LorieByrd.com

Merry Christmas Happy Holidays

Via Tammy Bruce.

The New Harry Potter Flick

I have not seen the new Harry Potter movie yet, but plan to see it as soon as my schedule will allow.  I understand the concern many Christians have with the subject matter, but find that most who have the most problems with it have not read any of the books or seen any of the movies.  From the ones I have read and seen so far, I don't see anything any more troubling than the magic and sorcery that can be found in many Disney movies.  Since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is more intense and deals with more mature subject matter, it will be interesting to see if I still have the same opinion after seeing it.

La Shawn Barber has seen it and has the most comprehensive post I can imagine on the subject.  She not only links to reviews and other info about the movie, but posts links and information about the various books addressing the Christian viewpoint and other topics. 

Weblog Awards

Thanks to LaShawn Barber for her very kind words and her endorsement of Polipundit as best group blog for the 2005 Weblog Awards.  For those who found this site through her link, this is my personal site which I maintain as an outlet for my non-political ramblings consisting of my thoughts about television, movies, music, food, or whatever else strikes my fancy, including some blogging about my kids and the day-to-day drama which is my life.

I have not blogged in a few days due to Thanksgiving family activities and have not seen the final list of award nominations or even considered who I will be voting for, so I have no endorsements at this time.  I encourage everyone to check out the list though and to visit any blogs listed that you have never visted before.  I found several blogs that way last year that I now visit on a regular basis.  Check them out now -- voting begins on December 1.

Thanksgiving Recipe Thread

If anyone has a Thanksgiving recipe they would like to share, please post recipes, or links to recipes, in the comments section.  I will post my sweet potato pie recipe later if I can get it down on paper.  I don't measure anything, so I will have to write out the recipe as I make it. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

Update:  I fixed my sweet potatoes tonight. I think that what makes my sweet potato casserole and pies really good is that I cook the potatoes whole in thei skins first.  I never use canned sweet potatoes.Sweet potatoes are really cheap (I paid 29 cents a pound today) and are really easy to cook.  Continue on to read the recipes, but don't even bother if you want to use canned.  It just won't taste the same if you do and the texture and color are not as good either. 

Inspiring Movies

Betsy Newmark was inspired by AFI's list of most inspiring movies to come up with a list of her own top ten.

The Incredible Shrinking Gas Prices

Gas prices are still much higher than I, as a consumer, would like them to be, but they certainly have been falling fast lately. I go into a nearby town about three times a week for various errands and there is a gas station on the outskirts of that town that I always notice because of the prominence of the sign. For the past few weeks, everytime I pass that sign I marvel at the incredible shrinking prices. When I last passed it, the price was at $2.15 per gallon. It was not so long ago (several months back) that the price there was just over $3.00 per gallon. The last drop I noted was a full 10 cents over a period of just a few days. I don’t know whether or not it will continue, but it is a much more relevant story than some of those being reported prominently lately. I guess if the prices start rising again the media will rediscover the big gas price story.

Thanks So Much

Thanks so much to Michelle Malkin for letting me guest blog this week and for generously linking to this site today.  This is my personal site where I mainly post items that are not political in nature, although I occasionally slip in a few.  Most of the blogging I do is at the excellent political group blog, Polipundit,  where I blog daily alongside four guys who always have something interesting to say.  If you are not familiar with Polipundit, please check it out and bookmark us and come back often to visit.  Currently I have several posts up at Polipundit regarding the vote last night on a pullout from Iraq.  The other bloggers there have a few up on the same and related subjects. The reader comments on those threads are voluminous and many are insightful and/or hilarious.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you come back often.

You Just Have To Read This One

This story is really hard to believe.  Read it for yourself.

Where You Can Find Me

As always, I will be blogging daily at Polipundit, but this week I will also be guest blogging for Michelle Malkin.  Please be sure to stop by.

CMA Awards

I am flipping back and forth between Supernatural and the CMAs.  One thing is for certain, long hair is back in for the Nashville crowd.  I really enjoyed Martina McBride's version of "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and Sugarland's "Gotta Be Something More" got the kids out of bed and dancing.  We have that CD and listen to at least part of it almost everyday. 

I am not so crazy about the Paul Simon, Bon Jovi and other performances by pop performers.  This is a night for country.  Elton John is going to do a duet with Dolly Parton, but I am actually looking forward to hearing that.  I have been a big Elton John fan since the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album as a child and he actually recorded what would have made an excellent country song, "Country Comfort" sometime back in the 70's.

Update:  I was disappointed with the Elton John/Dolly Parton duet.  The song was kinda cute, but it was hard to hear Parton over Elton's voice.

My daughter was thrilled to find out that Keith Urban won an award and I was thrilled to find out from an astute comment below that he does a version of "Country Comfort" on one of his CDs.  I will be looking for that one now.  I had planned to buy one of his for my daughter for Christmas anyway.  I might have to make it two now.