I am SO ready to go to this museum and camp out!

Harleywannabe

Didja Ever Make Funny Faces and Then Have Your Housemate, Photographer, Artist Friend Shoot a Picture?

I did, and I was too lazy first time around to tell you that her name is Cindy Pacura Steffen and she also took photos of flattened Pepsi cans I found in the art school parking lot. Her blog is viewable here.Did I ever think anyone was looking at my blog? Now I know!

The Other, Good Side, of a "Book of Daniel" kind of story

Here we have love and consideration instead of knee-jerk reactions to a situation where Christian film producers hired a gay man for the lead role without knowing it. Click the title link to read the story.

Torture

5 Reasons Torture is always Wrong
And why there should be no exceptions.
by David P. Gushee
Click title link to read the whole article.
I am a little lazy this morning and don't have time to fix my tags...

"Now it is time to raise our voice and say an unequivocal no to torture, a practice that has no place in our society and violates our most cherished moral convictions."
David P. Gushee is professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee,

I could not agree more with the article above. I am taken-aback by people I know and love stating that someone ought to be tortured since "they would have done it to us!"

But then we have all-American movies to encourage us to be hardened to it, like Quentin Tarantino's Hostel.

"Hostel is about three hedonistic fools who indulge in all manner of unethical pleasures until they find themselves trapped in a game where others fulfill their own appetites for cruelty by torturing human beings and killing them in slow and grisly ways—decapitations, throats slit, heads smashed in, digits being cut off and body parts diced and tossed into a furnace, point-blank shootings, eyes being pulled from sockets, flesh drilled full of holes, a person throwing herself in front of a train, and more. It seems designed to delight people who share the unhealthy appetites of the movie's villains."

"Guess what? Hostel is also the No. 1 film in America, tops at the box office. That means we're bound to see a lot more of this kind of thing over the next few years, in which other movies try to outdo Hostel—and the two Saw movies—with increasingly intense and explicit violence."
Read the rest of the article at http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/reviews/hostel.html

And we are ENTERTAINED BY THIS?
What is wrong with people???

About Tarantino, in case you don't know his style
"Tarantino's story - raised by his mother in Los Angeles and Tennessee, he became obsessed with low-budget potboilers and exploitation films in his teens and worked in a California video store - has become the stuff of legend. A generation of fans can recite the events of Tarantino's life as though they were Davy Crockett yarning about his backwoods encounters with grizzly bears.

What made Tarantino significant as a filmmaker was that he had the audacity to create an unusual new kind of modern movie from the dismembered pieces of old genres. As he did so, he hit filmgoers squarely between the eyes at a moment when they were hungry for something unique - yet oddly familiar."
Read the rest of the article by HENRY CABOT BECK: http://www.nydailynews.com/10-05-2003/entertainment/movies/story/123288p-110734c.html:

The weird thing is, I bet you anything if I met QT, I would like him. I have this feeling he would be harmless fun to hang out with or talk to. My husband even saw "Kill Bill" and "Pulp Fiction" and I understand QT's writing would hold up fine with no violence, but I am sorry-- I am against anything that hardens our sensibilities to any kind of harm. Yes, that would include the military service, but that is another blog, isn't it?

Jon Stewart Defends Mega-Churches?

Kim finds an interesting conversation on The Daily Show.
Click title-link.

Update on Teenager

Well, my 'son has been into something new, but old. He and his sibs drew and painted quite a bit when they were little, but not as much now. He changed that when he recently started reading and working from an Anime book, how to draw it, that is, and he comes home with at least a drawing a day now! And they are NOT BAD! He's turned out more artwork this year than I did all the last 3, and I am the one labeled "artist" in my house. I am proud of him. You can see more of his work by clicking the title link.

I Just Love The Reverend Al Green, My Brother in Christ

I got nothin' to say except that I never get tired of hearing his music and his thoughts.

Instant Twanswations

The Dialecticizer, by Rinkworks, has been one of my favorite fun tools for years. It can take any phrase, such as, "Gene, it's about time you got up for your exam, since it starts in half an hour!" and converts it into
(1) Redneck: "June, it's about time yo' got up fo' yer exam, on account o' it starts in ha'f an hour!"
(2) Jive: "Gene, it's about time ya' gots down fo' yo' 'esam, since it starts in half an hour! Right on!"
(3) Cockney: "Gene, it's about time yer got up for yor exam, since it starts in 'alf an 'our! Right!"
(4) Elmer Fudd: (my personal favorite) "Gene, it's about time you got up fow youw exam, since it stawts in hawf an houw!"
(5) Swedish Chef: "Gene-a, it's ebuoot teeme-a yuoo gut up fur yuoor ixem, seence-a it sterts in helff un huoor!"
(6) Moron: "Gene, uh uh uh, it's bou' time you got up f' your exam, siss it starts in half an hour! Doihh!"
(7) Pig Latin: "Enegay, it'syay aboutyay imetay youay otgay upyay orfay youray examyay, incesay ityay artsstay inyay alfhay anyay ourhay!"
and
(8) Hacker: "gene,, it"z about time ypou got up fro yor exam, snice it starts In 4hlf aN HOur!!!!!!!1 AACX)R OYUUUuUUU bceauiz you arfe lame"
I usually stick with #4 & #5.
You can do entire paragraphs.
Here's one from an anti-walmart page:
Original: "Wal-Mart has become much more than just a small corner store in rural America. In the past 10 years, Wal-Mart has grown into the largest retailer in the world -- number 1 among the Fortune 500 -- and is America's largest employer. With more than 1.4 million employees and over $10 billion in profits, Wal-Mart is a giant company with giant responsibilities. First and foremost, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to all Americans to set the standard for customers, workers and communities, and to help build a better America."
And converted for you to Elmer Fudd (funniest when read aloud):
"Waw-Mawt has become much mowe than just a smaww cownew stowe in wuwaw Amewica. In the past 10 yeaws, Waw-Mawt has gwown into the wawgest wetaiwew in the wowwd -- numbew 1 among the Fowtune 500 -- and is Amewica's wawgest empwoyew. Wif mowe than 1.4 miwwion empwoyees and ovew $10 biwwion in pwofits, Waw-Mawt is a giant company wif giant wesponsibiwities. Oh, dat scwewy wabbit! Fiwst and fowemost, Waw-Mawt has a wesponsibiwity to aww Amewicans to set the standawd fow customews, wowkews and communities, and to hewp buiwd a bettew Amewica."

They also let you enter a URL and it will convert the text on the website to the language as well.

If you've read this whole thing and laughed, great-- Boot yuoo prubebly hefe-a vey tuu mooch teeme-a oon yuoor hunds. Um gesh dee bork, bork!

How Do You Show You Love Someone? How Do You Know You Are Loved?

I have a friend from Ohio U, Keith Wasserman*, who always signs his letters with the words "Love is a Verb." He's done this for as long as I've known him.
In youth group we used to sing a song called "Love is Something You Do" (It's not always something that you feel, but it's real).
One of my favorite popular Lists is Dr. Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages, where you ask yourself which language you like to use when you express love, ("1. Words of Affirmation; 2. Receiving Gifts; 3. Quality Time; 4. Acts of Service; 5. Physical Touch") thus finding out how you would best recognize love being communicated from others. I even bought the "teenager" version of the book, because I really want to figure out how my teenager shows love by being absent, and how I can effectively communicate love back to him as a stepmom. When kids just hide in their rooms all the time and stay online, it is hard to know what they think, who they are or what they like any more. (If our house was bigger, I would never have let the computer go into his bedroom.) When they do come out of their caves and they are either snippy or wordless, it is not exactly a visit where you feel you've connected. It leaves me feeling that either there is something I am doing wrong to bug him, something I am too aware of that will bug him because he feels guilty, or usually, just a dry, empty feeling that I no longer have a 'son.
Good thing he is 18. I know that it explains most of the problem.
God bless him.
* If you clicked on Keith Wasserman, when you get to the Good Works site then click on "What We Do" in the left-hand column. You will see a link to his story, his ministry to the homeless in Southeast Ohio and lots of other great things on that site. His page was in Frames so I could not link you right to him.

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

Ben and Melody Pahlow, just regular people, unemployed with 4 kids, started Global Family Rescue after hearing their neighbor's stories of his life in Rwanda during the mass genocide. They set it up so you can change lives for whole families.

Carmen

I have now surpassed Carmen Miranda's age when she died of a heart attack. She was an amazing artist, full of incredible energy and creativity. Did you know she designed those outfits herself? If you haven't sat down for a Carmen Miranda Marathon, you owe it to your funny bone to do so, ending with (or should you start with?) the very strange and wonderful The Gang's All Here. I just love her.

What is Wrong with this Picture???

Hatt-Baby!

Yay! I found it! I almost thought it was gone forever! Don't bother if you are on dialup...
Paste it into your browser; it does not seem to like being a link for some reason.
http://www.nata2.info/humor/flash/hatten.swf

My Take on the Daniel Thing

My pastor woke up to a radio report on the controversy on The Book of Daniel, a new show on NBC. He blogged about his own frustrations with Chrisitans and cultural reactions, which you can read in his own words here.
Well, we watched it, figuring we would probably like it. We saw no problem with the idea of Jesus being there for people, real problems being shown, and all that kind of thing. We actually kind of liked it for the first 20 minutes or so. After a few problems, habits, secrets and so forth were presented, we were rather prepared for some resolution, including some good insight from the "special guest," Jesus. Thing is, as nice as Jesus was on the show, and as much as the words and ways he said his words were right on, no one seemed to be all that affected by them. His "presence" on the show was more like Tinkerbelle or Jiminy Cricket or a fuzzy teddy bear to carry around. No one seemed to talk about any of their problems except for the gay son, and no one seemed to have any kind of conscience or guilt. There was very little kindness from anyone, but Jesus, the Pastor, and Peter, either. After awhile, it just got to be a parade of one escape route (ie: booze, pills, sex, computers, sex, adultery, theft, drug use, etc.) after another, which was so ridiculous (and kinda boring). Nothing really drew you in long enough to be interested. Rather than showing some creative way of dealing with real problems, it seemed to say nothing matters and no one is ever really honest. Well done, but shallow and ultimately irritating content. We don't even get a chance to know any of the characters except the priest, a little bit.
I have to give it some thought, but those are my initial reactions. We won't worry about missing it. If I want to watch something like this, I would rather see Desperate Housewives.

Aslan & Hobbes

A wonderful article about promotion/production of commerical junk: Christianity Today: Tale of Two Kitties.
"I don't want some animation studio giving Hobbes an actor's voice, and I don't want some greeting card company using Calvin to wish people a happy anniversary, and I don't want the issue of Hobbes's reality settled by a doll manufacturer. When everything fun and magical is turned into something for sale, the strip's world is diminished."
Bill Waterson, Creator of Calvin & Hobbes

Why Don't You Get Some Art on Your Walls?

My friend Linda is a muralist, faux painter as well as a portrait artist. Would you consider getting your walls painted? She is not booked up at the moment, so now is your chance!
Linda Zolten-Wood

Paper Flowers

BBC: "Mexico's government has welcomed a nationwide political tour by the Zapatista rebel movement, saying it will boost the county's democracy."
I have so much to learn. Pray for Mexico's people.