I love this film. It has been criticized for a sentimental bent and for not being as biting as Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, but the film still has a punch to it, before and after the quiet dignity of a moment of peace celebrated in the middle of a war.

There really was a Christmas Truce in 1914, and I see it as one of the most glorious moments of history, no matter how brief it may have been. The film looks at the consequences of the truce, and that’s the part that speaks volumes in its subtlety.

Basically, after the truce happened, the generals in charge realized that fighting would not happen, which would spoil their lovely little mindless war. There was absolutely no point to World War One, remember that. It was not a war to save anyone from anything. It was the ludicrous conclusion of jingoistic nineteenth-century nationalistic bombast. It was Europe attempting to commit suicide. It was a war that should have been cancelled. There was no justification for it at all, and there the soldiers were at the end of 1914, cancelling it. And that made the generals furious.

Soldiers were transferred to different fronts, units were disbanded, and officers were disciplined. In the film, all that is shown. It’s easy to shrug that off and say, “Oh well, no good deed goes unpunished. So what else is new?” The repercussions, however, are juxtaposed with the reverence and quiet joy of a mass celebrated in no-man’s land. That makes a key difference.

If peace on earth and good will to men are the words of Jesus – and truly, they’re also the words of Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, and Lao Tzu – then what of the notion of “kill them all, every one?” Even if one rejects the notion of the existence of a Satan, the notion itself is a Satanic one. The governments and their state religions, educators, and civil servants in uniforms present an enemy to peace and good will. The men in those places hold power, and they use the threat of violence to compel otherwise good people to do things that maintain that power while exploiting or harming other people. This is something that was not unique to the world of the Great War. It is something that is a standard condition here on earth.

In essence, government is naturally the enemy of peace. In a blissful anarchy, it is the man who grabs a weapon to enforce his will that shatters the tranquility with the ugliness of despotism. Therefore, it is the duty of the righteous to provide an alternative to despotism in which justice and peace can prevail as much as possible for the people so governed. Sadly, what men can no longer seize from without they corrupt from within and what men created to ensure liberty and order becomes the very thing that destroys both. This message is conveyed quite clearly in the film.

Looking at the world of today, it is quite evident that no politician in the USA, not even my locally-elected representative, is truly working for the people. Each is beholden to interests that form a plutocratic oligarchy that I have no access to. To preserve the special privileges for those at the top, we here down below are made to suffer. It matters not who is in Congress or the Presidency or the Supreme Court: only those who will betray the poor in a Satanic bargain with the rich will be permitted to rule. The film shows that they will continue to do so, but hints to us all through the scenes of peace that there is a higher power and we are all accountable to it.

While those that promote the ideals of peace and good will are the dread enemies of the worldly power brokers, it is still worth promoting the ideals of peace and good will. One will never see massive wealth or great power through a policy of peace and good will, but why would one want that massive wealth or great power if it meant harming one’s fellow man? It is the Satanic bargain of murdering – even if only a little, through a lie or a cheat – to get gain versus the Godlike covenant of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you in order to have peace.

When I was in the 8th grade, I found a biography about Frank Zappa. I read it and it changed my life. It changed my life because of this quote:

“Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mediocre educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom and go to the library and educate yourself if you’ve got any guts. Some of you like pep rallies and plastic robots who tell you what to read. Forget I mentioned it… Rise for the flag salute.” – Frank Zappa

I already didn’t like pep rallies, so this resonated with me. Then I thought about the “drop out… and go to the library” part. I knew dropping out wasn’t an option, but the library was right there. I took Mr. Zappa’s advice that day and resolved to educate myself. I decided I had the guts to do it.

30 years later, I’m glad I took that advice to heart. Never mind my college degree: my real education happened whenever a teacher went on a tangent, when I got a chance to listen in on a discussion, and when I got to hit the library. The best thing about the University of Texas at Austin was its massive library system. I used it. If there was something I wanted to learn, I made the time to get to the library and to read all about it. I didn’t necessarily need a class in a subject: after all, a class was pretty much reading books, listening to a professor rehash his own book, and taking a test. If I read the books on my own, what need was there to test to see if I’d read them? And if I read enough books, it would be like a graduate course, right?

With the advent of the Internet, I found it that much easier to continue my education. I hate seeing people sit and wonder about answers to questions while they wait for someone else to Google up the answer. Start with Google and Wikipedia, and see where it takes you, if you want to know the answers. They’re great places to start, but please make sure you don’t finish there.

Another key part of my self-education was the original 10-part series of James Burke’s Connections. The episodes are as vital today as they were when they first came out. If you haven’t seen them, you need to. Burke shows how anyone can teach himself or herself anything and then use that information to make his or her life better.

By “better,” I don’t necessarily mean making vast fortunes with huge inventions. I do mean keeping the wolf from the door through clever thinking and innovation. I mean having a good life through constant learning.

Not everyone is with family on this day we here in the USA take stock of our blessings and things to give thanks for. Take some time today to say hello and share a message of hope and gratitude. I know I’m thankful for the joys I’ve had this year and the obstacles I’ve overcome. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

I told my daughter yesterday that if she wanted to maximize her chances of getting scholarships she should read as much as possible. Upon reflection, reading as much as possible is good, regardless of age. So go read. Wikipedia is good, because it usually leads to more reading elsewhere. So read. Enjoy. Find one of those books that’s supposed to be totally awesome and find out why.

These are some of the best gifts you’ll ever find.

My wife is in a choir that will be traveling to Europe for some performances this coming summer. She needs to raise money for the trip, so she’s going all-out on the crafts front.

These just sold, but she’s got other items of jewelry and some great ladies’ handbags that she’s rebooted that would be PERFECT gifts for that special lady in your life. If you’re a special lady, then you can drop a hint to your man that these would be great gifts. We men appreciate minimum thinking when it comes to finding gifts. We also have great resources like GiftObserver.com to get a gift of almost any customisation. But I digress.

The prices are modest, and you know that they’re going for an excellent cause! Buy as much as you can and she’ll make more when she runs out of what she has.

She also has knitted robots. Believe me, these are totally cute and totally cool.

Send PayPal payments to yvette (at) zzztpm (dot) com and let her know what your heart – or sweetheart – desires.

There’s a reason Benjamin Franklin was very much in favor of the First Amendment’s protections on speech: he was a dirty old man that loved to write all kinds of crazy stuff. If you don’t mind a touch of scatological humor, then Franklin’s “To the Royal Academy” is up your alley, so to speak.

I don’t want to talk about the economy right now. I want to talk about the great old Warner Brothers cartoons from the 1940s and 1950s – the Golden Age of Cartoons.

These animations were awesome. They beat tons of the CGI garbage foisted on us by profit-seeking media conglomerates. Warner Bros. wanted profits back in the day, sure, but the only way they knew how to get them was by hiring the best talent available and giving them free run of their animation department, Termite Terrace.

The names of the animators are legendary, at least to me. Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Robert McKimson… the music department under Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn… the genius voices of guys like Mel Blanc and Stan Freberg… I loved all their work. When lesser lights were brought in during the late 1950s and early 1960s, I noticed the drop in quality and wanted to go back to the good stuff. Even as a little kid, I knew my shinola from the stinky alternative.

I loved the zany anvils plummeting down from the heavens, the twists in Romantic compositions, the line of Acme products, the Raymond Scott-inspired manic anthems, the massive explosions, the earth-shattering kabooms, and the blasted-back faces of those that held a bomb too closely at the bingo moment.

And the quotes! “Sody pop! Watch it fizz!” “Kill the wabbit!” “Duck season! FIRE!” “Nice lady, but she’s about as sharp as a sack of wet mice!” “Hoboken? OOOOH I’M DYIN’!” “Elvis? Why for did you shoot yo’ pappy in the head with a shootin-iron?” “A bee! I will bash it!” “Hee hee hee! I haven’t had this much fun since the boys got back from Gettysburg!” “I want hasenpfeffer!” Good times here at best bluetooth motorcycle helmet.

Check out the classics of the 1940s and the 1950s. and look them up on YouTube. Here, watch one now:

I dreamt about a Rolls Royce monster truck last night. It looked very much like this car I found this morning on the Internet, but the catch was that this particular Rolls was featured on Top Gear.

The lads had added a PA system that blared out “Rule Britannia” on a constant loop and, of course, added the monster truck get-up as part of a test to make the Rolls as loud as possible on the outside to see if they could not hear any of it on the inside. An ultimate test of the cabin soundproofing, if you will.

I would love to see this as an actual episode. Therefore, I am posting this idea on my Facebook page and I hope it generates a fair enough share of interest to warrant a segment on some future programme.

This is just awesome. For a fraction of the cost of standard drilling, some clever lads put together a human-powered drill that can bring fresh water to villages. Four people can drill as deep as 250 feet in a few days and do the work of bringing life to their neighbors. Let this inspire you.

Native American wisdom for anyone that cares to hear it.