Icewind's Ramblings

It’s been nice being home the last couple of days enjoying the snowfall and watching some great movies. 88 Minutes had a good story and pace with just enough plot twists to keep everyone guessing up to the end. Al Pacino doesn’t scream too much in this movie either. Shooter for the fourth time was a fun paced escape. Today Sci Fi channel had The Stand marathon. Steven King at his best. Good vs. Evil with excellent casting of Ruby Dee as 106 year old Abagail Freemantle. Strong performances by everyone and since seeing this when it fist came out I can never visualize Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg, ‘the dark man’ or ‘the walking dude’ in any other role. He played evil to perfection with that wicked grin and as the raven. Speaking of great casting, I have seen several commercials for the new Samsung phone with perfect casting using the mumbling Ozzy Osbourne using text messaging to make his point known. I couldn’t stop laughing and thinkin...

I was flipping through the channels on the television and explaining about the remote to my wife on the differences between the regular TV signal and the HD box? After a year watching she has finally discovered High Definition television and the many programs available. All it takes is going through the channels or searching the guide to the HD section to see what is playing at any giving time. Doesn't she know that there are kids out there who don't have HD and suffer with the normal digital cable, or . . . gulp . . . regular cable, never to see the depths of Andy Rooney's ear hair and luscious eyebrows, or every detail of Survivor contestants pubic regions (thankfully blurred out the majority of the time . . . hey CBS, thanks for offering Survivor in HD this year! All we need now is another box that has smell-o-vision and it's just like being there). For the record, I'm fully aware that HD hasn't been legislated as mandatory (yet) and we don...

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day as there is much to be thankful for in these days and times. And for those of us who prefer . . . Have a great day! Ice

I witnessed something this afternoon at work that almost seems like a typical Alaska holiday disaster. Yesterday we bought Turkeys for everyone so they would have a nice 20 pound bird for their Thanksgiving dinner. We wanted to make sure they were bought in time to allow the birds to thaw in time for dinner on Thursday. As things would happen we wanted to have them at the shop by three thirty when the crews returned at the end of their shift. The back of my rig was filled with the turkeys and just after returning it started to snow. It was light at first with that icy snow cone texture but quickly turned into a nice fluffy big flake snowfall. Everyone helped themselves to the turkeys stashed in the back of my pick up and several put them into the back of theirs. No worries it is cold so there is no worry of anything spoiling. Off everyone goes into the darkness heading home to places unknown with nice best wishes for a nice family meal in a couple ...

If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. Some people are idiots! There is a Southern saying, ‘You can’t fix stupid’! It is really true for some people whom I cannot understand how they make it through the day. It just reinforces in me that God is kind, bless their hearts. Ice

President Elect Barack Obama has started his Cabinet appointments. Today he announced his economic cabinet positions . . . I’m still holding out for T. Boone Pickens for Energy Secretary. Ice

Often misquoted but the words still ring true. The Reverend William John Henry Boetcker originally published the Ten Cannots in 1916 in a leaflet entitled " Lincoln on private property." One side had words by Abraham Lincoln, the other side had the "Cannots" that Rev. Boetcker wrote. It was republished by the Inside Publishing Company in 1917 and 1938. “The Ten Cannots” by Rev. William J. H. Boetcker Presbyterian Clergyman in 1916 "You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they should and...