Gentlesouls, this is the Christmas season for our biz, and your Aardvark is running ragged. This weekend past, the indomitable Dread Dormomoo and I were in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (this ain't Arizona, kiddies). This geographical state of being is far less fun than it sounds. Really, now, whose idea was it to make Florida so lo-o-o-o-ong? Driving to Orlando is just a tad farther than Birmingham by my lights. South Florida is somewhere off the orbit of Ganymede. We were not visiting the Mecca of the Discipleship Movement or anything. We were there for Naruto Trek. , a convention combining the two most despised sectors of anime and SF fandom into one huge Reese's Cup of Doom. The cast of the Star Trek, Phase 2 fan films were there, being grimly earnest. Walter Koenig was as well, looking like a 60's Teen Beat cover boy in 2009. The picture above is W. Morgan Sheppard with Your Humble.
He is a sweet man, and delights in his craft, which is experiencing a renaissance from anime and video game voice jobs. I first saw him as Blank Reg in the Max Headroom series. Not to come across like the drum major of the suck-up parade, but finding Morgan Sheppard in a role is like picking an especially yummy sweet from a Whitman's Sampler.

None of the anime voice actors apparently deigned to walk through the huckster room. (Kudos to con founder Ray, who used the correct term for sellers of fannish goodness.) Ray has a love for the fans, and a real desire for the show to be fun. I would encourage him to broaden the scope from "Naruto" to "anime" in general. We did not have a huge business weekend, but did OK. If he broadens the scope of the con, I'll do it again. Even if it's in South Florida.

This is from 1999, from a list I used to participate in.
Gentlesouls:
I've been thinking.....I've been meditating.....(no,....REALLY!) and
I am
moved to testify........I said TESTIFY. To speak ex cathedra, even.
(Hey, I AM sitting in a chair....)
There is a concept being bandied about on the list, and throughout
the world, that if not explicitly spoken makes the conversation appear
intellectual, urbane, sophisticated, and (the Holy of Holies) open-minded.
However, once spoken, this concept is so scintillatingly stupid that the
hearers should heave a collective "DUH". Simply put the concept is:

*********** God is so incredibly inept, so dismally dull, so
impossibly IMPOTENT, that He is incapable of
protecting His Message from the predations
of sleazy ecclesiastics, and politicos with doctrinal
agendas. *********************************************

There. It's said.

Truthfully, I cannot imagine giving the time of day, much less love
and worship, to such a loser of a Deity.
Can you?

But thankfully, God is an Awesome God, an omni-potent God,
a God who makes promises, AND KEEPS THEM. Who speaks His will and word, and
needs not to revise it. Who makes Covenant, and everlastingly honours it.

The Word of God as contained in the Bible (no, I don't CARE "which
version". Compare 'em all, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into the stratum
of truth you need at that time, and you'll be on the way) is not a mere
intellectual exercise. It contains the 6000 year covenant history of God,
and His extraordinary love to a humankind who rejected Him for slavery under
a 2nd string fallen angel .

John 3:16-21 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in God.


God the Father of the Bible and his Son, by the Holy Spirit have made
" unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust (unlawful desire)." 2 Peter 1:4

By the promises of God, I have a sound mind, rather than being in a State
Hospital ** For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and
of love, and of a sound mind.2 Timothy 1:7**

By the promises of God, and following His "handbook" I will celebrate my
22nd anniversary with my only wife. Joyfully! No "ball & chain" jokes here!

By the promises of God, my wife & I have been healed of chronic back
problems. No magnets, no , "Well, I felt good for a coupla days." Immediate,
lasting, physically evident healing in the name of Jesus.
8 years and counting.....

By the promises of God, I have been delivered of demonisation.
Cast out in the name of Jesus Christ.

and have gone on to minister the same to others, seeing personalities change
before my eyes ( NOT a brag.... Zechariah 4:6 ...., Not by might, nor by
power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts)

Mark 16:17-18
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast
out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall
not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

( No,.....no snakes, scorpions, or strychnine,yet, tho' I am sure that
should the need arise in His service, that promise would also apply...)

Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful (worried, anxious) for nothing; but in every
thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It works.

God's Word is Kinda like the subject of abstinence
It works every time it's truly tried......

Y'see God is a covenant-making God. The nature of covenant is such that
should one partner in the blood-covenant Break the covenant, that partner's
life is forfeit. ( This is why adultery is the scriptural reason for
divorce. The adulterer is "dead" to the marriage covenant, the victim is
thus a covenant "widow(er)", and may thus remarry. (PLEASE don't get hung
up & start posting me on this; I include it merely to aid in getting a
handle on covenant) Thus, if God breaks his covenant, WHICH HE INITIATED,
He would have to die!! How Nietzche would GIGGLE...

With this in view, I am amazed at the ease with which folks reject, not a
BOOK,but 6000 years of covenant history, 2000 years of scholarship,
myriads of archaeologically and textually sound documents, on the strength
of a handful of books written 1900 years after the fact by disaffected
disbelievers, agenda-driven haters of so-called "organised religion" or von
Danikenesque scholars. ( I withstand the idea that the Gospel is a religion
at all. Not even the Pauline epistles, which were primarily trouble-shooting...)

God is QUITE able to protect and preserve His word, because it is His
covenant word. On the strength of that a may simplistically say

"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so..."


(and He loves you, too...)


en agape
Weatherly

HMH Photo by Jeff Vespa - © WireImage.com - Image courtesy WireImage.com

And why precisely does Seth Rogan have a movie career?

--------------------------------

The "Miss March" teensploitation flick features Hugh Hefner as himself.
I'm glad he chose to end the charade as his alter-ego Ernest P. Worrell. Srsly.

Your Aardvark has discovered the wonderful world of Facebook. I guess I'll get my first Model-T next.

Must be Italian. Fah-CHAY-book.

I was IMMEDIATELY discovered by 5 high-school chums and my speech teacher. Very neat.
So I have yet another way to wast...spend time on the net! It is lovely to be in touch with these people again. It is good to know that there are good memories from my life back then. That may sound all tragic and drama-ey, but I have a LOT of baggage from back then. It is good to see, well, good from the high school days.

Alabama is headed toward the poor paying Their Fair Share with a move to tax legal bingo games (to fund education and health care). Next we will have a state lottery as another savior of education. The next stage will be legalised hemp, well-taxed (though a good way down the pike). I no longer have a problem with any of these moves. The state is not a church, and if people are going to do things, and the state needs money, well....

The lottery would be a true move toward True Equality, and the beauty is, it is a truly voluntary tax. I used to brandish a broken Welch's bottle with Baptist friends over issues like that, but no more.

Truth is, the state needs money. Here is a sentence from the State Treasury website:

The Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) program and the Alabama Higher Education 529 Fund offer savings and investment opportunities for families planning for future college expenses.

The latest news on the "investment" program:

Economy Crisis Impacts Alabama's PACT Program

Letter to purchasers talks of stock market's impact on program

Amber Stuart WHNT Reporter

HUNTSVILLE - The Alabama PACT Program is offered to parents to help them pay college costs for their children. This week, parents received letters saying the program was in trouble.

After receiving a letter about the PACT program not escaping the economic crisis, Don Phelps sat down with his son.

He explained to him what the future holds for his dream of going to college.

"After we got this thing we sat down and I just said you know, your grades have always been important, now they've become even more important," said Phelps. "I said we'll get you to college one way or the other. It may not be the way you imagined or I imagined. Maybe you might have to go to junior college or maybe a community college a year or two. What really counts is where you finish up."

The letter informed parents the PACT program has been affected like other investments because of the stock market dropping roughly 50%.

"They also said because of that their viability is a little bit in question but they're going to start talking with the different universities and the leaders of those universities to see if they can work out a plan," said Phelps.

When Phelps enrolled his son in the PACT program, he expected four years of college.

"When we got into the program, yes, that was our anticipation. Yes, at least the tuition and fees would be paid for, but we also knew there was a risk with it, too. They were very up front about that because it is based on investments. Like anything else you do. That's always been one of those things we've had back that we paid for a very long time ago, and it was like we've got this covered."

Now, Phelps will wait to hear from the state treasurer what the next step will be.

The PACT Program has not advised people to cancel contracts.

State Treasurer Kay Ivey will hold a news conference Friday at 10:00 at the state capitol to discuss the future of the PACT program.

PACT is also urging people on their web site, 800alapact.com, to give the board time to work through this situation. PACT promises an update on the web site every Friday at 2:00pm.

In addition, PACT has added this email address, alapact@treasury.alabama.gov, for individuals to use to send in questions or comments.

State Treasurer Kay Ivey will hold a news conference Friday at 10:00 at the state capitol to discuss the future of the PACT program. These will be shared with PACT board members.

Expect a scramble for new and interesting ways to make up the various state shortfalls looming. I'll keep you posted.

A Prophecette:


I claim no divine power of fore-seeing, but here is my take. There is no threat implied, merely extrapolation from the present.

I seriously doubt that Pres. Obama will last his first term. I do not think some supremacist yahoo will take him out or anything like that. Rather, when he sees that all of his efforts to wrestle an obstreperous economy into submission are coming to nought, and that his approval ratings are lower than the Fed's interest rates, Humpty will fall, and no-one will be able to put the pieces together again. I see breakdown in his future. I do not wish for it. I harbor no animus against the man. I object strenuously to his policies, and I think that he is wired tight, on top of which is the burden of living up to his press.

Just some thoughts. W'll see within four years.