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Hey Andy Griffith Show fans! I have recently been looking into the life of Hal Smith, the (in)famous Otis Campbell. He was also known as the beloved Mr. Whittaker in Focus On the Family's radio series Adventures in Odyssey.
Turns out he has had quite a career including voice work for Hanna Barbarra and Disney as well as parts on various TV shows and commercials. He even had his own local children show in the Los Angeles area called The Pancake Man.
Here's a little gem I found on my new favorite web site, "Youtube."

No Substitute for Knowing Where Your Going

I found this story on Fox News' website tonight (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581303,00.html). I'm sometimes amused at all the gadgets folks carry around these days; I-pods, I-phones, blackberries, GPS, satellite radio receivers, cellphones, etc. There are even small gadgets that serve only to be used as books. These gadgets are convenient but they can bite you sometimes, like the couple in the news article. I was working once out in Carissa Plains, which is about 50 miles from the nearest anything, when a gentleman stopped to ask me where the nearest gas station was. It seems his GPS told him that Highway 58 was the shortest route to San Luis Obispo from wherever he was and somehow led him to believe there would be somewhere to fuel up his Pontiac on the way, which was by then running on fumes. Thankfully for this Texan (interestingly, I had a fellow from Texas riding with me that day), I was able to find a local rancher who had a fuel tank behind his barn and gave this gentleman enough fuel to get to town (thank you Mrs Twisselman!).
You don't need new-fangled gadgets to get you into trouble, however. I once got myself into a predicament with an good old-fashioned Thomas Guide east of Sonora one winter. Time prohibits me from sharing the details, but the "shortcut" I hoped to use ended up gaining me a mile and a half walk uphill in a snow storm and Ma Bell a $400 tow bill.

No Real Depth Here.

My all time favorite car. Isn't Youtube great?

The Cost of Christianity Today in America

FYI: Being a beliver of Jesus in the United States can cost you more than ridicule.


Florida Principal, Athletic Director Could Go to Jail for Prayer Before Lunch at SchoolSaturday, August 15, 2009


A principal and an athletic director in Florida could be charged with crimes and spend six months in jail after they prayed before a meal at a school event, the Washington Times reported.

Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman will go on trial in federal district court Sept. 17. They're accused of violating the conditions of a lawsuit settlement reached last year with the American Civil Liberties Union, according to the Times.

Local pastors and some students and teachers are outraged that Lay and Freeman face criminal charges, and they have protested during graduation ceremonies, the newspaper said.

"I have been defending religious freedom issues for 22 years, and I've never had to defend somebody who has been charged criminally for praying," said Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, the Christian-based legal group that is defending the two school officials.

But an ACLU official said the Santa Rosa County School District has been guilty of "flagrant" First Amendment violations for years, the Times reported.

"The defendants all admitted wrongdoing," said Daniel Mach, ACLU's director of litigation for its freedom of religion program. "For example, the Pace High School teachers handbook asks teachers to 'embrace every opportunity to inculcate, by precept and example, the practice of every Christian virtue.'"

The case stems from a Jan. 28 incident in which Lay, a local Baptist church deacon, asked Freeman to offer mealtime prayers at a lunch for school employees. Staver said no students were there and the event took place on school property after hours.

Mach countered that the event was held during the school day and Lay has admitted in writing that there were students present, according to the newspaper.

The ACLU contends that the allowance of the lunchtime prayer was a breach of last year's settlement, in which the district promised, among other things, to prohibit all school employees from promoting prayers during school-sponsored events, espousing their religious beliefs and trying to convert students.