3:10 to Yuma

For my birthday, I went out with some friends and we ended up seeing "3:10 to Yuma" with Russell Crowe and the "Dark Knight" himself, Christian Bale.

Let me start out by saying that I wasn't really quite sure what to expect from this film. Was it going to be all action, like a good western should, or is it going to be all story and character development with little action? It turned out to be a pleasant mixture of both.

Both Russell Crowe and Christian Bale did a fabulous job with their characters, and the dynamic between the two was electric. They played very well together, one guy "good" the other "bad", but both with some redeemable qualities that endear themselves to the audience. And some naughty characteristics that make you cheer for them as well (But what's up with the gunfights?).

The language was realitively mild in this one (I've sat through far worse) and the action was amazing. The film moved along at a nice clip, with only a couple of places it bogs down.

Definetely worth the price of full admission. I may even go the theater to see it again. The story is really deep enough to warrant a second viewing to catch all the nuances.

The Ruins by Scott Smith

I just recently finished reading "The Ruins" by "A Simple Plan" author Scott Smith. Now, I have never read "A Simple Plan", but I hope it is a far superior work than the current one.

I have been thinking about how I can write a scathing review of this bookish blunder, but I'll just give it to ya straight: This book was hideous! Sorry, Peter...

The only question that continually popped into my head was, "What is this guy thinking?".

Now, there was a couple of bright spots. The "bad guy" of the book had some pretty interesting ways of tormenting his victims, which was cool, and the ending was great, but that doesn't save this albatross from going down with the ship.

The time spent reading this literary fiasco can never be returned. So, the long and the short of it: don't read it.

My Triumphant Return

Well, I've just been on a trip through Europe and now I am back and ready to blog.

Just kidding, I've have just been too lazy or busy to put in the effort, much to my wife's chagrin, and probably some of my friends as well. But, here I am, trying to get back in the saddle and actually take time to write. Cause, like most people, I've got stuff to say.

School is back in and going extremely well, unlike last year, which was my first teaching high school. I was a nervous wreck, and not because of the kids. It was just because I had no idea what I was doing. Got a little more on the ball this year... and I'm a little crazier.

My freinds Jason and Sarah have joined the blogging game, and they can be found here. I'll add a link to the side kids!

Okay now on to some reviews...

Transformers Viewing 2

Well, I went and saw it again today, and it was more amazing. This is really an incredibly well done film. I have to admit, I was a little nervous with Michael Bay at the helm, but he came through in a pinch. Of course, with Spielberg as an executive producer, how could it come out too badly.

Okay, as I have mentioned before, Transformers has become my new favorite movie. So, here is a screen shot from one of my favorite scenes:Now a couple of things about this shot. Notice the cool eye protection Bumblebee dons when he fights. You will also notice the tow truck. Important to the scene, but I'll say no more.

Make sure you see Transformers this weekend!!!

Back to normal...

The big news this weekend wasn't that Russian President Vladimir Putin was visiting our beloved state to spend 24 hours at Walker's Point, aka the Bush Compound, but that he was leaving today, the protesters were leaving today and that everything was going to be back to normal.

Transformers

I just got home from a sneak peak showing of Transformers, and let me tell you, this was perhaps the best movie I have ever seen. I have a list of my top films (personal faves) that went something like this:

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Star Wars
3. Return of the Jedi
4. LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring
5. LOTR: The Two Towers
6. LOTR: The Return of the King
7. Aliens

And the list would continue on from there including Spider-Man, X-Men and so on. Well, Transformers has shot to the top of the list. I've had some childhood favorites come to life on the big screen, like the Hulk, Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider, but this blows them all away. Forget Spider-man. He's old news compared to this film. There will be some memorable lines that will come from this movie, as well as some already well known, such as "Autobots: Roll Out!"

I know I make some bold boasts here, but I have never sat even through my favorite films with a palpable sense of excitement, literally on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next scene. Tonight I did.

The Autobots and Decepticons are incredible in this film. You almost expect to step out of the theater and see them standing there the CGI was so amazing.

The action sequences were stunning. Everything I ever wanted in the various TV shows and things I have imagined were made a reality on the big screen. My favorite Autobot was Bumblebee. A favorite as a kid and the co-star with Shia Labeouf, who should get some sort of prestigious award for this film.

Of course, like any movie, there were a few things I didn't care for, but it was all dialoge, and certainly nothing to deter the "WOW" factor of this flick. But, take care, this isn't a film for little kids because the action is very intense and some of the dialog, while minor, is a little rough for young ears.

Amazing film. See it on the big screen, several times.

Okay, when is the first show time for tomorrow...

The Bangor Troop Greeters

Here in our beloved metropolis, we have an amazing group of people who volunteer to greet incoming and outgoing troops at our international airport. We are often the last stop before going over seas or the first stop coming back. Here is a great letter to the editor from one of these grateful troops:

I am a paratrooper serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom, currently forward-deployed in Iraq. I was a part of the "surge" the commander-in-chief called up to help the citizens of Iraq.

During our deployment, our plane stopped at Bangor International Airport on Jan. 2. It was a very cold day, but there were more than 100 volunteers, veterans and supporters at the airport to greet us as we exited the plane. We were greeted with open arms, smiles and handshakes. Additionally, we were provided with phones to contact love ones, food and good conversation.

I can honestly say that was the proudest moment I have had as a soldier serving in the United States Army. The support and kindness shown to us by the great people of Bangor solidified my resolve as to what purpose I was serving in the military. I serve because of people like the residents of Bangor, whom I will fight to protect anywhere, anytime when called upon.

I write this to thank you sincerely for the outpouring of warmth and support. I can't speak for all of the soldiers, but I know they all felt like I feel. We experienced the same hospitality in 2003 when we first started OIF, and I never got the chance to say "thank you". Again, thank you and God bless you all.

Sgt. 1st Class

Derrick Davis

Fort Bragg, N.C.

Why I bother...

Okay gentle reader, I know it has been a long time since I posted and there probably isn't anyone out there left to read this, but I'm gonna write any. Hi to all the peeps that regularly check this site, namely Peter, Kev and Ame, Esther, Scott and my lovely wife.

I have just survived my first year teaching in an alternative ed high school. What is "alternative education" you ask? That is a great question, and depending on where you are and who you ask, you're going to get a variety of answers.

This is what alternative ed is for us. We are part of Brewer High, just off site. Our kids get a diploma just like the kids at the high school. We just do things a little differently...

We have a variety of kids that are with us for a variety of reasons. Yes, we do have some special ed kids with some issues, but nothing major. We have some kids that are gifted and talented. We have kids with some health issues. Usually kids come to us because they are either 1) behind in credits due to dropping out, jail time, illness, etc. or 2) the high school with 900 students just doesn't work for them. Sometimes they come for both reasons.

We have small classes, with about 35 kids for three of us. Between the three of us we have taught roughly 15 different classes, ranging from English to math to science to Russian to guitar to performing arts and the list goes on.

When I first got into education, I was all excited and altruistic and thought "I am going to impact young lives for the better". Uh huh. Nine years in and I hadn't seen any of that. Well, this year was different. Way different. I've been able to help and positively impact a bunch of kids this year. It was an amazing experience to have one of the kid's parents come up to me and thank me with tears in her eyes about how I have been such a positive influence on her son and made a real impact on his life. Finally...

So, I have the summer off for the first time in my life. I'm mentally wiped out after a long year. I'll be doing some summer school stuff and then my "Honey-do" list kicks in, but it looks like I have all of August off.

Oh yeah!!!

When the wife is away...

I know, I haven't blogged in forever, and as Jess keeps reminding me, my status in the TTLB keeps slipping to apparently new abysmal depths (I'm now a Wiggly Worm. That can't be good.).

So, instead of weighing in on the current state of the world with a good quality post, I just finished developing some essay questions about the French defeat at Dienbienphu at the hands of Ho Chi Minh, and now I am going to pop some popcorn, get a Tab on ice, and watch "Shaun of the Dead".

I am going to skip the work on the Health quiz for now...

Philly Day 3

Monday brings Tut!!! The weather is horrible this morning. Here we are 700 miles from Maine and it is snowing. And Jess is sick to boot. So, the idea of riding the train in goes right out the window. So Dad decides we'll drive in. Oh the fun abounds.

The good news is, the drive in was relatively painless. We made a couple of errors in our map reading, but we got to the Franklin Institute ten minutes before we needed to and Dad got a parking spot real close.


The Tut exhibit was everything I hoped for and more. It was just amazing to see all these artifacts that I've been seeing in books for years right there before me in all their antiquated glory. The artifacts date from roughly 1350 B.C., and they were in amazing shape. Of course, I couldn't take pictures in the Tut exhibit, but I'll include some photos of what we saw.

This is a huge statue of Ankenaten, notably the pharaoh that outlawed polytheism in ancient Egypt and instituted monotheism. This was amazing to see. But, understandably, when I got a little too close, there was a security guard who cozied up to me. You can never be to careful...

After being blown away by the Tut exhibit, we checked out the rest of the Franklin Institute. We toured the Giant Heart and the Franklin Air Show.

When we were done at the Franklin, we headed back to our suite for a little rest. After a nap and a great dinner cooked by Mom, I went to a four hour graduate class with Kevin. And I actually learned some stuff. Amazing.

And to prove what a small world it is, when I went on a coffee run to the "Eagle's Nest" for some coffee, I ran into one of the kids from our church who is going to PBU. I had to do the old double take to make sure it was here before I made a real idiot out of myself.

Monday in a nutshell....

Philly Day 2

Sunday brought torrential rains and hazardous conditions. I've never been scared driving in heavy rain before, but I was nervous Sunday morning (and it wasn't your driving, Kev). Unlike Maine roads, which are beveled (hope that is the right word) to allow water and snow to run off, Pennsylvania roads are like bowls, and all the water collects in the middle. The hydroplaning was scary. Especially when you look at the other side of the highway and there are cars off the road, upside down on their roofs and there was even one that shot up the bank on the side of the road. Scary stuff.


But God is good and we got to our destination. We went to the Bacton Hill Bible Church with the Bookers, Grammy Quint, my in-laws and my lovely wife. Of course, I am supposed to be having some time off from leading worship, which I got, but when Kevin asked if I wanted to play with their worship group, I certainly couldn't pass up the opportunity to play.

After church, since the weather was so nasty, we went to the King of Prussia Mall, which was rather lackluster except for that an Apple Store, my Mecca, was held within the KoPM. And let there be no mistake, the Apple Store was amazing! Worth the trip to the stupid mall. Well, I guess I should include the girl's trip to Tiffany's. Thankfully, we made it out with out a little blue box :o)

And another thing, here I was in this colossal shopping mall, and there really wasn't anything different from the Portland, Maine mall or the mall in our quaint metropolis either. I was hoping for a really different experience, with exotic stores with cool stuff, and there were none. The comic store I went to was a sham compared to Top Shelf Comics right down town on Central Street in Bangor. All the names were the same. Gap, Ambercrombie, JC Penny, Macy's, it's all right here in Bangor. Okay, enough ranting about the mall...

Sunday night consisted of having dinner at the house of a childhood friend of Jess'. What a great time. The whole clan got to catch up. We had a great meal and I got to extol the greatness of Apple computers (there were three there to play on) and laud Acadia National Park, so it was all good.

There is Sunday in a nutshell. Great day but very long and tiring.

To Philly and back: Vacation Day 1

Hello all!!! We just got back a couple of days ago from our fabulous trip to Philadelphia, PA to see out friends, the Bookers. Kev, Ame and big K, thanks for everything. We had such a great time and we miss you guys already.

So, it was a great time, with horrible weather. But the company more than made up for the nasty conditions. Here we were going to Philly thinking we were going to have sun and 70's. We were wrong...

But I have tons to write about and not a lot of time tonight to get it all down, so I am going to break things up.

We left Saturday morning, bright and early with almost no incidents. I fell down the stairs the night before, so I was a little sore. I rarely fall down, unlike my wife, but for some crazy reason I took a tumble the night before we left. Nothing major though.

We spent Saturday in the car, with only a couple of stops on the way down. We made our destination in just over nine hours and got to see some really beautiful houses in a town called Buckingham.

After we got settled in, we had a bbq with the Bookers and some of the families that they live with. What a great time with good friends and good food!!! And I couldn't believe it, but we had a fire out in the backyard. No permit necessary! I can't even do that here in my beloved Bangor!

More to come later...

The Case of the Bulging Battery

So, we went to Philly last week, and once we were settled in I got out my MacBook Pro to check my mail and so forth. Well, the trackpad was acting really funning. So I started inspecting my machine, and low and behold, the battery looked like this:



What? How could this be? What caused this? Did I do something wrong?

Come to find out, no I didn't. But, I thought I was going to be stuck buying a brand new $116 battery. But after some digging, I found the Apple Battery Exchange Program, and guess what, my battery was on the "not up to Apple's high quality" list.

Of course, it was buried and not easy to find, but it is there and still working, so I have a new battery coming in 3-5 business days.

Just when I thought I might have an actual reason to diss the Mac, Apple still comes through with the goods, continuing to prove why they are the best computers on the planet (no bias here).

I bet he is a good listener...

The highlight of our ever-so-"Weekly" publication: Tastes Like Chicken.

Great cartoon this week, Josh! Keep up the good work!

Revenge of Old Man Winter

So, last week we were enjoying 50º temps with tons of sun. Today: 10" inches of snow in our area and up to 24" in the mountains. And the skiers rejoiced. Yea.

The Guvnah (governor for those of you out of the state of Maine) even declared a state of emergency so power crews from other states could come in a restore power to up to 275,000 currently without electricity.

But, there is a silver lining, sort of. A couple of weeks ago, I was at our local LL Bean outlet and found the ultimate bargain: a pair of $130 snow pants with all the bells and whistles for $25. What a deal!

I didn't think I was going to be able to try them out until next Winter. Guess I was wrong...

Whining ensues...

I'm gonna get whiny. I've had a cold for two weeks, going on three. I feel like crap. And now this:

4"-10" of snow on the way.

I love spring in Maine...

Ghost Rider

I went to the cheap seats last night and saw Ghost Rider. Now, let me start by saying, most critics panned this movie. Nicolas Cage did a horrible job acting. The story was fluff and not deep enough. The critiques just keep on coming. Well, I disagree with them completely.

Of course, everyone has an opinion, and apparently some get paid for their opinion, so here is mine.

Back in the day, my family took a trip to Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, we had an unplanned stay over. But because of this, I bought my first comic, which was The Hulk. When I got back home, I bought my second comic, which was Ghost Rider.

I really dislike Nicolas Cage. He plays the same character in every movie he is in. But I liked him in GR. He fit the part perfectly. Plus it helped his head was on fire.

The story had its own charm, giving a great background on how Johnny Blaze signs over his soul to Mephistopheles and becomes the "Spirit of Vengeance". The effects were amazing. The first ride by GR was awesome as he melted the asphalt on the street and lit everything in sight on fire. The scene where GR comes riding down the building and creates a crater when he lands was totally awesome. Another favorite scene is when Carter Slade, aka The Caretaker, takes his final ride as a Ghost Rider and both he and Blaze are riding side by side, JB on his bike and CS on his horse. Amazing. Sam Elliot was perfectly cast as Slade.

This was well worth seeing on the big screen, and I'll definitely add this DVD to the collection when it is released.

Added bonus: GR art by Marc Silvestri!

Random Rules

My buddy Peter over at Slublog set the ol' iPod to shuffle, hit play, and hoped for the best. Well, seeing that the weather is extremely nasty here in our beloved Bangor right now (Snow, sleet, rain), I've done the same. I'm slightly shocked at what came up on my pod. A complete dichotomy:

"Meaning In Tradgedy"- As I Lay Dying- Buzzsaw guitars, rapid fire drums and plenty of screaming. From what I have read, these guys are Christians. How you would know from listening to them I don't know, but if they get people to come to Christ, go for it.

"Falling Upon Deaf Ears"- As I Lay Dying- More buzzsaw and growl.

"The Everlasting"- Third Day- C'mon, 1o years of rockin' for Christ. An essential. So many great songs.

"My Hope is in You"- Third Day


"Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck"- Demon Hunter- Awesome band. Great combo of buzzsaw/scream, but the newest album (The Triptych) is a very diverse album with a lot of awesome guitar, some scream, but some great harmonies and vocals. This song is a cover of a song by the Industial/Groove/Thrash metal band Prong.

"Mighty is the Power of the Cross"- Chris Tomlin- One of the greatest lyricists and worship leaders the church has going right now.

"Self-Inflicted"- Crowbar- The real heathens of this pack. Nothing but pure Doom/Grunge/Wall 'o' Sound metal here. Not for the faint of heart.

"Your Grace is Enough"- Chris Tomlin

"Made to Worship"- Chris Tomlin

"The Way I Was Made"- Chris Tomlin

Wow, I do have a really weird mix. The best of both worlds, so to speak. For fun, we got Jessica's iPod out as well. Here are her first ten:

"Smile"- Madeleine Peyroux

"All My Tears"- Jars of Clay

"Quando, Quando, Quando"- Michael Buble and Nelly Furtado- From the "Natalie Wants Friends!" album.

"Grey"- Barlow Girl

"I Can't Take it In"- Imogen Heap- From the "Chronicles of Narnia" soundtrack.

"Angel"- George Winston

"I've Got to See You Again"- Norah Jones

"Wunderkind"- Alanis Morissette- Another one from the "Chronicles" soundtrack. And also the only reason something from Alanis Morissette would end up on either of our pods.

"Touch Me, Feel Me"- Darude- Got to have some Eltronica/Techno.

"Anywhere"- Evanescence- The Mrs. can rock out...

There we have it. Random living at its best!

300

I am in awe of the spectacle that I watched this weekend. 300 was an amazing film. Visually stunning and definitely ground breaking. I was exhausted after the film because I felt I was one of the Spartans taking on the Persians. Yes, it was bloody, and there was a little skin, but that doesn't change how amazing this film was.

When I walked out of the theater I could only utter three words: amazing, awesome, stunning.

Worth the full price of admission multiple times. I can't wait to go see it again. I'll buy the super-duper, deluxe, super deluxe DVD when it comes out.

Weekend Worship Set

Here is the Sunday morning set list for this week:

Adonai
Be Unto Your Name
Empty Me
Kindness
Give Us Clean Hands
Offering- Good to Me
Draw Me Close
Blessed Be Your Name

We do "Kindness" and "Give Us Clean Hands" as a medley, which works extremely well. I think I heard Chris Tomlin or someone like that do the two songs that way.

I tried a little experiment this morning with a little dramatic "buzzsaw" guitar on "Draw Me Close". I put a little distortion on the Les Paul for the second chorus. Nobody dropped dead and lightning didn't strike, and it wasn't like I was playing like Dimebag Darrell, so it went okay. The idea was to add some dynamics to the song, not draw attention to myself, because we do this for God and not ourselves. It seemed to work.

We are going to be missing some people next week, so it will be a nice little acoustic set Sunday morning, not a Les Paul driven wall of sound.

It was just a matter of time...

I knew it would come. It was just a matter of time. It actually has been happening for centuries, but it now just comes to light.

Cat goes berserk and send woman to the hospital:

HAILEY, Idaho - A house cat attacked its owner, sending her to the hospital by ambulance with more than 20 bite wounds.

The cat, a black and white domestic male, went on the rampage Wednesday when a neighbor showed up at the door with a different cat, mistakenly thinking it belonged to the woman.

“She went to the door, and her cat went berserk,” Jeff Nevins, assistant fire chief for Wood River Fire and Rescue, told the Idaho Mountain Express.

The woman in her 60s was taken to St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center with what Nevins described as “pretty serious puncture wounds.” Neither the hospital nor the fire department would provide any details to The Associated Press on Saturday, or say whether she has been released.

“I think the owner said she was going to take it to the shelter because that’s not the first time she’s been attacked,” Nevins said.

Cats are evil.

Are you kidding me?

While Captain America is by no means a favorite comic character of mine, I can't believe that Marvel has killed him off. And struck down by a lowly sniper. What is wrong with them?

Rest in peace, Cap, you were a tremendous hero, and the goofballs at Marvel will realize their mistake eventually, killing off an American icon...

A little photo resto

Here is my latest work of art (so to speak). My aunt was gracious enough to let me borrow a picture of my grandfather who fought in World War I with the 303rd Field Artillery. The picture was taken in either 1917 or 1918.

Here is the before:




And here is after:



Not a real challenging restoration, but meaningful because it is my grandfather, whom I never got to meet because he died when I was an infant. The picture had been cut by someone (that always irritates me) and was yellowing. I have a few more touch ups to due, but as you can see, a vast improvement.

Peculiar Posts

Here are the oddities of the day, which you have admit, are kinda funny.

The first, Tranquilized Moose Downs Helicopter:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A helicopter is not necessarily a match for an angry moose.

Instead of lying down after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, a moose charged a hovering helicopter used by a wildlife biologist, damaging the aircraft's tail rotor and forcing it to the ground.

They may be docile and dumb looking, but don't mess with 'em.

The today's second peculiarity was nearly a international incident: Switzerland Inadvertently Invades Liechtenstein.

ZURICH, Switzerland - What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers from the neutral country wandered 2 kilometers (more than a mile) across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

Oops. Good thing the Liechtensteiners are so easy going. Oh, and of course, they have no army so it's not like they could make a fuss...

Musical Sunday

Very musical and very long day on Sunday. We did our regular Sunday morning music set and on top of that did a special night of music because there was a break in our Sunday night small group schedule. So here is the morning list:

Come, Now is the Time to Worship
Open the Eyes of our Heart Lord
Amazing Love (You are my King)
Holy is the Lord
Enough
Lord, You have my Heart
How Great is our God/Then Sings my Soul
Blest be the Tie that Binds (A cappella after Communion)

This was the Sunday night set:

Adonai
Be Unto Your Name
Jesus Lead On
Awesome is the Lord Most High
Better is One Day
Draw Me Close
From the Inside Out
Give Us Clean Hands
Kindness
Unashamed Love
You Alone
Forever
You're Worthy of My Praise
I Can Only Imagine

Yes, that was a lot of songs. The set clocked in at around one hour and fifteen minutes. The night went very well considering the practice the day before was nearly a train wreck. I wish that there had been a few more people, but if only one in the crowd got something out of it, then it was worth it. Remember, God is in control.

How far could they be?

This week's much anticipated installment of Tastes Like Chicken!

The crappy weekly paper, aptly called "The Weekly" (I usually change the spelling to "Weakly") chinsed out and printed this week's toon in black and white.

Well, here it is in color!

Josh, I look forward to TLC every week! Keep it up!

The joys of living in Maine

40º on Thursday.

Blizzard on Friday with 6" to 20" inches of snow forecast with everything canceled except my wife's workplace.

40º on Saturday.

As the old Maine saying goes: If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute and it will change...

Ayuh, deah.

Worship Set

So, a couple of weeks ago I was all motivated to post our Sunday morning worship set, and I've already missed a Sunday.

If any of you are involved in church ministry of any kind, and particularly music, don't be surprised when not only something goes wrong, but all kinds of stuff (some of you know exactly what I'm talking about).

Last week was like that. We had a great presentation by our Pioneer Club kids, which changed up the order of service, which is not a big deal, but we had all kinds of technical problems with our sound system to really start the morning out right. I usually show up about an hour before the service starts (my wife hates that because I drag her with me) and get warmed up and ready. I spent 40 minutes running around with my head cut off trying to figure out why the guitars weren't coming through the system. Consequently not the smoothest morning ever.

I guess the reason that I am writing this is just to prepare you to be ready to roll with the punches. It can be hard sometimes to get by the small stuff (I speak from experience here), but God is still good and in control of the show. Let's all try to lean on Him.

Here is the list from last week:

Indescribable
God of Wonders
My All in All
I Love You Lord
Christ in Me (offering)
You Alone
My Savior's Love (I Stand Amazed)- Chris Tomlin's version

Hmm... An Odd Couple

"If I keep still, maybe the nice tiger won't eat me..."

"An Incoveniet Truth" about Al Gore's Energy Use

While former VP Al Gore was out rubbing shoulders with Hollywood's elite and celebrating his documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth", apparently he was doing his part to contribute to the demise of our planet:

[F]ormer Vice President Al Gore was called a hypocrite by a Tennessee group that said his Belle Meade home is consuming too much energy.

The home’s average monthly electric bill last year was just under $1,200, according to bills that The Tennessean acquired from Nashville Electric Service.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk (the) walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, identified as a free-market think tank.

Gore’s power bill shows, however, that the former vice president may be doing just that.

Gore purchased 108 blocks of “green power” for each of the past three months, according to a summary of the bills.

That’s a total of $432 a month Gore paid extra for solar or other renewable energy sources.

The green power Gore purchased in those three months is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans or 286,092 pounds of newspaper, according to comparison figures on NES’ Web site.

NES joined the TVA program in 2000 to give power customers a way to support environmentally sound sources of electricity. The Tennessean could not determine when Gore signed up for green power.

NES gets its electricity from TVA. Most is produced from coal, which emits carbon, a greenhouse gas. A lesser amount comes from nuclear power and a small amount from hydroelectric.

Okay, they threw in something about "Green Power" and all that, but c'mon, $1200 is quite a hefty bill to pay to the power company.

I mean, I pay that for a year of power, not just a month, and I live in the highest taxed state in the Union.

Maybe I'll put up a windmill in my backyard. I bet the neighbors will love that...