Party Lights

"Party Lights" was the one hit of Georgia born R&B singer Claudine Clark. It was actually the b-side of her single "Disappointed." It is noteworthy that Clark wrote "Party Lights."

It is easily one of the best songs I have ever heard. As I listen to it, I am often brought to the verge of tears. The shear power and agony in the vocals pulls on my heart and causes my eyes to well up almost every time.

It seems to be a simple song. A young girl wants to go to a party across the street and her mother won't let her. I have a different take on the lyrics, which may explain my emotional response a little better.

I was tempted to type the lyrics, but it would be way better for you to actually listen to the song. You can listen as you continue to read below.



I am going to call the narrator Joy (Claudine Clark, in an attempt to repeat the success of "Party Lights," recorded under the name Joy Dawn later in her career).

Joy lives with her mother, they have a good relationship. Joy's mother is stern but fair. One fateful night Joy and her closest friends are in a horrific car accident in which all of her friends are killed and Joy is left in a terminal coma. Her mother spends every waking moment at her bedside, and it is taking a toll on her. Joy is all she has, but she is now brain dead.

In the song, Joy is having a near-death experience. She can see red, blue, and green lights. She can see all of her dead friends doing their favorite dances "across the street," i.e. in heaven.

She wants to die. She wants her mother to pull the plug, but she is unaware of her situation and couldn't communicate it if she wanted to. Her mother of course cannot let go, and has no plans to take Joy off life-support. Joy's friends are in heaven doing the twist and the mash potato and all Joy can do is look at her mother.

The song fades out as Joy cries "I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go..." In my mind I can hear the EKG chirping and ultimately sustaining the flatline, as Joy finally dies. Joy's spirit ascends into the party lights and she is reunited with her friends where they dance and party for all of eternity.

It's Me or Victoria Stilwell

For a short while, the time between 6:00pm and 7:00pm has been a little wierd for me.

I typically get home at 4:00pm, and my wife at 5:00pm. After going through the mail and chatting, we usually sit on the couch for some relaxation and dinner.

I can watch Cops any time, day or night. I feel like I have seen every episode but I don't care. Cops is on some channel somewhere almost 24 hours a day. I also like World's Wildest Police Videos on Tru Tv (formerly known as CourtTV) but it is really, really dumb. Its the kind of show where 30 seconds worth of grainy footage is repeated at different speeds and narrated over and over for about five minutes.

I didn't know it, but I was looking for an alternative to all this afternoon law-enforcement violence, and I found it by accident.

Animal Planet is right below TruTv on the proverbial dial, and a few days ago I accidentally tuned to it while gearing up for some high-speed chases. What I saw was a show called It's Me or The Dog, and I was blown away.

Truth be told, the show is very much like The Dog Wisperer, but the difference is in the hosts. I never liked The Dog Wisperer because I think Cesar Milan is a creep. The hostess of It's Me or The Dog, however, is not. She is Victoria Stilwell, and she is my new hero and crush.

First of all, she has a rediculous amount of style. She tends to only wear red and/or black, which is cool enough, but she also tends to wear either riding pants with a peacoat, or a leotard-like jumpsuit with a six inch thick belt. Then there's her voice. That beautiful high-pitched English accent is so sexy. She has just the right amount of class without seeming bitchy, and just the right amount of sass without seeming goofy.

But to be serious, what I really like are her techniques. Right off I noticed that she doesn't do that neck-pinching bullshit that Cesar Milan does. She emphasizes positive reinforcement and is strongly against any type of abuse.

I know these shows are edited to make trainers like Ms. Stilwell look like miracle workers, so I wanted a good reason to admire the woman and not just have a crush on her. I went to her official website and I was extremely pleased to read about all the work she does for animals, from anti-puppy mill work, to promoting pet insurance.

So my hat is off to you Victoria Stilwell, the sexy english dog trainer.

(Don't worry, my wife likes the show too!)

What good is half of a wing?

What good is half of a wing? This tired, illogical argument is used by creationists in a foolish attempt to create the impression that evolution is the means to an end. If birds have wings now, they must have "grown" wings over time, but what did they do with their little stubby half-wings in the meantime? Of course this argument misunderstands evolution in its whole. There is no "goal" for evolution. Because we know the state of living organisms now does not mean that billions of years of natural selection have been leading up to today. We are, right this second, within the flux of natural history, and will be forever (as as long as we're around at least).

While Trying to come up with a name for my blog, I cracked open The Counter-Creationism Handbook, By Mark Isaac. I recommend it to anyone who has come head to head with a seasoned christian apologist. I wish I had a pocket copy to carry around in my wallet for spur of the moment debates. The book catalogues every apologist argument from the absurd to the thought provoking, and provides the reader with well thought out (and thoroughly cited) rebuttals. "What use is half a wing?" appears on page 95. It caught my eye.

In any event, I think we all go through life with half of a wing, or half of an eye, or half of some other complexly developed organ. Do you have only half of a heart? Half of a brain? What good is it? Is the absence greater than the presence?

I would say that I would would rather have half than none of any of these things.

In our modern lives it is rather difficult to be 100% anything. I would be comfortable saying I am about half of a good friend, half of a good husband, worker, etc. But those half-wings in my life co-opt each other, making me a complete human being, for better or worse.

Like the universe, modern day western human social lives are a mixture of chaos and clockwork.

I have heard the argument that it is rediculous to think that a fish could move about on land.

I believe the mudskipper would beg to differ.