We have pictures.

Here is our praise band




Actually this is Riatsila, your Aardvark, the Dread Dormomoo, and Loen.

Being Gangster, yo.

We make Wonder Bread look like Pumpernickel.

Pardon whilst I take a curmudgeonly turn.
I HATE glurge.
This email is a perfect example:

This is a beautiful photo of a giant American flag in Arizona The photo is authentic, UN-Touched and was taken on regular Kodak 35mm film. The person who took the picture couldn't believe the image created by the suns rays.
Nice of them to share it with the world!
Read what is says under the picture...


Here is what it says:


"For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this.
For the rest of us...pass this on"

Once again, my faithfulness is determined by whether-or-not I pass along a photo, or meme, or chain letter. It is a weariness.

The cross image is in no way miraculous. The warp and woof of the fabric of the flag acts as a star filter, showing the sunlight in a cruciform image.

God does indeed watch over us, but this photo merely shows His dabbling in physics. and it certainly does not show His approval of our nation or our foreign policy.

Boy...sometimes dealing with stuff in the Blog-o-Verse tm is like playing Whack-a-Mole.

The issues of Marriage and Family particularly pop up repeatedly. The issue of polygamy (BOY that's a ripe pun...) or specifically Biblical polygyny keeps being flogged in the Virtual Debates.

Beyond the obvious (apparent) attraction of being able to do more than one woman ethically (tho' not simultaneously- threesomes are frowned upon in much "Biblical" polygynous ettiquette) I cannot fathom the attraction. There is the putative Biblicality of it all (David, Solomon...like that), but having lived in a two-nuclear-family household for a time (no hanky-panky there) having two ummm, strong willed women under the same roof was a trial at best.

Perhaps separate tents would have been the answer.

Most of the proof of God's happiness with the arrangement is circumstantial.

David was King, and a man after God's own heart.
David had multiple wives.
Therefore God wants men to have multiple wives.

Solomon had multiple wives.
God blessed Solomon.
Therefore God was happy with Solomon's multiple wives.

Not good syllogisms, no, but the reasoning tends to run that way.

God did not condemn it, therefore He is happy with the arrangement.

When God states a thing, he does NOT have to repeat it. Once "Thou shalt not steal" is chiseled into stone, well, He has published it. He does not therefore have to go to each man-jack of us in serial theophanies and say "Y'all don't be five-finger-discountin' at the Wal-Mart, y'hear?".

The most basic Scripture on marriage is this:

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, '
for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Gen.2)

Jesus went on to quote this in Matthew:

4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:4-6)

The math here is simple: 1 man + 1 woman = 1 marriage.

God said it, Moses wrote it, Jesus agreed with it.

As an acquaintance is fond of saying, "two or three witnesses".

As Barbie says, though, "Math is hard."

Is this a deep defense of historical Christian marriage? No, but I find that where there is much verbage, there can be much obfuscation. If the Gospel is simple (not simplistic), I find that it can work to be simple in explanations. (...as a little child, mayhaps?)

G-Fest...Job Well Done.




Riatsila drove the AardVan to Chicago (dreading the Dan Ryan) and arrived Thursday night (the 5th) at the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont. Nice digs, amazing mattresses (I slept through the night. This is a mackerel.), great takeout to be had. Mama Mia's is the pizzeria of choice for Clan 'Vark.

We set up Friday morning in the dealer room. We had printed the con shirts, and they were well-liked. (The con ran out mid-Saturday. Nice.) I had forgotten the Friday hours from last year.

G-Fest have a sane policy for opening the room. Friday hours are 6PM-9PM. Three measly hours, right- I hear other convention vendors grumping. They forget one thing, these fictional but accurately portrayed dealers: Con attendees buy when the Dealers Room is open. Period. 3 hours, 8 hours, they buy when the room is open. We did on Friday in 3 hours what some regular sci fi cons grossed for us all weekend. This is me smiling. While waiting for the room to open, Riatsila and I dozed like cats in our room, and watched monster movies.

G-Fest is NOT a regular convention. It is a giant monster con. Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidorah...like that. Amazing. The fans are simply mad about monsters, and happily purchase their fannish goods, often saving for a year to have enough boot. Most importantly, this is a family friendly con. No exhibitionist otakettes almost wearing costumes, no Man-Fayes, no creepy con guests propositioning attendees; just good clean kaiju fun. It was neat seeing whole families together enjoying the con.

If you like Godzilla movies, or remember Ultraman or Space Giants from the 70's, then you would enjoy this convention. Shucks, if you just stayed in your room, you could watch non-stop monster movies and guest-related shows on the hotel's access channel.

J.D.Lees and his primo con crew deserve Kaiju-sized kudos for putting on a wonderful show, with great guests, a well-balanced dealers room, and great panels. Well played. I'm already anticipating next year.

Thank you!

Well, here is The Thing:

1. All right, here are the rules.

2. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.

3. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

4. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight
things and post these rules.

5. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged
and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re
tagged, and to read your blog.

Eight random facts, huh. I'm a simple guy. Could there even BE eight separate things about me that could possibly interest the Madding Crowd?

1) I was one of the college-types who went to see STAR WARS scores of times. Despite this, I now rain down anathemas upon George Lucas and his seduction to the Dark Side...and for his revealing that Darth Vader was just a big emo kid.

2) Two of my ancestors were signers of South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession. That and four bucks will buy me coffee at Starbucks.

3) A wish I have is to Make It Big in the Blog-o-Verse tm. This requires time away from work that I cannot afford, which affords me much angst.

4) I love cream cheese and green olive sandwiches on white toast.

5) Color gets in the way of the story. I much prefer black and white photography.

6) I look more like a grocer than a burglar.

7) I have a vestigial third nipple. It is the only thing I have an extra one of.

8) I have been personally punched in the arm by the Fed chairman.

There. Happy?

Mr. McLeod
Billiam
Wonder Woman

You're it.

Pretty Lady, you are not forgotten.
I have been too, too busy to blog.

Riatsila and I head up to Chicago...well, Rosemont...to attend G-Fest.

It is a kaiju convention. That is the Japanese word for critters like Godzilla and Mothra.
A very enthusiastic fan group. Above is a kaiju t-shirt design you may like. Kez Wilson did the actual artwork.

Will report back Monday or Tuesday.

PL, my sweet, I shall try Manfully to do the meme thingie over the weekend, if the hotel's wi-fi is cooperative.

Pray, wish, or think us a safe and prosperous convention, please.

Coming soon:

The Meme so graciously gifted by PL.