I’ve recently discovered the Onion News Network on The-Onion-dot-com. I’ve been a fan of The Onion’s Radio News Podcast for several years now, and while the video version is a bit raw, there are a few gems, like this one:

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For those of you who can hug your mothers, please do so.
For those of you who can’t hug your mothers, call them.
For those of you who can’t call your mothers… I know how you feel.

So those who can, please, celebrate this day with her; the first person you ever met.
The rest of us are living vicariously through you.

As many of you know, this is the start of a rather unpleasant series of remembrances, which The Editors of Jeremy-Gilby-dot-com call “Mom’s Week“.

I think this will go better than last year, the three dates cover the whole week, Sunday through Saturday the 17th, so its not a lot of emotion all at once.

I might have the math wrong, but it will be a rare event when these three dates do not fall on the same week.

I miss you Mom.

Just last week, the United States Navy launched its latest Prototype: The U.S.S. Independence. It is of the Littoral Combat Ship design.

Hattip: Instapinch

Taking a look at these photos, I’d be afraid if I was a Corellian Corvette.

This appears to be the USNavy’s answer to Iranian Shore Boats, and the hidden Chinese Submarine Bases. Boats that can perform close shore combat and Anti-Submarine Warfare.

Its no supercarrier. But the images of Star Wars this brings to mind are fun.

And a declassified speed of 50 knots is nothing to blink at either, you might miss her as she is going by.

Welcome to the April edition of Searchy Fun.

For those of you who came in late, these are the top 20 search strings used to find Jeremy-Gilby-dot-com on the various search engines of the World Wide Web.

Lets get to Checking!

Listed in Order of Popularity:

1. brian dawkins - 480 hits
   Brian Dawkins says Lito Sheppard is mad about the Eagles signing Asante Samuel.
2. pygmy owl - 211 hits
   Pygmy Owls are more popular than Michael Vick
3. terry tate - 143 hits
   What ever happened to Terrible Terry Tate?
4. ninjas killed my family - 129 hits
   Ah, that is what happened
5. reggie white - 117 hits
   Still popular after all these years
6. yankee curse - 115 hits
   It is sad that there are now eight year old Yankee Fans who have not seen their team with the World Series
7. pygmy - 98 hits
   Pygmies killed my family…
8. yankees curse - 96 hits
   Somebody, think of the childrens!
9. pygmy owls - 82 hits
   Could possibly be as rare as Yankee Victories
10. 1652 - 72 hits
    This one baffles me: Here are the only Google Hits for 1652
11. brain dawkins - 70 hits
    A brain is a terrible thing to waste
12. do the needful - 64 hits
    Ah, the Needful, I’ve missed you
    • arno peters - 63 hits
      Lots of inquiries about the Peters’ Projection
    • the great escape - 62 hits
      Great for a Steve McQueen phix
    • rocky - 61 hits
      I’m noticing a lot of Old School sequels: First Rocky, then Rambo, now Indiana Jones. I’m not sure what to think about that
    • tumamoc hill - 57 hits
      I understand the word “Tumamoc” is the ancient Hohokam word for “March of Death”
    • jeremy - 54 hits
      I like being able to be found, on Google, by just my first name, I don’t know why
    • ninjas - 54 hits
      How about this one?
      
    • demotivators - 50 hits
      Nothing says demotivation like Despair-dot-com.
    • michael vick - 45 hits
      I’ve got some advice for Michael Vick, after you get out of jail, one of three teams will hire you:
      • The Oakland Raiders
      • The Baltimore Ravens (a.k.a. Raiders East)
      • The Dallas Cowboys (a.k.a. Raiders South)

See you next month, folks!

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It should not come as a surprise that The Editors of Jeremy-Gilby-dot-com are becoming somewhat Old School as we get older; with phrases like Born After Star Wars, Coffee-Cocktail, Macification and United Statesian.

Well, one of the debates I like to get into, with the younger crowd, is the proper order of C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia”.

I mentioned it before, Here, but with Prince Caspian coming to theaters, I thought I would amplify it.

You see, once upon a time, when I was a young boy, I was first introduced to the Chronicles series, and there was a specific order:

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and His Boy
6. The Magician’s Nephew
7. The Last Battle

This was the order I grew up with.

Sometime, between then and now, the order changed.
When The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe came to Theaters, I went to purchase the whole series. But was confused. I knew there were seven books, and I found book sets in the bookstores, but the first book was NOT The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it was “The Magician’s Nephew”.

Part of my confusion, was, I never read the whole series when I was a child, I stopped at Prince Caspian, for one, because I hated reading then.

So this “new” order:

1. The Magician’s Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle

Now, one order is the order of Publication, the other is the Chronological Order of the story itself.

From looking at my bookshelf, you can see which order I have adopted. Take THAT book numbering:

The “Proper” order for the Chronicles of Narnia

I’ve read the whole series, in the Publication Order, and appreciated the world of Narnia as Lewis wrote it.
I can see the arguments for the Chronological Order, If “The Final Battle” is the penultimate book, “The Magician’s Nephew” is a Genesis Book.

However, it is my opinion, and that of others, that “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” is the perfect introductory book. The pacing and the story are the best for the introduction of the reader to the concepts introduced by C.S. Lewis. It is the start of the main arc of the series, the Pevensie Arc. Prince Caspian follows right behind, and sets up the setting and characters for the rest of the series.
Yes, the events of “A Horse and His Boy” occur before “Caspian”, but it serves as a discrete, separate arc from the Pevensie/Caspian Arc; the two are not dependent at all. And while it might be confusing to jump back in time, the reader can make that leap, and the story can be saved for later in the series.

“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” follows the Caspian/Pevensie Arc, as does “The Silver Chair”.
“The Magician’s Nephew” introduces the White Witch, and the creation of the land where Narnia resides. It does not intersect with the Pevensie Arc until the end of the book where we learn where the Wardrobe comes from, which is what starts our adventure in “Lion”.

And all the arcs are wrapped up in “The Final Battle”, no argument there.

I think the biggest argument is where should a new reader begin, where C.S. Lewis himself began, or where the story finds its genesis?
I argue the Former. I think “The Magician’s Nephew” makes more sense when read after “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe”.

Now, I also see the irony, compared with The Horatio Hornblower Series. The publication order and the chronological order are much different. But all readers agree that the best way to read C.S. Forrester’s character is chronologically.

I guess I’m speaking to the first time C.S. Lewis readers, out there. I challenge you to read the series in the published order.

Sometimes, when I’m walking about, during my day, and I have my iPod headphones crammed in my ears. I see the looks from my fellow passers by, and they are looks of, well, I guess you could call them looks of disappointment, or even perhaps disdain. Their eyes are asking the tacit question: “Why is that tall white boy separating himself?”

I didn’t really think about it. Then I heard Neil Cavuto’s analysis on the subject:

I have confessed (it was on May Day) for example, that I use my iPod to fend off sales people in retail stores. (Just FYI: It is only mildly effective, as there are some sales people who don’t care that you have technology crammed in your ears.)
But there is a lot of noise, out there, that I don’t care to hear: