Disney animation woes


"The studio argues the decision was necessary because of the disappointing performance of such recent traditional animation projects as Treasure Planet and Home On The Range and because of the staggering success of CG projects such as Toy Story and from rival studios Shrek and Ice Age."

Jamie Portman

The Ottawa Citizen

Monday, October 31, 2005

Hmmm...the answer to the argument is: though you traditionally animate crap, it is still crap.

Disney's insistence on departing from its historic templates to indulge in politically correct, culturally with-it storytelling is largely to blame for the current problems.

A computer is a tool, as is a pen. I have seen Fred's traditional animation, as well as his CG work. I like both. The issue, then, is not HOW you bounce the photons off of our retinas. The issue is STORY.

My favorite TV series I had as a child was a Sci Fi marionette show called Supercar. There is a small but rabid cadre of fans to be found here.
Let's face it. Though Supercar's visual artistry is less than perfect, the characters we know and love so well endure because of the story, the writing. (Take a bow, Messrs. Woodhouse) More recently, Kez Wilson and Michael Wolfe have collaborated on a graphic novel approach. Rather than treat us to gargoylesque pictures, with bulging eyes and craggy chins (grant me my polemic, here) Kez chose to "pretty up" the characters in his excellent comic art. This did not decrease our enjoyment of them (I thought he said he was a conservative?!), because they BEHAVED like Mike and crew, sans wires. Ditto Michael's work with the current serialised story on BlackRock1. Heck, we don't need puppets or pictures at all any more. We SEE them performing in the Theatre of the Mind.

The upshot: Disney should come up with better stories, period.
(Or at least STEAL better stories, as they did with Lion King -Kimba the White Lion, and Atlantis -another anime, Nadia, Secret of Blue Water.)
T.Hee did amazing animation with sponges and art erasers. Story is all. Animation is the vehicle. Yugo or Mercedes. You'll still get there.

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7
Mind:	6.6
Body:	6.4
Spirit:	8
Friends/Family:	6.6
Love:	9.1
Finance:	7.9
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

I am a crank. Theologically speaking, I'm the equivalent of the guy who builds time machines in his basement out of aluminum pie-pans, twist-ties, and oatmeal boxes.



I am orthodox. I insist on Biblical authority for what we do, whether it is home life, or church polity.



I'm in trouble, because I have to call into question the whole "we have to hire a preacher" mindset at our congregation. It is more in line with the whole Western / Protestant construct, aided and abetted by the Bible College / Seminary complex, rather than with the New Testament model of church order.



I am SO cooked...!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD!

I keep trying to ignore the Miers nomination. You know, maybe it will just go away.
With our Stealth Democrat in the ovoid orifice, it has become painful to me to remember that I voted for him.
Twice.
(I honest-to-God MISS Bill Clinton, but that's as may be...)
The Miers foofooraw has reminded me of one Important Thing.
The Most Important Thing in the World.
For all of the issues which could and need to be addressed, like immigration law, Ms. Myers is making the rounds of the Usual Suspects to deal with the Most Important Thing.

The sovereign Right of a woman to off her unborn offspring.

Never mind that it is the Law of the land, and will likely NEVER be overturned- at least as long as Churchians keep evangelising through the voting booth rather than through teaching and changing hearts. This charade keeps being played out.
I am SO-O-O-O bored.

I am not a theologian. I tend to want to speak of Things Biblical in Terms Biblical. Where I miss the mark, feel free to point, utter a high-pitched "HA-HA" and call me a hypocrite.

I'll forgive you.

A majority of the problems extant in The Church at the Beginning of the 21st Century arise from NOT using the native terminology of the Scriptures, that is, we introduce extra-Biblical words and concepts in our argume...er, discussions.

The classic fool's errand of arguing God's Omni-whatever is rendered meaningless when we choose to speak in the Scripture's terms, rather than importing foreign philosophical language and concepts.

The current rage is discussing the Actual Biblical Sanction of Polygamy.
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2005/10/mailvox-ride-on-time.html

Sorry, can't find "Polygamy" in the Bible. Use Bible terms to discuss Bible things. You don't discuss Monopoly using the rules of Blackjack.

Start with Adam and Eve, One man, one woman.
Genesis 2:24, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."


The New Testament, Jesus quotes Adam as authoritative:
Matthew 19:3-6, "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

I'm convinced.

You see, if we follow the Biblical pattern, you either have marriage, or marriage plus adultery.
One is good, more is bad.

We have dealt personally with a promulgator of multiple wives. The Dread Dormomoo has done an exhaustive study of the issue...not all of which has been yet posted. Here is the link.

Enjoy. And speak as God's Word speaks.

A Horrible Revelation of Heffalump Proportions

I was doing research on "late great planet earth/Left Behind-ism" for the class I teach on, ummm... creative doctrines. I ran across the foofooraw that Walt Hibbard
was involved in regarding his teaching the "heretical" idea that Jesus' "end-times"
teaching in Matthew 24 in fact refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70, not some Rube Goldberg history yet-to-come contrivance.
The church leaders wanted to argue on the basis of the Creeds, and the Westminster Confession.
NOT the Word of God.
I must be the most naive guy around. I can't believe that such...such...APOSTASY
is so rampant in theologically conservative groups.
This is me, mourning.
Let us pray for the Whole State of Christ's Church.

Go ahead and ASK!

...and then they changed it to G-4

The Aardvark is by no means a geek. I mean, I get my kids to fix this-or-that with my computers- tho' Riatsila cannot set the wretched VCR either.
So the thesis is: I am not a geek. Big whoop. But I AM fascinated by Tech. I love it.
Best Buy is to me as the Sears tool department was to my sainted father-in-law.
Bud LOVED tools, not for the tool's sake, but for utility's sake. Happiness was a good new tool. I gave him some newfangled Alligator pliers as a cool Yule present, and he was a happy camper. You can use 'em one-handed!
Tech. It's great. Thus, when TechTV joined our Charter Cable lineup, I was pleased. Happy. Hugely entertained. They were based out of San Francisco, but were actually useful! The young AND the middle-aged mingling and working to birth us into a tech Paradise. Leo LaPorte was a greying computer whiz, wrote books, and knew his stuff. Here is his site:
http://www.leoville.com
The not-so-callow youts with whom he worked were wonders, too, but Leo was kinda MY age. Made me feel like I could do this, too. He's a Macboy, but nobody's perfekt.
Too bad. In 2004, G4 bought out TechTV, said "Move to LA."-you know, where All Things Happen- and Leo said "unh-unh".
'Bye, Leo.
Now, G4 has happenin' shows like "Attack of the Show" , in which callow youts whose attitudes can be summed up in the word "snot", make sage commentary on the pop-tech scene. >sigh<
This sad son-of-TechTV isn't so Tech anymore. They are adding a "new" show.
Remember Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel?
Remember "The Man Show"?
G4 presents reruns of "The Man Show".
Welcome to the Age of Tech!
I wonder if they'll review the Nano...

I'm not down with this.

I am amazed at how widespread depression is. Not the "She broke up with me so I'll write some O, God, the Pain poetry, eat pizza and I'll feel all better" kind of down-ness. Real heart deadening, pull-the-covers-over-your-head for three days, not even the Resurrection could pull me out DEPRESSION. The kind that pharmacologists giggle about.
I've endured it.
The Dread Dormomoo has.
Two of my kids have / are.
Good friends have.
Even one I've never met.

The Aardvark is at an utter loss.
Here we are, in the most prosperous, anything-right-at-your-fingertips, right now,
society, with ANY belief system you could possibly imagine (and our brethren got bent out of shape at the "go to the church of your choice" thing), and every other guy and gal it seems is poppin' Paxil, or scarfing Celexa.

What is up with this?

NOTE: This is NOT a condemnation of prescription help. I was on Elavil for a year or so, until I had to choose to stop. It was either work or sleep. If ANY prescription drug has "May cause drowsiness" in the contraindications, simply substitute "Will induce coma" for me. Now I work, and self-medicate with the occasional brew and/or cigars. Recognise, too, that depression seems to have a shelf-life. Studies have shown that depressed study groups who variously do prescriptions, counseling, or nothing tend to improve in roughly the same period of time.

Now, I'm really at a loss to understand this phenomenon. Unless of course it's not new.
Check out a hymnal sometime. Some of the hymns of the 1800s bear the unmistakable mark of someone working through depression, or at least through menopausal angst. Those from the Depression era, well, they speak for themselves.

Depression is the pits. It is helpful to know that you are not alone in your experience. In this time, or an any.

Hebrews 4:14-16, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.".

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

I've had a rev-uh-LAY-shun!
YAY-ussss.
Say BAY-bee.

But seriously, folks, if you should check out the parable of the talents,
Matthew 25:14-30
(Now, for the uninitiated, a talent is a monetary unit of weight.
Not an ability.
So get it straight.)
you will find a strange truth.

God is far happier if we try and miss it, than if we don't try at all.
Now, He would RATHER we succeed.
But He is the great Redeemer.

But there has to be something to redeem.
So even if all you can do is stick it in the bank, do it.
He can fix us, and will, if we give Him something to fix!
Here endeth the lesson.

Well, okay, I went to see Serenity with Mr. McLeod at Regal Cinemas. You know; the one behind the Mall. Went in to get our tickets at the concession stand, where the Simpsons Teenaged Kid received our shekels, and his female counterpart, the one with the CANDY NECKLACE around her neck (O, please, dear Father, let it be plastic...) and a grin like Nicholson's Joker hit us up to join the Regal Crown Club. "You get double points on Fridays, and we don't make you sit in the sticky section." We demurred.

Got to the correct shoebox, shoehorned ourselves into our comfy stadium seating- why does your elbow fit so well into the cupholder?- and watched the Exceedingly Entertaining Slideshow. I mean, shoot, our country CHURCH has Powerpoint! Then the Trailers began...wait...it's the COMMERCIALS-The same ones we see at home, except that you can enjoy every blemish on the actors' phizzes. And why are they over there, partway on the curtains?

Hmmmmm...

The Trailers began. Over there. When I pay to see commercials and trailers, I want them over HERE, centred on the screen. Large fanboys are getting up to look for the manager. The anamorphic lens that s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s the image into widescreen format is not in place. The actresses look more anorexic than usual. This happens all the time, though...these guys are professionals...it'll be fine.
AH! The Universal logo appears, with the attendant swelling "Hercules" type music.
It's not widescreen.
The Earth is tall and thin.
So THIS is what they mean about the Earth being all used up...

They get the movie centred. That's something.
The Serenity looks odd. Squashy somehow. Kaylee had a chibi moment, but got it wrong.
I get up to look for the manager. I find the engineer, and ask if they plan to use the anamorphic lens. He burbles that neither setting is working right, and that the anamorphic seems to be broken...the image doesn't fit the mask, or summat...The upshot being that they opted to show the movie in "squash 'n' stretch" mode, whilst whistling, scuffing their toes in the sand and hoping that no-one noticed.

Mr. McLeod and I opted to walk. The teenager refunded our money, commenting "I'm surprised you lasted that long.".

I can hardly wait to see Serenity.

Tweens with delusions of literacy often adopt an affectation in their writing: the use of British variant spelling. You know:
humour for humor
realise for realize
gaol for jail (I'm the only one I know that does...DID, did...that one)
and...like that.

It is certainly an affectation, much like choosing to wear metres-long multi-coloured scarves out in public. (Hey, that fits TWO fan groups, now!)

Back in the day (the current nostalgia cliche du jour) whilst I was still in college, another affectation was very, VERY george -or "shiny" for you brown jackets- amongst the charismaniacs, primarily: using Hebraic spellings and terminology, like
Yeshua for Jesus.
That, and listening to Messianic Jewish songsters like "LAMB", and groovin' to the holy beats of Amy Grant's "El Shaddai".

Man, Jewish was BOSS!

But, y'know, I'm not Jewish. I don't like gefilte fish. I don't wear a yarmulke.
I'm not a Brit, either. I don't dig socialiZed medicine, and my teeth aren't grey.

Some things are FUN. Other things get in the way, 'cos people just think you're weird.
Don't ask me how I know that...

May-bee we should work on not making our job more difficult!

I Like Ike...not very much anymore

The Eisenhower Doctrine of the late 50s committed the US to send military aid to any Middle Eastern country that requested it, for the purpose of preventing Communist penetration into the region.

Now, the idea of their having to request it is nice, but Ike set us on the course which ends where we are today, and look how much fun it is: the Hap-hap-HAPPIEST Geopolitics on Earth.

The business of backtracking through history to find The Cause of ( fill in the blank ) is a useful exercise. Ian McLeod has ably shown that 9/11 can be lain at Lincoln's feet (must convince him to blog that!). The revising of History, as well as the NOT-teaching of same leads inexorably to Santayana's prophecy: we SHALL be doomed to repeat it. Like the Beav, it seems we NEVER really learn our lesson.

Okay...It's been a quiet weekend. The Whole Crew went to Anime Weekend Atlanta. The Dread Dormomoo and I had the run of the place, so of course we did the ONLY thing a couple of hot-blooded, well-nigh unto middle-agers would think of doing given such a solitary situation.

All over the place.

Yep, we moved stuff. LOTS of stuff.
And sorted some of it, too.

You never know how much stuff you have 'til you have to MOVE it!
We recently moved our biz, and whilst we have the production equipment in place and operational, all the ancillary stuff was still at the old place, along with personal items-boxes and boxes of it- that we had sequestered at the old shop 'cos there was room there and of course we would sort it eventually and get rid of most of it so we would never again have to move it.

Fine...

So we moved it.

Yeah, I've still got it!

Why am I doing this? Read me. Please.


OK, here's the thing. I am gonna push for another crime to become eligible for capital punishment.
TIME-WASTING.

Not MY time wasting. Blogging, playing Carmageddon, and collecting Gerry Anderson stuff is OK. It is your wasting my time that is egregious, and worthy of the Reaper's tender mercies.
I am waiting at a stop sign. You are approaching from my left. I wait for you to pass so I can continue my journey, BUT WAIT...you TURN RIGHT. Guess what?
YOU DIDN'T SIGNAL. You wasted fifteen seconds of my life. You STOLE fifteen seconds of my life, time you cannot give back to me. Gone. PFFFFT!

Gentle reader, do you suss how EVIL wasting others' time is? How worthy of death it is? Hey, you stole MY time...I am X seconds, minutes, hours closer to the dirt nap. (No, I do not believe Death is it...I am a believer in the world-to-come; but as they say, everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.)

Don't waste my time. You wouldn't like me if you waste my time.

The Aardvark in his element! 

I've had an APOSTROPHE!!

I always loved Jackie Mason's mastery of malaprop!
My epiphany happened whilst driving with I.M.
You see, I've been looking at our nation-especially our politics,
and I cannot for the life of me figure out how we have arrived at
the sorry state we are in today: parties with no Guiding Principles
beyond Power. Precisely ZERO interest in accomplishing goals or keeping
promises. Just me, me, me. I, my, mine.

Then, a bolt from the blue: There are no Republicans, no Democrats.
No Liberals, no Conservatives, no Lukewar...er...Moderates.

There are only Sinners.

That's it! For all have sinned, and fall short of God's glory.

This is the source of all greed, all selfishness, all self-aggrandisement.
All pride, all evil, all treachery, promise-breaking, infidelity.
All from sin.

Hmmmmmmm....Somebody needs to do their JOB.
Romans 1:16-19, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"

Holy Fanfic, Batman!!!

We have been watching a National Geographic program on the whole
"Da Vinci Code" thing. Umberto Eco was on it...briefly. His opinion is that Jesus' alleged marriage to Mary Magdalene is a fairy tail, on par with "Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood".

Sweet.

Momoovark- also known as the Dread Dormomoo- repeated her contention that the gnostic gospels, and other rejected manuscripts, are in fact early church fanfic.

Just a little summat to start your week!

HAPPY SUNDAY!

As I blog this, I should be shaving and prepping for church. (As a Trekkie, I was always amused that "Kirk" means "church". O, the allegory, the ALLEGORY!) I am teaching the Library Class, so named 'cause of where we meet, about cults. Today, we deal with UFO cults. Or UFO-ism period.
The punchline: as the alleged UFOnauts invariably teach their abductees what clearly they gleaned from Shirley Maclaine bestsellers, they are not promoting the spread of Jesus' Gospel.
(Are you as shocked as I?) Therefore, they are at LEAST anti-christian, and likely demonic in origin. A quick read of Strieber's would seem to corroborate this thesis.
Then, I will likely get to enjoy a sermon on yet another unique way which I can fail God. (Our current preacher- a PowerPoint addict- uses the "f-word" a lot. Fail, failure...like that.)
I go to teach, to worship, to give, to hear the Word read, and to partake the Lord's Supper.
At present, I endure the preaching. Anyone relate?
I must awa' to scrape my face.

Jimmy Stewart You scored 2% Tough, 4% Roguish, 71% Friendly, and 19% Charming!

You are the fun and friendly boy next door, the classic nice guy who still manages to get the girl most of the time. You're every nice girl's dreamboat, open and kind, nutty and charming, even a little mischievous at times, but always a real stand up guy. You're dependable and forthright, and women are drawn to your reliability, even as they're dazzled by your sense of adventure and fun. You try to be tough when you need to be, and will gladly stand up for any damsel in distress, but you'd rather catch a girl with a little bit of flair. Your leading ladies include Jean Arthur and Donna Reed, those sweet girl-next-door types. Find out what kind of classic dame you'd make by taking the Classic Dames Test.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 0% on Tough You scored higher than 17% on Roguish You scored higher than 99% on Friendly You scored higher than 37% on Charming

Link: The Classic Leading Man Test written by gidgetgoes on Ok Cupid

GOD pushed the smite button, did He?

OK, let me deal with the lunacy that ALWAYS spews forth from the mouths preachers and wannabe "prophets of GOD-uh" whenever there is a catastrophe,
natural or otherwise.
Rather, let me let God Himself deal with it:

1 God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, 2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds; Hebrews 1:1-2

Well, that says it all. God is NOT speaking through new prophets, through wind or fire, or through a televangelist. He has spoken through His Son. The message of Jesus Christ is what God has spoken. Little things like "Love your neighbor as yourself", and "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments". Uncomfortable things like Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. (Mark 16:15,16).


The wind is the wind. The rain is the rain. Neither is constant, nor readable. God's Word does not change. His Truth is settled in the heavens. We are rational beings, who are created in the image of a rational God. Therefore, He does not speak to us through the climatic equivalent of a rolled-up newspaper. He speaks through the Word, not by pressing the "Smite" button.


So, in Jesus' Name, SHUT UP. Be muzzled, even. Stop blaspheming our loving Father.

Now, I was not going to drag politics into this horror, but C Ray Nagin,
the redoubtable mayor of New Orleans, has been whining that if they weren't black, the citizens would have been rescued by now.
Let's see...Nawlins has been under Democrat leadership since, oh, FOREVER, and has developed such a gimmee mentality, leaders elected with promises of MORE gimmees for the proles.
Liberal Democrats have been in control.
Liberal Democrats had NO EFFECTIVE PLAN in place for a disaster that all knew was going to hit.
Liberal Democrats now play the race card, and whine that an unprecedented catastrophe has not been fixed by the waving of the Presidential Magic Wand.

Now THAT'S effective leadership.

WOW! HE'S BACK!

I have ridden upon the wings of the wind. It was NO fun!
Riatsila and I were at MechaCon in Lafayette LA, about an hour west of Nawlins. Stayed an extra night (Sunday) to allow panic travel north to subside. We set out Monday and travelled the edge of Katrina almost the whole way. Went north on I-49 to Alexandria; turned east to get to I-55 N to Jackson MS. East on I-20, then I-59 from Meridian, MS, through to Birmingham, AL, then onto I-65 N home. We have dodged trees on the interstates, endured lashing rain, and HUGE gusts of wind, and held our breath as we passed exit after exit with NO ELECTRICITY. Finally arrived at Tuscaloosa, where we got the LAST ROOM of the first place we tried (Motel 6). Thank God!
We made it safely, and are thankful. We await news from Frank & Lisa, and Sandy, Joe and family.

Busiest time of the year, so of COURSE I want to start a PAC!

Matildah, I got your comment and have responded.

.........................................................

I am currently talking with Trusted Advisors as to getting the thing rolling. Lookit...it NEEDS to be done. The Founders (no, not the shapeshifters from DS9) of our nation had a vision of regular turnover in representation, not an entrenched bureaucratic ruling class.

I am going out of town on biz. I will try to post whilst there.

Ha, and HA!
Back in the day- a phrase which has cropped up innumerably the past few days- I went to school with, and played in the school band with, the probable next head of the Fed.
That's right, Ben Bernanke.
THAT Ben Bernanke.
He has been on my mind lately, but oddly, not because of hearing Cavuto burble about him. Just one of those co-inky-dinkies, I guess.
Ben, the smoker of foot-long novelty cigars.
Ben, the player of poker.
Ben, the regaler of ribaldry.
Ben, the mental multiplier.
Also, Ben, the player of sax!
I could go on, but I shan't. I have little data on his policies, but if he is tapped to take Greenspan's mantle, well....
Wow...Dillon High School boy makes good!

His brother Seth was a friend of mine in high school, and introduced me to the novel "Dune".
Hat tip, Seth.

I was not as close to sister Mindy, as she had issues with my evangelical propensities at school, but she was a brilliant, lovely young lady.

If I recall, the family owned the Jaybee drug store. Bought my first pipe there, and lots of sulfur and potassium nitrate, to do pyrotechnic experiments. Oh, yeah.

Hail to the Bernankes. May God bless them all.

Political stuff:

I want to start a PAC. Sort of an anti-PAC.
F.O.I.L.

Fire Our Incumbent Leadership.

Beyond the complete de-federalisation of these several States, it is the best hope for reclaiming our nation from the clutches of entrenched Executive, Legislative, and Judicial power. A bloodless coup.

Tim, we need to talk...

Hi. I'm Weatherly, and I'm a jerk.

Hi. I'm Weatherly, and I'm a jerk.

"Hi, Weatherly"

Yep, the Aardvark 'fesses up! But why?
I just had a dee-LIGHTful weekend in Mobile, AL, at Mobicon, a little SF convention in its eighth year. (http://www.mobicon.org/) You can see the broad picture there. Saw an old con pal from way back, Tim Riley, cartoonist and entrepreneur extraordinaire. (http://www.trnco.com/index.html)
He and his wife were a huge blessing to me. My sweet wife, the Momoovark, had instructed me to go to the con and relax. I set up our shirts, and sold, but spent a vast amount of time talking, schmoozing, reminiscing, and making new friends. (Shout out to Jeff! http://www.celiaentertainment.com/bresbio.html) I relaxed. Good call, Momoovark!
The con is run by a couple of other con friends of mine, who happen to have what is referred to as an alternate lifestyle. (They insist on white wine with beef. I don't know why I put up with them...) I have friends who are irreligious, friends who are pagan, friends who eat it in a car, friends who drink it in a bar. I have friends who I print t-shirts for.

These people love me. Or like me a whole lot. Amazingly.
Now some of these guys may read this, and wonder "What's not to like?".
And I have to admit...I'm charming. Sincerely so; I'm really not a schmoozer in the classic sense. (Classsic schmoozing on Lite 96.3...)
Expressively friendly, smiling, happy most of the time. Ebullient, even.
What's not to like?

I look back to when I was a kid in college and I cringe at what I was...hyper-opinionated, unpleasantly so, self-righteous. Judgmental.
I won't bore with the details.
Now, the trick is, I am a Christian...and was then.
I'm just older, now.
I'm more mature.
Mellow. er.
I don't have the call to JUDGE. I only have the call to present Christ.
My friends are now confused, as I have not yet induced blunt-force trauma on any of them with a ten-pound King James.
Christ loves them all. I must love them all. And I do. Not in a self-serving ego-stroking "I am loving them with the Love of JEEEEEEEEE-Zus!" Real, "It's SO good to see you again!" love.
But the question remains...why do these people love me?

Because I have changed.
Christ has changed me over the decades.
Decades.
Slowly, Jesus changes those who are His into His image. Not all at once, but change over time, as we yield, as we bow the knee to our Lord in each area of our lives.
Why do these people love me?
Because, whether they know it or not, they love the Jesus in me.
If they honestly do not see Weatherly the jerk, well...
It's His fault.

I am consistently amazed at the level of intellectual debate here in the blogosphere. To wit:

"Yes, I'd be quite interested to hear your thoughts on these things - particularly your lack of willingness to fight for your country. But I won't hold my breath waiting for a reply; it's probably hard for you to give one with your thumb in your mouth." (from a commentor on Vox Popoli)

This is a sample of what poses as thoughtful discourse. Now Vox Day, the author of the blog, IS intellectually formidable, politically astute, and a hoot, to boot. The castigation he receives in others' blogs, as well as in the Hell-o-Scan comments section of his site, is often of the calibre quoted. Bottom line: if one cannot refute another's arguments...BLUSTER.

Cheap, cheap, cheap.

Often the essentially "christian" sites display the agape love evidenced by the massacre of Luther's "followers" by the provoked RCs. Oh, yeah! Jesus said "They'll know you are my disciples because you SCREAM at one another."

This reminds me of another little goodie: a friend of mine proudly displayed his new bumper sticker. It reads

"Jesus Loves You.
(everyone else thinks
you're an a***ole!)"

O........K. Let's use the the Son of God to give the finger to the world. Gotta love that.

Come on, people; let ALL things be done to build one another up.

1 Corinthians 16:14, "Let all your things be done with charity (agape love)."
1 Peter 4:8, "And above all things have fervent charity (agape love) among yourselves: for charity (agape love) shall cover the multitude of sins."

It may not be as sexy as vituperative debate,
but it makes our Father happy.

I'm going to a wedding, and I hate playing dressup, but the Aardvark will look HOT today.
Hot in a Sopranos sort of way. Black pleated, cuffed trousers, black button-down, black and charcoal tie. White sneakers (KIDDING!) Black shoes. Slick scalp.
Sopranos? Never watched it once.

The ensemble almost seems funereal. My niece Kim is getting married to a fine young man, who has had an almost courtship level of relationship with her parents. I do not mourn for them. I have great joy for their adventure. My problem is the dissolution of so many Christian (!) marriages around me. My daughter married a nice young man...who turned out to be an abusive bounder with delusions of culthood. They are separated, primarily for her safety. The "D" word has been kicked around, but I'm sorry, there is ZERO scriptural reason for divorce. One can drag "feelings", and "it's not fair" into it all day long, but it still doesn't change what Jesus said about it. Period.

Two, count 'em, TWO families in our congregation have disintegrated, because one spouse in each wanted a different place to put it. I have a suspicion that I know what is going on.

There is a deadly triumvirate preached in our neck of the woods: marriagedivorce&remarriage.
Just like that: marriagedivorce&remarriage. When someone preaches on ISSUES facing the church, that one is top of the heap: marriagedivorce&remarriage.

What is wrong with this picture?
To teach on marriage like that seems to me to plant the idea that the three somehow go together: marriagedivorce&remarriage. Rather like soupandsandwich, friesanketchup, BurnsandAllen...
If the concept of sowing and reaping has any credence- Jesus taught it, and agriculture works- then ought we not preach and teach on marriage (Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it..." would be a great place to start.) and LATER present divorce as the vile aberration it is, rather than linking it in the hearer's mind
with marriage? I believe that we are reaping the harvest of decades of bad, copycat preaching.
Amongst other things.

The lesson of the dating scene is not much better. If this relationship sours, welllll, I can always find another.

I pray that this marriage will be as blessed and full as Kim's parents has been, and that Momoovark's and mine has been, and that Christ intended for marriage to be.

Pulling a Religion Out of your Butt...

The latest bit of glurge to clot the finite bandwidth is "The Rainbow Bridge".
This load of dingo's kidneys has been popularized by none other than Mr. Feelgood himself, Neal Boortz, who got all verklempt upon reading it on the air.
Here is the regrettable "poem":

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

*ahem* I wouldn't want to be known, either. According to my #2 son, Riatsila, this comes across as the sort of thing you make up to tell your kid when Rover gets pureed by an SUV.

It speaks authoritatively of Things Supranatural. It is thus Religious.
This author has pulled a religion out of his nethers.

Tangentially,Momoovark, my sweet missus, said it all:
"Religion is people doing what they want, rather than accepting what God (in Christ) has done for them.

Cue Sinatra: :"I did it MY-Y-Y-Y-Y WA-A-A-A-AY!"

That settles the issue of "religion" for me.

Back to the Bridge: Riatsila queried "What happens to goldfish?".
Clearly they flop around in an eternity of drowning, unable to die, refreshed only by the occasional puddle of dog drool, then flopping over to their owners-in-life, to find the only moist areas available to them.

That's what I call Heaven...

MLM Love

Love is all-important. We humans hunger for it, yearn for it, wither without it.
Multi-level marketing (MLM) systems use this human need as a foot-in-the-door. Coupled with the Need to Belong, Love provides a powerful engine for convincing the prospective member to join, to part with precious shekels, and start on the Road to Riches, if he will just sell the soap, sell the vitamins, and buy, buy, BUY the inspirational books and tapes, so he, too, can Duplicate the Pattern, and get OTHERS to sell the soap, sell the vitamins, and buy, buy, BUY the inspirational books and tapes.

The hook is: "We love you, and will do EVERYTHING to help you succeed. If YOU commit, WE commit.", this said with a dewy-eyed earnestness that would melt the heart of any normally sceptical person, introducing a cultic aspect to the business "plan". If I BELONG...if I am LOVED...well, then, I must be WORTH something. I must be LOVABLE.

The problem with MLM love is that it is bogus. It is to agape, charitable, self-giving Love as prostitution is to married love. It is quid pro quo. The hugs, the "We love you!" at the end of phone calls, are surface, shallow, and VANISH as soon as you step out of line. Stop selling the soap, selling the vitamins, and buy, buy, BUYING the inspirational books and tapes, and this bogus love runs for cover, or at least runs to the next John or Jill. No tickee, no hickey.

It really reminds me of the poor religious cult members who begin to think on their own, and read a REAL Bible to learn about the Gospel, and get shunned by the very people who have been FAMILY to them for years.

If you don't do as we say, we won't LOVE you anymore.
That is NOT love. It is self-serving manipulation and control. If you are a Christian, and are using these tactics in business OR church-life, then you are not "walking in love" in your service to God. You are instead walking in devilish deception, and hurting your witness by displaying a hooker-level "love" to your friends, family, and prospects.

If you wish to hawk vitamins, or soap, or weight-loss plans, well and good, but PLEASE read First Corinthians 13, and compare it to your "Plan".

1 Corinthians 13:1-13, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing.  Godly love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up,  Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;  Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.  When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  For now we see through a mirror, dimly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.  And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."


For anyone who has been victimised by unscrupulous MLM schemes (Oh! Did I repeat myself?) this site may prove helpful:
www.merchantsofdeception.com

Whilst the site is aimed at Amwayites and Quixtoids, it can finger patterns which you may recognise in other "plans".

Your ever-helpful Aardvark

Please don't feed the bird...

Jackboots echo down the hospice hall. The Boys in Blue do their stalwart best to...what?
Keep deeds of charity from being done.

Terry Schiavo's brother's testimony (I believe it was on Glenn Beck's show) was that if one had even tried to moisten her lips with a chip of ice, that one would have been arrested.
Not to grant Terry messianic status, but even Jesus got a better break: they gave him a sip of sour wine.

Wow, what a police detail to be on: keeping a dying woman from receiving aid and succour from loving family and friends. Blue could become a very unpopular color.

I really like symmetry. Here's a thought: come April 15th, pull the government's feeding tube! The basic promotion and protection of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is apparently a fleeting whim now, good only for trotting out on National Holidays.

What a SHOCK!

You scored as Christianity. Your views are most similar to those of Christianity. Do more research on Christianity and possibly consider being baptized and accepting Jesus, if you aren't already Christian. Christianity is the second of the Abrahamic faiths; it follows Judaism and is followed by Islam. It differs in its belief of Jesus, as not a prophet nor historical figure, but as God in human form. The Holy Trinity is the concept that God takes three forms: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost (sometimes called Holy Spirit). Jesus taught the idea of instead of seeking revenge, one should love his or her neighbors and enemies. Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross to save humankind and forgive people's sins. Christianity 92% Buddhism 63% Judaism 54% Islam 42% atheism 33% Paganism 25% agnosticism 17% Satanism 13% Hinduism 8% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com Wow, I'm more Satanist than Hindu!

In the immortal words of George Costanza: "I got nothin'!"
Those of you who know my antipathy for that character are reeling...

I am suffering from complete adrenal burnout, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
I mean, I've been on the edge for close to a year, what with dealing with a burgeoning business, our current political climate, seeing and aching over the deconstruction of my daughter due to the situation she has been in for several years, agonising over how RG can be redeemed, despairing over the Whole State of Christ's Church, personal guilt over not being able to blog as I wished, and, well, it goes on. My body has rebelled, and I thought I was having heart failure. Thankfully, it is only (!) my chest wall being inflamed from work and stress.
I am numb, even to the plight of Terri Schiavo. I can harbor angst only for so long.

I wrote to Gregg in part:

I know the pain and frustration you are feeling. Here in AL, we covered the streets of Montgomery with more peaceful and praying people since the 60s civil rights marches, pushing for major pro-life legislation. The people SPOKE; but the legislation was aborted, itself. Christ and the apostles changed the world without a single march...hmmm, maybe they had some wisdom... ;^)

This is the crux of the whole issue: the church has for twenty-plus years been led to the voting booth as a method of societal evangelism. The imposition of Christian Piety via legislation has been a rousing catastrophe. Why does the world hate the church? Because for decades we have arrogated the province of the Holy Spirit to ourselves: to convict the eee-vil sinners of their sins. We have placed ourselves at the Father's right hand, and cast ourselves in the role of Judge. We point the quavering Bony Finger of Indignation at the Sinner du Jour, and condemn their not measuring up to OUR righteousness. Mr. Falwell, SHUT YOUR GOB!
Is there sin? YES.
Are there sinners? YES.
Are we their Judge? NO, NO, NO.

We, the church, are the Keepers of GOOD NEWS. We should be dispensers of same.
Am I the only person seeing this?

...Maybe I had something after all.

Gloria, Susan...here's to YOU!

The horror played out in Atlanta yesterday points up two things: the insanity of "we're all equal" as regards male and female job performance and ability, and the necessity for politicos to get better writers. Had the deputy sheriffs handling the 33-year-old rapist been two 250 lb QB types, I doubt that events would have played out quite the same. (I would love to know the thought train that set up the situation in the first place: "Yep, we got this big 'ol perp.....uh huh.....rapist...yep...we'll send Li'l Bit to guard 'im....yep, her...havin a li'l ole gal guardin' 'im, now THAT'LL teach 'im some respect for women...". I mean, come on, people, let's think a bit beyond who's next on rotation.

As to poli-speak, the Aardvark Award for Flagrancy in Mis-Speech goes to the redoubtable Mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin who termed the events..."disconcerting".
Yes, and Josef Stalin wasn't nice. Points to her for encouraging prayers for the families of the victims, though. THAT took courage above and beyond in our ACLU-ocracy.

In my darker heart, I can only hope that Nichols behaves true to form, and resists arrest when caught. He's had his opportunity for trial by jury.

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=ZT2HF4XGCYQQLQFIQMGSNAGAVCBQWJVC?xml=/news/2005/02/05/wun05.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/02/05/ixworld.html

Well, here is a note from the UK! Apparently my friend there does not read the Telegraph.
The canonisation of the UN is faltering considerably.

"No one expects the Humanist Inquisition!"

The Hot Abercrombie Chick has a faboo blog, and recently posted on:
Is Evolutionary Theory Scientific?
She is continuing this thread, which is a well-reasoned bit of work!
Keep it up!

I believe a caveat must be stated.
I am not a brain-numbed robot.
Nope.
I am currently looking for a twelve-step program for talk-radio addiction.
"I can quit any time I want to........I just don't want to!"
It's tiresome, being driven by the impulse that I might MISS something, some tid-bit that will bring it all together. I love music. I love Old Time Radio CDs. Books on tape. Alexander Scourby
reading the Bible. (Now he is top-of-the-heap, but I might reconsider if Patrick Stewart did a narration. Yeah, right...) All sorts of goodies that I regularly miss because I-don't-want-to-miss-something.

All because of one guy.
Goolsby.
Sixteen+ years ago we spoke long distance -back when that meant something- and he asked if I had heard of Limbaugh. He said -now this is important. You must parse this properly- he said:

"Rush Limbaugh reminds me of you."

I couldn't help myself. That night I turned on the telly, because on that fateful day, Limbaugh was guest hosting Pat Sajac's late night show. The night the audience was loaded with, ummm,
slightly left of centre enthusiasts.
That hijacked the show.
That could not allow reasoned discourse, because Limbaugh disagreed with them.
That resorted to the ne plus ultra weapon of choice for their arguments.
That's right.
They called names.
Limbaugh honestly attempted discussion.
They railed.
They pointed the Bony Finger of Indignation.
And called Rush Limbaugh names.
The studio was cleared, because the whole situation was beginning to attain gladiatorial levels of bile and vituperation, and Telemachus was nowhere to be found to stem the tide.
That was my intro to Limbaugh.
The next day I found a local station: AM770 Huntsville that carried Rush.
Yes, the same station that launched Sean Hannity. The Bethlehem of Talk Radio. For that I heartily apologise. I even tried out to take Sean's place after he left for Atlanta, and stardom.
That's another story.

Hello.
My name is Weatherly, and I'm a talk radio junkie...

Paving with good intentions

I am a member of an e-group dedicated to the 60s SF series Fireball XL5. The topic of the use of force by members of the crew came up, and I posted the following (thinking it on-topic):

As a popular pundit opines: "Ours is a world governed by the use of
force.". Whether it is the Inland Revenue, or the local cop pulling
you over for speeding, or the UN making a >snicker< Resolution, the threat of force is what keeps folks in line. If this were not so, there would be no armies, police forces, or West Virginia militias. And no Neutroni missiles on Fireball XL5.
Love,
Weatherly

I was responded to by the following slap on the hand:

L**** and I very recently reminded all members not to post off topic
messages to our Fireball XL5 group. L**** also reminded everyone that
offensive posts would not be tolerated.
Your remark about the United Nations appears to be meant as some kind of
'joke', intended to poke fun at an organisation set up to promote and
preserve world peace.
Larry and I find the remark offensive.
I don't propose to give a lecture on ethics and morality here.
All we want is for people in this group to refrain from making offensive
remarks. This is not the venue for venting personal hatred or prejudice.
This is a place for friendly discussions about a great t.v. show.

I am fascinated that making a mild criticism of a Faceless Organization lines me up for accusations of "personal hatred or prejudice".

Which brings me to the question of offense.

I wonder if any of the one million Rwandans killed during the UN's beneficent oversight were offended?

I wonder if any of the Iraqi men, women, and children for whom the "Oil For Food" benefits were intended are offended by the multi-billion dollar "mismanagement" of the funds by UN leadership.

I wonder if any charity-minded US citizens were offended by the UN functionary's assertion that they are "stingy" in response to human need and suffering, when our charitable giving, public and private, is very good indeed. (I shall be charitable and NOT do percentage comparisons with other countries.)

I wonder if any of the women and children sexually victimized by UN blue helmets in Bosnia and Africa were offended.

I wonder if any of the Sudanese victims of the black-on-black slave trade are offended by the UN's inaction.

Whatever good intentions the founders of the UN may have had have clearly been subsumed in the hell of inaction and self-serving of the current leadership in NY.

Y'know, I was offended at being called a prejudiced hater, especially after several years of a track record of civility and friendliness. But they MAY have a point.

I HATE hypocrisy. An international organization to promote world peace and justice should not behave in these ways. And well, I guess I'm prejudiced against
the pretense of righteousness and respectability which the United Nations projects.

The Dark Design...

I have sussed it out. George Delano Bush is in the hands of the Late Great Planet Earthers.
Iraq...Iran...the whole point is to plug the hole: control the Euphrates River so as to prevent the Chinese Hordes from crossing into the Middle East, and immanentizing the Eschaton.
I betcha!

On a tangential note: ignoring the issue of the inspiration of the Bible, any man who pens the words: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" (Ephesians 5:25) cannot possibly be a woman-hater. Hmmm...Husband, be prepared to bleed and DIE for your wife, live a life of loving self-sacrifice for your wife.
Yeppers, Paul had a REAL problem with women!

Hoot mon! Went to ChattaCon this weekend. Cold weather, fun folks, good food. Larry Niven was GOH at the convention-he of Ringworld fame- but I saw him not!

By good food, I refer to the restaurants. Portofino's, a Greek-run Italian place,(why are the best Italian places run by Greeks?) is so good that I use Chattanooga conventions as an excuse to be able to go there! Their Brochetta is incredibly good, and tho' an appetizer, will serve as a meal! Two friends (Sunshine, who is a con pal of my wife and me- she deals in etched glass goodies- and Kelsey, who works with Sunshine), who happen to be hot babes, went with me for dinner (chunky, short, cue-ball me--envy me, boys) not quite believing the place could be as good as I raved. Well, they got SCHOOLED! I had the Brochetta and antipasto; Sunshine, the Tour of Italy-lasagna, manicotti, chicken, and spaghetti; and Kelsey the Chicken Marsala. A great time was had by all. Not a bad bite to be had! (It is great to be well and happily married AND good-natured..One can enjoy the company of Beauty with none of the attendant angst and pressure.)

I drove us all to the Read House Hotel- the Con site- and dropped 'em off. They suggested sneaking me into the hot tub, but I demurred...being well and happily married and all...
Drove back to my digs at the Motel 6- I rarely stay at the convention venue as I am almost 48, and fond of my sleep. Yeah...I'm a stick. In the mud. A happily married stick.

...And, no, there is no Deep Meaning here.

It's so great living in the land of the Cesspool, receiving the effluent from Canada's tax subsidised film industry. I had such hope and joy when the SciFi channel came to town, and now it's just filled with the rustle of dried, talentless maple leaves.

Saturday morning...IFC is on, and it is presenting short films. From Canada. If we didn't take their stuff, Canada would sink under the sheer weight of wasted film.

The question this particular crop of drek (Pssssst....Why doesn't he turn it off?) raises is cogent, however. Why do the women in the 21st century insist on talking. Oh...about "our relationship".
Endless, endless chatter and self-examination about Our Emotional State. Still, it makes sense that the Film Board as the enabler for these movies. They are so painful in their rummaging through couples' emotional pain that no sane person would willingly part with a dime to see them.

Now, I am the "romantic" member of our married life, so don't go thinking I'm all stoic and unfeeling. It's just that there are limits to how much gubbish one can stand. (Philip K. Dick fans take note!)

Sometimes...it's just good to be.

ABOLISH THE IRS!

Make April 15th just another day.
Go to this site.


http://www.fairtax.org/

Read it.
Then do what it says.
It WILL lead to Freedom and increased prosperity.

Outstanding!
I'm doing my best to re-establish the Plumbline after my five-month hiatus. A glitch wiped all links, and readership has plummetted.
******************************
Flaming Thunderbolts Theology: Part the First

I have a bit of virtual dyspepsia regarding, ummmm, "the whole state of Christ's church".
I came to the faith during the Late Great Planet Earth era. Even at that time in my mid-teens, I had difficulty reconciling the various eschatological angles into a coherent model. It all seemed so...contrived and needlessly messy, as though the Almighty was a hack screenwriter who peeked at all the worst James Bond / Austin Powers capture and escape scenes, and cobbled together a Rube Goldbergian finish to the little ball of mud we call home.

Enter the dichotomy: Dispensationalism versus Covenant. C.I. Scofield, that evangelical P.T. Barnum, cooked up a scheme in the crack- er- crockpot environment of Bible conference fervor, a system of Biblical interpretation worked out with Gaebelein and Darby which artificially divided the scripture into a series of Dispensations.
I say artificially because this Johnny-come-lately doctrine is virtually unknown prior to the late 1800s.
Why did it take close to 1900 years for anyone to figure this out?
http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/need-ovid_dd_01.html

is a potent link calling the whole dispensational scheme into question. While I have not crawled the entire site, this section appears to be sound.

The Biblical record tends to fall naturally into COVENANTS, which is really odd, given that Yahweh is a covenant-making God. You don't need reference books and commentaries to see it.

To Be Continued...

OK, people, I have WORK to do. I do not have time to blog this morning, but I half-heard a news report which concerned me, and then heard Boortz fulminating about my suspicions.
The US Give-mint's pledge money for tsunami relief is going to be GIVEN TO THE UN to distribute.
If I give One Hundred Dollars to my youngest son to purchase our groceries, but he buys anime DVDs with it instead, then my response is to sell whatever stuff he has purchased to recoup my shekels, and then refuse to entrust ANY more simoleons to him again for a VERY long time.
This US action is stupidity of the most egregious sort, and deserves our sanctions.
If they cannot use our tax dollars in a sane and.....SANE manner, then we as a nation should deny our non-representing representatives any more opportunity to misuse our earnings.

THIS MUST STOP!

The obligatory "Happy New Year" to you all.
I dunno...This "holiday season" has been the most secularised in my memory. I'm talking about in my household. Christmas, whilst a lovely time with family, was just not the holy-day of years past. I allowed myself to be too busy (not that there was much choice. The screenprinting orders just kept avalanching in. Odd how blessing served to distract from Meaning.) We are thankful for it all, and I freely admit that there is no Scriptural sanction for the celebration of Jesus' Birth. (Neither for Easter; we are to celebrate the resurrection of Christ in the Lord's Supper on each Sunday, by the NT church's apostolic example.) It's just good to have the focus of Faith to lend Meaning to this holly-encrusted point on the calendar.

Even New Year's Eve was just another night. I helped around the house, sat on my fundamentals and trekked through the blogosphere, appalled at the bonhomie of the postings at Evangelical Outpost. When did "evangelical" come to mean "intellectually arrogant"?
"They will know that you are my disciples, if you snark at one another."

We didn't watch the warp-drive Times Square ball drop, either.
We brought in the new year counting down with:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/clock.php

Perhaps it is a function of my age, but celebrating the passing of another annum holds few charms for me.

We didn't even do fireworks.

Face it. The events of the past year in my life have taken out my heart.
I have lost My Heart. You know what I mean.
Happy New Year.

JOY! I get to play electrical contractor to-day. Gotta replace the porch light.
The old one lasted seventeen years, but finally rusted away. I have a new one from Lowes. Call it "Early Brooding Sci-Fi Tech", stylistically speaking. It would look right at home in the police facility from "Escape From New York". It is quite stout.
I'll tell you about the sparks in awhile.

******************************************

No pretty blue sparks! Everything worked swimmingly, even on an aluminium ladder!
I'll try to get a picture of my handiwork and put it up. I know that you will find it fascinating, because it is another thing that I do. >tongue firmly in cheek<
We have a lit front porch again. Hmmm...Maybe I can reduce my liability coverage.
Ri-i-i-i-i-ght.

OUT
OF
THE
U.N.
NOW!!!

Kick 'em off of our shores.
Let 'em see what stingy REALLY means.
Let the U.N. make the pizza runs without our dollars.
Oooooh. Is that mean-spirited?

Before his gentle readers go all Luther on his keister, let this Aardvark say that he is not giving a pass to things like homosexuality, adultery, or dealing from the bottom of the deck. Here is the baseline from which this discussion proceeds:


Matthew 28:18-20, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."


As a rule, the church at the beginning of the twenty-first century seems to have, errrr, relaxed somewhat from Jesus' requirements of discipling and baptism. When the disciple finally confesses Christ, today one is more likely to hear "When's the next potluck?" (or "pot-bless" for the more superstitious amongst us) than to hear echoes of First century faith:
"...See, here is water; what prevents me from being baptized? (Acts 8:36)"

The testimony of the New Testament is clear.
God expects change.
God commands change.
God enables change.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

Note this: "And such WERE some of you..."

The person given over to sin is not given a pass...discipleship inevitably pins the tail to one's donkey and demands change. However, one CANNOT submit to discipleship until one is a DISCIPLE.

If we present the life-changing truth of the Gospel, according to the New Testament pattern, then we can begin again to see New Testament results. Nothing else will work.

WHOA! The Aardvark's BACK!
I've missed being here, but I have been busier than I have EVER been before. Our screenprinting operation has mushroomed, and I have had to be a major squeegie-jockey to keep up. As I do NOT wish to hire outside of my household at this time (to avoid multiplied Imperial entanglements), we have maxed ourselves out, and are looking toward getting an automatic press to multiply our efforts.
*******************************************************************************

No doubt you have heard of the Philadelphia Four, aptly appelled by Joseph Farah.
(Hi, Joe. How are you?)
These members of a "Christian Ministry" attended a homosexual rally, preached the Word of God in a peaceful and non combative way, and are facing 47-some-odd years in prison for their troubles. Hate speech. This is a hateful attack on First Amendment
rights, certainly. The preachers assert that "The early church preached in the open air, in the marketplace." That's as may be, and I do not agree with the prosecution of these guys, but neither do I agree with their tactics.

They are wrong.

How can a Christian of some 34 years standing say such a thing? How can I not stand in solidarity with my brothers?

Because they are wrong.

They are preaching against the EEEE-VILS of homosexual practise.

Yet they are still wrong. Wrong on at LEAST two counts. First, there is this whole "Christian Ministry" thing. God in Christ Jesus authorised ONE Christian ministry.

The local church.
Period.

Not Repent Now. Not the 700 Club. Not the Billy Graham organisation.Not even Focus on the Family.

The New Testament authorises only ONE Christian Ministry. The local church. Anything else is presumptive error. It may be a GREAT idea, but it is only man's idea, and is thus WA-A-A-AY less than God's best. Try actually READING the thing beyond your "Upper Room" devotional. All these "para-church" organisations are man's addition to God's Pattern, and will all ultimately be as successful as Uzzah was when he reached out to keep the Ark of the Covenant from tipping. He didn't play by the rules, either.

Second, they were doing theological bear-baiting. Back to New Testament authority for stuff: Not even Paul when confronted by the rampant idolatry of the Athenians, not EVEN Paul attacked these people. Acts 17 shows that Paul actually found a place of AGREEMENT with them, and proceeded from that point to teach them:


Acts 17:22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are very religious.
Acts 17:23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

Paul acknowledged their devotion, and THEN taught them. He did not quote anti-idolatry verses from Jeremiah at them. He did not wag the bony finger of indignation at them and intone:"You worship idols...YOU'RE GOIN' TO HELL!".

Paul met them on their turf, introduced them to the Creator God, and His Son Jesus Christ, and a local church was born. Athenians believed, were baptised and the work expanded.

Be very clear on this. Paul preached CHRIST.
The early church preached Christ, and Him crucified.

This must be understood. We must preach the answer which God has provided: the Good News of Jesus Christ. We must preach it from the platform God Himself has authorised: the local church. Not just in the building...certainly in the marketplace, but the message and the platform must be God's, else we will be doomed to failure.

Look at American Christendom after fifty-plus years of evangelism being dominated by
not-the-church organisations.

We're ALMOST as successful and unified as the Republican majority in Washington.
Almost.

My sweet wife has earned a place with her "Quote of the Blog"
We were watching the march of anarchy in the streets of Boston, and she asked:

"How can Anarchists have a parade?"

Gad, it's been an awful, scary, maddening, overweeningly stress-filled month so far.

...But enough about ME...

I continue to be fascinated and alarmed by current trends in TV & Radio adverts.
I mean, they are REALLY awful. The most troubling angle from a business sense- and I was nurtured by the Freberg school of advertising- is that which is typified by the Progressive Insurance commercials. The template works like this:
***********
Customer has a catastrophe.

Customer calls repairman.

Repairman stares disbelievingly at the scope of the problem, and wants to get to work.

Customer demands a quote from the repairman, including a quote from 3 competitors.

The catastrophe worsens.

Moral: OUR customers expect competitive quotes from their inquiries to us. They are SMART.
***********

NO. The ULTIMATE message is: Our customers are STOO-PID.
That's what I get. AND, I do not wish to be lumped in with the cretinous rabble which apparently comprises the Progressive customer base.

Hello, little lizard...

Toyota has jumped aboard with THEIR latest ad campaign, with a Typical Married Male
who went out for milk, and was beguiled into buying not one, but TWO Toyotas, a sporty red car, and a black SUV. He proceeds to angst over how to tell his wife, when his REAL problem is how to get the two vehicles home. The helpful Toyota salesman has clearly NOT offered to assist by driving one vehicle for him, so the
hapless dupe must leapfrog the cars home: Milkboy drives the Red car a few yards beyond the Black SUV, then the SUV a few yards beyond the Red car. And so forth.

This commercial is an infinite sadness. I could go all Dobson on their keisters and decry the typical stupification of the American Husband on TV, but that is not my issue. The message I get is:

Toyota customers are STOO-PID.

The list goes on...

There was an interview years ago with the actor Ricardo Montalban. At some time
during the discussion he was asked (being the symbol of the early, Latin leading men of Hollywood), "How would you describe a great lover?" To this he replied, "A great lover is not a man who continually goes from woman to woman, for any dog in the street can do that.

No, a great lover is a man who can captivate and nurture the love of one woman
her entire life."

God bless Ricardo Montalban. I know that he is a believer in Christ, and that he is a man of integrity, besides being one of the three best things to hit the Trek franchise in its history.

My wife and I are headin' towards our 27th year. Thanks for giving us something concrete to shoot for!

Stupid Blight CommunityStupid Blight CommunityStupid Blight Community


My youngest, Loen, said something that inaugurates our "Quote of the Blog".

"We need a white Bill Cosby."

Now, to be clear, ours is a VERY conservative household, and one in which ANY hint of racism is abhorred. When I was growing up, I autonomously arrived at the idea that the "N" word was as egregious a "cuss" word as "G--D---", and thus was not to be used. Period. Paragraph. BTW, I grew up in South Carolina.

It is from this background that the youngest son o' mine issued his pronouncement. We were discussing Cos's NAACP comments admonishing the black community to watch its collective mouth. Huzzah! God bless Bill Cosby.
Well played, Sir.

Hence my son's "Quote of the Blog".

And y'know...he's right.

So where does "Blight Community" come from?
It's the white kids who have learned their parents' liberal White Guilt, and have chosen to pretend that they are black by their dress code, mode of speech, and popular inattention to education. Yo, yo.

We need to be who we are, and be the BEST who we are that we can possibly be.

As much as I HATE them, I took yet another quiz.



take the "what's your dark secret?" quiz
| courtesy of mewing.net. where darkness and secrecy abound.


...so now we know!

...AND NOW A WORD TO THE FAITHFUL FEW...

5 posts per week. Yeah, right. Truthfully, we have had the most incredibly busy few weeks. Hugely busy.

We have been blessed. Our business has been re-directed into the whole anime (Japanese animation for the non-otaku reading this) arena. Mucho shirts, mucho dinero.

Amazing times. Again, we are blessed.

We are trying to handle this influx of biz, and are forced to triage our daily tasks.
We WILL be writing more regularly, so KEEP COMING BACK, please.

********************************************************************

Meanwhile, I was tearfully moved by the funeral of President Ronald Reagan.
Death and I have an odd relationship. I don't DO death. I don't relate at all to the whole file-past-the-casket-doesn't-he-look-NATURAL thing. And I don't CRY.

My blood pressure dropped from the fluid loss during the Reagan funeral. No boo-hoos, no sobs. Just tears and tears and tears.

I loved Ronald Reagan. Based on what I know of his history, I fully expect to see him again. Clothed in the light of our Lord. I pray this is so.

********************************************************************

Yet, during the service, I saw that the Clintons, prominently seated, were rather dozy-looking. Not to be snarky, but I'm not surprised. They were probably concentrating on potent eldritch wards to keep from bursting into flames...

The Aardvark RETURNS!!!

I bought some cereal the other day. Not terribly GOOD cereal. Not fruity, not chocolatey, not coco-lossal.
Ok. I bought Fiber One bran cereal.
Bran.
Cereal.

YUM.

Now, to be fair, Fiber One- a General Mills product- is the tastiest of its ilk. Truth be told, this is like saying that THIS
is a tastier stick than THATone. It is sweetened with aspartame, and is a blend of wheat and corn brans. And it looks like twigs.

YUM.

The thing that amuses me, though, is that this small 16 oz. box of cereal is uniquely packaged. It says a LOT about the marketers' expectations.
It contains two- count 'em- two 8 oz. sealed poly bags.

Guys, It's gonna take A-while to get through a box of Fiber One.

YUM.