His Life, His Lie, His living testamonial to the paper industry

"The book, which weighs in at more than 950 pages, is sloppy, self-indulgent and often eye-crossingly dull — the sound of one man prattling away, not for the reader, but for himself and some distant recording angel of history.

"In many ways, the book is a mirror of Mr. Clinton's presidency: lack of discipline leading to squandered opportunities; high expectations, undermined by self-indulgence and scattered concentration."

And that's probably the best thing that Michiko Kakutani had to say in his NY Times Book review of ex-Prez Clinton's memoir this weekend.

"...it devolves into a hodgepodge of jottings: part policy primer, part 12-step confessional, part stump speech and part presidential archive, all, it seems, hurriedly written and even more hurriedly edited."

Of course, who could imagine editing this guy? The draft probably hit the publisher's desk mere days before it was due...probably just run it through a quick Microsoft Word spell-check (with the "Check grammar" box checked of course, too), send it to the printers--all you have time for.

"Part of the problem, of course, is that Mr. Clinton is concerned, here, with cementing — or establishing — his legacy, while at the same time boosting (or at least not undermining) the political career of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Part of the problem? No, that's the crux of it. That's all the book is about (IMNSHO). The biggest question about this tome is what effect it will have on Kerry/Bush. Could actually make the Kerrster look intersting.

Trying to get excited about this

Turned in a bunch of applications today, ended up getting an interview with one of them. The interviewer will have to check with the manager, but it looks really likely that I have a job starting as early as next week.

At McDonald's.

Hardly a dream job, but it should pay enough to make ends meet. And hey, free food....

Still, it's McDonald's

Move over E=MC2

c=(m+n0)/p has arrived.

What's that? The formula for the perfect joke.

"The funniness of a joke – c – is worked out by adding the comic moment – m - to the “pratfalls”, or the number of times someone falls over – n0.

A comic moment is calculated by multiplying the funniness of the punchline and the length of the joke’s build up.

The “pratfalls”, or number of times someone falls over, is worked out to the power of 0 – the ouch factor which is the social pain or embarrassment of falling over as well as the physical pain.

This total is divided by the number of puns – p – to establish the final funniness of the joke."

You just know there were a lot of tax doallars that went into getting us to that point.

This is cool

Apparently this past Lord's Day while I was leading the worship service, the Kidney Kid was trying to interact with me. During the hymns, he was silent, but anytime I started talking, his mom and others tell me he started talking, too.

Okay, maybe it took him forever to smile for me, but, who cares? This is better than that. Can't even see me, but he knows it's me.

Spending too much time with Grandpa

Okay, I admit it, we've slipped when it comes to working on the catechism with the kids--between my work and all the hub-bub surrounding the Kidney Kid's arrival....anyway, not only haven't we made progress in the last couple of months, it looks like we've regressed.

Tonight was Night #2 of getting back on track. I ask Sam a question he used to be able to nail: "Can you go to heaven with this sinful nature?"

He answers: "No--I must change my heart before..."

We stop him at this point, and help him get it right, "No--my heart must be changed before I can be fit for heaven."

and him named for a Reformer . . . .

You Can't Always Get What You Want

Just heard Mick Jagger singing that in the background of a C2 commercial. He is sooo right. The Mrs. brought home a C2 for us to try out tonight. Gross! Give me New Coke anytime over that.

The Mrs. said it tasted to her like it was half Coke/half Diet Coke (and the ingredients suggested the same). Maybe, maybe not. I'll only say, ew, ew, ew, ew.

Twisted Thinking

“The only way that an outside observer can determine whether any entity feels pain is if the entity communicates distress to the observer. The parties agree that fetuses are unable to communicate, so it is impossible to determine conclusively if the stress responses seen in fetuses in fact translate into an actual pain response…”

So wrote Judge Phyllis Hamilton as she struck down the Partial Birth Abortion ban. This kind of thinking will cause me to lose sleep at night.

My wife works at a residential care facility for the Developmentally Disabled, many of whom are totally incapable of communicating in any meaningful way. By Judge Hamilton’s reasoning, why would it be wrong for someone to go through the campus and kill those clients? Heck, we don’t even have to go so far as killing—could the facility use her logic to explain why they don’t investigate charges of abuse? (this is a purely rhetorical question—they do investigate).

On a side note, I wonder what she’d say about Animal Cruelty Laws—I mean, the dogs can’t really communicate with us. No matter what we like to think, we don’t really know what they’re thinking.

Oh, for a judiciary bound by the law….

Mourning in America

I feel compelled to say something about the death of Ronald Reagan. Not sure what I can say that doesn't pale compared to everything I've heard in the last day and a half.

When I heard the news yesterday afternoon, I was stunned. Sure he was 93, and the long battle with Alzheimer's, but he was Ronald Reagan, fer cryin' out loud. He was about as likely to fall as Rushmore.

I guess the best way I can summarize my feelings about it is this. When I heard the news, I shed a tear or two. Can't imagine doing that for any other political figure--ever.

Signed, Sealed...

(Delivered was three months ago)

The Kidney Kid was baptised today. After trying and trying to get schedules to work out nicely, we threw that idea out the window a few weeks ago, and got our Ministerial Advisor over here today to administer the Sacraments.

Lord's Table, Son Baptised, and I didn't have to exhort! Who could ask for more?

near disaster

As you may recall, back on March 4 I talked about the PR gal at the hopsital taking photos of my youngest, but he wasn't going to end up on the billboard (and if you do recall that, I almost pity you--read a book!).

Well, today I'm driving home from signing Sam, Frodo, and the Princess up for swim lessons, and as I enter the driveway, I grab the rec catalogue, and my eye catches the back cover--full page ad from the hospital--"That's My Boy!" and "That's My Garage! Better hit the brakes!"

Turns out there's actually 2 pictures of him in the advertisement. How cool is that?

Now, gotta grab a few handfuls of that catalogue tomorrow :)

So-called Chaos

Alanis' new album is, of course, as lacking in chaos as anything with that title could be. This is really her best album since Jagged Little Pill, which she won't ever be able to top--others will be able to, just not her, since a lot of it's magic is that it's her bursting on to the scene (and she can't re-burst).

Anyhow, the music is great, the lyrics are frequently clever, she doesn't over-do the strange meter thing too much (and it's very effective when she does it). Of course, she bears her soul and psyche throughout, but what do you expect? It's Alanis.

There's one big beef I have with the album's lyrics--and it's a common theme in the post-Jagged Alanis stuff--I hate it when I hear interviews/read books/hear songs by people that have so clearly spent too much time in therapy (not the Dr. Phil kind, see below). Now, in a way it's more tolerable this time around--there's less of it, I think. But at the same time it's worse--because when it's there, it's a lot more heavy-handed. Reminds me of the David Meece album, Once in a Lifetime--it's just sooo clearly the product of a good session with a counselor/shrink.

Standout tracks (at least for now) for me are: "Eight Easy Steps", "Knees Of My Bees" (aka Head over Feet, pt. II), Everything ('tho I have a couple of knee-jerk rebuttals to make to that one sometime--still like it). Problem track? "Doth I Protest Too Much" Just a tad--but you definitely Pusheth the Metaphoreth Too Much, a few less lyrics would've saved this song.

Yes, I did just relate an Alanis Morissette album to a David Meece album. Bet I'm the first to ever do that!

Proof against Darwinism

Back in the day, when I was in High School, Bill Engvall was a funny guy. He had this great stand-up act. Then he decided he wanted to make more money, or maybe he really likes hanging out with Foxworthy (somebody has to). But, IMHO, he's really watered down his act. He would (still does, I guess) complain about stupid people, wishing they'd have to carry signs, so you'd know who you were talking to.

Here's a couple of people deserving signs:

1. Heard this on Sean Hannity's show today (2nd segment), looked around online, but can't verify it yet. 'Course I believe Hannity (am about 60% Hannitized), so here it is. This guy files some sort of complaint with the Civil Rights Commission in New Jersey and gets Ladies' Nights at bars banned! Apparently this bar had a five dollar cover charge for men on said nights and charged full price for drinks. Clear discrimination!

2. This utter moron (sure, he has a doctorate, but he's still a moron) who's filed a complaint with the FCC about the disclaimer on the Dr. Phil show. "It needs to be bigger and at the beginning, so people know it's not therapy." Well, DUH! Any semi-lucid person watching that lunkhead for five minutes knows it's not therapy anymore than Katie Couric is a journalist or that Judge Judy is a competent jurist (which still puts her ahead of most Federal Judges). Of course it's just entertainment--for some anyways (making no judgments about those who like him for entertainment purposes). He spends too much time and effort on the goofy facial expressions and the clever figures of speech to be real therapy.

Latest on the kidney front

Whoo-hoo! (or for the geeks in the audience, w00t!)

Fresh from the kidney doc--things are looking good, he's a little low on sodium (always has been, just like his mom). So we'll be getting a supplement there to help. Otherwise, everything's looking good.

In fact, if the magic levels in his blood level off where they are, instead of renal failure before the age of 2, we could be looking at 6-8 instead!!!

Otherwise, he's doing great. He's growing slower than his siblings, so mommy gets to play with a baby a little longer than she's used to. He's talking a lot, almost rolled over last night, smiles for everyone but daddy....can't ask for more. God is truly blessing him.

Wouldn't it be nice if he actually had a chance?

I don't know much about Libertarian Presidential Candidate Michael Badnarik other than what's in this post, but, man! Wouldn't it be nice to live in a country where a guy like this had a shot at the presidency?

Here's what he as to say about schools
There is no clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that grants the federal government the authority to control public schools. The entire Department of Education is unconstitutional. The citizens of the United States used to be the most intelligent society in the world. Now we rank approximately 21st in the fields of math and science. Even if the Department of Education was legal, it is not doing its job. There are heated debates about posting the Ten Commandments in schools. Football players are prohibited from saying a short prayer before the big game. We do have to "separate church and state", but in trying to decide whether to keep "God or government" in the schools - we've picked the bureaucrats. How dumb is that?!

Listening to the Radio

Heard some interesting things on the way home tonight

1. A certain county commissioner here in Idaho (actually the county I reside in) has issued a "Public Safety Advisory" because the INS is not enforcing it's regulations and will allow 12 illegal immigrants currently in Canyon County Jail for various crimes to be released if a judge sets bail. Reportedly the commissioner doesn't understand why the INS is doing this. This same commissioner made the news a few weeks ago when he sent the Mexican government a bill for the expenses of incarcerating illegal immigrants who committed crimes in the county. He made Hannity & Colmes, Today, etc. because of that one

So the big question is: Guy looking for headlines, Racist, or Hero? (I'll make it a little easier for you: his name is Velasquez)

2. This can only happen in Idaho: a few days ago a young bear stumbled across a McDonald's parking lot, some idiot gave him a chicken sandwich. Shock, surprise, the next day, bear comes back with a friend. More food is given to them. Bears keep coming back, McD's asks people to stop giving them food. People ignore them, give more food. Supposedly the Fish and Game dept. will be on hand tomorrow to trap the bears and take them far, far away from the Golden Arches.

There was a third thing I found chuckle-worthy, can't think of it now (wish I'd had a pen on me...)

Can I get this kid on a committee for General Assembly?

So, Frodo's reading to me from his reading book. This is an optional assignment--topic is Dinosaurs, obviously written from a non-Christian perspective (the curriculum makers allow us to skip this assignment and a fairy tale involving a witch). It's talking about "scientists tell us ...millions of years ago..." And I interrupt, "Some scientists think that--not all, okay?" "Okay." He keeps going, we get to another "millions of years ago" thing (cue Carl Sagan voice).

I ask, "What if some very smart people say one thing, and the Bible says something different. Which do we believe?"

"God."

"Well, how do we know what God wants us to think about it?"

He looks at me with something bordering between pity and contempt, "It's in the Bible."

So black and white for him right now. There's no "well, when you start with the assumption..." or anything. Just God's right, and He tells you what you need to know in the Bible. How refreshing. Hope he keeps that.

Our Life with Newey

Samwise has himself an imaginary friend. Well, an imaginary fish, to be exact. His brother (and to the best of my recollection, his father) never did this kind of thing. But a couple of weeks ago when they went camping, the boys went fishing with Grandpa. Sam caught the first fish, which he called Newey (from his last name), they threw Newey back and fished some more.

About a week later, Newey the Newton resurfaced--this time in the form of a drawing of a fish that he carried around for days, cared for, slept with (without wrinkling or tearing!) and so on. He may be on a different drawing now, I'm not sure. Anyhow, he pays a whole lot of attention to Newey--more than a real pet would get, I think. Today I was told (after a conversation on his sister's toy phone) that Newey's mom was coming to live with us, and his dad would be visiting tomorrow after work--he misses his son, after all.

I wonder what it's like to live in that boy's head sometimes...

America has Spoken

And my 5-year old's confidence in democracy has been restored. After the debacle with LaToya and slip up with Jennifer I didn't know if he could take a Fantasia loss...probably turn into a commie. But thankfully, that's a moot question now. He apparently was incredibly excited about the results. I'm just waiting for tomorrow morning when he'll be glued to FoxNews for their recap (over the last couple of Thursdays he's actually started grabbing the remote and switching from The Disney Channel to Fox for this) and he can tell me all about the show.

This afternoon he was full of confidence--Fantasia had to win, he and his mom voted, and who ever gets the votes wins... (lesson for Al Gore there).

This was our first season watching the show, probably not our last. I was really surprised how into it I got--btw, YAY FANTASIA (where do you think the boy got his taste?).

Now, I've got to work a couple of CD's into the budget so I can keep the command "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger..."

Guys Night Out

Well, afternoon, really.

Saturday after work, took Sam and Frodo to Shrek 2. First time in ages the three of us have just gone somewhere to hang out. They were in hog heaven (literally--couldn't believe the way that Sam devoured the popcorn!). This was only the fourth time they'd been to a theater, so that fact alone made their day. Something we need to do more often.

How was the movie? Wonderful. If you liked the first one (it's one of my favorite comedies of all time), you will love 2. Everything that made the first one worth watching--humor, pop culture riffs, music, animation, moral, characters--it's all back and all better.

I grant $104 million or whatever on the first weekend is obscene...where are our national priorities? But since $17 of that was mine, guess I can't throw too many stones.

How heartwarming

Hitler Heir Doesn't Want 'Mein Kampf' Royalties

Group project

Received this in an email to a bunch of my family...not sure if I will respond or not. Anyone want to help? It was written in response to boycotting something Muslim because of 9/11, Iraq, etc.

Some of the responses are fairly obvious, others are likely as obvious, but I don't have the facts at my fingertips...if anyone does leave a comment, and I'll think about assembling them into a response
-----
Catholics kill Protestants daily, and Protestants kill Catholics daily. Do we boycott things of the Pope or Billy Graham? Every day here in America, Christians kill Christians over money, politics, abortion issues, love triangles, etc. Shall all good patriotic Americans boycott Christmas and Easter?

So, the people who planned and carried out the attacks on Pan Am Flight 103, the World Trade Center, the Marine Barracks in Lebanon, the USS Cole, etc, happen to be Muslim. They did not do those things because they are Muslim. Nor did they do those things because most American citizens are not Muslim. They did so because of perceived political or economic injustices. The USA is now waging war on some Muslims, not because they are Muslim, but because of political, or economic reasons, or because they attacked us first.

Good Muslims the world over repudiate terrorist attacks regardless of who the attacks target. American citizens including Muslim Americans, Christian, Buddhist, and Jewish Americans, are involved in the war against terrorism. This is not a religious war and shame on any of us guilty of making it a religious war!

The terrorists are trying to make it a religious war in order to gain backing from all Muslims for their cause. If "we" Americans make it a religious war, then we are only helping the terrorists in their cause, and hurting a lot of Americans including Muslim Americans. When we Americans start fighting wars over religious beliefs, which religion will be the last one standing, Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Protestant, Baptist, Mormon, Muslim, or Buddhist American. Or will it be atheist Americans?

We're back!

Was just notified that some people have been getting a blank white screen the last couple of days when trying to access this...which does sound slightly more edifying than a lot of what's put up here.

Anyway, tweaked the settings and those of you using Internet Explorer should be able to see it again. Sorry for the trouble.

You know what the best use for IE is, don't you? It's one of the better ways to go to www.mozilla.com where you can get a really good web browser :)

Missing the point

Samwise* comes up to Daddy's Little Princess and says, "Frodo** and I are running away. You and Daddy need to take us in the van to Grammy and Grandpa's."

I interrupted, "Um, if you're running away, you need to go by yourselves, I can't drive you."

Frodo objects: "But we're not allowed to ride our bikes on the street. We're too young. It's too far to walk, so..."

Samwise adds on, "Yeah, to take us to Grammy's and pick us up tomorrow at 4, because we're running away."



*Codename for Son #2
**Codename for Son #1

Great Books?

Well, Scott reminded me to visit Joanne Jacobs this week, both of whom were talking about collegeboard.com's 101 Great Books to read.

Here's the list. Those in bold are the ones I've read. 39/101--not exactly a wonderful score. But better than Scott :)

Beowulf--wonderful
Achebe, Chinua--Things Fall Apart
Agee, James--A Death in the Family
Austin, Jane--Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin, James--Go Tell It on the Mountain
Beckett, Samuel--Waiting for Godot--why did I waste my time?
Bellow, Saul --The Adventures of Augie March
Bronte, Charlotte--Jane Eyre--worse ways to spend time
Bronte, Emily--Wuthering Heights
Camus, Albert--The Stranger --hated it
Cather, Willa--Death Comes for the Archbishop
Cervantes, Miguel de--Don Quixote (read bits of it)
Chaucer, Geoffrey--The Canterbury Tales--some great, some pointless
Chekhov, Anton--The Cherry Orchard--eh, whatever
Chopin, Kate--The Awakening--I would welcome the sweet taste of death before reading this again
Conrad, Joseph--Heart of Darkness--I would read Kate Chopin again, several times before I would read this again
Cooper, James Fenimore--The Last of the Mohicans
Crane, Stephen--The Red Badge of Courage
Dante--Inferno--cool, bad theology, but cool
Defoe, Daniel--Robinson Crusoe
Dickens, Charles--A Tale of Two Cities
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor--Crime and Punishment
Douglass, Frederick--Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass
Dreiser, Theodore--An American Tragedy
Dumas, Alexandre--The Three Musketeers--pretty cool
Eliot, George --The Mill on the Floss
Ellison, Ralph--Invisible Man
Emerson, Ralph Waldo--Selected Essays
Faulkner, William--As I Lay Dying--whoa. Absolutely loved it
Faulkner, William--The Sound and the Fury--blew me away, not as good as Dying, IMHO
Fielding, Henry--Tom Jones--considered by many to be the first novel. Definately one of the most enjoyable. Who needs Pickwick Papers?
Fitzgerald, F. Scott--The Great Gatsby--nice, but never left me wanting to read again ('tho I've read it several times)
Flaubert, Gustave--Madame Bovary--dreary, painful
Ford, Ford Madox--The Good Soldier
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von--Faust
Golding, William--Lord of the Flies Ultimate Proof-Text for Total Depravity from a totally secular point of view
Hardy, Thomas--Tess of the d'Urbervilles--dreary, painful
Hawthorne, Nathaniel--The Scarlet Letter--worst hack-job on the Puritans ever
Heller, Joseph--Catch 22 (on my "To Read" list, for about 15 years)
Hemingway, Ernest--A Farewell to Arms--ummm, whatever.
Homer--The Iliad--cool!
Homer--The Odyssey--cool!
Hugo, Victor--The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hurston, Zora Neale--Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huxley, Aldous--Brave New World
Ibsen, Henrik--A Doll's House
James, Henry--The Portrait of a Lady
James, Henry--The Turn of the Screw
Joyce, James--A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man--Slightly better than Joseph Conrad. Slightly.
Kafka, Franz--The Metamorphosis --great premise, well done
Kingston, Maxine Hong--The Woman Warrior
Lee, Harper--To Kill a Mockingbird--THE best novel I've ever read
Lewis, Sinclair--Babbitt--proto-Tom Wolfe, loved the style (that's Tom Wolfe, not Thomas Wolfe, below)
London, Jack--The Call of the Wild
Mann, Thomas--The Magic Mountain
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia--One Hundred Years of Solitude
Melville, Herman--Bartleby the Scrivener--don't remember any of it.
Melville, Herman--Moby Dick --don't want to remember much of it
Miller, Arthur--The Crucible--second only to Hawthorne in Puritan hit pieces
Morrison, Toni--Beloved
O'Connor, Flannery--A Good Man is Hard to Find--hard to get better than this!
O'Neill, Eugene--Long Day's Journey into Night
Orwell, George--Animal Farm--best political allegory starring animals ever. (yeah, yeah, I know--probably the only one, too)
Pasternak, Boris--Doctor Zhivago
Plath, Sylvia--The Bell Jar
Poe, Edgar Allen--Selected Tales
Proust, Marcel--Swann's Way
Pynchon, Thomas--The Crying of Lot 49
Remarque, Erich Maria--All Quiet on the Western Front
Rostand, Edmond--Cyrano de Bergerac--read this so many times it should count as 50 selections on this list
Roth, Henry--Call It Sleep
Salinger, J.D.--The Catcher in the Rye
Shakespeare, William--Hamlet--blech
Shakespeare, William--Macbeth--blech, blech, blech
Shakespeare, William--A Midsummer Night's Dream--blech, blech
Shakespeare, William--Romeo and Juliet--blech, blech, blech, wherefore art thou, blech?
Shaw, George Bernard--Pygmalion
Shelley, Mary--Frankenstein
Silko, Leslie Marmon--Ceremony
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander--One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Sophocles--Antigone--somehow ended up reading this about a dozen times, never finished the cylcle, tho'
Sophocles--Oedipus Rex
Steinbeck, John--The Grapes of Wrath--self-important, overly political, waaaay too long
Stevenson, Robert Louis--Treasure Island
Stowe, Harriet Beecher--Uncle Tom's Cabin
Swift, Jonathan--Gulliver's Travels
Thackeray, William--Vanity Fair
Thoreau, Henry David--Walden
Tolstoy, Leo--War and Peace
Turgenev, Ivan--Fathers and Sons
Twain, Mark--The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn--Can't say enough about this
Voltaire--Candide--great play!
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.--Slaughterhouse-Five
Walker, Alice--The Color Purple
Warton, Edith--The House of Mirth
Welty, Eudora--Collected Stories
Whitman, Walt--Leaves of Grass
Wilde, Oscar--The Picture of Dorian Gray
Williams, Tennessee--The Glass Menagerie
Woolf, Virginia--To the Lighthouse
Wright, Richard--Native Son (but I did read--and hate--Look Homeward, Angel)

Quite possibly the most important link I've ever blogged

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Movie Blog

So stupid it pretty much has to be true...

Couple wants kids, but never tried sex

LWW Casting

Well, they've started casting The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. There are a lot of high hopes a la Peter Jackson with this film, hope it pans out.

The White Witch will be played by Tilda Swinton, who's just got a cool first name, and seems to have the right look (very glad that rumors of Nicole Kidman didn't go anywhere).


And then James McAvoy will be playing Mr. Tumnus. Can't tell much about him by his filmography or pic...guess time will tell.

New Fall Season

Well, the new fall TV season is being announced. NBC is the first out of the gate, and, *yawn*. The only things that look at all interesting are Scrubs (two year renewal of that is the smartest thing NBC's done in ...well, a long time), and Joey (which will probably be really, really bad, but you gotta check it out).

Man, if the others don't pull through for me, I may have to get a bigger book budget....

Welcome to the Slippery Slope

For years now, "gay marriage" activitsts have been poo-pooing the suggestion that it opens the door for polyandry/polygamy and will destroy the definition of family that has built Western Civ.

Oh really? World's blog had this entry on 5/15: Polyamory, here we come!, which read in part:

"Jasmine Walston, president of UUPA [Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness], said, 'We're where the gay rights movement was 30 years ago.'"

The attorney for a group wishing to marry in Utah stated, "This prohibition of polygamist relationships is as unconstitutional as Texas' prohibition against homosexual sodomy because it criminalizes a private sexual relationship between consenting adults."

Encouragement

I was less than thrilled with my exhortation today. Last week I sat down and outlined how I'd approach the remainder of Ephesians 6. And so all week I set about trying to tackle the first step, and it just doesn't seem to be working for me. I know there's much I could say, but it just wasn't forming right.

That impression continued through this a.m. when I was doing my final prep.

That impression increased when I was delivering the exhortation. "I am wasting everyone's time, I should just shut up." My mind wasn't there, didn't feel like I was being coherent.

Anyway, after the service a godly man in the congregation approached me, thanked me for what I said. He'd been dealing for a few days with something right along those lines, and it was as if God was speaking to him, he said. It's truly humbling and very gratifying to hear that. Who cares if I was that coherent? I helped him in a way he could be certain about. It's all worth it.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Good times

The older boys went camping with my folks this weekend. So last night after work it was just my wife and I hanging out with Daddy's Little Princess and the sleeping baby. Don't know that last time (if ever) the three of us spent time together without the boys. It was a whole lot of fun.

Then today the Mrs. wasn't feeling that well, so she stayed home from church, so it was just the Princess and I for both services--the boys came home from camping too frazzled for church (I knew I should've put my foot down about them coming home on the Lord's Day!). That was a very sweet time for me--I think she felt pretty special, too. Not sure the last time I got so many hugs.

Sometimes it's really good to be a dad.

now, *that's* precious

Click here for Rapping Gollum

All Aboard!

After a few weeks of sporadic attempts, I got serious (again) about getting Daddy's Little Princess out of diapers. Yesterday I pretty much abandoned her perched on the seat for awhile and lo and behold--we struck gold (or yellow anyway). Finally! And then twice so far today...yay! Hopefully she stays the course, and I can get down to just buying diapers for one child...not something I'm used to doing.

What's up with the subject line? Well, she knows that she's being potty trained. So, obviously, the thing she's sitting on is the Potty Train. :)

Outraged

Ticked off at Sean Hannity lately. Might be annoyed with other Talk Radio guys, too, but my schedule is such at the moment I can only hear part of Hannity and part of Glenn Beck--which is not necc. the best use of my time, I'll admit.

Yesterday he starts the show with "Well, I guess we really know what an atrocity is now..." or something close to that. This comes after a week or so of him harping on those in D.C. who are trying to turn the Iraqi Prisoner Scandal into political gain. He always throws in, "of course it's horrible and despicable" kind of disclaimer before he goes on into: Well, look what they did--X, Y, Z--and yes, what these few soldiers did was horrible, but it wasn't as bad as it was just a year ago. And I'm hearing/reading that kind of thing all over the place.

Flummery. Utter flummery. Or as Colonel Sherman Potter used to say, "Bull Pucky."

Why this obsession with comparing the levels of depravity in Iraq? It's not hard to get away without doing it.

Saddam & Co. were despicable leaders who did unspeakable things to the people they were supposedly governing.

Those who dragged those dead bodies through the streets and hung them off the bridge? Repugnant.

Those butchers who decapitated Berg? Not deserving of breath.

Those soldiers/contractors/whoever in the prisons who humiliated, raped, tortured, etc.? Despicably repugnant.

See? Did it without comparing relative morality. All the above should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law--which in each case probably doesn't go far enough. It's not that hard.

But if you insist on comparing moralities, the US guys have more dirt on them. I know, I know, to many I've just made myself out to be a traitor. Whatever. I just happen to think that those who came into a nation to liberate it, to free it from tyranny and oppression, should be held to a higher standard. Sure, it was Tyranny and Oppression Lite (less carbs, too), but we can't grade this stuff on a curve.

Our credibility there has been shot to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks. The work, sacrifices, and victories of the Coalition troops weighed against this? Weighed and found wanting. Which just means more boxes wrapped in flags. And more of the people we're "liberating" will be dead, too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we need to pull out--if we do, it'll be worse for everyone. I'm not saying it's our fault that the Bad Guys did evil things. The fault rests solely on those who did the deeds, those who knew about it and didn't stop it, and those who ordered them done. But please, call evil what it is: evil. Don't settle for "not as bad as it was..." settle for "good." Nothing more, nothing less.

Origin of Baseball

from SI.com:
Pittsfield stakes its claim in baseball history

So Long, Farewell . . . .

Plan on commenting more in a few days on the big series finales of a couple of sit-com gems. But one quick vent right now based on the press push.

PLEASE, PLEASE STOP saying, "Cheers to Frasier"!!! It's not original, and it wasn't funny the first time someone said it (11 years ago as I recall...)

Mini Reviews

Okay, still having trouble coming up with something of substance to talk about. So a few quick reviews:

Smallville I'm not a huge fan of the whole Indian mythology/spirituality sub-plot. But I got over that long enough to really enjoy last week's episode (finally got caught up on my back episodes of everything but Alias). Lots o' action. And some great insight into Lex--esp. the Lex of the future. In his mind he's not evil, he's the "thorn in the flesh" that keeps ol' Supes from being too powerful (y'know Power tends to corrupt, Absolute power tends to ...). Oh, yeah, and an actual sub-plot with Chole and Pete (mostly Pete) that has nothing to do with the green rock, Clark, or someone's impending death. Cue Keanu Reeves: "Whoa."

The finale they're leading up to is gonna rock.

Wire Good, strong album. Nothing fantastic. But a whole lot better than Come Together. Not as good as Conspiracy No. 5 or Time.

Tricky Business In his book about computers, Dave Barry closes with this short story about a couple on the verge of cyber adultery. It was, as I recall, sweet, honest and well told. I do remember being very surprised. So then a couple of years later when his first novel is published I was very intruiged. Intruiged but broke. Finally got the chance to get my hands on it at the library a couple of months ago. It abso-smufing-lutely blew me away. Hilarious, tight plot, great characters, suspense...it was perfect. So, now I get my hands on his second novel. Not perfect.
The plot wasn't as tight, well--the plot might have been, but it got out of control. The characters were just as strong, just too darn many of them. We got little sips of characters we should've had gallons of. Still very funny, and worth more time and effort in reading than anything Robert B. Parker's put out in a couple of years.

Random Monay Thoughts

blogger.com has a new and attractive look and interface. Kinda threw me for a loop as I logged on.

The ol' brain has been running on empty for a few days now, keep telling myself I need to think of something soon. 1. To insure that the ol' bean is capable of generating thought. 2. So I can have something to blog.

Hopefuly soon...

best line of the night

Saw this in a few places: "NBC took a break from promoting the "Friends" finale to air it Thursday night"

even slightly less grumpy

I'd lost my bookmark and forgotten the name of this site 'til today: The Holy Observer

It's tough to pardoy modern evangelicalism anymore, but when Lark News and these guys hit their mark--they hit it!

slightly less grumpy

Just spent a few minutes over at Lark News. Day's looking better now, be sure to check out:

Joseph Smith returns to assert finer points of doctrine

Student who chose Bible college over Yale now feels 'royally screwed'

Church multi-plex serves choosy faithful

Puns

Received a new batch of puns in the mail, felt obliged to share the pain:

Two antennas meet on a roof, fall in love and get married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.

Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. One says, "I've lost my electron." The other says, "Are you sure?" The first replies, "I'm positive..."

A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"

Two cows standing next to each other in a field, Daisy says to Dolly, "I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," said Dolly. "It's true, no bull!" exclaimed Daisy.

An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.

I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.

Two termites walk into a bar. One asks, "Is the bar tender here?"

grumpy

You ever have one of those days where you just want to go back to bed and start all over? But then you think about it a little bit, and you really don't want to do that, 'cuz you'd have to face it all again.

Nothing really major, nothing really bad, just a lot of inconvenient annoyances all popping up at the same time...okay, one bad thing--my temper. But otherwise, just life with fallen people (fallen short people who look and act a lot like me)

bah

Long day at work...just fixed the image below...assuming my eyes will actually focus (which they really haven't since 10 am) may say something later....

Batman pic

yeah, yeah, yeah, I know most of you don't care about the new Batman Begins movie currently in production. Well, ya should. Anyhow, I'm very psyched abut this picture released today, as seen on SuperHeroHype.



For a larger image, click here. Call me fanboy....

misc. updates

1. Jeter broke his record-setting slump with a lead-off home run!!! YAYY!

2. I got an e-mail of apology from my former employers (see "venting now" below). Half-hearted at best, it seems to me. Felt like it was written by a committee to be as bland as possible. Oh well, at least it was something (still working on that whole not-being-bitter thing, getting there...)

3. The littlest boy and I are bonding pretty well. Each day gets a little easier on both of us. He actually looks at me as if he likes me sometimes.

donkey convention

Saw this on an (usually liberal leaning) email list today:

Advanced Copy of this year's Democratic Convention Program
7:00pm - Tribute theme to France...
7:25pm - Tribute theme to Spain...
8:00pm - John Kerry presents one side of the issues
8:25pm - Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
8:30pm - Terrorist appeasement workshop.
9:00pm - Gay marriage ceremony...
10:50pm - Pledge of allegiance to the UN...
11:15pm - Maximizing Welfare workshop.
11:20pm - John Kerry presents the other side of the issues

one person replied: "Okay, I know this isn't real because Ted Kennedy is only giving one toast."

yet another one hit out of the ballpark...

Sadly, I'm not talking about A-Rod or Jeter, but Michelle Malkin.

a phony controversy

Well, whaddya know, I actually agree with John Kerry. This whole "Medal Controversy"? As he said on GMA, "this is a phony controversy. "

It's stupid, stupid, stooooopid. Drop it, GOP. It's a non-issue. NOone is gonna base their vote on this thing.

Sure, it shows him to be a liar and a waffler--there are other ways to show this--ways that involve actual issues.

retraction

Okay, last week I made some comments about the never-ending debate my wife and I have over her hair cut (Apr. 20 "time will tell"). In said post, I linked to a photo of Carrie Anne-Moss from one of The Matrix films. Well, I apparently linked to a less-than-acceptable picture of Trinity. So I hereby apologize for the link. Although, I should add that she did think that another picture of Trinity would've been appropriate.

In the end she came home with something vaguely reminiscent of Lois & Clark-era Teri Hatcher.

venting now to avoid bitterness

we'll see if it works...

Okay, when I was getting ready to leave my last place of employment, I was approached about still being the e-mail troubleshooting/web page guy (note that it was their idea). I say sure, they ask me to come up with prices, etc. My first answer is that I'll work for scraps--I just want to be able to point to this site and say, "I've been doing that since 2000." I'm told to come up with some real numbers. So I go home and think--write up this whole agreement about rates, time frames, and so on. They look it over and agree to it.

So I leave, sit around for a couple of months waiting...they finish a couple of snazzy looking projects that I figure they would want to display prominently on their site. I send them an email about it. Well, the deal is, they're going to go with this consulting group that will redesign everything--marketing materials, website, etc. so they all look the same, etc. But once it's designed, the consultants will turn it back over to me. Am I interested? Heck, yeah, if nothing else, I'll learn something. (I don't see why they still wouldn't want to update the current site, but hey--I'm just the help)

More months go by....nothing. Then Friday, I get a call from their draftsman, asking for the account info and password so he can make some changes to the site. "Oh, so I guess I'm not doing the web page anymore." "Umm," nervous laugh, "I guess not."

It's just rude, y'know? Well, it's other things, too, but I'm not going to indulge myself and say what those other things are--so let's stick with rude.

oh, the humanity!

I'm a long-time Doonesbury fan. Read it all the time, I have several of the collections from the 70's, 80's and 90's--I even have the script to the Broadway Musical! Now, honestly, not just for political reasons--I think the last year or so, Trudeau's lost a little something I like to call humor--not all of it, he's just been off his game.

But at the end of the day, no matter what you think of his politics, or his humor--if you've read him for any length of time, you know he's done a great job at creating characters. This series over the last week or so with BD being injured in Iraq has really helped me remember that.

...losing a leg--I mean, for an ex-football star, now coach, that's bad. That's just really bad. But BD losing his helmet??? The audience seeing his hair? Why, why, why?!?!?! Whatever happened to common decency! There are certain things you just don't do: you don't have Archie actually pick Betty; you don't have Nero Wolfe give up beer; you don't have Robin Williams stick to a script; and for pity's sake, you don't let BD take off his helmet!!!

Day 1 Approacheth

My wife (who, in case I hadn't mentioned it lastely, is really cool--a wonderful gift from God) goes back to work tomorrow. Which means it'll just be me and the Offspring for 8 hours.

I'm scared, really, really scared.

Theological editing...

It was a strange morning at church today. My tongue and my brain didn't do a wonderful job of synchronizing. Example, I announed, "The Pulpit Committee with be meeting after the morning service this evening."

Anyhow, we're singing "And Can it Be" before the reading of the Law...and it hits me that I haven't thought of anything to say before then. Out of the corner of my eye I see the notation "Alt. 1990" and presto I have my meditation on the Law. It went a little something like this:

Wesley has this nice blessing of having a team of editors looking over everything you say and write to edit it for posterity? "I think this is orthodox, but I'm not sure....I'll just whip it out and let the editors take care of it....." But we don't get that with our words. Moreso, we don't get it for our actions. Thankfully we have some really clear instructions...for example, Romans 12:9-21.

of all the things to miss

I have a bunch of stuff I want to rant about--maybe will find the time tomorrow. But now, I'll just rave.

Beginning of the T-Ball game tonight, there's some sort of problem with the 2nd Baseman, so Number 1 Son is called in from Center to play 2nd. He then goes on to make all three outs in the first inning.. Two forced outs and one tag. He was reportedly very excited. And for good reason! The rest of the game was okay, he did standard work after that. Which is pretty good, not great, but pretty good. But . . .man. All three outs. So proud of him.

Why, oh why, did I get a night job? (oh yeah, money....)

BATMAN BEGINS not a "comic book movie"

Found this article via Super Hero Hype: Film Rotation | Quick BATMAN BEGINS snippet!. It describes Christian Bale's take on the movie, "We're making a film based on a much loved graphic novel. I think to use the term 'comic book' really under values the source material!"

Now,either he's just a really cool frood, or he's trying to garner support from the huge comic book geek audience that Marvel's earned and that the Schumacher Batman movies lost (very deservedly). Either way--I cannot wait for this film.

eschatological malaise

I could very easily be one of those eschatology-obsessed guys. You know the ones who carry around Bible's stuffed with charts and graphs, and no wayyyy too much about numbers and what they mean. But I won't let myself go off the deep end on it. So I limit myself to 2 books a year on the subject (well, I limit my reading to 2, I have been known to buy more than I will let myself read).

So, this week I'm looking for an "easy" theological book to read (i.e., nothing by a Puritan, nothing that will require a lot of dictionary-time, etc.), and I see William Cox's little tome, Amillennialism Today, with a-mill being fresh on my mind after a certain apologist came out of the closet on his position last week. So, tolle lege.

I'm about 2/3 done with it. All in all not a bad book, some iffy shots at postmills, some well deserved shots at premill dispies. But ugh, it has got to be the dullest book on eschatology I've ever read. Which isn't necessarily bad, I'm not suggesting that we base our eschatological position on which view is sexiest. But . . . .man! If you're trying to convince a hostile audience (as Cox clearly thought he was)....liven things up!

At this point, I will say that the part of me that cut my eschatology-teeth on Wilson/DeMar/VanDeventer/Gentry wants to suggest that there might be a correlation between Cox's position and his humdrum book. But, thankfully, I'm sanctified enough not to stoop to that level. :)

blossoming writer

Number 1 Son today had a writing assignment to go with this spelling work--I know I should make him do more of them but, they are so insanely stupid! A week or so ago, he's supposed to "write a funny story about finding life on another planet" using three of his spelling words--the kid's in first grade and you ask for humor??!?! Ugh. Anyway, he did really well, IMHO, on today's story. It's at least as good as half the stuff I've thrown on here, so I thought I'd share. (this is a piece of fiction)

My pet frog's name was Frisky. We called him Frisky because he was playful. I taught him to jump a hoop for a trick.

Kidney Update

Had our second meeting with the kidney doc today--very positive. He liked the last test results and his weight gain (finally got that going well!). Right now his "main job is to gain weight" and our job is to sit back and watch it.

With reduced kidney function you usually have some problems with kids growing (paging Gary Coleman), but usually not in the first year of life. But after that he might get a growth hormone. We do have proof that he's not growing like his siblings--he's right on target for height, weight, etc. for his age--we've never heard that before :P (and to think I got scolded when I referred to him as the runt after he was born)

Other than making sure a few chemicals (some of which I can spell the names of) in the blood stay okay, there's really nothing more to do than to wait.

Based on how things are looking *at the moment* it's unlikely that we'll have to do dialysis before the transplant, Doc guesses that by the time he gets bad, he'll be big enough to do the operation. Right now, he could be ready by the time he's 2.5 yrs old, but the doc gave us the window today of 2-6 years old. Because we've been asked frequently, we asked the doc if it was likely that he'd continue improving enough that we wouldn't need the transplant. His answer: No. Umm, unh-unh. Yesterday he saw a couple of kids with dysplastic kidneys, one would probably not need anything, the other maybe would be okay. But Machen? "You don't like to say never, but--No." Which is what we had pretty much gathered already, but like I said, since it's come up....

The doctor summed things up by saying "I'm as pleased as punch with how things are going." Which is just a dorky phrase, but given what he was punch-pleased about, I'm not going to knock him :)

Limbaugh v. Taylor

Joel C. Rosenberg's Flash Traffic today pointed to an interesting sounding column by David Limbaugh. I should've kept working, but I went and checked it out.

Limbaugh is promoting a book by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek called I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. He writes, "Geisler and Turek confront the conventional wisdom that Christians are an unthinking lot whose faith is devoid of intellect and that atheists need no faith to sustain their belief system."

Towards the end of his column he states:
But when you closely examine the evidence supporting many Christian claims, you'll find that they "are certain beyond reasonable doubt." As such, "it's not faith in Christianity that's difficult but faith in atheism or any other religion. That is, once one looks at the evidence, we think it takes more faith to be a non-Christian than it does to be a Christian."

It takes more faith to be a non-Christian? Yeah, okay, whatever. Please be sure to tell that to the brethren in the Sudan and North Korea. I'm sure they totally agree with that. Pfui.

Me, I'll stick with Steve Taylor: It's harder to believe than not to.

Misc notes

1. Ugh. I shoulda known--since Julie's the one who turned me on to the Big Picture, she'd have posted the comic strip on her blog today, too. Just call me a clone.

2. I need to run a retraction to my Carrie-Anne Moss comment from yesterday, hope to get some time to do that soon.

3. I have way too much to do today for this .....

New Blog

swing on by The Christian Eye--a new blog launched by chat-pal buzz. If for no other reason the quote by Mark Twain makes this a must look.

Story of my life

Well, since the Fox Trot's about to be archived and therefore restore the proper borders to my page, I thought I'd post this little look into my own soul, provided by The Big Picture



Speaking of the magic stuff . . . last night I'm at work, and am having a decent night. Then break time comes, I go down to the break room and the vending machine is out of all the good stuff (Mt. Dew, Dr. Pepper) and the tolerable stuff (Pepsi). All that's left is the eve-ill* Diet Vanilla Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Diet Dr. Pepper, and Sprite. Sprite's out of the question--the caffeine level in my blood was dipping below 30%, and that's just not acceptable lately. I'm convinced that Vanilla doesn't belong in a soda--so I'm stuck with Diet Pepsi or Diet Dr. Pepper. So I ignore Spurgeon's dictum: The lesser of two evils is still evil. I go with the DP, 'cuz the advertisements (and my foggy recollection of experience) say it tastes more like regular Dr. Pepper.

To quote Wayne Campbell: Pssssshaw! Riiiight. As IF. Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! That was just nasty. It resembled Dr. Pepper about as much as I resemble Chris Rock.

Why do I bother to go on and on about a lousy soda purchase? From time to time we all need to remember the lesson: Addiction can be a nasty, painful thing.

(not that I'm going to change my lifestyle or anything, just good to be self-aware)



*they're just nasty enough you have to pronounce it that way

time will tell

My wife and I have this ongoing debate about how long her hair should be. I'm thinking something along the lines of Charlotte Ross. She leans towards Carrie-Anne Moss in the Matrix

Well, she's off getting it cut now . . .probably more than the 3.5 nanometers I authorized. Still, wonder who wins this round?

hey, he was listening!

Was working with Number 2 Son today, doing our weekly review of his OT book memorization. "Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah...just like yesterday at church!"

One brief mention of the book Zechariah he remembered--repeated mentions of other things, forget it. But Zechariah stuck. It's a start.

Docs, docs, docs

Busy week for the lil' tyke. Nephrologist on Weds, Urologist on Thurs, Dietician on Friday--oh yeah and blood work today. Best results yet. . . still freaky high levels, tho.

Prayers would be appreciated

Covenant Kiddos

Prepping a bit for what might be my sermon next week. And in any case, scratching a mental itch I've had for awhile. In case you hadn't heard (and if you haven't . . . go back to the rock you've been under, you don't want to know), some quasi-Reformed folk have been stirring up a hornet's nest about the Covenant, the nature of it, and who is/isn't in it. Incidentally, I think too many of my Baptist friends lump the historic Presbyterian understanding of the Covenant and the place of children in with those who are promoting the "Federal Vision."

Now, there's been a lot written about the Covenant in response to the F.V.--which I really, really appreciate--but it's kind of draining to read everything about the Covenant and it's Sign & Seal (i.e., baptism) in light of the controversy.

So it was a real breath of fresh air tonight to read over Fisher's Catechism, Shaw's Commentary on the WCF, and some other things and find: 1. No reference to this present controversy. 2. Clear refutations of some of the errors of the controversy by orthodox paedobaptists.

For example:
Q. 36. Does baptism make or constitute persons church members?
A. No; they are supposed to be church-members before they are baptised, and if they are children of professing parents, they are born members of the visible church, 1 Cor. 7:14.

Q. 37. Why must they be church-members before they are baptised?
A. Because the seals of the covenant can never be applied to any, but such as are supposed to be in the covenant; nor can the privileges of the church be confirmed to any that are without the church.

Q. 38. Why then do our Confession, and Larger Catechism, say that "the parties baptised are solemnly admitted into the visible church?"
A. Because there is a vast difference between making a person a church-member, who was none before; and the solemnity of the admission of one, who is already a member. All that our Confession and Catechism affirm, is, that, by baptism, we are SOLEMNLY admitted into the visible church; that is, by baptism we are publicly declared to be church-members before, and thus have our membership solemnly sealed to us: "For by one Spirit we are all baptised into one body," 1 Cor. 12:13. (Fisher's Catechism What is baptism?)

Orthodox Anglicans spotted...

from Alpha & Omega, which got it from The Gobbler---the African Archbishops are gettin' the job done right.

Art Imitating Life

One of my favorite scenes, in one of my favorite books, High Fidelity didn't make it to the Big Screen--but most of it is found on the Deleted Scenes part of the DVD. What happens, for those of you who haven't read the book (a major mistake on your part, btw) is that the main character, Rob goes out to visit someone who's trying to sell some old 45s (that's a type of record, Mrs. Staples, think of it as a low-quality CD Single). Rob owns a record store, and has quite the collection of rarities himself.

So, anyway, Rob goes out and is stunned by some of the classics available . . .owning any one of these would make his year, y'know? And there a many available. Does he have enough money? So he asks how much she wants, she says something like $20. $20?? Are you kidding? He tells her how much she can get. She doesn't care, her husband split, told her to send half the money to him in Bermuda. So she's trying to make him suffer. Rob can't do it. He and the guy have the same passion--classic vinyl. He just can't. There's a couple 45's he just can't leave without, so he pays her way undervalue for those, but as much as she'll let him.

Why do I relate this? Well, yesterday I became Rob. My wife (I haven't mentioned this lately, but I have a really cool wife. A wonderful gift from God) went to a charity yard sale at work yesterday, and over hears someone talking about these Lord of the Rings action figures for sale dirt cheap. She goes over, looks through 'em finds three I don't have. They want $2 each (still in the box!). Which is impossibly cheap. She informs the yard sale people that they could get much more for these on e-Bay (or from me directly). Yeah, they've heard that, but so-and-so got divorced and her husband left these behind.

By the end of the day, here's the tally: Rob--the shallow, snobbish, self-loathing guy--comes off as a better person than me; the Nurse's Aid group gets $6; and I get Faramir, the WitchKing Ringwraith, and Merry in his armor. In the end, that's a profit, right?

don't ya just hate when that happens?

I had a bunch of stuff I intended to blog yesterday, but got distracted when I got home...and now it's all gone.

Never put off 'til tomorrow....

Not used to this

Just watched tonight's Smallville. Very cool. Reeve gets to act a bit more than he did last time (and there'll surely be further appearances, too). I didn't notice that tweaked Superman theme music in the background this time, 'tho--but it wouldn't have been appropriate.

Maybe it's easier to see from the point of view of the audience, or maybe I'm just smarter than Clark, but I think it's pretty clear that the deal that Bo, er, I mean Jonathan, made with Jor-El isn't just about doing his bidding, there's some sort of "body sharing" going on there. A little less Jonathan every day, and a little more Jor-El.

But in the end, I was left feeling uncertain about what I'd actually just seen. I'm used to Smallville being tied up in night little bows at the end of the 60, or a clear ending in sight following a "To be continued..." Not tonight. I'm used to this feeling with Alias--heck, I expect it with Alias. But Smallville? Not expected. But very appreciated.

One other quick note, again, the best televised fictional exploration of the true nature/character of Fatherhood (and several bad ones)--on a show about Superman as a kid...whodathunkit?

paging Hal Lindsey

The Mark has arrived, in LA of all places :)

Someone posted a link to this picture in a chatroom earlier. How long 'til "non"fiction books and multi-million dollar making novels are using this as a plot device.

hey now, hey now don't dream it's over

Sixpence None the Richer, one of my favorite bands--for personal, artistic, spiritual, and uncategorized reasons--is calling it quits. See CCM and CNN for details (didn't go looking on CNN for the story, googled the band to see if I could get details, and they were one of the top results).

Their personal gain is music's loss.

George Will: Rice and Clarke

George Will is typically wise in his April 9 column: Rice and Clarke:
" Stripped of their score-settling over perceived professional slights, Clarke's conflicting versions of 10 years of counterterrorism policy, distilled to their essence, support the essential point of Rice's testimony. It is:

The processes of the federal government, and especially of the many agencies in its national security apparatus, had before 9/11 -- and Rice says they still have -- a thickness, a bureaucratic viscosity that are normal aspects of bureaucracies. But in these abnormal times this coagulating river of fudge unacceptably compromises national security.

So Rice's testimony was invaluable pedagogy for a public that thinks it knows what a blunt and cumbersome instrument government is, but that doesn't know the half of it. The commission's public hearings give viewers a glimpse of the texture of institutional life within which presidents struggle to process information and defeat institutional inertia. The hearings frame a -- arguably, the -- great question of this election year: Both presidential candidates want to keep America safe, but which one has the attributes -- the world view and sheer orneriness -- needed to stir the fudge and make it flow?"

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Sing it with me!

Well, your ever-faithful Noise-maker is in a great mood. Saw the last 5 innings of the Yankees home opener. To the best of my knowledge, I'd never seen Javier Vazquez pitch before. I can't wait to watch it again. I was kinda hoping Joe would've left him in for the 9th, but totally understand why he didn't want to take a risk with the 2 run lead and the power that was coming up for the Sox. So instead, I got the pleasure of watching Mariano, which I would gladly spend the next 20 years doing. Eh, at least I know I get another 2 years of it.

But here's my beef: A-Rod.

Okay, not actually A-Rod himself. But the coverage of him. When we tuned into the game, the Yankees were in the field and the camera was on a tight close-up. It would then switch to Javier pitch, then back to A-Rod. That was all. ESPN's commentators didn't even talk about the pitches, just A-Rod, A-Rod, A-Rod, Bonds going for the record, A-Rod, A-Rod, A-Rod. Argh! And to the best of my knowledge he hadn't just made a great play--he didn't do anything significant for the part of the game I saw. Which is fine--he didn't need to.

I know he's probably the best player in the Majors. I know it's big news that he's in the Bronx. I've only been salivating over it since it was in the rumor-stage. But, PLEASE! The Yankees were a great team before him, they'd be a great team if the falls down the stairs tonight and can't play for the rest of the year. There are many, many other people you could talk about. Talk about Javier (which they finally did after the 7th), talk more about Jorge (nice homer, btw), talk about Wilson--few good plays today, better than the 3rd baseman, talk Jeter (remember him?) . . .

glad I could get that off of my chest. For now will stick with the big items: 3-1 today, 3-2 for the year, and Red Sox (2-1) on the 16th

One more reason to not live in a subdivision...

(like I needed another, but still)
Homeowners Association Threatens California Homeschoolers

Don't ya just hate it when the World gets it better than the Church?

Question of the Day

A member of my congregation asked me this (I don't know why they thought I'd know), I thought I'd throw the question out to all the smart, attractive, funny, and wise people who visit this blog.

Question: in the hymn "A Mighty Fortress...", the 3rd verse ends with, "one little word shall fell him". Then the next verse starts, "That Word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth,..." What is that little word?

My initial guess is: We're talking 2 different words, here. V. 3 is referring to 2 Thess 2:8. I *think* v.4's That Word is Scripture . .. maybe it's the Logos . . .

Anyone else have any ideas?

Quickly....

I haven't mentioned this lately, but I have a really cool wife. A wonderful gift from God.

Veggie Rocks - Review

Okay, since the day I heard of this, I've been looking forward to getting this CD for myself, but after purchasing it last week my kids have become addicted to it. Which isn't too bad, since I actually enjoy the album. But I didn't expect them to get so into it.

My $.02 on the songs:
1. VeggieTales Theme Song, Rebecca St. James--eeenteresting. Now I haven't heard any of her stuff since her first album, Here I Am (as I recall). But I had heard that she'd left behind that light poppy sound . . .and she has. Not sure she should've, but that's another story. Good start to the album.

2. I Love My Lips, Stevenson--First Stevenson=Steven Curits Chapman + his son--get it? Not a bad little song . . . but it sounds like every SCC song recorded since Signs of Life album. When is SCC going to learn that you can really only get away with spelling a chorus once in a career? L-O-V-E-M-Y-L-I-P-S just didn't add a lot to the song. As a side note, my wife pointed out that's it's scary that SCC's son is now old enough to be recording music--we are getting old.

3. Promised Land, Sanctus Real--not a lot to say about this one. Good track, my kids like it more than me. Had never heard of the band before, not opposed to hearing more (which is Frontline's point in all of this, I guess)

4. In the Belly of the Whale, Newsboys--okay, not a cover of a VT song, but a fun one from Jonah. The line added by Larry is a classic . . .

5. The Water Buffalo Song, Superchic[k]--there's just something I love about Superchic[k]. Their sound, their vocals...absolutely love 'em, even those songs of theirs with the dumb lyrics . . . So I like this track, but felt it was a waste of a great band. I think the producers should've switched Stevenson and Superchic[k]. But something tells me what SCC wants, SCC gets.

6. I'm So Blue, Paul Colman--eh, not bad. Especially considering how annoyed Coleman usually makes me. Catcy version.

7. The Hairbrush Song (live), Audio Adrenaline--very nice. Not much more needs to be said.

8. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, relient K--Excellent!

9. I Can Be Your Friend, The O.C. Supertones--This is the perfect match of band and song. Two thumbs way up.

10. His Cheeseburger, TAIT. Now if anyone could pull off doing this as a straight up Mr. Lunt/Meatloaf pastiche it's Michael Tait. But no, they turn it into a no-nonsense rock 'n roll song. My favorite on the album.

11. Stand, Skillet--never listened to skillet before . . .'tain't bad. But I'm very surprised that my kids love this one so much! They sing it all the time . . . their Uncle Alex would be proud...

All in all, a fun CD--which as I said, is a good thing, because I've been listening to it non-stop for a week now

For the record: I didn't intend for this to become so anti-SCC. . . but what're you gonna do?

THE DAY approaches

George Will: The state of baseball on opening day

The Old Covenant in the New

Hebrews 8:7–13; 10:16–17

The writer to the Hebrews cites Jeremiah 31:31–34 in his comparison between the Old and the New Covenants. The Old Covenant is the Mosaic, and the New is the Gospel of Christ. What is the contrast? If the Dispensational view were correct, we would expect this contrast to lie in the principle of law and legalism against grace in the New Covenant. The legal principle would be the great defect of the Mosaic Covenant and dispensation.

It is true that the writer of Hebrews makes a contrast, but this particular matter is not a part of it. The faultiness of the Old Covenant is set forth to demonstrate the need for a New and better Covenant. An examination of Hebrews reveals the contrast to lie in the difference between the two orders of priesthood, Aaronic and Melchizedekian, and the Levitical sacrificial system. As one examines the Mosaic economy he cannot help but be struck with the fact that the priesthood and sacrificial system contained therein was not the legal principle of that economy. These are admittedly the gracious principles of that economy. The writer of the Hebrews finds the weakness of the Mosaic administration not in its legalism, but in the imperfections and shortcomings of the gracious provisions of that economy (7:1, 27; 8:3; 9:22ff.).

A consideration of the Levitical economy in its relation to the New Covenant is most revealing (Hebrews 9:23–24). The import is plain. The Levitical sacrifices were patterned after the heavenly Exemplar. That is, Christ, his priestly ministry, and sacrifices are the reality of which the Levitical economy is the shadow. In other words, the Levitical economy was derived from nothing less than the New Covenant itself. Its defectiveness arose from the fact that it was but a shadow and a pattern. It was not the reality. It is in the New Covenant that the reality, the fullness of grace is to be found. This being the fact, the Mosaic economy has its affinities with the New Covenant, and not with the Covenant of Works. The Old Covenant of Moses was a shadow of the New. It was an anticipation of the New. The New reaches its fullness and highest point in the priestly and heavenly ministrations of Christ, who was a priest after the order of Melchizedek. The guiding principles of the Old Covenant must be grace and not works, since it is patterned after the New Covenant, and not the Covenant of Works.

From our survey of these passages we see the unity of the gracious covenants of the Old Testament. There is a continuity of the principle of grace running from Genesis to the New Testament.

From: Systematic Theology by Morton H. Smith, Volumes I and II, (Escondido, CA: Ephesians Four Group) 1999.

Debating Calvinism

Well . . . had some time to kill in a waiting room today, so I read Debating
Calvinism. It's been sitting on my shelf since it was published, flipped
through briefly, but I hadn't found the time to read it yet. In retrospect,
not sure I should have.

Don't get me wrong--Dr. White's presentations and responses were thoroughly
orthodox, and sometimes I could enjoy the replies to Hunt. But by and
large, I didn't learn anything. Which is fine--I'd like to think that I've
got the basics of Calvinism down by now.

So what about Dave Hunt? Well, never thought much of him--especially after
the original radio interview Dr. White did with him, and hearing some of his
teaching leading up to that monumental waste of paper and ink called, What
Love Is This (insert that lahaye quote here--and what a disappointing
century this will be . . . . ), and then seeing the debate with Dr. Pipa.
I'd have thought that following that disastrous book, and only moderately
better debate, I couldn't think less of Hunt.

WOW! WAS I WRONG!

Ugh. Horrible. Terrible. Horrific.

I will say this . . . I think one of his quotations from Augustine I found
the kernel of the application for my sermon this week. But that's not what
he wanted me to get out of it, I was supposed to read it and say, "Whoa, I
don't want anything to do with a system that is at all related to his
terrible thinker." Oh well . . .

Conflicted

not sure what I'm feeling today . . . 1 week 'til Yankees vs. Red Sox on Fox...which is way cool.

Or news that The Simpsons' cast is on strike...which is so uncool.

Plus the fact that I just used the phrase "so uncool"

just really don't know what to think today.

Good day

In order of importance:

1. The Yankees reminded everyone today why they have their rep. Kevin Brown proves he deserves to start. Jorge Posada . . . wow. Three run shots from both sides of the plate...what more can anyone want? (oh yeah--for A-Rod's and Jeter's bats to come alive)

2. Finally some content on B A T M A N B E G I N S! Is that the Batmobile or the world's smallest tank?

3. My eldest had his first T-Ball practice today. Early reports are that he loved it. Can't wait to talk about it with him tomorrow....

The Few, the Proud, the Re-Readable

There are a few select authors that I can say that I've read everything they've written (or at least published). As of last week, Robert Crais just joined the likes of Douglas Adams, Christopher Buckley, Aaron Elkins, and a few others I can't think of at the moment.

Robert Crais started off writing cool, Robert B. Parker-ish detective novels. Lots of action, lots of wise cracks, deadly & enigmatic sidekick, etc. Unlike Parker, over time Crais didn't get lighter on the action and drama--'tho the wise cracks did become scarce (but in a fitting way due to the subject matter). The plots became more intricate, the characters better... I'm a little worried that the last two Elvis Cole novels have been a bit too serious, a bit too intense--I can't help but think of Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro series (which isn't bad, just not where the series was originally headed, I thought). That doesn't mean that I don't have every intention of running down to a bookstore the instant the next book, The Forgotten Man comes out in August (*cough*birthdaygiftidea*cough*).

His two stand-alone novels, Demoltion Angel and Hostage (which I've talked about here before), both blew me away, particularly the former. Good to see that he's not a one-trick pony--even if that one trick is particularly great.

And so far, he stands up to a re-reading. What more could anyone ask for?

reading/writing/etc.

My reading's been heavy on fiction lately, and my writing (other than this blog and my weekly exhortation) has been pretty non-existant lately. I really need to read something theological--get my brain moving again.

trying to find the bright side...

At least no one can accuse the Yankees of buying success . . . they still actually have to show up and play. 8-3 to the DEVIL RAYS?!?!?!

Ugh.

I need to drop this whole baseball thing and get into something less depressing, like, I dunno, alcoholism...

Quick Shots

» The First Episode of The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman, "Uniform," was posted today. Not the most favorable look at Superman--almost more Tick than Supes (didn't help w/Wharburton's voice). But all in all, a good, fun way to spend 4 minutes (or 15 on dial up).

» The War on Mel Gibson by Gary North. Is this really necessary, Gary?

» I was sure there was a third item, but it's slipped my mind, atm. Oh well, back to not writing an article on the diaconate.....

for the record....

I know it's not supposed to be "oo" in the subject header immediately following this, but for some reason, my seroes show up that way.

major w00tage

I have, for the first time, real, truly good news about my son. The BIG BAD II? We're 99% sure he doesn't have it!!!!!!!

There's still one more test blood test that needs to be finished. But they got the results on the urine test yesterday--the geneticist has never heard of anyone passing it and failing the other (which does lead one to question why they do the next test....)

Our pediatrician actually called us herself rather than having a staff do it . . . she was so excited. BTW, you know you're spending too much time with a doc when she calls and says "Hi, it's Janette"

Turns out the BIG BAD would've messed up the whole transplant thing, too (thankfully no one mentioned that fact 'til it was moot)

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Very Pre-K Education

Now, I've caught a little flack for bringing this up in the presence of medical professionals . . .but I really think it's cool to see. I'm not complaining at all (I think they believe me when I tell them that).

I've seen my 3 week old learn something. I know, on some level, they're learning things: how to eat, how to move the head, how to focus the eyes, etc. But I've never witnessed something like this with the other three chill'uns.

When a nurse or phlebotomist puts that rubber tourniquet on his arm--he knows he's going to get a needle poked into him, and he starts freaking out.

I'll grant you, it's not a pleasant thing for him to have learned--but it's cool for me to see his mind at work.

Plot Complication

Okay, in addition to the kidney stuff there's this other thing soooo BAD and sooo bleepin' complicated we've not been talking a lot about it.

There's this screening that Idaho (and 8 other states) do at birth, and they send off the results to this national lab. The lab thinks some stuff is strange, orders another batch of tests, the thing they were worried about was this thing called MCAD (hereafter called the BIG BAD--where basically his body wouldn't be able to convert most fats to . . . whatever it is we convert stored fat to. Today we got the results on the second batch of tests, which rules out the BIG BAD, but opens the possibility of something pretty much like it, but rarer: the BIG BAD II. Not sure how long we'll be waiting on those results (am guessing a week).

Now, we'd done a bunch of research on the the BIG BAD (and by "we", I mean my wife), so according to our doc, we probably know more about it than most people in Idaho (not an distinction I ever wanted). Now she's gone off and done a bunch on the BIG BAD II--which our doc had never heard of before . . . ack. This second batch of research has not done her a lot of good. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's done her ill. She's really getting worried, and fretting, and all sorts of other things along those lines. She is now banned from medical research until we get these results (or I'm going to put a dozen new passwords on my machine). She's been doing so well, hope this stuff doesn't shake her too much.

What's goin' on up there?

I've listened to this song, "When You Dream" by the band BNL about a billion times. Really didn't ever pay too much attention to the lyrics 'til tonight.

With life just begun, my sleeping new son
has eyes that roll back in his head
They flutter and dart, he slows down his heart
and pictures a world past his bed
It's hard to believe
As I watch you breathe
Your mind drifts and weaves

When you dream,
what do you dream about?
When you dream,
what do you dream about?
Do you dream about
music or mathematics
or planets too far for the eye?
Do you dream about
Jesus or quantum mechanics
or angels who sing lullabies?

From there it just goes on in this vein with references to reincarnation (or at least some sort of pre-existence) . . .but it helped me focus something that'd been running through my mind for the last few days: how much does he realize is going on?

He's getting blood drawn for the umpteenth time in his 20 days today. And they're having a hard time getting a good draw, so they're prodding and prodding. Each time they retarget the needle, he yells out, then settles down and tries to nap. It's like he's getting used to all this nonsense. Which on the one hand is good--he's got a lot more to come. But on the other hand, it's just sad.

All he knows in this life so far is pain--at least just from the medical types doing their work--who knows what he feels like inside, I'm guessing not good--and the voices and blurry shapes that keep coming and say they're taking care of him keep bringing him to the people who hurt him. Does he know that? Does he think about that? What's going on behind those blue eyes?

Does he know that it's for his own good that we take him there? Does he know that these people are just trying to help him? Does he know how hard it is for us to watch him go through it? Does he care?

I've had more than one person say that what he's going through isn't "fair." I'm not sure about fairness--actually, I'm pretty sure fairness doesn't enter into the equation. But, I know it's sad, I know it's not good to be him right now. I do hope that changes.

Power in the Blood

dunno who this is by, but too funny:

There is Power in the Blood; from the Arminian Hymnal

Would you be free from the bur - den of sin?
There's pow'r in free will, pow'r in free will;
Would you o'er e - vil a vic - to - ry win?
There's won - der - ful pow'r in free will.

There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the free will of man;
There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the au - to - no - mous free will of man.

Would you be free from your pas - ion and pride?
There's pow'r in free will, pow'r in free will;
Come for a cleans - ing to Cal - va - ry's tide;
There's won - der - ful pow'r in free will.

There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the free will of man;
There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the au - to - no - mous free will of man.

Would you be whit - er, much whit - er than snow?
There's pow'r in free will, pow'r in free will;
Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow;
There's won - der - ful pow'r in free will.

There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the free will of man;
There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the au - to - no - mous free will of man.

Would you do ser - vice for Je - sus your King?
There's pow'r in free will, pow'r in free will;
Would you live dai - ly his prais - es to sing?
There's won - der - ful pow'r in free will.

There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the free will of man;
There is pow'r, pow'r, Wonder working power
In the au - to - no - mous free will of man.

Quote of the Moment

My former pastor passed along this nugget from John Owen to me yesterday:

"There is in heaven a special, a personal regard of all that come unto God by Christ, as if their names were there recorded. Christ remembers them as effectually as if He presented them by name to His Father in His intercession. Their names are written in the Lamb's book, that was slain, that was sacrificed, and he that was sacrificed is the same who intercedes. He knows who are His (2 Tim. 2:19) and how; he knows them by name, John 10:3; and as He knows, so He presents, so he intercedes for them. Those who come unto God by Him, may have as much assurance of the comfort and advantage of His intercession, as if they heard Him in heaven interceding for them by name."

quick post

B A T M A N B E G I N S

More on the Kidney Patient

Well, we met with the nephrologist (kidney guy) today--he's a good guy, think we'll enjoy working with him (granted, I'd enjoy never needing to work with him a lot more . . .but anyway). First he goes over the chronology (no notes) to make sure he's got it right--he did, which puts him on the right foot with us.
Then he talks a little bit about hypoplasia (that's our word for the day) basically it's any organ that's structurally/architecturally (his words) correct, but too small. Then he says, "There's no use beating around the bush...we're heading towards a transplant." We'd been preparing ourselves for that word since Machen had been re-admitted to the hospital, but hearing it wasn't that fun.
Basically what's gonna happen is over the next couple of months he's going to get better, then he's going to level off, then he's going to get much, much worse. Depending on age/etc when things get bad, we'll probably start home dialysis. And sometime after he's two and he's grown enough he'll get a previously owned, perfectly fine kidney.
It's good to live in a day and age where we have all sorts of machines with flashing lights and funky chemicals that can be put in bodies to strengthen them, and doctors can do this kind of thing.
It's not like I imagined it'd be--I figured I'd be a wreck, but knowing that every bit of this has been worked out from pre-Day 1, and that the Lord is overseeing it all--it's grim, but not devastating (now, will I be able to say that tomorrow? or the day he goes under the knife? too soon to say)

In the meantime, he's doing better--awake and alert a lot more than he has been. We're all getting in a little play-time now.

update

Haven't said anything in awhile. Been thinking of stuff to blog. Just haven't gotten around to it. Would like to thank all of those who've read this stuff about the boy and have been praying.

One thing I've found lately, having a son who has a "chronic illness"--you sure learn how to take things One Day at a Time (without the Christy Lane!). Jesus knew what he was saying (not too surprising) when He said that each day has enough trouble of it's own.

Footnote

Earlier I said that Spader had saved The Practice. There is one huge problem, tho. . . . they've taken the excellent Steve Harris and Michael Badalucco--and the pretty good Camryn Manheim (not to mention the tolerable Jessica Capshaw) and put them in the background, as supporting cast . . . blech. Long-time fans have spent years developing a relationship w/these characters, and what do we have to show for it?