Bleach! We saw a few conventional comedies this month – you know, the type that are fed through the Hollywood Insta-Script & Movie Machine, and of all of them (including The Lake House, The Break-Up, and Click), Deck the Halls was the most cloyingly unoriginal and irritating. Of course, since it’s about Christmas, no matter how bombastic, loud, and unfunny it is (remember Christmas with the Kranks?), my brother will probably like it and buy it. After hearing about Danny DeVito’s drunken tirade against President Bush on The View, however, I wouldn’t buy it for that reason alone. And what happened with Matthew Broderick? I loved him in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Biloxi Blues, and Glory, and he was okay in films like WarGames, Ladyhawke, and most recently the TV version of The Music Man. He’s had a stinker or two along the way, such as Addicted to Love, but lately they seem to be piling up. He has a certain amount of charm, but it’s completely lost in films like Inspector Gadget, The Stepford Wives, The Producers, and now this piece of garbage. Even Kate Beckinsale as his wife can’t salvage this load of Christmas crap! Give me Christmas with the Kranks any day over this obnoxious movie (and Christmas with the Kranks was no holiday classic, let me tell you!)

The whole thing is garish and hyper, and then they try to wring meaning out of it all at the end when DeVito’s floozy, liberal wife, the one hanging out all over but still wearing that prominent Christian cross, brings everyone together with a group rendition of “Oh, Holy Night” while everybody holds their cell phones open for a sea of light. The audience seemed warmed by this, but some of us, particularly my sister and me, were appalled. Christmas may be a lot of things, but it is not garish, loud light shows and holiday squabbling punctuated by a second-thought song to Jesus led by a semi-Christian nymphet at best. This scene where MTV arrives while the whole town gets together to light DeVito’s house so NASA can see it from space is particularly nauseating (this is after he defaced the town without apology and put himself before anyone else, including his family, neighbors, and job).

I realize people like this exist in the real world. (That’s why the audience was ooing and awing at just the right parts – like these characters, they just don’t get it). And I understand that as Christians, we’re supposed to be as loving and forgiving as this town apparently is to DeVito in the end. Am I being too judgmental? Wouldn’t Jesus do what this town does and forgive DeVito? Well here are a couple of short answers: First of all, this town isn’t being forgiving. They are not genuine. Their generosity is a Hollywood creation, and it’s superficial. Secondly, Jesus does indeed forgive, but then requires of us to repent of our ways, and to follow Him and His ways and teachings. This shallow character DeVito plays, and all the other characters, still don’t understand this at the end of the day. This movie is just a mess. If you’re secular, you may still like this movie, even though it’s shrill and insufferable. As a Christian though, there is nothing here to wrap a good emotion or inspiration around that isn’t filled to the rim with a faked sincerity or tastelessness.

That was the story that caught my attention amid all these news reports of the big Democratic wins across the nation, Nancy Pelosi as the new Speaker of the House, the civil war in Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld resigning, and six Imams whining after acting suspiciously and then rightfully being thrown off a flight.

The question I have is: Why are people still treating O.J. Simpson like a celebrity, complete with reverence and idol worship? He doesn’t deserve it. He’s a murderer! Would an innocent man try to cash in on the murder of his former wife and a friend by writing a book called If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened? And just who is that rooting around in the gutter next to O.J.? Why, it’s the Fox Network, which has a lot of explaining to do, whether or not Rupert Murdock stepped in at the last minute to pull the wretched interview with a disgusting murderer. Those poor Brown and Goldman families! I can’t even imagine!

And who knew Kramer was a racist, ranting against heckler’s during his stand-up routine and using the N-word, and caught on video? Of course, Michael Richards took the standard route of apologizing, this time on Letterman, invited by Jerry Seinfeld. I think it would be a mistake, however, for him to go to the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, as if they’re the bastion of all causes black. They’ve turned Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight into a complete mess. Since I’m not black I won’t elaborate lest Sharpton and Jackson or their supporters jump down my throat, but perhaps that’s just my point. King wouldn’t have. I think if King were alive today, he’d sound an awful lot like Larry Elders, and would probably keep his distance from the likes of Sharpton, Jackson, and Spike Lee.

And what do I think of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House? Mark Knoffler comes to mind, because we’re in Dire Straights! Bin Laden must be happy. I know Rosie is. And liberal acquaintances wonder why I’m so far on the conservative right! Well, for me it’s a question of culture. On our side: Winston Churchill, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Benjamin Netanyahu, and everybody on Townhall.com, some of who could easily be called “brilliant” or “genius.” On their side: Howard Stern, Courtney Love, Madonna, Randi Rhoades, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Elton John – you know, all the paragons of virtue and morality. Guess which side Nancy Pelosi’s on, and then guess why I think we’re in dire straights!

At the beginning of every month I write in my journal about what is going on with me and my family, my job, and my walk with God before talking a bit about what’s going on in the news and the pop culture. The stuff I write about me and family or even my job I usually find too personal to include on my Townhall.com blog. I usually only want to share stuff dealing with the state of the world and pop culture, my Christian religion, or things of a conservative nature. Since I haven’t yet written about the cultural stuff that caught my eye in November, that leaves my walk with God to share, which I usually don’t mind sharing – this time, however, it’s a little too personal to share, which is too bad because our small bible group got to hear from a member of our group who’s on a two week leave from the military where he’s stationed in Afghanistan, and his words were fascinating! I also write a yearly Christmas poem, yet I’m not sure about sharing something like that on a blog either. Should I have it copyrighted before posting it?

Therefore, I’m scanning my journal, going back in time to find something I haven’t copied in here yet, and I find myself going all the way back to March of this year, when I talked about the book of Leviticus after reading it:

Leviticus is a book of worship. Because the people of Israel were separated from God by sin (as are we all), they needed to address the sin, and so much of Leviticus is devoted to sacrifices, both those to give thanks and those to make atonement. There were descriptions of animal sacrifices for every occasion, celebration, and sin atonement. This book is hard to get through simply because it is all so repetitive. It’s also quite bloody, since blood was the life, and the life was what was offered to God for thanks or penance. Slaughtering bulls, burning the fat, sprinkling the blood, both on the alter and on the priests – well, unless you’re a big fan of gory horror films, you might just find all of this disgusting, and fans of gory horror films probably aren’t the biggest Christians. To put it bluntly, gore connoisseurs are not the kind to spend weekend nights studying the word of God. That means it’s the rest of us Christians who must suffer through the horrific descriptions of animal slaughters and sacrifices, one bloody one after another, over and over and over again! Later, the book talks in detail about the priests, their duties and their wardrobes, and the festivals and holidays (Holy Days) the people were to hold for God throughout the year (or years), and since the people were to worship God not just by these sacrifices but by their daily lives, God “laid down the law,” and they were given bunches of them to follow. This book has very few stories and lots of detailed descriptions. Still, I like how my Life Application Study Bible describes it as “a whole book of the Bible…dedicated to worship.” That’s really what it is at its core, yet one doesn’t quite realize this when reading yet another description of the butchering of some poor, defenseless animal, describing it in revolting detail.

I name a role model in my journal every month, someone I can look up to and admire, or who I feel others should - someone who I think is perhaps better than the usual shallow celebrities and can teach us more than how selfish and immoral they can be. After reading his biography on his personal website (to promote his debut CD Red), I knew that John Stevens was unconventional. While his peers were listening to Limp Bizkit and Lincoln Park, he was driving his older brother and sister crazy singing old Sinatra songs. Spending lots of time sifting through his grandparents’ old record collection, he fell in love with the old swing tunes by the likes of Dean Martin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, and particularly the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. If one were to read over my journals, one would probably see that I also have a certain appreciation for this style of music as well (though definitely not so exclusively), naming the likes of Harry Connick Jr., Michael Bublé, Dean Martin, and even Frank himself as favorites of mine on different occasions. I must like something about that type of music, and that goes for the crooner from the fifth season of American Idol, David Radford, who managed to make it to at least the top twenty before getting the boot.

One of the things I like the most about John Stevens (or anybody really) is his quiet demeanor and humble personality. On a show full of pop-star wannabes and loud and selfish divas in the making, he’s one of the calmer, more congenial and respectful guys, following in the footsteps of RJ Helton and Clay Aiken, and then being followed as well by the likes of Anthony Federov from season 4 and Kevin Covais from season 5. Seeing some of these self-effacing and gentle people on the show every year, it does my heart good to know that there are quite a lot of gentler men that make up the world, and that not everybody with talent is a loudmouthed jerk on a quest for fame and power. In fact, where American Idol is concerned, there are lots of people I’ve come to like for their personalities, both men and women. And even among all these more friendly personalities, John Stevens seems to stand out, if for no other reason than that he is quite tall and thin with a pale complexion and a shock of red hair on top. It left him often looking out of place among all the others contestants, but that might just be one thing that worked to his credit.

At this point in his life and career, especially since he’s still so young, he could actually go either way. He seems to have that solid basis of family and love, but then again, his musical genre of choice isn’t the cleanest; just look at all the kinds of things Sinatra was into, with the drinking and the smoking and the dames in the gambling capital of the world - there’s a lot here that rivals Hollywood and rock ‘n’ roll for the things that can corrupt a soul. Sure, there’s a lot to like about the classic style of jazz crooners, but they are far from angels, and yet, along with the music itself, John idolizes the whole package. “I want to show America that jazz, big band, and swing music aren’t dead,” he was quoted as saying on his personal website, as if Harry Connick Jr. and Michael Bublé hadn’t already been bringing that style to the masses for years, or Bette Midler recently singing the songs of Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee on tribute albums. “Those types of music are timeless and fun and there’s a whole cool lifestyle associated with it,” he continued. Cool is right, but it’s perhaps not so moral. That lifestyle, however cool it may be, is not without its numerous addictions.

At this point, John still has a noble character as far as I can tell. Realizing early on that his fascination for music went beyond being just a hobby, he “took up the piano at 8,” according to his biography on his website, and “has worked with a vocal coach for the last two years, and joined the Western New York Children’s Choir, Buffalo Choral Arts Society, and American Music Abroad, which gave him the opportunity to perform in such faraway places as Venice, Germany, and Switzerland.” At sixteen, he knows what he wants and has rigorously pursued that goal, and that is also worthy of admiration, but only when he manages to keep his humility intact.

Yet showbiz can go a long way toward removing any kind of noble character. John still has that, but for how long? “When I went back to school,” he said on the website, “people recognized me on the street and girls treated me differently. Not the ones I knew but the popular too-cool-for-anybody ones. Suddenly I was on that level too. It’s fake, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it. I am a teenager so I definitely don’t mind all the panties, bras, and teddy bears people throw on stage. Of course, my mom having to tour with me ruins any real chance of anything going further.” Good! You can see from what he’s written that he still has a lot of growing to do, and a lot of life lessons to learn. He may be shy and unpretentious, but he’s still only human, and still a guy, and he’s young. He has panties and bras thrown at him, and he idolizes the cool and stylish crooners with their smart suits and their lifestyle of high rollers and “dames” with “gams” and all those gin and tonics in smoke filled lounges! I love Michael Bublé and he has a great voice, style, and sense of humor, but he’s a guy through and through, and don’t think it hasn’t skipped my attention that he tends to follow in the footsteps of his idols in more than just his music of choice and silky vocals. It’s a lifestyle of glitz and money and “goy-jus” women and more than enough chances for making the immoral choices. John Stevens, more than most, may be able to avoid some of the pitfalls others may fall into so readily given this same lifestyle. Then again, look what fame did to mama’s boy Elvis Presley…

Because of his current humbleness and unassuming, pleasant personality, along with his talent and commitment to his goals, he makes it onto this list of role models. How long he stays on that list before I regret including him is really up to him… as it is with anybody I might name. But for now, in my own humble opinion, he’s still one to keep an eye on.