I Just Work Here

IJWH #4 - The War on "The War On Christmas"

jack.ijustworkhere@gmail.com (The Man Called Jack) — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 01:56:42 GMT

This week is my take on the so-called "War on Christmas", some Christmas traditions from across the world and, as always, your News of the Weird. All on this edition of I Just Work Here - Views from the Cheap Seats and Other Nonsense.

Before I begin with the info-dump, I want to reiterate my request on the podcast for feedback from you, the listener. Hates, loves, gripes or anything you want to share with me will be warmly welcomed. I promise to email back every person who sends me an email that isn't spam or hate mail. Disagree with me if you want and I'll be happy to discuss it with you. Just please no bile spewing. My email address is jack.ijustworkhere@gmail.com or you can leave a screened comment at the blog for this podcast, ijust_workhere at LiveJournal.com.

The links for the War on Christmas section are as follows:

One Side's Viewpoints
Falwell fighting for holy holiday. He threatens to sue, boycott groups that subvert Christmas
Liberty Counsel's "Friend or Foe" Christmas Campaign
Faldwell Confidential with Statement of Alliance with Liberty Counsel's Friend or Foe Campaign
Christmas Under Siege: The Big Picture by Bill O'Reilly
Supporting the 'War on Christmas' by John Gibson

The Opposing Viewpoints
No More Christmas in America?
O'Reilly: "Every company in America should be on its knees thanking Jesus for being born."
After suing teacher suggested otherwise, Hannity conitued to falsely claim school banned Declaration of Independance

The links for the Christmas Traditions Across the World section are as follows:

Strange Cosmos.com - Strange Christmas Traditions around the World
St. Paul's School - Christmas Traditions in Spain
Christmas Traditions in Finland
History of Christmas Traditions from Christmas Corner
Wikipedia Entry for 'Christmas Worldwide'

The News of the Weird Links are as follows:

Motorist runs over Nativity Scene outside Church
What Rich Russians Are Buying For Christmas
Where are the reindeer when you need them?
City to give drunk drivers 'noche libre'

Our intro music is a medly featuring the classic Christmas kid's song, "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch". The featured song today was "Santa Claus is a Pagan, Too" by Emerald Rose. I cannot express enough how great these guys are live and encourage everyone in the Atlanta area to give them a try. If you are not in the Atlanta area, go to their website (www.emeraldrose.com) and listen to some of their tunes. I think you'll be glad you did. Be sure to check out their latest CD, "Archive of Ages to Come." Many thanks to Logan Sullivan for permission to use this song in my podcast tonight.

Required Reading

No required reading this week, folks. Enjoy your holidays!

IJWH #3 - Young Geeks In Love

jack.ijustworkhere@gmail.com (The Man Called Jack) — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 21:28:14 GMT

Geek Dating, how to get started approaching the geek girl of your dreams and a double shot of News of the Weird, today on I Just Work Here - Views From the Cheap Seats and Other Nonsense.

Today's podcast is really just a continuation of IJWH #2, since I ran out of podtime and wanted to finish my last show. So really, you should look at this as a part two to that podcast rather than a new edition unto itself. I don't really have any links per se for the geek dating segment, except for the one in today's Required Reading.

Today's News of the Weird links are as follows:

Legally blind driver doesn't get very far.
Eat paper at dinner for $240!
Dibold CEO resigns after reports of fraud litigation, internal woes
'Sex Rage' couple facing $3.8 million bill
School okays Christmas witch, rewrites Silent Night

The intro was another wacky medly of my own devising, featuring the song "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" by UB40. Our feature song today was "Put a Little Love" by Finnish singer Beatrice Ericsson. Beatrice's song was provided by the podsafe music network. The outro was still Three Doors Down.

Required Reading

Today's required reading is an article from an MIT student named Amy Eastment, entitled Advice from a She-Geek on Dating and Relationships. In researching my segment for geek dating, a lot of the so-called "advice" that I found was mostly tongue-in-cheek admonitions to take a shower or to stop being so geeky. Ms. Eastment actually gives solid relationship advice for geeks, both male and female, who want to try and find someone like them and start a relationship. She claims to be the blind leading the blind, but she has the most remarkable grasp on what I have found to be effective dating behavior to date. I highly recommend taking time out to read her article and maybe drop her a line. Tell her that Jack sent you.

As always, commentary is welcomed. You can email me at jack.ijustworkhere@gmail.com or just leave a comment on my LiveJournal blog.

IJWH #2 - Of Rampaging Children and Cinematic Lions

jack.ijustworkhere@gmail.com (The Man Called Jack) — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:20:45 GMT

The second edition of I Just Work Here is now submitted and ready for your podcasting pleasure. Entitled, Of Rampaging Children and Cinematic Lions, I think it should prove to be interesting indeed. I hope that some of you will email or comment here so that I can at least know what you think. The feedlink is still http://feeds.feedburner.com/livejournal/jabM.

On the section about the children in public places segment, I offer the following links:

The MSNBC article that started this entire debate

Childfree Livejournal Community

Childfree.net

I would love to put up some pro-child site links, but I'm having a darn tough time finding any. I'd be glad to put up any prochild sites that anyone would like to send me. Never shy away from presenting BOTH sides of the argument, that's my motto!

Regarding my review of the new movie The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I offer the following links:

Info on Narnia from IMDB

Reviews and statistics on Narnia from rottentomatos.com

Official site for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Today's intro song is a medly of my own comprising, featuring the children's choir from Ray Stevens's "Everything is Beautiful," a quick cameo by Bill Pullman and the theme to the cartoon Ace Ventura. Weird, I know. The featured song today is "Wake Up" by the UK band The Butterfly Catchers. The outro song is still "Be Like That" by Three Doors Down.

Required Reading

This week's required reading is actually required listening - I would like each of you to stop by the imminent sabrarosa's podcast, which is entitled The Postmodern Geek's Guide to Sex. I think that all of you will be sufficiently interested in what she says (and how she says it) to make it worth your while. And be sure to tell her that Jack sent you.

IJWH #1 - Beginning the Madness

jack.ijustworkhere@gmail.com (The Man Called Jack) — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 23:28:36 GMT

You can find the mp3 for my first ever podcast here. The feed address is http://feeds.feedburner.com/livejournal/jabM Hooray for new podcasting things!

Tonight's topic was the new X-movie, X-Men 3. The links for this are:

The Official X-Men 3 movie site
IMDB file for X-Men 3
Movie poop about X3 at killermovies.com
IGN's (somewhat outdated) information on X3
USAToday's still archive for X3
X3 Movie Trailer

Today's News of the Weird Links:

Paintball Spree was 'anti-occult', says pastor
Sword-weilding man shot by police
Road-rage incident spurs sword attack

The song played tonight is "Crayon and Ink" by Allison Crow. The intro music is a clip from "Forget the Forget" by Paul Melancon and the outro music is a clip from "Be Like That" by Three Doors Down.

Required Reading

If you are not already reading these journals, you should be:

Cherie Priest a.k.a. cmpriest, who is a professional author and one of the savviest people I am currently aware of. Her political insights are rivalled by only one person.
The Infamous Brad a.k.a. bradhicks is that person. All of his essays are thought-provoking and top notch reading. Highly recommended.

All lines are open. Let's hear what you have to say!