Thoughts on a warm night thick with the sounds and smells of spring:

No, I didn’t watch the Oscars and haven’t for years. There was a time when it was all about celebrating the craft of acting and I used to actually enjoy watching. Now it’s just an orgy of self-indulgence featuring a bunch of shallow, spoiled, narcissistic, and pompous limousine-liberals who think they know better than everyone else just because they happen to be good at reciting words other people write.

And speaking about being pompous, the more I see President Obama the less I like him. For one thing he doesn’t have a humble – or, I’m beginning to think, honest – bone in his body; second of all, whenever I hear him speak I always feel like I’m being lectured to by the class know-it-all.

Why I’ll be swimming the Tiber one of these days: “Bishop Nominee in Episcopal Church Holds Buddhist Ordination”. Yeah, that’s exactly what a denomination supposedly committed to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ needs: another conflicted bishop. Of course, that’s nothing new for a denomination that lost its way a long time ago:

Forrester is not the first Episcopal clergyman to hold dual faiths. In 2004, Pennsylvania priest Bill Melnyk was revealed to be a druid; while in 2007 Seattle priest Ann Holmes Redding declared that she was simultaneously an Episcopalian and a Muslim. Both Melnyk and Redding were eventually inhibited from priestly duties.

Druids and Muslims as Episcopal priests. Now that tells you all you need to know about the psychology and waywardness of a once-venerable Protestant institution now adrift in heresy and apostacy.

Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” remains one of my favorite albums of all time.

…And “Think About Me”, one of the standout tracks from that album remains one of my all-time favorite tunes.

Good to hear about the crowds in New Orleans attending Mardi Gras. I never wanted to be anywhere close to NO during Mardi Gras – Mobile’s version seems more my speed – but I’m sure the city’s hotels and restaurants are appreciative.

Listen, I never bought all his presidential campaign rhetoric about bringing people together, but I’m still amazed at the extent to which President Obama has succeded in dividing the country along political and cultural lines as quickly as he has. People seem to either really really like him or loathe him. Me, I’m no fan of his but I’m willing to at least consider giving him until Thanksgiving to turn this mess around before I make any judgement, but I sure don’t like the way he and his fellow Democrats in Washington are going about things thus far.

Boy, when they talk about Phoenix being one of the top 20 cities where real estate values have declined they weren’t kidding. Fortunately, we bought well within our means: in 2003 we bought our house for $210K. Eighteenth months later its appraised value had gone as high as $340K. Today we got our new assessment, and it’s down to $180K. But I don’t expect our property taxes to follow suit.

The Red Sox may not miss Manny Ramirez’s antics, but I’m guessing they’ll miss his bat in the lineup this year. Their lineup is still solid, but methinks it’s a little thin – especially if they lose anyone for a long perid of time due to injury.

This media love-fest over President Obama really makes me want to barf. The guy’s been in office just over a month and the AP’s Ron Fournier – an Democrat/liberal suck-up if there ever was one – is already calling him a great President. Now that’s what I call incisive analysis.

And just because I feel for my peeps in the winter-locked Northeast, my gift to you. Carl Wilson’s angelic voice still makes me wanna cry…