Well, yesterday’s column was a serious and thought provoking examination of the evolution and role of religion throughout history, and so I figured today I’d just cut loose and share some awesome things I have found in my Internet ramblings lately.

First, a sign I would like to see at all live classical music events, forever.

Repeat offenders will be asked to play Flight of the Bumblebee

Seeing as the bassoon is widely considered to be one of the most difficult instruments in the entire traditional orchestra, this should get the point across to people. You might have to make an example of a few particularly thoughtless ones, and that likely won’t sound too good, but you are doing this for the good of future concerts and, most importantly, the nerves of all the musicians who have a hard enough time of it already without having to worry that some ninny’s electric dinger will go off right in the middle of a tricky bit of Mozart or Debussy.

When I was a wee thing, a young bright singer in grade 2, doing my first solo ever, that ever rocking tune “Little Boy Blue” (still hate that stupid song), the phone in the office of the gymnasium/auditorium in which I was performing rang. I will never forget the look on our always entertaining and never very calm principal Mister Carlisle’s face as he leapt to his feet and dashed over to answer the phone. I think that’s the first time I ever saw someone actually turn red with anger. I think if he could have reached through the phone and throttled the person on the other end, he would have.

From that, we go to this, a simply all time epic quote of total awesomeness from Stephen Colbert.

There is simply no way to properly express even a meaningful digit of how awesome that quote is. It puts something into words that many have tried to express before and does so with a simplicity and elegance of language that takes my breath away. It makes it so absolutely clear.

Plus, of course, it is entirely correct.

When viewing the blatant and rampant betrayal of Jesus’ message by modern day Pharisees, a harsh but telling image often pops into my mind. It is of a heavily gagged and chained Jesus kept in a deep dark cell somewhere deep in the Vatican, and only ever let out for a very few special occasions. “Hey look kids, it’s Jesus! Now, back in the cell with you. ” And they tell him that if He even tries to talk, they will crucify him all over again. And not in public either.

Well, from that happy thought, let’s go to this bit of wonderful good news from the New York Times.

The basic thesis of the article : the Republican party in the good old USA is falling apart in the wake of the Tuscon Massacre. I have been seeing this for a while, and have been getting a lot of very stiff resistance to the idea… from Democrats.

What the hell is wrong with American liberals that they jump to a defeatist attitude at the slightest provocation? Are they just universally a depressive group, or what? They seem positively eager to jump into the chasm of despair as long as it frees them from the responsibility to actually do anything.

Whatever happened to “We Shall Overcome”? Whatever happened to never giving up the fight? Whatever happened to total resistance? From my personal experience, it seems like the Republicans have turned the Democrats into a bunch of cowardly, dithering, simpering cowards who betray everything they stand for if the GOP just looks at them funny. And that’s true for Obama on down.

Don’t look at the odds. Don’t look to see if the other sheep are doing it too. Don’t wait for someone to come and tell you what to do. Don’t expect someone else to do what you are unwilling to do so that you do not have to feel guilty about not doing it.

Just get in there and fight for what is right.

All the rest is just moral failure.

I swear, I started out to make this light hearted and fun. Anyhow.

One last fun thing, then : this link to a fun blog called How To Write Badly Well. The basic premise is that each entry consists of something you really should not ever do when writing, and a very well written and bitchily hilarious example of it.

It’s a great read for a writer like me. Funny and oh so satisfying when you see one that bugs you too.