Good or bad, in tune or no tune at all, you heard a collection of people sing their songs (or someone else's) and when they got to the end of the list, they started again at the top. I have a friend who owned a bar where there was karaoke and she'd be first singer, starting off the rotation and as owner had the perfect right to sing four or five or six and then begin the rotation. Some people didn't like it, but I figured it was her right.

THEN, something changed. This thing called "dance breaks" began to happen. Oh, the early venues didn't buy into this, but the new ones felt the urge to relieve those who didn't come to hear locals an alternative. Some claimed "It gets the pretty girls out there shakin' their STUFF!" It did. (Not to mention a water buffalo or two, as well. These karaoke hosts fancy themselves to be "deejays." Some, going so far as to put the initials before their names when many have never been on the air in their lives. Funny, me thinks. So some call the "dance breaks" (chances to catch up on email or visit a young maiden in the parking lot) "deejay breaks." One is hard pressed to find a so called "karaoke" venue that is more than fifty percent actual as advertised KARAOKE!

Well I say, if you don't like karaoke, go home and play the radio or go to a club! Let those of us who LIKE it and want to participate a chance to do so! And I guess I keep harping on it. I totally understand the concept of "butts in the seats" and that under aged water drinkers or those who only buy sodas, don't pay the rent. I get it. That's why I always try to buy my meal at the place I'm going to for karaoke.

So, with this in mind, I am thinking of beginning to host ROEBUCK'S 100% pure karaoke...no dance breaks. Any takers?

I didn't think so :(

Gun Grabber Tactics

Heard of a story last night in local Atlanta news of some sports figure who owned an "Assault" and the writer's question of why he had to own one. Gun grabbers...let me help you. The word "assault" in connection to like the AK47 is designed to strike fear in the reader/listener/viewer. So maybe you should come up with some others, because your goal is not to ban SOME weapons but ALL.

Let's see now, we can call the .38 the THUG-nose. Nah...that would only mystify the "urban" community. How about the FIENDISH .45? The NOCENS nine millimeter (that's a greek word for bad, wicked, injurious, culpable or evil)

Meanwhile, there's still the site running with the famous assault rifle cam sitting there, minding its own business while the gun grabbers wring their hands and want only cops and creeps to own weapons, and I think they'd really take them away from cops, like the bobbies in England. "I say, old chap, stop! Stop, I say, or I'll be forced to blow my whistle at you!"

HEY! Leave Him ALONE!

Listen and repeat for best results. If you hear "What are you gonna do about it?"

Say, "I'M not going to let you bully my friend!" Pretty soon, you'll find that if it gets to the "What are you going to do about it?" there will be a chorus of voices all echoing what was difficult for you to say initially.

Bullying is pretty universal and mainly a teenybopper thing, but it happens occasionally around so called "adults."

This past Tuesday night, a guy came into karaoke after he got off work and he was parading around the room saying, "He can't sing!" (The amazing thing was, I wasn't the one singing) We are acquaintances, not friends, so I said, "Hey...it's karaoke, Man."

My table chimed in with me. No, we weren't crazy about the song being sung, but that doesn't matter. Later, that same jerk came over to me after my song and told me I was "really good." I only wish I'd had the presence of mind to tell him that coming from him, that wasn't much of a compliment.

I recall as a kid in Arlington, Virginia hearing neighborhood kids singing in their nanny nanny boo boo style, "Fatty, fatty, two by four...couldn't get through the bathroom door!"

I probably have a permanent fat image of myself from those early experiences,

Then, when I was in 7th grade, there was a bully who waited in front of the drug store every day for me. He wanted to play a game he called "punch out."

"You hit me in the arm as hard as you want and then I'll hit you! Go ahead...HIT me!" I should have knocked him out, but I was young and stupid and didn't recognize what a punk he truly was.

Some of you will know who I'm speaking of when I talk of a friend who was in a motorcycle accident some call the Energizer Bunny. He LOVES to dance. Occasionally, he'll be the victim of "REtard" remarks. I don't let them go by without rebuke. We have to stand up to bullies. We can't rely on the government to do it for us. All they make is bureaucracy and snail mail.

There's another side to this. People and groups of people have to stop being such sissies. Okay, you're black and someone used the "n" word on you. They've already shown their ignorance. Try not being so sensitive.

I disagree with my dad's generation about "fighting words." His was characterised by the initials S.O.B. and he had many fights over it.

In all honesty, there are word that tick me off. But getting ticked off is a CHOICE. Let's choose to remain in control!

Just Thinkin' (Ooh Dangerous!)

Someone said, it is better to keep your mouth shut and make people think you're an idiot than to open it and prove them right. Dad had a fish on his wall with a caption that read, "Even a fish wouldn't get caught, if it'd keep its mouth shut!"

Recently on one of the applications someone responded to the question of did I swear like a sailor with "no." Well, I TRY not to. I guess it was the way I was brought up.

Mom had creative ways of saying things without actually saying them and I admired her for it. At my worst point (so far) in life, I actually uttered the four letter word for excrement in front of her.

Her response was, "John...the BIBLE says that 'out of the abundance of the mouth the heart speaketh.' Now is THAT what you're full of?"

Ah, she had a way with words.

Identity Crisis

I've probably shared this before, but when I was twelve or thirteen (I think Lincoln was President) I got this notion that if I could become Elvis all my problems would be solved, so I set out to look like (good luck, there) walk like (I was pretty close) and SOUND like (there is no comparison) Elvis. I'd sit and dinner and in my best Elvis voice and with as much swagger as one can summon up sitting down, would say, "Pass the mashed potatoes, Daddy."

Dad's replay would be "I WILL, if you stop talking like Elvis!"

"I-I-I don't understand, Daddy. Th-th-th-this is the way I talk!"

I got speech after speech from him on how God made Elvis and He made me and that we're not the same person and that I'd do better trying to be myself, (which, by the way, is something Elvis always taught people.)

I wouldn't listen, and one night I went to the skating rink hoping to see some pretty females and my friends in the band were there, Dan Seidel, Ken Crowder (Wolfenden) and some other friends. I swaggered in with my best Elvis walk and in my best Elvis voice said, "Think I'll go home"

I think it was Dan who said, "Why, John?"

"No girls." and then I walked off into the sunset, down Great Falls Street to the house, probably singing some Elvis song on the way.

Well, next day after school was band rehearsal at Dan's house and I was the last to arrive, so I was going to sneak up on the other guys and crept up the stairs to hear a re-inactment of what had happened at the skating rink. The guys busted out laughing and I heard one say, "That fool really thinks he's ELVIS!"

Suddenly, my father's words made sense to me. After that, it was a long time before I would talk, sing or act like Elvis, even though people would ask me to.

Elvis said it. Dad said it. Be yourself

Horsin' Around

Rodelle lives near Myrtle Beach, (S. Carolina) and has been charged a second time with buggery...with a horse. The SAME horse. I'm not really interested in what he did with the horse, but it has been the topic of some jokes on morning talk radio.

You laugh now, but people are routinely doing things thought to be absurd in the past, so my guess is that many of these people who are laughing now, will be in the barn in days to come and probably marching for the "right" to do so. I can hear it now, "What a person does in a barn is no one's business."

In the future, the choice will be bridal gown or bridle gown.

The whole situation is rather tacky.

Rodelle asked his partner, "Why so long-faced?"

Maybe he was just feeling his oats that day.

The old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be.

I always kind of wondered about the galloping gourmet.

Wonder how they caught him? Did he have symptoms of hoof and mouth disease?

Rodelle was doing a little more than looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Wonder what triggered this behavior?

No doubt, Rodelle considers himself a stallion.

Rodelle means something entirely different when he says, "I got the trots!"

Rumor has it, Rodelle, rides a Mustang.

Wonder if Rodelle feels amorous, when he hears Tommy James sing, "Ride a pony...ride a pony?"

No, Rodelle...you misunderstood the cowboy when he said, "Let's ride!"

I guess he listens a little more intently than most when he hears the results of a Gallop Pole

;-)

Smorgasbord "Spirituality"...VERY American

Smorgasbord so called "spirituality" is very American. But can it be Christian? Not according to Jesus, who made it pretty plain when he said,

"... Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." (John 10:7)

"Truly I say to you, He who does not go through the door into the place where the sheep are kept, but gets in by some other way, is a thief and an outlaw." (John 10:1) Heaven wouldn't be Heaven if you had to worry about thieves and outlaws. Now there WILL be FORMER thieves and outlaws.

Way before that, the Lord said, "You are to have no other gods but me." (Exodus 20:3)

Does God have other names? Well, there are the compound names for God and God lives in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but He doesn't have knick names. Just like, if you saw me and called out, "Hey Bobby" I would not answer you. But if you said, "ROEBUCK" I'd immediately turn around. (I DO have some knick names though) But God doesn't, so Using Buddha, or allah, etc and thinking you're reaching all the same person, doesn't cut it. "And in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, through which we may have salvation." (Acts 4:12)

Hey, as an American, you're free to think that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and no one can get it down, if that's what you want. Call yourself a Frisbee-terian. Just don't confuse that or anything else with Christianity.

The illustration shows a sheepfold. The shepherd sleeps in the doorway at night, becoming the door and protecting the sheep from predators.

ALL Things are NOT Considered!

Unlike many who criticize Fox News Channel who have never viewed it, I have been monitoring NPR (National "Public" Radio) since there is a move afoot to de-fund it. I have listened patiently for some journalism and found every broadcast, even their so called "All Things Considered" segments to not only NOT consider all points of view but to pour out the typical wrong (left) wing socialist pablum that is so prevalent in the dinosaur media.

At least Babs (Barbara Walter's) opinionated show is called "The VIEW" as opposed to viewS!

I hear an outcry from the usual suspects...leftists, socialists, radicals and communists both small and large "c."

The double standard is alive and well. It's okay for fair and balanced genuine journalism to have to be privately funded, but NPR joins the letter networks in being nothing more than the leftist (they would say "progressive") propoganda arm of the party of Democrats.

A Case of Mistaken Identity...

...and maybe even Bud Light?

Never a dull moment in ROEBUCK Land

Last night a friend of mine came up and said there was a guy at karaoke who was all angry with me because he had this notion that I elbowed him in the chest right after he had had surgery to remove a lung. Sounds just like me, doesn't it?

Well, I struck up a conversation with the guy I thought my friend was talking about and he said, "Oh, it's not ME! It's my friend over there." pointing to this dude I'd never seen before. Then he proceeded to tell me that this guy swears I was on the deck and did the dastardly deed and that he thinks his former wife put me up to it and that later, he was coughing up blood. The guy never made eye contact the entire night, but I decided that talking about it to ONE guy was enough.

I believe his friends convinced him that it wasn't me, although it's difficult to find someone who looks this scary in the mirror.

I came away wondering what the pay is for elbowing a former husband these days. Hmm. Nah, I'm pretty peace loving.

(Photo, courtesy of Lou Roldan)

New Invention!!!

It appears as grating in a Fire Zone, (you know, the kind where you're not supposed to stop or park, but the privileged few ignore it) but in reality it has censors that measure the weight of any vehicle stopped on it beyond a certain amount of time. So, if it is a fire engine, fire fighters can de-activate it, but they are the only ones who can. Therefore, if another large truck or vehicle stops longer than a normal traffic pause, spikes come up from below and deflate the tires, law enforcement arrives with the tow truck to issue the fine of up to two hundred, fifty dollars.

Now, those who think they are above the law, will be those who pay in multiple ways. More revenue for the government, so they're happy. There is also a separate model for Loading Zones.

(Now, the only thing left is for me to get my copyright, so we can do this) Personally, I wish they'd put the boot on vehicles who do this, or people who thinks it's okay to park in the handicapped space "for just a minute."