Mr. and Mr. Fingers

Try to control your excitement when you read the next line:

There are TWO new Mr. and Mr. Fingers movies!

In the first, noted Hollywood gossip maven Mark Manasse, on his popular TV show "How 'Bout a Nice Hawaiian Interview?", catches up with Mr. Fingers for an intense, sometimes heated discussion. In the second, Mr. Fingers appears on the talking heads political show "This Week with Darron Evans" to discuss his new book My Life in Fingers: My Battle With Bulimia.

Go to http://prez2012.com/mrandmrfingers to indulge yourself.

If you don't already have it, you will likely need Apple's Quicktime to view these movies. Click on the link to download it if you don't already have it.

Comments?

Who needs sleep?

I fell asleep on the couch somewhere around 9 o'clock. And then I woke up around 1:00. And I'm still awake. So why not blog?

I found an interesting site. Go here and click on 5 or 6 words that you think best describe me. It's called a Johari Window and it aids in personality awareness. And if there's one thing I need, it's to be more aware of my own personality (that's tongue in cheek, by the way).

Bill O'Reilly update: I haven't been contacted yet. Are you man enough to go toe to toe with me, Bill? (that's a shameless attempt to provoke his gigantic ego enough to invite me on the show) I put prez2012.com on my contest entry, so maybe his staffers will check out my blog.

Have you seen the three contest "winners" so far? One was ok, two were pretty lame. You can view their video clips here in the "Bloviating with Bill" contest window. I think I could do better.

America's Jesus

Returning to the religion theme, this was on usatoday.com today:

What has happened to America's Jesus?
by Rob Borsellino

I remember when Jesus Christ was about religion.

That goes back to when he was caring and compassionate all the time, not just during the political campaign season.

He used to bring people together and give them hope. He wouldn't have his people get in your face and tell you to fight gay rights or you'll burn in hell. That's not what he was about. That's not the Jesus who made folks such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson rich and famous. He was a different guy from the 21st-century American Jesus Christ.

When I recently visited Sicily, Italy, the old Jesus was all over the place. His statue was on the counter at the restaurant and the coffee house. His image was on the wall at the clothing store and in the hotel lobby. And there was a huge painting of him on the side of an apartment building.

Sometimes he was with his mom and dad, and sometimes he was sitting with his pals - the apostles. Mostly he was hanging from the cross. Whatever he was up to, it was all about religion.

It was interesting because I didn't go to Sicily looking for a religious experience. I went looking for what's left of my family. My grandfather and his brother came to the United States in 1904 and left behind their parents and two sisters. The sisters had kids, grandkids, great grandkids.

I never met any of those people, and I knew nothing about Sicily except the obvious - pizza and the Mafia. My wife thought it was time to connect. She made some calls and let the family know we were coming.

We landed in Palermo, got our bags and were met by my cousin Peppino Rizzuti, who was holding a handwritten sign with my name on it.

He was there with three other cousins. They hooked us up with more family and spent the next seven days driving us all over the island and stuffing us with mozzarella, prosciutto, olives and about 50 kinds of pasta.

My cousin Maria made the sign of the cross before she ate. My cousin Antonio's car had a figurine of a saint on the dashboard. My cousin Gian Marco had a beautiful cross hanging from his neck.

But nobody was going on about God, Jesus and religion. It didn't come up. I saw all that and was reminded that you can be a decent person - a good son, husband and father - and still oppose the war in Iraq. You can be a caring, thoughtful member of your community and still question whether Justice Samuel Alito should have been confirmed. Jesus won't get mad at you.

Several times during the week, I thought about telling my family what's happened to Jesus in the United States - how he's been kidnapped by politicians and preachers who decide what he does and doesn't think. They speak for him, and it doesn't always make sense.

They say Jesus is "pro life," but he doesn't seem to have a problem with the death penalty. And he thinks stem cell research - something that would save lives - is no different from murdering babies. They say he's the embodiment of kindness, love, decency and compassion. But he hates gays, lesbians and Muslims. And he's not too crazy about Buddhists, Hindus and the rest. Jews? He can put up with them if he has to.

The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka claims to speak for Jesus and goes around the country talking about how "AIDS cures fags." Pat Robertson says it would be a good idea if the United States killed the president of Venezuela. It would be a lot cheaper than starting another war.

All week I went over that stuff in my head and decided not to mention any of it to the family.

It would make America look ridiculous.

Prez on The O'Reilly Factor?

I've entered another contest, this time without Mark. It's a competition to win a chance to debate Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor.

To enter, I had to write about the topic I'd want to debate and my own opinion AND somehow persuade them to pick me, in just 100 words or less. This is what I wrote. The second stage is a phone interview, so hopefully they find me compelling.

The latest issue of Time magazine says that the majority of Americans think illegal immigration is a significant problem. I would argue that illegal immigration is not a problem but has been a huge net benefit to our country. Our porous border, however, IS a problem, for security reasons related to terrorism. I would support an amnesty for illegal immigrants already here coupled with strong, airtight border enforcement to prevent future illegal crossings.

I'm a 5th grade public school teacher. I want to be President. AND I look great on TV.

I'm also the reigning national IM co-champion:
http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/messengerlive

Alas, poor Denmark

Will Christians erupt in protest all over the world? Will people set fire to your computer for displaying my blog? Will the Vatican demand an apology from the U.S. government? Will people die because I have an image of Jesus as a soccer goalie on my site? Will the Pope call for my execution and the massacre of my family?